Hey guys!! Sorry for the late update. I have been busy lately and updates will be slow for now. Don't worry I'm not going to abandon the story. Enjoy this chapter.

Michael stood frozen. He couldn't fathom what had happened. “She is gone,” he whispered. “They took her,” he turned his attention to the other Angels, who were standing with an equally shocked expression on their faces.  “We have to go after her,” Michael spread his wings.

 “No!” Raguel said, quickly putting a hand on Michael's shoulder to stop him from leaving. 

“Why?” Michael asked confusedly, looking at the other Angels, who stood silent.

“Sit down, Michael. You are not thinking straight,” Raguel said.

“I'm the only one thinking straight here, Raguel. The right thing to do now is to go after her,” he yelled. “It's fine if you guys don't want to come with me.” He looked at the other Angels before he spoke up, “I will go on my own,” Michael angrily muttered while standing up. 

“Sit down!” Raguel ordered. 

Michael huffed, genuinely aggravated as he sat down. 

“I know you want to go after Jessie, so do all of us,” Raguel said, pointing at the other Angels. “She's like family to us now, and we will not want anything to happen to her. But we can't barge into the demon zone. I know we have a plan already, but we have to think it through, and we also need the help of other Angels in Heaven,” Raguel explained. 

Michael simply sat there listening to Raguel, but his heart was screaming at him to go after Jessie and damned the consequences. However, in his head, he knew Raguel was right.

Michael knew invading the demon zone without a solid plan would not be wise. So, nodding his head at what Raguel said, he stood up from the mattress, looking at Raguel before he spoke up, “Let's get started.” 

                          *** 

 Jessie was shoved inside a room immediately after they landed in the demon zone. 

“You can't keep me here!” Jessie yelled at the demon.

“Yes, I can,” the demon said sternly. “You are nothing but a stupid human,” the demon snarled.

“A stupid human that will kill you when she has the opportunity,” Jessie angrily muttered. 

The demon grinned evilly. “I will love to see you try,” the demon stated.  

Jessie wished she could wipe out the grin from the demon's face. She watched the demon turn his back and leave the room. 

Jessie slowly sat down on the ground with her back pressed to the wall and her knees brought up to her chest. She could hear the scream of humans who were being tortured. Jessie remembered the pained expression on the faces of the people she had seen undergo pain before she was thrown into the room. 

Jessie was a little happy when she didn't see her sister amongst the humans who were getting tortured. She hoped that her sister was genuinely alright.  

“I need to find a way to escape this room and search for my sister.” She stood up and looked around the room to see if she would see any item that would be useful in breaking down the door. Jessie was about to take a step when the door burst open, and a demon walked in. 

She quickly stepped back, leaving enough space between herself and the demon. 

“What were you doing?” the demon asked suspiciously.

“Nothing,” Jessie muttered. 

The demon glared at Jessie without saying anything. Jessie refused to be intimidated by the demon. She glared back at him.

“Where is my sister? Jessie demanded. 

“Bossy,” the demon muttered. “You have no right to ask any question. You are a prisoner here, and you will soon be handled as such,” the demon snarled. “I'm certain you can hear the screams of those pathetic humans over there,” the demon stated, motioning in the direction.  “Soon, it will be you screaming your lungs out,” he said, giving Jessie a smug face.

The words the demon said got her scared, but she masked her expressions. She refused to let the demon see how frightened she was.  

“My master will be with you shortly,” the demon, in the end, stated before he left the room, leaving Jessie in her thoughts. 

“Who is this Master?”  

         
                        *****

Michael and the rest of the family were seated in the living room, discussing how to rescue Jessie and her sister, but Michael's mind kept zoning out. His thoughts were continuously about Jessie. 

“Michael, are you listening?” Raguel's voice pulled him out of his thoughts. “This is the third time you are zoning off.”

“Sorry, I will pay attention now,” Michael said as he sat up straight. 

Raguel shook his head before he spoke up, “Why don't you go upstairs and lie down for a while?” he suggested.

Michael was a little reluctant about leaving. He wanted to say no to Raguel's suggestion. He wanted to be seated with the rest of his family to know the possible ways to rescue Jessie and her sister, but he knew he couldn't, not when his mind was constantly on Jessie. “Okay,” he agreed to Raguel's suggestion. He stood up and headed upstairs.  

