by Nour Zikra
Rolling my eyes, I said, “Do people usually volunteer to go to hell?”
Madadel tromped around the room, picking up the picture frames he had knocked to the ground. He scrutinized each photo—some of Lizzy and me, others of Reed and me, and one with Devin—before setting them back on my desk. “A few have, actually.”
Adriel touched my shoulder to grab my attention. “Since the beginning of mankind, we have fought demons who taunted humans. They usually try to mess with people’s heads, either physically hurting them or getting them to hurt themselves. The demons do awful things to make the humans think they are seeing things that aren’t there. When people claim they’re seeing demons, they get laughed at.” He frowned and looked away. “Demons love demeaning people this way. Angels fight them, though. Without showing themselves, the angels fight back to protect their humans. This is the first time that a demon has grabbed a human and taken off for hell, where angels can’t go on their own.”
“Because he thought Reed was Lucifer’s kid, right?” I pressed my hand against the cut on my stomach. Somehow, the wound had already sealed. “That was why he went after him, wasn’t it?”
“Yes, until Lucifer learned otherwise and ordered another demon to get you.”
“I’m so sorry, Reed.”
Reed tried to sit up but drooped back against the mattress. “Can I have more water?”
The bottle was nearly empty. I helped Reed gulp down the rest and brought him a few more bottles. Once he felt satisfied, we decided to let him rest.
Before leaving the room, I gazed down at my brother one more time. He looked so young, like the little kid who always used to make his way to my bed at night and tuck himself in before I even got there. I could still see him smiling at me from between the sheets and saying, “You’ll scare the boogeyman away, right?” Reed was exactly the same now, smiling up at me, his hazel eyes half-shut, looking to me to keep the monsters away.
“Hey,” I said. “We’re just going to be in the other room. Try to rest, okay?”
Reed nodded.
“I’ll keep the door open. If you need me, just call my name.”
I kissed him on the forehead, grabbed my cell phone from my nightstand, and walked out. I took a moment to look at my phone. The time on the screen read 9:14 a.m. It had been 8:50 a.m. right before I’d fallen asleep and woken up in the dreamlike state, which meant that Adriel and I had gone to hell and come back to the exact same moment we’d left.
There was also a text message from Lizzy on my phone from last night that I hadn’t noticed until now. Lizzy wrote that she was next door with Nate. Her message ended with a winking face emoji. I sent her a text back telling her good morning. It was good luck she hadn’t been home earlier when everything went down.
In the common area, Madadel and Adriel stood many feet apart. Adriel hovered by the kitchen counter, his back to the angel, while Madadel gazed toward the one big window at the end of the room. When I walked in, they turned to me, relief on their faces.
Looking at Madadel, I said, “Once Reed wakes up and is feeling better, I want you to take him somewhere safe and hide him.”
Madadel flashed a set of flawless white teeth. “I cannot personally take anyone anywhere, sweet Adelaide. However, if he wants to go somewhere, I will follow and protect him.”
I had a feeling the angel was talking about protection against immoral choices. Frowning, I rephrased my sentence. “What I’m asking is to keep him from demons. Use your angel shield or something.”
“I can do that.”
“Good. I’m counting on you this time. Don’t let Reed down.”
Madadel bowed low, though he kept his eyes on me. “I will not. You have my word.” When he straightened up, he moved to the couch and made himself comfortable in the center. His wings took up the rest of the couch, leaving no room for anyone else to sit.
I excused myself and walked out of the apartment, needing some fresh air after the busy morning we’d had. Sitting down on the top step of the stairs, I closed my eyes and let the fall wind swoop around me, cooling me down. For a while, the world calmed, and I listened to the rustling of leaves and chirping of birds.
I was lost in the moment, tranquil, until I felt something cottony come into contact with my bare skin.
My eyes shot open.
Adriel sat beside me on the step, the pajama bottoms he wore touching me. He looked toward me, his expression somewhat sad.
