Unholy Pleasures

Grace

Key Eleven: Grace:

She has her own secrets. They haven't become an issue because no one has asked her anything. That is fine with her. She's going to need these boys to survive. They were her ticket to the way out. Kit held her hand. Grace turned her head.

"What are you thinking?" he whispered. She shook her head. Kit wants her to let him in. Grace wants to but she can't. She has her reasons. Reasons that she doesn't want to go into. It's not lying if you don't volunteer any information. It's not like it would change anything.

Grace doesn't want to visit when she was human. Too much pain. Too much suffering. Too much blood.

The angel shivered.

"You alright?" Kit asked. Grace shook her head. He doesn't push it. That is something she can take comfort in. None of them asked her anything. They all just took her in. Okay, Harry didn't really trust her. He probably still doesn't. She didn't ask. She saw it in his eyes. Grace didn't blame him. She just crashed into their group and joined. But she wants the same thing they do. But what happens after they escape? Where were they going to go? She's thought about this many times.

"What will we do after we escape?" she asked. The boys turned and looked at her. Grace stopped in her tracks.

"I mean... we get out. Then what?" she asked. They stared at her. She was right. They didn't have a plan afterward. They were just trying to escape. Allen wanted to get back to Heaven. But was that even possible? Grace hadn't thought about Heaven in a while.

"Can we even get back in?" Kit asked. Harry and Tyrone didn't have an answer.

"What about you?" Kit asked. Grace made a face.

"What do you want to do?" Tyrone asked. All eyes were on her. This time, it was Grace who didn't have an answer.

When did it get like this? How was never the question in her world. Neither was why. Grace asked why in the past and never got the answer. She was used to it by now. It was the same as when she was a human. Why should it change as an angel?

Grace shook her head.

When did this all turn into a mess? It just snuck up on her. No, not just her. It snuck up all of them. She doesn't know where to look for an origin point. There's her life as a human. There's her life here. And there is what is coming for all of them.

Grace doesn't remember her time in Heaven. There was a trace there. Not even a trace. Was she even there in the first place? It had to be.

She just woke up in the city. The sky was so grey. So grey. It looked like a corpse above her. Grace couldn't move at first. Her body felt like it was broken. But there was no injury on her. She didn't know how she got here. However, the angel knew that she couldn't stay there. She tried to lift her head. It hurt to move. Grace looked at the sky again. There might as well be a funeral above her head. She dryly laughed to herself.

It's like me in a way.

She wouldn't be found until hours later. It didn't get her down. She was used to it by now.

Grace has never felt pretty. Her father made her feel that much worse. Her mother no help either. Same with her brothers. It didn't help that the house was isolated in the middle of nowhere. Her father was the worst. Grace was never allowed to wear make-up. He said that made her feel like a slut. Ha! That was rich coming from him. He didn't see her as a daughter.

No. She was more of his lover.

It started when she was six. Maybe she was older. That didn't matter. He ran that household. Everything went his way. His wife took the brunt of the abuse. Grace couldn't remember a night when her mother wasn't crying in the kitchen. A busted lip and bruises on her face. The boys still got beaten but not as much as her. However, Grace got the worst of it. Her father only hit her once but it would've been better if he hit her more. No, he did far worse.

It started with a kiss. She was only four years old. He was drunk at the time, but that was no excuse. He had no business kissing her. She didn't know any better either. In fact, she didn't know what was going on. As you can predict, it got worse from there.

Of course, the family knew. They just didn't do anything about it. Her mother didn't help her. She tried to ignore it. With Grace distracting him, she could hide in the kitchen and rest. Her brothers didn't do anything either.

Twelve years. Grace put up with it for twelve years. What else could she do? They lived in the middle of nowhere. Her father cut the family off from anyone. Grace did try to tell someone once. It was her third-grade teacher, in fact. The woman was the one to notice that something wasn't right. She pulled Grace aside after class. At first, the child didn't say anything. Still, the teacher didn't give up.

Grace's father pulled her out of school as a result.

By the time she was fifteen, Grace couldn't take it anymore. She would have to be the one to take action. So on one stormy night, she took out a knife from the kitchen. Her mother wasn't there that night. No. She was asleep in the bed she was supposed to share with that monster. All Grace would have to do was wait until he snuck into her room again.

It surprised her how easy was. For years, Grace thought that she was helpless. She kept down the pain and the trauma for years. Finally one night it just all snapped. The girl saw nothing but red the whole night. When she was finished, she felt so numb. So much blood everywhere. She didn't even bother to wipe it off her face.

Once the deed was done, she left that house and never looked back.

She tried not to think about that ever since. Grace kept moving. She never stayed in one place for long. No child should be used to it by now. Then again, they didn't live how Grace lived. And that was just her human life.

Being an angel was supposed to change that, but it didn't. She just isolated herself with the memories and the misery. The monster known as hope came back again. Now, she was trying to leave with her "friends". Heh, friends. It felt weird to say that in her head.

She never tried to get attached to anyone. It always went horribly for her. That teacher tried to save her. Her baby brother. Her first boyfriend. The only friend that she had. They were all gone. All because they tried to help her. Since then, Grace cut herself off from everyone. That worked out in the Fallen City. No one bothered her. She stayed away from everyone. It might not have been bad or good. She just needed enough to try and survive.

Now, she has Kit. And things just got more complicated. He's a good man. Maybe too good. He didn't deserve to be tangled up in her. Still, here he was. Grace just didn't get it.

"Why would you want to be around me?" she asked.

"I don't have much of a choice, do I?" he asked. Of course, he didn't. Grace wasn't surprised by this. Then Kit pulled her into his arms.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"Shhh. Shhh. Shhh," he whispered. He would shush her every time she tried to talk. Grace gave up and just rested there in his arms. She can't get rid of him. But maybe that might be a bad thing? No! This went against everything that she believed in. He was just going to leave her just like the others. Still... It would be nice to have him around a little bit longer. Grace kept going back and forth in her mind.

She doesn't know what to make of this.

Now, things have gotten worse. The city is dying. She's the only one who really knows what is going on. But she can't say it. They won't believe her. But that would be hard to do since they could feel it too. That didn't stop Grace from knowing the truth. It's not just the skies anymore.

She's been looking over her shoulder as they keep walking. There's no one following them but she knows better.

"The rot is coming."

"What?" Kit asked. Grace looked up at him and shook her head. He didn't bother to push her. Harry and Tyrone didn't ask any questions either. Grace held her breath as they kept walking. This was going to have to do for now. But how long was that going to last? Grace didn't want to have to think about that.

Even so, she still keeps going. She doesn't have anything else.