COMPLETE: the devil's gift. {non-pokemon} {mature}

an illegible mess. · Jan 14, 2012

for those who are desperately alone.

the devil's gift.
by rachel "starlight" fallin

warning:
the following story contains sexual themes, explicit swearing, violence/gore, drug/alcohol usage, and sensitive material (i.e, self harm, depression, suicide, mental illness, religious themes, and homoerotic themes).
reader discretion is advised.

the devil's gift guide/manual

chapters;

chapter one; the discovery

Twenty-six years ago:

The snow fell steadily, freezing and cold to the touch. There was no light on in the dark street as the early morning's darkness fell over like a blanket over the sleeping city.

But, there was one person who was awake, and she was carrying a bundle of fabrics in her thin arms. Her breath clouded into a mist in the chilly air as she walked, cloaked in a long dark coat.

She turned and stepped up the couple of steps towards the entranceway to an orphanage. She glanced up and down the street and into the dark windows, making sure no one was watching her. Delicately, she placed her bundle down on the welcome mat, and it made a crying noise in displeasure. She made a cooing sound and stroked the small child inside, her fingers numb from the cold.

She placed her hand in an inside pocket of her coat and withdrew a letter, placing it on the child as it slept soundly despite the chilly night air.

From there, she blew a kiss to the baby and rang the doorbell two times, before scurrying away into the shadows, looking back for a minute to see what would happen.

A lady had answered the door, her brown hair beginning to gray from old age. She looked down at the child and hastily picked it up, taking the letter, and closing the door. The onlooking woman smiled and knew her work was done.

“Good luck, Taylor.” She said underneath her breath and like that, vanished like a ghost into the night.

Four years later:

“Sweet dreams, Taylor.” The little boy smiled up at his caretaker as she kissed him on the cheek, walking away from the bed he slept in and turned off the light.

“Can you keep the night light on? The monsters will come out if you don't.” Taylor mumbled, curling up underneath the covers and giving his caretaker a pleading look.

She sighed, “Oh Taylor, you heard me, I already checked for monsters under your bed and there is nothing there.”

Taylor made a whining noise, “Okay...” He then ducked his head underneath the sheets.

“Goodnight.” The caretaker gave a smile and closed the door behind her as she walked out.

Taylor kept his ears pricked, listening intently for the music that would help him fall asleep. In a couple of minutes, he heard the music box from across his dorm and grinned, closing his eyes and trying to think of something happy to dream about.

The music box suddenly stopped though. Taylor opened his eyes again, the darkness of being under the covers surrounding him. That wasn't right, the music usually lasted longer. Maybe his caretaker hadn't winded it up enough.

He made a little moan of discomfort as he began to hear the scary noises of the night chorus around him. The wind howled outside from an oncoming storm. The rap of branch hitting the window beside Taylor's bed kept him from falling asleep. He tried covering his ears, but the noises were just muffled and didn't help at all. He began to squirm around in his bed, fidgeting and afraid that something was coming for him.

Suddenly, the window flew open, bringing the howling winds inside his room. He made a little screech and tore the covers off of him, running out of bed and desperately trying to shut the window panes. With great difficulty, he managed to push them back into place and latched them up, hoping it wouldn't open again.

He drew the curtains, and the silhouette of the tree branch outside looked just like the hand of a deadly witch, ready to open the doors, crawl inside, and kidnap Taylor, turning him into a frog. He whimpered like an abused dog and flopped face first into his pillow, trying to wipe the image of an old, creepy hag taking him away from the orphanage. This was his only home.

However, the night only got scarier as the room was filled with an utter silence, a silence that made Taylor's skin crawl. This was just too unreal. Hesitantly, he withdrew his head from the pillow and looked around his room, freezing in place when he saw something he wished he had never laid eyes upon.

There were two, unblinking red eyes staring at him from the far corner of his room. He held in a gasp and stared right back at it, shivering up and down. The eyes never moved, never disappeared, and were unending. Gulping down his fear, Taylor tried to speak to it, but was interrupted and he made a flinch as the thing, whatever it was, talked to him.

“I'm coming for you...” It hissed, it's voice ringing in Taylor's ears. He couldn't take it anymore.

From his lungs, he released a bloodcurdling scream and began to desperately crawl underneath his covers, trying to wish the eyes and voice away.

The door was flung open, and his caretaker entered the room, flicking on the lights.

“Taylor, what's wrong!?” She demanded, worry making her voice crack.

Taylor pointed to the corner of his room with a shaking finger, “T-they're going t-to h-hurt me...” He stammered.

“There is nothing there, Taylor, it was just a nightmare.”

“No! Don't you see it it's right-” Taylor crawled out from underneath his sheets and pointed at the corner, and was surprised when he saw that the eyes had vanished, “there...”

His caretaker walked up to his bed and gave him a hug, “It's okay, it was just a nightmare. Everything is going to be alright.”

“But it was there! I saw it!” Taylor complained, struggling against his caretaker's embrace. She made a chuckle, “Oh, Taylor, monsters aren't real... And if they are, I promise that I will protect you from any of them. You can count on me.”

“Really?”

“Really.” His caretaker gave him a kiss on the cheek and walked out, wishing him another goodnight.

Taylor curled back into his sheets, feeling a little better, but he still couldn't shake the feeling that someone, or something, was out there somewhere, and was watching him.

Throughout the years as he grew from a little boy to a teenager, his fear of someone out to get him worsened. Although he stopped seeing the monsters eventually, he knew that out there, there was always somebody coming for him, and eventually he, she, or it would find him. He was never the same after that night.

And his jumpy attitude, his fear of people hurting him, made him a magnet for bullying in school. It began in fifth grade and chorused throughout him during his middle school years. He would cone home, bawling his eyes out to his Deborah, his caretaker, and she would hug him and tell him that things would get better.

The bullying had taken it's toll on Taylor, though, who already had a fragile mind. It broke him to pieces, making him so scared that he would refuse to go outside some days because he was afraid to face his peers, who were all his enemies. He would sit alone in his room and cry, hoping for some kind of miracle. He hoped for a friend; a friend besides Deborah, a friend that would stick with him through the hard times.

As high school rolled around, everything began to fall into place.

This is the story of the Devil's Gift.

Eleven years ago:

Taylor Duncan was never the kind of guy that liked to put up fights. In fact, he was deathly afraid of them. He was deathly afraid of everything.

He was just your average looking teenager; slightly taller than normal, and he was fairly skinny. Taylor had very messy and coarse blond hair that was slightly wavy in the front but curly in the back. It was cropped short and looked as neat as he could possibly muster it to be. His skin was pale from not being out in the sun a lot considering he never really liked to go outside. He had a rather narrow face, with his chin being slightly pointy. He wasn't what someone would consider handsome, but, if he really worked at it, he could steal a glance from a girl or two.

He warily cast a glance at the cafeteria table in front of him, taking note of the big and buff blond-haired boy who met his emerald green gaze with a death glare. He immediately looked back at his food tray and continued to eat his glob of meatloaf with small bites.

Just as he was about to swallow down his last bite, the bell called, saying that lunchtime was over and he got up and threw his tray away, quickly walking past the buff boy's table to throw it in the trash.

Just as he left the cafeteria with his class, he could feel the cold stare of the boy's blue eyes upon his back and he felt a shiver up his spine.

Back in class, Taylor busily wrote down notes as the teacher droned on about an algebraic equation. The rest of the class was fast asleep, and the only sound of a pencil scraping against paper was from Taylor's desk.

A yawn from behind nearly made him fall out of his chair, and in the process, he dropped his pencil. He groaned as he picked up the pencil and when he went to go take notes again, he forgot what the teacher had previously said. A bit angry, he faced the kid behind him and growled, “Thanks a lot.”

The kid looked at him and just laughed, “I did you a favor. Stop being the smartass around here and be cool for once, nerd.”

Taylor's face went red and the kid smiled a devilish smile. Feeling like an idiot, Taylor faced his paper again and just wrote down what the teacher said next.

“Can you quit with the noise...?” a kid mumbled a few desk rows over as her head lay flat on her desk.

Taylor ignored her and continued to write.

Apparently, some other kids heard the noise as well and moaned as they awoke from their slumber. Someone threw a ball of paper at Taylor's head, another sent a paper airplane at his back.

One kid in the way back make a frustrated growl and cursed Taylor under his breath for awakening him from his “beauty rest.”

Taylor could feel anger welling up in his stomach and chest. When would these kids learn to be mature and actually try to excel in school?

The bell rang and Taylor almost jumped ten feet in the air. The rest of the class laughed at him and gathered up their things.

Taylor slowly packed his things up, and looked at the teacher as if to ask if there was any homework.

“No homework. It's a Friday, remember?” The teacher replied with a shake of her head.

Taylor nodded and picked up his books and pens and went out into the school hallway. Immediately, he was greeted by the same boy from the cafeteria.

“Hey nerd, what's going on, huh? You got some free time after school?” He said. His buddies came up from behind him and snickered at Taylor.

“What do you want, Joe?” Taylor asked with a deep frown.

“Oh, I just wanted to hang out with you today. I decided to stop being my usual jock self and maybe get to studying with you.”

Taylor raised an eyebrow, “... And why should I trust you?”

Joe shrugged and gave a friendly smile, “People change, including me. C'mon, I just wanna be your buddy. You've never had friends before anyway.”

He blinked, what Joe said was true. Taylor's fear melted away and he began to trust him; now was his chance to be apart of a friendship.

Taylor's frown went away and he smiled back, “... Thanks Joe, I'll see you after sixth period then.” With that, he walked off to his locker, Joe and his crew snickering behind him.

Sixth period came and went. Taylor walked out of his English class with his new book he got from the library in hand.

He went to his locker and put his book in his backpack and dragged it out of the locker. He walked out of the front doors of the school and down the steps. He scanned the crowd of teenagers that were coming out and spotted Joe and his friends sitting down at a bench near the stairs to the school. Feeling excited that he made a new friend, Taylor gleefully walked toward them with a skip in his step.

“H-hey guys!” Taylor called, now running towards them with a waving hand in the air. His feet caught in a crack on the concrete sidewalk and Taylor fell flat on his face with an “Oof..”

Joe's friends laughed at Taylor. Joe just smiled and walked over to Taylor, offering him a hand up.

“Thanks...” Taylor said as he stood up and dusted his clothes off.

Joe nodded as a “you're welcome” and he ushered Taylor over to his buddies who were now standing.

“So, where are we hanging out at?” Taylor asked, “Certainly not my place I hope, I do think you know I live in an orphanage home.”

Joe nodded again. “Yes we know, and we're just going to take a walk to the park today. Get to know each other, eh? The studying will begin tomorrow.”

“OK, cool. Just make sure that I go early so I can get home before six. I want to finish my homework before the weekend.”

Joe looked at his friends and they laughed quietly to themselves, “OK, we'll make sure of that.”

Taylor, Joe, and his friends, Daniel and Noah, walked on the streets of their city, Manhattan. They headed towards the park, barely speaking if not at all. Taylor wondered why, Joe had said they wanted to know more about Taylor. Was he supposed to spark up a conversation? He was new to this whole friend thing. He never had a true friend before. The only person that came close to a friend, was his caretaker at the orphanage. The other kids there ignored him completely.

The thing was, Taylor was very shy. He was afraid of saying something stupid and his new friends would abandon him for his idiocy. He tried to think of a topic to talk about, but nothing came up, and he was left with this impulse hanging on his tongue.

Finally, Joe and his friends turned around to face Taylor, stopping abruptly as they did so. Taylor almost ran into them, but stopped himself.

“Hey, what gives? I thought we were heading to the park?”

Joe laughed, “You aren't as smart as a I thought you were, Taylor. I thought you would know that we were lying the whole time.”

Taylor could feel sweat fall down his brow, “You mean... You don't want to be my friend?”

“Of course we don't; we hate your goddamn guts.”

Just then, Joe tried to make an advance at Taylor, but he was off running in a second. He ran down the back streets, straight towards the orphanage which was his only sanctuary. He pushed passed crowds of people, and was always fearfully looking behind his back to see if Joe was chasing him.

It was a couple blocks away that Taylor finally tired out and was left panting on a corner of a street, out of breath and winded from his flight.

He looked up and tried to figure out where he was. He felt fear well up in him as he realized he was in a place he had never been before. He was located on a darkened street, that was getting darker as the afternoon turned into dusk. All he could hear was the wind blowing softly, and the skitter of a newspaper skimming the ground, trying to take into the air from the breeze.

At once, Taylor felt betrayed and hurt. He couldn't believe he had fallen for Joe's tricks. What a fool he was. But then again, Taylor was desperate. He was so alone in the world. He had no friends or family, and felt as if the world had turned his back on him. Was he really supposed to be on Earth? If he killed himself, would anyone even care? He was fifteen years old, never had friends, never been in a relationship; everyone he knew at school wasn't a virgin except for him, and they had girlfriends and boyfriends. A lot of people thought he was gay, or a devout Christian, and a lot of people made fun of him for this, too.

Taylor sighed and dug into his jeans pocket to grab his phone and call somebody at the orphanage to find and pick him up, but then a noise alerted him.

It sounded like a whisper, which Taylor quickly realized that there was words being formed.

The whisper spoke of the seven deadly sins, along with other evil things. Taylor was intrigued, he had never heard something like this before. At first, he thought it was his imagination playing tricks on him, but this was real.

He looked around, trying to locate where the sound was coming from. It whispered quietly with the wind from a dark and deserted alleyway a few feet from where Taylor stood. He walked towards it and called a cautious “Hello?” as he peeked into the alleyway.

Strange shadows danced off of the red brick walls that surrounded the narrow road. A large pile of trash sat at the end which was where the sound was coming from.

Feeling a sinking feeling of dread bubble up in his stomach, Taylor stepped towards the rubbish, and that's when things started to get really strange.

sorry for the smallish chapter. the next one will probably be longer, i don't know.

anyway, thoughts on the story so far?

an illegible mess. · Jan 14, 2012

i lied, this one isn't long LOL. it would be longer, but i wanted to leave a cliffhanger :V

oh welllll.

chapter two; hello, fallen angel.

It was immediate when it happened. Suddenly seeming like a harmless pile of trash, it was now something that would come from a nightmare.

Just as Taylor was about to open the trash bags and look inside for anything suspicious, he was blown back by a blast of oddly frigid flames and thick smoke.

Frozen in fear, Taylor looked up at the strange and frightening phenomenon before him. The flame and smoke twisted and formed into figures that reminded Taylor of demons. He saw people screaming in pain as they were being tortured by an unknown person.

Finally, he realized he was just laying flat on his back staring at something that was possibly deadly. He scampered up on his legs, grabbed his backpack that had fallen off from the blast and ran out of the alleyway. He ran out of the street, a mental map unfolding in his mind, telling him where to go.

In no time, he found himself back at his orphanage. He breathed a sigh of relief, while still remembering the strange thing he had seen. Should he tell his care owner about it? No, she would think he was crazy.

He entered the orphanage doors and was greeted by a plump old woman, who took his backpack and gave him a hug.

“How was school today, Taylor? I was getting worried when you didn't arrive at your usual time.”

Taylor shook his head, “Horrible as usual. I was used by people I thought I could trust...”

The old woman, Deborah, gave him a pitied frown, “I'm sorry, baby, maybe tomorrow will be better.”

Taylor snorted, “I doubt it.” He took his backpack from her and headed upstairs toward his dorm. He didn't have a roommate yet, which made it worse.

In all of Taylor's fifteen years of living here, he had never been tried for adoption. Sure, he had interviews with a lot of people, but no one seemed to want him. He sighed, what if he never got out of here? He was almost eighteen, so he could go out on his own once he was eighteen. He didn't need a family.

But then again, Taylor felt his loneliness surround him and feeling defeated, he sat on his bed, took of his shoes and laid there. He didn't even get up to go to supper, and when Deborah came in and asked if he was hungry, he turned down the offer of food even if his stomach gave a deafening growl.

He sighed and pretty soon, he fell asleep.

Taylor was wandering around in a dark forest. He knew he was dreaming, but he wondered why he was here. Dreams will be dreams.

A sound could be heard from the bushes. He realized it was the same sound that he had heard from the alleyway. Scared, he ran away from it, but no matter how far he went, he could still hear it.

Suddenly, something could be seen ahead, and it wasn't a pretty sight.

There lay thousands of bodies of dead people, with their hearts ripped out of their chests and blood covering everything solid. The smell of death flew up Taylor's nose and he restrained himself from vomiting.

He heard a ripping sound of flesh and his eyes focused on a large, half canine, half ram figure that was greedily eating a corpse's heart out.

Taylor wanted to scream, but he felt paralyzed. The creature noticed him through his eating and swung his head to look straight at him.

Piercing, red as the blood that stained the ground, eyes looked into Taylor's light green ones. Pieces of the heart dripping down the creature's chest, it smiled at him.

Taylor wanted to move and run. Run away from this terrible forest. But he couldn't, he was still frozen in place.

The creature unfolded jet black, and disheveled wings from his back and gave a strange roar, that was a mixture of varied screams and a growls of predators. It then launched itself at Taylor.

Not being able to do anything, not even raise his hands up to protect his face, Taylor found himself on his back, facing the creature that had pinned him down.

But before the creature could give a killing bite to the neck, it whispered something in Taylor's ears, the voice sounding harsh and ancient.

“Meet me at the alleyway or you will end up like the poor people here.”

With that, it and everything around it, disappeared and Taylor's eyes opened to see his familiar room.

He looked at the digital clock on his bedside table. It read “3:00 a.m”

Taylor shook his head and thought about the dream. He wanted to go back to the alleyway now, but then again, it was just a nightmare. But it was so vivid. Taylor actually felt as if he had been there.

He remembered the name of street that he saw on a sign when he was running out of the alleyway, and he fumbled through his backpack, looking for a pen and paper to write it down.

After writing it down, he laid back in his bed, wondering what the creature was and what it wanted from him.

Deep down, miles underneath the Earth's crust, there lay a figure, who continuously gnawed on a bone. He was canine in appearance, but had goat features. Red ram horns adorned his head and his back legs were that of ram hoofs. His legs were all black skeleton, and the jet black fur that clung to him, hung loosely off of his skin and bones figure. He waved his skeletal demon tail back and forth and his glowing, pupil-less, blood-red eyes stared at nothing ahead of him. His black and ragged angel wings were unfolded and continuously moving up and down, sending chilling air into his chamber, and to the other levels above.

No light shone in this cavern. It was dark and dank, and smelled like sulfur and death.

A slightly annoying scratching sound was coming from behind the fallen angel. He growled under his breath and whirled around to face the noise.

“Cassius!” He screamed and the scratching stopped.

A solemn canine face peeped from the darkness, and Cassius's master growled again, “When will you ever learn to not etch mustaches onto the frozen sinners?”

Cassius dipped his head, “Sorry, Lord Satan, I will resist.”

There was a rumble from Satan's throat, “Good.” He hissed.

He turned away from Cassius, “I need silence while I think...” He mumbled.

Cassius groaned, “Is it the boy again?”

“Yes, the boy. Don't moan at me, it is troubling that he is so scared of everything. I just hope that nightmare I sent him will work.”

Cassius just nodded and seemed to melt into the shadows behind him, leaving Satan alone.

Beyond the shadows in front of him, Satan could see the other two betrayers, Brutus and Judas, sleeping soundly in a corner, their heads bleeding from Satan's constant chomping on the only flesh available in Cocytus, his lair.

“What a joy it would be to rule more than just the underground...” Satan mused to himself.

Taylor hurriedly ate his breakfast in the dining hall. He inhaled the bacon and eggs and swallowed his orange juice in one gulp.

“Hungry?” A boy that sat beside him asked.

Taylor just nodded, and got up from the table, asking if he could be excused.

After being excused, Taylor ran to his room, grabbed his coat, ran back downstairs and flew out the door. He was determined to find the street, even if it took him hours.

And it did take Taylor hours to find the street again. Already the sun was dipping below the horizon as twilight fell over. There had been many calls and texts from the orphanage on his phone, but he promised them he would be back before eight o'clock, which was curfew.

Finally, he arrived in the abandoned and blackened street. He stood around and waited, and in an instant, he heard the whispers. Sucking in his fear, and taking a deep breath, he went into the alleyway, and at once, the familiar trash cans that sat at the end burst unto flame and smoke.

Taylor stood his ground this time, and after the scenes of horror passed, he found himself staring at a pair of red eyes. He realized, these were the eyes that he had seen in his dream.

The thing inside spoke in that same, raspy voice. It boomed and echoed as the noise bounced off the buildings surrounding Taylor.

“Taylor Duncan... I have seen your heart, and I know your fears... You are all alone in the world, with no friends or family to help you... You are weak and pitiful, and require strength...”

Taylor tensed up, how did this thing know so much?

“Who are you?” Taylor shouted.

The flames seemed to intensify as the voice went on, “I am everything evil, I am every sin and every scrap of hate in the world. My name is Satan, the fallen angel once known as Lucifer. Lord of Hell; the fear of the holy, and the revelations of the sinners.”

Taylor almost fainted. Satan, the rebellious fallen angel told in the Bible was real? Taylor didn't consider himself of any religion, and he never questioned the Bible, but now the truth was out. There really was a devil.

An eerie laugh flew into Taylor's ears as Satan continued on, “I know you crave strength and power...”

“What do you want from me?” Taylor interrupted.

“As I had said... You want power... You want to be known at school as not the loser, but the winner. The most cool kid on the face of the Earth. You crave acceptance from your peers... I have since watched you as a small child and I have felt your pain... You are just like me, craving power and having the world only grant you a turn of trust. From my small amount of pity I have for you, I have decided to share you my power... So you can witness the true feeling of being a king. You will fear no more, and I will guide you as a guardian and friend in every step you take...”

Friend? The word echoed in Taylor's mind. Lord of the Underworld, as a friend? And power... Satan was right, he did want acceptance. He did want to be powerful, and have pride in himself.

“Well? Will you accept my humble gift of immense power, or run away, and continue to be the loser you are known for?” Satan pressed. He then held out a skeletal, and blackened wolf paw, “Take my hand... I will show you the way.”

Taylor gritted his teeth, and looking at Satan straight in the eye, he said, “I will accept.”

Satan smiled and stretched out his appendage further. Taylor closed his eyes, and grabbed the paw.

At once, flaring pain welled up inside him, and he screamed out in agony. Beyond his screams, he could hear Satan laughing, “Such wonderful screams! Dearest Taylor, you will feel my pain, you will feel my anger at the ones who let me fall, you will be me! You will fall from grace!”

The pain was so great, Taylor could hardly scream anymore. He wondered if anybody heard him, if anybody would come and help him. But he was alone as always.

But I won't be alone anymore... He thought.

Fire blazed all around him, in the buildings, out on the street. Taylor didn't notice, but he did notice the large amount of anger swelling up inside him. It came from nowhere, but Taylor expected it was Satan's anger, and he was sharing it with him.

The agony continued on, and Taylor could feel himself getting faint. Just before he could take it no longer, he heard Satan's voice again, “You are mine...”

Then he saw no more.

:V i feel like i rush things too much LOL. damn you guys don't even know what taylor looks like besides having green eyes. i'll add something about his hair in the next chapter, but i know you guys already have some kind of image of him in your head.

and yes, for those who have read dante's inferno, i have depicted satan's lair in how it's described in dante's inferno.

99unownoak · Jan 17, 2012

That was awesome! The first chapter really pulled me in, I obviously found it sad and the imminent realisation of Joe's lies made it even sadder. I loved the paragraph on Taylor's self-reflection after he had gotten away. Chapter two turned things especially dark with the Dante's Inferno-Paradise Lost type themes and I agree with you that things are moving a little bit too quickly.

I'll definitely keep reading

CyberPika · Jan 17, 2012

Wow I've been tryig to read other fics to get better an I saw this one and read it. It's awesome!

an illegible mess. · Jan 18, 2012

thanks for the comments, guys! <3

sorry about the long wait for the next chapter. some stuff sprang up in my private life and i didn't have time to write the third chapter until today. hope you enjoy!

chapter three; of feathers and ram horns.

Wherever Taylor was, he certainly was not longer in the alleyway. The minute his mind had gone blank from passing out, he found himself, in a bright place where a beautiful valley was laid out in front of him. He was wearing a white robe and he felt as light as air.

He ran through the valley, a sense of calm washing over him, and somewhere beyond the mountains that surrounded the valley a harmonic sound of a chorus, flutes, and violins filled the holy air.

Taylor closed his eyes as he pranced around like a ballerina on pirouette. He felt so alive and calm... Peaceful. Something he never thought he would feel before. Before he knew it, he felt gentle snow flakes fall on his cheeks and he continued to dance in the winter flurry. He hummed along with the song, as church bells joined the music, chiming on rhythm and ringing in Taylor's ears.

Is this Heaven? He asked himself, the smile that stretched the wrinkles on his face widening.

But suddenly, the feeling of peace was over, as the song suddenly sounded darker, an organ beginning to play in the background. It sounded like Taylor was in Dracula's lair. The snow stopped falling and around him he could see the valley and the mountains disappear in thick black smoke that slowly moved towards him. He looked down and saw a wide and black hole forming underneath his feet. He didn't fall into it though, he just stayed in place.

He stayed in place for a reason, as he couldn't move. A sense of panic overwhelmed calm and the shadows that were slowly gathering enveloped his feet, legs, arms, then torso until all that was left was his head.

The song got distorted and freaky, and slowed down as it got lower in pitch. Just as Taylor was about to disappear from this strange world, a voice whispered in his ear. It wasn't Satan's voice, it wasn't of anybody he knew.

“What a fool...”

And Taylor saw nothingness once more.

Something wasn't right. Taylor could feel it the instance he woke up.

First off, there was a sudden change in his mood. He didn't feel the instant panic or fear of everything as he always had, instead, he felt something completely different. Anger.

In fact, he had never felt as angry as he had now. He felt like a bull being taunted by a bullfighter, and he hated it.

Second, he felt like there was someone else crammed in his head, sharing thoughts with him. In an instance he was consciously aware of this someone, a voice rang in his ears.

“Welcome to your first taste of wrath. No refunds or exceptions. Does it feel good?”
The voice was familiar, and Taylor instantly responded, “Satan? Is that you?”

A chuckle, “Of course it's me! Because you now share my power, you share the power to contact me through telepathy. I'm always available, so call me whenever. I may pop in from time to time as well.”

Taylor no longer felt alone as Satan said he was always available. Satan was like no other friend in the world, probably. A human friend would always have a time when they were busy, but Taylor could talk to Satan any time he wanted! That was great! Who cares if Satan was evil, Taylor shared his power and he was his first true friend. That was all that mattered.

The third thing that Taylor noticed was that when he got up off the ground, and checked his head to make sure he had no injuries, his once wavy blond hair was straight and shaggy, and it wasn't blond anymore. As Taylor looked at a few pieces of fallen glass that lay on the ground, he realized his hair was now jet-black.

Oh crap... How am I going to explain this to Deborah? She hates it when the kids at the orphanage change their hair-style and dye it... What am I going to do? Taylor thought, a little bit on the edgy side.

Still lightheaded from his faint, Taylor walked out of the alleyway, no longer looking fearfully behind his back. He kicked the stones that got in his way. He felt a surge of pride, he had power now. How on Earth he would use it, he had no clue. But at least he could defend himself from a bully's attack for once.

Looking up, he realized that the stars were high in the sky. He checked his watch on his wrist. It read “8:30 P.M”

“Damn, I'm already late for dinner...” Taylor told himself and he picked up his pace, running for his home.

The minute he walked into the front doors of the orphanage, he was greeted by a tight and warm hug from Deborah. While his breath was being crushed out of his lungs, he gasped, “S-sorry... I'm... Late...”

Deborah realized she was choking Taylor and let go of him, “I was about the call the police! Where were you, young man?” After she demanded this, her eyes caught the look of his hair and she drew in a breath.

“Did you... Get your hair styled without my permission?” She crossed her hands across her chest and gave Taylor a “you're-in-so-much-trouble-right-now” glare.

Taylor made a huff, “It's not my fault! I...” He quickly thought of a lie out of the top of his head, which was something he would never normally do, “I was met by some people from school, and they told me to follow them, so I did, and they took me to an alleyway and beat me up! I guess when I got knocked out they dyed my hair...”

“... And straightened it?” Deborah asked, not believing Taylor's story.

“It's true, I swear! I didn't do it! I didn't have my wallet with me in the first place, where would I have gotten a haircut and style for free?”

“Good point...” Deborah mumbled. With a beady eye, however, she gave Taylor a very sour frown, “I'm watching you, though...”

Taylor watched her as she walked away, and right before he went into the dining hall to eat supper, he said out loud, “The hair isn't permanent is it?”

Satan's voice whispered back, “Can't promise that.”

Taylor groaned.

“The plan is going exactly as I wanted...” Satan mumbled to himself quietly.

Other than the continuous flap of his wings, Satan could hear Judas and Cassius laughing at something.

“What the fuck are they laughing about?” Satan said out loud to himself. Whirling around and stalking over to the noise, he saw Cassisus and Judas laughing at something frozen in the ice. In the ice, there always had been the worst sinners frozen there.

“What's going on?” Satan asked, pushing past Cassius and Judas to see Brutus who had his long, pointed demon tongue stuck on a frozen cube of ice that held a sinner.

