“Luuuuuuuca,” I cooed, knocking on his door.
He shifted into the bed, moaning in annoyance.
I just smiled and stepped into the room. “It’s time to wake up and meet the day.”
“The day can go screw itself,” he muttered.
I stopped by his bedside. “Come on. Get up.”
“Two more minutes,” he muttered.
“It’s seven in the morning,” I told him then.
He shifted back into the bed. “Fine, two more hours. Wake me at nine.”
I just threw the covers off him, tossing them across the room.
He just gazed up and glared at me. “I hate you so much.”
“Wake up,” I said then, “I made you breakfast.”
He stilled for a moment, and I just watched him.
“Bacon…?” he said hopefully.
“Yes.”
He pushed his hands onto the bed and struggled to sit up. “Fine.”
I smiled and walked over to him, pulling the bandages out from my pocket.
When he kicked his legs off the bed, he tiredly rubbed his eyes when I pulled his hair from his face and started gently wrapping the bandage around his eye.
He just watched me quietly, seeming way too exhausted right now.
I finished after a minute or so and gazed up at him.
He just stared back down at me.
I just stood and brushed off my pants. “Come, now. You must be hungry.”
I heard him scoot off the bed and pad over to me, quietly following as we exited his room and then went through mine, until we made it to the kitchen.
He sniffled as if he had minor allergies and scooted onto the barstool.
I just pulled out some bacon from the frying pan and set it on a plate. Followed with some eggs and a pancake I also made.
He rubbed his one good eye and gazed down at the meal when I set it in front of him.
After exhaling a short yawn, he caught he fork and poked it into the eggs, placing it into his mouth as he chewed.
I just set my elbows on the counter. “Are you tried?”
He nodded.
I smiled and stood slightly. “You ever try coffee?”
He gazed up then, lazily annoyed. “I hate coffee. It’s so bitter.” He then took another bite. “I like sweet things.”
I just smirked. “What are you, two?”
He sent me his favorite finger.
I chuckled and stood, stepping over to my drink cabinet where I kept all the coffee grounds, teas, and mixtures. “What do you want to drink?”
“I want hot coco,” he said then.
I shook my head. “No, you need caffeine. You look half-dead.”
He just made an impatient sound.
I just glanced back at him. “Tea?”
He shook his head. “Too bitter.”
“I have sugar.”
“I shouldn’t have that much sugar,” he stated then. “To make it sweet.”
I just turned toward him. “A little thing like you is watching his calories?”
He just glared. “Shut it.”
I dropped it then, keeping my smile. “What about chai? I have some chai latte mixtures. Does that sound good to you?”
He thought this over for a moment, but eventually nodded.
I turned and caught one of the best mixtures and started making it for him.
“Dante,” he said then.
“Hmm?”
“Why do you have all this food when you only drink blood?” he asked me.
My smile curled further when I poured it into a mug that I previously filled with water. “I don’t drink only blood. I’m not a vampire.”
“You’re a demon,” he said then. “Or… daem.”
“Precisely.”
“So do you drink all these, too?” he asked me.
I set the mug on top of the stove and turned on the fire. “Sometimes.”
He was silent for a couple minutes. “Dante.”
“Yes?”
“Doesn’t it hurt…” he asked me, “that we have to leave here? This is your home.”
“No, I’ve left places before.” My smile softened a little. “And even if it did, we’d have to go anyway. You’re no longer safe here.”
He was quiet then.
When the contents in the mug started boiling, I took it off the heat and set it on the counter.
“Is my eye patch coming today?” Luca asked me as I poured milk into the mug.
“Yes, it should be here anytime now.”
He was silent again.
After sprinkling some cinnamon sugar on top of the chai, I set the mug in front of him. “Careful, it’s hot.”
He nodded, lightly pulling it toward him by the handle.
“Are you excited about the eye patch?” I asked him.
He nodded, finishing the last of his eggs. “I like the bandages, too, though. They look less… weird.”
I just leaned onto the counter again.
“I’ve never seen you eat human food before,” Luca said to me. “Do you enjoy it?”
