Chapter Five

Chapter Five: Demonic Surprises

“Angels are the offspring of the Goddess Aphrodite and the God Ares. Together war and love combined made passion, thus creating a being that was capable of both. One who held passion, love, and hatred towards the human race thus meaning their were different kind of Angels. The Seraphim are the angels of war, those who enjoy battle and believe in fighting for what they believe is God’s whim, they also offer counsel. There isn’t a need to go into detail, but you my dear Drae, are neither or. You are one of the rare breeds of offspring from both a demon and an angel. You may want to believe that you’re some fictional creature like a fairy but you are not. You are no part of the fae and you never will be. Your kind are exceptionally rare, and to be frank my dear; you are the last of the entire race of angels. Thus, meaning you are the last of your kind and the entire beings, you must take it upon yourself to save the world using any means necessary to vanquish Lucifer’s children.”

Drae stared at him open mouthed, what in the world was he speaking? It sounded as though he had just switched from one tongue to another. Her entire being was numb and tingling ever since they’d traveled to this remote area but for some reason she also felt energized as though she could run a marathon.

“So… you’re a Seraphim Angel?” she asked him quietly, still unsure if she was getting this right.

She saw him hesitate, perhaps unsure of what her reaction would be to such news of his birthright to be a Seraphim Angel but she said nothing other than a patient sigh.

“Yes, I am one of the Seraphim Angels.” he answered her, “I am one of the most trusted of angels and am the last alongside you.” he told her.

Drae bit her lip, “So what would you call me?” she asked.

“A half-breed? Hybrid? Mutt?” he listed off suggestions, his fingers ticking down the line.

“I’m not a mutt!” she growled.

“Well, then call yourself whatever you like. You’re the first and last of your kind so make something up!” he told her in exasperation.

“Hmmm… A Serpiliameuels?” she suggested, a tangle of syllables and letters on her tongue.

“A Sepalili-what?” he asked with a raised brow as he stared at her.

“Ok, next.” she said to herself, “How about Azriel?” she offered.

She examined his face, watching as it contorted into a mixture of recognition and dismay. “You recognize it?” she asked him after a moment.

Lew shook his head rather quickly before turning towards the door that closed them in the small hotel room that he had somehow managed to rent without raising suspicion as to why a thirty year old man and a fifteen year old girl were renting a room together.

She stared out the open window, watching as the trees swayed in a strong breeze that spilled dust over the roads. Drae wondered idly where exactly they were and if she would ever return to the orphanage again, seeing as they’d disposed of Mrs. Hellene’s body with ‘magic’.

Drae walked over to the bed and collapsed on the sheets, wondering if this truly was going to become her life or if it was all a dream. A horrible dream where she had actually killed someone and had not ground out words from an unknown tongue. She rolled her head to the side to see Lew watching her with that dark gaze of his. She sighed and turned back to stare up at the ceiling.

“You get used to it after a while.” his voice cut through the silence that lay like a heavy blanket over the hotel room.

“Used to what?” she asked him.

“You get used to being different, to being a freak that doesn’t belong with the mortal world.” he sighed quietly, and it was like a cold wind passed through the room.

I never have belonged to the mortal world. I was always a freak, she thought to herself with acidic resentment.

“You’re not a freak, Drae.” he told her in answer to her thoughts.

She turned to stare at him, “You can read my thoughts.”

The corner of his mouth raised up in a half-smile, “’Course I can. Didn’t I tell you that I aced that part of the Angel Test?”

“There’s a test?” she cried before moaning in despair.

“Oh, Lucifer.” he grumbled, “Are you seriously going to believe everything I say?”

“Is there a reason not to?” she asked him with raised eyebrows, expectation written plainly on her face.

“No, I was just curious as to why you hang onto my every word as though it were a life preserver…” he muttered more to himself than anything.

“Of course she does, Lew. Of course she does.” he mumbled to himself.

“Lew, why do you always say ‘Oh, Lucifer’ instead of something that angels would use like… ‘Oh, God’ or ‘Oh, Lord’?” she asked him with an innocent look of curiosity.

“Have you ever heard the expression ‘curiosity killed the angel’?” he asked her.

She frowned in confusion, “No?”

“Well you have now.” and he pulled open the motel door, letting in a gust of cold air.

Drae shivered and watched as he walked outside, into the fray of flying dust on the wind. She wondered, as she always did, whether he was telling her the truth. Lew was a mystery to her, she had only known him for a night and he always did something to surprise her; something she would never have expected from a quiet man like him. It was strange though, how he avoided topics and certain names to be said. When she asked questions, they were usually answered with questions.

Tomorrow, she thought, I’ll get the answers I want.

***

Drae awoke to hazy sunlight streaming in through the half-opened blinds that covered the large window. She paused to rub her eyes against the burning of the light before propping her head up on her elbow to see the form that lay in front of her.

His back was to her and she could see the perfect scars that ran down the length of his back, starting at his shoulder blades, and that were a dark red. She could see the slow rise and fall of his chest but she could not hear his breathing. Drae frowned in confusion and decided that she could find out more if she acted as though she were still asleep. She moved closer to him with a soft moan, as though she were dreaming, and swung up an arm to drape over his side. Her palm rested against his chest, nearest the heart she could find, but there was no steady beat of his chest and she could feel no air from where her arm rested near his mouth.

Something was wrong, but she couldn’t simply say so.

Drae stretched her arms out, removing the one from his chest, and rolled over to the other side of the bed and swung her legs off the side. Sitting on the edge of the mattress Drae began to wonder just what she was in the middle of, there were many secrets that this man, Lew, was keeping from her but she couldn’t pin down exactly what it was.

