Page 34 of An Unexpected Ascension
CiCi and I met in cheer freshman year, but didn’t click until recently over the one thing we had in common... Matt. After that experience, we both decided it was best to go to Prom together.
My friend waltzes into our small foyer, both of us squealing. Her in her pink silk dress and gold strapped heels and me in my purple tulle. We take turns spinning each other around, my mother giggling and finally begging us to take pictures before we leave.
I kiss my mom on her cheek, noticing how thin her skin feels after her diagnosis last week, and suddenly the happiness fades.
“Maybe I should stay back. You and I can have a Prom here.”
“No! Briar, you can’t do that to CiCi. Go, have fun. I’m going to get some rest.”
She nudges her head to my waiting friend and reluctantly I go, leaving her with promises of an early return.
Only, I didn’t return early enough.
Sirens wail outside my house as CiCi’s father’s car slows to a stop. Ripping off my heels, I run to my front door, making it inside just in time to watch my mother’s unconscious body being hauled onto a gurney.
“What happened?!” My voice came out scratchy and high pitched.
“Neighbor did a wellness check, and it seems she lost consciousness. Called it in.”
“At least you had fun.”
That voice!
I jump to my feet, spinning on my heels.
“You!” I growl.
“What? Surprised? You've come to the one place you know I would be.” The demon smirks.
“I didn’t call your name.”
“No, but I sure did call yours. Many times, Fentonelli. Cursed it, in fact, for years longer than you can imagine.”
“Why? What did I ever do to you?”
Slowly, I move my feet, pushing myself as far back into the cave as I can to keep from being sent off the cliff again. He follows, closing in on me, revealing my mistake.
His hand smacks against the rock wall beside my head, biceps rippling beneath tattooed skin. He’s ditched the leather jacket today for something far more menacing: a simple black T-shirt. Where the jacket once hid the veins and ridges, the shirt leaves his foreboding strength fully exposed.
With his other hand, he pinches my chin, forcing my face to his. He hovers over me like a wave in the ocean, threatening to render me victim to its drowning ways. I decide it’s much easier to pretend he isn’t here if I close my eyes. That face of his, so mesmerizing, could be the forbidden fruit.
“Oh Angel, it’s not so much you, but the rot in your soul from generations before you.”
“My soul isn’t rotten. I’m here in Heaven, aren’t I? That should tell you enough.”
He scoffs. “That tells me nothing except that your God is a parasite leaching power off the souls of this world. Letting anyone in, despite their dirty little deeds back on Earth. Never mind the murdering, the raping, the terrorizing. So long as they prove their everlasting fealty to the Gods, their evil is forgotten.”
He leans even closer, his breath skittering over my face and those whispers to touch come back in full force. I desperately will them to simmer, to quiet inside my head, because the last thing I want to do is please this demon who despises myrotten soul.
His eyes burrow deep inside mine, watching as I wince the louder his demands get.
Touch me, Angel. Run your fingertips down my chest. Feel me, I know you want to.
“NO!” My voice echoes through the cave as I squeeze my eyes shut. “So, you can hear it.” He chuckles in my ear.
When they flit open, my gaze narrows on his mouth that now cuts into a devious smirk.
“That was you?”
