The meeting room was ridiculously enormous. At the center was one huge white rectangular table. The chairs were neatly alighted along the table and the walls. The whiteness of the room was simply overwhelming to the angel's system. Sitting in the room surrounded by the white walls and the men in front of them made her sick in the stomach.
On the opposite side of the table sat five middle-aged white men in black, pretentiously sipping martinis. A waiter had offered the Supreme and the wild blonde alcohol when they'd walked in, which Cordelia politely declined. Drinking in a business meeting was such a Fiona thing.
The Supreme sat in the chair with her back straight while talking business, while Misty kept quiet as told. Keep quiet she did, but a great deal of discomfort filled her lungs, and she couldn't shake the bad vibes off.
Who am I kidding? Her life ends here, the angel chided herself silently. The day she had waited finally came. That's the purpose of her whole existence, to watch human die. Why was it so hard now?
Another question was, how would she die? Would someone bomb the building? Would a plane crash into the room? Would she have a heart attack? –no, the Supreme's radiant health didn't allow that… How then?
So many possibilities swam in her mind, but everything disappeared into thin air when her eyes spotted a gun on one of the waiters' belt. Oh no. The blue eyes swiftly moved to another waiter, who stood by the bar table. A gun on his belt, too.
It suddenly all made sense to her why those men seemed disinterested. Since they'd suggested the offer, they should be the ones to talk with enthusiasm. But no, they weren't interested in supporting the coven. The whole opposite was their exact purpose of this meeting.
Panic caused the angel to breathe shallowly, her palms to sweat, and her heart to beat faster, which was all odd, because it was physically impossible for the angel.
Shifting her attention to the talking Supreme next to her, Misty tugged at the bottom of her suit jacket, where the gesture was hidden from the men. She had no idea what she was doing, though. Even if she succeeded in convincing the woman to leave there immediately, she wouldn't be able to explain to her. The fate had it that the woman would die, and the angel's task was very clear.
But none of her thoughts kept Misty from shouting when a man pulled out his gun from his jacket.
"They have guns!" Misty yelled, instinctively holding out her arms to protect the woman.
The rest of it happened too quickly, and when Misty regained her composure, she and Cordelia were the only ones standing. A pool of blood was spread across the white marble floor, staining their shoes. The wounds of the men's bodies implied that they had shot one another. Mind control, Misty mentally noted.
A pained hiss came out of Cordelia's mouth, her fingers wiping the blood off her cheek. A bullet must've grazed the skin just below her eye. The wild blonde unconsciously stepped closer and cupped her cheek, covering the cut. A ghost of hesitation showed as the woman's body tensed at the cold hand, but Misty only gave her an assuring smile.
"There." Misty bit her lip, taking a step back from the shorter woman.
Cordelia's fingertips brushed where the cut had been, only to find out it was gone.
"Thank you."
"It's just a small cut."
"No, I mean this." She eyed the bodies on the floor. "I would've been dead without you."
The sentence made Misty cringe her teeth. But there was a far bigger problem than this. Someone must've heard the gunshots, and the police was no doubt on their way. They needed to go right now.
They hurried their way out of the room, making sure no one saw them leaving. Misty followed the Supreme like a puppy, cautious not to make too much noise in the vast hall way. Cordelia turned the corner, and when the wild blonde was about to do the same, a hand appeared out of the blue and slammed the angel against the cold tiles.
"Do you know what you just did?"
The wild blonde was taken aback at the sudden attack, but didn't fight back as she saw who was standing in front of her. A brunette woman in a black lacy dress kept her arm on Misty's throat, keeping her in place. The terror clouded the blue orbs. Misty didn't know her name, but she had seen the woman before. A long time ago, when she joined heaven, the woman was standing by the throne of God.
"I –"
Misty's voice shook in fright, but her attempt of defending her action was cut off by the sweet voice of the other.
"She should've died in there. You were meant to watch it, and take her soul to him." The voice was flat and showed no emotion. "But instead you saved her, and look at the consequences. They are dead because of you."
"I was only trying to –"
"The time will come again." The woman continued, releasing Misty from her death hold. "Do your job, or go back to where you came from."
