Chapter 6
600Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJllNNmlci5
What made a demon a demon? What made an angel and angel? That was all Mable could ask herself as she watched Raum. The days passed, one right after another, just as they always did. With each one that passed, Raum grew more antsy, more desperate, and ultimately even more unlike the creature she had first met all those years ago. He was less mysterious and showed less interest in Edith and more interest in conjuring up ways to make her sin.
What was really sad—to her, at least—was that his tactics were working. High school brought up countless opportunities for temptation and it all started with that boy Edith had become so fond of; Derek.
Like any high school girl infatuated with a handsome boy, Edith couldn’t resist trying to talk to him. Derek wasn’t the worst when it narrowed down to teenage boys that thought with their head in their pants, but that didn’t mean a thing when a pretty girl entered the picture. Many things defined a high school student; the clothes they wore, the electronic devices they used, what kind of job they had, and—most importantly—who they were dating.
Edith was beautiful and smart; the Holy Grail compared to most girls. All the more reason Derek said yes when the shy, nervous, and stuttering girl asked him out. Edith was ecstatic! She had the man of her dreams. Things were going her way. But with new relationships come new challenges and tests; Mable knew that all too well. Raum didn’t even have to think about it to know it, too.
So when one of Derek’s friends told him he was throwing a part, Derek couldn’t resist taking Edith, and Edith couldn’t resist going.
On a Sunday night—a school night, no less—they showed up to the party when it was in full swing. What nobody had bothered to tell Edith, though, was that people would be drinking, smoking, and doing drugs, and she greatly disapproved.
It would seem that at parties, Derek had the attention span of a squirrel, as he quickly left his new girlfriend’s side for the company of a beer and a lit cigarette. Not wanting to get caught up in the fun, Edith sat down at a bar surrounded by diet soda, water, chips and dip, and a cold cut platter. Some friends that she knew from school were there, and they took great pleasure in engaging in conversation.
All was going well for Edith until one boy—one that she had never met—sat down beside her and instantly started making attempts to flirt. He was obviously drunk and high off of something that must have been floating around at the party. His breath reeked, he was disoriented, and his words slurred as he spoke. Edith knew she had to be careful.
The boy attempted to ask her to dance.
Edith said, “No, thank you. I don’t want to dance.”
The boy offered her a drink of his beer.
Edith said, “No, thanks. I don’t drink.”
The boy offered her a cigarette.
Edith said, “Sorry, I don’t smoke.”
Finally, the boy grabbed her hand and tried to pull her to her feet. He asked if she wanted to join him in the upstairs guestroom.
Edith said, “I don’t know you, and I have a boyfriend. Go away, please.”
The alcohol that was flowing through this boy’s head didn’t agree with that response. Exerting more force, he tried to pull Edith to her feet and force her to go with him, but she pulled back.
From across the room, Derek saw what was happening and rushed in. Even with less alcohol in his system than the other boy, he was still disoriented and irrational. It started with yelling, which escalated into a fist fight, which then resulted in a wrestling match.
Edith and one of her friends fled from the house. Angry at Derek and worked up because of the other boy, she could only sit in the passenger seat of her friend’s car and cry as she was driven home.
Mable and Raum had watched the entire scene play out in front of them. The angel was not pleased, but she was proud of Edith. There were so many opportunities for her to succumb to peer pressure, but she held her ground and refused. The angel glared at Raum, blaming the night’s events on him, even though she knew it wasn’t all his fault. Teenagers threw parties, teenagers go to parties, and sometimes teenagers make bad decisions at parties. Demons might cause the temptation, but it was ultimately the teen’s responsibility to decide whether or not they’d fall for that temptation or if they were strong enough to resist it.
Even so, as they followed the car back to Edith’s home, Mable couldn’t help but ask questions.
“So you destroy the dignities of man, eh?”
The raven was silent as he flew beside her dove-like form.
“If that’s so,” she continued, “Then why didn’t you do anything to drive off that man that was with Edith?”
No response.
“You’re not exactly useful of you don’t bother to use your abilities.”
No response.
“What? Is your fortune-telling getting to you? Do you know something that I don’t?”
No response.
“Hey! Say something!”
The raven let out a loud caw before he looked down to the car below them. Another car was approaching. The driver had to be drunk because the car swerved in multiple directions just to stay on the road. Slowly, it began to drift in the other lane and into the path of the car Edith’s friend was driving.
Mable gasped, “Oh, Lordy, no!”
She looked to Raum, but the raven had vanished from her sights. When she saw him again, he was diving down towards the oncoming vehicle as fast as his wings could carry him. Mable fully expected him to slow down as he got closer, only to realize the exact opposite. The raven picked up his speed and flew straight into the car’s windshield! The crack that was emitted from the impact was so loud, it made Mable jump.
The impact was definitely enough to wake up the driver of the car. He swerved back into his lane, missing the car Edith was in by mere feet.
Mable was relieved that the girl was safe, but worry pumped through her when she realized that the raven had not gotten up from the impact. She circled around and found the black creature still lying on the pavement. The body was mangled. Feathers were scattered everywhere. The raven wasn’t moving or breathing; he didn’t try to get back up.
Shifting back into her angelic form, Mable took the bird into her hands. The raven’s head lolled backwards and—much to her disgust—she could feel bones crack and move from within the still-warm body.
She laid the poor creature back down on the pavement. She buried her head in her hands and sobbed as if her life depended on it.
“Oh, Raum, I’m so sorry.”
From behind her, the beating of a large pair of wings alerted her that someone was approaching; another immortal. Mable didn’t care. If another angel was going to see her cry over a demon, she’d let them see it. If it was nother demon, she didn’t care. Mourning was all she cared about.
“Why are you crying?”
The voice made Mable straighten up and gasp in disbelief. She whipped around and was confronted by the very demon she that was now dead.
Raum.
“Ravens are only a dime a dozen,” the demon continued, “That poor soul was old any dying anyways. I guess you could say he’s in a better place now.”
Raum had no idea what hit him. He might have blinked, but it was all the time it took for Mable to get up and throw herself at him. The demon found himself wrapped in the angel’s embrace as she sobbed into his black, downy breast.
The raven that she though had been Raum was just another old raven that had been at Raum’s command.
“My lord, Raum! You almost gave me a heart attack!”
“There, there, O Pure One,” the demon huffed as he patted the top of the angel’s head in an attempt to calm her, “I’m perfectly fine.”
The angel’s grip on him tightened, forcing air out of his lungs in a choked squawk.
“Don’t ever do that again, you hear me? Never again!”
ns3.147.84.210da2
