Lyrics from "Cry Little Sister," by the Sisters of Mercy, "The Lost Boys" soundtrack.
Last fire will rise
Behind those eyes
Black house will rock
Blind boys don't lie
Katan couldn't wait any longer. Rosiel had been in there for far too long. What was he doing inside that church, anyway? Not praying, surely. God was asleep. Prayers went unanswered these days. So what was Sir Rosiel up to?
Muttering a curse, the angel finally walked inside the building, hissing and covering his mouth and nose with a gloved hand when the overwhelming stench of gasoline assaulted his senses. "My God... Sir Rosiel, what are you doing?"
Rosiel was at the altar, at the very front of the church, knelt as though in prayer. A container lay overturned at his side, no doubt the original source of the chemicals. Now, however, the gasoline reeked its stench from the carpet into the aisle, the very doorway in which Katan stood, and every pew.
"...Sir Rosiel?"
"Are you ready, Katan?" Rosiel's voice came from the front of the church, echoing eerily throughout the forsaken holy dwelling.
Katan's heart was frozen in some clutching fear, not only at the tone of Rosiel's voice but at what was intended to be done this night. And yet, walking to meet his master, he asked, "R-ready for what, Sir Rosiel?"
"To make the angels cry, Katan," came the reply, as Rosiel stood regally, turning to face his slave. "To make the angels cry."
Rosiel drew a cigarette from his trench coat pocket. An unnecessary vice for a being such as he, but an interesting diversion at times. And now, it was going to be a vital piece of his brilliant plan.
"Are you ready, Katan? Are you ready to see the angels cry?" After a quick glance at an angelic pane of the stained-glass window, Rosiel found his lighter.
Katan gasped in mortal fear. "Sir Rosiel--! You cannot!"
"Can't I?"
"You--this entire church will burn!"
Rosiel's eyes were as icy as his tone. "Yes, Katan. Every. Single. Black. Stone.
Katan watched numbly as Rosiel flicked the lighter open.
The stunned angel took a long look at Rosiel, hardly daring to believe that the three-winged beauty was so willing to throw aside his life, simply to get his sister's attention.
Rosiel kept his eyes trained on the small object in his left hand. His clothes, Katan suddenly realized, were soaked in gasoline.
"Sir Rosiel--!"
"Katan? If you value your life, run." He slipped the cigarette between his thin lips.
Katan took one last glance at his master, then turned and fled as he saw Rosiel s thumb come to rest on the lighter s tip.
Rosiel's eyes opened slightly wider in mild surprise as he watched Katan scurry out the door. "I was going to say, if you value mine, stay." He shrugged, and lit the cigarette.
Katan was thrown across the deserted parking lot by the earth-shaking blast. He turned, and saw that the entire building was already up to its steeple in fire. The flames licked the structure thirstily, and the angel raised his eyes to watch it in complete horror. But it got worse.
The doors, which Katan hadn't bothered to close in his flight, suddenly flew away from the church and landed in the blazing bushes to the sides of the building.
Katan gasped. "Sir Rosiel!!!"
From the fiery interior stepped the inorganic angel Rosiel, his arms spread as though to beckon to Alexiel's wrath. He was on fire.
"SIR ROSIEL!!!"
The three-winged angel laughed wildly. He stepped out of the church and looked to the sky. "ALEXIEEEELLLL!!!" he screamed loudly, once. There was no pain in his tone; he was no longer begging for his sister s love like a dog. His voice was strong, and rang with a challenge. It was not a plea. It was a dare.
Then Rosiel's gaze fell on his disobedient servant.
"S-sir Rosiel!" Katan breathed again, unsure of whether to be relieved or terrified as the angel came forward menacingly.
With each step Rosiel took toward Katan, another flame dissipated to the wind. By the time he was standing at Katan s form, sitting on the pavement, he wasn't even smoldering, and he looked as beautifully perfect as ever. Only something in his eyes said that he was angry.
"Tsk, tsk. Katan, you missed it. You didn't see, but I did. The angels were crying."
Katan's eyes widened and watered in fear. Rosiel's tone was very soft and soothing, and that was never a good sign. His expression was friendly, but his eyes were blazing more brightly than the church behind them.
"Katan? Your dagger, please."
Katan's hand shook uncontrollably as he struggled to take the knife from its hilt at his side. Tears fell from his face to the blade. "S-s-sir R-r-ros-s-siel..."
"Katan, you left me to die alone. Why would you do that?"
"I-I-I d-d-don t kn-know, S-s-sir R-r-r-r-rossssiel..."
"Oh? I do, Katan. I do." Rosiel took the dagger from Katan's iron-like grip with mild difficulty, and he pointed the blade accusingly between the young angel s eyes. "Do you want me to tell you?"
"P-p-p-pleasssse..."
"Because," Rosiel said in his usual cheery tone, not raising his voice over Katan's pleading sobs, "you love your life more than you love mine."
"Oh, but S-sir Rosiel--"
"And if you love yourself more than you love me--"
"I don't! I s-swear it! I don't!!!"
"--then there can only be one reason. You must be more beautiful than I."
"No! Sir Rosiel, there isss none--there is none m-m-mmore b-b-beautiful than you--"
"You say this now, yet when asked to prove your loyalty to me, I find that you have lied to me."
"Please, Sir Rosiel--"
"Please what, Katan? Let you keep your pathetic life? Of course. I'm not going to kill you."
Katan crawled to his knees, and kissed Rosiel's boot. "Thank you! Thank you! I thank you, Sir Rosiel! I thank you!" His tears came in ocean waves of relief now, not fear, and the ash that had gathered on the angel's boots was washed away.
"But, of course," Rosiel went on, folding his arms and looking at the sky, "I must make sure you will never lie to me again."
"I will never, ever lie to you again, Sir Rosiel!" Katan said with conviction, raising his head to look truthfully into Rosiel s eyes. "I swear it. Never!"
Rosiel looked down, touching Katan s damp chin with pale slender fingers, his long black nails careful not to scratch the flawless skin. "I know, Katan. I know." He raised the dagger.
Later, as they sat naked by the fire, Rosiel kissed the back of Katan's neck comfortingly. "Say it again," he repeated yet again, hugging Katan to his chest even tighter.
How many times had they repeated the conversation? Katan had lost count at one thousand. But then, what did it matter? Rosiel had been right: after a while, the pain had almost gone away. He was feeling much better, but there was still a dull thump of a headache left.
"Katan? Are you still with me?"
"Yesss, Master," Katan said, swallowing hard.
"Do you feel better yet?"
"Almost, Master." He had lost the privilege to refer to his lord as Sir Rosiel, reduced to the status of a complete slave.
"Three more times should do it, yes?"
"Yes, Master."
"Then say it again."
"You...are the most beautiful of all."
"...Again. "
"You, are the most beautiful of all."
"Good. Now once more..."
"You, Master, are the most beautiful of all."
"Ah! See? Didn't I tell you, Katan? You will never hurt again, because blind boys don't lie. Now don't you feel better?"
"Yes, Master."
It was the truth. There wasn't so much as a dull thump now, where before there had been a sharp stabbing sensation, just behind the hollows where his eyes had been.