“Hello?” answered the voice on the other end of the line.
“Mom?” Beth responded.
“Beth!” Sharon gasped. “Oh, Beth! Baby, how are you?”
“I’m fine. I… miss you,” Beth admitted.
“I miss you, too, sweetheart,” Sharon gushed. “You have no idea how worried I’ve been about you! How are you doing?”
“Not so great,” Beth confessed. “Is Dad around?”
“Oh… honey…” Sharon stammered. “Your father and I have separated.”
“What? Why?”
“You know why.”
“Oh. Yeah, I get it.”
“Beth, you didn’t let me tell you before how truly sorry I am,” Sharon said. “I wanted to get out of the deal. I kept trying to find a way. I tried everything I could think of.”
“No, I understand. Well… I don’t understand why you’d do what you did. But I understand you couldn’t get out of it.”
“Is he treating you okay? He’s not hurting you, is he?” Sharon asked, clearly concerned for her daughter’s well-being.
“He’s actually not that bad,” Beth admitted. “I mean, he has his issues. But I guess he’s a lot better than you’d expect, considering he’s a demon and all.”
“So do you actually think you might like him?”
“I wouldn’t necessarily go that far. But… I actually do care about him. It’s hard to explain. There’s something about him.”
“Do you think you could ever be happy with him?”
“That I’m not so sure about. He’s not evil, but… he says demons don’t experience emotions the same way humans do. So, basically, this marriage will never be anything real. At least, not the way we think marriage should be.”
“So you don’t ever think you will be in love?”
“No. I don’t think that will ever happen. But I’m learning to make the most of the situation. I guess he is doing the same.”
“I’m still trying to find a way to get you out of this,” Sharon said.
“No!” Beth gasped. “You can’t do that!”
“Why not?” Sharon asked incredulously.
“Um… because trying to get out of bargains with demons is dangerous, Mom. Trust me, just don’t even try. I’ll be fine. Really.”
“How can you be fine when you’re married to a demon?” Sharon growled.
“I’m not the one who made the bargain, Mother,” Beth spat back. “You know what? I can’t do this. I have to go.”
Beth slammed the phone down on the receiver. It was all she could do to keep from slinging it across the room. It had been a mistake to even call her mother. The emotions were still too raw.
She thought about calling some of her old friends from school, but they were never all that close. The best friend she’d ever had moved away in eighth grade, and they hadn’t even spoken in two years. She was never particularly social, and had kept to herself most of the time.
Beth decided to go for a walk to clear her head. She wanted to avoid the clearing where she’d met Malachai. She couldn’t deal with him right now, nor could she deal with Sam disappearing on her yet again. She just wanted to be alone to think.
Beth took another route through the forest. This time, she decided to head west instead of the northerly route that had taken her to the clearing where she met Malachai.
The woods were dark and creepy. Owls hooted, and the thick canopy of trees allowed in very little light. She made her way further and further into the dark forest, hoping to find another lovely clearing in which to sit and reflect. Instead, the woods grew stranger, and more unfriendly.
Oddly enough, Beth was actually rather frightened. Although her mother was a witch, she was married to a demon, and she had been chatting with a fallen angel, all of that frankly seemed fairly normal to her. A dark, dank forest full of owls and bats and fiends of nature actually made her anxious.
Beth decided to turn around and go home, but she found herself lost and disoriented. The night was quickly creeping in, and it was so dark she could hardly see the ground.
She’d lost her bearings. She couldn’t remember which direction she’d come from, and she couldn’t see enough in the darkness to tell if she recognized any of her surroundings. She tripped and stumbled through the rough undergrowth, the briars and branches tearing at her clothing and scratching her skin like claws.
The night air grew colder, and the cold evening winds whipped through the trees, rustling the leaves and making the branches of the trees whistle and creak ominously.
Soon, it grew so dark Beth could scarcely see more than a few inches in front of her. She thought she could hear footsteps behind her, and her heart began to race. She started to walk faster, and then she burst into a run. Suddenly, she lost her footing, and she began to fall.
“Help!” she screamed, terror seizing her, though she knew no one would be around to save her.
She fell further and faster, and she knew she must have only moments to live. As far as she’d fallen already, she would never survive. Then, suddenly, warmth. She felt strong, warm arms close around her, and she felt her body slowly start to ascend into the air. She thought she heard the light flapping of wings.
It wasn’t long before they rose above the tops of the trees, and in the silvery moonlight, she could clearly see Malachai looking down at her with concern. Two huge, black wings carried the two of them higher and higher.
“Malachai?” she asked.
“Yes, Beth,” he answered gently. “I’ll have you home in a minute.”
