Human Page 5

  "She's not my sister," I whispered more to myself than to him. It felt weird that I wasn't related to her and that she was some supernatural creature.

  "She might be your half-sister," he said. "Judging by your reaction to that demon, you're not human either."

  "So you think I might be part angel?" I looked up at him, bewildered. One tried to convince me I was a demon, the other suggested I was half-angel. Yeah, right.

  "I'm not sure, though. I should be sensing your power somewhere in the back of my mind, but I'm not." His brown eyes turned violet, and I gasped.

  "If you can see this, it means that you have angel blood in you," he said, smiling like he had just discovered my biggest secret. I didn't know what to believe anymore, except that I had this weird ability to see both demons' and angels' true nature.

  "Can angels be unaffected by demons' powers?" I asked, wondering should I tell him about my visions.

  "Depends. Some can and some can't. We haven't found a pattern yet."

  "Why demons want to take my sister to Hell?"

  "I have no idea. They are plotting something, as usual." His lip curled in disgust as he said that, clearly not happy that he didn't know what was going on.

  "Does she know anything about all of this?" If Amadeo's idea of me helping was to be the one to tell her the truth, he was insane. I was never going to explain that one right and make her believe me.

  "I don’t think so. She didn't see my eyes change or at least didn't react to it," he said thoughtfully. "Even if she knew, some kind of a reaction would have shown on her. Her powers are still not strong enough."

  "Can't you do something about the demon?" It was weird that Amadeo hadn't done anything about it yet. Besides, the angels' powers were seriously lame if they knew there was someone in town and couldn't pinpoint where that feeling came from.

  "Not without raising Hell and Heaven to attention." He ran his hand through his brown hair. "We don't need another war. It would destroy us."

  "You know that sounds like a bad movie, right?" I sighed.

  "I wish." He smiled. "The last war was horrible, or at least that's what they claim. I wasn't around at that time. I'm only 20."

  "So you're really 20? You age?" If angels weren't immortal, then being one totally sucked.

  "Yes, but we stop aging at 30." His eyes were brown again, warm and inviting.

  "Nice." So my sister was going to be forever 30. Great, I was jealous already. But what would happen to me? I wasn't exceptionally pretty, my eyes didn't change to any color other than hazel, and I definitely wasn't the person everyone wanted to be around. A thought suddenly occurred to me. What if I was neither an angel nor a demon? What if whoever put Christina into my family used some magic on me so I could protect her from this?

  It actually made sense. Devin had told me demons hid their own children in our world by replacing the human ones, so why wouldn't angels be doing the same? It was totally immoral and wrong, but what did I know about the moral values of angels? And if the angels I'd seen in my vision were in fact Amadeo's parents, then I was probably right. The thing I didn't know was, was I supposed to protect my sister only from demons or from angels too.

  "What are you thinking about?" Amadeo said, startling me.

  "Nothing special." I shook my head. "So what do you want me to do?"

  "Find out does your sister know anything and tell her the truth." The way he said it made it seem like it was the easiest thing in the whole world. "Then convince her she can trust me so I can protect her."

  "Trust you?" I actually laughed, and he looked surprised. "I don’t trust you yet, so there's no way I'm convincing my sister anything."

  "I understand this is all weird for you, Ariel, but I'm your best friend's brother and an angel." He looked deep into my eyes, and I felt my pulse quicken. I blinked, and the magic of the moment was gone.

  "You do realize that I don't really know you." Which was a shame, but there was nothing I could have done about that. He hadn't been going to school with the rest of us, and we hadn't been talking much during our rare encounters. Besides, he'd never really shown any interest in me. It bothered me that he'd noticed me now when he needed something from me. Other girls might have jumped the opportunity and tried to get him to like them. Maybe I would have too if I didn't look like the walking dead right now.

  "Fine, then you decide what you are going to do," he said, offended. "But know that your sister is in danger, and if you need me, don't hesitate to call me."

