A/N: Yeah, I know it's been a while. I made this chapter extra long to make up for it. It's the last chapter of this story. Quick note here: I...um..."borrowed" some of Meg Cabot's words...well, I used quotes from her books in this chapter. So basically, here's my little system:
*** = quote from Meg Cabot books
** = quote from my other story, Sleepless in California
* = quote from earlier in this story
K, enough of my ramblings, on with the chappy! ^_^
Angel Wings--Chapter 10, Part I (cut it in half cuz it was too big, lol)
Time stopped.
***"You called me amigo. I thought you might like to know I have a name. It's Jesse."
Leaning over me, swaying slightly, his face was draped in shadows, and all I could see was his mouth, which was opening and closing almost mechanically. The rain was coming down harder now, and somewhere above us, lightning struck, and in that moment of blinding light, I saw his eyes. They were wide open in absolute disbelief.
***"I may have been dead for the past hundred and fifty years, Susannah, but that doesn't mean I don't know how people say goodnight. And generally, when people say goodnight, they keep their tongues to themselves."
His hands, still holding onto me in a viselike grip, slowly let go. I slipped onto the pavement, trapped in the horror of the moment, staring incredulously as he raised his trembling hands to the piece of glass jutting obscenely from what had once been his perfect abs. He touched it softly, as if making sure it was real.
***"What about you, Susannah? Have you been open and honest with me? I don't think so. Otherwise, why would your father come after me like he did?"
Bianca was dancing gleefully behind him, cackling joyfully, and her pretty face was melting away…changing into something I hated with a vengeance…
***"Fine." The first, beautiful kiss… "We don't have to talk."
Jesse's eyes dragged slowly, almost lazily from the spot in the sky he had been staring at, to my eyes. Looking at my eyes, but not seeing. Not focusing. He wasn't here anymore. He was somewhere much darker and colder, now.
I hadn't realized that I was shaking uncontrollably, almost like a miniature seizure. I hadn't realized that I had been clamping my teeth down right on my tongue. I hadn't realized those drops running down my face weren't just rain.
**"So what should we do tonight besides saving the world?" That roguish glint in his eyes, as if he had naughty things on his mind. Dead, yet so much more alive than…this…
Then something ominous shaded his eyes.
**"Because, querida. I love you with…every fiber of my being. There just wouldn't be any point to me existing without you by my side."
Death.
**"Up here, Susannah." A wicked smile, torn shirt in his hand, a strange and foreign joy. "That's what I thought."
His hands stopped trembling and slowly lowered. His lips moved, but nothing came out. He couldn't speak. Couldn't…
That one night of heavy passion, of love and unspoken vows… *"You…are the most beautiful woman I've ever seen."
"Don't," I said suddenly, the word tearing from my throat like a desperate prayer. "Don't!"
As if in slow motion, deaf to my pleas, Jesse's body caved in on itself, falling like a puppet whose strings had been cut loose, and landing on the pavement beside me. I sucked in a breath.
He was dead.
Then his head moved, falling slightly to face me. His eyes were open, somehow gray and still.
Dead.
His hand twitched, and I grabbed it, hoping, praying…and the cold fingers wrapped around my hand, and gave one final weak squeeze.
*"Susannah…will you marry me?"
His hand slipped away into the rain.
"Oh Susannah, no don't you cry for me…"
I was crying…
"Cause I come from Alabama with this banjo on my knee…"
If only there was a dagger, or a gun, or a vial of poison somewhere. Then I could make like Juliet and die next to him. Because that's what I wanted right now. To die right along with Jesse.
But I had something just as effective as a dagger, gun, or poison.
I had Bianca.
She was watching through the rain, like a beast stalking its prey. Slowly, she stepped forward. And I saw her face.
For some reason, I wasn't as shocked as I should have been. I was too numb for shock.
She wasn't Bianca. The real Bianca died two years ago. Paul killed her. This was someone else.
This was Maria DeSilva.
"Why?" I whispered, grabbing Jesse's icy hand again and cradling in my lap, rocking back and forth, holding it like my life depended on it, sobbing softly. "Why?"
Maria smiled cruelly. "The bastard stood me up. Nobody messes with Maria DeSilva and gets away with it."
