The Unheavenly Angel

Ch 1: Demons for Breakfast

I drew an angelic seal on the bottom of the new angel statue. I'd decapitated the old one last Tuesday.

In my defense, I hadn't meant to. As it turns out, it's very difficult to hit something with a throwing knife when you're outside in a down pour. Or, at least, the right something. At the time, I was aiming to kill a scaly creature brought up from the depths of Hell. Instead, I'd struck the innocent angel statue's neck, which was already cracking from age, and knocked its head off completely.

Mo, my caretaker and incredibly religious grandmother, had placed the angel statue in front of our house when we moved to the tiny town of Acker three years ago. I knew Mo would not be pleased to see I had beheaded the angel. She already had enough evidence to prove I was satanic, and I didn't want to give her more to worry about.

I tried to fix the statue, but its neck was too damaged to balance its head for long. So, using some gray tinted duck tape, I stuck its head back on. It fixed the problem at the moment.

I scrounged up the necessary amount of money for a new statue and bought it yesterday. This morning, I dragged it up into my room while the rest of my family slept. I had to draw the seal on it before I put it outside, and I wanted to get it done before I left for school.

As the sun's first rays began to peek through my curtain, I was finishing up the last circle of symbols in the angelic seal. Like all seals, it consisted of a series of circles in a target board pattern with symbols fitting in the spaces between them. To me, the symbols had a familiar and almost comforting look, but only because I used them so often. I had no clue what they meant, despite my nagging attempts to learn more about them. They kept the demons out, and that was supposed to be all I cared about.

I began writing the last symbol when a pounding on my door caused me to jump and streak my marker across the seal, ruining it. "Leah! Me and Mo are going to school!"

It was my little cousin, Elliot, who lived with Mo and me. He could be more devilish than anything I faced, though he looked deceivingly adorable. I could almost see his little freckled face pinched into a grin through the door. He knew I hated when people hammered on it.

"Elliot!" I had to stop myself mid-sentence to prevent an onslaught of curse words from spilling out of my mouth. Otherwise he'd tattle to Mo, and she'd scold me for ruining his "innocence" with words that I knew for a fact he was very familiar with.

Elliot ran from my door and down the steps, giggling as he went. I grumbled to myself, thinking of ways I could seek my revenge as I scrubbed the ruined seal off with a tissue. A car outside started up as I began drawing the seal again.

Mo worked as the school nurse where Elliot and I went, so she would take Elliot to school with her. She'd offered to drive me as well, but as school nurse, she had to be there an hour before class started. There was no way I was going to get up before I needed to, unless I needed to draw new seals.

If someone peeled back the layered posters of boy bands and handsome shirtless actors in my room, they'd know I spent an awfully long time drawing seals. They'd also be able to tell, from the clothes piling up on the floor and array of partially filled water bottles on my desk, that I didn't waste any of that time cleaning.

Once I was finally finished with the seal, I hauled the angel over my shoulder before taking it downstairs, and out the door. The cool fall air snapped at my bare skin. I was still in my pajamas, as I hadn't seen the need to get dressed. Only the surrounding trees and birds would see me, and the chances of a car coming down the road were slim.

I carried the new angel to the old angel, whose head was now held at an awkward angle by the duct tape. I took off its head and placed it on the porch. My black cat, Panther, jumped out from behind a bush and gave it a sniff. She watched me as I switched the angel statues, thumping her tail as she waited for breakfast.