Chapter Two
The first customer to walk through the café doors the next afternoon was Lily, due to renovations the Café opened at noon on a weekend.
Lily had known her half-brother was returning to Syden. However, she hadn’t been sure of the date or time he’d arrive, then late last night she got a phone call from Emily asking suspicious questions about George and his relationship status. Lily knew the only place which had reliable news was Mystique Café owned by her favourite person, Sarah Corphae.
The bell on the door jingled letting Sarah know of her presence. The young woman came bustling in from the back room, her expression brightening at the sight of Lily standing at the entrance. Lily smiled and looked around noting that no-one else was here yet except for another young woman with short choppy black hair, nursing a large cup of coffee.
“Lily! I take it you’ll be having the usual cappuccino with a white chocolate and raspberry muffin?” Sarah asked cheerfully. Lily didn’t know how anyone could be so happy all the time. Sarah’s attitude was always infectious making everybody happy for the day ahead on a weekday, no matter the work they had to do or the mood they’d woken up with. Weekends were slightly different, but the effect of Sarah’s cheerfulness was always infectious.
“Yes please Sarah.” The soft-spoken young woman replied strolling to the table where Luella was sitting. Luella looked up, her frown melting into a smile when she saw Lily’s slight figure hovering next to her.
“I’m Luella Tayell. Nice to meet you, please have a seat.” Luella gestured to the booth across from her.
“Thanks. I’m Lily Beaumont, George’s half-sister.” Lily said, sitting down.
“He mentioned he had a sister on the drive into town last night. I find it funny that we both live here yet we’ve never met each other before.” Luella smiled as Sarah approached with Lily’s usual order.
“Thanks Sarah. Yes, it is rather strange.” Lily laughed, taking a sip of her coffee.
“I suppose that would mostly be because I had to leave early to walk to work over in the next town, it took me two hours!” Luella exclaimed, grinning.
“Not to mention you never returned until late at night when everyone was already at home in bed!” Sarah added with a laugh.
“True, I suppose.” Luella agreed.
“So how did you meet my lovely brother?” Lily asked, slicing her muffin. Luella blanched.
“Uh, that’s a rather interesting tale.” She said, grimacing.
“Do tell, Lu.” Sarah urged a wicked grin on her face. Luella shot her an annoyed look before taking a deep breath and launching into her tale, slipping into storyteller mode.
Luella paused frequently through the story, mostly for dramatic effect, but also to drink her coffee before it went cold. As she continued through the story, her sister dealt with customers while Lily paid rapt attention.
“What happened next?” Lily asked, wide eyed as she neared the point where she and George met. Luella grinned and continued.
“I ran across the road, not paying any attention and got hit by your brother’s pick-up truck. I ended up with a punctured lung, broken legs and a couple of broken ribs. He got out and came running around to see if I was ok, and then freaked out when I healed and stood up in front of him about five minutes later. He was the reason I got into town so early yesterday.”
“Wow. What a dramatic meeting!” Lily exclaimed her doe eyed expression making both Sarah and Luella start laughing.
“Yeah, just a bit.” Luella replied, calming down.
“Stories like that make me feel like I’m in high school all over again.” Sarah sighed.
“I know what you mean.” Lily agreed.
“I hope you don’t mind me asking, but how are you and George related? Do you have the same father with different mothers or is it the other way around?” Luella asked, looking curious.
“We’ve the same mother, different fathers. Neither of us ever really knew our fathers though. If I heard correctly, George’s father left before he realised mum was pregnant and my dad died in a car accident when I was about seven or eight so I don’t really remember much about him.” Lily replied a sad smile on her face.
“Oh, I’m sorry. You have my condolences. What about your mother?” Luella gasped, sadness filling her face.
“She died of cancer five years ago. I was fifteen, George was eighteen. He took care of me.” Lily replied with a sad smile.
“Do you know anything about George’s father?” Luella asked softly.
“Yes. If I remember correctly mum always told me of a man who had indigo eyes and gave her George. No idea what that means apart from the fact that he must have been George’s father. I haven’t the foggiest what happened to the man.” Lily replied, drinking the last of her coffee and slicing another piece of her muffin.
Sarah and Luella shared a glance. If George’s father had indigo eyes, then that meant he was an Angel and George was a Halfer. It was clear that George didn’t know about his heritage which was bad, especially as he looked to be in his early twenties. Meaning he had only a couple of years to acknowledge his heritage, choosing Human or Angel, unless he wanted to die slowly and painfully.
Suddenly the door jingled again and a group of chattering women entered followed by a pair of heavier footsteps. As Sarah left, a shadow fell over Lily and Luella. The girls looked up and smiled.
“Hey babe. Hey Lily.” George said smiling as he slid into the seat next to Luella and placed a soft kiss on the corner of her mouth. Lily raised an eyebrow at him and he jerked his head slightly. Lily looked up and rolled her eyes, noting the gossip mongers of Syden. Luella grinned.
“Rebecca and her groupies are here, seems they want to know more about your relationship.” Lily sniggered, earning a frown from George and a wink from Luella.
“Yes, it seems we made an impression on Rebecca last night.” Luella giggled snuggling closer to George who now had his arm over her shoulder. Sighing she lay her head on his shoulder, placing a blissful look on her face. George looked down at her and smirked, his emerald eyes sparkling as the chattering group of women got louder and louder.
“You do realise that Rebecca has been trying to get into George’s bed for months, years even. She thinks you’ve already managed to do that.” Lily pointed out giggling. The trio felt sorry for Sarah who was currently approaching the women to take all their orders and make them.
