Prologue

 

        Stories of guardian angels are as old as time. Every human that’s on this earth has one, every human that has ever lived on this earth has had one, and every human that will live on this earth in the future will have one. A person’s guardian angel is usually a relative that has long passed on to the Father in Heaven. From the time of birth up until death, the human is watched over by the angel. They are with them until it is time for the person to join them in Heaven.

        Only under unusual circumstances is this story changed, and these unusual circumstances are becoming less and less unusual with the passing of time. People lose their faith, or the faith is forgotten, or it is left untaught. On other occasions, people become wicked and commit heinous crimes that throw them away from the light. No matter the case, these are the leftovers that are given to my kind. Minions of Satan. Demons.

        It is under these unusual circumstances that the practically-unheard-of event occurs that an angel and a demon are paired to accompany a person throughout their life. There is only a slight difference though. Angels are free to move and come and go as they need to. Demons, on the other hand are treated like toddlers in a time-out. We are watched closely by the angels. We cannot come and go as we please. We cannot bring any harm onto our assigned human. We can’t even let them know we’re there or be seen. Should that last rule be violated in any sort of way, we’re driven away by the guardian angel, for that is the angel’s duty, and they will keep us away no matter what the human’s current circumstances may be.

        This story follows such an unusual occurrence, beginning with a child named Edith. Her guardian angel is her great-grandmother, Mable, who passed away two years before her birth. The demon is . . . well, the demon is me.  Because humans have so many different names for creatures even remotely like me, I go by many names, but my true name is Raum. I cannot be seen or heard unless in my more common form as a raven. It is the only form I’m allowed to be in. Just the same, Mable assumes the physical form of a white dove, but she tends to stay away from me; either by perching on a separate tree limb on the same tree or moving to another tree that is close by.

                I remember the first night Edith was home with her parents; the night I was first allowed to see her, and I suppose that is where this little adventure starts.

2: Chapter 1

Chapter 1

 

        Raum didn’t know what to make of this “newly adopted” creature. He thought to himself that it reminded him of a mouse, a very large baby mouse without a tail. It was as fragile as china, as loud as a vulture, and it smell of its own drool. Even so, he couldn’t contain his personal curiosity and allow his talon-tipped fingers to stray into the wooden crib. His black, soulless eyes took in every detail of the child’s tiny pink body, especially her bright blue eyes that were full of wonder and innocence.

        As gently as he could manage, he brushed the child’s left cheek with the bend of his index finger, looking out to make sure his talons did not graze her delicate skin. The child made a noise at his touch and one of her tiny hands, which were no larger than a fifty-cent coin when compared to his, clasped around one of his bird-like fingers. Instantly, something inside of Raum felt satisfied.

        The beating of wings behind him made him aware that his new partner was arriving; the one who would be holding his leash until the child’s life came to an end. When he turned to look he saw a white dove sitting at the windowsill, but he knew better. With a small jerk, he tore his finger from the baby’s grip. The absence of her newly-found toy caused the baby to whimper and cry in protest.

        “Don’t get too attached!” the dove warned him, “So long as I’m here, you won’t lay another claw on her. Is that understood?”

        Raum did not reply, but the answer churned in his mind. He knew so long as the child’s guardian angel was babysitting him, he could bring no harm to her. Completely powerless compared to the angel’s strength, resisting and rebelling wasn’t an option. His only answer to the angel was silence as he perched in a bird-like manner at the end of the crib and continued to gaze into the tiny baby’s eyes.

        The dove—the angel—morphed into her beautiful humanoid form. Her hair came down in waves of white and grey and golden. Her face was well-aged, but beautiful, and her hazel eyes shined like jewelry. The wings that sat upon her back were very large and the purest shade of white. The downy feathers in the wings made them appear as if they were glowing.

        Raum did not hold the beauty that the angel had. He bore the head of an old raven with an ugly grey beak and beady black eyes. Every feather was old and mangled, yet were still silky-smooth in some places. His hands and feet were the four-digit appendages that a bird had. His wings were huge and the longest feathers dragged on the floor behind him when he walked. It was only those who could see the beauty in the strange and the terrifying could ever remark him as beautiful.

        “Why are you even here,” the angel asked, “Who are you?”

        Raum’s slouched posture straightened as he adjusted his position and moved away from the crib, “Why does it matter who I am or why I’m here?”

        “Because I don’t trust strangers, especially those of the demonic type. If I’m going to have to work with you, we might as well know each other’s names.”

        “Fine. You first.”

        The angel sighed with frustration, “Mable. My name is Mable; Edith’s guardian angel. I am also her great-grandmother.”

        “I am Raum; a demon.”

        “Why are you here?”

        “Many reasons. I don’t want to bore you, so I’ll just say I’m here because I have to be; the same as you.”

        “Don’t even start comparing yourself to me! You are evil!”

        Raum lifted a finger, “Then what does that make you? Sure, I might be evil, but I was sent here for the exact same reason you’re here now; for the child.”

        Mable shook her head, “The child has a name. It’s Edith.”

        A distant look settled in Raum’s gaze, “Edith . . . Edith . . .”

        “What?”

        “Nothing.”

        “No, really, tell me what you were thinking.”

        “The name just reminded me of Eden, that’s all.”

        “What?”

        “Eden. You know; the Garden of Eden?”

        Mable shook her head again, “You’re an odd sort of demon, you know that?”

        Raum shrugged, “Maybe.”

        The demon lumbered back over to Edith’s crib and allowed the child to grip his finger once more. His feet held onto the front of it and his shoulders hunched over once more. He could consider himself lucky, because it wouldn’t be long before Edith could no longer see him or touch him. At best, he might be remembered as a figment of her imagination or someone that was in a dream, but aside from that he wouldn’t exist to her. He’d live in the shadows; out of sight. The thought made him decide that he’d make the most of every moment he was still a physical being to the tiny infant.

        “I’m only going to keep pestering you if you don’t tell me the reason why you’re here.” Mable piped up.

        “You’d find something else to pester me about.”

        “Don’t start thinking you might have a chance at taking her. Don’t get your hopes up.”

        “Don’t get yours up either.”

        Mable tilted her head in confusion and she shot him a skeptical look, “What do you mean?”

        “Don’t write me off as stupid, O Pure One. I know that the child is not baptized. I know her parents are not Christian, and I also know that they’re short tempered and have little tolerance for anything they find annoying, stressful, or a lot of work. The odds are just as much in your favor as they are mine.”

        Mable crossed her arms, “I’ve warned you not to get too attached to her. Something evil like does not deserve someone as good as Edith.”

        Raum snorted and morphed into his animal form. He was quite large, even for a raven, and his wings made a loud snapping sound as they lifted him into the air and carried him towards the window.

        “Now, where are you going?” Mable asked, “You can’t just leave.”

        “I’ll be on the roof. I make you uneasy, and maybe it’s for the best.”

        Raum soared out of Edith’s nursery and landed on the chimney. He settled himself that and looked up to the moon that shone bright in the night sky.

        “Time passes by too fast for me to enjoy the little things,” he said to himself, “Especially with an angel in the way.”

