Chapter 5
593Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡURcRuFEgwF
The teen years.
For mortals, the teen years are a combination of stress, anxiety, and confusion. The body continues to grow and change while hormones start setting in. Life suddenly becomes a bloodbath; full of jealousy, rumors, and peer pressure. The stuffed toys are replaced with electronic devices, playtime outside is replaced with a stack of homework and a list of chores, and the carefree lifestyle of a child is replaced with the busy and exciting life of a teenager.
At fifteen years old, Edith had grown into a shy and quiet young lady. Her hair now fell in elegant golden curls down to the middle of her back. Her body had thinned out into an hourglass figure, and her cherubic face had matured into one of a more beautiful and angelic complexion. She was still quite popular and had been able to hold onto her faith as a Christian. She was an avid church-goer and read from the bible at least once a day.
Mable couldn’t have been any more proud of Edith and how she’d managed to bring herself up; as her mother seemed to stay out of the picture as often as she could, and didn’t get involved with these activities. However, she knew that the real test of her faith was only just beginning, and she knew Raum had been thinking exactly the same thing.
For immortals, the teen years in a human’s life were their ultimate test. The teens were still young and impressionable, and they were very easy to lead astray. Guardian angels had their hands full and hardly left their human’s side as they faced challenges such as driving, dating, going out to parties, and enduring the exaggerated emotional pain that would result if something didn’t go their way. Unfortunately, most teens were deaf to the words the angels tried to whisper to them. Demons, on the other hand, spoke in ways that teens loved and desired more than those of the angel. Temptation came as easily as a simple whisper or a tap on the shoulder. It all lead to them tempting the teens into doing something they shouldn’t.
It’s during these years that conflict begins to arise between angels and demons that are paired together. Demons are always trying to find a loophole wherever they can while the angels try to fight them off they began pushing their boundaries with what they can and cannot get away with. Angels worked hard to keep them away and keep their assigned human on the path of righteousness.
The conflict had hit home between Mable and Raum. The evidence of the demon’s interference was all there. The way the teens that have already been led astray began to target her—as well as any other impressionable person around them—happened far too often to write off as typical teenager behavior. Edith found herself dodging drug attics and resisting infatuations with a number of attractive classmates that were either not interested in her or wanted more from her than just the companionship she sought.
Collaboration was typical between demons during this time, especially if it increased their odds of dragging another soul into Hell. Mable, despite her fascination with Raum, was determined to prevent that from happening to Edith.
On a typical rainy day, the angel caught Raum in the act as Edith stared longingly at a photo of a boy that went to her school. He was a very handsome young man with medium brown hair and bright brown eyes. He was model-worthy with a perfect smile and toned body. Whilst Edith was still a sophomore in high school, this man named Derek was a senior.
Raum sat beside her as she continued to stare—smirking.
“You like him a lot, don’t you?”
Edith let out a small sigh as she pulled the picture closer to her face.
“Look at him,” the demon continued, “The most beautiful one you’ve ever seen; isn’t that right?”
Edith threw the picture down on the floor, “He’s too good for me! I need to forget about him.”
“Rethink that, darling. He’s not too good for you; you’re too good for him.”
Edith strode over to a mirror and looked herself over.
“I’m too ugly for someone like him,” she said, “I’m too fat.”
Raum chuckled, “An hourglass figure and flat stomach, and you call yourself fat? Chin up, princess. If only you could see me, then you’d realize just how beautiful you are.”
Mable had heard enough as she stormed into the room.
“What exactly are you trying to do?” she inquired, “Are you trying to make her lust for that man?”
Raum shrugged, “You said it, not me.”
“What’s gotten into you? You’re not the same raven I remember dealing with eight years ago.”
“That’s because there wasn’t a lot I could do eight years ago, except push her on the swing and play with her. Now she’s starting to want more out of life, especially that boy.”
Mable crossed her arms, “The perfect man will come to her when the time is right, not by having some demon toy with her emotions over some hotrod player from school. You’ll not turn her into a succubus on my watch.”
“Incubi and succubae don’t care. I’m just testing her faith, is all. If she’s able to control herself, she’s all yours . . . for now.”
Mable knew he was right. Life all throughout the teen years brought on all sorts of tests. Drinking alcohol, smoking, doing drugs, engaging in underage sex, lying, stealing, envy, wrath, greed, gluttony, sloth, lust, and pride had to be avoided like the plague or taken in generous amounts. Not all teens were capable of avoiding them. Having a demon hovering around only made that ten times harder, and Edith had never been baptized, so Raum couldn’t be shaken off quite yet.
Just the same, their presence hadn’t gone unnoticed by Edith after all these years. Their physical forms did make them visible to the human eye. Every so often one of Edith’s friends would point out the scraggly old raven and beautiful white dove sitting side-by-side in a nearby tree, and each time Edith’s response was the same. She’d merely state that the raven and the dove had been following her for as long as she could remember. The raven was rarely seen without the dove and the dove was never too far away from the raven.
Some days Edith became curious as to why the two birds stuck around. Sometimes she would spend hours watching them. Sometimes the raven would fall asleep and the raven would peck him to wake him up. Sometimes they’d fight—beating each other by slapping the other’s wings or striking with their clawed feat. Desperate to stop the fighting, Edith would cry out, “Shoo! Shoo! Stop that! Don’t hurt that little dove!”
Of course. It was always the demon’s fault.
The two birds would normally stop fighting. It all would end with the raven screeching loudly before flying away to a higher branch to allow time for personal space. He would fly back down and sit next to the dove a few hours later.
As strange as these two birds were to Edith, she considered them to be her true friends. They’d been with her longer than anyone else, but there was always something about the raven that tended to pull her in.
One day, the large black bird was caught sitting at her windowsill as she did her homework. Edith walked over to him, surprised he didn’t fly off the moment she saw him. She knelt down and gently stroked his feathers while the bird stared at her, looking almost shocked that such a token of kindness was being shown to him.
“What’s with you?” Edith asked, “Why do you keep coming back?”
The raven’s response was the same as it had always been. He uttered a loud caw before he flew off and sat next to the dove. In the same tree. On the same branch. Every single day.
ns3.135.214.241da2
