Students Allied Against God

"Hey, Angie, are you okay?" Angelia looked ahead, blankly, in total shock. "Angelia, hello?" They sat together, quietly for a few minutes.

"But, I've seen my dad, and been with him before. I have memories with him. Him and mom, too. How can my dad be...Satan?" Angelia looked at Cathy, with a look of fear. The words that left Angelia horrorstruck are the same words that left Catherine in awe when she first heard them for herself. She held Angie's hand firmly, giving it a squeeze.

"Angie, I can't imagine what sort of shock it must be like for you to hear that your father is the very same man that billions of people fear and cower from, but you have to understand that it's all a matter of perspective." Angelia looked up at Cathy with questioning eyes. "In Heaven, your father is the epitome of evil. On Earth, he instills fear into millions, but in Hell, your father is a great, respected man. He supports billions of his people, and rules over a more land than the Earth is made of." Cathy lowered her voice a little and said, "Most of all, he loves you and wants you to be safe." Angelia sat quietly, contemplating all of this.

"How do you know all of that?"

"Well, it's time to tie the ends of my story all together: You see, my family has been protecting Satan's since as far back as anyone can remember, and when your parents decided to have a child, mine did too. My job since birth has been to protect you. If you think about it, we're made for each other." Cathy laughed at her own joke, which Angelia found to be a little bit odd for her tastes. "As I said earlier, your birth caused quite a stir in Heaven, and the war, which had been at a stalemate for so long, was now threatening to erupt."

"If my whole family had been killed, what would have happened to Hell?"

"Exactly. Hell would be thrown into an anarchy, so to keep that from happening your parents hid you where nobody would suspect you to be - right under Heaven's nose.

"Of course, this plan did not come without risks. Should you have been found out...well it's safe to say that you would be dead. As such, your parents have been doing very little to contact you, though I'm sure you already know that." Angelia leaned against the headboard of the bed, as if finally settling in.

"I always just thought my parents were busy." She paused. "Or maybe lazy. They only sent me letters around Christmas time." Angelia's casted her gaze away from Cathy. Then she laughed to herself. And to think the girl from Hell even celebrates Christmas and goes to Catholic school.

"No, no not at all! And lazy is certainly an understatement. Now, though, you have to understand this was all done for you." Cathy smiled. "And it's all okay, because our time here on Earth is coming to an end, anyway."

"That sounds ominous," Angie interrupted. Ignoring her, but with a slight hint of annoyance in her tone, Cathy continued.

"We have to begin our trip back to Hell. Now that your powers will begin to awaken, it will be difficult - impossible, rather - to stay under the radar."

"What powers do I have?" Angelia asked, examining her own body for perhaps ears and a tail of her own. Cathy, for the first time, didn't have an immediate answer.

"Well," she said, drawing it out, "I...don't know. I don't think anyone does, really." The smaller, pale girl found this to be frightening, and she wondered what sort of horrific abilities she might possess. "But, we won't be waiting too long to find out! And, now you'll see, it'll all tie back to the beginnings of this mess." With that, Cathy held up the pair of dirtied panties Angelia was originally wearing, which caused Angelia to blush feverishly.

"W-What do those have to do with this?"

"Angie, you're becoming a woman. This is proof. As I'm sure you've notice, you've always been behind all the other girls in...growing up." Again, Angelia could feel her face turn red, even though she knew Cathy was right. "Virgins are like the Holy Grail of Heaven. To be pure and holy is what they strive for, and it's all great and dandy. As most things are in Heaven, it is the opposite in Hell."

"So, uh," the embarrassed girl wondered, "people in Hell strive to be...promiscuous?" Cathy stifled a roaring laughter and waved her hands no.

"Uh, you're taking it a little far. It's just that losing one's virginity is typical in Hell, whereas it is generally frowned upon in Heaven. Losing your virginity is also seen as a sign of maturity - sexual maturity." Cathy gestured to the underwear. "Your period is a natural signal, telling us you're maturing. You're losing your purity, your holiness." Angelia hugged herself, as if to comfort her own body which was, according to Cathy, impure and dirty. Cathy, seeing her friend's worry, tried to console her.

"Don't take it the wrong way. Like I said, it's normal. I've had my period too." She smiled, but the situation was too weird to make Angie feel better, but then Cathy reentered lecture mode.
"So, you see, now that you've begun to lose your holiness, we can expect two things to happen. Firstly, we'll see powers begin to take their shape in you. Secondly, your presence will become detectable by the Angels. You're physical youth has been helpful for keeping you hidden for this long, but it seems time is running out on that."

"And Verona is close to Heaven, so..." Angie trailed off, hoping Cathy would finish the incomplete thought for her.

"It's possible that Angels could be around us. In fact, it's pretty much guaranteed."

"So, what's the plan?" Angelia didn't like the idea of being surrounded by her enemies, even if they didn't know she was there.

"Well, for now, we have to stay put. I'm going to make contact with the higher-up's down in Hell, and they'll decide our next move. For now, I want you to lay low. Draw as little attention to yourself as possible and just hold out. And if you're ever in a situation where things don't feel right, call me and I'll get to you as fast as I can. My final rules: No traveling alone at night and avoid quiet, isolated places. If you're caught alone, you can consider yourself a dead man."

"Anything else, Mom?" Angelia said, rolling her eyes. Cathy folded her arms and playfully answered back.