Satan twitched a bit. Cassius and Judas just continued to roll on the ground laughing. With a deafening roar of anger, he grabbed Brutus's hindquarters, and with brute force, ripped his tongue clean out of his mouth and threw him across the cavern.

Cassius and Judas looked up as they heard Satan, and continued to laugh as they saw poor Brutus being flung across the room.

Satan faced them and barked in their faces, at once, they scampered away with pitiful whimpers and cowered beside Brutus, who's mouth was still bleeding from his recent tongue removal. But, Brutus's tongue had already grown straight back.

Like Satan, the three betrayers were also part canine and part ram. It was a common trait with the four of them, as they were related in a way.

“Enough fooling around! This is the deepest level of Hell, do you expect there to be fun and games down here? Do you want me to continue chewing you guys's heads off?”

All three looked at Satan, scared out of their wits.

“I didn't think so!” Satan cried and turned his back against them, laying down on the ground and letting his thoughts wander mindlessly around his demonic head.

Taylor yawned. Morning sunlight crept into his bedside window and he blinked the sleep away from his eyes. Sitting him, a sudden spark of pain flared up in his back. He made a shout and gritted his teeth. It hurt really bad.

He looked at his bed, wondering if he had accidentally slept on something hard. After dinner, he had ran straight up to his room and fell asleep, not mindful of anything that was on his bed.

Taylor saw something different though. Scarlet stains had blossomed on his white sheets, and he immediately became aware that this was blood.

Worry flared in his stomach, and he hopped out of bed, running down the hall to the bathroom. Once he was there, he took off his shirt that he had slept in and examined his back.

Taylor really did almost keel over when he saw what caused his back so much pain.

Beyond the blood from two open wounds on his back, Taylor saw black feathers peeping out from within.

His mouth open in shock, Taylor screamed, “WHAT THE HELL IS THIS!?”

In an instant, he began to freak out, and he could hear someone come up the stairs as he continued to observe his strange new feathers.

A voice popped in his head, “Surprised? Because you share my power, you will also share my features too. You will grow large black angel wings like mine. You will grow red ram horns out of the top of your head. You will have a demon tail, and you will have sharp teeth and claws.”

“Will I have ram hoofs as well?” Taylor asked, remembering those depictions of Satan with hoofs as back legs.

Satan laughed, “No. I'm not sure why, but I know you won't have hoofs.”

Taylor breathed a sigh of relief. He didn't even want to know how painful that would be to have hoofs.

“Wait a minute, how the hell will I be able to hide these features? Everyone at school and here will think I'm some sort of freak.”

“Not to despair, my friend, you can hide your features. As long as you don't lose control of your power, your features will cease to exist, and they will only flare up if you are angered, or in trouble.”

“What other powers do I possess besides my features?”

“Well, you will have the power to control and cause fires. Plus, you will have immense strength, and if you get wounded, your wounds will heal faster than most human being's wounds.”

“That's pretty badass...” Taylor mumbled, a smirk on his face.

He could just imagine Satan smiling as he went on, “Precisely...”

Taking a Kleenex from inside the bathroom cupboard, Taylor wiped up the blood that was trickling down his back.

“Satan...” Taylor called,

“Yes, friend?”

Taylor smiled about the “friend” thing and continued on, “What do you look like? Are you human? I mean, in my dream I think I saw you, but you were a wolf, and I thought that was just my dream-self and how it imagines you.” In truth, Taylor really was curious about Satan's appearance. In the alleyway, all he saw as Satan was smoke and fire. He had to have some sort of figure.

“Would you like to see?”

“Huh?”

Before Taylor knew it, he found himself being whisked off to some place far underneath the Earth. He knew this, because when he was on solid ground again, the pressure had definitely changed, and he felt as if a load of it was above him.

And wherever he was underground, it was cold, Antarctica cold. He crossed his hands over his chest and shivered violently, teeth chattering. It was noticeable that this was the only sound he heard in the dark cavern.

“S-satan?” He called into the darkness.

“Who's there?” A voice replied. He whirled around and saw three canine figures slinking towards him, their movements secretive and cat-like.

“Look what the master dragged in... Some fresh meat...” Spoke the figure in the middle, licking his chops.

The figure on the left laughed insanely, slobber and foam from his gaping mouth spraying all over the ground, “Fresh meat! Hehehe!” He yelled.

“Who are you?” Taylor asked, backing up as the figures moved closer.

The one in the middle looked to his left, “This is Judas,” then looked to the right at the seemingly retarded canine who's tongue lolled at the side of his mouth, and his eyes were bulged and crossed, “This sad mutt right here is Brutus.”

He then faced Taylor straight on, “And I'm Cassius.”

And then in unison, they said, “And we are the Three Betrayers.” Brutus made another insane laugh after they spoke and they all began to growl and look at Taylor, trying to figure out which of his body parts were the juiciest.

“Stop.” A familiar voice behind Taylor said.

“Lord Satan!” Cassius gasped, and the rest of his group scrambled behind him.

Taylor looked behind him, “Satan!” He cried and for the first time, he caught a glimpse of the Lord of Hell.

It was just like Taylor imagined him in his dream, only bigger and a bit more disheveled. His skin hang loosely from his chest, and some the his bones on his body stuck out of his black fur. A bony demon's tail swayed behind him, and his intestines were visible and protruded out of his abdomen, leaking blood and gore.

“You will not mess with this human.” Satan continued towards the Three Betrayers, “He is a friend.”

Cassius and the rest gasped, “It's the boy.”

They all moved forward, not in advancement, but in awe. Cassius approached him and bowed his head deeply in front of Taylor.

“Please forgive me... Second master... I shall now kiss the ground you walk on.” Cassius then started licking the ground near Taylor's feet.

Taylor made a disgusted face, and, out of instinct, kicked Cassius's face away. He expected Satan to yell at him, but he laughed at Taylor's movement instead in a friendly way as if to say that was the right thing to do.

Cassius made a slight whimper and drew back, “Terribly sorry, sire... I will make up for my actions... Forgive me...” He said, head still bowed.

“So pitiful...” Taylor murmured. Satan seemed to overhear and nodded at Taylor's answer.

“Pesky little shits, they are. They are under my control now... I feel like I'm babysitting more than keeping them as companions.”

Taylor nodded, “So, this is where you live?”

“Yes. It's called Cocytus, and is the deepest level of Hell.”

“This is Hell? I-it's p-pretty c-cold.”

“Well, sinners here are frozen for eternity. Generally they're people like... Eh, let's say Adolf Hitler. Betrayers of country, family, dictators, you get the deal.”

“I see...” Taylor said, “I think I'm going to go back now. I don't really have much to do and... I-I'm f-freezing m-my n-nuts o-off.”

Satan smiled, but his smile wasn't friendly at all, it was sadistic and cruel. But he spoke friendly anyway, Taylor guessed this was how he always smiled, after all he was the Lord of Hell.

“Alright then, you can talk or visit me any time you want.”

“Thanks.” Taylor said and he was yet again whisked off, but he landed back in his bathroom in the orphanage. It was apparent after looking at the clock that sat on the white tile walls of the bathroom, that no time had passed from his visit.

There was a knock on the door. It was Deborah.

“Taylor? I heard you yell. Is everything alright?”

“It's fine!” Taylor assured her.

“OK... Just to remind you, you do have a doctor's appointment in thirty minutes, I suggest you get ready.”

A doctor's appointment!? I completely forgot about that! How am I supposed to hide my feathers when they aren't fully grown out yet and are still wounds?

“Satan!” Taylor hissed.

“Yes?” came the familiar reply.

“I have a doctor's appointment today, and I don't want the doctor seeing my wing wounds. Am I able to hide them somehow?”

“If you have an extra pair of skin lying around. Otherwise, you can't.”

“Oh God... How am I supposed to explain feathers coming out of my back?”

“Can't help you there.” Satan said, and the link between them was broken.

Taylor made an exasperated sigh and headed back into his room, changing into some day clothes. He then walked downstairs and towards the play area, a room where the little children played with toys and interacted with each other. Deborah was generally found here, playing with any of the kids that were alone. The bond between Taylor and Deborah was caused by this. Whenever Taylor went into the play area as a toddler, he was always alone and Deborah was the one that comforted and played with him.

He walked in and was bombarded with a toy tractor that a little boy had thrown carelessly. It hit Taylor in the chest, and it bounced back off, as if his skin was made of rubber.

Weird... Taylor thought to himself, but he expected this was some kind of addition to his powers.

Deborah noticed him at once. She had a crying girl on her shoulder. Taylor walked over to her, “I guess you're not taking me? You seem a little full here...”

Deborah made a stressful sigh, “Oh yes. Julie's taking you instead.”

“Oh, OK.” Taylor remembered Julie, the Taiwanese young lady who was in her mid-30's and very short for her age.

He then looked at the weeping girl, “What happened to her?” He asked.

“Oh, little Susie here tripped and fell on a stray toy. She's feeling better now I think.”

“Poor thing. Hey, you OK?” Taylor said and patted Susie on her arm.

She looked up and once she saw Taylor's face, her eyes widened and she buried her head in Deborah's shoulder again.

“Scary man! Go away!” She shouted.

Deborah looked at Taylor, then at Susie, “Scary? It's just Taylor, sweetheart. He's not going to hurt you.”

Susie made a noise of protest and Taylor gave her an odd look, “Was she abused or something?” He asked.

Deborah shook her head, her face scrunched up in question as she wondered why Susie reacted that way towards Taylor.

“Sometimes children can see the true form of ghosts and demons. In your case, Susie saw your demon-like features and got scared. This is common for little kids, as they have active imaginations and believe in more things than what an adult or adolescence would. Generally, as they age, they stop believing and don't see surreal things anymore.” Satan spoke up in his brain.

Taylor nodded. He remembered when he was a child, he would sometimes see things out of the ordinary at night. Such as spirits, or strange phenomenons. Deborah and the rest of the adults at the orphanage had told him it was just his imagination, and that he shouldn't worry. Taylor ended up believing the adults and stopped seeing these monsters.

“Well, I'll go get Julie now and leave you with the kids. Hope you get them under control.” Taylor told Deborah and left the room.

Apparently, Julie was waiting for him all along, and he almost bumped into her.

“Hey Taylor! Ready for you appointment?”

Taylor nodded and Julie walked with him to the parking lot on the side of the orphanage, heading out the front door and going out to the side. They took the orphanage's vans that carried the children to wherever they needed to go. Mostly they walked, though.

On the drive there, Taylor sat in the front seat, watching gloomily at the cars that passed. The feeling of dread at what the doctor would discover worsened as they got closer to the clinic.

“Are you OK?” Julie asked, noticing the way Taylor sat, sagging deeper in the leather car seat.

“I'm fine, I'm just a little scared of doctor's visits.”

“Do you want me to go in there with you?”

“No! Like I said, I'm fine.” Taylor protested, his cheeks tainted a soft pink.

Julie laughed and her silky black hair moved with her head as she giggled.

Taylor made a snort and continued to stare out the window, looking at the clear blue sky above him.

Taylor and Julie arrived safely to the clinic and as Taylor sat in the waiting room, he could feel the warm and scared eyes of a little boy burning into him. As Satan had said, this boy was clearly looking at Taylor's true form.

Fidgeting restlessly under the boy's stare, he looked back at the boy and he quickly turned around and began to tug his mother's cherry red sweater.

“Mommy, mommy! That boy scares me!” He told her, pointing a chubby little toddler finger at Taylor's face.

“Jack, that's rude! And, don't point, that's rude as well.” She whispered to him sternly, and forced his arm back down at his side.

Julie didn't seem to notice the ordeal about Taylor's appearance to the little boy named Jack, and she continued to hum quietly to herself as she read a gossip magazine from the table next to her plush chair.

Finally, the nurse walked out of the office area and called Taylor's full name. He stood up and Julie gave one last glance at him, “Are you sure you don't need me in there?” She asked.

“I'm fine. Really.” Taylor hastily replied, that same pink tint of embarrassment coming back to his cheeks.

He followed the nurse down the hallway and into an examination room. He sat down on the cot that was covered with paper and waited patiently. He twiddled his thumbs nervously, then began to bite the nails on his thumb. What would the doctor say? How could he conceal the evidence in a minute's notice? The doctor could walk right through the door right now.

He got up and paced the room, trying to think of a scapegoat. Right before he was about to not take it anymore and just run out of the room, the doctor came in, a clipboard and pen in his hand. He looked stern looking, and his brow was furrowed as he looked Taylor up and down.

“It's been a busy day for me, so sorry if I come off as rash.” The doctor said glumly in his Manhattan accent, “Sit.” He ordered next and Taylor quickly sat back on the cot.

As the doctor examined his ears, Taylor looked over and read the name tag on his scrub. “Dr. Riley,” it read.

Dr. Riley then looked into Taylor's eyes, watching his pupils dilate and shrink. “... Interesting...” He suddenly said and stopped flashing the light on his doctor's equipment.

“What's interesting?” Taylor asked, curious.

“Your pupils seem to shrink into slits when contacted with light, just like a cat's. Are you wearing some of those fancy contacts the kids always wear these days?”

Taylor's heart began to race, “Uh... Yeah.” He stammered.

Dr. Riley narrowed his eyes and continued on, testing Taylor's reflexes with a doctor's hammer.

He hit Taylor right below the knee cap, and Taylor's leg shot up a little too far, hitting the crouching doctor square in the nose.

Dr. Riley yelled in pain and grabbed his nose. Taylor noticed it was bleeding and possibly broken. He began to blush and apologized at once, “I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to do that!”

“It's OK...” The doctor mumbled, and grabbed a tissue from the counter on the opposite side of the cot. He dabbed his nose to get rid of the blood and continued on with his work, a small trickle of scarlet liquid still left behind underneath his left nostril.

Next, he checked Taylor's heartbeat and then he felt around Taylor's arms and chest.

“Just checking for tumors and the like.” He reassured. Finally, he passed his hands over Taylor's back, and just when he bumped up against the wing wounds, a look of concern flashed over his face. He drew back.

“That's very odd... Take off your shirt, I need to look at your back.”

“I prefer to keep it on, thank you.” Taylor retorted.

Dr. Riley sighed, “Look, kid, I don't care about the size of your muscles, I just need to check out something I felt on your back. This is for your own good. We can do it the easy way, or the hard way.”

Feeling reluctant, Taylor hesitantly pulled off his shirt and let the doctor examine his back.

The doctor peered behind at his back and flew back in shock, making a startled noise in his throat.

Taylor's heart leaped, “What's wrong?” He asked, even though he already knew what Dr. Riley saw.

“Excuse my language but... What the fuck did you do to your back? There's dried blood all over these circular wounds, and they're parallel to each other. What kind of wounds are those? And were those feathers I saw in the injuries?”

Taylor could feel sweat drip down his forehead as he looked back at Dr. Riley, “Ah... Um... Er...” He stammered.

Satan, what do I do? He asked Satan quietly.

“Tell him you're an angel or something.”

“OK. Um... I don't know how to say this... But please don't tell anybody what I'm about to tell you.”

“OK...?” The doctor mumbled, raising an eyebrow.

“I... I'm an angel.”

“... That's nice kid. No, seriously, what the hell is that on your back?”

“It's true! I'm part angel, and I'm growing my wings! How the hell else would you explain that on my back?”

Dr. Riley looked at Taylor up and down as he had done when he first saw him, “Alright, I believe you. Whatever. At least it's not a tumor or anything.”

“Thank you...” Taylor mumbled and put his shirt back on.

That was it for the physical examination, and Taylor had no shots to receive, so the doctor let him out. He greeted Julie in the waiting room and they went back in the van to the orphanage.

“I'm healthy.” Taylor said as he was greeted at the door by Deborah when they got back.

Deborah smiled and Taylor walked back up to his room. For the rest of the day, he read some of his library book and did his homework. Afterwards, he went on the laptop in his room that sat on a desk in the corner and got on the Internet, checking his E-mail as he did so. He made another entry in his blog, and then got off just as Deborah called for dinner.

He ate his dinner, sitting next to Julie and the rest of the assistants in the orphanage and they laughed and joked, and explained how their days went. The usual for a dinner at the orphanage.

When Taylor was done with his food, he excused himself and went back up to his room, setting his alarm clock to ring early as it was Monday, and a school day, tomorrow. He then took off his shoes and changed into his pajamas, lying in bed.

In three hours that he lay there, he talked to Satan about how the doctor's appointment went. Satan laughed when he told him about the kicking incident, which made Taylor smile. They then talked about other things, such as the way Taylor's days usually worked. Satan was a very curious fellow, and when Taylor asked why he questioned everything Taylor said, Satan replied, saying that he knew very little about the world of the living. Taylor couldn't help feeling bad for him.

Finally, Taylor yawned and said goodnight to Satan. He turned his bedside lamp off and snuggled underneath the covers. He thought about how his day would go tomorrow, and for once, he didn't dread the school day because he knew he had Satan on his side now.

brutus is the retarded of the bunch, apparently. well, his name DOES mean stupid LOL.

Legacy · Jan 18, 2012

Wow, this was impressive. Very rich and epenjoyable to read, as your obvious writing skills are on full display. I especially like your description and style with which you show what's going on. Taylor so far looks like a deep, likable character.

Really awesome.

an illegible mess. · Jan 21, 2012

thanks legacy ;D

next chapterrrrr.

yeah, idk about the name either :V

chapter four; first glimpse of power

Taylor awoke to the alarm clock blaring in his ears. He yawned and stretched, but as he swung up his arms, something beside him swung out and made the clock on his desk fall to the floor.

He opened his eyes at once, and felt around him. Shock fell over him as he felt glossy and sleek feathers. He looked to the side and saw large, black wings that were very similar to a crow's.

“Damn, they grow that fast?” He said aloud.

He sat up and observed his feathers more closely. When he tried to flap them, they flapped, when he tried to fold them, they folded. It was an odd feeling. It was notable that they caused a heaviness on his back, and having another appendage made it feel weird.

“Enjoying your feathers?” Satan's voice whispered from somewhere far off.

“Yeah. Will I be able to fly with these things?” Taylor queried.

“Of course. You can fly anywhere now.”

“Sweet!”

Taylor walked out of his bedroom and went to the bathroom to take a quick shower. As soon as he got in and noticed his reflection in the bathroom mirror, he made a little jump. Instead of his usual self, he saw a monster staring back at him.

And this monster possessed tightly curled red ram horns; pointed canine teeth; a demon tail with a spade for a tail-tip; long black claws; and yellow eyes with slitted pupils that looked kind of like an alligator's.

“Be careful with mirrors; though you may think your eyes are misleading you, mirrors actually show your true form in the reflection. Always be conscious of mirrors.”

Taylor nodded in understanding, even though Satan might not have been able to see him. He took a shower (it was kind of an annoyance with wings; they kept bumping into everything and it was a pain to dry them) afterwards and got dressed for school.

When he put on a clean shirt to wear, his folded wings suddenly disappeared. He expected they disappeared because he wasn't going out of control, but why were they noticeable when he was sleeping?

“When you sleep, sometimes your dreams can be exciting, or frightening; Depending on if it's good or bad. Thus, your wings can possibly flare up without you realizing it.” Satan's voice echoed.

“I hope nobody walks in on me when I'm sleeping then.” Taylor said.

He got his backpack and packed it with his text books and binders for his classes, making sure he had pencils and pens.

He grabbed his coat, just in case it was chilly, and walked downstairs to eat some breakfast, which included Nutella on a piece of toast.

It was odd though; generally when Taylor ate the toast, he was fine until lunch, but he wanted more now. Trying to shrug off this want, he walked back upstairs to brush his teeth.

Afterwards, it was back downstairs. Deborah hugged and said a “good luck” to him. Taylor smiled back and walked outside into the moderately cold, Manhattan spring morning.

And to the high school he walked. It was close by, so there was no need for a bus or a van to take him there. The middle and elementary school however were all the way across town so the kids at the orphanage who went there had to take a bus, carpool, or take a van.

Digging out his iPod from a pocket on his backpack, Taylor turned it on and listened to some music by his favorite band, Coldplay.

He hummed “Clocks” quietly and while walking closer to the school, he stopped to put on his coat, and pulled the hood over his head. Continuing on, he saw people he knew from school (technically he didn't know them, but he had seen them walking around the campus before and some were in his classes). He didn't wave, just continued to walk along, head down and staring intently at the sidewalk.

In no time, he was going through the front doors of the school, putting the stuff he didn't need in his blue lockers located in the hallways and getting the stuff he did need. First period: chemistry.

He walked into the chemistry class, the lab located in the back cluttered with beakers and scientific instruments made for tests of all sorts of chemicals. Hydrogen peroxide bottles and slivers of magnesium littered the top of the counter nearest to the sink.

Sometimes I wonder... Taylor thought, what the hell does the teacher do on weekends?

It was true; every time Taylor and the rest of his class got back from the weekend break, there was always some odd objects on the lab counter tops.

As the rest of the kids walked in and sat down at their desks, unpacking their belongings, the bell rang and the talking ceased. The teacher seemed to waltz in. She was in a good mood. But then again, Taylor's chemistry teacher, Mrs. Huzzon, seeemed to always be in a cheerful mood.

She was a very short and stout woman. About the same age as Deborah, her curly graying hair was always without frizz and clean. She wore plain t-shirts and jeans, and had round frames in her gold tinted glasses.

Turning on the overhead projector, she addressed the class as usual with a bright and cheery good morning. The students groaned in return, and Taylor remained silent, waiting for instruction.

“Does anyone remember what I said about balancing chemical equations last Friday?” She asked the class in her sing-song voice.

Many kids sank low in their chairs, but Taylor was practically jumping out of his seat with his hand straight up in the air, whispering “Pick me! Pick me!” under his breath.

“Oh Taylor, you're always so quick to answer! Yes? Do you remember how to balance a chemical equation.”

Taylor took a deep breath, “Well...” And then he continued on, re-teaching the lesson that the kids already learned on Friday. As he babbled, a student slammed their head on their desk and went to sleep. There was a slap as one kid's hand connected with their forehead.

Taylor talked so fast, it was like he could become an auctioneer. Everything about the lesson came rushing back to his brain as he went on. Mrs. Huzzon was smiling so wide at him. A familiar smile Taylor had came to recognize with all of his teachers. He was the star student in every class. He had one first place in student of the month at least four times, and on every report card of his, you would always find straight A's.

“... And that is how you balance the chemical equation for photosynthesis; of course it's already balanced though.” Taylor finished, panting from his on-going explanations of various chemical equations and balancing them out for the teacher and the rest of the class.

“Good job as always, Taylor! Everyone give him a hand for his brilliant explanation.” And of course, after Mrs. Huzzon said this, there was complete silence. It was so silent in the classroom, you could hear a pin drop from the classroom on the opposite side of the hallway.

Taylor sat down again and Mrs. Huzzon started to write a chemical equation on the whiteboard near her desk.

“Now, can anyone tell me what the name of this chemical equation i-”

“Cellular respiration!” Taylor yelled, without raising his hand.

“Good, now what type of reaction-”

“Exothermic!”

“Anyone else besides Taylor now?”

No one spoke up.

“Alright, fine. I finished grading your last tests, I'll pass them out now.”

Mrs. Huzzon went over to her desk and grabbed a stack of papers marked “first period” on a green sticky note. She took the note off and started giving kids their test results. Most of them groaned when they saw their grade, others exclaimed, “Yes, a B!” or “A C plus! So close!” It was clear most were trying, but they really didn't care all that much.

Taylor's got his back and as usual, a big one hundred percent was written at the top in forest green ink. He smiled in contentment and the teacher went over the answers for the kids who got them wrong on the overhead projector. Taylor read his library book as Mrs. Huzzon went around and explained the answers. Taylor was the only one reading, as the next to highest grade in the class was a high B.

It was noticeable people kept staring at Taylor, anger and possibly jealousy lighting their gaze. Taylor paid no attention, this is what always happened whenever he aced a test. Everyone seemed to want to blame him for their low score. It made no sense, really.

“Damn, you're a smart one, aren't you?” Whispered Satan's voice.

Why thank you! Taylor said back through thoughts.

“I never commented you on your grades in a good way, Taylor.”

What do you mean by that?

“I mean, being smart is good and all, but have you ever broken the rules? Maybe even once? Or have you ever been lazy and just didn't do your work, or failed a test on purpose? Though it may sound stupid to you, it's really fun. You should try it sometime; if you want the people here to appreciate you, then break the rules.”

Taylor was about to reply back, but the connection between Satan and him was broken and Taylor was left to linger on Satan's words.

Fifth period economics rolled by and Taylor casually walked in, sitting at his desk and waiting for the teacher, Mrs. Jone, to start class.

The late bell rang and kids ran inside. It was notable that most kids were late for this particular class. Taylor did have to admit, economics was boring, but it was good to learn about it as the kids were approaching the age where they would have to start investing in a savings account and learn about how to spend and distribute their money.

As soon as the teacher was finished with roll call, Taylor could feel himself slipping away to somewhere above the clouds. He never really dozed off or daydreamed in any classes, in fact, this was his first time it had ever happened to him. He wasn't tired or anything, just bored out of his mind. Thoughts began to wander into his head, asking him questions he never asked before. Should he even continue to care about school? Was Satan right when he said that to be appreciated by the kids here, he had to break the rules? Taylor didn't want to do that; he was a good kid at heart.

But friends... I need them... A voice told him.

“Taylor? Taylor, are you awake?” Mrs. Jone's voice snapped Taylor out of his trance.

“Mmm... What did you say...?” Taylor mumbled. Some kid behind him snickered at his answer.

“Well, what's the answer to my question?”

“How the hell am I supposed to know when I don't even know what you asked?” Taylor retorted, a little too harshly. More chuckles could be heard around the classroom.

“Well maybe if you got your head out of the clouds, you would know!” The teacher yelled back, pissed off at Taylor's back-talking.

“OK! Jesus Christ, calm your tits, woman. God...” Taylor hissed. He slowly sagged a bit more in his chair. A boy laughed and another gave him a thumbs-up.

Mrs. Jone glared at him then went on to address the day's assignment.

“You will all copy down notes from page two-hundred thirty through two-hundred thirty-seven in your text books. You may start now.” Mrs. Jone walked back to her desk and sat down, typing something up on her desktop.

Instead of pulling out a piece of paper like Taylor would normally do, he just sat there and stared at his fingers which were conveniently folded onto each other on his desk. This continued on for a few minutes, and kids were starting to glance at him with odd looks. Wasn't Taylor normally almost done with his work by now, or was he already finished?

Taylor didn't pay any attention to either of the students. He just sat there are stared at his hands as if they were a piece of art to examine.

Finally, the teacher noticed him not doing any work and got up from her desk, walking over to his. She tapped Taylor on the shoulder with her pen, “Are you finished with your work?”

Taylor turned around and looked up at her. He opened his mouth as if he was going to answer, but turned around and faced his fingers again as if he had chose not to.

“... Well?” Mrs. Jone asked, puzzled by Taylor's sudden change in weather. On Friday, he was answering every question she threw at him, and now he was being just plain lazy.

“Nope. I'm not.”

“You should get working then.”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“Because, shut up.”

The moment Taylor said shut up, people began to notice and looked up at the oncoming storm that was about to happen.

“... Excuse me, Mr. Duncan?” The teacher asked, flabbergasted.

“Excuse me, Mrs. Jone?” Taylor mocked, turning around to face her again, a sly smile crossing his face. A huge difference from the smile Mrs. Jone had seen on Friday. On that day, she saw a happy, eager to learn smile. Now it was just... Evil looking.

The kids around Taylor began to get rowdy as they laughed at the quarreling going on. Taylor seemed to bask in this moment. He was actually getting attention.

“I will not tolerate this kind of behavior. Get to work or I will write you a detention.” Mrs. Jone demanded.

Taylor laughed and turned around again, lifting up his legs on the desk.

“Just shut the fuck up, bitch, I mean seriously, what's a detention going to do? It's not going to teach me anything,” more students began to laugh and join in as Taylor continued. One person looked like he was about to come over and give him a high-five for his comments.

“I mean, really, what the fuck is any punishment going to do?” Howls of laughter and agreement followed Taylor's statement. And it was at that moment, when Taylor snapped back to being... Well, his usual self.

He immediately began to blush, face as red as a ripe tomato. He turned and looked at Mrs. Jone, who was just as red in the face.

“I'm so sorry, Mrs. Jone! I... I really don't know where that came from. Really.” Taylor apologized, stammering a little.

Now the kids weren't laughing anymore, and instead they looked at each other in question. Wondering what Taylor was talking about and why his sudden change in behavior.

“Is he bi-polar?” Taylor heard someone whisper to a student, “No, I think he's on drugs...” Was the receding person's answer.

“Enough.” Mrs. Jone said sternly. Everyone stopped talking and faced her.

“Mrs. Jone, I swear I didn't mean what I said-”

“Mr. Duncan, I want you to report to the principals office. Now.”

Taylor opened his mouth in protest, but she gave him one look that made him realize that she wasn't accepting any kind of apology.

Obediently, Taylor stood up and left the room, heading towards the principals office all the way across campus. As he walked down the hallway towards the doors that would lead outside and eventually to the office, Taylor saw Joe and his crew come out of the boy's bathroom near the end. Once they saw Taylor, they snickered and headed towards him.

“Hey, why the long face?” Joe said, a smile creeping across his wide lips.

