Pike Creek, Delaware

We appear in Alice's front yard, memories of playing in this same yard as a child immediately start coming to me. We've been best friends since kindergarten when we met. I borrowed a yellow crayon from her since yellow is my favorite, and then she got mad at me that I couldn't say her real name so she didn't want to be friends. Little me quickly shocked her when I asked her after that if I could call her by her middle name, and she said yes.

Her mom had recently died around that time. Just a couple of years ago Alice admitted to me that after her mom died she felt like she was betraying her if she let anyone call her Adelina, even her own dad. She had just started thinking about wanting to go by her middle from there on out, when along came little old me who wanted to give her exactly that.

Of course we were best friends for life after that.

I make sure Tei's still behind me as we walked through the yard and up to the door; they did not have a porch. I sighed in nervousness and knocked on the door as loud as I could. Alice always ignored the door and her father was half deaf and... a little strange.

After several moments I heard the door chains getting undone followed by the door getting yanked open because the door stuck very badly. I'm met face to face with Alice's dad, Jack Walter. He's a middle aged man with long brown hair and blue eyes. He currently had his hair up in a ponytail and his face was red. It must be hot in their house today.

"Is your AC broken Uncle Jack?" I tried to ask him casually even though I've been gone for a year.

"What the hell, Lynn?" He yelled. "What did you just say?"

"I said IS YOUR AIR CONDITIONER BROKEN?" I nearly screamed. A fake cough escapes Tei.

"Oh yeah it is," Jack nodded. "Also where you been? Addy said you up and disappeared."

"Dad! Who are you yelling at down there?" We then heard Alice yelp from the upstairs of their house. Jack steps back and waves us inside.

"This is Teivel," I led Jack's attention over to Tei behind me. "Tei, this is Jack. I know you know him but it's weird that you're actually meeting him now."

"Boyfriend?" Jack held out his hand to Tei kindly. Tei widened his orange eyes and literally didn't know what to say.

"Just go with it," I whispered to Tei.

"Huh?" Jack asks us demandingly since he can't hear us.

Tei twitched and went, "YES? BOYFRIEND." And it took everything in me not to laugh, but thankfully Alice decided to come investigate finally and she was certainly surprised when we came into eye contact. Turns out I was surprised too because Alice had dyed her long brown hair black and I couldn't deal with it.

"Lynn?" Alice said first in a choking voice.

"What the hell did you do to your hair?" I scolded her. "You promised you'd never go that color! It's so damaging!"

"I don't see you for a year and that's what you have to say?" Alice scolded back. "I used black because I thought you were dead after we talked on the phone!"

"Clearly I am not dead," I stated firmly. "And I can explain why I was gone."

"Oh my God," Alice quickly screeched. "You?! I remember you!" Her full attention was now on Tei. "From that day at the bus stop. What are you doing here? Lynn, why is he with you?"

"He's her boyfriend," Jack let up goofily, patting Tei on the back of his shoulder.

Alice immediately glared at me with her narrowing Italian brown eyes. "Boyfriend?"

"I can make this simple for everyone." Tei offered, startling Alice. He turned just a little to the right so he could take Jack's arm, who was instantly confused. Tei closed his eyes and I thought to myself, get the popcorn, Jack...

Jack's eyes went very small, concerning Alice. "Dad?" She thumps down the steps to join us.

"He's fine," I promised her. "You're next."

"Next for what?" She demanded.

"Explaining what's been going on." I clarified. Jack finally blinked a few times as Tei opened his own eyes, releasing Jack's arm.

"Dad?" Alice repeated.

Jack looks right at me before promptly kneeling down like he was bowing to me. "Think you can fix the AC? Oh holy angel?"

"Angel?" Alice repeated, looking from her father to me.

"Place your hand over mine, Adelina." Tei ordered her, holding out his palm.

"Okay but you're going to call me Alice, got it mister?" Alice pointed a finger at him before she placed that same hand down over his. Then just like with Raquel he shows her thoughts and memories and it's as simple as breathing for him. Maybe that's why he's feared.

After several moments he lets her go and she looks at me in horror. "You really weren't kidding back then when you said you could erase my memory. I'm glad I kept your secret."

The atmosphere in the house was different for the rest of our visit there. "So besides the fact that you're an angel and have magic powers, my dad has taken an eerily liking to your boyfriend." Alice noticed as she peered over from the kitchen into the living room where Jack was giving Tei his first beer - I could NOT miss this. He drank it like a champ even though he made it obvious he disliked the taste.

