The Starvation of Angels

Soft beeping from my alarm work me that morning. The same sounds as always, a pulsing of noise that was liked to a heartbeat. Over the years I'd grown used to the noise signifying another day at the station. I was positive about my lack of work, but I could just feel some new and horrific case would be looming over me soon. Turning my clock off to prevent waking my slumbering wife I pulled myself out of bed and got dressed; I had breakfast and read the news, old cases printed on the cover. Almost in sync with my need to get up and head over to the station a knock came at my door, "Back to the grind." I hummed as I kicked my shoes on. On opening the door I found my old work partner, a spry woman in her late thirties with curly red hair pulled back into a pony tail. She wore a light brown coat and a sweet smile. "Morning Harrison." She chirped before pushing a coffee into my hands. "Boys want you over at Saints Lane apartment block, seems they found a body." I took the coffee from her, same one she gave me every day, and sipped it. "About time we got some more work." Smiling, I closed the front door and headed to her car. Sharon Witinghum, to give her full name, was a detective like me. I trained her and was expecting her to move to a new city once she was trained enough, since she had the skills to go far, but she, like most people who live here, stayed.

Within half an hour we'd arrived. The complex we found ourselves at was the kind people tell of in ghost stories, old, damp and half empty. It was once a low cost housing ideal from about fifty years ago, but the only thing it kept after countless contractors pulling out was the low cost. A few squad cars where already outside, lights flicking on and off rhythmically. From what Sharon had told me, we knew the body was that of a young male, about twenty-three in age. We were trying to hunt for his family, but were yet to get many leads. I ran though the notes in my head as we ascended the four flights of stairs to get to room 307. Yellow and black tape was hung about the place, prohibiting the other dozen residence of the complex getting in. The door was broken in by our own forces in an attempt to see what the source of the foul smell in the complex was. Little had been disturbed in the apartment itself, a few things like pillows were on the floor but nothing to suggest a struggle. Sharon headed into the bedroom of the apartment and nodded her head at the body. Grimly I followed her in. Lying naked on the bed was a young man, with black hair, green eyes and a few studs in. His body was a mess. Most of his chest had been pulled open and the lungs and heart partially removed, clawed out by long nails. Though his death looked horrific the young man had a peaceful look on his face. "What a sorry sight." I commented, walking over to the body for a closer inspection of the gape in his chest. "What I said." Sharon nodded, looking around the bedroom. "This case looks like an odd one, I mean just look at this room, it's immaculate, not a thing out of place. It doesn't look like there was a struggle to me." I nodded in agreement before looking at the man’s side table to inspect it for clues. I pulled some gloves on and started to leaf about. "Has anyone reported hearing a disturbance here in the past few weeks?" "No, the kid hardly made any noise it seemed. He moved in a few years ago, didn't go out much or have many people over." "Do we have a name?" "Um…yeah, I think so. He called himself Joshua Brown, he was a working here, out at a restaurant as a waiter." "I see." He moved back from the small bedside cabinet, making note of a photo framed by the lamp. The image was of the boy Joshua, in his late teens with another boy with long white hair, snowy skin, and a pink jumper; they looked happy together. Just as I was about to stand I noticed a few empty packets of contraceptives on the floor. I picked them up carefully and placed them into a clear plastic bag before showing them to Sharon. "Do you think he knew his killer?" Sharon eyed me for a moment; she always said I had an odd way with words. "Well, he could have done it with his killer before he met his maker, so to speak." She pondered for a moment before spotting the photograph like I did. "If we look at it from that angle, that is totally plausible, we should try to see who he knows, who his friends and lovers are. Unless it was a one night stand." I nodded and wondered around the room some more. "Get someone to look into his mobile phone, computer and whatever other communication device he has, that'll be a good first lead. We should also be able to get a good bit of DNA from this place, if we need to identify." "You do talk like such an old man sometimes." Sharon smiled. "If we get this to court we should be able to easily prove who did it, just need to find the one who did the deed." I stifled a chuckle. "You're talking like such a youth sometimes Sharon." I knew full well my come back had no ground. "Let's hope we can get whoever did this." "Like we'll ever let them get away." I smiled at her optimism and continued my search.

