Phantom Pain (trilogy)

Guardian Angel

    Chapter 2: GuardianAngel    

The first place I went was in Hell. It was the place I always went to when travelling through the shadows. It was Penemue's room, mine too since I'd come to reside in Hell. He was not here, but that was just as well as I was not ready to return yet anyways. From this central location, I travelled to somewhere very different, in the human world. I had a few hours before the sun came up. As much as I'd improved, I still could not travel through the shadows when it was in the sky. There were few demons who could.

The second place I went was a roof top in the city of Newark. It was not a starry night, the moon barely visible past a blanket of clouds. In this city, demons had been possessing children, killing their parents. It was a sick game, but the specialists were here, doing their best to stop it. I'd been keeping tabs on Dez and Gavyn ever since I'd left them. Almost every night I went to where they were, watching, though I wasn't entirely sure why.

Directly across from where I stood was the window into Dez's room. I hadn't meant to be so accurate, but without moving I could see her, sitting with her back to me on the bed. My eyesight was good, better than human. In one hand she held a bottle of cheap rum, and as I watched she took a swig from it. I flinched. Back when we'd been travelling together she would have at least bothered to get a shot glass.

The door opened and Lucas entered. Maybe I'd been wrong to dislike him, despite the stealing of artifacts. He was a Halfling like Dez, and I could understand why they'd be drawn to each other. He sat down next to her on the bed, and she passed him the bottle. She looked very tired, and fairly drunk as well. Lucas, on the other hand, was still sharp, blue eyes intense. They talked for a while, passing the rum back and forth. Though, to me, it seemed like Dez was drinking a good deal more.

I kept intending to move, to go check on Gavyn, but something held me there, something deep within myself. I could not leave this vigil.

Lucas and Dez drew closer to one another as the night wore on and I was reminded, uncomfortably, of the night Dez had gotten drunk with me. At least Lucas appeared to be interested. In fact, setting the bottle down, he leaned over her, a hand on her face. Again, it crossed my mind that I should leave, but then Dez gently removed his hand, scooting a few centimetres away across the bed.

They talked for a bit, and I growled out of frustration at not being able to read their lips. Then Lucas scooted towards her again. This time Dez got to her feet. Even from here I could tell how drunk she was. The children possession case must have been taking its toll. Lucas got to his feet as well, swung his arm over her shoulder, and kissed her.

I didn't understand. Dez appeared to have told him she wasn't interested, vocally, as I had been unable to do. Even if Lucas was drunk, I knew he must have gotten the message. Just to make things more obvious, Dez physically shoved him off of her, and I stepped to the very edge of the roof, wishing to be as close as possible. Despite Dez's violent outburst Lucas did not leave the room. He followed her, as she walked around to the other side of the bed, speaking words I could not hear.

Dez leaned heavily on the window frame, and I feared she would fall over. Lucas slung an arm over both of her shoulders, like a snake, resting his face next to hers. My breath caught in my throat, my hands balling into fists. Her eyes drooped, and she did not immediately push him off. And he guided her, slowly, back towards the bed. Just when I thought she'd given in to this disgusting boy, she drove her elbow into his gut, and he stumbled backwards.

Dez could take him! If she wasn't drunk she could beat this scum with her eyes closed. But she was drunk, very drunk. And as I watched—toes sticking over into empty space—he grappled with her. Dez yelled something, and even from here I could read her lips.