Michael & I Ch. 06

It was a strange thing when my guilt hit me later that night. I hadn't expected to feel anything, at least, I had hoped I wouldn't feel anything. Unfortunately, the high I'd gotten from drinking Art's blood was leaving me and I was crashing hard.

I stared at Isaac, asleep with his body tangled in my semen and blood covered sheets. I cautiously pressed my fingers against my shoulder where Isaac had bit me and found that it had healed already. That was one of the things that I had missed dearly after I had began to weaken from my hunger; fast recovery from any wound.

I disentangled myself from the covers and went to check my reflection. My inner thighs were smeared with the evidence of my time with Isaac and I even noticed some streaks of red.

My shoulder was an ugly abstract of blues and purples with Isaac's teeth marks a shock of red against the darkened flesh. I looked like a natural disaster.

I sighed, absently running my fingers back through my curls and winced feeling my fingers snag in a tangle. I had done so well at controlling myself for so many years and not acting impulsively. I felt my anger and resentment towards Michael grow a little more by the day for ruining that.

Worse was that I had mentioned Andy to a complete stranger when I swore to myself that I would never speak of that time in my life to anyone. It was such an intimate and painful memory yet I'd blurted it all out so easily to the shape-shifter.

An insane thought chilled me. What if Isaac were actually some kind of spy for Solomon who had the ability to coerce information out of people by some form of hypnotism?

No, that was crazy.

And yet..

I'd gone to bed with him without really thinking about what I was doing. I wasn't the most innocent demon, sure, but I hadn't been with a man since Andy's passing. The first stirrings of arousal I'd felt towards the opposite sex since that time had been when I'd met Michael. Could I really go on blaming everything I was doing on the Archangel?

"Riel?"

I gave a start, hearing Isaac's voice.

"I'm in here," I managed. "Just going to wash up real quick."

"Do you have to? I think I like this look on you."

I turned about to retort but words failed me seeing him standing there, his large frame filling up the doorway. The heated look in his eyes made my already sore body tense up eagerly. He sauntered forward moving unnecessarily slowly getting a washcloth from the cabinet behind me, pinning me against the sink with his body. I felt something disturbingly akin to what I felt for Michael, that strange energy that flowed between us whenever we were near each other and I stiffened.

Isaac then moved to the shower and tuned it on testing the temperature with his hand. When he was satisfied he grabbed my arm and started to guide us both inside. "Hold on-" I protested.

"Riel, please," he coaxed me. "I know you're still hurting. Let me help." I sighed not trusting him or myself to keep our shower just a shower. A soft trio of beeps from the other room caught my attention and I took my opportunity to escape.

"I got a text. Could be important," I mumbled.

My phone was still in the pocket of the pants I'd worn the day before and when I bent to get it, Isaac casually snaked his hands around my hips. "Shit," I grunted.

"What is it?"

It was a text from Sara. I realized with a rush of guilt that I'd completely forgotten about her.

"How r u? I have to stay the night for observation but getting out tomorrow. Come c me? :)"

I quickly tapped out a response.

"I'm doing ok. Will b there in about 30 min."

I hit send.

"Only thirty minutes? Tch."

I swatted his hands away, quickly grabbing up an armful of clothes off the floor and heading back to the bathroom. "Out," I said sharply when he started to follow. He smirked holding up his hands in a supplicating gesture.

Once the hot spray was hammering against my fatigued muscles I groaned audibly in appreciation, unable to rush this part of my morning ritual. What I didn't appreciate was the intrusion of Isaac slipping in behind me.

"Don't turn around," he ordered, even though that had been what I was about to do. I gasped feeling his expert hands kneading my flesh making my bones turn to jelly. It wasn't long into his glorious massage that I felt his "interest" in our wet, naked bodies being pressed so closely to each other against my lower back.

Lifting my hair he pressed a tender kiss against the side of my neck and I sighed helplessly.

"I want to come on your ass," he growled. My cheeks heated hearing his rich voice say something so unexpectedly crude and words failed me again when I tried to think of snarky response. I could hear the unmistakable slick, wet sound of his hand as he worked it up and down over his shaft.

"Isaac," I whined, feeling both longing and dread.

There was a soft snick: the cap of my body wash being opened. The fruity fragrance of strawberries and cream reached my nose as he lathered the wash cloth and began to wash my back. It felt heavenly and I couldn't help but relax as he paid careful attention to every inch of my body.

Thankfully, he kept our interactions purely focused on getting me clean despite both of us being painfully aware how easy it would be to forget everything for a few more hours of rough sex. I had to suffer a second look of concealed disappointment when I told Isaac I wanted to go alone.

"Are you sure?"

I nodded, "It would be too awkward if you went along and the Angels would see you anyway."

"I wouldn't be too certain," he muttered.

*~*~*

I hated hospitals.

The smell, the sick people, the false politeness, the over-abundance of Angels.

