A Little Bit of Hell and Heaven

Part 14

Casey leads them to a back room. There are work benches everywhere, cluttered with half-finished. She walks them to a table in the back where a beautiful silver and gold leg brace is laid out. Casey picks and presents it to Simon.

Simon carefully examines every inch of the brace before gingerly taking it from Casey's hands. It is surprisingly lightweight, almost as if the metal was hollow.

"Well?" Casey prods. "Are you going to try on?"

"Steven, come help me with this," Simon says, gesturing to his taped and splinted leg. Steven and Simon work together, ripping the duct tape off of Simon's leg. When the tape-covered pole clatters to the floor, Simon slips the brace on over his skinny jeans. He's not surprised that it fits perfectly. Casey comes over as he stands.

"Let me show you how it works," she says. "Steven do you want to come see, too?" A flicker of a wickedly sly smile flashes across her face. Will Steven fall into her trap?

"Uh," Steven glances at Simon. "No. No, that's ok. I mean - Simon's not going to need my help with it, so what's the point in learning how it works? I'm just gonna sit over here and play - uh - Pac Man on my phone."

The look of relief that washes over Simon's face is extremely obvious. Casey glowers at him, but then her expression changes back to cheery and playful so quickly that Simon wonders if he imagined it.

Casey twists a gear near Simon's knee. "This one will lock or unlock the joint at your knee," she says, then twists another gear near his ankle. "This one does the same thing at your ankle. And this button," her finger hovers over a button near Simon's hip, "opens the whole brace and then folds it down to pocket size." She holds her finger over the button. Simon tries to move away, but the locked joints prevent him from moving quickly. Casey slams her finger into the button. The brace opens and starts folding and Simon collapses to the floor as his support disappears and his knee buckles. In less than a second, Steven is off of his phone and at Casey's throat, slamming her back against a worktable. His lips are pulled back in an angry snarl and his wings are bristling aggressively.

"Stop," Simon groans as he struggles back to his feet. "Steven, let her go." Steven releases his hold on Casey, but his wings are still bristling warily and his face is a mask of fury. Simon thinks, this is because I told him not to accept any offers from you, isn't it? He knows Casey is listening because she smiles at him wickedly.

"Among other things," she murmurs.

Steven looks between them, confusedly. "Let's just leave," he snarls to Simon, glaring at Casey. He picks up Simon's brace and pushes the button so it springs back into its original shape. He pulls Simon to his feet and hands him the brace. Simon slips it on and makes sure both joints are unlocked. Casey has mysteriously disappeared.

"We can go to the front door, but I doubt she'll let us leave until she gets what she wants," Simon warns as they head down the hallway.

As they approach the front door, the smell of freshly baked cookies greets them. Casey is standing in front of the door holding a tray of chocolate chip cookies that are still steaming. A wicked ear-to-ear grin stretches across her face, revealing her pristinely shining, dangerously sharp teeth. She moves the cookies so that she is holding them with one hand. With a flick of her wrist, a beam of purple light shoots toward Simon and encases him in ice, freezing him in place. Steven glances toward him, but something draws his gaze back toward Casey.

"Steven, darling," she says in a silky, sly voice. Her dangerous smile still toys with her dark lips. "Wouldn't you like a fresh, warm, gooey, delicious chocolate chip cookie?" She stretches out each syllable. Steven's mouth begins watering, but he shakes his head.

"I'm really not hungry," he murmurs, still staring at the cookies. He shakes his head again. "Besides, I'm lactose intolerant. I can't eat chocolate," he lies.

Casey snaps her fingers and the tray of cookies disappears. Her face is slightly more angry, but Steven stands his ground. Casey takes a step closer to Steven. "I could tell you secrets," she hisses. "Secrets about Simon and where he came from and who he was before he met you." Her voice and her facial expression remind Steven of a snake.

"That's quite the offer," Steven says, his steely blue eyes boring into Casey's. He mustn't let her know how much he wants to accept. "However, I respect boundaries. Simon's secrets are not yours to tell. If he wants me to know something about him or his past, he will tell me himself." At that, the icy magic encasing Simon cracks a little. Casey glances at it. A look of panic flashes over her face, but it quickly replaced by pure fury. A sly, wicked, vicious smile parts her lips.

"Fine," she says, her expression softening, though her eyes are still hard as stone. She still looks like a hungry dragon to Steven. "Would you like to leave, Steven?" She asks, opening the door and motioning outside.

Steven's eyes widen and he stifles a gasp. Then he collects himself and stares slyly at Casey. "Actually, no," he says, stepping toward her. "I think I'll stay here as long as I want." He is close enough that his breath moves the loose strands of her hair. "And you," he continues, pulling a small knife out of his belt and holding it to her throat. "You are going to remove your spell from Simon and stay out of his mind or I swear I will kill you in the slowest, most painful way I know how. Is that clear?"

Casey's eyes are wide with fear as she nods, causing Steven's blade to nick the smooth skin of her throat. A small trickle of blood runs down her throat. To Steven's surprise, she starts crying. However, what he doesn't know is that the tears are fake. He loosens his hold on her slightly.

"What - what's wrong with you?" He asks in stunned, but angry, confusion. He doesn't see Casey flick a finger toward Simon, causing the ice around him to slowly melt.

"I - I just -" she starts between sobs. "I'm so lonely!" she wails. "Simon and I were married once." A look of uncertainty flashes across Steven's face. "We divorced just shortly before he met you. After he met you -" a fresh wave of tears comes, and she is sobbing ever louder. "After he - he met you, he stopped coming to - to see me. I just - I just want - wanted to know what was happening with him!" Tears were streaming down her face, messing up her dark makeup.

Steven is unsure whether to feel pity for her, or just to be disgusted. He stands there in nervous, anxious silence.

Casey's sobs quiet slowly, until she suddenly starts wailing loudly and very unattractively. "I still love him!" She howls.

"Well, I don't love you," Simon says coldly, coming up behind Steven. "I never did, Casey. And I never - never - will."

Casey suddenly stops crying, the miserable despair on her face replaced with uncontrollable rage. "We were married!" She shrieks. "You were my world! And then he," she gestures violently toward Steven, "took you away from me! Now I'll exact my revenge!" Simon lunges toward her, but he's not fast enough. Casey pulls Steven against her chest and kisses him fast, hard, and passionately, full on the lips. Simon is frozen in horrified shock.

Steven struggles against Casey's grip, but to no avail. Slowly, he relaxes, then falls limp in Casey's arms. His head rolls back, and his lips are stained the dark red of Casey's lipstick. Or blood, Simon thinks.