AngelRose

by Ash Night

  “Oh well, we’ll just wait then, but I am kind of hungry.” I said. Sky meowed and a bowl of cat food appeared in front of me. I stifled a laugh. “Thanks, Sky, but I need human food.” I went to the kitchen and searched the cupboards. Two paper bags full of food sat on the shelf. A post-it note with For Zoey scribbled on it was stuck to one of the bags. My eyes watered. Damn, Eli was so thoughtful.

  Diving into the bags, I found all my favorites and made myself a snack of sausage and cheese. I went back to my room after cleaning up and Sky was standing on the bed, her head in the food dish she had manifested for me. She looked up. If a cat could grin sheepishly she did. “That’s okay, girl. It’s all yours.” I sat and ate my snack on the bed. After that, tiredness seeped back into my limbs and I drifted back to sleep.

  Eli

  A manifested sword was all I had to fight off the advancing hordes of Shadows that were closing in around me. My vision blurred in and out of focus, the Shadows blurring together.

  Elijah, what made you think you could possibly win? You're in over your head, boy.

  "Am not," I replied, taking an unbalanced step back into a fighting stance. I didn't know how to use a sword but I used to watch a lot of samurai movies before I was banished to AngelRose. I remember watching my favorite every night. I tried to copy the moves. Either I was very good with a sword or the Shadows were just stupid. It was probably the latter, but my pride liked to think I was just badass with a sword.

  After an hour, the Shadows stopped coming. My arms ached. My nose burned from the smell. Red patched had formed where the Shadows' jelly-like skin had splattered on my bare skin. My legs were so heavy I didn't think I'd be standing for much longer. Thankfully, I'd managed to do that instantly appearing thing and appeared right in the castle. I stood in front of Zoey's door to her room. Inside I heard steady breathing. Opening the door I saw she was asleep peacefully, not a scratch on her. I sighed and limped to my room, flinging myself onto my bed.

  My sleep was full of nightmares, yet I did not wake. I was dead to the world.

  Chapter 31

  My aching body warned me that the slightest move would be like driving nails through my hands. I was stuck in bed. "Zoey! Are you okay?" I called.

  "Eli! You're back! Where were you?" In came the love of my life. She had never looked more beautiful in her rumpled clothes and messy bed head hair. Her blue eyes shone with concern as she took in my appearance. "Are you okay?"

  I chuckled. "I asked first,"

  She whacked me lightly with a pillow. "Hey, at least I don't look like I was just in a warzone with a billion enemies!"

  "There weren't that many Shadows..." I replied.

  "Shadows?! Eli, did they scratch you again? Are you going to die?" Her eyes glistened with tears.

  "Doubt it," I said, trying to sit up. The pain was horrible, but I'd managed to sit up without making a sound. "I got scratched a few times though."

  She hugged me. "Why? Where were you when they attacked?"

  I was stupid for telling her the truth. I deserved an award for being that stupid. I just couldn't bear to lie to her anymore. That wasn't how a good relationship worked. If you could even call what we had a relationship. Traveling across dimensions wasn't the normal relationship to say the least.

  Taking a deep breath, I finished telling her the story. She didn't speak for several minutes. I instantly felt guilty. Watching her worry over me was almost as bad as lying to her. I was the worst boyfriend ever.

  She hugged me tight. I hugged her as tight as I could for as long as I could bear. My muscles were on fire. Every breath was like my lungs were bench-pressing two hundred pounds. Vision blurring, I tried to focus on Zoey. If I passed out now, it would worry her more. I had to stay awake.

  "So, Zoe, did you find the food I left you?" I asked, hoping that talking would distract me from the pain.

  She smiled brightly. "Yes, Eli, the cheese and sausage was delicious,"

  "I'm glad," I coughed to disguise a gasp of pain. My lungs burned.

  Demonic poison. Hm, seems those Shadows aren't as stupid as we thought. They recognized you weren't human. You're in for it now, kid. The voice mused. Your little girlfriend is going to lose you.

  She will never lose me. I will always be there for her. She will never be alone. I replied.

