A D O N I S
I've been to Heaven once.
2 years and 47 days ago I entered the place I was forbidden from being. The place I was banished from. I entered through the gates that made them feel protected, the gates that were supposed to keep me from entering, I ripped those gates apart.
I can still see it in my head. The 207 angels that laid dead, covered in their blood, while it also covered me. Splattered against my face like a constellation of stars. I took their souls, I absorbed them, I felt the purity of their hearts turn dark as I took them. I wiped the blood off my face as if it were sweat.
That was supposed to be the end of it. But they weren't all there.
Obsidian walls, I walk through the hallway, I can feel the heat from the flames in the distance. The two guards walk behind me, escorting me, to where I had been summoned.
When I enter the room, the King and Queen stand. This room is hotter than the others. I walk before them, and kneel down against the red ground, bowing my head as a sign of respect. If you did not do it for the King, you would lose it.
"Stand," the King says. I stand to my full height over the sound of crackling flames.
"What have you called me here for?" I question as I look up at the King and Queen who sit on the thrones.
The king sits while holding his sword, crafted from ruby, matching the shade of his crown.
"We have finally located them, Adonis," he tells me, his voice old and strained. "Where they are hiding."
My head tilts. I question if I heard him right, maybe the travel from Earth to Hell has distorted my hearing. I question, "Where?"
"At the supernatural academy," he says. He can see that I'm about to say that's not true, that's wrong, I spent a year there and found nothing. "They are hiding there, Adonis. They are portraying themselves as fairies, witches, anything besides what they truly are."
I didn't want to return there. But I knew that I had to. Until every Angel is dead, the demons who have been cursed to remain in Hell cannot be free. They are trapped down here. Angels are not nobel, nor godly, but deceptive. They claim that they do what is right yet they banish you to Hell if you do not comply. I am not wrong, or evil, or immoral. I am simply doing what is right for my people.
Demons, just like me.
"I know you do not want to return there, Adonis," my father says, the amount of heat causing him to look distorted for a moment. "But, as you are second to the throne, you must do what is necessary."
Azriel. My brother. He is in line before me to become king, as he is older. But he is not as smart as me, not as deceptive, I believe he would be found out as a demon if he stepped foot in that place.
"I will do what is necessary," I say with no sympathy. I do not feel bad for the angels I will find and kill. They are good at hiding, I did not detect a single one my first year there, I know it will be challenging.
They deserve this. It's karma. Gabriel - I wish he had been there two years ago to get slaughtered at my hands. Hundreds of years ago, he banished those with hearts he deemed as not pure enough to Hell, cursing them to be unable to leave the underworld. I can. Very few can.
I will kill each and every last angel, as well as anybody that gets in my way.
𓆩♡𓆪
The corridors, those who walk past me stare, nobody thought I would return, and neither did I. Everything looks the same, the dark walls, the chandeliers above, the whispers about me that I know have never ended.
To these people, I am a vampire. Demons are not accepted by any supernatural beings. Everybody sees us as evil. Yet we are the only ones who are not.
I turn into the library, it still smells as dusty as it had before. I walk through the isles of bookshelves, running my fingers along them until I pause at a Shakespeare book. I stand and take it in my hands.
As I flip through the pages, I feel something behind me. On the other side, through the cracks in the books, I see a girl walking. I turn back around, holding my Shakespeare, as I keep walking.
I walk. But I see somebody matching how much I walked on the other side. I saw light brown hair, it's long, and a white shirt. As I pause to look at this, she pushes a book through. It lands on the floor beside my feet and I'm now able to see her face.
Big brown eyes. Tanned skin. Light brown hair. Light freckles dot her nose.
"You're new," she says. Her voice is different. It's light, soft, gentle, as if written for a symphony. "I haven't seen you before."
I look at her. She waits for an answer. I place my Shakespeare book in the crack we could see each other through and I begin walking away.
I ignore her. But the short girl follows me. I hear her shoes hit the floor quickly as I exit and walk down the hallway.
"Romeo and Juliet," she says. She's somehow walking beside me even though I tried to walk fast enough where she couldn't. "A tragic piece to read at this hour."
"I had nearly forgotten how annoying fairies are," I mutter to myself.
"I'm a witch, not a fairy," she says while crossing her arms. "And who are you, by the way?"
"None of your concern," I reply without missing a beat. "Stop following me, little witch."
But she doesn't listen. She keeps walking. She says, "Vampire, I'm assuming?"
I stop walking. This girl is irritating me. I look down at her, she looks at me differently than most people here. It tells me that the past year I haven't been here is when she came, and she didn't know about me. I tell her, "Go do a little hexing circle with your friends before you end up with a bite to your neck."
"I'd break your neck if you tried," she says while tilting her head. Her eyes scan my face. I'm not sure what it is she's looking for. "I'm Valeria. I just wanted to introduce myself."
She holds her hand out for me to shake. Bracelets dangle from her wrist and I see her nails are painted white.
I don't shake her hand. I don't tell her my name. Instead, I turn, and continue walking until I reach my room. The only good thing about this school is that everybody has their own room. No roommates.
I sit at my desk, flipping through all the books I have brought. They still hide well. My first full day here had passed, nobody had slipped up, I couldn't detect a thing.
I don't need to take an Angel's soul when I kill them. But I like to. There is nothing more intoxicating than the feeling of their goodness, their purity, turning into darkness as it enters my veins. With a candle lit behind me, I stand at my window, looking out at the courtyard.
I watch everybody that walks. Vampires, witches, fairies, wolves, anything you could think of. I study them. Trying to see who was lying. Angels are a dying breed, and they know it.
During the day, I cannot do much. But night is fair game. That is when I will find them, when I will kill them, there will be collateral in the process but I do not care. I am doing what is right for my people.
I probably will not become King one day. Azriel will take that spot. But that does not change my loyalty to them, to kill those who cursed them, to allow them onto Earth. We are not monsters. We do not wish for everybody to die. But control, that we should have, we should lead as we were meant to do.
As I look out the window, I recognize something. I push the dark curtains out of the way for a better view.
The witch. I see her walking along the stone path, holding books in her hands. I watch her. As she gets closer, I see it in her hands, the copy of Romeo and Juliet.
My head tilts as I look at her. Some black hair falls on my forehead. She had felt different. That's why I had assumed she was a fairy. I could feel it inside her, the innocence, however, that is not enough to tell me if she's an angel. I watch her as she smiles and waves at somebody, I see her dimples, I see the kindness in her eyes.
I may have found my first angel.
Word Count: 1529