“Why were you afraid of me earlier?” he said. “You know, when the gateway opened.”
I took a deep breath. Was it wise to tell him the truth? I wanted to lie, yet I knew it would bother me if I did. Deep down, I would always doubt him if I didn’t face him now. “I saw a vision of you and Lucifer,” I responded, “but I think it was a vision of the past, because you both still had your wings. You seemed to know each other really well.”
He sighed. “Yes, we were close.” He crossed his arms but didn’t look away. “But that was thousands of years ago.”
“Before he fell?”
“Yes. He wanted me to join his mission to take over God’s kingdom. I was the first angel he told.”
“But you didn’t do as he wanted?”
“No. He wanted to create a secret legion to assassinate his fellow archangels. I couldn’t stand for that, so I told on him. That was how he fell.”
An old memory came to mind of Erica and Grandma arguing over God’s existence. When Grandma Di preached about God’s all-knowing power, Erica would say that if he were truly powerful, he wouldn’t let bad things happen around the world. I didn’t agree with Erica on most things, but she’d had a point there.
“God is omniscient, right?” I said. “He had to have known what Lucifer would do. Why didn’t he stop him?”
“Because Father likes to let things play out the way they are supposed to.”
Lucifer could have killed Reed. I shut my eyes again and tried to concentrate on the sounds of nature and nothing else. But I just couldn’t. Reed could have died because of Lucifer, who was a creation of God. How could I accept that?
Adriel’s fingers were suddenly against my face, pulling my head toward him. I opened my eyes and froze. He stared at me with a wild look in his eyes. He tucked a few strands of hair behind my ear and trailed his fingers down my jaw to my chin, sending shivers down my spine. His thumb—and eyes—moved to my bottom lip, tracing its curve ever so gently. I felt my face heat up. For a second, I hoped he would lean in and do more.
He pulled away, slipping his hands inside the pockets of his pajama pants. Erratic breaths escaped my lips. I stared down at my knees, not wanting to show him I’d felt something.
Changing the subject, I said, “Lucifer was God’s favorite child. So how could God stand knowing what he knew and not stop Lucifer?”
From the corner of my eye, I saw Adriel smile.
“Because God is not human. He is objective and fair.”
“Thousands of years later, and Lucifer is still out to take God’s place. What good is being objective if it’s going to get people hurt?”
From behind us, someone coughed. We both looked over our shoulders. Madadel stood in front of the apartment door, shooting Adriel a disappointed glare. I wondered how long he’d been standing there watching us.
“If I may interrupt,” he said. “Lucifer is just a tool our Father uses to test humanity. The real question you should ask is: What will people choose—good or evil?”
I stared at the angel for a long time. Even Adriel didn’t know what to say.
Finally, Madadel pointed in the direction of the apartment. “I believe Reed is hungry. His stomach keeps grumbling in his sleep.”
That was my cue to go inside.
H
Lizzy had come back that evening, but not really. The second she walked through the door, I knew she was on a romantic high. Grinning like she had a secret she was desperate to share, she waltzed her way into the l
iving room, moved past Adriel like he wasn’t there, and rushed toward me. I sat on the couch watching an I Love Lucy episode on TV to keep my sanity in check when her arms suddenly wrapped around me.
Less than two hours ago I had dropped Reed and Madadel off at Saint Vincent College and come back, despite being reluctant to do so. Reed slept nearly the entire day, only waking up to eat and shower. In the evening, he asked me to take him back to school. Although I protested, nothing would change his mind. He needed to get back to normal life, he’d said.
While my brother was able to move on so fast, I just couldn’t. With Lizzy hugging me like nothing had changed, because to her nothing had, I felt the urge to cry. Four days ago, I was just as ignorant. Though I had been sad over Devin breaking up with me, I hadn’t been worried about my brother getting hurt or the consequences of selling people’s souls to the devil.
“Addy, I think I’m in love,” Lizzy said, still embracing me. “I seriously think I’m in love.”