“Leave me alone... I am not in the mood...” Taylor muttered.

Joe, Daniel, and Noah laughed at his answer and stopped him from going any further.

“Move out of the way! I have to get somewhere!” Taylor yelled at them.

“We're not gonna let you go without a fight...” Joe said. He pushed Taylor into Daniel and Noah's arms who grabbed him from behind and held him in a head lock.

“There's classrooms right by here... Someone's going to see you...” Taylor spat through gritted teeth. Joe made a menacing laugh.

Leaning in close, Joe mumbled in Taylor's ear, “Does it look like I care? All I care about is seeing you crying for your mommy... Oh wait, you don't have one, ha ha ha!” Joe's crew joined in with his laugh and dragged him back to one of the blue lockers in the hallway, as if they were going to punch and kick Taylor until he was knocked out then shove him in a locker.

He was finally held in place in front of a large locker, and Joe stood in front of him, cracking his knuckles satisfyingly.

“Where should I punch you first? The forehead? The eyes? The nose? The mouth? The chin? The stomach, maybe? Hmm... Decisions, decisions...” Joe mumbled to himself, snorting a chuckle here and there.

“The nose should be a good first spot, don't you guys think?” Joe asked his buddies, who nodded in eager agreement. They just wanted to see someone get hurt.

“Good...” Joe said, and as fast as you could say duck, he launched a powerful punch at Taylor's nose.

It made contact with the cartilage on the tip of Taylor's nose. Pain shot up his face as it was broken instantly from the impact. Taylor did not cry out, and in anger that there was no reaction from Taylor, Joe punched him again, this time in the mouth.

Taylor tasted blood in his mouth as the punch was finished. Pain was no longer present however, instead it was rage. Hatred. He never hated anyone as much as Joe right now.

“Such a bad idea...” He mumbled to Joe.

“What's that, loser? I can't hear you because there's so much blood in your mouth! Ha!”

Taylor faced him, fury lacing his fiery green gaze. He spit out a tooth that had been knocked out. A tooth from the bottom row.

It happened before Taylor even knew what he was doing. Joe was on the floor on the opposite side of the hallway, writhing around in pain while clutching his heavily bleeding face.

Finally gaining control, Joe faced Taylor, his mangled face making him looked wild.

“That hurt, you fucker!” Joe yelled at him, and tried to stand up and fight back.

Taylor made an advance at him again, and before he knew it, he lost control and the wings on his back grew and ripped out of his clothes. He was left hovering over Joe who was huddled on the floor in fear, jet-black wings spread out and flapping in small, quick movements. He made a weird hissing sound at Joe and he backed up until he hit the wall.

Before Taylor or Joe could do anything, the bell rang and people filed out of their classes, heading to their sixth period. But they all saw the scene and they circled around Joe, Taylor, Daniel, and Noah. The teachers noticed the crowd not moving in the hallways and they too investigated the scene. Upon arrival of seeing Joe on the floor with his face broken and bloodied, and Taylor with black angel wings and hissing a kind of threat at Joe's cowering figure was enough to make one of the teacher's go and get the principal himself.

“P-please... Don't... Don't h-hurt me again...” Joe whimpered, and then he began to cry in front of Taylor.

Taylor's senses came back to him, and he realized a bunch of people were staring at him and his knuckles which were stained with Joe's blood.

And his wings were present.

Turning to look at the sea of eyeballs gawking with horror at him, and glancing at Joe with a waterfall streaming down his bloody face, he smiled at everyone in front of him, regularly pearly white teeth now stained red from his own blood.

What have I done...

an illegible mess. · Jan 26, 2012

wowwww, this hasn't been updated in a while. sorry for the wait, i was wondering what i should write for the next chapter. i ended up coming up with something different than what i expected.

enjoyyyy.

chapter five; comeback kid.

“I can't believe you'd actually get yourself into a school fight, Taylor!”

Taylor made a mumble and continued to stare out the window of the van.

“I thought you were better than this! What happened to the kind boy that left the orphanage this morning?” Deborah continued to talk some kind of sense into Taylor, but it was like it was going in one ear and out the other.

“He got stronger...” Taylor muttered under his breath.

“What?”

“Never mind...”

Deborah sighed and continued to focus on driving. Taylor could still remember the stinging words that the principal had told him when he and Joe were sent to the office. “We don't need animals like you in the school! Control yourself or face being expelled.”

He knew it was directed at the both of them, but Taylor couldn't shake off the feeling that it was mainly focused on him. He was an animal.

It explained the wings, at least.

Speaking of the wings, when the people had seen the wings they all breathed the word in unison, “Angel.” It was the only explanation they had.

But Taylor was the polar opposite of an angel.

And he couldn't get the nerve to correct the students. So now, everybody assumed he was an angel, and when he returned from his three day suspension that the principal and given Joe and him, he would expect people to either fear him, or bow down at his feet.

And Taylor didn't want neither.

He wanted attention. And it was something he achieved when he lost himself in fifth period.

At least people knew about his wings and he didn't have to hide them anymore, but he vowed to try to not lose control as often.

The bad thing? Deborah still didn't know. And Taylor was afraid to confront her about it. He wanted her to find out by accident, as it had happened with the doctor and the school.

Unfortunately, he had to do it the hard way this time.

“Um... Deborah I... I need to tell you something.” Taylor mumbled.

Now, Taylor trusted Deborah. He trusted her more than he trusted himself. Through this trust he was willing to tell her the whole truth: about him receiving power from Satan, and that he wasn't just an angel, but a fallen angel.

“What is it?” Deborah asked. The tone in her voice signified she was still annoyed about the incident at school.

Taylor hesitated. If she was still mad, he didn't want to possibly anger her anymore.

“Never mind, I'll tell you later.” He said quickly.

Deborah just sighed and nodded.

“By the way, you do have an interview today. God forbid you screw it up.”

Well, if you say God forbids it, then I'll probably screw it up anyway. Taylor thought to himself.

He could have sworn he heard a chuckle from his Hell-bound friend.

The rap of a fist on Taylor's bedroom door awakened him from his nap. It was Deborah.

“It's time for your interview!” She called to him.

Taylor jumped out of bed, anxious and hoping these people would be the best fit for him. He hadn't had an interview in ages, so he would probably be a bit rusty.

He fixed his hair and made sure he looked at least half-decent. He told Satan he would be at an interview, so it was best to not interrupt him with anything. There was a pause before Satan had said a good luck to him, which Taylor found a bit odd. He shrugged and went downstairs to the interview room.

Once he got there, Deborah gave him one last hug and led him into the room.

Sitting at a small wooden table, there was a man and a women, and they happily gave Taylor a friendly smile. He made a tiny uplift in his lips back at them, and Deborah introduced him to the people.

“Mike, Cassandra, this is Taylor Duncan.”

“Hi.” Taylor said. He didn't add a lot of emphasis in his greeting, but he was excited nevertheless. Butterflies flitted in his stomach and tickled the insides, trying to push out and be released.

Calm down... He told himself and took a deep breath.

Deborah handed him a manila folder that held his report cards and test grades. He didn't have anything else to show his interviewers, and it was mainly his grades that he tried to impress them with.

He sat down at the table and faced the couple. He noticed they both had graying brown hair, with the wife's hair being a bit darker in color. Mike seemed to wear a friendly smile, and Cassandra had her hands folded neatly in her lap, giving Taylor a look of pleasure.

Deborah left the room, but Taylor knew she stayed right outside the door as always to eavesdrop on the conversation and make sure everything went fine.

“Well um... I don't really have much to say about myself except...” Taylor pushed the folder towards them, hands shaking slightly.

Mike seemed to notice his worry and gave a reassuring grin, “You don't have to worry, son. We're not going to hurt you.” His voice had a hint of a country accent, and Taylor wondered if they had moved here from the south.

As they observed his grades, Taylor tried to find some sense of calm inside him, but the butterflies kept screaming at him.

Let me out! Let me out! They shouted and Taylor gritted his teeth and gave a silent demand that they remain quiet.

“Very nice grades!” Mike exclaimed and gave Taylor a thumbs-up.

“Th-thank you!” Taylor stammered.

“What do you want to be when you grow up?” Cassandra asked. Her voice was very cheery and higher pitched than most women Taylor had met.

“A lawyer.” Taylor replied and smiled a tad.

Mike put the grades back in the folder and commented, “I'm sure you'll get there someday.”

Taylor smiled a bit more and Mike started to ask him questions.

“So, do you play any sports?”

“No... I just do good in school. I never had an interest in athletic activities.”

“What about your hobbies?”

“I like reading, I read all the time if necessary.”

Mike nodded and Cassandra spoke up this time, “Well, I guess you want to know about us. We used to live in Florida and decided to move up here just recently. I really wanted a child, but of course I was too old, so we decided to try for adoption. We're a Christian family, so do expect to go to church every Sunday if the decision is made.”

The instance the woman had said “Christian”, it put Taylor on edge. He didn't know why, it just irritated him. The first reaction was like the woman was an annoying bug he needed to swat at, but then it turned to an irritation as if there was a huge itch Taylor couldn't scratch.

Mike went on, “I'm a businessman, and I do good business up here at an accounting company. My job was why we had to move up here.”

“It was hard for us to move from our humble town in Florida. We had lived there for over twenty years so it was hard to let go of our good friends there.” Cassandra piped up.

Taylor was barely listening as the irritation continued to grow and grow.

“So, did you always live here o-” Mike was interrupted as Taylor bumped the table with his knee when he fidgeted restlessly.

“You OK?” Mike asked, noticing Taylor's fidget.

“I'm fine, it's just an itch.” Taylor lied, the butterflies in his stomach stopped tickling and fell asleep, replacing the anxiety with an irritating hatred for something Taylor didn't understand.

“Alright. Well, as I was saying, have you always lived here or...?”

“No, I've lived at this orphanage since before I could even walk or talk.” Taylor said.

“Oh, really? Wow. I would hate having to be your age and still be here. It must be terrible.” Said Cassandra, a hint of pity in her voice.

“Yeah... I get bullied a lot at the school I go to... I actually... Got in a fight today.” He then pointed to the bandage that crossed the bridge of his nose.

“You didn't start it, I hope?” Said Mike, looking a little surprised.

“No! It was started by some other guy and his buddies.” Taylor said, throwing his hands up in the air a bit.

Mike narrowed his eyes and then nodded. Taylor immediately doubted telling them about the fight. Hopefully it wouldn't ruin the possibility of him getting adopted. He liked these people, as he always did with the people that interviewed him.

Well, he liked a lot about them except...

There it went again, that same nagging irritation. Taylor was starting to get a little pissed off. What was throwing him this way?

“That's good, I bet those boys were punished, righ-”

Taylor abruptly stood up from his chair, about to scream at himself for being so irritated, and he remembered he was in the middle of an interview, and that would be extremely stupid.

“Is something the matter?” Mike said, looking at Taylor with a very puzzled expression.

“... I need to go to the restroom.” He bluntly excused and hurried out the door.

“What, Taylor what happ-” Deborah asked him as Taylor suddenly rushed out of the room.

But Taylor was gone upstairs in a flash and Deborah was left to finish her sentence at nobody. Shrugging, she walked in the room to ask the couple questions about the interview.

Taylor slammed the door to the bathroom and began washing his face with cold water from the sink. He turned the water off and watched it drain. He was panting slightly and as the irritation wore off, he dried his face and looked at himself in the mirror.

The monster was staring right at him, the expression of puzzlement, anxiety, and a slight anger was read on his ghastly face.

“... Why...” He blurted out at himself. Then, feeling like an idiot for rushing out in the middle of an interview, he dug his head in his hands and mumbled, “I'm so stupid...”

“That was a close one.” He heard a familiar voice rumbled in his ear.

“What?” He asked aloud to Satan.

“I should mention I hate anybody who worships... Him...”

“Oh...” It all made sense now. Taylor was irritated because Satan was irritated from the fact that the woman was a Christian.

In short, Taylor felt like screaming at Satan now for screwing up his interview and the possibility of him getting adopted but then Satan objected him.

“You don't want a family anyway... Sometimes people are best to just ignore and not trust. Trust only yourself and the ones that have proven their loyalty. And always be aware for a sense of betrayal. Don't ever let trust turn into obsession; always watch and listen and be alert for any sign of danger, and feel free to lash out if you encounter it.”

Taylor nodded and began to understand Satan's words though. He really didn't need a family... He had Satan now so, he shouldn't label himself as completely alone.

Right?

Even so, there still remained an emptiness in his heart.

That night, Deborah returned to Taylor's room and said that the couple had refused to adopt Taylor. He expected this and pretended to be sad.

“Don't give up though, I'm sure someone perfect for you will turn up eventually.” Deborah said hopefully. She then started to walk out, but Taylor stopped her.

“What is it, Taylor?”

“I... Need to tell you something.” Taylor started up. He took in a deep breath and tried to calm himself for what he was about to say.

“Yes?”

“On Saturday... I didn't really get beaten up and some thugs dyed my hair.”

Deborah didn't seem at all surprised, “I knew it; you had no bruises to back up your lie anyway.”

“Yeah um... I don't know if you'll be able to believe this or not but... On that day I was walking down the street and I heard something strange in an alleyway. I went in there and nothing seemed out of the ordinary until... These trash bags burst into flame and gave some sort of ghostly illusion that showed scenes of terror and horror.

“Anyway, it began to speak and... It really was... The devil and he told me he wanted to... Give me his power as he had watched me all my life and felt... Pity for me, I guess. I... Agreed and well... I possess his power now...”

He looked at Deborah. At first, she didn't have any expression, but then when she put it all together in her mind, she began to look terribly shocked. Her mouth and eyes were wide open.

“... What?” She said, dumbfounded.

“I know you probably don't believe me but... Here, come with me. I'll show you.”

He took Deborah by the hand and led her into the bathroom.

“Look at my reflection.” He told her and she did. Now she looked close to fainting.

“Taylor I...” She started, then stopped. She started again, “But... Why on Earth would you want the devil's powers?”

Taylor took a deep breath again, “Because I wanted to be stronger!” He shouted. “I... I... Didn't want to be weak, or be alone... Satan promised me he would be my friend... I just didn't want to be alone anymore... I wanted to... to...” Taylor's voice teetered off and he stopped talking.

Deborah urged him to continue, and swallowing his remorse, he said, “... Like myself...”

“Oh Taylor...” Deborah sighed, she then reached out and put a hand on his shoulder, “You know that everybody here likes you and enjoys your company. You aren't alone.”

Instead of feeling relieved and happy, Taylor instead felt more miserable then he had been.

“Stop it.” He said with emphasis.

“What?”

Taylor then shrugged Deborah's hands off and faced her, anger getting a hold of him, “Stop giving me your senseless pity party! The last thing I need is someone slaving over me like some sick child. I do not deserve what you guys give me, and I feel like some spoiled brat. I know your feelings. I know you all can't stand me. So shut up, and just...” He ended his sentence off with a growl and pushed past Deborah and to his room.

“Wait, Taylor!” Deborah called after him and caught up with him, trying to stop him again.

“Go away! You'll never understand!” Taylor yelled at her behind his back. He then loudly slammed the door to his bedroom shut, locked it, and practically face-planted into his bed, smothering his head with a pillow.

Deborah knocked on his door and called his name, but he ignored her. She gave up and he heard her walking back down the stairs. Taylor realized he just yelled at someone he cared a lot about and wondered if he should go back down and apologize. But, he was still angry and agitated and decided he needed to cool down before asking for forgiveness.

Sighing, he laid in his bed for what seemed like forever and gradually fell asleep.

The days Taylor was suspended from school was spent in bed and not wanting to get up except to eat and go to the bathroom. In all honesty, he felt terrible. He had screwed up the interview and probably hurt Deborah's feelings. He noticed when he went down to the dining hall that she ignored him most of the time.

Eventually, though, on the last day of suspension, Taylor had apologized for his actions and she had laughed and said she wasn't hurt, but surprised. Then she told him that the power secret would remain with her and she wouldn't tell anybody. She also said she didn't mind, as long as Taylor didn't hurt someone outright offensively. She expected him to use his power defensively.

On the morning of the first day back, Taylor could feel a sense of dread welling up inside him. Now he would find out if the students were afraid of him, or simply in awe of him.

He walked casually to school and when he entered the hallway and got to his lockers, he noticed behind him that two girls were whispering quietly to each other. He looked at them and they noticed him glancing at them and they quickly glanced back, only to continue muttering with each other afterwards.

Taylor shrugged and put his stuff he didn't need in his locker, heading towards his classroom.

First period wasn't as bad as Taylor had thought. He answered all the questions Mrs. Huzzon asked him with dignity and never hesitated to do so. It was also noticeable that the students didn't jeer at him like they usually did, now they just seemed to give him an admiring stare and some even clapped when he finished explaining something.

Maybe... Taylor thought, this is the start of new friendships...

When second period, French, rolled around, Taylor began to get anxious. He shared this class with Joe and Joe sat right behind him. It wasn't uncommon for Joe to stick “kick me” signs on his back and have the rest of the kids laugh at his motives.

But today, when Joe walked in, he seemed to give a little jolt as he saw Taylor sitting at his desk. Joe still wore the bandages he had received from the nurse from the fight he and Taylor had, but he was OK nonetheless.

He scurried up to the teacher and whispered quietly to her. Taylor sat close to the teacher's desk and overheard their conversation.

“Um... Can I move to another seat...?” Joe mumbled, stammering a bit. He glanced at Taylor who did so.

The teacher, Ms. Leia, looked at Taylor and nodded, “Yes, you can. Go sit behind Adrian.”

Joe thanked her and walked past Taylor's desk to where Adrian sit in the back.

As he passed, Taylor tried to stop him and apologize for his actions.

He reached out a hand to touch Joe's arm, “Hey, man, I'm sorry for what happ-”

Joe swatted it away and shouted in Taylor's face, “Don't touch me, freak!” He then hurried off towards the back and Ms. Leia just shook her head at Joe's actions.

Taylor dropped his arm and faced the front, the hope he had of making new friends faltering under Joe's words.

As sixth period wandered on by, the English teacher in Taylor's class had assigned a reading day where all the kids would go outside to the high school courtyard and read. There, in the courtyard, were pretty olive trees that the kids enjoyed sitting under and reading their books. The trees were especially popular in the hot Summer months and sometimes you had to wrestle a person to get under one.

Taylor and the rest of his class walked outside in a line and settled down under the swaying olive trees.

Feeling relaxed and at ease, Taylor opened his library book and began to read silently to himself.

He was being dragged into the book's plot and couldn't stop reading until suddenly a chirp right beside him alarmed him.

Taylor almost dropped his book in surprise and looked up around him and spotted a tiny white dove on the grass, looking right at him. Taylor at first was intrigued. Generally, the doves around here were the regular mourning doves or collared doves. Most of the time, it was pigeons that held roost in the branches, but this bird was special. He had never seen a fully white dove before in Manhattan.

“Hey.” He said. He expected the bird to get frightened and fly off, but it stayed put. Maybe it was so used to humans around it, it had gotten tame to them.

The dove waddled towards him on tiny, gray legs. It stopped at times to look Taylor over and started towards him again.

Taylor didn't move an inch, and instead allowed the dove to walk around and explore him. Finally, he held out a hand. He knew the dove would get startled and fly off, but shock fell over him as the dove actually came up to inspect it's hand. It seemed as tame as any pet dog Taylor knew.

The dove came closer to Taylor's outstretched hand. It halted right at the end of his middle finger, and after a long pause, it decided to climb up on his palm.

But the minute it placed it's delicate clawed feet on Taylor's hand, it suddenly burst into flame.

Taylor had barely time to shout that a wild dove was on fire, when the flames dispersed and all that was left was ashes.

He stared at the ashes, immobilized by shock. Taylor gave a slight whimper from his throat. He just made a living thing burst into flame and disintegrate into nothing.

Before he could get his mind off of it and get back to reading, a voice from somewhere called in his mind. It wasn't Satan's or anyone he knew. In fact, it was the same as the voice he had heard in his dream he had when Satan had given him power.

“Taylor Duncan, who do you really trust? Are you sure the one that said to trust no one, trusted you?”

Taylor instantly knew what the voice was talking about and shouted back at it through his thoughts, You don't understand! Satan spoke the truth! I know he did!

“Fool...” The voice whispered and it vanished as soon as it appeared.

Taylor, dumbfounded, looked at the ash again. There now lay a single white feather from the dove's wing.

He realized that it was slowly turning black.

It was the end of the period and people brushed past Taylor to get out of the school and go home. Taylor too, was in a rush to get out. He was deeply disturbed by the dove bursting into flame and the feather changing to a black color. He was also disturbed by the voice; who was it? Why did it talk to him? How did it know Taylor's name? What did it mean?

He pushed and shoved people out of the way. They cursed at him but he ignored them. He was furious and wanted to know answers right away. Taylor didn't like lingering questions.

And Taylor remained furious until he saw her.

an illegible mess. · Jan 30, 2012

*dies* i'm done with chapter six. that took FOREVER.

chapter six; the girl

She stood a few feet away, putting her algebra book in her backpack in a locker that she owned. Her silky black hair was cut in a rounded short fashion and made her already round face look plumper and fuller. Her mouth was pasted into a calm and content smile that matched nicely with her casual outfit of a plan white tee and bootleg jeans. Her eyes were the deepest shade of violet and her indigo eyeshadow made her irises really stand out amongst her pale white face.

Taylor was starstruck by the mere sight of her and found his feet were walking straight towards her path.

He had to know her name. There was something about her that intrigued Taylor; not just her stunning beauty but something more... Something Taylor wanted to find out and understand.

She saw him coming up and tilted her head.

“Hi...” He mumbled, as he shambled up to her.

“Um, hi?” She answered back, not a clue as to why Taylor was talking to her.

“I saw you from afar and...” Taylor trailed off.

“Yes...?”

“Um, you look like you needed help with some of your books so I decided to come over and aid you with them...” Taylor blurted. He didn't know what to say to her.

Yes, he had initially wanted to say she was pretty, but he had never done stuff like this before and was horrible at trying.

“Oh, no I'm fine! But thanks for asking.” She replied with a soft laugh that sent sparks up in Taylor's stomach.

She then began to walk away, but Taylor called out a signal to stop and she turned around to face him again.

“I... Want to know your name. My name is Taylor, yours?”

Before the girl could reply, Taylor's ears had focused on another group of girls who were laughing as they chatted together. Taylor ended up overhearing what they were talking about.

“Look at that weirdo Natalie over there, talking to that bum of a boy known as Taylor!” Laughter followed the unknown girl's outburst.

“I wonder if they'll fall in love, I mean, they're just like each other. All weird and they think they're so smart.” Another girl chimed in.

Taylor whirled up on the girls across the hall. Forgetting the girl he had seen, which he presumed was Natalie, he stomped towards the girls.

“Excuse me...” He growled as he approached the girls.

“Oh, what do you want? Did you hear me complaining about you? Funny because I was being serious. You and Natalie share a lot in common; you guys both are smartasses and are so weird and awkward. Do you really think you belong in this school? I would love it if you two both leaved.” Said the same girl that started the chat.

At that point, Taylor had lost control. Not only had she insulted him, but someone he had begun to care about. His wings unfolded and he almost launched himself at the girls, but instead hissed a few words of anger.

“You may insult me because I have the power to defend myself... But don't ever drag innocent people into the picture!”

Most of the girls backed a few ways away when Taylor showed his wings, but the girl who had started it stood her ground.

“Innocent? Ha! Angel boy, I can tell you wouldn't dream of hurting a poor girl such as myself, would you?”

“Watch me.” Taylor said, and he smiled wryly. He could feel his fists balling up and felt as if his true form would show itself.

But it never did, as Natalie and stepped herself in between the arguing students.

“Stop it! This isn't a civil way to settle our differences. We should try to make up. I... I don't care what anyone says about me, so keep talking shit if you want. I just don't want anyone getting hurt.” She exclaimed, looking back to Taylor, and then to the girl, then Taylor again.

Taylor blinked and backed off a bit. He did still keep a wary eye on the girl though and through his intense stare, he could feel tension crackle like lightning in the air.

“Go away, Ashley.” Said a voice from behind Natalie.

A girl came up beside Natalie, her face screwed up in a serious frown at Ashley.

“Sarah! Looks like Natalie's bitch came to help her out as usual.”

Sarah rolled her large sky blue eyes at Ashley and put a hand on Natalie's shoulder, “I am not her bitch, just protecting her from whores like you.”

Ashley opened her mouth to say something, but shut it again and walked off, her girlfriends following her to the school's doors.

“Sorry about Ashley. She's a bitch. Don't listen to her.” Sarah said to Taylor.

She whipped her straight and neat chocolate brown hair once over her shoulder and looked Taylor up and down before walking towards the door.

“Meet you outside, Natalie!” She called, then stopped, and turned towards Taylor.

A pause, then, “You know, you're pretty cute.”

With that, she walked out the school doors and they slammed shut, leaving Natalie and Taylor alone in the hallway.

Natalie looked at Taylor, “That was Sarah. She's been a friend of mine since elementary school and... I've admired her ever since. She's always so strong and cares a lot about me. I wish I was her... I feel like more of a burden on her back than a friend.” She bowed her head before glancing up at Taylor again.

“You... You're strong too. I've never known someone besides Sarah to stand up for me like that. Maybe you really are an angel.”

Taylor smiled and sighed at the same time, “I'm much more than that.”

“Um...” Natalie started, reaching into her purse that was around her arm, “Here's my number if you want it. Call or text me if you want to talk to me.”

Natalie then handed Taylor a piece of paper with her number on it. She waved a good-bye and walked out the door to meet up with Sarah.

Taylor stood there, too stunned to speak. He looked at the number in his hands and whipped out his cellphone, adding it as one of his contacts.

Then he ran out of the school doors, past the crowds of kids and right to the orphanage.

Rushing into the orphanage, he literally hugged the floor and began to kiss it and cry in happiness.

“Um... Taylor?” Deborah asked as she came up behind him, “Everything OK?”

Taylor got up off the ground and shook himself before flashing the piece of paper with Natalie's number written in black ink.

“I got a girl's number. For the first time. Ever.” Taylor panted, holding the paper close to his heart and making a longing sigh.

Deborah blinked and put a hand on Taylor's shoulder, “It would be best to congratulate you if I was a guy, but unfortunately... Now we have to have 'the talk'”

Taylor's smug look disappeared and he began to blush, “Oh God.”

Taylor's face twitched into a kind of disgusted and frustrated twinge of disapproval as Deborah finished her speech.

The two were talking in an empty interview room for about half an hour, and Taylor wanted to just slap Deborah and run off.

“... And that's why you should never allow a girl in your bedroom.” Deborah finished, “Any questions?”

Taylor stood up from his seat, “What the hell, Deborah!? I was taught about human health and body systems in seventh grade; do you think I don't know about this kind of stuff after that project I had to do that one day?

“I spent hours slaving over that thing. I had to look through all sorts of pictures and draw what I saw. My innocence was lost on that day; don't you remember me waking up the morning after the project and saying how my eyeballs were burned?”

Deborah blinked then said, “Oh... I remember that now. Sorry for uh... Disturbing you, again?”

Taylor face-palmed.

The weekend arrived and on Saturday, Taylor lay in thought. He spoke with Satan about the girl and Satan seemed... Jealous? He didn't really know the tone that Satan spoke in, but he did sound angry and annoyed. Taylor didn't understand why.

“I'm going to call Natalie.” Taylor said aloud after the connection between Satan and him was broken.

He picked up his cellphone and scanned through his contacts, calling the number that was Natalie's.

“Hello?” Said a tentative voice across the line that belonged to Natalie.

“Natalie? Hey, it's me, Taylor. Remember?”

“Oh, Taylor. I thought so. So, what's going on?”

“Nothing much... I just wanted to ask you something.” Taylor could feel sweat running down his forehead and his hands shook. This was the first time he would ever say the following words to a girl.

“Well, what is it?” Natalie replied.

“I... Do... Do you want to hang out or something?” Taylor stammered.

A pause, then, “Oh, sure. I have some free time. Where do you want to go?”

Taylor felt like he could faint from happiness, “Oh, um, the park is fine.” He replied hesitantly.

“Alright. Do you want me to pick you up or should I meet you there?”

“I'll come get you.”

“OK. See you in... A few hours, I guess?”

“Sounds great. See you then.” Taylor then hung up the phone, his heart hammering and butterflies sprouting up in his stomach.

Still excited about his day, he quickly took a shower and got dressed for his day out with Natalie.

“It's totally a date.”

“It is not! We're just friends.”

Sarah laughed her high-pitched and girlie giggle, “Sure you are. C'mon, I know love at first sight when I see it. You should have seen Taylor's face when he saw you! It totally read 'insta-boner.'”

Natalie sighed, “No matter what you say, we're just friends. And we're never going to be together.”

Sarah made a smirk, “You say that now... I said the same thing about Nick and I, and look what happened?”

“True...” Natalie whispered as she looked for an outfit to wear for the walk with Taylor.

Sarah was getting her make-up on, readying for another date with Nick at the movies that night, “I know you two will warm up eventually. Taylor does share some similarities with you.”

Natalie just nodded, “I'm not counting on it though...”

“Hey, come on, he'll be your first boyfriend if you two decide to go the extra mile.” Sarah replied with a wink.

“I know...” Natalie mumbled, “Also...”

