The Wretched Angel's teeth clacked in Susan's face, blood spurting from its mouth. She jammed her cattle prod into its empty eye socket, screaming as it collapsed on top of her. Something squished against the tip of her prod, and she let loose.

Lightning surged through the creature's orange head and burst from the back of its skull. Dr. Lee and Mrs. Monique dropped to the floor as bolts of lightning snapped and crackled over them to strike the library's ceiling over and over.

The lightning flickered and flashed. The angel writhed uncontrollably like it was having a seizure, its single arm flopping. Its palm bounced off Susan's chest and chin, but it had no fingers to claw her with.

She didn’t stop until she was out of stamina. Susan lay on her back, breathing hard. Her nose was bleeding, streaming down her lips. Her cattle prod was still inside the angel's head, and the creature lay on top of her thighs unmoving, blood and drool staining her pants. Smoke rose from it. Its hair was sizzled and sticking out. Strange vein-like patterns distorted the orange covering on its face and head, and the stench of burnt flesh stung her nose.

She was barely aware of the others around her. She couldn't look away from the top of the angel's head. But notifications burst through her spinning thoughts:

> You've defeated Wretched Angel (Level 10)

>

> Experience has been awarded!

>

> +50 Energy

> Leveled up!

>

> Susan Brown Level 9 -> Level 10

> Ranking Bonus! Stage i -> Stage ii

>

> Congratulations on breaching the first threshold!

>

> +30 Stat Ponts have been awarded

>

> +1 Energy Core has been awarded

> A new Skill has activated: Valescent Light (Tier 1)

She couldn't focus on any of them, only catching a few details. The words didn’t register in her mind. She saw Dr. Lee and Mrs. Monique crouched, a hand over their heads, staring wide-eyed.

Leslie was on the floor too. She'd collapsed to her knees, shaking, and she looked at Susan as though she were an angel too.

Susan wanted to apologize, but how was she supposed to apologize for nearly frying them with her lightning? She hadn't meant to put so much into the attack, but she'd flashbacked to the two Wretched Angels from the hallway. And the one before, in front of the boy's bathroom, that had bitten through her leg. She shuddered and yanked her cattle prod out of the eye socket.

The prod came away glistening, strands of mucus stretching from the creature's orange head. The burnt hair crumpled away, leaving it bald, revealing more of the flowery and veiny pattern burned into its covering.

Its head bounced down her lap as she squirmed back, trying to slide out from underneath it. The angel twitched.

Leslie screamed; Susan flicked her prod back on. It buzzed in her hand. Her heart thumped like mad. She knew she didn't have the strength for any more lightning, but she could still paralyze it. Or she'd jam it into its head over and over until its brain was mush.

She was just about to strike the creature when it raised its head, blood dribbling down its chin. Her hand froze midair. The angel hissed softly, almost gently, and Susan looked into its eye. It wasn't vacant whiteness anymore. Instead, an orange pupil stared back, wide and frightened. A new notification accompanied it:

> Angel (stage ii) (level 10)

The prod buzzed. Her hand trembling as the angel blinked. It hissed again, the pitch adjusting slightly, and now it sounded more like a snake. Its tongue flickered underneath its top teeth, and its jaws moved as it let out a series of breaths and gasps and shushes.

Susan remembered the old-fashioned radio her father kept in his study. The angel sounded a lot like that crackling box as her father turned dials and tried to find specific signals. She wondered if the creature was trying to communicate.

It raised its one arm, its hand shaking as it stared at the missing fingers. Its lips contorted as it moaned softly.

Susan didn't realize she was holding her breath till Dr. Lee shouted, "Stop!"

The angel whipped its head around to the source of the sound, blinking repeatedly as though it had just woken up or emerged from a cave. Light illuminated the corner of the library from where the flashlight had rolled earlier, and several other students wandered over, some of them holding weapons, all of them terrified.

