The Devil's Assistant (Watty Awards Finalist 2011)

Devil's Assistant [20]

Chapter 20

The girls had a right to be excited. As I stepped into the large room the size of a football field I knew that the idea that people were individual and being unique must have come from the race of people before me. Not one looked the same. Some could have the same hue for skin but there would be a multitude of differences to separate them. By that standard, myself and the guys probably looked rather monotonous and boring to them.

The room itself was beyond anything I could ever have imagined. The same blue crystals lit up the room but the major difference was that each had been carved into the form of some mythical creature and they hung out of the walls like they were just waiting to pounce on the people below. Mouth open in awe I couldn’t help but wonder how they had made it so realistic but that question was answered when the head of a ferocious yet graceful looking griffin snapped its head towards me as if it knew what I was thinking.

As I stumbled back a step, warm strong hands clasped around my shoulders and steadied me in place. Turning my head I smiled up Gabriel who was wearing a green toga that was made from- I squinted to get a closer look before blushing at where my gaze had landed and pulling back whilst shaking my head in embarrassment. A choked laugh escaped Gabriel’s lips, sounding so strange coming from his usually joyless lips that it made me jump again. This time I only proceeded to stumble into him, my face hitting the exposed flesh of his chest that glistened as if it had been oiled up or something. The ethereal glow oozing from every pore made him appear as what he truly was, an angel.

“Wow,” I murmured stupidly as I took in every inch of him. I didn’t know whether or not to chastise myself by ogling at him like this but he was just too incredible to look away from.

He laughed more freely this time, shaking his head back and forth. “You never change Vannah, you were the same the first time you saw me like this.”

I frowned at him and he paused mid-way through his next sentence, realising he had let something slip. Folding my arms across my chest I tried to stare him down but he just stood there and stared, his own arms folding over his chest showing he wouldn’t tell.

“Spill.” My voice was a growl that even startled me, but Gabriel just smiled and shook his head like it was nothing. “Gabriel, please. Just tell me what I’m forgetting. Do you know how many times I’ve dreamt strange impossible things, like a wedding and I was the bride?  I’ve never been married I know I haven’t but in my heart it feels wrong, like I’ve forgotten something important. Like a piece of it is missing. I need to know.”

Gabriel looked really uncomfortable under the weight of my pleading gaze and secretly I was happy about that yet at the same time I was afraid that I would never find out, especially if the return of his stoic expressions were anything to go by.

“I’m sorry Miss Holmes,” he cleared his throat and looked away from me, his eyes refusing to meet mine. “I am bound to oath; I cannot give you the answers you seek.”

The set of his shoulders and the seriousness that choked his voice made me realise just how pointless it was trying to get it out of him. He had been given a gag order and the only one who could do that and prevent him from spilling it all was obviously the big man from upstairs.

 I nodded my head dumbly as the chatter in the hall died down and a particularly orange man stood on top of a table and ushered everyone to stand around the edge of the hall leaving a large open space in the middle. I used the sudden wave of chatter to cover me as I looked up at the ceiling and closed my eyes.

“I don’t know what you are doing but there has to be a good reason for it so I’m-” I paused as a blush formed on my cheeks feeling quite stupid for even doing this but I continued. “I’m going to trust you. Isn’t that what faith is about?”