Chapter 3
“Okay.” It seemed like a pretty underwhelming response, but that was all Lizzie could muster while her head felt like it was going to explode. “What else?”
“Uh..um… well,” Ben looked baffled. Lizzie running out of the house crying he could handle. Lizzie pounding her fists in anger he could handle. A calm Lizzie? That was uncharted territory, and Ben was scared.
A werewolf scared of a little girl, his pack would be so proud. But Lizzie wasn’t human, that much he had understood, and that made her dangerous; a threat. He mentally hit himself, Lizzie wasn’t a threat, she was his best friend for Christ sake! He had to stop thinking like a werewolf, it was making him too defensive.
One glance at Lizzie and all his earlier hesitation washed away. She looked like she was going to throw up.
“I think you should lie down –” he said
She interrupted him, and mimicking his tone of voice, said “I think you should tell me what the hell is going on!”
And so he did.
“The earth is inhabited by three races,” He raised a finger for every one, “The demons, the angels, and the humans. Werewolves, vampires, and fairies, well we’re all half-breeds, or the products of disease. We weren’t supposed to happen.” He waved his hand at this, as if to indicate somehow the later species had little importance.
Lizzie interrupted him; she couldn’t help it. “Vampires?” she stuttered.
“Yes. Vampires and werewolves are humans who have been changed by demon viruses. But they are mild compared to the fairies. The fairies are the offspring of demons and angles,” His voice sounded distant as he said, “two opposites joining to create a race harsh and volatile, yet beautiful in a disgusting way.” He paused, and saw Lizzie looking at him, mouth agape. “Look I don’t want to sound like a creepy school teacher but you asked for it.”
Lizzie shook her head “I didn’t say you sounded like a teacher. So what are you, and what am I?”
Ben stared directly at her for a long time, as if he could see her soul through her blue eyes. It was making Lizzie uncomfortable and she was about to say something to break the silence when Ben whispered,
“I think you know. If you looked inside yourself, you would know. Lizzie you aren’t human”
“So… I’m, I’m an….” She couldn’t finish
Ben nodded. “An angel? Yes. As far as I understand.
She rested her head in her hands, staring down at the counter. “Ben, Angels? It’s impossible, they don’t even exist. What does that… what do you mean?”
“Well first off, some angels, like yourself, are born with divine powers. You have your own city too, it’s kind of like an angel place of counsel from what I hear.”
She raised an eyebrow, and he pointed at himself, “No demi-demons allowed.”
“How can this be happening? And why didn’t I know? Hell why do you know?” Her head was swarming with questions.
“Lizzie, I was bitten. I think you saw me changing deep inside, but you were so caught up in your own head you didn’t notice.” He reached to Lizzie’s head to brush down her blond curls, unaware he was doing so, seemingly lost in thought.
He continued his story in a daze, “It was three months ago, on Halloween. I was outside your house waiting for you to come home from art classes, and I heard voices from the backyard. I was curious because I had rung the doorbell and no one had answered, so I went through the alley to see what was up. It was Lacey, arguing with this big guy on the terrace. When he grabbed her arm and pushed her against the side of the house I lost it.” He looked down remorsefully, but continued.
“I yelled at the guy, told him not to touch Lacey like that, and when he turned on me, man, I’d never seen anyone so frighteningly strong. This guy got in my face, and Lacey was yelling for me to back off, for this guy Jeremy to calm down. And next thing I know Lacey had brought me to the demi-demon hospital. I stayed there for a couple weeks, you remember?”
“She told me you had swine flu!” Lizzie said.
“I thought that was quite a nice touch, more like lycanthropy flu.” He chuckled under his breath. “As to who you are that’s for Lacey to explain – ”
Suddenly Ben tensed, going alert. Lizzie thought in that second, he looked strikingly like a wolf, ready to pounce at any given moment. Then his features relaxed and any resemblance vanished. The front door slammed closed, and a figure appeared in the doorframe.
“What’s there to explain?” Lacey asked.
Lizzie ran into her sister’s arms, despite the blood, dust, and green slime that covered her. Lacey winced, obviously hurt and said “Hurry, and grab your stuff. You’re shining so bright I had to fight off three Illuminati just to get in the elevator.”
Not even bothering to question her sister, Lizzie ran back into Ben’s bedroom, where she grabbed her backpack off the bed. As she ran out of his room, she caught a glimpse of something outside the window. Walking as slowly as she could, as to not draw attention, she peered outside.
Hanging on to the next window to her left was something that looked like a dragon, with long talons, and wings that spanned at least 10 feet.
“Oh shit.” She whispered. Walking backwards, she tried keeping her eyes on the dragon. “Lacey!” she screamed. When she could no longer bear to look at it she turned and ran towards the kitchen. “LACEY! There is a freaking dragon thing outside Ben’s window how the – ”
She had found Lacey. Her sister and Ben stood in the living room, which normally had a deck with breathtaking views of New York. Instead it was now seething with demons of all shapes and sizes, crawling over the balcony of their 7th story apartment.
“Oh.”
