"You can always turn back," I sing. An Angels song is like a siren's. Innocence swept over the face of the young man. I extend my hand out for him to hold, but Moden pulls me away from the dirty hand.
"Uh, yeah, he's the one who gave some love to the Sheriff, and I doubt he sanitized," Moden whispers into my ear.
"Thanks," I mutter, "Go and spread good unto all!" I say to the man. He leaves with a smile.
Before we entered the first building, Moden and I made a deal that he would not do anything while I was on my shift. So far, Moden has been a demon of his word.
"Not gonna lie little Angel, I thought you weren't gonna do shit, but now, you have done diarrhea," Moden praises.
"Question, why are you here?" I ask, genuinely curious.
"Well, someone's rude. However, I will answer that question with another question: Where else would I be?"
"With the other demons plotting evil?"
"Excusez-moi, but some demons prefer to not. It's boring. However, actually getting to meet the enemy is a whole 'nother thing. And not to mention, this particular Angel, is humorless, so making you laugh is a whole 'nother world of difficult. Like throwing eggs at a brick wall," he finishes.
"Moden, that is the deepest you have ever been," I say, wiping a fake tear. He laughs.
"Ah-ha! She does have humor somewhere in a deep abyss of tunnels and nothingness!" his face goes from smile to serious.
I roll my eyes.
********************************
"God will guide you, hold no fear." The guy in front of me opens his arms to embrace me.
"Now is not the time, you must first spread good!" I sing. He walks away, nodding.
"Oh, Demons are the bad guys! You just friendzoned that guy so bad!" Moden frowns. "That is just cold!"
"What does that mean?"
"Let me make this simple. He wants you, but you only want him as a friend."
"As I said, we are all brethren."
Moden's eyes widen. "Oh man. You sibling-zoned him. That's cruel. And this is coming from a Demon."
"Be quiet. You are tempting me."
He slides over to me, raising his eyebrows suggestively, "To do what, pray tell?"
I stop him, and turn to face him. Inching closer to his face, I pass his lips and go to his ear to whisper in a seductive tone, "Kill you." Laughing, I back away, and resume walking.
"Tease," he mutters.
"Now where did you do the worse damage?" I ask, business-y.
"If I tell you, do I get a kiss?" He smiles innocently.
"If you tell me you can keep your life."
"Good enough. Um, at the school there were a lot. Hey, watch out!" Moden shouts, one second before I trip over something. He reaches out, and pulls me to him.
"What was tha--," I stop when I see a little bloody boy. "God has gained a new Angel," I whisper, my voice weak with grief. "We have to hurry, before there are more."
I glance at Moden, and he actually looked guilty. Then, an unreadable look was placed.
"Yeah, the school is up ahead," Moden states. I turn around, and start walking. I take a good ten steps, and turn back to look at Moden. He remains staring at the child. I walk up to him.
"The children are the hardest to look at," I say, quietly. He nods. "After a while, you learn that staring doesn't bring them back." He turns to look at me, and I am shocked to see sorrow. Never has a Demon felt sorrow. Or guilt for that matter.
"How do you get over it?" he asks, weakly
"I like to imagine the better life they have in the Kingdom."
"How do you get over it when you know you made this happen?"
I open my mouth, then shut it. Instead, I squeeze his arm.
"Staring doesn't help. Let's go," I say, softly. He moves, and I lead him. Pretty soon, he walks by himself.
"So," I ask, breaking the silence, "has a tree ever been single?"
Moden laughs. Then, coughs. Then, gulps air.
"No, whenever I ask they say, 'Leaf me alone!'"
"That's too far," I smile. We walk in silence to the school.