Angel Or Demon
“Demons to some, angels to others” - Hellraiser (1987)
The machines hummed and beeped and they kept Amy awake at night. She knew in her many years of life these machines were being used to keep her alive. The thing is, with the long life she has lived, she wondered if there was any point. She had no relatives or grandchildren to look after her. She was laying in this hospital bed with the occasional company of volunteer staff and medical professionals who are only around to check her vitals. For the last few years, after her retirement, she pretty much lived as a recluse. There was one person that kept in touch with Amy and as far as she looked back in her mind, this person was always there since childhood.
She will never forget that fateful night when she was merely six years old. It was the night she met Arden. It was also the same night her parents were brutally murdered and she somehow managed to sleep through it all. It was the closing of the back door that woke her up. She saw her parents' lifeless bodies laying on the ground surrounded by a pool of blood. She screamed in terror and moments later this mysterious man appeared. It was like he came out of nowhere! Amy remembered him picking her up in his arms and she felt the softness of his long black hair and the coldness of his pale skin. When he spoke to her, she felt comforted. His voice was very soft and was a whisper. He let her hold him tightly, with her face in the nape of his neck. He seemed unbothered by her tears but she felt his body tense up. It was like he was fighting the urge to avoid doing something. Amy put this thought out of her mind. She wasn’t alone in the house with her parents' dead bodies. There was an adult here.
“What’s your name, child?” he asked
“Amy. I am scared. Mama, Daddy! What happened to them?”
“Let me carry you outside and we will call the police. My name is Arden.”
Relieved that someone was there to help and not thinking anything strange, Amy let the stranger carry her outside.
The police arrived momentarily although, in Amy’s mind, it felt like hours, not minutes. She remembered being handed to a police officer and placed in the back of a police car. Arden told her to sit calmly while he gave his statement to the police.
While waiting, Amy saw the police officers tape off the front of her house, neighbors were peeking out their windows or coming out of their houses to see what the commotion was about.
Amy remembers the Ambulance showing up and the paramedics examining her. She was asked a bunch of questions but was unable to answer. She remembers being brought to the police station where the officers gave her milk and cookies. They listened to her recount as best as she could what happened that night. She was asked a bunch of questions and they often repeated these questions numerous times. This was very frustrating for her and she began to have a tantrum. Amy could no longer hold in her emotions. She knew this was not the proper way to behave. She remembered her mother’s words, having scolded and even resorted to putting her in time out for this kind of behaviour. Tears continued to flow. She screamed and yelled. She didn’t care about her behaviour. Her parents are dead, and she is alone and frightened.
Amy didn’t remember much after that terrible night. She remembered being put in a foster home for a bit. The family was nice enough, they had a dog. Amy recounted seeing a mysterious man with long black hair and piercing blue eyes smiling at her from across the street. It was her rescuer from that night. She waved and he nodded. She heard her name being called and when she went to look back, he was gone.
It was like he disappeared out of thin air!Amy’s youth was spent living with distant relatives. They always made her feel like an unwelcome guest in their home. Her teenage years were filled with rebellion and angst. As soon as she was of legal age, she moved out of that horrible place and never looked back. She was relieved a few years later when she learned they died in a horrible car crash.
While recounting her youth, Amy came to realize she always seemed to find Arden, always at a distance, always smiling at her. Wherever she would approach him, he would disappear again out of thin air. It also seemed to Amy that her Arden sightings increased during the saddest, most difficult moments of her life. She remembered seeing him when she had to make that vet visit to put her old dog down, after a bad breakup, or the death of a friend. She began to see him as sort of a fairy godfather and while he never spoke to her during these sightings, his presence gave her comfort. It reminded her that she was never truly alone.
The oddest part of Arden is that he seemed to never age. He always had flawless porcelain skin and he never looked older than a gentleman in his twenties. Amy always thought it was good genes and she often scoffed at her aging features. She was an old woman and her rescuer never aged from the day she met him. Not only did his physical appearance never change but Arden also seemed to be as athletic and fit as a young person. While it was a struggle for her to climb stairs and her arthritis often prevented her from doing mundane tasks, Arden was able to do many physical labours without difficulty. As she aged, he often came by to help her with the household repairs she was not able to do anymore. She often complained about him showing up after dark and she often had to find extra lighting to help him see despite Arden telling her it was not necessary. Amy was impressed he was able to see so well for his age and to see in dim lighting no less!
Not only did Aden help her around the house, she always found it odd he never invited her over to his place.
Arden was not only her handyman around the house, he often joined her at her favourite coffee shop for her weekly nightly caffeine fix. Even after she was hospitalized, he often showed up with her favourite brew from her coffee shop! This made Amy incredibly happy since she considered herself a coffee addict and the hospital coffee tasted horrible! He was always the perfect companion who made her life less lonely and isolated. She was grateful for their friendship.
Distracted by her own thoughts, Amy glanced at the clock. It was eight o’clock and she looked out her window to watch the sunset. The view was not the most scenic outside her window. She saw part of the hospital building and the highway but the sunset in the distance made her happy. It gave her a sense of beauty and hope. It also meant that Arden would show up soon. Amy always found his visits short as he usually showed when visiting hours were almost over and she always pleaded with him to come to watch the sunset with her! It was hard for Amy to stay awake and many times, she fell asleep but she always knew he came by. Arden would always leave a calling card. She would often find a book by her nightstand or some small gift or note to show her he stopped by.
