Pretty Faces and Dark Places

by Rose B Mashal

  His words calmed my soul and warmed my heart. “We’ll figure it out, Andrew. We’ll find a way,” I promised.

  Andrew had to leave. He was going to go train the young ones before their first time on earth on how to hide their wings and cover up the heat of their bodies with coldness they gather from the graves they came out from. He only left because he knew I would be safe; I could protect myself. And he told me that no one comes here anyway. This place was like a desert for humans, so to them, this beautiful place wasn’t as beautiful in their eyes.

  We hugged tight and long, both of us so scared that it might be the very last time we could do that, the very last time we could be close. We kissed and he promised not to be gone for long, and even though a minute without him felt like ages, I still believed him.

  I decided to use the time alone to visit my mom. I sat on the ground, crossing my legs Indian style, and then I closed my eyes and thought of Mom, concentrating very hard. In seconds, I was with her again, filling my eyes with her sweet smile and loving look.

  “Maya, sweetie – you look so beautiful,” Mom complimented.

  I don’t know if angels or high creatures could blush, but if they could, I was sure I was blushing hard. “Thank you, Mom. Not as beautiful as you.”

  “Oh, c’mon. Your wings are stunning, they look very powerful,” she commented.

  I just smiled, not saying anything.

  “Come, dear, let’s sit down, we need to talk.” Mom took me by the hand and sat me near the white, sparkling river and then she sat down beside me, her warm smile never leaving her face as she looked at me.

  “You know what you are now, Maya, and – Sweetie, you have a huge responsibility on your shoulders. Do you understand that?”

  “Yes, Mom,” I nodded.

  “What do you plan to do?” she asked.

  “I know I have to protect humans. I need to end Andrew’s race. But I’m not sure how I can. Yes, I have powers but–” I stopped mid-sentence, not knowing how my mother would react to the fact that I’d promised Andrew not to hurt any demons.

  “But you promised,” she finished for me, and my eyes widened. “What were you thinking when you promised him that?” she asked, her voice softer than silk.

  “Mom, how do you know that?” I asked, surprised.

  “I know a few things, Maya. One of them is that you have a plan, don’t you?”

  I bit my bottom lip and looked down. “Not really, Mom. Only that I will find a way not to break my promise but still save humans.”

  “You can break your promise, Sweetie. It’s for a greater good,” Mom reassured me.

  I didn’t feel so good about that, but I thought that – Mom knows better than me. I was still confused and unsure – heck, I still didn’t even fly, yet.

  “Yes, Mom.”

  “Your powers are very strong, Maya. You could finish many demons with just one strike, and you need to do just that,” she told me.

  “I’m not sure if I can do that, Mom,” I voiced my concerns.

  “Yes, you can. But they would beat you with how many of them there are – for that, you need help from others.”

  “Help? Who would help me here? I’m in their land, I know no one. I know nothing about their weaknesses.”

  “Sweetie, I’ll help you, I’ll teach you anything you want to know, just for now and until your halo shows. Then you’ll know everything you wish to know, and you will have an answer to all of your concerns.”

  I nodded, not able to say anything.

  “Their main weakness is cutting their wings off. If the wing is small like on a new converter, it causes nothing but pain, but if the wing is large enough to let the demon fly, then they’ll bleed to death if you cut it off,” she explained.

  “Oh!” was all I said, thinking that maybe it was another reason why Andrew had cut my wings off right after they’d come out. Maybe he was afraid they’d grow quickly and then they’d cause my death by cutting them off? Of course he was; he loved me so much.

  “You can hurt them in many ways with your powers, but cutting their wings off will bring them to their deaths right away,” Mom said.

  “Yes, Mom. I get it,” I said in a low voice, my throat tightening as I imagined what could happen to Andrew if things got out of control.

  “As for help, you need more angels with you. You’ll find them around you, you just need to work a little bit on putting love back in their hearts – love and longing for their human lives, sadness for what could happen to other humans. This way their wings will change colors; they’ll have white feathers instead of dark ones, angels instead of demons – do you understand me, Sweetie?” she asked.

  “Not really, Mom. Who are these ones? How do I know if I’m choosing the right ones?” I wondered.

  “You’ll know when times come, Maya. And it’s very close,” she promised. “I wish I could be there by your side, fighting with you along with more angels and higher creatures, but we can’t cross to the underworld.”

  I nodded once more, and then I saw my mother looking at something above my head, smiling brightly before she said, “I always knew you would grow to be an amazing and wonderful person. I just had no idea that you would be a higher creature, powerful and even more pure than an angel.” She touched my cheek with her hand then patted it.

  “I have no idea how it happened, Mom. I went through converting to be a demon, how did I become this?”

  “Your pureness and the love in your heart toward everyone were too great to let you turn into a demon. Your heart, your mind, and your body fought it and you became what you were destined to be,” Mom said.

  “But Mom, I don’t think I’ve met someone more pure and tender than Sophie, and she turned into a demon. Where did her hate come from?” I asked.

  “Human days, weeks, and months are not the same as here. It’s always night in the underworld, but to them the time moves much faster than humans. They sleep only a few hours every few months by human counting. They eat food but they use it all for flying and to use their powers; they also feed on hate, not just food.

