I sit at a table of vampires. They are the only species I can stand but even they annoy me often. They don't eat regular food like the rest of them, they are given animal blood in cups, while they sit and talk about how much better vampires are than the rest of them.
"And you, Adonis?" a girl sitting near me asks, I can see the flirtiness in her eyes.
"What?"
"That school trip in a few weeks. Are you gonna go?"
"Maybe," is all I say. She looks disappointed by my answer.
My eyes move around the crowded room until they fall on Valeria. Her many silver earrings all are related to the stars, her light brown hair was more curly than usual today, and she wore light blue. Her brown eyes met mine, I didn't look away, I kept holding it. Usually, people would quickly look away. The little witch doesn't. Instead, she narrows her eyes at me.
"You have my book," she mouths.
I don't mouth anything back. I just smirk. This makes her even more annoyed.
I think she's about to mouth something else when somebody shouts, "Hey!"
Everybody looks in the direction of the shouting. Two girls stood there, looking at each other angrily. I watched. One girl snapped, "Watch where the fuck you're going, witch, before I drain every ounce of blood in your pathetic body."
"Try it," the witch argues back. She moves her hand to be ready. "You won't get close enough."
The vampire brings her fangs out, everybody is watching, ready for what's about to happen. But old shoes that squeak are followed by a teacher yelling, "Hey! Break it up! Detention for both of you!"
As the two are separated, everybody goes back to eating their food, the vampires at my table going on about how much they hate witches. Species don't mix here. Rarely for friendship, and never for anything more. It's forbidden to be with somebody from a different species.
Lunch ends. I get through the rest of the day - but I keep my eye on one person. Finn. I follow him down the halls after class. I observe how he walks. How he talks to people. And as I enter my room, I decide he will be my first victim.
He may not be an angel. He may be what he claims. But I'll find that out when I kill him.
When it's dark in the sky, and everybody's lights are off, I quietly exit my room. I walk down the hallway until I reach the large doors. Demons, we have wings, they are large and black. Faster than any other species. Stronger.
It doesn't take me long to fly through the dark and cloudy night sky until I reach the point of entry. Two guards stand there, waiting. They are vampires. Some species side with us, as long as there is some sort of agreement once we're able to take over.
The large doors at the end of the hot hallway are open. I see the King and Queen waiting for me. Once I'm before them, I kneel and bow my head. I look up at the King who sits on his throne and holds his sword.
"So, Adonis?" he asks. "What have you found? You've been there a week."
"I haven't found any confirmed ones," I say. His face remains blank. "But I believe I've found one. Tonight, I will kill him."
The dark eyes of the Devil look around my face with no emotion able to be read. All I hear is burning while he doesn't respond. He states, "So you haven't found anything yet."
I think of Valeria. But I decided to not mention it. Instead, I say, "A boy named Finn. I believe he may be an angel. I'll find out tonight."
My father stands. The tip of his sword scrapes the ground as he takes slow steps down the stairs. He stops directly in front of me.
"Take this more seriously, Adonis, your people are relying on you," he says. "These angels have cursed them to an eternity of captivity. They are looking to you for help."
"I am taking it seriously," I say. I want to prove that I am worthy to become King one day.
"Good," my father says. He stares at me for a few moments. He turns, I think he is going to walk up the steps, but he unexpectedly turns around and stabs his sword through my abdomen. I clench my teeth as the blood stains my shirt.
He pulls his sword out, it's now stained in my blood, I hold the open wound while it heals. My father demands, "Next time you are down here, you better have more information than that. Or else we will send Azriel instead."
𓆩♡𓆪
I walk down the hallway. I'd say it's 4 am. My white button-up shirt is stained in blood although the wound has healed. I try and walk quickly to my room, I know the teacher who walks the halls at night is close behind me, but a door in front of me swings open.
The witch steps out. Her eyes widen as she sees me and the blood on my shirt but my face doesn't change. She whispers, "Adonis? Why is there blood on your shirt?"
We both look behind me as we hear the teacher getting closer. She looks like she is debating something in her head. But then she grabs my wrist, her hand unable to wrap around it as she whispers, "Get in."
I enter her room and she shuts the door. We can hear the teacher walking outside the door.
Her room is clean. Her sheets are white and the air smells like vanilla and lavender. I look at my reflection in the full-body mirror at my bloodied shirt, and I see her crossing her arms behind me.
"Why are you covered in blood?" she asks me. Slowly I turn around to look at her.
"Got into a fight with a wolf," I lie.
Her eyes suddenly shift. She asks, "Did you kill them?"
Not 'why,' not 'where,' not 'who.' But 'did you kill them.' She sees me the same way the rest of them do now. That's for the best. She realized now what I was capable of.
"No, Valeria, I didn't," I say. I don't know if she believes me or not.
I take a step toward her. I ask, "Why are you up at this hour, anyway?"
"I don't know," she shrugs. "Couldn't sleep, I guess."
"And why not?"
She sighs. I tilt my head. She says, "I have a headache. I was going to sneak and get a pill."
I nearly rolled my eyes. Witches can't heal themselves. It's pathetic. I put my hand against the side of her head, her hair is soft, her skin warm. She asks me, but surprisingly doesn't push my hand away, "What are you doing?"
Vampires can take pain away. So can demons. Demons can do nearly everything each species can do, that's what makes us so much stronger. I absorb the pain, taking it away, I can see the relief in her eyes when it's gone.
When I drop my hand, I can still feel the softness of her hair. She says quietly, "Thank you."
"Don't," I say. "It's just so we're even. Don't tell anybody I helped you. And I won't tell anybody you helped me."
"You think I want people to know I helped you, Adonis?" she says while raising her eyebrows. "I hear the things everybody says about you."
I just stare at her. Maybe she isn't an angel. She looks up at me, waiting for my response, while I try and see if she's the species I am here to wipe out.
"Goodnight, Valeria," is all I say. I know the teacher is gone now. I step past her and exit her room.
But I don't go to my room. My feet come to a stop outside Finn's room. I stand for a moment. I know he's in there, I can hear him breathing. Quietly, I open the door. My shadow falls over his sleeping body as I step in and close the door.
I take slow steps toward him. His breathing is soft. I stop walking once I'm standing over him, looking down at him. His slight snoring stops as his eyes slowly open. Demons can do certain spells. Dark ones. The spell I did made my face look black and distorted, hiding my identity in case anybody saw it.
Once he was out of his half-awake state, his eyes widened as he started, "Please-"
I put my hand over his mouth and place my hand over his heart. He tries to scream through my hand as I absorb his soul, but he can't be heard.
And I feel it. As I take his soul, killing him, I feel the same feeling I had felt years ago. The purity of his heart, the innocence, it gets corrupted as it reaches my veins. I shut my eyes. I feel high. I only open my eyes once it's over, and his soul was now mine, leaving nothing but a dead body in the bed.
I have killed my first angel.
Word Count: 1547