Prince of Dark & Light

Hazel’s head was spinning. She blurted out the first thing that popped into her head.

“Ryn, no!”

Ryn’s head snapped round to look at her. The sudden shriek had caused his foot to slip back off the ledge but he was already starting to climb back up again.

“Ryn, it’s okay. Just stop for a second. It will be okay.” Hazel pleaded. She tried her best to keep her voice calm and level but she could barely hear herself over her racing heart. She wobbled onto the bridge, closer to Ryn so that she was standing behind him.

Ryn laughed darkly. “That’s what everyone says but it never is.” He was sitting on the ledge now, his back to Hazel and his long, thin legs dangling dangerously over the edge.

“I know,” Hazel said. “Believe me, I do. People always said things weren’t that bad, that they’d get better but they never did. I tried and tried every day but all it did was make me more and more tired and frustrated, but then I realized that yeah, things suck but there are some good things. Things worth sticking around for.”

“Like what? Rainbows and kittens?” he turned to look at her harshly as he said this and Hazel caught a glimpse of his eyes, filled to the brim with tears. They weren’t the gentle, childlike eyes that she was used to seeing. They looked more like the girl from earlier’s had when she’d suddenly flipped out and tried to attack her. Hazel froze.

“I try so hard,” Ryn was mumbling. “I’m so tired all the time. Just getting out of bed, being around people. I don’t understand why it drains me so much but everyone else is fine. I joined this stupid boy band because I thought it would be better than lying in bed all day but I’m always hurting, always tired. If I really do have a guardian angel then why didn’t he show up to help me before? Like the time those boys from school threw me around like a game of Pass the Parcel, or the time after a rehearsal when my legs collapsed under me and I couldn’t breathe....”

As his voice trailed off, Hazel took in a sharp breath. “I don’t know, and I’m sorry. I don’t know the answers. I’m still not even completely convinced that any of this is real but when I said there were good things I meant, well…you.”

Ryn laughed again, the sound dripping with bitterness. Hazel tried to explain.

“I know it’s stupid. People always tell me it’s stupid. You’re just a boy band member who - before tonight - hardly even knew I existed, but when I see you post something online - even if it’s just a dumb selfie - it gives me something to smile about. I see you doing your best to learn your new choreography and it makes me want to do my best too, to stay alive if nothing else.”

Ryn didn’t move or make a sound.

“Things still suck most of the time but just having one good thing - even if it’s small - makes it at least a little more bearable and gives me the strength to try and make things better,” Hazel said. “You’ve helped me so much Ryn, so let me do the same for you. If there isn’t anything good that you can think of right now, I can help you find something.”

He turned round to look at her then and for a second his eyes looked how they normally did, soft and innocent little pools of green. She reached out a hand to him and he took it. She gently pulled on his arm, urging him away from the edge and closer to her. He moved with her and she was sure he was going to step down, he looked as if he wanted to. He brought Hazel’s hand to his lips, planted a kiss upon her long, slender fingers, and then they locked eyes. As quickly as it came, any sign of the real Ryn was gone.

“Thank you, Hazel but I’m sorry. The only way I can get rid of this tiredness is to sleep forever.” he said.

Before Hazel could process his words, he’d thrown himself over the edge of the bridge.

“No!” Hazel cried. She gazed wildly over the ledge at Ryn’s helpless form, cascading down to the waters beneath.

“Nathaniel!”

Hazel hadn’t even realized she’d said it until the so-called angel appeared in a burst of light that illuminated the dark sky. He was grabbing Ryn almost in a bear hug from behind. His white wings were outstretched and enormous as he swooped over the bridge and landed a few feet away from Hazel. Even though they were now on solid ground, he didn’t let go of Ryn. The angel didn’t appear to be holding the boy tightly but he struggled, somehow looking tired and restless all at the same time. Hazel’s heart hurt at the sight.

“Now Hazel, can you do the honours?” Nathaniel said softly.

Hazel noticed that the light stick she’d discarded on the ground in her panic to save Ryn was alight once again, gleaming purple. As if she were no longer in control of her body, she picked the light stick up and pointed it at the strange creature that seemed to be possessing her beloved Ryn’s body.

“Shine a light on your negative emotions and deepest fears, and then they will no longer be able to control you,” Hazel said. This time she didn’t even mind the cheesiness of the words as the light from the light stick exploded and enveloped Ryn’s entire form. When the brightness cleared, he was slumped in the angel’s arms and the scene looked like something out of a biblical painting.

“Is…he okay?” Hazel asked after a while, not knowing what else to say.

“He is now, thanks to you,” Nathaniel said in almost a whisper. “Ryn, I’m so sorry. You too, Hazel. I couldn’t intervene until you called for me.”

Hazel didn’t know what to say so she just shook her head. She gazed wistfully at Ryn who was still limp in the angel’s arms.

“Thank you for following him and trying to help when you realized something was wrong,” Nathaniel said. “You have good instincts. You should trust them more.”

Hazel remained silent. The evening’s events had tired her out so much that she felt as if she’d lost the ability to string words together. Nathaniel didn’t seem to mind however and continued.

“I’ll help you get him home now, but there’s another favour I have to ask of you,” he said. “Will you stay with him? He lives alone, and the dark of the night can often cause negative emotions to fester. I’m sure he’ll be fine - you’ve already removed most of the negative energy that was possessing him - but it would be better if there was someone there with him in case the negativity starts to get the better of him again. There’s only so much I can do as an angel; it takes a huge amount of energy to manifest as a physical being, you see.”

Most of what he’d said had come in through one of Hazel’s ears and out the other; all of this was way too weird and complicated for her to bear. There was one detail she couldn’t help but focus on though.

“You want me to go to Ryn’s house and spend the night there?” she spluttered.

“Yes,” the angel confirmed simply with a nod.

“I can’t do that!” Hazel protested. “Me? Go to Ryn’s house? No way! He’s-, I-, I mean-. No! He’s Ryn - the cutest and most talented boy band member ever - and I’m well, me. I’m not worthy of entering the abode of such a prince.”

Nathaniel laughed then. It was a sweet and pleasant sound. Kind too. He was amused but not mocking or malicious.

“If Ryn were himself now I’m sure he’d be laughing as well,” Nathaniel informed her. “Yes, Hazel. You’re you and that’s precisely why I’m entrusting him to you. Just like Ryn, you are capable of so much more than you think you are. There is no-one I’d trust more to take care of him.”

It was like a spark was light in Hazel’s mind then. Her eyes gleamed as she almost leaped three feet in the air. “Of course! Ryn is so special so he needs to be protected! I’m so lucky to be given this opportunity so I must protect him with my life! I won’t let anything happen to him!”

Nathaniel laughed again. “Indeed, that’s the spirit. Come along now, I’ll show you the way to his flat.”