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By: Elizaveta Garifullina

Posted on: September 25, 2022

Cover Image title: Angels vs Devils

Cover Image by: Lily Brown

Media: Digital

Year: 2022

The elder angels always spoke ill of demons, of their cruelty, greed, and anger. They talked about their frightening dark essence. It seemed that scary stories about demons had replaced bedtime stories for everyone. They were told to children, teenagers, and even adults. Adults were afraid of demons, so they instilled their fear in children. They made children just like themselves. The adults saw that the demons did not like them at all. It was sorely frightening.

Their essence frightened and fascinated Theo all at once because the demons had no blind faith in hierarchy, in goodness, in justice. Demons, like no one else, knew the world was dual. Without darkness there is no light, without sadness there is no joy and there is no rainbow without rain. The dark cannot be excluded from the world because without it the bright will disappear.

Our Angel always thought it was strange. To be afraid and hate those who do not act like you. Demons are born like that, just like angels. What's the point of all the hate? Demons are not bad, and angels are not good. Demons can be kind, and angels can do terrible things that no creature should do: neither angel nor demon. But Theo always tried to respect the older archangels, so Angel never said what he truly thought. Sometimes Theo argued with angels his age about hating devils, but no one understood him. Moreover, Theo did not like to argue, it was difficult for him to hurt anyone solely because of a divergent opinion. Angel tried to be kind to everyone because that was the meaning for him.

One angel told Theo that all demons are ruthless, fearless, deceitful and cursed. This angel: Katie, was one of those who managed to survive after meeting them. Angel could no longer work; she could not fly, and the girl could hardly maintain her posture. She had a constant desire to give. Our Angel only knew Katie for a few years, the last few years.

The days Katie spent next to the demons left a black thorned flower in the angel's chest. The flower treated and sprouted further and further every day until her mind left her. Katie left heaven and went straight down. No one else ever saw this angel. There were many rumors; dirty and cruel. Katie was considered a traitor, cursed and rotten from the inside. The girl's name can't be pronounced, she cannot be spoken of and her clothes have long been burned and scattered across the sky.

The story of Katie shattered Theo's trust in demons, but Angel understood that bad creatures exist everywhere. Some bad creatures hide among the angels as it is easier for them to hide there. To pretend that they are holy by hiding behind masks. Theo despised that more than anything else, he did not understand how you could pretend to be good if you are not. How can you do evil under the guise of good? Our Angel did not understand how people could be hypocritical. For Theo, this was the most incomprehensible thing.

And now Theo's brothers are leaving him, handing him off to the monsters from the pages of his parents' scary books. Theo is being betrayed by angels; those to whom he entrusted his life. He always wanted to be nice to everyone, but it turned out that this was not enough. The angels were angry at Theo because he was not like them. Theo was a stranger among angels and a stranger among demons. Theo was an outsider.

So, what happens now? Should Theo believe in all of the frightening demon rumors told in the old books? Wait for eternal torment? Or should he test his theory that demons don't always act the way they’re described?

//

The demon follows him everywhere. For 10 years now, Anabel has been hiding in the shadow of an Angel, scaring his brothers away from Theo's house. Burning with the desire to touch him; to feel the softness of Angel's hair, the warmth of his skin. With all of his heart, of which there is almost nothing left, the demon wants Theo to look at him. But the Angel does not see it. Anabel does not allow it. The demon knows what stories are told about demons in heaven and on Earth. Anabel knows that his Angel is too kind to believe it and too naïve not to believe it. The demon does not want to scare Theo, to see the fear in his eyes when the Angel sees Anabel for the first time. Anabel does not want to experience the possible hatred in the Angel's chest at that moment.

Anabel has done bad things in the past, but he has never been a bad person. Demon was a good person who made mistakes, just like everyone else. There is a big difference between being a bad person and making mistakes, and these are two parallels that will never intersect. There is nothing wrong with making mistakes, it is only important to understand where the problem lies.

In Hell, everyone thinks that Anabel has disappeared or even ascended to heaven, although very unlikely. Few people know that Anabel has followed the Angel, but even those people believe the Demon has gone crazy in his three hundredth year of life. Although... is that not crazy?

In any case, Anabel has never cared about it. It is not important what other people, demons, or angels think. Only one person's opinion mattered to Anabel: Angel's opinion. It does not matter what other people think; it matters what you and the people you truly love think. Anabel never pays attention to what others are saying. People can think anything, no one knows the exact truth, except for himself.

//

Don't judge people by their labels.

* The End *

[Writing Editor: ZK]

[Art Advisor: Kaitlyn Hsieh]