Carmen DeSousa - Creatus

Kris staggered down the stairwell of the apartment building, cursing aloud for what her life had become. Just twenty-two and shed poisoned her body so many times she hardly even recognized herself.

A stale stench of sweat and liquor assaulted her senses, causing her stomach to lurch, compelling her to escape the dilapidated structure. The rusty railing swayed beneath her grip, giving her minimal support as she descended the stairs. As soon as she stepped onto the street, she inhaled a deep breath, trying to rid herself of the rancid smell. The smell persisted, which meant it was on her. Sadly, she wasnt sure if the odor belonged to the stranger whom shed spent the last few hours dodging sexual advances or if she smelled like the walking dead. How had she let herself become such trash?

Why did you save me? she screamed into the black void, similar to her life. She hadnt asked him to save her when she was eight years old.

As always, no one answered her ridiculous peal, which was probably just as well. Attracting attention in this part of town wasnt smart. She clicked the key fob for her Grand Am as she scanned the street. She barely even remembered driving here after she left the nightclub. The problem with drinking too much, which she did far too often these days, was that as her inhibitions fell, so did her standards. The man from the bar had been cute, but hed obviously wanted something other than money in exchange for a hit. What else should she expect when she followed a man home whose name she couldnt even remember.

She hadnt planned to go home with a stranger. But when hed suggested they could get high together, it had sounded like fun, a chance to escape her nightmares and her empty apartment. A chance to do anything but feel the pain she endured by her guilt every time she closed her eyes.

Kris strained to hear the chirp from her vehicle as she weaved along the sidewalk. Her heels lodged into the cracks in the concrete, causing her to trip several times. Somerville was such a dump. She should have used the money from selling her mothers jewelry six years ago on eBay and moved to California. Instead, shed stayed in this frigid, run-down suburb of Boston. But she knew why she hadnt. She was afraid if she left, shed never see her protector again. A day didnt go by that she didnt get an eerie feeling that someone was watching her.

Out of nowhere, a chill would travel the length of her spine shed swear was her Dark Angels breath on her neck. But every time she turned around, no one was there. So instead of escaping, shed used the money to buy a P.O.S. car and drugs and started on her debauched journey. She knew she was better than the life shed been living, but every night she found the answers no one offered her at the bottom of a bottle.

Sometimes she wished her Dark Angel hadnt saved her. If he didnt care, why had he bothered?

Not once, but twice.

She was beginning to think shed conjured up his image to erase the guilt of her mothers death. Her Dark Angel, as she called him since she had no name for the handsome stranger, had accosted a degenerate whod attacked her mother and her when she was eight, allowing her to escape. Unfortunately, her mother had still died.

When she was sixteen, hed rescued her a second time. Shed been so excited to go to her first college frat party, but her date had laced her drink with some type of date-rape drug. Seconds after hed helped her outside to get fresh air, hed ripped at her clothes. When shed refused, smacking his hand away, the college sophomore had turned aggressive. Hed smashed her head against a brick wall of the dorm, slamming his hand over her mouth. He would have raped her, and she wouldnt have been able to stop him. The drugs hed given her made it impossible to stand, let alone thwart off his attack.

But again, out of nowhere, shed felt the warm embrace of her Dark Angels arms after he tore the loser off her, the same way hed wrenched the thief away from her mother. His mysteriously ebony-colored eyes had gazed into hers as hed whisked her away. His deep, melodic voice had whispered that shed be okay. The same aspects shed distinctly remembered about him when she was eight, but then hed disappeared again after depositing her inside her vehicle, ordering her to lock the doors until her best friend came out to the car.

Shed never told anyone about him. Not even her best friend. Beth would have said, Dark, mysterious stranger who watches over you yeah, right! It did sound preposterous and melodramatically romantic, so it couldnt possibly be true. But no matter how many times her brain tried to convince her he didnt exist, her heart refused to listen. Hed protected her for a reason, she was certain. Though sometimes, Kris wished her Dark Angel had allowed the thief in the alley to kill her too, saving her from a life of loneliness.

The sun hadnt come up yet, but the hue of the horizon was fading from a deep navy to a lighter shade of violet. Another beautiful spring day shed spend sleeping off a massive hangover she felt making its way to the surface. Another day she wouldnt make it to work, and this time theyd fire her. Her boss had made that crystal clear last time.

Another sharp odor hit her senses, knocking her backward a few steps, stumbling again. The pungent scent of rotting vegetables instantly transported her to the night of her mothers death. For years, shed been unable to keep fruit for more than a day in her apartment because the scent brought back the painful memories. But this time, it felt as if she were actually there again, as if the scent had literally transported her to that horrible moment when she lost everything.

Kris took a moment to survey the alley where the reek emanated. Her eyes raked over the faded red brick, a flickering sign at the end, and a dumpster overflowing with garbage from the mom-and-pop grocery store, the source of the insulting pong. Sucking in a breath, she almost retched as the memory hit her fully.

Oh, God! She was in the same alley where her mother had been murdered.

Shaking her head to dislodge the painful recollection, Kris tottered in her high heels. The rough texture of the wall dug into her skin, reinforcing the memory. The image of the thiefs face flashed in her head. Even before hed plunged the knife into her mothers chest, shed detected the murderous gleam in his eyes.

Nothing would obliterate the memory of him shoving them against that decaying building, the glint of the knife as hed wielded it erratically. The bloodso much blood. Her mothers blood.

Kris whipped her gaze to the rooftops, knowing her Dark Angel was watching her, knowing he was always close by. You were there, she cried. I dont know who or what you are, but I want to know why you didnt save my mother? She gasped out a breath, attempting to contain her cries. And why you left me alone!

No matter what she wanted to believe, the memory was real. She hadnt imagined him coming off the building, landing in front of her with a soft thump, the sliver of light from the street revealing he was much larger than the guy whod attacked them. Nor had she dreamt up the anguished scream that had escaped his throat as he tore the thug off her mother, the crack of the degenerates skull as he slammed him into the concrete.

As theyd tried to get away, her mother collapsed in her arms. Shed pleaded for the angel to help her. But hed just stared from where he squatted by the thug, his dark eyes focusing on her as though he recognized her, and said, Im sorry. Theres nothing I can do to save her. Shed blinked the tears out of her eyes, and he was gone. Kris had buckled in the dark alley, crying over her only parents lifeless body until the police arrived.