DEVIL'S HIGH

CHAPTER 14

SAMAEL’S POINT OF VIEW

Should I run and just let her be? She won’t die anyway, so why should I bother helping her? Why am I even here?

I peeked outside to make sure that the area was clear of students and luckily the CCTV in this part of the library wasn’t functioning, so no one would even know that I was here. She just slipped on the books and hit her head. The librarian could testify that I was here and Azazel would jump to the conclusion that I hurt her, but they had no solid proof, and the library was my usual visiting place. So why the hell was I still standing here?

I took two steps out of the room, but my mind was having its own fight. She saw me. She fell because of me and she would definitely complain to the Principal once she wakes up. What if my parents come to know about it? I will have to take the blame for something I did not do.

Sighing, I walked back and closed the door behind me, before trudging my way to her through the fallen books. What was she doing here? Cleaning?

Kiara was lying in an uncomfortable position, with her limbs sprawled on the hardcovers. I snickered on seeing her very elegant posture and took out my phone to capture a photo of hers. It might come in handy in the future. Once my mission was completed, I crouched down next to her and poked her arm with a small book to see if she was faking unconsciousness to avoid facing me because of embarrassment. But she still stayed the same without flinching and I affirmed that she really did pass out.

A bruise was forming on her forehead, and it looked painful. What a relief. I thought she was unharmed. It feels good to see such beautiful marks on her body.

I placed my forefinger under her nose and felt hot breath fanning against my skin. I touched her cheek to wake her up, but a jolt of electricity passed through my hand on contact. The inside of my body trembled suddenly, and I pulled my hand away from her on instinct. What was that? Did I just get electrocuted? What is she, a walking power generator?

My touch must have felt something for too, as she winced and moaned in pain. Maybe it’s my cue to run. However, I didn’t move as she slowly regained her awareness and the first thing she did was cup her forehead. She tried to sit straight, but the irregular bed of books made it impossible, causing her to fall back again.

“You okay?”

Kiara looked startled to hear my voice and turned to face me with wide eyes.

“Samael?”

I took in a sharp breath on hearing my name rolling out of her tongue. It was different from how others said it and I was speechless for few seconds. I kept staring at her bright blue eyes and I forgot to breathe as I felt like drowning. She was definitely using her powers on me.

“Stop it.”

I growled, unable to take it anymore. I hate to be the weak one and right now all I wanted was to stay away from her, but I freaking couldn’t. Kiara sighed in frustration as she tried to find the ground with her arms.

“Stop what?”

She asked, not even looking at me. How can a mere Angel be this powerful? And isn’t she bothered by my presence. She doesn’t even look intimidated.

“Stop controlling me.”

The blue orbs once again came to my eye level, and this time, it looked confused.

“Did the books fall on your head too?”

She was serious. She was f*****g serious. Her acting was so professional that I almost believed that she had no clue about her effect on me. But I would never believe an Angel in my life. They may not be able to lie, but that doesn’t mean they can’t bend the truth. I didn’t reply as she looked at me with… concern? Whatever.

I saw her getting a hold of herself as she raised her body by clutching onto the shelf and came back to her feet. It might have taken her three minutes to stand up, but by that time, her bruise was completely healed.

We had a faster recovery rate than humans, but I think Angels’ were much quicker. It would have taken me almost three hours to heal from such a bruise.

Kiara extended her arm for me to take, and I scoffed at her gesture. What? Does she think we are friends now? I got up myself, dusting my pant and looked at the mess around us.

“If the librarian finds out, your membership is going to be cancelled.”

I said, pointing at the pile and smirked on seeing her horror filled face.

“I can’t let that happen.” She breathed out and spun around, panicking.

I saw her closing her eyes and staying still for a second before I felt a movement in my legs. I jerked back on alert and was surprised to see the books lifting from the ground on its own. Kiara was already moving to the shelves and studied the name tags as random books placed itself on the cupboards. She wasn’t even chanting anything or moving her hands, but just walking around and the books kept following her.

I hate to admit it, but she looked cool at that moment. Why did that guy give power to ungraduated Angels alone and not demons? Wasn’t he being extremely partial. If a war emerges between the two dimensions, then there is a high chance for Angels to win. This is why I hate him. He never plays fair.

