Sympathy for the Devil

25

A concerned woman's face stood over me. She was blonde haired and green eyed. She had on a green cloak that did nothing to shield her face.

My vision blurred as I reached my hands up to touch the figure.

"Mom?" I asked groggily.

The woman didn't answer as she pressed a cool wash cloth over my forehead.

I attempted to sit up, but the woman pushed me back down gently. "She's definitely concussed." She spoke firmly in the direction of two blurred figures. "Did either of you two think to catch her before she hit her head in the hallway?"

There was no firm answer from the two blurred figures as their shoulders moved up and down like waves that crash against the shore.

Okay, she definitely isn't my mom. She has a thick Irish accent. My mom never had an Irish accent.

"Where am I?" I tried using my weakened voice again.

"The infirmary." The woman announced as she moved my chin with her hand to check for any wounded areas. "Usually Banshees don't pass out when given an assignment."

"Who are you?" I asked a bit begrudgingly at the implied insult.

"Brigid. Goddess of healing, fertility, and poetry." She took her hood down that was casting shadows on her face. Her hair that once appeared blonde to me now morphed into a reddish tint. Ruby red hair. Like mine. "It's a long title." She admitted. She appeared so young. She looked angelic. Like she had a glow literally emanating from her body.

The mind tends to play cruel tricks on us when our guard is down. I wanted her to be my mother. I was fooling myself. I thought I didn't want to see my mother again after the agony and torment she had put us through, but maybe I was wrong.

It suddenly clicked why the Gods and Goddesses constantly reproduced as I stared into her luminescence. Humans couldn't resist them. They were stunning angelical beings. But I can't fathom why the Gods and Goddesses fell for humans when humans didn't compare to their radiance.

I felt a ping of disappointment that a Goddess was before me and not my own mother. The effects of her beauty quickly wore off. All I was left with was disappointment. That's probably how the humans felt when the Gods impregnated them.

"Okay, maybe tone down the thoughts. Brigid here is just trying to help." Killian spoke bemusedly as he came into view.

Crap on a cracker.

Killian isn't the only one who can read my train of thoughts. Brigid can too. Perhaps all of the Gods and Goddesses could.

That's just the fucking icing on top of the cake.

"You're all clear. Any infraction upon your head is all healed up now."

Brigid held out a glass container of lollipops. This must be the biggest fucking joke of the century.

To play along, I took a raspberry lollipop out of the container and popped it in my mouth. The sickening sweetness lingered as I hopped up off of the cot and met up with Killian and Bennett who stood in the doorway anticipating my bigger freakout. I didn't react. I just kept sucking on the pain that was in the flavor of raspberry. Tart, sour, and yet sweet raspberry. If that doesn't sum me up in a nutshell, I don't know what does.

Li and Julian were going to die if I kept dawdling in the infirmary and twiddling my thumbs. I need to save them.

"You can't," Killian yanked me back by my arm. "Banshees can't prevent death. And your brother will come back as a Banhee. I can't say the same for Li, but at least there will be someone else here to torture you for an eternity."