Stuck

Prompt: Every demon is assigned a guardian angel in hopes that they’ll grow kind enough to go to heaven. You’re an angel and you’re assigned to a demon that’s the sweetest thing you’ve ever seen. Credit: writing.prompt.s

Response:

Each smile from this child was sickening. Demonic aura mixed with the truest kindness. It set my pulse in ragged turmoil and disgust. I just didn’t understand. I should have been used to it by now.

He was Status: Destroy-the-World demon. Demons like him are always at least encouraging the abuse of all The Creator said was “good;” Bullying kids, brushing off environmental concerns, just being a simple deceiving or hateful voice. I’d heard and dealt with plenty before.

He stroked the starving rain-soaked kitten and held it close to his chest. “Shh. You’re safe now.” His voice was the comfort of fire on a cold winter night. The sincerity reached me mixed with the poison of the devil.

He stood and turned away from the raging stream, thunder crashing overhead while the kitten opened its mouth to give a silent cry. His body was hunched over slightly, an attempt to protect it from the rain and keep it warm.

All his life he was good. He protected kids, gave to charity, promoted ways to protect the earth–he even repented for things that would be considered sins for a human! Yet, he still retained his demon aura and status. Was I somehow failing at my job?

Lightning flashed overhead as he tromped through the swampy evolution of the wooded area. The kitten’s black fur moved ever so slightly at the chest. “Don’t try to speak. It’s okay, now. I’ve got you.”

His eyes flicked through the dripping hair that plastered against his face, searching for some sort of shelter. I kept my distance. Not that he could see me anyway, but because the mixture of water and oil was hard to be close to.

When a mission is successful and the demon turns to goodness, their demon aura and status fades to give way to holiness. The two cannot mix. I would move on to the next child. Normally.

Finding a mostly above puddles ground, he carried the kitten and sat against a tree there. The rain smacked the other side of the tree, and the thunder crashed loudly, causing him to flinch, but the kitten did not move this time. His thumb stroked its fur gently. Its eyes couldn’t even open yet, but the mouth opened slightly before giving up and closing again.

“It’s okay,” he said again, placing it gently on his lap in his hands. “You’re not alone.” His voice cracked quietly with the remaining rumbles in the sky. The tiny head burrowed into his hand as if to say thank you before it stopped breathing. He let out a shaky breath, a laugh mixed with tears, and brought his ear to the body to listen to the last heartbeats. He listened long after I watched the tiny soul return to the earth.

Frowning, I walked forward to make my presence known. He didn’t look up.

“You knew it was going to die. Yet, your intentions were to save it. What is this?” I asked.

“Just go away.” He still didn’t move.

“This life was doomed from birth. Even some succeeding humans would choose to leave it at the stream. You even had the power to quicken its death.” My own aura left a brighter circle around me.

“You would have had me kill it then?” He lowered the body, his eyes lingering on it.

“Many humans think of it as ending suffering,” I replied. “They are not wrong.”

“I could have put it out of its misery. Shortened the time of pain.” He looked up at me, sharp flames of demonic essence in his eyes. “But this life hadn’t known love yet.”

My pulse tangled around me in discord. His eyes turned to where the golden ropes of my pulse would be seen around my physical being. I could feel them moving frantically in discomfort.

“What is wrong with you?” I asked him.

He put the kitten’s body on the ground and stood, staring downward.

For a moment, only the rain and thunder could be heard until I narrowed the question, “Why are you still a demon?”

Finally he looked up at me and it felt like my pulse would break, a thing I had never imagined before.

Beyond the black and purple flames, there was fear in his eyes. Fear and confusion. A disonant echo of the question after years of resilient hope.

Lightning flashed overhead, and our frozen silhouettes shadowed the ground.