My Guardian...Demon?

[Serpentine]

It was dark. Not just any dark, but the type of dark that makes you look over your shoulder every few seconds, afraid of what you might see. The wind howled through the trees and brought a chill that made Elizabeth wrap her jacket closer around her thin frame. The stars above were barely noticeable, as the clouds had began to fill the sky. Only the moon provided light for the girl as she walked, keeping a cautious eye for anything suspicious.

"Jesus...it's getting colder than I thought." she muttered to herself, feeling the wind press harder against her. Wow...it's gotta be two in the morning by now. I knew I shouldn't have stayed so late at the store. She thought, biting her lip and furrowing her brow at her own carelessness. Soon, Elizabeth was lost in her train of thought, looking down at the pavement as she walked, silver hair flowing behind her. Then, lifting her eyes, she became slightly frustrated at how a strand of hair continued making it's way from behind her ear. Elizabeth went to move it back into place when her eyes caught the head lights of a truck, spinning out of control and headed her way. She gasped and opened her mouth to scream, terror taking it's place among her features before she flinched and closed her eyes, time seeming to slow down as she waited for the impact.

 

[Transient]

Rayth groaned soundlessly as the hours dragged on. The darkness hid him more than it needed to as he followed in the wake of the thin girl with silver hair as she meandered down the night road. This is what I've been relegated to, the demon thought with a sneer, a babysitter. A part of him wanted to take a stone and toss it at the girl, to scare her, or at the very least, to give her a start. Anything to break up the dull monotony of this asinine assignment.

Too good for an angel. That's how lowly this task was. If an angel couldn't be troubled with it, why the hell should anyone trouble with it at all? Rayth didn't understand it. Why would fate care what happened to Elizabeth? Why did she need protecting? It made no sense to the demon, and thusly he wallowed in his own bitterness with every new step the girl took. Kill me now...well, he smirked, if only it was that easy.

Just then, Rayth's attention was drawn to the squelch of tires and the roar of an engine. Looking up to his charge, the demon saw the pair of headlights swerve around a corner, and affix upon the thin silhouette of Elizabeth. The truck made no move to slow or turn. Shit.

With unnatural speed, Rayth's body took shape out of the long shadows, and darted out into the street. His arms reached forward, and clasped Elizabeth tightly to his chest, before with one fluid motion he danced the two of them away from the path of the careening truck.

With the gust of air from the passing vehicle still moving his obsidian hair, Rayth watched with his glowing purple eyes as the truck continued on down the road, seemingly unfazed by the near-collision. Suspicion and ire narrowed the demon's eyes, and he looked down into the delicate face of the girl he held.

"Please, just go ahead and make my job harder, will you?" Rayth said, his mouth twisting into a scowl. "I just love saving hapless airhead girls from the middle of the road."

 

[Serpentine]

After a few mere seconds of waiting, Elizabeth noticed that she should have felt impact. Right as she thought that, a large mass rammed against her, causing her to gasp as the air was knocked out of her, eyes opening wide. The girl's heart hammered in her chest as she stared at the truck that had been so close to hitting her. Then, hearing a man's voice, she slowly turned her forest green irises upward to face her savior...or so she thought. His comment made her eyes widen even more and the scowl on his face only confused her. Job? Why is he saying that? Even worse, why is he so...rude? Wasn't I the one about the be run over? She thought, shock gracing her features before she regained her composure.

"E-Excuse me, but who are you?" Elizabeth asked, pushing the unknown man from her roughly. She copied his scowl and brushed off the front of her shirt, glaring a bit at him. "Thanks for saving me and all, but you don't sound too happy about saving someone's life. If you're that upset about having to "save" me, then maybe you shouldn't have bothered!" She scolded, but sighing immediately afterwards. She usually wasn't one to snap at people, but she was just traumatized only moments before. The silver haired female closed her eyes and took a deep breath before opening them once more and smiling kindly at the man.

