Two
The Story of the Boy
Michael. Eighteen years of age. Sixth son of Raphael and Elisabeth D’Angelo. Of the two ways to end up here, his arrival is by the worse of the options. When his parents were young, they agreed to give up their sixth born son if only their forbidden love could be allowed to happen. The pair probably never planned on having six kids. Venus doesn’t let people cheat her like that, though. The price agreed upon is always paid.
The worst part about this kind of agreement is that the kid has no say in it. They don’t know what they’re getting into. Lost, clueless, and eternally damned. It’s a horrible fate to endure.
The other way of ending up here is not much better. Selling your own soul. Venus is the demon of love, so for those who did sell their souls, it was not for a selfish reason. For most of them, it was to save to one the love. Granted, there are exceptions to every generalization.
I finish skimming through the file. It mentions Michael’s rebellious nature, his stubborn disposition, and his rather insane tendencies. I sigh. “You are going to get me killed, aren’t you?”
He just whimpers some more in his sleep, completely unaware of the fact that I’m even here. I go back downstairs into the kitchen, heating up a bowl of water and grabbing several washcloths.
I pull Michael’s shirt up, dip the cloth in the warm water, and begin to wash off the blood on his back. A knock at the door interrupts me in my task.
“Come in,” I call.
“I need you to open the door for me, Cassie,” Richard replies.
I sigh and return the rag to the bowl before doing as he requests. He enters the room, a tray of food in his hands.
“Em can’t break away from the kitchen so she sent me with some food.” His eyes find the file in the chair. “Yours was thicker.”
For the thousandth time, I apologize to him.
He rolls his eyes. “There’s no need to apologize when I’ve never been mad at you.”
I don’t know how that statement can possibly be true. After all the trouble I got Richard into when I first got here… I don’t know if I would be able to forgive me in his place.
His eyes roam over Michael’s unconscious figure and he shakes his head sadly. “Did Emily tell you what happened to him?”
“She was too horror stricken to say much.”
He nods, understanding. He passes me the tray which contains a bowl of soup, a piece of buttered toast, a glass of water, and silverware. Then he moves over to Michael, sliding the shirt up the rest of the way. Two small, bloodied bumps protrude, one each in between his spine and his shoulder blades.
“What are those?” I can’t help but ask.
“They were wings. Venus had Emily cut them off. I’m pretty sure the only thing that could have been worse for him would have been if Emily had castrated the poor kid.”
I shudder, finally realizing where that horrible scream had come from. “So what is he, then? He can’t be a fallen angel, can he? He has parents.”
Richard shrugs. “Probably some sort of half-breed. You’ll have to ask him, assuming he lives.”
“He had better or I’m screwed.”
“Good luck, Cassie. You’re going to need it.”
Don’t I know it.
“I’ll see you later,” he says, heading out.
I set the tray on the dresser, take the toast, and dip it into the meatball soup. The food doesn’t take me long to finish and I resume my previous task. Michael whimpers again as I wash the blood away.
“Hush. You’ll live,” I whisper, even though he can’t hear me.
I finish the job and pick up his file again, realizing I need to actually read it. Not skim it. Maybe it mentions something about what he is.
Expelled from two high schools. Suspended three times this year alone. I can’t really judge him. At least he’s trying to graduate. Or was, until he ended up here. I sort of gave up on school when I turned fourteen.
***
I don’t even recall falling asleep and have no idea what time it is when a slew of swear words wake me up.
“Morning, sunshine,” I mumble over at him, rubbing my eyes sleepily. My eyes roam around the room, looking for a clock. I find a digital one on the wall behind me. Four am.
He moans and swears some more. “Where the hell am I?”
“Watch you language,” I murmur. “And don’t move. You’re going to hurt yourself.”
“Hurt myself? Don’t you think that’s kind of already been done?”
“I’ll give you that. Still, don’t make it worse. Hold still!” I snap, pushing him back down as he tries to sit up.
More curses escape his lips. “Don’t do that.”
“Then don’t move. And what part of watch your language do you not understand?”
