Milayna's Angel

by Michelle K. Pickett

  “Purple is your color.”

  I like you in purple.

  I shook my head to rid it of Chay’s voice. It’d been almost two months, and I still dreamed about him every night. I had flashes of visions that I was sure related to him in some way, although I couldn’t put the pieces together.

  “Are those for me?” I gestured to the bouquet of flowers in Xavier’s hand.

  He grinned. “Yes, they are. You told me not to get you a corsage, and I’m glad I didn’t,” he said, looking at my strapless gown. “But senior prom seemed like a flower occasion so…” He shrugged a shoulder.

  “I love them. Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome. Are you ready?”

  “Let me just put these in a vase and we can go.”

  My attempt to sneak out was intercepted by mother. She thought she was a photographer and subjected us to a million photos before she finally decided she had enough.

  “There. These will come in handy one day.” She scrolled through the files on the camera’s digital screen.

  I groaned. Another way for her to torture and embarrass me.

  “Can we go now?” I pleaded.

  “Sure. Have fun, but not too much fun.” My dad gave Xavier a pointed look.

  “Ugh.” I hiked up my gown and stalked toward the limo we were sharing with Drew and Muriel.

  We went to the Ivy, a very posh and obscenely expensive restaurant, for dinner before going to the dance. As soon as we walked into the banquet hall, I immediately knew I had a big problem. The prom’s theme was winter wonderland. I hadn’t paid attention to the theme before agreeing to go with Xavier. I hadn’t planned to go, so I didn’t care what the theme was.

  “Milayna? Are you okay?” I was standing in the doorway. My mouth went dry, and I couldn’t get enough oxygen. Xavier looked at me, worry lines framing his mouth. The people behind me sighed loudly, irritated that I was blocking the entrance.

  “Hmm? Yeah, I’m fine.” Forcing a smile, I stepped through the door. I sucked in a breath, my hand flying to my throat before remembering I’d taken off the necklace with Chay’s ring before coming to the dance.

  The banquet hall was decorated with pine trees draped in colored lights. Glass snowflakes hung from the ceiling, catching the lights like mini-prisms and sending rainbows throughout the room. It looked so much like the ice rink at the zoo where Chay gave me my promise ring that it stole my breath and a lump grew in my throat. My hands started to shake, and I could feel the sting of tears behind my eyes.

  I gotta get outta here.

  “Muriel? Bathroom.” I walked away.

  “Is she okay?” I heard Xavier ask behind me.

  “Oh, yeah, it’s just a girl thing. We always travel to the bathroom in packs.” Muriel burst through the bathroom door and hurried to me. “Vision?”

  “No.”

  She tilted her head. “Then what?”

  “Chay.” I could feel my lip start to quiver and bit down on it hard.

  “You saw him?”

  “No,” I said, shaking my head.

  She sighed. “Then what, Milayna?”

  “He gave me the promise ring at the ice rink at the zoo.”

  “And the prom’s theme is…”

  “Yeah. It caught me off guard is all. I’ll be okay in a minute. It just… I wasn’t expecting it. Could you tell them I’m touching up my makeup or something stupid like that?”

  “Okay, take as much time as you need.”

  “Thanks, Muriel.”

  I pulled myself together and rejoined Xavier minutes later, smiling like nothing was wrong while I was dying on the inside, strangled by memories of a man I couldn’t give up on, but who clearly didn’t want me.

  I’m pathetic. If there was ever a real-life soap opera, I’d be a candidate. I have an angel in love with me, whom I don’t love back. A half angel I love who tried to kill me and then walked out of my life—just vanished while I wait like an idiot for his return when he’s made it clear he doesn’t want me. Yeah, I’ve got this love stuff figured out. I should start my own advice column. Sure.

  Prom was my first time going out since Chay left. The first few times Xavier asked me to go to prom with him, I’d said no. But Muriel bugged me—make that nagged the crap out of me—about it so much, I finally gave in. She declared it a double date with her and Drew. I made it clear to Xavier it was a non-date, date. Friends only. He agreed and that was how we ended up at prom, in each other’s arms, swaying to a ridiculously slow love song.

