Chapter 26

The Prince was in my room waiting for me to wake up when I finally came to. After he confirmed what had happened actually happened, we had a single moment of a silent embrace before all hell broke loose.

We'd never screamed so loud before. It was awful, the things we said to each other. He called me a lying whore for sleeping with his brother. I called him a murderous bastard for not protecting me from Dalila. He accused me a leading him on to intentionally hurt him. I told him he was a selfish, undeserving bastard. He smacked me. I punched him. Then he shoved me on the bed and stormed out.

I'd never cried so hard in my life.

Time passed, but I hardly noticed. I wasn't even aware of what was happening to me, I was so lost in my depression. I couldn't sleep, since every time I closed my eyes I saw everything all over again as vividly as it had happened and food was the last thing on my mind.

It was midnight, or at least close to midnight when I decided a shot flight out in the moonlight might help me think. Without giving it much thought, I opened the bed-side table drawer and pulled out my charm. When I put it around my neck and brought my wings out, it was like being reunited with an old friend. It was like I finally had a piece of myself back after a long time. I was complete again.

With a heavy heart, I looked out to the night sky, remembering my sweet little boy. Tears once again came rushing back, but I fought them. Any more crying and I'd turn into a pile of sand! Rubbing my eyes, I stepped forward and burst into flight. I was a bit rusty at first, not having flown in nearly a year, but it's like riding a bike: once you learn you never forget.

As I flew farther and farther from the palace of Azad, I let my mind wander over all that had happened. I thought about the Prince, Edan, even the old days. The fun days. I never really realized it, but despite all the pain and anguish, things seemed so much better then than now. That was before I'd gotten involved with the Prince. Before I'd even come to Babylon. Maybe Edan's death had been a sign. A sign that the Prince and I really didn't belong together after all… But how could that be? Being with him, breaking the law with him, running away with him… it had all felt so… right. How could my instincts tell me one thing, and yet fate tell me another? That made no sense. Then again, Edan might not have been the Prince's child at all.

My thoughts turned to Jericho, the man whom had been discovered and imprisoned because of my stupidity. If I hadn't gone to bed with the Prince, none of this would've ever happened. All I had to do was say no and keep a firm resolve, if only for just a little longer… but I couldn't. Now my carelessness was retuning to haunt me.

My body was seemingly becoming increasingly heavy, like all my guilt was weighing me down. Sighing, I let it drag me down. It was all my fault that this had happened. Sora had been right to call me all those things. I was a lying whore. I had led him on, not intentionally, but I'd hurt him nonetheless. I was causing more pain than good and no matter how hard I tried to help, my actions only continued to backfire and harm those around me.

I suddenly stopped and looked up at the night sky. Maybe it was time to call it quits. I was a wanted criminal, after all… Maybe it was time to stop hiding and let whatever the council had in store for me happen.

But before I could do anything, without warning, I was suddenly yanked out of the sky by the ankle and before I could fight back, I found myself face flat on the ground. I tried to get up, but before I could even see what had pulled me out of the sky, something heavy was thrown over me. I couldn't figure out what was going on, but my instinct took over and I fought to free myself.

"Tie it down! Don't let her get away!" I heard someone yell and I realized I was being barraged by large, heavy ropes. At this revelation, I fought like mad to get away, to wiggle out of them, anything, but the harder I struggled, the tighter they became. Son, they were like a blanket binding me to the cold jungle floor. Finally, I gave up.

"There. Target secured, sarge." I opened my eyes to look at my captors. One was coming toward me. But the first thing I noticed wasn't his face, or uniform, but his wings. His bright red wings. Uh oh.

He was a middle-aged man, and looked like a typical drill sergeant. All he was missing was a hat and the sunglasses. His hair was showing a little gray and his skin was sun bleached from years in the skies. He slowly knelt down neck to me, as though making absolutely sure I was really there. After looked me over fore the longest time, his thick eyebrows knitted together and he started to stoke my cerulean hair with his large, calloused hand.

"So we've finally got you, Angelina," he began. I wasn't really sure if me was really telling me that, or mocking me. I tried to move my arms to smack his hand away, but I couldn't budge. "It took us a longtime to track you… who would've guessed we'd find you during an investigation of demon presence." There was no sarcasm in his voice at all. Sure it was easy to tell he was glad he'd caught me, but I'd expected some kind of ridicule from the likes of a Hunter. "Damn shame… young gorgeous think like you busted for something so… miniscule. What the hell were you thinking, girl." It was more of a statement than a question. I just tried to turn my head to my face was in the mud.

