Saint of Sinners (3 page)

Emily had mixed feelings about school. One of her friends had moved away and she was feeling the void. Colin thought one of his classes was tough, but otherwise, as he said, “School is school.”

“Hey, Elliot, what about you?” I asked. He sat on a swing, mostly looking at the ground.

He shrugged.

“C’mon, it’s your turn.” I was worried about him.

“What’s wrong?” Emily asked.

Elliot shrugged again. “Some kids picked on me,” he muttered.

“Well, what the fuck? You’re half god. Just kick their asses and tell them to leave you alone,” I said.

He looked up at me where I was perched on top of the slide. “Not everyone likes to show off like you.”

“Show off? This isn’t about showing off. You can’t let people pick on you.”

“Alex has a point. Not about kicking their asses, but they
will
keep picking on you,” Colin said. “Tell a teacher or administrator.”

“I guess.”

“You know what else works?” Stefan said. “Confidence. If you have an air of confidence, people are less likely to pick on you.”

Elliot kicked at the sand. “Can we talk about something else?”

So we did. We took the bus downtown and had dinner, my treat. Then we went back to my place and played a few Xbox games until Elliot reminded us he had a curfew. “I’ll take you home,” I offered.

“Stefan can take me,” he said.

“Come on, let me take you. I need to practice teleporting.”

Elliot made a face. “I don’t want to get lost.”

“You
won’t
. Trust me. I’ve gotten much better.”

He looked at Stefan.

“Go with Alex, you’ll be fine,” Stefan said.

Elliot still didn’t look sure, but he sighed and got up. “Okay.”

I put my hand on his shoulder. I’d been to his house a few times and got a firm picture of it in my head. It took a few tries, but then I felt the lurch that meant we’d teleported. I opened my eyes, and there was Elliot’s house. I turned to him. “See, I told you.”

The corner of his mouth turned up. “I thought we might end up in Antarctica or something.”

“Nope.”

“Well, thanks.” He took a step.

“Hold on a sec.”

He gave me a wary look.

“Since you won’t stand up for yourself, how about I do it for you?”

“Alex—”

“That sounded bad. I mean, I can scare the bullies so they’ll stop picking on you.”

“I don’t want you to kill them.”

“I’m not going to. I won’t hurt them, either. Just scare them.”

He gave me a long look. “No.” He turned toward the house.

“C’mon. I feel like I owe you for dragging you into saving the world. Especially going up against Satan. You could’ve gotten really hurt, and you were there because of me.” The others had convinced him too, but it was mostly me.

Elliot stopped and his shoulders lifted as he took a deep breath. Then he turned to me. “You’re not doing this because it’s fun for you?”

“What?” I stared. “No. I want them to stop because I hate the idea of them picking on you. I fucking hate bullies.”

“You really won’t hurt them?”

“No.”

“Or get in a fight?”

I shook my head.

He took another deep breath. “Okay.”

“Great. We can do it Monday.”

“Monday?” he repeated with a bit of a squeak.

“I’m suspended, so I’ve got nothing better to do Monday.”

***

Sunday I tried flying for the first time. I’d scouted a good location earlier—an open, remote area with a nice big oak I could use as a launching point. Mew-Mew came along. He said he wanted to watch and encourage me, but I knew he didn’t want to miss an opportunity to laugh when I fell.

I’d gotten good at summoning my wings, and if I wanted them to stay, they stayed. I wanted to make sure of that before I tried flying. I didn’t want them to disappear mid-flight. I’d picked a good day, blue skies and warm with just a little breeze.

The leaves on the oak shifted in the wind as I walked up to it. I lengthened my fingernails into claws and sank them into the bark. I climbed up to the lowest branch and went as far out as I dared. This one was a little farther out than the rest so when I stood up I didn’t get tangled in any other branches.

With a thought, I summoned my wings. A bit of an itch in my shoulder blades and a few seconds later, I had black, leathery wings. I stretched them a little and gave a few experimental flaps, telling myself I wasn’t stalling. Nope, not at all. And the ground wasn’t that far away.

Good luck,
Mew-Mew said.