  Let's just hope Sky can dig a grave. I'd hate for the poor girl to have to do it. But that's right. You already have one. That just makes it worse. She'll have to carry you to it. She'll have no way to get back.

  You don't know that!

  The voice chuckled. You are so naive. The only reason she has been able to come here is because you wanted her here. She loves you and you had to go and do something stupid. Shadow poison isn't something that will just go away. The first one was a fluke. The one that gave you this dose was smart enough to know what it was doing. You're in trouble.

  I'll be fine. It can't be that bad. I looked at Zoey. "I'll be fine." My head felt like it had been hit multiple times with a sledge hammer.

  "Good," she kissed my forehead, her lips cool on my skin. I smiled weakly and hoped she would find a reason to leave so I could take off my jacket, inspect my wounds, bandage a few that had opened back up, and crawl under the covers to wait this out. Zoey couldn't know how serious my situation was, which threw my whole honest relationship plan a few feet back. I'd have to start later. To get through this I was going to have to lie more than a few times. I groaned.

  Zoey hugged me lightly and walked out of the room. Great job, Elijah. You didn't even have to look at her.

  "What?" I asked. What was the voice talking about? I hadn't done anything. Zoey was probably going to get something to eat.

  You compelled her to leave without even looking at her. Bravo.

  "How? I wasn't even trying!" I exclaimed. "I would never make Zoey do anything she didn't want to do!" Cold fear gnawed at my insides.

  The poison weakens your human defenses. Your demon power comes out unhindered. The seal is broken for a while. Your mother loved you. Ever wonder why your father didn't?

  "What? You aren't making any sense, even for you." I didn't like the way he had said 'father'. I had always had a feeling maybe, but it couldn't be true. My mother wouldn't have kept that a secret from me.

  You were smart for your age, Elijah. You've always known. Your father wasn't the man who your mother said. Your father was a demon. Your mother was human. Your father was in the form of a human when they met. Demons love to toy with humans. They trick them into thinking they are in love and then leave without a word.

  "No! Mother would have told me, done something to make me understand!" The denial in my voice made me sick. My world was spinning out of control once again. My mother had lied to me.

  You've never met your father and you most likely never will. Your real father doesn't care you were born. Most demon fathers don't. It's not in their nature. Your mother was already married with one kid, your older half-sister, when she was pregnant with you.

  "She was a respectable woman! She would never cheat!" I yelled.

  You fail to see the lure demons cast. It makes them desirable to any woman, regardless if she has a ring on her finger. When your mother found out she was pregnant with you, your father was already long gone. She had succeeded in getting your step-father drunk and thinking they had done the deed, but in the back of his mind he knew. He'd always known subconsciously you were not his. He rightfully blamed you for your older sister's death. You were the monster that killed her. You put those thoughts into her head. You murdered her.

  "No! I loved her!" My fists clenched so tight my fingernails drew blood. "I would never do such a thing! Not to her! She was the kindest person I knew!" I growled, feeling the monster boiling just beneath the surface of my volcanic anger.

  A four-year-old can't control the kind of tremendous power you had. You subconsciously fueled those bad thoughts. She had the dark seeds already there, but you helped further the growth.

&nb
sp; For a second my mind completely blanked. The voice couldn't even reach me in that moment. This was too surreal. I hadn’t just caused her to cut too deep.

  I had killed my sister.

  Chapter 32

  Why had I left the room? My mind had gone blank and suddenly I was in the kitchen. Had Eli used mind control on me? A pang of hurt constricted my chest. He would really betray me like that? Didn't he trust me?

  I walked down the hall; slowly back to Eli's room. I had no idea what to say. Did I have to say anything about it at all? If I didn't say anything, what was to stop him from doing it again? I sighed as I opened the door.

  Eli was lying in bed asleep. He looked so peaceful, but I noticed a bit of sweat on his forehead. Water. His fever. I probably went to get cold water for his fever! Guilt ate away at me. I probably just walked into the room and forgot what I'd come in for.

  At least that's what I told myself. It made me feel better than admitting what Eli had done.