Of course the Angels weren't just there to provide a peaceful enviroment for the dying but to keep demons from making deals with every sorry bastard that was terminally ill. Their auras were practically giving me a sunburn by the time the receptionist called me back.

It was worse in the patients' ward; many of the doctors were Angels as well along with a few nurses and even a janitor. None of them detected me as per usual and all except the janitor, who flashed me an unusually creepy smile, ignored me altogether.

A small part of me longed to be back at home in bed with Isaac but I had to focus on my mission. Just as I reached Sara's room a nurse stepped out stopping me with an apologetic smile.

"I'm sorry, m'am. You'll have to wait a minute. She's with family and they've asked not to be disturbed."

I nodded and leaned up against the wall while I waited. A soft voice from the room next door caught my attention and I peered inside discreetly as I could manage.

"Yes, I knew you would come."

I nearly jumped out of my skin hearing that creepy baritone and seeing who it belonged to.

A young girl who couldn't have been more than eleven or twelve years old sat smiling from her hospital bed. A bandage covered her eyes so it was impossible that she could have seen me standing there.

A demon, maybe? But here?

"Come in before someone sees you. Close the door."

I obeyed, fighting against my natural survival instincts that had gone on high alert the moment I'd laid eyes on the girl. As I drew nearer she cocked her head to the side as if she were sizing me up and I could practically feel the caress of her unseen eyes moving over my skin.

"Don't appear so frightened, darling. I only wish to speak with you for the moment."

"Who are you?" I asked, amazed that my voice didn't tremble.

"Yes.." she replied her smile seeming to shrink a few centimeters. Almost as if the question confused her.

"Come here."

"Huh?" I blurted.

"I won't force you, my dear. Only.. you can't run away from me forever. Eventually you must accept that which is."

"Which is what? What the fuck are you talking about?"

The girl said nothing. Instead, she stretched out her arms as if she only wanted a hug. The distinctly adult male voice speaking through her painted a different picture.

"Are you afraid?" she teased.

"Yes."

"I've already said that I have no intention of harming you so why do you hesitate?"

A hundred totally logical excuses sprang to mind and I immediately felt regret that Isaac couldn't be there with me. She laughed, throwing her head back and I felt myself begin to shiver.

"So quick to rely on the dog aren't you? How unwise. He's so quick to find a new master when he grows bored with the old one. Best to keep that in mind."

"Are you a mind reader, too? And why should I even listen to anything you have to say when I don't even know who you are."

"Oh, how delightful. Has your new pet been honest with you even once? Yet, you are so quick to take his side."

I clenched my fists tightly at my sides, annoyed not because she was wrong but because she made perfect sense.

"That expression you get when you're thinking things through is simply precious, dear girl. All I offer today is information. However, I must insist that you make up your mind quickly as our time together is about to be cut short.."

Shit.

Stiffly I made myself move closer, my legs working as if I were wading through waist-deep mud, my thoughts clouded with uncertainty.

Who do I trust?

"Good girl," she crooned as I sat down now within arm's reach.

"So weak and so very confused aren't you? Maybe even a little resentful asking yourself; why has this happened to me? I understand completely as the same thing happened to me only considerably worse."

She took my hands into her much smaller ones and squeezed them reassuringly.

It was then that I realized my mistake as the presence within the girl allowed it's aura to seep out, surrounding me in a vacuum of cold malice unlike anything I'd ever felt. My heart pounded wildly against my ribs and the effort to breathe became difficult as if the air itself were reacting to the malicious energy that occupied it.

"What you've yet to realize is while the pieces have been set in motion you are the key player. Despite the fact that you aren't aware of the rules or the game you're being forced to play. I want to give you a gift; a small token to aid you in your journey. While I can't spoil the ending I can't leave you entirely vulnerable, either."

Her thumbs moved in slow circles over my palms as she spoke, the small smile that played across her lips not belonging on the innocent child's face that it occupied.

"The demon that calls himself Solomon needs the Prince of Angels alive for the moment in order for his dream to be made reality. But understand the time in which you have to act is finite. He intends to break the Seals in a delusional act of retribution for his former master."

She grinned as if the idea of the Apocalypse was an amusing concept and I couldn't stop my body's natural reaction to escape her impossibly steely grip.

"Please, let me go," I gasped.

"Are you sure?"

"Just stop this.. fuck.." I felt on the verge of losing my mind so close to such a volatile aura that radiated nothing but despair. Then, to my immense relief it ended. It took me a few seconds to realize the wetness on my cheeks was my own tears. I'd been crying; probably verging on hysterical without even knowing.

When I dared to look at the wretched creature that still held onto me, I saw that she no longer smiled, instead she was frowning. A strange emptiness remained after being overwhelmed by something so evil, as if I'd been burned from the inside out.

It made it even stranger still when the skinny arms of the girl were suddenly around my neck, her face buried against my shoulder. A hug. She was actually hugging me.