"Hey now, just because you're the daughter of Satan doesn't mean you can get all high on your horse. Really, just watch your back. Hopefully, we'll be gone from here by this time next week." That struck Angelia by surprise.

"Gone? We're just going to leave?"

"You think we're 'just going to leave'? I hope it'll be that easy." Cathy offered another cheerful smile, but there was something scary about that comment. It was as though, just out of sight, a thousand terrors were lurking in the shadows, watching, and just waiting to... Angelia shook the thought off her mind.

Classes proceeded as normal, but Angelia was preoccupied with her own thoughts. How could she not be distracted? She only had lunch with Catherine, so for the majority of the day Angie spent her time fidgeting in her chair, looking over her shoulder, and being anxious. She probably wouldn't have been so concerned if they were anywhere else in the world, but to be so close to Heaven frightened her. If she was a princess of Hell, wasn't it just as likely one of her classmates was an Angel? She slumped down in her chair, and closed her eyes. Her late night with Cathy really cut into her sleep last night. Closing her eyes just felt so nice...

"Miss Rosenberg!" Angelia stirred a little in her chair. "Angelia! Upright, please." Suddenly, the voice registered in her mind, and Angelia realized she was listening to the headmistress. She jumped upright.

"Headmistress Ann! Forgive me!" Angelia got out of her chair and bowed quickly, but she fumbled up, still half asleep.

"Hmph, you seemed to drift off during class, but your teachers say you're not normally one to misbehave, and I must agree. I'll left this slide off under the pretense of you having a bad day."

"Thank you, that is a very kind gesture." Angelia bowed again, incredibly embarrassed. Headmistress Ann smirked; she enjoyed to see her own power of the students. Her girls were far better behaved than St. Peter's Secondary School, the neighboring all-boy's school that was counterpart to St. Mary Ann's. Speaking of which...

"Well, don't be late for your athletics class, the rest of the girls have already arrived. Get changed and be on your way." With that, the older woman left the room, and a strange tension that Angelia had not realized was there disappeared. She really dodged a bullet there. She sighed, and decided she'd have to tell Cathy about this, since it was, if you looked at from a particular way, Cathy's fault she made Angelia stay up so late the night before, thus making her fall asleep in class. After coming to this decision, Angie quickly changed into her gym uniform in the deserted class room.

Outside on the field, the girls and boys were lining up for class. The setting sun framed the grass and trees like a golden lining around a masterful piece of art. The leaves were a crisp browns and reds, but other trees remained bright green in spite of the colder winds that had begun to blow. Autumn was coming, but the school insisted the students have gym classes outdoors until the first snow flakes fell.

There was something beautiful about Verona, as dangerous as it was.

"Okay, let's break for 10 minutes, then we'll start again with the remaining students." The boys and girls gravitated to each other like magnets, savoring their few moments with the opposite sex. Phys. Ed was the only class where the schools intermixed, so it was held as as a sacred part of the day.

Complying with Cathy's rule of laying low, Angelia strolled off to the edge of the field and sat down on the benches. Angie never saw a need to replace her gym shorts no matter how short they got, but now she felt chills run down her legs and regretted the her decision.

While she played with her long, jet-black hair, she noticed a tall, slender boy sauntering over. Maybe tall was an understatement. He seemed to be entering giant-territory with his height. He was pale, but not quite as pale as herself, and he had quite a face. It was cute and masculine all at the same time. Angie realized she was full on staring only after it was too late to look away. When he got closer, he sat down next to her. Now up close, her hopes were confirmed: he certainly was something to look at. He had shaggy hair, but it wasn't particularly thick, so it laid rather flat against his head. It was dark, just like her own. Angelia was embarrassed by the fact that the color suited him better than it suited her.

"Good day, and nice to meet you," he said with a proper, educated accent. His voice was deep, but not too deep. A more proper description would have been soothing. It was nice to listen to. "My name is Kelly," he said, offering his hand. Angelia couldn't help but laugh a little: A handshake? Well, it's gentlemen-like, but this guy acts like he's from another century. "And who might I have the pleasure of speaking to?"

"I'm Angelia," she said, taking his hand into hers. His eyes were a bursting green color, adding a little life to his face.

"Angelia," he repeated. When he said it, it sounded melodic, and each letter flicked off his tongue with grace; it was a far prettier name when Kelly said it. "If you don't mind my saying, you've held my attention for quite some time." Angelia felt herself blush; boys had never really paid attention to her before, especially not such good looking ones.

"W-Well, thanks. It means a lot." Kelly leaned in, getting intimately close to Angelia, and swept her hair away form her face.

"You know, I'm here to protect you." Angelia felt the excitement drain from her face. This wasn't the kind of attention she wanted. "Such an important, and delicate girl shouldn't be left alone here," he said, stressing each word. Angelia scooted away from the towering boy.

"Thank you, but that's too much. I'm fine on my own."

"No, no you're not." His eyes stared directly into hers. "This is enemy territory." Then he gave a princely smile. "I'll protect you." Enemy land. Angelia was able to put one and two together...

"What are you?" Angelia inquired with a bit of forcefulness, but part of her was scared to hear the answer. Kelly grinned devilishly and leaned in close, putting his mouth next to her ear. Then, he put Angie's hand to his chest and...nothing.

"I'm a zombie, and I am humbled to be in the presence of such royalty, daughter of Satan."