The Stronghold

Every Angel-Demon Makes Mistakes

I nodded my reply and we both ran, him sliding across the ground with perfect ease and me sprinting for the door. We exited at the same time, shooting through the doorway and straight into the road.

Tom jumped over the bonnet of an approaching car whereas I slipped beneath. Together we looked like the coolest duo ever to grace the streets of London and that includes Ant and Dec, when they're not following Simon Cowell around. It's a shame that they became his personal pets. I met them once, when they were still human and not robots. Nice people. About the same height as me, something that made me feel happy about being short.

"Run," Tom called. I rolled my eyes and sprinted down the road, using cars as springboards and climbing my way up the front of double decker buses. Tom slid between the cars in a slalom, perfecting the balance ice skaters needed. He had a look of concentration on his face and whenever a car beeped its horn at him he froze its tyres to the tarmac with a small smile.

"Left!" I shouted suddenly, recognising where we were. We were heading closer to the Stronghold, the one place I wanted to get away from. Tom yelped as he lost his footing and hit a car head-on.

There was a snap as his collarbone broke and he was flipped over the car. The driver kept on going and so I launched myself at the vehicle, throwing it into the air with a scream of anger. The driver was sobbing and so I set it down lightly on the road before giving the bumper a massive kick, firing it down the street.

"How the flip did you get to be so strong?" Tom asked, tilting his head with difficulty so that he was looking at me. I shrugged and crouched next to him, flinching at the cold radiating off him.

"I can give him life," Salt informed me. I twitched and shook my head.

"I did it to you," he continued. "That's how come you're alive. It's not just his collarbone that broke, it's his neck."

"Ouch," I hissed under my breath.

"And he is slow-ly dy-ing," Salt sang, spinning on his heels. He stopped and gave me a smile.

"He'll probably go to heaven," he said. "Tom's a nice person. You're not. You'll end up in Hell."

"You ran an evil spy company," I muttered. Salt shrugged and sat beside me, facing away from Tom.

"I did some good things," Salt said. "That evens things out."

"Pepper? Who are you talking to?" Tom asked weakly.

"Salt," I said.

"Pepper, he's dead."

"So will you be soon," Salt said cheerfully. Tom's eyes widened and he went a shade or two paler.

"I can see you," he gasped. Salt frowned and bit his lip.

"Yep, you're dying," he murmured. "Look, Pepper, just let me heal him. Please? I want to do a good thing."

"How do you heal me?" Tom asked suspiciously. "Please don't say its a kiss."

"It's not," Salt laughed. "All you need to do is stay very still."

Salt put his fingers on Tom's collarbone and closed his eyes. Tom had slipped into unconsciousness, breathing slowing.

White light burst from Salt's hand and wrapped around Tom completely, cocooning him. The angel-demon took a sharp intake of breath and drew his hand away, replacing it with his left hand. This gave out red light that sucked in the white, aiming it at Tom's neck, the burnt skin around his eyes and his collar.

A single tendril broke off, a mixture of white and red. It turned into a hand and touched his heart.

"Oops," Salt said, eyes springing open. "That wasn't meant to happen."

"Salt? What have you done?" I said with mounting fear in my voice. My brother didn't reply, hanging his head.

"Salt?"

"I, er, killed him by mistake," he said at last. "Sorry."

My shoulders slumped and all the strength left me. I swayed back and forth on my knees, head hanging low.

"Go," I said in a hoarse voice. "Go, now. Don't come back."

"Pepper-" Salt pleaded.

"Go. Now."

"Pep-"

"GO!" I roared, standing up and swinging my fist at the angel-demon's face. He vanished in an explosion of light and I fell down onto the road, a silent, unmovable heap. Whenever anyone came near Tom or me I hissed at them and they retreated. Within time I was asleep, keeping one ear open for any attackers.