by Michael Dean
One night, we were all gathered in Scruffy’s living room watching television when Benjamin abruptly turned it off.
“Leo…” He leaned forward and rubbed his hands together. “Amanda and I, and of course, Mark, have been doing some talking. We know how close you and our son are…and we don’t think it’s right to alienate you more than you probably already feel you are.” Scruff leaned over from the couch and patted me on the back as I was sitting propped up next to him on the floor.
“What I’m trying to say is, well, we understand that your situation is…unique. Although we know what you are, it wouldn’t be right to refuse someone aid who needed it. We’d like you to move into our home, Leo. Become a part of our family…so long as you do your best to keep trouble away from our house, that is.”
I was totally stunned. That was the last thing I expected. I was honored that the Spears family would take in a stray like me.
“So what do ya say, homey?” Scruff pushed me for an answer.
I paused for a second. “I gratefully accept…with conditions.”
They all looked at me a little confused and possibly offended. There was more than one reason why I couldn’t stay with them full time, one of course being Christian, and the other had to do with me hanging around humans full time. Much like the vegetation in my environment, they would sooner or later get sick and die if I was around them constantly. I wasn’t going to tell them that particular secret about me, though.
“Let me elaborate. I am honored and humbled to be asked to be a part of your family…and I would love to. Just know that I’m still at odds with quite possibly the most evil being ever known to man and he’ll do whatever he has to do to weaken me, even if that means hurting you. So, since you want trouble, naturally, to stay out of your home, until this thing is fully over, I will have to stay at my tree as often as I can. I don’t want him getting wind of your kindness or he may come after you. Given that knowledge, do you still want me under your roof?” I winced.
“We know what the cost is, son,” Amanda said. “It doesn’t matter…well, of course it does, but your well-being should be in play here as well. Not just everyone else in Mountainside besides you. Just know our place is open to you, anytime. Do what you think is best.” She smiled and I returned the gesture.
Scruffy was apparently restless because I didn’t give a direct answer. “Well? Are you gonna stay here, basically full time…or not?” He shoved me in the shoulder.
His parents chuckled and so did I. “Of course, I’d love to. That’s awesome. From time to time, I still have to do what I have to do…ya know?” I glanced around at all three of them.
“Understood.,” Benjamin clapped his hands together once. “Just so you know, we have rules here too, but we’ll discuss those later. For now, welcome to the family, Leo…glad to have you.”
“Not really that glad, but we’ll manage,” Scruffy added with another shove to my shoulder.
After that night, I spent most of my time between staying with the Spears family, going to school to visit Shade, and occasionally taking off to spend time at my spot. Shade began to ask me why I hadn’t come to see her at night and I told her why. We both agreed that it was the right thing to do in honoring her parent’s wishes. She was worried though that they may not get over their concerns before senior prom. If that was the case, I might not be able to take her.
This separation really sucked, first she was kidnapped by Shimmer, now this. It seemed like every time I made progress being around one person, something else popped up that prevented me from hanging with another. Only being able to see Shade at school was really depressing. I wanted to be with her as much as possible, but for now, I’d have to settle on Scruffy as a cheap substitute.
Chapter 14
UNDERSTANDING
Although I was happy for my friend, I was getting tired of seeing him and Sandra go out together while I either toggled with the choices of staying behind at his house or flying to my spot. Months went by and prom was fast approaching, along with graduation.
Not a hint of Christian was seen. I knew something had to be brewing with him, though. I just didn’t know what. I knew he wasn’t as classless as Shimmer. I mean, he would do whatever he could to disrupt and defeat me. I’m sure he wouldn’t be so out in the open with his tactics, like the vampire party invasion. He was much more deliberate and less of a showman. Whatever the case may be, I’m sure a visit from him was imminent before our battle.
Finally, after a meeting with all of my friends’ parents, I was allowed to hang out with my girlfriend and two other friends all together. It was a good thing too, prom was about a week away and I knew how much it meant to Shade.
On this particular Saturday night, everyone decided it would be a good idea to go bowling. I’m not sure why, but that’s what they chose to do. We all went in Sandra’s car and Shade and I held hands the entire way in the backseat. We were so excited to be able to be around one another in a non-school fashion again.
“Can you two either knock it off, or get a hotel room, for goodness sake.” Scruffy got onto Shade and I because we couldn’t stop kissing and staring at each other the entire ride to the bowling alley.
“I know you two haven’t seen each other in awhile, but geez, can you keep your hormones in check for a few hours?” He turned to look at us in the backseat and winked.
“Oh, leave them alone, Mark. Like you have room to talk, you’re pretty darn gropey yourself when it comes to me…ya hypocrite.” Sandra busted him for us.
“Hey…what can I say, when I see something I like, I gotta touch it.” Scruffy winked at his girl.
When we arrived at the bowling alley, I have to admit, it was a cool place. All the lights were off and the alley glowed in the dark. So did the pins and bowling balls, along with various other objects around the establishment. There was a gaming area, snack bar, and loud music. The place was packed.
For some reason Scruffy was insistent on playing boys versus girls and continuously provoked our girlfriends while we were getting our bowling shoes. The ladies humored him and accepted the challenge.