  He got up and started going towards the window. If I wasn't sure we'd wake up everyone in the house, I'd totally walk him to the door. I didn't like this jumping in and out of the window. What if his wings didn't open or something? Great, I was worrying about all the wrong things.

  "Wait," I said just as he reached out to open the window. He glanced back at me expectantly.

  "Don't you ever hang around my house without me knowing it." I gave him the most serious look I could muster. "I don't like stalkers."

  "But I wasn't…" he started to say, but I lifted my finger to silence him.

  "I don't care. In the future, I don't want to wake up and see you floating in front of my window." I smiled. "Thank you."

  "Ok, relax. I'm not going to do anything you don't want," he said and opened the window, letting the freezing air and a few snowflakes inside. A pair of gorgeous light blue wings with golden stripes fluttered open behind his back as he lunged outside. I practically ran to the window, my heart in my throat, and looked down to see if he had fallen. Nope, nothing there; he was gone. I closed the window and found a single blue feather on my carpet, along with the muddy footprints of Amadeo's boots. How did he think I was supposed to clean that? He didn't, of course. Why would he worry about that?

  I picked up the feather, which was incredibly soft and silky, and twirled it between my fingers. In such a short time, I'd discovered my sister and my crush were angels, and the new guy at school was a demon who wanted to take my sister to Hell. And I'd promised to help him. Did Devin know about my sister, or his compass was off too? That was definitely something I needed to find out.

  I eyed the feather suspiciously, wondering was it some kind of an angel tracking device. Maybe Amadeo was hoping I'd keep it since he knew I liked him. One part of me wanted to treasure it forever, hide it somewhere under my pillow or tuck it safely into my drawer; the other part wanted to make sure I wasn't being watched or followed. I caressed the feather, chewing on my lip and wondering what I should do. Unfortunately, reason prevailed and I went to the bathroom. I wondered how he was planning to track me now that the feather was lost somewhere in the pipes.

  Finally, I decided to try to get some more sleep before the morning came because I just couldn't keep my eyes open. Visions were now the last of my worries.

  Chapter 05

  I kept yawning like an idiot through most of my classes because, of course, I hadn't gotten enough of sleep. Italia was giving me curious looks, but I just shook my head each time she tried to ask me something. I had to talk to Devin first and try to find out could he read her mind. In all the drama, I'd never asked Amadeo did Italia know about him.

  I glanced in Devin's direction and was surprised to see a distressed look on his beautiful face. He was tapping his fingers nervously against the book, not even a bit interested in the class. And why would he be interested? I had no idea why he thought he actually had to be here. One more thing to add to the immense list of questions I already had for him.

  The bell rang and I immediately sprang up, putting my books and notebooks into my backpack.

  "Ariel, is something wrong?" Italia asked.

  "I don't want to miss the bus," I lied, giving her a smile.

  "Oh, ok. See you later then," she said, clearly not convinced. Why did I even think I could fool my best friend? Unfortunately, I couldn't tell her anything yet, so I picked up my backpack and went for the door.

  I gasped as someone roughly grabbed my wrist and pulled me aside. Devin's blue eyes met mine, and I glared at him.

  "You could have just called my name," I said through my teeth and pulled my wrist out of his grip.

  "Sorry," he said. "I need you to come with me."

  "Ok." I followed him down the hall all the way to an empty classroom. I really didn't want to know how he'd made sure no one was there.

  "You know we're not supposed to stay here," I said, closing the door behind me.

  "They won't know." Devin's eyes turned obsidian black for a second, and the door clicked. I licked my lips nervously, my throat suddenly feeling dry. I was locked in a room with a demon. That couldn't be good. Devin settled himself in the teacher's comfortable leather chair, and I placed my backpack on the floor.

  "I need you to stop putting fake memories in Italia Marlowe's mind," I said, hoping he knew who I was talking about. "I won't tell her anything, but I don't want you inside of her head."

  "Why?" He didn't look happy about it. I wasn't sure could he read minds or just parts that included him. If I asked him, he probably wouldn't tell me the truth.

