LUCIFER

"Are you okay?" Michael beckoned, waving his hands as I lifted my throbbing head from the polished floor. My eyes deepened as a low growl escaped my throat.

"Yeah, I'm peachy," I snarled, tugging my body from the ground. Michael huffed, laying his hand on my right shoulder.

"You've got some remarkable hearing," he grinned, slapping my back as I glowered.

"What do you want from me?" I muttered low.

Michael's eyes grew as he followed me off the bus, trailing behind a group outside the school building, glimpsing my dark, translucent wings in the bus mirror.

My muscles flexed in my back and jaw as I bit down against my lower lip, and my hands pulled at Michaels from my shoulder blades.

Michael's eyes widened as he pushed his body in front of mine. His hands brushed the doorknob of the church. I grunted, watching Michael grip hold of my arm. However, he was much more substantial.

"You sure you're okay?" he asked, staring into my brown eyes. I grunted, throwing my hands against my waist.

"Yeah, I'm fantastic, Michael," I replied, brushing him off. He pulled his arm away from the door. Michael grinned; his eyes grew wide, and I bumped my arm against him as I walked in.

"That's great, Lucifer. You can join the rest of us in our pew." I tripped over my two feet and knocked into the pew before me. I choked on the air.

"The rest of you?" I growled. Michael gripped my shoulder blades again as he led me toward the front row.

"Blasphemy," I muttered under my breath. There sat the seven archangels. The entire gang was here. Michael patted my shoulder and grimaced as he dipped his fingers in the water dish next to the pew.

"You'll get used to us, bud," he ushered me forward.

I scanned the complete holy room with disgust. My hands scooped the bowl of holy water into my mouth, hoping for some effect. Church pews lined the floors like aisles in a grocery store, and at the front was an enormous cross with Jesus hanging from his hands and feet with a worshiping table in the middle.

"Well, if that isn't scandalous, father." I frowned.

"If you drink too much of that water, you may drown your sins, Lucifer." Gabriel's voice dripped with sarcasm. He passed from behind me, dipping his fingers into the dish of holy water, and excused himself as he took his seat across from Camuel. I sat next to Camuel, praying to myself for an alternative.

"Infernos," I moaned aloud, bowing my head against the pew before me. Camuel dug his fingers into my thigh and clicked his tongue.

"Shut up, Aaron," Michael growled. "Mass is about to start." I facepalmed as I massaged the pain from my leg, slumping down more profoundly in my seat, watching Michael and the others.

Bells chimed in the distance, and the mass began its course. Kasey signaled me over to her. She sat with Aaron's other friend, Henri, a selfish asshole, and the little pipsqueak I met earlier. I rolled my eyes and looked further towards the back as an orchestra of the symphony and catholic singing filled the church.

A priest led a parade down the aisles. I watched Father Larry, not the holiest of priests, toss holy water across the rows of pews and walk to the altar.

"Dad, let you come here? Should have known he'd give in to a whiny brute like you." Camuel whispered.

I groaned, scooting closer to the edge of the pew, glancing back at the six boys and Uriel beside me.

"Camuel—" I scolded.

"It's Cameron. Raphael prefers Ralph, Raguel is Roy, Gabriel is Gabe, Uriel is Ariel, and Jophiel is Joel. You will not address us by our proper names."

I scoffed.

"Or what?"

Roy raised his arm forward from across the room, attempting telekinesis as the air pulled and rippled, but Ralph grabbed his hand, pulling it down. Ralph flinched at me.

"Don't, Roy. He's not worth it." Roy dropped his hand and sighed. Michael tapped my shoulder. His lips tugged into a childish grin; my eyes lit up as I glanced at him.

"What?" I grunted.

"Behave." He instructed.

Father Larry cleared his throat, standing at a podium. He flipped to a marked page in his bible, thumping the microphone.

"Good morning, brothers and sisters. I assume we are all refreshed and ready for this morning's mass?"

Chatter and laughter filled the room students. I gagged my tongue, pulling myself down beneath the seat like a child, but Camuel or Cameron yanked my arm.

"We are not children," Cameron growled. I sat up in my seat again.

My brothers and sister turned their heads to the church's front, where Father Larry began with a Bible quote. I leaned back against the pew as the church noises echoed louder and louder in my ears. It's as though someone turned up the volume on a stereo. I could make out the softest noises in the room.

I straightened my back, looking towards the church's front doors, pulling my fingers to my ears, but I made out a faint outline of Kasey and Henri, who stood in the back, and I listened in instead.

"I don't know. If you say Aaron is acting strange, then hell yeah, I've noticed." Henri noted. Kasey slapped Henri, interrupting him mid-sentence.

"Watch your mouth. We're in a church, not your home, and my sister is inside." Kasey gestured to the church.

"Sorry, Aaron is awkward and not the happiest guy, but he seemed more annoyed today. I'm not saying he's more of a freak accident than usual. I-I mean, he has his moment every so often. I agree; he's just not himself today."

"You can't just say that about him, Henri. He's sensitive. The other day, I caught him in his father's liquor cabinet. I think he went off his medication again."

"I think he belongs in the loony bin. Maybe that could do him some good," Henry trailed off.

Father Larry's voice echoed in the distance from the podium. I looked to the front, drowning in the world around me. The volume returned to normal.

"Oh, Mr. Taylor. What a wonderful surprise to see your fresh face in mass this morning. I thought you'd be late, but this is a start." Father Larry interrupted himself. Cameron squeezed my thigh again. I grunted.

"F-father. It's lovely to see you as well. Is that a new robe? It looks charming on you, wouldn't you agree, boys?"

There was a brief, awkward pause. I look to my right at the six boys and Uriel sitting beside me. Cameron squeezed my backbone, and I sat straight again in the pew.

"I mean, good morning, Father—"

"Behave yourself, Lucifer," Cameron whispered under his breath. He cleared his throat.

"Larry Sudderton."

"Father Sudderton," I added. Gabriel grinned, looking back at Michael, and his eyes widened.

"Aaron would love to open himself to God by volunteering as an altar boy." Gabriel jabbed.

"You dick," I muttered.

"Behave, Lucifer." Cameron reminded me.

"Y-yes, father. That sounds..." I growled under my breath and glanced back at Michael. "Fuck, that sounds goddamn amazing." I huffed, sitting against the pew and listening as the mass stretched. Just great.