Counting Stars (Angel)

[Noah Taylor Cooper]

The sun was gone. A boy had trudged into the clearing, dragging himself up onto the cluster of boulders in the center. Now, he was neatly perched there, blue eyes staring intently up at the night sky. It had been a long day and he was grateful to escape the hustle and bustle of the city. He didn't have any missions tonight. His boss had told him to take the night off and relax. But there was no time for relaxing. There never was. Even when he was off the job, the wheels in his mind were still turning.

It was dark now. No one would be out here, except maybe a fellow werewolf. He doubted he would see them here though. Not many knew that this clearing existed. Noah hadn't either. Not until a few days ago, that is. He had been tracking a vampire and come across this place. It had been easy to find it again. All he'd had to do was follow the vampire's faded scent.

Noah wondered how long he could go on like this. It was only a matter of time before someone discovered his secret. The thought scared him. If he slipped up and they realized what he was doing, what would happen? If the wrong person found out, he could easily be killed. He could just imagine if one of the hunters learned he was really a werewolf, playing for the 'dark' side. He would bet they'd have a gun to his head in an instant. He'd be dead.

He sighed, tilting his head back to look up at the sky. It fascinated him. All the stars. Sometimes he would sit there and try to count them. Because, after all, he had all the time in the world.

[angel]

Three kittens dashed ahead without a care in the world. Their owner, however, hung back, her drawing pad neatly tucked under her arm. She gazed past the kittens, toward the darkening sky. It was getting late. It was past the safe time for a human to be out. She didn’t care. In fact, she had to care in the world at the moment. She was walking with her kittens, happier than ever. Angel passed a few towering trees and pulled flipped open her sketchbook. She removed a jet back pencil from behind her ear and began scribbling down a few outlines of the tree.

By now, she had gotten to the point where she combined different scenes. After pausing to draw the trees, she trekked on, her knee high boots scuffing the ground. She drew stumps, rocks, patches of grass, and even a small bird. Her eyes focused on the middle of the page. It needed a center. Angel sighed and allowed her arms to fall to her sides. She no longer heard the scuffling of her kittens. Alert shot through her as she picked up speed. Angel dashed forward, her eyes looking left and right. No sign of the grey fluff balls. She picked up her pace and pushed through a few bushes. Still no sign. Angel skidded to a halt to catch herself a breather.

She placed her hands on her knees and sucked in a deep breath. Angel took off. She didn’t stop running until she reached the edge of a clearing. Her gaze swept over the clearing. Sure enough, her kittens were rolling around at the bottom of a pile of boulders. Relief swept through her as she plopped onto the ground. She slowed her breathing down and trailed her gaze up the rocks. A boy was perched on top. It was perfect. She quickly pulled out her pencil and began drawing the boy on top of the rocks.

It was the perfect centerpiece for her drawing. Angel flicked her gaze up toward the rock and spotted Dog leaping toward the top. That was just great. Angel closed her sketch book and stood up, briefly dusting her skirt off. ” Dog! Come here, girl. Here kitty kitty! No bugging the poor boy!” she hissed as Dog went to rub up against the boy’s back.

[Noah Taylor Cooper]

Noah was so lost in his thoughts, so mesmerized by the sky, that he failed to realize he had company. He was oblivious to the kittens playing at the base of the rock. Oblivious to the girl sitting off in the distance, sketch pad in hand. If he had been paying attention, he would have noticed the sweet smell of the girl, heard the scampering footsteps of the kittens. But, he didn't. He was off in his own world.

Something rubbed against Noah's back, and he jumped a little, quickly looking down to see what it was. Noah blinked a few times, realizing it what it was. A... kitten? He had no idea what a cat was doing way out here in the middle of nowhere. And, as he looked around, he realized there wasn't just one kitten, but three of them. It was funny. Usually cats were afraid of him. It was as if they could sense what he really was. See through his lie. And, as everyone knows, cats don't like dogs... or werewolves. This kitten seemed oblivious to that though.

”Dog! Come here, girl. Here kitty kitty! No bugging the poor boy!” The mystery of the kittens was soon answered as Noah caught sight of a girl. He didn't know why she was out here so late. Maybe she had gotten lost. In any case, it wasn't safe. Noah just stared down at her for a few moments, still perched up on the rocks. "You named your cat Dog?" he questioned her, looking doubtful. Then he paused and forced a slight grin onto his face.

[angel]

Angel was fairly pleased when Dog hopped down from the rocks to join her brother and sister. With a sigh, Angel walked over to the trio of fluff balls and scooped them into her arms, eyes sparkling with delight. ”Why don’t you guys pay more attention to where you are going and stop bothering random people. It isn’t nice, ya know,” she stated as she scratched Scampers behind her ears. When the boy spoke suddenly, asking why she named her cat Dog, a wide smiled curved her lips. ”Why, because dear Dog acts more like a dog than a cat. As do the other two young kitties”.

She placed her freehand on her hip and stared up at the boy. She blinked her mismatched eyes and took a step back. With another sigh, she sat her kittens down and looked back up at the boy. Angel thought for a moment. It was getting to be an awkward silence, which weren’t very good. What to ask him? Maybe she should start with introductions. Those usually worked most of the time. ”Well… What’s your name? My name is Angel and these three devious critters are Scampers, Dog, and the only male, Miles…Again I am sorry if they disturbed you…” Angel said quickly.

Miles lurched forward and onto a rock. He jumped rock from rock toward the boy. He paused only for a moment to sniff the boy’s arm. In the next second, Miles started looking around, back raised and fur standing on end. Hisses came from his little mouth quickly. Angel frowned. Miles was the only kitten of the three that wasn’t accustomed to K-9’s. ”Uh sir? Do you perhaps have a dog around or something?” Angel asked as she rested a foot of one of the smaller rocks.