Of Angels and Demons

Chapter 11

A/N: I wrote this in 4 hours no break, so I hope it's good XD
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"Richie...?" A soft voice brought the angel out of his deep sleep.
He groaned, his body sore, and he felt the wooden bench he laid on make things worse.
"Wh-What are you doing here? Where's your friend?" The voice continued as Richie tried to focus on the the figure.
His eyesight was slightly blurry.
It was early dawn. The sky was a dark blue, and sunrise wasn't anywhere near visible.
As his vision cleared, he could see a, somewhat, familiar figure standing over him.
She wore a short sleeved shirt and jeans, sweat clearly covering her, and she was lightly panting.
She must have been running.
Richie groaned again as he managed to sit up, "Who are you?"
"It's Beverly. We met last night? At the bar, remember?"
Richie stretched and he could hear his body make terrible cracking noises as he worked out the muscles.
"W-Why are you here? I mean... what happened to your friend? Did something hap-"
"He's not my friend." Richie broke her off sharply.
Visions of last night came flooding to him by her words.
A few beats of silence.
"Oh. Well... were you not able to at least find a hotel? I mean... Jesus." Beverly managed the last part below a whisper.
"I just needed some rest." Richie said simply, "I will be on my way now."
With that, he stood, but didn't get far.
His legs gave out and his head spun, making the world blurry and out of place.
"Woah. Woah." Beverly managed to catch him, "I don't think that's such a good idea..."
"I'm fine." Richie managed but didn't sound the least bit convincing.
"I doubt that. Come on, I'll take you to my place. You need proper rest, and treatment. You might have caught something out here." Beverly said as she managed to wrap one of his arms around her shoulders.
"I didn't catch anything." Richie mumbled, too tired to understand the meaning.
"Well. Better safe than sorry. Come on." Beverly urged him, and they made their way out of the park.

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"Ben!" Beverly called out as she and Richie stumbled into a house.
After a few seconds, another familiar figure appeared in the room.
"What's wr- Who's that...? Is that...?" He stumbled over his words.
"Yes. Now help me put him in our guest room. He's had a rough night. I found him sleeping on one of the benches in the park." Beverly explained.
"Oh shit." Ben breathed.
They worked together to help Richie into another room until he was gently set down onto a bed.
He wanted to fall asleep right then and there, but he should have been wary of his surroundings, better yet the people who were surrounding him.
"Get some sleep. We'll check on you later. Stay as long as you need." Beverly said.
Somewhere in the middle of that sentence, he fell asleep.

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When he came to, the first thing he noticed was the feeling of a hand on his forehead.
Without a second thought, he reached up, jerking the limb away from him.
Why the fuck did this demon come back?
"Hey, hey. It's okay. It's just me." A soft, female voice sounded.
Richie's eyes opened wider, more memories flooding through.
He slowly turned his head to her.
She looked a little shocked and slightly scared.
Richie took a deep breath, focusing up at the ceiling, "I'm sorry."
"It's okay. Looks like you had a rough night. Do you mind telling me what happened?" Beverly spoke up.
Richie was silent for a long time.
He could tell her, but he didn't know how, he didn't even know how to put it himself.
"There's nothing to tell." He finally managed.
More silence.
Beverly sighed, "Okay. Well. The shower's on the right over there, it's free to use if you need, Okay?"
Richie nodded.
After a few more minutes, he was alone.

