by Kaylee Kane
“You’re not thinking about Urken and Mafento, are you?” She shook her head in pure disappointment and let out a sigh. “I can’t believe that you’re willing to give up your dreams for them. What good have they done to you? Are their cocks really that good?”
“You would never understand, Debbie. You’re heartless. I can’t let Urken and Mafento down.”
“Are you really gonna waste your time proving your worth to someone who didn’t give a fuck about you?”
“I’m not gonna just go and let people think that I’m a traitor. I’m not going to give you the satisfaction of winning.”
Debbie scoffed. “I already won, Tessa. Urken and Mafento are set to attack the final hideout tonight, but guess what? They’re in for a huge surprise.” My nerves rose in me when an evil look plastered on Debbie’s face. Her red eyes glowed like an ember in the fire as her laugh reverberated through the walls of the dungeon. “They’re not going to make it and when the two strongest veteran archangels are down, the Fallen Angels are ours to claim. Sooner or later, you will join our side. You will serve our lord Andrajvah as well.”
My blood blazed like fire through my veins.
“No, it’s not going to happen!”
“Sit back and enjoy the show!” Debbie turned around, laughing as I followed her with my eyes.
“No, Debbie, wait!” I cried out, slamming against the bars but my effort went futile. I followed Debbie’s retreating back until her last shadow disappeared around the corner.
An eerie silence hung over the dimly lit dungeon and the wave of loneliness crept in me. I slumped against the bar and slid down to sit on the floor as the last hope was lost in me. It was the first time in my life that I had felt so useless and helpless. Urken and Mafento were in danger and my hands were tied.
My gaze cast on the empty wall as the memories of the past flooded in my head. Debbie’s words might drip with venom but they rang with truth. Maybe if I had made friends instead of enemies, I would have someone backing me up now. Regret trickled in me, filling me with guilt. I felt like an asshole when I thought of how I had treated Lamora and my previous roommates. And even Debbie. I hated how she was right about me using her.
Maybe I did deserve this. I wanted to be mad at Debbie for everything she had done to me but instead, all I felt was guilt for her. I was not only a crappy friend. I’d never considered Lamora or Debbie my friends. I didn’t believe in friendship because I knew how fragile any relationships were and I hated having my heart broken. I was the reason why Debbie had resorted to pledging her allegiance to Andrajvah. I hurt her so badly she thought turning to Andrajvah was the only way.
Tears scorched my eyes and started rolling down my cheeks. I hated myself more now that I had broken my vow. I swore to myself I wouldn’t cry over my fate after I’d been banished to Fallen Angels. The last thing I’d cried was the time when I made a foolish decision to save the kid I was supposed to bring home and take her abusive mom instead. It was the last time I had cried for someone. It was the last time I would put others before myself.
“Hey…” I thought my ears were playing tricks on me. The sudden chill picked up and made the tiny hairs on my arms stand on ends. I wrapped my arms around myself and turned around. My heart almost somersaulted out of my chest when I was met with a pair of eyes staring back at me.
“Holy fucking shit!” Lamora and I both jumped a foot from each other.
“What the fuck is wrong with you?” Her hand flew to her chest as she caught her breath.
“Lamora?” I muttered through my breathless gasp. “What the fuck are you doing here?” The memories we shared together and the time when I first met her flashed into my mind. I glanced her up and down warily. “If you were gonna mock or scold me, do it quickly. I’m having an early night.”
Lamora rolled her eyes and took on a pitiful expression. If there were any scorn and anger towards me, I couldn’t see it. “I can’t be critical. I wanted to escape from Fallen Angels before. I am only in awe of your courage for taking the risk and doing what you really want.” There wasn’t any sarcasm in her tone either.
I couldn’t bring myself to look her in the sympathetic gaze. I hated being pitied. Especially when I had wronged and used her. Lamora would have been a great friend if I wasn’t being an ass.
“What brought you here?”
“I’ve been meaning to say thank you to you.”
My eyes widened. “For what?”
“For saving my ass from the Underworld. You created the interworld portal for Aliuth and Ehreus to find me. You risked your own life by breaking the rules to save me. I know they wouldn’t have done that.”
I pursed my lips and nodded as the embarrassment crept through me. As if I hadn’t felt like a dick before, the recollection of the other day flashed back into my head. Twice I had been hesitant to use my black magic, fearing I would get into trouble even when Lamora’s life was in danger.
If only I had acted faster, Lamora wouldn’t have been abducted by the Agent of Darkness. You would think I would have learned my lesson and redeemed myself the second time when Aliuth and Ehreus planned to risk it all and traverse the Underworld to save her ass. If Ehreus hadn’t blackmailed me, I wouldn’t have done it. I would have forsaken Lamora and let her turn. But now she had come to see me even though I was the traitor. My selfishness made my stomach turn.
“I’m sorry…” I muttered, meaning it.
Lamora looked at me in confusion. “What for?”