“Hmmm?”

“I was thinking about it last night. What am I going to do when you leave for college next year? I'm a freshman and you're a senior. I'll never get to see you again.”

Sarah made a tiny laugh, “Silly Natalie! It's simple: I won't go to college until you get enrolled.”

Natalie blinked in surprise, “Really? You'd do that... For me?”

“Of course!”

“Thank you...” Natalie breathed.

Sarah put up her make-up bag and fluffed up her brown hair. She then walked out the door of Natalie's bathroom.

“Thanks for letting me stay the night, by the way. Oh, and I'll be back by around ten in the evening. Call me if you need anything.” With that, she disappeared behind the door and Natalie was left to stand there, wondering if Taylor liked her at all.

Taylor came by Natalie's house that she sent texted the address to for him. He knocked on her door and her head popped out. Seeing Taylor, she stepped out and the two walked silently towards the park.

As they walked along the sidewalk, a car rolled up onto the road and there sat Sarah in the driver's seat, waving towards Natalie. She waved back and watched the car disappear.

“She can drive?” Taylor asked, puzzled.

“Yeah, she's a senior. Older than us. I'm kind of scared for next year because she won't be with me... I think she's going to fail this year on purpose just so she can still be around.” Natalie explained.

“Really? Wow, she's devoted to you.”

“But... I want her to move on. I don't want her to stay behind and miss the chance of making a future.”

Taylor nodded, “I see.”

They continued to walk to the park without speaking. Eventually they arrived and they both sat on a park bench.

“So um... Do you have any hobbies?” Taylor asked, trying to spark up a conversation.

“I like make-up, but I'm more interested in drawing.”

Taylor nodded, “That's cool, I should some of your drawings sometime.”

“I actually have some in my phone, would you like to see?”

“Sure.”

Natalie took out her phone and scrolled through her pictures. She showed some pictures of her artwork to Taylor. Most of them consisted of portraits of Sarah or herself. She also had some still life paintings and sketches, all of which were amazing to Taylor.

“Wow, I could never draw that good. You have natural talent there.”

Natalie blushed, “Oh, it's nothing really.”

Taylor shook his head, “I can't do anything like that. I tried getting into piano but I ended up going nowhere with it. You're awesome, though. The only good thing I have is my brain I guess.”

Natalie nodded, “I heard from a teacher you wanted to be a lawyer. Judging by your grades, I guess you could get into Harvard and study law there.”

Taylor made an exasperated sigh, “Oh no, I'm not that smart. There are a lot of things that confuse me.”

“Like what?”

“Um...”

Natalie laughed, “See, you are smart! Don't doubt yourself when you know you have a bright future ahead of you.”

“I guess that's one thing I never really figured out.” Taylor said.

Natalie smiled, “Well, you know it now.”

“Apparently so.”

The two continued to stare in front of them, watching the cars as they drove past.

“So, you've known Sarah since elementary?”

“Yeah. She's always been there for me.”

“That's nice. I wish I had a friend like that... I've never really had friends besides maybe you.” And Satan Taylor added mentally.

Speaking of Satan, he began to remember what he had said about trusting people. He should never trust strangers and people he had just met.

Taylor stole a glance at Natalie and realized how stupid he was being. He could trust her. She was a good person.

The two continued to talk all throughout the afternoon, making jokes and talking about their daily lives. Natalie was curious about how the orphanage worked and Taylor was glad to explain everything to her.

Finally the day began to break and evening approached. Taylor and Natalie walked back to her house and they said their farewells. Natalie said she would be willing to spend the next few days of the long weekend off that they had, with Taylor. Taylor was more than happy to accept and when he walked back to the orphanage he knew that this meant friendship.

But he wanted more than just a friendship.

Down below was restless. Satan clawed at the stone ground, making scratch marks and the noise echoed inside the hollow chamber.

“Will you cut that out?” Judas moaned, covering his paws over his ears.

“Shut the fuck up! I'm frustrated!” Satan roared behind him and continued to grind at the floor.

“What seems to be the problem, master?” Cassius said, sitting besides Judas.

“The boy is the problem. He is in love with that damn bitch. I can feel it. It's not what I want; this wasn't supposed to happen.” Satan ended his sentence with low growls and curses at Taylor.

Cassius and Judas looked at each other, and suddenly Brutus popped up behind them and burst out singing.

“Satan and Taylor sitting in a tree! K-I-S-S-”

There was a roar from Satan and he turned around facing the Three Betrayers. They cowered in fear as his anger built up.

“I... Am... Not... Jealous!” He screamed and the cavern began to shake from the massive sound waves that were coming off from his voice.

“Don't... Change into your true form... Calm down master...” Cassius stammered.

Satan faced him as the last echoes of his voice faded off, “You were lucky this time...” He muttered and he sat back down, scratching at the floor as he had done earlier.

On Tuesday, the last day of the long weekend, Taylor decided to have lunch with Natalie at the sandwich shop around the corner.

The “date” was not what was troubling Taylor, who had worry flaring up in his stomach. He was worried about Satan. The whole weekend he had ignored Taylor and when he tried to call out to Satan he was always ignored.

He isn't... Jealous of Natalie and I's friendship, is he? Taylor thought.

Confused and frustrated, Taylor got ready and left the orphanage, texting Natalie to tell her he was on his way.

At the sandwich shop, Taylor and Natalie chatted about how their weekend had gone.

“It would have been boring if I hadn't hung out with you!” Taylor said and Natalie smiled.

“Same here.” She replied.

“Remember that movie we went to see yesterday? That was hilarious!”

“I loved the part where the guy fell in the pool.”

They both laughed as they remembered that scene from the movie. Afterwards, their food came and they ate silently, talking occasionally.

“Sarah's been silent recently.” Natalie suddenly said when she finished her sandwich.

“Oh yeah? Why?”

“I don't know... I guess she's jealous that I've been hanging out with you more often.”

“Oh... That's silly. I think she should understand.”

“Yeah...”

There was a sudden beep from Natalie's phone and she picked it up. It was a text from somebody, apparently.

Immediately, Natalie's face grew dark in terror. She grabbed her purse and stood up abruptly.

“Thanks for the meal but... Something happened and I have to be there. Sorry...” Natalie then ran out of the shop.

After paying for the meal, Taylor walked out. He wondered if Natalie was OK, and that whatever happened didn't deal with her family.

Suddenly, Taylor could feel his phone vibrate in his jeans pocket and he grabbed it. It was a text from Natalie. He opened it and it read,

“Come here.”

“Where are you?” Taylor texted back. He continued to walk along the sidewalk when another reply from Natalie stopped him in his tracks.

The responding text read, “At the hospital. The one nearest your orphanage. Please come now and don't ask what happened.”

Taylor blinked and could feel a sense of anxiety welling up at him. The hospital? Maybe one of her family members did get into something bad.

Hurriedly, he started to run towards the hospital a few blocks away from his orphanage, scared for whatever happened.

Natalie was in the waiting room near the E.R. Taylor sat by her and realized she was crying. Her hands were cupped over her face and she sobbed quietly.

Hesitantly, Taylor reached out a hand and placed it on her shoulder in reassurance. She looked up and realized it was him.

“What happened?” He asked.

“It's Sarah... I... Got a text from her boyfriend saying that... Her parents were drunk and they were driving her somewhere and... They got into an accident.”

“Is she OK?”

“I... Don't know...” Natalie whimpered and continued to cry in the palms of her hands.

Feeling sorry and not knowing what to do otherwise, Taylor leaned over and hugged Natalie. Surprisingly, she didn't draw away and a strange feeling crept into Taylor.

Realization fell over him. He loved her, he really did. He wanted more than to be just a friend to her. Holding back his tendency to talk about this with her at that moment, he said something else, “I bet she's going to be just fine. The doctors here will take good care of her.”

A few hours passed in the waiting room. Natalie had eventually stopped crying and the two weren't hugging anymore. However, she did stay close to Taylor. Even when he got up to get a drink from the vending machine, she trailed beside him, careful not to be lead astray.

Finally, a nurse walked into the waiting room and beckoned Natalie over. Taylor followed her as she walked to the nurse.

“Is Sarah...?”

The nurse did not answer at first and sighed.

“Please tell me...” Natalie whispered.

“Her mother and father are fine but...”

“What's wrong with her?”

“Mrs. Natalie Parkinson...”

“Yes...?”

“Sarah's dead.”

OHHH PLOT TWISTER DUNDUNDUN.

ok whatever i'm lame at cliffhangers jadnskdmaskda.

Legacy · Jan 30, 2012

This is very good. I like Taylor, Sarah and Deb as characters, as I think you do a very good job at fleshing out their personalities and voices as unique. That is my favorite part of your story I think. I'm not very good at making supporting characters personable and deep, but that is something that you are obviously very good at

Anyways, keep up the good work!

an illegible mess. · Feb 4, 2012

thanks again, legacy! :3

for those who don't know yet, i'm going to be updating this on weekends when i have time to write. so you may have to wait a little while for the next chapter!

chapter seven; the city lights

Sarah could have easily been mistaken for being asleep, as she lay on a hospital cot, eyes closed and a serene expression on her face.

Natalie was at her side, head in her hands and her shoulders being racked from the oncoming storm of sobs that escaped her.

Taylor was speechless; was the dead girl on the bed really the full of life girl he had met a few days ago at school? He had just met her, but then she died. Strange how things like that happen.

The nurse had left the two alone in the room to mourn. Taylor only had to take one step before Natalie whirled around.

“You're an angel, right? Could... Could you revive her? Please! If you can, I beg of you! Bring her back!” Natalie pleaded, her hands cupped together as if in prayer.

Taylor stared back and then he shook his head, “I'm sorry Natalie... I can't.” Taylor was more shocked of the fact that Natalie still labeled him as an “angel” but then again, he hadn't shown his true form ever in front of her.

He didn't like the fact that he had to lie to his whole school and friends that he was angel when he was the complete opposite. He had to somehow tell the truth; he never liked dishonesty.

“I don't care if it's not supposed to be seen by the human eye or whatever, I just want you to revive her! I can-”

“Listen to me! I can't do it! I don't possess that power. At least, I never really found out, but I'm sure I don't have it, so don't ask me to try. Just...” Taylor broke off as he saw the expression of deep anguish painted on Natalie's face.

“S-sorry...” He stammered and looked down.

“It's not your fault... I just... I can't lose Sarah... She was my only friend... We promised we would never lose our ways and part... This is stupid.” Natalie said and turned around to look at Sarah again.

“I should go and... Text her boyfriend about this. I don't know if he already knows-”

The door burst open and a tall boy about Sarah's age rushed in, nearly knocking Natalie to the ground as he shoved her out of the way.

“Sarah!” He cried as he got to her bed and stared at her cold, dead face, tears falling from his chocolate brown eyes.

He flashed a glance at Natalie and screwed his face up in anger, “How could you let this happen!?”

“What? Me? You should be mad at the doctor's and nurses, not me!”

Sarah's boyfriend (Taylor had presumed this was him) sighed, his fists releasing from their clench, “I know, I'm sorry... I'm just angry... But more importantly,” He turned and faced Taylor.

“Who the hell are you and why are you here?”

“I'm a friend of Natalie's. I came here when she did.”

Nick narrowed his eyes and looked back upon Sarah, “You two can go now... I just want to be left alone with her right now.”

Natalie and Taylor looked at each other and just left Nick alone to mope over Sarah's dead body.

The days passed quickly. Even after the death of Sarah, Taylor still had to go to school. Although, for the three days they had that week, Natalie was not present in school. Sarah's funeral would be held Friday at six p.m and Taylor had been invited for being a friend of Natalie's.

As Taylor was getting dressed in a nice suit and tie for the funeral, Satan popped into his head.

“You look nice. Where are you going?” Satan asked.

“Funeral. It's for Natalie's friend, Sarah.”

“I see... Ugh, that means church visits. I'm not the best in there.”

“Well, try not to act out while I'm there. Whenever you get angry I get angry and I don't want to look like some weirdo.”

Satan just sighed and the link was broken. Taylor didn't know what was up with Satan; he seemed very peeved about something. Not just the church visit, but something else.

Taylor decided he would talk to Satan after the funeral and find out what was up.

Taylor sat down in the pew where Natalie was. Nick, Sarah's boyfriend, sat beside her, his hands clasped together and his head down.

Deborah had come along with Taylor even if she didn't fully know Natalie or Sarah. She just knew Natalie was a friend of Taylor's. Taylor had never brought Natalie over to the orphanage nor had she ever came over.

The casket that held Sarah's corpse was placed at the front of the church. Bouquet's of flowers and lit candles were placed around the casket with pictures of her as a little girl beside them. Taylor had brought some flowers himself and had already placed them near the casket. He guessed Natalie and Nick had already done the same.

The procession started and the priest that addressed the funeral said some excerpts from the Bible. Nick had a turn to talk about Sarah before he was too choked with emotion to continue talking. Natalie tried to stand and talk but started crying before she even opened her mouth and had to sit back down again.

Sarah's parents also took a turn to talk and they too wept while they did.

At the end, Sarah's casket was brought out to the cemetery behind the church and was buried in a row of graves. She had her own gravestone with her name written upon it and the words “a beloved daughter and friend” under the R.I.P and name.

Taylor and the rest had all followed after the casket and they wept beside the grave and littered flower petals around it.

The crowd dispersed and all that was left was Taylor, Deborah, Nick, and Natalie. Both Natalie and Nick were knelt on the ground, eyes streaming tears. Nick had his hand on Sarah's name and he stroked it occasionally is if it were Sarah's own hair.

“Taylor, we need to go back home.” Deborah said. He looked behind at her.

“No. You go on and I'll stay here until Natalie has to go. I need to escort her home. Her parents already left.”

Deborah paused for a minute, but nodded in understanding and walked off towards the van that brought them here.

After she was gone, Taylor got in between Nick and Natalie and knelt down on the ground like they did. After a few minutes of listening to Natalie's sobbing, Nick looked at Taylor and he looked back.

“Wait a minute... Aren't you angel boy, from the high school here?”

“Hmmm? So I'm labeled now, eh?” Taylor retorted. He didn't like the name he had been granted.

“Sorry... Anyway... Do... Do you know if Sarah's... Up there?” Nick mumbled, his voice stilled cracked with emotion.

Is she? Taylor asked himself.

“Well I know she's not in my Hell, so I guess she's up there.” Said a familiar voice in the back of Taylor's head.

“Yes... She is.” Taylor replied.

Nick looked up at the ominous gray sky and sighed, “That's good... I hope to be with her soon someday...”

He then abruptly stood up and began to walk away. Taylor stood up as well and called after him, “Hey, Nick, where are you going?”

Nick stopped and without looking back, he replied, “It would have only been a few more years and I would have asked her hand in marriage... It's too late for that now... As for where I'm going? I'm going to see her, so good-bye.”

And that was that, and Nick started walking again. Taylor called after him once more, but Nick ignored him and soon he was swallowed up by the fog that was growing around.

“Don't listen to him. He doesn't have the guts to do it.” Natalie mumbled.

“Do what?” Taylor asked, turning around to face her.

Natalie stood up and looked at him, violet eyes somber, “Kill himself. Why else did you think he said good-bye after wanting to go where Sarah is?”

“Oh...” Taylor breathed.

Natalie just looked back down on the grave and feeling sentimental, Taylor walked towards her and placed a hand on her shoulder. They both stared at the grave for several minutes before Natalie spoke up.

“What's it like?” She asked.

“What's what like?”

“You know, Heaven.”

“Oh... I've never actually been there before.”

Natalie laughed, “Don't hide secrets from me! Come on, you're an angel; one of God's messengers. You have to know what that paradise in the sky looks like.”

Taylor chuckled and shook his head, “I was actually granted this power; I never descended from Heaven.”

“Then who and how granted you those angel powers and wings?”

Taylor smiled and looked at Natalie, “It's a long story.”

For the long and sad day, Natalie managed a smile, “I'd like to hear it someday.”

“Yeah...” Taylor mumbled and looked back at the grave.

A few more silent minutes passed and Natalie then moved away from Taylor's hand.

“I think I should go back home now.” She said as she walked away.

Taylor followed her, “I'll escort you.”

“Thanks...” Natalie mumbled with a tiny smile.

Just as the two were about to exit the gates of the cemetery, a shot of a gun rang out from somewhere near the two.

Natalie's eyes widened, “Oh no...” She whispered and ran back to where the sound came from.

“Wait, Natalie!” Taylor called after her but she continued to run and Taylor had no choice but to follow her.

What was found at the target was not a pretty sight. Nick was sprawled out on the ground, a pool of blood forming underneath his head. His eyes were wide open and glazed and he had a regular pistol in his left hand. A bullet wound was present on the side of his head and blood leaked out of it.

“He's dead. Shot himself. I'm just surprised he has a gun.” Natalie said dully.

Taylor took one look, and feeling frustrated, walked away from the scene.

“Hey, where are you going, Taylor?” Natalie yelled.

“Home. I'm tired of this shit.” Taylor replied, still walking.

It wasn't that Taylor was angry that Nick had killed himself, but the fact that what he had said about Sarah probably forced him to.

And Taylor didn't like it one bit.

On Sunday night, Taylor was kept wide awake. He had forgotten to talk to Satan after the funeral as he was still frustrated over the suicidal attempt by Nick.

He didn't go to the funeral that was held a day after Nick was found. Natalie didn't go either as she wasn't invited and didn't want to go.

But tonight, something was tugging at Taylor's heart. He did really have feelings for Natalie, and the hug they shared that one day in the hospital waiting room was enough to make him fall for her. He wanted to know more about her. He wanted to be with her; despite how he had met her not too long ago.

Taylor's mind was racing so much he couldn't possibly fall asleep. It was midnight already and he had to wake up early for school the next day. He just wanted to be left in his room to sleep, or out on the streets walking and talking to himself.

Taylor sat up and looked out the window at the waning crescent moon in the night sky. He wanted to be free; free with Natalie, and have her accept him for who he was.

He got out of bed and put on some day clothes. He also put on his coat, as even in springtime, the spring nights in Manhattan were generally chilly.

Opening his window, he looked down at the streets before going back into his room and creeping out of his door; tip-toeing downstairs.

As quietly as he could, he opened the front doors of the orphanage and walked out, closing the door behind him.

He then walked down the street, going wherever it led him. Eventually, he found himself at the park where he and Natalie had first hung out at.

And he wasn't the only one here.

There sat Natalie at the same park bench they had both sat at. She was staring at the road in front of her and Taylor quietly walked up to her.

She tensed up at first as she heard his footsteps, but relaxed as she realized it was just him.

“What brings you out here at this time of night?” She asked as Taylor approached.

Taylor made a slight laugh, “I would ask you the same thing.”

Natalie looked up at him, the stars that were reflected in her violet eyes sparkling, “Insomnia. You?”

“Same thing...” He answered.

Without a word, Taylor sat beside Natalie and they both stared at the paved asphalt.

Natalie tilted her head back at stared up at the constellations in the sky.

“The sky is pretty tonight.” She breathed, her breath being painted in cold air around her.

“Yeah...” Taylor said, looking at her, “... But I know something prettier.”

He had blurted the line out without realizing it and when Natalie looked at him in confusion, he turned away to hide his blush and stammered a “Never mind.”

Natalie peered a little closer at him, “Are you alright?”

“I'm fine.” He murmured back.

Natalie's right eyebrow arched up and she looked back up at the sky again.

“Natalie I...” Taylor started, then stopped. He felt so embarrassed and didn't want to know how Natalie would react to his spilled feelings.

That is, if he would ever tell her.

She looked at him and he stared into her eyes. Her gorgeous, violet as the flower the color was named for; eyes.

And he couldn't help himself but to lean in and whisper in her ear, “... I love you.”

Abruptly, Taylor stood up and left the park bench and Natalie behind him. He didn't want to look back. He didn't want to look back and see her possibly disgusted face.

The patter of footsteps behind him told Taylor that she was following him. He forced himself to look back and found not disgust, but sincerity written on her face.

“Taylor!” She yelled as she came up to him and he stopped, looking at her.

Her face was red from blushing and suddenly, she grabbed his hands in hers, “Taylor I... I kind of do have feelings for you, I will admit.”

Taylor's breath caught in his throat, “What?”

“I thought you would hate me if I told you... But I guess not.”

Taylor's mouth turned upwards into a grin, “I would never be disgusted by you.” He then pulled her into a hug.

And they stood there in embrace for what seemed like an hour until Natalie drew back, “You aren't what people say you are, Taylor. I don't think you're a nerd or disgusting, or anything people say about you behind their backs. We share a lot of things in common, you and I, and I think... This could work.”

“You mean it?”

“Of course I do. Taylor, I love you too. Sarah was right all along; we were meant for each other.”

“Natalie...” Taylor breathed, but found himself leaning towards her face. He then planted a light kiss on her plump lips. His first kiss.

A tingle flared up in his stomach and somewhere beyond, a Lord of Hell was screaming in rage at Taylor's feelings. The feelings Satan didn't enjoy.

Love.

Taylor was falling in love.

“Oh, brother...”

Necrozma · Feb 5, 2012

Heh, I read the first three chapters and I'm intrigued. I might edit this post once I read more.

Oh, and Satan is such a good friend. xD

EDIT: Read it all, I'm pretty sure Satan was involved with Sarah and Nick's death. -.-

One thing I find silly is that everyone found it okay that a boy from their high school was a freakin' angel. I mean, one would expect other teens to ... overreact? Not to mention if government found out about it, lol. xD

Anyway, keep it up!

an illegible mess. · Feb 5, 2012

haha, MAYBE. ;D

and i never thought about that xD. stupid me. i should totally make a chapter where the fbi comes and investigates taylor xD. takes him to see the president and stuff. that would be either hilarious or awesome LOL.

thanks!

an illegible mess. · Feb 12, 2012

OHGOD I'M DONE WITH THE EIGHTH CHAPTER.

somebody get me a doctor i think i broke my brain.

/dead.

chapter eight; love and hate

The Three Betrayers cowered as they saw their master pace restlessly around the gloomy cavern he called his lair.

“This is bad... Really bad.” He kept muttering under his breath.

“Sir, what do you think we should do?”

Satan stopped pacing and turned to face Cassius who had spoken out, “Nothing. It's over. That damn bitch has taken him bait. There's nothing I can do to stop the thing between them.”

He sighed and laid down on the cold earth.

Cassius and Judas looked at each other. Their master, the Lord of Hell, was giving up? It seemed hard to believe.

“... Unless we make a diversion.” Cassius suddenly said.

Satan turned to look at him, a familiar light of revenge glinting in his pupil-less eyes, “I'll think of something...”

The first thing that happened when Taylor went back to school was the reaction the rest of the kids had when they saw Natalie and him walk through the front doors of the school holding hands.

“What?” Joe mumbled as he stood beside his crew, “That freakshow has a girlfriend?”

Taylor passed right by him, giving Joe a slight smirk as he did so. Joe looked like he was about to explode.

“Show off...” He hissed at Taylor, and he ushered the rest of his crew to his locker and they began to talk quietly to themselves.

“I have to get to class.” Natalie said as she stopped by her locker.

“OK. I'll see you after school I guess. I have no classes with you, unfortunately.” Taylor replied, letting go of her hand.

The bell rang and everyone began to file into their classrooms. Taylor had already gotten his things for his next class and Natalie quickly dragged some things from her locker.

She hurriedly hugged Taylor and they said their 'love you's' and walked off to class.

As Taylor entered his first period, he noticed Mrs. Huzzon was talking to an unfamiliar boy beside her desk.

New student. Taylor guessed in his mind and sat in his desk.

The late bell rang and everybody quieted down and waited for the teacher to make an announcement. All the students seemed to notice the new kid and wondered who he was.

“Good morning, class! Before we get started, I'd like to introduce our newest student. He's from Great Britain. Please treat him nicely.” Mrs. Huzzon introduced the new kid, and she allowed him to speak for a bit.

“Hello everyone; nice to meet you all. My name is Chris. I hope I can make some new friends here.” Chris spoke with a slight British accent; but it wasn't too heavy.

Taylor made a wave but the other kids didn't move an inch. Taylor didn't understand why people were being so rude; Chris seemed like a nice kid.

Chris noticed his wave and gave a shy wave back before Mrs. Huzzon gave Chris an empty seat beside Taylor.

“Hi, I'm Taylor. I hope you don't mind the other students; people here can be jerks.” Taylor whispered as Chris sat down.

Chris looked at him and made a tiny smile, “Thank you... I didn't have many friends back in London where I used to live so I don't expect to get many here either.”

Taylor grinned, “Consider me a friend. You'll find more friends too if you look hard enough.” He then held out a hand and Chris shook it.

The two then faced the front of the classroom as Mrs. Huzzon began to teach.

During lunch, Taylor saw Natalie and the two sat down together at the cafeteria table eating their food and talking about how their days were going.

“Did you see that new kid, Chris? He's in my first period class and I wondered if you had him in any of yours.”

“Oh yeah. He's that new British kid, right? He's in my third period.”

“He seems like a nice kid. A lot of people in my first period paid little attention to him.”

“Funny, same here. People here can be such jerks, am I right?”

“Yeah...” Taylor mumbled.

He looked around the cafeteria and noticed Chris's class had just come in. Chris carried his own lunch in a brown paper bag and was looking around for a place to sit.

“Chris, over here!” Taylor called.

Chris faced where he heard his voice come from and he beamed as he saw Taylor.

“Hello!” He said as he sat down across from Taylor.

He looked at Natalie, “You're in my third period class, right?”

Natalie nodded.

“So, are you two friends or what?” Chris said, looking from Taylor to Natalie.

“Well, I guess you could say that. We're boyfriend and girlfriend actually.” Taylor said with a slight laugh as he put his arm around Natalie's shoulder.

“Oh.” Chris breathed. Taylor found an air of sadness around Chris as Taylor announced his love for Natalie. It was also present that there was another emotion. Was it... Disappointment? Taylor didn't quite understand.

Suddenly Taylor's class was called to go and he got up and said good-bye to Chris and Natalie. Chris just waved and Natalie stood up and hugged Chris, them both ignoring a shout of “PDA!” from a teacher across the lunchroom.

Taylor then walked off with the rest of his class, Chris's strange reaction still bugging him in the back of his mind.

Should he really trust him?

Satan was still lying down in his chamber, thinking hard.

“I can't lose him... I can't...” He continued to mumble as he stared at nothing.

He heard a psychotic laugh behind him and whirled around to face Brutus who was rolling on the floor laughing. Cassius and Judas just looked at him as if he was crazy (which he was).

“Satan's je-” Brutus's howl was interrupted as a roar escaped Satan's rotten lungs.

“Don't say I'm jealous or I swear on my name I will ban envy as a sin for all eternity!”

At once, Brutus remained silent and whimpered slightly, dragging himself up to hide behind a frozen sculpture of a sinner.

Satan gave him a menacing stare and growl and plopped back down on the ground, looking towards Cassius and Judas.

“Well, since you guys and I are the only ones who aren't either frozen or mentally challenged in this cavern, why don't you make yourselves useful and help me come up with a plan?”

The school day came to a close and Taylor walked among the bustling hallways, looking for Natalie. Finally he spotted her beside her locker and came up to her.

“Hey. Want to go somewhere today?”

Natalie looked at him, “Sure! How about my house? I have a TV in my room where we can watch some movies if you want. I'm sure my parents don't mind.”

Taylor could feel himself blush. His girlfriend's house. In her room. Watching movies. He felt like everything was going too fast.

But a part of him kept saying to not mind and just go with the flow.

“Alright. I just need to call the orphanage to see if it's alright.” Taylor walked off to a quieter spot in the hallway to call the orphanage and tell him where he was going, but someone tapped him on his shoulder and he turned to see Joe looking at him.

“Hey there, buddy. I couldn't help but eavesdrop on your conversation with your girl but... You're going over to her house for a date?” Joe said. Taylor was surprised he was even talking to him after what had happened nearly a week ago.

“Oh, um, yeah. We're going to watch movies in her room-” Joe grabbed Taylor's right hand and slapped something in his palm.

“What...?” Taylor looked down and realized Joe had put several condoms in his hand. Immediately he began to look flustered.

“Wh-what are you hinting at!? We're not gonna...”

Joe laughed and placed a hand on Taylor's shoulder. He had the nerve to touch him now? Was Joe easy to forgive, or what?

“Come on, man. You're practically the only guy here who's a virgin. Lighten up a little; you know you want some.”

“Well... I guess... So...” Taylor mumbled under his breath, blushing.

“I knew it! I'll leave you alone now; go get some, man!” Joe walked past Taylor with a pat on his back and trotted out of the school.

Taylor stood there, flabbergasted, and trying to comprehend what just happened. He looked down at his hand and sighed, gulping a little.

This is it... A voice told him. Time to go get some.

With a huge breather and a whisper of, “I can do this.” Taylor walked towards Natalie and the two headed off for her house.

Taylor had already called the orphanage about the visit to Natalie's. Deborah had asked him to come back at curfew and to not forget about any homework he had.

Natalie had introduced her parents to Taylor while saying he was her boyfriend. Natalie's dad, Max, narrowed his eyes at Taylor and took him to the side once the introduction was over.

“Listen here, boy,” Max said to Taylor in the corner of the living room of Natalie's house, “If I find that you two are having sex I will personally rip off your testicles and feed them to the cat.” He then left the corner with a smile on his face and Taylor was left to feel like he was some criminal.