“It depends,” I answered. “I like liquor sometimes, but for the most part, I’m the opposite. I like bitter things.” I stood then, dusting off my hands. “I like the taste of blood, after all.”
“Tell me,” he said then, gazing up, “was it hard to stop when you bit me?”
I just smirked a little. “I’m not a vampire.”
“But surely you’re hungry.”
“Not hungry enough to kill you,” I said to him then, lashes lowering as my eyes glowed a slight red. “No matter how sweet your blood is.”
He was silent then, and I could hear his uncertainty echoing through his thoughts.
“You’re staring at me,” I told him. “What is your concern?”
“Who… Who was that man…?”
My smile immediately fell, and my lashes lowered. “What do you mean?”
“You knew him,” Luca stated then, voice dark. “The one who hurt me.”
I just adjusted the pictures on the fridge, and I lightly dusted them off.
“Dante,” he urged.
But the doorbell rang, and I glanced over.
A smile curled my lips again. “Ah, it looks as if the package is here.”
He stared down at his plate when I went over to the door and opened it. I smiled slightly, kneeling down to catch the package and stood up again.
I closed the door, turning to him. “Look what ca—”
I broke off when his spot remained empty, and almost a second later I heard his bedroom door slam.
I sighed then, setting the package aside. “This angry two-year-old has issues, doesn’t he?”
I then stepped down the hall after him before I gently knocked on his door. “Luca.”
“I hate you,” he said from the other side.
I just sighed and pushed open his door, entering seconds later.
He was sitting on his bed, the large T-shirt going past his knees as he held them to his chest, facing away from me.
I stepped over to the bed and sat onto it, gazing up at him.
“How do you expect me to trust you when you keep these secrets from me…?” Luca whispered quietly.
“My only goal is to protect you,” I told him gently.
He just lightly touched his side, and made an impatient noise.
“And lying to me is going to help your point?” he retorted. “Or is it protecting your pride?”
My lashes lowered immediately. “You’re very bad at challenging me. It’s not that easy to tick me off.”
He was silent for a moment. “You were really mad when he hurt me… I’d never seen your demonic powers grow like that before.”
I just gazed up with a small smile. “I should correct myself, it’s really bad for you to piss me off.”
He was silent then, holding himself tighter.
I sighed, closing my eyes tightly. “He’s my brother.”
Luca immediately stilled, gazing up in shock. “What?”
“Oblivion,” I told Luca, something dark consuming me. “He’s my brother. His actual name is Artemis.”
Luca stared at me for a long moment. “But… but you look nothing alike!”
“I know,” I said with a small smile, eyes glowing a slight red, “it’s because he and I are different species.”
Luca’s lips parted.
“Have you heard of the ancient angelic war folklore?” I asked him then.
He shook his head.
I just set my hands behind my back and leaned on them. “In very, very old times. Before humans even came on the Earth, one of the archangel fighters was sent to hell after she tried to save her own kind from the corrupt government. She was banished from heaven and forced to rule hell. Her name was Lucifer.”
“Her…?” Luca echoed.
“Mm—hmm,” I said then, smiling when I looked over at him. “After she was banished, she tried her best raising the demons that were just children at the time, but as time went on… the angelic rulings got worse. When an angel or archangel just lightly disobeyed the leader, they were forced to fall directly to hell. But that was illegal, fallen were supposed to go to Earth.”
Luca turned fully to me again, tipping his head to the side curiously.
“Lucifer kept sending them to Earth, but the angels kept sending more to her, and she got fed up.” I gazed up. “She then cursed the heavens. They would have a thousand daem born a year from angelic parents. It was her trying to teach them a lesson, but it didn’t work.
“The angels got crueler and murdered the parents that dare try to raise a daem child, calling the act tainted and forbidden. They stopped sending the fallen to hell and started killing instead. But they sent the daem child to hell, for they have no tools to kill us.”
Luca watched me curiously.
“In short terms,” I said then, gazing up with a smile, “I was born from angelic parents, but I wasn’t lucky. My very own parents banished me to Earth the moment I was born without angelic markings. Although… they were still killed for their actions because they gave birth to me, and I tainted their blood. My biological brother despised me since. He tried to kill me countless times but gave up when nothing he did to try to kill me worked.”
