Angel in the Water
A short story based on a drawing.
Nickolai looked in awe from his hiding place. Never in his life had he seen anything so beautiful.
In all of his wanderings of the earth, the flowers, the trees nor the sunshine ever had an effect on him. But now, his breath had been taken away.
The angel's back was toward him as she hung her robe on a tree branch, and she waded in the cool water of the lake.
He knew he should feel disgusted, and that as a demon, he should kill her simply for being around. Normally he would've, and in fact he had killed a few angels before in his lifetime. But something about this one... she had a very warm presence about her, and he just couldn't tear his eyes away from her body that was glowing softly with holy light.
He felt a yearning to be warmed in her light.
He took in a breath. You're just tired Nickolai, he told himself. Thinking angels were beautiful was a no-no, and with that he got up to leave. A twig snapped under his foot, and he looked up at the woman in the water worriedly. She had turned and was staring at him wide-eyed. She rushed out of the water and snatched up her robe, intending to put it on as she ran.
"W-wait!" He chased after her, catching up to her quickly. "It's okay, I wasn't going to hurt you."
The angel looked at him suspiciously as she finished dressing. She didn't like how close he had come. The aura around her suddenly intensified and his body burned painfully, even though he hadn't touched her. He jumped back in surprise and in pain.
She gave him a good hard look, and when it didn't seem he'd come any closer, she turned and walked away.
"Wait... Don't go yet," he followed her.
She looked over her shoulder at him, giving him an odd look. "I'm not a demon you know."
"I know," is all he said.
"... If you try touching me you'll be burned."
"I know."
She shrugged and kept walking.
He followed her in silence. Why? Why was he following her? Subconciously he kept getting closer and closer. Her light was warm; intoxicating.
Nickolai hissed in pain and jumped back. His arm had brushed against hers accidentally. He took in a breath. This was probably normal. He belonged in the dark and she in the light. People say darkness is attracted to the light. So he was infatuated; once he got over it he'd kill her and be on his way. No big deal.
He had been listening to her thoughts all this time; her thoughts mainly centered on him: Why was he following her, what was up with him? Occasionally she'd think about when she left Heaven to visit the Earth. He caught her name in that memory.
Lilly. How fitting that someone as beautiful as she would be named after a flower.
"Why are you following me?" Lilly asked him suddenly.
"I don't ... know. I guess because... I'm alone," he told her, shuffling his feet as he said this. He normally didn't open up to anyone; normally he ddn't speak to anyone.
"Why aren't you down in Hell?" She looked curious. He heard her wonder about his family.
"Because there's nothing there for me."'
"Oh. Sorry." She really was sorry.
He felt a surge of some emotion at this. There wasn't anyone who cared about him in quite a long time. "So, what brings you to earth?" He asked awkwardly. Making small talk was hard for him.
"Just visiting." She looked around them. "It's pretty, isn't it?"
"Yes," he agreed, looking only at her. "Very pretty."They continued walking for a little, with bits of conversation. She didn't seem to mind his company, and even though he knew it was wrong, he found her presence comforting, and filling him with life.
Soon it was nightfall, and he realized that he had spent an entire day with an angel, and had loved every minute. He could hear her think about leaving, and he felt a crushing in his heart.
"Lilly... Can you ... stay with me?" He said this very quietly; he thought at first she hadn't heard. He looked away, ashamed of himself. He dreaded her response.
"Nickolai ... I don't know..." She sighed. Her hands fumbled together in front of her.
"I won't harm you," he promised.
Lilly hesitated before responding. "... I guess it wouldn't hurt."
Nickolai smiled at her, his first smile in several years.
They sat together talking for a bit, not ready to sleep just yet. He confided in her; told her he'd been on his own since his father had died when he was a child, and that he had come to earth looking for a new beginning, but... it was the same. He still felt empty.
"You'll find something," she had assured him. He nodded, for the first time feeling hopeful. Perhaps it was a trick from her holy aura, but he already felt like he was being filled up.
They talk for a while more until they were too tired to keep their eyes open. Nickolai, who ordinarily slept on a tree branch while on earth, stayed on the ground to stay close to the nurturing light she gave off.
Lilly watched him curl up surprisingly close to her. He was strange for a demon.
***
When Nickolai woke up the next morning he had burns on his arms and his chest. He winced as he sat up, the burns stinging like crazy.
He looked around for the angel who was the only one who could've done this to him.
Lilly was close by picking a couple of daisies. She glanced at him. "Sorry about that. I didn't move away fast enough."
She smiled at his confused look. "In the middle of the night you suddenly wrapped your arms around me."
He blinked in disbelief. Had he really done that? He couldn't remember...
"Relax," she said with a giggle. "You were asleep."
When he opened his mouth to speak he realized his lips were stiff and sore. No. No, he didn't... he couldn't have...
Lilly blushed and covered her lips with her hand.
He did.
"S-sorry..." He stammered. He should've been disgusted and killed her right then and there, but all he could think about was how he wished he could've at least remembered kissing her, so at least the pain would've been worth it.
"No, it's okay..." Lilly said softly. She smiled at him shyly.
The soft smile made his insides melt. He didn't care anymore. Angel or not, he was completely in love with her. She was all of his missing pieces. And he wanted her to make him whole again.
***
Nickolai spent a few more days with Lilly, loving every moment of it. He wished he could touch even just her hand, but if he dared to try, he'd be burned savagely.
He didn't tell her his feelings; what could he offer her, if he couldn't even hug her? He wouldn't be able to make her happy. It was impossible. But even with these thoughts plaguing his mind, he still loved being close to her.
***
"Don't go, Lilly!" he begged. After spending a week together with this angel, she told him she had to return to Heaven.
"Nicky... don't do this. I have to," she said, pain in her eyes as she began to ascend.
"No! Don't go!" He grabbed her shoulders and then let go immediately with a pained yelp. "I need you."
They were so near Heaven that its light shone upon them. Lilly looked radiant within the light, but Nickolai could feel himself growing weak and felt pained even though he wasn't touching her.
"Goodbye Nicky,"Lilly said sadly, heading up.
"NO!" He flew up above her, blocking her way.
"Nicky...!?" she gasped when she felt a tear drop on her face that wasn't her own.
Nickolai reached out to her, his hand stopping a mere inch from her face. Tears streamed down his face freely. "I love you."
***
And that's it. It started turning into shit and I didn't know how to fix it and I didn't know how to end it. So that's it. I probably won't ever finish this. But we'll see. Maybe sometime I'll try again.