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Richie stared at the reflection in the mirror.
Now he understood why the humans were concerned, and even wary of him.
His hair was messy, going every  which way.
He had a couple cuts on his face that he didn't recall getting.
He was constantly overcome by visions of the previous night.
Richie and Eddie sitting at a bar, trying different types of drinks.
Meeting the four humans.
For a split second during that time, he forgot he was an angel, let alone what he was doing there.
Next, he and Eddie were stumbling out of the bar, laughing at each other's jokes.
Then he accidentally slipped, and they somehow ended up backed into a wall.
After that, it was slightly blurry.
One thing he remembered clearly, was the demons' lips on his. They were warm, soft, almost loving.
They somehow possessed him to do the same.
That's when the anger arose.
'I am an angel. You are a demon. A sinful abomination to this world.'
His eyes squeezed shut.
'What? That I'd started caring about you? I don't. I don't care about you.'
"Stop!" He almost shouted the next reply out loud, a fist lashing out at the mirror before him. A loud shattering noise. It wasn't enough. He went at the mirror until there was nothing left, then found a few other things to destroy.
And then-
Richie's eyes opened, meeting his reflection once again.
He swore he could see a different being in that mirror. It was angry, filled with nothing but hunger for destruction.
Richie closed his eyes again, quickly turning on the sink and splashing water to his face.
It was relieving, and when he saw his reflection again, it was back to normal.
He sighed, before glancing over at the shower.
It looked a little fancier than the ones he'd seen in other places he and Eddie had been.
Eddie...
Richie shook his head, trying to clear his mind from any thoughts.
He all but tore his shirt off, but was quickly reminded of the two contraptions on his back.
He slowly turned his back to the mirror, looking at the patches that were still secure.
There was a hint of redness behind them.
Blood?
Richie growled, preparing himself as he ripped off the first bandage.
Then the second.
He was now faced with the two gashes where his wings would be. They were a dark red, and blood seemed to have been occasionally escaping.
He was almost sure that the bench he slept on triggered it.
Another quick image of the night Eddie had put the patches on his back.
Another quick shake to clear the vision from his mind.
He slowly made his way to the shower, setting the waters to his preferred temperature.
It took all of his courage to get in. He knew the pain he was about to face from the scars, but, he had to clean them.
Once he was in, water almost instantly turned red as it hit his body.
Pain. So much pain.
It took every fiber in his being not to cry out.
He didn't need to bother these humans any more than they had to.
As time passed, the pain became somewhat bearable and he slowly tried to clean off what he could of the past injuries.

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It was almost an hour when Richie finally exited the bathroom.
There were a few choices of clothing he found laid out on a table in the room.
After finding a comfortable set, he staggered out the room.
His back burned like hell.
He found the pair of humans that brought him in.
"Richie. You're up..." Beverly stood up, Ben soon after.
"Yes. Thank you for your assistance." Richie nodded.
"Well. Are you hungry? I just made some pancakes." Ben offered.
"Um... sure, but..." Richie trailed off, he rarely talked to humans, so he didn't know how different they were to talk to than Eddie, "Do you have a TV?"
The two glanced at each other, a confused expression on their face, before answering, "Uh. Yeah. Anything specific you want to watch?"
"The news. Please." Richie said.
Beverly nodded and guided him into another room with a large flat screen TV.
Beverly offered him to sit on the couch while she turned on the TV.
Soon, the familiar scenes of people on the screen talking about current situations.
Pandemic.
Sports.
Weather.
Finally,
'It would seem that another town has been struck. This time, there are a few engraved sigils, signs and shapes. Police are baffled and are unable to decipher what this 'message' could be-'
"Is there a way to pause?" Richie asked, leaning forward, eyes glued to the screen.
Beverly nodded, and the audio broke off, image going still.
Richie squinted his eyes, trying to see the words past the blurry film.
Angels. Demons. Richie. Sacramento.
He felt his wings twitch from within, indicating they weren't far.
And he'd be damned if he let them get away again.
"Richie? What is this about?" Beverly asked.
Richie snapped his attention from the TV.
Right.
"Um. I thank you for all your help, but I have to leave now." Richie said before heading for the front door.
He ignored the questions and protests.
Once he was far enough away from prying eyes, he let his wings burst free.
It was painful, but that was the least of his worries right now.
With one burst of air beneath his wings, he took to the skies.
For a second. A split second, he glanced back at where he'd come from, scanning the grounds where he had left Eddie that night.
A small part of him had hoped he would be somewhere down there.
Nothing.
Who was he kidding?
Why would he even think about coming back to him. After what he said.
Taking a deep breath, he went deeper into the skies before setting a steady but quick pace, letting his wings guide him.
Finally. He could end this.
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A/N: Well. The time is coming to wrap this story up. :)