The Devil's Angel

Chapter 17

I think I got through a thousand before my brain started to hurt. I think others noticed too, because an elf came and shoved me aside, taking my spot as another dragged me off to another room, one that kinda looked like a break room. They sat me down as they gave me hot chocolate.

"This is tough." I say to the nearest elf. "How do you do it?"

"Well, there's thousands of me." Her high-pitched voice squeaks. "And we're used to it."

"I can tell." I mutter as I see Jake approaching the table, pulls out a chair and sits down. The little elf scurries of to who-knows-where.

"Already tired? I thought you'd be used to this." He smirked, reaching across the table and shoving hair behind my face. "After all, we got far worse and far less fun work in Heaven."

"Yeah, well, I could actually see my boyfriend from Heaven. Now-" I cut myself off, gesturing to the area around us. "I can't see him, talk to him, or anything. He could be cheating on me right now, and I wouldn't have the slightest clue."

"Now why would a guy cheat on you?" He asks, wrapping an arm around my shoulders. "That would be a boy that would be visited by me, just to kill him."

"Oh, stop it." I order, shoving his arm off of me. "You can't kill him."

"You wanna bet?" He smirks, and it's scary that I actually believe him.

"There would be no point. And besides… aren't you dead?" I ask, because he's here now, full and living. What the heck happened?

"Yeah, God tried to explain it, but it sounded complicated." He explained, and I didn't doubt him. "So I just went with the term 'temporary life'."

"Oh." I say, because I can't think of anything else.

"Yeah, so, I'm here. And are you okay? You look like you're about to pass out."

"What?" I ask, shaking the dizziness from my head. "Oh, well, I guess I'm not used to the work they give out here."

"I can tell." He states, standing up, holding his hand out for me. "Come on, let's go. Let's get this over with so we can be done with it."

I take his hand and he leads us back to the wrapping machine, and I groan, but take my place without refusal. The elf who took my place left, and then I was stuck… again… and my brain never got over the pained feeling.

~~~~~~~~~~

After we were done with the wrapping, we reported back to Santa's office and told him we were done. The other elves went off in their own merry way, and I didn't know if they just liked their job way too much or they were brainwashed. Either way, Jake and I headed off n a miscellaneous direction, alone, just so we could talk.

"So how've things been up there since I left?" I asked as we walked into a diner-looking area, sitting down on the stools at the bar. I nod at Cookie, who recognizes me and gets us both hot chocolate.

"Well, Nathan was still trying to find his sister." He explains, taking a sip. "And Karma's still there. She's been swooning over him, but he thinks his sister is more important."

"Well, good for him." I smile, thinking of how Karma hates being rejected. Well, she's not as bad as Sarcasm. "Are they still together, though?"

"I left with them making out in front of the gate." He states, and I shudder. "Yeah, I think so."

"Oh well." I sigh, slumping in my chair, taking a sip. "I can't exactly stop them."

"But I wouldn't worry about them." He smiles, and we both finish off our hot chocolate. "Come on, I know what to do."