Beloved Purgatory (Fallen Angels, Book 2) (22 page)

"Sariel," the golden angel said.

The child let go of the chain and rocked back
on his heels. A golden arm wrapped around him. Sariel turned to
press his face into the angel's waist.

Kim bent down and gave a salute. "Hey. See
you later. You rocked
Candy Land
, little guy--"

They walked past her. Moments later, I heard
the front door closed.

"Uh..." she stood up, her hand still pressed
to her forehead. "Those are the weirdest people I've ever met."

Forneus chuckled. "You didn't like my other
guests?"

"Oh, I didn't mean...it's just..." She bit
her lip. "They didn't even say goodbye to you."

One side of Forneus' mouth curled up.
Unfortunately, it was the side I'd slashed. His skin sloughed off
as if it were a plaster that had just been struck by a hammer.
"Their decorum does leave something to be desired. Are you going to
avoid looking at my face for the rest of your time here?"

Kim blushed.

"It's alright. You don't have to answer
that." He patted shoulder. "All of you may leave, now."

"What?" She flinched when she glanced up at
him, but didn't look away.

Forneus sighed and stuck a finger into the
open wound on his cheek. "Don't force yourself."

I could see Kim's stomach flexing beneath the
layers of latex on her stomach. "I could help you wash that off, if
you want." There wasn't anything suggestive about her trembling
lip, her soft voice, or how large her eyes had become--just
fear.

Forneus turned away from her. "Go."

She backed up, still looking at him.

"Azazel," Forneus whispered, "I'd like to
speak with you before you leave--alone, of course. The rest of you
may show yourselves out."

Kim looked as if he'd slapped her. "Alright,"
she said to no one in particular because no one was listening. She
turned and left, taking short, uneven steps down the hallway, as if
she were a little tipsy and didn't want to wake a sleeping
child.

The dinosaur slipped off his chair, picked
his "claw gloves" off the floor, and walked to me. "I won't be
long, Devi."

This is too much
. I didn't care if Kim
thought it was weird that I was trying to come between a kid and
his "uncle." Besides, she probably was too far away to hear.

I snatched the dinosaur's neon sleeve. "Don't
go."

He stopped. "Please don't ask that of
me."

"Why not?" The felt on his costume was all
balled up. It would probably leave behind annoying bits of fuzz on
my palm when he left. No, I couldn't think like that. I couldn't
let him leave. I held on tighter.

"I must go when he calls me."

"That's a really stupid answer," I blurted
out.

"Maybe, but it was even more stupid for you
to wander off alone." He looked down. "I trust you checked for a
mark?"

It took a second for me to realize the
question was meant for the angel, not me.

The angel nodded. "It's fine."

Azazel's hands flexed at his sides. "I know
he promised he wouldn't do anything. I know the angel already
checked. I'm sorry, but I must."

Without asking, He grabbed my hands. His
thumbs brushed over the pink skin at the base of my palms, again
and again, just as Camael's had.

"There's nothing there." My voice sounded
chocked.

He nodded but continued to stare at it, as if
waiting for something to magically appear.

Nothing did.

He folded my hands into fists and held them.
"Don't leave like that again."

"Don't play
Candy Land
with kids that
are creepier than you," I replied.

He bit his bottom lip, possibly to hide a
smile. "You think I'm creepy?"

"Hell yes," I whispered.

He handed me his dinosaur gloves. "Stay warm.
I'll be back soon." Then he turned entered the dark room Forneus
had disappeared into.

***

The limpness of Kim's hair, the downward
slash of her eyebrows, and the way she resentfully rubbed up
against the Doric column in a futile effort to ward off the cold,
all made her look like a wet cat.

I kind of wanted to hug her.

She narrowed her eyes. "What?"

"Nothing," I replied, trying hard not to
smile. I had a feeling she didn't want to hear me tell her she
looked cute, so I wiggled my yellow claws at her. "Want the
dinosaur gloves?"

"No." She tried to glare at them, but the
smirk she couldn't hide killed it. "Those are really silly
gloves."

