The Calling

"Dear God, how do I get myself into these things" I wondered as I flopped not so gracefully onto the overstuffed chair in my living room. The events of the day kept replaying in my head and I simply couldn't shake the memory of the look in his eyes. That haunted look that spoke of hurt and defeat. It broke my heart that I could do nothing for him. But that had to be pushed aside for now. There were other things that I had to focus on, such as my job and school. How long had it been sense I spent time with the Lord? There was no telling.

My grades were suffering because of the depression that had seeped into my life. But that was not something I wanted to think on know. I only wanted to forget, forget that the one I love cares nothing for me, forget that I was behind on my school work, and most of all forget that I would have to face him Monday. I had just about reached success when my phone rang. Fighting the urge to ignore it, I drug myself out of the chair and headed for the phone.

"Hello?" the word came out with little to no emotion in it

"Sere?" asked the voice on the other end, "are you ok?"

'Was I ok' that was a laugh. I was far from 'ok'.

"Yeah I'm great, just tired. What's up Skyden?"

"I was just wondering if you had heard about that car wreck yet."

What car wreck? Suddenly a feeling of dread swept over me.

"Serena? Are you there?"

"Hey Sky, let me call you back. Someone just walked up out front"

About the time my dogs started to bark, I had the sudden urge to hide. Dismissing the thought as foolish I went to answer the door, and found myself face to face with a vampire. His reddish hair rippled in the wind and his brown eyes flashed with amusement at the fear he found in my eyes. Everything in me screamed to run but my body simply would not obey. I was lost in the depths of his eyes. Suddenly there was a bright flash and the spell was broken. I fled as fast as I could into the woods behind my house. I continued to run until I came to a small clearing and my legs collapsed underneath me. There was another flash and when my vision had cleared there stood and angle.

"Who are you?" I asked with a hint of desperation in my voice.

"I am Gabriel"

"Why are you here"

"I have come to give you a message from the most high God. You have been chosen to fight the evils of the spiritual realm. If you accept this calling your life will no longer be your own. It will be a life of battles and sorrow. For until you meet the one who will share this burden, you will live a life of solitude. Do you accept?"

I considered what the angel had said and wondered if I could really do as the Lord was asking. Remembering a poem I had written I decided that I would not turn my calling down.

"I accept" I stated calmly though inside I was terrified.

Suddenly lights surrounded me and I was forced to shut my eyes from their intensity. When I opened my eyes I looked down to find that I was dressed in a silver halter toped body suit with a deep plumb floor length skirt The skirt was slit to the top of my thigh on each side and was lined with the same silver as the body suit. I also noticed that I had silver bird-like wings on my back. My hair had also changed. It was now a silvery lavender color, and if I had been looking in a mirror I would have also noticed that my eyes were now purple.

I heard a sound in the brush behind me and whipped around to find out what had made the noise. As I looked into the darkness I saw a pair of eyes that were glowing red. As the Vampire came towards me I fought the urge to flee. I knew I had to stay and fight. Suddenly he came at me, fangs bared. He moved so quickly I had trouble seeing him as he dodged through the trees. Out of no where a sword appeared in my hand. It was incredibly light and holding it felt oddly familiar. Dismissing these thought I brought it up to face my enemy, who was now standing directly in front of me. Drawing his own sword that was strapped to his back, we faced off waiting for the other to make the first move. Suddenly he lunged and the battle began. After we had been fighting for what seemed like hours, I found myself shouting three words that seemed to come from the recesses of my mind.

"Angle Heavenly Sword Blast"

A silver and purple blast erupted from my sword and hit the vampire in the chest. He seemed to turn to dust before my eyes, and a sudden gust of wind blew away the remaining ashes.

Ready to collapse I noticed an Arabian mare standing at the edge of the clearing. As if sensing my distress the bay walked over to me. I easily swung to her back and we started the trek home. I never even noticed when my transformation faded and I reverted back to my original form.

...~~...

A dark haired young man was on his way home. The road he was traversing was dark and menacing with the over hang of the trees. A tingle of fear slowly crept down his spine as he turned up the CD that he was listening to while trying to drown out the voice that was telling him to drive faster. Suddenly his truck lurched and went off the road. Grumbling he tried to get it to start. He heard a noise to his left and looked out the window, then everything went black.

...~~...

The next afternoon Serena found herself laying on the floor of her living room. 'How did I get here?' she wondered. She got up and walked to he front door, which happened to be standing open. As she looked out the she noticed a horse standing in her yard. She gasped as memories from the previous night went flooding through her mind.

'Hello.'

"What in the world?" she said aloud, "what was that?"

'That was me.' came the now indignant voice in her mind.

"Ok....Who are you?"

'I'm the horse standing in front of you."

Serena looked up and noticed that the afore mentioned horse was in fact looking at her with quite a bit of intelligence in it's eyes.

"Great now I'm hallucinating!" She muttered as she turned to go back into the house.

'no your not'

She paused mid step.

"Fine if that really is you, stomp three times and walk over to me.

'Doubting Thomas' She heard as the horse snorted before doing as she asked.

"OK....I'm a believer." Serena said sarcastically.

