Runaway Devil
23

The angel had been following me for days. He was the equivalent to a fly on the wall. A hulking, six-foot-five fly, that constantly asked questions, and switched radically from easy-going to serious bounty hunter bitch.

He took up over half of the sidewalk as he followed me to school. "So, why do you attend human school again?" He looked at the human world with strangely detached curiosity, like he had been observing but not fully understanding.

"Because that's what humans do." I sipped my coffee and adjusted my bag, trying to practice patience.

"Is that reason enough to waste entire days at a time?"

He continued walking a few steps when I stopped and looked at him, sharpening my eyes. I showed just how unappreciated the comment was and started walking again. "Humans waste their own time constantly, in order to blend I need to do the same."

I had grown used to him being at my side always. He rarely took his eyes off me but kept a casual distance. I got so used to seeing him in my peripheral that I barely paid him any mind. When he would move suddenly I was reminded of why he was there. He wasn't just visiting, he came with a purpose and I knew at some point he was going to attempt to fulfill it. I would wait and watch until then.

Jerry saw me first and nodded in greeting, but his attention shifted to the angel. He murmured to Issac sitting next to him on the picnic table, who adjusted his glasses and squinted at us. Once we were within earshot, Jerry greeted the angel with trepidation. I had done nothing to prepare the angel for highschool culture. I sat on the bench and leaned back, ready for a show.

"Hey, I'm Jerry."

"Issac." He provided a mini salute and a smile.

"Alec." I raised my brows in response to his 'human' name. He even replicated the awkward human smile they do at each other in passing. I lit a cigarette and leaned my head back against the table. Maybe he would be okay after all.

Ben rubbed his eyes and stretched as we left the school building. "So where did you an Alec meet?" I assumed Jerry and Issac had filled Ben in on the handsome stranger's sudden appearance.

"What do you mean?" I craned my neck, looking for the angel. He had wandered off at some point, finding human school a useless way to spend his time.

"Well, he just showed up out of nowhere, glued to your side. I've never seen him in town before," He said.

"He came by the shop, his family just moved here. I was the first one he met and now he follows me like a lost pup," I said with a raised brow. "Where the fuck is he? I have work."

"Work?" Alec appeared behind me, in the confusion of all the people being released from school, all at once I hadn't heard him approach. His hands were casually placed in his pockets like he was there the whole time.

"Jesus—!" Ben grabbed at his chest. "Where the hell did you come from?" He looked behind the angel as if to find his trail leading up to us.

He looked at Ben and raised his brows. He feigned innocence like someone else was to blame for sneaking up on him. "I have to go to work, I have an evening shift." The angel nodded.

"Let's go then," He smiled with expectation in his eyes. I opened my mouth to protest but thought about it for a moment. I preferred to have him with me than not knowing where he was, what he was doing. I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose.

"Uh— I'll catch up with you later, okay?" Ben broke off, meeting Jerry and Issac in the parking lot. I waved at them and looked back at the angel.

"Come on." He happily followed, satisfied that he had broken me so easily. I expected him to start testing his boundaries, pushing the envelope, and I would have to put him back in his place. Maybe try to kill him again.

After a few minutes of comfortable silence, he decided to ruin it. "So, I can't help but notice that you have hair." I glanced at him and then stared ahead, debating my answer. "I've never seen a demon with hair,"

"Did you think we were all born and all die with shaved heads, never having hair in between?" He shrugged. "We shave our heads when we're active duty."

"So this is you when you're not active duty?"

"Where do you think this conversation is going? What are you trying to figure out?"

"You." There was a pregnant pause between us.

"Shut up, angel."

I cracked my back and rolled my neck. Being bent over another person for hours, hyper-focusing on your linework had a way of making you stiff. After sending them on their way, I found the angel, entertaining himself in our waiting area. "Have you been here the whole time?"

He looked up and nodded, seeming just as drained as I did. I locked up, turning lights off and securing all doors. I held the back door open for the angel and my other evening shift coworkers. I had hoped that Bethany would be working, but she took the first half of the day. I looked to the horizon, the sun was setting, the sky alight with vibrant oranges and yellows. The breeze had picked up but I couldn't feel the cold like I usually did.

"The sky looks different here," Alec was looking at the sky with a look of quiet wonder. Almost like he thought it was pretty. I silently agreed, I would never admit it, but the human realm wasn't so bad. It wasn't home, it was different and worse in many ways, but not all bad. They had more pleasures than Hell. They ate good food, surrounded themselves with beautiful things, and had a natural ability to build communities.

I began my walk home, but hearing the angel's boots behind me, grated on my mood. "I'm really getting tired of you." He was silent. "Everything was fine, I was living here and doing just... fine,"

"I saved your life, demon. Don't forget that so soon." His voice had gravel to it, it's timbre, it was deep and soft.

"Now I'm in your debt? I decided not to kill you, so I saved your life too."

"You saved me from you?" He was incredulous. His tone struck a chord and my hackles raised.

"Yes! Be thankful," I stopped and faced him, clenching my fists. His mask slipped and his temper surfaced. I could see the twitch in his eye, their human hazel slowly beginning their shift to his angelic orange-red.

"You've got a mouth on you." A growl slipped into his voice.

"Oh, you've seen nothing yet, angel bastard." I sneered in his face. He pulled his lip back, showing his teeth aggressively, and looked me in the eye. My animal instinct kicked in hard and my anger bubbled over. I dropped my bag and lunged, talons already out. He caught my arms, brought his wings out, and beat them powerfully. He pushed me into a nearby alley, slamming me into the wall hard enough to crack the brick. I felt it jar my spine, sending an uncomfortable jolt through my body.

I growled, my fangs inches from his face. I could feel my own eyes turning, making our irises the only light in the alley. I kicked down hard on his knee, sending his kneecap into his shin. He grunted and winced, losing his grip on my arms. I brought him down to one knee with a yank, standing behind him with my talons to his throat.

Before either of us caught our breath, he brought his elbow back, connecting with my ribs. My whole body flinched after impact, my muscles encasing my trunk pulling away. I knew that would bruise, I could already feel it. My choked wince was his cue and he reached over his shoulder, grabbing my hair.

As soon as I felt his fist around the strands I knew I was fucked. He wrapped his fist in them, tangling us both in each other. He pulled, hard. I went over his shoulder, head first, onto my back in front of him. I snatched at his wrist, panting, staring up at his molten eyes. He leaned over me, putting a portion of his weight on my hair, pulling at my scalp. I could feel my eyes watering unintentionally. I sneered and growled in frustration. A tightness in my stomach had started and it wrapped taut, making my breathing erratic.

The angel smirked down at me. "Now I see why you shave your heads."

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