After all of these years of my life on this planet where it was always just me who knew about Tei and interacted with him, it was still so damn strange seeing him interact with anyone else now. "How long have you guys been together?" Alice asked me through my thoughts.

I answered her before I realized the correct manner in which she asked the question. "My whole life."

"WHAT?" Alice shrieked at me.

"He's my protector while I'm on Earth." I told her next to ease my answer from before.

"Are you for real?" Alice sounded baffled. "So what was the reason that day he sent me into the freaking tree for?!"

I looked at her in guilt. "We were fighting that day because I didn't believe that he was real, since I never saw him talk to anyone else before other than me."

Alice raised an eye. "So he almost had my head bashed open to prove to you he was real?"

"That sounds extremely harsh but yes."

Alice shrugged. "I'm over it now. He's pretty hot by the way." She winked at me.

I stared at my human best friend. "Do not ever say that again."

She grinned big at me. "I missed you, you know? You're always so serious and now I'm wondering if it's because of your boyfriend. So he was even around when we were kids? OH WAIT HE WASN'T HERE WHEN YOU WERE FOR ALL THOSE SLEEPOVERS WAS HE?"

"Not even once."

Alice sighed in relief as her father started laughing in the living room. I check back on them to see he'd turned the TV on to a sitcom. I smiled knowing that Tei had the patience to watch TV for hours at a time thanks to me. Now Alice wants to know what I've really been up to since I've been gone, so for the rest of our time there I told her what I felt she needed to know about my just-finished journey in the Apocalypse.

Eventually Jack fell asleep on the couch after a few beers so Tei steps into the kitchen to join us. "Hey mystery boo," Alice said to him. "Thanks for hanging out with my dad."

I rolled my eyes as Tei simply nodded. "Not a problem."

"You guys gonna go?" Alice assumed as I stood up from the table we've spent our time at.

"Yes. I'm going to see my grandma." I admitted, grabbing hold of Tei's hand so we could fly together.

"First of all, I hate that woman. Second of all, you two look super cute together!" Alice remarked. She got up as well to hug me goodbye.

"I agree on both notions." Tei said cheekily, squeezing my hand and it shocked me a little. Either way I squeezed back, wondering to myself if it really was true that love could change a person. Idiot, you're holding hands! He hears this!

"Please come back soon," Alice begged. "You know my dad will ask about your boyfriend, and I love you, you know?"

"I love you too Alice," I hug her a second time before we leave. "Want to see something cool?" I asked.

"Sure?"

I snap my fingers so we disappeared right in front of her. "Love?" Tei spoke when we reappeared near my grandma's house within the same city.

"Yeah?" I looked at him before I looked back at Grandma's little cottage. This time, no good memories came to me.

"I do not want to meet this woman," Tei admitted. "I despise how she treated you and made you feel."

For a moment I look down at my yellow sneakers before I sighed. "I understand Tei. I still need to do this though."

"I'll wait at home for your return then." Tei decided. He lets go of my hand and flies away. I feel a small twinge of sadness for being without him but shake it off and head up to Grandma's door. She used to make me feel so unwanted, but now I feel nothing towards her really. I ping the white doorbell button and wait, thankfully not too long. The woman I always knew as Grandma opens the door after I knew she saw me through the door's peephole.

Grandma stares at me in silence through the screen door. She's a small, old and slightly plump woman with short and curly brown hair and light blue eyes. "Angela." She finally says.

I shook my head at her; I'm just going to tell her the honest truth. "Grandma, I am not Angela. I am Lynn, and I am using Angela as a vessel while I am here living on Earth. You were always right that I wasn't your granddaughter. I'm sorry I didn't know that until after I was gone."

At this point I expected one of three things:

"I knew it!", "Get out of my granddaughter's body!" or even "Never come back here!"

Instead none of those things happen and Grandma fainted right in front of me. At first I just blinked, then I went down to check on her, using hybrid strength to lift her up so I could get her inside. I made it through the door, spotting the old blue and white couches Grandma has had since before any of us were born. I lay Grandma down as gently as I could when I heard a door open down the hall past the living room. Did Grandma have company over? A neighbor maybe?

"Grandma?" I then heard a voice I should not have. "I thought I heard a loud noise, are you okay?"

I stand straight up from the couch, turn to the right and stare across the living room at my dead little sister staring back at me.

"Lynn?" She widened her dead blue eyes at me, making me realize her eyes aren't dead and neither is she.

"Nat?" I finally said back. "You're alive?"

