I was sitting by myself with a cup of tea in the dining at the abandoned house we were squatting in. We only used candles as a source of light, afraid of what might find us. Merikh’s still unconscious, even with the help of Azriel’s powers. Holding on to the letter from Lucifer, I stared out of the window, thinking of how to end this apocalypse, kill Lucifer, and kill everything else that’s making this situation worse. I didn’t notice Collin going to the dining room and sat beside me. “You look like you need some sleep,” he said then he smirked.
“Yeah, no, I’m fine. Just got a lot of things in my mind.”
“How’s Merikh though?”
“I don’t know. Azriel hasn’t come out of the room since he got here.”
“It’s been, what, a week?”
“Almost,” I replied, fidgeting on the piece of paper. “Mia,” he started, “I just want to say that I’m sorry for leaving you like that. It wasn’t easy but I needed to. My dad’s just, I don’t know, being suspicious. And because of that, I was given this,” Collin took off the chain around his neck where a flash drive hangs. “Here,” he said as he placed it on the table and slid it to me. I took the flash drive and looked at it closely.
“Do you have any idea what’s in it?” I asked, placing it back on the table.
“Yeah, I got a glimpse of what’s inside,” he confessed, “it has folders in them. Lots of it. Each folder has a person’s name and inside it are personal information: address, family members, their education, their usual hangouts, and even their pets. But there’s only one folder that I know you’d give a shit about.”
I chuckled, “oh really? Who’s folder might that be?”
“Your dad’s,” he replied. The smile on my face faded, “where did you get this?”
“My mom kept it from my dad and entrusted it to their head of security”
I took the flash drive then my eyes shifted to the letter, “are you gonna tell me why the Devil himself sent you a letter?” I looked back at Collin, his face was full of concern. I chuckled again then leaned on the chair’s backrest, “funny story,” I started. “My dad found me in one of my hunts and uhm, he was called to hunt for something, and we ended up falling for a trap. Guess that part is in the blood,” I joked, “but it turned out that Lucifer orchestrated it to meet me. Then right then and there I found out my mom was an angel and Lucifer’s my uncle. So that’s that.”
Collin nodded. He was about to say something when Azriel walked in, “Merikh’s awake. And he wants to see both of you.”
When we got to the room, Merikh was sitting on an old bed, and I sat on the chair that Azriel used when he waited for his brother to wake up. He wasn’t speaking for a while, I looked back at Azriel and Collin. “Mia,” he said softly, “I’m sorry.”
“What for? You didn’t do anything. You saved my life, remember?”
“I also betrayed you.”
“Wait, what?” I was shocked. I looked at Azriel and he just put his head down like he was ashamed of it. I looked back at Merikh, I was feeling confused. I don’t know if I should give him a benefit of the doubt or smite him right there with his staff. “Azriel has nothing to do with it. He knew Rory, they’ve been friends for a very long time. I only went with him because I was given a task to find you. Tell them where you are,” his eyes were watering. I know he felt guilty, but I don’t know if I could trust myself with him. I don’t know if I should sit here and listen to this.
“When Azriel mentioned you were with Rory, I called them up and told them where you were,” he continued, “but when we arrived, those witches were already there. Them and those aswangs, I have nothing to do with.”
“But? I feel like there’s a ‘but’ there somewhere.”
“But the Djinn,” he said, “everything else I have nothing to do with but the Djinn. I lured it there. I wasn’t thinking and it got way out of hand. I –“
“What’s in it for you?”
“What?”
“If you do what they asked of you, what’s in it for you? What was I worth?”
“My grace. You were worth my grace.”
“Your grace?”
“Yes. It will help me get back my wings –“
I scoffed, “so you’re willing to trade my life for a pair of fucking wings?!” I stood up from the chair and about to walk away when he grabbed my hand. I looked down at him, “don’t touch me,” I quickly removed my hand from his grip and walked out of the room. Collin was about to follow me when Azriel grabbed his shoulder and shook his head.
I went outside even though I know how dangerous it would be, I didn’t care because I needed air. I felt like my lungs were closing, there was a lump in my throat, then I started crying. My heart broke. I fell down on my knees, crying hard. A handkerchief was handed to me by someone, I took it to wipe my tears thinking it was Collin or Azriel. Then a hand reached out, without hesitation, I took it and helped me get up. “Tha –“ I cut myself off when I looked at who it was: Lucifer. “Wha-what are you doing here?” I asked as sternly as I could muster.
“Is that how your dad taught you to say hi to family?” he smirked. I glared at him, “you’re not my family.”