“Natalie's mom and I are going out to have dinner together. You two have fun.” Max mused and as he and Natalie's mom walked out the door, he gave a frightening glare at Taylor and said at a tone to where only Taylor could hear his voice, “Remember what I said...” And then he was gone.

Natalie looked at Taylor, “You OK...? Sorry about my dad... He can be a little... Bi-polar.”

Taylor tried to wipe the look of horror off of his face and grinned at Natalie, “I'm fine. Let's get to watching those movies, eh?”

It was awkward, Taylor had to admit. He was sitting beside Natalie on her double bed, and not paying any attention to the movie that was playing on the TV screen in front of the bed.

Taylor looked at Natalie who had her eyes glued to what was going on in the movie. He sighed and looked back at the screen, not a clue about the plot of the movie.

An urge took him by surprise. He stretched his arms and placed them over Natalie's shoulder. She didn't move away and instead got closer to him and laid her head on his chest.

Taylor could feel his cheeks burning up as Natalie cuddled up next to him. Taking another deep breath he steadied himself and continued on to his plan on how to move closer to her.

“This movie is boring...” He said.

Natalie made a laugh, “Explains why you weren't focusing on the TV screen all that much.”

Taylor smiled and Natalie continued to talk, “Well, do you want to do something else?” She turned off the TV with the remote beside her and placed it on her bedside table. She glanced up at Taylor.

Yes, I want to do you. Taylor thought and blushed harder at his own opinions.

Natalie noticed how pink his cheeks were and asked, “Why are you blushing so hard?”

Taylor bit his lip, “Well I kind of...”

“What?”

“... Want to...” Taylor rolled over to where he was on top of Natalie and looked down at her with an awkward smile.

Natalie immediately understood, and gave a surprised expression, “Don't you think it's a little too early...? And my dad would kill you if he found out.”

Taylor gave a little disheartened frown, “Just this once; I promise I'll go easy on you. It's my first time too.”

Natalie gave a sigh, “Alright. Keep it a secret from my dad though, I don't want him finding out. If he does this may just as well be the last time we see each other.”

“I promise.” Taylor said.

Taking a deep breath, he leaned in and kissed Natalie.

And that was how he spent his afternoon with her.

Taylor got back to the orphanage right on time. Deborah gave him his usual hug and told him to get to work on his homework. Taylor was still thinking about what had happened between him and Natalie. He smiled every time he did. It was probably the most magical moment in his life time.

He sat down on his bed and did his homework, still thinking about that moment. He felt so good then. That was the way he always wanted to feel.

An urge tugged at him and he began to wonder if Natalie would allow him to do it again.

But he had to admit, there were more important things in love than what goes on in the bed.

With the growing bond between Natalie and Taylor forming, a growing hatred was forming in Satan's heart. A month had passed and Satan was ready to explode at any minute.

“No idea, yet.” Cassius and Judas always said and Satan himself was running out of plots.

“Is there any way to get rid of that fucking bitch? She's like a damn tick. I just want her out.”

Cassius was about to say something when Satan popped his head up, “I see now...” He mumbled and turned to look at Cassius.

“Cassius, I need you to do me a favor...”

Taylor looked up from his test and made a groan as he saw Chris was staring at him again. Noticing Taylor's glance, Chris looked back down at his paper but kept making sideways glances at him.

What does he want? He's been doing this staring thing ever since he asked for my number.

Feeling slightly disturbed by Chris's all-watching royal blue eyes, Taylor wondered if he could ask the teacher to switch his seat for him.

It was another day after school. Taylor had finished his homework and was sitting in his bed in his dorm, waiting for Natalie to arrive. He had asked her to come over at least an hour ago, and she had said yes.

Normally it would take her only fifteen minutes to get to the orphanage as she lived rather close. Taylor wondered if she had been caught up in other plans.

No, she would have told me if she was... Taylor thought. He immediately started to worry for her. Did her dad find out about the sex and made her stop talking to Taylor?

He grabbed his phone to call her and make sure, but a voice made him stop.

“Psst, Taylor! Taylor, come quick!”

Taylro held his breath. Did Satan possibly know what happened to Natalie? “Yes, what's wrong?”

“It's Natalie... I was watching her walk towards your orphanage to make sure she got there safely and then...”

“What? What happened?” Taylor asked, his heart beginning to pound restlessly in his chest.

“I'll show you.” Immediately Taylor's legs started to work without his brain telling them to and he was off walking out the orphanage and towards Natalie's house.

“Where am I going?” He asked aloud to Satan.

“You'll see...”

And eventually Taylor did see. He found himself hiding in some shadows in an alleyway. There he saw Natalie and a shadowy figure he didn't recognize. Shadows hid his face and the only thing he could see was the person's mouth. From the outline of the figure, he could see it was a young male about Taylor's age and height.

The boy smiled and leaned in towards Natalie and from there planted a kiss on her lips.

Taylor flew into a panic as well as a rage. And it kept building as the boy's kiss grew more intense.

“I knew what was happening... I heard her talking to the boy... It seems like they've known each other for a long time...”

“What...?” Taylor breathed. But the other night, while the two were entwined together in Natalie's bed, she had told him she loved no other man but him, and she would stay that way.

Liar... Taylor thought and his fists bunched up. In his rage, his wings were set loose and they unfolded to show their true size.

Taylor ran out of the shadows, startling the boy that was kissing Natalie. In the instance the boy saw Taylor, he stumbled away.

“Hey, come back here!” Taylor shouted, but his footsteps were interrupted by Satan's voice, “Don't go after him. Deal with your girl and let it go.”

Taylor stopped and gritted his teeth. Whirling around, he grabbed a piece of gravel from the ground and threw it at a nearby brick wall with a roar. He then faced Natalie.

“You bitch!” He shouted. He felt his teeth start elongating and his nails sharpen. He tried to calm down as much as he could, but he was nearly out of control of himself.

Natalie didn't answer. Tears were streaming down her face as Taylor continued to pick up debris from the ground and throw it at walls.

“Why!? You told me last night... That you would love no other man but me. You fucking told it to my face! You're such a goddamn liar!”

“Taylor please... You don't understand...” Natalie started, still sobbing.

“Understand what? That you're a lying whore?” Taylor hissed.

Natalie tried to open her mouth and say something, but she was consumed by her tears and looked down.

“Yeah. Feel bad about yourself. Crying is not going to help any.” Taylor sniffed, his face curling in disgust at the thought of Natalie trying to gain some sort of pity from crying.

Natalie just stared at him through watery eyes, “What are you? I thought you'd be understanding... I thought... You're a goddamn angel, aren't you!?”

Taylor roared in anger. So she was still going along with the angel lie? He ran to the wall and punched it. His fist broke through one layer but it still left him with bloody knuckles.

He looked back at her, “I am not a fucking angel. I'm the exact opposite. Maybe I should have told you this later. I would have if you didn't go off and be a slut and start making out with random douche bags off the street.”

Natalie was hiccuping now from crying so hard, “Then... What are you?” She asked in between hiccups.

“I'm a fallen angel to be exact. I was given my powers by the devil myself. He talks to me sometimes and is my only friend. Go ahead, run, call me a freak. See if I care.”

“Taylor... I don't care what you are. You are you. When you were with me you were so kind... I've never met anyone as kind as you.” Natalie explained. She had stopped sobbing and was now walking towards Taylor.

She came up to him and stopped right in front of his face. Her purple eyes gazed somberly up at him. Taylor curled his lip up but he couldn't resist the urge and leaned in, kissing her intensely on the lips.

He drew back, Natalie's tears gone.

“Hey, Natalie...” He whispered.

“... Yes?”

“Fuck you.”

And Taylor left Natalie without a look back.

OOOOO SOME DRAMA.

cookies to those who can guess who the shadowy figure was. and get it right.

btw.

i hate those goddamn pda's.

fucking school.

and natalie's dad is just like my dad LOLOL. totally tsundere.

also.

WHO'S THAT LIMEY?

oh it's just chris.

*shot*

k hope you enjoyed this crappy chapter.

Necrozma · Feb 12, 2012

Yay, Taylor finally got some! xD

an illegible mess. · Feb 12, 2012

IT'S A MIRACLE.

an illegible mess. · Feb 19, 2012

i think i overdid this chapter a bit.

whatever.

i was up until 5:00 a.m writing this.

ehhh.... five hours overdue.

oh well, enjoy it anyway.

btw i put this in a spoiler just because... it contains more explicit details than the other chapters? bahahaha. ohme.

chapter nine; someone new

It was obvious that Taylor was not too happy about leaving Natalie behind. In fact, he felt a little guilty as he laid down in his bed back at the orphanage.

I was way too harsh... He thought.

“You did what you should have done. Left her. It's obvious she did not want your affections and betrayed you. This is why love is so demeaning; you get side-tracked from the bigger picture and end up betrayed and rid of dignity and pride. Focus your future on something else. Something where people can look up to you and be envious of your powers. Let them know that you are almighty, and they should respect you.”

“You always bring up the best points.” Taylor said aloud.

He could imagine Satan making a devilish grin at Taylor's response, “Of course. I know exactly what it means to be with power. You will learn soon enough... Now, go erase Natalie's number from your cellphone and forget about her completely.”

Taylor nodded even though Satan was nowhere to be found besides in his head. He dug for his cellphone in his jeans pocket, turned it on, and erased Natalie's number.

Just as he was about to put it on his bedside table and go downstairs to tell Deborah what happened, his cellphone began to vibrate and the default ring tone went off.

He looked at the screen and saw a number that was familiar flashing on the LED. He shrugged and walked out of his room.

Taylor never answered numbers he didn't recognize anymore.

The day back at school was a rough one. As Taylor walked towards his locker at the start of the new school day, he saw Natalie talking to a girl he did not know. She saw him looking at them and gave him a glare before grimacing as if in pain.

Taylor gave a rude, “tch” and opened his locker, getting all his essentials for class.

As he left his locker, he bumped into Chris.

“Oh, hello there.” Chris greeted and Taylor just made a harrumph of discontent.

“Anything wrong?” He questioned Taylor and Taylor mumbled a disheartened yes in return.

They both walked into their first period class with Chris replying with a “Well, what is it?”

Taylor sat at his desk and Chris sat down in the desk next to his, “I'll tell you at lunch...”

Chris nodded and faced the front of the room. Taylor noticed the corners of Chris's lips curling up into a half-smile. At once, he felt suspicious. Chris was about the same size and shape as the boy he saw in the alleyway with Natalie. Was it coincidental? He didn't know, and he wanted to know.

He wanted to know if he could really trust Chris as a friend.

At lunch, Chris saw Taylor the minute he walked into the cafeteria. He rushed towards him and sat down next to him at his table.

“Well, what's been up?” He asked as he sat down.

Taylor sighed, “Natalie and I broke up yesterday.”

“What, really?” Chris said in surprise; his spiky brown hair seemed to stand up even taller as Taylor said this.

But, when Taylor looked over at him, he could see a hint of... Glee in Chris's royal blue eyes. In an instant, his suspicion grew and he couldn't help but blurt out the question, “Where were you yesterday night?”

As expected, Chris blinked in perplexity, which turned into confusion, “I... I don't remember, really.” He stumbled.

At his stutter, Taylor could feel himself wanting to shout “traitor!” in Chris's face, but as he gazed into his eyes, he found that the confusion was real. Chris really didn't know what happened to him last night.

Which made Taylor grow suspicious about something else. He didn't really know what it was, but he knew that some wrong-doing had been done, and Chris had somehow been involved. Chris didn't try to steal Natalie away from Taylor, he knew that, but someone had to have acted as him to cause tension between the two... What really did happen last night? Taylor had really wished Satan hadn't stopped him from figuring out who the culprit was.

But wait, why did Satan stop him? Did Satan not want Taylor to get into a fight and possibly get hurt? No, Satan would have loved to see some violence. Why did he allow the mysterious stranger to run off?

Taylor wanted to ask Satan this question, but felt like he was prying into too much mystery and felt as if maybe he was going a bit too far with the situation. He should just forget all about it.

“Um, Taylor? You still there?” Chris's light English voice broke into Taylor's thoughts and he was back in the cafeteria.

“Oh yeah, I was just thinking...” Taylor mumbled, trailing off a little.

Taylor saw his class stand up and walk out of the cafeteria, the teacher calling them out. He said his good-bye's to Chris, but before he could leave, Chris grabbed the end of his t-shirt.

“Wait, Taylor. I... Wanted to ask you something...”

“What is it? Be quick, I have to go.”

Chris bit his lip and sighed, “Do you-”

The teacher called again, this time signaling towards Taylor, “I have to go.” He hissed at Chris and managed to get out of his grip, “We can talk after school, OK?”

And then he left the room, wondering what Chris had wanted to ask him.

The last bell of the day rang throughout the hallways of the high school. Taylor and the rest of his sixth period class packed up their stuff and headed out to their lockers.

Taylor silently threw his stuff in his backpack and swung it over his shoulder. He had a lot of homework tonight, so he needed to get back to the orphanage quickly to finish it up. He never liked having leftover work he had to do during the evening hours.

Just as he was about to head out the doors without being interrupted, a familiar name rang in his ears and he looked around to see two senior boys talking to themselves by their own lockers. The name Taylor heard was Chris's and he stopped to zone in on their conversation.

“I can't believe what he had said in fifth period!” One of the boys was exclaiming. There was a laugh from the other boy, “I know, right? He should keep that shit to himself, seriously. Now the whole school will know. He's such a dumb ass.”

“Well, he is from England. Maybe it's their culture to spew everything about their personal lives.” The first boy joked, a sneer crossing his smooth and pointed face.

Taylor gritted his teeth. How dare they talk about his friend like that! He didn't really know what Chris had said, but he was sure he didn't mean it at all. Maybe Chris was forced to say it. Taylor knew he sometimes blurted out stuff he really didn't mean to say. Maybe it was like that?

In the corner of Taylor's eyes, he could see Chris hiding behind one of the lockers, listening to the conversation as well. The deep blue orbs on his face became sullen as the boys went on chatting.

More laughter rang out between the two boys as the second one continued on, “Stupid limey's. They think they know everything but they don't.”

Taylor bunched up his fists and before Chris could step out of the shadows and confront the two about their behavior towards him, Taylor walked straight towards them.

They looked up to see him and they both said rudely, “What do you want?”

“I heard you two talking. It's nice to know that I am a friend of Chris and what you said about him was quite unacceptable.” Taylor replied, his arms crossed over his chest and giving them a look of anger.

The two looked at each other and began to chuckle, “We don't care! Seriously, what are you trying to be, a teacher?”

Taylor blinked, “Do you not know who I am?” His wings unfolded from their resting place and spread out on either side of him.

The boys gave one glimpse of his jet-black feathers, gulped, and began to hurry off. They had a look of terror pasted on their face, and they ran out of the front door schools shouting, “Run! The last one out is an injured Joe!”

Taylor watched them skitter out the door with a laugh. He heard a gasp from behind the lockers as Chris saw the true Taylor before him. He stepped out from the shadows and came up to Taylor.

“You... You helped me...”

Taylor looked towards him, “Of course. That's what friends do, right?”

Chris nodded and continued to gaze at Taylor in awe, “I didn't know you were... An angel...”

Taylor sighed; more angel crap.

“Yes... I guess you could say that.” Taylor replied as he finished his sigh.

Chris continued with his amazed glower upon Taylor and finally his expression changed and he began to look sincere.

“Um Taylor... I had something to ask you in the cafeteria earlier today but you know I never got the chance...” Chris mumbled, looking down a bit.

“Yes, what is it?” Taylor asked, a bit annoyed. He just wanted to get home to finish his work.

“Taylor I...” Suddenly, Chris grabbed Taylor's hand in his. A gesture that caused Taylor to blush lightly.

“Do... Do you want to go out with me?”

Taylor blinked then his eyes widened even more. A strange feeling overwhelmed him. Did he hear Chris right? Another guy wanted to go out with him?

“Do you even... We're both guys! Do you know how weird that would be!? Everyone would make fun of us and I don't swing that way anyway!” Feeling a tad disgusted, Taylor pushed Chris aside and attempted to get out of the school, but Chris grabbed his arm.

“Let go!” Taylor yelled and tried to wrench his arm out of Chris's grasp, but he held on tight.

“I am not allowing this. This is destiny. You have to go out with me!” Chris shouted the last sentence in desperation, his eyes holding a soft plead for acceptance.

“What destiny? I couldn't last one week with you even.” Taylor hissed back.

A sly smile crossed Chris's face and Taylor instantly knew that was the wrong thing to say, “Only a week, huh? Well... I'm willing to take that answer... Prove it. Go out with me for a week and on Sunday stay with me, or break up.”

Taylor gritted his teeth and shook his arm out of Chris's hand, “The fuck I'm doing that. Yeah, right. Go find some other dude's dick to drool on. Please and thank you.” He turned again but once more, Chris stopped him.

“Taylor, please. I'm begging you! Just this once, OK? I don't care if you break up with me on Sunday... I just want to be with you for a little while.”

Taylor started again, but stopped. He looked at Chris again and gazed into his royal blue eyes. Sincerity; that was all that was read on his face. Taylor couldn't resist. Holding back a feeling of dread at what he would soon get himself into, he said, “OK...”

Chris beamed wide and hugged Taylor which made his light blush turn deep and something washed over his mind. A feeling of someone new.

Someone new... Taylor thought and he then felt secure in Chris's embrace.

Taylor had brought Chris over to the orphanage that day, and Taylor had assured Deborah that they were both “just friends” and wanted to hang out. They did their homework together and Taylor helped Chris out with the difficult problems.

When it was time for Chris to leave, he hugged Taylor again and this time leaned in and kissed Taylor's cheek.

“Goodnight, my angel.” He mumbled in his ear and a burst of happy feelings mixed with feelings of wrongness fused together in Taylor's stomach. The way Chris had whispered so quietly in his ear, barely moving the fine hair inside... It was... Erotic? Taylor really didn't know how to describe it.

But more importantly, he was being aroused by a guy.

Taylor didn't swing that way. At least, he thought he didn't. But then again, he remembered this was more like a pretend going out sort of thing. He really didn't love Chris, he just had to... Well, pretend.

It just didn't feel right, though.

The next day when Taylor met Chris at the steps of the high school, they discussed places to go for their date that night and when they walked together to first period, Chris had decided to take Taylor's hand and hold it as they moved down the hall.

“Um... Chris, can you let go of my hand? People are looking...” Taylor mumbled, slightly embarrassed. His cheeks burned pink again at Chris's actions.

“Don't mind them, they don't care about us.” Chris replied.

“Yeah, right...” Taylor said underneath his breath, seeing some girls look at their joined hands and giggle to themselves slightly.

What was more embarrassing was the fact that during the whole first period, Chris kept glancing at Taylor lovingly every minute.

Taylor sighed and rolled his eyes, trying to concentrate on his work.

That night was movie night for Taylor and Chris. They both walked to the movie theater hand in hand as Chris had wanted and bought tickets for the newest romance movie that was featured.

Of course, when Taylor and Chris got into the theater, Taylor could feel himself doze off from how boring the plot line to the movie was. A simple, mushy love story that happened in all romance movies. The usual “boy gets girl, boy or girl dies or something tragic happens to them, boy or girl ends up overcoming the bad situation and gets into another relationship.”

It wasn't only Taylor who was beginning to slip away into sleep, but Chris as well. In the end, Chris fell asleep faster than Taylor and Taylor found Chris's head resting on his shoulder comfortably.

Taylor could feel the same sense of wrongness and happiness burst inside him and his cheeks flushed red.

You're supposed to love this guy, right? Put your hand on his shoulder. Instinct told him this as a voice in the back of his head. Taylor could only obey and, with hesitation, he shifted his arm across Chris's back and, in response, Chris cuddled closer.

Taylor's face started to turn into a deep shade of purple. Still, he felt good about his movements towards Chris.

Wait, he felt good about it? He was letting another guy cuddle with him in a movie theater! Why did he feel this was right? Instinct flashed back at him and he found himself bickering over either his heterosexual or homosexual self.

All in all, Taylor felt completely messed up.

Friday afternoon arrived and Chris and Taylor were sitting together on the floor of his dorm's bedroom doing their homework and helping each other out of there came to be a difficult question.

Suddenly, Chris put his homework down. Taylor looked up, “Are you done?”

“Yep. You?” Taylor slapped down his homework binder on top of Chris's and nodded with a slight satisfied smile on his face.

Taylor stood up, helping Chris up, “Well, is it time for you to go yet?” He asked.

Chris checked his wrist watch. He was supposed to get going at around six P.M, but the clock read only four-thirty.

“I still have time to hang around here.” He stated.

“Oh, well do you want to go anywhere?” Taylor questioned, looking around for his coat just in case they were going out.

“No, no... I'm fine.” Chris moved closer to Taylor, who was totally unaware as he had his back turned to Chris.

“Okay well what do you want to do-” Taylor's question was cut short as Chris grabbed his wrist, turned him around, and made a rather sloppy kiss on his lips.

Taylor was surprised and tried to slip away, but Chris had him tight up against his body, his arms wrapped firmly around Taylor's back. He felt Chris's tongue press up against his cheek and started to struggle a little more. That's when Chris moved backwards and they flopped onto Taylor's bed.

Some part of Taylor was enjoying this, but the other part was screaming for release, scrambling for a hold onto Chris to try and pry him off. Taylor's hands found Chris's shoulders and he began to push him away. Finally they broke apart, Chris leaning backwards.

“Stop...” Taylor panted, his breaths short and ragged. His cheeks burned from shame and he began to feel violated. Still, something stirred up inside him, making him feel bad that he had blocked Chris from doing anything else.

“S-sorry...” Chris stammered, also blushing very hard. He turned away for a second, his deep blue eyes unreadable.

“Don't do that again...” Taylor breathed, finally catching his breath. Seeing how ashamed Chris looked, though, he pat his shoulders and made a tiny smile, “Maybe later on.”

Chris nodded and the two got up, deciding to take a walk back to Chris's house. The walk there was silent, the air around them tense. Taylor began to think if he had messed something up and had hurt Chris's feelings in the process. Still, though, Taylor didn't want to be forced into anything, and sex was a definite no-no in that case. He hoped Chris understood at least.

They finally got to Chris's house. Taylor mumbled a good-bye and Chris said the same. There was an awkward pause after that before Chris leaned in and pecked Taylor on the lips. In that tiniest moment, something sparked up in Taylor and left him feeling warm and content. He gave up the barricades that protected his heart and let Chris's feelings sink in. Taylor really did love Chris.

On Saturday, the last day before confession, Chris had asked for no dates. He told Taylor that on this night would be the day they would think the week over and find out if they really, truly, loved each other enough to continue on dating. It was there when Taylor just wanted to break down and confess right there and then, but he held his ground and accepted Chris's ways.

That night was definitely stressing. After finishing his weekend homework, Taylor found himself on his windowsill, staring out into the moonlit night. A pang of freedom twinged in his heart and he was tempted to walk out beneath the stars and continue to think about this whole Chris thing.

The “maybe I'm in love with Chris” was wearing off of Taylor. Only friends on Monday, but now close to lovers on Saturday. It was amazing how someone could change you in a week.

Taylor couldn't bear it anymore. He knew where Chris lived as he had escorted him back to his house after dates and now he wanted to sneak in and just pour out his feelings towards him. In an instant, Taylor felt disgusted with himself. It sounded like another one of those sappy romance movies. He didn't want it to be like that, he just wanted it to be friendly and without all the mushy, gushy baby love that he didn't deserve.

Sighing, Taylor grabbed his coat and walked downstairs, quietly opening the orphanage doors and slipping out without a sound. He felt exactly what he felt on the day when he confessed to Natalie. Uncertain, scared, and confused. Desperate, even.

Taylor traced the steps he took on that night to the exact same park where he found Natalie sitting alone on the park bench.

Only this time, it wasn't Natalie who was sitting down. It was Chris. Funny how that park bench both held Taylor's lover's butts. He laughed at this and the sound carried on to the solemn Chris. He snapped his head around instantly and met Taylor's gaze.

Taylor walked towards him and gave a greeting. Chris just gave a friendly nod and allowed Taylor to sit next to him on the bench.

Moments of silence seemed to stretch on for eternity and it was broken when Chris finally spoke up.

“Usually on nights like this before big confessions I take walks down to the park and think. I did it in London too, as I lived next to a local park. It may last a couple minutes or even a few hours. I've been sitting here since eight o'clock; it's my longest sit-down yet.”

Taylor blinked and found himself moving closer towards Chris. He sighed and leaned beside him, surprising Chris a little.

“Hey, it's usually me who's doing the leaning. What's up?” Chris asked.

More silence stretched on as Taylor hesitated to answer the question. It was no use trying to hold back the feelings that swam around in Taylor's soul. It was clear; he loved Chris, no doubt about it.

In the distance, a bell from the town hall rang twelve times, signaling midnight had arrived. It was Sunday.

“Chris I... I think I love you... No wait, I know I love you... I guess I really could last a week with you. I'm sorry I doubted you and myself at first.”

Silence again. At first, Taylor thought he had maybe startled Chris so much that he had fainted from shock, but, Chris was still sitting straight and gave no signs of giving way under Taylor's leaning weight.

Chris ended up facing Taylor and pulling him into a warm and tight embrace. Taylor could feel the feelings stir up inside him, but they were no longer feelings of half wrongness, half righteousness, it was just right now.

“I love you too, Taylor.” Chris replied and they seemed to sit there forever, sharing each other's warmth and love.

Chris drew back though and took Taylor's hand suddenly, “Come with me.” And then he got up from the park bench and pulled Taylor away.

“Whoa, wait, where are we going?” Taylor asked as he tried to keep up with Chris, not wanting to trip and send them both to the ground.

Chris looked back at him and gave him a wry smile. They ended up at Chris's house which Taylor had never been in before; he had just seen the outside.

Chris's house was in a cluster of condominiums that were painted white and had steep steps towards their tall, wooden front doors. Chris walked Taylor up the stairs and opened his front door as quietly as he could.

Taylor found himself in the kitchen and Chris wiped his feet on the welcome doormat and Taylor did the same. Chris also slipped off his sneakers and placed them towards the other shoes scattered near the door, and before Taylor could follow his lead, Chris ushered him not to and they walked around the kitchen counter.

Before they left the kitchen, Chris grabbed a scone from a mug that sat at the far end of the counter with English cookbooks surrounding it and put it in his mouth, mumbling a muffled “c'mon” to Taylor and they both walked out of the kitchen and into the living room.

Beyond the living room was a hallway. Chris walked into here and took a sharp turn to the right, and at the end was Chris's bedroom.

Chris dragged Taylor in and the minute he got in, Chris closed his door quietly. Chris munched the rest of his scone and swallowed it all in a couple quick bites.

“Boy, do I love my mum's scones...” Chris mused contently with a smug smirk.

Taylor smiled and looked around Chris's room. He never knew what it was like to have his own “bedroom”. Sure, Taylor had a dorm bedroom at the orphanage, but it was nothing like Chris's. All the bedrooms at the orphanage were the same and he couldn't change it. Chris could decorate this room all he wanted and it was kept to himself. Taylor felt a tad jealous of Chris's family even if he had barely met his parents.

Chris sat down on his double sized bed that was covered with a red plaid comforter. Taylor sat down next to him and Chris leaned over and kissed Taylor on the lips.

An urge overtook Taylor, and he kissed Chris back a little harder. Chris responded with a passionate kiss and Taylor made a soft exhale of pleasure as Chris added a little tongue.

“Shh...” Chris whispered, “You have to be really quiet so you don't wake my sister up. She always snoops on me at night.”

“Why?” Taylor asked, curious to the reason why Chris's sister pried on him.

Chris shrugged, “Little sisters are weird.”

“But enough of that...” He continued on and kissed Taylor hard again, pushing him over on his back.

As Chris stared down at him from atop Taylor, he said, “Now you can take off your shoes.” And smiled at his own joke.

Taylor made a slight snicker and managed to kick off his shoes which fell with a soft thump to the floor. Taylor put his hand over his mouth as if he had yelled when it was only his shoes that made noise.

“I don't think she'll hear that, hopefully.” Chris replied and Taylor removed his hands from his mouth.

Chris leaned in again and continued to kiss Taylor with intensity. Wait, he wasn't going to have sex with Chris, was he? It wasn't the fact that it was early, it was just the fact that Taylor had, well, never done it with a guy before. And it was obvious that whatever happened was going to be uncomfortable.

The kiss grew and grew and now Taylor admitted he was full on making out with Chris, another guy, and they were possibly going to have sex.

Chris stopped kissing Taylor and he was left panting and craving more. Chris slipped a hand up Taylor's shirt and before he could go any further, Taylor asked, “Are you sure your parents are OK with this?” Besides being courteous, Taylor didn't want to cause any trouble. He didn't even know if Chris's parents knew he was gay or not. Taylor expected they knew at least.

A flash of caution lit up Chris's face and he paused from his work, blinking a bit before saying, “It's OK... They will never find out anyway.” And then he continued on.

And Chris continued on for the rest of the night, at least, until one small moment when it was over and they both lay side by side, bare naked, and entwined in a perfect circle.

Taylor was tired from the night's little “adventure” and was about to close his eyes and fall asleep beside Chris, his new love, when Chris spoke up and alerted him.

