Delicate Lines

-Moments Earlier-

Max was much better now. He couldn’t explain what happened to him.

“You sure you’re okay?” Ben asked. Max nodded.

“Yeah,” he said. The man tried to get up. He wobbled for a bit.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Ben said, putting his hand on his shoulder. “Take it easy there, buddy. Just sit down.” Max nodded as his friend walked him over to the couch by the wall. Ben rubbed his right ear as they walked.

“Is something wrong?” Max asked. Ben made a face at him.

“I’m not sure,” he said. The sharp pain in his ear faded away just as suddenly as it started. Ben slowly lowered his hand.

Hm. That was weird.

Ben turned back to Max and walked him to sit down on the couch. He sat down next to his friend.

“Better?” he asked.

“Yeah,” Max said. The other man breathed out.

“Good, good,” he said nodding. Ben almost reached up for his ear but then stopped. He couldn’t figure out what was wrong. Maybe it was a sudden earache or something. Ben would’ve chalked it off to a one-time thing if not for the others acting strangely.

Meanwhile, Izumi made her way over to Natalia at the circle. The older angel didn’t look up at her. Izumi stood on the edge.

“We’ve got a problem,” she said. The angels looked at everyone in the living room. The humans were trembling, rubbing their ears, and some were wandering around the room. Natalia had been ignoring the sounds their souls were making around her.

“Did it just start to manifest?” she asked.

“Yeah,” Izumi said. Natalia’s face turned grim. She could already see where this was heading.

“Where is everyone else?” she whispered. The other angel took a moment to think.

“Baby’s is her room. I think Himeko went to her room too. Yoshiko had to get something from the kitchen. I don’t know where Liz is.” Natalia took a moment to think about it.

“We might have to pull the desperate measure,” she said. Izumi made a face at her.

“You can’t be serious,” she said.

“We don’t have any other choice,” Natalia said. “It won’t be long before we all get sucked in. I am doing the best I can here. But it might not be enough in this situation.” Izumi clenched her fists at her sides.

“Fine,” she said. “I’ll get the others now.” She was about to turn away when she heard a dull thud to the floor. The angels looked up to see Julia laid out on the floor. Her body started shaking.

“Julia!” Lisa shouted. The woman started to run over to her before she fell to the floor. It didn’t take long for the others to fall too. Izumi and Natalia looked at each other.

“Get on it now,” Natalia hissed.

“Right!” Izumi said. She quickly turned and ran up the stairs. The other angel looked at the humans dropping to the floor like flies. She knew that time really wasn’t on their side now. Masayuki and everyone else had to move fast before they were all lost. Even Ben and Max were laid out on the floor.