I hung my head low as shame came over me. “I could’ve saved you the other night. If I stopped you from being taken away by the Agent of Darkness. All of these wouldn’t have happened. But I was thinking about me at the time. I was thinking about the deep shit I would be getting myself into if they found me using black magic.”
Lamora reached her hand into the cell and patted me on the shoulder. At this stage, I felt so filthy I didn’t think anyone would touch me. I was the asshole but Lamora was consoling me. “It’s not your fault, Tessa. Plus, I’m fine now and that’s what really matters. If it had been you, I wouldn’t know if I could bring myself to do it either.”
Hot tears rolled down my eyes as I smiled back at her. “Do you think I’m the snitch?”
“I mean, you’re up for harmless pranks and mischief but I never thought you would do something terrible like that. I certainly hoped you didn’t.”
A sigh escaped from my chest. “Look, there’s something you ought to know.”
Lamora’s eyes widened in shock. “What? You’re not gonna tell me you really did it?”
I rolled my eyes. “No, you dumbass. I’ve never snitched. So…here’s the thing. We’re friends, right? I mean, I think you’re the first person I feel like a good friend since I’ve been here. So I think you ought to know my backstory.”
Lamora arched her brow at me. “You really–really think that I’m your good friend?”
I shrugged. “Yeah, kinda.”
“I’m listening.”
“Right. So it was the last night of my duty as the Angel of Death before my banishment to Fallen Angels. She was my last collection. It was a typical night in a typical neighborhood. It could be anywhere. I went to this cozy bungalow used to be shared by a family of three. Lovely family. I thought it was suicide but when I went there. I learned that this kid’s father had an affair with his coworker and his mother found out. They were going for a divorce. This kid’s mother turned into an alcoholic and drug addict. It wasn’t my first time dealing with kids but this one just hit home…”
I swallowed a lump of burning tears. “When I looked into the kid’s eyes, begging for a chance of living, begging to have a normal happy family, I could see myself. It wasn’t the first time she had received the wrath of the abuse. It was supposed to be the last time and I thought of the same thing I’d been through. I just wanted a chance but no one had given it to me so I had to do this. I had to give the kid a chance, so I made the m
other slip and hit her fucking head on the kitchen bench. I took her life, sending her straight to the Underworld at Andrajvah’s mercy…”
Lamora nodded. I looked into her glassy eyes.
“You see, I was just being selfish all along. I only saved the kid because I saw myself in her.”
“That didn’t make you selfish, Tessa. You didn’t want others to suffer from the same shitty fate as you did and you risked your life for that. I think that’s very selfless. Stop blaming yourself. It’s not your fault. Not everything is your fault.” I buried my face in my arms and bawled my eyes out. Somehow I felt the weight of the world lifted off my chest after telling Lamora this part of me that I’d never told anyone. Not even in writing in the journals.
Lamora continued patting me on the arm. “You’re only saying that to make me feel better. You fucking know it’s all my fault. Debbie turned evil because of me. Urken and Mafento are gonna die because of me.”
Lamora blinked quickly. She jerked back so quickly her head shook. “Wait! What the fuck are you talking about?”
I sucked in a deep breath and wiped my eyes with my arm. “Debbie, she’s no longer with us. She’s become an Agent of Darkness. She was the one who snitched and fucked up the whole plan. Now Urken and Mafento are going to walk into their fucking trap.”
A concerned look crossed her face. “What the fuck? She was with us in the cafeteria during Professor Clem and Professor Ashura’s memorial. How long has this been?”
“I’ve got no idea. I just got to know just now when she came to confront me.”
“Why didn’t you say that earlier?”
My eyes stilled on Lamora. “Are you gonna believe me? I’m a liar and a traitor.”
Lamora nodded. “Well, I was pretty pissed at you for pulling pranks on me that got me into trouble but it has been happy endings every time so…” She shrugged. “But what is this trap you’re speaking of? Urken and Mafento had just left the campus a few minutes ago.”
My heart somersaulted to my chest. All the blood drained from my face. I couldn’t bear to picture if anything bad should happen to them. I grabbed hold of Lamora by the wrist and looked straight into her eyes. “You gotta do something, Lamora. If anything should happen to Urken and Mafento, it’s the end of Fallen Angels.”
Lamora took a long hard look at me. “No, I can’t. It’s my duty to safeguard Fallen Angels in their absence.”
My heart fell as the sliver of hope disappeared. “You’re not gonna save them?”
Lamora shook her head. “I can’t.” She pulled away from me and grabbed onto the gate of the cell that she plucked out like a cherry out of a tree and tossed across the ground. My eyes flew open. My jaw dropped to the floor. A twinge of jealousy for her coursed through me.
“What the actual fuck?” I muttered.
“I can’t leave but you can. You’ve to go and save them.”
I stood there with my feet rooted to the ground. I wasn’t sure which part was harder to fathom. The fact that she’d just ripped off the gate with her bare hand or the fact that she’d just let me out like that. Our eyes interlocked as I looked at Lamora in disbelief, wondering if this was some sort of stupid prank she was pulling. “Are you fucking serious? You just let me out like this?”
