The Devil's Apprentice by Patrick Stewart (polar express read aloud TXT) 📕

She wrapped the other around Jamie, her demon-looking boyfriend. “I’ll email you,” she said to Alex.

Jamie grinned as they walked out of the café. Alex was speechless as he watched in confusion and horror. Could Chrissy not see Jamie’s real face? Surely, she must be able to, right? But if she could, why was she willing going with him, so calmly and happily? Was she part of it?

Part of what? What exactly had he seen? A demon?

Alex laughed nervously. No. Jamie wasn’t really a demon. There was a perfectly good explanation for what he had just seen. One that did not revolve around demons. Trick of the lighting.

“She’s cute. He’s hot.”

Alex turned his head to see Madeline leaning against the counter, her eyes on Chrissy and Jamie as they climbed into the red Porsche 911 parked against the kerb.

“You didn’t see the red skin and spikes for hair?”

Madeline’s gaze turned to him. “What?” she frowned.

“The red skin? He had red skin?”

“Like… sunburnt?” Madeline asked, before adding as an afterthought, “I’d do them both.”

“Not sunburnt. It was like a devil- wait, you’re… you’d do them both?”

Madeline winked at him before she turned away from the counter and busied herself with her job.

Under normal circumstances, Madeline revealing her bisexuality might have piqued Alex interest more. He turned to stare out the door once more. The red Porsche pulled out and drove off. More humans are seeing us for what we are, Jamie had said. That meant not all humans could see Jamie for what he was.

If Chrissy couldn’t see Jamie for what he really was, did that mean she was in trouble?

Why could Alex see? More importantly, what the hell was he seeing? Was Jamie a demon?

Chapter 2

It was a week later and fears of Jamie being a demon had mostly faded away. Alex decided he’d either imagined the entire thing, or that he was drunk, on drugs or a combination of the three, maybe with a few tricks of the light thrown in too…

With that being said, he’d avoided the café and instead spent his free time writing in his apartment. It was late in the evening when he ventured out for food. He headed to his local Co-Op and grabbed an oven pizza and a pack of beers.

He was on his way back when he crossed paths with the angel.

As with the demon, the angel looked very much human at first.

He was with a girl standing on the sidewalk. Her back was pressed against the brick wall of the corner shop. He leant over her. Their lips locked together, one palm pressed against the wall, the other rested on her thigh at the end of her short skirt.

They looked like an ordinary couple. Alex decided to give them a wide berth as he passed on account of their over enthusiastic display of public affection.

And that was when it happened.

Wings sprung out from the guy’s back. Huge white feathery wings. Alex had to sidestep to prevent from walking into it. His bag of food fell onto the ground as he stumbled off the sidewalk and onto the road.

“Jesus- fuck man. What the fuck!”

The dude pulled away from the girl to stare at him. Alex was taken aback by how beautiful the man was. And that was the right word to use. Beautiful. Spectacularly beautiful. His entire body just glowed, as if, instead of blood running in those veins, it was beautiful white energy.

The guy stared at him with piercing blue eyes, a lazy look of annoyance in them. “Perv.”

“Perv?” Alex repeated, confused. “Your wings, they nearly-,” he paused, deciding him walking into one of the wings wasn’t the real issue here. “You have wings! Why do you have wings?”

The angel rolled his eyes. “Another annoying see-er. I’ve got wings because I’m an angel, dipshit. Now fuck off.” And with that, he turned to the girl and leant in to resume their kissing. His hand moved up her thigh and he hiked up her skirt. Two of his fingers dug into her now visible purple lacy panties.

But this time, the girl resisted. She pushed back with both hands. There was a muffled cry as the angel backed away a step. He felt his lips. There wasn’t blood, but the upper lip had changed to a dark shade of red.

“You bit me,” the shock clear in his voice, he slapped the girl across the face.

The colour drained from the blonde-haired girl’s face as her body slumped against the wall. She seemed badly hurt. But the angel wasn’t done. He grabbed her skirt and tore it off. Pressing his body against hers, he wrapped a hand under her inner thigh and raised her left leg.

The girl had recovered from being slapped. She fought back and managed to push the angel away enough to slip past him. Her face stricken with panic, she spotted Alex and rushed over to him.

“Are you just going to stare, or are you going to actually help me?” she growled.

“…he’s got wings,” Alex muttered. He was still staring at them. They extending out from slits in the back of his vest. They looked real. The wings were no longer spread out. They had retracted so naturally, much like an eagle’s would do if it found a nice spot to rest.

“Are you on drugs?” the girl asked. “Is that why you’re so pale and… messy?”

“What sort of drugs make you pale?” Alex muttered. “You can’t see the wings?” he pointed at them with both hands theatrically. “They’re like… their fucking huge and… magnificent… How can you not see them?”

“Magnificent? Do you want to make out with him? Are you drunk?”

Alex didn’t want to make out with the guy. And he was sure he wasn’t drunk. Part of the reason he’d