#taylor wright

The ring of the school bell filled the empty high school halls. For a split second, the hallway remained undisturbed and eerily silent. Then, the masses dashed out of both the cafeteria and the classrooms. The first and second lunch shifts were over and now, it was time for Lunch C to get their turn to shine. Everyone speed-walked as fast as they could without getting in trouble towards the lunchroom like they’d never eaten before. All but three.

Carin walked against the crowds in search of her two best friends. Five classrooms away on the left side of the hall, Taylor appeared. His tall and lean stature stuck out among the rest of the seniors, even more so against the underclassmen. His unnatural blue contacts were brightened by the blue jeans that hugged his hips. The caramel hair that cascaded down to his eyebrows hid his forehead that he was always self-conscious about. Holding the door open for his classmates, he waits and waits as they rush out of the room, somehow in a hurry and moving at a snail’s pace at the same time.

He glances around the hall, heading towards Carin. The two friends meet up together at another class. Out came June, the third musketeer in their group. His glasses slid down his nose as he used his pinky to push them up at the bridge. His height even overlooks Taylor’s, casting both Carin and the younger boy in a shadow. They met up altogether, Taylor stayed on the left side of the hall, June stuck to the right, and Carin rounded to the middle as had become a daily routine for the three friends.

“Rin, June’s eyes and my contacts match your eyes today.” Taylor offhandedly commented. He always noticed the little details like that. It was one of his charms.

Glancing over to June, his brown eyes hid behind the lenses as he glanced at Rin and made a goofy face, making a chuckle escape her throat. His dimples were shown off when he laughed at her reaction to him.

“You know, I’ve always loved your eyes since you moved here,” June responded as they began descending the staircase, gazing into her one blue eye and one brown eye. A breathy laugh escaped her as he was the only one who actually had an idea on what had caused her heterochromia because it definitely wasn’t genetic like others suspected it was. Carin was about to reply when someone slid past the group down the stairs to walk right beside another student, effectively blocking them, keeping other students from passing. The three had made it a point to always walk one behind the other down the stairs because they knew it frustrated others.

As Rin shot a glare at the student who passed, she turned around and poked her friend, “Uh oh, Ice Bust is giving me a glare because I wanted up with you…” She trailed off with a mocking tone, as well a roll of her eyes that she made sure the three could see.

Taylor put a hand on Rin’s upper back as he tended to do when he knew she was frustrated. He knew her mottos she lived by. One of which was “Do what needs to be done for you, not what anyone else tells you.” If she hadn’t have felt his hand, she might’ve said something that would’ve gotten her in trouble. Luckily, she had two great friends that knew her almost too well, at least they think they do.

Continuing on to the cafeteria, the three talked about their previous evenings, Carin leaving her’s pretty ambiguous. She absolutely loves Tay, but if he knew the truth about her, she’s not sure how he would react and if he would even remain friends with someone-- something like her. June was the only person that ever knew anything. He knew her arrival was strange and suspected her from day one. Finally, after hounding the girl, she finally told him what she was and he never treated her any differently. She was extremely grateful and she carried that sentiment with her all of the time, even through school. They trekked down the hallway, it’s significantly less busy because they purposefully took their time, and as they were passing the school’s office and lobby, Rin panicked and remembered something that had haunted her since she fell.

~~

Walking home after her first day of senior year, Carin passed through the sketchy neighborhood she always went through. It’s not like she had a choice. It was either she walked through the more run-down and abandoned neighborhood, or she took an extra thirty minutes to get back to her and June’s house. Since she had arrived, the Haynes had taken her in. Given that she didn’t actually have a last name when they adopted her, she decided to adopt theirs.

The only reason she had been walking home alone was that June had a student senate meeting after school. That’s what happens when someone’s the smartest kid in class and has a genius-level IQ. She absolutely hated being alone on Earth. In heaven, being alone wasn’t too uncommon but everyone also had orders to follow and they thought nothing of rebelling as she did. Here, nobody was safe. There were creeps, rapists, abusers, and other despicable beings and the worst thing? It was hard to tell who was who because most look like everyone else.

One of the houses she passed by had always given her a weird feeling and she just couldn’t shake it. Most feelings she had, however negative, Rin learned to deal with, but not the house on Cheonsa Avenue which literally translated to Angel Avenue. How fitting.

