Page 5 of My Alien Angel
His smile is dazzling as he taps on his chest. “Omni.”
Okay, that’s definitely a name I haven’t heard before. It’s probably the name of the character he’s cosplaying, although it is a strange choice of name for an angel. “Omni.” I roll the name on my tongue as I try to get the pronunciation right. “Alright. Come with me, Omni.”
Turning on my heels, I head back to the car. When I hear pained grunting, I look back to see what the fuss is about, my jaw dropping at the sight of Omni tugging at his wing, trying to straighten the broken strut. He looks like it physically hurts, which is exceptional, even if a little disturbing, dedication to the role. There’s something really wrong with this guy and bringing him to my home is definitely a terrible idea. “You’re not going to snap and murder me, right?”
Shaking his head, his mouth curves into a strained smile. “No, Fin.”
Huh. Not exactly reassuring, especially as I watch him take out a small object from the pocket of his overalls and hold it to his shoulder. There’s a faint hiss and a second later, his pained expression relaxes a little. Great. Not only am I bringing home a homeless stranger, I’m bringing home a homeless junkie. Am I suicidal or just stupid?
Noticing my wary expression, Omni just smiles again. “I no murder Fin,” he says slowly, as if testing out each word before he says it out loud.
With anyone else, I’d say they were making fun of me and just leave, but my instincts are telling me that Omni is a genuinely good person. He might be dangerous to others but not to me.
Famous last words, right?
Chapter 5
Fin
EyeingOmni’smassivewingsnext to my two-door clown car, I shake my head. “Yeah, this won’t work. You’ll have to take the wings off.”
Omni’s alarmed expression is so comical I have to laugh. “Look, friend, I know you’re very dedicated to your role, but there just isn’t enough space. You could probably fit on the back seat, but the wings might get damaged, which would be a shame.” Despite the damage they must have taken in the fall, the wings keep moving, especially the unbroken one whichoccasionally stretches out. The broken one just twitches every time Omni walks and every time it does, he winces.
For the love of money, I cannot figure out how he’s controlling them or how they even work. There’s no hiss of hydraulics or whir of motors. In fact, the only sound coming from the wings is the soft rustle of feathers being dragged along the sand. Even more peculiar is the lack of harness visible where the wings attach to Omni’s back. They look extremely heavy and simple laws of physics suggest there should be straps around Omni’s chest just to hold the wings in place, but I can’t see any through the tears in his coveralls. For all intents and purposes, the wings look like they’reactuallygrowing out of his back. That’s beyond fucking brilliant design. The nerd inside of me is squealing with delight while the pragmatic part of me is wondering how the hell we’re going to transport such an expensive prop without damaging it.
“No.” Omni shakes his head just in case I didn’t understand.
Sighing, I rub the bridge of my nose. “Omni, be reasonable. You can put the wings back on when we get to my apartment, but the car is too small to—”
“No,” he repeats stubbornly. “Omni wings car.”
“You’re an ass,” I grumble.
He seems to find that amusing. “Yes. Omni ass.” Chuckling, he adds a few more words in his language, like he’s enjoying a joke I don’t understand.
“Fine. Whatever. Just get in.” Opening the passenger door, I fold the seat forward and gesture for him to get into the back seat. It’s the only place in the car he has even a remote chance of fitting.
Apparently, cursing sounds the same in every language. I might not understand the words but I recognize the intonation of various grunts and expletives coming from his mouth every time his wings catch on something getting into the car. Finally,Omni is fully stuffed inside of the car. He’s curled up on the back seat with his wings filling the entirety of the back half of the car. Sweat dots his brow, and he’s breathing heavily, features drawn tight.
“Are you sure you don’t need a hospital?” I ask, because the last thing I want is to be driving around with a dead body in the back seat. That would be difficult to explain. Mostly, because I don’t even know what’s happening myself.
“No hospital.”
Of course not. Sighing, I return the front seat to upright, grimacing at the black sludge and dirt now smeared across the upholstery. “Great. Now I’ll have to get it cleaned. Why am I doing this again?”
It’s mostly a rhetorical question but Omni replies, anyway. “Fin no ass.”
I snort. “Yeah, you bet I’m not an ass. I guess wearing a seat belt is out of the question,” I muse. “You better pray we don’t get pulled over. The cops wouldn’t be happy to see this.” Yet again, mentioning the police has Omni casting an alarmed look at me. Rubbing my eyes in frustration, probably smearing the face paint into something horrifying, I groan, “Please, tell me you’re not an escaped convict?”
He thinks about it for a little longer than is necessary before eventually shaking his head.
“Man,” I grumble. “That’s not reassuring at all. I’m not going to jail for assisting an escaped criminal. Are you or are you not on the run from the police?”
This time, the reply is instantaneous. “No. Omni no run from … police.”
There’s a word in the middle of his sentence that I don’t understand, but hopefully it’s just another curse. I believe he’s telling me the truth, although that could just be my own naivety. Either way, he’s already in the car and it would take too mucheffort to kick him out again, so I just go with it. I can always say he threatened me if I get in trouble for helping him later. “Alright, let’s go. I need to get the damn puppies organized for tomorrow.” Compared to meeting a traumatized fallen angel cosplayer in the desert, my job problems seem trivial, but that doesn’t mean I can just ignore them. I have bills to pay.
Grabbing a few bottles of water and a pack of jerky from the trunk, I pass some to Omni before getting into the driver’s seat. “You need to stay hydrated. The heat here is no joke. Drink even if you’re not thirsty.”