“You and I deserve to be together, I know. This is destiny and I'm so glad you managed to understand...” Chris leaned his face in a littler closer to Taylor's, “Thank you and... I love you.”

Taylor smiled at him and his hand caressed Chris's face gently, “I love you too.” And then they said “So much.” in unison and they gave soft chuckles before closing their eyes and falling asleep.

At least, that's what they would have done if a little girl's head hadn't peeked into Chris's room and took one look at Taylor and Chris both lying naked with each other in the bed and then running off to tell her sleeping parents.

With both Taylor and Chris not knowing about the predicament they were about to get into, Chris's parents awoke to the voice of his little sister saying that “Chris and some strange boy are sleeping together in his bedroom” and they both stomped off to Chris's room and opened his unlocked door and then turned on his overhead light.

At once Chris sat up, “Bloody hell! Turn that light off!” Then he realized who was in the room and slapping a protective hand over his manhood, he turned towards his parents who stood with bewildered faces at the door.

“Mum? Dad?” A little black-haired girl's head peeked from behind Chris's dad's body, “Elsa!? What... What are you doing here?”

Taylor opened his eyes and sat up as well with a delirious cry of “Huh...?”

Rubbing his eyes, he realized who Chris was staring at and copied the same way Chris looked.

Oops... He thought and continued to blink in embarrassment.

And beyond where Chris and Taylor were, Satan was laughing from the situation Taylor had caught himself in from love, and also screaming in rage that he had even fallen in love again.

When will that boy ever learn...

UHM.

I THINK I WENT A LITTLE OVERBOARD WITH THE WHOLE CHRIS AND TAYLOR SCENE AHAHAHA...

/stillcan'tbelieveshewrotethat.

wow i just can't... i feel like one of those girls that like pair every male character from their favorite show or whatever and make a fanfiction out of it with the two being the main couple and having sex. ugggh.

at least it wasn't graphic.

and at least i won't go into that even more later on LOL. this is as explicit as it will get hopefully.

who knows i may go overboard again.

curse thine girl writing tendencies.

*wallows in embarrassment*

whatever.

enjoyplz.

an illegible mess. · Feb 27, 2012

chris: oh bloody 'ell, it's another chapter of "the devil's gift" it is, it is! i hope you enjoy it just as much as i enjoy my mum's scones (and shagging my boyfriend)! bollocks!

ok fail impersonation of my character what.

anyway enjoy this wall of a chapter while i die from slaving so hard over this thing.

chapter ten; home

“Chris? Wh… What are you doing?” Chris’s father stumbled over his words as he stared at the two naked teenage boys before him.

“Um…” Chris mumbled, “It’s… It’s not what you think. Taylor is just a friend of mine…” Chris stammered, casting wary glances at the delirious Taylor beside him.

Chris’s father’s hand combed through his black, graying hair as he sighed heavily, “Chris, you and Taylor get dressed and we’ll have a little talk in the living room.”

Chris made a tiny nod and nudged Taylor from his dazed state. His parents and sister left the room to wait in the kitchen for them.

Once the two were done getting dressed, Taylor looked at Chris, “I’m sorry…” He apologized and Chris drew back in surprise.

“It wasn’t your fault,” He corrected, “I made you do it, and you followed along; even if I lied, saying that my parents were OK with it.”

“Oh… I thought you were telling the truth at first. Maybe I should have noticed it at least.” Taylor replied and Chris gave an apologetic look that read, “sorry for being untruthful to you” and the two walked with dread to the kitchen.

At first, when Chris and Taylor sat down in the two plush chairs across from the leather couch in the living room, they expected a heated argument to arise and maybe them getting kicked out of the house in the process.

It wasn’t as bad as they first thought, though, and when Chris’s dad questioned his son’s sexual identity, he proudly replied that he did love Taylor and that he was, in fact, gay.

Chris’s dad was the more understanding of Chris’s parents and he told Chris and Taylor that they had a right to be whoever they wanted. He cautioned them about the possibilities of being bullied if they ever told anyone at school and warned them that they better keep their relationship a secret. Chris gave a blush at this and said that they already made gestures towards each other at school that they were going out. His dad said that was OK and he should be prepared to defend himself if necessary.

Chris’s mom was not the quickest to side with her husband’s decisions, however, and tried to persuade Chris that this was probably a “phase” he was going through and would get over it. She told Taylor that it wouldn’t work out and that’s when the controlled chat turned into a cat-and-dog fight. Taylor argued with what Chris’s dad had said, saying that he and Chris had a right to be together and no one could tell them who they should and should not date. Chris said himself that this was definitely not a “phase” and he had felt “different” for a long time, but never had the guts to tell his parents about it.

Chris’s mom defended herself immediately and yelled at the two of them that it would never last. Elsa, Chris’s sister, got tired of all the shouting and ran back to her room. Chris’s dad then said that they should all calm down and think about what they were going to say. It was then when he took his wife to the side and told her that Chris’s sexual identity would not change him as a person and he was still the kind child that they had raised from birth.

When Chris’s father said this, Taylor couldn’t help but feel a little envious about how much Chris’s parents loved him and cared for him. When he had asked Deborah who his parents were and how they were like, she never answered and always said, “I’ll tell you when you’re older. Now is not the time.” That was several years ago, and Taylor was itching to ask her again now that he was fifteen years old.

After Chris’s parents discussed the situation with each other, Chris’s father turned to Taylor, “You need to go home. Your family has probably noticed your absence and is worried about you.”

Taylor made a snort that could have been mistaken for a sarcastic laugh; “home” and “family”. In Taylor’s life, there was no such thing; it was just the orphanage that counted as neither.

“I’ll spend the rest of the night here and in the morning I’ll call them and say I slept over at a friend’s house. When I get back I’ll tell them that I’m…” He didn’t know whether to call himself gay or still straight. He was in a relationship with a guy, that was true, but did that automatically make him gay?

“Bi-sexual,” Chris suddenly finished and Taylor looked at him with puzzlement, “I mean, you’re still attracted to girls, but you also like guys. It would make sense to call you that for now. Eventually you’ll realize if you’re totally gay or not, but it’s best to label yourself as bi-sexual right now.”

Taylor nodded in understanding and Chris’s dad allowed him to stay for the rest of the night as long as they sleep and don’t “get rowdy”.

The two made soft chuckles at this and headed back into Chris’s bedroom where the two went to sleep in their day clothes and didn’t wake up until one in the afternoon the next day.

When Taylor turned on his phone that he had placed on Chris’s bed-side table, he saw at least ten missed calls all from the orphanage and immediately called them back. He apologized to Deborah for his sudden disappearance and reassured her that he was safe and sound at a friend’s house and decided to sleep over there. He told her he was coming straight back and afterwards, he woke up Chris and said his good-byes before crawling out of bed and walking out of his bedroom.

Chris stopped him however with a warm hug and told him he wanted to go along with Taylor to talk about their relationship with the rest of the orphanage.

“I’ll be fine; Deborah and the rest of the people there are very understanding. They wouldn’t dare kick me out.” Taylor replied.

“I know but… I still want to be with you just in case they give you a hard time.” Chris mumbled. Taylor sighed and agreed to allow Chris to tag along with him.

They both walked out into the kitchen and Chris’s mom looked up from her work on making a new batch of scones for the rest of the family.

“You missed breakfast! We had omelets; they’re your favorite, Chris. I’m surprised the smell didn’t wake you up at first.” She commented with a twinkle of laughter in her chocolate brown eyes.

Chris smiled and said that he would have loved to eat breakfast with the rest of them, but was tired from the previous night.

“Hey, can I go with Taylor to his place today? I just want to be there with him when he tells the rest of the faculty about us.”

“Faculty?”

“I live in an orphanage.” Taylor piped up from behind Chris.

“Oh, you’re an orphan…” Chris’s mom mumbled with a pitied face that Taylor got slightly annoyed with.

“Yeah, and I don't expect my careowner to kick me out because of this, but Chris wants to go 'just in case'.” Taylor explained.

“Well, Chris, you can go. Text or call us when they're done talking, OK?”

Chris nodded and the two put on their shoes (well, Chris did, as Taylor left his shoes in Chris's bedroom and put them on before he left). Then they headed off into the April air and walked towards the orphanage, talking to each other about places to go on their dates over the next few days. It sparked a question in Taylor's mind; a question he had never asked when he and Natalie were together.

How long would this last?

Approaching Deborah about Taylor's sexuality was about as hard as when he had told her about his powers. They discussed his relationship with Chris in an empty interview room and here Taylor told Deborah everything; how Chris was more than “just a friend” and how they had been caught sleeping together the other night at his house (Deborah made a frown at this). He also told her about the whole “date-a-week” thing and after it was all done, Deborah only replied back with a few words.

“Taylor, you do know how understanding we are here at the orphanage. I would never throw you out over something like this. I care a lot about you, Taylor. Chris is always welcome here and I won't ever interfere between the two of you.”

Taylor blinked and gave a sigh of relief, “Thank you... You were almost as easy as Chris's dad.” He smiled and looked at Chris who was about to run out the door screaming a shout of “hallelujah!”

Taylor thanked Deborah once more and he followed Chris out the door. Chris said good-bye and told him he may come back tonight for a date or maybe take Taylor to his house for dinner. They hugged and kissed and Taylor watched as Chris walked down the steps of the orphanage and walked out of sight.

Coming back in, Taylor was greeted by Deborah again, “Oh, Taylor, I also have to talk to you about something.”

He looked up in surprise, “Alright, what is it?”

“I got a call from a woman today and... She was asking about you.”

“Really? What did she say?” Taylor was intrigued. Maybe it was a lady that wanted to adopt him?

“Taylor, that woman was your mother.” Deborah said, and as Taylor widened his eyes in shock she said, “I was surprised as well.”

“What... What does she want?” Taylor stammered.

“She wants to talk to you. She gave me her address and number.”

“Are you sure it wasn't somebody who was faking it? I mean... Why should my mother come hunting back to me if...”

Deborah sighed, “Taylor, I don't know if I should believe the woman or not. But, she seemed like a very nice and sincere person that I believe was telling the truth. I want you to go see her and talk to her.”

Deborah then passed Taylor a piece of paper with directions to his mother's house scribbled on it.

Taylor looked up at Deborah as she continued on, “Taylor, if anything seems out of the ordinary when you get there... Like, if they're kidnappers, I'm telling you to defend yourself. Use your powers if necessary, but only as a last resort, please.”

Taylor nodded and Deborah hugged him. It was strange; Deborah hugged him and talked to him as if Taylor was leaving for good. Did his mother say something to make Deborah think something like that? He got out of her embrace and left the orphanage, looking at the directions on the piece of paper and heading off towards where it led him.

Taylor found himself in the back streets of a main road. Abandoned houses and slums dwelt in this area and Taylor found himself on the edge of suspicion. Maybe the person on the phone was just someone playing a prank on him.

He started looking for the house number and found himself at a very small brick condominium and he walked up the steps, hesitantly knocking on the door and ringing the rusty doorbell on the side of the plain painted white, and peeling, door.

A few minutes of silence went by and Taylor was about to knock again when someone unlocked the chain lock above the doorknob and peeked their head out.

It was a man with very messy and shaggy blond hair. His eyes were a deep shade of brown, almost black. A lit cigarette was nestled in the corner of his mouth and it was noticeable that the wrinkles on his face were stress wrinkles and not wrinkles of old age. Besides this, he looked about in his late twenties and Taylor began to think that he had gotten the wrong house.

“Um... Excuse me...” He started and the man narrowed his eyes as he continued, “Does... Does a woman named Mary Duncan live here?” Taylor read the name off of the paper, still stuttering slightly.

The man cleared his throat before answering, “Yes, she's my wife. Why do you need her?” His voice was scratchy and deep, mimicking his smoking habit.

“Well... She called for me...” Taylor's heart was pounding. This man must be his father if his wife was his mother, and he was talking to him face-to-face for the first time.

“Spit it out.” His father hissed rather rudely and looked like he was about to close the door on Taylor's face.

“She wants to talk to me.” Taylor said, hoping his father wouldn't ask anymore questions.

Sadly, he did, “And why does she want to talk to you?”

Taylor balled up his fists and said bravely, “I'm her son, Taylor Duncan.”

At first his father seemed baffled, but then his mouth slowly turned up into a smirk and he began to laugh loudly with his mouth wide open and Taylor was able to smell the alcohol on his breath. He managed to get control of himself and he spit out his cigarette, crushing it on the ground with his shoe.

“I have no son. He is dead, and you just want to get into my house. Leave before I call the police.” Suddenly in hysterics, his father was now serious.

Taylor was taken aback and just watched as his father attempted to close the door on him, but suddenly a voice was heard from behind his broad shoulders.

“Wait a minute! Joseph, stop!” The voice belonged to a woman's, and suddenly his father was bushed aside and a lady about Joseph's age attacked Taylor with a tight embrace.

“Taylor! I knew you'd come!” She mumbled in Taylor's shoulder, half sobbing from emotion.

She looked into his eyes and Taylor found green eyes locking on his; it was the same color. They were vibrant and held excitement even though tears were leaking from the corners.

Some extremely wavy black hair fell into her face as she stared at Taylor, and she immediately brushed it away with a delicate and small hand, “Taylor... You've grown so much.” She breathed.

Taylor's mother stepped back a little and he saw how beautiful she was. She was rather tall and skinny; her face narrowed down into a soft point and her long hair was draped over her back, tucked neatly behind her right ear.

In this moment Taylor started to swell with happiness. This was his mother, the person who gave birth to him. This was the person that he should have been with all his life. Choking from so much emotion, he found himself walking towards her, wanting to hug her again.

“Mommy...” He found himself mumbling with tears of joy and reunion streaming down his face.

He nestled into the crook of his mother's neck and she threw her arms around him, weeping along with him.

His father, Joseph, just stood there in returned astonishment, “Mary... That boy is really...?”

Mary looked up and turned towards her husband, a couple tears still falling down her face, “Yes. He is our son and I called him to meet us. I should have told you beforehand but...”

Joseph frowned. It was a deep frown, full of anger and disappointment, “You told me... He was dead...”

Mary sighed and Taylor began to think. Why did his mom tell his dad that he was dead? And more importantly, what had happened to make him appear at the orphanage? He always thought his parents were dead or had been dying and they had to give him away.

His mother seemed to read Taylor's mind and she turned towards him, “I'll tell you the whole story inside... You need to hear it.”

Taylor's heart made a slight leap of thrill. He would finally get to know about his parents and his deep past.

Before they could get into the house, however, Joseph slammed a large hand across the doorway, blocking the entrance.

“Um, Joseph? Anything wrong?” Mary asked him, tilting her head in puzzlement.

“The house is dirty. I don't think our... Guest would like the atmosphere.” Joseph replied at once, keeping his hand between the entranceway.

“I don't care what it looks like inside, I just want to know the story.” Taylor piped up, staring down his father whom he had begun to dislike.

Joseph didn't budge an inch and did not remove his hand to allow Mary and Taylor aside, “I insist that you leave for a little bit and come back later when it's clean.”

“Joseph, just let us through. He needs to know this.” Mary said, also staring down her husband.

Joseph looked at Mary and was about to open his mouth and say something before he closed it again and gave it a second thought, “Alright, fine...” He mumbled and dropped his hand back to his side and Mary pushed through, Taylor trailing after her.

But before he could enter, his father grabbed his arm and made Taylor spin around and face him. He leaned in close and threatened Taylor with a whisper that was unheard to Mary.

“I'm warning you now, boy... One wrong move in my house and I will make sure you'll be exterminated.” Joseph released his tight grip on Taylor and he hurriedly walked after his mother, scared about what his father would do to him if he made a mistake.

The minute Taylor entered, he found himself in between the living room and the kitchen. When he looked to his left, he saw the untidy kitchen with cooking utensils strewn across the fake granite counter tops. Pantry cabinets on the walls with white paint were left ajar and one even had it's hinges broken off, revealing opened boxes of cereal on their shelves. The refrigerator in the corner made a strange humming noise which started and stopped on occasion.

Looking to his right, Taylor saw a trashed cloth couch with holes and rips all across it's worn surface. Two recliner chairs sat on either side of it in a diagonal direction, with one plush chair on the other side facing the couch in a three-quarter turn. It was an antique chair made with clawed legs and it's red color slightly faded to a pinkish hue. A fireplace sat across from the couch and was filled not with firewood, but with ash and debris. It looked like it hadn't been used for years and needed a good cleaning.

The only modern thing in the entire space was the small flat screen TV that hung slightly crooked above the fireplace opening. Mary and Joseph walked over to the couch and sat down and Taylor joined them in the plush chair which was uncomfortable and hard.

He looked at them and Mary began to speak but was interrupted by her husband who had opened a blue cooler beside the couch and was digging through mountains of ice and eventually dug out a bottle of beer. He cracked the cap open and drank half the bottle in one gulp, setting it down on the glass coffee table in front of the couch. He reached into his pocket and took out a pack of cigarettes, placing one in his mouth and lighting it with his lighter that he had also brought out. He stuffed everything back into his pocket and motioned for Mary to speak.

“As I was about to say... I guess I should start at the beginning when your father and I met... We were both thirteen at the time and it was love at first sight.”

“Good times...” Joseph mumbled, combing through his rat's nest of hair with his fingers who's nails were unclean and clad in dirt.

Mary glanced at him before continuing, “My mother and father were rich and Joseph's family was very poor. As such, he never had proper education and stopped going to school at that age. I had bumped into him on the street once and we had begun to see each other since. When we fell in love, my parents didn't approve of our relationship and neither did Joseph's parents. Joseph was willing to do anything to be with me and he suggested that we run away and... We did.”

“We had to live on the street for a while and we stayed in hotels and motels with the little money we managed to scrounge up. When I was fourteen I got pregnant with you and Joseph was distraught. He wanted me to get an abortion, but how? We were just two kids on the street with no money and couldn't afford any medical care. I had to have you.”

“It was a very difficult birth. When it happened, it was the middle of winter and we didn't have a place to stay. I had you in an unused shed near an abandoned house. I nearly died that night, but Joseph nursed me back to health and kept telling me to get rid of you. I knew I had to, not because you would drag us down, but because of our extreme poverty and the fact that you probably wouldn't survive the rest of winter. You were a hungry baby and we couldn't find food for ourselves even. Joseph told me to just leave you wherever and let you die, but it was too cruel of a thing for me to do, so, I found an orphanage nearby and left you on their doorstep hoping they'd take you in and care for you. I told Joseph I had gone out to find food and on my way there, you died from the cold. I didn't want him to know that I had turned you in because I knew he would go looking for you.”

“Joseph managed to find a job despite his lack of education and we got a place to stay, food, water, new clothes, and electricity. We've lived here ever since that incident fifteen years ago and... I realized now how much I wanted to see you again and make sure you were OK, or even alive. You've grown so much Taylor...” In the remembrance of the past, Mary had become overwhelmed with tears and she dug her head in her hands. If it weren't for his father still sitting there, Taylor would have gone over and hugged his mother.

Taylor looked over at his father and narrowed his eyes. Joseph was sitting there, his cigarette still smoking, staring at the empty bottle of beer in his hands. He shuddered and wondered why his father would want to dispose of him so bad. Was he that much of a burden? Or, did he want to kill Taylor because he was afraid of him growing up with the horrors of poverty around him?

Mary's sobs gradually decreased, even if Joseph hadn't made a move to comfort her. If he loved her so much, shouldn't he have made a motion towards her?

“But... Taylor... Now that I know you're alive and well, and that Joseph and I are getting by fairly well... I wanted you to move in with us and we'll raise you until it's time for you to go.”

Taylor's heart nearly stopped. Move in with his biological parents, and live a life he had always wanted? The word family echoed in Taylor's mind over and over again. Despite the removal of him from the orphanage, and the fact that he would have to say good-bye to Deborah for good, he was going to say yes without any hesitation.

That's when his father stood up rather abruptly, dropping his beer bottle on the floor. It rolled across the hardwood floor and came to rest beside Taylor's feet.

“No.” Joseph said sternly and stood there. He took out his cigarette and squished it in the ash tray on the coffee table.

“What do you mean by no?” Mary asked, startled by her husband's movements.

Joseph looked at her, then at Taylor, “I mean I don't want him in my house. I don't want him anywhere near this house. I want him out and away; better yet, dead.” He spat every word at Taylor with fury in his dark eyes. He then pointed one of his fingers at the door.

“Get out.” He demanded, “I want you out of my fucking house right now; I don't want to see your goddamn face again. Go. Now.”

Taylor didn't move. He didn't want to go; he didn't want to leave his mother with his bastard father. If he loved her, he would have accepted her decision to allow Taylor to move in. More importantly, if they were out of poverty range, why should Joseph still want to get rid of him?

Every minute that Taylor stayed put, it made his father get angrier and angrier. Behind the looming shape of Joseph, Taylor could see his mother mouthing the words “Please, go.”

Taylor ignored this plea and continued to remain seated. Finally, his father snapped and lunged for him, grabbing his arms and trying to drag him off the seat and eventually out of the house.

“I said get out!” He yelled, yanking on Taylor's arms and causing him to stumble on his feet. It was in this moment that Mary stood up and grabbed her husband's powerful shoulders, trying to pry him off her son.

“Fuck off, you bitch!” Joseph screamed and elbowed Mary in the chin, causing her to fall back on the couch in pain.

In an instant, Taylor's eyes flashed and he was overcome with the urge to protect his mother, the human being that had given birth to him and tried to care for him even though she had to give him up in the end. The man in front of him was an enemy, and in instinct, his wings ripped out of the back of his shirt and he launched a punch square in his father's nose.

He was sent flying back and he fell over the back of the couch, landing hard on the floor. Taylor was breathing heavily and his knuckles were bunched together so tight that they were turning white. He went over to his mother who's eyes were closed and had been ridding her sight of the fight in front of her while her chin was heavily bruised and bleeding.

“Are you alright?” He asked her and she opened her own green eyes and saw Taylor, but mostly, she focused her attention on his wings. Awestruck, she gazed at them and looked like she was about to faint.

“Taylor...” She mumbled, sitting up, but Taylor eased her back down.

“Stay down, I'll explain later.” He whispered to her and he crept around the couch to find his father trying to stand on wobbly legs. His face was brutally mauled and broken, and it was twisted in pain. He fell back down again at his pitiful effort to stand and Taylor came over to him.

Instead of dealing anymore damage, Taylor offered his father a hand up and despite the fact that his son had recently attacked him, he took the hand and Taylor helped him up on two feet.

However, as he got up, he gave Taylor a look of immense hatred and at that moment when he stared into his father's eyes, Taylor saw how much Joseph's face looked like his. He realized then that how could his own father want to get rid of his kin? He helped create Taylor with his mother; it wasn't right.

“Just what are you playing at?” Joseph hissed, eying Taylor's wings.

“I was going to tell you guys this after Mom explained what happened, but that fight started... Anyway, is there a mirror around here?”

“There's one near the stairs...” Mary piped up and she got off the couch, glancing looks of terror towards her husband who still had Taylor's gaze locked with his.

Taylor walked towards the stairway that was at the end of the narrow strip of hallway between the kitchen and living room. He walked in front of it, and in the reflection he showed his parents his true form.

He smiled. The monster smiled back, rather devilish, and Taylor began to explain, “I was given my demonic powers by the devil himself. Now you have a right to hate me or put up with it.”

“Taylor... Taylor I don't care what you are, you are my son and I love you.” Mary said and she grabbed Taylor's hand. Taylor looked at her with such sincerity and emotion, that Mary looked like she didn't want to glance away.

Taylor hugged her and he turned to Joseph who gave Taylor a flabbergasted look and he seemed to not believe Taylor at first. Seeing the two hug was enough to set his father in a rage.

“I don't want him here at all. I don't want him to move in with us; it's too much trouble. Besides, I wouldn't want to raise a demon child.”

“Dad... I'm moving in no matter what you say. I want to live here. I want to know what it's like to live in a family, I mean, I've lived in an orphanage all my life.”

His father continued to look at him for what seemed like an hour, until he finally spoke up, “Fine, you can move in... But I'm warning you, don't get in my way and stay out of my business.” With that, his father lit another cigarette from his pocket and marched upstairs, leaving Taylor to wonder how Deborah would react to him moving out.

When Taylor came back to the orphanage, he approached Deborah immediately and spoke with her about what had happened. He told her everything; the fight with his father, the story, and his mother's desire for him to move in with her.

“I want to move out, Deborah. I want to be with her, even if my father is a pathetic bastard I want to be there to protect her... I've seen how he's treated her and I can't stand a minute away from the house; I want to know that she's safe and away from harm.” Taylor explained, as he finished the reminiscence of the incident.

Deborah looked close to tears. Fifteen years ago she had found a baby on the doorstep in the middle of winter and took him in. Taylor knew how hard it was to let him go, and he hugged Deborah in sympathy.

“Taylor... Whatever your heart desires, go towards it. I believe that you will discover things you never knew when you're in your family. Know that I have always cared about you and love you as my own son. Don't forget that.” Deborah mumbled as her face was squished against the crook of Taylor's neck.

Now Taylor felt guilty of suddenly leaving Deborah. He realized, he didn't want to let go of her and leave her here, but, his heart screamed for his mother and his desire to protect her. He had to follow it like Deborah had said.

In three days, Taylor was packed and ready to go. His mother came by in her minivan to pick him up and all the orphanage staff said their final good-byes.

When it came to Deborah's turn, she hugged him tighter than any of the other people had and she whispered a few words to Taylor, “These long fifteen years of you in my life has changed me as a person... These long years have proven to me how much of an amazing person you are, Taylor. Don't ever give up on your dreams, and live your life how you want to. I love you and I'll miss you. I will always be with you. Always.”

Taylor felt something warm began to pile up on the right shoulder of his t-shirt. He held on to Deborah tighter and replied, “Deborah... It's OK to cry... Because...” Taylor got choked up and felt liquid trickling down his cheeks, “... I'm crying too.”

In all honesty, Taylor didn't want to let go of Deborah, the woman that took every time off to be with him and care for him. The only woman that did care, and urged Taylor on. Taylor never knew what he would have done without her and for a moment, he was happy his mother had left him on the orphanage's doorstep.

There was a call from the doorway and Taylor's mom ushered him to get going. Taylor let go of Deborah, and said, “I'll visit you sometime.”

Deborah nodded and wiped the tears from her eyes, “Oh, please do, Taylor. You're always welcome here.”

Taylor said good-bye and walked out of the door, Deborah following him out to the minivan parked outside. He got in the passenger seat and his mom started the ignition.

As they drove off, Taylor looked towards Deborah and waved and she waved back. He was still crying a little bit and it was noticeable that Deborah still was as well, and even as the van moved away from the orphanage, Taylor kept waving until he could see Deborah's face no longer.

He dropped his hand back to his lap and turned around to face the front, his new life with his parents beginning to unfold before him.

The first few days spent with his parents went along fairly well. Taylor stayed out of his father's way, and in return, his father stayed out of Taylor's way. They ate together and dinner and talked sometimes, and Taylor also got a room to himself. What once was the guest room, it now belonged to him. He had a futon and a small pull out love-seat that guests would use if they ever came. He had a small TV all to himself and it was placed on top of the dresser in front of his bed.

The real problem was the fact that he hadn't told his parents about Chris. Sure, he went over to Chris's house everyday, but he always told them that Chris was one of his best friends and they liked to study together.

“What do you do with him everyday?” Taylor's father asked one night as they sat down for dinner, “I mean, you're never here on the weekend because you're always hanging out with him somewhere and sleeping over at his place.”

Taylor grabbed a piece of chicken from the plate in the middle of the dining table and placed it on his plate, not looking at his father as he replied, “We just... Hang out and talk, really. We do what teenagers would usually do.”

“Hmm... Hang out and talk, eh? Heh, alright, I was just wondering...” His father mumbled and gave a slight smirk.

Taylor didn't even want to imagine how Joseph would react to his son's sexual identity.

After dinner, Taylor managed to talk to his mother. He knew Mary would understand his relationship with Chris as she was like Deborah who was very understanding and level-headed.

“Don't tell Dad... Please.” Taylor willed once he was done talking to his mother about being bi-sexual and liking Chris.

She smiled back and said, “I wasn't going to tell him anyway... He's a bit... Homophobic.”

Taylor's heart sank a little at this. Keeping a secret from his father was like waiting for a hungry lion to wake from his slumber and you're the only one in the cage with it.

He thanked his mother anyway and hugged her and that was that.

The next day was a Friday and Taylor and Chris were walking towards Chris's house at the end of school. They were going to hang out again that day and as they walked into Chris's home, Chris's parents barged into them.

“Oh, Chris! I forget to call you about this, but, your mum and I are going to go out for a little while and your sister is at a friend's house and I don't feel comfortable leaving you two alone. Is there a chance you can hang out at Taylor's house or maybe he can come over tomorrow instead?” Chris's dad said, placing a hand on his son's shoulder.

Taylor could feel himself swaying slightly but usually when he came home, his dad was passed out on the floor from drinking too much beer. Joseph was a heavy alcoholic and drank at least ten beers a day, if not more. If his father was asleep, Taylor may have the chance to secretly let Chris in and they'd “do stuff” in his room.

“That's fine with me, I don't think my parents have a problem with it.” Taylor replied and Chris gave a startled look towards him.