On her way, she decided to stop and glare at the house for the discomfort she had experienced because of it. She examined the house, noticed everything wrong with it. There were cracks along where the wall meets the roof. The columns holding up the beams looked close to collapsing as the bowed ceiling showed. The shutters were either missing or degrading in every way possible. What immediately caught her attention however were the piercing blue eyes staring her in the face and long, curled blonde hair. There was only one species she’s ever seen which has blue eyes that bright and pigmented, and she rebelled against them.

She felt her heartbeat increase and she picked up her chin to appear more in control. Rather than the wide, scared eyes that she first saw the angel with, she narrowed them at who she recognized as Arella. She clenched her jaw at who she had looked up to since her creation. Rin knew exactly why she was here and she was aware she came to collect on the life debt she owed to heaven. However, she wasn’t ready to leave Taylor and June, which is exactly why she continued walking down the street with her head held up high. Carin was not going to let her big sister get the best of her.

As she walked, she could feel her heartbeat steadying. She no longer felt the presence of Arella and she was so thankful. Passing by the red mailbox that indicated she was halfway home, she began to hear a flutter of wings. A gasp escaped her throat as a hand was placed on her shoulder and a single, “Carin” left the lips of the being behind her. It wasn’t spiteful, but it was regretful. Arella knew what she had to do and even though she didn’t want to, she knew she had to do it. So without turning around to meet those piercing blues again, she dashed as fast as her feet could carry her.

Tears began to fall from Rin’s mismatched eyes as she panicked. She cried so much that she could no longer see, which is why she didn’t see the man in her way. They both fell to the ground with an “OOMPH,” her on top of him, until she realized what had happened. Quickly scrambling off him, she gathered up the school items she had dropped as she apologized profusely.

Handing some back to her, he said, “It’s okay. I’m fine, are you?” He gently repositioned his head until he could see her downcast face.

Most of the time, if someone were to talk to Rin, she would’ve pushed them away and ignored them completely. However, once she looked up and realized who he was, she would’ve trusted him with her life. Guardian angels tend to grow quite the attachment to their charge and nothing was different about Carin and Taylor Wright.

She tried to suppress the smile that pushed its way across her face as she saw him. “I am now. I’m Carin.”

~~

Those piercing blue eyes stared her in the face, only they belonged to a different angel and not one Rin was extremely close too like Arella, one she had always been terrified of. Carin froze in her spot as she trembled. Arella had never approached her again, so they may have given another one of her sisters her order.

June noticed Rin’s discomfort and followed her line of sight. She had told him about her life before and about how to spot those who weren’t human. Once he looked into those eyes that were focused on his sister, he grew extremely protective. He placed his arm over her shoulders. He wasn’t even aware of what they were trying to do to her, but she was terrified and he wanted to comfort her.

The blue-eyed woman, Hael she remembered, approached the group of three with a smirk on her face. She absolutely knew what she was doing to Carin, it was clear as day she looked for her on purpose.

“Excuse me, children. I’m looking for room A107. I’m supposed to be subbing for one Mrs. Stausing this afternoon. You wouldn’t happen to know where that is, would you?” She asked as she took a step forward, invading Rin’s personal space with that damned all-knowing smirk etched into her face. June placed his arm in front of Rin as he stepped forward to the sub.

“Down the hall behind us, fourth door on the left. Now if you’ll excuse us.” June told her with a sense of formality and authority in his voice that Carin had never heard before. She would’ve looked at him in surprise and mocked his strange voice if she hadn’t been frozen in fear.

Hael cocked her eyebrow at the tallest before slowly making her way past them, purposefully taking small steps to stress the fallen in her midst. Taylor watched her with a puzzled expression as he was the only one who had no clue what was happening. As he looked back to the siblings, he noticed Rin’s body language. It was exactly the same as the first time they met, only without the tears burning tracks down her cheeks. Her whole body shook, she still had that emotionless expression, and the wide eyes that he knew had seen a lot more than they let on.