Dr. Lee had grabbed Mrs. Monique's spear. She had the tip pointed straight at the angel's neck.

"Why are you stopping me?" said Mrs. Monique through gritted teeth. Her arms shook with rage. Her metallic armor shone brilliantly in the light.

Despite bleeding from his arm, Dr. Lee held the spear firmly, refusing to let her attack. The sleeve of his lab coat was soaked red. His goggles were askew, but Susan spotted the frenzied look of excitement on his face.

"Can't you see?" he asked, his voice higher with excitement. His lips twitched and he licked them. "It was the electricity. Electricity did something to its brain. This is magnificent!"

The angel rolled off Susan's lap and collapsed on the floor, touching the shoulder of its missing left arm with a hand that had no fingers. The once exposed flesh and bone were now covered by a thick layer of orange covering. Its chest and navel were uncovered, revealing brown skin and female anatomy, but if it had a sense of shame, Susan couldn't tell. Its legs were spread, and it stared at the scorch marks on the ceiling, gently hissing. Its one eye seemed to water.

Light moved. Leslie had picked up the fallen flashlight and was shining it on the angel, making the orange covering glisten vibrantly. But the creature didn't scream or hiss or try to cover its eyes. It squinted back, and Susan saw tears streaming down the side of its head.

"Why's it different?" asked Leslie, staring at the creature. It blinked back, its orange eye darting from her to Dr. Lee to the tip of the spear then back to Susan.

Nobody addressed Alan's body, the boy whose neck the angel had bitten through once it broke free. Susan knew he was dead because no notification came up for him anymore.

She felt a pang of pity. He'd been terrified, and now he was dead. She had to remind herself to breathe again, her heart racing like mad as the others stepped cautiously closer. She was still holding her cattle prod; it buzzed in her shaking hand, but she didn’t know what to do.

The angel showed no sign of aggression. It wasn't trying to grab her or bite her, but the sight of its blood-covered chin set her teeth on edge. That’s Alan’s blood. She almost agreed with Mrs. Monique. They should kill it and get it over with before it changed its mind and attacked again.

It was just lying there, hissing sporadically, its chest quaking as it spat up blood. Its face was covered in that strange dark pattern, and Susan recognized it as what happened to people struck by lightning. The dark tattoo-like marking that became a permanent reminder.

Stolen novel; please report.

Dr. Lee released Mrs. Monique's spear, his hands hovering in case she went for the attack. But she shook her head and stepped back, looking frustrated. He turned toward Susan and the angel, gesturing for Susan to move out of the way.

Leslie helped Susan up, muttering an apology for throwing the phone. Susan sniffled blood but didn't respond. She leaned on Leslie, and they hobbled away from the angel. It watched them go, blinking slowly, and it hissed softly again. She got the eerie sense it was saying goodbye.

Dr. Lee picked up his phone, inspected it quickly, then flashed a huge grin. "It's still recording." Holding his bleeding arm to his chest where the red soaked the front of his lab coat, he continued recording with his free hand, narrating:

"And here we can see the specimen has transformed. We saw earlier examples of Wretched Angels, but they lacked pupils and were extremely sensitive to light. This one..."

He paused and turned the phone onto Susan who was leaning against Leslie. She still had the flashlight aimed at the angel.

"Move the light," barked Dr. Lee roughly under his breath. He looked angry and impatient.

Leslie's hand shook, making the light tremble, but she turned it to the floor, a hurt look on her face. Mrs. Monique sighed heavily and then walked over to Alan's body, crouching down to close his eyes.

"Now," continued Dr. Lee, his face relaxing. "Susan. Would you mind explaining..." but he trailed off. He squinted at her, lowered the phone and removed his goggles, and blinked.

Susan’s throat went dry. Dr. Lee was staring the same way he'd stared at the Wretched Angel on the table and was preparing to slice into it.

