I'm back from the dead? Kind of lol I feel terribly that I haven't posted any writing in a while so here's the guardian angel au that I had continued but never posted. Part 1 of 2.
Duncan squinted as a blindingly bright light seemed to encompass everything. The last thing he remembered was swerving when that truck came out of nowhere. In the light he could see a figure walking toward him. As the figure grew closer he could see the silhouette of a woman and large white wings. He blinked a few times and shook his head. His only explanation was that he must be dreaming. When the woman was finally close enough so that he could make out her glowing features his eyes went from slits to saucers.
"I must have died and gone to heaven because you babe, must be an angel." He greeted her and her sweet smile turned into a frown.
"That pickup line just made sending you back to earth the easiest thing I've done all day." Even though she was insulting him, the melodic tone of her voice almost made it sound like a compliment.
"Wait, so I'm actually dead?"
"Not quite. You were hit by a truck and you're hanging onto to life by a thread, but lucky for you, you have me."
"And you are? Not that I'm complaining cause I could look at you for eternity." The angel rubbed her temples, Duncan didn't realize that angels could get headaches.
"I'm your guardian angel, although now I'm questioning what you did or are going to do to deserve one." Duncan just stared slack jawed, he hadn't comprehended much after she said "guardian angel".
"Let's just get this over with." The golden glow radiating off her skin felt warm as she got closer to him. She gently placed her hands on his shoulders and leaned in.
"I knew you wanted to kiss me." Duncan said smugly causing the angel to grip his shoulders more firmly to where it hurt a little.
"It sends you back to your body. You can thank the angel that came up with the kiss of life. Trust me, this is strictly business." She explained curtly and leaned in again.
"Wait! I didn't even get your name-" She cut him off by pressing her lips to his.
Duncan's eyes snapped open in the hospital bed. He tried to look around to find the beautiful woman but she was gone. All that was left was the harsh fluorescent lights of the hospital and the pain that sought his entire body. With all the strength he had he lifted his hand and brushed his fingers against his lips.
It had been 8 long months. Months filled with being stuck in a hospital bed. Months of healing and physical therapy. He'd broken a leg, an arm, some ribs and had gotten a serious head injury in the crash. The doctors said it was a miracle that he was alive, but Duncan knew that it had to be because of something else...someone else.
At first he wrote it off as some drug induced hallucination, but it had felt so real. His lips had tingled for hours after he had first awoken in the hospital. More and more frequently he dreamed of the ethereal beauty that had given him another chance at life, and could picture her perfectly. She was his dream woman, but she wasn't real.
She couldn't be. Duncan didn't believe that things like heaven or hell or angels existed; but there was no other way to explain what he experienced. Worst of all, the need to see her again was taking over his every thought.
The desperation of needing to know that she was real was what lead him to be standing at the edge of a lake in the middle of November.
Duncan's reflection in the moonlight looked back at him and showed the apprehension on his face about he was about to do. He lifted his leg and his foot hovered over the water. It was now or never.
He plunged into the water and let it fill his lungs.
"Do you have a freaking death wish!" He could barely hear her shrill scream through his coughing fit.
"Hold on," he managed to get out between coughs "I still feel like I'm drowning." She grabbed him by the collar so they were face to face.
"That's because you were drowning! What is wrong with you! You did that on purpose!" She exclaimed unbelievably. Once his gasps subsided he was able to focus on her.
"Wow..." He murmured hoarsely. "You're even more beautiful than I remember..." His angel groaned and shoved him away.
"Why did you do that Duncan?" She crossed her delicate arms over her chest and glared. Duncan scratched the back of his head.
"Honestly, I wasn't sure that it would work."
"That doesn't answer my question! It's my job to keep you alive and I can't do that if you keep trying to kill yourself!"
"Tell me your name and I'll tell you why." He tried to bargain with her.
"No!"
"Please? I'll be a good boy and not try to die, I promise." Her eyes narrowed at him skeptically. Her wings shook with the gravity of the sigh she released.
"Fine...it's Courtney."
"Courtney." He repeated back to her, getting a feel for the way it felt on his tongue.
"Yes, now you have to answer my question. Why did you jump in the lake?"
"You watch me? Like even when I'm in the shower? " Duncan raised his eyebrows suggestively.
"You're avoiding the question." Courtney said with a cold face, not amused
"Okay okay. I...wanted to see you again." She didn't look convinced.
"I wasn't sure if you were real! I was losing my mind!"
"Clearly. What kind of idiot tries to toe the line between life and death."
"One with a gorgeous guardian angel?" Complimenting her wasn't an easy fix.
"It was a rhetorical question!" Courtney straightened her halo that had become askew in her exasperation. "Well I'm real, you saw me, now it's time to go back."
"I just got here!"
"You're not supposed to be here!" Courtney looked to the watch on her wrist that Duncan hadn't noticed until now. "We're running out of time."
