The Wayward Son

Remy sat at an empty desk, still ever watching over Taylor. He had yet to figure out what was so important about her. As far as he could tell, Taylor was just another teenage girl. As soon as she woke up, she got dressed, combed her hair, put on make-up and left for school. She was smart though. Almost every question the teachers had asked, Taylor answered. Remy wasn’t paying much attention to the class. Something about the Egyptians.

Resting his head on the desk, Remy breathed, in attempts to calm his nerves. Ever since Azrael showed up and reminded him of Paradise, his body had become a lot weaker. His angelic nature was fading. Flexing his hand, Remy watched his power flow. A black fog danced around his fingers. Remy smirked. He still had some power. Not a lot, but some.

Remy snapped back when the bell rang. Watching Taylor get up, Remy hesitated. He was dreading walking through the halls of the high school again. Letting out a sigh, Remy stood up and followed Taylor out the classroom. Immediately out the door, Remiel twisted around a few giggling girls and ducked under someone slinging on their backpack. This was the best reflex training Remy had ever had. A few times, Remy actually lost sight of Taylor for a second or two, but that only made him want to get out of here even more.

At last, Taylor walked out the front doors of the school and towards the street. Remy let out a sigh of relief when he broke free of the mass of students. Remy walked up next to Taylor as she waited for her bus. After a moment, Remy felt something. Something was coming.

Turning to look down the road, Remiel saw the bus coming down the road. But there was something off. Remy’s eye widened when he figured it out. The driver was possessed. He was barely able to sense it from down the street, but Remy knew that was the case. They really wanted this girl dead.

Remy waited as long as he dare, but when he saw the bus start to swerve, he reacted. Wrapping an arm around Taylor’s waist, Remy ran. The bus actually looked like it was chasing them as Remy pulled Taylor away. Whatever demon had taken over the bus driver’s mind was obviously not very smart. Crashing the bus through stone archway to the school’s courtyard, the bus started to tip. Soon enough, it turned on its side and began to roll.

‘Too much,’ Remy thought, but did what he had to do. Setting Taylor down just inside the school’s door, he looked at her and made sure she could see and hear him, “Don’t move.”

Taylor didn’t know who Remy was. He could see that much in her eyes. She probably didn’t even remember him from last night, but she nodded none the less.

Hesitant to leave his principal, Remy ran back into the courtyard. The bus had stopped rolling and was sitting upside down in the centre of the stone quarter. A few dozen students laid unconscious around the bus and several more people were laid inside the bus, even the driver was motionless.

Remy moved fast. Grabbing the first two students he saw, Remiel dashed back inside the school and laid them down. Not sticking around, Remy ran back and grabbed two more. Repeating the process as fast as he was able. On his third run through, Remy stopped for a moment. Amongst all the moaning and groaning of the injured students, Remy heard a drip. Just one drop after another. Turning to the bus, Remy started to move faster.

‘I need help!’ Remy prayed as he moved. ‘Now!’

Now that he heard it just once. It was the only thing he could hear. The fuel line was leaking. Every drop resonated through the air like a gong, telling Remy that he didn’t have a lot of time left. With the students finally cleared, Remy ran to the bus and tried to pry open the door. His strength was failing. Too much.

Backing up with a roar, Remiel faced the side of the bus and held his hand to his side. Summoning what little power he had left. The black smoke swirled like a vortex around his palm. Screaming, Remy swiped his hand like a blade through the air at the bus. The smoke escaped from his hand and sliced open the metal.

“MOVE!” Remy yelled.

The conscious passengers followed orders fast. Each one that had the strength grabbed the nearest unconscious person and dragged them from the bus, moving them to the school slowly. Remy took the last three and hefted them from the bus, losing his energy more and more as he walked.

Dropping the group in the school, Remy looked at the wounded and then to Taylor, who was tending the wounds as best she could. A few dozen. All for her. Remy promised himself that he would find out why she was so important after this.

Forgetting it for the moment, Remiel ran back to the bus to get the last victim. The bus driver, who laid sprawled out across the steps of the bus. Remy couldn’t get the door open. So instead he jumped through the gash he opened in the metal and kicked off a seat to the front. Remy hefted the bus driver up and dragged him out. He was a chunky guy and was using what energy Remy had left.

Moving across the courtyard, the impossibly loud drops of fuel stopped. Worried, Remy dropped the bus driver in front of him and knelt over him.

‘One. Two,’ Remy counted in his head, ‘Now.’

As predicted, everything went silent and then erupted. The fuel caught fire, sending the bus into the air in a ball of flame. Remy held his ground as the wind got hot. The fire took no time at all to reach him, but seemed to be an eternity.

Everything stopped. Remy threw his power out at the fire. His black smoke shrouded him and the bus, keeping most of the flame out. Most. The searing heat ripped through Remy’s jacket and shirt like paper, sending remnants of what was once his clothes sailing across the wind. Remy didn’t move. Pushing the last of his power over light into the air.

His absolute last.

When the fire finally passed. Remiel looked down the bus driver he was protecting. The man flesh was completely untouched and as far as Remy could tell, the demon that was possessing him was gone. Smiling, Remy crashed onto the burnt stone and passed out.