"What is it?" asked Leslie, looking from the biology teacher to Susan and back. Then she paused, releasing Susan's arm and stumbling backward, shining the light on Susan's face. She rambled incoherently, but Dr. Lee's voice drowned Leslie out.

"You're human (stage ii) now... That's what it says." He spoke slowly, his voice low, as though he was processing the information as he spoke it. He let the goggles drop to the floor and his lips curled into an almost sinister smile. "Human (stage ii)," he repeated. "So, my hypothesis was correct. Jenny had a similar notification, but she'd left in such a hurry, and this was all so new to me that I couldn't be sure."

"What are you talking about?" whispered Leslie. She was sweating even more now, and trembling. "Is she a monster too?"

Susan shook her head, her insides tightening at those words. "I don't know what this is. It just happened after that thing..." She nodded toward the angel. It had stopped crying and was following each of them as they spoke, its eye now focused on Susan.

"But this is everything!" said Dr. Lee breathlessly as he shoved the phone near Susan's face, as though recording her bleeding nose would give him new insight. "It means we can evolve too. Grow stronger like the angels and become... more. Think of the possibilities! The next stage in Human evolution after millions of years... we just need to harvest more Energy..." His voice trailed off again, and he moved the camera back toward the angel. "I wonder..."

Susan bit the inside of her cheek, discomfort making her stiff. But thankfully, that was when Mrs. Monique returned.

Mrs. Monique stood back, holding her spear with both hands, the tip pointed forward. She glared furiously with one eye. It was almost strange how her face and the angel's mirrored one another. Both missing an eye. Both unfamiliar.

"We should kill it," said Mrs. Monique firmly. Her voice was cruel and cold. The friendly librarian who was always cheerful and vibrant and sweet had vanished. Replaced now by a tired soldier, holding her spear, her entire body bristling to murder. "It was a mistake dragging that thing in here, and now Alan is dead."

There was a practiced ease to it that unnerved Susan. As though somehow Mrs. Monique wasn't unfamiliar with violent situations. And it dawned on her that Mrs. Monique had risen to the Survival Challenge and fought off several angels already to survive. She’d saved Susan and Jenny from the two Wretched Angels. How many others would jump into that kind of situation to help? Susan realized she didn't know a thing about the librarian beyond her friendly facade.

Dr. Lee shook his head. "It hasn't attacked anyone since Susan shot electricity through its brain. No signs of aggression. It seems more like a curious animal now." He paused to turn the phone back on Susan. "That was a mighty fine display, by the way. How did you do that with your weapon?"

"I'm not sure," said Susan. She wanted to step away and sort through her thoughts. Not answer a barrage of Dr. Lee's questions. "But I need to sit down. I feel lightheaded."

"Drained like a battery, I suppose..." said Dr. Lee under his breath, his face falling slightly. She got the sense they were wondering the same thing: if they could use electricity to alter the brains of other angels. Turn them into harmless things like this one.

But what had it been altered to? Why did it suddenly have pupils? Why did its name change? She wanted Jenny to see this. She wanted to know Jenny’s thoughts on this.

With a heavy sigh, Dr. Lee knelt, bringing the phone closer to the angel. Its orange eye watched him with great interest, and it hissed again as though speaking, whistling through the gap in its teeth.

He began to narrate:

"Our brains send signals via electricity. They travel from neuron to neuron and conduct the processes of our central nervous systems. Susan's attack must have supercharged the brain. I only wish we could have recorded the visuals." He said this part gruffly with a hint of annoyance that made Leslie click her tongue. "I wonder if the angel's strengthened form enabled it to survive the trauma, though its skin... is that actually skin? Exhibits the tell-tale scarring of lightning victims..." He was speaking too quickly for Susan to understand properly, but the little bits that reached her sent her thoughts spinning.

Were the angels just like humans then? Trapped in this nightmare?

*****************

Susan sat near the entrance again, leaning against the Librarian's desk, her eyes shut. She listened for any sign of Jenny outside, half hoping her best friend would return and bang on the doors to be let inside.

