Closing Time

11.

That smug piece of shit.

I want to kill him.

No, I need to kill him.

How do you kill an angel? If I poison his dri-

"Hey, will I ever get my drink?" The object of my anger spoke up, cutting through my raging thoughts.

"You can drink your own piss for all I care." I snapped back before I could restrain myself. The regulars left in the bar looked up in alarm. I pretended not to notice them.

"There is..." Lou had a curious note in his voice. "... something interesting going on here I'm not a part of."

"Good. Stay out of it." The angel replied without hesitation. God, I wanted to wring his neck so bad.

I glanced up from the bills to glare at him, and meet Lou's raised brows as well. After I held his gaze for a few moments, I exhaled loudly in an attempt to get rid of my anger. "Later." Was my only reply to his silent question.

The regulars left one by one, and the view outside darkened at the stroke of midnight. I almost felt like Cinderella... but not really. There was no fairy godmother. Just a demon, who'd trapped me in the bar for a quick glug. And an angel who liked to gallivant through my apartment after I was finally allowed to go home. Just the thought of Mike around my room— opening my drawer, checking my things... that apartment wasn't mine to sell but at the moment, I sure wished it was.

Lou watched me drag my feet and a stool over. Mike tapped the counter as a subtle reminder about a missing drink he wouldn't get as long as I was alive.

"I'm waiting." Lou sang.

I gave him an irritated look before I took my seat. That's all I ever did nowadays. I was either annoyed, angry or scared. It felt like I hadn't relaxed or had a good laugh in days. At this rate, I'll get wrinkles early.

My hand rose to rub my forehead as if already smoothing out those wrinkles I was worried about. I let it fall back down before meeting Lou's eyes. "Mike broke into my apartment yesterday."

Lou's eyes widened slightly. He whistled lowly as he turned to look at Mike. "That's low, man. Even I haven't done that yet."

"What do you mean 'yet'?" I scowled. "Don't you da-"

"I never broke anything in your apartment." Mike cut me off, eyes shifted to the side to meet mine. "Besides, I had to check if you were saying the truth."

"Truth about?" Lou replied in my place.

"You." Mike turned to meet Lou's eyes with a challenge in his. "I went there to hear the truth about you and your presence here, demon. The human doesn't matter, but I wouldn't be surprised if you're hiding something from us."

Lou smirked back, a fire ignited in his eyes. "You're rather cocky for a brat, aren't you?" His eyes darkened, veins appearing under his skin. A crushing pressure appeared on my chest as the lights in the bar dimmed. "Your strength can't match mine when it comes down to it, feathers." The more the veins darkened, the harder it got to breathe.

My hand tightened on the stool, words to defuse a fight stuck in my throat. This was on a level I couldn't comprehend. This wasn't my place.

"And you think age defines strength, old-timer?"

"In my case, it does." Lou's skin had started to lose colour, the air was cold. I need to stop this. I need to-

"Breathe, Ryleigh."

My eyes moved to Mike as he said my name. His eyes were still glued to Lou's. What did he mean by that? I-

His eyes moved to meet mine once again. He turned his head as well. "Ryleigh. Breathe."