Fifteen
The Meeting
It figures that by the time I finally want to dream, I go a whole week without one. The week is quite uneventful. I avoid Ian and Venus hasn’t bothered me. Michael and I haven’t spoken much. Things have been relatively peaceful. Of course, that peace can’t last and doesn’t.
It’s around noon when Venus actually seeks me out, instead of forcing me to go to her. She shoves the same pair of sandals from last time into my hands.
“Be downstairs in five minutes. We’re going to be gone for the rest of the day,” she says bluntly. She leaves and Michael and I exchange a glance.
“Today’s the meeting with my parents. If you get to see them, tell them that I’m not mad, will you?”
I nod. “I will if I can.”
“Thank you.”
I shrug. It’s a reasonable request. If our places were switched, I would ask the same of him.
Venus’s small car awaits us in the driveway. I sit shotgun again and don’t ask questions. Suddenly, the tree filled countryside changes to grassy plains.
I glance over at Venus, wondering how we went from trees to grass in the blink of an eye.
“I teleported the car, child. I don’t have the patience to drive hours on end to collect a soul or conduct business. No demon does.”
“Ah.” We fall silent once more. Slowly, houses begin to appear, until we’re in the suburbs. She turns off into a small housing district, going until the houses have quite a bit of space between them. She parks in front of a two story house that looks to be about 2,100 square feet.
“Come with me, but don’t say anything unless I tell you to,” she tells me, giving me a pointed glare.
I sigh and nod. “Yes, Miss Venus.”
We get out of the car and Venus marches up to the front door like she owns the place. I trail slowly behind her, like an abused puppy afraid to get too far behind its master. She rings the bell and we wait for the door to be answered.
I study the wraparound porch, spotting the chipped paint and dents and damage that comes from raising six boys in one house. It’s homey, a nice place for growing children to play.
The door is opened by a women who seems to be in her mid-thirties. She has Michael’s eyes, but her hair is a shade of chestnut brown. She has short bangs, but the rest of her straight hair is one long layer, reaching the middle of her back. Her skin is neither pale nor tan, rather average looking. She sighs when she sees Venus.
“Raphael is in the kitchen. Find him yourself.” She opens the door wide enough to allow us inside. Venus glances at me.
“Stay with Elisabeth and don’t do anything that I wouldn’t approve of,” she snaps.
“Yes, Miss Venus.”
We step into the foyer of the cute house. Venus goes through the doorway to the left, Michael’s mother goes through the one to the right. I follow her.
“Why did Venus bring you along?” she asks as we enter a cozy little living room. The walls are cream colored. The brown couches are fluffy and overstuffed. Hardwood flooring of a light kind of wood is covered by a round, black rug. A coffee table rests between two couches that sit across from one another. She gestures for me to sit across from her.
I shrug. “I figure she’s still mad at me and somehow figures bringing me here will hurt me in some manner or another. I don’t know.”
“That’s unfortunate.”
I shrug again. “I’ve come to accept it as the reality of my life.”
“Do you know my son?” she asks. I can see so much more than that simple question in her eyes.
“Yes. He wants you to know that he’s not mad at you. Either of you.”
Tears pool in her eyes and she doesn’t say anything. I’m content with that. I wouldn’t know how to handle it if she did comment.
A young woman walks into the room after several moments of silence. Her hair is the same chestnut brown as Mrs. D’Angelo’s. Her eyes are a bright blue. She’s around Michael’s height and looks to be about twenty-two. She takes off her brown coat, hanging it on a nearby rack. A set of owl-like brown wings expand. They’re…awesome, in the old sense of the word. Awe-inspiring.
“What’s wrong, Mom?” she asks, quickly moving over to her mother’s side. She shoots me a quick glare, before returning her attention to her mom.
“Nothing, Evangeline.”
“You never call me by my full name when nothing is wrong.”
“Evie, not now. Please not now.”
“Don’t worry about Michael, Mom. I’m sure he’s fine, wherever he’s run off to.”
Mrs. D’Angelo’s eyes move from her daughter to me. Evie’s attention follows her mother’s.
“I’m sure he’s been a lot better, but all considered, he’s doing really well,” I answer with a shrug.