Mrs. Monique had walked her over and then returned to Dr. Lee’s side. She was ready to kill the angel as soon as she could, but it still hadn't done anything other than hiss, repeating the same pattern of shushing and gasping. But nobody could decipher what it wanted.

Leslie stayed with Dr. Lee, holding his phone and recording as he made observations and tried to understand. The other students had moved Alan's body and covered it with a cloth. Several of them wept.

Sitting away from them, Susan wasn't sure how much time had gone by since Jenny left. She didn't want to check. Even then, she wasn't sure if the time displayed on anyone's phones would have any meaning when they weren't on Earth. But the reason she didn't want to check was cowardice. She didn't want to know how long Jenny had been out there alone. Guilt constricted her heart.

She kept picturing angels swarming Jenny and ripping her apart and... Susan sucked in a deep breath. Worrying wouldn't help. And she was human (stage ii). Just as Jenny had been when she left. She had a bunch of status points to apply and... she remembered the Skill.

Skill... what did that even mean? Was it the same way her cattle prod gained an ability when it reached tier 2? She focused on the thought and brought up the notification.

> Valescent Light (Tier 1)

>

> Generate purifying light. Draws heavily on Stamina to maintain.

She held the notification in her head, repeating it over and over, trying to understand it as clearly as possible. Generate... a purifying light? Did that mean an ability to heal? She wouldn’t have to spend Energy on potions anymore?

She focused again, holding up her hand. She pushed her consciousness to focus on her fingertips, and she could feel her blood pounding through her veins. Furrowing her brows and concentrating hard, she kept thinking Valescent Light as hard as she could.

Then, just when she thought she might pass out from thinking so hard, a shudder traveled up her arm, and a little sphere of warm silvery light flickered into being at her fingertip. A strange sensation tingled across her skin. She felt a slight drain, as though the ball of light pulled on something from her chest to remain lit.

She felt the urge to press the light into her wounded leg. It was strange, but the light felt like an extension of herself. As though her deepest wish had materialized. She trusted her instinct and pressed the light to her ruined flesh.

An immense tug nearly overwhelmed her thoughts. Nausea threatened to make her retch. Her head spun. But the ball of light slipped into her wound and burst into brilliance.

Her jaw dropped as the searing pain vanished. The light, shining with every color of the rainbow, turned into strands, stretching up and down the ruined part of her leg. She saw blue and purple strands intertwining with white. She saw reds weaving in between and around. She saw greens and yellows and vivid oranges. The colorful strands seemed almost jelly-like, almost like the way the angel's orange covering had burst from its spine earlier. It connected one end of her wound to the other and solidified slowly, the glow fading away to reveal brand new flesh, pink and softer than the surrounding skin.

She touched it tenderly, her eyes widening with disbelief. But the pain was gone. Her leg didn't burn. Tears spilled down her cheeks, and she realized she could restore Jenny's fingers.

She wiped her face, excitement making her heart go wild. She wanted to scream with joy. Though she wondered how far the skill would go. How much could she actually heal? And she was exhausted. She would definitely need to increase her stamina. Using it had drained her, much more so than using the lightning did. But once she figured this skill out, once she increased her stats and prepared herself... maybe this was what they needed. If she could heal herself and Jenny, they could spend their Energy on more things than just healing.

She forced herself to take a deep breath. Partially because she needed to; she felt like she'd just run for hours and hours. But also because she needed to calm down. This could be big. Maybe she could convince Mrs. Monique to help her. They could go find Jenny and maybe together, with this, they’d all have a fighting chance.

She remembered she'd gotten a bunch of points after she'd reached stage ii. But before she could pull up her stats, a shockwave rumbled through the walls and windows of the library with such force that several people screamed. It felt like another earthquake.

Susan's heart leaped into her throat, and she looked up just in time to see the barricade come crashing down with a thunderous roar.