Satan's Hunger

5

Jacob waited patiently as Kaitlyn's breathing settled into the rhythm of sleep. He watched her for several minutes, hoping that her dream was a good one, hopeful that Satan would leave her alone just this once. Satan must have felt it. He must have known that she'd died. Jacob could only wonder how he'd taken it.

Kaitlyn didn't move, her face soft and peaceful.

Good.

Jacob looked through the window out into the garden. It was starting to rain, water streaking down the glass. The room was gloomy, and it was surprisingly cool. Kaitlyn was warm, though. And pink. Where once she'd been so pale, now she was slowly getting her colour back. Hopefully, after she'd had a good rest, she would be normal again and they could leave this wretched place, with all its beauty and wonder and mischief and lies.

Jacob whipped around his head at the sound of the door opening.

'Jacob?'

'What is it, Ezekiel?'

'They've sent someone to clean the bathroom.'

A nervous looking young man stepped inside. Dark hair. Long, brown robe. He had a mop and a bucket, which he was pushing on wheels. It rolled loudly against the polished floor.

'Quiet!' Jacob hissed.

The man looked at Jacob with a start, his eyes darting briefly over his wings, before lowering his face.

'Be quick!' Jacob said.

The man bobbed his head. Quietly, he pushed along the bucket, struggling a little as it caught against the rug. Ezekiel left, closing the door. The young man disappeared into the bathroom

Jacob glanced down at Kaitlyn, wincing as he remembered how she'd looked lying bloodied and limp on the shower floor. The knife. The knife. Jacob clenched his fists in the sheets. He was still yet to discover the culprit. The someone who had driven her over the edge. The someone who had breathed their poison into her ear.

He needed to discover who it was.

The young man soon exited the bathroom. He kept his face averted as he crossed the room. Ezekiel opened the door for him and he left.

Carefully, Jacob eased out of bed. Quickly, he used the bathroom, turning his eyes away from where it had happened. Though the blood had been cleaned up, he could still smell the iron amid the bleach. It stung his nostrils. Droplets of water had gathered around the drain; more streaked the glass panels of the shower.

Standing at the sink, he washed away Kaitlyn's blood as best he could. It stained his arms and chest pink. He watched as the bloodied water swirled down the drain. He glanced up at the mirror. He was looking tired. Day by day, he was looking more and more mortal. More and more troubled. After so long as one of God's angels, it was strange to gaze back into such unfamiliar eyes.

Once he was done, he left and opened the door to the adjoining room. Ezekiel was standing by the table, gazing out through the window. He was bare-chested, long hair flowing down his back in a river of black.

'Do you not sense anything?' Jacob said.

Ezekiel turned. His amber eyes were wary. 'Nothing. We scanned the place but found no sign of Satan's reach. We saw no sign of darkness. Even now, we sense nothing. If someone had poisoned her mind, their intentions were good.'

'Their intentions were good?' Jacob said a little too loudly. Careful not to wake Kaitlyn, he lowered his voice. 'And yet here Kaitlyn was, bleeding to death in the shower.'

'She killed herself, Jacob. Nobody did it for her.'

'Eve wouldn't have taken the apple if not for the serpent whispering in her ear.'