Just a Happy Ending

The Angel

Under another circumstance, Sammy would have thoroughly enjoyed this. As it was, being attacked by a larger, distended, and horrifically disgusting version of Alice while Susie sang on a stage above him was proving to be conflicting. On the one hand, Susie was now closer than ever and singing one of his songs, while on the other, her personified hatred kept trying to—according to its own words—"rend his teeth from his skull and use them to cleave his flesh from his bones," all while "slaking its hatred on his blood and wails of agony."

Mildly poetic, if disturbing, Sammy had to admit. If only the angel thing would let him get to the stage and Susie!

He dodged yet another attack by the Alice. "Why are you keeping me from her? I'm trying to help!"

"She doesn't need you!" the Alice shrieked, "All she needs is me! I keep her safe! She's happy on that stage and her audience loves her!"

"What audience?" Sammy countered, "There's no one here but you and me!"

"The one she chooses to see! You are a distraction and you will only ruin things again!"

Sammy paused, "Again?"

The Alice hissed at him, "You destroyed her when you kicked her from heaven. I am what remains of your precious fallen angel, and you will not throw her farther into the depths!"

"I said before, it wasn't me! Joey fired her! Fired you-, whatever you are! Joey fired Susie, not me!"

"Ah yes, blame everything on your ink-stained scapegoat, why don't you? Take none of the responsibility. You didn't go after her, now did you? No. You stayed right in your little slice of musical heaven with a new angel and let Susie flounder around in the muck, ripe for a little devil to come by and put her back where she deserves to be!"

"No one deserves this!" Sammy barked back, gesturing to the lonely stage and its soloist.

"You left her behind, Lawrence. I did not. I will stay with her, no matter what lying men like you try to say."

Sammy shook his head, "I didn't know. I thought she just... I... I don't know what I thought."

"You only thought about the work, yes? The work you and your precious lord undertook."

"I. Am not. The Prophet."

The Alice roared at him, "No! You're worse! You're unfaithful! You swore no one would take her stage and yet you ushered in another! You broke your angel's heart and her wings, Lawrence! You are no better than Joey!"

That stung. Sammy clenched his jaw, "I didn't... mean to. I am sorry for not coming back for her. But I'm here now and I want to make things right!"

"And why would you do that?" the Alice sneered.

"Because I've been living for too long without the one I've wanted to spend the rest of my life with."

The Alice glared incredulously, "How sickening. Worse than Joey's flattery."

"Well clearly I can't say anything that will make you or her believe me, so let me by and prove it!"

"No."

Sammy straightened and crossed his arms. "Then we are at an impasse."

"All the better. It keeps you from her and you give up all over again."

The invisible threads that had been creeping up Sammy's arms tightened. He ignored them and pinched his eyes, "We're arguing in circles."

The Alice hissed at him. He looked past it to the stage. A flight of stairs led up to a small rounded platform, on which Susie stood with a standing microphone. Her back was turned to the scene behind her, singing beautifully to an invisible audience.