And with that, the brunette vanished in front of the wild blonde, leaving no trace. It was hard to believe what had happened, but the repulsively steady voice kept burning in Misty's ears.
0000000
The ride home to the academy was awfully quiet. Both of them were too exhausted to discuss the incident. The grey road flew by as the wild blonde stared outside the car window.
Misty made her invisible as soon as the car entered the front gate of Miss Robichaux's Academy. Pacing around the greenhouse, where the angel knew she wouldn't have any interruption, Misty desperately tried to come up with a solution. But solution to what? She didn't know.
She could continue trying to save the woman, but that would be basically a declaration of rebellion. There was no way to win the game on her own. Another way, a much logical way was to finish her initial job and wait for another opportunity.
It wasn't her job to think; her head was overheated by so much thinking. However hard she tried, nothing came up as though her processing skills were blocked by a greater force. Letting out a huge sigh, Misty gave up and left the place.
000
After the unintended massacre, the Supreme's body begged for relaxation. She stepped into the bath tub and washed blood off the skin. Her mind drifted to the wild blonde, wondering where she was. Bringing her hand up to her cheek, she tried to recall how Misty had healed the wound.
The woman definitely had a power that regular person didn't have. She might be a witch after all, Cordelia thought as she rested her head on the edge of the tub.
"Cordelia."
The raspy voice abruptly echoed against the bathroom walls, making the Supreme jolt in shock.
"Misty! What the fuck!" Cordelia sank shoulder deep in the water in an attempt to hide her body from the other.
Misty, however, didn't seem to give a damn about her embarrassment as she knelt down by the tub. Her eyebrows were knotted together in a desperate manner.
"I need to tell you something."
"What!? Not now!"
"No, I can't wait. It has to be now." Anguish was audible in her trembling voice, and Cordelia sighed before beckoning Misty to continue.
"I lied."
The Supreme rolled her eyes in her mind as Misty's head dropped in defeat. "About what?"
"That I'm your guardian angel."
The wild blonde whispered, ashamed of herself. Seeing the dejected expression of Misty, the other woman couldn't help but smile.
"Misty…" She shook her head and brought her hand on the rim of the tub to reach Misty. "I know."
Misty's eyes shot back at the Supreme, astonishment and slight hope on her face. "You do? Oh, man. I was so…"
Taking Cordelia's hand, she started to talk like a machine gun. "See, what I did today was unacceptable. But I couldn't let you die there. Something told me I couldn't."
"Wait, what?"
It was Cordelia's turn to knit her brows in confusion, but Misty kept spilling her gut out.
"And she said I need to fix this and that there will be another opportunity, but I don't know if I can do this."
"Misty."
"I don't know why. I mean, I've done this many times before, but I've never felt this way. It's like something inside me doesn't want to let you go."
"Misty." Cordelia tightened her grip on the other's hand to catch her attention. The confused eyes stared into the defeated eyes. "What are you talking about?"
"That you were supposed to die there! But I saved you and now he is not amused."
"Misty, you completely lost me. What are you saying?"
Misty gave her a frustrated look. "You said you knew I was lying."
"Yeah, I mean, who would believe that? An angel?"
"No, I am an angel, Cordelia." Misty raised her voice a little without realizing. "I'm an angel of death. I didn't come here to protect you. I came here to take your soul."
Her black-clad body was now leaning heavily against the tub, trying desperately to convince the other, but Cordelia's frown only deepened.
"Stop it. Stop with the joke. It isn't funny." Sighing in irritation, the Supreme tried to let go of Misty's hand.
"No, it's not a joke!" Misty cried out, as frustrated as the other. "What do I have to do to make you believe me?"
She held Cordelia's hand tightly. Uncertainty peeked through her features momentarily, but she slowly brought the hand to her chest. The palm was pressed against the valley of the wild blonde's breasts. The Supreme blushed brightly, but the determination in Misty's eyes implied the action was anything but sexual.
"Feel it?" Misty asked in a whisper. "There's nothing in here. I don't have a heart. I'm not a human. I'm an angel." The blue eyes kept staring at Cordelia, but dropped when her own words sank in.
"I don't have a heart. I don't know why it stings so much."
Cordelia watched the wild blonde released her hand dejectedly. There was just so much to process. Her finger couldn't detect any heartbeat of Misty, but it was still difficult to believe everything she'd been just told.
