"I"ll go buy the stuff. You can stay here." I told her as I placed those little cats on the front seat. There was a lot of stuff I"d need for the cats and we needed to buy groceries for home too."I"ll come with you," My eve said in a calm manner but I just knew she didn"t want to stay inside the car.
"No need. I"ll be back in a jiffy." I teased her and quickly got out of the car.
"There are a lot of things. You might not be able to carry everything. Let me help you." Eve said and hurriedly got out of the car. I almost laughed up at her words. Being honest, I could carry the whole store by myself. Well, it might be inconvenient to do so but it wasn"t an impossible thing to do.
How could I not know the reason why she was making such lame excuses. She didn"t want to stay in the car. I could see she was embarra.s.sed about her fear of cats and she won"t say it in front of me again. She did touch the cat in a moment of an adrenaline rush before but she still was afraid of them. Getting rid of fear wasn"t that easy thing to do but my brave little Eve took the toughest first step - to confront the fear head-on. And the way she always thinks of me before herself feels so warm that even the summer sunshine pales in comparison.
Eve puffed up her cheeks and stared at me, warning me not to say it loudly. My heart nearly skipped a beat just because of that cute gesture! What kind of sorcery was that? I could never feel myself as the strongest when I"m near her.
I didn"t dare to try my luck by teasing her more. Well, it was better if she came along with me. I"d get to hold her hand and she"ll be within my sight...
The available parking s.p.a.ce was at a small distance from where the store was. We walked together towards the store hand in hand. It was evening and the streets appeared quite busy. To be honest, it was my first experience, walking in such crowded roads. I"ve always preferred quiet places. But such traffic of people is to be expected in a city.
While walking, I felt some eyes looking at us. Most were directed to my Eve but a few of those eyes were looking at me too. Some of those gazes from the pa.s.sing people were of admiration but most of them were filled with envy, jealousy and l.u.s.t... Eve couldn"t hear them but because of my sharp senses, I could hear some people even talking about how "beautiful" Eve is and how I"m a lucky b.a.s.t.a.r.d. I hope I hadn"t felt those gazes or heard them. I hated that feeling. And that"s why I hated the crowd.
It was hard to control myself after that. My mind was instantly full of murderous thoughts. No, I"m not proud of feeling that but what could I do. Their acts, their words were blasphemous to my Eve. They don"t even deserve to look at her. I so wanted to grouch on their eyes and feed them to crows, cut their tongue and make them mute or to lacerate their body and sprinkle some salt over them. But I resisted my urges the best I could.
I hated it. I hated myself for all the anger inside my heart. Rage always walks with me like a shadow. Was I really a cursed being that should have never born?
"You"re alright?" Eve asked and wrapped both of her hands on my arm. Those two words pulled me out of my thoughts. I felt calm again as I looked at her deep violet eyes. They really were the most beautiful eyes in the worlds. Even the fairy queen"s eyes were not half as beautiful as hers.
"Yeah. Why?"
"You were making a really scary expression. I thought something wasn"t right," Eve replied honestly.
I wondered if I should tell her the truth. I didn"t want to but the promise I once made echoed in my ears- I won"t hide anything from her. d.a.m.n, I wasn"t in the right mind when I made that promise. Seriously, at least I should have done a little moderation back then. "I won"t hide anything unless it should be hidden", saying like that wasn"t any bad. Well, well, next time...
"You"re so beautiful that people are staring at you. It is kind of making me uncomfortable." I couldn"t bring myself to tell her the other part of murdering those people.
"Oh, why? Shouldn"t I be the one feeling uncomfortable instead of you?" Eve asked curiously and indifferently. I wondered if she already is used to such things. Her beauty was otherworldly even when she was ten, let alone now. All these years must have been hard on her.
"Well if someone"s gonna stare at my future wife so much, ofc I"ll be uncomfortable. Do you want me to beat them up?"
"You"re so silly," Eve replied but she hung her head down. I knew she was blushing. I saw her ears turn all red. "I don"t care much but if any of them come near, I think you can beat them up."
Finally!
I finally got permission to beat them up. Though "just beating them up" was far from what I wanted but it would be barely enough to calm my frustration for a bit. I even wanted for someone to come near my Eve to try their luck.
"Thanks, thanks."
"You"re making an evil expression now. Seriously, what is going on in that little mind of yours?"
I was dumbstruck. I let my guard down right then. I realized that I was smiling in a weird manner. I instantly stopped doing that idiotic thing and let in a deep breath to calm myself once again. But wait. Wasn"t she looking down instead of looking at me? How did she know?
We soon reached the store. And inside the store, I realized another thing about my Eve. She was really meticulous. Be it beverages or a small packet of chocolate, she selected them all carefully. She always checked the particulars of everything. Sometimes, she even read the number of calories the food will give.
