Page 13 of An Unexpected Ascension (A War Between Worlds #1)

The Angel

Aknock sounds at my front door. Pulling it open, my blonde-haired friend waves with a smile brighter than the forever sun.

“To what do I owe this pleasure?”

I greet, widening my door.

“I totally forgot to tell you yesterday that I promised Will I would spend the day with him since I’m not pulling a shift at the orphanage.”

“Oh! No big deal. I’ll see you... whenever!” I laugh.

She pulls me into a tight hug before literally skipping off down the street as if she isn’t in her mid-forties. Heaven must have sparked a little youth back into her. It’s refreshing.

Despite also being off today, I gather the clothes for Sister Mary to drop off before roaming around Heaven. It’s not like I have a full schedule or anything.

As I start down my block, I notice movement through my neighbor’s window. The house two doors down from me, the one next to mine hasn’t been filled since the last guy was condemned.

I decide to check in on the woman. I’ve barely seen her leave her house; she stays holed up most of the time. The idea that some folks don’t ever leave their grey cement box doesn’t sit well with me. Especially when one of these hermits could be my own mother.

My knock on the door goes unanswered, even after a few minutes of waiting, but my gut is telling me I need to see this woman. There aren’t any locks in Heaven. Any ill will towards our neighbors would grant us a one-way ticket to Hell, so safety isn’t an issue.

The door creeps open. “Hello?”

No answer. I know she’s in here, I saw her.

Stepping inside, I call out again.

“Hello? It’s Briar, your neighbor. I just want to check in. See if you need anything.”

Nothing.

I place the clothes on the bench that sits in front of the windows, the house an exact replica of my own. It’s so small that I can see a majority of it from where I stand in the entryway. Making it easy to find her in the only other part of the house – her bedroom. Lying in the cot, she stares at her ceiling.

“Hi!”

I say, waving a hand in front of her face.

“Are you okay?”

The woman’s brown gaze doesn’t leave the spot it’s anchored to. Taking her in, I note the frizzy fawn-colored hair and the deep-set wrinkles in her face. She’s plump, yet deflated in a way that indicates she let herself go before she even got here.

“Miss Betty?”

Her lips twitch as if she wants to say something but just can’t bring herself to make a sound. I wait patiently, the muscles in her mouth working out the kinks.

A groan at first, then a vowel.

At last, a whisper.

“Hell is coming.”

Okay, not creepy at all.

“I’m sorry?”

“Hell is coming. Hell is coming! HELL IS COMING!”

Her chant forces my retreat, my back knocking into her wall. I watch as her words grow more frantic, a warning or maybe it’s fear? I’m not sure what it is, but I suddenly regret being here.

“Fancy finding you here, Angel.”

My blood nearly evaporates as if it has the right mind to flee at the sound of the demon. His footsteps echo through the room as he saunters in. His presence sucking the air from this little box.

“It’s here,”

my neighbor warns.

“I-I was just leaving,”

I say, trying to squeeze past the demon loitering in the doorway.

Hermes blocks my path, his arms rising as he grips the top of the frame. To get past him is to literally plow through him, and I am not in the mood to touch the demon.

“You don’t want to stay for the show?”

“No.”

“Oh, come on, you must be curious.”

“About what?”

“About what Hell is going to be like. Come and I can show you.”

I scoff.

“You’re insane.”

“Demon. Demon. Demon! Ascent and the rightful God will take his place,”

the woman rambles.

My mouth curls into a frown at her strange words.

“What is she talking about?”

“Who knows? This old bat was cuckoo before she even died.”

He dismisses her.

Worse yet, he snaps his fingers and sets her aflame. Her body ignites, engulfed in a roaring fire. She mutters a prayer over and over again, seemingly calm through the immense heat.

“Don’t you need to go with her?”

I ask, remembering the last neighbor of mine he damned.

“Eh, I find being here with you to be way more interesting.”

“Well, I have somewhere to be, so if you wouldn’t mind getting out of my way, that would be great.”

I step forward, but he doesn’t budge.

“And where would that be?”

“The orphanage, somewhere you are not welcome.”