“Are you allowed to use magic in this school? Didn’t the council restrict you?”

I was jealous of her abilities and it may sound irrational, but it felt like she was showing off in front of me.

“I am not using any magic. It’s just the connection between my mind and the environment. All you need is to concentrate.”

Her stupid smile. Why does she have to act so innocent when it’s obvious that she is far from it? And what? Concentration? Connection between her mind and non-living things? Nonsense. She just doesn’t want to reveal their secrets, and the b***h is trying to make me a fool by spewing out a bunch of lies.

I gulped down all the curse words that wanted to escape my throat and just stayed silent. Although the situation was unplanned, I can turn it to an advantage if I played the cards correctly.

“Glad that nothing serious happened to you. I was worried when you were unconscious.”

I smiled a little, even though she wasn’t looking at me.

“It’s okay. I wouldn’t have blamed you even if you haven’t stayed by my side. It wasn’t your fault.”

The smile on my face vanished immediately. Can she read minds? Maybe she could. Did she know what we were planning to do to her all this while?

“I am not afraid of that.”

I said, suddenly feeling the urge to defend. She tuned to me as the last book entered its space and everything was once again neat and clean.

“I know. It was good to meet you like this, though. You could have hurt me and no one would have known, but you decided to stay by my side instead. Thank you.”

Kiara smiled at me sweetly and extended her arm to me.

“Can we be friends?”

I stared at her, dumbfounded. Both my friends failed to have her attention and here I am, a minute away from accepting her friendship. This was going faster than we expected and I didn’t even know if I should be happy already. I took her palm, only to retract immediately as the pain shot through my entire body. She, too, scrunched her face in anguish and massaged the area of her skin, that contacted me vigorously.

“It must be the energies.”

She mumbled to herself, and I wondered what she meant by that. Energies?

“Sorry.”

We both exclaimed together, and her lips broke into a playful smile. She had two dimples on her cheek, that was only obvious now and I stared at it longer than necessary. The bell rang at the exact time, indicating that it was lunch break.

“Do you want to go to the cafeteria with us?”

I suggested, hoping she would say yes. By now I was certain that she can’t read minds, so why not give my maximum to lure her.

She shook her head and apologized gracefully.

“I am still not used to the food here. Please, carry on without me.”

She bowed at me, which I found quite amusing, and then patiently watched her walking towards the exit.

What I didn’t see was the smirk on her lips.

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KIARA’S POINT OF VIEW

I had a huge smile on my face as I walked down the corridor to my next class. It was lunch time and all the students were headed to the cafeteria, giving me enough peace of mind for the first time. I still got curious glances, but it was bearable.

Samael totally fell for my ‘innocent girl’ act and I am super proud of myself. Two can play this game, Samael, and we Angels have emotions too.

I was planning to spend the rest of break time in my classroom, when I heard a sniffling from the janitor’s closet. Did I hear it wrong? Nope. That somebody was a girl, and she was covering her mouth to not let out any sound. I stood outside the closed door, not knowing if I was making the right decision. As the energy was losing its power, I was done with the waiting and entered the confined space, only to find Keres weeping her eyes out. On seeing me, she cried even harder.

“Why you out of all the others?”

Wait? She is embarrassed that I caught her crying? Azazel was right. She isn’t harmful; she is just filled with unwanted pride and ego, which, in turn, is driving her to do things that hurt others.

“Because only I can see the pain behind your arrogant nature.”

Was that the right thing to say? I don’t know. But it seems to work on her as she pulled me to her by surprise and literally hugged me, letting out all her pent-up emotions.

“My heart must be aching so much as I could literally feel pain all over my body.”

I sighed, knowing that the pain was our energies colliding. Since her aura was diminishing, the intensity wasn’t similar to that of Samael’s, but it was painful nevertheless.

“Oh my unholy soul, it is hurting so much.”

I released myself from her grip before we would both collapse in exhaustion and she looked at me with glassy eyes.

“I feel a lot better now. Did you use some magic on me?”

Who in the world thought I would meet a stupid devil in a janitor’s closet?

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