The Human Side (The Demon Side Series)

by Heaven Liegh Eldeen

  “What just…?” I said, straining to focus my vision. Amy crouched over a recovered John. I watched him slowly flap his wings as Amy approach me.

  “Hey. You feeling okay?” she asked while helping me to my feet. Dizziness set in, causing me to lose my footing. In a flash, John appeared to my right to assist Amy. I stumbled again in shock.

  I no longer held the form of a frail, pale, lanky, young boy in desperate need of acne wash. My natural form had returned. The poor sap, Ramen, had given way to Rahovart, the Arch. As great as it felt having my body back, the change had weakened it.

  “Feels as if someone hit me in the face with a cinderblock.”

  “Yeah. Sorry about that. I’m sort of new to this healing thing.”

  “Where’s Gabriel?”

  “He’s in the van. After he saw you drop, he asked I take care of him in the van.”

  “Oh, yeah?” I said with a wiggle of my brow.

  “Not in that way, pervert.”

  I laughed, and she punched me in my arm before lowering me against the bumper.

  “Uh huh.” I teased when a rapping sound came from the back window.

  “Rahovart, can you come here please?” Gabriel hollered from inside the van.

  “Sounds like he’s awake. I’m gonna check on him,” Amy said excitedly. “It’s not every day you find out you’re dating an Arch Angel and get the opportunity to not only heal him, but see him as one.”

  “No, Amy! I want Ra,” Gabriel shouted.

  “Why won’t you let me in?” Amy yelled through the tinted rear window.

  “I need to see Rahovart for just a moment.”

  “I’ll see what he wants. He probably ripped his clothing with his massive, bulging pecs,” I joked in hopes of comforting her. I hadn’t touched the door handle when the door flung open and Gabriel pulled me inside, slamming the door behind us.

  “She can’t see me this way. Rahovart. What am I going to do?” Gabriel hands motioned up and down his body.

  Just as I had, Gabriel regained his Angelic form. His salt and pepper crew cut contrasted against his tanned skin. His emerald eyes pierced your soul, distracting you from noticing the large scar running from his upper lip, across his left eye and fading into his hairline. His overbuilt physique prevented him from resting his arms to his sides. Even with my massive size, Gabriel’s six-foot-six broad frame dwarfed me. Though he hadn’t been nude, his shirt lay in shreds on the floor, revealing his deeply scarred chest, arms and neck. His years as an Arch had been hard on his body, leaving behind long, thick, reddish welts as evidence of his victories and failures.

  “Uh, go out there the way you are?”

  “I can’t. Not like this,” Gabriel said, slapping his hands against his chest. His reply shocked me. He had always been so proud of his marks, and took every opportunity he had to show them off and compare against the rest of us. Now it seemed as if he was ashamed of them.

  “Are you worried about her seeing you as you are?”

  “What if they disgust her? What if she can’t look at me? I don’t think I can handle that.” Resting his elbows on his knees, Gabriel clasped his hands together and began rocking back and forth.

  In all the years I had known Gabriel, I had never seen him so worried. Before missions sure to be suicide, he’d come across slightly anxious, but it had been more of a “let’s get this party started” type. The riskier the job, the more excited he would get. When the rest of us would be writing our goodbye letters just in case we didn’t make it home, he’d be out partying and joking around about how much fun he’d have. The polar opposite of the man I knew sat across from me now.

  “If you’re that worried about it, Gabriel, just project the illusion of Benjamin.”

  “Look at you, Rahovart. You resemble nothing of what you did ten minutes ago. She’ll know it’s not the real me.”

  I understood his concerns. When I learned Etta saw me as something different than what I had been, part of me became terrified that once she saw the Demonic me, she would lose all interest. She had seen me at my worst, but she loved me enough to look past my appearance and saw the true colors of my soul. My gut told me Amy would do the same with Gabriel.

  “Gabriel, do you love her?”

  “Yes, but I don’t see what that has—”

  “Then just go out there.”

  “I can’t.”