  "She's my best friend." The look on Devin's face told me he had no clue what I was talking about.

  "You're in love with her?" he finally said, and I stared at him in disbelief, gaping like a fish.

  "No! It's not like that!" I was blushing. Ah, lovely. Devin cocked his head and eyed me carefully, rubbing his wrist under his black sweater.

  "I care a lot about her, but it's a different kind of love." I was fumbling with words, unsure how I was supposed to explain it. "Don't you have friends?"

  "I…" He seemed to consider it. "Maybe."

  "Oh. Well, you don't have to mess with anyone's mind anymore, right?" I said hopefully. He just gave me a plain look that told me nothing. I
sighed. Talking to a demon was even harder than talking to an angel. A smile tugged at the corners of my lips as I thought how ridiculous it was that I could actually make a comparison of creatures I hadn't believed existed.

  "You can tell your friend whatever you want, but any mention of me or what I am will be gone from her mind." He pressed his finger to his temple and closed his eyes like he was trying to fight off a bad migraine.

  "Ok, but tell me why we are here." I went to get myself a chair and placed it closer to Devin. He reached for something in his pocket and threw it on the desk. A black cell phone bounced off the smooth wooden surface and nearly ended up in my lap.

  "Hey, you can't throw things like that. You're going to break it," I said, placing the cell phone back on the desk.

  "Show me how to use it." He leaned forward, his cerulean eyes boring into mine. I averted my look and took the cell phone, touching the screen lightly to get to the menu. My eyes widened in surprise when I saw a cute little white puppy as the background picture. Either Devin had a soft side I knew nothing about or the cell phone wasn't his.

  "It's not yours, is it?" My fingers slid away from the cell phone. There was no way I was going to touch something stolen again. The last thing I needed was for someone to report the cell phone missing and then me be the one to get blamed for the theft.

  "Some girl lent it to me." He smiled and pushed the cell phone towards me with his long fingers. Lent? Yeah, right. Maybe I should be happy that he didn't want to take mine. I sighed and started explaining the basics to him, thinking how funny it would be to actually receive a call from Hell. Cell phone service providers would have a lot of trouble figuring out how to charge that one, or they'd simply slap the highest price possible.

  "Give me your number," he said after I had explained in detail how to add contacts to the phonebook.

  "No way." I stood up, gripping the chair tightly in my hand, ready to lift it up and swing it at him. I didn't know of what help would that be, but I was willing to risk it. He just looked up at me, smiling, and his eyes went black.

  "Do you have a death wish? You know I can make everyone forget you ever existed," he said, getting up and walking over to me. I did my best not to flinch when he reached for a lock of my hair.

  "If you kill me," I said, "whoever sent you here will find out about it and about me. How are you going to explain you lied to them?" That was pure speculation based on what he'd said earlier about risking his life to keep my ability to see demons hidden from the others. I knew nothing about the demon world, but it seemed like he had superiors he had to answer to in Hell. Was I of any value to them? It was hard to tell.

  "Maybe I should simply contact them and tell them everything. Let them take you to Hell and torture you." He trailed a finger gently down my face. I swallowed. Now was a perfect time for a vision or memory stealing, so I squeezed his arm as hard as I could. My mind didn't get caught up in some dreamlike story, but Devin hissed in pain, pulling away from me. Did I really have a grip that strong?

  "Don't touch me," he sneered. His eyes were sky blue again and there was something in them that I couldn't quite identify. Hurt? Sadness? No, there was absolutely no way for me to tell for sure.

  "Funny, I was just about to say the same," I said, feeling brave. If all demons were so easily hurt, then I didn't have to worry. Somehow I doubted it was like that. Had getting from Hell to here and excessive use of magic weaken him? If so, then I might be able to do something.

  "Just give me your number, or I'll have to find a different way to contact you. I'm sure you won't like it." He ran a hand through his black hair, trying to get a few unruly strands out of his eyes. Could he pop up out of nowhere during a family lunch or interrupt my sleep? Nope, I didn't want to find out.

