The Demon's Angel

Chapter 9

Kurt
I was more than skeptical about making me a new act, but I was also relieved. Hopefully, I would never have to put on those horns or carry that pitchfork again.

To my surprise, Lance was actually excited about my new act. "When Margali told me about it, I volunteered to help out right away. She had the idea to involve the whole circus in telling a story, to connect the acts. And guess what?" I looked over at him; he was practically glowing. "What?" I asked, grinning. "They're letting Elizabeth be a part of it! This will be her first time performing!" My smile widened at this. "I bet she's excited," I said. At the moment, Elizabeth was out practicing with Rose. I was proud of her for picking up the silks so quickly. She looked so graceful, beautiful, even, when she was up there. She would be an amazing addition to the circus.

Even more than my pride in her, I felt relief that she had decided to stay. I really liked her and wanted her to be happy. She definitely was, even if she wasn't quite comfortable with everyone here yet. She would be soon, though. I was sure of it.

Suddenly, a scream sounded from somewhere along the tents. I jumped up and looked for the source of the sound, but I was quickly distracted by several shadows that seemed to appear out of nowhere. I looked up, horror building in me. At least five missiles were getting shot up around us. The closest was a mile away at most. Others were mere dots on the horizon. I whipped around, and concentrating on the practice tent, teleported away.

When I arrived, I yelled, "Everyone hurry and go to your trailers!" I looked up to where Elizabeth was flying down from the silks. "Elizabeth! Come on!" I yelled. She landed right beside me, one of her wings narrowly missing my head. "What?" she asked curiously. I grabbed her arm and steered her around so that she faced the entrance to the tent. Her eyes widened at the sight outside. She turned to me. "Kurt, what's going on?" she asked. I didn't know. I only knew that I had to try to keep her, Amanda, and Margali safe. "I don't know," I said seriously. "Come on." I teleported her into the trailer. "Stay here," I commanded. She crossed her arms stubbornly. "No, I'm helping!" I sighed, knowing that I couldn't stop her. "Go find Amanda, zen. I'll get meine Mutter." She nodded before running outside and flying away.

I began to teleport around the camp quickly. People had realized what was going on by now, and they were running and screaming for loved ones. I found Margali pointing out Lance in the crowd to his mother. I grabbed her and Lance's mother without explanation. I dropped her off with Lance and then went to the trailer. Elizabeth was already there with a terrified looking Amanda. None of us knew what to do, so we just huddled together on Margali's bed in the back room. Even though it wouldn't really be safe if a missile hit it, it felt safer than outside.

Suddenly, we heard a boom outside. Elizabeth flinched, put her arms around my waist, and buried her face in my chest. She trembled against me, her face hidden. Her wings folded tightly against her back. Amanda sat stiffly upright, as if in shock. I didn't do anything but wrap my tail comfortingly around Elizabeth. I knew she was crying; I could feel the tears begin to seep through my sleeve. I bowed my head and began to mutter, "Lord help us in zis time of need. Protect us and keep us safe in zis nightmare....." As I continued to mutter, Margali looked at all of us, and suddenly, she was singing. I stopped praying and looked at her. Although I knew five languages, I didn't know this one. It was hauntingly beautiful. Elizabeth immediately stilled, but she still would not do anything but scoot closer to me. I put an arm around her along with my tail, pulling her into my lap. She curled even closer, as if she were once again a small child. Then, I pulled Amanda in too. She seemed grateful for the gesture, hugging me back. And so we sat this way, with Margali singing and me holding my sister and my friend, until the world outside went silent.