  “Sophie didn’t realize all of that, Maya. She missed you so much and was worried about you when she was first taken to the underworld, but when she knew you’d all buried her with no intention to keep searching for her and find her, she lost it. She thought it was only mere days before her parents made the decision, and she still thinks so – that’s where her hate came from. And to be honest, Sweetie, Sophie learned to be pure, to help people, to love, and to share smiles all from you. Your purity is much bigger than hers. You taught it to her by just being you,” Mom smiled.

  I took in a long breath then let it go. “I had no idea!” I admitted.

  “It’s all right, honey, just make sure you can bring back goodness and love for her human life, and she will change. Her purity is not lost; it’s only stained with hate.”

  “I’ll try my best, I promise.”

  “I know you will, Sweetie; you’ll do very well. It’s an angel’s job to protect humans. You’re going to save humans by ending the demons race forever. If you can’t change someone’s fate, then they’d be better off dead, because the goodness in them never existed anyway – not even as humans,” Mom said.

  I nodded, sighing. “I’m ready. I will leave now before Andrew comes back, and maybe I can think of a plan to get the job done.”

  “That’s my girl,” she grinned widely, and I offered her a small smile.

  “Remember one thing, Maya – with great responsibilities, comes great sacrifice.”

  “What do you mean, Mom? What do I have to sacrifice?” I frowned.

  “Andrew. You need to finish him, as well.”

  It was impossible, just the thought of killing Andrew was impossible. I couldn’t believe that the sacrifice my mom was talking about was to finish Andrew. Didn’t she get it? I loved him. I loved him so much. If he died – then my broken heart would lead to my own death, immortal or not. And she was actually suggesting th
at I do it myself? That was a bit more than just impossible.

  I opened my eyes, turning my thoughts away from Mom. I couldn’t stay there any longer, and I just– … I had to go.

  When I opened my eyes, I was still in the same spot I’d been sitting before visiting Mom. Andrew had yet to show up, and I wondered where he was. A second later, I saw him in my head, talking to young men who were no older than 20 years old. I couldn’t hear them, but once I had the image of him, my wondering was gone and so was the image of him. I didn’t understand what that was or how it had happened – if I’d really seen what Andrew was doing, or if it was only my imagination. I really had no idea.

  The next thing I noticed was that I wasn’t in the black jeans or the strapless top anymore. I was actually wearing a beautiful, short white dress, with a very nice V-neck, decorated with small diamonds all over it, sparkling in the dark just like little stars in the sky during a moonless night. It was simply amazing. I still had no clue who’d put me in it or how I came to be dressed like that, but I didn’t care. I think I’d never felt such a feeling of comfort and belonging before until I had that dress on. It was utterly beautiful.

  After spending what seemed like a long time staring at my new, magical dress, I decided it was time to do what I was supposed to do. I closed my eyes, my heart thumping hard in my chest, and I swallowed thickly. I didn’t know what Sophie’s reaction would be – would she believe me when I tell her that she’d understood everything the wrong way? Would she help me to protect humans and save them? Would she scream and tell others about my plans? I had many doubts.

  Regardless, I closed my eyes and thought about her. The lights behind my eyelids started and the next thing I knew, I was standing in a room similar to the one Andrew had called our own, which made me realize that I was back in the mansion – Andrew’s home.

  Sophie was standing by a big shelf of books, arranging them, her black wings and black clothes looking so strange on her. She could never be a demon, and that thing – I was going to fix it.

  “Sophie?” I called in a soft voice so as not to startle her, but still, she was startled.

  “Wh– …” She stopped mid-word when she saw me, her eyes widening and her jaw dropping open. “How– … who–… your wings!” was all she said before dropping the books in her hands and running to the door. I wanted to stop her, and I don’t know how it happened, but once I thought about stopping her, I found myself standing in front of the closed door, blocking her way and preventing her from going outside to call someone or tell someone about me.

  “Sophie, stop it. We need to talk,” I told her.

  “Please don’t hurt me,” she begged, her eyes terrified, her voice shaking and her face troubled. It killed me.

  “Sophie, I would never hurt you. You’re my best friend, you’re my sister from other parents – how could you think that I would ever hurt you?” Sadness wrapped my voice as I spoke.

  “You’re an angel, you’re my enemy. I can’t trust you. You’ll hurt me,” she insisted.

  “I would never do that. Never. Plus, this is only my spirit that you can see. My spirit has no powers, only my body, and it’s not here at all,” I tried to reassure her, even without knowing where I’d gotten that knowledge from.

  “How come you’re an angel? I saw your converting process with my own eyes!” she questioned, disbelieving.

  “It’s not important right now, Sophie. What is important is that we need to save humans. How many girls have lost their human lives just to come here and become demons, leaving their loved ones living in worry forever because they don’t know where they are? How many boys? We need to stop this. Please, help me to help them,” I begged.

  Sophie stared at me for a long moment, and then she let out a sarcastic laugh that sounded so not like the Sophie I’d known all of my life. “Really? Don’t worry about it, my friend; they won’t worry about them. They’ll bury them mere days after they disappear. They won’t care – not even their best friends.” I could hear the hurt and pain very easily in her voice, and it pained me.