  Shabby apartment… rainy night

  Laying my head on Xavier’s shoulder, I closed my eyes. I was getting used to the flashes of images streaming through my consciousness.

  TV dinner… a far-off wail of a police car… the news playing on television.

  My eyes flew open. The news was playing on television in my vision. Straining to listen to the broadcast, I was sure it was a way to locate him. If only the reporter would mention a city, we’d have somewhere to start a search. Up to that point, no one knew where to begin looking for Chay. He’d disappeared from his life without leaving a breadcrumb to follow. The news broadcast was my breadcrumb.

  KHOU news…

  I held my breath, waiting for a mention of a city or a state, but like so many times before, the vision failed me. They gave me small snippets, brief glimpses of his life, but nothing helpful. That vision was no different.

  ***

  “Thank you, Xavier. I had a really nice time,” I told him when he walked me to my door after prom. It was late, my feet hurt, and I wanted to get out of my dress in the worst way. The last thing I wanted was for him to lean in and kiss me… That was what I told myself anyway.

  When he leaned down, tilting his head to angle his mouth over mine, I found myself rising on my tiptoes to meet him. When his arms slid around my waist, pulling me closer, I went willingly. When his tongue tentatively touched my lips, they parted. And when the kiss ended and he pulled away, my hand fisted around his shirt front and pulled him back for another, and, for a moment, thoughts of Chay and visions vanished.

  ***

  I changed out of my gown and into a pair of ratty sweatpants and a T-shirt. Walking by my desk to hang up my dress, the bright pink top of my laptop caught my eye. Picking it up, I quietly—I didn’t want to wake Benjamin—turned it on, opening the internet browser. I did a search for the news station’s call letters, KHOU. I stared at the screen for a beat. My heart raced and my insides twisted in knots. I couldn’t believe we finally had a break… We finally had a place to start looking.

  KHOU: Channel eleven… Houston.

  My hand shook when I reached for the phone. My fingers trembled so violently that I had to redial the phone number twice. The phone rang five times before her voice, thick from sleep, answered.

  “Mrs. Roberts? I think Chay’s in Houston.”

  28

  Abaddon’s End

  Monday morning, I walked outside on my way to school when I saw them. Two red bodies stood in the drive, getting soaked by the spring rain. I thought about ignoring them. Then I had the thought of trying to run them down—smashed garden gnomes came to mind. But curiosity got the better of me, and I decided I wanted to know what they had to say more than I wanted to run them over.

  “What?” I walked down the driveway, trying to keep my umbrella from blowing away.

  Friendly looked at me with wide eyes. He looked scared. “Shh,” he hissed, his finger to his lips. “He’s coming for you, Milayna. You need to leave.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Who’s coming? Abaddon?”

  “Shh!”

  “C’mon, this is getting old. Either come up with a new routine or quit bothering me. I’ve had enough of the both of you. Now go before I run you down with my car.”

  “You’ll be sorry.” Scarface laughed just as two puffs of smoke appeared, carrying them back to Hell where they belonged.

  Later that night, Benjamin looked outside and whimpered.

  “W
hat’s wrong, frog freckle?” I went to him and wrapped him in my arms.

  “They’re back.”

  I looked out the window. My heart dropped into my stomach. A line of teens stood in the street in front of our house. Nine total, five Evils and four demi-demons. I pulled the drapes closed.

  “They’re just acting tough, Ben. There’s nothing to be scared of.” I wiped my sweaty palms on my sweatpants.

  I almost believed myself. Then I started having a vision… and I knew there was plenty to be scared of.

  I saw a large hole in our backyard. A glowing light shone from the bottom. Gray arms reached out. I could hear screaming and moaning—smell the burning flesh and rot. The angel demons flew in the night sky overhead, cackling like they had the night I faced Azazel. A man walked toward me. I’d never seen him before, but I knew it was Abaddon by the way the demons and hobgoblins cowered as he passed. The Demon of Destruction who everyone was scared of getting on his bad side.

  The vision ended with the man, Abaddon, walking toward me. I didn’t see what happened next. I was pretty sure I didn’t want to.

  ***

  It was midnight when my cell phone rang. I grabbed it quickly before it woke Benjamin.