Little else of note was discussed about the crime, many DNA samples where recovered and sent off to the lab while Sharon and I called around to see if anyone knew Joshua. As far as we knew, he was a very quiet lad, though is appearance may have suggested other wise. He was kind, didn't talk about himself or his family much. We still where still finding it hard to get in contact with his parents or whoever the boy in the photo was. The few photos around Joshua's flat where almost all of the albino teenager, we worked out they where probably partners at some point. Working on that assumption we'd started to construct a story that the two had probably slit up or moved apart but had met up against recently and the albino had, after intercourse, had killed Joshua. It was a little flimsy but we had to start somewhere.

Long gone eleven that night I took a taxi home. In the heat of the moment I'd lost myself in work and neglected to head home, lousing track of time. Only when I saw it was so late did I at last leave. Once I arrived home I was met by my darling wife. Even now, forty-three years after meeting her at collage, she hasn't lost her looks in my eyes. Even after her first stroke, I still loved her looks. They do say love is blind after all. "Good evening love." I smile with a soft voice. Me and my wife, Annabelle Toms, where the ideal modal of what an old married couple where like, still as close as ever. Though I now had a full head of silver hair, I hadn't retired. After my wife's first stroke she'd wanted our lives to stay the same. She stayed at home and rested while I went to work. I loved my work and the money it brought in helped pay for the medical bills. "Evening" My wife replied after a short pause. "How was work today?" I embraced her and smiled, not giving her an answer other than a happy moan. Annabella hugged me back, smiling. I hated telling her about my work, the death I saw, so I hid it from her. For the rest of the evening we simply had dinner and watched some TV before falling asleep at about one AM.

The next day started the same. My alarm started softly to raise me from slumber and then I left to greet Sharon. She filled me in on some on the developments that had happened since we spoke last. The body had been moved from the apartment and we where not free to do a deep search. Joshua's laptop had been found and was now in the lab being pulled apart for information. I, in need of conformation that nothing had been missed, rode with Sharon to the apartment. The place was quiet as we went in, the smell of damp stronger than ever now. On entering the apartment we found little was out of place, thanks to the hands of our team. I started to look about, first going though the kitchen and then living room, followed by the bathroom then the bedroom in for more detail than I had done before. Making note that the apartment was poorly stoked to feed two people and that only cloths belonging to Joshua where around the apartment myself and Sharon came to the conclusion he was living alone at the time of death. My gaze turned back to the bed; most of the covers had been taken away but there was still some dry blood on the matrices, outlined by the tap to show where the body once lay. Slowly I looked at Sharon who was rummaging though the dresser to the right of the small window that gave light to the room. Upon the dresses there where a mix of small trinkets including a photograph of the albino boy, a free standing cross with rosemary hung about it and a copy of the bible. "See anything Sharon?" I asked, slowly walking over to look over her shoulder. "Well, he was into his religion, but it looks normal enough." She pondered, petting the side of her neck in thought. In agreement I nodded, coupling this with a small noise to signify I though she was indeed correct. "I'd like to know who the albino boy is, he looks to be a bit of a theme here." "Posable suspect?" "I can't be sure until we find him, but it's within reason." While telling her this, I picked up the photograph and removed it from its frame. For a moment I studied the image before noticing something as I held it to the light. Dark patches. Careful to not damage the deceased's items I turned the image over to see writing on the back. It read like a love letter, short sweet and simple. "It was sunny that day, like the sun, you light up my day, my angel." I quoted aloud. Sharon looked back at me in puzzlement for a moment before realising I was reading something. "Is there something on the back of the photograph?" With a nod I handed over the image. "No name sadly." Like me, Sharon studied the writing. "At least we now know that the two where dating from this. A bit tacky if you ask me." I chuckled. "When you find love you'll learn that there is no such thing as tacky." "You know full well I have no intention of finding love." Sharon responded flatly. She'd explained to me before she wasn't interested in any kind of relationship that was't work of friend based; she enjoyed her solitude. "We'll see." I smiled back before going to inspect the other images. "Let's try and find the name of the albino boy, that's the first task." Sharon agreed before hunting about for more photos to see if more had messages on the back. Sadly for us, we where not lucky enough to find any of any note.