  “Sophie, you’ve got it all wrong, that wasn’t what happened at all,” I tried. “Time here is not like human time. This one goes fast, while it’s slower on earth. Your parents spent six months doing nothing but searching for you; I did nothing but cry over you. But after six months and no evidence about anything related to you, they had to let go. They had to let you go. Even if it killed them a thousand times. Please, believe me.”

  Silence filled the room we were in. Sophie was staring at me with questioning eyes, and I was looking back at hers with pleading ones, until finally she stated, “Angels can’t lie.”

  “Yes, Sophie, we can’t lie. Please believe me, I’m telling the truth. Stop hating your parents, stop being angry with me. We tried our best, but we never found you. And looking at where you are; can you really blame us for not finding you?” I tried.

  “Whatever you say, May, I’ll never forgive them. You should never give up on your kids, even if you spend your whole life waiting for them, searching for them. If the chance came, you would die for them. I was pregnant and my baby died inside of me, but I never forgot my baby. I remember him all day long, everyday.” Her voice cracked. “And my own parents gave up on me. So soon. Six months is still too soon.”

  I was shocked by the news of her lost pregnancy, but then I wondered about how she’d lost it –, and just like that, the answer was known to me.

  “You’re right, it was a boy. But he didn’t die. He was killed,” I said, hoping that this would make her able to finally delineate the good from bad, because it seemed like she had no idea anymore. I had to tell her myself, I had to guide her. “When they did the ultrasound to see the baby, they found out it was going to be a pure human. Your mother-in-law gave you pills as vitamins for you and the baby, but it was really poison that only affected the human in you. The poison even killed a part of your human self,” I explained.

  “Oh, no! What are you saying? No, this can’t be true. She killed my baby? How was he even a human?” Sophie asked in disbelief.

  “You had sex with William before the converting was completed. For them, it’s a shame to do that, and an even greater shame to give birth to a human baby – they didn’t want it. Only your mother-in-law and Kathrin know about this,” I told her.

  “No way! How could she kill her own grandson?” Sophie wondered in an angry-yet-hurt voice.

  “It’s the truth, Sophie. Can’t you see? She killed her own blood and flesh. They don’t deserve to live and bring more humans to the underworld,” I said.

  “No!” she choked out before getting down on her knees, holding her arms to her body, looking completely destroyed. It hurt me to see her this way, but it needed to be done.

  I kneeled in front of her. “We need to save humans, Sophie.”

  She looked up at me with the saddest expression on her face, and then she said, “I’ll do it, May. I’ll help you save them.” And on cue, I saw her wings turn slowly into white ones – one feather, then another and another, until there was a big chuck of white feathers on the inside of her wing.

  I sighed in relief and smiled softly before I got back to where my body was, hoping that Andrew was already there.

  Convincing Matthew was much easier than convincing Sophie. But I had a pretty good feeling that it was because I’d mentioned his girlfriend back home. The one he’d spent all of his human life with – Wendy. The information and knowledge of his human life came to me as if I was reading from a book. I just knew everything about him without even having to ask a question.

  Wendy had been his best friend since the first day they met at the daycare in our town. She became his girlfriend in high school, and in their first year of college, he proposed and she said yes.

  The only mistake he’d made was joining that Halloween party in the woods. He’d had sex with Kathrin, and regretted it for the whole year. He’d told Wendy about it and asked for her forgiveness, but she would
n’t give it to him.

  Eventually, she decided they needed time apart, and when his new habit of getting drunk led him to the party again the following year, he never came back.

  Matthew grew black wings so fast; he gained his powers from hate – he hated. A lot. But sadly, all of the hate was towards himself.

  His wings didn’t change to white, but I knew they would start to do so soon. I’d given him a reason to miss his human life, but I also gave him a reason why he needed to help me. He wouldn’t be able to stop it if Wendy was chosen to be some demon’s mate for one reason or another. He needed to protect all humans with Sophie and me. He was hesitant at first, but when he heard from me about how the love of his life still searched for him in every way possible after more than three years, he choked out his words, “I will help, Maya.”

  I met a girl while I was secretly roaming the place, and from the tattoo on her neck, I knew she’d been born human. Ashley was a beautiful girl in her early twenties; her hair was golden colored, and her eyes were light brown. Her mother had died when she was only three, and she’d grown up with her drunken father. He had abused her almost every day, hitting her and sometimes even burning her with cigarettes. It was a seriously awful life, and I couldn’t find a reason to make her want to help, since she had no memory of goodness in her human life to remember.

  Strangely, I didn’t need to do any convincing. Ashley almost begged me to let her help without any effort from me other than a few words. So I told her of my plan; time moved so fast in the underworld, and I needed to finish them all off before the next Halloween.

  She nodded and thanked me for giving her the chance to do something good. And I told her the same thing I’d told Sophie and Mathew: “Find others who might be willing to help.”

  This time when I opened my eyes, I felt a thrill in my heart just at the thought of really making this work. I’d never thought in my whole life that someday I might kill someone, and the fact that soon I would be killing many almost made me uneasy.