        Meanwhile, back in Edith’s nursery, Mable was trying to calm the fussy infant before her crying brought about her parents. That thought made her nervous, because she knew Raum had been right about them. He might have been a demon, apathetic, blunt, and cruel, but he was also right.

        Desperate to calm Edith back to resting—or better yet, sleeping—the angel twirled her hands, producing a shining white light. From this light emerged a small teddy bear with a silver and gold bow around its neck. Mable lowered the bear into the baby’s crib and into her hands. Edith’s eyes gazed into the black button ones on the toy and she instantly quieted down; sensing some sort of familiarity with the black color of Raum’s eyes as she held it to her chest. Minutes later, she was sleeping soundly. 

3: Chapter 2

Chapter 2

 

        As the weeks passed, Edith became fussier. The angelic bear that Mable had crafted especially for her did nothing to appease her. Within days lullabies and stuffed animals were promptly ignored. While her parents provided for her essential needs—feeding her, bathing her, and diapering her—they did not possess the patience to take the time and cradle her or comfort her.

        Edith’s parents could hardly be called as such. Her mother provided for her needs while her father worked long hours as a truck driver to make money and put food in their bellies, but their family life didn’t go much further than that; leaving Edith’s needs for comfort to Mable and Raum’s care.

        Desperate for some sort of a change, Mable called for the demon’s assistance, and like an obedient dog, Raum came. Edith had been wailing for some time, merely for the sake of having someone to pay attention to her, and why the angel’s presence didn’t satisfy her was unknown.

        Raum swooped in and assessed the situation for himself. He tried to perch at the end of the crib and stick out a talon for her to grip onto, but Edith was only content with it for a few brief seconds before she’d let go and start wailing again. Limited in his options that were tolerable to the angel, he morphed into his animal form and jumped into the crib.

        “What are you doing?” Mable inquired.

        “Improvising.”

        The raven started up a loud cawing and fluttered about inside of the crib, making it look as if he were attacking the infant. His claws snagged the small woven blankets that covered her and knocked about the few stuffed animals that were in the crib.

        The racket Raum was causing attracted the attention of Edith’s mother; a slender woman with long brown hair and blue eyes. the woman had only taken a brief glimpse into the room before she saw the raven, and, thinking that her child was in danger, she rushed over to the crib and scooped Edith into her arms.

        Raum jumped out of the crib and drove towards the mother. He allowed his talons to snag her hair. Terrified, the woman gave a strong swing of her arm and knocked the large black bird to the other end of the room before carrying her frightened daughter off to another room in the house where she would be safe.

        Mable strode over to Raum, who was now attempting to shake the dizziness from his head.

        “That was awful!” she remarked.

        The demon morphed back into his average form, “We cannot be the ones to coddle her forever. Her parents need to learn how to be parents. Her mother needs to learn how to be a mother.”

        “And you thought you could teach her by attacking Edith?”

        Raum gestured towards the door, “It worked, did it not?”

        “You could have hurt her!”

        “But I didn’t, did I?”

        Mable took a deep breath and tried to calm herself. She knew that arguing with the demon was pointless. He had the brain of a raven, and unlike most “bird brains” that made him smart. But there was no way she was going to allow him to get away with what he did.

        “Tell me why you did what you did, RAUM. Was there no other way?”

        “No, there were other ways,” Raum replied, “But most of them involved carrying the child and flying a great height to worry the mother. Now, that’s fine, but if—let’s just say—I was to accidently lose my grip . . . I would not see the light of day.”

        Mable shook her head, “No, I’d send you with a one-way ticket back to Hell.”

        “So, if you put it like that, what I did wasn’t awful. It was necessary.”

        The demon moved over to the windowsill, “I’ll be on the roof if you need me.”

        As he vanished out of the room, Mable began to think about what the raven had said. His methods were sick and twisted and horrible, yes; but then she had to think about what could have happened had he not stepped in. Edith would still be crying, her mother would still be frustrated with her, and there wouldn’t have been an end to the sleepless night. And along with that, Raum had never intended to harm Edith or her mother, only frighten them the only way he knew how.

        It wasn’t the greatest excuse for his dark and wicked nature, but it wasn’t a mindless act that he put on without any regard for Edith’s safety.

        Mable left the nursery and joined Raum on the rooftop. He sat at an edge by a gutter, gazing at the moon as it waned into the last silver sliver before the new moon.

        “Change your mind about something?” he asked, “Or did you think of something to back up your argument?”

        Mable sat down, “I know . . .”

        “What is it that you know?”

        “I know that you’re a vile, wicked, and evil creature. I know that you hate being here and having to work with me.”

        “Thank you, Captain Obvious. What’s your point?”

        “My point is that despite all of that, you’re at least trying to cooperate. You’re trying to make Edith happy and have a good life. You’re at least trying to be a good person.”

        Raum looked at her and then back to the sky, and then he turned his head to the rain gutter and noticed the way that the water flowed free, as the gutter was clean and clear of junk and trash.

        “I want to show you something . . .”

        He flew to a nearby pine tree and collected a handful of pine cones, needles, and bark. As he brought it back, he held it in front of Mable with one hand and scooped up a palm full of water with the other.

        “Do you see how this water runs clean and free? Do you see how nothing’s in the way to block it or make it dirty?”

        Mable nodded.

        Raum then dropped the pine cones, the needles, and the bark in a single space in the gutter and watched as the flow of the water slowed. What little water that was able to pass through was now dirty.

        “Would you like to drink the water that passed through all of that?”

        Mable shook her head.

        Raum took the junk back into his hands and held it in front of her so she could see.

        “This is what I am. The water is Edith. All by itself it was pure and clean and good to drink, but when this gets in the way, all of a sudden it’s dirty, impure, and unfit to drink. Do you understand?”

        “Yes.”

        “Good. Then you’ll understand when I say this:” Raum crumbled the debris in his hands and tossed them into the gutter, watching as the water washed it way, “I can’t be a good person.”

4: Chapter 3

Chapter 3

 

        Time flew fast, and before anyone knew it, Edith was going to school. Six years old and in the first grade, she still had the active imagination that allowed her to see, or at lease sense, Raum at some points. However, Mable had become invisible to her ever since she had turned two. Raum was at least somewhat satisfied with being the monster she feared was hiding in her closet or under her bed, because he was at least a part of her life.

        However, Edith wasn’t exactly popular with the kids at her school. Most of her classmates would ignore her and refused to play with her. When she came up to sit with someone at lunch, some would move away while others simply ignored her. The lack of attention and friendship made her lonely, which often led her to act out in school. She would hit other people, bite them, or steal things, and while her bad behavior did get her noticed it also gave her a very bad reputation.

        The punishments that resulted from that bad behavior were dealt accordingly by her mother. If she’d hit someone, she’d be spanked. If she bit someone, she went to be without supper. If she stole something, something was taken from her in return; most often time it would be the angelic bear Mable had given her.

        Mable was growing tired of Edith’s behavior. It pained her to see the innocent baby she’d known only a few short years ago turn into and attention-hungry brat that was always getting into trouble. Most of the time she blamed Raum for it, even though she knew—for the most part—it wasn’t all his fault. The devil was everywhere, and little kids didn’t know how to resist temptation.