Easily tuning her out before I was forced to endure maniacal rants of meaningless revenge, I looked at Jesse's face. Rain was splashing into his still-open eyes. I passed my hand over the eyelids, closing them respectfully, lovingly brushing my hand across his cheek. He looked like he was only sleeping, like he could wake up any moment, pissed as hell, and reek revenge on his ex-fiancee. I lifted his hand to my lips, nearly choking on my grief, and kissed it gently, letting my lips linger in the hopes that it would be the breath of life, like in Sleeping Beauty. But it didn't work when you kissed the hand…
I dropped Jesse's hand and lifted his head onto my lap, holding it against me tightly.
Maybe if you kiss him he'll wake up.
Yes…
Denial wracking my every stiff movement, my every shaking sob, I leaned over him and touched my warms lips to his blue ones.
"Wake up," I whispered against his mouth.
Nothing.
"Just wake up, Jesse…please?"
Jesse was in the Great Beyond. He wasn't coming back.
I lifted my lips from his, and gazed down at him, letting my tears fall onto his face…
"Maria," I said, my voice surprisingly strong and steady. I looked up at her, into her eyes, letting every ounce of my hatred and rage seep into that cold glare. Her smile faltered.
"Kill me," I commanded.
Maria blinked. "What?"
"Kill me," I repeated.
Maria smiled uncertainly. Then that smile also vanished. "W-what?"
"Are you retarded or something? I said, KILL ME GODDAMMIT!"
Maria stepped towards me. Then she stopped. "…why?"
"Because I want to die, that's why. You took away the one thing in the world I had left to live for…so there is no reason for me to live." I gazed down again and Jesse, smoothing the hair away from his eyes. "So I don't want to live anymore. I'm done with this pathetic life of mine. I…quit."
As soon as the word "quit" left my lips, I was hit with another bout of violent coughs, which splattered blood onto Jesse's perfect, dead face, which were quickly swept away by the rain.
I'm going to die, too. With that thought to comfort me, I closed my eyes and lay in the rain beside my Jesse, waiting for the Death to come.
"Susannah," someone whispered into my ear.
My imagination. Just my stupid imagination.
"Susannah…don't die," he said desperately.
Ignore it and it will go away.
"Susannah!" Someone touched my shoulder. My eyes opened. I found myself staring straight into Jesse's lifeless face. I squinted suspiciously at it.
"Susannah? You are still alive…right...?"
I whirled around and found myself face-to-face with…Jesse. Yeah, that was Jesse. And…he was glowing.
"You're a ghost," I whispered.
Jesse nodded solemnly.
"A ghost," I said again, and my voice cracked. "A ghost!"
"Susannah, calm down-"
I spun around to face Maria, my rage blazing. "He's a ghost," I informed her.
Maria took a step backwards.
"HE'S A GHOST! A GHOOOOOOST!!!!!!"
I was on her in a flash, smashing her face into the pavement, scratching, clawing, gouging everything I could reach. Below me, Maria was squirming, kicking, fighting, but she was no match for my uncontrollable anger. In one swift movement, I grabbed her head and twisted it around, hearing the satisfying crunch of a broken neck.
"GHOST! GHOST! GHOST!" I screamed, still punching and kicking and mutilating even though she was already dead.
Someone grabbed me from behind then, pulling my hair back painfully. With an enraged howl, I pivoted and backhanded whoever had been pulling me back, which turned out to be Maria, now also a ghost.
"Susannah, stop!" Jesse called out, rushing towards me. He stopped right in front of me, gazing down at me with something incredibly sad in his eyes. Behind him, Maria was crawling along the street, dazed. Beyond her, lying in a crumpled heap, was Jesse's body. I looked back at Jesse, then towards his body. Back at Jesse, then back at his body again. Back at Jesse, and…and I just stared into his eyes.
"Jesse," I whispered. Then I threw myself at him like the pathetic girl I was, sobbing and shaking. He wrapped his arms around me, and leaned his chin on the top of my head. His hand rubbed my back soothingly.
He no longer had the warmth of someone who was…alive. He was dead…again. I was back to square one. And I just couldn't marry a ghost.
"Oh, Jesse!" I whimpered into his chest.
I remembered the feel of his hands on my body, the exquisite love-making, the pure and simple happiness, the one, single normal date, the romantic memories that would have to last me a lifetime. I saw me a middle-aged woman, holding hands with a still very handsome, also middle-aged Jesse, a girl running around us, laughing, about twelve years old, maybe a little younger, chasing a dog around…our daughter. I future daughter, our future life together, which would never happen, after all. Then the girl slowly faded from the vision, like she was never there, and the smiling Jesse dropped my hand and glided away into the shadows.