After collecting some other possessions of the young man, we headed back to the station to fit the links together and wait on the labs to give up more information. It was past four when I got a call the stations pathologist, a towering blond haired man we all lovingly called R. He was from Russia and had one of thoughts very tricky names with a great number of K's and V's in. He told us he had news about the body and required us to come over as soon as we could make it. I informed Sharon and headed over to his lab that was positioned on the other side of town. R was a workaholic like myself, and often pulled all nighters against his best judgment. Myself and Sharon headed into the small clinic and where buzzed into the main labs by R's young receptionist. We where greeted by R at the entrance to his lab. He had long blond hair, pulled back into a pony tail that often sat on his shoulder; his eyes where a soft blue and he adorned a long white lab coat; on one his right wrist he had a small gold bangle what I'd never seen him remove. His skin was very white, and he often wore a somewhat blank expression, the kind you see on a person who's lived with death for many years. I saw myself in R sometimes. "Harrison, Sharon, glad you could make it over here so quickly." R smiled, putting out a hand. I took his hand and shook it. "You know what we are like, eggier to get things done. Good to see you again." R had worked for us for about a year now. Before this he was a normal doctor, a very good and caring one at that, but after a tragedy in his family he started to work here. Sharon also shook R's hand before heading to his lab. R smiled a little in my direction to thank me for the pleasantries, I knew he wan't a talker. I followed and looked over to a metal tabs that presented the body of the victim, covered by a thin white sheet. "What I found was pretty interesting rearly, a bit of a sick case though." The doctor commented before pulling the cover down to reveal the upper half of body, folding it just under the wound in his chest. "What do you mean?" Sharon asked, walking over to look while I admired from a far. "As I see it, his ribcage was pulled open and then most ribs removed followed by the consumption of the lungs and heart." There was a dumb silence from both my and Sharon as we heard him mention the body getting eaten. "You mean someone's eaten him!?" Sharon shouted a little to loudly for R's toleration, he was over sensitive with sound after all. "Yes eaten." R responded, a little agitated to have Sharon shout at him. "There are both large claw and bite marks on the remaining tissue." he signalled to a mouth sized bite mark, consisting of many needle like holes that was uncovered at the bottom of the ribcage. I felt a little ill just hearing about the notion of one eating a human. "Thoughts aren't human though, I mean look at them!" Sharon exclaimed, as shocked as I was. "Well, these bites come in sets of two, they are the right detentions to be human.. Say the one doing the eating had poutiest or some kind of adapted weapon? Humans are strange things you know." R's eyes, peering over his glasses, remained on the body. I paused, he did have a point after all, maybe this was a far more twisted story than I'd first though. For the rest of the meeting R simply filled us in on what else he worked out about the body and gave us a full report.

After reading over all the notes related to the case myself and Sharon headed home. Annabella met me at the door and we chatted about our days, though I made sure to cut out as much of the gore as I could. I picked at my dinner that evening, avoided mention of food for the most of that night. Honestly I was shaken about what R told me, so much so I hardly respond to my wife. About ten I went to bed though I could hardly sleep. With the case in my mind, it was hard to think of anything else; ideas rattled around my mind.