Thanks.
This was it. I took a deep breath and jumped off the branch.

I managed one flap, but it didn’t seem to do any good. The ground came up really fast and I hit it with a thud, knocking the wind out of me. “Ow,” I managed as I gasped. I rolled carefully onto my back and did a quick check to make sure I hadn’t broken anything.

Are you okay?

“Yeah. Just a little stunned.”

Mew-Mew laughed.
We should get a camera and put this up on YouTube.

Fuck you.

I gave myself a minute to recover, then got up to try again.

I hesitated a little the second time, remembering how not fun it was to hit the ground. This time I started flapping my wings before I jumped and kept flapping as I fell through the air. I fell slower, but I still hit the ground. And it still hurt. Mew-Mew only chuckled this time and didn’t make any cracks about YouTube.

Two more tries and I’d succeeded in getting better at falling. It didn’t hurt as much when I caught myself and rolled. I rubbed at my sore back after my fourth attempt.

You have an audience.
Mew-Mew sent me an image of crows gathered in the branches of the nearest trees.

I looked up at them. They must have been deliberately quiet so I wouldn’t notice them, because I’d never known crows to be so silent. “Enjoying the show?” I shouted.

That got them flapping and cawing. They laughed and teased and I glared at them, but I wasn’t too mad. They weren’t being mean; it was just part of their nature. After a bit they quieted down and one of them spoke up.
You’re doing it wrong, Alex.

I wasn’t that surprised they knew who I was. I’d met a few crows in the area the other times I’d come here scouting for a good flying spot, and crows were majorly chatty, so they would have told all the others who I was. “So what should I be doing?”

Go up higher. You need more room.
Several crows spoke up, agreeing.

“So I can fall farther? No thanks.”

Go higher. That’s how most of us learned.

One of the crows flew over and landed on my shoulder. I craned my neck to watch him as he inspected my wings.
I don’t know how you can fly with these wings. They’re too small.

“I’m part demon. The wings are more… metaphorical.”

What’s metaphorical?
Crows didn’t get concepts that were too abstract. They weren’t as smart as ravens.

I sighed. “It means I should be able to fly even if they’re too small. It’s magic.”

Magic! Magic! Magic!
The crows chorused.
Then believe you can fly and you will. Try again!

The crows kept shouting advice at me as I climbed the oak, higher than the low branch I’d been using. They egged me on until I was at the highest branch that would hold my weight. Several crows flew over to the tree and called to me from above, below, and every side. I carefully made my way out to the end of the branch.

“Shut up!” All the noise died. “I need to concentrate.” I was way higher than before and the ground was awfully far away.

Well, fuck it. I’d done more dangerous things than jumping out of a tree. I flapped my wings a few times and jumped as high and as far from the branch as I could. The crow chorus started up again, this time shouting,
Fly, fly, fly!

I didn’t quite fly and I didn’t quite fall. I made a rough landing on the grass below, the crows calling out more encouragement and a few of them praising me on a good try. I dusted myself off. That was definitely my best attempt. I was making progress. I smiled and went to climb the tree again.

I did a little better each time, much to the excitement of the crows. This was a thrilling game to them. Some of them demonstrated flying for me, leaping from the oak shouting,
Like this!

Then finally, I did it. I jumped off the high branch of the oak, flapping my wings, and instead of making steady progress toward the ground, I dropped a few feet and leveled off, staying in the air. I kept having to adjust as I drifted a little to one side or the other, and I lost a bit of altitude every few seconds, but I gained a little back as I flapped my wings harder.

I was flying, really flying. The crows went nuts, calling and flying all around me, congratulating me. I made it to the far end of the field and might have kept going, but there was a stand of trees in the way. I’d have to try flying in the other direction next time, where the field stretched on farther. Most of the crows kept praising me, but a few teased me for flying like a fledgling. It was good-natured teasing, though. I laughed it off, too happy to be annoyed.

You did it!
Mew-Mew said from his spot under the tree.

I jogged back over to try again. After I lost the nervousness that I would fail, I got to fully enjoy it. The wind rushing against me, the ground streaking by under me, the giddy sense of being in the air under my own power. It was awesome.