I gave her an abracadabra wave and said in my
best spooky voice: "I know."

She twitched her nose. "That kid is pretty
damn silly, too. Figures he'd pick a costume like that."

"Yeah."

Kim kicked the base of the column with her
heel. "What was that other kid's deal? T. rex was having a great
time until he showed up. But Sariel managed to make a game of
Candy Land
feel like the Fifth circle of Hell." She blew her
bangs out of her face. "He seemed to be really interested in you.
What did you two talk about?"

It felt like a burning string was winding
itself around my throat. The interior of the dinosaur gloves felt
damp and hot, and my hands shook from the effort of not throwing
them to the ground.

"He just liked my necklace," I said,
surprised at how calm my voice sounded.

Kim held my gaze for a few seconds, then: "It
doesn't matter as long as you're okay, I guess."

That decimated any doubt she didn't believe
me. The balled up felt stuck to my sweaty palms. I stared at her
sultry red form--the only dash of color under the gnarled limbs and
the gray sky. I took a step back, then another, until the doorknob
hit the center of my back.

"Sorry," I murmured.

Alright, probably not the best thing to say.
Kim frowned, parted her lips, and the door behind me creaked.

I yelped and leaped forward.

A neon green blob with two rosy cheeks crept
out. The hood of Azazel's costume had been pulled too far over his
forehead, so he had to tilt his chin up to get a good look at us.
"Sorry for keeping you guys waiting."

For some reason, my body decided to let me
know it was relieved by making my heart beat a thousand times a
second. The only thing that kept me from keeling over was crouching
like a football player waiting for the play to start and giving
Azazel the crazy eyes. I just barely stopped myself from screaming:
Oz!
And thank God, because that would've been hard to
explain to Kim, who probably would've considered it the creepiest
thing that had happened all night.

Kim waltzed towards us and bent over. "No
need to be sorry. I'm sorry you didn't get much candy." She winked.
"Next time I see you, I'll treat you to ice cream."

"Really?" T. rex grinned.

She nodded and took his hand. "Not now,
though. I've got to catch my bus."

"You're not staying over?" I tried not to
sound happy about that. The thought of Camael watching both of us
fall asleep was just too much.

"You've got to take the SAT tomorrow, right?
I don't want you waking me up at five in the morning."

Oh Kim, how considerate you are
.
"We'll walk you," I groaned, and the three of us headed up the
street.

Kim's stop was only five blocks away. Still,
it only took her half a block to complain about being bored, and
another half a block to start belting "The Wheels on the Bus"
because, apparently, the best cure for boredom was singing my least
favorite song.

I dug through Oz's candy bag and threw a
Figgy Bar at her. It knocked her devil horns to the side, but
otherwise left her untouched.

"Hey, those are his special treasures!" She
laughed.

"It's a Figgy Bar," I replied.

"You need to get back at her, T. rex," she
pretended to whisper. "Let's see your windshield wipers."

Unfortunately, the dinosaur thought this was
a grand idea.

"I hate both of you," I moaned. "This song is
going to be stuck in my head all night."

That observation just made the "bus"
honk.

Time to pull out the big guns
. "If you
keep it up, I'm going to join in," I warned.

Kim's hand flew to her mouth. Oz kept
singing.

"I'm serious," I said.

"T. rex, it's time to stop," Kim squealed as
she tried to cover the dinosaur's mouth.

Oz darted up ahead. "I'd love to hear
Debbie's voice!" He yelled.

Kim grit her teeth and trotted after him. "No
you don't!"

Sarah Jessica Parker was Kim's favorite
actress, and had been ever since she'd seen her character from
Sex and the City
sprint in high heels.

Devi, you have no idea how much skill that
takes
, she'd told me. And she was right--I didn't--but watching
her waddle as fast as she could after a dinosaur sure gave me an
appreciation for it.

"T. rex is still singing," I warned her.

"Give me a second! I'll stop him!" She
replied hysterically.

"Too late!" I yelled, and began.