I arrived at station by seven, a little early for me but I felt like walking in that day. Something about walking in to arrive before anyone else is rearly working is strangely enjoyable. By lunch Joshua's journal was released from the labs, every page was copied and recorded before I was able to read it. After Sharon went out to ask around about the young man, I read his journal. It was a few years old, but still would have been in the time span to possibly include information about the albino. I was right to assume I would. The journal was nothing to special, it went from the teens fifteenth birthday and stopped at his sixteenth. It started with the boy describing what he got for his birthday, things including a phone, the book he was writing in and a few trinkets from one of his friends. He spoke highly of his friend who I gather was known as Lyet. If Lyet was the name of the albino boy then it should have been easily to find him, very few people would have that name. After all there can't be to many called Lyet in the US. For the next few hours or so I focused on nothing but the journal, making sure to take notes on pretty much everything about the teens life that he wrote about. Sadly, to my disappointment, there wasn't much of interest apart from a few briefly mentioned cased of bulling, underage sex between the young Joshua and Lyet and some small social events him an Lyet attended. Joshua seemed to be very close to Lyet, he seemed to love him deeply, though it was mentioned that the boys never told there parents. The journal told of how Lyet was pretty badly bullied at school and suffered depression as well as some other health problems. He took a lot of medications, an amount I'd consider unsafe. As the journal went on things remained the same, the two lads contend to date in secret and they held their heads down at school to avert attention. Slowly I closed the journal with care before noticing Sharon come in. "Hay Harrison, how's tricks?" She inquired, coming over with some lunch. Gladly I took it from her. "Well, it looks like we have a name to match a face now. It seemed, form this journal, Joshua was dating a boy named Lyet around the age of sixteen, it looked like a long term relationship to me." Sharon picked up the book and started to skim it with my notes. "Reckon we've got our suspect named?" "Seems so." "Well then, let's put it into the computer." Triumphantly Sharon collected the notes from the desk before heading over to the computer lab. Though my old legs had fallen asleep from the long time sitting I raised myself and headed after her. By the time I'd arrived Sharon had sat herself down at a computer and was punching in her login. Before long our files where open and the hunt was on. As expected it didn't take long at all, though what I saw filled my with disappointment. "Lyet Penheart, a white haired male from a small town in Texas, was frond guilty today of Murder-Suicide. The teen, seven-teen, shot dead his father, the towns resident priest on monday the 17th or February. Hearings from the court can now bring answers to thoughts effected by the event." Sharon sighed deeply, reading aloud the article that was before her. "Looks like we went down the rabbit hole on this one chef." As disheartened as she was, I nodded, though remained transited by the article. It was simple with little detail but there was a mention of three older brothers, mother in her forties and the cause of death for both Lyet and his father. His father was shot in the chest and later died at hospital while Lyet shot himself in the brain. "Poor thing." "Ya... back to square one it seems." Sharon commented. "We'll find other leads you know, we can do this." I smiled, knowing this probably knocked the wind out of Sharon's sails. She had this habit of rearly sticking to one idear in a case, and only gave up on it if she was proven wrong. "I know." For a moment she just pretended to read the article before stopping herself, leaning close to the screen. "You reckon Joshua would have known Lyet's brothers?" "What do you mean?" I questioned. "Well, Joshua's boss told me he was a bit of a introvert, he never went out rearly and hardly ever talk to anyone. Since the residence of Joahua's complex never saw him with anyone, is it safe to assume that he knew the killer, since he wouldn't rearly invite any random stranger in. Say one of Lyet's brothers came to town, Joshua offers them a place to stay, and then the rest is history." Sharon knew herself this could be a little bit far fetched but I knew she'd look into it. "Find the family then, see if we can get more information." I suggested. "Got it." On that, Sharon started to dig into our computers for more information about the family while I simply went to work on organising the files for this case, hopping to see a fresh trail. I arrived home at seven again that night; I greeted my lovely wife and sat with her at the dining table. Though her mind had gone somewhat and she wasn't always interlay there, I could see she was pretty excited today. Interested as to why this was, I slipped it into convocation over our beef stew. "How was your day then Annabelle?" I smiled, happy in the knowledge she seemed better today than she ever had. The doctors had warned of another stroke if she'd gotten stressed or was to active so she often confined herself to the house, doing very little at all. It was like she had been prescribed lonely-ness, but some days she was happy, happy like this. "Oh, my day was lovely." She smiled, looking up from her meal. "A very nice boy came over today, he was collecting for charity." "Did you give them anything?" I asked back, knowing my wife was a very giving person. "Well.." She said after a little pause. "He was looking to collect cloths so I gave him some of the shirts that are now to small for you, as well as some change. I tried to invite him in got cake and sandwiches.." Her mind trailed off for a moment before she smiled. "I invited him in for tea, but when he came in, he didn't eat anything, though he did say he was hungry.. odd boy." Often my wife would repeat her sentences, forgetting she started it prier. "That's nice.. been meaning to get rid of thought shirts for a while now." I smiled. Something about just talking like this, always helped me get my mind of me work. I allowed the convocation to continue until we finished dinner then we watched TV and went to bed, like most nights. It was a simple life style but I'd ask for no more.