Evie narrows her eyes at me. “How do you know that?”
Elisabeth shakes her head at me, so I don’t answer. Her daughter (much to my surprise) draws a switchblade from her pocket.
“How in the hell do you know that?” she asks, pointing the blade at me.
“Answer the question, Cassandra,” Venus’s voice comes from behind me. I jump slightly.
Elisabeth’s eyes plead with me, begging me not to tell her daughter, but I dare not disobey a direct order. Not anymore… I can answer around the question though.
“He lives with me.”
“That’s not what she wanted to know and you know it,” comes Venus’s singsong answer.
I grit my teeth. I should have known she wouldn’t let me give that response.
“Why are you doing this?” Mrs. D’Angelo demands, her question directed at Venus.
“You know why,” Venus snaps in response.
Elisabeth falls silent, clearly knowing the answer.
“Continue, Cassandra,” Venus orders.
“Venus owns our souls. Your parents sold his to her,” I whisper, afraid that the louder I say it, the truer it becomes.
Evie turns to her mother. “You didn’t…”
Her mother can bring her no comfort, can give no denial. “We did.”
“But you know better,” Evie whispers, trying to block out the truth of her mother’s words.
“Sometimes the risks are worth it,” Venus chimes in.
Evangeline stands up, putting the switchblade away. “Mom, I can’t talk to you right now. I’ll call…later…”
She grabs her jacket from the rack and throws it back on before storming out the door.
“I’m sorry,” I mutter.
“So am I,” she answers.
“On the bright side, Evangeline doesn’t know why you damned your youngest son,” Venus reminds her.
She glares in response and Michael’s father walks into the room.
He looks so much like Michael, except for his eyes which are the same bright blue as Evie’s. His wings stick out like his daughter’s. Also like his daughter, the wings match his blue-black hair.
“She knows, Venus. She’s not an idiot. She had leukemia when she was six and then miraculously recovered. We suddenly had three more kids to add to the four we already had. Now you claimed her baby brother’s soul. She knows why we sold his soul,” Raphael says flatly. “I think you need to leave now.”
Venus smiles. “Come along, Cassandra. You have an interesting story to pass to Michael. I’m sure he’d love to hear it.”
I stand, smiling sadly at Michael’s mom. She grabs my wrist, stopping me. “If you do see Michael, tell him that Gabe and Isabel married. Nate got engaged to Jackie. Evie graduated. Zach got his own apartment. Ray and Eli got into Columbia and then moved into Zach’s apartment.”
I nod, though I’m not sure I can remember all of that.
“Raphael, we are not done with this conversation,” Venus calls as we exit the house.
“I do believe we are,” he responds, slamming the door in her face.
She narrows her eyes at the door and storms back to the car. I follow in silence, trying to avoid her wrath as per usual.
“Pluto made another bid on your soul,” she tells me after a moment of tense silence. “Right now, it would probably be in your best interest to take the transfer.”
I shake my head. Not to Pluto. Never to Pluto, no matter how bad things get with Venus. “Why would you want what’s best for me anyway, Miss Venus?”
“It also happens to be good for me,” she answers. “However, things shall still work out for me, even if you stay.”
I sigh. “Is there ever a moment where things don’t work out for you?”
“Yes. There was one. I got pregnant, remember?”
“Somehow I still foresee this working in your advantage.”
Venus chuckles. “Probably, but I’m still not thrilled about it.”
We fall silent and make it back to the house just as the sun is setting. Before we go inside, Venus turns to me.
“Find Michael, pass along his mother’s message, and then the both of you need to come to the library.”
I don’t question what it is that she’s up to. I simply get out of the car and head inside. I go to the kitchen first, asking Emily if she’s seen Michael. She informs me that he’s upstairs in his room. I thank her and go in that direction.
I knock on his door and after a moment, he opens. He smiles sadly when he sees me.
“How’d it go?”
I take in a deep breath and reiterate what his mother asked me to pass along and then tell him that we’ll discuss it later. We have to go talk to Venus. He nods and we head off to the library.
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A/N: :0 We met Michael's family! Hope you enjoyed!