Shadows and silence surrounded Ben for what seemed like an eternity. He opened his eyes to the night sky stretched above him. Stars glittered against the unending midnight. In the inky darkness, the only other light was the reddened moon.

Ben stared skyward for what seemed like hours. Rising and falling on unnervingly calm waves as his body floated on an ever-expanding ocean. He reached, his arm outstretched to the stars, as he felt something drip down his face. Turning his hand, he focused on it, his eyes widening in realization.

It was blood, an ocean of it, in fact. It soaked his clothes, clinging to him like a second skin, the weight trying its damndest to drag him into the depths.

Ben snapped himself out of the trance, fighting the downward pull as he reached the white, crystallized shore, resting on his knees as he struggled to catch his breath.

The surrounding landscape was barren, wasted. Spires of twisted metal and ash stretched across, the occasional charred bones protruding from the blackened ground. He looked once more at his hands, the blood from before running through his fingers and down his arm. The longer he stared, the clearer he could hear the screams.

Please, no!

Everyone, run! Befo—

I don’t wanna die!

Help me!

Ben gripped his chest, his throat tightened as he clamped his reddened hands against his ears before a bright flash erupted from the sky. As he looked up, he could see a strange figure made entirely of light, its form both beautiful and terrifying. An extensive series of shining rings adorned in an unknown language flowed from its back. Its judgmental eyes glared down at him.

Ben stared in horror as it grew even brighter, blinding. A flame whipped out from it, tearing across his vision until it consumed everything in his sight.

The light from the flames faded, but his surroundings had changed. In front of Ben was a small, weathered RV. It burned, almost as if with the same damning fire as before. A woman’s scream echoed from within, begging for help.

Ben looked down next to him. Laying on the ground, wounded, was an unconscious girl with black, matted hair that stretched down to her mid-back. She was young, couldn’t have been over four or five, but he recognized her immediately.

Lilly.

Kneeling, Ben pressed his hands against her forehead. A dark red streak remained when he removed it, the blood from his hands. He stumbled back.

What the hell is this?

Ashes and embers rose high into the night sky as people arrived from the nearby forest. They, like Ben and Lilly, were dark of hair, skin like clay. Feathers adorned some of them, some tied to clothing and others tied into the various braids in their hair.

The leader of the group first looked at the blaze, then back at Ben. He raised an accusing finger.

“There they are! Kill the Devil children!”

One of them pulled a weapon and aimed at the two. Ben jumped in front of Lilly. The white flash of the gunshot filled his vision, and soon, he found himself elsewhere.

This time, he was in a room full of people that looked like they were in their late teens or early twenties. They all sat around a small campfire in the middle of the room, conversing hushedly.

A girl with caramel skin and brown hair was muttering an incantation while bent over with folded hands. A prayer. Another person beside her, a blonde male in his late teens or early twenties, nudged her.

“Not right now, Cassie. We’ve got planning to do.”

Cassie momentarily stopped and turned to the girl next to her. “Lilly, shut Jess up before I smack him.”

As the girl turned to face him, Ben looked at her pale, gentle face. Her black, silky hair cascaded down her back, drawing attention to the scars that lined her cheek. Her appearance had changed since the previous vision, and she looked to be in her late teens now. Even then, there was no mistaking it.

If this is real, Ben thought as his eyes widened, then she’s alive.

Lilly smacked Jess as her dark brows furrowed, the light from the fire illuminating her gray eyes. “Leave her be, Jess.”

Jess got to his feet. “Alright, listen, I want to figure out how to survive this hellhole. The Guard wants us all dead, and honestly, I don’t think any of your religious crap will help us right now. We need to do something, not pray.”

“Cassie can do whatever the hell she wants.” Standing, Lilly glared at him. “It’s not harming anybody.”

“It’s annoying,” Jess said with a roll of his eyes, “not to mention distracting.”

“Still not your problem,” Lilly said, crossing her arms.

“Whatever,” Jess grumbled. “Just make it qu—”

Suddenly, the window on the side of the room shattered, and several armor-clad soldiers beached the room.

“We’ve found them! We found the freaks!” the one in charge shouted.

“Kill them all!” the leader commanded.

The one called Jess stood up and ignited a spark of black electricity in his hand, proceeding to fry the officer that had just barked the order.

“James!” Jess shouted to the third guy. “They’ve found us!”

James, a dark-skinned male in his mid-twenties, ignited flames in his own hands and attacked the invading soldiers. “Come on! We’ve got to get out of here!”

The battle faded from Ben’s vision. A voice erupted from behind him.

Ben…

He shook his head. Did someone just call his name?

Please come back to me.