"S-Sorry...I didn't mean to get on your case. It was probably time consuming to go out of your way to save me...sorry, I should have been paying attention." She apologized, averting her gaze from the man's and rubbing her arm awkwardly.

 

[Transient]

Rayth watched Elizabeth, his scowl turning to a groan. He rolled his violet eyes. I hate my job.

"My name is Rayth," he said sardonically. He opened his arms, and made a little gesture with his hands as if to say "ta-da," like a sarcastic magician showing his trick. "And, I would have let you become road kill were I not sworn by the very bounds of my soul to keep you alive."

He stepped closer to Elizabeth, letting his unnatural purple eyes gaze deeply at her. A sneer was on his lips, but he couldn't help but have a passing thought that the low-light of the stars shone beautifully off the girl's silver hair. Frustrated that such a notion even entered his mind, Rayth sneered all the more.

"I'm your 'guardian demon,' as it were," he laughed lightly. "Apparently, the gods want you alive for some reason, but they don't think you're quite worth the effort of some high-and-mighty angel. So you get me instead. Wonderful right?"

Rayth shrugged. "Sorry I can't give you much. They don't tell me anything. All I know is that you're supposed to stay on two feet until I'm told otherwise."

 

[Serpentine]

At the man, Rayth's, comment about being sworn to keep her alive, Elizabeth set her jaw and crossed her arms across her chest, lifting her forest green eyes up to him. She opened her mouth to retort, but stopped when he continued to speak. The whole thing seemed...unreal. Almost like she was in a dreamland, if that was possible. Elizabeth took note of the man, or demon, and his extremely sarcastic behavior toward the whole ordeal.

"So...my own guardian...demon? It's a bit ironic, but I'm sure it can't be too horrible. After all..." Elizabeth let the sentence trail off before she shook her head and drew her jacket closer around her body. She then noticed how close the demon was to her and swallowed, realization settling in.

She wasn't that worried about it, and nodded when the male finished speaking. Tucking a strand of silver hair behind her ear, Elizabeth sighed and continued to smile. "Well, it sounds to me like you aren't too happy about all of this. Trust me, if I didn't need help, I would send you off so that you don't have to waste your time. I mean, to be honest, I'd rather have a demon watch over me than an angel. I know it sounds kinda weird, but everybody talks about angels like they're so great...I don't know. They just seem a bit overrated." she said, slowly shrugging a shoulder and closing an eye, making an almost "iffy" expression.

"But, you know, your attitude could be a bit better. I mean, you kind of snapped at me for nothing in general...after all, I was walking on the sidewalk. That truck just went out of control." Elizabeth said, raising both eyebrows and pointing a finger accusingly at Rayth.

 

[Transient]

Rayth raised an eyebrow, and chuckled lightly. "Well, I'll admit you're taking this news better than I would have expected. It's not every day a person finds out that demons walk amongst them, and on top of that, are trying to keep them alive."

He regarded her with his skeptical gaze still affixed on his face. There was some kind of strength in Elizabeth he hadn't noticed during his hours of following her around. Most humans would have died of fright learning what she now knew, especially when it followed a very near-death experience. Still, Rayth being who he was, would never admit that to her.

"My attitude could always be better," he replied. "Don't flatter yourself. It's not just you who makes me hate my existence."

With that, he took the thick black leather jacket he wore from about his shoulders, and presented it to Elizabeth. He was left in nothing but a dark t-shirt, and pair of slim jeans to ward off the cold of the night.

"Here," Rayth said, indicating Elizabeth should take the jacket. "It looks like you need it more than me. I can't have you dying of cold either."

When she didn't take the jacket fast enough, Rayth simply tossed it in her direction. Planting his hands firmly in his pocket, he turned up the street and began walking.

"Come on. Let's get you home before some other crazy driver tries to smear you on the pavement."

 

[Serpentine]

Upon hearing his chuckle, Elizabeth's eyes widened a bit and she looked slightly shocked before smiling once more and rolling her eyes ever so slightly. At his comment, she simply scoffed and shook her head, laughing lightly.