  Just as he had with me, I flung open the van door and yanked him outside, slamming the door behind us. As Amy and John rounded the rear, Gabriel shoved me down as he unfurled his wings and folded them over himself.

  “Gabriel? Everything okay?” Amy asked, stepping toward him.

  “Don’t look at me.” His wings muffled his voice.

  “What is going on?”

  “He doesn’t want you to see what how he looks,” I said just before I went to deliver a punch to the center of his wings, knowing instincts to protect their base would kick in. Gabriel opened his wings and turned to block my blow. Fearing a fight, Amy rushed between us.

  “Stop!” she exclaimed, placing her palms against his chest. Her focus traveled up from his waist to his eyes, admiring everything in between. Being fully exposed, Gabriel puffed out his chest and stared off in the distance over her head in an attempt to cover up his feelings of inadequacy.

  “And what’s wrong with how you look?”

  “He’s worried his scars will disgust you,” I blurted out.

  “Shut up, Ra. I’m talking to Gabriel. Is that true, Gabriel?”

  Biting his bottom lip, Gabriel lowered his head and released a deep sigh.

  “Let me see you.” Amy lifted his chin. Releasing a deep sigh, he stretched out his arms, allowing Amy to see all of him.

  “Beautiful,” she whispered. Gabriel’s eyes widened as a smile cracked his stone face that soon became covered by her lips. Returning her kiss, he entwined his hand in her blonde curls and pulled her in deeper.

  Although happy that my brother had found true love, a part of me held some resentment toward him and Amy. They reminded me too much of what I had more than once and lost, over and over again. Not wanting it thrown in my face, I signaled to John to follow me as I walked across the street to allow them the illusion of being the only people in the world. “So what’s the plan? You have two Arches at your disposal.”

  “You can flash quicker and farther than I can. I want you to flash back to Etta’s. I don’t care if you have to tear that place apart, find those letters and destroy them. I’m going to go to the hospital with the lovebirds over there and keep a close eye on Etta. When Vetis shows up, I want my face to be the first thing he sees.” John thinned his lips, anger flaring in his eyes.

  “You think he’ll try to attack her there?”

  “I don’t think—I know. He may have clipped me, but I left my mark on him.”

  “Vetis came after you himself?”

  “He had his goons fake an attack on Etta. When I showed up, one real ugly bastard came out of nowhere, flashing us right into Tristan’s car almost killing him and Etta. Next thing I know, I’m lying face down in a field. When Vetis finished cutting out my wing, he kicked me over to my back, gloating about his plan. I grabbed my sword and sliced his neck.”

  “What did he say to you?”

  “Something about it being a matter of time before Etta would choose him and with me grounded, he would speed things up.”

  “Wait, you had a shot at him and you cut his throat?”

  “Yeah. Look, I know that won’t kill him, but considering the situation and how much pain I endured, I think I did pretty damn good.”

  “No, that’s not it. Okay, you said you found yourself in a field, and you slit his throat?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Son of…I was right. Tristan!”

  “What does Tristan have to do with it?”

  “I found Etta in the middle of a field, disoriented and mumbling about a flash of light falling. She’s seen you flash before, at the house. Shortly
afterward, Tristan came strolling out of nowhere with a small cut on his neck.”

  “That doesn’t mean anything. It may simply be a coincidence. Tristan’s a good kid. He’s been great sponsoring Rene, and he and Etta have gotten very close over the last few weeks. He would never hurt her. He may have gotten that cut during the accident.”

  “Close? How close?”

  “Look, I get you love her, but you have to understand she has a life to live. She has no future with you, Ra.”

  “How close?”

  “They’ve been seriously dating. He was going to propose to her last night. When she didn’t show up to the restaurant, we went looking for her. He loves her.”

  “Wake up and smell the brimstone, John. Vetis, the Deceiver! What part of that name don’t you understand?”

  “Your feelings are clouding your judgment. I’m not going to let you ruin a chance of her being happy with someone who can give her what she needs, like being by her side when she needs it. Just go find the letters.”