Ben spun and looked at the nearby door, the outline illuminated by a blinding light. He walked toward it and grabbed the handle. The bright light engulfed him, bringing him out of the vision and back to reality.

----------------------------------------

Ben woke up to see Ariana resting her head on his chest and her hand on his. He sighed in relief that the horrifying things he had seen were only a dream.

Or were they?

When he looked at his hands again, he could almost feel the stickiness of the blood from earlier. To his relief, it was gone, yet the image had burned itself into his mind. A world in ruins, an ocean of blood, and the terrifying thing that had unknowingly lingered in the back of his mind since he first arrived in New Eden. But what was it?

The judgmental eyes flashed across his vision, burning into him, the accusing voices becoming louder. It continued until he instinctively placed one of his hands on Ariana.

Ben shook himself out of it, the vision fading as he felt her steady breaths against his chest. He smiled tenderly and ran his charred fingers through her hair before gently shaking her shoulder.

Ariana blinked several times, then sat up straight. “Ben! You’re awake!” She hugged him tightly, squeezing all the air out of him.

“Ari…” Ben wheezed. “You’re crushing me.”

She released him and sat back in her chair. “Oh. Sorry.”

“I wouldn’t worry about it. You give good hugs.”

Ariana’s cheeks flushed red. She shook her head and rested her elbows on the edge of the bed. “So, how are you feeling?”

Ben swung his legs over and stood up as he stretched. He also noticed that the pain from yesterday was gone.

“I feel great.” He paused for a moment. “What happened to me?”

Ariana blinked. “You don’t remember? The demon attack?”

“Wait, I remember something.” Ben’s eyes widened. “I was trying to get to you, then…”

If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

Ben’s mind returned to that moment in the alley after killing the first demon. That same feeling returned to him, one of power. Beyond that, it had filled him with something else.

“That’s right. Those demons tried to hurt you. I killed them.” Ben quickly clenched his fist, then slowly opened his palm. A dark flame grew around his hand as his eyes narrowed with sudden fascination.

“Ben.” Ariana’s eyes widened. “Please put that away.”

He ignored her, unable to take his eyes off it. “I can use this to protect you, the village. I can—”

Kill them all.

“Please. You’re scaring me—” Ariana reached for Ben’s arm; he spun and accidentally scorched her wrist. He quickly extinguished the flame as Ariana fell back, clutching her arm as her pain seeped from her quivering lips.

“Ari, are you okay?” He froze upon seeing the burn mark. “Did I…hurt you?”

“It’s not that bad.” Ariana avoided his gaze as she covered it with her free hand. “I’ll be—”

“—I’m sorry.” Ben moved away from her as he heard a thumping in his ears. “I didn’t mean—”

“It’s alright. I can still—”

“Your dad was right, Ari.” His breaths quickened; his hands trembled. “I can’t even be near you. I need to go, I—”

Ariana crawled forward and placed her injured hand on his. He tried to pull away, but she held him firm. She met his quivering eyes with a soft, reassuring smile.

“It’s okay. I promise.”

As their eyes bore into one another, the door flung open. Standing there was another angel with his dagger drawn, his sharp eyes halfway hidden behind his glasses.

“Is everything alright, Ari?” The angel paused upon seeing the two of them so close together. “Oh. I didn’t mean to interrupt.”

Ben felt his face warm as he and Ariana exchanged a brief look. They scooted from each other and briskly stood to their feet.

“It’s fine, Daniel,” she said, her cheeks red. “You weren’t interrupting anything.”

Daniel arched an eyebrow before shifting his gaze to Ben with a warm smile as he sheathed his dagger and reached out, “Ah! Good to see you awake. My name is Daniel. I’m a friend of Zachariel’s.”

Ben shook his hand and returned the greeting. Daniel motioned for him to sit on the bed. “So, how was your nap? Restful, I hope?”

“I guess you could say that,” Ben replied, his eyes narrowed as the angel examined him. “Where’s Zachariel?”

“He will be out of town for a day or two. In the meantime, you and the village are under the care of Kafziel and myself.” The angel slowly twisted Ben’s arm as he inspected it. “How do you feel right now?”

“Good…I guess. Ever since I killed those demons and took a nap.”

Daniel paused as he and Ariana briefly exchanged looks. “Yes…there’s that, too. You caused quite a commotion yesterday with that fire of yours.” His aged eyes flickered. “You saved Ariana too, but not without cost.”

“What do you mean?”

Daniel’s lips tightened as he lifted Ben’s left sleeve. The blackened mark etched into his shoulder was the size of a fist. As it slowly stretched across his arm, several small branches protruded from it like fingers.

Ben tensed, and his eyes widened. “That’s where—”

“—The demon bit you, yes. The infection spreads as we speak.”