And I was alone in the blackness.
"Don't leave me, Jesse," I whispered, sniffing. "Anything but this…"
"Awww, how sad," drawled a loud, lazy voice.
Jesse's hold on me tightened impulsively. I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to stop the nightmare, willing myself to wake up from this horrible reality.
"Leave now," Jesse's voice commanded.
Paul laughed. "Oh, how quaintly pathetic." I could hear him walking closer to us. "And how are you, Suze?" came his husky voice, just behind me. Jesse backed away, taking me with him. My knees suddenly buckled, and for some reason I couldn't stand on my own. I whimpered, and suddenly started coughing again. I didn't need to see the blood to know it was there. To know that I would be gone soon if this kept up. I felt Jesse lean over a bit, and his hand came up under my knees, and he swept me up, holding me tightly against him, still backing away slowly from where Paul was.
"Suze, you're not looking so good," I heard Paul say. I kept my eyes closed and turned into Jesse's chest, burying my face there, feeling so safe in his arms despite what was happening around me.
"Aren't you even going to look at me?" Paul said.
I could hear a low growl rumbling deep in Jesse's chest. My protector…
I opened my eyes finally, and the first thing I saw was Jesse's dead body, lying a few feet away from
us. I suppressed the instinctive tears that automatically found their way into my eyes, figuring it was time to quit whining and whimpering and stand up for myself.
I had an idea.
"Jesse," I whispered. "I'm gonna try something. Just play along, ok?"
He gave me a gentle squeeze as an affirmative.
"Put me down, Jesse," I said. He did so reluctantly. Immediately my legs gave way, and I would have fallen if Jesse hadn't caught me. The internal bleeding must have been worse than I thought.
"Internal bleeding," Paul murmured dubiously, reading my mind. "However did that happen to you, Suze?"
I was forced to let Jesse support me, since that was the only way I could stand at all. I brought my eyes up to Paul, and shivered involuntarily. Paul, dressed from head to toe in black but not looking nearly as freaky as he did in that alleyway so long ago, didn't seem to notice. Jesse did, and tried to pull me into his chest. As tempting as that was, I pushed away, knowing I would have to do my best to stand alone against Paul.
"Ask Bianca…or should I say, Maria," I spat out.
Paul's eyes widened slightly.
"She's also the one who killed my Jesse," I added, with emphasis on 'my'.
His eyes narrowed into angry slits. "Oh, really?" He spotted Maria a good distance away, running for her dear life towards the woods at the edge of the road. With an imperious gesture of his left hand, Maria was suddenly lifted high into the air by an invisible force…and slammed into the ground at Paul's feet so hard that tiny cracks were formed in the asphalt where she impacted. I winced at the loud, crunching sound, but I was shamelessly happy to see her in that world of pain. If she has no heart to experience my pain, then let her experience the only pain she could.
For a long, long moment, the only sound was that of the driving rain, which seemed to be getting steadily heavier and soaking me right to the bone, and the sound of every bone in Maria's broken ghost-body snapping back into place as she moaned in pain.
Then she finally stood up, slowly, looking extremely terrified. She fidgeted in place in front of Paul, who was standing in a very relaxed pose, gazing with apparent nonchalance at his nails and blowing on them casually. For some reason seemed scarier than if he had gone on a rampage.
"Maria," he said finally. "Maria, Maria, Maria." He shook his head reproachfully, harboring a secret little smile.
Maria was trembling visibly. You deserve it, b*tch.
"I brought you up from the fiery pits of Hell in an act of mercy that I had never before performed and probably never will again. I let you take the position of my co-conspirator. I welcomed you into my castle."
"Great Unholy One, sir," Maria said desperately. "Please, I-"
"Shut. The *fuck. Up." Paul said calmly.
Maria fell silent.
Jesse leaned over towards me, and whispered into my ear, "Susannah, he's going to try to take you."
"I know," I whispered back.
"I'll distract him, while you-"
"Jesse," I hissed with some desperation. "You're not doing anything. Just let me do what I need to do. This…none of this…is your fault. It's all because of me…"
"None of this is your fault, either," Jesse said. "It's not your fault that all these stupid demons wanted to get involved in your life-"
I laughed quietly.
"What?" Jesse said. "What's so funny?"
