Wingless

Chapter 17 [Celeste's POV]

For the whole day, I've been getting either curious stares, cold looks or angry glares. There's a beautiful girl named Raven who seems about to spit flames at me. I mention this uncomfortably to Lues and he automatically looks irritated.

"She was hoping to marry me," he says, the annoyance ripe in his voice. "If she does anything, tell me and I'll get her to leave you alone."

"Will that involve beating her up?" I ask.

He carefully averts his eyes.

"Lues!" 

"Alright, fine. It's not like beating up you, though."

"What do you mean by that?"

He laughs. "She's an evil sneaky panther. You're like a cute little kitten. It would take someone really, really heartless to hurt you."

"Aren't you meant to be heartless?"

He looks slightly confused. "Yeah ... but I don't know. Since I've met you that's kind of hard. It's like you awakened something in me ... something kind. Maybe it happens to all demons? Or maybe I'm just weird. To be honest I don't really care. I'm going to end up Wingless anyway."

"No we're not." I say flatly. 

He grins. "That's the spirit. Anyway-" He's about to continue speaking when he sees his mother and father behind us. Both of them are wearing expressions that could curdle milk and looking at me like I've just strangled a live puppy in front of them. Actually, they'd probably find that funny.

But they look annoyed.

Lues crosses his arms and flicks his dark hair out of his eyes. "Can we do this later?" he asks.

"No," his parents say in unison.

"We need to talk. Now." his mother says. Her lips are drawn thin. He sighs irritably. 

"See you at lunch, okay?" He kisses my lips quickly and then huffily walks off with his parents, both of which are looking like they want to murder me on the spot, as if I'm personally responsible for our relationship.

Well, it is partly my fault. But only partly.

I go for a walk in the gardens to clear my head. We're in the Angel Palace. The demon kids spend their time killing small forest animals and throwing whatever they can find at us. We just keep out of their way as much as possible, me included. I'm not scared of standing up to Lues but some of the others are a different story. They hate me especially, convinced I've got Lues under a spell, and I think that they would kill me in a heartbeat.

I'm sitting on a rock, skimming stones across a lake which leads to a rushing stream. The water is pure and you can drink it but the current is strong. Inside the lake, unless you're being held or an incredibly strong swimmer, you'll be swept into the rocks and crack your head open straight away. It isn't really safe, but I've been going there ever since I was a little girl. It's a great place to think. And no-one can ever find you this deep in the woods.

"Hey. Angel girl!" I hear a yell.

Almost no-one, anyway.

I recognize Raven, a group of tough-looking demon girls, and several demon boys. All of them are looking at me with what seems to be utter and pure hatred.

And I have absolutely no escape. What a wonderful situation to find yourself alone in.

"Hello. What's your name again? I never can remember," asks Raven, her tone so scathing I can feel myself flinching. But I don't answer.

She slaps me hard. "Answer me when I talk to you."

"My name," I say through gritted teeth, "is Celeste."

"So." she says. "Celeste. What did you do to Lues?" She's up close now, I can see every inch of her face, the straight nose, the voluminous lips, the sharp cheekbones, the thick dark hair. True to her name, it's raven black. I think of myself - my golden ringlets and blue eyes and pink cheeks, and wonder why Lues chose me with Raven to his disposal. But there's no time to think. She grips my wrist with so much force that I think the bones might snap.

"What did you do?" she yells into my face.

"Nothing!" I scream. "Nothing! I swear! Let go!" She squeezes tighter.

"Don't make me break it, Celeste. Tell us what you did," she snarls, her face inches from mine.

"Nothing!" I yell. I start sobbing. "I tell you, I did nothing." She twists her arm sharply and I feel my wrist break. I scream as the pain shoots through my arm. She takes the other wrist.

"Don't lie to me," she whispers into my ear. "You'll break sometime. Tell us now before you really get hurt."

"I didn't do anything!" I'm crying so hard that I wonder how no-one can hear me, but it's no good. A boy I recognize as Malum comes forward, giving me a slap that lifts me off my feet. He pulls me up, grabbing me by the waist and pushes me down, over the stream, till the only thing holding me over the current is him. My hair is swept along, pulling me towards the rocks. Luckily he is strong enough to hold me - until he lets go. The water pounds against my cheeks, but my face is still above the water.

"I have absolutely no regrets with letting you drown right now," he says coldly, pushing his boot into my chest. "Tell us what you did or die."

"I keep telling you, I did absolutely nothing!" It's hopeless. Nobody will hear my screams out here. I'm more doomed than any Fallen Angel as they ripped out their wings. More doomed than Lues was when the woodcutter hacked through his stomach. That seems so long ago now. Worlds away from this scary place where all I can hear is the thundering of the water and the cruel voices of demons that want me dead.

He pushes his foot down slightly, so my eyes are washed over and I have to tilt my head up to breath through my mouth. I choke. "Let me go!" I beg. "Please. I didn't do anything."

"Liar," I hear a demon girl hiss. "Kill her, Malum. She doesn't deserve to live."

"No, she doesn't," says someone else coldly. "But we need to find out what she did to Lues first."

"I did nothing!" I scream. "I did absolutely nothing to Lues except for loving him." The certainty in my voice disconcerts them. For the first time, I can tell they believe me. Then Malum smiles a cruel, cold smile. He pushes down. I can't breathe. Water pushes into my lungs. I try and scream, but all I get is a mouthful of water. I gag and choke, push and kick, but the other demons are holding me down too now and I can't get up. I can feel my consciousness slipping away.

"Let her go." I hear a girl say. It sounds distant, echoing. "She'll smash her head on the rocks and drown."

"What?" I hear a voice that I recognize. Lues. 

"It's Lover Boy!" someone mocks, and they laugh. Lues walks through. Sees me beneath the water. Runs towards me. I try and reach out - but Malum lets go of my arms. The water sweeps me into the rocks like I'm feather-light. My head hits the rock with a crack.

Then I remember nothing.