"Hey, Sarge, are we gonna book her or are you gonna sit there petting her all night?" one of the other, younger, more obnoxious Hunters called. At this, he suddenly grabbed a handful of my hair and yanked, shoving my face into the ground and revealing my marks.

"Alright boys," he began confidently, "lets get going!" I heard some cheering and the sergeant got up and walked away from me to let his boys do the rest.

Once I saw how many Hunters were with him (six at least) I started crying again. I'd been caught. After all this time, they finally got me! How could this day possibly get any worse now? My family was split apart, I was already a wanted felon, and now… There was no way I could escape from six Hunters. I was stuck. No telling what would happen to me now… No one even knew I was out here. They'd all just wake up, scratch their heads and possibly go searching, but they wouldn't find me. Meanwhile, I'll be in prison, awaiting my sentence.

And the Prince… What would he do when he found out that I was gone? Would he look for me? Miss me? Would he give a damn that I was gone? What would he think? That I'd run away? My shoulder began to burn. I had to think of something and fast. I had to get myself out of this mess or I was going to be at the mercy of the council.

But thank the stars that for once, the fates were on my side that moment.

"LET HER GO!" Only a second after I heard those words, something swiftly and cleanly sliced through my ropes. I looked up just in time to see the Prince's familiar form poised in front of me, his blade out and ready to cut off someone's head.

"Prince…?" I said dumbly, almost unable to believe my eyes.

"Wrong, sweetheart," he growled viciously. Different voice. I knew it was too good to be true. "If you could get in to more trouble, I swear…"

"What is this?" the sergeant demanded.

"Oh look. The daring Prince come to rescue his lover!" someone piped up mockingly. The Dark Prince growled menacingly as the group laughed.

"Wow. I'd almost forgotten what you're voice sounded like," I commented.

"I'm flattered. Now if you're finished wasting time, make my life easier and LEAVE!" I jumped at his words, but I wasn't about to argue. Ignoring the sharp pain from my searing shoulder, I clumsily got to my feet and took off into the sky.

"Don't just stand there you nimrods! Go get her!" the sergeant yelled, almost sounding panicked. I picked up speed when I heard wings, trying to put as much distance between them and me as possible. I had to shake them and find a place to hide, since there was no way I would be able to outrun them.

I swerved, I turned, I loped and did everything in the book to try and throw them off my tail, but every time I looked over my shoulder to se if I'd made any progress, there they all were, except for the sarge, who was probably back at the start fighting Darkly.

I still couldn't believe it. Of all the crazy ass things that could've happened, I was saved by the one person I least suspected. After almost a year of silence from him (for me, at least) there he was, swooping in to rescue me… oh, it was almost romantic…

"Now I have you!" Crap! One of them grabbed me, but in a moment of panic, I somehow managed to throw him off. How could I let myself start day dreaming at a time like this?! For the love of the Gods, Naomi, pull your head out of your ass and focus!

I picked up speed and tried to do just that. The only problem was that they were still faster than me. Ok, time for some fancy stuff. More loops! More spins! More crap I haven't done in months! Boy, was I out of shape. Thankfully, before the Hunters could catch up to me and take me down for the count, I spotted a crevice in the ground out of the corner of my eye. And low and behold, it looked like I could just manage to squeeze through! Well, well, it looks like my luck is changing! It's about time, too! Ok, there's the crevice… now all I have to go is slip through… and I'll… be... home……

"Oh crap, I'm stuck!"

"Well, that wasn't very smart, was it, Angel?" I heard one of the Hunters comment from the above ground. Uh oh.

"And to think… it took us a year to find her."

"I don't know about you guys, but I have noticed a lack of discipline lately."

"There must be, if we can't catch someone like that." Ok, that's it!

"HEY! Who are you calling stupid! Let's me out of here and I'll show you just how stupid I am!" I yelled, flailing my limbed around madly, trying to squirm free. Stupid rocks, let go! I heard some laughing up above, which only made me struggle harder. How dare they laugh at me while I'm stuck like this! Ooh, I'll make them pay… just as soon as I get out of here. Ok… calm down. Think about this. Hmm, well, it seems fairly obvious. Ok, Naomi, suck it in, girl!

