New Joint Project - ch 3

(unedited)

Luke stared down at the man, rage boiling up within. He couldn’t explain why, but everything about him screamed, his insides feeling like they were on fire. His muscles tightened, his fists clenched, and an overwhelming urge to pummel the man took over. This didn’t make sense! He wasn’t normally this full of rage. 

A glance back showed people from the gym had come out to see what was going on, and Luke was overcome with shame. He reached out to help the man up, but the biker stared at him in horror.

Luke’s fist rose again, about to smash the guy’s face in, but instead, he ran.

He kept running, the cool night air harsh against his skin. With each step, his heartbeat thudded through his mind and across his skull, and he tasted bile in his mouth. An overwhelming hatred of himself and everyone else took over. When he finally stopped at a railing overlooking a stream below, he felt the urge to retch. 

Self-hatred reared its ugly face again, and he considered throwing himself over. He laughed at the notion. It was only a little stream, not far enough down to do him any harm and without enough water to drown in. What the hell was going on in his mind?

“You’re not yourself, are you?” a woman’s voice said from behind him. He spun to see the woman from before, still nude, standing in the darkness. She wasn’t shivering. Even her nipples weren’t standing erect as he would’ve expected on such a cool night. She simply stood there, staring at him with her arms at her side, a subtle, golden glow on her skin. He couldn’t be sure, but it almost looked like she had wings and a halo, but they were translucent. 

“Are you an…”

“Angel?” She nodded. “You’ll see them more, as you come to know me. You can’t see my wings that well right now because of your doubt. And you... you’re not yourself, are you?”

“What are you talking about?”

“You have rage within, don’t you?” She stepped toward him, and he didn’t feel the slightest urge to move away. He wanted her closer, wanted to feel the heat of her body against him. He wanted to take her right there—throw her on the ground, and have his way with her.

“Stay away,” he said. “I’m dangerous.”

She laughed. “It’s not you.”

“What do you mean?” He staggered back, hand to his head.

“The urges, both to fight that man back there, and to… Take me.” She smiled. “You might enjoy that, I’m sure, but the way you see it in your mind right now is an alien thought. Not aliens as in from the sky, but put simply… You’re possessed.”

He blinked, wanting to laugh. “I’m sorry… but, who are you?”

“I’m your remaining guardian angel.” She held up a finger and shook her head. “There were three of us, but I’m the only one left.”

“I don’t understand. First, why would I have guardian angels? Second, why three of them?”

“Honestly, I don’t know why there were three. I know I was assigned to you, and I know I’ve been watching you since birth. Yes, everything. But something has changed the way everything works. You’re special, so you were assigned three guardian angels. It’s the only way I can make sense of it, but now, everything is chaos.”

“Everything is chaos?” 

He stared at her for a long moment, that urge to take her still burning within him, causing his cock to stand erect, threatening to burst out of his pants and act on its own. Was he possessed? He couldn’t deny that he didn’t feel like himself. But he didn’t believe in demons, guardian angels, or any of that bullshit. 

He shook his head and turned to go. “You’re gorgeous. Stunning. But you’re fucking crazy.”

Luke walked away from the woman. Focusing on the moonlight, the cool air rustling the tree leaves, and the sound of the stream… and hating it all. He wanted to climb up that tree and tear off the branches, to stomp on the leaves as they fell to the ground, and piss in the stupid stream. Every ounce of him was filled with rage. His whole body shook, his fingernails pressing into the palms of his hands as he clenched them into fists. 

Whatever was happening, it wasn’t natural. He could almost believe he was host to a demon. Or maybe, he thought, the woman had drugged him.

He turned back to her, only to find her charging at him with her hands up. She reached him and pressed her hands to his forehead. Unable to move, he stood there, stunned. As she began a low chant, the rage boiled out. He couldn’t hold it in anymore. His hands settled on her nude form as he pulled her close. Then he grabbed flesh, one hand on her ass and the other on her breast, cock pounding with need. He wanted her more than anything, and the horrible screeching voice in his head said he would have her. 

Her chanting grew louder, his vision went red, and he shrieked. Suddenly, a face was between them, not looking at him, but moving out of him. A body flew sideways and hit the ground. She—the form was clearly female—lay there, blue-and-white skin like ice with streaks of black running along the areas that mattered. A woman, but with black horns and a tail, and as she turned up to look at him, her eyes flashed red. The first woman turned on her, kneeling, her hand reaching out. That golden glow seemed to radiate out, pushing the other woman down and keeping her at bay. 

Luke stared in horror and confusion, listening as the first woman chanted. Then the two began to argue. Much of what they said didn’t make sense, aside from the fact that this new woman was a demon, summoned by someone named Rachel. 

As their arguing continued in a foreign tongue, he held up his hands. “Stop!”

The first woman, who had professed to be a guardian angel, looked up at him. “This is her. This is the demon.”

“I got that.” Luke stared at them another moment, then shook his head. “No, actually I don’t believe a second of this. What the hell’s going on?”

“What’s going on, is that one of your guardian angels turned evil. Her name is Rachel. This is the demon she summoned to attack you for some reason, and apparently have you do bad things. The universe is in chaos, and we need to set it right. I mean, I don’t know if we’re able… But, you have a responsibility.”

“Me? No, you have the wrong guy.”

“Luke, there’s a reason you were assigned three guardian angels. I’m telling you, you’re special.”

Luke shook his head and drew a deep breath. “If anything you’re saying is true, then it doesn’t matter anymore. But you’re a guardian angel. And I had another, or two more, but one of them left and went evil? What about the other?”

“I can’t find her.” The woman turned back as the demon attempted to escape, but the gold light flared and the demon fell back to the ground as if struck. “My name is Naomi, and together we can figure this out.”

Luke stared at her, overwhelmed by her beauty, and finally nodded. “Where do we start?”

Her smile warmed him as she extended her hand to clasp the demon’s wrist. She pulled her up and the gold light formed chains around the woman’s wrists, tying them behind her, and then into a leash that extended to Naomi’s hand. “We’ll use this demon to find the others.”