He moves to get up again and I shove him back down.
“I can keep at this for as long as you want. It’s not going to hurt me at all.”
He growls in frustration, but finally chooses to lie still. More to himself than to me, he mutters, “I can’t believe they’re gone.”
I assume he’s talking about his wings. I’d like to say that I can’t believe Venus would have them cut off, but I can.
“Who the hell are you?” he asks.
“Language!” I hiss.
He sighs in annoyance. “Who are you?”
“Cassandra.”
“Alright, Cassandra. What are you doing here?”
“Making sure you don’t die.”
His eyes narrow, filled with mistrust. “Why?”
I pause a moment, trying to articulate an answer. “Because this is what I was ordered to do.”
I can tell that he doesn’t like this answer, but that he can accept it. He closes his eyes, expression pained as he asks, “What was the deal that my parents made? Do you know?”
“I don’t have specifics, but Venus is the demon of love. The file said your parents wanted to be able to be together. That’s all I know.”
He sighs, muttering, “Why me?” Then he opens his eyes and glances over at me. “You look like you haven’t slept in a month.”
I shrug. I haven’t really slept much at all since I’ve been here. I don’t think anyone has, but I think I get the least about of sleep. Venus calls on me the most. I believe she does it to prove the point that Emily and I’ve already made. Everyone breaks eventually.
“Maybe you should sleep,” he suggests.
I narrow my eyes at him. “Not while you’re awake. Venus would kill me if you pulled something.”
Upon further consideration, I probably won’t get much sleep the entire time he’s my charge. He’s a dangerous kid.
“Don’t trust me?”
“I don’t know you. Why should I trust you?”
“Why shouldn’t you?”
I roll my eyes. “Because trusting you without knowing you could get me a fate worse than death.”
He sighs and falls silent. I don’t complain, because the silence is a lot better than the talking. I pick up the file again, but there’s not much else to learn from it. I feel like he probably would have ended up here even without his parents’ deal, but that’s not really something I can judge.
Michael eventually falls asleep, around five am. His back is bloody again, so I head downstairs getting fresh water and fresh rags. Emily is in the kitchen, beginning to cook breakfast.
“I’ll send Richard up with some food in a couple of hours. Venus left some stuff in your room.”
I nod in thanks. “The kid’s conscious now. Could you send Richard with some extra food.”
“Yeah. Should you be leaving him alone?”
“He’s asleep. I hadn’t planned on staying down here so long. See you later, Em.”
He’s still asleep when I walk back in. I’ll check my room later, I don’t like leaving Michael alone.
I’m in the middle of my task when Michael awakes with a start. I can feel his muscles tense.
“Relax and hold still. I’m almost done,” I say in the most soothing voice I can manage. He relaxes some, but not much. I finish up and throw the bloodied rags into the water bowl.
“How did a sweet girl like you end up here?” he wonders aloud.
My eyes meet his curious gaze and I shake my head. “Don’t ask. I don’t like talking about it.”
I can see the curiosity burning in his eyes, but he doesn’t pursue his point.
“Why did you have wings?” I return with a question of my own.
The curiosity vanishes from his eyes, replaced with sadness. “My dad’s a fallen angel. It’s why I fought so damn hard to not get in here. I recognize a demon when I see one.”
“Language,” I repeat before addressing the rest of his statement. “What was the sin that got him thrown out of Heaven, if I may ask?”
“Angels can visit earth if they wish. My dad was visiting when he met my mom. Falling in love is frowned upon, but it’s not a sin. However, sex before marriage is. That’s what got him thrown out.”
I frown, wondering why the bargain was necessary if Raphael was thrown out of Heaven. There shouldn’t have been anything stopping the couple from getting together. I don’t think so, anyway.
As if reading my mind, Michael continues, “Immortals can’t marry humans, though. I’m not sure about the specifics of their deal, but it must have overcome that problem.”
“Makes sense.”
He closes his eyes again and his breathing slows. Once he falls asleep, I head over to my bedroom to see what Venus left in there.