The Wayward Son

The crowd moved across the street as they always did. Hundreds of New Yorkers bustling to their lives. This is where he walked. In the midst of the crowd, he walked. Slipping between the people like the wind. He wasn't there. Not all of the time. He showed up when he needed to be seen, felt or heard, but right now, no one saw him.

As he moved, a woman tripped towards the street. Quickly, he grabbed her arm and pulled her back. She looked at the young man. Shaggy blond hair and glowing blue eyes alongside a perfectly sculpted form. Without a word, the young man smiled and walked away, disappearing in the crowd once again.

"Thank you!" the woman finally called out, but he was already gone.

Anyone who actually knew him called him Remy, which was short for Remiel. Anyone who really knew him knew Remy was an angel. He wasn't just a child of grace who help old ladies across the street either. Remy had his wings. He had been to Paradise and back, but he had a job to do and he wasn't going home anytime soon. So he kept walking.

Passing a homeless man on the street, Remy reached into his leather jacket and pulled out a wad of cash for the man. Smiling as he handed it to the man, Remy carried on.

This was what he did. He helped those in need. He was a guardian. The invisible hand that helps you do those things you thought couldn't. This was only part of his job though. This was what he did while moving to his real job. Someone would need his protection soon. Protection from beasts that walk on the other side.

The sun started to fall behind some skyscrapers, shading out the city around Remy as he moved through Central Park. The trees were in full green this spring. The winter's wind was still flowing as everything grew, but it felt good. The park was calm. For awhile longer at least.

Remy stopped at the shore of the park's lake and waited. Reaching into his jacket pocket, Remy pulled out a notepad and flipped through the pages, checking off his to do list. Demon possession, stopped. Murdering, postponed. Suicide, halted. Demonic ambush, ready and waiting.

Remy turned back to the path and crouched down, stretching out before the fun began. Then he saw what the demons were after. A girl. young and beautiful, was running down the path towards him. Her brown hair long and flowing around her light green eyes. But that's not what the demons cared about. She was a virgin. This was bad.

Still unseen, Remiel ran to the girl and pulled her from the road. Best to keep her off of their ground until the show up. Pulling her away, Remy heard the scratching from behind them. The demons were coming. Remy turned from the girl and smirked. He would enjoy this.

As fast as he could, Remy stood the girl in the dirt and scraped a few angelic runes around her feet, keeping her in and them out. The girl stood there trapped, staring at Remy. Only hitch to keeping her safe. Interfering with someone makes Remy visible to them and she was confused. All Remy could do was smile.

Six demons started clawing their way out from the stone of the pathway. Each vile, deformed and rotted. Clawed fingers matched by three sets of shark fangs, like sharks. Their grey skin faded dark in the low light, blending them into the shadow. As they emerged, the stone they scratched their way out from mended itself. No trace. That was how they worked.

“Took you’ll long enough. I was getting bored,” Remy joked.

None of the demons responded to Remy's quip. Each one just snarled. Their beady black eyes fixated on Remy. Remiel smirked and reached out his right hand to his side. The shadows circled like wind around his fingertips, stretching itself into a weapon. Remy's weapon. A gift from his mentor. The black scythe stood six foot in length with a silver ball at one end and the other matched by a crescent blade shining silver. The sight of the blade made the demons hiss. It had taken the lives of many of their brethren.

Remy spun the scythe in his hand and laughed, “Shall we dance?”

The demons obliged and charged him. Only half a dozen was easy for Remy. Twisting around the first demon, Remy rose the butt of the scythe into the creature’s chin and finished it off by twirling the blade around his back and dropping the edge on its neck. The next demon moved quick and leapt at Remy. Remiel reacted fast. Grabbing the demon’s throat, he tightened his grip and crushed the demon. The other demons backed up as their comrades turned to ash.

Remy smirked and tightened his grip on the scythe. Waiting, Remiel scanned the other demons. None of them were moving. Remy waited. Then the next struck. Ducking under the leaping demon, Remy twisted the blade of the scythe up and impaled the demon.

Remiel went on the assault this time and moved through the cloud of ash. Focusing on his angelic power, a swirling mass of light surrounded his scythe. The golden light shimmered bright as Remy dropped the blade into the ground. The light erupted as it struck and decimated two more demons, leaving Remiel with only one.

“You gonna run or fight?” Remy asked the last demon.

The demon dug its claws into the ground, answering Remy’s question. Remy struck quickly and watched as the demon ducked under it. Spinning the scythe around, Remy wrapped the shaft of the weapon around the creature’s neck and held on as it scratched. Dropping the scythe and the demon, Remy pushed his foot down against the creature, moving the demon towards the wicked blade slowly. Remiel taunting the demon as he pushed. The demon scratched and fought against the weight of Remy’s foot to no avail. Remy kept pushing, eventually to the point where he slowly decapitated the demon.

“Honestly, that was too easy. I’m a little insulted,” Remy said to himself as he looked around at the piles of ash.

“Umm…” the girl spoke.

Remy had forgotten about her. “Oh right. Hi,” he greeted.

“What was that?”

“Truthfully. You don’t want to know. Don’t worry though. You won’t remember.”

“I won’t?”

Remy shrugged. “Well you’ll remember me. Somewhat. You just won’t remember those guys or this conversation.” Remiel smiled and stretched two fingers out towards the girl’s forehead.

“Oh. In that case, thank you,” the girl said quickly.

Remiel stopped, “I’d never heard that before.”

“That’s sad.”

“Yeah. It is,” Remy whispered and touched his fingers to the girl’s forehead. “Goodbye.”

The girl smiled and waved, “Bye.”