Once the woman was out of sight, Carin shuddered out a breath and leaned into June’s chest. He leaned down to press a kiss against the top of her head. Tay felt almost as if he was intruding on a sibling-only moment and was about to give them some privacy, however disappointed he was, before Rin reached her hand out behind her, searching for her best friend’s hand. As an embarrassed smile crossed his face at the sheer thought that she didn’t want him around as he gripped her hand and squeezed to reassure her. He had no idea why she was so shaken up, but he knew she’d tell him when she was ready. He would’ve trusted her with his life.

They finally got sat down for lunch, having a short time left. As they worked on getting enough food in their systems to last them throughout the afternoon, they discussed not only their days up until that point, but also their plans for the afternoon.

“...and then Janzow came over to my table and steals some of my chocolate covered cashews!” The girl exclaimed while letting out a slightly more relaxed laugh. As she recounted her AP Biology class, she looked to Taylor who was still invested in her story but had a slightly far-away look in his eyes. She had basically known Tay all of his life, even if he wasn’t aware of this fact, so she knew when something was on his mind.

“Tay? What is it?” However, he didn’t supply the information she was looking for.

“No, it’s nothing. Just thinking about you guys coming over this afternoon. Should one of us pick up food beforehand or just find something at my house?”

Carin quietly sighed as she knew something was troubling her best friend and he wouldn’t tell her. She didn’t want to push just in case he ended up resenting her for it. She smiled, but the light didn’t quite reach her eyes and she didn’t have her signature scrunch on the outside of her eyes. However, she pushed through.

“I can pick up some Chinese. It’s on the way to yours.” She suggested. She glanced at the two boys at her table as they shrugged.

“Sounds good to me.” June chimed in.

Taylor nodded enthusiastically as Carin said, “Then, that’s the plan.”

---

“TayTay!!” yelled the little girl. Her black hair flowing down to her waist moved frantically because of her running to her big brother. She jumped up into his wide open, receiving arms and he gave her a big bear hug. A smile crossed Carin’s face as she watched the sweet interaction unveiling before her. It never failed to amaze her how sweet he was with not only his own little siblings but kids in general. He’s always been that way.

“What are you talking about?” Nevaeh asked excitedly, hoping she would get to participate in the conversation. In her excitement, she bounced up and down on Taylor’s leg where she was sitting. He had to move her around so her bony bottom wasn’t hurting his leg.

He looked at her with the most loving eyes as he responded, “Well, we’re graduating high school this year and we’re trying to figure out what we should do this weekend. We want to do something fun every weekend until we graduate.”

Her eyes widened, amazement sparkling in every spot. The light brown of her eyes looked brighter as she thought about all the fun they could all have. “We should go play on the playground together!” The room erupted in laughter at Nevaeh’s playfulness.

Carin scooted to the edge of her seat and held onto the little girl’s hands. “Lovey, we will definitely go play on the playground with you sometime soon, but we want to plan something just for the three of us at the moment, okay? Do you have any other ideas just for the three of us?” Rin rubbed her thumbs along the backs of her hands as she thought. Though the disappointment about not getting to participate was definitely evident on her face, the moment the idea popped in her head, her face lit up.

“One of the boys in my class talking about a haunted house today! I think he said it was on Cheonsa Avenue, but he’s a meanie so he might’ve lied to me. That sounds spooky and fun! What about that Rinnie?” the girl asked with an innocence about her that almost made Rin forget about the horror that occurred there at the beginning of the school year.

Carin stiffened her body, letting go of the little girl’s hands as she averted her gaze to anywhere other than her or Taylor’s eyes. She rubbed her hands anxiously against her thighs and then ran a hand through her dark chocolate hair.

Sensing the tension in the air, and especially because he knew why, June stood up and went over to Tay’s sister. “Hey gorgeous, how about we go hang out in your room and talk about your great idea while we play with your toys?” Though she looked sad that no one was as excited as she was about the house, she nodded and raised her arms. June leaned down and as he picked her up, she wrapped her little arms around his neck. Taylor and Carin watched after the two before being left in awkward silence.

“What is it? Why did you act like that when Neveah brought up that house?” Taylor asked as he moved to sit next to her. He intertwined his fingers and placed them in his lap, awaiting her response patiently.

Carin shrugged lazily before she let out a frustrated sigh, “It’s really nothing, I just had a bad experience there one time. I’ve never been back there since. I don’t know if I could go back there, honestly.” She sighed again except this one came out with more of a shutter.

