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"A condo?" she asked. "How old are you, then? I'm only 18. My friends made me sneak into the club. I don't drink, so, it doesn't matter much, but..."
Fatima shrugged--at least, as much of a shrug as she could manage. She vaguely recalled how her family immigrated here from Lebanon when she was five years old. She spoke perfect English, and had lost most of her knowledge of Arabic as a consequence. It felt distant and odd, among these skyscrapers. A mostly barren landscape... A small village... Political unrest. "Do you... Do you know what it was that attacked me?" They were fairly close to the bus stop now. Fatima thought quickly bout what she'd just inquired and shook her head. "Of course you don't... Sorry to ask. You were just in the wrong place at the wrong time." |
Raphael looked over at her "I...really don't know what that was, specifically" He said softly.
He couldn't not tell her what that was, he could just pretend he was really into the occult or something if she really pressed the subject. "I really think it was some sort of Demon...or something" He said it was such a strain for him to not to just spill every thing. He hated living undercover like this. He looked over at the bus stop reading the adds that were plastered to the side, adds for his club and a cheesy perfume Ad with some woman's lips pressed against the perfume Container. |
A demon...
Fatima did not want to accept it. She did not believe in demons. Then again, she simply did not believe in monsters. However, the events that had transpired suggested that reality was stranger than fiction in many ways. She was relieved to see a bench at the bus stop. Though reticent to release the boy's arm (she liked the feel of him touching her--an unfounded sense of security), the thought of collapsing into a bench pleased her. Fatima let Raphael go and made a mad scramble for the bench. She dropped into it, leaning her head on the backrest with a heavy sigh. "Oh, it feels so good to sit down," Fatima breathed, patting the empty space beside her. "Join me, Raphael. It's really quite wonderful." |
His reply to her offer was a simple shake of the head. Raphael had elected to stand leaning against the wall of little rain awning that sheltered the bench. He stood there watching the street in silence.
Letting out a little sigh he stared up at the sky, only to be rewarded with inky black clouds instead of the usual stars, "I feel like if I sit down, I'll loose my cool" He added after a while. Then he laguhed and looked down at Fatima for a moment. He walked over and knelt beside her "Let me see your hands where you got cut?" He asked. The events that had just occurred, the running, the worrying, the inability to fight back, had exhausted his him both physically and mentally. |
Fatima blinked a couple of times, allowing Raphael's request to register. She flushed, casting her gaze down to the pavement of the sidewalk. Gingerly she lifted up her palms for him to see. They were coated with dirt and dried blood. I must look awful, she thought. She sorely wished she had a bottle of water to wash off her hands. They were most assuredly going to get infected now.
"I can't imagine all the bacteria crawling around on the floor of the club," she laughed. "My hands are likely going to have to be amputated at the wrists. It'll be just like in that one play... What was it called..." She clicked her tongue for a moment. "Oh, that's right! Titus Andronicus!" It was then that she, too, noticed the heavy rainclouds overhead. "Oh, no... Do you think it's going to rain?" |
Raphael smiled a bit at her comparison, "I doubt in this day and age that they'll have to remove your hands" He said softly as he looked them over, his hands were large and warm.
Under the guise of worry and curiosity he was giving her a small boost her her own natural defenses. The ability to heal and help was probably one of the more basic abilities given to angels, but he could not make it to obvious. Just a little boost to ease the pain a bit and keep the infections away. He jumped a bit as something cold and wet landed on the small of his back, as it trickled down his back he shuddered a little. "I would have to say yes on the rain..."He shivered a little and rubbed the wet spot a bit before finally giving in to Fatima's earlier offer. Sitting down beside her,Safe from most of the rain beneath the bus stop awning. |
Fatima's hands felt a little more relaxed. The stinging eased a little. She attributed it to the fact that such an attractive man was touching them. She was not, however, pleased at the fact that it was raining. If the bus did not come, then they would have to find shelter in the rain. As if on cue, a rumbling sound came from around the street corner, as a mostly-empty city bus turned onto their street and drove towards them.
"Oh, thank God," she said, standing up and peering around the bus stop for a better look. "We'll be able to get home. I wonder..." Fatima turned to Raphael with a blush. "I'm on the northwest side of town. Perchance... Is your condo by mine? Probably not, but I might as well ask. I'd like to see that you get home safely, too, you know?" The bus slowed to a stop beside them. The bus driver was middle-aged, with an unkempt greasy beard. The only other passengers were and old lady with a shawl and a teenager wearing headphones and a black hoodie. |
Raphael had never felt so relieved to hear the loud hiss of air-breaks before. He smiled up at the bus driver a bit as he waited for Fatima to board first.
"Never mind where my condo is, I'll make it back home just fine" He said patting her shoulder lightly. His home was actually somewhere on the east side, but he was fairly certain he could just ride this bus to somewhere within walking distance at least. If not he'd just walk or ask to call a cab. Raphael reached in his back pocket pulling out the thin black wallet and digging out the bus fare. |
When Fatima saw him digging into his wallet, she shook her head frantically.