I guess what I heard about women was right. And even my Eve was like every other woman in this aspect - very cautious of their weight. I wouldn"t mind if she gains a few pounds or more than a few. As I imagined her getting a little chubby, I realized she"d still look too cute! I didn"t dare to tell it on her face though - Hey Eve, get a little fat. You"d be cuter then.
Nope.
No way in h.e.l.l I could or I would say that.
That"s one thing I don"t dare to do...
We were looking for the milk bottle for cats when I saw two children, a boy and a girl, enter the store. They were huffing hard as if they were running for their life. Their clothes were ragged and they appeared just like those homeless beggars. After entering, they quickly ran towards the shelf a little away from us and squatted down. Normally, I wouldn"t care about such people but they were different. There was this sense of familiarity I felt towards them.
I opened my all-seeing eyes and I realized they possess lifestream that belongs to Eden. Those little kids were definitely angels! I was shocked when I saw the state they were in. After all, angels are stronger than humans physically and we possess abilities too. It"d be hard for an adult human to contend with a seven-year-old angel in strength. But it wasn"t difficult for me to realize that those kids were being chased. That was impossible for a human, unless...
My conjecture was right. At that moment, a muscular man with rather decent looks entered the store. He was wearing a yellow dress. But the thing was, his aura was the one I loathed most. Of a demon... And this demon was a rather high ranking one.
I instantly remembered "The Great Hunt". Those b.a.s.t.a.r.ds were trying to convert every single angel that fell. If they failed in recruiting them, they"d simply kill them. I was even more shocked at how those little kids could run away from a high ranked demon. That man entered another row to find those kids.
I couldn"t just let those poor kids suffer while I was watching, could I? They were my kin after all. And I was cursed to do so even if I didn"t want to.
I turned my head towards the kids, only to find that they weren"t present there. Did they run away again?
No, that wasn"t right.
I didn"t hear anything.
I opened all-seeing eyes once more. The sight I normally see disappeared as my vision darkened and the world of lifestream appeared in front of me. Though lifestream would be concentrated in living beings, it was omniscient. I could see hair like strands of light of different colours floating around everywhere. In the original direction and saw two silhouettes made of light standing right there. The girl was holding the mouth of the boy. She was holding her breath. Her heart was anxious and in pain. That boy, however, had retaliating thoughts of dying along with the enemy.
When I closed the all-seeing eyes, I couldn"t see the kids again. It was Invisibility! A seeker would be standing next to you and he wouldn"t be able to find you if you know invisibility. Even Michael wasn"t that proficient in invisibility. That little girl wasn"t just making herself invisible, she was even making her companion invisible. That was just another level of this ability. That explained why such high ranking devil was after them! She"ll make a perfect a.s.sa.s.sin for the demons! And that explained how they could run away from that demon too.
"Eve. Go to checkout, please. I"ve something to do."
"Huh. What happened?" Eve asked me wondering what was wrong with me. I couldn"t explain to her in little time.
"Go quick and wait for me in the car," I realized that there were cats in the car and corrected myself, "near the car. I"ll tell you about it later." Eve appeared to be quite pleased with how I changed it.
"Take care," she said and walked towards the checkout. I was glad that the stuff wasn"t much heavy or I couldn"t bear to watch my Eve hold heavy weight by herself.
I walked towards the corner where those kids had squatted down and stood there silently, looking at the things on the shelf. That was my best attempt in giving those kids a cover. That yellow haired demon pa.s.sed by but he couldn"t find those kids.
A few minutes after that, they both became visible again and as they did, the little boy jumped and tried to give me an uppercut. But he was too slow. Or I guess I was. .h.i.t faster. My reaction time had been honed by countless battles. I grabbed his little fist in mid-air. It was just a self-protection measure, I guessed and gave myself an excuse.
"Easy there boy," I tried to calm him down so he doesn"t look at me as a threat.
That kid didn"t listen to me. He twisted his body and tried to kick me instead after his punch was intercepted. That kick was strong enough to break a normal demon"s ribs and render them immobile in pain. Again, I was faster than that kid. I got hold of his leg and pushed him back.
I wondered what I could do to let them know I wasn"t a bad guy. Couldn"t say I was the big bad "One winged devil". They"d probably faint in fear right away. With the demons spread out in the city, it would be even more troublesome for me if they were to find me. Other than that, those kids might get in much more danger because of a.s.sociating with me.
And at that moment. It hit me. That old b.a.s.t.a.r.d once told me about it but I wondered if it will be useful here. No choice but to try.
"Do you know what happens when an angel spreads his wings?" I directly spoke without waiting for that violent kid attack again. I said in a low voice so that only those two could hear my words.
Both of their pupils constricted. Their eyes lit up. And they both replied together in elation.
"Eden knows!"