When he got upstairs, he stared at the guest room, which was next to Jessie's. However, as a substitute for going to that particular room, he bypassed it and went straight to Jessie's room. He shut the door behind him and made his way to Jessie's bed.  

Michael picked up her pillow and sniffed whilst having a death grip on it. He felt tears threaten to spill from his eyes, but he held them back. “I can't lose her too,” an uncontrollable sob escaped from his lips as he buried his face in the pillow. 

A few minutes later, he heard a knock on the door. He quickly wiped the tears from his face. He anticipated Raguel to enter the room, but Elena showed up instead. 

“Hey,” Elena stated as she moved closer to Michael.

Michael gave her a tiny smile. “I checked the other visitor's room, but I didn't see you there, so I figured you would be here,” Elena concluded as she sat next to Michael.

“Are you guys done discussing? Do they want me downstairs?” Michael asked.

“How are you, Michael?” Elena asked instead of answering Michael's question. 

Michael looked at her for a few seconds before he said, “I'm fine.”

“No, you are not. I can tell you were crying,” Elena pointed out as she brought her hand to his face and wiped a tear from it. “What is going on, Michael? I have never seen you this wounded before.”  

Michael kept quiet. He didn't know what to say to Elena.  He didn't know how to explain what was going on.

Elena softly sighed when Michael didn't say anything. “What is going on between you and Jessie, and you better not say nothing because I won't take that from you!” 

“It's complicated, Elena,” Michael murmured.

“Do you like her?” Elena asked.

 “Yes, I do,” Michael answered honestly.

Elena sighed and shook her head. “You will leave her heartbroken if you continue harboring feelings for her. You will be heartbroken too,” she said softly.

“I will never hurt Jessie,” Michael muttered.

“Intentionally, yes, you won't hurt her. But you eventually would when you find your soulmate. Have you sat down to think about what will happen to her when that time comes? You should stop encouraging this thing you have going on with Jessie,” Elena advised.

Michael was silent. He stared at Elena and opened his mouth to say something, but no words came out, so he shut it back.

“I know it's hard, Michael, but you have to let it go before it burns the two of you,” Elena said. She stood up from the bed and was about to make her way out of the room before Michael spoke up.

“I will never have a soulmate.”

Elena stopped in her tracks when she heard Michael's words. “What did you say?” she asked, turning to face Michael. 

“I will not have a soulmate. I'm not destined to have one.”

“Every Angel has a soulmate, Michael. Yours has not yet come; it doesn't mean she will not come someday,” Elena said.

“It's not about waiting for her to come. If I know I have a soulmate somewhere, I will wait my entire life for her,” Michael said.

“What are you implying, Michael?” Elena asked.

“Heaven deprived me of a soulmate,” Michael said softly.

“You know Raguel once thought he was deprived of a soulmate because of the crime he was accused of, right? Elena asked.

“It's different, Elena. Raguel was accused of a crime, but I committed a crime against Heaven,” Michael said softly.

Elena kept quiet for a minute. “Does Raguel know about this?”

“No. This should stay between us for now,” Michael said.

“I'm not going to say anything to Raguel. It's not in my place to do so, and I will not also ask you what you did because I can tell it's a sad topic for you to talk about,” Elena said.

“Thank you,” Michael whispered 

Elena walked closer to Michael and embraced him. “If you really don't have a soulmate, I think Jessie will be very good for you.”  

“I'm really happy I talked to you,” Michael said as a smile formed on his lips 

“Me too,” Elena said. “Go get her back,” Elena pulled him up from the bed. 

“Won't Raguel be angry that I left on my own?” Michael asked.

“Don't worry about Raguel. I will handle him. We will join you there soon. Just go and start the party,” Elena said, making Michael chuckle.

Michael quietly made his way to the basement. “Hey, you!” Michael said to the demon, who had his eyes closed.

“What do you want?” the demon spat.

“Directions to the demon zone,” Michael said.

“I had already told you that before,” the demon muttered.

“I know, but I still want to hear it again so as not to make any mistake,” Michael said.

“Where are the rest of the Angels? The demon asked. 

“It's none of your business,” Michael muttered.  “Give me the direction!”  

“Fine,” the demon muttered.

He explained the directions to Michael, who listened attentively. “Are you satisfied?” the demon asked.

“Very satisfied,” Michael said as he left the basement.

“Hold on, Jessie. I'm coming,” Michael whispered as he left the house, heading for the demon zone.