Chapter 12

~Zayne Beckett~

Once I got home from the long field trip, after greeting my mom, I went to my room and grabbed an old toothbrush to clean the dirt out of the surfaces and crevices of her souvenir. The stone beetle revealed a beautiful iridescent emerald pair of wings already opened out. It held a small golden stone that I polished using dish soap and water to make it shine.

The entire piece seemed so intricate. Individual legs were carefully carved to have the small details of a real beetle. The wings were strategically statured to keep them from falling off. I scraped the edge of it just a little to see if the artist used paint on it. Only a bit of shimmer flaked off onto my finger.

Curiously, I put on my computer and did research on a beetle holding a ball. The scarab beetle holding sun came from Egyptian origins that held a lot of meanings, such as protection and life after death. After a little more research, I wondered if the gold was real. I was able to determine its authenticity with just a glass of water and carefully placed it back in its place.

But something caught my eye. There was a similar picture of the scarab beetle sculpture that was linked to an article. The beetle was a failed figurine and the artist discarded it. The updated version seemed even more detailed than the previous one, even more extravagant. Both interpretations were similar, but none held the metaphorical golden sun.

The small piece of history in between my fingers made me fascinate about how valuable it really was. Did the gold somehow naturally end up in its place? How did the small carving reach the ruins? Did we really go to Egypt?

Either way, the beetle was the perfect souvenir for my mother. She would have loved it.

And she did. As I finished, she walked into my room. "Hey, you okay?"

I glanced at her. "Yeah, I was just cleaning your souvenir," I said.

She walked up behind me and looked over my shoulder. "This is for me?" She asked, spotting the beetle.

"Yeah. I found it in the ruins." I turned to face her. "It's a symbol of protection, according to Egypt. Apparently, it's a failed artwork. The sculptor made a better one."

She held the stone and admired it. "It's stunning," she said. "How could someone get rid of this?"

"Maybe they were rich," I shrugged. "That's real gold I think. Not sure about the emerald."

My mom smiled and lightly passed her finger against the carvings. "Thank you, sweetheart." She hugged my shoulders and kissed my temple.

◇◇◇

I was looking forward to meeting with Aurora at school the next day. It wasn't hard to find her, but when I saw her, she kept getting mixed glances from everyone around her. As odd as it was, I thought they would have forgotten about her by now. It's been weeks since she first entered the compound and she still gets these strange looks.

A pair of girls just passed by and got a good look as Aurora opened her locker. "Is it just me or does she look dead?"

"Oh my God, she's not dead!" the other whispered. "Quit it with your paranormal theories already!"

"But she looks so pale! That's not natural."

"What's not natural is her hair. That's it. She's clearly alive and walking—!"

Both of them walked right into me. They looked up with snobby glares that soon fazed into daze and worry.

I stared at them. "Who are you to talk?"

"Sorry, she just really likes paranormal stuff," one of them apologized sheepishly.

"You think he could be a vampire?" the other whispered to her.

I raised my brow at her. Her friend shot a glare at her before grabbing her by the arm and hustling away.

Easily turning my attention away from them, I saw Aurora walking confidently with books clutched to her chest. I stared at her as she walked, waiting for her to look at me. The voices of the whispering students around us started to tone down as I kept my eyes on her.

Aurora finally looked at me. I winked at her as she passed. She cracked a smile and rolled her eyes before continuing on her path.

I look back forward, feeling cocky and proud as I stepped off. A dumb grin was plastered on my face just because she reacted. I did that a couple of times for the day instead of actually talking to her. It was easier than approaching her out of the blue. Besides, she was probably already busy.

Later that day, as school finished, I was one of the last few students left at school, waiting for someone to pick them up. It was raining at the time and I had the smart idea to pack a compact umbrella in my bag before leaving home. I thought it would end up being useless but it actually turned out to be helpful.

I opened my umbrella and walked out into the rain. I noticed Aurora a short distance from me. She gazed up with her hand out, feeling the drops of water hitting her palm.

When I walked over to her, I held the umbrella over her head. "Want a drop home?"

Aurora smiled politely. "It's okay, I have..." she trailed off.

I kept my gaze on her, waiting for her to finish her answer.

"Yeah, that would be nice."

I had a little self-celebration inside. It was new to me, obviously, but I tried my hardest to not show anyone my weak point.

For the quiet walk, my straight face was stapled on for the entirety of it. Only the sounds of rain falling hard on the umbrella and the cars driving on the wet road were heard. With the small amount of wind blowing against us, I was secretly enjoying it. Taking small glances at her when she wasn't looking made it the most enjoyable.

"What are your aspirations?" Aurora suddenly asks, making my heart skip a beat.

"Aspirations?" I repeated, unsure if I heard it correctly. "Why do you want to know that?"

"Well as an angel, you don't really have an opportunity to fulfil your aspirations... so, I'd like to know yours."

My eyes drifted to hers, seeing an upset look in her eyes, yet, it seemed curious. I felt bad for her. Looking forward, I forced myself to stop glancing in her direction. "I don't have any. Well, not yet anyways. I'm still looking."

"Do you know what field you'd like to go into?"

"Maybe I'll go into business." I shook my head. "I'm sure I'll find something eventually."

