Twisted Trust

Twisted Trust

Heaven. It was dark, 18-year-old Mist, a water angel, was going home. Her sapphire blue hair twinkled as the stars shone, and her brown skin made her pale blue eyes pop. As beautiful as she was, she had a hard time fitting in because she believed not all demons were heartless.

She was about to open the door when she noticed something red behind a bush. She crept towards the glint, and stopped short. A demon. She was unconscious and the glint was the ruby streaks running through the demon’s jet black hair. Her skin was bruised badly.

”I can’t leave her,” Mist thought. “What if someone else finds her? Oh the things they could do. If I can just get her out of sight…”

She looked around to make sure nobody was around, and used her powers to create mist around the demon, so that she was invisible. She carried the girl, but it was easier said than done.

After finally getting inside her house, she dropped the girl on the couch and sat down opposite of her. There was a bruise on her right leg, and a cut stretching from the left side of her forehead, crossing her right eye, and fading into the middle of her right cheek. The demon started to stir and her eyes flew open. Mist was struck with amazement. The demon’s left eye was a blazing ruby red, and her right eye was a shimmering emerald green.

“Who are you! Where am I? My head!” The demon cried out.

She winced in pain as she tried to get up.

“If I were you I would relax. Those injuries look pretty deep and I wouldn’t want you hurting yourself even more.” Mist said.

The demon sat down but eyed Mist suspiciously. “I don’t think I got your name,” Mist said patiently.

“Ash Shadow.” The demon spat back bitterly. “Demon of Fire. Who are YOU?”

“Mist Wanderling. Water angel. You hurt yourself badly. How did you end up here anyway?”

“Why does that matter to you? You're just gonna turn me in and send me back to that wretched place.”

Mist had been keeping a gentle expression but couldn’t hide her sourness. She got up to get her med kit and some ice to avoid further conflict.

“I-i’m sorry I was a bit harsh.” Ash said softly, as Mist gently placed ice on her bruise. “It’s just that I was in pain and I didn’t want to talk about why I left.

Mist’s features softened as she carefully stitched up Ash’s leg. “That’s alright.” She said, “I wouldn’t trust me either if I were a demon.” She looked up, her eyes lit with excitement. “Speaking of which,” She continued, “I won’t let you go anywhere until those injuries are healed, and maybe you can stay for a while. I can find a way to disguise you so you can still get out of the house and stay safe.”

“Thank you so much. You won’t regret this.”

~

Mist had let Ash stay over and brought special medicines to heal her face slash. To her surprise, the gash didn’t heal as quickly as expected, but instead left a dark purple scar. She crept out of her house, careful not to wake Ash, to get supplies for the transformation. When Ash woke up, she saw Mist standing over her bed, her pale eyes shone brightly in the new daylight that streamed through the window. “It’s time to go anonymous.”

~

“No way that’s me” Ash spoke, too surprised about her new look. She now had crimped soft green hair, thick red lips, and dark emerald eyes. Her scar was covered up too.

“Completely unrecognizable.” Mist said with a proud look. “Now let’s go out. Oh I almost forgot. You can’t use your fire because this illusion is 98% my mist powers. If you use your fire for longer than 30 seconds,” She paused to make a fluttery motion, “the disguise will evaporate.” Ash grunted but reluctantly followed Mist out of the door. They first went to the “Best Ice-Cream in Heaven”. After spending some time there, they walked to the nearby park to take in the joy around them.

“Hey look. It’s Mad Mist and her psycho theories.”

“I wonder who that green glub is with her.”

Ash and Mist turned their heads to the sound of the snotty noises. Ash saw two angels emerging from the clearing, one who had a purple color theme, and another that was like every color in the rainbow.

“Go away Viola. You too Vivi.”

“You don’t tell us what to do. Me and Viola run this whole place. Nobody listens to people like you.”

“Like actually. Maybe if you’d given up on that idea of ‘good demons’ a loooong time ago, you would have something called RESPECT.”

Ash looked back and forth between the three angels and sensed deep tension. She noticed that no matter how hard Mist’s protective shell was, it was about to shatter.

“I’m…Reed.” She said, standing up defensively.

“Did I ask?” Viola sneered, walking up to Ash.

“No but you should know that you need to know your superior to challenge them. “

“Superior!” Vivi laughed. “I don’t think so. I can change what colors you see and Viola here controls wind. You can’t beat that.”

“I don’t see what there is to beat. You can make me go color blind and she’s just the annoying younger brother that purposely kicks dust in your eyes.”

“If you're so snappy then why don’t you tell us what your power is.” Viola said

“Not so hard to guess.” Vivi said. “Looks like your speciality is roaming around in the dirt and making weeds.”

“You really wanna see what I can do?”

“Ash don’t!” Mist cried

“Ash?- OH MY GOSH WHY IS HER FACE MELTING!!?!” Viola shrieked.

Ash’s disguise was fading away. As her transformation continued, she lit up her hands with flames and rose from the ground.

“You only wanted to challenge me. Let’s see who’s the star of the show now.”

Both girls screamed and ran, causing the commotion to rise. By now everyone had seen and was panicking. Ash dropped back down and went towards Mist. “Don’t let them bother you like that.” She said, “It wasn’t going to get any better.”. “Thank yo-” Mist started. Suddenly, 3 other demons emerged from the clearing. 2 others came behind Mist and dragged her away from Ash. “I’m so sorry-” Ash started, but Mist fainted in her captivator’s arms.

~

“Mist. MIST!”

Mist opened her eyes to the sound of someone whispering her name. She looked around and saw walls. Lots of walls. And she saw a familiar face. One she didn’t trust.

“Where am I? WHAT DID YOU DO TO ME? I KEPT YOU SAFE. NOW I FIND OUT THAT YOU AND YOUR PEOPLE HAVE BEEN USING ME TO TAKE OVER???”

“Calm down Mist. I know that you shouldn’t trust me but please. I have to get you out of here. I could talk them into letting you out. They respect me because I'm the most powerful of them all. My green eye, it wasn’t a deformation. It was because I was special. I control all elements and another speciality of mine is cunningness. If we can just get out of here- ”

“I’d rather die in this… prison…cell…. WHATEVER THIS PLACE IS.”

“Mist-”

“NO! You don’t know how it feels to defend demons for your entire life, find one, BE FRIENDS WITH ONE, AND THEN GET BETRAYED BY THEM! I NEVER WANT TO SEE YOU AGAIN!”

Knowing this was a losing argument, she quietly left the room. She knew what she had to do.

~

The other demons had surrounded them with more demons. “Stop this tyranny at once!” Ash commanded. Suddenly, her ruby eye formed into the same emerald green as the other one, and her ruby strands turned into beautiful seafoam strands. All the other demons stopped and their eyes turned the same green as Ash’s.

“Time to manipulate.” She whispered. “Let all the angels go, don’t harm anyone, leave this place, and don’t come back with bad intentions.”

The demons were doing as she commanded. She saw Mist. Even though all was going smoothly, Ash wasn’t holding up as well. Her eyes started to drowse, lips cracked, and her hair was glitching from red, green, and black. She was breaking.

“Too- much- strain–” She said. She collapsed, not able to hold it any longer. The demons were still in their trance and left Heaven.

“Ash!” Mist cried. She ran over and placed a hand under Ash’s head.

“I’m so sorry Mist. I betrayed you. But now they’re all gone and you all are safe. My scar hadn’t fully healed, and controlling all of them was too much. I hope you trust me again.”

“I always did, Ash.” Tears rolled down Mist’s cheeks as the life slowly began to fade from Ash’s eyes. “I always did.”

~

Thanks for reading!

Kashika Paul