So, I guess here is part four my Angel series. Just a heads up I imagine the next part will be the final part but I’m not certain. Sorry, this took so long to get out. I hope it was worth the wait. If not my bad. Once again please do not hesitate with any questions, comments or concerns.
Sandra was nervous. The past couple of days had flown by, and for better or worse her meeting with Ereriel was mere minutes away. Not for the first time since the confrontation she felt a small shiver in her fingertips. Sandra was nervous and scared, but knew they had to figure something out. It had taken almost twelve hours for Billy to calm down. She knew without a doubt that the open hostilities couldn’t continue.
Speaking of the ball of trauma he was sitting quietly, lost in his own thoughts. Sandra had done her best to convince him to not be present but he had stubbornly refused to miss the meeting. Before Sandra could make a last-minute effort to convince Billly to be somewhere else, there was a sharp knocking on the door. Taking a deep breath to center herself, Sandra meandered over towards the front door. After taking as long as was feasible to stall for time, Sandra slowly opened the door.
Instead of the expected Ereiel, there on the other side was a tall man. His eyes were covered by the shadow cast from his hat. “Oh hello, I was just in the neighborhood and was wondering if Bill was home?” Sandra didn’t recognize the man but he seemed friendly enough so instead of immediately shutting the door she gave a kind smile and replied to the seemingly nice man. “I’m sorry, but no one with that name lives here. Are you sure you have the right address?”
The man in response thought for a moment before speaking, “Oh I’m sorry I thought this was the right house, my apologies. Please enjoy the rest of your day.” With that the man turned, leaving Sandra standing there slightly confused. With a light shrug Sandra shut the door. However, before she could go back to Billy’s side there was another knock at the door. Responding on instinct, Sandra casually threw open the door to reveal Ereiel.
A few short minutes, the three found themselves arranged around the dining room table. Sandra had made sure that she was sitting across the table from Ereiel. The time spent seating themselves and been spent in awkward silence. Strangely enough the first to speak was Billy. “So are y’all gonna talk or not. Cause just sitting here is kinda borin’. With a slight smile tugging at her lips, Sandra took the hint and began to speak. “First of all, thank you Ereiel for coming. Now, let’s get down to business. Why are you the way you are? Billy is in a happy home and yet you still seem angry.”
Ereiel gave a light snort as she thought for a moment before responding. “Why I am the way I am is none of your concern. To address your second point I am not angry, merely concerned over this family's capability to raise a child.” Neither Billy nor Sandra had missed the dig at their parents. “They raised me, didn’t they?” Sandra got out past gritted teeth. Ereiel simply gave a small smirk as if that statement had proved her whole point.
“That’s rich coming from you. Did you forget you’re such a fuck up you got kicked out of heaven? On top of that you’re such a reject not even hell wants you. So, before you start talking shit about others get your life together.” Despite the inflammatory nature of her words, Sandras tone was icy. Ereiel slammed both hands on the table as she rose to her feet. Glaring, Ereiel spoke in an icy tone of her own. “Watch your mouth child, especially since we are near another table. Do you remember what happened last time? I am sure going through this one would hurt a lot more. But please keep giving me all the more reason.”
With a visible effort Sandra stood. Her fingertips were tingling and she felt her heart rate quicken. Despite her fear she refused to take that sitting down, quite literally in this case. She went to retort, however the words died on her lips as she heard Billy whimper. The soft sound seemed to suck all the air out of the room. Both ff the women paused and in a weird moment of synchronicity turned to face the youngest person at the table.
Billy knew he was being stared at but was currently trying to figure out what he was feeling. Sure, he was scared but there was some other feeling there. Thinking back to what Sesame Street had taught him about emotions, he tried to work out what else he was feeling. After a moment it came to him, he was angry. While the other two seemed to wait with baited breath, Billy tried to figure out why. In a strange moment of emotional maturity, he realized it was because two of his favorite people were fighting. Unused to this feeling he let it out. “Stop it! Stop fighting, both of you are idiots.” The silence that resulted from this outburst were heavy. But before it could settle for too long, Billy spoke up again.
“Sandra, why do you gotta be so mean to Eri? She loves me and I love her. She saved me, but more importantly she was my first friend. Eri is super important to me. So please be nice to her, for me.” Before either woman could find their footing Billy turned towards Ereiel and vented some more. “Eri you’re my bestest friend, right? So why would you bully my other precious people? Mom an’ dad did good raising Sandra, and I love ‘em. Since they are so important to me shouldn’t they be important to you as well? I’m tired of you two fighin’ all the time so y’all are gonna hug each other and say at least one nice thing about each other. If you don’t, I think I’ll hate both of y’all.”
There was silence, as the two guilty parties stared at Billy. Then the last part of his little tirade seemed to register. Both Sandra and Ereiel made to protest, but that stopped when they saw Billy with a scowl. Billy made some vague motion with his hands. Looking thoroughly embarrassed, Sandra was the first to leave her side of the table, waiting half way to Ereiel. Ereiel was obviously having a fierce internal debate with herself. After a quick glance assured her that Billy was serious, she also made towards the middle of the table.
There was a quick and extremely awkward hug. Billy simply cleared his throat to show he was not satisfied with such a lack luster display. Both Sandra and Ereiel let out deep sighs before hugging each other again. This time they at least pretended to not absolutely loath one another.
The hug came to a sudden end when the room was filled with a polite round of applause. “Well, ain’t this just the most heart warmin’ thing I’ve seen.” A tall man with his eyes covered by shadows announced. Ereiel made to summon her sword and demand answer, when in a blur of movement, the man stood directly in front of her. Laying a hand on Ereiel’s head he proclaimed in a solemn tone a strange chant. “Ye who wanders, your home is not here. By my hand, Begone from this plane.” With a twisting of light Ereiel disappeared. With her gone the man made a lunge for Sandra, catching her by her throat with his left hand.
“No.” Billy had muttered almost inaudibly, almost. The man, without looking away from Sandra spoke. “Now wait your turn you little shit. Now, miss Sandra, was it? Let's see. You were a little slow to react, even for a monkey like yourself. Ah, makes sense. Looking at you seems some blood vessels in ya chest got a little busted lately. Fortunately for you, nothing major. Just a little blood leakin out. Let’s fix that shall we?” The man buried a right hook deep into Sandras’ ribs. Sandra coughed up a large glob of blood that landed mostly on the man's arm. With a sigh of utter contempt, the man tossed Sandra into a nearby wall. The impact forced more blood to come spewing out, as a clearly knocked out Sandra slid down onto the floor.
The man finally looked towards Billy. “So now with that angel bitch gone and that slut of a sister dying, we can reconnect.” With slow and methodical movements, the man removed the hat that had been casting mystical shadows over his eyes. The man grinned viciously, causing his obsidian black eyes to close a tiny amount.
“Pa?” Billy whispered, scared and feeling oh so alone.
“Did ya miss me my boy?”