I patted her on the back and rolled my eyes while she couldn’t see me, remembering that she’d asked me about Adriel’s relationship status just a few days ago. “I’m so happy for you, Liz. Nate’s a nice guy.”
I was a bad, bad friend.
She thanked me and sauntered to her bedroom, where she stayed the entire time Adriel and I sat in the living room.
Later that night, Adriel and I shared my bed again, keeping to our respective sides. I wasn’t sure when I fell asleep, but at some point, a scream and something crashing outside my bedroom door woke me up. I lay on my side, facing Adriel, who was no longer on his side of the bed. His forehead practically touched my own, and his hand had intertwined with mine, leaving me to question which one of us had done that and whether we had both wanted to.
Freeing my hand, I left the bed and tiptoed to the door, my ears working hard to pick out noises. I cranked the door handle and pulled it at a snail’s pace until I could peer through the opening into the dark corridor. Nothing was there. I glanced over my shoulder. From the moonlight coming through the window, I could see that Adriel was still, his thick lashes lying against his cheeks. I wanted to get back to bed and cuddle against him.
“What the fuck are you?” Lizzy screamed from the kitchen.
I pushed the door open all the way and ran out. Even in the darkness, movement was noticeable in the living room. I slowed down and began inching my way forward. There was a faint light on in the kitchen. It took me a moment to realize the fridge was open.
“Lizzy?”
“Addy,” she murmured from somewhere on my right.
My eyes moved to the floor. Lizzy crouched at the corner of the counter, clasping the legs of one of the kitchen stools and holding the stool out in front of her. She stared straight ahead. I followed her gaze. Two men with scarred backs fought an angel with red, long curls and the face of a young woman. A thick shroud covered the angel’s private parts.
Lizzy dropped the stool and crawled toward me. “We have to get out of here.”
One of the demons held down the angel’s wings while the other wrapped his hands around her neck and squeezed. The angel fought back, pushing the demons away with a shove of her wings. They crashed on top of our living room table, breaking it, then got back up. One of them punched the angel in the stomach. She didn’t make a sound, though I thought I saw pain flash across her face.
Lizzy grabbed onto my leg. “Addy, we have to get out.”
Ignoring her, I grabbed an empty vase off the counter and threw it at the nearest demon. It struck his back and fell, shattering on impact with the floor. The demon didn’t seem bothered by what I’d done.
The angel glanced at me and shouted, “Get out of here!”
Was she Lizzy’s angel?
“Addy, leave!” she said again as she took hold of one of the demons and twisted his neck back, killing him before I could blink.
I grabbed Lizzy’s hand and helped her to her feet. We moved to the front door.
And stopped.
Another demon grinned at us, a sword in his hand, blocking our path.
Lizzy and I retreated, and the demon followed. The angel threw her body in front of us and kicked the demon away.
“Come on,” I said, running back to Lizzy’s room.
Lizzy and I shut the door behind us. I pulled her with me into her closet to hide. At least there we were covered by hanging clothes.
Lizzy’s hand found mine in the dark. “What were those things?”
“Don’t say anything.”
We stayed quiet and listened to the noises outside, neither of us able to tell who was winning.
Chapter Sixteen
ADRIEL
Sometime during the night, I awoke for just a moment. Addy had been rolling around in her sleep, muttering random words about her brother and that guy named Devin, who I suspected had been her boyfriend based on the angry look that flashed across her face whenever his name came up.
I touched her arm. “Addy, wake up. You’re having a nightmare.”
She opened her eyes and looked at me. A tear fell down her cheek; she wiped it against the pillow and shifted her body closer to me. I moved my hand to her face and wiped off the remnants of the tear.
“You’re safe,” I said.
Her hand took hold of mine, and our fingers intertwined.
That was the last memory I had of that night before waking up again hours later to find Addy gone and the spot beside me cold.
