IN LOVE'S EMBRACE

CHAPTER 26: DEMONS ADMIST ANGELS

"The only difference between the saint and the sinner is that every saint has a past, and every sinner has a future"— Oscar Wilde

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THIRD PERSON'S POV

A breath escaped John as he anxiously tapped his fingers against the steering wheel. His mind couldn't help but wander back to the event of two days ago, leaving him more agitated. The constant bickering of the people around him wasn't exactly helping.

"John, how do you think it'll be like?" Shadrach asked in excitement.

"I don't know, I haven't really thought about it," he replied.

"Well, I picture angels flying around singing hymns," Jason spoke with a chuckle.

"What? Out of every imagination, that's the dumbest one yet," Simone exclaimed.

"Okay, since you seem to know it all, Simone, why don't you tell us how it's truly like?" Matt retorted.

"Like every normal building. Just that there's an altar, pulpit and other things," she monotonously replied, and the car went dead silent.

"Wow, you straight up took the fun out of it," Jason noted, and she shrugged.

"It's just church, there's no big deal there."

It irked John how Simone had singlehandedly managed to kill everyone's enthusiasm. They had all been excited ever since he told them about Alaine's invitation to church. Turned out, neither of them remembered ever being to a church, and they actually wanted to see how it was like.

Simone only tagged along because she saw it as an opportunity to hang out in a different place. According to her, she needed to make up for the time lost – she and John hadn't spent time together in the past two days because she had a family function. Not that he minded though, his head had been pretty occupied and he was glad she wasn't around to complicate things.

"Y'know guys, church isn't as boring as Simone makes it sound. From the little I remember, there's usually a praise and worship session where everyone sings and dances to God, then prayers, then the choir renders songs, then there's the sermon, all in all... it's peaceful," he voiced, reminiscing on the times he followed his mom to church.

"Peaceful... I like that," Shred affirmed with a smile.

"And Jason, just because you can't see the angels doesn't mean they aren't there," John reassured his friend seated next to him.

Simone frowned. Ever since the beginning of her visit, John hadn't been acting like himself —or at least the John she used to know. He barely paid her any attention and seemed easily ticked off by her. The John she knew adored her and was constantly hovering around her, the John she knew never left her side and was her first everything.

Now he seemed like a shell of his former self; he was different and he only gave one person his undivided attention... Alaine. Just the thought of the named infuriated her —she hated everything about her and couldn't see what had John hooked. She wasn't the type of girl he'd normally go after so what changed?, There had to be more. She knew they were hiding something from her and she would stop at nothing to figure it out.