As soon as they did, Scruffy leaned into my ear and whispered, “Did they forget you’re a demon? Throw that ball hard, brotha man.” He started snickering. Now I knew why he wanted to make sure I was his teammate.
“Are you implying that I should cheat by using my demon strength?”
“Why yes…yes, I am. What good is being a demon among humans if you can’t commit a little evil every now and then?” He smiled.
“Indeed, sir. I like the way you think.” I grinned back and he high fived me. A total nerd celebration, but we did it.
“What are you two conniving about back there?” Shade slowed down so we could catch up with her. She slid her arm through mine.
“Oh nothing, just talking strategy about how we’re gonna kick your butts,” I teased.
“It’s always something with you two.” Sandra took hold of Scruff’s hand. We just maniacally smiled at each other, knowing that my demon strength was our ace in the hole.
We bowled a couple of games and Scruffy and I killed them. I realized that we should have been gentlemanly about it and played fairly, but we didn’t. Of course it didn’t help that I kept throwing near perfect games. I could rocket that ball down the lane so fast that when it hit the pins it sent them flying all over the place. Scruffy would just laugh and jump up and down every time I did it. Not to mention he had to taunt them, too.
The girls got playfully angry with us, called us cheaters, but kept playing. We had a great time and Scruffy and I remained undefeated. When we finished, we played some video games. Some of the area kids came up to us and I received more thanks for my supposed heroics in Romania. I still hadn’t figured out how to receive such gratitude, so I always thanked them and shyly smiled.
When we had enough of the bowling alley, we decided to go hang out at the top of Miller’s Hill and check out the view of town. We got there and just hung
out by the car, retelling the tale about the night I shooed them away in order to fight those local vampires that used to hang out here. It was the first time I told them what really went down.
Things quieted down after awhile and Shade and I decided to walk away from the car to give ourselves, as well as our friends, some alone time. We held hands and walked very slowly around the top of the hill by the water tower and talked.
“I’m glad your parents are allowing us to go out together again.” I turned to her as we strolled.
“Me too, babe. I missed you, but don’t count your eggs yet, they’re still very nervous about us…well, my dad is. Mom, on the other hand, is perfectly okay with us being together. It’s weird.”
“Well, hopefully Richard will lighten up enough so we can go to prom next week.”
When I mentioned that, Shade got really quiet. It looked as if she was deep in thought. I pushed her to speak.
“What’s the matter? He’s not going to let us go together?” I leaned in front of her as we walked.
“No, I think we’re good there. We can go together, I think.” She still looked like she was stuck in thought.
“Then what’s up? I know you well enough to see that you have something else on your mind.”
She turned to me and released a sigh through a smile. “Yes, you do.”
“Well, what’s on your mind?”
“Being held captive like I was caused me to think about things that really matter.” She glanced at me.
“Yeah?”
“Well, being kidnapped by a vampire God, or whatever, fearing for my life, then having to go without being with you really got me thinking. I don’t need to go to prom…as long as I get to be with you.”
I took a double take and teased her. “Did I just hear you say that you are considering not going to that all important senior prom that you have been bugging me about for over a year?”
She chuckled again. “I know…crazy, right? I’ve come to realize that the most important things in life are being with the ones you love. While I was being held, I didn’t think about the next hot phone to buy, or sexy car that I wanted, or missing my favorite television shows. I thought about my mom and dad, friends…you.”
“Awww.” I bumped up against her playfully.
“Leo, you’re like a riot of color that entered into my dreary grey world. I’m so in love with you and I never want to be without you again. I need you. You…us…that is what’s most important, not a prom. If I can spend prom night with you and you alone, then I’ll be more than content with that.”
I could hardly respond to her loving sentiments. I stopped walking and caressed her.
“I love you more than you will ever know, Shade. I need you too and am so glad to have you in my life…whatever life you can call this, that is.” I grinned as we kissed passionately.
We pulled apart. “So…does that mean we can skip graduation as well?”
“Ahhh…no. Gotta be there for that one. Oh, and just because we are ditching prom, doesn’t mean that you can just hang out with me and be a nerd all night. I expect to be taken somewhere, anywhere you and I can be alone.”
I laughed. “I think I can manage that. How does dinner sound, too?”
“Actually, even that, I’d like to do that with you and my parents, if that’s all right.”
“Wow, that’s waaay okay with me, too. You know how I am, the less people I’m around, the better, even though your parents still make me nervous.”
“Haha, I know they do, but like I said, being with those that I care about is the most important thing right now. That’s what matters to me.”
The circumstances she’d been through had obviously affected her. I couldn’t believe she was ditching prom to go the simpler route, but I didn’t care, I got to be with her.
“You two lovers ready to head out?” Scruffy called from the car.
Shade raised her hand to our friends, letting them know we were coming back.
“I’m gonna leave the candle in the window tonight…you spending the night with me?”
“I’ve been waiting to do that.” I grinned.
“I haven’t seen my Shadow in forever. Can you make sure you bring him? I miss my little fur-baby.”