Every dog in the neighborhood began to howl.
Cats screeched. Some drunk teenagers in a passing car rolled down
the window and asked if the zombie apocalypse was happening. I told
them all about the wheels on my bus, and they took off at a speed
significantly greater than the posted speed limit.

"You're going to cause an accident!" Kim
cried.

I kept singing.

"I'm sorry, I'll never do it again."

That didn't stop me.

"Oh, Hell!" She tried to run away.

It didn't work. Kim was usually faster than
me, but tonight I wore sneakers.

"No!" She wailed. "T. rex, stop singing. You
can't possibly want to hear this."

He stopped for a second. "You have an amazing
voice."

I started to laugh. "You want more?"

"No, you can't want more!" Kim screeched.

"I think he does," I replied, and began the
second round.

"Devi, if you don't stop I'm ticking you,"
Kim warned.

When she came at me, I flailed my arms in
front of my body.

She scowled. "What, are you trying to karate
chop me?"

"No, these are just my windshield wipers," I
sang.

Kim bent over, defeated. "Alright, we're at
the bus stop, you two can stop."

I started driving the bus.

"Please Devi. I'm sorry," she whimpered.

I considered finishing the verse, but decided
she'd suffered enough. I signaled for the dinosaur to stop. "Okay,
but you shouldn't do that again."

"I forgot about your secret weapon," she
said, breathless.

I just smiled.

Kim did too. "Next year we're gonna to have
to meet up at my place for Halloween. I'll make sure you get a ton
of candy, little man."

"Next year you'll be in college," I reminded
her.

Her smile faltered. "Yeah."

There were things I wanted to say, but
couldn't. It would sound too much like whining. She'd probably
think that I wanted to hold her back, but I didn't. I was proud of
her. It just hurt, sometimes, to think about how far away we'd one
day be when she was next to me.

Next year she'd be on the other side of the
country. Next year she'd be making new friends who had big dreams.
I'd still be here, not knowing what I wanted to do, trying my best
to support my first and dearest friend from far away.

The air felt colder, and I ran the felt claws
up and down my arms. It was that odd time on Halloween when the
trick-or-treaters were on their way home, stuffing their faces with
candy as their parents complained about cavities and tooth aches,
and the teenagers were rocking out to
Black Sabbath
as they
sped off to the second party of the evening in cars well-stocked
with eggs and toilet paper.

"It's not like we won't see each other again
after that," I said.

Kim straightened her devil horns. "I know,
it's just, you're like family to me and--"

Right then, a lewd "Hey lay-deees!" resounded
through the night and a hairy, pasty white butt pressed against the
back window zoomed past us.

T. rex cringed. "They really shouldn't do
stuff like that in front of children."

I gave him a pitying smile--or tried to. I
was pretty grossed out as well.

Kim's hand dashed to her forehead. "Oh God. I
think that was Tim's ass."

"Wait, Tim as in Cannon man?" I yelped.

She nodded, staring at the ground.

"How do you know what his ass looks like?
Actually, I don't want to know."

Kim kicked me lightly. "Come on. I would
never
with Cannon man! Did you see that--well, okay, I know
you saw it. Anyways, he always streaks during halftime at home
games."

I winced. "I'd hoped that was just a
rumor."

She made a clicking sound. "Come to the
homecoming game and you'll get a good look."

"That's not making me want to go," I
whispered.

"Seriously, you'll see so much of him that
you'll never be able to forget--"

"No more!" I interrupted.

She bit her bottom lip and grinned. "Just
saying."

The two of us were giggling so hard that we
didn't see the bus pull up. T. rex pulled on my cheer skirt. "It's
here."

The driver opened the door. Kim stopped
laughing and stared at me.

"You should go before he leaves," I said.

Kim nodded. "Yeah." Then she turned around,
heels clacking as she walked up the steps. She murmured something
as she showed the driver her pass and she smiled.

I watched her take her seat near the back of
the bus. She rolled her eyes when she caught me staring, and
waved.

My chest felt too tight. I couldn't move. So
I just looked at her as she pressed her forehead against the window
and looked back. The bus started up again, and her eyes stayed
locked on mine until she finally faded from view several blocks
down the street.