Story: Dawning Radiance
Genre: Dark Fantasy/Romance/Action
Rating: T, because Xander is a violent, angsty Little Demon
Claimer: I own each and every one of the characters in this story, so please do not use them, as they are my babies...enjoy!
I tightened my grip on the handle, my already white knuckles turning even whiter. His child…? I risked glancing around the room quickly and caught Nate standing with a shocked expression at the top of the stairs.
We locked gazes for a minute or so before I noticed that Valshe was yelling at me and was attempting unsuccessfully to pull my arm back and away from the visitor.
My glare at that point was fiery and both tension and adrenaline were high, but I pulled away with a hateful scoff, stomping over to where Damien stood watching me intently. "I have to go" I snapped out, moving to shove the doors back open, but was held back by a powerful barrier that appeared, blocking off my path.
"Little Demon, that is absolutely no way to treat such an esteemed guest" Malachi scolded lightly from the kitchen door, his face unreadable. I felt my patience slipping away faster and faster by the second, and whipped around to face him, fully prepared to force him to bring that barrier down if I had to.
"Do you even know who he is? What he did? There's no way I'm treating him with even the smallest shred of respect!" I snarled, feeling my wings tense and spread in my furious rant.
Malachi nodded then, his face the picture of concern; it made me want to claw his eyes out. "I do know who he is Little Demon; this is my friend and partner, Nigathiel…I also know" he paused and glanced at Nigathiel out of the corner of his eyes, I was almost sure I saw the slightest bit of guilt in his now heavily guarded eyes "I also know what he did to you and your family…but while you are here you will start no conflict or I will be forced to intervene; do you understand, Xander?" he ordered seriously, and I noticed that it was one of the first times he had ever used my name and not 'Little Demon'.
Nodding, I tried to pay more attention to the sharp pain in my cheek where I had bit into part of it and blood was now mixing with the saliva to create a light metallic taste in my mouth. "You have my thanks. Now, dinner will be happening shortly and I wish for everyone to get ready and head to the dining room in ten minutes" he informed us, his small, angelic smile back on his face before he spun around and disappeared back into the kitchen.
Damien took hold of my uninjured shoulder and steered me towards my room, shutting the door silently behind me. He sat me down on the bed and I slammed my fist into the bedside table, surprised that it didn't shatter into pieces "I've been living with his son" I grumbled in a strangled voice and noticed that Damien simply shrugged in response with an almost guilty look on his face.
"You knew…" I whispered as the realization hit me. He's probably known the whole time and hadn't even mentioned it to me "You knew!" I yelled accusingly at him and he flinched slightly before nodding forlornly.
"That's why I was telling you not to get too close to him or that Angel; I knew if you found out, you'd snap" he explained quietly, and I could sense him trying to calm me. "So what?" I demanded, practically shouting now "I was this close D! This close to finally giving him what he deserves! This close to finally…finally…" I choked on my own voice and felt unshed tears burning my eyes before slumping down with my head in my hands.
I hadn't noticed that Valshe had slipped into the room until she cleared her throat and I snapped my head up with a glare, but she kept her frown on her face and fixed her empty golden gaze on me.
Damien moved to the door where Valshe still stood and after sharing a few hushed words that I didn't care to hear, they both exited quickly enough.
Now I realized how oblivious I'd been.
I should've noticed the similarities before! I'd had the dream often enough that the features of both mine and my fathers murderer were etched flawlessly into my mind.
Just this morning I had been laughing and joking around with Nate, I should've known he was the enemy the whole time! I should've, for once in my life, listened to Damien's warnings about how dangerous it was to get close to a holy Ethereal.
So stupid!
There was no way I was going down to eat with them, the high and mighty Angels and the two Nephilim twins, who could never do any wrong.
So stupid!
My thoughts were quickly becoming darker and darker, my anger flaring up again at my naïveté. Aside from a Slaughter demon like Saurian had been, a Ravager demon was not something to be trifled with, and sinister plots were already beginning to form in my head.
So stupid!
I could do it; I had, after all, brought my Oni with me, which would make it simple to sneak into his room in the night and, slice! I could be done with him and the guilt, the grief, the anger that'd been eating at me all these years.
So stupid!
Why should it matter that Malachi told me not to? Since when have I ever taken orders from an Angel? I might as well get rid of him, as well as the other two while I was at it; after all, "The fewer there are up there, the better we are down here" is what Damien had always told me.
Stupid, stupid, stupid!
It was a good enough plan, I supposed, but could I do it?
Why couldn't I?
Maybe the better question would be why shouldn't I?
I was grinning by the time Damien came back in and shut the door silently behind him "What's with that face? You're obviously planning something" he commented coolly, taking a seat beside me on the edge of the bed. "What'd Valshe want?" I asked instead, the Cheshire cat grin fading into a satisfied smirk "Mmm…she doesn't quite understand the whole act first, ask questions later aspect of being a Demon" he replied after a moment.
Nodding, I laid my head back against the wall "Do you have my Oni in your bag?" I continued, ignoring the questioning look he tossed at me out of the corner of his eyes "Yeah…" he hesitated in confusion.
"Good. Oh yeah, I'm not going to dinner" I announced "No way I'm going to deal with him" I growled, and Damien nodded "That's fine" he told me, standing up and running his hand through his blonde hair "I'll come back up later then…" he said, and left again.
I decided I needed a nap, but I knew I wouldn't even be able to close my eyes with Nigathiel downstairs. Still, I lifted the comforter, and slid myself under it, crossing my arms behind my head, and losing myself in thought once more.
By the time my door opened again, I'd switched positions and was facing the wall silently, and whoever it was probably thought that I was sleeping "Malachi wants you to come downstairs" a familiar, yet indifferent voice informed me bleakly; Nate.