Some time has passed and Arden enters her room. As usual, he has a small gift for her. This time, it is a bouquet of her favourite flowers to cheer her up.
They talked about what books they were reading and world events. The conversation was pleasant but she knew something was being hidden from her by the expression on Arden’s face.
After pressing him several times, he buried his face in his hands and looked up at her. He then pressed the necessary buttons to move her bed to an upright position and sat across from her. She knew he had some bad news. After several moments of silence, he spoke. His voice was cold and hoarse.
“Do you remember the night we met?” he asked
Confused, Amy lightly nodded her head.
“They never caught who did that to your parents, did they?”
“No, they never did. I always regretted sleeping through the whole ordeal. I grew up thinking about how things could have gone differently if I were to wake up.”
“How so?” he asked
Amy then went on to explain that part of her wished the killer knew about her slumbering in her bed that night and would have done her in too. She would have escaped the life she lived. She explained she never had a happy life after her parents died. She was abused by her distant relatives. Her aunt always made it clear that she was a burden and the only reason why she was welcome in their home was because of the subsidies they were receiving for taking her in. Her uncle sexually abused her and when she confided to her aunt about it, she was beaten for lying. On her eighteenth birthday, her aunt told her she was no longer welcome in their home and she was fine with that. She wasn’t planning on staying there anyway. It came as no surprise to her that her aunt wanted her to leave. They were no longer receiving the government subsidy to care for her anymore. She was no longer of any use to them.
“I never got a chance to tell you Arden but you were the only constant comfort I ever received since my parents died. You saved me that night and continued to save me after that. Our friendship has always been very special and sacred to me” Amy admitted.
Arden’s expression surprised Amy. He usually had a very stoic face and his eyes revealed a sadness so profound she instantly regretted the compliment. Unsure of how to proceed, they sat there for several moments in awkward silence. At last, Arden spoke:
“Amy, there is something you need to know about that night. I am going to give it to you straight. I am the killer. I am the one who murdered your parents. You are right. I was never aware you were sleeping in the back bedroom. I saw them through the living room window. They were sitting on the couch, watching TV. I was a fledgling back then. I hunted for sport because I had an insatiable thirst to quench. I am not human, Amy. Listen to me very carefully. I never meant to be your friend. I heard you scream and rushed in. My intentions were never heroic. I was going to kill you, to drink from you as my kind often do. I never wanted to keep any bystanders alive. It took every ounce of strength to not drain you when you cradled yourself in my arms. I could feel your pulse and your scent…oh my! Your scent was intoxicating. I was a young vampire then and true to the myths, fledgling vampires often have an insatiable appetite for blood.”
Amy tried to speak, she wanted to yell at him. Is this some kind of sick joke? A guttural, almost raw sense of anger filled her body. She didn’t feel like a frail old woman anymore. She felt strong. Her age was no longer an issue. She wanted to rip this man or being or thing or whatever the hell he was apart!
Before she could begin her tirade, Arden continued to talk to her:
“Something in me changed that night. I only hunted criminals and low lives afterwards. The death of your aunt and uncle not long after you moved out? It was no coincidence. I learned quickly over the years to be better at covering my tracks. The bloodshed I made with your parents was me not being able to feed correctly. I learned to be less of a glutton! The guilt over what I have done to you consumed me for most of my immortal life. For a while, I would appear at a distance to make sure you were OK. I became obsessed with the fact that I ruined your life. I stalked you and learned of the wonderful life you had with your parents and I stole that from you. You thought I was a good samaritan for saving you and looking after you all these years but all the while, the knowledge of my deed was eating me away like cancer. It consumed me. “
After a brief pause, Arden continued: “Every night, I would walk the streets, carefully planning where my next meal was coming from and I would debate whether or not I should embrace you. I mean, make you immortal like me. This plagued me for decades. Time goes by slowly for us Immortals, but for you, life is fast and before I knew it, you aged. Then I decided that immortality is not a gift to give you or anyone for that matter as I have encountered several immortals in my time and to have true stamina for immortality is a rarity. I could not bequeath you the dark gift. It is no gift. It is a curse! The only thing I knew to do was to become your friend, your caregiver. Now that your life is ending, I wanted to tell you the truth. I am a monster in more ways than one. Tonight, I ask to end your suffering and I can do so, gently. I can drink your blood until the last beat of your heart. I will watch my final sunrise and can finally put an end to this madness!”
Amy took every bit of remaining strength to speak: “If you really want to put the wrong things right, you don’t deserve to die. No, you have not spent enough time repenting this. You took my childhood from me. You must live and your suffering shall be endured until you no longer suffer anymore. Every time you see a family, I want you to consider what you have ruined and I want you to remember what you took from me. No, putting an end to this madness would have been letting me die the night my parents died or not long after. You knew I wanted to die. You pleaded with me to live while I was suffering all my life. You became close to me, became my friend, my confidant and now you tell me this! If you truly want redemption, you must live!” She spoke.
Arden nodded and shook her hand. Amy, tilting her head, exposed her neck. Arden knew what he had to do. He bared his canines and punctured her neck. Her blood, the sweet nectar filled his mouth. He was in ecstasy! How sweet she tasted and every drop of blood was a pure sweet symphony! Her heart began fading out and as Amy started to drift into sweet death, he knew she was welcoming him as a long-lost lover. He held her frail hands and whispered in her ear “I shall live, darling. For you, my sweet Amy”
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