        “We have to do something,” Mable finally said, “We can’t just sit back and watch her give in to Satan’s every little wish.”

        “You make it sound as if she’s a devil worshiper,” Raum remarked, “She’s a little kid; little kids get into trouble, and they learn fairly quickly that if you do something bad, something bad will happen in return.”

        “I know that, but the only reason Edith is acting out is because nobody pays attention to her. She doesn’t have any friends. She’s six years old, Raum. No child should be friendless at six years old!”

        “And what do you expect me to do? I’m the monster that lives in her closet, remember?”

        Mable thought it over briefly. Edith still held a very wild imagination and she was still young enough to sense some things adults couldn’t.

        “An imaginary friend.”

        Raum tilted his head and blinked in confusion, “What?”

        “Every child has one, at one point or another, “Mable explained, “And it’ll give you something to do!”

        “You expect me to be this imaginary friend?”

        “Would you rather live out the rest of her childhood as the monster in her closet?”

        Raum crossed his arms, “What if I say, ‘No’? Why don’t you do it, Miss Goodie-Two-Shoes? You’re an angel. This sounds like a job meant more for you.”

        Mable shrugged, “Why do I need to explain? Just do it!”

        “Fine!” Raum cawed.

        The demon snapped his fingers and took the form of a handsome young man clad in black. His dark, soulless eyes lightened into a rich shade of brown and his face was hidden by a white bird-like mask. The feathers on his head turned into layers of jet black hair and his clawed feet turned into the hands and feet of a human.

        “Not bad,” Mable commented, “But what’s with the mask?”

        Raum shrugged, “This is the only way I can disguise my face. It’s hard to get rid of a giant beak.”

        All throughout the day, Raum played with Edith. He pushed her on the swing sets, even though the only thing making her move was the pumping of her legs. They’d race in the schoolyard, and Raum would always let her win. They’d talk and laugh over silly little things kids laughed about. All the while, Raum knew this good time was only temporary. It would all last until God in Heaven brought along a real friend into her life.

        When they came home, they played in the backyard until dinnertime and until Edith finally had to go to bed.

        “Hey, Remy?” she piped up as she flopped down on the mattress of her bed, “Can you check and make sure the monster isn’t in my closet?”

        Remy had been the name Raum called himself while he was still Edith’s friend, as he wasn’t allowed to reveal his true name to her. He could sense Mable watching him in her physical form as she sat perched in a tree. He knew he had to do it.

        “Sure thing!” he said as he puffed out his chest, “I am Remy the Brave, the Fearless, and the Strong, and no monster of closet or bed shall hurt my friend so long as I still stand!”

        His overly dramatic dialogue had Edith rolling in her sheets as she giggled and laughed until she turned purple.

        The masked man marched over to the closet door, which had been left wide open and he threw himself inside of it.

        “Any monsters in there?” Edith asked.

        “I don’t see any.”

        “Check everywhere, just to make sure!”

        Raum resisted the urge to tear the hair from his head as he continued to fumble about in the closet for several minutes with a fake smile on his face.

        “I have driven away all of the monsters!” They want me to tell you that they will never come back again.”

        Edith smiled, “Thank you, Remy. Hey, Remy, can I ask you a question?”

        “Of course you can, kiddo.”

        “Do you think God’s real?”

        The question made Raum freeze, “What?”

        “Do you think God’s real?”

        Raum could sense that even Mable was surprised by the question. He knew children were curious and full of questions, but he had never been asked to answer this sort of question before; and if he had, it must have been a very long time ago.

        Very slowly, he answered, “I don’t think . . . I know.”

        “Then, why hasn’t He given me any friends until now? How come no one else want to be my friend?”

        Raum cleared his throat, “Well . . . sometimes God waits until the perfect moment to bring another person into someone’s life. You were so lonely, so He sent me to you.”

        “So God’s real? He just waiting for the right time to give me more good friends?”

        “Yes. Maybe if you stop being mean at school and stop taking things, God will start sending good friends to you.”

        “Are you angel? Is that how God sent you?”

        Raum’s answer was very blunt, “No.”

        “What if you go away? Will you still be my friend, Remy?”

        Raum was silent for  several moments before he let out a deep sigh, “If I go away, I will always think of you as a friend, and so long as you find a moment to remember me and think of me as a friend, then I will always be your friend. No matter what happens or where I am.”

        Edith nodded and fell asleep. The moment that happened Raum morphed back into his demonic form and leaned against a wall far away from the bed.

        Mable went from being a dove to being in her angelic form as she entered the bedroom.

        “I didn’t know you demons were able to say things like that.” She stated.

        “What? You think we all just burst into flames the moment we say ‘God’?”

        “That’s exactly what I thought. You almost sounded like a die-hard Christian there, for a moment.”

        “Don’t flatter yourself. Most of the things is said were either lies or sophisticated, wild guesses. What else was I supposed to tell her? I’m supposed to be her friend, not her enemy.”

        “True, but you could have used those questions as the perfect opportunity to lead her astray and make her believe that God was the enemy. You could have done anything!”

        Raum let out a frustrated hiss, “Do you really want to know what I did?”

        “What?”

        “I told that girl what she wanted to hear. I told her what you wanted to hear. I didn’t tell her anything I wanted her to hear. That’s all! She wanted reassurance. I don’t know if remembering me fifty years from now as the handsome young man who pushed her on the swings when she was six will still make me her friend. I’m just an imaginary friend, after all!”

                Mable knew that he was right. It was phase that every child went through; having an imaginary friend that would be forgotten about as time goes on and the real friends start to take their place. This would inevitably happen with Edith and Raum knew that there was no way to stop it.

5: Chapter 4

Chapter 4

 

        As it was expected, Edith quickly grew out of having Raum as her imaginary friend. It had also gotten to the point where she didn’t believe in monsters in the closet or under the bed. All of this left Raum in the shadows, where he could only watch and observe from afar.

        It looked as though the odds were beginning to lean in Mable’s favor. Edith had begun to follow the path of a die-hard Christian. She prayed every night before bed. She’d attempt to read pages out of the bible; but being only seven years old, there were still several words she struggled with. On Sundays, a friend would pick her up from school and they’d attend church. Bad behavior became an incredibly rare occasion with her and she’d started to become very popular with her peers at school.

        Mable could see Edith had taken a lot of the things Raum had said to heart. She wanted to be a good girl, she wanted to have friends; friends like Raum’s character, Remy, had been to her. In the process, however, it would seem Edith had forgotten all about Remy.

        That fact didn’t seem to affect Raum in the slightest. Edith was still young and he knew that there would still be lots of opportunities to win back the little girl he’d become so fascinated with. This competition between him and the angel was just beginning.

        As time passed, however, Mable began to grow her own fascination with Raum. He was still a mystery to her. Who was he? What was he capable of? If she were to restore his freedom, what would he do?

        She theorized that he wasn’t there to harm Edith, nor was he there to drag her to Hell. There was something else to him that kept him there, something he was trying to hide. Before her death nine years ago, she’d been a hard-headed, persuasive, and persistent woman, and she would prod for answers until they came spilling out. Those traits still remained and she definitely still knew how to use them.

