Demons and Magic

CHAPTER 18: The Guardian Demon

“Settle down, everyone,” their Science teacher announced the moment she walked into the cluttered room filled with people who looked more like drug addicts than actual students. “We have a new student here today. I want to introduce him to all of you. Please, settle down.”

Alastair dropped her head dramatically down on the table in an attempt to get a concussion so she could skip having to see Castiel that day.

He had grown adamant overnight and had decided despite their protests that he take the matter in his own hands. Which is exactly why he’s gonna be studying at Maxwell High, now. He said that they might be in need of a knight in shining armor, something that Alastair found to be worthy of a good barf.

“Is he really gonna study here?” Keiffer asked from behind Alastair, and she nodded almost begrudgingly.

“Unfortunately, yeah.”

“I thought he was already in his early twenties or something?”

“Early twenties?” Alastair turned towards him and gave him a look that made him reconsider if what he said was at any point retarded. “Just look at him, he looks half dead! He might as well be in a wheelchair at this point, really.”

“He doesn’t look that old. Just not … probably a teenager. He looked mature. But then again, it might just be his genes.”

“Oh, so now, you’re the one being ignorant,” she snapped at him, and Nathan sighed audibly from the seat beside her. “Those aren’t jeans. Those are obviously his jam-jams.”

When Castiel stepped into the crowded room, it was as if his entire presence alone had made everyone speechless. It was so silent that you could hear a pin drop in every sense of the phrase — and not because he had this strange power lurking just beneath his almost perfect complexion.

But because there was something holy in his every movement.

Slowly, a smile made its way to his lips and it was as if all of the worries and the pain that had crept inside their chests were lifted to the point that almost every corner of the place was filled with sighs of satisfaction and looks of glee.

Which was weird for Alastair, by the way, who had only ever brought discomfort and trouble wherever she goes.

“This is pathetic,” Nathan muttered in his seat, and Alastair’s eyes widened in astonishment. “Why are we even honoring this man? Have we ran out of human beings?”

Alastair gasped dramatically as she placed a hand on her lips, her laughter slowly leaking out of her in short spurts. “You’re my favorite mortal now.”

Nathan turned to her. “What was that, again?”

She just shook her head, still smiling like an i***t and almost threw her fist up in the air as she returned her gaze in front. “This is brilliant. You really are talented. You can see past people’s astonishingly bright heads.”

The moment the bell rung for lunch, Alastair couldn’t wait to escape the stuffy room she had found herself in where Castiel was the star of the show. Call her narcissistic, but it really is hard to see that he is getting all the attention while she gets none.

Nathan was kinda happy with that set-up though even if watching all those girls swoon at Castiel was kind of irritating. At least now, Alastair knows what it felt like to be humbled for once.

“How’s classes, bro?” Jackson asked the moment the four of them met by the door of the cafeteria, his eyes on Castiel who was smoothly making his way to the short list of popular kids.

Castiel smiled down at him and returned the short handshake he was extending. “It was good, actually. People here are very nice.”

“Nah, not really. It’s just because they like you, you know? If they didn’t, they wouldn’t even give a s**t about what you do.”

He chuckled silently at this and followed Nathan and Alastair towards their table, his face bright.

“Hey, Alastair!” the same guy from yesterday called out from the largest table in the middle of the cafeteria and they all turned to face him. “Do you wanna sit with us? There’s still room for one more.”

Alastair took one look at his smiling face and shook her head. “No, I’m good.”

“Oh.” Warren glanced at his friends and it was almost as though the spark in his eyes dimmed for a while. “Then, can I join you there, then?”

She took her eyes off of the menu written in big bold letters on top of the counter and gave him a blunt look, something that Nathan nearly felt sympathy for, actually. “No,” she said flatly and resumed scanning the list of food, ignoring all the looks she was getting from both the people in her table and the ones around her.

Castiel cleared his throat awkwardly and started tracing circles on the empty table with a finger. “So … what about the weather, huh?” he said in an attempt to lift the spirits up in their table, but Nathan had made a mistake.