  “Hello.”

  “Milayna, wake up. The demi-demons are walking toward your house. I’ll call Drew and Jen.”

  I jumped up and reached for my shoes.

  “Hello, Milayna.”

  I slowly turned and stared at the man standing in my bedroom. He was short, no more than five-foot-five, the same height as I was. His graying hair hung in ringlets, falling past his shoulders. He was dressed like any ordinary person would be—in jeans and button-down shirt. In any other circumstance, he would have looked normal, benign even. But standing in my bedroom in the middle of the night was not a normal circumstance, and he wasn’t a normal man. I didn’t need to ask who he was, and I knew screaming wouldn’t do any good.

  “Abaddon.”

  “That’s right,” he said with a small smile.

  With lightning speed, he grabbed me by the hair before I had time to react, flinging me across the room. I hit the wall with a dull thud before sliding to the floor. I saw Benjamin stir. He rolled over, pulling his Spiderman blanket up to his chin and gripping his teddy closer to him. I tried not to cry out. I didn’t want to wake him.

  It’s better that he find me missing in the morning and wonder where I’ve gone than see me thrown into Hell’s pit.

  Abaddon wrapped his hand around my neck, lifting me off the floor. My feet kicked, trying to find anything to brace themselves against.

  “Listen to me and this will go a lot easier on everyone involved. Do as I say and I’ll spare your parents and brother unnecessary pain. I’ll make things easy for them. For you however,” he shrugged one shoulder, “I’m afraid that ship sailed some time ago. I’ve been looking forward to tonight, and I intend to make it worth my wait.”

  The protective barrier blocked most of his power, but he could still fight like any other human. And the mofo was strong.

  He let go of my throat, and I fell to my hands and knees in front of him. I tried to crawl away. He smiled down at me before he grabbed a handful of my hair and pulled me up. Pinning my arm behind my back, he held it so tightly that his fingernails bit into my flesh. My shoulder joint screamed in agony when he jammed my arm further up my back. He pushed me from the bedroom and down the hallway. I stumbled. He dragged me to the front door, my legs flailing, trying to find something to wrap them around. I used my free hand to hold on to the doorjamb. He easily pulled me through the door and down the concrete steps of the porch, my feet hitting the steps painfully as they bounced from one to the next.

  Muriel, Jen, and Drew were there, already in a fight with the demi-demons and Evils. But nine against three weren’t very good odds, and they were quickly overtaken. Without Chay, our second-strongest demi and next in line to lead the group if something were to happen to me, our group was weakened. Broken.

  “See what you have caused, Milayna?” Abaddon gripped my face in one hand and forced me to watch the fight.

  Two demi-demons were laughing as they held Drew in place for Jake. Jake took his time with each hit, making sure it delivered maximum pain. Drew’s left eye was already purple and swollen shut. His lip was bloody, and blood dripped from his mouth. His head lolled to the side, and I wasn’t sure if he could stand up without the demi-demons help—I couldn’t tell if he was even conscious.

  Jen was still fighting, but she was losing ground quickly. Lily and Shayla were enjoying smacking her around. Jen would’ve been fine if it had just been the bitchy duo—she could take Lily and Shayla without problem. But Rod and Steven were in on the fun, too. The four circled her, taking turns jabbing and kicking. Just when Jen would block one hit, someone else would throw another at her. Her nose was covered in blood. She was holding her side and hobbling on one leg. She was finished.

  Muriel was trying her best to fight off the remaining two demi-demons and help Jen, too. There were too many fists and legs flying for me to keep up with her fight. All I could tell for sure was that Muriel was hurt. Her face was bloody and she held one arm close to her body, protecting it. She was done.

  “Tell them to stop. Please,” I whispered around the lump in my throat.

  He’s right. I caused this.

  Abaddon raised his hand. Without a word, the fighting stopped. “It was getting boring anyway.”

  Muriel’s face was already swelling from the brutality of the fight. Blood ran down her cheek and dripped onto the shoulder of her torn T-shirt, but instead of worrying about her own fate, she looked at me with remorse. “I’m so sorry, Milayna.” Tears formed in her eyes.

