Fredrick had saw her and was suddenly on pins and needles. Her skin glowed , especially around her straight amber hair that she was brushing ever so tenderly with a bright white hairbrush. A long toga-like robe hung over her beautiful curves, making her pale skin give off bright radiance in the afternoon sunlight.

And two wings protruded from her back.

They arched into great white feathers, making a long shadow that covered the rest of the alley behind her.

It was an angel.

Very cautiously, Fredrick came round the corner and shakily said, "Hello."

The angel looked up. Her wings started to spread, but folded again.

"Hello, young mortal." She said. Her hair bounced, sending shimmers of light onto the alley walls. Then, as if out of nowhere, a great smile arose upon her face."How lucky I am to have fallen upon you!"

Fredrick's face twisted into an expression of bewilderment, and the angel started to explain.

"You see, mortal, I am very far from my home. There is only one way there from this world of yours,a tunnel, and I need much help, for it has been sealed by evil spirits. If only you would help me." she said.

Fredrick started to speak.

"What can I do, young beauty? Alas, as you have said, I am only a mere mortal, but you, you're a great and fantastical creature much more powerful than I."

The angel looked at Fredrick, saddened by his words of doubt.

"You see, the spirits have created a barrier to keep creatures such as me out. But mortals are unaffected."

"I'm not sure..." said Fredrick, but changed his mind at the last minute. He had been asked to perform a task by an angel. yet he felt as if he was in hot water doing so.

"It is okay, young mortal. there is light at the end of the tunnel."

And so Fredrick was sent to an abandoned part of town, which is quite hard to find in New York.

The town was dead as a doornail, with only one skyscraper which had collapsed, smashing smaller buildings around it. Fredrick went past the first two on the left side, then turned right into a valley, just as the angel had told him to. Soon he was in a completely different world, made of houses with shattered windows and old, rusty cars. all of it was caked with graffiti, making the world seem to be swearing at Fredrick whenever he got one step closer to his destination. He turned one last corner and saw a black hole about forty-five yards away from him.

The tunnel.

Fredrick was afraid, but he couldn't turn away. It was choosing between the devil and the sea. If he went inside, he would go on a terrifying journey, but if he didn't, he would be betraying the angel. Fredrick pushed the thoughts of what was lurking inside and hesitantly walked inside, getting swallowed by darkness.

two:beyond the barrier
Fredrick had been feeling the walls of the tunnel, but they had turned slimy along the way, so he had pulled his hands away. He could just barely make out the crimson liquid dripping from them. He had lost his shoes along the way after encountering what seemed to be a large snake, but you could never quite tell in this darkness. It was different. It jumped out and swirled around Fredrick, making a veil over him. He had ran into many things that seemed to be made of the darkness. Fredrick called them all Shadow Creatures. None had attacked, but many had played with his mind, toying with his sanity. Fredrick wasn't sure what he was supposed to believe now. He wasn't sure what was an illusion, what could and couldn't hurt him. all he knew was that he had to get out.

Glass shards littered the floor, driving Fredrick mad. His feet had gone numb from the cuts and Fredrick was moaning, crying out, his screams echoing through the darkness. He was walking, about to fall down, about to give up...

And then he saw it

The creature was directly in front of him, lying in a kind of fetal position. Its papery white skin was slimy, and it had no hair at all. Its fingernails were made of glass material. It was naked, but not shivering. It had kicked the bucket by the looks of it. Its back faced Fredrick though, so he couldn't be sure. he slowly reached down, turning it over...

It Sprawled itself out, then got on all fours, its humane yet fiery eyes staring in tiny slits. Fredrick was running as fast as possible, his pocket watch falling out. It glinted of a light that wasn't there. the creature picked it up, taking the glass frame off. Soon it was rearranging pieces, throwing out gears, making a tiny golden orb the size of an apple.

There was a hole in the side facing away from Fredrick. The creature grinned and turned it up so it faced the ceiling. Fredrick felt a sudden bolt, then a squeaking sound like rusty door hinges-and the tunnel turned vertically. Fredrick started to fall, his face reflecting out of all of the glass shards that were coming towards him. But all Fredrick thought of was the two-faced angel. the fallen angel. About what she had said. But as he fell, he saw nothing but darkness ahead.