Nephilum

Chapter 6

The demons surged toward us. James shoved me between him and Michael. Everything happened so fast, it was all a blur. I blinked, trying to regain my senses. I turned just in time to see James blast a demon with white light. My eyes widened. The demon was stunned, and James used that opportunity to stab him through the chest.

I gasped. Michael got separated from me at some point, leaving me to hide as best I could behind James. Neither James nor Michael faltered while they fought. It was like they've done this before. The more I thought about it, they probably have.

All of a sudden a rough hand grabbed me by the arm. James was busy with two demons while Michael was busy with another one. "Get off me you weirdo!" I yelled at him.

He dragged me toward the door. I tried desperarely to wrench my arm out of his grasp, but it was no use. My feet barely skimmed the ground as he hauled me toward the door. I managed to kick him in the stomach, and his grip faltered. I wrenched my arm out of his hand, leaving a scorch mark on his skin. He cried out in pain.

I looked at it in confusion. Did I do that?

There wasn't much time to think on it because seconds later he had my arm in his again. We were almost out the door and I was starting to get desperate. I was terrified. My head still pounded and my throat was still sore.

"Let me go!" His only answer was him jerking me roughly out of the house. We were outside, surrounded by forest. I didn't have time to wonder where we were because he was still dragging me. He dragged me a few yards before I was able to dig my heels into the ground. He stopped.

For some reason, I felt the need to close my eyes. Something was building up inside me and I could feel it rushing to the surface. Whatever it was wanted out desperately. I felt fire running through my veins.

I could see myself start to glow, even through my closed eyelids. I screamed as I released whatever was inside me. My hair whipped around my face. I felt relief as It flowed out of me. I opened my eyes, only to close them again immediately. Whatever was pouring out of me was bright. Very bright.

I could vaguely hear the screams of the demon that dragged me out of the house, mixing with my own. I could feel my energy draining and I slumped to my knees. Sweat poured down my forehead and neck, making my shirt stick to my back uncomfortably.

I opened my eyes. I gasped in surprise and horror. Everything within a fifteen foot radius of me was pure ash. Burned so bad it was unrecognizable. James and Michael stood on the porch of the house, mouths open and eyes wide.

I cringed in disgust and fear as my eyes landed on what used to be the demon that had pulled me from the house. He was scorched. Made completely of black ash. A gentle breeze blew past us, causing the demon's remains to crumble into nothing.

I turned away and retched. I heaved. I had never killed anyone before. Not only did I kill someone, I burned them alive. James walked back into the house, talking to someone on a phone. Gentle hands grabbed my hair and held it back from my face.

I knew it was Michael and I made a mental note to thank him later. Tears ran down my face at the horrific thing I had done. Michael rubbed soothing circles on my back.

I sniffed, leaning back on my heels. I closed my eyes, not wanting to see what I had done. "Let's go inside." Michael said, guiding me to the house.

I wiped my eyes just as James walked down the steps, his face serious. "We need to leave. Now. I talked to Rodger and he wants us to go straight upstairs. The demons know we're here, and they will be back." James looked at me as he said that, his face giving nothing away.

I know he saw my tear stained face, but I was gratefull he didn't say anything about it. "By upstairs, you mean Heaven, right?" I asked. I know I first thought they were crazy, but after seeing demons and Michael and James fight, I had no choice to believe them.

Michael nodded, and left back to the house, giving me a pat on the back. James walked over to me and grabbed my hand. I looked at him wierdly, but didn't question it.

Bad idea. Seconds after he grabbed my hand, the world faded into darkness and I couldn't tell what was up and what was down. The only thing keeping me grounded was James firm grip on my hand.

After what seemed like minutes, but was probably only seconds, I opened my eyes to find that we were somewhere else. I stumbled a bit and James steadied me. "It gets easier the more you do it." He said.

He started walking and I had no choice to follow. I finally took the chance to observe my surroundings. I gasped. Everything was either gold or white. Not a single speck of dirt was anywhere. People walked by us, giving me curious glances. I ignored them, edging close to James. I could have sworn I saw at least someone fly above our heads. Everyone was gorgeous in their own inhuman way.

"Whoa. This is Heaven?" I asked in awe. It was beautiful.

"A part of it." James stated, not slowing his pace or looking behind him to make sure I was still following behind him.

"What do you mean, a part of it?" I asked him. He ignored my question. He led us to a giant gold and white building that seemed to glow. It looked at least one hundred stories.

"Where are we?" I asked. Again, he didn't answer me.

He opened the door to the front of the building and walked through, leaving me to follow me. I kind of wished he would slow down to give me a few minutes to admire the world around me. It's not every day that someone gets to see Heaven. Unless you die I guess, but I wasn't sure about that.

The inside of the building looked just as beautiful as the outside. Important looking people rushed around us, aslo giving me weird glances. I suddenly felt underdressed in my soot covered clothes. I stuck out like a sore thumb.

"James, where are we." I finally demanded, annoyed at how he ignored me.

"Do you ever stop talking?" he muttered under his breath. He probably didn't mean for me to hear, but I did anyway. I decided to ignore what he said, taking a deep breath to calm myself.

I tripped over my shoelace that had come undone at some point. I crashed to the floor with a groan. I blushed and quickly rightened myself as everyone looked at me. A few people smiled at me like they were trying not to laugh, but other people just looked at me like I was a nuisance.

James just looked back at me, raising his eyebrows at me. He only stopped for a split second, forcing me to jog to catch up to him. I had just managed to contain my blush when he stopped in front of an extravagant elevator. "I thought you were an angel. Can't you just zap us to wherever we're going?"

He shook his head, a smirk gracing his lips. "No."

"That's it? No explanation?" He didn't answer. He slid into the elevator. "Figures."

I crossed my arms, refusing to look at James. He didn't seem the least bit bothered by me ignoring him. If anything it looked like he was enjoying it, which just made me even more mad. He whistled out an unfamiliar tune.

"Will you please stop?" I tried to ask politely. My voice sounded the opposite of polite.

"Now you know how I feel."

I glared at him. "No, I don't know how you feel. You know why? I'm not an insane 'angel' who kills people with the justification that they're 'demons'."

He groaned. "I thought you were over that."

"How can I get over that? You killed people. On multiple occasions."

"Well, let's not forget the fact that less than an hour ago, you burned someone alive."

That shut me up. My mood plummeted at being reminded of what happened. James gave me a sideways glance before swinging open a door.