        One morning, she found Raum in his usual spot; on the roof of the house beside the gutter. Edith was at school, and now was the perfect opportunity for her to start asking questions.

        Raum, on the other hand, wanted nothing to do with it. Mable had noticed that he was growing more and more solitary with each passing day and that he was going longer lengths of time without speaking to her. Did he know something? Was there something troubling him? Had he admitted defeat already?

        “I want to talk to you.” Mable said as she sat down beside him.

        “What have I done now?” Raum asked in an annoyed tone.

        “Nothing that I’m aware of.”

        “Then what is it?”

        Mable tapped her fingers against her thighs and sighed, “I’ve noticed something.”

        Raum turned his head slightly, but didn’t say anything.

        “You’re odd,” Mable continued, “You’re a very odd demon.”

        “Humph, tell me something I don’t know.”

        “I can tell you care about Edith and that you want her to be happy. Right now we seem to share the exact same goals, only you seem to be trying to distance yourself from her. Why? If you care about her . . .”

        “Because life is like a book I’ve already read.”

        Mable gave the demon a confused look, “I don’t understand.”

        “To me, life is like a book I’ve already read,” Raum explained, “I know what’s happened in the past, I know the present, and I know what the future holds, as well.”

        “That’s incredible!”

        Raum turned his body so he was facing her, “Do you know why it is that you find me so unusual; so odd?”

        Mable thought about her answer for quite some time, only to realize she didn’t exactly know.

        “You just don’t seem like a demon, to me,” she said, “You’re ugly, terrifying, and have a wicked sense of humor, but I would go so far as to call you evil.”

        “Even though that is what you called me when we first met?”

        “I guess I spoke too soon.”

        Raum let out a chuckle, “The reason you find me so unusual is because you find that I care a lot about the welfare of Edith. You’ve never seen me try to harm her in any way, even though you were so sure I’d snatch her up the moment your back was turned or your guard was let down.”

        Mable couldn’t deny his words.

        “What’s your story, Raum?” she asked, “Who are you, exactly?”

        Raum was silent. He stood up and stretched his wings and shook himself until his stiff limbs limbered up, and then he sat down again.

        “That’s a long story,” he said. He spoke softly and in a low voice, “Long before this Earth was here—much like with the other demons in Hell—I was once an angel in Heaven. Life was good for us, back then. We were peaceful. We were happy. But Lucifer wanted more power. He convinced a lot of us that we could become greater and that if we chose to rebel with him, we could have that power, too. Of course, being God’s favorite, we all thought he had a good chance at becoming ruler. Then it all backfired and we were all cast out of Heaven and sent to Hell. We were stripped of our beauty and left to suffer.

        “A great number of years later, after God created Earth, I became quite interested in people. A raven, I was able to sit up in the trees and watch Adam and Eve from afar. At first I was uninterested; they bored me.”

        “What happened that changed your mind?” Mable asked.

        “Well, one morning I flew down to where they were sleeping and noticed a creature I had never seen before. A child. While Eve slept, I watched him. He was so small and innocent; nothing I had never known before. Cain was the most darling child. Babies are born with a strong grip and wide eyes full of wonder; eager to learn all. I soon grew to love him and the children that were born after him. But cursed with knowing the future, I knew what would happen. I knew that he would kill Able. I saw it twice; once in a vision and once as it actually happened.”

        Raum rubbed his face with his hands, as if he were tired.

        “Long story short, I became a demon that loved children and obsessed over their souls. I have the power to reconcile friends and enemies, and I can invoke love.”

        “So you aren’t evil?”

        “I didn’t say that. I steal treasures from kings; carrying them off and hiding them wherever I want to hide them. I can destroy cities and wipe out the dignities of men, as I bare a strong disliking for dignities. I don’t see those as good aspects of myself.”

        “It’s still a lot more good than be said about most demons,” Mable too Raum’s hand into hers, “A while ago, you told me you couldn’t be a good person.”

        “Which I can’t. When we were sent to Hell, our minds and our consciences went sour. We try our hardest day after day to make people sin. All because Satan wants us to.”

                Mable pitied him. That was all she could do now. She pitied him.

6: Chapter 5

Chapter 5

 

        The teen years.

        For mortals, the teen years are a combination of stress, anxiety, and confusion. The body continues to grow and change while hormones start setting in. Life suddenly becomes a bloodbath; full of jealousy, rumors, and peer pressure. The stuffed toys are replaced with electronic devices, playtime outside is replaced with a stack of homework and a list of chores, and the carefree lifestyle of a child is replaced with the busy and exciting life of a teenager.

        At fifteen years old, Edith had grown into a shy and quiet young lady. Her hair now fell in elegant golden curls down to the middle of her back. Her body had thinned out into an hourglass figure, and her cherubic face had matured into one of a more beautiful and angelic complexion. She was still quite popular and had been able to hold onto her faith as a Christian. She was an avid church-goer and read from the bible at least once a day.

        Mable couldn’t have been any more proud of Edith and how she’d managed to bring herself up; as her mother seemed to stay out of the picture as often as she could, and didn’t get involved with these activities. However, she knew that the real test of her faith was only just beginning, and she knew Raum had been thinking exactly the same thing.

        For immortals, the teen years in a human’s life were their ultimate test. The teens were still young and impressionable, and they were very easy to lead astray. Guardian angels had their hands full and hardly left their human’s side as they faced challenges such as driving, dating, going out to parties, and enduring the exaggerated emotional pain that would result if something didn’t go their way. Unfortunately, most teens were deaf to the words the angels tried to whisper to them. Demons, on the other hand, spoke in ways that teens loved and desired more than those of the angel. Temptation came as easily as a simple whisper or a tap on the shoulder. It all lead to them tempting the teens into doing something they shouldn’t.

        It’s during these years that conflict begins to arise between angels and demons that are paired together. Demons are always trying to find a loophole wherever they can while the angels try to fight them off they began pushing their boundaries with what they can and cannot get away with. Angels worked hard to keep them away and keep their assigned human on the path of righteousness.

        The conflict had hit home between Mable and Raum. The evidence of the demon’s interference was all there. The way the teens that have already been led astray began to target her—as well as any other impressionable person around them—happened far too often to write off as typical teenager behavior. Edith found herself dodging drug attics and resisting infatuations with a number of attractive classmates that were either not interested in her or wanted more from her than just the companionship she sought.

        Collaboration was typical between demons during this time, especially if it increased their odds of dragging another soul into Hell. Mable, despite her fascination with Raum, was determined to prevent that from happening to Edith.

        On a typical rainy day, the angel caught Raum in the act as Edith stared longingly at a photo of a boy that went to her school. He was a very handsome young man with medium brown hair and bright brown eyes. He was model-worthy with a perfect smile and toned body. Whilst Edith was still a sophomore in high school, this man named Derek was a senior.

        Raum sat beside her as she continued to stare—smirking.

        “You like him a lot, don’t you?”

        Edith let out a small sigh as she pulled the picture closer to her face.

        “Look at him,” the demon continued, “The most beautiful one you’ve ever seen; isn’t that right?”

        Edith threw the picture down on the floor, “He’s too good for me! I need to forget about him.”