"No, just...you called them stupid demons, and…and you're a demon…or you used to be a demon…or…or…" I swallowed the sob that threatened to escape. "But you were never a stupid demon…"
Jesse was about to say more, but we were interrupted by sudden screaming. It was Maria, backing away from Paul, who had a scary smile on his face.
"NOOOO! YOU WILL NOT SEND ME BACK THERE!" Maria was screeching. "I WON'T GO BACK! YOU STUPID MOTHERFUCKER! I HATE YOU! I HATE-"
Paul waved his hand, and she was smashed down into the road, lying on her back, twitching oddly, trying to move. Paul strolled along to her as if he were taking a walk in the park.
"Now, Maria, those aren't very nice things to say," he said with a lazy grin. "But you lied to me, you did things behind my back. You've been…naughty."
Maria let out a strangled cry, which caught in her throat as Paul lifted one foot and placed it on her chest, pressing down slightly. "You killed the poor guy for some weird reason, when I specifically told you I needed him alive, in order to take back my power." He pressed harder on her chest, and she let out an odd wheezing sound. "You tried to kill my future bride, when I specifically told you to bring her to me conscious and unharmed." He smiled. "And besides that, you've been an All-American B*tch. Now accept what is coming to you, wench."
A gaping hole suddenly opened up right beneath her, and she was suspended above it. Hot flames were dancing around the rim, licking at Maria, burning her back.
Hell.
Maria screamed. I never heard a sound like that, and I hope I never will again. It just wasn't human…it was the scream of an trapped animal.
Paul lifted his foot slightly, then smashed it down into Maria's chest, completely collapsing her ribcage.
"Oh, my god," I whispered in shock. It was such a horrific sight, and I was entranced by it…by the pale light of the street lamp, rain sloshing and coming down in fierce gales, a glowing pit of fire, from which more inhuman screeches were now issuing, Maria, screaming, twitching, fingers clenching…and Paul standing above her, his foot in her chest, grinning, his teeth unnaturally long, almost fangs.
And Paul laughed demonically, his voice overlapped with another, much deeper growl. "Sayonara, baby!" he howled, then with one last shove of his foot, Maria free-fell into the mouth of Hell. The hole closed up like the jaws of a beast, closing her desperate cries away from the world for all eternity.
A/N: On to Part II...
*** = quote from Meg Cabot books
** = quote from my other story, Sleepless in California
* = quote from earlier in this story
K, enough of my ramblings, on with the chappy! ^_^
Angel Wings--Chapter 10, Part I (cut it in half cuz it was too big, lol)
Time stopped.
***"You called me amigo. I thought you might like to know I have a name. It's Jesse."
Leaning over me, swaying slightly, his face was draped in shadows, and all I could see was his mouth, which was opening and closing almost mechanically. The rain was coming down harder now, and somewhere above us, lightning struck, and in that moment of blinding light, I saw his eyes. They were wide open in absolute disbelief.
***"I may have been dead for the past hundred and fifty years, Susannah, but that doesn't mean I don't know how people say goodnight. And generally, when people say goodnight, they keep their tongues to themselves."
His hands, still holding onto me in a viselike grip, slowly let go. I slipped onto the pavement, trapped in the horror of the moment, staring incredulously as he raised his trembling hands to the piece of glass jutting obscenely from what had once been his perfect abs. He touched it softly, as if making sure it was real.
***"What about you, Susannah? Have you been open and honest with me? I don't think so. Otherwise, why would your father come after me like he did?"
Bianca was dancing gleefully behind him, cackling joyfully, and her pretty face was melting away…changing into something I hated with a vengeance…
***"Fine." The first, beautiful kiss… "We don't have to talk."
Jesse's eyes dragged slowly, almost lazily from the spot in the sky he had been staring at, to my eyes. Looking at my eyes, but not seeing. Not focusing. He wasn't here anymore. He was somewhere much darker and colder, now.
I hadn't realized that I was shaking uncontrollably, almost like a miniature seizure. I hadn't realized that I had been clamping my teeth down right on my tongue. I hadn't realized those drops running down my face weren't just rain.
**"So what should we do tonight besides saving the world?" That roguish glint in his eyes, as if he had naughty things on his mind. Dead, yet so much more alive than…this…
Then something ominous shaded his eyes.
**"Because, querida. I love you with…every fiber of my being. There just wouldn't be any point to me existing without you by my side."
