A Troublesome Assignment

Seth worked by the bar awhile, he mostly stayed behind it mixing drinks and talking with the customers that didn't sit by a table instead choosing the long bar counter. The crowd had slowed a little and Seth decided to take a quick break himself, grabbing a beer he sauntered over to a few of his friends and lit a cigarette, inhaling deeply before blowing out a cloud of smoke. As he stood there a bright golden colour caught his attention and when he glanced over to see the man with the abnormaly blonde hair walking in with Rose, apparently he had been the one she'd mentioned. Ignoring that he turned back to snapp back a remark from Bobby, spending some time with them and emptying his beer before going to take some orders again.
 
Rose looked over and saw Seth standing with some of his friends. She was going to wave but then remembered who she was with and how they were here for business. Rose sighed and sat down at a table. Gabriel began looking through the folders she had started and made little remarks here and there. He didn't say much directly to her and that was fine with Rose. The sooner she could get out of here the better. All of a sudden Gabriel stood up and made his way to the bar. "Excuse me. Can I have a rum and coke?" ​he asked Seth. Rose watched as he did.
 
As someone went up to the bar to order Seth looked up to see the blonde man who was with Rose, he had some sort of charisma that Seth had never seen before and eyes of a man used to be in charge and obeyed. "`Course," he said smoothly and turned around to fetch glasses for the drinks before filling them up and brought them back to the man. "New in town as well?" He asked causually, a slight bit curious about Rose's reaction and this man that seemed just like any normal guy but with authority and aura that seemed out of place in this place.
 
Rose nervously began to tap her foot on the ground. A really annoying old habit she used to have when she would become nervous. It seemed to be taking Gabriel forever to get back. Rose was just ready to get this meeting over with. She looked over to the bar.

Gabriel leaned against the counter and studied Rose's subject before answering, "Actually no. I'm just here to visit an old friend."
 
No offence to either of them but in Seth's mind they didn't seem to be that close but what did he know, they could have been best friends or a couple or something although it seemed strange judging by the reaction Rose had at the restaurant earlier, or perhaps he was just reading into it too much. "Hope you'll have a good time then," he said, getting the strangest feeling that the man was observing him rather than just talking. "There something else I can do for you?" Seth asked, his tone not so polite that his words hinted at, as the man didn't seem to leave with his drinks.
 
"Hmmmm....No thanks. I've got all the information I need." Gabriel said as he left his glass untouched on the counter. He walked over to Rose who looked at hime when he approached. "Everything go alright?" she asked curiously wanting to know what they talked about. "Everything went just peachy. Let's get going. I have another appointment in five minutes." he said grabbing the folders and walking out. Rose didn't answer but silently grabbed her coat and followed him. She tried to find Seth to say good-bye but she didn't see him.
 
Seth looked as the man left, leaving the glasses on the counter and picking up some papers before leaving with Rose on his heels. "What the hell," he muttered under his breath, frowning slightly. Than man was just weird, he had a gnawing feeling it had been him more than the drinks that made the man come over in the first place but then why the hell did he leave abruptly. Shrugging it off Seth served some customers and flirted a bit with the waitress before finally getting some free time again. "What the heck was his deal?" asked Kevin, looking up as Seth came over. "Not a clue. Now is there anyone willing to give up some money later, I could need some more?" Seth said with a smirk.
 
Gabriel abruptly stopped only a few feet away from the bar. He turned to face Rose and said, "And this is where I take my cue to leave, little grasshopper. Hvae fun. Don't be stupid." And with that he disappeared. Rose let a large sigh of relief. She could finally breathe and was free to stretch her wings. Well ,metaphorically speaking, she didn't have her wings yet. Rose walked back to her apartment and laid down on her bed. She decided to recharge for a little bit. Rose laid very still on the bed and closed her eyes.
 
Spending his evening as planned Seth quickly forgot about the strange happenings during the day and when his shift was up he settled down with his usual gang to play some cards, having his usual beer again, he had never been fond of stronger drinks and he disliked being drunk, mainly because of the hangover but also because of his upbringing so he only rarely had anything stronger to drink. For the first time in awhile he had some bad luck, he could not concentrate fully on the game, he only barely managed to win back enough money to break even by pure willpower almost as he couldn't afford loosing money. Breaking up earlier than usual Seth left the bar leaving the others to continue playing, the moon already hung in the sky and the few stars that could even be seen shone weakly, the air had a chill to it that nipped at him through his thin jacket. Today had been a weird day and when he had nothing to do but walk his thoughts kept coming back to todays events until he got home. Feeling hungry Seth made a sandwich despite the late hour and ate it standing in his small kitchen before changing to a pair of thin pants and went to bed, falling asleep quickly, he'd never had a problem sleeping anywhere or at anytime.
 