"So what's your name?"

'Tsukino, and you don't have to speak out loud I am telepathic.'

'Obviously,' Sere thought while rolling her eyes, 'So what are you?'

'I'm an Angel in the form of a horse by the command of the Almighty God.'

'Thank you for bringing me home last night.'

'No problem, I am your guardian after all.'

'Last night feels like a dream' Serena thought while shaking her head.

'It was no dream, Tenshi.'

'Why are you calling me tenshi, your the angel?'

'That is how the people will refer to you. And in a way you are an angel.'

Serena just shook her head. She was having a telepathic conversation with an angelic horse. Life was strange.

Thirty minutes later she found herself running for the phone dripping and warped in a towel.

"Hello?" she panted

"Hey girl."

"Hey Rashelle. What's up?"

"Nothin', you?"

"Not a lot, I just managed to finish my shower when you called."

"Oh.... Sorry. When are you going to the studio?"

"About thirty minutes. Why?"

"I think I'll stop by and chat. Plus I need help."

"Ok."

"See you then"

"See ya."

...~~...

So what did you need help with?"

"My turns aren't going well."

"Do one," Serena instructed.

Rashelle did as she was asked and fell out of the turn half way through.

"Your letting go of you center. Stay tight."

The two continued to dance and talk for another two hours before Rashelle left and Quatra Winner, Serena's dance partner, came in. Serena was once again shocked by the look on his face.

"Quatra?...What's wrong?"

"Nothing." he stated coolly.

Sere's vision clouded with tears as she watched him. 'Why wont you talk to me?' Sighing she turned away. She didn't even know he'd followed her to the pop machine until she turned around and nearly dropped her pop from shock.

"Give me a hug. I haven't seen you in a while."

Her only response was to step into his arms and embrace him. He hugged her so tight, it seemed as though he didn't want to let go. As they pulled apart, their eyes locked and for a moment she saw the Quatra she met months ago. 'Why did I let myself fall in love with him,' was her only thought as they walked onto the dance floor and started stretching.

...~~...

That night she woke up to an odd sensation. It felt like someone was sticking thousands of tiny needles in her. 'What is that?' She wonders to herself.

'That means you're needed' Came the urgent voice of Tsuki. 'Oh'

With a flash she transformed and flew off to find the person in need of rescuing. When she got there she found a young man of about 16 that she recognized from school. The vampire who had just finished her meal turned toward her with a look of mild surprise when she didn't run.

"Who are you" Angel asked.

"Sonya" She answered with amusement, "what are you doing here. I could eat you next."

"You will be destroyed" Was Angels only reply. Then with out another word she attacked. She finished the Vampire quickly and turned her attention to the still form on the ground. Finding no pulse she decided to try to heal him.

"Angel Healing" was all she whispered as a light started to form around her. She felt herself getting weaker but knew it was too soon to stop. When she was sure the boy had been healed she wearily stood and flew away. On the ground the boy was starting to come around. As he watched her fly out of sight the word 'Tenshi' whys lost on the night breeze.

...~~...

*two weeks later*

It was Monday night, baby night. Serena was currently trying not to kill the four children at her feet. She glanced at the clock for probably the hundredth time that night. 'Only 5 more minutes she thought. Slowly she picked her 'helper' for the night and handed her the basket of candy. Then looked up at the sound of the door expecting to see a parent, instead she found a sad looking Quatra. He made his way to one of the speakers and sat down waiting for the end of class. As Serena finally ushered the last child out the door Quatra spoke.

"We need to talk."

"Ok,....shoot."

"I've decided not to go to NSU." He stated not looking at her. "I'm moving to another campus and I wont be dancing here."

"So I guess that means we wont be partners anymore," She said fighting to keep her voice level.

"Yeah I guess it dose. I'll miss you a lot."

"I'll miss you too. Are you sure you can't stay?"

"Oh Serena, please don't make this any harder."

"Why do you have to go?"

"I cant find a job. I can have my old one back if I move."

"I understand."

"Well I guess I'd better go." He said as he held his arms out for a hug.

"I'll see you later, I don't know when but I'll see you" he whispered as they hugged.

Good bye was all she said as he turned to go, but inside she wanted to scream at him to come back. She managed to hold her tears until he was out of sight, then she slowly walked to the back room and collapsed sobbing onto one off the couches. Two hours later she finally got up to make her way home.

...~~...

Serena tiredly walked into the dance academy. It had been a month sense that fateful night in the clearing and it seemed like there were attacks every night. She put on a CD and started to stretch. 'Diana would kill me if she caught me dancing in jeans' she thought with a smirk. Diana was her dance instructor. She had become like a mother to her sense her parents had been killed. She had strict policies about dancing in proper attire. And a spaghetti strapped shirt and faded jeans was not on the list.

As her favorite song came on she began to improvise choreography to it. Half way through the song she stopped as she heard the door open. She looked up to see Quatra walk in.

"Nice," he commented as he walked to the bathroom to change. Serena found herself fighting back tears at the look in his eyes. Something had just been different about him lately, he had become so guarded around everyone. She paused in her thoughts and fought to put a smile back on her face as she heard him come out of the bathroom.