"What happens if we run out of time?"
"You die. For real. But that's not going to happen. You see Duncan." She sauntered up to him slowly, using a tactic she knew would work. "I always get the job done." When she reached him she took one glowing finger and trailed it down his chest. "No matter what the cost." She whispered seductively as he was frozen where he was. Duncan wasn't the type of guy to get easily flustered, but she was different. Where she touched him was warm and inviting, her words were like a song. She entranced him and made him feel as light and airy as she looked.
"Now, behave and don't come back here for another seventy or so years."
"No promises angel face." He slurred as if he was drunk from her touch.
"It had to be you." Duncan didn't know what she meant by that but before he could question her, she kissed him. He wrapped his arms around her but just as he tried to pull her closer she was gone.
He gasped for air as he emerged from the water. His lungs burned as he coughed up water, his arms and legs working again to keep him afloat. He was back in the lake. All of him felt frozen except for his lips. As he swam to the edge he recalled her and remembered what small piece of herself she had given to him.
Courtney. Her name was Courtney. She told him not to come back. Too bad for her that Duncan rarely listened to what he was told.
Courtney sat on a cloud with her legs crossed. She inspected her nails as she waited for him to inevitably arrive. Any second now.
"There's my favorite angel." Courtney rolled her eyes at his attempts to flirt with her and gracefully hopped down from the cloud.
"You're right on time."
"I'd never be late to a date with you babe."
"Pretty morbid for a date."
"Whatever Courtney, you look forward to seeing me." She responded by rolling her eyes and shaking her head.
"You've only got a few minutes until you have to return and throw up those pills you swallowed." Courtney reminded him with dismay. She was supposed to protect him, but she couldn't control what he did on earth. All she could do was send him back when he was on the brink of death. So she had come to terms with the little arrangement they had.
It was becoming more frequent. Every other week or so Duncan would put his life in danger. The measures he'd taken to see her over and over again knew no bounds. He'd thrown himself from his bike, slit his wrist, he'd even tried to asphyxiate himself. Every time he'd let Courtney revive him if she answered one question, that was the deal. By now he knew her name, favorite color, how "old" she was, her favorite book, the list went on.
"I got a really good one this time." Duncan insisted, reaching for her hand.
"I already told you that angels don't have sex." Courtney smirked and let him hold her hand. It was against the rules to let him touch her, and she was the ultimate rule follower, but what harm could it do after all he did just to be with her.
He waited a beat, taking in the warmth he got from being in her presence.
"How did you become my guardian angel?" Courtney's smile fell immediately and she pulled her hand away from his.
"I can't tell you that." She turned her back to him, her large wings blocking his view of her.
"Why not?" Duncan protested. Things had taken a turn so suddenly and her demeanor only fueled his desire to know the answer, to what he thought was a harmless question, even more.
"I've entertained this for too long." Courtney answered coldly as she tried to shut him out physically and emotionally.
"What do you mean?" Duncan pushed further. Courtney sharply turned around, her facial expression very serious but her eyes gave away something terribly solemn.
"This has to stop. You can't keep coming to see me."
"Why? And why won't you answer my question?"
"Because it's reckless and I just can't!" Courtney yelled back.
Duncan wasn't going to give her what she wanted. He wasn't going to let her block him out. For the first time in his life he felt in love, like he belonged with someone. If there was a reason behind why Courtney was the one protecting him, then he had a right to know.
Duncan's body sunk with the heaviness of the sigh he released. Courtney looked determinedly at her watch, surely counting down the seconds and getting more nervous when each one passed. Gingerly., he took her hands in his which gained her attention, and lifted them to his lips so he could kiss them. It felt like the rush that goes through you went you take a shot of hard liquor. Courtney's face softened and offered him a deal.
"If I tell you...you have to promise this time. That you won't come back. That you'll live a long, and happy life, and not come back here until it's time.
"I can't promise that." He said lightly and kissed the inside of wrist. Courtney took her hands away from him so that she could cup his face.
"Duncan...Please." She pleaded one last time. It may have had something to do with her being an angel but the power she had over him was too strong.
"I promise."
"I died..." A tear fell down Courtney's face as she unveiled her secret. "When your soulmate dies before you, they become your guardian angel."
He was stunned and had a million questions that he didn't get to ask. Without any more explanation she kissed him. She held onto him during the kiss as long as she could but he vanished.
Duncan heaved on the hardwood floor. The contents of his stomach emptied along with the pills he had swallowed. His eyes watered and shoulders shook from vomiting. As soon as his breathing leveled and his mind was clear enough he banged his fist hard on the floor.
His whole body ached from the pills but his heart is what hurt the most. There was too much for him to process. So much he didn't understand but now made so much sense.
He was helpless. Duncan looked to the hand he had used to assault the floor and stretched his fingers. Nothing was broken but in his palm was a lone white feather.