Behind These Wings

Shield of Wings

Drew gave Izzy the kind of love that she could never have conceived.

He gave her purpose and life.

What then, was she supposed to do without him?

Izzy leant against the fencing around the balcony as the sun dipped behind the horizon. She looked out across the bare trees who stood naked to the elements, at the mercy of a rainy Spring that threatened the skies daily. They were without a shield, without protection.

Drew was her shield. Her Protector. Her Saviour.

These trees would survive but their bark was tough and her flesh was brittle. They were old and she was young. They were part of nature, playing their part in a bigger picture. Izzy was disrupting the painter.

"So this is where the guilty come. Too late for repentance, I believe."

She had thought that by this point, when He had successfully robbed her of any and all happiness that she had in her life, she would no longer fear this angel.

She had hoped He would no longer be able to torment her because she had nothing left to lose.

He could kill her but what was this life?

She had no roots left.

It would be a blessing.

But alas, her body fought for the age old want of survival. Life would not be available but survival would suffice. Consequently she felt the Goosebumps rise upon her skin and noted the eerie walk His voice took down her spine, increasing her heart rate with each successive step.

"Besides, some of us have committed sins so horrible, so abhorrent, that even the mere mention of them tarnishes the moment with disgust. It's no wonder, then, that no one will love you is it Isabelle? Everyone around you is repulsed by your mere presence."

"Stop it." Izzy's voice was quiet, taken away by the wind but Darren knew she had spoken.

"Excuse me?"

"I said, stop it." This time she was stronger, spine straight, shoulders back, eyes off of the ground and staring directly back at the angel she despised.

"I think you're forgetting who you're talking to. What do you think?"

About to reply that she thought he was a babbling imbecile that had guaranteed his spot in Hell ,well she at least considered it, Izzy was abruptly cut off as a hand crawled around her neck and yanked her head backwards, exposing her throat.

"Oh, definitely, such defiance. I thought we had made progress on that front." The second voice was almost worse than the first.

She recognised its tone immediately, despite not being able to view her assailant, and she observed the panic that instantly made itself known with his appearance. As with Darren, her reaction to Englas was instinctive; in the Institute that instinct was the one thing that would get you out alive.

"How did you get back into the Palace?" Izzy questioned, attempting to keep the rising agitation from her voice but the satisfied smirk on Darren's face told her she had failed.

"Friends in high places." Englas sneered in her ear causing her to recoil from his rancid breath.

"You should have known, Isabelle, I would never let your actions thus far go unpunished. You deserve everything that's coming for you and more; remember that." Darren's voice was deadly and instilled fear like nothing Izzy had ever felt before.