Devin was the first thing I saw upon waking the next morning. He was just laying there, staring at me with that sweet, flirty smirk that he wore so well. I smiled back, "Good morning."
"Morning," he returned.
"What is it?" I laughed when his eyes stayed glued to me.
"Nothing. I just half-expected you not to be here when I woke up," he shrugged.
"I kind of did too," I admitted.
"So what are we doing today? I already called in to work," Devin placed a hand on his head and continued with an overacted statement, "I have a bad fever today."
"I don't know," I grinned. "I guess a good place to start is to see if you're the only who can see me or not."
"That's true... How are you feeling though?" his expression became solemn.
"Fine, I guess," I twitched my wings which had fallen awkwardly onto the mattress during the night. I had retracted them as tightly as they would go and still they fell off the side of the bed behind me. They actually felt a bit sore as did my body from having to keep the same position the entire time we slept, but I imagined getting up and stretching would sort that right out.
So I pushed myself up to sit on my butt before spinning and throwing my legs off the mattress, slowly so that I didn't accidentally whack Devin with my wings. In Hell, I really didn't have to worry about such things. Mostly because the world was open and roomy and many creatures were large or had similar appendages...but also because the majority of demons steered clear of me. I hopped off of the bed and took a few steps, simultaneously pulling my slacks back up before turning around and facing the man on the bed. Still naked, he had also sat up and crossed his legs.
And he was staring again...but then I realized I was too.
"What a wonderful sight," he smirked deviously.
"Alright, you," I chuckled, walking over to the closet, pulling out a fresh pair of jeans and then turning to chunk them at him, "Get dressed."
"Gahhh, fine!" he complained as he grabbed the pants and stood to put them on, deliberately wavering in his step to brush himself against me as he did so.
I stiffened, finding that I became easily intoxicated by him. I felt myself readying to reach out and pull his body close so that I could hug him from behind and yank his head to the side to land a forceful kiss...but he had quickly stopped touching me once more as he finished clothing his lower parts and buttoned the pants. Shaking my attention back to finding my own clothes, my mind questioned how the fuck I was supposed to get them over my wings. When I retrieved the dress shirt and jacket from the floor, I was alerted to the fact that they did not have any allowances for the appendages. At first, I thought I would just stay bare on top, but on a whim, I began putting the shirt on normally to find it fell into place as if I didn't have the masses at all. Interesting.
After we were dressed again, we casually walked into the main area of the apartment, Devin going immediately to the kitchen and pulling out a can of chili, "Are you hungry?"
"No," I answered plainly, my voice low. Admittedly, my focus wasn't on him as my eyes had been scanning my old home. He had left everything exactly how I had had it. My mind flooded with memories of the time I had spent idly watching the TV or scrolling random web sites...all the times before Devin...all the anguish within me then.
"Are you ok?" the man had snuck up to my side, sliding a hand around my waist and pecking my cheek.
My gaze returned to him and immediately those visions changed to the days after we met and I smiled, "I'm good. I just missed you is all."
He gave me a tight squeeze, his head resting momentarily against my wings which reacted by fluttering open to surround and push him until our cheeks touched. The motion caused him to chuckle, "That's fun."
"What would be fun is if I could take you flying," I returned.
"Aren't you two just so cute," a new voice sounded from the couch, startling us from our relaxed pose.
It belonged to Emma, her words thick and the observation clearly not meant to be pleasant. I had almost forgotten about the gothic ghost girl, though I was certain I had never heard such contempt in her tone. I instinctively extended my wings to their full length, curling their darkness in a semicircle around my lover and I to act as a sort of shield and a warning. Then, I placed a heavy gaze upon the girl and her deceased friends who had also come into view.
"What do you want?" I growled.
"You both keep asking that and yet, my answer has never changed," she crossed her arms.
"I don't know why you're so obsessed with this," I glared, "But you need to let it go. How can you be so selfish?"
"Hah!" the girl forced a scornful laugh, "That's a riot coming from you, Mark."
My eyes glinted hurt, "You're right. I was selfish...and I let innocent people get hurt because of it. But I learned from my mistake. I did what I could to fix it and not let it happen again. But you," my pain turned to anger, "Are petty and childish and you need to grow the fuck up."
The teenager cocked her head to the side, "Little hard to do when I was killed before given the chance."
I shook my head, perturbed by her petulance.
"I don't know why you keep trying," Devin chimed in, "We've made it clear we're not going to help you in any way ever. So why do you keep coming back?"
"He's right," Damian had inched up to Emma and whispered, "It's just a waste of time."
The girl didn't move from her position and after a moment, the boy next to her put his hand gently on her shoulder. She jerked away instantly and gave him a hateful look, "No!" she yelled, "You're such an idiot, Damian! These jerks don't deserve to be happy! To just forget about us and move on!"
An expression which I'd never expected of the older partner lit his face then. He had been absolutely crushed by her words. Not only that, but I sensed longing in his eyes. There was something more there that I hadn't seen before. Emma was alone in this quest of hers. The younger boys had struck me from the beginning to just be looking to have fun, as kids do, and Damian had always acted as protector and defender. However, it was their leader alone who had any invested interest in the case. My annoyance seemed to dissipate at this realization and I spoke once again to her with a softer tone.