Infection? Ben wondered. His mind thought back to the fight when the demon had sunk her teeth into his arm. First came a painful, invasive sting. After that came the flames, and then the power he used to protect Ariana. But why? What good did it do the demon to infect him if it only resulted in her death?

Maybe it’s a good thing, he thought. Maybe I can keep her safe that way.

His gaze flicked to her burnt wrist. It helped him before, but because of it, he had hurt Ariana. His brows furrowed.

“Alright. How do we get rid of it?”

“That’s the bad part, I’m afraid. Other than amputation—which is impossible now since it has spread past your arm—it’s only a matter of time before it takes you. In your case, that could be…well, dangerous. For Ariana especially.”

Ben exhaled sharply in disbelief. So, it doesn’t matter after all. I’m still a danger to Ari. He briskly pulled his sleeve down and clutched his infected arm. “How long do I have?”

Daniel avoided his gaze. “Hard to say. Though if I were you, I’d avoid relying on that fire of yours. Judging from your battle with the demons, I’d say excessive use of your abilities speeds up the process. At least this way…” He pushed his glasses up to the bridge of his nose, “…you will have some time. Luckily, it seems to have spread minimally in the last few hours.”

Ben scowled, jaw clenched. He glanced over at Ariana, whose wide, azure eyes never once moved from him. He turned back to the angel. “I shouldn’t be near her. I shouldn’t even be in this room.”

“You’re not under its influence yet, Ben. I think it’s safe. For now, at least.”

“I can’t risk hurting her again. I’d never forgive myself if…” Ben’s teeth grit as he shook, unable to finish his sentence. Ariana dipped her head and hid the burnt hand behind her back.

Daniel placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder. He smiled. “We’ll fix this, Ben. Have faith.”

Ben finally looked back up, his eyes meeting the angel’s. “And what if we can’t?”

“There’s always a way.” Daniel beamed encouragingly, the way a doctor encouraging his patients would. The angel then stood to his full height and walked to the door. “I’ll be just outside the house if you need anything.” He glanced at him one more time. “I trust you, Ben. Do you trust yourself?”

“I don’t know, honestly. But thank you for the pick-me-up.” Ben allowed himself a small half-smile. “You’re more upbeat than her dad. I’ll give you that.”

Daniel winked, his glasses hung on the tip of his nose. “Well, someone has to look at the upside.” He waved and promptly walked out of the cottage. The door crept shut behind him.

Ben sighed and allowed himself to sink to the floor, his back resting against the bed. Ariana joined him, tucking her knees into her chest. She looked over at him and placed her burnt hand on his infected arm. Her sweet, forgiving eyes bore into his.

“I trust you too, Ben. With my life,” she said. “Don’t beat yourself up. Okay?”

He opened his mouth to protest, but didn’t. Instead, he nodded slowly.

Ariana beamed at him, then withdrew her hand to inspect it as she whistled. “Now, if it was bad enough to where I couldn’t play Ole Betsy…” she smirked, “…then you’d be in serious trouble.”

Ben allowed a small smile to reach his lips. “You’d kill me faster than Zachariel ever would.”

“No, but I’d have no issue beating you up over it.” Ariana giggled. “But seriously, it’s okay. I promise.”

“I—” Ben paused, the smile fading. “If you say so, Ari.”

Ariana frowned. She sighed. “Hey, Ben?”

“Yeah?” Ben replied, meeting her gaze.

“It’s still a few hours until sunrise and we’re stuck here for the time being. Wanna play a board game or something?”

“Well…” Ben pursed his lips.

“Well, what?”

Ben paused. He never really liked board games, considering he was never any good at them. He was sure even a three-year-old could beat him at checkers, given a chance.

“They’re not my thing. I suck at games, to be honest.”

Ariana gazed at him steadily and opened her eyes so wide that he could see his reflection in them. She tilted her head cutely.

“Please?”

Come on, you can resist, Ben told himself. Don’t fall for…ah, damn it. One or two won’t kill me.

“Alright, Ari.” Ben sighed. “What game did you have in mind?”

“Well…” Ariana smirked at him as if he had fallen into a trap. “I like chess.”

----------------------------------------

Out of five games, Ariana had beaten Ben at all of them, mainly because she was that awesome at chess and partially because he was straight up terrible at it.

Ariana had just toppled his king. As Ben looked back up; she gave him a cute grin, paired with puppy dog eyes.

“Wanna go another round?”

At this point, she figured that Ben might have given up. Surprisingly, he agreed. As many times as she kicked his butt already, Ben just kept persevering. As they were setting up the game pieces for what seemed like the millionth time, they conversed.

“So what happened after I blacked out?” Ben asked.