“Do you want to talk about it? I know that helps me with topics like this.”

She finally brought herself to meet his eyes, concern flooding behind those dimmed blue contacts. Her arms, almost on their own, wrapped around his left arm as her head rested against the upper part, “Definitely one day. I don’t know if I’m ready right now.” She kept the next part in a quieter mumble, “Plus, I still don’t know if you would accept me.”

“Hm? What was that?” He questioned, glancing over to where she was.

“Oh, no, don’t worry, it was nothing. Just thinking out loud, you know?” Taking a deep breath and releasing it shortly, she sat up and looked him in the eye, “If you and June want to go, I’ll go. Last time I was there, I was completely alone. I’m sure it won’t be as scary with my two favorite people in the world.”

Taylor met her eyes and searched for any part pleading for him to say no, and while he could sense something similar to that, most of what he could see genuinely just wanted to spend time with her brother and best friend, no matter what they were doing.

“I mean, I think it would be fun, but it all depends on June now.” Taylor stood up and dramatically turned around and held out his hand. With a giggle and a big smile, Carin took his hand and they headed to his little sister’s room where they found something that made both of them collapse in side-splitting laughter.

Sitting on the floor was June wearing a bright pink boa and crown with red lipstick everywhere but his lips. In front of him sat an elaborate and delicate tea set that Rin had seen before when the Nevaeh got it. Of course, none of them know she had seen that. The rest of the evening until she had to go to bed, the three of them played pretend with her. They played everything from princes and princesses with her plastic crowns to pirates with her play swords. They even at one point played The Floor Is Lava and Taylor had the brilliant idea to start out on the bed, stealing two pillows to use as a constant bridge to wherever he wanted to go. Not even June had thought of that idea.

When they had finally decided to settle down and watch a movie, the little girl fell asleep on Carin’s lap, her head tucked in the crook of her neck. Tay offered to take her to bed so Rin didn’t have to worry about waking her, but she refused, taking the Nevaeh to tuck her in bed herself. Wrapping her arms around the tiny waist, she gently held her head as she stood up and headed to her room. Carin pulled back her covers and carefully placed her underneath them.

Just before turning the lights out and returning to her friends, Rin heard a quiet, “Rinnie? Can you tell me a story?”

Carin cooed at the girl, her half-lidded, sleep-ridden eyes forcing themselves to stay awake to hear a story from one of the only women she looked up to.

“I’ll tell you a short one, lovey since you’re clearly about to fall asleep again. Once upon a time, there was an angel. She lived happily with the rest of her friends until one day they told her to do something very bad. This bad thing could’ve hurt someone she loved very much, so she refused. She was given two warnings until her boss decided to fire her. She beat him to it though and she left on her own in search of people who would truly love her for her and not make her feel different. She still gets scared, just like everyone, but she knows she has two of the best friends on the whole planet that she could trust with her whole being…” Carin trailed off realizing the weight of what she just said. If she could trust them with everything, why had she waited so long to tell them about that night?

As soon as the girl’s eyes drifted shut, she quickly turned the lamp off and made her way back to the living room. Before she could lose confidence, she blurted out, “There’s something I have to tell you two, but mostly Taylor.”

---

“Hold on, you mean to tell me you’re a fallen angel and that substitute teacher is here to kill you for disobeying? AND! That night we met, you were running from another angel also trying to kill you? That’s why you looked so scared and upset when we first met. Ever since seeing you with that sub, I had been thinking about the night we met.” Taylor clarified with his head in his hands, clearly trying to comprehend all of the information thrown at him at once.

June, who had remained silent through most of it due to already knowing, finally spoke up. “Why didn’t you tell me about that night?”

“I didn’t want you to worry…”

“Wait a minute! You knew?” Taylor blurted out, his head shooting up from his hands as he looked at the tallest in surprise. Turning his glance to Carin, he added, “He knew?”

“Of course I know, she’s been living with me since she fell and I always thought her appearance was strange, not to mention she was scared of everything at the beginning and she couldn’t name any relatives. She always looked like she was lying and trying to find the best excuse possible.”

“Hey!” Carin exclaimed in defense.

