The Fine Line of Heaven and Hell

Update: Chapter beta'd by Gaia.

SilkenPetal: Thanks for coming back to read my story as I write it. ^.^ I’m happy that you think well enough of it to return to it. I’m also glad that you not only keep reading, but you keep telling me what you think as well. I just thought I’d set aside some space for you so that I could thank you. *smile* I wasn’t sure what to call this chapter, but after reading your review, I decided on “Explanations,” so thank you for that, too.

A/N: Well, here begins my fifth chapter. I’m surprised at how quickly the last one came out, but I already said that in the last chapter, anyway. I’m still looking for a beta, but I hate to admit that I’m not looking very hard. O.o If errors that I miss irritate anyone, I apologize. *grin* Unfortunately, I don’t think out my stories long,. For the most part, I just think it up as I write. I’m thinking it’d probably be a good idea to have some vague hint of where what I’m writing is going, so I’ll try thinking on that. On that note, I’ll begin the chapter.


Chapter 5-Explanations
==================
Jerrick looked down at Shuey, slumped down on the bed, her knees holding up her rear a
bit as her head rested on her hands. Coming to the conclusion that she might actually kill
him if she saw him looking at her in this position, he decided it would be wise to move
her, his problem being he wasn’t sure if he should touch her or not. As he debated the
matter at hand, his eyes unconsciously roved the pale body before him. Her brows were
furrowed in pain and her pout lips were open just the slightest bit, long dark lashes almost
caressing her pale, well-defined cheeks. Her hair had fallen to one side, revealing her
closed gold eye.

So this is what she was. Even though it disgusted him slightly at the thought of an angel
and a demon disregarding such sacred unwritten rules, he couldn’t help but think the
result was something beautiful. Then again, he found beauty in things that many would
find ugly. Leaning over slightly, Jerrick tugged at her waist, pulling her to the side so that
she lay parallel to the rest of the bed. Slowly, he pulled at her ankles, one at a time until
she rested somewhat on her stomach. She looked like a child, the side of her face lying
upon her hands as she unconsciously shifted to make herself comfortable.

He breathed a sigh of relief; she was alright. It seemed as though she’d merely passed out
from the pain, or maybe some type of anemia. There wasn’t a massive amount of blood,
but there had been enough to lightly spatter the wall beside the bed and also enough to
trickle onto the bed. Shuey shifted to her side, drawing her knees up towards her chest
and lowering her arms around her waist. It was such a vulnerable position, he couldn’t
help but gaze at her in awe. Judging from the smooth skin of her back, she had healing
capabilities that even he didn’t retain.

Questions swam through his mind as he walked into the bathroom, swiping a washcloth
from the shower and putting it under some warm water. If she didn’t kill him for touching
her, she might appreciate the fact that she was clean when she awoke. After all, she had
some explaining to do. Where had something like her been hiding all her life? Surely
someone would have seen her at some point within seventeen years. If they had, they
hadn’t said a word to anyone. Wringing the cloth of excess water, he paced his way back
to the bed to find her back was now to him, her body still curled into itself, but facing the
wall. The pain had drifted from her face, leaving a calm expression. Sadly, it was
expressionless, as she usually was, mysteriously hiding her away from him even now.

Slowly and gently in case her back was still tender, Jerrick began washing away the
blood that had streamed from her once open wounds in small lines. “Nngh…” Grey eyes
flickered up to her head, but he could not see her face, so he leaned over her lithe frame
to get a better look. All he could do was stare gapingly as those magnificent eyes
groggily opened. It was when those eyes narrowed that he noticed that lovely dagger
pointed at his gut.

“Nice to see you, too” Jerrick said softly, his face still hovering slightly over Shuey’s.
Only when the knife began pressing more insistently did he move backwards, raising his
hands slightly to demonstrate his lack of dishonorable intentions. “You don’t lie, do
you? You’re not an angel, nor a demon; you’re both, right?” She shifted quickly, sitting
up and squeezing her eyes tightly as if the motion had hurt her head. It was rather sad,
she’d been less prone to pointing that dagger at him in the past week, too. “So are you
going to help me understand your situation now?” He asked after a moment of staring at
the white feathers that adorned her left wing. It was rather pretty.

