Heaven

chapter 29: blood-sweet

The water from the running tap brought Sina immense relief, yet a faint pain lingered. He closed his eyes and melted over the sink. "I don't ever want to know what Holy Water can do," he whispered to the basin. Opening his eyes, he spotted the knife lying in the basin. Sina reached towards the blade to move it to the side, and as he did so, the burning pain was replaced by a deep stinging from a cut the tip created when it decided to draw blood. "Motherfu-" Sina cried as vermillion gushed onto the stainless steel. "Grab it from the handle you moron. Not the pointy bit."

Grabbing a tea towel, Sina wrapped it around his hand to try and stop the flow. With each pump of his heart, blood escaped through the cut. "The fault, Caleb...." he winced through the dull ache, "is not in our stars, but in ourselves." Sina let out a pained cry as he clung on tightly to his hand as if that would make it stop hurting so damn much. "We've got no fucking chance." He lifted his gaze to the solitary window above the sink and watched as the rain and hail ravished whatever bits of Heaven he could see through a slowly-growing fog. "I may as well put on my pajamas because I'm dreaming if I think you and I will ever end up with any sort of happily-ever-after. A priest and me. Hah. What a joke." Sina raised his gaze higher until it reached the sky. "You'd never have it, huh? Just for once, can't I be happy? What the fuck did I ever do to either of you? I never asked for this. Never asked to be some kind of abomination. Fine, so I'm a beast's spawn. I never asked for this. I never enjoyed it. Can't I have one happy thing? Am I that undeserving?"

As if in agreement, the wind bashed against the glass and howled at Sina

Father Cal lifted his head and took a deep breath; one which brought him a sense of euphoria and agony. In the living room, the scent of gin was an assault, yet the fragrance coming from the kitchen was a melody sung to every Kadisin since they had been cast down to Earth from the Heavens. A scent so potent and so perfect it threatened to make Caleb forsake everything he held dear – it was the sweet scent of demon's blood.

Caleb staggered to the armchair where moments ago he and Sina were on the verge of having sex. Now it felt like he had simply dreamed it. He placed his hand on the back and clawed his fingers into the upholstery. When Cal brought his free hand to his face and breathed in a shaky breath, he was transported to the last time he had smelt the intoxication of demon's blood nearly twenty-five years ago.

"We're closed, pal." A man's voice echoed alongside the ringing of the little bell dangling over the open door. "Just put my inks and tattoo gun to bed."

Caleb stepped over the threshold and shut the door behind him despite the man pointing to the clock and then the SORRY, WE'RE CLOSED sign.

"I thought nothing ever closed in Vegas," Caleb slurred. His tongue felt like a caterpillar. When he spoke, his words felt foreign.

The air in the tattoo parlor was thick with marijuana. Through the smoke – and his intoxication – Caleb made out the slender figure speaking to him. The man had bright green eyes and a turquoise beaded necklace.

Touching a joint to his lips, the man clicked his tongue."Pal, you're in Chancel, South Dakota. You're kinda far away from Vegas. Though I get how you could forget where you are. This hick town is easily forgettable."

Lifting his flask, Caleb eyeballed the man's necklace and then the cherry flickering on the joint. "I have three thousand dollars in my pocket." He took an unsteady step forward. "Won it in poker."

The man whistled under his breath. "That's some serious cash."

"I played poker in Vegas once before." Making his way through the fog, Cal bumped into a chair.

"Woah, there, pal." The man set his joint on an ashtray that was balancing on a book titled SCREWED AND TATTOOED and helped Caleb. "How much did you have to drink tonight?"