Rose "woke up" from her recharge feeling fresh and ready to go. But first she stopped in her kitchen to get some ambrosia. That was the only thing that actually gave her nourishment, food was tasty but did nothing for her. Rose decided to go for a walk. She put on a sweatshirt and a pair of yogas and walked down to the lobby. She visited her mailbox but there was nothing there yet. So she continued and walked outside. She made it a long ways into the city before she started to hear footsteps behind her. Rose ignored it and continued walking until she felt someone breathing on her neck. She turned around and came face to face with a hooded stranger. Before Rose could escape he pulled out a knife and stabbed her. She stumbled back and fell to the ground. The stranger searched her pockets and found nothing. So he swore, pulled his knife from her, and ran away. Rose tried to collect herself but the amount of blood was getting to be too much. She just needed to recharge once more and it would be fine. Rose staggered her way back to her apartment complex and fell in front of Seth's door.
 
Seth woke up late the next morning, feeling like doing nothing all day, always a perk when you had no job or duties, the ability to do as you want without a downside. While he waited for his coffee Seth headed downstairs quickly to bring up his mail, the same old boring stuff, bills and more bills as usual, he threw the bills on the counter in the kitchen before fixing some sandwiches and bringing them and a cup of coffee to the small living room and switched on the TV. Zapping through channels while eating finding nothing even moderatly interesting to watch Seth eventually gave up and got up to a refill, staying in the kitchen leaning against the counter trying to find something to do he heard someone in the hall, this cheap building and its thin walls let through pretty much every noice.

First he didn't think much of it until a thud was heard, by the sound of it close to his door, it was quite a bit early for people to get home drunk beyond belief and it wasn't that common in this building either, putting down his cup he went to the door and opened it promptly to the sight of Rose's bloody body on the floor, a sight that actually made his jaw drop slightly. Quickly he kneeled down, not noticing that blood from the floor smeared on his pale jeans as he shook her shoulder, as she slumped over on her back some he noticed all the blood seemed to come from the stomach. That meant she could have made it from where she was stabbed and here before finally bleeding out, and it was more reasonable as this neighbourhood may not be the best one but it usually wasn't very violent. "Hey, hey Rose," his attempts got no reaction from the girl, she just lay limp before him. Checking for a pulse Seth couldn't find it on either her throat or wrist. "Damn," he sighed. "What the heck am I supposed to do with this?" he muttered out loud, why did this happen to him, she was, or had been, a nice girl and all but he could really do with not having to find her dead.
 
Rose could feel herself become slightly animated again. She was able to process what was happening around her, however, her earthly body was in no condition to react. She could feel Seth shaking her and calling her name. She even felt him look for a pulse on her wrist and throat but that wouldn't be much help considering she never had one in the first place. Rose tried her best to open her eyes which wasn't much, just barely a slit. She tried to form words next. "Can....I...rest....on...your.....couch?" she said barely above a whisper. Those little actions took all of the energy that she had left. Rose's mind was still sharp but she could feel her body shut down for repairs. She just hoped that Seth was able to hear her and not call for any medical help.
 
Seth stared at Rose, his grey eyes widening slightly, had he just heard correctly, did she just speak? But she had no pulse so how in the world could she have spoken? Maybe his food had gone bad without him noticing it and his mind played tricks on him or was her pulse just really slow. Though surprised Seth had never been one to panic but hearing a person who should be dead speak was quite rattling even for him so after contemplating it for a few moments before picking her up, she wasn't very heavy as guessed by her slim build and he didn't want to seem superficial but blood would be very hard to wash from his couch but it also seemed too cold to dump her in the bathtub so instead he managed to spread a blanket rouchly over the couch before putting her down.