“Well, alright then, we'll be off.” Chris's dad said and they walked in the opposite direction that Taylor and Chris would walk.

As they trotted along the sidewalk, Chris began to question Taylor's decision.

“You told me that your father was homophobic and you only told your mum about your sexuality. Did you tell your father and he allowed it?”

“No, but I have a good feeling my dad won't get in the way of things while we're there...”

As quietly as Taylor could, he pried the front door open and breathing a sigh of relief, he saw his father sprawled out on the couch on his stomach, snoring, and drool dripping from the corner of his mouth. Beer cans and bottles were scattered all around the couch, and in Joseph's hand, he still lightly grasped the neck of a half-empty bottle.

When Chris slipped in behind Taylor, he mumbled a surprised, “Bloody hell...” At the sight of Taylor's wasted dad.

“This is your father? I expected a little better.” Chris said.

Taylor sighed, “Sadly, it is. He's a heavy drinker and can't go a day without a sip of alcohol.”

“Quite pathetic...” Chris breathed with narrow blue eyes and Taylor tip-toed towards a note on the kitchen counter. It was a note from his mom saying that she had gone on some errands and wouldn't be back until later that evening.

“Come on, my mom is away, and my Dad probably won't wake up until she gets home. Hopefully you'll be be back by then or something.” Taylor said quickly and grabbed Chris's hand, leading him upstairs to his room.

There, Taylor and Chris did their homework that they had over the weekend and yes, they did have sex afterwards. Two hours had passed since they came in and Joseph was still fast asleep on the couch.

At least, until he heard his son's voice carry down into the living room.

He woke up and was immediately hit with a massive headache. He endured the pain however and tried to listen to what Taylor was saying.

“I can't let him see you. He'll kill you.”

Another voice joined in, a British accented voice that seemed to belong to another boy possibly about Taylor's age, “He'll kill you too! It doesn't matter anyway; if he abuses you, you can report him to the police.”

“That's not what I'm worried about... What if he kicks me out?”

Joseph stood up on slightly unstable legs and decided to walk up the stairs to Taylor's room. He wanted to know exactly who and what they were talking about.

“You can always go back to the orphanage, or stay at my place.” Chris said and Taylor continued to look doubtful as he stared at his boyfriend sideways on the futon they laid in.

“I know... I'm just scared...” He mumbled, cuddling closer to Chris.

At that moment, his bedroom door swung open and there stood his father in the doorway, recovering from his hangover, and staring at his son in the bed with a boy he did not recognize.

At least we're covered... Taylor thought with a gulp and continued to look at his father who stared right back.

“Oh my God. Why does this always happen to us?” Chris mumbled as he noticed Joseph standing there with his mouth open.

Taylor couldn't help but agree.

Taylor and Chris found themselves in an intense argument between themselves and Taylor's father. Mary had come home to her husband shouting accusations of “You filthy faggots!” in Taylor and Chris's face.

She managed to break up the fight between them and Taylor demanded that his father at least deal with the fact that Chris and him were together.

This of course dove into another fight and Taylor found himself protecting Chris and his mother from harm by standing in front of them as a shield just in case Joseph decided to go the next level.

Eventually, Taylor and Chris won the argument and Joseph finally said he was OK with Chris and Taylor's sexuality and went to his bedroom in retreat.

Chris left and told Taylor they'd go out somewhere tomorrow and the next morning, Joseph had told Taylor to only bring Chris when he was away, otherwise, he wanted him out of his house. Taylor could only agree to his father's wishes and it ended up working out in the long run.

A month went by of living with Taylor's parents, and summer break for him was steadily approaching. As the days grew longer and the nights grew shorter, the bond between his mother and him tightened, as well as the bond with Chris. He still remained quite cold around his father, and Joseph returned the chilly emotion; at least he went out of Taylor's way.

All in all, Taylor was glad about living with a family again. Even if it was mostly his mother that cared for him, it was all Taylor needed to get the grasp of family life and he was enjoying it immensely. Sometimes, in the middle of the night, he would hear his parents fighting with each other in the kitchen, generally over financial issues or Joseph's drinking and smoking habit. Taylor did admit he wanted his father to quit his bad habits, but Joseph was a stubborn fellow and continued with his addictions.

Taylor never did end up winning his father's respect, and he knew that he never would, but he tried nevertheless and wanted to keep Joseph just as happy as his mother, or Chris.

The years passed by fast. Taylor was growing older and moving upwards in school. He stayed with Chris in his high school years and even stayed with him in college. After four years of college life, Taylor and Chris dropped out and Taylor became an editor for a local magazine. Chris became a business manager and, in the end, Taylor and him moved in together to start a new life on their own. Their relationship was still going strong and Taylor was ready to “pop the question” at some points, but decided to wait a while longer.

In these years, for Satan, he felt absolutely not confident that he would ever get Taylor fully back. Again and again, plans were swapped, but none seemed to be good enough to put into full swing. Still, Satan did not give up and he waited until just the right moment before he would go ahead and take risks.

On a pretty spring morning, two young men walked along a sidewalk towards a park that was very familiar to them. They talked and laughed together; their stories proving how long they had known each other.

They came to rest on a park bench that faced the road and the smooth, black-haired man turned towards the other who's hair sprung up in tiny spikes.

“Chris... Do you remember this bench?” The man said, lightly holding the other's hand in his.

“Oh yes, Taylor... This was the day you confessed your love to me. I remember it clearly.” Replied Chris, his voice mostly American accented, but did have an English twang mixed in.

Taylor smiled and leaned in, kissing Chris on the lips.

“Chris, I really love you. That day on the bench I never imagined I would be sitting with you right now. I want to be together with you forever, and I'm willing to take one more step to make our love even riper than it was before.” Taylor mumbled, his face right beside Chris's.

He drew back and dug something small out of his pocket, “Chris...” He got down on his knees and in the palm of his left hand, he presented a box which held a ring inside. The ring was plain with small emeralds placed neatly in a row on the top.

“... Will you marry me?”

“Oh, Taylor...” Chris breathed, bringing up his hands to his mouth before attacking Taylor with a hug.

“Yes! Of course I will!” He shouted and buried his face in Taylor's shoulder, crying out of happiness.

That day was the best day of Taylor's life. The person he loved with all his heart was his forever. In that moment, he never wanted to let go of Chris and they hugged for an eternity, sharing each other's warmth.

It was the worst day, however, for a Lord of Hell who was watching the whole ordeal through telepathy. The scene was available for Cassius, Brutus, and Judas to all see and Satan was alerted from his demonic and raging thoughts as a sob escaped Judas's mouth and then Cassius's.

“It's so beautiful!” Judas cried and nearly fainted on the hard floor of Satan's den.

Satan ended the little movie in his head and swung his head around slowly to look at Judas who was crying his eyes out.

A swing of his skeletal paw was all it took to rip Judas's head clean off.

“That's it. No more mister nice devil for me... I'm going to end it...”

“How?” Judas whimpered, as his head became reconnected with his body.

Satan looked at him, bloodlust lighting his gaze. He smiled widely, the grin almost as scary as the Cheshire's Cat.

“It's time... For them.”

MYSTERIOUS ENDING TIME DUN DUN DUN.

wow what a huge leap in time there uhhh.

it's time to wrap this story up. only a few more chapters and i'll probably be finished, so the "ending at april" schedule is going quite well.

BTW;;

mary is taylor's mom.

joseph is taylor's dad.

taylor was born in winter.

c whut i did thar? lolololol.

an illegible mess. · Mar 4, 2012

ohey guys, here's chapter eleven.

ENJOYZ.

it's kind of retarded and stupid at some points lol. i'm such a dumbass when it comes to facts and shit.

chapter eleven; the first rite

Disease is something that all humans encounter in their lifetime. Some diseases, like the common flu are easy to get rid of and aren’t deadly. That is, if you treat them properly and immediately. Others can kill, though, and can’t be treated easily, if not at all. Disease is something I desire and I want. It will kill the person I despise the most in the most horrific way possible. I send disease in hopes that it will gag and rot away my enemy for good. This is the First Death Rite.

“Satan, you can’t!” Cassius cried in protest.

Satan turned towards Cassius, fury burning in his eyes, “I can and I will! How dare you defy me; your Lord and protector!”

“But… But… The boy… He’s innocent!” Cassius retorted, angering Satan further.

“There is no innocence with me!” He shouted back, seemingly growing in height above Cassius.

“At least give him mercy!”

“I can’t grant anyone mercy! Surely you dumbasses would know that by now!”

Satan continued to glare at Cassius, and Cassius whimpered and skittered back to Judas and Brutus who were also scared of their enraged master.

“It’s already been done anyway. There is nothing you poor, pathetic fools can do to stop it. We’ll just have to wait and see what happens now…” Satan spat and turned his back towards the Three Betrayers.

Taylor and Chris drove back to their apartment; one of their hands in the others. Taylor began to dawn on his new life with Chris and how much he looked forward to it, despite how hard it would be married to another man. Same-sex marriage did not have the same privileges as heterosexual marriage did, unfortunately.

Once Taylor had dropped out of college, he and Chris found an apartment in a little town called Monroe in New York. It was about a few hours away from Manhattan and was a suburban and quiet town. They lived in the village area which contained small tourist shops and the city’s town hall. Both Chris and Taylor really liked it here and Taylor secretly hoped to start a nice family here.

Chris opened the door to their apartment room and they took off their light coats for spring and put them on the hanger near the door. They plopped down onto the small brown couch and cuddled next to each other, closing their eyes and enjoying the warmth they shared.

Taylor didn’t ever want this love to end. It wouldn’t end, he knew it. The universe had set this in stone and it was his fate. He loved this boy, no, this man; this amazing British man that had moved to America and had become apart of his life; his friend, his lover, his entire life.

“Will you be with me forever?” Taylor asked innocently, staring into Chris’s royal blue eyes that reflected his own sincere face.

Chris blinked once and smiled. The smile sent sparks all throughout Taylor’s body and he felt his lover’s happiness course through his veins.

“Of course I will. I will live and die with you, I promise. I won’t ever leave your side and I will remain loyal to you and to you only, for it is only you that I love and cherish with all my heart. You make me feel so alive and I hope that it is the same for you.” Chris’s voice sounded so real, but yet so fairy-tale like. His voice was dreamy and his breath caressed Taylor’s face gently as he spoke in his Americanized tongue.

“Chris…” Taylor mumbled, star struck from his love’s beautiful poetic words and gentleness. He passed a hand over Chris’s clean-shaven face and kissed him once, twice, three times.

Of all the things going on in Taylor’s mind, they seemed to melt away and only one thought mattered: his desire to protect Chris with his life and keep that promise alive by never straying from him and being with him always and forever.

The countdown was reaching its end. What was the start of a new year for Chris and Taylor; it was also the start of something for Satan.

In a few months, it would be spring again, and that’s when Taylor and Chris would come together and vow for eternal love after a year of the proposal and being engaged. And that was when Taylor’s thoughts would swirl more around love and the possibility of making a family.

Satan was against his wishes, but did not speak up about it. He still needed Taylor’s guidance as his own kind. That influence needed to go.

There was a sudden change in the fallen angel’s emotions as the countdown drew to a close and the new year was beginning to unfold. The numbers swam into his brain and he whispered quietly.

“Three… Two… One…” It was done.

The reaction inside erupted and the rite came to the Lord of Hell’s previously spoken words. From his mouth it was released to the enemy; the one that needed to go. The influence, the start of the Messenger’s falling away from his duties; he was going to be no more, and Satan enjoyed this quiet revelation and found himself laughing maniacally, the Three Betrayers cowering before their winning master. No one could stop him that was true; at least, no one except the Messenger.

But it’s too late for even you to interfere, my fact-giving friend… He will be no more, and you will crumble too before me. No more mercy… You are mine.

Empty bottles of champagne littered the kitchen floor and made a trail along with crumbs of potato chips and other junk food to the bedroom in Chris and Taylor’s airy apartment.

A light flicked on from inside the bedroom and out wobbled a still slightly drunken Chris, who had his sky blue robe tied loosely around his body.

“Chris, where are you going?” A slurred voice echoed from behind the young man, who turned around and faced Taylor with bloodshot eyes.

“Bathroom… I don’t feel too good…” He mumbled and continued to shuffle towards the room in the middle of the hallway.

Flicking on the light above the sink in the bathroom, Chris collapsed on the tile floor near the toilet, grabbing the bathtub behind him for support, and he leaned his left cheek on the cold, porcelain rim.

Bile bubbled inside him and he could feel it rising into his throat. He took a couple deep breaths, but was still shaken by the alcohol and the large amounts of salt and sugar that he had combined with the champagne.

He gave up and dipped his face into the toilet bowl, retching up the contents in his stomach. One look and then he flushed, getting up to wash the taste of vomit from his mouth.

As he stood, a sharp, gnawing pain nipped his side and he made a slight wince, grabbing the part where it had hurt. As soon as it started, it was over with, and Chris wondered if it was just a side-effect from the vomiting he had done.

I really do hope I don’t get food poisoning from all this… Chris thought to himself and went back to the bedroom, climbing underneath the covers beside Taylor who had already fallen back asleep.

Jeez, he really does have a strong stomach… I’m surprised he hasn’t gone up and done the same thing I did.

Still feeling woozy, Chris nestled beside his fiancé and drifted off into an uneasy sleep that was full of headaches and stomach pains.

Taylor awoke to the disturbance beside him and flashed a look beside him to see Chris sitting straight up and clutching the side of his abdomen. His face was twisted into a small grimace but then it relaxed and his fingers slipped from their place and he fell back onto the pillow.

He looked at Taylor, “Oh, I didn’t mean to disturb you.” His voice croaked like a frog, pained and weary.

“It’s alright; it’s morning anyway so I’ll go ahead and make breakfast.”

Chris just made a moan that sounded like a half-agreement. He pulled the covers over his head while complaining quietly of a migraine.

It was weird; Taylor felt absolutely fine. He had felt a tad hung over the other night, but it went away while he was sleeping. He expected it was his demonic sense of healing quicker than most humans.

He took the covers off of Chris’s head and gave him a soft peck on his forehead before covering him up again. He then left to go make breakfast.

Scrounging up the last of the eggs in the fridge, Taylor began to set up for making scrambled eggs on the kitchen counter. Suddenly, the door to the bedroom swung open and Chris ran out, heading off to the bathroom. A few seconds later, Taylor heard the familiar sounds of vomiting and he made a slight grimace. He then began to wonder if he should just make eggs for himself, after all, Chris still might be too sick from the alcohol to keep food down.

Still, when Chris walked out looking woozier than he had before, Taylor asked him if he wanted any eggs. Chris made a tiny nod and just said one egg was fine. He then headed back into the bedroom.

Taylor sighed and began to feel bad for Chris before cracking the last of the eggs into a bowl and adding a couple ingredients.

After ten minutes, the eggs were done cooking and Taylor put Chris’s eggs on a tray to bring to him in the bedroom.

Chris was still curled up in bed, barely awake if not at all. He looked up as Taylor entered and tenderly sat up. He kept a straight face despite the fact he was probably about to throw up again. He took the eggs out of Taylor’s hand and ate them slowly.

Taylor sat on the bed with him and ate as well, stroking Chris’s head like he was a pet dog as he did so.

“Sorry about last night; I didn’t know you would be this bad.” Taylor apologized, still petting his fiancé.

“It’s fine… Sometimes I don’t know my own limits with alcohol.” Chris mumbled back, his voice still cracked with pain.

Taylor nodded and curled up closer to Chris as he finished his last bite. Chris had barely nibbled on anything before he placed his unfinished bowl on Taylor’s. Taylor gave him another peck, this time on the cheek, and walked back out, placing the dirty dishes in the dishwasher.

I wonder how long he’ll remain like this. Taylor wondered, worried for Chris’s help. Hopefully he didn’t food poison Chris.

After a few hours Chris walked out, rubbing his stomach with his right hand.

“Do you still feel sick?” Taylor asked as Chris joined him on the couch. Taylor was reading the headlines from the Sunday paper that wished everybody a Happy New Years.

“It’s just my stomach… It’s been hurting. Not like a persistent pain, but it’s on and off. And it’s always in the same place…”

“What does it feel like?”

“It’s like a burning pain that lasts for a couple of minutes but then wears off.”

“Weird… I guess it’s some side affect from the alcohol.”

Chris nodded and still continued to hold his stomach. Slowly, his grip loosened and he put his hands in his lap.

Taylor leaned into Chris who leaned back on him, “Have any New Years resolutions?” Chris suddenly asked and Taylor smiled.

“Two… One is to remain with you…”

“Oh, you know you don’t have to make a resolution about that.” Chris interrupted, giving a slight laugh.

Taylor smiled, “I know. The second one is to start a family.”

Chris looked up at him, “A family? You mean you want kids already?”

“Well, maybe a few months after we’re married…” Taylor said, slightly pleading with Chris. He did want kids, adopt one at least.

Chris nodded, looking thoughtful, “Well maybe we’ll drive back to your orphanage and look for one?”

“I like that idea. I’d love to see Deborah again.” Taylor hadn’t spoken with Deborah since he went off to college nearly five years ago. It was about time he should meet the kind and understanding woman that cared for him again.

Abruptly, Chris sat up and hurried off to the bathroom. Retching sounds echoed after hi footsteps and Taylor gave yet another grimace.

Chris walked back out, coughing slightly, and he then sat down beside Taylor again.

“Sorry…” He apologized and Taylor kissed him on the cheek.

“It’s OK; I know you still feel bad,” He said, “but still… If this continues on for more than three days we may have to get you to a doctor. It could be food poisoning.”

Chris seemed to fidget after Taylor said this and he gave a slight groan of displeasure, “I do not need a doctor…” He hissed under his breath, loud enough for Taylor to hear.

Taylor sighed. The one thing that Chris really despised was doctor’s visits. He always complained that they’d misdiagnose him and either give him a diagnosis that was more severe than what he had, or they’d say he was fine and he’d get worse.

“It won’t be that bad; I’m just worried about you, OK?” Taylor replied.

Chris still grumbled, looking angry and Taylor couldn’t help but ignore him this time.

Satan kneaded the hard ground of his lair impatiently, his black skeletal claws continuously flexing and scraping the Earth.

Eyes darting around at Brutus, Cassius, and Judas, who just stood in wait for the rite to unfold, also stared at Satan.

“What do you bastards want? I’m just waiting for that moment… That moment when he will be no more…”

“Chris, seriously, we need to get you to a doctor.”

Pushing away Taylor’s hand, he made a low grumble of remorse and got away from Taylor’s reach.

Taylor looked like he was about to cry. Chris had been sick for three days and his condition was gradually getting worse. He at least had to have had some sort of food poisoning or a stomach virus. Chris was constantly making runs to the bathroom to throw up whatever he managed to eat.

Speaking of eating, his appetite had decreased dramatically. He didn’t want to eat anything out of fear of throwing it back up. Chris wasn’t necessarily a fan of vomiting, nobody was. Thus, his displeasure of eating turned into weight loss. Taylor was concerned about his nutrition, as Chris was dehydrated and malnourished. No matter how much Taylor begged, Chris wouldn’t eat anything.

“Chris… You’re not going to get any better like this…” Taylor pleaded as Chris walked away.

He ignored him however and the bedroom door slammed shut, leaving Taylor alone on the couch in the living room. Feeling defeated, he laid down and heaved a big sigh.

The next day, Taylor awoke to retching and, oddly enough, harsh coughing from the bathroom. A few minutes later Chris opened the door, his eyes wide and scared. By the look of his face, Taylor knew something wasn’t right.

“Taylor…” Chris whimpered and Taylor shot straight out of bed. Chris never spoke in that way.

He hugged him in comfort, “What’s wrong?”

“I… I’m vomiting blood.”

“What?”

That wasn’t a good thing. Throwing up blood meant internal bleeding or irritation, or worse. Taylor didn’t want to think about these worse things and forced himself to remain calm.

He cleared his throat to hold back a gulp, “Just now?”

“Yes… And my stomach’s been hurting even more… I don’t know what’s wrong.” Suddenly Chris leaned into Taylor and began to cry.

Taylor felt like a mother calming Chris after a bad nightmare. He patted his back and kissed his cheek, still holding him tightly in his arms.

“Let’s get you dressed. We’re going to the hospital; this is far more serious than I thought.”

Much like the times before when Taylor told Chris they were going to the doctor, he tensed up and opened his mouth to protest, but before he could he was racked with hoarse coughs and Taylor had to let go of him and sit him back on the edge of the bed.

Chris managed to get control of himself and took in a deep and shaky breath before covering up his hand to his mouth and vomiting a little inside his palm.

Taylor could clearly see blood running down the cracks in his fingers and his heart began to race with desperation. This was bad.

Once Chris was finished he started sobbing again, a trickle of blood leaking from the corner of his mouth.

Taylor got some clean clothes and put them on Chris. He then changed himself and supported Chris as they both walked out of their apartment, Chris sobbing the whole way to the parking lot outside the first floor entrance.

Gently, Taylor placed Chris in the passenger seat of their small sedan and they drove off towards the hospital.

Chris had his hand cupped over his mouth the whole time, just in case he started throwing up again. Taylor wondered if he should have brought a small trash can or bag, but, Chris never threw up again as they drove along.

But, Chris was in pain. A few minutes from when they left the parking lot, he was grabbing the side of his abdomen, grimacing in pain. He looked like he was about to cry out, but was holding it in.

“Shit... That was more painful than the last...” Chris mumbled as the pain dulled and subsided. It would be back again, though, there was no telling.

Taylor could feel his own stomach churning out of anxiety. What if Chris had something like stomach cancer? The odds were low, but Taylor couldn't help but feeling that whatever this was, was deadly. Even if it was only present for three days, the severity grew fast, which was the most frightening part.

Finally, Taylor got to the hospital and carried Chris into the emergency room. There they were taken to an examination room by a nurse and Taylor stayed by Chris's side until the doctor walked in.

“So...” He said, looking down on his clipboard, “Which one of you is Chris Jardine?”

Taylor looked at Chris who raised his head. He was slumped over, curling his arms around his stomach. He mumbled “That's me...” under his breath and the doctor walked over.

Taylor scooted off the the cot that Chris was sitting on and sat in a chair that was facing Chris.

“What seems to be the problem? The form that you filled out here says that you've been experiencing on and off stomach pain, that is always in the same place... Can you point to where it hurts?”

Chris blinked and tenderly unlaced his arms and pointed his right finger at the side where it hurt in his abdomen.

The doctor nodded in understanding and scribbled something on another piece of paper on his clipboard.

“You've also been vomiting blood...” The doctor made a cluck with his tongue and his face began to deepen in concern, “Did it just start today or has this been going on for some time?”

“Just started today...” Chris muttered, crossing his arms across his stomach again.

“And how many times do you vomit daily?”

“I have no idea... At least more than ten times.”

“And your appetite? Has it dwindled?”

This time Taylor spoke up. He knew Chris would lie about this, “He hasn't been eating at all since the pain started; he's just been drinking water.”

The doctor looked at him, “And the pain started three days ago, correct?”

Taylor nodded and the doctor frowned, “You should have brought him in the minute the symptoms started. What he is experiencing is definitely not normal.”

Taylor's heart thumped, and he hoped the doctor couldn't hear how fast it was beating, “Do you know what he has?”

The doctor made a slight nod, “I have a hunch; but we'll need to examine him further to make sure. He'll need to be admitted here for a couple of nights while we take tests.”

He walked out of the room, saying that a nurse would come by and take Chris to a room to stay in. Taylor sat next to Chris and hugged him.

“See, that wasn't too bad.” Taylor reassured, “They'll help you here.”

Chris said nothing and just leaned into Taylor, trying to gather up his warmth.

Taylor walked beside the nurse that was guiding him towards Chris's room. It was a day after he had been admitted and they had already done a blood test the other day.

The nurse led him to a room on the third floor and Taylor walked in. Chris was lying on the hospital bed, staring at the ceiling in a bored manner.

“Hey Taylor.” Chris greeted as Taylor walked in. The nurse closed the door behind them to leave them alone and Taylor went over to Chris's bed and sat down on the edge, looking at Chris.

“So, have they told you what's going on?”

Chris sighed, “Not yet. Every time I ask Dr. Sanchez, the doctor, he says he may know what I have, but is still not sure. The tests for whatever they drew my blood for came back negative and now they're going to have my chest and abdomen x-rayed.”

Taylor nodded. The blood test may have ruled out something bad, so there was hope that whatever Chris had wasn't too serious.

“My stomach's still been flaring up, though.”

“Have they given you anything to numb the pain or something?”

Chris shook his head, “Whatever I have, Dr. Sanchez told the nurses to keep me off of pain medication because it would supposedly 'make it worse'”

What could that it be, though? Taylor wondered. He had never taken a medical course in college as he didn't want to go that way in life. Chris hadn't taken one either, and in all of Taylor's high school classes with human health and biology, nothing seemed to ring a bell.

Anxiety yet again coursed through Taylor and he found himself clutching his own stomach like Chris was doing. What was going on with his fiancé? Should he be really worried?

The nurse popped her head in again, “Chris, it's time for your x-ray. Taylor you'll need to wait in the waiting room until he's done, alright? I'll come out and tell you when you can come back in.”

Taylor looked at Chris and gave him a good-bye kiss, “I hope you feel better soon.” He mumbled and Chris seemed to look uncertain.

And he had a right to be.

Satan gave a hiss that echoed throughout the cavern, sounding like a thousand threatened snakes. His eyes darted around at his companions who stood in wait. They watched Satan closely like an owl preying on a mouse, not making a move and slightly scared for what was to come.

“He will not be helped...” Satan murmured, staring at nothing ahead of him, but it was a plain picture in his mind.

His frown was soon forgotten though, and his teeth gleamed in the darkness of his den as his lips curled into a devious smile.

“I will make sure of that... You're just a ticking time bomb, enemy of mine...”

Chris was getting worse, even from the care that the hospital gave him.

Slowly, Chris's abdominal pain started to worsen and was increasing in frequency. Whenever Taylor visited him, his face was always twisted in agony and the nurse said Dr. Sanchez had ordered for no pain medication.

Taylor couldn't see the harm in it, but then again, he wasn't a doctor.

After three days, the results from the x-ray came back. Taylor was sitting in the waiting room, waiting for the nurse to allow him back in Chris's room.

But the nurse didn't come back. Instead, it was Dr. Sanchez. He called for Taylor and he walked up to the doctor who didn't look too happy.

“The x-ray has shown that Chris has a peptic ulcer, which is curable but...” Dr. Sanchez trailed off and that's when Taylor got scared.

“But what? What's wrong with him?”

Dr. Sanchez sighed, “It's perforated, meaning he has a hole in the wall of his stomach. He's going into emergency surgery right now. It won't be an easy procedure and there is a possibility that the surgery will fail. You must be prepared for the worst.”

“What if it fails?”

“He'll die, most likely.”

Taylor felt lightheaded. Emergency surgery? Possibility of failure? Death? He was about to faint right there on the hospital floor.

“OK... Do the best you can and if you can't help him... Tell me.”

Dr. Sanchez nodded, “We will do everything we can to cure him. Just sit tight and pray for the best.” He then walked out of the waiting room and Taylor found his seat again, sagging down low into the chair.

All he could think about was Chris and how at least a week ago they were watching the New Years' fireworks together, hugging and kissing. Chris was so full of life then, but now he was in a near-death experience.

Taylor tried to reach Satan for some kind of comfort, but it was like he was trying to reach someone on a busy line. He could never connect with Satan and whenever he felt like there was a connection, it was like Satan had pushed him out of his mind and he was left with only his thoughts.

He sighed and drew his legs to his chest and hugged them. His heart felt like it was about to leap out of his chest from it's constant fast-paced beating. An air of defeat surrounded Taylor, and he willed himself to remain hopeful about the situation, but one can only hope so much before they realize that they are getting their hopes up for nothing. Taylor found this out, and he buried his head in his hands and quietly cried.

While sitting there, Taylor prayed. He prayed so hard for some miracle. Chris was on his mind the whole time, his face, his voice, his smell, his quirks. Taylor had cried so much that soon he couldn't cry anymore, and he was left with a red and puffy face.

A few hours passed, which turned into a few more and all the while, Taylor's anxiety grew and grew. There was no sliver of hope left. He didn't pray anymore, as he knew that this was it. He would never see Chris again. Never hear his bright and cheery laugh, his sweet voice and the warmth of his body as he slept beside Taylor.

I didn't even get to say good-bye... Taylor thought to himself.

His head popped up though as Dr. Sanchez walked through the door again after hours of waiting and sobbing.

Taylor stood up immediately as he was called and walked over to him. Dr. Sanchez had no readable expression on his face, and Taylor was bursting with a mixture of curiosity, optimism, and fear.

“How is Chris?” Was the first thing that came out of Taylor's mouth. His voice was hoarse from crying so much and Dr. Sanchez seemed to notice this.

“He's resting now. We managed to repair the tear and get rid of the ulcer. However, we're still uncertain about how he got it. He doesn't have the infection that causes most ulcers and his stomach acid levels weren't high. Is he under any kind of stress?”

Taylor blinked, “Not that I know of... Should I be concerned if you don't know what caused it.”

“Not necessarily, but I was curious... It's strange that it just suddenly popped up and got worse over a short amount of time. If it ever returns though, then you should be concerned.”