He was a Seraphim Angel, there had to be some sort of Angelic Code that he was supposed to follow and could reveal nothing of what he was doing on earth but then again if there was a Code then why would he follow it if there were none other of the angels to enforce punishment on disobeying such a thing?

Some of the things Lew spoke of didn’t exactly work together. It was as though she had two puzzle pieces from a different puzzle and she tried to put them together. They looked like they might fit but when trying to shove one piece to another it was either too big or too small a piece to work.

She sighed, biting back a yawn that wanted to force it’s way from her open jaws and she climbed to her feet. There had to be something to eat in this place or had Lew thought to starve her before telling her about his plan? The thought struck her cold and she could hear the angry growl of her stomach over her heartbeat that resounded in her ears.

“I’m not going to starve you.” mumbled a voice from over near the bed.

Drae started, her eyes going as wide as the large wall clock that hung ever-ticking nearest the door. “Good God, you scared the hell out of me.” she groaned, before placing a hand to her stomach.

He muttered something about God before finally rising into a sitting position at the head of the bed. “Mhm. What are you hungry for?” he asked her.

She shrugged, moving off towards the fridge to see if there was anything actually edible in this hellhole.

“There isn’t anything to eat here, I forgot to pack the suitcases.” he grumbled sourly.

Drae frowned, “Watch the bad temper, buddy.” she growled angrily.

She wasn’t exactly in the mood to put up with his bad temper considering it wasn’t her fault that he kept secrets from her.

“Whatever. Now, answer me; what do you want to eat?” he repeated for what may have been the second time.

“I want an omelette with cheese, red and green peppers, mushrooms and pepperoni with bacon on the side and four pieces of toast, sliced into triangles, with strawberry jam. Oh, the jam has to be those little mini ones from a restaurant ’cause they taste so good.” she said, trying his patience.

Lew flashed her a warning smile before the shadows began to creep towards him. She held back the scream she so wanted to unleash but she trusted Lew, at least, enough to make sure she wasn’t killed. Drae shivered as the tingling sensation returned and she watched, frozen in place, as Lew reached inside of the shadow creature and pulled free a platter of food.

She stared, mouth open and eyes wide, at the food he held in his open palm. It was everything she had asked for, even the mini jams from the restaurants. Drae blinked and met his smiling face.

“Are you a wizard?” she asked him awestruck.

“No. As I told you before, I’m an angel.”

“Uh-huh. A magical angel.” she stated.

“Aren’t all angels magical considering they’re abnormal creatures that live in the heavens?” he asked her with a raised brow.

“Leave me alone.” she grumbled as she grabbed the plate and went away to eat in silence.

Where did she go to eat in silence? Of course Drae decided that the best idea would be to go to the washroom and enjoy her breakfast even though the place stank of feces and other things you’d find in a motel bathroom. She grumbled something to herself and sat down on the sink counter, setting the plate on her lap and closing the door with a foot hooked in the door’s handle. Almost as soon as she begun to dig in she heard a knock on the washroom door.

“Go away, Lew!” she growled at the door, eating her omelette with large bites.

“I have to take a piss, your highness.” he snapped back at her.

Drae frowned, he seemed to be losing his temper rather quickly considering she’d done nothing to deserve it quite yet. Nevertheless, she decided to ignore his temper and took a quick bite of her toast.

“Drae, get out of the washroom!” he snarled, his fist banging on the door incessantly.

“Lew, learn some manners.” she answered him back snappishly, before taking another bite of toast. The stench of the washroom began to irritate her nose and she reached up to rub the back of her hand along her face.

She heard a quick hiss of words and then she noticed the darkness that crept the base of the door, clawed hands reaching for her and with a scream one of them touched her. The shadow’s claws were cold, and where it touched a long claw-like wound presented itself, beading with crimson blood. She ground her teeth but refused to give in to his whim. Another shadow drew it’s hand to her face, it’s cold claws bringing her to shiver against the pain that lit in her flesh.

“Stop it, Lew!” she cried, more of the shadows beginning to crowd the bathroom, swarming towards her with malicious intent.

There was no answer from the other side of the door and she immediately reacted by spreading out her hands and using the words that rose to her throat.

“Enchios.” she snarled, and immediately a quick flare of bright white light emanated from her palms.

There was a piercing shriek and the smell of burning flesh before the shadows retreated, vanishing. The bathroom door swung open to reveal a pale looking Lew, who stared at her as though he’d seen the devil himself.

“We’ve got to go.” he told her quietly.

She stared at him, “No. First, I want to know exactly what you are.”

Lew laughed at her, his lips stretching in a malevolent smile. “You want to know what I am? I already told you.” he answered her calmly.

“I’ve read books on angels, they all say the same - their wings are white.”

“Books can tell lies, little Drae.” said Lew, his smile still intact.

“Angels wouldn’t speak of the devil in the way you do.” she told him.

“Really? Where did you find this? On wikipedia?” he demanded.

“No angel should be able to lie to another… so what are you, Lew?” she asked him, threat quite present in her voice.

“You really want to know, little angel?” he asked her, his smile withering into a frown. He wrung his hands in front of him, as though preparing for some spectacular surprise.

“Yes.” there was no hesitation in her voice, and that was a surprise to her all in itself.

“Good to know that you’re brave. You’re going to need that, and a whole lot of courage.”

Lew stood in front of her, staring down at her with his strange eyes, his red irises churning violently and then suddenly - everything went black.