I kept flying until it started getting dark and my stomach reminded me that I hadn’t had dinner yet. Mew-Mew had taken several naps, curled up in patches of sun that slanted through the branches of the oak. He was sleeping when I reluctantly decided it was time to go home. I woke him and he stretched, front legs first, then back legs with his tail held high.
Oh, good. I’m starving.

“Yeah, I meant to leave sooner but I was having too much fun.” I grinned. I had to try this again, but for now I headed for home and dinner and some quality time with my DVR.

Chapter 4

I made it to Elliot’s school with fifteen minutes to spare and waited near the main doors. I pulled up my hood to hide my face. I didn’t want anyone but the bullies to see me. The bell rang and a few seconds later kids streamed out. They went past me without a glance. I was using one of my mind tricks to try to make myself invisible. That one needed some practice. I wasn’t sure if it was working or if they were just ignoring me naturally. Elliot came out, glancing around. I waved and headed toward him.

“So you promise you won’t hurt them?”

“Yes, I promise. I don’t need to hurt them, I just need to freak them the fuck out.”

He studied me and I was worried he’d change his mind. He stuck his hands in his pockets. “Okay. Come on.” He led me around the side of the school, past the waiting yellow buses.

“I’m doing this for you so they won’t pick on you anymore,” I reminded him, although this would also be fun for me. “I want you to be able to go to school without being picked on.”

He glanced over at me. “Will I owe you after this?”

That hurt. “No. I owe you. After this we’ll be even.”

He nodded and led me silently across a grassy area toward the football field. The bullies were on the other side, under the bleachers. Elliot said they went there every day after school to smoke. I spotted them as we got closer, shadowy figures shifting around under the white-painted bleachers. Elliot slowed down.

“Don’t be scared. Just walk right up to them,” I said. He veered to the side, headed for the end of the bleachers so we could duck underneath them and confront the bullies. I waited until we passed into the shadows before bringing out my wings and horns. I’d thought about bringing my sword, but Animus might resent being used as a prop.

I huddled close to the deepest shadows and tried to make myself invisible. I wanted to appear all dramatic-like when Elliot introduced me.

One of the bullies noticed him and nudged his closest friend. “Hey, look, it’s the wuss.”

I bristled but tried to keep myself hidden.

“H… hi,” Elliot stammered, slowing even further until he was barely moving forward at all.

“You coming here to ask for a beating, faggot?” one asked, puffing out smoke.

I reconsidered my promise not to hurt them.

They all laughed. Another said, “Maybe he wants to suck our dicks.” They laughed harder.

Oh, yeah. Definitely reconsidering.

Elliot stopped several feet away. “No. I want you to leave me alone.” His voice shook.

More laughter. “You better run, faggot, before we fuck you up.”

They hadn’t said anything to me or seemed to notice I was there, so the trick must be working. I dropped the invisibility and conjured some fire around my hands, just for extra dramatic effect. “Leave him alone, or you’ll answer to me.”

They gaped, and two of them jumped. “What the fuck?”

I moved to stand just behind Elliot’s left shoulder. “I’m his guardian angel, and you’re pissing me off.”

“Is this a joke or something?” the biggest one asked.

I held up a hand, showing off the fire. “You want to find out how funny this is?”

One of the others blinked like he was trying to clear his vision. “You… you look just like him.”

My hand dropped a little. “Him who?”

“The Antichrist.”

Now it was my turn to blink. “Wait. What?”

“There’s a picture of him on my family altar. You look just like him. The wings, the horn, even your face, man. Everything.”

I stepped around Elliot. “You worship the Antichrist?” My stomach turned.

“Yeah.” He dropped his cigarette and stubbed it out, then pulled down the collar of his shirt to show the upside-down cross on his left shoulder. “I’m a Satanist. Are you really him?”

Now I knew what the tone in his voice was. Not fear, but awe.

“I think we should go, Alex,” Elliot said, tugging on my arm.

I shook him off. “Not yet.” To the bully I said, “I’m the devil’s son, but I’m not your fucking god. I’m not his pawn, so fuck him and fuck you.”