For the Hopeless

Chapter 8: The Kiss of an Angel

It was early evening, the dark attic lit only dimly by the streetlamp outside of the house. Snow had begun to fall again, each flake passing the window with a small flutter. It was cold here, and not just because of the winter temperatures and the lack of heating this high up in the building.

Talon gazed at the snow with empty gray eyes. They followed one flake down, then another, and another... Where are you going? he wanted to ask them. Why are you in such a hurry? You'll only kill yourself faster this way. He reached toward the window, toward the helplessly falling snowflakes, and his skin glowed ghostly gray-white in the light of the streetlamp. Stay with me.

"Talon?" came a raspy whisper from behind him, laden with the very same despair that weighed upon his every thought. No one was spared by it in this cold, empty space. No one.

The boy lowered his arm slowly, though he made no move to look at his visitor. His gray eyes were following the snowflakes again; one, then another, and another... "Is there another for me to kill?" That was the only reason they ever came up here, to utilize his unnatural abilities and make their lives just a little bit easier. But what about him?

"No, Talon." The speaker stepped into view, trembling beneath the weight of his uncontrollable sadness. Hayden lowered herself onto the half-broken crate to his left, and her trembling escalated into an almost seizure-like tremor. She made no move to stand as any sane person would have, however, instead busying herself with fidgeting, as though she thought that would help somehow. Talon couldn't help but watch as she slowly ran shaking fingers through her soft brown hair, tugged at the fabric of her gray jeans, even lightly jabbed her nails into her palms.

"What is it that you want, then?" the boy asked when she didn't go on. Her eyes darted to his, but almost instantly went elsewhere when she felt his subtle, unconscious pull, tugging her ever so slowly into a dark, lonely abyss. He was strong, and only getting stronger.

"Do you know anything about other species?" she asked in her gravelly whisper of a voice, watching the snowflakes as he had been but likely with much less negative thoughts. "Like demons and things even worse than demons?"

"Is this about Bailey?" he asked, his head gently tilting to one side.

She turned to him, surprised, but turned away again before her eyes could meet his. "How did you know?"

"She's worse than a demon, and there aren't many people walking the Earth who are worse than a demon." It seemed completely logical to him; but when she turned to face him once more, her eyes were wide in shock, focused smartly on his nose.

"You know what she is, don't you?" she nearly shouted. Or, at least, it sounded like a shout in the disturbing silence of the attic. "How do you know?"

"She's worse than a demon," he said again, "and there aren't many people walking the Earth who are worse than a demon."

She opened her mouth to repeat the question, but she quickly decided that it would do no good. That was just how Talon thought. No matter how she rephrased the question, he would offer her the same explanation; because to him, that was the only answer. "What is she, then?" she asked instead, shifting apprehensively on her creaky crate.

"Worse than a demon," he told her again, his head slowly tilting to the other side. "Isn't it obvious?" Her brow furrowed, and her dark tresses shifted about her shoulders as she shook her head. "What's the only thing worse than a demon that can walk the Earth?"

"I don't know," she said, shaking her head more violently now. "I never really knew about demons, let alone anything beyond them."

"She's a devil," Talon said simply, offering no further explanation.