  “Think about it, John. Don’t you think it’s a little strange he shows up out of the blue with a cut on his throat after you cut Vetis’s throat?”

  “Ra, if he is Vetis, he has the ability to hide it with illusion.”

  “A Demon can make a gouge seem like a shaving nick, but he can’t completely hide a fresh wound no matter how powerful his abilities are.”

  “Then why not just take her? Why go through the charade of being her boyfriend? They’ve spent plenty of time alone with each other. He’s had every opportunity to have her, yet he’s never made a move.”

  “What better way to get what you want than having it come to you. Darkness hides within light,” I yelled as John stormed across the street, ignoring a cheerful Gabriel.

  “Okay, what happened?” Gabriel asked.

  “He’s so dense. How did I ever think an alliance would work with him? He doesn’t want to believe there is a possibility of Tristan being Vetis.”

  “Are you back on that?”

  “Gabriel, don’t. I don’t need it from you too right now.”

  “Then what do you need?”

  “I need you to clean up this mess, and go to the hospital with John. Stay close to Etta. I’m going back to her place to look for the letters.” Not giving him a chance to say another word and moving faster than the speed of light, I flashed to Etta’s house.

  Chapter Seventeen

  As I materialized in her room, I took a moment to revel in the exhilaration my abilities brought. Stuck in a human body for three months had been hell. Now I felt stronger and faster, but the change hadn’t made me any smarter. I forgot to tuck my wings and managed to cut a deep gouge in her wall, break a lamp, and slice a few posters.

  Other than the posters and lamp, her room didn’t hold much. On the shag avocado carpet lay a bare, twin top mattress with a portable CD player next to it. I searched the pillowcase, under the yellow floral fitted sheet, and under the bed, and found nothing. Next to the bedroom entrance were two sliding mirrored doors. When I turned to open them, the image of Rene searching Etta’s room during my Demon days played in my mind. I never did find out what she had been looking for, but whatever it had been, she hadn’t found it. Hopefully, I would be met with more success.

  Opening the sliding mirrors, I jumped back as what seemed to be a ton of splintered, dark, laminate wood toppled out. Kicking a few pieces aside, I poked my head inside the closet. Filling the three bottom feet of the closet were broken pieces of drawer faces, snapped chair legs, shards of mirror, and various pieces of demolished furniture. Dumbfounded by the so-called furniture collection, I had picked up a drawer face to inspect what appeared to be deep claw marks when the sound of electricity buzzed behind me. Spinning on my heels and dodging to my left, I narrowly escaped the wicked end of a ball mace. Grabbing the Minotaur’s wrist, I spun him into me as my wings sliced through his neck, taking his head clear off.

  “Well done,” a feminine voice rang out. The smell of rotting flesh permeated in the room. Snatching the ball mace from the dead Demon’s grasp, I turned around to face my next attacker. Before me stood a grossly slender, tall Demon with waist-length black hair, orange eyes and thick, pouty lips. To another Demon, she would be the equivalent of a supermodel.

  Persephone XII entered Hell long after my banishment. When I arrived home, I had been brought up to date on the latest gossip. According to the local lore, Persephone had slit her own throat as a human, and waiting at the gates for her arrival stood Lucifer himself. Guiding her through the labyrinth, he oversaw her progress. It hadn’t been long until she had found herself his closest, most trusted concubine.

  In all my centuries serving him, not once had he ever left the throne room, let alone escorted anyone through the maze. The whole point of the labyrinth was to ensure he received the worst of the worst. And though her orange eyes proved she had committed suicide, I chalked the rest of the story up to fiction.

  “You wouldn’t hit an unarmed woman, would you, Rahovart?” She raised her hands as she slowly inched toward me.

  “You may be unarmed, but your goon wasn’t.” I folded my left wing in front of me as I twirled the mace. Having witnessed Lucifer’s “lovemaking” first hand, I knew better than to be fooled by her seemingly frail appearance. His concubines were chosen based on their physical strength and high pain thresholds.

  “Oh, him? Simply a test to make sure you were on point. I had to be sure I wouldn’t be wasting my time coming here and that there would be no witnesses.”