Shuey stayed silent, assessing the situation at hand. He had come back through the door
once she’d told him to leave, which should result in anger, correct? On the other hand, he
hadn’t said a word to her about leaving, which meant she should be grateful, yes? Yet
again, he was demanding answers from her without any real questions. Sighing heavily
with irritation, she nodded slowly. “What do you want to know?” She couldn’t just not
tell him what she knew, could she?

Cordon smiled at her, his teeth shining through the barest crack of his lips. This smile
somehow seemed more genuine than his other smiles, and it nagged at her in a strange
way. She could almost see the innumerable amount of questions running through his head
as he pondered what to ask first. “When you said you couldn’t tell me who your father
was, did that mean you know who your father is?” Shuey supposed it wouldn’t matter if
he knew now, since he already knew she was half demon. She nodded slowly and his
brow furrowed as if thinking it over. “Can I ask you who your father is now?” he
requested slowly, as if unsure if she would answer him.

Shuey straightened, her wings brushing the headboard of her bed lightly as she moved.
Considering his expression warily she responded, “Zeke Brethmel.” Cordon’s grey eyes
widened to a ridiculous degree and he nearly jumped as she spoke the name. Was it
surprising? She hadn’t found anything about him in the books she’d read, so she wasn’t
sure if he was someone anyone knew. She had been unsure where to begin looking for
information, but it seemed she had found a decent source. “You know him?”

Jerrick let out a slow breath. So that was why the General never mated; he’d already
chosen a mate. Shuey’s voice broke his latest revelation in soft question. When he looked
up, she was gazing back at him curiously. It was rather surprising to see an actual
emotion across her fair features. “He is the General of the Demonic Forces, also known
as Hell’s Army. Many know of him, but few actually know the monster. His strength is
legendary. He killed the Lady Atellia, winning over the hume-rock, Earth. He was never
known to take a mate, so everyone had thought that he wasn’t going to.” An eyebrow
arched carefully as she continued her steady stare. “What?”

Shuey huffed slightly, an unusual action, she was sure. “Do you know him, or do you
only know of him?” That was a strange inquiry, but she wanted him to be honest, not
gracefully skirt around the question by answering so indirectly. Cordon tilted his head to
the side in a gesture she’d almost consider cute.

“I know him well. Most demons of the upper-class do. Although I know him, that doesn’t
mean I understand him. He’s nearly as much of an enigma as you are, Shuey.” That
dazzling blue eye narrowed at him, but nothing was said in turn. She seemed to have
come to terms with the fact that he would call her that, anyway. In fact, she seemed to
tolerate him to some degree now.

“Do you plan to tell him of me?” Shuey asked carefully, not wanting to confront
something like that so soon. If this demon told her father that she existed, would he kill
her? Would he scowl at his own degradation and wipe her existence from the mere
history of earth that claimed her?

“I won’t tell… but only if you start calling me Jerrick instead of Mr. Cordon or Sir.”
Cordon said, making Shuey scowl in irritation. She was being serious and here all he
cared about was what she called him. Although, if it meant she’d get her way, it was
something she’d have to get over. She nodded her agreement to the term and watched that
strange smile creep upon his lips once more. “Well, I suppose I won’t tell a soul, then.”
With an internal sigh of relief, Shuey wondered idly if the Lady Atellia could have been
her mother. After a few moments of pondering it, she immediately disregarded it. Cordon
had said Brethmel had killed her during the battle for dominance over Earth, and that had
been much longer ago than seventeen years. In comparison to the majority of demons,
she was a mere babe. She had to tread carefully until she could stand a chance against one
of them. It wasn’t until a hand waved in front of her face that she realized she’d lost
herself within her mind once again. Instead of being flustered or embarrassed she only
reacted by raising an eyebrow and meeting the eyes of the demon who’d interrupted her
train of thought.

“Where have you been the last seventeen years?” This question surprised her a bit, and
her eyes narrowed slightly as she searched Cordon’s face for hidden meaning. When
those grey eyes simply stared back at her with avid interest, she gave up looking for his
ulterior motive.

“An old town not too far off,” she answered simply, not really wishing to recollect her
uneventful past. There was really nothing to it. No answers could be found there that had
any use to her. The expression on his face didn’t alter, although he did seem to hear her
because he straightened himself and leaned forward as if she were going to share more.
Not knowing what he wanted, she gave him a questioning look.

“Aren’t you going to continue?” Jerrick asked slowly, watching those eyes turn
accusingly quizzical. When Shuey shook her head slowly, he rolled is eyes openly at her.
This earned him a nice glare of daggers, and he decided he should just be more blunt
instead. “Who raised you? Surely you couldn’t take care of yourself when you
were…'growing up', I believe the humans say.”

