The Definition of Evil

Chapter 3

3. Lenora

    "She said no. What the fuck is so hard to understand about that? The word is two letters long. Seriously guys." I cannot believe this. I've been here for five hours trying to explain why Erin didn't come with me.

    "There is no need for swearing Lenora."

    "Oh I think there is much need for some fucking swearing. We are not like our evil counterpart. We give kids the option on whether or not they want to come with us. Having an option means they are liable to say no. Erin said no. End of discussion." I begin to walk out of the room when their voices call me back.

    "Lenora, wait! We still have to discuss how we can learn from the mistake of letting her say no and move on to a better future where all the kids say yes."

    Getting fed up with their niceness and ridiculous reasoning, I continue to walk away. I turn around and flip them off while backwards, so they know I'm annoyed and dissatisfied.

    I keep walking knowing that I should probably get back to my apartment, so I have enough time to sleep before I go to work. Work is exhausting enough without adding no sleep.

    As I'm walking I look around at the place I grew up in since I was eleven. I pass by a little nook I used to sleep in, my training room, the courtroom, and so many others going down the main hallway. It's amazing how my life after the event has evolved. When I was eleven, my parents were murdered and my brother was stolen away into the night. I stayed in the house for three days until a young woman came and got me. She brought me here, where I was raised to become a demon.

It's weird to think how wrong popular culture got the whole angels and demons entangle. Demons control and watch over Paradise, the place where souls go after their living hosts have died. We do recruit new demon children, but only if they want to. There are certain children in the world who have very troubled souls. Those are the ones we choose to rescue, the ones who really need help. When we bring them back to the demon realm, they are marked with the Quara, a tattoo-like mark of wings on their back that unleashes the inner power of their soul. After being marked, the power can be hard to discover, but once it is, you are sent to a specific training field for it. I know my power took years to discover, but eventually, I found it to be Life. I can heal or make things grow, but only in small amounts.

From what I remember of my lessons, the angels do basically the same thing.  One of the major differences, though, is that they choose a soul by power and strength. They also only take children by force. I know that first hand. They took my brother Bastian and killed both my parents.

After spending the three days surrounded by the dead bodies of my parents, a demon came to rescue me.  I guess my soul had been tortured enough from the traumatic experience. Originally, I thought that the nice girl who came to rescue me was going to take me to Bastian. When she didn't though, I had a breakdown, and had to be restrained so I wouldn't hurt myself or anyone else. It was hard to get through that first little while knowing I could never see my twin again. It didn't take long, though, to learn about the angels, and to figure out that that is where Bastian was taken and where my parents murderer is from. In my spare time, all I do is search for a way to get to Bastian, and find the killer.
    There are different portals that take you to different realms. The portals to the demon realm are always near places where people commonly die. I have to find a portal that leads to the angel realm. I know that they would be near holy places, but I'm not to sure where the closest one is.

    I am still trapped in my head when I exit the portal. I shut the portal behind me, and when I turn around, I bump into Adalius. I start to panic thinking that he saw me come out of the portal.

    "Adalius! What are you doing here?" This wasn't the best neighbourhood, so I was surprised that a preppy guy like Adalius in this area.

    "Oh, I um-," he seem to be deciding a lie to tell me. "I volunteer at this old age home. Ya! In my spare time." That was not the answer I was expecting at all.

    "You couldn't come up with something better than that?" I question. It was almost like he wanted me to catch him in the lie.

    "Well, nevermind that. Weren't you supposed to be at work an hour ago?"

    "Shit! What time is it?" I exclaim. After looking around for a clock, I find one and realize that he is right, I'm late for work. So much for keeping this job. After muttering a quick goodbye I set off at a fast run. It's a twenty minute walk from the old age centre where I am, and I don't want to be any later than I already am. When I arrive I notice my manager standing behind the counter. I drag my feet to the counter knowing that I'm going to get canned.

"I'm fired, aren't I?" I dreadfully ask. He only nods his head once in response, then turns away to help the other staff members. I can see them laughing at my disheveled and dirty clothes from the day before. I leave quickly to save myself from further embarrassment.