“After you killed that last demon, Dad brought you in here,” Ariana replied, moving one of her pawns. “He summoned Daniel and—”

“—That’s when he found out about the demon bite.” Ben finished for her as he moved his own pawn.

She nodded slowly. “Even before that, you…well, you scared me, Ben. I didn’t know you could be so…violent.”

Ben froze mid-move as he held his knight. He avoided her gaze as he placed it. “You’d be surprised, Ari. Besides, it wasn’t that hard to kill them. Honestly, I’d annihilate a million more demons before I let you get hurt.”

Ariana’s eyes narrowed. She could have sworn she saw his eyes flash red for a moment.

“Back in the town square…” she said, her hand ever so slightly shaking. “You had this look on your face, like you wanted to murder everyone around you. I almost thought you would. For a moment, I couldn’t tell the difference between you and the demon you killed. I’m not even sure how to describe it.”

“Ari.” Ben’s eyes met hers as he frowned. “I would never do anything like that.”

“Then promise me.” Ariana leaned in, her face inches from his. “Promise me you won’t use your fire ever again, Ben. I don’t want to lose you to it.”

Ben hesitated. “I—”

“—promise me.”

“If I can help it, I won’t. But if you’re in danger, I’ll do what I have to.” His brows furrowed. “I won’t lose you, either.”

Ariana frowned and bit her lip. More than anything, she wanted him to agree, but she knew he wouldn’t budge beyond that. She slowly nodded as she met his eye with a half-smile.

“Okay.”

Ben's storm gray eyes held her gaze as he smiled. The more she stared, the more she lost herself. “You have really pretty eyes, Ben.”

“I do?” Ben sat up and blinked. Ariana withdrew and silently cursed.

Just great, Ari, the voice in her head told her, way to ruin a perfect moment.

Shut up, Ariana mentally told it.

Ben looked back up at her. “Well, I like your eyes too. Very blue and energetic. They remind me of the sky here.”

Ariana blinked a few times and looked away, her cheeks warm.

“Hey, Ari?” he asked with a smile.

“Yeah?”

“Can I see them one more time?”

She blushed harder and turned to face him. They held the stare for about a solid minute until Ben finally spoke up with a sheepish grin.

“I win.”

Ariana’s eyes shot open as she realized what he was doing. She didn't notice as he quietly moved her pieces to the side and used his own to topple her king. Her jaw hung open in disbelief. “Hey, that’s not fair! You can’t do that!”

Ben shrugged as he maintained his smug look. “Says who?”

“Um, excuse you?” Ariana shoved him playfully. “I demand a rematch, mister!”

I swear, this boy drives me nuts! But then again, this was the part of him she adored. His real self and not the monster she had seen earlier.

Ariana stood and chased him around the room, knocking over the chess pieces. She lunged forward and caught him, but before she could claim victory, he tickled her neck, causing her to collapse onto the ground in laughter. Ben had found her weak spot.

“Ben! No, stop!” Ariana laughed uncontrollably. “Please, I’m ticklish, stop!”

“Okay, fine,” he said while laughing, moving to pull from her body. Her arms moved on their own, nudging his hands to rest gently on her sides. Their eyes met and locked, staring deep into the other as they blushed. She placed her hands on his chest, by his collarbone.

They stood, silent as they stared. The more she gazed at him, the more she felt something take control, almost an instinct. She closed her eyes and leaned in, causing him to back into her nightstand, accidentally knocking the lamp over.

Ariana squealed as the glass shattered, the light fizzled out. Both stood awkwardly in the dark, the moonlight shined through the rustic four-pane window.

“Um…sorry,” Ben said, breaking the silence.

“It’s fine. Do you think Daniel heard that?”

“Probably.”

Sure enough, they heard a knock at the front door. Ariana pursed her lips.

“I’m gonna tell him you broke it,” Ben joked.

“Not if I tell him first.” Ariana sprinted out of the room. “Ben did it!”

“It was an accident, I swear!” Ben shouted in defense as he ran after her. Ariana lunged for the door and swung it open, expecting to find Daniel. Instead, there was a tall stranger with long, jet-black hair and sharp, scarlet eyes. On his back, he carried a sword, complete with upper-body armor and a long, patchwork leather cloak.

Ben came out of the room next. “Mr. Daniel, I…” He paused, then pulled Ariana behind him protectively. The angel lay still on the ground, a few feet from the stranger.

“I heard there was someone here who can wield fire,” the stranger said as he stared blankly.

“What do you want with him?” Ariana growled.

The stranger leveled his gaze at her. His eyes narrowed. “This doesn’t concern you. He’s mine now.” With an icy glare, he placed one hand on the hilt of his sword.

“And nobody will get in my way.”