For the next few days nothing of to much note happened. All three Penheart brothers had alibis for the night of the murder and so did the now single mother. Joshua's parents told us their son hardly ever spoke to them, but they would come and collect his body soon. We did find some more leads, though they all ran cold sooner or later. The IT compartment was still working on the computer and phone of the deceased. It was late, few lights where on in the city but I still burned the midnight oil, working though statement after statement about the young man. Everyone was saying the same thing, Joshua never talked to anyone, never had anyone over and pretty much never left his apartment apart from when he went to work or went shopping. I was at a loss. "Knock knock." Hummed a familiar voice, baritone and tinted with accent. I looked up and saw R in the door way, holding a few files. Like me he was burning the midnight oil, though it was a little odd to see him in my office, but I welcomed him in. "Evening doctor." R came in, sitting across form me at my desk before, taking my notes to read over them. "Shouldn't you be at home with your wife now?" "Though I'd love to, I'm at a loss here R, I'm not the man I was thirty years ago." He smiled, watching him read over my notes before taking a look at the file he brought with him. "Didn't expect to see you here so late." "I wanted to hand over these notes, I found some bits and bobs." He paused. "Where are you with the case?" I knew full well R would not be willing to tell me anything about his finds unless I told him mine, he liked to trade information like that, it was one of his many odd tricks. "Well, we closed the case on trying to find the albino kid, turns out our top suspect has been dead for years. We can't find new leads, this job looks like it was done professionally R, I'm starting to wonder if we can solve it." I knew full well I was putting it on thick, being a pessimist, but I wanted to go over to top. "You mean the albino kid? Sharon mentioned him over some drinks, she was so hyped about finding the supposed killer so quickly I didn't want to tell her." "Tel her what?" I asked in response. "Don't you know? I thought you looked into the Penheart incident?" "No, I thought it was just an open shut cased, was it not?" R smiled knowingly, he always revealed in knowing things others didn't. "Not totally. The trial was a shambles, evidence was lost, statement pulled out and reports rejected. Originally it was going to be seen as a retaliation attack of self defence and the parent remaining would stand trill for domestic abuse, but it was not to be" Closing the files he was reading I watched a rather smug smile pull around the tall doctors face. "Lyet's body went missing." I paused, half annoyed I wasn't told, but then also confused. "Went missing?" It sounded foolish, but R didn't lie, normally. "Yep, I knew the pathologist who was going to make an assessment of Lyet's body before laying him to rest but the night before she was going to make the report, the body just vanished, gone without a trace." "That's totally fiction!" I exclaimed. "A body can't simply get up and walk away." R nodded then opened the file he was going to deliver to me. "Believe me if you wish. Me and some work friends called it the body snatcher." When opened I saw some of the latest DNA traces found of Joshua's body, long strands of pure white hair. I was dumb for words, I couldn't think of what to say, I just sat silently, looking at the report. The hair was about the right length and colour to belong to the albino's, but how could that be? "Your welcome." R hummed, standing up before leaving my office. Left alone with my thought I felt my stomach turn over itself. I'd seen the repots from the crime scene, the boy laying in a pool of his own blood and brain tissue, clasping a small revolver in one hand. It could have been the lack of sleep talking, making my ideas more altered, but... things didn't add up in that case, things didn't make sense to me, but I had dismissed them. Theories buzzed and nagged at me, what if the death was faked, what if the body was stolen, what if- I stood up briskly, holding my head before groaning. "The dead don't walk around Harrison, get a grip." My lack of sleep was clearly apparent now. Pushing the files into my desk I headed home, annoyed at R but also deeply puzzled.