“Am I wrong?” He asked her with a raised eyebrow and a cocky smirk. At her silence, he returned his glance to Taylor, “Like I was saying, I basically forced it out of her. If you had gone searching around and got too close to figuring it out, I’m betting she would’ve told you too.”

“I would have. I swear it, Tay. I was just afraid you wouldn’t want to be friends with me anymore for being, I don’t know, not human.”

“Hey,” he said in defense, “I could care less if you’re an angel. Hell, you could be a demon and I wouldn’t care. You’re still you and you’re my best friend, I’m more hurt that you didn’t tell me sooner.”

Carin nodded her head while her gaze dropped to the ground in shame. Taylor pulled her into a hug and kissed the top of her head. They stayed there until June cleared his throat, getting uncomfortable with the lasting embrace.

The two separated awkwardly with a laugh while June asked, “Are you still comfortable with going to the house? Now, that your secret’s out, there’s no reason to go if you don’t want to.”

Carin flopped onto the couch, weighing her options. She could either stay away from that house for the rest of her life and keep her closest friends from exploring, or she could woman up and explore the house alongside them and finally get some answers as to why that house had given her the creeps all these years.

“What the hell. 7 PM tomorrow?”

---

True to their word, June and Carin picked Taylor up at precisely 7 PM to go explore the house on Cheonsa Avenue. The whole drive over was tense and Rin shook the entire time, no matter how much she denied it. Her heart rate and breathing began to quicken as they got closer. Tay put his hand on her shoulder from the backseat and June placed his hand on her own that gripped the center console. She let out a breath and nodded, thinking to herself, I can do this.

Walking inside the house spooked Taylor and Carin immensely. Though Carin was scared of this house originally because of Arella in the window, she kept thinking there were ghosts in the house. June, who was a lot more logical and reasonable had to keep reminding them there were no ghosts and the creaking was just because it’s a very old house. However, when they reached the second floor, everything took a turn.

The door at the top of the stairs looked suspiciously well-kept, nothing like the rest of the decrepit house. Both Taylor and Carin froze and gulped. Something was behind that door, they both knew it. With a shake of her head, Carin walked forwards and slowly and shakily wrapped her hand around the door handle. The second she touched it, an ear-bleeding, shrill scream rang in her ears. She couldn’t hear June and Taylor’s concerned voices, nor her own scream in pain as she dropped to her knees looking for comfort. Her eyes squeezed shut tighter than they had ever been before and she trembled on the ground, vulnerable. Both men surrounded her trying to comfort her until whatever was happening to her stopped as they had no clue what was causing her to scream.

A moment felt like eons, but finally, the screaming in her ears dissipated and all that was left was a terrified girl with giant tear tracks running down her flushed cheeks, small drops of blood falling from her ears, a thin layer of sweat covering her forehead from the distress and two men embracing her in the most comforting way. As she waited for her breathing to steady, she sat in their arms and wiped away the blood, sweat, and tears. Once there were minimal shutters lacing her breathing, she nodded to Taylor and June, telling them she was okay and they could let go.

She stood up on shaky legs and let her eyes fall down to the ground where she spotted a thick, red substance pooling under the door. A breathy gasp escaped her as she stumbled backward into June.

“Rin? What is it?” He asked, following her line of sight to the ground.

“You don’t see the pool of blood coming out from under that door?” She asked incredulously as if it’s the most obvious observation ever.

“No, I don’t, neither does Taylor.”

The realization hit Carin. There were plenty of anomalies she could see that humans couldn’t due to the residual angelic power still in her. She reached her trembling finger out to graze the doorknob once more, wincing when the screaming came back for a split second, much shorter than the first time.

“I can’t open the door. All I can hear are angels screaming. Not like if one of you were to scream, but imagine the highest pitch scream you can think of and raise it another octave. Neither of you can touch it either, it might actually kill you and I couldn’t live with myself if anything happened to you guys.” Carin’s voice trembled with held-back tears and complete and utter fear.

“I have a solution to that.” Taylor chimed in as he kicked the door in with the force of his whole body. The door flew open, the wood around the locking mechanism splintering and flying into the room. Just when they thought they were in the clear, the house rang out with another scream, once again coming from Carin.

Their eyes flew back to her where she stared at the empty floor with the most troubled expression. Both boys looked back to the floor to try and find whatever was scaring her so bad but to no avail.