  The group was herded together by the demons, forced to watch as Abaddon shoved me forward to the pit. I fell to my knees. I could see the people who had sold their souls to Azazel and I cringed at the sight of the damned sentenced to Hell, swirling in the yellow light. The smell of sulfur and burning flesh was so strong that I gagged with each breath.

  “Milayna!” my mom screamed from the porch where she and my dad were cornered by a group of sickly gray demons. Tears ran down her face. My father fought a futile battle against the demons. The tendons in his neck were taut, the muscles in his arms bulging as he pushed against the group, his face red and full of rage.

  “I love you,” I yelled to my parents.

  “Well, Milayna, time to go. I’m not like the idiot Azazel. I’m not going to spend time chitchatting with you. I prefer to get things out of the way sooner rather than later. So I’ll ask you this only once. Do you want to change your mind and come and work for me… or do you want to die?”

  I looked into the pit, smelling the sulfur, rot, and burning flesh. I saw the fiery golden color emanating from it, feeling the heat and tasting the char in the back of my throat. And for a mere second, I wavered.

  I don’t want to die there. I don’t want to die now. Maybe switching sides wouldn’t be so bad. So Azazel gains some of my power. The next demi-angel can fight him. I’m too tired. So very, very tired of it all.

  I looked into Abaddon’s black eyes rimmed in red. A slow smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. He knew what I was thinking. He thought he had me…

  He was dead wrong.

  “I won’t switch sides,” I yelled over the groans and wails of the people suffering for all eternity in the fiery pit and the banshee-like screams of the demonic angels flying overhead, their black robes flowing around them, the hoods covering what I knew were hideous faces. “I’d rather die a thousand deaths in your pit than spend one second as your slave.”

  Oh crap, what have a done? I just signed my own death certificate. This is how it has to be. Abaddon can’t win. Azazel can’t win. If I have to fight to my dying breath to make sure of that, then that’s what I’ll do, and, oh crap, that’s what I’m gonna have to do.

  “Fine. Death it is.” He jerked me up by the collar of my T-shirt and shoved me closer t
o the hole. My toes hung over the side, pieces of rock and clumps of dirt falling beneath my feet. My heart beat so hard against my ribs that it hurt. I was sure he could hear it. It thundered in my ears, the blood rushing behind them.

  The demon angels flew low, circling us like buzzards over roadkill. Their shrill laughs pierced my ears and I wanted to cover them with my hands, but I didn’t dare move. I didn’t want to show any weakness or fear. But, more than that, Abaddon said he’d go easy on my family if I did what he wanted. I didn’t know if I could trust him. In fact, I was fairly certain I couldn’t, but I was going to do what he asked just in case he’d keep his word. If I could do anything to make things easier on my family, I would. So I stood still and let the hideous angels of the Pit swarm around me, screeching as they flew by.

  “Abaddon…” I heard someone yell.

  “Well, Xavier, how nice to see you again.” Abaddon smiled.

  Again?

  “I can’t say the same,” Xavier said. “Let her go.”

  “Now, now, Xavier. Just because you have a soft spot for her doesn’t change what needs to be done.”

  Huh? What are they talking about?

  While Xavier distracted Abaddon, I saw Benjamin sneak outside. I wanted to scream at him to run, but no one had noticed him, so I bit my lip to keep quiet. But Abaddon followed my gaze.

  “Get the boy,” he yelled. A gray demon reached out to grab Benjamin. He screamed and turned into black ash when he touched Ben’s arm.

  A second demon rushed Ben. He reached into the arm of his pajamas and pulled out my dagger. When he turned toward the demon running to him, the tip scraped against its arm, killing it.

  “Milayna!” Benjamin flung the dagger at me.

  Reaching out, I concentrated on my power, willing the knife to come to me. It barreled through the air, and I caught it on the blade side, slicing my hand open. I felt warm blood fill my palm. Flipping the knife, I grabbed the handle, swinging it at Abaddon’s legs. He jumped out of reach, letting go of my arm. I stared into his eyes as I reached up with my other hand and took hold of the knife. I plunged it into his chest, gagging at the sound of the pop his skin made when the blade pierced it. I tightened my grip on the handle and turned the knife, hearing bone crack.