Elizabeth continued to tremble violently, even after the loud noises ceased. I knew that, like me, they would have been amplified ten times with her heightened hearing. "What's wrong, Lizzie?" I murmured. "It's ok...." She shook her head. "No, it isn't. I-I heard people talking when I went to get Amanda. The same thing that was happening here was happening everywhere. All missiles and atomic weapons were being shot straight into space. The world is falling apart around us, Kurt." I was shocked. How could all the world's weapons be shot simultaneously into the sky? I felt my eyes widen, but I quickly blinked it away and hugged Elizabeth tighter. "No, it isn't," I insisted. "Everything will turn out fine, Lizzie. It always does." I felt Elizabeth smile against me. "Since when am I Lizzie?" she asked. I grinned. "Since I came up with the nickname just now," I said. Amanda made a mock-gagging noise beside me. Elizabeth sat up with a laugh and pushed Amanda playfully. Amanda giggled. "Hey!" I complained. "No fighting on me!" Even Margali began to smile.

No one dared to come out of their trailer until the next morning. Once they did, however, everyone was relieved to see that no damage had come to the circus. It had turned out that the explosion that had terrified everyone so badly had come from a missile that had malfunctioned and exploded miles away. Practices resumed as usual, but we had decided that one member of the circus would go into town every day to check the news. If anything else strange happened, then we would close.

Everyone was brainstorming about a good storyline for Margali's idea. It was Lance who came up with the one we used. "It should be a love story!" he announced at breakfast a few days after the missiles were shot. "Everyone loves a romance!" Everyone looked a bit skeptical, but Lance continued, anyways. "I already have a basic story line set up." He dragged a very surprised Elizabeth and myself to the front with him by one of our arms. "You two are the main characters. You're an angel with your wings" He pointed at Elizabeth. "and you're a demon." Elizabeth concentrated on translating the words as quickly as possible, so I quickly translated it quietly to her before turning to glare at Lance. Elizabeth, once she understood, crossed her arms. "Isn't the whole reason we're doing this is so that Kurt doesn't have to be a demon?" she asked. I felt a swell of pride at her German. She was learning really fast. Lance grinned. "That's the best part!" he exclaimed. "Yes, Kurt will be a demon, BUT he won't be evil. He was kicked out of hell because he wasn't bad enough to be a demon. However, since he isn't perfect, he can't be an angel. Same with Elizabeth. She was kicked out of heaven because she wasn't perfect, but she isn't evil. Therefore, she can't be a demon. Neither belong in the place that they were meant for. They don't fit in heaven or hell, so they're sent to earth, where they meet and eventually fall in love!"

Everyone stared openmouthed at Lance. I don't think that any of us thought that Lance could think of something that good. I once again translated to be sure Elizabeth understood everything. She was actually the first to say (very grudgingly), "That's actually not that bad of an idea..." Lance beamed. "I thought it would be a good lesson to the audience too; the way you look doesn't define who you are. I mean a lot of people have called Kurt a demon-" I flinched slightly at the truth in his words. "when he's nothing like that. They don't take the time to know him because of how he looks. I thought that maybe we could change least a few people's minds." I understood what he meant, and I suddenly very much wanted to be a part of it. "I'm in," I said seriously. Everyone turned to look at me. Soon, everyone was nodding there heads. "What will it be called?" asked Elizabeth. "Quand les anges et les démons tombent amoureux," said Lance triumphantly. "It means, 'When Angels and Demons Fall in Love' in French." Since I knew French, it wasn't that impressive of a name to me, but everyone else seemed to like it. Therefore, our work to make a show began.

Lance was in charge because the show was his idea. He explained on the first day, "This show won't have lines, like the others. Instead, it will be made up of singing and your separate acts to tell the story." I had the opening act. We would build a slightly raised platform the could hide me and a small trampoline. I would leap out so that it looked like I was thrown out of hell, the music creating the voices of the other demons. This would be a simple illusion, but also very effective. Elizabeth would 'fall from heaven' by going down the silks at such a fast rate that she really looked like she was falling. I actually panicked a bit the first time I saw her perform this correctly.

I enjoyed working on the show. Everyone would become a part of one story, and so far, it looked amazing. All of the performers were enjoying themselves immensely. The show looked like it would be amazing.