Sister Agatha mentioned the other day, after asking as many subtle questions as I could to get the answer, that the demon is not allowed near the children or saints or nuns. They were all off limits to the Devil.

I, on the other hand, am free to pester apparently.

“Join me after, at the cave. I have something I want to show you.”

An amused snort leaves me.

“Yeah right.”

Finally, I muster up the courage to push past him. The moment our bodies touch, heat zaps my skin like lightning.

“The cave, Angel. Wouldn’t want you to regret blowing me off.”

Ignoring him, I collect the clothes from the bench and promise myself never to give in to the demon.

“No!” I laugh.

“Yes! You would never believe the face he made. Wait, I can show you.”

Jessie squeals in delight.

“Jessie, no!”

Will begs, dragging his palms down his face. “Oh jeez.”

In an instant, my wall is graced with pictures of a young Will holding his infant son. My heart melts as he coos at him, the chubby child giggling. The baby must be no more than six months, still reliant on his parents to move around.

Jessie sits on the couch next to a woman I assume is Melinda and Will’s playfulness escalates. He tosses his son in the air and a fit of giggles explodes all around them. The laughter cascades and infects everyone else, fits of joy in every corner of the room.

“That’s so sweet,” I murmur.

“Wait for it!”

Jessie’s smile looks like it hurts.

On the third toss, as the boy comes down into his father's hands, vomit spews from his mouth and directly into Will’s. White sludge slowly drips down his shadowed chin and, in an instant, Will places the baby on the floor and makes a run to vomit his own stomach out.

My hands cup my mouth in shock as Jessie cackles for the tenth time now. Will slowly joins in, relishing the moment, despite its grotesque nature.

“That pretty much summed up parenthood.”

Will chuckles.

“I guess I’m lucky the kids at the orphanage do not have any excrements projecting from their little bodies.”

“It was all worth it, though.”

Jessie reaches for Will’s hand, patting it gently.

A dull ache of jealousy stirs within me, but I make up for the loss in my life with the kids in my afterlife. It’s been fulfilling to say the least.

“I see you’ve figured out how to watch your memories.”

I nudge her.

“Yeah, you were right. They just sort of come sometimes. Usually, it happens when Will and I are together, typically it takes two brains to recall something. On my own, they’re fuzzier.”

“Hey, I have to get going. I signed up to be buddy again and just felt the call. I’ll catch up with you two later.”

Will pushes himself from my kitchen table and leaves.

“Bye!”

Jessie and I call out after him.

“Hey, I have kind of a weird question.” I start.

“Shoot.”

“Do you think, like if you were married while alive, that if you were to reunite with your partner, you could still have sex?”

The question burned hot in my brain for a while now and I had to know what Jessie thought.

“I-I don’t know. I guess we could look it up,”

she suggests.

“That’s not a bad idea.”

Snapping my fingers, I imagine Heaven’s rule book and with a hefty thud, it falls to the table between us.

I open it to the table of contents and run my finger down the long list of subjects.

S

Sacrifice

Selfishness

Sexual Desires

Sexual Relations

There, the last one. Flipping to page 2,082, I skim over the paragraph explaining the guidelines of sexual relations in Heaven.

Sexual Relations

Sexual intercourse is considered a sacred ritual between a man and woman who have vowed their commitment to one another in the face of their God. Their union must be blessed and the purpose for relations must be intended to procreate.

Sexual relations for any other purpose will be considered a sin and shall count against an individual that partakes in such activities.

With the sole purpose of such a deed being to procreate, there is no need for sexual relations in the afterlife. Any sexual desires or acts shall be withheld and controlled, otherwise will be deemed sins and count against your penance.

“Well, that answers that question.” I frown.

“It says that your desires must be controlled, but does that mean we’ll still get them?”

My face heats, navy eyes and dark hair coming to mind.

“Do you?”

“No, of course not.”

She snorts.

“Who would I even… wait a second! What about you, missy?”

“Don’t even start.” I groan.

She smirks, but decides to let it go.

“Hey, I have to get going too. I promised Sister Agatha I would pick her up another bible for the older kids, we had one join yesterday.”

“Isn’t that sweet of you?!”