My arms fell limply to my sides, unable to react. Incapable of feeling.

"You only have to trust me and in exchange I'll give you the world," she whispered, making my scalp prickle.

The door clicked open and I stood, turning to see a nurse wearing a quizzical look.

"I'm sorry I didn't mean to-" I stopped.

The hospital bed was now empty, the covers removed and the shades drawn.

"It's okay, m'am. The patient had to be moved because of a problem with the ventilation or something. I just started my shift so I can't confirm or deny that," she winked.

"Oh."

I felt dazed but somehow lucid enough to make idle chat with the nurse until I could see Sara all the while in the back of my mind all I could think about was the girl with bandaged eyes. What frightened me most about her was not that I didn't know who she could be, it was that I did know and I felt as if I had somehow forgotten.

Sara's room door opened and a large man with greying hair and a beet red face stormed out followed by a girl that looked a lot like Sara, but older.

"Daddy! Wait, please!" the girl wailed.

She stopped looking pleadingly from the hospital room to the angry man who passed me and the nurse who shot me a look that said "Damn."

"I'm so sorry, Sara. I didn't mean-" the girl cried.

"Get out! I hate you! I never want to see you again!" Sara's shouting came from within.

The distraught girl's decision was made for her as she half jogged after her father abandoning Sara.

Cautiously, I went into Sara's room and was unable to hide my wince upon seeing her condition. Her face was dark purple with a few stitches here and there holding together the lacerations caused by the brutal beating she'd gotten. The one eye that wasn't entirely swollen shut was red and swollen from obvious signs that she had been crying and doing a lot of it.

"What the hell was that?" I asked, too shaken up by everything to be more sensitive.

"My bitch sister thought it would be a good idea to tell our dad everything about why I'm in the hospital."

I stared blankly not understanding.

"He didn't know I'd been stripping to pay for my education. It happened literally right after I texted you. He comes barging in here mouthing off shit he has no business talking to me about. He's so stupid sometimes."

Ah.

"Family can be a bitch," I offered, finding my sympathy switch and turning it back on.

"Yeah. But how are you doing?"

"I'm fine.. I guess."

I didn't want to sound too dismissive. I had knocked out my boss after catching him about to rape one of my friends and that wasn't something a "human" would just get over. Of course, it wasn't terribly difficult for me to act shaken up for the moment even if it wasn't for the reason she believed it to be.

"When the police told me that you were the one that stopped him I couldn't believe it. I don't know what would have happened if you hadn't showed up.."

"Just lucky, huh."

"Maybe you're just my guardian angel."

I had to cough into my hand to smother my laugh.

"Actually.. there is something else I wanted to talk about. This may be a weird time but with my dad finding out about my job I need to say it. We aren't, uh, dating now or anything. What I mean is you don't think that we are, right?"

My eyebrows shot up, "N-No. I don't really do "relationships", honestly."

"Oh good. It's just I come from a Catholic family and if my dad knew about the gay thing it would probably.."

"..make his head explode?" I snorted, finishing her thought.

"Yeah. Pretty much."

I ventured over to her bedside table picking up a small pink teddy bear with heart shaped buttons for eyes and a small card attached to a ribbon around it's neck. Curious, I turned it over to see who it was from.

"Lena was here?" I asked.

"Oh, yeah. I forgot actually; I was pretty doped up. She brought that bear and those flowers over there. She was pretty upset when she saw me and it sounds like there's a good chance the club is going to be closed down over this. So, now, we're all going to be out of a job."

"What a fucking mess."

It made sense considering Phil was the only one with half a brain for being club manager. Dave certainly wouldn't be capable of picking up where his asshole brother had left things.

"They've found all kinds of polaroids taken of the other girls Phil kept in his house and at the office. It's too fucked up to even seem real, you know? It'll be hard trying to find another job but I'm not sorry that O' Donovans' is done for."

Sara yawned mightily and I noticed that her eyes were starting to droop. She smiled sheepishly, "Sorry it's just all this shit with my father and Phil.. it's exhausting. I didn't mean to drag you over here just to fall asleep."

"Tch. It's fine," I chided her. "Don't apologize to me. Get some rest for God's sake. I think you deserve it."

"You too. Go home and go to bed."

"Alright, alright," I grumbled but her good eye was already closed.

Yes, I wanted to lie down and sleep all day but if I did I now feared that I would see her. That frightening girl with the man's voice that I felt a chilling familiarity with.

I hated that there was so much I didn't understand. How everyone only told me half-truths or simply refused to speak to me at all when I tried to ask questions. As if I were a mere child incapable of handling myself.

Eventually you must accept that which is.

It was as if there was a wall inside my head that I'd never been aware of until that moment. Those words had triggered my consciousness to seek it out. Even my own mind was betraying me by hiding some dark secret relevant to what was happening.

What the hell was going on here?