He blurted out laughing at the awkwardness in Castiel’s voice and almost everyone in the cafeteria stopped what they were doing to look in their direction.

When he had stopped laughing his arse out, that was when he realized that Warren had been glaring at him all along. He probably thought that he was laughing at him — which, by the way, is totally inaccurate.

“What are you laughing at, huh? You think you’re better than me, Lee?”

Nathan opened his mouth to say something but Warren had already crossed the distance between them, his fists lifting him off of his seat by the collar of his shirt.

“You know, if I were you, I’d just keep my mouth shut and never show my face in front of the student body again. Remember that time you vomited in class after failing that Math quiz? You all remember that do you?”

Half of the people inside the cafeteria shouted a resounding ‘yes’ and Warren’s smirk grew wider.

“You hear that, Lee? You’re no better than me, okay? So stop acting like you are!” And with one brisk movement, he sent Nathan skidding down the floor with just one blow straight to his face.

Someone gasped and that was when Nathan realized that blood was now dripping down one side of his face and onto the floor, its dark red color standing out against the smooth texture of the white marbled floor.

“What?” Warren started again and scoffed. “You dizzy now, huh, Lee? It’s just a small blood. It won’t kill you.”

“Yeah,” Alastair agreed and started standing up, to which impressed Warren. “But this will.”

Before anyone could even react, Warren was already pinned against the wall with Alastair’s hand tight against his throat. Maybe no one was really quite expecting that to happen which is why they all just stood in complete and utter silence as Alastair sneered at Warren’s face that was easily turning purple.

“Let go of him!” Castiel shouted and tried prying her hands off of him but to no avail.

With a human body like his, he could only do so much as to walk a few kilometers without even breaking a sweat. But going after a Celestial being with only his mortal capabilities as his aide, it would no doubt only bring so much as a bruised ego.

“Let go!” he said again and tried pulling her away, but she stood her ground. “You wouldn’t want to kill the mortal, Alastair. He’s cruel and vile. If he dies, he’s gonna end up in Hell. And knowing you, you wouldn’t want to see him in your territory every other day, would you?”

Alastair seemed to consider this and had loosened his grip on Warren, letting him breathe in what few air he could inhale before she starts choking him again. “I’m listening,” she said and raised an eyebrow at Castiel.

He simply nodded and started explaining again. “Also, haven’t I told you yet about Michael coming to his senses about you? He was actually the one who sent me here to help you. You know, as it is not your fault that you were summoned and all?”

“Really?”

“Yes, really.” Castiel’s face brightened when she had now fully turned towards him, a clear sign that he’s got her full attention. “You wouldn’t want to fall out of his good graces, now, would you?”

“Well, to be fair, I don’t really care.”

“But?”

“But it’s good to know that he’s not gonna be all up my ass for that one.”

Castiel nodded enthusiastically at this and inched closer to her, his smile broad. “Now, are you gonna let go of the human?”

Alastair turned towards Warren who was still gasping desperately for air and shrugged, deciding that he’s not worth the detention that she’ll be getting for this after.

“Yeah, whatever,” she said and started walking back towards her table as though nothing had happened.

Jackson just stared at her with his mouth open while Warren crawled back towards his table, ignoring the slow clap that Keiffer was now giving Alastair from the corner of the cafeteria.

Alastair only winked at him, and he suspiciously blushed. “So, what’s for lunch?”

“Detention,” Chuck said from behind Alastair, and she turned towards him with a surprised look, mockingly gasping at the sight of him.

“Nah. That doesn’t sound appetizing.”

“Oh, trust me. You wouldn’t need one,” he said and smiled blandly at her as he stuck a small red paper on her forehead, giving one to Nathan as well before making his way towards Warren who, although he wasn’t as purple as before, still looked like he just battled cancer.

Alastair stared at the paper in her hands and sighed with clear disappointment. “I thought we were friends?!” she called out to Chuck as he was heading out but he only glared at her from over his shoulder.

“Not your friend, Black!”

“Oh, come on! You were supposed to be my chocolatey buddy!”