When I didn't get up, I heard him cross the room to where I lay in the bed and gently shake my shoulder "Hey, time to get up…" he murmured, and I swiftly brushed his hand away "Not happening, Nephil" I snapped, clenching my teeth together, and he stepped away looking surprised.
Turning his face to the window and the warm light filtering in from outside it, he took a deep breath, and held it for a while, before it finally made a soundless escape out his mouth "Would you rather go take another walk? I know how to get around Malachi's barrier" he suggested, fidgeting with his fingers in lack of something to do.
Take a walk? It was almost laughable that he'd even think to invite me to go anywhere with him. Shouldn't he be mad at me as well? After all, I was right about to kill his father with him standing right there on the staircase.
"I'm not mad at you if that's what you're worried about" he sighed, as if to read my mind "And I know what happened between our families…my father isn't exactly the best person in the world, and he only comes around once in a while, so…" he paused, probably considering if this was something he should tell me. "I don't know…I've always thought of Malachi as more of a father figure than him" he confided with a slightly pained smirk and a side glance my way.
Did he expect me to feel sorry for him?
Words failed me at the moment, so I propped myself up against the wall and watched him expectantly.
This kid certainly was interesting though; typically Nephilim were loyal to their kind, didn't give Demons and Under Dwellers a second thought, much less did they try to keep on such good terms with them.
He cleared his throat "You're planning on killing him aren't you? I bet you'll kill all of us here, right? Probably tonight, when we go to sleep" he informed me, moving so he was facing me again; I didn't have to feign the look of surprise that crept onto my face, and we both knew it.
"Why would you think that?" I inquired, trying the best I could to sound innocent and unsuspecting. He laughed. "Oh, I don't think you are; I know you are" he chuckled, looking amused, and very pleased with himself, "Alright, so you got me" I admitted, and his smile grew a bit wider "Are you going to try to stop me?" I asked, and the rooms false air of humor disappeared, replaced with a heavier, more serious one.
Another long pause followed by a shrug "Do what you want; but I won't just let you get away with it; I'm sure you'll regret it later" he replied, his face taking on a determined sort of challenge.
This time I did laugh "Why would I regret it? After what he did, it's the least he deserves!" I exclaimed, getting up off the bed and moving to stand next to him by the window "Well, let's not find out if you will then…do you want to go or not?" he asked again, raising a slim eye brow expectantly.
No, as a matter of fact, I didn't, but I wasn't about to tell him that, or he'd drag me downstairs to eat with the rest of them.
I scoffed with a small roll of my deep blue eyes "It's not like I have anything better to do anyways" I replied, watching as he threw the window open and put his hand lightly against the now invisible barrier, unfurled his wings and whispered a single word, too low for me to hear, let alone understand, and a hole the size of the window opened up, making the rest shiver and fade in rainbows of color, much like a bubble.
He climbed onto the window ledge and jumped, letting his wings catch the air and carry him up, up, up.
Following suit, I spread my wings fluidly and sped over to where Nate now hovered high above the clouds, just out of sight of my prison below. "Some walk this is huh?" I commented, and he laughed, flipping over backwards in near ecstasy "Flying is better than any walk and you know it" he pointed out, letting himself drift through a particularly white cloud and coming out the other side with damp clothes and hair.
Flying was better than any walk, that was for sure, and the skies over Heaven were a lot clearer than they were back in the Under Realms. For the humans, it would be like comparing the sky in the big cities of New York or California to a small farm town in Minnesota, or Wisconsin; the differences were like night and day.
At the same time, flying with him was more than annoying.
I didn't want to be involved with any part of the family that ruined my life more than once, even if they were naive and couldn't hold a grudge like Nate. In a way, he was almost like that adoring little brother some people have; always looking up to the big brother, as if he could do no wrong.
Neither of us was tired yet; flying was easy for us, like second nature, but Nate landed on the roof, bent over as if he were in serious pain, so despite my current hatred for his father, I let myself descend and join him on top of the giant house.
The closer I got to him, the more I noticed how pale he was, and that he was clutching at his side, fingers digging into his back roughly "Hey, what's wrong with you?" I asked hesitantly, eyes narrowing suspiciously "I…ugh…it's just a…a scrape" he stammered, straightening up and shrugging with a sheepish little smile.
What he hadn't noticed, was that when he took his hand off of his shirt, a spreading red stain was soaking into his shirt "You know…" I began, wrinkling my nose at the too pure scent filling the air around us "You're bleeding" I pointed out, and his eyes widened, his hand flying back to his shirt in surprise.
Backing away from me slowly, he watched me with wary eyes, as if he there was something he'd wanted to say, but instead, his feet reached the edge of the roof, and he let himself tip off, hurtling towards the ground below before extending his wings and landing deftly and lightly on the front steps "I'll talk to you later" he'd told me before he'd left.
Before I got back down from the roof, I noticed a small white envelope resting exactly where Nate had been standing just moments before. Picking it up, I turned it over and over in my hands, preparing to jump down to give it back to him.
That was until I noticed who it was addressed to.
In gentle, looping cursive was written a single name that sent my head reeling to find a plausible reason for why it said what it did, but simply couldn't.
Xander Costello.
A/N: Thanks to indescribable music for two more reviews! It's great to know that I have such loyal readers like you, and am glad you'd spend your time reading my story. I have to say, I like how all of the charaters in this story are turning out so far, so it's good to know others are taking to them as well!
This chapter was pretty uhmmm...dramatic maybe? I think I might've actually added too much important stuff in this chapter, but I kinda cut it off again, so I suppose it's alright. Like the chapter 'The Thoughts of Valshe', the next chapter is another one that you don't have to read, and it's in Nates POV this time. Until next time, please review, and please, my lovely readers, don't try to fly at home; I know from exerience that it always ends badly.