Soap

What do you see when you close your eyes?

Nothing.

I certainly do.

I, on the other hand, see everyone.

Everyone I have killed.

Everyone I am going to kill.

They can’t realize I am doing them a difficult service-

“Mr Abel.”

I twitched at the name, clearing my throat and lolling my head back to rest on the headrest of my chair. The chains binding my wrists and ankles jingled musically, and that made me smile.

“Mr Abel, are you listening?”

My temple creased at the awful squawking of the judge; it was giving me a headache. I didn’t much like noise.

“Defense, please handle your client.”

A gentle, timid tug pulled on the cuff of my jumpsuit. My head turned to my lawyer, eyes fluttering open to my lawyer.

I raised an eyebrow at his startled jolt.

Amusing.

“Mr Abel, sir.”

“Cerberus,” I mumbled, a brimming smile lifting the corners of my lips.

“Brian, sir.” The other correct me, and that made me laugh, a harmlessly small one. Far too mellow to elicit the sudden jerk from the police officers for their weapons.

“Order!” the judge hammered down his gavel, calling for calm for the jury and the other spectators. The sheer hilarity of the proceedings weaselled another chuckle from my gut, shrinking comically into my seat at the utter pandemonium of whispering that floated about. “Order in the court!”

“Mr Abel, sir, please calm yourself.”

I almost felt sorry for Brian, the poor boy.

“His power has returned!” Someone from the back roared. I didn’t bother turning to look. “Kill him before he kills us all!”

The witches and warlocks in the courtroom bolted up to their feet, alarmed by the bodiless declaration, and crossed their forearms in front of their faces, their pointer and middle fingers jutting out while their thumbs pressed their remaining fingers tightly to their outward-facing palms; the symbols of power embedded on their flesh revealed themselves from under the heavy layer of invisible ink, flickering lime green.

My lawyer, the poor child, was torn away from me.

Likely for his own good.

I saw him in the darkness too, when I close my eyes.

Poor boy.

Poor…poor boy…

“Order!”

The tension reached a breaking point.

I had felt it building higher and more taunt by the ever-breathing second, mounting from the very second I was marched into the courtroom, bound in Obsidian Irons and weighed down by Accursed Symbols.

I sighted an Angel unfurl its wings, possibly doing so to make a quick leap to me before I could take off my restraints.

Awful creatures.

Just…awful.

My wings burst out from my shoulder blades, glorious and heavenly, surrounding me in their warm embrace and melting the obsidian.

The magicians in the courtroom bellowed their spells.

All of them.

It burned.

In the protection of my wings, I similarly crossed my forearms as the magicians thought my palms faced inwards and the symbols coating my flesh shattered like stained glass, scattering uselessly to my feet, replaced by my magic.

My face turned up and my eyes closed.

“Cleanse us, Father!”

Surely the Creator, from his exalted perch in the heavens, would take notice of the sinful suffering of his children.

Unfortunately, the city-wide crater I carved out of the planet did not rouse the Creator’s attention.

I rejoiced for the souls I had saved, and the souls I will soon save…