        “Rethink that, darling. He’s not too good for you; you’re too good for him.”

        Edith strode over to a mirror and looked herself over.

        “I’m too ugly for someone like him,” she said, “I’m too fat.”

        Raum chuckled, “An hourglass figure and flat stomach, and you call yourself fat? Chin up, princess. If only you could see me, then you’d realize just how beautiful you are.”

        Mable had heard enough as she stormed into the room.

        “What exactly are you trying to do?” she inquired, “Are you trying to make her lust for that man?”

        Raum shrugged, “You said it, not me.”

        “What’s gotten into you? You’re not the same raven I remember dealing with eight years ago.”

        “That’s because there wasn’t a lot I could do eight years ago, except push her on the swing and play with her. Now she’s starting to want more out of life, especially that boy.”

        Mable crossed her arms, “The perfect man will come to her when the time is right, not by having some demon toy with her emotions over some hotrod player from school. You’ll not turn her into a succubus on my watch.”

        “Incubi and succubae don’t care. I’m just testing her faith, is all. If she’s able to control herself, she’s all yours . . . for now.”

        Mable knew he was right. Life all throughout the teen years brought on all sorts of tests. Drinking alcohol, smoking, doing drugs, engaging in underage sex, lying, stealing, envy, wrath, greed, gluttony, sloth, lust, and pride had to be avoided like the plague or taken in generous amounts. Not all teens were capable of avoiding them. Having a demon hovering around only made that ten times harder, and Edith had never been baptized, so Raum couldn’t be shaken off quite yet.

        Just the same, their presence hadn’t gone unnoticed by Edith after all these years. Their physical forms did make them visible to the human eye. Every so often one of Edith’s friends would point out the scraggly old raven and beautiful white dove sitting side-by-side in a nearby tree, and each time Edith’s response was the same. She’d merely state that the raven and the dove had been following her for as long as she could remember. The raven was rarely seen without the dove and the dove was never too far away from the raven.

        Some days Edith became curious as to why the two birds stuck around. Sometimes she would spend hours watching them. Sometimes the raven would fall asleep and the raven would peck him to wake him up. Sometimes they’d fight—beating each other by slapping the other’s wings or striking with their clawed feat. Desperate to stop the fighting, Edith would cry out, “Shoo! Shoo! Stop that! Don’t hurt that little dove!”

        Of course. It was always the demon’s fault.

        The two birds would normally stop fighting. It all would end with the raven screeching loudly before flying away to a higher branch to allow time for personal space. He would fly back down and sit next to the dove a few hours later.

        As strange as these two birds were to Edith, she considered them to be her true friends. They’d been with her longer than anyone else, but there was always something about the raven that tended to pull her in.

        One day, the large black bird was caught sitting at her windowsill as she did her homework. Edith walked over to him, surprised he didn’t fly off the moment she saw him. She knelt down and gently stroked his feathers while the bird stared at her, looking almost shocked that such a token of kindness was being shown to him.

        “What’s with you?” Edith asked, “Why do you keep coming back?”

                The raven’s response was the same as it had always been. He uttered a loud caw before he flew off and sat next to the dove. In the same tree. On the same branch. Every single day.

7: Chapter 6

Chapter 6

 

        What made a demon a demon? What made an angel and angel? That was all Mable could ask herself as she watched Raum. The days passed, one right after another, just as they always did. With each one that passed, Raum grew more antsy, more desperate, and ultimately even more unlike the creature she had first met all those years ago. He was less mysterious and showed less interest in Edith and more interest in conjuring up ways to make her sin.

        What was really sad—to her, at least—was that his tactics were working. High school brought up countless opportunities for temptation and it all started with that boy Edith had become so fond of; Derek.

        Like any high school girl infatuated with a handsome boy, Edith couldn’t resist trying to talk to him. Derek wasn’t the worst when it narrowed down to teenage boys that thought with their head in their pants, but that didn’t mean a thing when a pretty girl entered the picture. Many things defined a high school student; the clothes they wore, the electronic devices they used, what kind of job they had, and—most importantly—who they were dating.

        Edith was beautiful and smart; the Holy Grail compared to most girls. All the more reason Derek said yes when the shy, nervous, and stuttering girl asked him out. Edith was ecstatic! She had the man of her dreams. Things were going her way. But with new relationships come new challenges and tests; Mable knew that all too well. Raum didn’t even have to think about it to know it, too.

        So when one of Derek’s friends told him he was throwing a part, Derek couldn’t resist taking Edith, and Edith couldn’t resist going.

        On a Sunday night—a school night, no less—they showed up to the party when it was in full swing. What nobody had bothered to tell Edith, though, was that people would be drinking, smoking, and doing drugs, and she greatly disapproved.

        It would seem that at parties, Derek had the attention span of a squirrel, as he quickly left his new girlfriend’s side for the company of a beer and a lit cigarette. Not wanting to get caught up in the fun, Edith sat down at a bar surrounded by diet soda, water, chips and dip, and a cold cut platter. Some friends that she knew from school were there, and they took great pleasure in engaging in conversation.

        All was going well for Edith until one boy—one that she had never met—sat down beside her and instantly started making attempts to flirt. He was obviously drunk and high off of something that must have been floating around at the party. His breath reeked, he was disoriented, and his words slurred as he spoke. Edith knew she had to be careful.

        The boy attempted to ask her to dance.

        Edith said, “No, thank you. I don’t want to dance.”

        The boy offered her a drink of his beer.

        Edith said, “No, thanks. I don’t drink.”

        The boy offered her a cigarette.

        Edith said, “Sorry, I don’t smoke.”

        Finally, the boy grabbed her hand and tried to pull her to her feet. He asked if she wanted to join him in the upstairs guestroom.

        Edith said, “I don’t know you, and I have a boyfriend. Go away, please.”

        The alcohol that was flowing through this boy’s head didn’t agree with that response. Exerting more force, he tried to pull Edith to her feet and force her to go with him, but she pulled back.

        From across the room, Derek saw what was happening and rushed in. Even with less alcohol in his system than the other boy, he was still disoriented and irrational. It started with yelling, which escalated into a fist fight, which then resulted in a wrestling match.

        Edith and one of her friends fled from the house. Angry at Derek and worked up because of the other boy, she could only sit in the passenger seat of her friend’s car and cry as she was driven home.

        Mable and Raum had watched the entire scene play out in front of them. The angel was not pleased, but she was proud of Edith. There were so many opportunities for her to succumb to peer pressure, but she held her ground and refused. The angel glared at Raum, blaming the night’s events on him, even though she knew it wasn’t all his fault. Teenagers threw parties, teenagers go to parties, and sometimes teenagers make bad decisions at parties. Demons might cause the temptation, but it was ultimately the teen’s responsibility to decide whether or not they’d fall for that temptation or if they were strong enough to resist it.

        Even so, as they followed the car back to Edith’s home, Mable couldn’t help but ask questions.

        “So you destroy the dignities of man, eh?”

        The raven was silent as he flew beside her dove-like form.

        “If that’s so,” she continued, “Then why didn’t you do anything to drive off that man that was with Edith?”

        No response.

        “You’re not exactly useful of you don’t bother to use your abilities.”

