Divine Justice II: Endless Dusk

The next day was bright and sunny. I managed to sleep in despite the multiple people moving about early in the morning. I always made it a habit to sleep late on weekends and get up extra early during the week.

I woke up around ten o clock in the morning on a Sunday; that wasn’t abnormal; my family was neither religious nor strict on waking up early (unless there was vengeance to be gained in waking someone early). I rose from my bed feeling refreshed and ready for the day; whoever was home was mine to begin my revenge upon. Despite the night before, I felt… obligated to return what I had obtained. I would make my family fear my wrath and enjoy my company all at the same time. With the power I had, it wouldn’t be difficult. I jumped out of my bed and walked out of my room in my night shorts and entered the empty bathroom on the third floor of the house, the floor I shared with my brother. After showering and brushing my teeth I made my way downstairs to breakfast. There was not a soul in the house. Considering it was Sunday that was somewhat surprising. Sunday was the only day of the week my family was expected to be doing nothing at all. I ate my breakfast and wandered through the house. The result was that I found no one at first. When I returned to the kitchen in dismay, ready to seek them out among the general populace of Hartford, I found Juliet. I felt a little deflated but at the same time I was happy. I was ready to begin and the only person I had declared off limits was the only one I could find.

Juliet had just entered the house and was removing her shoes by the front door. Her long black hair was pulled back in a ponytail and she was dressed in Nike shorts a small white muscle shirt. Underneath her athletic bra was clearly visible, a very teasing red and purple mixture. On her arm an iPod was strapped and the cord dangled from her ears and her arm. She was sweaty and smiling and out of breath and still stunning. When she pulled the ear buds from her head and stood up she stretched and addressed me.

“Sleep well?” I nodded and smiled at her. She walked past me into the kitchen and poured a glass of ice water from the fridge outlet. I walked in and sat on the couch to turn on the television. She followed soon, sitting on the carpet instead of on the couch seeing as she was quite sweaty. After ten minutes of mindless television, some random movie that she agreed was good that I can’t remember the name of, I asked her where everyone had gone.

“Well, the parents went out to do something, I think furniture shopping they said. Katy and Kathy and Claire went to walk around town, something about local shops, and Tommy went to a skate park or something of the like. I only heard their conversation through my iPod as I was walking out.”

“Oh. Okay.”

“You sound disappointed.” She looked at me curiously.

“I just… Not really. I wanted to see them. I wanted to know if they might act differently now that we’re someplace else.”

“You mean that you wanted to torture them with your new powers?” I was shell-shocked. I had been very careful about avoiding Juliet’s mind. I didn’t know how she knew or how she felt about them. I tensed up and stared at the back of her head as she continued watching the show that was on the television.

“Powers?”

“The powers you obtained from… that one. The golden-eyed Fiend, the Fallen, Lucifer, whatever you care to call him; the Gift, given as a piece of the Divine Justice to the Young people in the world, three of which are here in the United States. Those powers.”

I stood up and walked around the coffee table, staring down at her. Her eyes never left the TV.

“You seem to know an awful lot about them. How? And… why?” Juliet sighed and rose, standing in front of me seeming much more intimidating now that she had begun to play her hand.

“I know because I am here to watch over you. I would not be much of a guardian if I didn’t know the terms. All of us know about the Gifted Ones. You are the first in centuries and some of the most able. Of course, after the disaster that occurred with Conner Evans, the first of the Gifted Ones, we must be careful that you do not become vengeful and lean toward the side of the one you call Satan.”

“US? Who the fuck is US?” I was a little bit cared now. I was ready to jump into her mind and take over, to force her to tell me everything. She knew too much and she was too freaky. Then She began to glow. A small circle of light appeared over her head and her eyes shone like green fire in their sockets. Her workout clothes became a chainmail skirt and golden pteruges, silver gauntlets, silver greaves, and a breastplate of gold and silver that covered only her breasts. Her stomach showed pale as moonlight between the pteruges. On her brow, a slim circlet of gold glowed as if giving me some idea of her rank. From her back, large white wings sprouted, furled against her shoulders. From the size of them, they would have destroyed the room if she had unfurled them for any reason whatsoever. Large white feathers floated down from the ceiling and disappeared as they landed on the floor. She seemed to have grown slightly though it might have been the way she held herself, chest out and head back with proud fire in her eyes. My breath left my lungs at her beauty. I suppose it was stupid; she had basically proclaimed herself my babysitter and essentially my enemy. But she was beyond beautiful. Id heaven was full of women like her I really wanted to go there, despite the equal number of men.

“Breathe, mortal.” When she spoke I fell to my knees and took a breath, realizing the effect she had held over me. After a moment of simply breathing and enjoying the echo of her incredible voice, I felt anger spur me to my feet.

“Don’t think that the fact that there’s an angel in the house will stop me. I plan to do what I will with my powers; you aren’t a part of that equation. I don’t care what you do, what you want, what you say, or anything about you. So fuck off.” She looked a little hurt at first. Then her eyes hardened and her pride kicked in.

“Be careful, Terrance Graves. You speak to Gabrielle Steelfeather, warrior priestess of the High House Steelfeather. I can kill you easily and painfully for your impudence.”

“Oh, you know that we can’t lay a finger on the little boy…” The sound of hissing from behind me caught me by surprise. Turning around I watched as my shadow peeled itself from the ground and stood up. When it reached its feet it changed, becoming a female shape. Then the inky black of my shadow melted into the ground, leaving a woman standing in the canter of my living room. Well, a female. I suppose it would be more appropriate to call her a demoness. She was shaped like a human, the same way Gabrielle was, but her skin was a shade of red that didn’t exist in the normal human spectrum (the same way orange, like the color of a tanning bed, shouldn’t) and small horns rose from her head. Other than that, she was a stunningly beautiful girl; she was basically a victoria’s secret model. I don’t know any other way to describe her body. Her eyes shone a bright orange, not the glowing gold that I’d expected after meeting Lucifer.