Her elegant brows furrowed as if she were contemplating something, and he began to
wonder if he’d have to grasp her attention again. Just as he began to move his hand
towards her face, that blue eye sharpened and looked directly at him. “It’s not important,”
and that was all she said. After a few minutes of waiting, he realized that she really
wasn’t going to say anything else.

Shuey watched as emotions flickered lightly over the usually masked face. Most times,
he hid all his emotions under that disgusting mask of charm that irritated her beyond
words. Anticipation was the first to slide over that usually smiling face, shortly following
was confusion, finished by an indignant scowl. She almost found it amusing as he
struggled with his personal issue, whatever it may be. “How is that not important?”
Restraining herself from rolling her eyes, Shuey fingered the dagger in her hands idly.
“How is it important?” she inquired in response, not willing to repeat herself by saying it
wasn’t important twice. She didn’t really understand why he thought it was something
worth talking about. She also didn’t understand why he was so indignant about this.

Jerrick shrugged at her as that sickening smile fell back into place. “It’s like a puzzle.
You can’t understand what the picture is until you put all the pieces together.” He knew
she would understand that, she was frighteningly intelligent for her level of education. “I
take it you have no control over your angelic and demonic energies?” He could see her
fighting the urge to roll her eyes this time, her grip tightening on her little blade as she
kept herself from using it.

It would seem he was correct, as she nodded curtly at him. With a strange grace that he
had a feeling she didn’t realize she had, Shuey lifted herself from the bed and looked
around her room for something. When she bent towards the floor, sweeping her arm
under the bed and dragging out her jacket, he finally realized she hadn’t been wearing it.
She must’ve taken it off when he left the room briefly, so she didn’t tear it when the
wings spread from her back. “Does it hurt?”

Those brows creased slightly until he pointed at her wings. She tilted her head to the side,
as if thinking over the question before shrugging. “Not as much as it did.” Just looking at
the almost-expression on her face, Jerrick could tell that those wings alone had built her a
major tolerance for pain. He was sure having something rip itself out of your flesh would
do that to you after so long. At the very least, those things had to have been showing up
for the past ten years.

An awkward silence began to spread between them, making Jerrick stand quickly. “If you
need help, ask me. Although I know you probably won’t, I want you to know I’m willing
to help you if you need me. I am on your side in this.” Shuey looked at him as if he’d
grown a second head, and he almost wanted to look in a mirror to see if he really had. “I
have some work to do for now.” She shrugged at him without comment and watched him
as he went out the door.

Once the door was closed, Shuey sat back on her bed. So now Cordon knew about her,
but he hadn’t said anything. No “Disgusting” or “Unholy” came from his lips as he
looked at her. It was almost as if he’d expected something like this. Would she find
others this way, or was he the only one? Regardless of the answer to that question, she
was safe at the moment, and that was all that mattered.

Knowing that Cordon did not turn her away almost called forth that despicable emotion,
'hope'. The same 'hope' that had failed her every time she’d hoped to meet her mother, to
meet a human who would not reject her immediately. The very hope that prayed that
someone would not turn from her when she needed them. The hope that did not heed her
when she called at any time. The one that made her question whether everything she’d
found pleasant was truly what it seemed to be.

The hope she’d discarded by the time she’d hit her teens. With her hopes once again
barred carefully, Shuey decided to take a break from research and sleep the sleep she’d
been missing for some time.

A/N: Sorry. This one actually took awhile. ^.^u I had a project this week, and my partner dropped it out of nowhere, leaving me to finish a project alone. It was really hard and took up most of my time. Things like this do happen from time to time, but it’s still rather irritating, isn’t it? *chuckle*

As for the beta search, I didn’t have time to look for one. O.o It’s not really important, but I’d like one. *chuckle* If it becomes important, I’ll definitely look for one more adamantly. Sorry it’s so short, too. I really didn’t have much time with this one, and it was also rather hard to write. I figured I should end it there, for the sake of my sanity, and so you all didn’t have to read something incredibly drab. (like my author’s notes.) Well, I’ll stop now. ^.^

And thanks to my other return-reviewer, Snidne. I appreciate the fact that you are reviewing my story, when you review so little others. I’m very glad you like it that much, and I’ll try hard to make you happy with what I put out.