I walk her to the door, slumping against it as she leaves. There’s a dull ache inside of me that I desperately want to feel in whole. I want to cry and mourn my mother, my life. I want to rewatch old memories and bask in the good times, but the cave has been tainted.

There’s no way I can go back there after the demon’s demand this morning. I don’t know exactly how long it’s been, but I know enough time has passed that he’s surely realized I refuse to obey any of his orders.

As if the very thought of him brought him forth, Hermes stands before me.

“What are you doing in my home?”

I growl, shoving to my feet.

“It seems I’ve been summoned.”

“You have not!”

“Thinking of me, Angel?”

My teeth grit together, the arrogance of this demon grating on my nerves.

“Because I’ve been thinking about you.”

He inches forward.

“No! Not at all, actually.”

A noise pings inside of me, my penance appearing above my head. We watch as the number of Hail Marys increases by two.

My stomach drops as the corner of his lips twitch.

“Did you just lie?”

I pinch my mouth shut, afraid to deny it, but desperate not to admit it. Do I think about the demon? Yes... in spiteful ways, vengeance always clouding those daydreams, but I rather he not know how often it is that I allow it to happen.

The way he prowls closer makes me feel like a hunted animal, though the fear I felt in the cave is dampened by the effects of Heaven. With my emotions suppressed, my mind feels clearer than ever. How easy it will be to deny him here.

“What do you want, Hermes?”

At the sound of his name, he pauses.

“You. In Hell. Where you belong.”

I roll my eyes.

“This again?”

“This again.”

He smirks.

“You were supposed to come to the cave.”

I press my back further into the door behind me, my hand slowly inching towards the handle.

“I told you I would do no such thing.”

“It wasn't a request.”

“I’m not going to H-E-L-L.”

He chuckles at the childishness of spelling his world.

“Relax, I won’t take you to Hell – yet.”

My eyes linger on his outstretched hand before me, black ink covering nearly every bit of his skin.

Only, I don’t trust the demon. With my gaze brought back to his, my hand rushes to open the door in a flurry of commotion, allowing me to bolt down the street. His haunting chuckle is distanced, my running only causing amusement rather than annoyance.

To hide from this demon who’s been given rights to walk the lands of Heaven is nearly impossible. Passing grey stone house after grey stone house, I begin to wonder if I’m doomed. Will the saints in Saint’s Rowe save me if I beg for it – a sinner? Will they cast him away, demand he go back to where he came from, or will they cower in the presence of evil?

I don’t get the chance to find out as the back of my shirt is twisted into a fist, the force of the yank hurling me backward. Before I can hit the ground, the world around me spins and in a flash we’re gone. One blink, one blink is all it takes as I open my eyes to the familiar darkness of the cave and the sound of crashing waters.

“It’s in bad form to piss off a demon.”

Hermes crowds me against the cave wall as my surroundings continue to spin, my stomach churning with the sudden transition from my neighborhood to Galsip Falls.

“What are you going to do?”

I ask, my words masked with faux bravery.

“I could ruin you before your God. Ruin you so thoroughly he’d be happy to let me take you.”

“Ruin me how?”

He sinks his face lower, the heat of his mouth flush against mine. My heart beats wildly inside my chest at the forbidden touch. Fear licks my soul, my skin pebbling with fright at the sheer consequences of this very act.

The demon’s tongue parts my lips, stealing refuge where it is not welcome, yet my body melts. His breath isn’t made from fire, but pure poison, rotting my resolve with ease. His fingers wrap around my throat in a necklace of control, stapling me against the cave as his knee slips between my thighs.

“Stop.”

I groan breathlessly, but neither of us do.

Instead, a rough, abrasive hand snakes down my body. Fingers scrape over the swell of my breast, then just beneath the hem of my shirt. Heat blooms as his touch caresses the bare skin of my belly.

“You’re going to fall so hard,”

the demon whispers, his lower lip dragging along the crook of my neck.

Touch me.

My hands unglue themselves from the rock behind me, slowly inching toward the demon of their own volition. They twitch, the muscles straining to refrain, but my mind is clouding with every second that passes.

“What does that even mean?”

I manage to ask as my own fingers slide across hard muscle just above the waistband of his jeans.

“I’ll show you.”