My alarm did little to wake me the next morning though the pounding at my door did. Sharon, to peppy for this time, had gotten news of the laptops files had now all be copied and where free to read. I hurriedly got myself dressed then left to greet her. On the way in she informed me that they found a full electronic journal, with the last entry being the day of Joshua's death. This could be out lead to finishing this case, even if it was lacking some details it could shine light on the whole story leading up to the young mans death. Sharon pretty much sprinted to my office where a hard copy of the journal had been placed. Instantly she fumbled for the last entry. I, slow at my age, arrived just as she had rearranged the pages. Taking a set in my own chair I took out a note pad and awaited Sharon's reading. "Ok, March 26th..." She paused to find her words before a very puzzled look crossed her face. "What's wrong?" I asked. "..Nothing.. Let me just read it.." I could tell she was composing herself. Taking a breath she started to read; "I know god must be smiling upon me, my praisers have been answered and I have him back. Robbed form me all thoughts years ago, I'd given up hope that we could be as one, but we will be; he doesn't know what he is now, but I don't care. He's an angle now, the moonlight shows his true form. It scared me at first, but I know this was meant to be, I'll become part of him. I lay with him now as I type this, his skin is so cold and pure, like snow. He's yet to wake up from last night; he bit him pretty badly from animal instinct, but he's starving, my angle is starving. Tonight I'm not going to fight him, we can make a thing of it before his mind is taken by the moonlight. If anyone finds this, finds me, just know I wanted this, I wanted to save my angle from his hunger." Silence was left between me and Sharon as she finished reading. Slowly she placed her papers down, looking a little ill. "He.. let this person kill him? What in the world was he going on about, some angle thing." Personally I was dumb for words. Pulling my gaze away I stumbled upon the file I recognised from last night. I bit my tongue then compiled a sensitise. "I want to know everything about who Joshua knew and who his friends where, thought who went missing and thought who he moved apart from." In reality I was dumb, this couldn't be real, could it? Sharon was as confused and disturbed as I was. "..Yes Harrison.. What do you think he's talking about? He.. doesn't seem to be stable, I mean, the way he talks here is.. odd to say the least. What in the hell was going on!?" I remained mute for a while; "I don't know... I'm going to ask around town and see if I can learn anything...." I paused. "Alone.." Sharon just nodded, knowing I was as perplexed as she was in this whole thing.

Taking my coat I left, planning on rearly walking over to R's place to chat with him, see if he could talk some sense into me. The walk across town was long and labours; I held my head down for most of the trip. Moving through the waves of people I drew closer to the centre R worked out. The sense of dread that had hung over me ever since last night, strengthened by the reading of the journal, felt so much greater now. The face and form of the young white haired man was bored into my mind. I simply quickened my step onwards.

Pushing the door of the clinic open I started to head over to the front desk to call R, but that was when I saw it. Alone and the furthest most chair front he door sat a teen boy, his cloths where tattered, hair long and white, he looked like a ghost. His skin was marble. I felt a sharp inhale of air enter my chest. "Harrison, what are you doing here?" R called, walking around the corner. I snapped from my trance and grabbed the man's arms, trying to get him to listen. "There, look there I-" As I turned to point to the boy sitting a way from me, I found the chair to be empty, like I'd just imagined it. R gave me a puzzled look. "A chair?" His accent felt a little stronger than normal as he muttered that. "Are you ok?" No words came out of my mouth, but I nodded, letting go of R. ".. Let's get you some coffee and give you a place to sit down, ok?" Not needing to get a response R lead me to a small conference room and got me to sit before walking off to get some coffee for both of us. Taking long breaths I tried to control myself. "Don't let the stresses get to you.." I continued to breath, righting the sighting as a stress related episode. The only thing I could think of was of Joshua and his killer who in my mind, was the white haired teen. Before long R came back in, a folder under his arms as well as two stemming hot cups of coffee. I knew the man had a slight addiction to coffee and often would offer or accept it at any opportunity. Passing me my mug I felt myself relax before starting to drink. R sat across from me, placed his work down then also started to drink. "What happened out there?" He asked after a short pause. "I don't know.. I think stress is getting to me..." I responded flatly, hardly concentrating. R sighed then smiled; "How old are you now Harrison? Your in your sixties now, shouldn't you be living at home with your wife, retired?" I felt myself glare at R for a moment. "Doctors orders, you need to rest Harrison. Look, I know you enjoy this and your wife likes you to keep busy but this job, this style of life, rearly isn't to good for you, considering." My face softened and I nodded a little. "For this case, why don't you leave it to Sharon and the other boys at the station? Their all good enough to solve it. I just don't think you should be working with a case like this, not after.. well, you know." "I've excepted what happened R and I don't want to retire, this job keeps my mind working" "No it isn't Harrison; I can it in your eyes. Not as a doctor, as a friend, you should stay with your wife and rest for a few weeks." R's voice had gotten softer; he knew my wife's time was short now. Finally I nodded and agreed.