Death.
**"Up here, Susannah." A wicked smile, torn shirt in his hand, a strange and foreign joy. "That's what I thought."
His hands stopped trembling and slowly lowered. His lips moved, but nothing came out. He couldn't speak. Couldn't…
That one night of heavy passion, of love and unspoken vows… *"You…are the most beautiful woman I've ever seen."
"Don't," I said suddenly, the word tearing from my throat like a desperate prayer. "Don't!"
As if in slow motion, deaf to my pleas, Jesse's body caved in on itself, falling like a puppet whose strings had been cut loose, and landing on the pavement beside me. I sucked in a breath.
He was dead.
Then his head moved, falling slightly to face me. His eyes were open, somehow gray and still.
Dead.
His hand twitched, and I grabbed it, hoping, praying…and the cold fingers wrapped around my hand, and gave one final weak squeeze.
*"Susannah…will you marry me?"
His hand slipped away into the rain.
"Oh Susannah, no don't you cry for me…"
I was crying…
"Cause I come from Alabama with this banjo on my knee…"
If only there was a dagger, or a gun, or a vial of poison somewhere. Then I could make like Juliet and die next to him. Because that's what I wanted right now. To die right along with Jesse.
But I had something just as effective as a dagger, gun, or poison.
I had Bianca.
She was watching through the rain, like a beast stalking its prey. Slowly, she stepped forward. And I saw her face.
For some reason, I wasn't as shocked as I should have been. I was too numb for shock.
She wasn't Bianca. The real Bianca died two years ago. Paul killed her. This was someone else.
This was Maria DeSilva.
"Why?" I whispered, grabbing Jesse's icy hand again and cradling in my lap, rocking back and forth, holding it like my life depended on it, sobbing softly. "Why?"
Maria smiled cruelly. "The bastard stood me up. Nobody messes with Maria DeSilva and gets away with it."
Easily tuning her out before I was forced to endure maniacal rants of meaningless revenge, I looked at Jesse's face. Rain was splashing into his still-open eyes. I passed my hand over the eyelids, closing them respectfully, lovingly brushing my hand across his cheek. He looked like he was only sleeping, like he could wake up any moment, pissed as hell, and reek revenge on his ex-fiancee. I lifted his hand to my lips, nearly choking on my grief, and kissed it gently, letting my lips linger in the hopes that it would be the breath of life, like in Sleeping Beauty. But it didn't work when you kissed the hand…
I dropped Jesse's hand and lifted his head onto my lap, holding it against me tightly.
Maybe if you kiss him he'll wake up.
Yes…
Denial wracking my every stiff movement, my every shaking sob, I leaned over him and touched my warms lips to his blue ones.
"Wake up," I whispered against his mouth.
Nothing.
"Just wake up, Jesse…please?"
Jesse was in the Great Beyond. He wasn't coming back.
I lifted my lips from his, and gazed down at him, letting my tears fall onto his face…
"Maria," I said, my voice surprisingly strong and steady. I looked up at her, into her eyes, letting every ounce of my hatred and rage seep into that cold glare. Her smile faltered.
"Kill me," I commanded.
Maria blinked. "What?"
"Kill me," I repeated.
Maria smiled uncertainly. Then that smile also vanished. "W-what?"
"Are you retarded or something? I said, KILL ME GODDAMMIT!"
Maria stepped towards me. Then she stopped. "…why?"
"Because I want to die, that's why. You took away the one thing in the world I had left to live for…so there is no reason for me to live." I gazed down again and Jesse, smoothing the hair away from his eyes. "So I don't want to live anymore. I'm done with this pathetic life of mine. I…quit."
As soon as the word "quit" left my lips, I was hit with another bout of violent coughs, which splattered blood onto Jesse's perfect, dead face, which were quickly swept away by the rain.
I'm going to die, too. With that thought to comfort me, I closed my eyes and lay in the rain beside my Jesse, waiting for the Death to come.
"Susannah," someone whispered into my ear.
My imagination. Just my stupid imagination.
"Susannah…don't die," he said desperately.
Ignore it and it will go away.
"Susannah!" Someone touched my shoulder. My eyes opened. I found myself staring straight into Jesse's lifeless face. I squinted suspiciously at it.
"Susannah? You are still alive…right...?"
I whirled around and found myself face-to-face with…Jesse. Yeah, that was Jesse. And…he was glowing.
