Barely An Angel (Completed)

3~ An Encounter of the Worst Kind

I jumped in between the both of them as fast as I could. "Woah, Demeille, stop!" I cried, his face pausing only inches in front of mine. He smirked, standing up straight.

"You actually thought I was going to try something?" He snickered, fangs on full display. I couldn't help but notice that there was something even more soulless about him than usual. Something was...off. The Demeille that I was unfortunately familiar with would never even step within one foot of trouble at school, especially right outside the principal's office. He was too afraid of Hamiel to ever get in trouble at school in the first place, which could only mean one thing...

He was desperate. Desperately hungry.

"Uh, yeah, Demeille. Given your track record with humans, I'd say that I definitely thought you were going to try something, nevermind that whole pouncing thing you did," I snapped sarcastically, repositioning myself in front of a cowering Nathan to shield him from Demeille's ravenous gaze.

"Well, then," he paused thoughtfully. "You thought right." The last word left his mouth in a menacing growl as he shoved me out of his way. I hit the ground with a hard thump, but I was on my feet again in an instant, turning on my heels to attempt to stop Demeille again.

But I was too late. He had grabbed Nathan by the throat and was holding him up against the wall. I tried pulling him away from Nathan, but he was stronger than me, and wouldn't budge. Demeille bared his fangs yet again, lowering them to Nathan's neck, when he suddenly stopped. He was like a statue, and with every second that passed, he seemed to become more stiff.

A tear was leaving Nathan's closed eyes as he braced for Demeille's bite, but when it didn't happen, he opened his eyes slowly. "Wh..wha...," he gasped, unable to form a complete sentence due to Demeille's hand still holding fast on his throat. I stared, dumbfounded, wondering what happened and why Demeille just stopped moving altogether.

"Alright, step back, Ramona," Hamiel said urgently, stepping out of the office and standing beside Demeille. "Nathan, hold on, I'll get you down," he added, grabbing hold of Demeille's arm.

"Wait, Hamiel, what...what happened?" I asked. "Why did he stop moving so suddenly? Do you know?"

He simply nodded, carefully prying Demeille's stiff fingers away from Nathan's neck, one by one. "I heard you yell at someone to stop, so I rushed out here as quickly as possible. When I saw Demeille, I immediately cast a Class 2 freezing spell on him so I could stop the situation safely."

"Thank you, Hamiel," I sighed in relief. "I tried to stop him, but I wasn't strong enough," I added.

Hamiel had freed Nathan of Demeille's iron grip and was now lowering him from the wall in such a way to prevent Demeille's needle-sharp fangs from piercing his skin. "Ramona, I don't want you to ever doubt yourself. You're stronger than you know, remember that." Hamiel then gently set Nathan on the ground so that he could regain his composure. He was gasping for air, rubbing his neck, tears now freely streaming from his eyes. My heart broke to see him so scared.

I opened my mouth to speak, but Hamiel held up a hand. "Don't worry. I'll make sure he doesn't bother Nathan again, or you," he said, before picking Demeille up and laying him across his horse-back. I watched him trot back into the office in confusion before I turned back towards Nathan and kneeled down next to him.

"Hey, you're okay," I murmured, tentatively rubbing his shoulder in an effort to comfort him. He jerked away almost instinctively, turning his back towards me. I would be lying if I said that didn't hurt me a little. "Hey...," I trailed off, gently grabbing his shoulder and having him face me again.