“Rin, you’ve got to tell us what you see. Whatever it is, we can’t see it,” June told her as calmly as he could manage given the situation.

“Arella,” she shuddered out, “she’s dead.”

Carin stuttered in a shocked breath and looked even more terrified, obviously meaning something else had happened. Just before either of them could ask what, she muttered out a single name in question.

“Hael?” More tears fell from her eyes as she became extremely overwhelmed.

Making herself and Arella visible to Taylor and June, she started toward Carin. Recognizing the angel and seeing her coming closer, June stepped protectively in front of Rin like he had the first time they ran into her, with a flick of her wrist she pushed him aside, getting up in Rin’s space.

“You know her death is completely on you, right?” A sob escaped Carin’s throat as she tried to suppress anything further, “All she had to do was come down, deal with you, and come back, but she couldn’t. All she saw was the sweet little angel who was too innocent for her own good, not the rebellious bitch that turned her back on her family for a human she fell in love with. You’re still hanging around him even now, how pathetic can you be? Do you really think a whiny boy who you literally tripped and fell into when you met him is better than being an angel? You really must be delusional. If Arella couldn’t do her job, I’ll just have to do it for her, like most things she wimped out of.”

Her hand that she had kept hidden behind her back finally came forward, revealing the only weapon that could kill an angel, and Carin knew she had mere seconds.

“I love you guys.” She glanced at Taylor on her left and June on her right being held in place by Hael, not able to move. She looked back at the angel as she closed her eyes. She whispered, “Just don’t hurt them, I’m begging you.”

“No promises.” Her hand wound back, building up the force she would need when four screams rang out.

When all of the screamings died down, silence filled the air. It wasn’t until a body hit the ground that everyone remaining came to their senses. Including Carin. At hearing the body drop, she winced until she realized she wasn’t in any kind of pain and she was perfectly fine. Reluctantly, she opened her eyes to see Hael’s body on the ground and an extra bright blue-eyed male standing just behind where she had been. Having just murdered someone, he had an unusually bright smile that could’ve rivaled the sun. Carin couldn’t help but find it a bit unsettling.

“Who are you? Are you going to try and kill me too or can I check on my friends?” She asked with a terrified shake in her voice. She’d moved past the point of pretending to be strong. She just didn’t have the energy anymore.

The angel cocked his head, “No, I came to save you.”

“Why?”

“I’m Ramiel, the angel of hope. Call me crazy, but I have hope that you aren’t some terrible monster like the first rebellious one. I believe in you. Now go help your friends.” He smiled and something about it gave Rin hope, as intended. She nodded and headed to June.

She launched herself into his arms and felt herself sob again, even though she was sure she had no more tears left to cry. They sat there just crying into each others’ necks, her apologizing profusely and him repeatedly telling her how much he loves her. Once their crying subsided, they stayed in a hug until a groan came from her left. She whipped her head around to see Taylor, who had actually passed out because of everything. She gulped and June gave her a reassuring “go get him” as she crossed over to him.

Once he opened his eyes, they grew four sizes before he breathed out, “Rin?”

“Surprise?” She said with a shrug.

He jumped up and pulled her into the tightest hug he could manage without hurting her. Staying there for what felt like hours, before Taylor pulled back, cupping her face and asking, “But how?”

She nodded her head towards where she was standing earlier where Ramiel still stood, “Ramiel saved me. He took care of Hael before…” she trailed off, not even wanting to think about what would’ve happened had he not showed up.

“Thank God,” he pulled her back into a hug. “Wait,” he pulled back again, “You didn’t trip and fall into June when you met him, did you?” He looked genuinely nervous and she found it extremely endearing.

“Nope, only you.”

“Perfect.”

June had finally made his way over to the pair and said, “Before you two make anything official, maybe we should get out of this house. I don’t know about you two, but I never want to come back here again.”

“Second that!” Taylor announced.

“Third it!” Rin exclaimed as she let out a relieved sigh and a shiver wracked through her body. “Oh, wait! Thank you--” She turned around to thank Ramiel again, but he was gone. Not a trace of anything that just happened including Arella and Hael. Everything looked perfectly normal for an old, rundown building. “Maybe we should have just went to play on the playground with Nevaeh.”