"Hey! I wasn't expecting to see you." She said with cheerfulness in her voice. Quatra just smiled and began to stretch. Muttering under her breath Serena turned to get a drink of her pop. She was contemplating how to start a conversation with the brick wall that was pretending to be her dance partner when she noticed Diana pulling in. Happy to be out of the uncomfortable situation, she half ran, half bounced over to the door to let Diana in. As soon as Diana entered the studio Quatra seemed to come to life. He began talking about his weekend and smiling and laughing with what seemed like sincere happiness. But as Serena looked at his eyes she noticed that his smile never quite reached them. 'What happened to make you so sad' she wondered.

Later that evening she was once again flopping onto her favorite chair thinking about her day. She couldn't believe how different Quatra was. She remembered when he had been so happy and full of life. They had always laughed together. When they met the first time they had just connected. But about a month ago she noticed he started to with withdraw from people, especially so with her, or so it seemed. She knew she cared for him, but he obviously didn't feel the same. So with that thought in her head she said her evening prayers and retreated to the comfort of sleep.

...~~...

The tall figure prowled around his house restlessly. He just couldn't seem to calm down. He knew he needed to feed but with that 'Angel' girl out there he had to be extra careful. She had already killed at least a dozen of his brethren and he didn't want to be next. Suddenly he felt a power flair. After a moment of deliberation he decided to go see what had caused it.

Serena awoke to the now familiar sensation that arose within her when ever she was needed. The public had in fact started referring to her as 'Angel'. She assumed it had something to do with her wings. Oh well, no time to think on it now. Someone needed to be rescued.

When she arrived at the seen she noticed she was almost too late and that the Vampire that was attacking the poor woman was extremely powerful. Silently she materialized her sword and charged her enemy. Sensing her behind him, he turned in time to put up a shield. Angel didn't have time to stop and the shield crackled with electricity when she hit it. Shuddering she fell to the ground. As she forced herself to stand she noticed another vampire in the shadows. She didn't have time to wonder why he felt familiar however, as she had suddenly found herself floating it the air.

"Who are you?" She defiantly asked tha vampire who was holding her captive.

"Tylor," he answer with a smirk on his face, "though it wont matter to you in a few moments."

Serena shuddered at what that implied and was about to comment when she heard him speak again.

"You, in the shadows, show yourself." he commanded.

The figure slowly stepped into the glow of the street light. Serena gasped, it couldn't be true. It had to be some trick of the light or of the one calling himself Tylor. But her fears were confirmed when the figure spoke.

"I'm Quatra, and I'm one of you." His voice was dead.

"Why are you here?"

"I just came to watch," was Quatra's reply. "I've been waiting for the day when I could see this 'Angel' fall."

"In that case would you like the honors?"

"I'd be glad to."

Serena couldn't believe what she was hearing. It was really him. And now she was going to have to fight him. She suddenly felt herself falling, but managed to catch herself with her wings just before she hit the ground. She was unprepared when he lunged at her with his sword drawn. She managed to dodge but the blade still ripped through her arm.

"Why aren't you fighting back?" he sneered after they had been fighting for awhile, "Are you afraid?"

"No" she answer brokenly "I just cant bring myself to hurt you."

That brought him up short.

"Why"

Making a snap decision Serena allowed her transformation to fade. Quatra stood in shock at what he saw. It couldn't be. How could she be his enemy? Neither of them notice Tylor drawing his own sword and heading for Serena. Seeing the movement out of the corner of his eye. Quatra jumped behind Serena to intercept the blade with his own. But his aim was slightly off. Tylor's sword he had plunged deep into his chest. Serena ran to him and cradled him in her arms, praying for all she was worth that he would be saved. Quatra opened his eyes and wiped her tears away with the last of his strength.

"Don't cry over me. I see now what you were trying to tell me all those times. If Christ wants me I want him." Quatra whispered

"He has already forgiven you" Serena answered trying not to choke on her tears.

"I know, I really did love you"

"I love you too"

"good" And with that final word Quatra breathed his last breath, turned to ash and blew away upon the wind.

Crying Serena picked herself up and turned to face Tylor.

"I will avenge his death" She said

"you can try"

With that the two began there fight. Angel was already tired from her fight with Quatra and knew that she had to end this quickly. With what was last of her fading strength she found a weakness in Tylor's defenses and made her move, plunging her sword deep into his chest. With a final scream Tylor turned to ash and blew away.

There was a flash of light and an angel appeared.

"I swear you people are trying to blind me with all these flashes." Angel muttered, then she brokenly addressed the angel. "I don't get it why didn't God save him?"

"He did, just not in the way you wanted him too."

"But Why?"

"The ways of the lord are mysterious. I have come to tell you that your duties are through, and you may go back to living a normal life if you so choose."

"What about the rest of the Vampires?"

"I do not know the Lord only told me to deliver this message. He did not revel to me what will happen with either choice."

"I will continue to serve."

"Good, you have done well Serena. You will not be alone forever."

With another flash he was gone and the alley was dark. barely discernable was the drooping form of what seemed to be an angel as she mounted her hose and rode off into the darkness.