“Yeah, I know. What they don’t know though is that this is all a ruse.” Luella said quietly, a wistful sigh escaping. Fortunately for her only Lily caught it, not George. The trio started laughing when they were interrupted.
“Hey George, how are you? I haven’t seen you in a while.” A soft, breathy voice said from the left.
“Emily.” George replied stiffly.
“Buzz off Emily. My brother’s not interested.” Lily snapped, glaring at the woman standing next to them.
“Shut up Lily. I wasn’t talking to you.” Emily snapped back before focusing back on George, “Is it true then, Georgie? You’re dating this tramp? What happened to us? I miss you, I still love you, Georgie.” she simpered, fluttering her eyelashes and running her hands over her body before placing one manicured finger under his chin pulling his face up to look at her.
“I’d appreciate it if you kept your slutty paws to yourself and not touch my boyfriend.” Luella snarled at her, an icy glare on her face. The room dropped in temperature by at least five degrees and continued dropping slowly.
“Your boyfriend, tramp? Ha. Don’t make me laugh. He’s my boyfriend. He always has been and always will be.” Emily snarled back. Luella stood and shifted past George, pushing Emily back so they were both in the middle of the room staring at each other. The whole room got quiet, waiting to see what would happen next.
“Let me give you some advice. Firstly, never piss off an Angel. Secondly, stay away from George because he’s mine. I’ve warned you so don’t say I didn’t.” Luella stated a cold smirk on her face. The air aro
und Luella was so cold that it outlined her wings which had unfolded from her back in her anger.
“You’re an Angel? Puh-lease, why would anybody believe that? Angels are the immortal servants of God. I would know, since my father’s a Minister.” Emily said scathingly, raking her eyes over Luella’s body.
“Your father may be a Minister, but he obviously knows nothing. Angels are not immortal nor are they the servants of God. I’m an Angel and you’re pissing me off. You’d do well to remember my warning.” Luella replied with a deadly tone.
“If you’re an Angel then prove it.” Emily challenged. Luella’s smirk widened and Sarah stood off to the side, a large grin on her face to hide the concern in her eyes, she knew it was dangerous to try and use their angelic energies before they turned twenty-five when they matured.
“Me-ow!” George smirked, clawing the air. Lily sniggered at her brother’s antics and rolled her eyes.
Luella manipulated the air around her so the chill and ice would make her wings visible to human eyes while her hair rapidly grew long, ending at the small of her back. Her outfit morphed from jeans and a t-shirt to a billowing white long sleeved dress which was loosely fitted around her breasts, hugged her waist and arms before flaring out from the hips falling to her ankles allowing her bare feet to be visible. A silver belt with a sword attached formed around her hips. Luella’s violet eyes flashed, glowing a bright amethyst as she extended her wings enough to hover off the floor slightly. Her whole body seemed to give off an otherworldly glow as Emily stood below her, mouth agape.
“I think that’s enough now sister. I’m sure she gets your point.” Sarah said walking towards the floating Angel. Reaching up, she grabbed Luella’s hand calming her down.
Luella’s feet touched the floor again and she collapsed in Sarah’s arms. George came up behind the sisters and pulled them both into his embrace despite how the deadly chill still emanated from Luella’s skin. The chill and glow dissipated as Luella folded her wings into her back. She remained in the billowing white dress and her hair remained long although the sword which was sheathed on her silver belt disappeared. The room became warm again as Sarah and George helped Luella to the back room to rest. From there Sarah and George heard the light pattering of feet exiting the café then the doorbell jingle and a quiet click before Lily appeared in the room.
“I ushered Rebecca and her groupies out and flipped the closed sign over the door. Will she be alright?” Lily asked softly, marvelling at seeing an Angel in her true form.
“Thank you, Lily. She’ll be fine; she only needs to sleep for a few hours. Obviously, we’ll have to get her some new clothes and she may want to cut her hair later since she prefers to have it short.” Sarah replied smiling softly.
“I can pop over to Tara’s Boutique and grab some stuff for her.” Lily offered, wondering if Sarah was an Angel too. As she left she figured if they were sisters then it was highly possible.
“That would be great.” Sarah replied, accepting her friends offer. Once Lily had left, George spoke up.
“So is that her true form?” he asked.
“Yes, it is. I also have some news for you too, but I don’t know if you want to wait for Luella to wake up or not.” Sarah replied.
“Will she mind if we don’t?” he asked.
“No, I don’t think so. She may be asleep, but she can still hear us.” Sarah replied.
“Ok, tell me then. If it’s important, I’d really like to know.” He said looking at Luella’s sleeping form with a soft smile.
“It’s about your heritage. You’re what’s known as a Halfer which basically means you’re half Angel, half Human. I’m not sure how much more you know, but you have to choose between your Angel heritage and your human heritage before your twenty-fifth birthday. Angels stop aging at twenty-five, it’s how our DNA works and because of that we’re nearly incompatible with humans. It’s only compatible enough for a Halfer child to be conceived, but they won’t live past their twenty-fifth birthday if they don’t choose.” Sarah explained softly, watching both George and Luella.
“I see. I suppose it’s not a decision to be made lightly.” He commented.
“No, it most definitely isn’t. Choose wisely, George.” She replied before getting up and leaving the room to let him think about his options.
“Luella, what am I going to do?” he whispered as he too fell asleep. Little did he know, his heart had already decided.