Personal Monster

She was back. She didn't look happy, but she wasn't quite as furious as when she left. I thought about what she had done since she'd gotten here. Nothing.

"You are an agent of evil." I told her. "Why aren't you acting like it?" She looked slightly offended, but also as if she understood my reasoning. Her eyes softened as she spoke. "Haven't you ever heard the story of the angel and demon?" "You mean the Tom Hanks movie?" I asked scanning my mind for any similar media.

Her eyebrow raised and she smiled, "I'm not caught up with recent films, but I don't think they've made one of it yet.

"It's a beautiful story, really. It shows that not all who are damned are demented, just as not all who are blessed are compelled to behave." "Do you mind telling me?" I asked her.

"They don't know how and they don't know why, but for a short amount of time, an angel named Laylah roamed the depths of Hell. Most angels speculate she was simply lost. That she'd somehow gotten down there by some giant mistake. Most demons are convinced she had done something to deserve temporary damnation." She said smiling faintly.

"What do you believe?" I asked quietly. "That's not important." She said and continued with the story. "Laylah met a demon named Vetis and they immediately fell in love. When it came the time when she had to go back, she knew she couldn't return to Hell and there was no chance he would ever be permitted to enter the gates of Heaven. She could, however, walk the roads of the living freely, just as demons could."

"What do you mean?" I asked suddenly panicked. Earth, or 'the roads of the living', was meant for just that, the living. Roary's black eyes widened in surprise and she started to laugh. "You actually thought you were alone?!"

"If you're all roaming around 'the roads of the living'," I said using finger quotes, "Then what's the point of the-the parking garage of the dead?!" I didn't like the idea of things I couldn't see wandering around. She quietly laughed again. "I can see it will be difficult to explain the terms and conditions of my world. It's different for both Heaven and Hell. Certain rules have to be abided by. In Heaven, angels and the ones born there can come and go typically, but it is Heaven and most don't want to. They can see the roads from there. Hell, on the other hand, only those created there, i.e. demons," She explained motioning to herself. "Can come to the surface." Walk the roads.

"But what about the psycho killers who die and haunt houses?" I asked trying to prove her wrong. "If they were once living and die damned, but still wander the Earth, then chances are they never left." She said with certainty.

"What's the difference between the people who died and the people born in Hell?" I asked. It almost felt like a force of habit now. I could see she was getting annoyed because she closed her eyes and let out a deep groan through clenched teeth. "When people go to Hell, they become tortured souls, not demons. Now if all your curiosity is expended, I would like to finish what little of my story there is to tell." She said frustrated. After a moment she took my silence as confirmation.

"So, they met on Earth as often as possible. He was a kind demon, he loved her and protected her. He never followed people or slammed doors. Just as I haven't." "Wait, does this mean you love me, because you're not flinging shit?"

"Hades, no!" She exclaimed with wide eyes. "You're human." "That hurts." I told her. "I know." She responded. "And to make matters worse, you're still alive."

"So? It didn't stop Laylah and Vetis."

"Neither of them were human. Until after they met, neither had walked the roads." She said gaining her patience back.
"If you aren't here for love, then why?"
"It'll come to you."