He laughed. He paced back and forth, “and you think those three are your family? Hahahaha! Don’t be ridiculous! Collin, he lied to you about his family, and I bet he’s still lying to you now! Azriel? Pffft. He may be my brother but are you sure that you can trust him? What about Merikh? A fallen angel, just like me. Do you even know how he fell?” I just stared at him, following him as he paced, then he stopped.
“By the way you’re looking at me right now, you have no idea how. Then, let me tell you all. About. It,” he proceeded to sit down on a tree stump.
“Merikh and Azriel are twins. They’re like, uh, uh, like yin and yang. They’re both angels of death but one is more merciful than the other. One fateful night, there was an accident somewhere in New York, they were supposed to take only those who are dead. Well, duh, obviously,” he continued to tell me about his brother’s downfall. He was doing hand gestures to exaggerate his story.
I was already zoning out on his tale, “hey! Pay attention! I’m still talking here, don’t be rude,” he looked at me like I am some mannerless bitch, “anyway. Do you know who was in that accident?”
I shook my head. “Before I tell you this, I want to make sure that you will be okay after the story. It will probably help with your decision,” he smiled at me confidently like I will leave them just because of the story he has concocted in his head so that I will join his army. “Can I proceed now? Yeah? Okay. The one who was in the accident was…do you want to guess or should I?”
“Oh, my G–“ I groaned impatiently, placing one hand to my face. “Alright, alright. No need to get your panties in a bunch,” he raised his hands to surrender, “it was your mom.”
I immediately looked up, “are you implying that Merikh killed my mom?!”
He shrugged, “I didn’t say he did. All I'm saying was that she was there. She was in that accident. But he….he left her. To die on the scene.”
“You’re lying. He saved my life, he wouldn’t do such a thing. Sure he did betray us but he had his reasons,” I tried my best to stand up for Merikh but after what he did to me, the betrayal he did to his brother and Collin, I don’t know if I should believe what I was even telling him right now. “Wait. Wait. No, he didn’t leave for her to die on the scene. No,” he stood up from the stump he was sitting on then he walked closer to me, “no. He didn’t leave her to die.”
He bent down to level with my ear, “because he killed her.”
He slowly stood up straight, looking down at me, smirking. I glared at him and the next thing I knew, I just punched the Devil on the face. He fell on his ass, “you crazy bitch! What did you do that for?! Do you realize what you’ve done?!” he pressed his middle finger to the side of his lip, checking to see if there’s any blood.
“Oh boohoo. You’re not the first monster I’ve punched on the face. Don’t feel special,” I tried my best to be brave at this moment but in reality, I am scared for my life. He stood up and dusted himself off, fixed his hair even, then he looks at me again. “You have a lot of potential, really. You got your mother’s spunk,” he walked closer to me, lifting my chin up, “and also her naivety. You think you’re this wholesome being just because your mother was an angel. But let me break it to you, angel, you’re not.”
The warm feeling in my belly started to rise up, then I saw in his eyes that my eyes were glowing bright gold. He suddenly let go of my face and stumbled backing away from me. There was shock in his face like he couldn’t believe I already knew what I am capable of.
Then he smiled a very sinister smile. He lifted his hand, swiftly flicked it. I was thrown on the broken fence that was a few feet away behind me. I limped a little bit as I got up, he was walking towards me, I felt trapped. Then I saw a thin iron pole, it started to shake then I shifted my head to face Lucifer, the pole followed but he was able to stop it from hitting him then he drops it on the ground. His eyes were glowing red as he walked closer to me.
***
AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
Collin, Azriel, and Merikh all became alert when they heard a loud scream, coming from outside. They looked at each other then they realized Mia wasn’t in the house. The three of them ran downstairs despite Merikh’s injuries and ran outside to see if it was Mia who screamed but no one was on the front porch or even the street across it. Then they heard another scream, Collin looked at them and they ran to the side of the house that leads to the backyard. There they saw Mia leaning on the fence, a man was holding her still against it.
Collin took a knife from his pocket and threw it, aiming at the fence, it landed just inches away from the man’s face. “Lucifer!” Azriel shouted, he glanced at them. “Glad you could join us, brothers,” he said as he turned to face them, “I just finished what you were supposed to be doing weeks ago.”
He moved away to reveal Mia’s state. She was pinned on the fence with the iron pole that she threw at Lucifer.
“You son of a bitch,” Azriel said as he sees a pole stuck on her stomach, cuts, and bruises on her body and face.