"As if I'd feel flattered about a comment like that. I'm sure I'm not the only one making your life miserable. After all, I'm just a simple human being." she said with raised eyebrows.

The demon seemed...different to what she had imagined in her mind. From the pictures that people often drew, demons were supposed to have horns, pointed teeth, and a tail. Thinking about it, Elizabeth realized how silly it was and shook her head before she noticed that Rayth had began shedding his coat. Elizabeth was about to decline, holding her hands up when the jacket was tossed to her anyway. Making sure that it wouldn't touch the ground, she quickly reached out and grabbed it.

As the demon began making his way down the street, she stood and watched him before hearing his comment about getting her home. Elizabeth shook her head from her thoughts and quickly slipped on the over-sized jacket, tugging it closed around her before jogging to catch up with Rayth.

"Um, thank you. For letting me use your jacket...you won't need it will you?" she asked, looking up at him with a slightly furrowed brow. As they walked, the girl looked over the demon once more and took in his features, wondering why he would accept the mission to protect her in the first place. Especially if angels had asked him to do it. Instead of voicing her questions, Elizabeth kept her mouth shut and turned to look ahead, making sure to keep the large jacket tight around her.

 

[Transient]

Rayth looked sidelong over at Elizabeth as she caught up to him, his leather jacket enveloping her like a cape. He gave her a shrug and a nod.

"Don't worry about me. I'm a demon, remember? Dwelling within the confines of fire and brimstone manages to keep the cold away pretty well."

He let his boot heels scuff the ground as they continued to walk. The night was indeed chilly, with the wind adding a sharp edge to the already chilly air. Cold enough that even Rayth felt it. He hadn't lied when he had told Elizabeth that his nature generally kept the cold at bay, but not absolutely. Rayth still hated the chill, even if it would never manage to do him harm. Another facet of himself he would never admit to the girl at his side.

For a time they merely walked in silence. The demon's hands remained in his pockets, his eyes half-lidded with boredom and his usual foul mood. His mind did wander though as the pair drew nearer to Elizabeth's home. He could simply not shake how well she was taking all this. Here the girl was walking beside a self-proclaimed demon who had just saved her, and she was going along with the whole thing as if it was as common an occurrence as finding a penny on the sidewalk.

Looking to her at last, Rayth narrowed his eyes. "So what's the deal? Like I said, I wasn't told anything about the why of all this. Who the hell am I protecting you from? You can't tell me you have no idea at all, right?"

 

[Serpentine]

Elizabeth was enjoying the quiet walk, listening to nearby crickets and the dim glow of the stars above. She smiled a bit, despite the chilly wind, and silently thanked the demon once more for having the decency to hand her a jacket...although she wondered if he needed it more. Even with his comment about not minding the cold, Elizabeth couldn't help but look at Rayth's face to see if he really didn't mind it. But, instead of seeing what she wanted, all she was met with was a look of boredom.

The silver haired girl had sunk back into her thoughts and her surroundings for a long period of time until she heard the voice from the man beside her. Quickly, Elizabeth lifted her gaze to him and furrowed her brow at his question.

"Why would I know anything? After all, your mission to protect me would be pointless if I knew all along who was gonna hurt me. If I would've known, I would've turned the guy or people into the police already. Then, you wouldn't have to be on this mission after all, right?" she asked with a simple shrug and raised eyebrows. The girl then closed her eyes and sighed, putting her hands in the jacket pockets, the cold having an impact on them finally.

"So...you were serious about being a demon and stuff? Because if you aren't, it's a pretty messed up joke to play on somebody. Now that I think about it, the whole thing sounds too bizarre to be true...I mean, honestly." she said truthfully, an air of skepticism about in her voice as she opened an eye to glance at Rayth.

At first, Elizabeth had accepted the man's story about being a demon, playing along as if it were some joke being played on her. But now...she was getting more unsure and skeptic as the demon beside her became more and more real to her. A real demon? To protect her? It was both ironic and strange...and Elizabeth had a hard time believing if the said facts were true, a mental war between thoughts in her mind.