Water and Fire

Chapter 19

Lena opened her eyes when she heard a loud knock on her door.

"Lena? Honey? Are you okay? Are you in there?"

Lena frowned her eyebrows and she stared at the clock. It was barely six in the morning and although this was considered a normal time to wake up in Heaven, it was early here on earth. It seemed that she was finally adjusting to the rhythm of most students here on the campus.

"Lena? Sweetheart? I need to talk to you!" Her mother sounded both worried and caring at the same time and with a sigh Lena stepped out of her bed.

"Mom?" She opened the door and realized all of a sudden that she probably looked like a mess.

It had been past midnight when Brian and Lena had finally come home. They had talked for hours in the restaurant and afterwards Brian had taken her to a quiet place in the park to stare at the stars above them.

"What are you doing here?" Lena cocked her head and she brushed her longe blonde hair behind her ear.

"O, I'm so glad to see that you're fine!" Her mother wrapped her arms around Lena's shoulders and Lena shook her head, for a moment confused.

"Yes, of course I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be?" Lana cocked her head and freed herself from her mother's embrace. "Did something happen?" She licked her lips.

Her mother nodded and she quickly stepped into Lena's room, closing the door behind her. "Yes, we need you to come home immediately." Her mother sounded serious and Lena felt a shiver down her spine.

"Why? I'm still in the middle of my mission! I can't leave Maria behind right now!" Lena raised her voice, but her mother placed a finger on Lena's lips.

"Don't talk so loud! We don't know who's listening!" Her mother whispered, hissing between her teeth. "We have found signs of demonic activity in the area. We can't risk that they find out what you are. You're coming home with me." Her mother walked towards the closet, but Lena quickly jumped in front of it, realizing that she was already wearing one of the singlets Maria had bought her.

Strangely enough she didn't even care what had happened. She had no idea what Brian had done, but she hoped that he was still alive. When it came to herself she was however not worried at all. She was certain that she was more than safe. "Do you know if Maria is okay? Don't I need to stay to check on her?" Lena stared at her door. She didn't just have to check if Maria was okay. She had to check if Brian was okay.

"Your safety is more important than Maria's future." Her mother placed her hands on Lena's shoulders, but Lena shook her head.

"I don't understand it, mom." She swallowed. "If there is demonic activity, why don't you just find the demon and let me continue what I was doing?" She crossed her arms over her chest to hide her trembling hands and she stared straight into her mother's eyes. Lena was still a horrible liar, but she had gotten good at talking around the subject. She had convinced herself that not talking about something was technically not lying.

"We have no idea who the demon is." Lena's mother sounded worried, but Lena had to make sure she wouldn't relieve the sigh she was holding.

Brian was okay. He had probably done something stupid and he had managed to attract the attention of the wrong people, but he was okay.

"Do you understand now why you have to come home?" Her mother spoke softly and Lena nodded.

She understood perfectly why her mother wanted her to come home. She just wasn't planning on listening. "I do, but I can't leave now." Lena shook her head. "I've been sent here to protect Maria and now she needs me more than ever. I understand that you don't want to lose me, but if there is a demon on the lose I have to make sure that demon won't harm Maria." Lena straightened her back and she lifted her chin a little bit.

"But what if that demon finds out who you are and what you are?" Her mother's voice trembled and Lena took a deep breath.

"I will find out who the demon is first." Lena grabbed her mothers hands and she squeezed them.

Less than twelve hours ago Brian had held her hands just like this. Less than twelve hours ago everything had been fine, he had been fine.

"Lena, this demon is extremely dangerous." Her mother shook her head. "I've never seen something like this before."

Lena tried to stay calm and she led her mother to her bed, offering her to sit down for a moment. "What did the demon do?" She had to force herself not to say him. Not only was it wrong to automatically assume that a demon was a man. It could also give away that Lena knew very well who the demon was.

"It literally broke both legs of a student boy!" Her mother forgot to whisper and this time Lena pressed her finger on her mother's lips.

"Maria and Brian are still asleep, we can't wake them up like this. They can't even know that you were here at six in the morning." Lena's voice was trembling and Lena was thankful that all forms of panic sounded the same.

With a little bit of luck her mother wouldn't find out that she wasn't terrified, that she wasn't freaking out.

Brian had warned her.

Lena had not known that the boy Maria had been talking about was a boy here on the campus, but she had known that Brian would hurt him if he would find him. After all, she had been the one telling him that if he wanted to execute the plan she was not going to stop him.

A good angel would feel guilty right now. A good angel would have tried to stop Brian. A good angel would have told him that harming people was not a good solution.

But Lena had stopped being a good angel weeks ago. Maybe she had already stopped being a good angel the moment she had met the handsome looking creature from hell.

"Do you think it would do the same with me if it finds me?" Lena already knew the answer, but not asking the question would be suspicious.

"It will do worse to you, Lena." Her mother didn't use a nickname anymore and Lena felt a shiver down her spine. "Please, come home with me?" Her mother almost begged her, but Lena shook her head again.

"I don't want to leave Maria and Brian alone, mom." Lena swallowed and she scratched the back of her neck. "I'm a guardian angel and I knew when I chose to become one that it could be dangerous."

"But it's your first mission!" Her mother interrupted her and grabbed Lena's sweating hands. "This one was supposed to be easy. It's way too soon to let you deal with demons. You haven't graduated yet, you're not supposed to be able to handle everything by yourself already." She shook her head, but Lena squeezed her mother's hands.

"I know, but even though it's my first mission I can't leave the moment it's getting a little harder than planned."

Lena's heart was racing in her chest and she saw her mother crying and smiling at the same time.

"You have no idea how much you look like your father." Lena's mother pressed a soft kiss on her daughter's forehead. "He is as brave as you are."

Lena bent her head and didn't answer. She was far from brave. She was in love. At least, she thought she was in love.

It was not the kind of love her parents had always described, but it was the kind of love the students in her class talked about.

"Please be careful." Her mother stood up and she placed her hands on her daughter's shoulders. "If something is wrong, if you don't trust it, if someone looks suspicious, please come home and let us handle it." Her lips curled up into a small smile and Lena smiled back.

"I will let you know when I don't feel safe anymore."

It was another lie. Or it was another attempt to avoid having to tell the truth.

"Good, I'm proud of you." Her mother walked towards the door and left the room, leaving Lena behind. If her mother would have known what was really happening she would be far from proud. She would probably be angry. She would probably scream. She would probably make sure that her own daughter was thrown out of heaven.

And to be honest Lena started to think that she deserved it. She had just heard that her boyfriend had hurt someone and she had come up with one bad argument after the other to make sure she would be able to stay with him. Maybe she had to ask the devil if she was welcome in hell. She at least seemed to have the talent to break rules.