In the darkness of the apartment, I stepped toward the kitchen. People’s voices were audible from the hallway. I stopped before the corner and peeked over at the living room. In the kitchen, the fridge door had been left open, shining dim light into the area.
On the opposite side of the apartment, a demon’s body slumped across the living room table while two other demons fought off Simiael, a guardian angel I knew well. In the midst of the struggle, Simiael noticed me and flashed me a warning glance.
With an upward bob of her head, she indicated the corridor behind me. “Get them out of here!”
I ran back, stopping at Addy’s doorway. “Addy?”
No one responded, so I continued to Lizzy’s room.
“Addy? Lizzy?”
The blinds were down over the window, leaving the room pitch-black. I stole inside, rushed around the bed, and felt around with my hands. No one was in the room. I glanced at the window, considering whether they could have gone out that way. A second later, I realized it would be impossible to jump from a three-story building without getting hurt.
They had to still be in the apartment, and if they weren’t in the living room, they had to be here. I got down on all fours and checked under the bed. Nothing.
I’d almost walked out of the room when I remembered the closet. I darted to the door and jerked it open. From behind the shelter of hanging clothes, two people gasped.
“It’s me. It’s Adriel.”
“Shit.” The voice sounded like Addy’s.
Hands grabbed me, hugging me.
“Oh my God,” Lizzy murmured near my ear in between sobs.
I grabbed Addy’s hand and pulled her out of the closet. “Come on. We have to get out of here.”
Addy leaned back, almost like she was afraid to take another step from the closet. “But they’re out there.”
“It’s all right. Simiael can distract them long enough for us to leave.”
“Simiael?”
“Your guardian angel, Addy.”
“Oh.”
Addy moved forward, pushing past us as if the knowledge that her guardian was out there had fueled her. She bolted into the living room, not waiting for us to follow, and stood watching the angel.
“Simiael.” She exchanged a look with her guardian before glancing back at us. “I have to help her.”
“Addy, no,” Simiael said. “Leave, now!”
Simiael battled the demons, one with a sword in his hand and the oth
er holding her wings down. The demon thrust the sword at her. In defense, she grabbed the sharp side of the weapon with two hands and pushed it away from her body, slicing her palms open. Blood trickled from her hands to the floor.
“No!” Addy sprang at the demon, ready to snatch his sword, but he seemed to sense her coming and spun around.
Lunging forward, I grabbed Addy’s wrist and yanked her back in time, the weapon missing her by an inch. The steel sword slashed through nothing but air. The demon growled and returned to fighting Simiael.
I wound my arm around Addy’s waist and pulled her away from the scene, taking Lizzy with us. On the kitchen counter, I saw a set of keys. My centuries as a guardian angel had come down to this, and quick thinking was a must. Without pausing, I snatched the keys, hoping they were to the apartment and one of the girls’ cars.
“No, no!” Addy cried, trying to go back for the angel.
I opened the door, letting in a blast of wind, and got Lizzy out. Addy, on the other hand, kept resisting.
“Addy, we can’t stay. She can’t hold them for too long.”
“Then let’s kill them.”
My ears picked up a faint gasp. I looked behind me and saw the demon driving his sword through Simiael’s throat. It was too late. The angel’s eyes met mine as she fell to her knees on the floor. Blood spilled from her neck, and when she coughed, the blood came out of her mouth too. She collapsed facedown.
Eyes full of tears, Addy screamed and struggled against me. She begged me to let her go. She wanted to run back inside, though I wasn’t sure if it was to help the angel or harm the demons.
We didn’t have time to spare. The demons moved in our direction. I knew that if we kept standing there, we would meet the same fate as Simiael.
“Addy, stop,” I shouted at her. “She’s gone.”
I dragged her outside the apartment and slammed the door shut before the demons could reach us. Addy glared at me, but when I started tugging her down the stairs, she stopped fighting. While her hand felt warm, the cold wind chilled my bones and sent goosebumps up my arms.