"Emma," my wings flitted shut as I took a step away from Devin to stand directly in front of her, "I won't pretend to understand your pain, but...you know I've had my share of it. I never thought there was a light at the end of the tunnel until I finally found it. I know you can find yours too."
I don't know what I anticipated to happen when I offered this bit of hope. A change in her eyes? Some sort of inkling that she heard my sincerity even if she didn't outright act as though she cared? Hell, I would have been happy if she remained silent and just left. At least that could have meant something positive. Nonetheless, the utter despite within her grew after I finished talking and she lunged forward with a scream.
Somehow, even this outcome didn't surprise me though I couldn't say the same for her friends. While Todd and Chris hollered in delight at the new action, Damian stood shocked, seemingly trying to decipher the situation. I threw my hands up, taking hold of her wrists to push her back off of me, but the despairing ghost apparently held a good manner of power of her own. However, I knew it wasn't enough to match mine.
Barring my teeth as I finally threw her away, I gave a single warning, "You don't want to fight me."
"What are you going to do? Kill me?" the girl scoffed, once more rushing forward only to be stopped by the gentle presence of a baseball bat swinging in front of us.
The both of us settled our vision on the trench-coat clad ghost who had stepped in between us, holding his weapon out to the side. At first I thought he meant for the battle to cease as he stared at me momentarily with no malice in his eyes, "If you insist on fighting," he said softly, "I will fight for you, Ems."
He spoke to the girl without looking at her as if he couldn't bear to...like he didn't want to fight...he just wanted to make her happy. My stance lessened, feeling less aggressive as I considered the back story with the two to which I was ignorant. It seemed the perfect time for her to give in...to give up and tell him not to bother, that they would go. At the very least, her refusal of his help could have been predicted. Yet she did nothing. Another moment of silence passed as I waited for any of them to make the first move and finally, Damian did.
He skipped forward, swinging his bat full force, his face tightened though he didn't show any signs of aggression other than the attack itself. I spun to the side, my wings pulling close to allow me a smoother, quicker movement. The boy fell into the strength of his own blow and in the seconds it took him to recover, I had already approached his back and drew my own weapon, holding the tip of its blade in the middle of his spine. In a normal battle, it would have been enough for him to realize he was defeated, as all I need do was press deeper to sink the sword into his lungs.
But it wasn't a typical duel and I honestly had no idea how much damage I could actually deal here. Damian twisted to face me again...not fast enough. As his arm lifted the chunk of wood as if to strike me at the end of the turn, I did indeed, shove my blade into him. It felt just like each of the times in Hell when I had injured or destroyed another in the same manner. Like piercing flesh at first, only to fall inside an empty hull. And, just like landing such an attack on a demon, the ghost faltered with the blow.
"DAMIAN?!" Emma's cry sounded as she rushed forward, ignoring me and crouching to grab onto the boy as he fell to his knees. "What the hell..." she whispered to his face as as it came to rest against her chest.
"I'm sorry, Ems," he mustered, obviously fading while gazing into her eyes.
"WHAT DID YOU DO TO HIM? WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU DO?" the girl had turned tearful eyes onto me.
"Ems..." Damian whispered again, lifting a hand and trailing her cheek with his fingertips.
Emma looked hopelessly back at him, her lips quivering as she failed in fighting through speechlessness. Not an instant longer, the boy's hand dropped to his side once more...his body going limp. "Damian?" his leader sobbed, "DAMIAN!" she repeated, growing more distressed as his ethereal form slowly began fading...beginning as small flakes being wisped away in the wind...until the entirety of him had disappeared.
The girl sat there, gazing at her empty hands and shaking her head. I looked up from her to see Devin, Todd, and Chris all as stunned as she was...and as I was... WHAT DID YOU DO TO HIM? Her question echoed in my mind. What had I done? There was no intent other than to protect myself and my boyfriend. I didn't want to hurt the teen, especially upon realizing his heart wasn't in the fight. I was as clueless as the rest.
"MARK, YOU FUCKING MONSTER! I HATE YOU!" Emma shot to her feet again and was screaming through falling tears as she stomped in my direction.
She was suffering. Only an idiot wouldn't see that...but it would also take an idiot not to understand she was dangerous and try to stop her. I didn't know what fate awaited Damian at the end of my blade...however, she would soon meet the same. The girl's attacks were ill-placed, her brain not thinking amidst her sorrow. It only made killing her, if that was the right word, that much simpler. Between two flailing punches, I landed my sword directly into her chest, not hesitating before ramming it through to the other side of her body.
I then watched her, as she had watched Damian, slowly fall to the ground and break away into pieces...until there was nothing except the memory of her left. I was too flustered...too overwhelmed by the confusion of the whole ordeal to understand right then how I felt. All I knew was looking up into Devin's eyes, I had done what was needed.
The man ran to me, bringing me into a warm embrace, "It's ok. Are you ok?"
I held onto him, not answering. Instead, I carefully stepped the two of us around to see the last surviving ghosts. Todd and Chris, now not only stunned but clearly terrified, began backpedaling under the weight of my demonic focus. After a few awkward paces, the boys twisted around and tore away, vanishing as they had done so many times before leaving me certain...we wouldn't see them again.