"You're alive?!" Natalie screamed back, running at me and sobbing. When we hugged it finally hit me so I started screaming and crying back. We refused to let each other go. After several minutes of crying and yelling we finally calmed down and I could find out what was going on. If Nat was alive what about the rest of our family? JD? Mom and Dad?

To my horror Natalie tells me, "I'm the only one who survived."

Grandma woke up and immediately looked at us from the couch. "What happened to Angela?" She demanded first thing.

Nat appeared confused while I answered. "Her soul went to Heaven after she was born."

Grandma widened her eyes and gave a silent prayer. "Who's Angela?" Nat wondered.

I frowned as I faced her. "She's your real sister," that was so hurtful to say. "When she was born she went to Heaven as I began to inhabit her body." I practically repeated the story Tei told me.

"You're scaring me," Natalie whimpered. "You're acting like you're an alien or something!"

"Or something," I nodded at her as we finally pull away from our long lasting hug.

"What?" Natalie nearly shrieked.

"What are you, Lynn?" Grandma asked me in the most unusual voice ever. Why unusual? SHE JUST SAID MY FUCKING NAME FOR THE FIRST IN MY EARTH LIFE. I felt real tears rolling down my cheeks and it was out of my control how much I started crying. It felt so strangely good to hear someone I loved regardless of how they felt about me finally say my real name.

"I'm half angel, half demon," I tell them. "Please believe me when I say I am no harm to either of you."

"Please stop talking like that," Natalie sobbed, wiping her eyes. "I don't understand what's going on!"

I pull my sister close and try to soothe her while I hear Grandma reciting the Bible. I figured she wouldn't take the 'half demon' part very well, but I decided from the start to be completely honest. If they chose to truly hate me then I'd understand.

"What happened when I disappeared?" The question I've been wanting to know since the moment I left has finally come into words.

Natalie looked at Grandma for approval. "Do you feel okay to talk about it?" She asked her.

Nat nodded bravely, looking back at me and putting her right hand just under her neck. "This is from the day you disappeared."

I didn't have the slightest clue what she was referring to until I actually looked deeply at her neck, and I immediately felt sick to my stomach. I could see awful physical scarring from what may have been severe strangulation. "We heard you screaming," Natalie started telling me. "So Dad went to check on you."

I don't want to hear this. But I have to.

Natalie whimpers lightly. "All I remember is that Dad came flying back down the stairs and... he died."

I closed my eyes and wept silently as she continued. "He came downstairs and... Mom-" she choked and I began running my hand down over her long hair. "Mom was screaming and-"

"Lucifer," I growled, opening my eyes. "It was the Devil."

Natalie rubbed her red eyes. "The real Devil?"

I nodded, hearing Grandma react in pure shock. "I disappeared because an angel from Heaven recruited me into helping stop Lucifer because he was freed onto the world."

Natalie found that hard to swallow. "Can we just stick with my alien idea instead?"

"The Apocalypse?" Grandma finally realized. "Lucifer freed?"

"Yes but it's over. A pair of human brothers literally saved the world." I admitted sadly.

"Human brothers?" Natalie repeated.

"I was never human, Natalie. I no longer hide it," I said proudly. "How did you survive not getting killed, if I may ask?"

"I thought I really was dead," she admitted. "It hurt... so bad. I must have just passed out and he thought I was dead or something. I remember waking up and forcing myself to only take a super small breath once in a while until I knew he was gone. It was the hardest thing I've ever done in my life."

I felt sick again, wishing I'd known my sweet Natalie was alive and had suffered this much so I'd have fought harder against Tei, and punish Lucifer.

Tei.

"There's someone I want you to meet," I said with growing excitement to lighten the mood of the room.

"Who is it?" Nat asked, sniffling. Grandma walked into the kitchen, which was right of the living room.

"He's my protector," I answered. "He's been keeping me safe and keeping my powers in check while I grew up." I admitted as Grandma returned with a bottle of water for Natalie. I looked at Grandma. "I was never talking to myself like you thought I was."

"I see," Grandma simply said, going back to the sofas and sitting down.

"Wait..." Natalie thought aloud. "He's been around your whole life? How come we've never seen him?"

"He hid himself from you all." I shrugged.

"OH MY GOD WHAT?" Natalie yelped. "So he knows me?!"

"He knows everyone I know," I nodded. "I'll be right back with him, okay? He's got this special power where he'll be able to explain a lot more of what happened while I was gone, I promise." I snapped my fingers eagerly to fly home. "Tei!" I squealed like a little kid.

"Yes love?" Tei replied from the kitchen, walking in with a bag of chips. "How'd it go with that woman?"

