Hunted by Angels & Demons

Chapter 1

I dream of him again.

He is never a real being, more of a feeling. That feeling is dark, cold and dangerous, so why is it that in my dreams I am drawn to the darkness? I try to run to it as the voices whisper in my head, telling me that I am in danger, but still I run for him, reach for him.

And I never seem to catch him.

As my hands almost managed to grab him, I woke up, drenched in sweat as though I had just run a marathon. I turned to my bedside clock and looked at the time, although I already knew it was 5am. It's always 5am.

Sleep wouldn't overtake me again, so I pulled on my dressing gown and made my way into our kitchen. Jodie might be awake now, she tried to wake up at a similar time to keep me company despite my protests.

I rested my head against the rough oak counter and sighed. I can still smell the chicken we had for dinner last night. It had been a night like any other, each day felt monotonous and bland until my dreams consumed me, it felt like a constant cycle of waking up, disassociating whilst I served my tables at the grimy bar, avoiding the wandering hands of locals, coming home, trying to pretend I was okay around my sister and then fall into my dreams, or were they nightmares? I still haven't decided.

I am so tired, the thought alone makes fresh tears begin to burn my eyes. No more, I thought. No more crying, no more weakness, show them you don't need to be 'healed', or that you are broken, utterly torn to pieces. Never let them see it. I chanted over and over in my head, it kept me from letting out all the pain she bottled up over the last 2 years and continued to stuff into the already overflowing bottle of emotion. It wasn't healthy, only Jodie knew partly of the constant battle I had with myself every day. It was what worried Jodie the most because it was inevitable, sooner or later I would break down and turn off. I wouldn't be able to get back up, I'd just banish into numb darkness and eventually become an empty shell. Jodie's worst fear, to lose me like that, but everyone knew I was long gone and the arguing was the only thing that kept me sane, trying to convince people that their beliefs in our loved ones returning was a lie.

Five years ago, half the population suddenly died. There were no answers, Jodie & I lived to walk in on our parents gone. No goodbye, no warning. Conspiracies say that it was a reckoning and that those we lost were now Angels, but I knew that was a lie. My parents weren't good people, they would be demons if that was true. I think it was sinners that were taken. If that was true, then why was I still here? Maybe to look over Jodie. Still, it wasn't enough to repair the damage that was done. The last words I had told them were that I hated them. I was only 16, I didn't know what I was saying. I still don't know if I meant it. Maybe I'll never know.

''Emery, I thought I'd find you here.'' Jodie came and sat opposite me, she was wearing her awful teddy bear pajamas again and her hair was a mess of red. I still don't know how we were related. We couldn't have been more different if we had tried. Jodie's hair was a vibrant red against my dull brown. Her eyes were alive and green and mine were practically black. At least we both had the same pale complexion, hers littered with freckles that looked like constellations whilst mine was a blank slate. ''Want to have a movie night tonight? Get a pizza? I got that new cowboy film? I'm paying... Em'?'' I had disassociated again. God. I just wanted to sleep for more than five hours at once.

"Sorry, I zoned out." I force a smile. "Sounds good. I have a shift until 11. I can grab some popcorn from the shop on the way back?" Jodie leaned over and grabbed my hand, giving it a squeeze.

"It's okay. I have a shift at the hospital until 10 so that works great." Part of me envied Jodie and how she's managed to have a proper career, as our remaining family say. When the Cleansing happened, a large majority of hospital workers disappeared. Jodie went from a student to a doctor practically overnight out of desperation. Then there was me. My best skill was getting the highest tips at the dive bar. Men were pigs and I benefited from it. "I'm going to try and get a bit more sleep before my shift, I didn't sleep well last night, is that okay?"

"Of course. I'm going to watch my show, take a shower. Make myself pretty so I can beat my high score of 287 dollars of tips in one night." Jodie squeezes my hand one last time before going back to her room. Leaving me alone with my thoughts.