"You're a ghost," I whispered.
Jesse nodded solemnly.
"A ghost," I said again, and my voice cracked. "A ghost!"
"Susannah, calm down-"
I spun around to face Maria, my rage blazing. "He's a ghost," I informed her.
Maria took a step backwards.
"HE'S A GHOST! A GHOOOOOOST!!!!!!"
I was on her in a flash, smashing her face into the pavement, scratching, clawing, gouging everything I could reach. Below me, Maria was squirming, kicking, fighting, but she was no match for my uncontrollable anger. In one swift movement, I grabbed her head and twisted it around, hearing the satisfying crunch of a broken neck.
"GHOST! GHOST! GHOST!" I screamed, still punching and kicking and mutilating even though she was already dead.
Someone grabbed me from behind then, pulling my hair back painfully. With an enraged howl, I pivoted and backhanded whoever had been pulling me back, which turned out to be Maria, now also a ghost.
"Susannah, stop!" Jesse called out, rushing towards me. He stopped right in front of me, gazing down at me with something incredibly sad in his eyes. Behind him, Maria was crawling along the street, dazed. Beyond her, lying in a crumpled heap, was Jesse's body. I looked back at Jesse, then towards his body. Back at Jesse, then back at his body again. Back at Jesse, and…and I just stared into his eyes.
"Jesse," I whispered. Then I threw myself at him like the pathetic girl I was, sobbing and shaking. He wrapped his arms around me, and leaned his chin on the top of my head. His hand rubbed my back soothingly.
He no longer had the warmth of someone who was…alive. He was dead…again. I was back to square one. And I just couldn't marry a ghost.
"Oh, Jesse!" I whimpered into his chest.
I remembered the feel of his hands on my body, the exquisite love-making, the pure and simple happiness, the one, single normal date, the romantic memories that would have to last me a lifetime. I saw me a middle-aged woman, holding hands with a still very handsome, also middle-aged Jesse, a girl running around us, laughing, about twelve years old, maybe a little younger, chasing a dog around…our daughter. I future daughter, our future life together, which would never happen, after all. Then the girl slowly faded from the vision, like she was never there, and the smiling Jesse dropped my hand and glided away into the shadows.
And I was alone in the blackness.
"Don't leave me, Jesse," I whispered, sniffing. "Anything but this…"
"Awww, how sad," drawled a loud, lazy voice.
Jesse's hold on me tightened impulsively. I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to stop the nightmare, willing myself to wake up from this horrible reality.
"Leave now," Jesse's voice commanded.
Paul laughed. "Oh, how quaintly pathetic." I could hear him walking closer to us. "And how are you, Suze?" came his husky voice, just behind me. Jesse backed away, taking me with him. My knees suddenly buckled, and for some reason I couldn't stand on my own. I whimpered, and suddenly started coughing again. I didn't need to see the blood to know it was there. To know that I would be gone soon if this kept up. I felt Jesse lean over a bit, and his hand came up under my knees, and he swept me up, holding me tightly against him, still backing away slowly from where Paul was.
"Suze, you're not looking so good," I heard Paul say. I kept my eyes closed and turned into Jesse's chest, burying my face there, feeling so safe in his arms despite what was happening around me.
"Aren't you even going to look at me?" Paul said.
I could hear a low growl rumbling deep in Jesse's chest. My protector…
I opened my eyes finally, and the first thing I saw was Jesse's dead body, lying a few feet away from
us. I suppressed the instinctive tears that automatically found their way into my eyes, figuring it was time to quit whining and whimpering and stand up for myself.
I had an idea.
"Jesse," I whispered. "I'm gonna try something. Just play along, ok?"
He gave me a gentle squeeze as an affirmative.
"Put me down, Jesse," I said. He did so reluctantly. Immediately my legs gave way, and I would have fallen if Jesse hadn't caught me. The internal bleeding must have been worse than I thought.
"Internal bleeding," Paul murmured dubiously, reading my mind. "However did that happen to you, Suze?"
I was forced to let Jesse support me, since that was the only way I could stand at all. I brought my eyes up to Paul, and shivered involuntarily. Paul, dressed from head to toe in black but not looking nearly as freaky as he did in that alleyway so long ago, didn't seem to notice. Jesse did, and tried to pull me into his chest. As tempting as that was, I pushed away, knowing I would have to do my best to stand alone against Paul.
