The Forgotten Angel ✔️

Chapter 16: Love Burns

I couldn't stand trying to figure out which of the Core Fore adopted me, so I demanded to know the answer. "Who adopted me? Michael?"

"No, he's rare, but has adopted humans from time to time," Nellie said.

"Gabriel?" I asked.

Nellie growled. "No. The last person I tried integrating with was adopted by Gabriel and she tried killing the both of us over a hundred years ago."

"So you are the demon that afflicted this campus a century ago?" Father Matthew gulped. "Luke, you must be careful with this woman."

"Silence heathen!" Nellie shouted at Father Matthew. "That woman was stubborn and killed herself thinking she could take me down with her. But luckily, I escaped her body just in time. For more than a hundred years I've been awaiting the return of another adopted by the Core Four, but never did I expect to come across someone like you."

"Stop messing with me and spit it out already!" Luke shouted in frustration. "Is it Raphael?"

She blew a raspberry. "Please, he adopts more than he can handle. And that leaves just one left..."

"Uriel? What's so special about him?"

"I think you already know."

Fire, Luke thought. That flame—it was a gift. And...I think I remember when Uriel gave it to me. The angel that stood over me in those memories with a fire in his hands—that was Uriel. He gifted me with fire. A fire that I didn't know existed for years.

"Now that you have a taste of the truth, it's time you let me in to find out more." Nellie licked her lips as she walked over towards Luke like a runway model.

Luke backed away. "No."

"Oh Luke, just open yourself up." She placed her hand around his shoulder caressing his neck and digging her nails in his shirt. Like swords they sliced his shirt at the shoulders. Then she ran her nails along the back of his shirt and ripped it off.

Shirtless, Luke cowered back. He didn't know what to think. He was strongly attracted to Nellie, but at the same time he didn't want whatever it was she was about to do to him. Then Luke froze. Nellie pressed her hand against his chest and pushed him towards the floor. Luke's knees bent and followed while his mind cried out. Resist! What are you doing? She's going to possess you.

"I'll make this as pleasant as possible," Nellie whispered into his ear. "Most demons aren't so nice. But I know the key to everyman's heart is through this," she cupped his hand around his genitals. Luke wanted to squirm away, but he was still frozen. At that moment, he empathized with what Darryl had gone through. He closed his eyes, wishing for it to go away. This is just a dream. None of this is real. You'll wake up in your bed a little wet but still yourself.

"Sacrilege!" The voice jolted his eyes open. The mutated cry pierced his ears and shook him out of his frozen trance. Water dripped onto him and it felt cold. Luke looked up at Nellie who was steaming. Her body hissed like a tea kettle. She lumbered back and turned on her aggressor.

Father Matthew held a bowl of holy water in his hand and stood defiant against the demon. He had unleashed his only weapon, and although it stunned the demon, it seemed to only infuriate her.

Father Matthew ordered, "Demon be gone. I'll not have you desecrate the house of God!"

Nellie hissed. "Oh you loyal servant of Gonjá, I'll make you pay for that." Nellie walked on over to Father Matthew, lifted his frail body up off the ground and tossed him over Luke's head and up against the broken wall. His body slumped down between Gio and Alex, but before his body touched the ground, Nellie was already standing over him. She glanced at the pickaxe stuck in the wall besides him and yanked it free, freeing up some plaster from behind the wall.