“Ahhh, that’s something I’ve been meaning to tell you. That’s going to be a bit of problem.”
Shade raised her hand to her heart in shock. “Oh please don’t tell me he’s dead or something. I don’t want to hear that.”
“No…no…he’s not dead. Far from it.” I winced.
“Whew, thank heavens. Then what are you saying?”
“Well…it’s kinda hard to explain.”
“Why don’t you try?” Shade insisted.
“Okay, well, Shadow wasn’t just an ordinary cat.” I struggled for a way to tell her.
“All right?” She circled her hands around in order to tell me to get on with it.
“He was kind of an angel…in disguise.”
“Huh?”
“An angel by the name of Argento has been watching me. He was Shadow…our cat.”
Shade just looked at me in confusion.
“He is hand to Saint Michael the Archangel and was sent by him to keep tabs on what’s going on between me and Hell. He can shapeshift into animals, it helps him stay undercover so Heaven can monitor what’s going on.”
“So Shadow wasn’t a cat this whole time? He was an angel in hiding so Heaven could keep up with you?” She glanced away in mild shock.
“Yeah, pretty much, and now Argento and his hand, Elysia, come visit me frequently. They offer me advice on how to proceed with my quest for Diccittidel.” Shade still looked a little unsettled. “What’s the matter? You upset about the fact that Shadow isn’t going to be around anymore?”
“No…well, yes, of course, but…” She paused.
“But what?” I tilted my head.
Her eyes shot up to me. “I undressed in front of that cat…a lot.”
I started to laugh uncontrollably.
“Shut up…that’s not funny.” She swatted me.
“Actually, it’s very funny. Oh the irony. An actual angel peeped on you.” I continued to chuckle, placing my hand on my stomach.
“You’re a jerk.” She started to laugh with me.
“That really sucks though that I’m not going to have my Shadow cat around anymore.” She frowned.
“I’m sorry, hun.” I hugged her.
“Hey, are you two coming or what?” Scruffy’s voice shouted to us from Sandra’s idling car. We hurried to get in the car and took off for our homes.
Shade got dropped off first, followed by Scruffy and I at his house. When Sandra took off, Scruffy asked me if I was going to be in for the night or if I was going to my spot.
“Actually, I’m spending the night with Shade.”
“Very nice!” He grinned and slugged me on the shoulder.
“It’s not like that…take it easy,” I deflected.
“Yeah…sure it isn’t.” Scruffy raised his eyebrows up and down in rapid fashion a few times.
“It really isn’t. I’ve stayed at Shade’s house a bunch of times. Nothing has ever happened, other than kissing.”
Scruffy looked at me like he didn’t believe me. “Whatever you say, Leo.”
“Seriously. Everyone forgets I’m not human and don’t have human urges quite like you do. I mean, I do, because I’m still in a physical human shell, but love, especially physical displays of it, cause me physical pain. It’s agonizing.”
“You really haven’t? I mean…can you?”
“Of course I can, but, we haven’t. That’s pretty much it. Why, have you and Sandra?” I slugged him back in the shoulder.
“None of your business there, demon guy.” He started to walk up to his front door.
“Uh-huh. I see how it is…dish it, can’t take it,” I teased.
“Have a good night, Leo,” He ignored my taunts. “I’ll tell my parents you decided to stay
at your spot tonight.
I giggled. “Thanks, man. See you tomorrow.”
“Later.” He opened the front door with a grin and walked inside.
Immediately I took to the clouds and made the short trip over to Shade’s house. The candle was in the window and I transformed into shadow form and entered the way I always had.
Shade greeted me and we talked in bed, in between making out occasionally of course, for a couple more hours. When she drifted off to sleep I laid in silence for a bit, thinking about all the recent events. Suddenly, the sharp headache set in again; the one I get just before a vision comes to me. I closed my eyes to hone in on it, thinking I would get the vision of the two girls again, but this time I didn’t.
The first thing I saw was an extreme close up of Christian’s snarling face. He was passing out orders. “Rise, scumdogs of the underworld! One of your own has defiled you! He has killed his own kind and now he wants to come for you! Rise up with me and stop the traitor before he comes to kill you! I am your last chance…I will protect you…I cannot be defeated!”
The view panned away from Christian’s face and spun around to a horde of demons, vampires, and pretty much anything that crawls or walks in Hell. They cheered in agreement. I could tell that Christian was in Hell—I could see smoke, fire and brimstone, even flowing lava around them.
Then the vision rotated back to Christian, who turned to a large hooded figure, garbed in solid black with his head bowed, standing just to his right and slightly behind him. This figure wore almost the exact same attire that Argento and Elysia sported, just in black.
“Your time has nearly come War…the hour draws near when you will seek out the traitor.”
War nodded his head in agreement and marched off behind him.
I’d heard of War before, but had never seen him, in or out of his cloak. War was Christian’s hand, and something to be feared almost as much as Christian himself. Although War never left Hell as far as I knew, he could leave for the physical plain on Christian’s orders to do so. It was rumored that War could take the shape of anyone, or anything that dwelled within Hell. That was pretty much all I knew about the terrifying figure.