Closing Time

38.

The pain started out slow. It began like an ice pack on my left and hot water bag on my right. It was uncomfortable, but nothing I couldn't handle. I rolled my shoulders as the heat and cold started to rise steadily. The hands wouldn't come off. The pain wouldn't go away.

A whimper escaped me as I bent my head forward, my eyes squeezed shut against the pain. My skin crawled under their fingers. The heat and cold concentrated to a fine point like the tip of a pen on my back. The sensation moved under my skin. The cold had reached a point it felt like my skin was being burnt off, and the heat made me want to scream.

My shoulders hunched as my body shook under this assault. It was almost unbearable. I wanted to scream and fling their arms away from me, but I felt glued to the seat. I couldn't move my legs, or else I'd have leapt away from them long ago. It rose and rose to a crescendo. Black spots danced behind my eyelids because of how hard they were shut. My bit lip felt raw under my teeth. I vaguely felt a tear slip down my cheek.

The pain stopped increasing after a while, but no one moved away from me. There was utter silence in the room apart from my laboured breathing. The crawling sensation slowed and finally stopped. The heat fell, the cold fell till I felt the pressure of their hands disappear after a while.

Lou's grating voice inched it's way into my brain as I stayed in that position. "It's done, Ryleigh."

"Great." I gritted out, eyes still shut. The pain hadn't gone away. One mental slip-up would make me scream, and I am not in the right state to deal with a noise complaint.

"The treaty is set once more. The wielder is now out of both our powers." The reverberating voices of the angels did my headache no favours. "Watch your back, human."

I forced my eyes open and nodded slowly. "As soon as... it stops hurting." I replied as I turned to slowly look at them.

"The pain shall vanish in a few hours."

"Few... hours?" I could feel sweat start to form on my head. "Big... powerful beings like you... and this is the best... you can do?"

Their blue eyes didn't waver at my nasty jab. "There is no other way to do this."

"Anaesthetic... would have... been nice." I turned back around. My head pressed against my knee as I leaned forward. "Thank you... for the audience."

"Stay safe, wielder. Your journey is in your hands now."

I didn't feel the warm gust from an angel's exit, I just felt their presence vanish at my back. I waited for Lou's presence to vanish as well, but all I heard were footsteps beside me. His shoes appeared in my vision as I cracked my eyes open once more. He stood right in front of me. "What... is it?"

Lou's knees bent as he crouched. I raised my head and realised that I was inches from his deformed face. Dark eyes bored into mine, mouth still split wide open to show his array of sharp teeth. "It hurts, doesn't it?"

"Are you... deaf?"

"No." I felt his talon slide down the side of my face to rest under my chin. He supported my face with just that. "This face of yours is... rather interesting to see. I didn't even see this when you were dying."

I snickered at that, my pain rose as my body shook. It cut me off abruptly. "Any longer and... and I'll have to-ugh-charge."

"I'll pay with my body if I have to." Lou smirked back. My head bobbed as his talon dropped out from under my chin. The colour returned to his face and the darkness receded to his pupil. "You'll be down for a few hours."

"I'll... be there... at work."

"In ten hours?"

"The angels said... few hours."