The Good, the Bad, and the Damned

Chapter Twelve

Don't you just love when you find plot holes in your own book? Ugh. I had this whole other storyline, but it didn't end up working with the rest of the book. So now I have to go through all of the chapters and take bits and pieces out and rewrite things and ugh. So annoying. But here we are. It's Thursday, and here is the weekly chapter. It's shorter than a lot of the others but whatever. Hope you enjoy.

xoxo

-Sierra

Of course my sleep was filled with terrible dreams featuring, you guessed it, my brother's dead body and millions of spiders. This time something was different though. There was someone, something, else there. It wasn't Lilith. It didn't feel evil. If I didn't know better, I'd say it was an angel. It's presence filled my nightmare with light, causing the spiders to retreat and the vision of Luca's body to disappear. I should have scrambled away in horror too, but this being, this light, it was so warm and comforting, like a mother's hug after a hard day. It was like a warm blanket, bucket of popcorn, and a scary movie on a rainy day. I could only see a vague outline. It didn't have wings that I could see, or a halo. It was just a person. The most beautiful person I had ever seen. She didn't speak, but I could hear her voice. It was soft, but not like Lilith's was soft. Whereas Lilith was a cunning sort of soft, this being's voice was soft in the way that melted chocolate is soft. Warm and smooth and delicious.

You have suffered so much. I am truly sorry for that, and for everything that you have yet to face.

"What are you talking about? What do I have to face?"

Just remember. Nothing and no one is as it seems. 

"What do you mean? Help me. Please."

Oh my beautiful girl. I have. I'm afraid you must do this next part on your own. Remember my warning. 

Everything began to fade around me, including her. "No. Wait, please! What did any of that mean?" But she was gone. Everything was gone. I opened my eyes. It was dark outside. Asmodeus was still curled up on my lap as a kitten. I still felt exhausted, but at least I didn't feel dead anymore. At least not completely. I looked over to see Alex staring fixedly at the road. He looked like he hadn't blinked in hours. 

"We can pull over for the night if you want. You need to sleep too," I said. He jumped, jerking the wheel slightly. It was a good thing the road was empty. "Sorry," I said sheepishly.

"It's okay. I was just zoning out. How'd you sleep?" I noticed that he didn't say anything about pulling over. 

"Fine I guess. Nightmares." I didn't tell him about the angel. I didn't know what else to call her besides an angel. Alex grimaced.

"You should probably refrain from doing magic for a couple days. We wouldn't want you going to hell the hard way." I laughed weakly at his attempt at a joke. In truth, it hit a little too close to home. Just how close I didn't yet know. 

"I plan to. But once I get my strength back I can do a fake drivers' license so that it isn't just you driving." I don't know why I hadn't thought of that earlier. Then again, I had had a lot going on. 

"Sounds good," he responded. There was a peculiar edge to his voice. I just put it down to how tired I knew he was.

"You should really pull over and get some sleep," I repeated.

"I'm fine."

"You're not."

"How would you know?" He snapped. I was still much to tired to deal with his shit.

"Is there something you want to say to me?" I asked, fighting to keep my voice level.

"No."

"If we're going to do this, we need to be able to trust each other. I know this has been hard for you, but it's not like I forced you to come with me. You wanted this. Do not blame me for your regret. I have enough to deal with." Alex just nodded mutely, his mouth set in a thin line. I rolled my eyes. Boys. 

Don't be too hard on him love. Asmodeus was speaking in my head again. I had thought he was asleep. I don't sleep. I guess that makes sense. 

He's just so frustrating. I didn't want him coming along in the first place and now he's mad at me? I thought. I had never actually tried communicating with Asmodeus in my mind before. It had always just been him invading my private thoughts and me shouting at him to quit it. 

You may not have forced him, but you pretty much barged into his life. He's a good person. I'm not sure that there is a universe anywhere that he wouldn't have felt the need to go with you. I wasn't used to Asmodeus being so...wise? No, surely not. But he was giving me pretty good advice. I didn't know what to think about that. He was right. I had pretty much just appeared in his life. We had always been friends, but it was really more of a smile and nod in the hallway sort of friendship. Until Luca had sent the one text that changed everything. Not to mention the shared secret of that library alcove with its peculiar books, including the very book that had gotten me into this entire mess. Gotten both of us into it. I suddenly felt very guilty. 

"I'm sorry," I said out loud. 

"For what?" Alex responded, eyes never leaving the road. 

"For dragging you into all of this. I really should have just left the stupid book where I found it." Alex's expression softened slightly. 

"It's not like I'm completely innocent in that regard. I egged you on, helped you with the translating, let you almost send me through the roof, literally." He was smiling slightly.

"I wouldn't say you let me," I corrected playfully. He laughed, and the tension that had been between us since I had shown up on his doorstep dissolved. 

"You should really work on your aim," he agreed. 

"Everyone's a critic," I responded, rolling my eyes. I leaned my head against the cool window. It could have been any other road trip between friends. But it wasn't. I took a deep breath.

"Seriously, whenever you get tired, pull over. I would prefer to make it to LA alive." Alex looked over briefly and smiled. I closed my eyes. I was already tired again.

Thank you. 

Anytime love. Asmodeus responded. I reached over and stroked his soft kitten fur. I smiled as he began to purr. I fell into a deep, and this time dreamless, sleep.