"Ask Bianca…or should I say, Maria," I spat out.
Paul's eyes widened slightly.
"She's also the one who killed my Jesse," I added, with emphasis on 'my'.
His eyes narrowed into angry slits. "Oh, really?" He spotted Maria a good distance away, running for her dear life towards the woods at the edge of the road. With an imperious gesture of his left hand, Maria was suddenly lifted high into the air by an invisible force…and slammed into the ground at Paul's feet so hard that tiny cracks were formed in the asphalt where she impacted. I winced at the loud, crunching sound, but I was shamelessly happy to see her in that world of pain. If she has no heart to experience my pain, then let her experience the only pain she could.
For a long, long moment, the only sound was that of the driving rain, which seemed to be getting steadily heavier and soaking me right to the bone, and the sound of every bone in Maria's broken ghost-body snapping back into place as she moaned in pain.
Then she finally stood up, slowly, looking extremely terrified. She fidgeted in place in front of Paul, who was standing in a very relaxed pose, gazing with apparent nonchalance at his nails and blowing on them casually. For some reason seemed scarier than if he had gone on a rampage.
"Maria," he said finally. "Maria, Maria, Maria." He shook his head reproachfully, harboring a secret little smile.
Maria was trembling visibly. You deserve it, b*tch.
"I brought you up from the fiery pits of Hell in an act of mercy that I had never before performed and probably never will again. I let you take the position of my co-conspirator. I welcomed you into my castle."
"Great Unholy One, sir," Maria said desperately. "Please, I-"
"Shut. The *fuck. Up." Paul said calmly.
Maria fell silent.
Jesse leaned over towards me, and whispered into my ear, "Susannah, he's going to try to take you."
"I know," I whispered back.
"I'll distract him, while you-"
"Jesse," I hissed with some desperation. "You're not doing anything. Just let me do what I need to do. This…none of this…is your fault. It's all because of me…"
"None of this is your fault, either," Jesse said. "It's not your fault that all these stupid demons wanted to get involved in your life-"
I laughed quietly.
"What?" Jesse said. "What's so funny?"
"No, just...you called them stupid demons, and…and you're a demon…or you used to be a demon…or…or…" I swallowed the sob that threatened to escape. "But you were never a stupid demon…"
Jesse was about to say more, but we were interrupted by sudden screaming. It was Maria, backing away from Paul, who had a scary smile on his face.
"NOOOO! YOU WILL NOT SEND ME BACK THERE!" Maria was screeching. "I WON'T GO BACK! YOU STUPID MOTHERFUCKER! I HATE YOU! I HATE-"
Paul waved his hand, and she was smashed down into the road, lying on her back, twitching oddly, trying to move. Paul strolled along to her as if he were taking a walk in the park.
"Now, Maria, those aren't very nice things to say," he said with a lazy grin. "But you lied to me, you did things behind my back. You've been…naughty."
Maria let out a strangled cry, which caught in her throat as Paul lifted one foot and placed it on her chest, pressing down slightly. "You killed the poor guy for some weird reason, when I specifically told you I needed him alive, in order to take back my power." He pressed harder on her chest, and she let out an odd wheezing sound. "You tried to kill my future bride, when I specifically told you to bring her to me conscious and unharmed." He smiled. "And besides that, you've been an All-American B*tch. Now accept what is coming to you, wench."
A gaping hole suddenly opened up right beneath her, and she was suspended above it. Hot flames were dancing around the rim, licking at Maria, burning her back.
Hell.
Maria screamed. I never heard a sound like that, and I hope I never will again. It just wasn't human…it was the scream of an trapped animal.
Paul lifted his foot slightly, then smashed it down into Maria's chest, completely collapsing her ribcage.
"Oh, my god," I whispered in shock. It was such a horrific sight, and I was entranced by it…by the pale light of the street lamp, rain sloshing and coming down in fierce gales, a glowing pit of fire, from which more inhuman screeches were now issuing, Maria, screaming, twitching, fingers clenching…and Paul standing above her, his foot in her chest, grinning, his teeth unnaturally long, almost fangs.
And Paul laughed demonically, his voice overlapped with another, much deeper growl. "Sayonara, baby!" he howled, then with one last shove of his foot, Maria free-fell into the mouth of Hell. The hole closed up like the jaws of a beast, closing her desperate cries away from the world for all eternity.
A/N: On to Part II...