  “Why are you here? Shouldn’t you be in bed, spread eagle with the rest of the Persephones?” I said, trying to rattle her as we circled each other.

  “Low blow, Rahovart. I’ve been sent here with a message from him as well as one of my own.”

  “Then spit it out before I decide to release this into your skull.”

  “So feisty. I love that in a man.”

  “Get on with it, whore.”

  “He wants you to give up your self-righteous quest to save Etta. He will ensure her family is met with a quick, painless death, and she will be well taken care of beyond anything you could ever do for her.”

  “You tell him to come on out and play,” I retorted.

  “I thought that would be your answer. So here is my message for you. There is only one way he can rightfully claim her. She will have to meet the same end I once did. I suggest you keep sharp objects away from her.”

  “She would never.”

  “Oh? How many times has she tried in the past?”

  “She remembers now. She’s strong.”

  “Are you sure they are her memories? Last I checked, Vetis is helping her with her recent breakthroughs. Break the mind, and you break the girl. The Seers have foretold a deal she will make with Lucifer. In exchange for your life, she will give hers. Rahovart, you cannot allow her to take her own life.”

  “Why are you telling me this? Why is it you care? Aren’t you supposed to be rooting for him?”

  “Let’s just say I have a vested interest in the outcome of her predicament.”

  “Fearful of being replaced as his bed mate?”

  “I understand why you think of me as nothing more than his whore, but there are far greater things going on beneath the surface. You’re blinded by your love for her, which is why I chose to come to you. You, of all, must understand there are a few Demons who don’t wish to see an innocent girl pay the price for our victory.”

  “Why should I believe a word you’re saying?”

  “Because my being here, speaking with you, is a death sentence. Why risk my neck on the chance you wouldn’t believe me, if it were not of the utmost urgency? Think about it. If you decide to heed my word, I will help in any way I can outside the presence of others, but her safety and our fates rest on you, John, and Gabriel. Should we meet with witnesses, you are my enemy. You cannot fail her this time, Rahovart.” As suddenly as she appeared, Persephone disappeared.

  I wouldn’t be
taken off guard so easily. Still twirling the mace, I sniffed the air for any sign I might not be alone, but the scent had faded with her. Why would Lucifer’s concubine have an interest in Etta’s survival? What could she gain from it? It might be a trick to throw me off. You can’t trust her.

  Guarding myself from any sneak attack, I flared my wings behind me as I turned my attention back to the closet. As I checked every pocket of Etta’s clothing, the shelf above the clothes rod and even clearing out the bottom of the closet, I dove deep into my thoughts. Until she had mentioned the Seers, I had forgotten about Lucifer’s secret group of fortune telling mathematicians.

  No being, no matter how supreme, could predict the future, but the Seers had a knack for accurately calculating outcomes based on the players, their history, conditions of the battlefield, and any foreseeable variables. Lucifer kept them under lock and key. Only the top generals knew of their existence, but never met with them face to face. We weren’t even privy to where in Hell they were kept. Their predictions were always handed to us from Lucifer. To keep his secret safe, we were bound never to speak of them. In doing so Lucifer himself would give you an immediate high five to your face all the way to Purgatory without the chance to say “Ow.”

  Finished with my useless search of the closet, I turned to the rest of the home. As I opened the silverware drawer in the kitchen, the door slammed, startling me.

  Mace at the ready, I crept toward a creaking noise coming from Etta’s room. Rounding the corner, I saw her door left ajar and a shadow moving around in a hurry. Slowly making my way to investigate, the door suddenly flung open and a blurred Etta in a hospital gown, shrieking a loud war cry, rushed me. Unable to react fast enough, she smacked me across the side of the head with a hard dark object. The blow blackened my vision and buckled me at the knees, dropping me as if I were a mosquito in a bug zapper.

  “Hey. Wake up. C’mon, I didn’t hit you that hard. Wake your butt up, or I’m leaving you here.” I tried to focus my sight through a pounding headache when something repeatedly tapped my cheek.

  “What the…?”