"No, it's okay! I can pay from myself! I--" When she turned to reach into her purse, she realized it was gone. The strap must have torn and it fell off of her in the chaos. With a horrified twist in her gut, she put her thumbnail into her mouth and started chewing nervously. That purse contained her wallet, which contained her ID. Which also had her address on it. If that... thing... was smart enough to hide in a crowd... Maybe it was smart enough to find her purse. Then it would find her house... And her family... "OH MY GOD!" she cried, grasping Raphael's sleeve and dragging him over to a seat in the back of the bus where no one could hear them. "My family is danger," she stated, her eyes wide with fear. "I lost my purse in the club. My purse has my ID in it. There's the fake one, and my driver's license. If whatever it was is smart enough to find it, it will know where I live. It will go there after me. That is, if it wants to." She turned away from Raphael, leaning back against the cushioned seat. "There's a chance it only attacked me randomly. Maybe it won't follow me anymore..." Then again, it knew her name... |
The clink of coins signified his payment, but the coins barely had time to leave his hand, when Fatima had pulled him down the aisle. He landed in the bus seat with a rather unceremonious flop. He eyed her in a bit of confusion and then she started to speak.
He listened to her, it hadn't dawned on him that the creature might be intelligent enough to dig through her purse. Running his fingers through his hair he groaned a bit, would the demon go after her family? Demons didn't tend to be to picky or merciful. Raphael considered asking her to hide at his place, but he was fairly certain she wouldn't agree to that. "How close is the bus stop to your house?" He asked softly as he looked down at his hands in his lap, "The distance might give us a chance to survey the situation...at least" he said leaning back against the seat now. |
Fatima shook her head.
"It's literally right outside of my house. Maybe five feet from the sidewalk leading up to my door." She wasn't certain if it would be a good idea to come out so close to the house, particularly if the demon was simultaneously waltzing up to the door to "say hello". Then again, she couldn't just stay out all night and not check to see if her family was all right. "Maybe... Maybe it won't go in unless it... I dunno, smells me inside?" she offered. "Oh, I don't know! I have no idea about this sort of thing! I don't believe in demons, I believe in Djinn. I guess they are technically the same, but nothing I've ever learned growing up about Djinn made THAT look like a Djinn. It was too..." For lack of a better word... "...FREAKY." She stared out the window at the passing buildings and street signs. The driver hit the breaks as they came up to a red light. |
Raphael sighed "How far is the next closest stop?" He asked softly. "We could get off a little ways away, I could go check...since it wasn't after me"
His eyes watched the rainy streets outside, dimly lit by street lights and store signs. What he was going to offer was going to sound especially odd to the young girl. "If...if it turns out it won't go in if your not there" He began "You can come to my house and you can use my phone to call your parents, tell them to leave or something?" There was a flustered look on his face like he didn't really want to do this this way, he was desperately hoping that there would be another way. |
Fatima didn't know what to think of the offer. Raphael had been nothing but kind and comforting to her this entire time, so she did not suspect him of trying to
"take anything from her" if she went to his house. She supposed she could ask her parents to pick her up from his condo so they could all go to a motel or something. Her parents would surely be angry at her for getting into a situation like this. She would not be able to tell them that a monster had attacked her. Maybe she could say a stalker got ahold of her purse and address, and that he might come by the house. He had seemed dangerous, so they ought to call the police and then come and get her so they could hide out for the night. That sounded fine... "Well, all right..." She surprised herself even by agreeing to it. She hoped Raphael would not get the wrong impression of her for it. "But only if it's not safe. Then I am calling my parents to pick me up at your place. You've been very nice to me, but I do not want to impose any further." |
Raphael simply nodded "Of course" He said softly, "We'll ride by your house and see if he's outside, If he isn't we'll get off and I'll go investigate..." He said looking to her for confirmation.
He was glad she'd agreed to the Idea, his compassionate nature made him worried about her family as well, they really had nothing to do with what was going on. But then again surely Fatima did not deserve to be targeted as such either. Cliche's of how life wasn't fair, and bad things happened to god people ran through his mind. |
Fatima could not get over how nice this boy was! She'd never met anyone with such genuine concern for a stranger before. Even rarer still was the handsome, kind type. Most good-looking guys were vain and stuck-up. They would use a girl to get what they wanted, and that was all. Raphael did not come across as this type of person by any stretch of the imagination. She found herself blushing, and turned her face away so he could not see. Maybe she was developing a crush.
"I hope my family is all right. But after tonight, I don't know anymore. Things just happened so fast. And the club was a complete mess! I feel bad for whoever works there... Clean-up is not going to be easy." |
Raphael shook his head "There won't be clean up...the reputation is tarnished...and all that damage...it would just be easier to close up and sell the lot"
He sighed a bit realizing the bitter truth "I Suppose I'm out of a job then" he muttered rather dully. He leaned back heavily against the seat and stared up at the bus ceiling for a moment sighing a bit. Even if the club did open back up, he wasn't sure he wanted to work there again, He'd already left to many clues during their flight earlier. And if it happened once, it would likely happen again. |
Fatima's heart skipped a beat. She hadn't known he was employed by the night club!