"Tei, come here," I urged, approaching him. I hold out my hand which he happily takes. "Grandma's prepared to meet you right now, and I have a surprise for you."

"Oh? A surprise?" Tei raised an eye. Before he can ask anything about it, I zap us back inside Grandma's.

"Look Tei," I said in near hysterical excitement. "Natalie's alive! Lucifer didn't-"

The bag of chips Tei held instantly dropped to the living room floor just as Natalie started screaming absolutely bloody murder. "What's wrong?" I tried to ask her through her screams. Grandma jumped up from the couch, fearful for Nat's own sudden fear.

"IT'S THE DEVIL! IT'S THE DEVIL!" Natalie let out before she cut and ran down the hall behind the living room, which led to the back door of the house at the end.

"Tei's not..." I couldn't bring myself to finish what I didn't want to say in the first place. The very possibility of the idea that now crept into my mind thanks to my sister's reaction made my insides clench.

Grandma started backing away slowly, maybe thinking of a way to get to the hallway safely. Meanwhile I remained in place, unable to turn and face him. "It wasn't Lucifer?" I spoke softly but loud enough to be heard. "It was... you? Tei?" I turned my entire body to confront him.

"You no longer had to keep choosing them over me." Teivel says to me.

When those sickening words leave his mouth I felt like something in me shattered. I screamed, "NO!" as loud as I could, unleashing every bit of power I had at him. There was an enormous blast and Grandma no longer had a front door, kitchen or living room.

"Lynn!" I heard Grandma through crumbling debris of the tiny cottage coming down.

"Run Grandma!" I said sternly.

"Come with me!" She begged, stopping halfway down the hallway.

"Find Natalie and RUN!" I ordered her. I heard Teivel get up from outside, which I suppose I'm now technically outside too since I just destroyed half of Grandma's house.

"My love," Teivel spoke as he took a few steps towards me. "Don't do this. They're already gone. Nothing has to change."

"Nothing has to change?" I repeated frantically. "They're not all gone! Natalie survived! You-! You choked her! You choked my baby sister with the intent to kill her! Just so-" I couldn't anymore.

"Do not do this. You cannot fight me, love."

"I'M NOT YOUR LOVE!" I screamed, running at him to attempt a holy punch like I did in Detroit. Teivel sighed and stopped me completely with - you know it - the fucking dome.

My statement seemed to bother him. "Yes you are and you always will be. You will never belong to anyone else. After I handle you, I'm going to kill that Drew boy you think you adore."

Handle me? "Don't you dare!" I roared at him. "Leave him alone!"

What I hate most about this dome is that you can't see perfectly through it. Some things are blurry, like the object I witness Teivel making appear in his hands. Couldn't tell you what it was until he made the dome disappear, and he immediately stabs me with what felt like iron.

Just like War. Just like those angry Gods. Time for round three.

I grunt in pain, watching blood ooze from the wound in my gut. I grip Teivel's right arm to keep myself from falling over in pain, forcing myself to look up at him. He was crying, letting go of the iron blade to keep it stuck in my gut. "I'm so sorry love," he said hoarsely. "I never wanted this to happen."

I fall to my knees and he goes down with me to hold me up. "You should have thought of that before you murdered my family, Teivel. I hate you and I'll never forgive you."

"Tsk-tsk," he literally scolded me. "You don't mean that love." He then wraps his arms around me to lift me up and zaps us away, having us reappear in the basement of our home in Germany. Our basement?

Teivel carefully sets me down against the wall, walking across the basement and snapping his fingers. A horror then appeared right before us; it was a long table with very obvious hand and leg restraints made of chains. I could easily tell that the restraints and the entire table itself was made of pure iron.

He turns back to me.

"Oh no," I realized in terror. "No Tei, please. No, no, no!" I begged as he approached me. I bravely grasp the iron blade in me and try to pull it out but it burned too badly, I had to stop. My hand singed miserably as Teivel grabbed me, forcing me against my will over to the iron table. I screamed at the top of this vessel's lungs and resisted as hard as I could.

"Did you forget where we live? We're the only ones up here. Scream all you want, my love." Teivel forced me onto the table painfully and turned me onto my back to get the restraints on me. I punched and kicked to no avail, beginning to feel weak from the iron blade, and now a permanent burning from this torture table I'm strapped to.

"What are you going to do to me?" I asked him in total fear, trying not to cry from the constant burning.

"I will be right back with someone and I will put you to sleep until I figure out how to fix you." Teivel admitted, instantly flying away after which left me alone to scream and cry from pain and utter heartbreak. I'm helpless to whatever is going to happen next.