A Manager From Heaven (girlxgirlxgirl)

38. Reveal

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Hela bumps into the bookshelf that stands in their corridor. The statue standing on one of the shelves wobbles and falls, heading toward the floor. Her eyes widen and she reaches down, grabbing it right before it can break into a million pieces. The statue is of an angel, a sword pierced through her heart in an ugly manner. Hela's hand clenches around the statue. Carefully, without making a sound, she puts it back on the shelf and walks toward the living room.

"That's it, I'll see you both tomorrow."

They came home just a few minutes ago. She and the angel.

Hela had debated crashing her car into a tree or a building on the way, but she didn't. She remained passive, not saying a word, responding with hums and nods to whatever the angel would say. When they came to their apartment, Tangie greeted Hecate and began to explain this week's schedule to her in the living room. Hela couldn't stand it. It was irresponsible to leave Hecate alone with an angel, especially when Hecate didn't even know that she's an angel. But Hela had to leave anyway. To the bathroom, she said. But in reality she locked herself in their private portal room and stared at the empty portal for a while, hands shaking.

Now, Tangie is leaving, just as the demon has gathered up the courage she needs to walk down the hallway and into the living room, again. Hela sees the back of the angel's head and body as she reaches down to put her shoes on, one hand already on the glass door. For a moment, she thinks about pulling out her sword and killing her, right there and then. She sees it in front of her, Tangie' dead body, the blood, her sword through her heart looking similar to that of the statue.

Her hand twitches. But she remains still, standing at the edge of the living room while staring at Tangie. If that's even her name.

Tangie Shepherd. What a stupid name. Hela doesn't know whether to be more upset about the fact that she has been lied to, or that she has been so oblivious to the truth.

"Bye!" Tangie yells out, closing the glass door behind her and getting into the elevator. Hela watches her until the elevator doors slide closed, and for a moment after that, too. Eventually, she breathes out. Her brain is working overtime, similarly to how she always had to be on edge in the underworld. She glances over at Hecate, and sees the other demon relaxed while leaning back on their couch, staring at the TV.

Hela is going to ruin her day.

But before that, she thinks. She stands there and thinks.

Maybe they've slipped up in the past? Maybe Tangie only said Hecate's true name because she has heard Hela calling her that, and thought it was a nickname? It could be true. Hela can in no way remember whether or not they've slipped up each other's real names in the past. But what she can be certain about is that the name isn't everything. The name was the key that opened the gate, and now that opened gate is flooding her brain with clues she should've caught in the past.

Tangie's odd last name, her odd, sudden appearance in the human realm, her odd behaviour, the way she couldn't drive or talk about her past, the way she always seemed so on edge, so strange... Even in the beginning Hela had called her weird. Now she understands why. It's obvious now that she has realised it. It's obvious why Hela found her more attractive than other humans, why she felt so drawn to her, why it felt easy to relate to her, why it felt like they had so much in common. They are both supernaturals.