Lamora lowered her head. “I’m alive today because you gave me a chance, Tessa. Believe me or not, I wouldn’t have made it today without you. I know you were not evil. Like all of us, we’re always up for a little mischief but you’re not rotten. It’s time you prove your worth. It’s time you live up to your status as the Angel of Death and take those bad boys back to their hell daddy.”
“Hell daddy. I like that,” I said.
Lamora winked and nudged me with her elbow. “And you wouldn’t want to miss the chance of being in service of both Urken and Mafento at the same time.”
I couldn’t roll my eyes harder.
13
Tessa
Butterfly Valley was dubbed as the town of witchcraft due to multiple paranormal events that had happened here. Rumors had it Andrajvah’s army used to roam in the town, hunting for the Hearts of Gold who sought refuge here. You would think it would ward of visitors because of the fear of the curse but about a decade ago, it had bloomed into a tourist spot and became a world heritage site when magic-themed hipster cafes and bars started mushrooming in the town.
The sun was sinking in the horizon, casting a pinkish purple shade in the sky. The smell of smoke and alcohol hung in the air. The lights coming from the bars lit up the night in the narrow lane leading towards the end of the street. The quieter part of the town beyond this street was swallowed by the night.
“Hey, Goth girl!” Someone shouted from the bar where the music was blasting. A colorful flag with the emblem of marijuana waved in the verandah where people were dancing and chatting into the evening. “Hey, whatchu thinking going into the forbidden zone? Are you crazy?” Forbidden zone, huh? That was what they called it? Our kind called it the Dark Site, the area had such a high level of dark energy that it was impenetrable by interworld portal. Only a few places on Earth that had the same energy level.
I scoffed and continued walking towards the small lane. “Hey, you’re a witch?”
Anger surged through my veins. I groped at my hips for my sickle and whipped it out. In a smooth movement, I put it under the scrawny male’s chin. He didn’t dare to move a muscle, only eyes darting between the blade and my face. His hands shot up in surrender. “Wait–wait, what are you doing?”
“You’d better keep your mouth shut before I cut that fucking tongue out,” I said, digging my sickle into his flesh, drawing blood. His muscles went taut with fear as he squeezed his eyes shut.
“Sorry, god, ma’am, I’m so sorry. I’m just curious why everybody’s going into the forbidden zone. Earlier, two big guys went in and they hadn’t come out yet.” My nerves rose in me as my heart lurched.
“Two big guys.”
“Yes, two alpha sword-wielding hunks.”
Urken and Mafento. There was no mistaking it was them. “How long has this been?”
The scrawny male shrugged. “About half an hour. I don’t know.” I let go of him and he scrambled off huffing and puffing.
A wave of fear for Urken and Mafento’s safety coursed through me. The mental images of Debbie’s flashed in my head. I still remembered those heartless eyes and the evil smile. She wasn’t kidding. Half an hour ago. I was too late. They could be gone now. I couldn’t bring myself to find out they had turned into Agents of Darkness. Panic engulfed me.
No, I couldn’t bear losing two of the most important archangels in my life. I couldn’t bear to witness the demise of Fallen Angels due to my failure. A wicked plan sprang into my mind. I could escape. I was already out of Fallen Angels and got my powers back. No one was going to stop me now. I could just turn around and live my dreams.
Closing my eyes and burying my face in my palms, the mental images of Urken and Mafento’s disappointed look flounced in my eyes. Guilt stabbed my conscience, the pain was so real my hand flew to my chest. No, I couldn’t let them down again.
If I were to redeem myself, this was the chance. My fingers tightened around the handle of my sickle as my eyes gazed into the abyss as the wave of determination rose within me. I stood in front of the gothic house at the end of the street. Rumor had it, it had belonged to an old witch who had been living there for centuries.
I couldn’t really be bothered about who was living there when Urken and Mafento’s lives were at stake. Even if a fucking dragon lived in there, I would still break in and fucking save them two. My fingers clenched tightly onto the handle of my sickle as I inched towards the abandoned house. Not a single light was lit in the house and an eerie aura hung over the atmosphere.
I fought to purge the frightening thoughts that were racing through my mind. I gulped, feeling the bile rise in my throat as the mental pictures of Urken and Mafento with their glowing r
ed eyes and sharp white fangs launching themselves at me. As much as I wanted them to eat me, I certainly didn’t want to walk into them in this stage.
A haze of fear bounced around me as I stood in front of the main door of the gothic house. I looked up at the giant shadow of the house, the black walls almost blended into the night sky. The lightning struck, bleaching the sky and revealing the shape of the house for a second.
“Okay, I’m Tessa, the Angel of Death. There’s nothing to be afraid of. I’m the Death and people should fear me.” I sucked in a deep breath and gave the wooden door a kick, sending it wide open. The strange gust picked up and blustered into the house, lighting up the black crystal chandelier hanging in the middle of the house, painting the walls with a hellish red light. I craned my neck into the house.