Realising it would be quite hard to explain how a lot of blood had ended up in front of his door, especially regarding his reputation Seth grabbed some things and went to clean up the blood until he was certain all was gone, thankfully her wound didn't seem to have been so bad enough to have pooled blood all around her, instead he cleaned off splatters instead, making the process a lot faster as he lived a few floors up. Coming back inside Seth checked to see that Rose hadn't moved, not that he expected her to, a wound like that should kill her eventually, it was a wonder she was even alive, which she must be as she had spoken. In his bedroom he changed to some clean clothes taking the bloodstained ones to the bath room and washed them thouroughly in cold water until the blood was gone. Hang them to dry he went back to the living room and looked at Rose, once more he checked for a pulse but found none, sighing he pulled a hand through his hair and opened his window and crawled through it to sit on the fire escape, litting a cigarette, the normal habit calming him.
 
Rose recharged for about two more hours before she finally woke up. There was only a little stinging in her stomach but it was bearable. Rose got off the couch and stretched. When she finally opened her eyes she realized that she wasn't in her apartment. It took a few seconds for Rose to remember what had happened. So this must be Seth's apartment she thought. "Seth!" she called out hoping she could use his shower. She wanted to clean herself. Bleeding all over yourself was messy and Rose felt grimy. Rose walked over to an open window in his living room and stuck her head out of it. "There you are. Didn't you hear me call you?" she asked.
 
He hadn't, Seth had been too caught up in his thoughts that he had not heard her initial call nor her coming to the window, he jumped slightly, fingers clenching hard around the cigarette he held, as Rose stuck her head out the window and spoke, he didn't like to call himself a scaredy cat but anyone must at least be a bit shocked if they found themselves in his shoes today. "What the...You're awake?" Although he was almost certain that he had heard her talk earlier, to let her rest, but he had to admit that he hadn't really expected her to actually be alive and especially not walking around like nothing just a few hourse after being stabbed. "How is it even possible you survived that stab," he asked, his voice growing sharper as he was confronted with things he didn't understand. "You didn't even have a pulse when i checked earlier."
 
Rose sighed. She knew that this would happen sooner or later. "Do you mind if I take a shower. I'll explain everything after that." She asked him. Rose wasn't too sure how to break the news. But showers always made her mind sharper and clearer and that's where she made her best decisions. So hopefully this would work.
 
Seth looked at her sharply, pondering over how she possibly could explain all this, his mother who had been very superstisious would probably have a few ideas but Seth had never believed in the supernatural, well not so much anyway, but this seemed like a difficult thing to explain. "Sure," he said, biting back an urge to demand an explanation instantly, if he had been covered in as much blood as her then he'd want a shower too. This situation was so strange anyways so there could possibly not get any weirder if so a fairy came flying, sighing Seth looked down on his cigarette in his hand, it had been crushed by his hand earlier, he threw it off the fire escape before heading inside. As Rose took her shower he wentto the kitchen and pulled out a beer, he had a feeling something stronger could be needed later when Rose would give her explanation.
 
Rose stepped out of the shower feeling so much better. Her wound was completely healed and there was only a faint scar which should be gone by the next day. Once Rose had gotten out of the shower and dried off she realized that she didn't have a change of clothes. So she borrowed one of Seth's shirts and and a pair of sweats. Rose walked out of the bathroom and into the living room. "Hope you don't mind. I didn't have anything else to put on." she said, "So... ready for an explanation?"
 
When Rose came back out Seth was pulled from his thoughts, or rather possible explanations of what had happened, maybe she just was one of those people on whom it was practically impossible to find a pulse on even for experts, or perhaps he had been more stressed than he liked to believe and his mind had played tricks on him or perhaps he was a vampire, the last thought was so ridiculous that he smirked inwardly at his own thoughts,but then he became serious again, although it wasn't much of a change outwardly. "Yeah," he said in a tone expecting a good one at that. His clothes were too big for her and if it wasn't such a situation it probably would have irked him more to have a stranger, pretty much, in his home wearing his clothes, but at the moment answers were more important.
 
Rose sat down on the floor and said, "So I know this is going to be really hard to believe but try to keep an open mind. After a person dies ,depending on how they lived their life, either go to hell or heaven. I was one of the fortunate ones that was sent to heaven. So...you know that phrase 'every time a bell rings an angel gets its wings'? Well that's completely false. Angels receive their wings after helping a lost soul on earth. And that's why i'm here." she said stopping to take a breath.
 
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