I took in the deepest breath I could to make my belly at concave as possible and continued to push and shove my way through. I pushed, and pushed… and pushed even more… and finally… pop! And I left a nice big flap of skin on the rock as proof of my accomplishment. Ha! Now let those stupid Hunters make fun of me! Let's see how they like me now that I… where'd they go?

"You do realize that there was a larger surface crack only a few feet away from that one, don't you?" …Meep. I slowly turned around and came face to face with… you guessed it… the red winged avengers themselves! There wasn't much light, but I could see the one who just spoke pointing upward. I looked to where he pointed. And, yep1 wouldn't you know, there was a nice big crack right there, big enough to fit a moose through! "Come on, girl, why don't you just give it up already? It's darker than a dungeon down here, we're all tired, and you're basically cornered."

"What, give up and let you arrest me and drag me away to my death? Well, sorry, but you see this head? The one with blue hair? I kind of LIKE IT where it is, thank you!" And with that, I darted downwards into the black abyss that I'd wiggled myself into. Although, I couldn't shake off the feeling that… I don't know… that I wasn't supposed to be here? And the deeper I went into the gorge, the stronger it became.

I didn't stop. I couldn't I just kept flying down… down… down, to the bottom to the abyss, ignoring the cold feeling in my gut and the constant chills that were running down my spine. Soon, I was surrounded by total blackness. Everything was dead still, except for the sound of my wings and the Hunters. I couldn't see my own hand in front of my face, let alone where I was going. I felt cold, and unwelcome. And that insistent burning in my shoulder…every inch of my better half was screaming at me, begging me to turn back and leave. But I didn't. I was running and pure instinct now. I had to get away from the Hunters. If I couldn't lose them in this blackness, then I'd never shake them. I had to keep going. I had to…

But suddenly, the feeling vanished. Startled by this, I stopped in mid air. I looked around, but saw nothing. There was no light at all now. No light, no sound, nothing… where was I now? And… where were the Hunters? Then it hit me like a ton of bricks. I'd lost them a long time ago! The wings I'd heard had been from my own feathers! But I'd failed to realize that. Now I was completely alone. Completely alone in this think darkness. I was safe. But now… how would I get out?

I started to panic again. I had nothing to go by. No landmarks, nothing to point me in the right direction… I didn't even know which direction was which! The faint light from the crevices were gone, and who knows how big this place was. I'd never find them again! I was stuck down here!

"…Oh… no…" I felt tears well up in my eyes. I've done some stupid things in my life… but this one takes the cake. Just when I was ready to let loose and start screaming and crying, a small beam of light suddenly appeared out of nowhere. Then another clicked on. Then another… and another. I squinted at the lights flashed in my eyes, but as they adjusted, I quickly recognized the outlines of… the Hunters. For a split second, I felt like swooping over there and hugging the life out of one of them.

"You realize you're in a forbidden zone, don't you?" the one in front said.

"That's awful brave of you, got to admit."

"Yeah, but there's no telling what's down here. Come on, let's just get the hell out of here!"

"I vouch for that!"

"Sorry, guys," I said shakily, trying to ignore the now very noticeable pain in my shoulder, "but I'm not going anywhere with you."

"Looks to me like you have no choice."

"No! I'm not going to be put in jail for something as stupid as… well, you know! I'm not going to let the council kill me or the Prince for… why are you looking at me like that?" I asked, taking notice to the look of horror on their faces. The one in front slowly raised his hand and pointed.

"…There's… something right behind me… isn't there?" I squeaked. He slowly nodded. My heart began pounding. Slowly, I turned around… and found myself staring into a huge pair of bright, glowing red eyes. And they looked none too happy to see me.

Kiri: ...I offer no excuses. I'm really sorry to all my readers whom have been waiting for the next chapter after that terrible cliffy at he end of the last chapter... I had a hell of a time throwing this one together! I must've deleted it about twelve times before settling on this one! That, and it's almost the end of the school year, so things had been getting hectic around here. Again, I'm really sorry for the long ass wait... I hope the length of this chapter kinda makes up for it.