  My dark prince woke up around noon the next day. I'd slept beside him all through the night and he hadn't shifted an inch. I was worried but he didn't seem to be. In fact he was a little too happy for someone as sick as he was. "Hi, Zoe! Did you take care of me all night?" He hugged me tight, his strength nearly crushing me. "Thank you so much!"

  "Eli, you're crushing me..." I coughed out. He let go, a huge smile on his face.

  "What would you like to do today?" Standing up, he didn't remind me of anything like the Eli I'd seen in bed yesterday.

  I looked him straight in the eye. "Are you sure you're well enough to be out of bed?"

  He laughed. "Of course, maybe it was just a twenty-four hour thing." His quick dismissal only made me more suspicious.

  I hugged him lightly. "Please just take it easy. Maybe just painting today?"

  "Okay, sure, Zoe. Today is your day. After all, you're going home tomorrow."

  "But I came here to be with you! I couldn't stand being away from you! You have to let me stay!"

  His smile faded. "Zoey, I wish you could stay. I wish that more than anything in the world. Whatever, I'll explain it tomorrow. Let's not ruin today." His smile returned brighter than ever.

  I sighed. Why did I even bother? Eli got what he wanted because he was always in control. That was one thing I could always count on. No matter how unstable he was, one way or another, he was always in control.

  Following him to the art room, he whipped up some paint and slashed at a blank canvas. I sat back and watched him work. His fingers seem to extend through the brush. Slowly more of the picture could be seen. It was a terrifying monster with jagged claws. Its slender body seemed almost like it would crawl off the canvas as its eyes, yellow and bulbous, glared at me. A delicious shiver ran down my spine.

  "Like it, Zoe? It's a demon I saw in my dreams last night. I've been itching to paint it." Eli stood back as if he were a person inspecting someone else's work. I stood beside him.

  "I like it, Eli. It's really scary." I replied, wishing I shared the same in his choice of paintings. That was one way Eli and I were different. He was forever in a realm of darkness. Try as I might to understand it, I had been raised in the light too long to ever fully understand his fascination. Good thing he was there to fend off the darkness.

  Without him AngelRose would swallow me up.

  Chapter 33

  Do you really think you can keep fooling her, Elijah? Zoey's a smart girl. I doubt you can keep this up. The voice mocked, knowing it was irritating me. I was in my room, trying to sleep as my mind raced.

  "I will keep it up and she will not find out." I replied sternly. As if to disprove myself, my body forced me into a coughing fit.

  I could almost hear the voice grin. Oh, she won't, huh?

  "Shut up!" I hissed. Straining my ears, I could hear Zoey snoring softly fast asleep in her bed. "My fever won't go down..."

  Go ahead and die. You were better off dead from the moment you were born. The voice left me alone. The loneliness was like a physical weight bearing down on me like the darkness does to a small child, fearfully awaiting the boogeyman. My mind was racing with thoughts from my past. The things my mother didn't know. Would never know.

  "Eli! Why aren't your toys picked up? Pick them up, dammit! I don't want your mother to see this mess!" My father barked at me.

  "Those are Tabitha's toys, not mine! Go yell at her!" I said, standing to face him. My father's face turned red with anger and he raised his hand. The smack as that hand connected with my jaw was audible. I landed on my back, tears in my eyes. My strange eyes. The reason my father didn't love me. I was different. He knew it. They all knew it. He was just the only one to show that it mattered.

  "I told you to pick them up!" He roared. I crawled on my hands and knees over to the toys before I even considered standing up to put them away. Under his watchful, criticizing gaze, I picked up every last toy. Finally satisfied, he walked away. I ran to my room.

  My heart pounded in my ears as I slumped against the door. Looking around my room, I saw dark shadows lingering in every corner. I sprang up, bounded to my bed, and hid under the covers. Tears scalded my cheeks as I lay down to sleep. My mother knocked on the door softly and let herself in after I didn't answer. I wiped at my eyes quickly.

  Mom sat beside me on the bed, rubbing my back through the blanket on top of me. I wiggled out from under it and crawled onto her lap. "Daddy yelled at you, didn't he? Tabitha says she's sorry he yelled at you when it was her toys."