  "Ok, I'll give you my number." I let the tone of my voice show him how unhappy and reluctant I was about doing it. He nearly dropped the device twice but managed to get my number into his phonebook; I actually checked. I thought about warning him to delete my number if he returned the cell phone, but decided against it. The poor owner of the cell wasn't going to see her baby ever again.

  A soft click of the door told me I was free to go, so I took my backpack and got out of the classroom before Devin changed his mind. I had a good plan how to solve the demon problem, but I needed to act fast.

  I knocked once on the door of my sister's room, waiting for her to yell it was ok for me to come inside. She'd just gotten home from school, and I didn't want to barge in while she was changing. Silence was the only thing I got in response. I knocked again, much harder this time. No response. I opened the door, feeling my throat tighten and my pulse speed up.

  Christina was sitting on the bed, her back turned to me. Her long brown hair was neatly lifted up in a ponytail, fastened with a beautiful velvet ribbon.

  "Hey," I said softly and walked over to her. There were tears in her green eyes as she looked up at me.

  "What is wrong with me?" She hiccuped, lifting her left hand towards me and opening her empty palm. I had absolutely no idea what she was talking about or trying to show me. Then I saw a pair of scissors lying on the bed next to her, still glistening with blood. Oh my God, it was her blood! I panicked, taking her hands and inspecting her for wounds. But there was nothing, not even a tear in her pink sweater or in her blue jeans.

  "What happened?" I inquired. "Are you ok?"

  She nodded, wiping away her tears with her sleeve. Then she threw herself into my arms, and I just held her tightly, unsure what to think.

  "Christina, hey," I whispered into her ear, caressing her soft hair that smelled like lilies, "it's ok. Everything will be fine. I promise."

  "I cut myself," she choked out. "I know I did. But it's gone. The cut is gone, Ariel! How can it be?"

  "It doesn't matter. You're ok, and that's the only thing that counts." I slowly moved away from her so we could sit down on the bed and talk. She calmed a bit and I picked up the scissors, inspecting them carefully. I ran my finger lightly across the clean sharp edge and felt a sting of pain. Blood instantly welled up and Christina offered me a Kleenex she had gotten out of her drawer. She started cleaning the scissors as I took care of my cut. Bleeding stopped soon enough, but the cut was still there. Ok, so the scissors didn't have any magic on them.

  "I wanted to make that dress shorter," Christina suddenly said, pointing at the dark green heap pooled on the floor in the corner. I hadn't even noticed it was there.

  "But that material is hard to cut, and somehow my finger got in the way," she continued, sniffling a few times. "It was a deep cut. At least it looked like a deep cut." Her voice hitched up, shock evident on her beautiful face. "There was so much blood, and then the cut closed in front of my eyes! Ariel, you've got to believe me! It was… it was… I don't know."

  "I believe you," I said, lifting the dress off the floor. The part Christina had managed to cut was dangling awkwardly from the rest of the dress, stained with blood. It was a pretty uneven cut, and I wondered why my sister would even try to do this all by herself. Then again, mom would have probably objected to making the dress even shorter than it already was. But this wasn't the time to wonder what for Christina needed a dress short enough to make sitting down uncomfortable.

  "You do?" She threw the used Kleenex in the trash can and looked at me, surprise written all over her face. Then her surprise turned into suspicion.

  "Yeah, I do," I said, neatly folding the dress and placing it on Christina's nightstand, determined to take it later with me and try to fix the damage. I couldn't exactly give it to our mother because there would be too many questions, and I certainly wasn't going to let Christina to fumble with it any more.

  "Is your…" She came over to me, taking my hand and looking disappointed when she saw the reddish line on my finger. "You see? You can't understand." She let go of my hand and turned around on her heels, going towards her dresser. I wondered how to break the 'happy' news to her. She stood in front of the mirror, pulling the ribbon out of her hair, which fell in unruly waves down her back. It was weird how she managed to keep her hair so neat when it was tied.