        No response.

        “What? Is your fortune-telling getting to you? Do you know something that I don’t?”

        No response.

        “Hey! Say something!”

        The raven let out a loud caw before he looked down to the car below them. Another car was approaching. The driver had to be drunk because the car swerved in multiple directions just to stay on the road. Slowly, it began to drift in the other lane and into the path of the car Edith’s friend was driving.

        Mable gasped, “Oh, Lordy, no!”

        She looked to Raum, but the raven had vanished from her sights. When she saw him again, he was diving down towards the oncoming vehicle as fast as his wings could carry him. Mable fully expected him to slow down as he got closer, only to realize the exact opposite. The raven picked up his speed and flew straight into the car’s windshield! The crack that was emitted from the impact was so loud, it made Mable jump.

        The impact was definitely enough to wake up the driver of the car. He swerved back into his lane, missing the car Edith was in by mere feet.

        Mable was relieved that the girl was safe, but worry pumped through her when she realized that the raven had not gotten up from the impact. She circled around and found the black creature still lying on the pavement. The body was mangled. Feathers were scattered everywhere. The raven wasn’t moving or breathing; he didn’t try to get back up.

        Shifting back into her angelic form, Mable took the bird into her hands. The raven’s head lolled backwards and—much to her disgust—she could feel bones crack and move from within the still-warm body.

        She laid the poor creature back down on the pavement. She buried her head in her hands and sobbed as if her life depended on it.

        “Oh, Raum, I’m so sorry.”

        From behind her, the beating of a large pair of wings alerted her that someone was approaching; another immortal. Mable didn’t care. If another angel was going to see her cry over a demon, she’d let them see it. If it was nother demon, she didn’t care. Mourning was all she cared about.

        “Why are you crying?”

        The voice made Mable straighten up and gasp in disbelief. She whipped around and was confronted by the very demon she that was now dead.

        Raum.

        “Ravens are only a dime a dozen,” the demon continued, “That poor soul was old any dying anyways. I guess you could say he’s in a better place now.”

        Raum had no idea what hit him. He might have blinked, but it was all the time it took for Mable to get up and throw herself at him. The demon found himself wrapped in the angel’s embrace as she sobbed into his black, downy breast.

        The raven that she though had been Raum was just another old raven that had been at Raum’s command.

        “My lord, Raum! You almost gave me a heart attack!”

        “There, there, O Pure One,” the demon huffed as he patted the top of the angel’s head in an attempt to calm her, “I’m perfectly fine.”

        The angel’s grip on him tightened, forcing air out of his lungs in a choked squawk.

                “Don’t ever do that again, you hear me? Never again!”

8: Chapter 7

Chapter 7

 

        With every human life that was put on the Earth came a clock; a clock that ticked and turned nonstop until that human died. Raum had the ability to hear each clock as they ticked and turned. He knew when they had started and when they would end. That was the curse that he was plagued with—knowing who would die and when they’d die to the exact minute.

        That fact was no different with Edith. Each time he looked at her, he saw the clock and how much the hands had moved. He knew that this was something that Mable didn’t have to put up with. Sure, she’d see the death when the time came, but Raum could count backwards by years, months, days, hours, minutes, and seconds to the point where her heart would stop beating.

        But that wasn’t what frustrated him about being what he was. What frustrated him was that the amount of time left on the clocks could change based on a wide range of factors. Medical and technological advancements, the actions of other people, climate and weather, and just plain common sense could easily tamper with that clock and add on time or suck the time out of it by several hours, days, weeks, even months at a time.

        Knowing the future, Raum knew just how much humanity had changed and how much more it would change over the years, as well as how much humanity would suffer because they were never satisfied with what they had. Wars, the rise and fall of several leaders, new weapons, new inventions to make life easier, and, inevitably, the loss of knowledge. Even now he could see that people didn’t want to read books, they wanted to text on a cell phone. Children didn’t want to learn, they wanted to play computer games. Music was an alternative to suicide. Food was not served at a table; food was served through a window at a drive-thru.

        The world Raum was once familiar with was gone. The world was now a sad, morbid place that rivaled Hell.

        Even though he was greatly disturbed by all he had to put up with, Raum was also cursed with the inability to tell. He could never tell anyone how much time someone had in their life or what the future held. One thing he did know was that Mable, of all people, wanted to know what he knew so very badly. She wanted to know what was happening to the world. She wanted to know how much time her great-granddaughter had; how much time she had to be with her.

        If he wanted to, that was one thing he could tell her.

        Forever.

        Edith still walked straight on the path of righteousness; the way of the light. She was very, very far away from Hell’s gates; far from having her soul belong to him. The parties, her peers—none of them had made the slightest difference in the path she chose. And perhaps that was a good thing, because he knew better than anyone else that Hell—even for demons—was a very bad place.

        Knowing this, he knew that he wouldn’t have to be at the angel’s side much longer. Unless something happened out of the blue to change things, Edith’s soul would forever belong to Mable.

        One winter day—on Christmas, no less—Mable and Raum took a stroll through a patch of thick woods, admiring the beauty of the snow covered treed and icy ponds. Mourning doves, cardinals and blue jays could be heard in the treetops and a breeze stirred the air. Mable looked like the kind of angel that could be seen sitting atop a Christmas tree; cloaked in soft furs and warm fabrics. Raum’s only protection against the biting winter air was the multiple layers of tattered fabrics that were draped around his form.

        “I’ve always loved this time of year,” Mable told Raum, “It’s so calm and peaceful.”

        “You speak of peace,” Raum commented, “That’s because no demon dares to set foot out of Hell this time of year; this day. This is the one day where we do not go near the humans.”

        “And with Edith at home with her mother and Derek, I suppose I can afford to be away for a little while.”

        They came to a clearing that was bordered by several oak trees and brambles. The sun cut through the snowy canopy in just the right way for its golden rays to light up the snow and throw fragments of light across the trees’ bark.

        Mable fell back into the snow and threw her limbs out as if she were trying to make a snow angel, but her body left no imprint in the snow and the snow angel did not appear. Raum only watched her in silence, unsure whether he was intrigued, confused, or just bored by her actions.

        “I used to make snow angels with my children and grandchildren all the time,” the angel said, “We used to have so much fun . . . Why did those good times have to come to an end?”

        Raum sat himself beside her, “All good things, they come to an end. For some they don’t even begin. How do you bring something to an end that hasn’t even begun?”

        “I suppose I’ll never know.”

        Raum lay back in the snow and gazed up at the sky above them. His eyes narrowed as the sun hit them, and even though the snow would not cling to him, as he laid there he was cold.

        “Raum,” Mable piped up, “Can I ask you something?”

        “What’s there to keep me from stopping you?”

        She rolled onto her side and looked at him, “Do you think it’s possible for an angel and a demon to be friends?”

        Raum turned to Mable and rested one of his bird-like hands on her shoulder.

                “If not friends, then what have we been calling each other for the past sixteen years?”

9: Chapter 8

Chapter 8

 

        “I can’t do this anymore.”

        They’re the words no girl wants to hear from their boyfriend, and vice versa. They’re the painful words that come with the end of an intimate relationship. Unfortunately, they were also the words Edith was faced with shortly after Christmas.