The more Cordelia recalled the past encounters with the other, the more it made sense to her. Her usual way of presenting herself to the Supreme was to appear out of the blue. She had healed Racheal's knee and Cordelia's cheek with a power the Supreme had never seen. She found Racheal in the woods when Cordelia couldn't. Her astonishingly cold hands and weird taste buds. Her absolute lack of common sense.
Neither of them spoke a word for half an hour, Cordelia staying in the lukewarm water, and Misty sitting with her forehead pressed against her knees. At some point, the water temperature became unbearable to the Supreme, and she got out of the bath.
Covering her body with a white bathrobe, Cordelia unenthusiastically went back to the bedroom. It wasn't until the woman had brushed her hair and put clothes on did Misty appear from the bathroom. Her face was pale, and the usual youthful energy was almost completely absent.
Cordelia's heart ached to see the wild blonde in such a state. But as much as Misty was struggling, the shorter woman was itching to figure this thing out. It was like her inner demons were fighting each other, wanting to be exposed to the truth and wanting to hide from her fate at the same time.
Clearing her throat, she gestured Misty to sit on the bed with her. "You said I was meant to die today." Cordelia started with a whisper, not being able to look the other in the eye. "But you saved me. Why?"
"I told you I don't know." Misty slumped her shoulders, her gaze staying on the bedsheets. The fact that she couldn't find an explanation for her action or feelings drove her insane.
"Maybe, I knew you before," mumbled Misty.
"Before what?"
"Before I became what I am."
It had never occurred to Cordelia until now that Misty might have been a human in her past life. It felt like violating her personal space to sniff around, but Cordelia couldn't help but timidly ask. "Who were you then?"
"I don't remember. It feels so long ago." The angel shook her head, her curly hair bouncing around. "But I remember the darkness, consuming my body and soul. God once told me that I was supposed to go to hell because of what I did. But a small fraction of my soul was still pure, so he made a deal with the bad guys and made me an angel.
"If I keep working for him, someday I'll be born in this world again."
Misty's lips formed a bitter lopsided smile as she remembered the story of her origin. It was nothing more than a stranger's story that was branded in the back of her mind. The insecurity about her existence she'd had when she'd started all this still lingered somewhere in the angel. Without the memories of the past life, there was no motivation to keep her going. The person she finally found worth fighting for turned out to be her task, and Misty was looking at a dead-end.
"What if you disobey him?" Cordelia quietly questioned, to which the wild blonde raised her gaze.
The sapphire eyes filled with dejection stared back at the brown ones. "I get sent back to hell and spend eternity there." Misty chewed inside her cheek for the thousandth times. "That's where I belong to begin with."
Cordelia's eyes widened at the comment. "Misty…" Her voice sounded both scolding and calming. The truth was that she didn't have a clue how to react. In the thirty-something years of her life, there had never been someone who would willingly sacrifice themselves for her. Not her mother, not her ex-husband, not her council.
"You can't- you can't do this. You shouldn't be doing this for me." With knotted brows, she absentmindedly took a hand of the wild blonde.
"But there isn't any other way." Misty shook her head and met Cordelia's eyes. Hopelessness showed in her eyes. "I want you to live. I can't let you die."
The confession was quiet, but Cordelia knew how grave this was. The wild blonde, who she had only known for over a month, was telling her that she would suffer for eternity to save her life. Was that courage or recklessness? What part of Cordelia made the angel believe she was worth saving?
Misty looked like a lost child who didn't even know how to breathe without being instructed. Her scruffy attire only added more helplessness to it.
The Supreme bit her bottom lip and scooted up so she could pull Misty into an embrace. She wanted to protect the angel, from her fate, from everything that denied her life. It was unbearable to Cordelia that she was the reason for her despair.
The wild blonde rested her head on Cordelia's chest, listening to the sound of her beating heart. "I think, I feel like crying," she confessed. "But I don't know how to."
0000000
After Misty had calmed down from her not-so-hysteric hysteria, the Supreme escorted her to the kitchen. Brewing tea for them, Cordelia frequently turned around to check if Misty was still there. The energy seemed to have left the wild blonde, but Cordelia couldn't be absolutely certain yet that she wouldn't disappear on her.
