Cursed

“Being worn down by the boots of societies mediocrity doesn’t mean you’re evil.” She nudged his shoulder with hers. Fluttering her wings a little to warm the air. She knew he loved the heat, but he stayed in this fridged land, paying penance. She longed to tell him, throw her wings out and fly him away from here. He relaxed and allowed himself to indulge the warm wind.

He wished he could tell her he knew, but how. From the first night he saw her wings, they remained visible. They were vague, shimmery lights that fluttered and danced around her body. The kids called her “halo” because they saw her as an angel, if only they understood.

“Lorien,” he caught her wrist as she reached for the door. Shivers ran up her back, like tiny pricks of mint, ending in a quiver of her wings. “I…” he stuttered over the words, “I need you to know, I see you. The whole you.” He emphasized the last three words and let his gaze fall on her wings.

He let go of her wrist and she resumed turning the doorknob, slowly pushing it open. Dazed, she let the words wash over her. Did he really mean he could see? She didn’t dare look at him, the quiver that sparked in her low spine had now taken resident in her lip. Tears of joy and utter fear filled her eyes. How long had he known? If he knew, who else knew. She had to leave, move on from this place but she loved him, and she loved this place. Half conscious of her actions, she reached back and found his hand, like it was the most natural position to be in their fingers interlocked and he followed her into the small shabby entryway. They navigated through her small living room in silence. At the kitchen counter she released his hand and lite the small candle she kept there. She still preferred the warmth of the candles, not to mention the frugality. “How long have you known,” She barely whispered but the sound chased the silence into the shadows that flickered at the edges of the room.

He wrapped his arms around her waist. Pulling her close against his chest. Breathing her in. “Long enough to learn everything there is to learn. Long enough to know that you have stayed too long here. Long enough to know that we are leaving together.” She wanted to argue. Tell him that isn’t how it worked, that she had to go on alone. But he turned her around and pressed his mouth gently to hers. Her mind swam, her walls came crumbling down, and she knew that she would not leave his side until death took him.

-Click- scritch, scritch, scritch… Her eyes shot open wide, grabbing at him she slammed them into the ground. NO! NO! That I stayed here too long, those words pounded in her head. She could see the confusion written on Tims face, but she didn’t have time to explain. Rolling off him, she half dragged him to the cupboards, pressing them back against the wall. Eyes scanning the room she barely breathed, “if you know, then listen… they found me, I heard the demon claws. I am immortal, it cannot kill me. Please, do not leave this spot until you know it’s gone. It can’t see you. But don’t move, please!” -click- scritch, scritch, scritch. There it was, just on the other side of the living room. She saw its long claws trail down the wall. As her wings unfurled as she called Cherubim’s flaming sword from the ether. “Deus intra nos” she began to chant as she advanced. The demons laugh started deep and throaty until it echoed off the walls, a cacophony of sound that made the candle flicker and the light dim. His long claws came up to parry the swing of her blade.

“You won’t get away this time little butterfly. You have given too much of yourself to these people. You love too deeply,” his voice was a purr, deep, sultry, and dangerous. “You… Lussstt.” The last word rolled from his lips like black smoke. She met his beautiful deep purple eyes, locks of black cascading down around his sharp angular features.

“Asmodeus…” it caught in her throat and her eyes went wide. She twisted away from the hell prince as his other hand swiped at her exposed side. She was in a losing battle and if Asmodeus drug it out too long, finding Tim was an inevitability. “You will gain nothing here, and when I am freed- there will be no place that hell can hide you. Next time we meet, I will be more than your equal. Deus intra nos.” She folded her wings down and allowed the sword to dissipate back to the ether. Asmodeus shadow flew across the walls as it overtook the ground the sword had lit. The tiny flame on the candle was but a prick of light. He screeched in rage as she let her power drain away into the ether.

“Raise your wings angel, fight me!” but is blood lust consumed him before her fear could make her call back her power. His long clicking nails slid easily through her torso. Her body arched backwards away from the blow. Tim watched in horror, tears filling his eyes but never falling. Asmodeus snapped his cursed claws off, tossing her limp to the ground. Where the claws protruded from her body, inky black lines spread across her skin. She curled up, slowly folding into herself, her wings wrapping around her body as the black ran to the end of each feather. The black seemed to swirl around her, becoming smaller, and smoother. Until all that was left was a small black orb, shimmering malevolently on the floor. Asmodeus shrieked curses at the orb, his hand reaching towards it, but seemingly unable to grab it. He seemed to pull those shadows around his body, growing until his back pressed against the ceiling. He stalked through the room, continually shrieking and growling. The sound became ear splitting, and Tim longed to cover his ears, cover his face, to flee. The dark became like an icy knife, burning and sharp against his exposed skin. “Don’t move, please” her voice echoed in his mind, and he stayed, fixed on the pearl that held his world.

Then, just like that, Asmodeus was gone. The candles light glowed, flickering off the warm shabby apartment. The silence returning like a warm blanket. His chest felt like it had been ripped apart as he crawled across the room to the pearl. It was hot to the touch, resting on his palm. “God, please no.” He pleaded to a deity that he had no faith in, and the silence he expected answered. All that was left of an immortal being, his angel was gone.