        “What do you mean Derek?”

        “I mean . . . I just can’t do this anymore.”

        “Can’t do what?”

        “This! Date you! I can’t take it!”

        And so follows the same questions that come with every tragic high school break-up. Did I do something wrong? Was it something I said? Do you not love me anymore? Is there someone else? Why now? Why did you wait until just now to break up with me?

        Derek did not have a straightforward answer to all of these questions.

        “I just can’t do this,” he said, “We need to see other people.”

        That was all Derek ever told Edith before leaving her to wallow in her own sadness. They’d been dating for nearly a year and she had grown quite attached to him; so much so that she never considered the possibility of him breaking up with her. She had been so happy, and she assumed Derek had been happy, too.

        It didn’t help the situation that the break-up had happened at school where several people could see. Embarrassed and distressed, Edith ran for the nearest ladies room and locked herself away in a stall. She cried through two class periods and remained in the stall through lunch. On several occasions a few of her friends came to check on her, but were sent away when Edith told them she didn’t want to see anyone. Not now. Not ever again.

        Raum and Mable had watched this tragedy play out, and while the angel pitied the poor teenage girl, the demon was preoccupied with another thought.

        Even when he had the ability to see into the future, Raum couldn’t have been more surprised after he returned to Edith’s house the day after Christmas and realized something . . . interesting.

        Derek and Edith were sleeping in the same bed, and there was a peculiar smell in the air; a smell all demons were familiar with.

        Sex.

        Edith had lost her virginity.

        Upon realizing that fact, Raum knew that he wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon. He’d still be partnered with Mable and he still might have a change at claiming Edith’s soul.

        Of course, losing her virginity didn’t automatically disqualify Edith and forever label her as a lusting succubus. In fact, it was only a small stain on her otherwise-flawless record of religious faith. But with this small stain rose the opportunity for many more. And with this break-up, would Edith’s line of thinking change?

        Naturally Mable was upset when she found out what had happened, and this time, rather than blaming Raum, she blamed herself. She would say that if she had been by her side, Edith wouldn’t have made the “wrong decision”. For once, Raum was holding her and trying to reassure her that that wasn’t the case. He knew teens had a tendency to make wrong decisions, especially ones that involved those of the opposite gender.

        Now without her boyfriend and still weeping in a stall in the girl’s bathroom, the two beings could see that Edith was already heavily regretting her decision to have sex with him.

        “I’ll never love anyone again,” she vowed, “Never again.”

        All along she knew she was lying to herself. People were going to come and go from her life and there would be heartbreaks along the way. She’d develop crushes and those crushes would wind up crushing her as they walked in and out of her life. But there was something about that fact that Edith didn’t want to face. She didn’t want to go through the pain ever again. And that’s when the thought crossed her mind.

        Suicide.

        “No,” she told herself, “No, no, no, no, no, I will not let this get the best of me. I won’t! I can get through this . . . can’t I?”

        Edith thought about it all day. Ultimately she knew that there were a lot of people in her life that cared about her and that those people would be hurt if she were to take her own life. But Derek wouldn’t, would he? He was the one that said they should see other people. Edith wanted to make him feel sorry for breaking up with her.

        Mable held herself; shaking. Worrying.

        “Don’t kill yourself over a boy, Edith,” she begged, “He’ll only bring another girl to your funeral.”

        “I hate Derek! I hate him so much! I hate life! I hate everything!”

        “Don’t. Forgive him and forget about him!”

        “I . . . I . . .” Edith picked her schoolbag up off of the bathroom floor and stepped out of the stall, “I want to go home.”

        For the rest of that day, Edith remained locked in her bedroom, curled up in her bed with her face buried in the pillows as she tried to calm down.

        Mable and Raum watched her quietly; staying in their non-physical forms so they could remain close to her.

        “I used to hate it when the boys would come and go,” Mable commented, “That’s all boys are about; breaking hearts.”

        Raum shrugged, “I can’t exactly relate.”

        “Odd. You invoke love, but you’ve never fallen in love, yourself?”

        “That’s right. Succubae aren’t about love, they’re only about lust. I think that’s an automatic disqualification there.”

        Mable chuckled, “That might have been a little bit more information than I needed to know. But how are we going to help Edith? She’s contemplating suicide and she’s convinces someone else isn’t going to come along.”

        Raum let out a quiet hum. His eyes drifted over to a dresser. On top of that dresser sat the stuffed teddy bear with the silver and gold bow that Mable had given Edith when she was still only an infant. With a simple turn of his hand, he knocked the bear to the floor.

        The noise the bear made as it hit the floor was enough to gain the distressed teen’s attention. She strode over to the pint-sized toy and looked it over before holding it close to her chest.

                “You’re okay, kiddo,” Raum said, “Just remember, he not too good for you, you’re too good for him.”

10: Chapter 9

Chapter 9

 

        The teen years passed by in a blur of classroom lectures, mindless gossip, and days of procrastination. Edith grew and blossomed with the passing of time. She graduated high school and got a part-time job working as a cashier at a local grocery story. Since her break-up with Derek, she had not bothered with finding another boyfriend. In fact, she found that she was far happier without a boyfriend and was much, much happier spending time with her friends.

        Mable and Raum were still close by in their animal forms. They had become friends, in a sense; oddly so. As indifferent as the demon might have seemed towards the angel’s presence, the occasional friendly glance and caring touch he’d give her on a few rare occasions said all words. He cared. He was evil, ugly, nasty, and vile, but he was one of very few demons that had the ability to care if they chose to.

        There was, however, still something that tethered Raum to the reality of why he was here, in the first place. The ticking of Edith’s clock woke him up. It made him realize that he wouldn’t be here had Edith not been born. It reminded him that if that child did not exist, he wouldn’t have met Mable and he’d probably be elsewhere; being tormented in Hell or sitting somewhere bored out of his mind somewhere else. But worst of all, it reminded him that time was running out.

        On days when he was feeling particularly morbid, Raum would stray away from Mable to a nearby field where ravens normally gathered to feast on the dead things that had been drug off of the road. Like a shepherd tending to a herd of sheep, Raum kept a watchful eye on the ravens. While he never joined in on their feeding frenzies, he did stay with them, and he’d idly wonder to himself, if ravens were the eyes of the devil why were they so focused on things that were already dead?

        On one day in particular, the demon was running these thoughts through his head when suddenly the heads of each raven lifted in unison and they turned their beaks towards Edith’s house. Raum looked too to see if he’d see anything that could possibly attract interest, but he saw nothing but the house. The ravens didn’t fly away, they didn’t caw, they didn’t even move; they just stared.

        When he looked back to the house, Raum realized that Edith was getting into her car to leave for work. From a distance, he could see Mable gesturing for him to follow. That’s when he knew.

        Today would be his last day as the angel’s partner.

 

        There’s a saying when you’re driving that says, “Don’t drive faster than your guardian angel can fly,” The way Mable saw it, that saying rang true. She was flying as fast as she could to keep up with Edith’s car as she sped down the route that she regularly took to work. Raum’s wings were working equally as hard to keep up, as well.

