I, Devil (a love story)

Chapter 55: Meresin

"Darken the city, night is a wire. Steam in the subway, earth is afire." I walked into Wendy's memory again, clutching the orange. The pop band, Duran Duran was playing on the radio. "Woman, you want me, give me a sign. And catch my breathing even closer behind," the song continued. "In touch with the ground, I'm on the hunt I'm after you."

It wasn't hard spotting Sachiel. He didn't make any efforts to hide himself inside her memory. Azazel already left, leaving behind the artifact floating in the water which allowed me to time travel. The orange both floated in the pool and existed in my hand. I squeezed it a little as I watched the memory unfold. It was a liminal place. Wendy was in the process of drowning as Sachiel reached in and saved her.

As I stood inside the memory, I wondered why Azazel made such glaring mistakes. He left an orange behind, an orange that came from a different timeline or dimension. He didn't stop to see if he actually drowned Wendy. Being the angel of death, one would think that he knew he didn't actually bring her death. He would have needed to escort her to her next destination. I felt he knew it. I felt he knew, on some level, what he was doing. Was this the serendipity of the Creator in action?

I will never know.

"Mouth is alive, with juices like wine... and I'm hungry like the wolf." sang the pop band. Wendy coughed, spitting up water from her lungs. Sachiel turned away so swiftly, he was likely a blur to her vision. He could move faster than human eyes could perceive. The child, Wendy, coughed, sputtered and spat. Sachiel began to make a doorway to allow him to leave reality. This was when I stepped in.

I grabbed at his arm. Startled, Sachiel jerked backwards. I injected him with the sample Love molecule Wendy and I created. I knew it didn't hurt. He was just surprised. It took him a moment to even realize who I was.

"What did you do??!" Sachiel whimpered in a sharp, high-pitched whine.

"Burning the ground, I break from the crowd. I'm on the hunt I'm after you. Scent and a sound, I'm lost and I'm found," sang the song on the radio as Wendy regained lucidity. I didn't have time to explain as the memory's foundations were beginning to crumble.

I pushed him into his doorway. Then, I took my leave. I was not a time-traveler like Azazel. I didn't have the power to stay in the memory and explain to Sachiel all what I was doing and already done. I was saving us. I was saving him. I was breaking the cycle that was supposed to be broken. His destiny was to be consumed by Adramelech, which will in turn be the beginning to the end.

There was still one step I was missing. I couldn't stabilize the molecule. It was clear to me that I figured it out, but like everything I was working backwards. I took a sample of my makeup- and with it I already had parts of Azazel. We were kin, we are brothers. I had a sample of Wendy inside the molecule as well. However, I could not figure out how to make it transferable. It was like a flame inside the glass cloche. Whenever I took off the glass covering and attempted to work with it, it acted as if it was going to extinguish. How was I supposed to use it to change myself if it was so unstable?

I stared at the shining, tiny ball of light. I felt doomed. I felt stupid. Everything rested on my shoulders and I couldn't bare the weight of the pressure. I felt like Atlas holding the globe. It was the most precious thing in the universe, yet it was so small and fragile. I wanted to weep. How? Just how did I figure out how to use this? It wasn't a weapon if it could not be wielded.

"Hello," said Wendy. I shouldn't be surprised. I turned around and looked at her. I knew her body must be asleep. I still was not sure how she got here.

"I felt like you needed me," she said. Her appearance was little more solemn this time. She still looked much like a fairy-hybrid human, with huge eyes and hair that had unnatural colors. She still seemed playful as ever, but this time her expression seemed concerned. She peered around me to look at the little star I had under glass. I did not hide it from her as I felt she partly owned it as well.