Barely An Angel (Completed)

14~ Brotherly Bonds

"Oh, my father is going to have a field day with you, Hamiel," Demeille laughed. "You will never hear the end of this."

"That may be so," Hamiel sighed, scratching his chin, "but it is a proper price to pay for the safety of my students. Now, I have contacted your father and he wishes for you to walk yourself home. I imagine he doesn't want to take time out of his busy schedule just because you got into trouble, so I advise you to be on your way."

Demeille stood slowly from his chair. "This is ridiculous," he muttered, before turning in my direction and glowering at me. "All your fault, Marlo!" He spat, pointing at me. "You're such a snitch." On his way out of the office, he jabbed his shoulder into mine, and whispered in my ear, "You're not getting away with it this easy."

Adrien got to his feet, saying nothing, glaring at me all the time it took for him to follow Demeille out. Ms. Thorn scurried out afterwards, no doubt keeping a watchful eye on them to make sure they would actually leave instead of causing another scene. I let my gaze travel after the three of them, feeling as though a weight was lifted at the thought of Demeille and Adrien not being at school. Of course, there was still Dario, but he didn't seem to be much of a threat. Adrien would do anything Demeille told him to, whereas I could tell Dario preferred to do his own thing. It was especially obvious on certain occasions throughout our high school career so far.

Take freshman year for example. This was before the three of them were blackeyes, but Demeille had still taken pleasure in bullying me. I remember one day in particular when him and Adrien knocked my lunch tray right out of my hands, my cup of nyris and my snacks spilling out all over me and the floor. After they walked away laughing, Dario rushed to my side to help clean everything up, paper towels in hand.

"Thanks," I had murmured, barely audible. "Those guys are such jerks."

Dario laughed as he sopped up a puddle of nyris. "Yeah, can't believe I've been friends with those jerks practically since birth. Our parents are all sorta friends, so I guess we didn't really have much choice." He gathered all the used paper towels once the mess was mostly cleaned, and I got up and followed him to the nearest trash can.

"Oh, I didn't realize you were all friends. That's unfortunate," I joked, blushing at how outgoing I was suddenly being.

Dario smiled. "Only sometimes. But anyways, don't let them bother you. They can come off as jerks, but are pretty nice when you get to know them."

I smiled to myself at the memory, a twinge of sadness tugging at my heart for how everything had turned out. It was the middle of sophomore year when they all became blackeyes. Demeille, thinking he was some daredevil, went out hunting one night and convinced Adrien to go with him. Neither of them could get Dario on board, so they ended up switching his nyris for blood one day at lunch without him knowing, and behold, they were all blackeyes. Dario avoided them for weeks afterwards, but it was their strong brotherly bond that ended up dragging him back to them.

I pivoted on my heel to leave the office as well so that I could (slowly) make my way to class, but I was stopped by Hamiel calling out to me.

"Ramona, can we have a word?"

I snapped my head back in his direction. "Oh, yeah, sure. What is it?" I inquired, taking a seat where Demeille had been only moments before, across the desk from Hamiel.

He exhaled, running his hand through his wiry locks. "If I may ask...how are you...adjusting? Ms. Thorn told me what they did to you and I must extend my deepest apologies-,"

I cut him off. "No need, Hamiel. I appreciate it, but it wasn't your fault. And I'm still getting used to it. Everything is so heightened, and it's only been a couple days. There's a lot I have to get accustomed to. I...I just wish I could turn back time. I don't want to be like this." I could feel a lump growing in my throat, and my eyes stung with tears. "I...can't believe...they...would do...something like this."

"I can't either. But, on the other hand, I can. I could tell they were going to be troublemakers since the day they stepped foot in this school. Their other friend, Dario, however, I'm not so sure. I'll have to keep a close eye on him. And it pains me to say so, Ramona, but I will have to keep a close eye on you as well."

My breath caught in my throat. "I-I mean, I wouldn't do anything to hurt anyone. Especially Nathan, if that's what you're worried about."

Hamiel waved it off. "Oh, no, I didn't entirely mean it in that way. I just meant that we've never encountered this kind of situation before. I have met a vampire-angel hybrid before, but never have I met one whose vampire side was a blackeye. Quite an anomaly, for certain."

My heart skipped a beat. "You mean I'm not the only one? Vangel, I mean?"

An expression crossed his face that portrayed he thought he had said to much. "Oh, uh, well, no, I guess you're not alone. Well, I don't know. You see, the individual I am speaking of was my brother Tamiel's wife, Umera. But she was killed tragically a long time ago, and I don't know of any others besides her that could be out there. It is a possibility, but a quite slim one."

I gasped. "Hamiel, you have to tell me more! All this time, I thought I was the only one. Tell me about her, about Umera! What was she like?"

He seemed a bit taken aback by my sudden interest, but obliged nonetheless. "Well," he sighed. "She was smart, resourceful. When it came to the people she cared about, she would do anything for them. But then she couldn't, and she became lost in grief. It was her demise, after all...," he trailed off, seemingly getting lost in a flood of his memories. "You see, my brother had used the same spell I did to turn a blackeye human, after this blackeye, whose name was Nocturne, had terrorized village after village.

"The casualties were only multiplying, so my dear brother did what he thought was best, turned Nocturne human, and cast him from the land, never to be seen again. Umera was the only person he told, believing he could trust her. She believed so too, until during one such conversation, with a Chancellor in disguise no less, she let it slip that he had used the forbidden spell. Shortly after...my dear brother, may he rest in peace...well, you know what happens to those who defy the law of the Chancellors. That is why no one must know that I used the spell, Ramona." He took a deep breath. "I know Demeille practically undid it, but I could still get in trouble. I used a memory wipe spell on him, removing all knowledge of me performing the spell that shall not be named, so you are the only other person that knows."

I gulped. "No pressure, right?" I joked, laughing nervously. "Your secret is safe with me, Hamiel," I told him. After a few moments of silence, I changed the subject. "So, what happened to Umera?"

"Well, when she learned of what happened to Tamiel, she felt so guilty that she sold her soul to forget about him. You see, at the time, magic was quite basic and spells pertaining to subjects of the mind had not yet been developed. And without her soul, as more time passed, she simply...withered away." He waved his fingers, illustrating. "Definitely not a cheery story. It's hard for me to talk about, but I feel I can trust you, Ramona. And I know you might feel alone in this world, so it must have been nice for you to hear about another of your kind. Well, minus the depressing story ending."

I smiled. "Thank you for telling me the story, though, Hamiel. I appreciate it. It is nice to know that I may not be the only one of my kind out there. Up until today, I thought I was the only one." The school bell rang, signaling the end of first period. "Oh, well, I guess I better get to my next class," I laughed. As I left his office, I kept going back to the knowledge that maybe I wasn't the only vangel.

And the thought both excited and terrified me.