Demons and Magic

CHAPTER 3: Hello, mortal.

The wind had picked up just outside of Nathan’s dusty windows and just then, he felt ashamed of the mess that is his room as he stared at Alastair who was now lying face down on his bed.

After taking him on a trip mid-air that he did not enjoy, Alastair finally agreed to let him go back to his room if he were to tell her what he desires the most. Even though confused, he still had to agree, otherwise she’d just continue taking him on a trip while hanging upside down.

Imagine the horror he had to face being in that position. Her arms doesn’t look the kind to be sturdy enough to hold someone up, let alone do it in a matter of half an hour.

“So, you want me to make a wish?”

She groaned in exasperation, banging her head multiple times on the pillow, and threw her cloak straight towards Nathan’s face. “Tell me. What kind of moron are you?”

“The kind that’s confused.”

“Well, sh*t,” she cursed, and he almost forgot for a split second that she was not an angel.

Speaking of which, “Are you really the devil?”

Alastair’s expression turned from irritation to frustration and then to sympathy.

What the hell was she sympathizing for?

“You’re that kid, weren’t you?”

“What kid?”

“The one that was dropped on the head a lot when you were still a baby.” She still had that look of pure sympathy on her face. “Or maybe not. You could’ve been just thrown at a wall.”

Nathan had never been this offended in his entire life. But at the same time, he didn’t really wanna say anything that might get him in trouble with this holy crap again.

If what she said earlier was true, she would no doubt toss him into the sea and feel no remorse about it whatsoever. She is, after all, a demon. But then again, maybe she was just tripping.

Can angels even get high?

“Don’t think so hard, mortal. I wouldn’t want you to hurt yourself,” Alastair retorted and hung her head on the side of the bed, her feet propped up on the wall across from her. “Ooh, what do you say. You look better upside down.” Then, she smiled.

‘She looks like an angel,’ Nathan admits. ‘But that smile was just plain creepy.’ He would’ve preferred if she didn’t smile like that ever again.

“So.” He cleared his throat and adjusted himself on the chair. He had now opened the door to his room and had given a significant amount of distance between them as if a few meters would make any difference. “You are … the devil?”

“No,” she answered flatly and sat up, making Nathan trip on himself as he pushed his chair further back. “There’s only one devil. And it’s Lucifer.”

“So, Lucifer is real?”

“The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist.”

“Baudelaire,” Nathan said and saw the corner of Alastair’s lips twitch into half a smile.

“You know your poets.”

Nathan frowned. “The question should be, how did you?”

“We’re Celestial beings. What do you think you know that we don’t?”

“Uh, let me see … airplanes, for one?”

“It’s been a while since I visited Earth.”

Nathan didn’t look convinced. “Okay. Then tell me something about history. Something that you witnessed. What happened in those times?”

“How the hell should I know?”

“Because you’re a Celestial being? I mean, you said that yourself. There’s nothing we know that you don’t,” Nathan said and allowed himself to look smug as Alastair narrowed her eyes at him, seeming to catch on to what he was implying.

He knows very well that if he pisses her off just enough, she might actually use her powers on him. Which would definitely be tragic. But either way, he’s gonna do it.

She was the one who barged into his place and demanded for a wish even though it’s already past his birthday. If there’s anyone who should be ashamed of themselves, it should be her.

This is considered breaking and entering.

Plus, he was pretty sure that there’s a law somewhere about hanging someone upside down while levitating mid-air.

“See?” he leered, smiling at her with a look that says ‘Celestial being my foot’.

“Okay, fine, I don’t know! I forgot. I don’t even remember what I ate for breakfast,” she said and crossed her arms, looking like a toddler that’s been beaten on the last nugget.

But of course, it was just a lie. She knew for a fact that she had a burnt chicken casserole for breakfast that morning. It was her dumbass of an older brother’s idea. Until now, the taste still lingered in her mouth.

Gross.

“Will you just f*cking make a wish already? I’m late for my coma.”

Nathan’s smile broadened when he realized he had just won an argument against an actual Celestial being. That must’ve been a good boost to his ego and pride.

Good job.

“Okay. I wish … ” He paused. “ … I wish … ”

“You wish for what?” Alastair snapped, getting impatient and stood up. This time, Nathan was too distracted trying to think that he didn’t even flinch as Alastair crossed the distance between them. “Just say it already! Do you want a car? A mansion? Ooh, oh, say money. Lots of money. That’s usually what people wish for. I can’t give you powers, though. That’s sacrilegious.”