Taylor nodded and slightly shivered from fear. He hoped it wouldn't return... He didn't want this to start all over again.

“Can I visit him?” Taylor asked.

“Sure. Just be quiet so you won't wake him up. He needs to recover; it was a tough procedure.”

Taylor nodded and Dr. Sanchez led him to the room he stayed in. When he opened the door, he saw Chris sleeping soundly on the bed. Serenity seemed to surround him as he slept there so peacefully. Taylor could have mistaken him for being dead if it weren't for the constant up and down movements of his chest and the persistent beeping of the machines that were hooked up to him.

Taylor walked over and Dr. Sanchez closed the door, whispering to Taylor to tell him if he needed anything that he should just ask him.

He sat on the edge of Chris's bed and looked at his nonchalant face. A single strand of black hair drooped and fell over on Chris's forehead and Taylor took a delicate hand and quickly brushed it away, placing his already moved hand on Chris's cheek.

A simple movement caused so much emotion to flare up in Taylor. Chris could have died, but by some miracle, he survived. He was still with Taylor. The warmth of his cheek that spread to Taylor's palm was like a cigarette; calming and an addiction. He never felt so happy over this tiny spark of affection that he could still pull off on Chris.

Chris was alive. Chris's soul still resided in it's body, and it loved Taylor, and Taylor loved him back.

A tear of joy rolled down Taylor's cheek, some of it trickling into Taylor's half-open mouth. It was salty on his tongue, and Taylor had never been so happy to cry in all his life.

Resistance was futile. Taylor leaned in and kissed Chris on his perfect, full of life lips. The kiss never felt better, and his heart beat faster out of passion, not fear.

Chris's eyes fluttered open, and his oceanic eyes looked around confusedly, but calmed as they met the face that belong to Taylor. A smile formed on Chris's face and he looked lovingly up at the face that was the definition of love.

“I was so scared...” Taylor whispered suddenly, as he looked at Chris. More tears of happiness spilled from his green eyes as they locked with the gaze of Chris's.

“Shh...” Chris's hand slipped onto Taylor's, and his other hand did the same. He cradled Taylor's head as if it was a newborn baby. As gentle as a soft breeze, Chris's thumb wiped away a falling crystal tear and Taylor closed his eyes, breathing in Chris's sent as he sat his head up and kissed Taylor.

“You don't have to worry anymore... Because I'm here... I will always be here.”

That voice. The words Chris whispered tickled Taylor's ear as he heard them in, and he continued to drink in Chris's sweet scent. He loved him so much that he tried to make a word stronger than love, but nothing came up and he had to leave it at “so much”.

“I love you, Chris... You are my everything. Stay with me... Stay with me forever.” Taylor mumbled back, too choked on his own tears to say anything more.

Chris calmed him once again with a gentle hush, and his head rested back down on the pillow as he tired out from holding it up.

“Go back to sleep... You need your rest.” Taylor said quietly, as Chris's eyes flickered open and shut. He nodded sleepily and before he could close his eyes for the await of dreams, he grabbed Taylor's hand which had fallen back to his side.

“Don't go... Stay with me...” Chris mumbled as he slowly began to drift back into unconsciousness.

Taylor leaned in and kissed Chris one more time on the lips, “I will be with you until you wake again.”

“Promise...?”

“I promise; I will stay.”

And stay he did.

He was not happy. Not at all. The happy ending once again was enough to put him on edge. His companions cowered as he howled and spat at the ground, cursing and screaming at The Messenger.

But, he found an out, and the plan that began to conjure in his brain made his screaming cease, and his maniacal laugh begin.

He turned back to where the mental image in his mind was located, and the smile on his vile face grew larger.

“But what if...” He mumbled quietly.

“I wonder what would happen if one of you were to turn your back on the other...?”

OHHH WHO'S THE MESSENGER. WHO IS HEEEE. WHOOOOOO.

idk you'll find out in the later chapters.

baha.

an illegible mess. · Mar 10, 2012

GUESS WHO'S DONE WITH CHAPTER TWELVE?

THAT'S RIGHT, I AM.

please enjoy this crappy chapter that i wrote up in haste so i can get some rest from the busy week, pff :'D

chapter twelve; the second rite

People can be happy or people can be sad. They can be happy with the one’s they trust and adore, or they can be sad. Sometimes the sadness and anger can tear them apart, and even worse, kill one of them. I ask for betrayal and anger to rip apart the relationship between the enemy, and the one I need. May the one I need lash out in the most violent way possible and kill the enemy. This is the Second Death Rite.

When Chris was discharged from the hospital, Taylor had carried him to the car and to the apartment when they arrived. He set Chris down on their bed and laid beside him while he dozed off. He was still weak from the surgery and it would take a few days for him to fully recover. Taylor had called himself and Chris off from their work during this time because he wanted to be beside Chris just in case anything else happened.

Taylor smiled as he watched Chris smile in his sleep. He leaned forward and kissed Chris’s forehead. Chris made a tiny jerk of his head as he slightly woke from his slumber, but he quickly fell back into his dreams and Taylor mumbled sweet dreams to him.

And there they both lay until dreams eventually overcame Taylor’s mind.

Sunlight streaming through the white cloth curtains made Taylor’s sleepy eyelids flicker open and shut rapidly. He looked over and saw Chris was already out of the bed. He wiped the sleep away from his eyes and yawned, slowly getting out of bed.

He wrapped his plaid robe around himself and walked out, seeing Chris was busy making breakfast scones for the both of them.

It had been a month since Chris had been cured of his peptic ulcer. February had arrived and Taylor hadn’t a clue as to what the date was. He just knew it was a regular February Sunday.

But, when Taylor approached and hugged Chris from behind, Chris looked at him and pecked him on the lips.

“Good morning, sleepyhead.” He mumbled and Taylor made a tiny smile.

Chris continued, “Happy Valentines’ Day.”

He blinked. Taylor didn’t realize it was Valentines’ Day!

Chris seemed to notice his surprised expression and made a slight laugh, “You forgot, didn’t you?” He kissed Taylor again and Taylor left him alone to continue baking his scones.

He sat on the couch and turned on the TV, listening to the morning news and the hum of Chris as he worked. He was humming an old Beatles song and Taylor couldn’t help but sway a little to the beat as he remembered what song it was.

“So, what do you want to do today?” Taylor asked and Chris stopped humming.

“I dunno. Maybe we can take a walk down the street and shop a little bit in the village area. Go out to dinner and come back home to do… Something ‘special’”

Taylor made a slight snicker as he imagined Chris putting air quotes around the word ‘special’. Of course they’d do that.

Chris came over with two freshly baked scones and gave one to Taylor while he kept the other for himself.

“I do hope you know what I mean by special.” Chris winked and Taylor made a mocking expression of curiosity.

“Maybe…” He mumbled and Chris kissed him on the cheek.

He climbed over the top of the couch and landed next to Taylor, who was no longer paying attention to the television screen.

“I’ll buy the flowers.” Taylor said.

“And I’ll buy the chocolates.” Chris replied and they both smiled. It was a tradition for them to buy flowers and chocolates respectively on Valentines’ Day.

The two cuddled together, warmth spreading through both of them like they were a big coat to wear. The television continued to snow softly as they sat on the couch and huddled close together.

Taylor couldn’t ever imagine betraying Chris; nor could he imagine ever getting mad at him. They did have a scuffle every now and then, but it was rare and it never lasted long.

Ever since the stomach incident, Taylor had gotten really close and over-protective of Chris. Like an anxious single mother caring for her only child, Taylor would always stay by Chris’s side. When they walked across the street, he held Chris’s hand. He would never shop by himself; always with Chris near him. During the working hours, he called Chris hourly to check up on him and make sure everything was fine. Sometimes Chris got annoyed and told him there was nothing he should be worried about, but Taylor disagreed; there was always a reason to be scared for the one you love.

They nibbled on their scones, but they barely ate anything as they were too busy gazing at each other lovingly. Taylor sometimes thought their love was a little mushy, but, he enjoyed it at least.

The afternoon rolled along and Chris and Taylor walked side by side and hand in hand as they headed downtown. They shopped at a couple of stores along the way, but they didn’t buy anything; they just looked around. Taylor would probably secretly buy something for Chris as a present, but he could never get around to it as Chris kept following him around. Chris had gotten used to the whole over-protective deal and expected that Taylor would want him by his side.

When they got to the grocery store, Chris and Taylor finally separated to buy their Valentines’ Day presents of flowers and chocolate.

Before heading off to the floral department, however, Chris had stopped Taylor and asked him if he was OK with Chris going off on his own to shop in the grocery store. Taylor said it was alright, and that they would meet at the first check-out counter once they were done shopping.

At the floral department, Taylor got a traditional bouquet of red roses for Chris and headed off towards the check-out counter. In all honesty, he was slightly afraid of if Chris was alright and if he got to the counter just fine. He expected for people to freak out of somebody randomly tried to kidnap or murder Chris. Besides, the grocery store was packed. It would be too obvious and Chris wasn’t even a target to anybody. Nobody at his workplace hated him and he wasn’t too popular among the townsfolk.

As expected, Chris was right there waiting for Taylor with his chocolates in a red heart-shaped box. Chris bought his stuff first, and then Taylor went next.

They headed outside, showing each other their gifts. They continued to look around town at the shops and when the evening rolled around; they found a nice family restaurant to eat at and headed on home.

Chris placed the roses in a vase on the coffee table that sat on the end of the couch. He kissed Taylor and told him they were beautiful and Taylor could only kiss back as a “thank you” gesture.

The two watched romantic and sappy movies in the living room, and Chris ended up falling asleep on Taylor’s shoulder as the clock struck midnight. He carried Chris to the bedroom and got out of his day clothes, changing into something more comfortable before laying beside the snoring Chris and curling up next to him.

This movement awoke Chris from his slumber and he made a final, startled snort before opening his eyes and seeing Taylor lying there beside him.

“Well hey…” He mumbled and leaned over, kissing Taylor on the nose.

Taylor returned the kiss with his own peck on the lips and moved closer towards Chris. Chris placed his arm around Taylor’s broad shoulders and rested his head in the crook of his neck. Taylor stroked his hair like a pet dog and closed his eyes, listening to the heavy breathing of Chris as he dozed and also, his heartbeat, which drummed rhythmically against Taylor’s chest.

“I love you, Chris.” Taylor whispered in his ear as he drifted off into a comfortable sleep.

Satan paced around his cavern, impatient and flustered. Judas, Brutus, and Cassius had all fallen asleep at the corner and Satan growled in his companion’s laziness, but then again, sloth was a sin and he couldn’t argue against them.

His lips curled up in a disgusted snarl as he saw The Messenger cuddle with the enemy; his Messenger, not anyone else’s. He belonged to Satan and not anyone else.

He should know that… I should have told him from the start.

His frown turned upside-down as he remembered the devilish words he had spoken not too long ago, but then again… It won’t be long before I’ll have him all to myself.

A slam of a door, and an angry shout from Taylor was all it took to explain that a fight had gone on between him and Chris. It was a heated fight that had had first started out with how Chris was complaining to Taylor about him always following him around. Taylor had gotten very offended and began to shout at Chris that he was protecting him from harm. He said he didn’t want the same thing that happened to Chris the month before. Chris had said that couldn’t have been avoided, and that he was safe on his own and didn’t need a guard always surrounding him. That’s when things started to get a little hairy and they fought about other things rather than just Taylor’s guarding scenario. In the end, Chris had gotten fed up and resorted to retreating to the bedroom with Taylor shouting out swears to him.

“You know it’s really fucking stupid how you think that I’m going to embarrass you by protecting you!” Taylor yelled.

Silence from the bedroom. Taylor tried again.

“I love you and all, so I want to protect you!”

This time there was a reply, “Well by the way you’re shouting at me, I guess you don’t!”

Ouch. That hurt. Taylor winced a little bit at Chris’s stinging reply and realized how much he had gotten worked over for something minor like this. Feeling bad about his put downs towards the one he loved, Taylor walked to the bedroom and tried opening the door, but it was locked.

“Chris open the door… I’m sorry, OK?” Taylor called, but Chris didn’t get up and unlock the door, nor did he say anything else.

“Chris…?” Taylor queried, half worried that he had really hurt his feelings.

Still no reply and Taylor leaned his ear on the door to listen for Chris’s footsteps, but he heard something else; sobbing. He made Chris cry.

He sighed and sat down on the floor, listening to Chris's pitiful cries. He didn't mean to hurt Chris so bad like that. He was surprised, but also began to hate himself for doing that.

With an angry growl, he got up and punched the wall near the bedroom door, making a gigantic hole in the plaster. The crash alerted Chris who at once demanded, “What was that?”

“Nothing...” Taylor hissed in reply and the door to Chris's bedroom swung open.

“Taylor!” Chris yelled when he saw the gigantic hole in the wall.

He went over and grabbed Taylor's hand, “Look at what you just did! How am I supposed to fix this!?” Chris then sighed and shook his head, letting go of Taylor.

“What am I going to do with you... Honestly, I feel like taking a vacation from here.”

A flash of rage burst into Taylor's mind. He didn't understand why he was acting like this, he was just angry.

“Well if you're so fed up with me, then go ahead and pack your bags and get the fuck out of here! Go! Just fucking go and leave me alone!”

Chris was taken aback. His eyes were so wide in surprise and he actually stumbled in spite of himself, “Taylor I didn't mean...”

Taylor, however, did not let Chris finish his sentence and instead retreated into the bedroom like Chris had before. He slammed the door behind him, but did not lock it, and sat at the end of his bed.

In all honesty, he hadn't meant what he said. He had been taken by the sudden urge to say it, like some invisible trickster was provoking his mouth to spit out the words. He wanted to go back out and apologize for his behavior but he was too afraid of yelling at Chris again.

Instead, Chris came into the bedroom and hugged Taylor from behind.

“Taylor I do not want to move out... I don't want to leave your side I'm just... Frustrated. Sometimes when you guard me like a guard dog, I lose my sense of freedom. I know you worry about me, and I know you just want to know that I'm OK, but I promise you... If anything happens to me, I'll tell you, and I'll never leave you.” Chris whispered in Taylor's ear.

He turned to look at Chris and his beautiful face, “I'm sorry myself... I... Really don't know where that outburst came from.”

Chris kissed him, “It's alright. You're probably frustrated too.”

Maybe that's what it was; frustration and stress. From what, though? Work wasn't giving him a hard time; and neither was home life. Why did he feel so angry and annoyed?

Would these fights continue? Taylor willed himself to not believe in such things but... What was with him?

It was a normal day as Chris and Taylor walked back from their previous shopping trip. They hadn't found anything at the stores downtown and decided to just go back to the apartment. No fights had broken out after the little skirmish they had in the house. Chris got the wall fixed, and Taylor was aware to punch something else the next time he got angry.

However, even though Chris was gentle and gave Taylor more affection, Taylor ignored them. He was troubled in his own mind; about his emotions and why the irritableness was attacking his brain like army soldiers. His mind was a mess of battlefields and warfare. He hated it. More importantly, he hated himself for acting so cold and distant towards Chris.

Chris had begun to start worrying for Taylor as he noticed the tension that was crackling around them like lightning in a summer storm. He asked Taylor all the time if he was depressed or stressed out, but Taylor kept telling him he was fine, just a little confused about himself.

Looking at him, Taylor realized how much Chris was staring at him. Finally, Chris's mouth opened and he stopped walking.

“Taylor really... What's bothering you? You've been so... I don't know... Uncaring? Ignorant? You barely look at me anymore. Seriously, what is up with you?”

Tensing up as he went on, Chris asked, “Are you tired of me?”

Taylor's eyes widened at Chris's question. Why would he say such a thing? Didn't he see that Taylor was just angry with himself and the way his mind was reacting to Chris's affections?

“No... No, I would never be tired of you.”

“OK...” Chris breathed, his voice sounding like a sigh of relief.

“It's just... A lot of stuff has been going on in my head... I just haven't been feeling like myself lately. Like, I've been feeling angry, all the time, for no apparent reason. And I guess I need to take it out on somebody and that has to be you...” Taylor explained, hoping Chris would understand.

Chris came over and hugged Taylor, “Alright... I understand. Look, if you need me to call a therapist or somebody to help you if this persists then just tell me. And I'm always here, so talk to me about your problems too.” He kissed Taylor on the lips and ushered him to continue on walking down the street towards their apartment.

Taylor however, stayed behind as Chris walked forward. There it was again; the irritableness. He clenched his teeth and tried to swallow down a roar of anger, but it turned into something else.

Pain. He made a choking sound as a searing flash of agony piled up in his heart. He grabbed at his chest and doubled over, still making gagging sounds as he tried to gain control. Was it a heart attack? No... It felt nothing like one.

“Taylor?” He heard Chris up ahead call and looked behind him to see Taylor crouched on the ground, making weird noises in the back of his throat.

He ran towards him and crouched beside him, “Are you alright? Taylor?” His hand grabbed Taylor's shoulder and Taylor shuddered as he could feel the irritation grow into a rage. This rage was apparently the cause of his chest pain and, because he was beginning to lose control, his wings ripped out of his back.

“Taylor, calm down! What if somebody sees you?” Chris said frantically. He already knew about Taylor's demonic powers, as Taylor had told him years ago when they had first gotten together.

Chris didn't know that Taylor was beyond control. He was slipping from his human sanity, to his demonic insanity. He tried to grab onto some form of his real self, but it was overpowered by the feelings in his mind and eventually he felt himself slipping away.

His fiancé hugged him tightly, in a desperate move to save Taylor from himself, but he was beyond saving now. In response, Taylor pushed Chris away with a pained shout of “No!”

Looking at the one he loved with pained eyes that were slowly growing yellow, he croaked in agony, “Leave... Hide somewhere... I'll be alright...”

Chris shook his head and Taylor felt like crying right before the haze shrouded his mind and he became a monster. Like in his reflection in the mirror, red ram horns grew and curled tightly beside his head, a black, spaded demon tail appeared behind him, and his fingernails on his fingers and toes grew and blackened into sharp and deadly talons that could rip flesh easily. His teeth grew pointed like a canine creature's, and finally, the green color in his eyes faded to a speckled yellow and his pupils slitted like a cat's when they were out in sunlight.

Taylor stood up from his crouch and looked at Chris. He gave a devilish smile, and slowly walked towards Chris. He no longer belonged to himself; his body was possessed by his emotions. A voice spoke in his brain, controlling him. Taylor could not speak out against the voice; in fact, he felt mute against the monster.

Chris backed up as Taylor moved closer. He kept repeating his name in hopes to drive back the sense in him, but nothing worked. Taylor was beyond saving now, and there was a small sliver of a chance that he could get back his body.

In a flash, Taylor finally snapped to the command that the voice had whispered. Kill him. Now, he charged and had Chris's throat in his hands, black claws closing in and piercing the soft flesh on Chris's neck.

Chris couldn't fight against Taylor's grip. Not only was it tight, but he didn't want to hurt Taylor himself, either. He was trying to persuade Taylor to stop without violence.

The grip tightened, and as Chris struggled in vain, it was audible that Taylor was laughing. He was laughing quite evilly, his now pointed demon tongue lolling out of his mouth like a panting dog.

He threw Chris on the ground, obviously not pleased with the reactions that he made towards being choked. Chris had been holding any sign of pain in, as he didn't want to show weakness. Taylor's demon side would have taken pleasure in that.

Instead of backing up and finding a weaker opponent, Taylor was stubborn and wanted to hurt Chris as much as possible. The voice had asked this. No backing down, not even if he pleads for mercy.

Fire. Taylor had the ability to cause and control it. Flames sprouted around his feet and licked at his legs, but they did not hurt him.

Taylor was able to tell the fire what to do, and that was to try incinerating Chris. They obeyed his orders and launched themselves at Chris.

Chris ran, and the flames pursued. They chased him around in circles and finally surrounded him. He looked around desperately, and stared at Taylor's face, trying to show him that he didn't want to make him back off with force. He wanted Taylor to come back to his body; step down and laugh like this was some kind of joke.

It was not that simple, however, and Taylor dismissed the pitied glance and prepared to make the fire consume Chris.

The voice did not let him, as it was against Taylor's wishes of burning Chris to cinders.

Kill him with your own hands.

The flames vanished suddenly and Chris thought Taylor had finally gained some control, but he was far from it. He ran at Chris and sent a devastating punch at his face. Chris was flown like a careless toy across the hard pavement of the road. Luckily, there were no cars on this road as it was a quiet and not well known. Chris wasn't ran over, nor did he hit one himself as he was flung. He landed hard on the other side of the road, and didn't move for a couple of seconds, before trying to hoist himself up. He was bruised and bleeding, and he knew that he had broken a couple of ribs. His jeans and shirt were ripped up, and he had scars all over his face. His nose was bleeding profusely, as well as his mouth. He hacked up a good amount of blood before managing to stand with difficulty.

Taylor made a screech that didn't sound quite human. It was in defiance and rage. He had to follow the voice's wishes, and that was to kill Chris.

Wait a minute... Taylor found himself thinking, I need to kill Chris? Why... I... I love him... In that instant, a side of him had snapped back to it's original self. It fought with his demonic side and he tried to calm down and suppress his powers.

The voice did not like this, nor did it expect Taylor to gain control of himself. It screamed in his ear, trying to make him surrender to his demon side. His human side was defiant, though, and it fought back.

What Chris saw as Taylor fought with himself, was his fiancé grabbing his head in his hands and screaming at nothing. He walked over, cautiously, hoping it wasn't a trick the demon side was playing.

When he got close enough, Taylor looked up at him, and he realized, his eyes were no longer yellow and creature-like. They were green and bright, and had a sense of mercy and desperation trapped in them.

“Please...” Taylor whispered in his own voice, “... Help me.” He crouched down on the ground, and held out one of his hands for Chris to hold. It didn't have claws, and was human. The other hand was demonic however, and was clenching the other side of his face.

Before Chris could grab Taylor's hand, the demonic hand had slipped down to Taylor's pocket. In the pocket was a regular .22 pistol. He always carried one around for self-defense. In fact, he had gotten it after Chris was released from the hospital for his ulcer. This was one of the causes of their fight a week or so back. Chris didn't like Taylor carrying around a gun in his pocket. He was more afraid of it going off on it's own and accidentally killing somebody. Taylor was cautious enough in using it, and would resort to his demonic powers if necessary before using the gun.

It had slipped it out without Chris or Taylor realizing it. Chris continued to reach for Taylor's hand and everything seemed to move in slow motion before it happened.

A shot rang out in the air. Taylor's eyes widened and he looked down to see his demonic hand holding the gun, and it already had pulled the trigger.

His eyes slipped to Chris who's eyes grew round in shock as they gazed down at the large bullet wound in his stomach. Scarlet was blossoming on his white shirt, and it spread throughout the fabric, some red liquid dribbling down onto his jeans and the asphalt.

Chris looked back at Taylor for a second before his eyes rolled back up into his head and he fell down on the ground, not moving at all.

The voice screamed victory, but Taylor screamed defeat. He opened his mouth and out came a guttural and blood-curdling cry of agony. Taylor killed Chris with his own hands.

His hands shook and after he screamed, he looked back at Chris. A sparkle of hope surged through him as he saw Chris's flank moving up and down, his breath coming in short and ragged gasps as he tried to suck in air.

The voice still did not surrender, and Taylor's demonic hand pointed the barrel of the gun at Chris.

What are you waiting for? Finish him!

“I... Can't do it...”

What? What are you talking about!? You don't deserve him and he doesn't deserve you!

“That's not true...” Taylor whispered at the voice, “He loves me and I love him back... I... I can't...”

The voice roared in Taylor's ears and he flinched and screamed back.

Kill him! The voice kept on demanding, and Taylor's finger tightened around the trigger, Just fucking kill him!

“No...”

KILL HIM!

“No!” Taylor's human hand grabbed the other and he forced the gun to the side of his head, “If you want to shoot, then you'll kill me instead!”

The voice laughed. A loud and cruel laugh that mocked Taylor.

You think killing yourself will solve all your problems? What a little fool you are! What about your precious Chris? What would he think if you went ahead and kicked the bucket?

“I'm going to do whatever it takes to protect him! Even if that involves my death, I know he'll understand!”

The voice growled back in disagreement. It was about to force the gun back down, but Chris had gained back some consciousness, and as he hacked up large amounts of blood, he watched as Taylor argued with himself and had the gun pointed to his head. Chris did not allow this; he would not watch his love kill himself right in front of him.

“Taylor!” Chris screamed weakly, his voice cracking from pain. He stood up on wobbly legs and dismissed the dizziness and agony he was in. His arms wrapped around Taylor's body and that's when the voice felt the feelings that emanated from Chris's body. It screamed in pain and gave up, allowing Taylor's human side to take full control, and his demonic appearance vanished as he became himself.

Taylor's eyes widened in surprise, and he too returned the hug with tight and secure arms.

“Don't... Whatever you do, don't ever kill yourself... I wouldn't be able to go on without you...” Chris mumbled, tears streaming down his bloody face from Taylor's devastating demon punch.

Taylor was at a loss of words and only comforted Chris with pats on his back. He could feel Chris's strength slipping as his legs gave way.

Before he could fall back down on the ground, Chris whispered, “Don't ever leave me... I will stay with you... Forever...”

Chris's legs gave way and he came tumbling to the ground. Taylor looked upon his body and crouched down beside him, arms curling over him in protection. Hastily, he picked him up and rushed off to look for help somewhere.

Taylor had taken Chris to the hospital. Well, he had tried to, but the hospital was all the way across town and he had to call an ambulance to come get him. He made up a lie to the police that they were shot at by an unknown man. Taylor said he never got the chance to see his face or what he looked like because as soon as he came, he went.

At the hospital, Taylor waited for a couple hours as Chris had gone into emergency surgery to get the bullet out of his abdomen and stop the blood that flowed continuously. He would have died of blood loss if Taylor ran the whole way to the hospital.

When Chris got out of surgery, Taylor had visited him in his room. Like before, when Chris's stomach ulcer was cured, his face was calm and pleased. Taylor stayed by his side, stroking his hair and watching Chris smile in his dreams. Good dreams.

When Chris awoke, blinking the sunlight that came through the curtains in his room away, he looked at Taylor. Immediately, Taylor began to feel bad for him. He had shot at and almost killed Chris. It was nearly a month away from their wedding as well, and Taylor didn't want to know how Chris felt now about it.

“I'm so sorry... I should have been more careful or stronger...” Taylor apologized with a soft usher of words.

“No, no... It was not your fault.” Chris whispered back, placing a hand on Taylor's cheek.

“How is it not my fault? I nearly killed you... I shot at you...” Taylor argued.

“It is not your fault because you didn't see it coming. You didn't know your demon side would take control then... You didn't know what your emotions meant and you thought you were just frustrated at something.”

“I could have at least noticed the signs.”

“But, this has never happened to you before. How could you be so sure that you were about to lose control?”

Taylor nodded, Chris did have a point. He looked at Chris and Chris looked back at him with a smile. Taylor leaned in and kissed him on the lips. He closed his eyes and nuzzled Chris after the kiss with his face, holding it beside Chris's.

“I would never be angry at you over something like this. Accidents happen all the time, and you will learn from your mistakes.”

“I won't let it happen again, I promise... I love you so much and I don't want to let you go... I don't ever want to see you leave.” Taylor mumbled as tears of joy and sincerity trickled down his face.

Chris smiled wider, “Don't worry Taylor, I will always be with you. Always.”

Taylor believed him as he always did and smiled back, feeling and taking in the love that Chris always showed.

He was beyond angry. He was furious. In fact, he was beyond furious. There were no words to describe how much rage was building up and spilling out of his evil being.

He roared, and his companions trembled before him, watching as he got so angry, tears of blood started leaking out of his eyes. His eyes glowed brighter out of fury and he attacked anything in his way, which were his companions mostly.

He ripped them all up to shreds, but their immortal bodies came back together again and they ran away from their master, watching from a distance as he tore up the hard ground below him. Suddenly, chains came out of nowhere and grabbed his skeletal paws, forcing him to calm down and regain his sanity.

His companions crawled back out from their shelter and came up to him.

“What do we do now...?” They whispered in unison.

He faced them, eyes still filled with bloody tears. His voice boomed all around the cavern as he answered their question, “If his own powers won't kill him... Then I have to kill him myself...”

meeeeh. i kind of crafted taylor's own anxiety for chris after my anxiety for my own girlfriend :U. i suffer from anxiety disorders, so if i don't get a reply from a text i sent her in like five minutes i start freaking out and demand if she's alright lol. oh me...

ANYWAY THE NEXT CHAPTER WILL. MAKE. YOU. CRY.

prepare your bodies. ohyes.

COMPLETE: the devil's gift. {non-pokemon} {mature}

i'll make tiny changes to earth.

i'll make tiny changes to earth.

Feeling of being watched

New Member

i'll make tiny changes to earth.

Reader and Writer

i'll make tiny changes to earth.

i'll make tiny changes to earth.

i'll make tiny changes to earth.

Reader and Writer

i'll make tiny changes to earth.

Formerly known as Tsu

i'll make tiny changes to earth.

i'll make tiny changes to earth.

Formerly known as Tsu

i'll make tiny changes to earth.

i'll make tiny changes to earth.

i'll make tiny changes to earth.

i'll make tiny changes to earth.

i'll make tiny changes to earth.

Similar threads