In a swirling flash, the cave contorts as I’m thrown to the ground, too close to the cliff’s edge for comfort.

I’m not given the chance to recover.

The Demon drops to his knees and crawls on top of me, wedging himself between my legs.

Black ink stares back at me, unearthly designs twisting along a corded neck.

For a moment, I lose focus on my purpose as my eyes trail each line and stroke of foreign symbols.

For a moment, I forget that the demon is hovering over me, tucked between my thighs, his forearms on either side of my head.

My eyes finally snap up, a little strand of his bangs falling forward into his face, then his mouth comes crashing down on mine.

Our teeth clash in a brutal pursuit to claim domination.

“When was it the last time you were touched? Your body seems to yearn for it desperately.”

Razor sharp incisors sink into my lower lip, dragging my flesh into his mouth.

A metallic taste flavors my tongue and swims between my teeth.

The pain draws a whimper from my throat, and he licks it away. I have half a mind to sock him right on the side of his head, but those mind-numbing whispers draw me back in.

I know I should be stopping him, but my skin is on fire and my belly aches with a lust I haven’t felt in years – well before death.

His fingertips tease the hem of my shorts, seeing how far his persuasion goes. The challenge in his eyes makes my heart stutter and I breathe in his dark chuckle, swallowing his malicious intent.

“Stop!”

I finally force out.

“I don’t think you really want me to. Look at you—”

he drags his gaze from my flushed face down to where his hand plays with the button on my shorts.

“—you’re aching for it. I can smell how badly you want me between your legs. What would your God think of you? Dirty, dirty sinner.”

“Why are you doing this?”

My mind spins with battling thoughts of lust and hate.

“Simple. Your blood is tainted, Angel. You were born for Hell.”

“That isn’t for you to decide.”

I seethe between gritted teeth.

“Yet, here I am, about to fuck you straight out of Heaven.”

“You won’t do that,”

I growl, gripping the hand taunting me.

“I know that whatever happens in this cave does not affect me outside of it, so if you fuck me, then you’re just a bastard demon that deserves to rot, and I’m still an Angel.”

A maelstrom of darkness passes over his features, those blue eyes roiling with destruction.

In one swift motion, I twist onto my belly, untangling myself.

My knees scrape against the rock floor as I drag myself away from him, but I'm just not quick enough. An iron grip wraps around my ankle and with a forceful tug, I’m caught off balance and falling flat against the ground.

He forces me onto my back once more with a brutal yank on my shoulder.

His navy eyes clash with mine, a twisted excitement twinkling like stars in a night sky.

I realize it’s all a game to him, what happens to me – if I’m damned or not – doesn’t affect him even in the slightest.

I rise to my elbows, inching further away until he drops his weight, pinning me right where I am.

Trapped between thick, muscular thighs, my efforts at escape are useless.

“I wouldn’t move if I were you.”

His voice is muffled by the chaotic waters crashing near my head.

I can feel the million droplets from the fall dampening my hair.

Another inch back and I may very well be plummeting once again, but perhaps that’s a better option than letting the demon ruin me.

“What are you going to do, Hermes?”

My eyes drop to where he presses his weight into me, a thick bulge straining against his black jeans.

A dark brow quirks, and the corners of his mouth lift in amusement.

“Like what you see?”

“No.”

“Awe come on, Angel. Play with me.”

He drops his palms beside my shoulders, my head falling clean off the edge of the cliff. My vision clouds with water, my mouth and nose nearly filling with it. I fight the urge to cough and breathe, though I know it’s pointless.

“What do you think would happen if I press my lips to yours on the very line of Purgatory and Heaven? Do you think your God would see it? Punish you?”

“You wouldn’t dare,”

I growl as he snakes his hand beneath my head, lifting it up and out of the spray of water.

I can feel the little droplets drip down the sides of my face, the curve of my nose, over my lips. His eyes trail the movement and when they land on the latter, he’s diving in for the kill. And despite every muscle in my body throbbing with tangible lust, I avert my face as I buck my hips and pull my legs from beneath him.

Without so much as a second thought, I fling myself off the edge of the cliff, savoring the way the cold water soaks my heated flesh.