“Why does he want to hurt… me?” Luca asked then.
“Luca,” I said then, lashes lowering, “surely you know what you are, don’t you?”
His eyes dimmed and he looked down to the bed.
My lips thinned. “So you do know.”
He just fisted his shirt in his hand, breath shaking as he curled in on himself. “How can I forget…? I’ve been stuck at this age for too long.”
I just got off the bed and dusted off my pants, giving him a generous look. “Luca Belle,” I whispered then, “a half-breed. Half-angel and half-daem.” I stepped over to him and knelt to his level. “A forbidden mixture. The angels despise you… that’s why they cursed you.”
He just lowered his lashes. “I hate how I look… And… and it’s permeant. I will never look older.”
I just smiled, lightly catching his hands and brushed my fingers along his palm. “You still are very beautiful, I promise.”
He gazed down at me then, eyes widening as his cheeks dusted a light red.
And I won’t let my brother hurt you, I thought to myself, lashes lowering. Some may think he wants to hurt you to hurt me, but no… ever since mom and dad died, he’s despised “tainted blood”. And you… you are a rare kind. Your parents were a forbidden couple. He wants to rid of what he calls corruption. He wants to rid of you.
“But I won’t let him hurt you,” I whispered in a low tone, brushing my thumb along his bandages as he gazed up at me. “He won’t hurt you ever again.”
“Aren’t you disgusted by me…?” Luca said then.
“Disgusted?” I echoed, brows drawing together. “Why would I be disgusted?”
“Be… because,” he closed his eyes tightly before parting them again, “because I’m an angel, too. You hate angels, don’t you? Especially when I’m mixed in with your kind, and… and because I’m mixed breeds I’m powerless. I can’t do magic, I can’t fight for myself, I’m helpless… and… and I have tainted blood to both angels and demons.”
I just smiled, lightly pulling at his bandages when he gazed up at me.
I let them free, and they gently unraveled without my helping and fell to his lap.
He gazed up at me then, the red X in his eye glistening under the soft lighting.
“I don’t hate that you’re different,” I said to him, brushing my thumb under his eye. “In fact… I think it makes you beautiful.”
His lips parted then, and his face turned beat red.
He just thinned his lips, trying to hide his embarrassment.
I just tipped my head to the side. “Us daem are very good at manipulation and hiding. But… we are biologically made to be remorseless… psychotic, almost. Which is why we kill a lot.”
He gazed down at me curiously.
“Many say that us demons do not feel emotion…” I said then, “but that’s a lie.” I just gazed up at Luca then, eyes glowing a slight red as a smile curled my lips. “We feel emotion very much.”
We stared at each other for too long, and my smile widened a touch when it clicked in his head.
He suddenly looked away, face burning a bright red.
I chuckled a little. “Aw, did I embarrass you?”
He just scoffed. “No.”
I just gazed down at his hands, stilling holding them when I placed a small thin object in them.
I just closed his fingers around it, and he suddenly looked down at his closed fist.
“My housewarming gift,” I said then, letting go of his wrists.
He blinked and opened his palm, eyes widening when he saw the present inside.
It was a heart-shaped eye patch with ruffles around the edges. There was a bow in the middle and some lace covering the top of the ruffles.
He gazed up at me then, brows drawing together. “Why is it so… girly?”
I smiled and ruffled his hair. “You’ll take a liking to it. I know you will.”
I then stood and brushed off my pants, making my way over to the door.
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” he demanded. “Are you suggesting something?!”
“No,” I answered then, smirking back at him, “just making an assumption, is all.”
He gritted his teeth. “I hate you.”
“I know,” I said then. “Your clear attachment to me is clear of that.”
“Excuse me?!” he yelled.
I just gazed up, smirking. “I have to go do the dishes now.” I then bowed and walked out from the room.
“Weirdo,” he muttered as I left the room.
I just laughed, lips curling slightly. Oh, my sweet angel… you have no idea who you are, do you?
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