When Heaven meets Hell

Chapter Eighteen

It was early evening when Heidi played alone in one part of the grounds, amidst rose bushes and trees. The little girl stopped to smell one of the roses, bending down and cupping the flower in her hand, taking a tentative sniff. Avander watched her from the shadows.

He grimaced; crossing his arms and watching the girl twirl around, giggling for who knew what reasons. He had been ordered by Joan to keep watch over her. Apparently something strange must have happened between the two, for the girl had been on edge when she returned from the funeral. Irked though he was at being assigned such a trivial task, he had no choice but to comply with orders. Now, as he stood there watching the girl with narrowed eyes, he suppressed the urge to dangle her by the ankle and fling her over the ground walls. It would certainly save him the trouble of babysitting her.

"You know, you don't have to keep standing there."

The girl seemed to have sensed him, for she was gazing in his direction. She beckoned him to come forward, smiling sweetly. "Come on. I won't mind if you joined me."

 Lip curling at her sweet tone, Avander glided forward, regarding her coldly.

"Your name is Avander, right?" She asked, completely oblivious to his less than friendly demeanor. "Do you want to play with me?"

The question made Avander's cold manner falter, an incredulous look appearing on his face. He quickly replaced it however with a scowl.

"What makes you think I would want to play with you?" He sneered.

"Well, you have to admit it's better than spying all day." The girl smiled knowingly, which made Avander arch a brow. "Come on. Let's play hide and seek."

Much to Avander's surprise, she slipped her hand into his and led him over to a tree in the corner. "It's really fun. Rita taught it to me."

"Hide and–What?" Avander was completely thrown by the girl's strange behavior. He knew there was something odd about her, but this was completely ridiculous. "I don't think so." He snapped, tugging his hand away for hers, yet she clung on with a surprisingly strong grip.

"The rules are simple." She explained as she stopped in front of the tree. "You have to go hide somewhere while I count to ten. When I'm done, I will come and look for you."

Turning her back on him, she placed her hands over her eyes. "Okay! I'm going to start counting now!"

"One...Two...Three..."s

She counted all the way to ten in a clear and loud voice before turning around, her eager smile becoming a disappointed frown at finding Avander still standing where she had left him.

"You're not very good at this game, are you?" She said as she crossed her arms.

Feeling even more annoyed than before, Avander turned and started walking away, cursing the girl under his breath. The nerve of her, making him play a silly little mortal game. He was a demon for Satan's sake! He was the spawn of hell, an evil creature that had plundered and murdered and raped countless mortals, taking pleasure out of their suffering and pain without a shred of compassion. He could only imagine how much he would be taunted if any of the other demons were to find out he was made to play a children's game.

And yet as he walked away, the little girl fell into stride next to him. Avander threw her a dirty look, which she seemed to ignore. They passed more rose bushes and the girl tugged at his hand again, pointing at the flowers.

"Aren't they pretty?" She said with a smile. "Although, I would prefer them to be white rather than red."

Avander stopped, snatching is hand away and turning to the girl with a dangerous look in his eyes. He had enough of this mindless chatter.

"And I prefer them black and dead." He hissed evilly, flashing his vampire like grin as he reached out and touched one of the luscious red roses. It instantly shriveled underneath his touch, turning black and withering away. The other roses began to die to, making them look like scabbed and molted hands. Avander turned back to the girl smugly, expecting a look of horror on her face. He wanted to see her tear up and run away from him, seeing the monster that he truly was.

He was sadly disappointed.

The girl had a look of mild interest on her face as she studied the dead roses. She then looked up at him with a frown.

"You shouldn't have done that." She scolded. "Joan won't be happy. You wasted all the effort the gardener put into these roses."

Avander lost what little patience he had. "Look you little runt." He growled. "I don't want to play with you. I don't even want to talk to you. So stop trying to be friendly with me, if you know what's best for you."

"Why don't you want to play with me?" She asked, her eyes wide and questioning.

"Because I am a demon." He snarled. "I am a creature you should hate and fear, not play silly games with."

She looked at him with confusion. "But how am I supposed to be your friend if I hate and fear you?"

Avander couldn't believe what he was hearing. He bent down so that his face was at level with the girl's, giving her his coldest, most dangerous look, which had made many men cower before him.

"You don't want me as a friend." He said. "I could kill you now if I wanted. I could blast you into the ground, rip you limb from limb, or turn you inside out."

He thought that would be enough to scare her off, but once again, he was disappointed. Heidi smiled brightly, as though he had just offered her candy.

"Oh I can do that too." She said sweetly. "But I won't, because it's not very nice."

A low frustrated growl escaped Avander's lip as he straightened up, looking down at the girl with a mixture of curiosity and loathing. She hadn't been the least bit bothered by the fact that he was threatening her. He had told her he was a demon, yet she seemed completely at ease in his company. It was strange, unnerving. But as he stood there watching her, he felt his curiosity continue to grow, along with another feeling, something close to admiration. It wasn't every day that his threats were met with such light hearted behavior.

"What are you?" He asked bluntly, unable to stop himself.

She smiled at him again, except this time there was a hint of sadness in it. She did not answer him, instead she reached out and plucked one of the dead roses and turned the thorny stem between her fingers.

"Direct questions do not always get direct answers you know." She said quietly. "And the most important of answers are the hardest to come by. But all is revealed when the time is right and when a person is ready. That is, unfortunately, how the world works."

She suddenly reached out and took his hand in hers, pressing something into his palm and closing his fingers around it. Then she turned and started skipping in the direction of the Manor.

"It was nice talking to you Avander." She grinned over her shoulder. "I hope we can play again soon!"

She disappeared around the corner and Avander looked down at the thing he clutched in his hand. It was a healthy and beautiful white rose.

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What did you all think of this chapter? I certainly had a lot of fun writing it :D So,who is your favorite character so far? I know who mine is.

Unfortunately,since school has started i won't be able to update as much. This is going to be a really busy year for me,so please guys,bear with my slow pace. I'll try updating as often as i can.