“Money?” Nathan said, merely just repeating it subconsciously, but Alastair smiled.

“As you wish,” she said and with a snap of her fingers, a stack of what looks like fifty gold bars appeared on top of Nathan’s bed, making it creak loudly under its weight.

Nathan stood up, unable to believe his eyes, and walked towards it with his hands outstretched. He has never seen an actual gold bar before. It had always seemed so fake in all of those movie depictions. But this … this has got to be real.

Even with the dull lighting, you could still see your image reflected against the shiny metal. It was cold, but nonetheless, it was the prettiest thing he’s ever seen.

This could be the answer to all his problems.

He wouldn’t have to work so hard to save for his college tuition anymore. All of his late payments in all of his bills, he could pay for it all and still have more than enough for himself.

This was his dream right here. Having enough so he wouldn’t have to see his mother suffer just so he could get the dreams that she never had the chance to.

“It’s a pleasure doing business,” Alastair said from behind him and before he could even have the chance to turn around, she had already disappeared.

He sat there for what felt like minutes as he stared at the spot where he last saw her, the image of her white hair and gray eyes still lingering in his memory.

“O … kay?” he said and turned to see the gold bars again. It was still there, shining in all of its deep glory that everything else just seemed to appear unironically blunt.

But the silence was almost deafening. Alastair had been an incredibly annoying guest, but he’d have to be extremely stupid to say that he didn’t like having someone to share things around.

He was used to the silence.

But when he got a taste of what it felt like to have someone else around in his rotten, old apartment, he kinda misses it now.

He stood up, dusted his pants, and sighed. “It’s fine,” he said to himself and closed the door to his one-bedroom apartment. “It’s fine.”

···

He woke up with a start the next morning.

His alarm had been turned off— no, more like smashed into a thousand tiny pieces on one corner of his room and now he was sure that he’s late for his first period.

He doesn’t even remember throwing it there. But then again, sh*t happens.

“Breakfast is ready!” he heard Mrs. Pratchett call from her place downstairs, and he forced himself up.

The heat radiating off of the sun outside was already seeping through the few corners of his windows that weren’t covered with dust. Taking a good look at his place — underneath all of its mess and filth — what had happened last night almost felt like a dream.

Except the gold bars were the first thing that caught his eyes when he tried reaching for his slippers that Alastair had kicked under his bed the night before.

Just then, he knew it wasn’t just a dream — or a nightmare for that matter. The only thing left for him to do is to make a plan on how he should use the money. Or if he should even use it at all.

Alastair is a demon. Thinking back to all of those movies and stories, it’s a given fact not to trust a demon. They grant wishes and make you pay with something completely gruesome in return. Who knows if the money Alastair gave him had some kind of curse in them?

Like if you spend it, one by one you lose the people you love the most.

That’s just scary—

“NATHAN!” Mrs. Pratchett barged into his door and glared at him with both hands on her hips. “I’m your landlady, not your housekeeper. When I tell you that breakfast is ready, you head down immediately, young man. Making the food wait is extremely bad manner.”

“I’m sorry,” Nathan squeaked as he slid out from under his bed, cobwebs on his messy hair. “I was just trying to reach for my slippers.”

“Why were your slippers under your bed, then?”

“Kicked it last night.”

Mrs. Pratchett just raised an eyebrow at him, her hands still on her hips.

“Very well. Breakfast is ready,” she repeated as though Nathan had been deaf and smiled, heading downstairs to tend her kitchen before one of the other two tenants burn it all down.

“Coming,” he said groggily and dusted his hair, unable to stop himself from coughing when he inhaled what looks like a decade’s worth of dirt.

Grabbing a jacket that was slung on top of his chair, he immediately stopped on his tracks when he realized that it wasn’t a jacket at all. It was a cloak. Alastair’s cloak.

“Nathan?” Mrs. Pratchett called again, and Nathan stopped himself from smiling, forcing himself to toss the piece of cloth on top of his bed and just run downstairs with nothing but his pajamas and a thin piece of undershirt on.

“I’m he—” He paused, his eyes slightly growing wide as his gaze landed on someone all too familiar sitting on his spot. “What are you doing here?”

“Hello, mortal.”