For hours I just chatted with R about life. Looking back, I guesses I did need to relax my work hours and spend more time with my lovely wife; night was falling when I started to walk home. People where buzzing around, migrating back to their homes form their long work days. I felt better about life, more relaxed. Passing by shopfronts and restraints I started to instinctively look at people, blocking out the bad images with nicer ones. A couple where courting in the park under the old oak tree; one of the towns resident homeless was sitting at a bus stop with his large headphones on, tapping his foot in time with an unknown song; a proud giant of a man was walking home with his young son, caring a bag of football kit; a young woman in a blue dress was exiting a small store named "transformer", I reassessed her gender shortly after. I found myself smiling, feeling the thought of the case melt away. A girl selling roses, a man going to work at a restraint, a white haired teen in a light purple jumper looking over at me with dead blue eyes. I stopped abruptly and looked back, the teen had gone again, vanished into the crowds. My mouth felt dry, this was just stresses, right? I quickened my steps, feeling my body pump with adrenaline. A cab sitting at red lights, a scruffy man walking down back streets, the white haired boy again, neck purple like it was bruised. I walked faster still; the sky was orange as the sun set, the building to my right had five floors, the dumpster around the corner house three bin bags, the white haired boy again, face wet from tears and pure white hair stained crimson. My eyes darted forward, away from the crowds and fell on him again. One eye was golden and seemed to be ruptured whir the other was soft blue, his body felt so cold. I staggers back, but he'd vanished again, in the blink of an eye. Panicked I started to run to the warmth of my home, my whole body shacking now.

Breathless I flew down my small street and fumbled for my keys before pushing the door open. Inside I tried to catch my breath, taking lung full after lung full of air. Exhaling heavily and looked around; the money pot, positioned on a small table by the door way to the living room, was smashed over the floor. So to was one of the lamps, a picture frame, keys. I felt as if time stopped as I became away erratic breathing and gasping. I ran around the cover into my living room where I saw my wife convulsing on the floor. Her eyes where unfocused, one half of her face slumped to the side, mouth half open, she was having another stroke. Lunging forward I went to take her into my arms, but that was then I saw it. "...So..hungry.." It murmured, one soft blue eye locked on my wife. He was thin, pale, cold. Moonlight poked it's head out from behind the clouds for a moment, showing his true nature; vast wings of pure light and halo, bloody white claws on both his hands as feet, bloody neck, head and mouth, adorned with hundreds of sharp teeth. As soon as the clouds covered the moon again, he reverted back to the crops he was. My eyes where locked on it, the angle of death that sat and watched as my wife died. It was as if something had taken over the body of young man and now wore his skin like a well fitting glove. "..What are you!?" I screamed. It's eyes remained fixed on my wife, stiller now. "..Hungry.. starving.." No idear what to do I turned my attention to my wife, taking her in my arms, while looking at her. This seemed to confuse the angle, puppeteering the body it called home, it moved towards me and my wife. The moon shone on it again; the smell of rot was stagnant in the room. "Get back!" It didn't listen, simply moved closer, licking its long claws. ".....I want it.." For a split second it vanished out of sight, and my world went dark.

I awoke to a pounding pain in the back of my head; I forced myself up, before promptly clasping a hand over my mouth at what I saw. The starved angle was crotched over my wife's body, or what was left of it, pulling away at the chest mindlessly, showing flesh and macula into its mouth. I felt sick, like I could vomit at the sight. Grabbing for my hand gun I took aim. Thoughts dead eyes looked at me though bloody white hair, not seeming to know or care what I was doing. "Get off her!" I screamed, before shooting all five round into its head. To my horror, the angle just took every single one, reaction-less. Every built fell back out the hole I made, brining a pungent smell of rot with it, before closing up. Though it was futile I continued to click the trigger of my gun, though nothing came out. I shouted and screamed at the freak, but it just continued to eat.

The neighbours arrived a short time later, reporting that they found me with the body of my wife, crying and screaming at monsters. Sharon and the rest of the police force arrived shortly after and took my to hospital and my wife to the morgue. No trace of the angle as found, but I know what I saw; I saw him at the funeral, at the side of my wife's grave, by the road side, watching the world and all it's death.

Since that night I've retired from the police force and live alone; stress is causing me heart problems, and R keeps warning me I could have a heart attack if I continue to live the way I do, but I know I don't have much time left anyway, since the angle is back, and he keeps telling me he's hungry. I law awake at night, the glow of it's wings eliminating my room. If there is a God, he is nothing more than the monsters he has created. I can feel my chest getting tight as my heart fails me, I watch as the starving angle lifts his head and watches me with hunger in it's eyes.

credit; http://emthesmall.deviantart.com/art/The-starvation-of-angels-523570892