With a cup of tea for each, she sat down next to Misty at the kitchen table. She fetched the jar of sugar and dumped 4 cubes into Misty's tea for her, just slightly fewer than what the angel usually got.
Some moments passed without either of them speaking. All they could hear was people's laughter and footsteps upstairs, birds chirping outside, and themselves sipping the tea.
The concerned brown eyes shifted to the woman next to her. Misty was sitting motionless, staring into her cup.
"What are you thinking about?" Cordelia asked in a whisper not to disturb the silence.
No emotions could be detected as the wild blonde raised her gaze. Her sharp tongue dampened her rosy lips before starting, "I once had a man, who was killed in a train crash. He saved a person who had jumped in front of the train," she inaudibly sighed at the recollection. Everything was still vivid in her memory, the dim lights, the despair on the man's face, and the screaming of people.
"I never understood him. Why he chose the person's life over his own." She looked at Cordelia as if the answer lay in the eyes of the Supreme. "I mean, I still don't, but…" Trailing off, Misty decided there was no wondering, so she proceeded to drink her tea. The earl grey somehow tasted differently to the angel. It tasted like ashes.
They remained in their seats long after they had finished their tea. In this silence, even Cordelia's occasional sighs sounded loud.
"Do you know when they'll come get me next time?" Cordelia said it quietly as though she was talking to herself.
The wild blond shook her head with her eyes still staying on the cup. "No, but I can sense it when the time comes. Don't worry, I'll protect you."
Misty looked at Cordelia to shoot an assuring smile, to which the Supreme responded with a sad smile. That, however, didn't satisfy the wild blonde. It was obvious to even the angel that Cordelia didn't believe her words completely. Misty grabbed the shorter woman by the shoulder, applying a little pressure to make her turned to the wild blonde.
"Hey, I said I'll protect you, didn't I?" Cupping Cordelia's face, she stared into the brown eyes intensely, but tenderly.
Cordelia's heart flattered ever so slightly at the cold hands on her cheeks. For a moment she was lost in the orbs that contained oceans, but managed to give her a nod.
"Smile, then." Misty told her like a mother comforting her child who had dropped her ice cream. No one could've guessed the seriousness of the situation from her raspy voice.
The shorter woman managed out a bigger smile, and Misty's smile grew brighter. "I like your smile," the angel whispered, not seeming to take her hands off Cordelia's cheeks.
And it hit Cordelia hard in the face how she'd been so oblivious to her love. In the middle of confusion and despair, Misty still cared about her smile, her happiness. As if she didn't know Cordelia's life could solely built upon her demise.
The Supreme abruptly stood up, not bothering to tell her why, and ran out of the kitchen.
When Misty finally caught the other in the office, Cordelia was by her working desk, drowning herself amidst her academic books rather frantically.
"What you doing?" The angel questioned softly while closing the gap between them.
"Trying to save you."
"Save me?" She parroted the Supreme with slight confusion in her voice, "what you mean by that?"
"I'm not letting them take you to hell. There's gotta be a way."
"No, there is no way." Misty's brows were knotted together. Her voice was gentle like a teacher talking to her puzzled pupil. "Listen, this is nothing like magic. It's beyond that. You never find an answer in there."
A finger pointed at the ocean of books despite the fact that Cordelia wasn't looking at her.
Her comment made the Supreme stop her activity. Spinning around, she glared at the wild blonde, her eyes filled with drops of sorrowful rage.
"So what? Am I supposed to watch it as it happens?" Her voice cracked, "I am the goddamn Supreme!" The shout echoed against the white walls, making Misty more confused than frightened.
"Why are you doing this?" Misty questioned.
"For the same reason you're trying to protect me!" Frustration caused her voice to get louder and hoarser each second.
Misty's face scrunched in confusion. "I don't understand."
In exasperation, Cordelia's hands covered her face, and in a matter of second, she was sobbing violently.
"What- I-" The blue eyes went wide at the unexpected meltdown. Nothing of the scene made sense to her, and the person who usually explained to her was crying fiercely.
So Misty stepped closer rather tentatively, and pulled the weeping Supreme into her arms, for that was the only way she knew how to offer a shelter.