Aurora hums, making me curious. As I opened my mouth to ask about her aspirations, she suddenly turned into a dark alleyway, causing me to grow confused. "Why are we here?" I asked, cautiously looking around as I followed her.

I've seen enough movies to know alleyways were never something good. Someone either gets mugged, murdered, raped, or drugged, so I was really uneasy about following her. Aurora started to walk up the fire escape of an apartment building as the rain stopped falling.

"Come on," she turned her head and her pink hair flew, "you'll miss the fun." A daring smile appeared on her lips.

As Aurora continues to climb, I hesitated. What if it's a trap? What would be 'fun' for an angel? What if she wants me to jump off the building? I closed down the umbrella before thinking further. I had to debate with myself whether to follow her or not. It was a difficult situation, as I was interested, but did not want to be 'accidentally' thrown off the rooftop at the same time.

"Are you coming?" Aurora called.

"Yeah," I said, clearly not thinking. "I'm coming."

Hesitantly, I followed her up the fire escape. On instinct, I kept glancing out for any possible dangers, like a sudden fire or the steps rusting out and suddenly breaking.

These things could happen.

Soon, I reached the rooftop and I had seen what I had never expected. The rooftop was redesigned into a small lounge, in a way. There were sheets propped up on some materials creating a little fort, pillows, a loveseat sofa, a mini-fridge, and even a flat-screen T.V, all under a little galvanized roof to protect the appliances from the rain.

I was blown away. It was surprising how this place was fixed upon a rooftop. "Is this where you stay?" I asked, completely in awe.

"Actually I spend most of my time here, but I do rent an apartment in the building." She walks to the middle of the rooftop and takes off her brown boots. "What do you think?"

"This is amazing," I answer, picking up a grey pillow. It had three white stars on it. I knew for sure Aurora loved astrology at that point. "How did you get all of this up here? Is your landlord okay with this?"

"She doesn't know all this is here. I used my power to create it, and I can take it out of existence."

I looked at her again to ask another question but she began to unzip her dress. Not prepared for that, I quickly looked away. "This is not a private area, what are you doing?"

I heard her giggles. "It's the tallest building with a rooftop. It's safe."

"Okay..." I say cautiously, still averting my eyes. "But why are you doing that?"

I hear shimmering sounds, which tempted me to look. At the same time, I didn't know what to expect.

"I am fully dressed, Zayne. Why would I do that for no reason?"

I swallowed the huge lump in my throat. She had a point. "Alright, fine," I sighed, looking back at Aurora. She looked like what she was.

An angel.

The simple white dress she wore had transparent silk-like material from her torso wrapping around her arms to the back. The outfit didn't show much, other than the golden vine tattoos wrapped around her upper arms and calves. Her great wings opened out from her back, startling me a little as I was yet to get used to it.

"Woah," I say unconsciously, staring at Aurora. My jaw dropped just slightly. Never in my life, I have seen someone so beautiful in a simple dress with added features.

" 'Woah' ?" Aurora asked.

"No– I mean..." I looked away, then back at her. "Wow..." Aurora tilted her head to the side a little, amused. "I mean– what."

I couldn't stop looking at her up and down as she released a light giggle. My eyes weren't cooperative and had zero self-control. With my gaze on her, she spoke confidently. "I wear this when I'm communicating with the star pieces since it's more effective. I believe it's because the gold vines are visible."

Finally, my eyes reached hers. "You're going to communicate with the stones?"

"Of course. How else would I be able to find them?"

I open my mouth to respond, but I came up with nothing. "Makes sense," I shrugged.

Aurora's eyes glowed gold as she created a gold circular pattern on the ground around her feet. Admittedly, I was a little freaked out. It could've been dangerous. She stood still as she stared at me. Her pure gold eyes remained open. The vines on her skin began to glow. She soon began to float with her angel wings wide open.

I didn't know if it was natural for her to be in a paralyzed state, hovering off the ground with her wings out and slowly flapping to keep her airborne. It was strange and unnatural to me. I had no idea what to do. Or what I could do.

"Aurora?" I asked, waving my hand in front of her golden eyes. "Hey, what's happening?"

My eyes darted around the rooftop to see if there was anything I could've done, or used to help her hear me. I held her hand to try and pull her down, but as our hands touched, a map flashed before my eyes.

An old world map with blurry yellow dots floated around, but one was stuck in one place. While taking a mental note of its position, the map began shaking. That was all I had picked up with just a simple touch from Aurora. Suddenly, I was taken out of the weird phenomenon. I didn't know what to call it, as it was something I'd never experienced before. A hallucination, maybe?

"Aurora, what was that?" I asked, staring straight ahead into the blank face of the television.

"You saw that?" She quickly moved in front of me. "What did you see?"

I was scared. "I saw an old map with dots floating..." I pulled my hand away from hers and held my forehead. "One of them didn't move."

"Where was it?"

I looked at her. "In Mexico," I said, slightly unsure if I remembered correctly.

She bubbled with excitement, smiling like crazy. Aurora leapt towards me and hugged tightly around my neck. "Thank you thank you thank you!"

A little surprised at this, I hesitated to hug her back. All I could've seen were her big white intimidating wings, and I was afraid to even accidentally touch them. Who knows what other wonders it could've done? Just by hugging me, she pits my heart against Lightning McQueen.

It was, no doubt, the best feeling in the world.