She was breathless as they soared high above the treetops. She watched the trees turn into grass, and soon she saw her home far below. Their descent was rapid, but gentle, and Malachai landed deftly on his feet, his black wings folding behind him and then disappearing. Gently, he lowered Beth’s feet to the ground just outside the front door.
“Thank you,” Beth told him. “I don’t know what happened. It got so dark so quickly, I couldn’t see where I was going. I thought I heard someone behind me.”
“You probably did,” Malachai told her. “I wouldn’t go into these woods alone, especially not out west.”
“Why not?”
“Dark things lurk in the shadows there. Darker than anything you’ve seen, I’ll wager. Promise me you’ll never go there again.”
“Okay.”
“Promise it!” Malachai growled forcefully.
“Alright, I promise!”
Malachai’s eyes were serious, but gentle. His arms still held her steady where he’d lowered her feet to the ground, as if he were reluctant to let her go. He opened his mouth to say something more, but then paused.
“Malachai, I…”
In a flash, he disappeared.
“I wish you’d stop doing that!” Beth shouted into thin air, and then she sighed.
She walked back into the house, frustrated, and alone once more. It seemed as if the forces of nature were conspiring to ensure she had no company whatsoever. She couldn’t even keep the company of a dog without losing him.
Beth trudged into the kitchen and opened the freezer. She chose a pint of Double Chocolate Fudge Brownie Chunk ice cream, and then slammed the freezer door so forcefully a magnet clattered to the floor. She ignored it, and snatched a spoon from the drawer, leaving the drawer open absently.
Slowly, the dragged her feet as she made her way into the living room, plopping down on the sofa. She tossed the lid of the ice cream container onto the floor and shoved the spoon deep inside, scooping out a massive chunk of it and shoveling it into her mouth. She closed her eyes and relished the cool creaminess, and the rich chocolate flavor. She sighed contentedly. Somehow, chocolate could almost make her forget.
“Elizabeth, have you been injured?” she heard a concerned voice say behind her.
She turned to notice Aztos standing behind her, and she scoffed. With her mouth still full of ice cream, she mumbled, “What do you care?”
“Your clothes are shredded, you have bloody scratches on your arms, and you seem to be trembling,” Aztos commented, his voice becoming angry. “Were you attacked? Did someone hurt you?”
“No,” Beth answered. “I took a walk in the woods, and it got dark quicker than I thought. I fell down several times, and the briars scratched me.”
Aztos’ relief was almost tangible, but Beth didn’t notice. She’d already turned her attention back to her frozen comfort. She shoved another huge mouthful of ice cream into her mouth and sighed as the chocolate relaxed her.
“What were you doing in the forest alone at night?”
“I’m tired of being alone, Aztos,” she told him. “You keep disappearing, and when you are here you’re distant. I have no friends. I can’t even keep Sam here with me, and I wonder why that is!”
“If you are accusing me again of releasing the dog, I assure you I did no such thing.”
“How does a dog just disappear from a locked garage, Aztos? It doesn’t make any sense!”
“I do not know, Elizabeth. But you have my word that I had nothing to do with it.”
Beth wasn’t sure she could trust the word of a demon, but she wanted to. He was, after all, her husband, now. Still, it was beyond the realm of possibility that a dog could escape from a locked garage once, much less twice.
Aztos sat beside her on the couch and looked at her with eyes that Beth thought looked almost pleading – or at least concerned. She softened slightly.
“That looks good,” he remarked, eyeing her ice cream.
“It is,” she said, inhaling another spoonful mockingly.
“It smells good, too,” he hinted.
She glared at him, and then sighed. She took a spoonful and shoved it in his face, and he ate it.
“Happy, now?” Beth asked him.
“Not remotely,” he answered.
“Why not?”
“You are my wife, and I am concerned about you. Going into the forest alone at night was reckless. You could have been killed.”
“Supposedly Lucifer could resurrect me if he wanted to, right? So what’s the big deal?”
“You do not understand. Lucifer does not always grant such requests. He only does so if it suits him. If he does not believe you are useful, he would not be bothered.”
“What do you care, anyway?”
“Whether you choose to believe it, or not, I do not wish to lose my wife so soon after marriage.”
Beth softened a little more. She pushed another spoonful of ice cream at Aztos, and he accepted it.
“So are you maybe a little glad we got married?” Beth asked.
“I am happy that I am no longer alone,” he confessed.
It wasn’t quite the answer she was looking for, but it gave her some hope. Perhaps he might learn to love her – in time. Maybe she could even learn to love him, too. The last thing she wanted was an eternity in a loveless marriage.
“That’s enough,” Beth said. “For now.”
She placed the ice cream container on the coffee table and leaned back onto the couch, resting her head lightly on Aztos’ shoulder. Aztos was confused, but he said nothing.