“Neat.” Van peeked into Bishop’s room after they had dispatched his offensive parents. As promised Raziel had given them a quick, quiet death. They were just as quickly disposed of and their locked den of horrors beneath the house had been burned clean of any evidence of the atrocities they had done, sparing the boy from reliving what he had already uncovered once. In a stark contrast to his parents, Rex was well mannered and from the contents of his room well studied and musically inclined. “A drummer with a clean room? Definitely a traumatized child.”
“Quite.” Raziel nodded. “He has however handled it well.”
“You think he’ll be okay?” Van hugged Raziel suddenly. “It’s rough being on your own that young.”
“You managed well enough.” Raziel embraced her. “I gave him enough to make his journey considerably easier. As short as human life is, he will likely spend his days quite well off.”
“You’re still here.” Bishop walked past Galik and grabbed his phone off the floor. “In my room. They don’t really come in here.”
“They are already gone.” Galik grinned.
“Oh.” Bishop sat on the bed. “I should feel something. I guess I should also get a better job.”
“You should open what I’ve given you.” Raziel suggested.
“And walk with us.” Frikk grinned. “I want another skateboard ride.”
“I was just going to grab my phone.” Bishop tried to talk his way out of the obligation as he opened the envelope. “My friends are waiting. What is all this stuff anyway?”
Bishop looked through the pages with a growing anxiety as Van whispered with Galik and Raziel over their plans for the evening. Bishop couldn’t even grasp the numbers he was looking at. Usually when his account saw zeros it was because it was empty. Raziel heard the boy’s thoughts and was impressed. Most humans would immediately rush to thoughts of an extravagant life; the wealth made the young Bishop nervous and his first thoughts were of how he could use it to help others. He would rather give the entirety of it to victims of his parent’s cruelty than spend a cent of it on himself, thinking it was payment for turning them in.
“It is not a reward.” Raziel looked down at Bishop as he laid back and sighed. “It is not payment and it was not left to you by the neglectful parents you have suffered. It is a gift from me, from the Circle and from Vex. Gratitude for your efforts to keep Vex from suffering the vile corruption of twisted individuals who have no care or respect for the lives of others. I would consider it an insult if you refuse it.”
“Okay.” Bishop hauled himself off the bed and transferred cards into his wallet. “I don’t want to insult anybody.”
“I’ll be insulted if I don’t get to play on the skateboard.” Frikk crossed her arms and faked a pout.
“I’ll be your chauffer.” Bishop grabbed his board. “Then I really need to go check on Zack before he gets himself into trouble.”
Raziel walked between Galik and Van letting each of them take an arm as they followed behind Bishop. He entertained the fargoyles with his simple mode of travel and they entertained him with their playful chatter. Raziel was more concerned with Van’s worry over the boy being put to rest.
“Satisfied, puppet?” Raziel asked as they walked. “He is not concerned over their loss.”
“Can we just check on him once in a while?” Van pouted. “He’s such a sweet kid.”
“Shite…” Bishop tried to show off and missed a landing, catching the curb with his leg instead of the board. He rubbed at the scrapes through the tear in his jeans and looked up at the small winged demons. “That’s bloody splendid. You two okay?”
“Better than you.” Galik laughed and pushed the boys hands out of the way to heal the wound. He licked the blood from his fingers afterward. “You humans are so frail.”
“You demons are a little gross.” Bishop cringed. “Did you just lick that?”
“My puppets have a taste for blood.” Raziel let the fargoyles take places on his shoulders. “A useful quality considering some of the tasks we undertake to keep Vex safe.”
“Makes sense I guess.” Bishop shrugged and pulled a pen out of his pants pocket and gestured for Frikk to come closer. When she did he took her hand and wrote his number up her arm. “Next time you two want to play, give me a call. I really need to go. Zack’s girlfriend is a bit of a cunt. She’ll get him into trouble.”
“Aww.” Van giggled. “Frikk is blushing.”
“Am not.” Frikk looked at her arm grinning.
“Frikk has a boyfriend.” Van teased. “Give him a little kiss goodbye!”
“Mine.” Frakk bit Bishop’s hand and pulled Frikk away.
“All the good ones are taken.” Bishop shook his hand. He smiled up at them as they crawled onto Galik, then stood up and started off on his board. “You are all bloody odd, but I like it. See ya around.”
“I would like humans more if they were all like that one.” Galik admitted. “Where are we going?”
“To pick up Brig and Shana.” Raziel pulled Van and Galik close. When they were alone he would give them each a proper reward. He was proud to have each of them at his side. Van had shown amazing understanding and compassion and Galik had exhibited patience and kindness most though he was incapable of. The time in Vex had changed Raziel and Galik, their time with Van even more so. Adding Brig and Shana to their family had completed Raziel in ways he never even realized had been left empty. The family he never desired was now the one he could never live without. “We all need time together, puppets. I expect Council is going to steal more of my time soon.”
Tsuriai 