"Wait, you were working there?! Oh no, it was all my fault you lost a job!" she cried, clasping her hands together. "I am sooo sorry! I didn't mean for it to happen. And you still helped me..." She thought about it for a moment. He was probably offering to dance with her earlier because he was simply trying to be a good employee. Not because he had any interest in her. And Raphael was nice, so he helped her escape from the demon because as a good person he would not knowingly leave her to fend for herself and live with it. That was the reason. Nothing personal. Nothing personal at all... Oh, well. After tonight, she would probably never see him again. "Raphael..." she began softly. "After tonight, if things get resolved... Will I ever see you again?" |
"Mnh...I was a bouncer" He said sighing "It wasn't really your fault, Your not the one who went charging through the club wrecking the place."
He rolled his shoulders a bit wincing when they popped a little, it didn't hurt the Noise was just weird. When she'd asked him if she'd ever see him again he wasn't really sure how to respond. He knew that when that sort of question was asked, the person wanted a yes. He scratched his head a bit and looked at her, then he just shrugged and smiled that winning smile of his. "I really have no idea" He said laughing. In reality he'd probably keep an eye on her for a while till the demon situation died down, but he wasn't to sure she would see him. |
Fatima fidgeted, turning her hands over in her lap. An indefinite answer. She wasn't so suprised, honestly. After all, they were still strangers to each other, and she was a bit younger than him. She supposed she should enjoy his company for now, as long as it lasted. Fortunately or unfortunately, however, the bus was perhaps three minutes away from her street.
"We're almost there," Fatima announced, changing the subject. She wouldn't let him see her disappointment. If Fatima survived tonight, she would try to make herself into a better person. And she would try and stay out of trouble. Sure, she could risk herself sometimes. But when her family could potentially be in danger, she drew the line. She decided she would try to go places where she wouldn't be targeted by freaky monsters from now on. |
Raphael leaned over her a bit to look out the windows, the rain made it difficult to really distinguish people outside. However he had a feeling he'd have no trouble identifying the demon even through a foggy rain dappled bus window.
"If you wanted I'm sure I could find some time to stop by and say hello now and then" He said softly "Since I'll have a lot of free time on my hands now." It would be a lot easier to keep an eye on her if she knew he was there. He leaned over a little more, to get a better view out the glass, his hand resting lightly on her knee now. He didn't seem to notice that he'd done it. |
Fatima's lips curled up into smile. She simply could not help herself. She hadn't pressed the matter, but Rapahel had offered some reassurrance on his own. Perhaps he did like her, if only in a friendly way.
The bus was closing in on the stop by her house, so Fatima tugged the cord by her right to signal the driver to slow down and let them off, which he promptly did. "Let's have a look and see if there's anything outside," she murmured, peering through the murky bus window. All she saw was large droplets of frigid rain cascading down the glass, and dark blurry shapes in the night. She could not make out her own house, much less a demon. |
Raphael peered through the window for a bit before standing up slowly "I don't see him outside do you?" He asked.
"Ya'll gettin off or what!" The Bus driver growled impatiently as he glared over his shoulder at the two. Ignoring the Bus driver Raphael extended a hand to help Fatima up, he'd get off with her, and if it was safe he'd pretend to catch the next bus and then come back to watch the house. "I'd still like to get off with you and make sure everything is alright" He said looking down at Fatima, "I can't do much against it but, at least you wouldn't be alone right?" He lied. It was his first direct lie since becoming human, It was almost exhilarating. |
Fatima nodded in agreement, although she honestly could not tell if there a demon or not out there. The idea of Raphael leaving her alone in that house frightened her. She felt an unexplainable sense of security in his presence. She took Raphael's hand and allowed herself to be helped up from the seat, and without saying anything else, she walked towards the bus exit. She murmured a quiet word of thanks to the bus driver despite his gruff exterior and impatient mood before alighting from the bus onto the sidewalk with Raphael behind her.
The rain immediately pelted her, and Fatima hugged her arms around her with a shiver. The raindrops were freezing. Still, she trudged onward in the direction of her house, a moderate-sized brick house with a white mailbox. The windows were dark. She assumed her parents had already gone to bed. |
Upon exiting the bus Raphael immediately wished that he had grabbed his coat before they'd run out. The rain was cold and of course wet, as rain should be. He felt bad seeing Fatima getting so soaked though.
He walked after her in relative silence, there had been no one outside house, but that didn't mean it was safe. Raphael looked up at the house and smiled a bit "this place is pretty nice" He said trying to keep up idle banter. |
"I grew up here," she said softly, standing at the mailbox. The mailbox was by the little sidewalk going up to the front floor, and a little porch that was certainly inviting as a shelter from the rain. But what if the creature was inside?
"I'm scared to go inside." Fatima's eyes welled up, but it was impossible to tell from the rain streaming down her face. If she stayed out much longer, she could catch a cold. Although, she supposed the rain would at least wash the mess off her hands. If it wasn't polluted rain, which it probably was. She thought she might do something to lighten the mood, so she gave a little squeak and hid behind Raphael, shuddering. "Uhmm... Do you think you could look first?" |
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