The Real Story of Heaven and Hell

I woke up feeling like I got hit by a train. I’d honestly never felt worse in my life. I sat up carefully, trying to figure out where the hell I was, and how I’d gotten there.

Birthday.

Gramps.

Demons.

Tattooed dudes.

Sera.

Rage bubbled in my chest, more rage than I’d ever felt. I wanted to rip those guys apart, tear out their hearts and feed it to them.

Whoa. That was a weird impulse. People have pissed me off, but I’ve never wanted to feed them their hearts.

First order of business was to find Sera. I swung my legs out of bed, my face soon joining my feet.

“Oww.” I groaned, picking myself up. Smart Lil. Beat the crap out of yourself. Like you weren’t drugged yesterday. I managed to get over to the door and open it.

I stumbled down the hall, trying to figure out where my sister was. I opened a door at random and saw my sister’s familiar blonde head poking out of the covers.

“Thank God.” I whispered, hurrying over to her. The minute I touched her hand, the rage melted away. Maybe seeing she was still breathing calmed me down.

Now if only I still had Gramps’ shot gun.

Oh my God.

Gramps.

What if the demons had gotten him? He wouldn’t be able to out run them like Sera and I did, or fight them off.

“Sera wake up.” I tapped her face and she groaned. “Seraphina Quinn. Get your ass up before those psycho guys come back.”

“Oh, we’re the psychos. She bit Vengeance.” I spun around at the voice. It belonged to a rather cute guy with a brown Mohawk.

“Start talking Shorty, before I rip your throat out.” I hissed. Wow. I’m kinda going nuts on these people.

“She’s definitely the Hell twin.” A really tall guy with ink black hair and steel blue eyes chuckled. “Good call Christ.”

“I know my shit.” Mohawk guy said. I stood protectively between them and my sister. I had a flashback to first grade, when some kid pulled her pigtails. I punched them out. I could do the same now. The bullies were only a little bigger now.

“What the hell is going on?” I demanded.

“No pun intended, right?” Three more guys filed in. A big buff guy with hazel eyes and a shaved head; cute and chubby guy with black hair and green eyes; and a dark haired man with deep brown eyes.

Okay, maybe I need back up for the bullies.

“Wait. You’re telling me Ezekiel didn’t tell you girls anything?” Mohawk guy asked, reading the confusion on my face. Ezekiel was my grandfather. What would he have told us?

“Look, I’ve been chased by demons, choked, speared with glass, drugged, and then confused with fucking riddles. Give me a straight answer dammit.” I rubbed my shoulder, feeling a bandage under my shirt.

Aww man. They would have had to take off my shirt to do that. Fuck my life.

“I think we should wait for your sister to wake up.” The tall blue eyed guy said. I kept one eye on the guys while I shook my sister again.

“Lil?” She sat upright suddenly.

“I’m here Sera.” I hugged my twin. “We’re okay, for the moment.”

“Why did you fucking kidnap us?” She yelled at the guys. I nearly chuckled. She rarely cursed, and it was kinda funny to me.

God I hoped her acid-in-the-OJ theory was right.

“We saved your asses.” The green eyed guy said. He rubbed a bandage on his neck. Must be Vengeance, the guy Sera bit.

“Yeah, well we could have done without your rescuing. Thanks and all, but we just wanna find our grandpa and go home.” I growled. I felt like shit still, and I didn’t think Sera was feeling any better.

“Lilith.” Blue Eyed Guy said softly, touching my shoulder. “Your grandfather is dead.” It took a long moment for the words to process.

Then I snapped.

“You killed him, you bastard!” I roared, wrapping my hands around his throat. He pulled at my arms, trying to get me to let go, but the rage that filled me made me strong. I pinned him to the floor, squeezing my hands tight around his neck. “You killed him!”

“Lilith!” Sera put her hands on my shoulders, trying to pull me off. At her touch, the rage disappeared. My hands went slack and I let Mohawk boy pull me off.

What the hell is wrong with me? I don’t choke people. I never even hit them unless they hurt Sera. Blue Eyed Guy rubbed his neck, and I could see indents from my fingers.

“Sorry.” I muttered.

“It’s okay. I should have expected it. Hell twin and all.” He winced.

“What the fuck is a Hell twin?” I yelled, throwing my hands in the air.

“Look, this is gonna sound crazy.” Mohawk boy said. I raised an eyebrow at him. Like anything’s ever gonna sound crazy after yesterday. “One of you is born of God, the other of the Devil.” I gaped at him. Okay, maybe it could sound crazy. “Lilith is the twin born of the Devil. Seraphina is the God twin. You keep the balance on Earth. We’re your guardians. If one of you dies, then the balance will tilt and chaos will erupt.”

“That’s why the demons came after us?” As soon as the words were out of my mouth, I knew I was right. They came to kill Sera.

“Who are you?” Sera whispered.

“I’m Johnny; this is Jimmy, Zacky, Brian, and Matt.” Mohawk guy, or Johnny I guess, pointed them out. Jimmy was the guy I choked, Zacky’s the one Sera bit. “Jimmy and Matt are your guardians Lilith. Brian and Zacky are Seraphina’s.” I sat on the bed and tried to process this.

I’m born of the Devil.

My twin is born of God.

Gramps got killed by demons sent to kill Sera.

My guardians are two of the hottest guys I’ve ever seen.

“Call me Lil.” I interrupted Johnny’s lecture. Apparently Brian and Matt are demons, Jimmy and Zacky are angels. Johnny’s half and half. Whoopee for them. “Lil and Sera. That’s us.”

“Okay, Lil.” He rolled his eyes. “You can control fire and air. Sera controls water and earth.”

“Can you feed us?” Sera asked. “I can’t focus on what you’re telling us.”

“Jimmy, will you feed them?” Johnny threw his hands up in the air, clearly frustrated with us.

“As long as Lil doesn’t try and choke me again.” He chuckled. “I’m just kidding. Come on Hell Girl.”

“I wish I could send you to hell.” I muttered, following him.

Turns out Jimmy makes pancakes almost as good as Gramps. At the thought of Gramps, I nearly started crying.

I can handle this.

Sure, I may be just about the equivalent of the daughter of Satan, but I can handle this.

Lilith Quinn can handle everything.

Pssh.

Right.

Let’s see how long I can keep that act up.

“So you have any super powers?” I asked, taking a sip of orange juice. He flicked his fingers and sparks shot out.

“Lightning.” He shrugged. I gulped. He could have electrocuted me while I was choking him.

“Do you have a shower?” I felt icky from running in the rain and then being in the mausoleum.

“Yeah, I’ll show you.” He led me down the hallway, Sera close behind us. Zacky stopped her for something, I didn’t hear what.

“Thank you, by the way.” I said quietly. It was hard to imagine him as an angel. I’d pegged him for a demon.

“No problem Hell Girl.” Man I wish I could set him on fire. I settled for flipping him off and washing dead people dust off.

It was weird I could act so normal about this whole situation. I guess it clicked somewhere deep down, like I really understood.

Let’s see how long that lasts.

I have a feeling my head will explode at some point.