  "That's okay," I said. "I'm not mad." I bit my lip, not wanting to tell her he hit me. If I told, Timmy and Tabitha would lose their father. Mom would want a divorce. He never hit or yelled at my siblings so it was okay. Thanks to my fast healing, there were never any marks so she would never find out what a monster he was. And he knew I would never tell.

  Mom tucked me in and kissed my forehead. "That's my good, strong little man. You're a good boy, Eli. I love you so very much, honey. Never forget that."

  "Love you, Mom." I smiled. She always had a way of making me feel better. Smiling, she turned off the light and shut the door.

  After my involvement in my older sister's death, I wasn't going to screw up my family anymore than I already had.

  But you screwed that up too, didn't you? The voice said. I scowled. If you're not careful, your face will stay that way.

  "Shut up!" I growled. A window in the kitchen cracked. "Wait, I was in my room. How the hell did I end up in the kitchen?"

  Your power is at its peak with your humanity intact. Think of how powerful you would be if you would throw your humanity away. The voice sounded power-hungry. I ignored it. So I went into a room without remembering how I got there, not that bad. At least the monster was in check.

  "Eli!" I ran to Zoey's room after hearing her scream. She was sitting up in bed, her clothes drenched in sweat, her face void of color. The blankets were twisted around her legs like they wanted to strangle her. I could hear her heartbeat from across the room. She looked like she'd seen the monster all over again. Was she having nightmares about it?

  "What's wrong, Zoe?" I hugged her tight, praying my fever wasn't radiating heat. She clung to me.

  "I...I had a nightmare."

  I kissed her forehead. "It's okay."

  "I keep having a weird dream where AngelRose is burning and I'm...I'm dead. You end up burying me..."

  My heart skipped a beat. "Zoey, was I me or the monster?"

  "You were you, I think. I don't know for sure. I didn't get a clear view of your face. It was blurry." Her voice shook.

  Hugging her once more, I tucked her into bed, feeling a wave of dizziness hit me when I bent down to kiss her. "Good night, Zoey. Sweet dreams."

  "Eli?"

  I turned away from the door. "Yea, Zoe?"

  "It was just a silly dream. Don't let it bother you."

  "Okay, Zoe." There I go lying again.

  Chapter 34

  Today was the day. The day Eli was sending me home for good. I w
as never to see AngelRose again except in my dreams. I would never smell the damp grass or taste the rich food I could only imagine of at home. I would never feel Eli caress me or tuck my hair neatly behind my ear. It would be only a memory.

  I got out of bed, taking a deep breath. I didn't want to leave him, but he was adamant it had grown too dangerous. He had said moss and vines were overtaking the castle and he was certain demons would follow. I'd begged him to come with me.

  "This is my home, Zoey. I have to stay." was his response. If demons overtook the castle, who would be there to take care of him? And there was the fact that he was still sick, even though he'd been trying hard to hide it. He wasn't ever going to give up the tough guy act. Trying to get him to change that was a losing battle.

  "I made breakfast," Eli stood in the doorway. He was in pajamas, his hair a messy black mop. His smile was faint, sad, almost apologetic. I smiled back.

  Walking down the hall, Eli slipped his hand into mine. A glimmer of a sad frown appeared on his face. I pretended not to see it. I wanted to keep up the happy charade as long as possible. It was better than crying.

  The kitchen was a disaster. Pots and pans were burnt to a crisp. The wall by the stove was spattered with goodness-knows-what. Broken dishes were swept into a pile in front of the garbage can. The stove itself looked like it had exploded in all the chaos. What the hell had he been doing?

  "I, uh, I tried to cook a big breakfast for you." Eli looked around, embarrassed by the mess so much he wouldn't meet my eyes. "I lit the stove with my lighter and it kind of blew up a little. I was able to save breakfast though!" he added proudly. He sounded so much like a proud little kid I could help but burst into laughter. He joined me.

  After I caught my breath, I rested my hand on his shoulder. "You should have asked me to give you cooking lessons."

  "I only cook for you so it wouldn't have done much good." Eli shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot. Sky walked in to break the tension. She jumped on the table and sat by my plate as if to say, Breakfast is served.