        “We should have taken the back seat,” Mable commented, “It would have been a thousand times easier.”

        Raum nodded in agreement, but didn’t say anything. His attention was mostly focused on Edith’s car and the way that it moved. It swayed from left to right, so much so that the tires of the car would hit the rumble strips going down the centerline and to the sides before it’d drift in the opposite direction.

        “What on earth is that child doing?” Mable inquired.

        The angel peered in through the driver’s window. Much to her horror, she realized that Edith’s eyes were not focused on the road, but on the screen of a cell phone between her hands, which were resting on the steering wheel. What was worse was that the car was also picking up speed and Mable was struggling to keep up with her. Raum was hardly breaking a sweat. He looked back at the angel and grabbed her hand.

        “We have to keep up with her!” he urged, “Put your back into it, Mable!”

        The loud blaring of a horn caught their attention. Edith’s car had now drifted completely into the other lane and was in the path of an on-coming semi-truck. In an instant, Raum morphed into his physical form and beat his wings faster, trying to get ahead of Edith’s car.

        “Raum, what are you doing?” Mable asked hastily.

        The demon only gave a brief glance back to her, “I’m going to buy the child some time.”

        Once he had managed to head off the car, Raum turned. Moments later, a dull smacking sound was heard as his body collided with the windshield. The noise had definitely woken up Edith, and it had also made her drop her phone. It was enough time to make her realize that she was in the wrong lane, but not enough time to move back over all the way. The semi-truck caught the left side of the vehicle, causing the car to spin out of control and eventually flip over into a ditch.

        Mable was mortified. She flew over to the wreck as fast as she could and searched for Edith. She found the teenager freed from her seatbelt and lying sprawled across the dashboard. The angel searched for signs of life and breathed a sigh of relief when she realized that she was still conscious and breathing.

        The driver of the semi-truck was on his phone, calling for help. Many other people had pulled over beside the wreck and were doing the same. The extra help gave Mable a moment to fly back over to Raum, who lay just fifty feet away.

        “Raum! Raum, are you okay?”

        The raven rolled himself over until he was standing on his wobbly legs.

        “I have a headache,” he replied, “But you shouldn’t be so concerned about me. You should be with Edith right now.”

        “She’s all right. There are people with her now that are calling for help.”

        In the distance, the sounds of sirens wailed in the distance. An ambulance along with police cars and fire trucks were pulling up to tend to the accident. 

11: Chapter 10

Chapter 10

 

        The steady beeping of a heart monitor was the only indication that Edith was still alive. She had suffered severe damage to her brain and she had several broken bones. In the condition that she was in, Mable knew that she didn’t have very long to live.

        Raum was at the dying teen’s bedside, perched in the same bird-like position he had always assumed at the end of Edith’s crib when she was just a baby. Gently, he reached out and brushed her cheek with the bend of his index finger, making sure he was careful that his sharp talons didn’t graze against her delicate skin.

        “I suppose our little adventure ends here,” he said, pulling his hand away.

        Mable shook her head, “She’s still alive. You don’t have to . . .”

        “Mable,” the demon approached her and rested his hands on her shoulders, “It doesn’t matter if it’s because you want me to stay here or not. I’m not needed here anymore.”

        Mable looked from him to Edith and then back to him, “You know?”

        Raum nodded, “Edith is dying. I doubt she’s going to do anything soon to throw her off the path of righteousness. All humans take stumbles here and there, but she never fell.”

        Mable struggled to keep herself from crying, “And . . . where will you go?”

        Raum shrugged, “Probably back to the hole I crawled out of, and I’ll wait until the next opportunity arises for me to come back.”

        The demon made his way towards an open window and morphed into his animal form.

        “Wait!” Mable cried out as she rushed towards him, “Just now and back when the accident happened, those were the first times you had ever referred to me by my name. Why did you wait until just now to call me Mable?”

        Raum changed back into his demon form.

        “Maybe I was just afraid to get close to you, O Pure One. It’s not every day that I’m partnered up with an angel.”

        Mable wrapped her arms around him and buried her face into the feathers of his chest.

        “I can’t believe I care about a demon. I’m going to miss you, Raum.”

        Raum patted her head, “Me too. Maybe we’ll meet again one day. Eternity is a long time, after all.”

        He waited until Mable finally released her grip and he disappeared out the hospital room window and out of sight. Mable just stood there.

        Edith was hers. She’d be going to Heaven. She’d accomplished what she’d stayed beside her to do. And Raum knew everything about it; down to the last minute.

        Was that torture, or was that just his life?

        Mable strode back over to Edith’s bed and took her hand into hers.

        “Now, Edith, it’s time to go home.”

12: Epilogue

Epilogue

 

        I never thought I’d be returning so soon.

        It’s always been funny to me how just one simple decision could lengthen or shorten a life by such a dramatic span of time. In this case, Edith chose to text a friend while she was driving, and she paid the ultimate price for it.

        As of now, I wish I could say that I’ve moved on, that I’ve been partnered up with another angel and another hum, and that my long, eternal life is moving forward. However, that is not the reality of Hell. Hell is unforgiving of failure, and everything I had done in my assignment was the exact definition of a failure. It was so bad that Satan didn’t even acknowledge the results of my assignment and I was instantly turned away without a shred of dignity left intact.

        I flew to a canyon wall that overlooked the Lake of Fire where a great many of my so-called “friends” sat, gossiping and priding themselves with stories that had occurred eons ago. I said nothing to them as I lumbered over to a dying tree and perched on one of the few sturdy limbs it had left.

        “Not so much as a ‘Hello’ today, Raum?” I heard someone ask.

        I scratched at the thicker patches of the feathers around my neck. A stinging, biting, prickling sensation on my skin was instantly familiar. Hell was infested with these awful bugs, and they crawled everywhere. They were to us like fleas were to dogs; they made our lives miserable. I hadn’t been back for even a day and they were already crawling around within my feathers.

        “It’s been about nineteen years since we last saw you,” someone else said, “Any interesting stories to tell?”

        I shrugged, “Same old thing, same old thing.”

        They groaned in disgust. I understood how they felt. As over-populated as Hell was—due to the large amount of willful sin that’s occurred in the twentieth century—there were still good-hearted people out there. It is hard to throw a good-hearted person off the path of righteousness, and unfortunately for me Edith had been one of those people.

        “She must’ve done something interesting while you were there,” I heard someone say.

        I thought over my choice of words. I didn’t want to blacken Edith’s name with false doings; crimes she’d never committed. Then again, I didn’t want to bore and disgust my fellow demons with a story of how good of a person she was. It was well-balanced, actually. She had done some really great things. She had done some pretty bad things, and some really horrible things, too. Sure, she was able to get into Heaven, but the wrong doings she’d done in her life had heated up places in Hell, too.

        “You really want to know about this girl?” I asked.

        Someone scoffed, “That’s why we were asking, bird-brain.”

        I descended from the tree and strode towards them.

        “Just so you know, this story isn’t so much about the girl as it is about the immortals that had been paired up with the girl,”

A small fire was lit, as all good stories should be told around a fire. I stood before the flame in front of the canyon wall.

“Stories of guardian angels are as old as time . . .”