Saving Hell

Chapter One

There are two things in life that I was sure of- demons are real and angels are fucking assholes. At least, most of them were assholes but demons were definitely real. Just don't tell the humans that.

"Those are bad for you," a voice spoke up, echoing off the alley's walls. I took a drag of my cigarette before looking up to see Benjamin walking towards me. His freakishly blonde hair covered his forehead, getting a little too close for comfort to covering his seafoam green eyes. Regardless of the fact I was doing one of the things he absolutely despised, he still had a smile on his face that brought out his dimples. He wore his usual attire, which consisted of blue jeans and a sweater vest. A backpack was slung over his shoulder but he still held a binder in his arms. He looked as innocent as he actually was.

"I think I'll survive," I smirked, but I tossed the cigarette to the ground before stomping on it with my combat boot. Ben merely rolled his eyes at my actions, clearly knowing that I was throwing out a good cigarette just for his sake. He hated them, so I didn't smoke around him. Not terribly sure why, though, since they weren't going to kill me.

"Come on, we're going to be late for class."

"When have I ever showed up in time for any class? Go on, I'll see you when I'm fashionably late."

I shooed him away, taking out another cigarette with my lighter already in my hand. Ben sighed in defeat and walked back out of the alleyway, his long legs working a little faster to make sure he wasn't late for class.

He was never late for class. He was the school's golden boy and for very good reasons. He was innocent and perfect in every way, the only flaw he had was that he didn't know how to have fun and break the rules every once and awhile. Humans loved him because they wanted to be him. Who wouldn't want to be perfect? I didn't.

Fuck being perfect, it seemed like hell. I take that back, Hell was actually fun, it seemed like Heaven. Heaven was full of perfect angels that were pricks and all they cared about was their image. At least, that was what I assumed Heaven was like. I had never been there and probably would never go. It was okay, I didn't care enough to be surrounded around innocent creatures. Ben was the only innocent being I could handle, even if his perfectness made me want to vomit. Then again, humans thought I was perfect too. Just the opposite kind of perfect.

I had the same perfect kind of features as Ben, except my hair was raven black, I had the same colored eyes as literal dirt, and I didn't have cute dimples. Instead of making straight A's and being the team captain of every sport known to man, I was flawless in making boys drop to their knees and kicking ass. I was an admired badass, Ben was the ideal boy next door. We were the complete opposite yet we seemed to be each other's only friends. Well, he was my only friend while he was acquaintances with everyone in school. You can only become so close to a human, though.

"Are you Ember?" Another voice broke my needed smoke break. I huffed but unlike with Ben, I didn't dare throw my cigarette to the ground.

"Depends who's asking," I said, breathing out a breath of smoke. I glanced up to see some skater kid standing almost at the other end of the alley. He looked scared shitless, but slightly cautious, as he eyed me. Without him having to say anything I knew exactly why he was there.

"I want to make a deal."

Finally, something that was actually worth being late to class for.

"What do I get in return?" I asked, raising an eyebrow in his direction. He hurriedly swung his backpack to his front and dug through it, pulling out a wad of cash a moment later. He shakily held it out for me, but I stayed where I was. I took the last drag of my cigarette before tossing it to the ground. I took my time to step on it as I slowly made my way over to the scared human. He gulped as his eyes scanned over my body, but I wasn't sure if it was because of the outfit I wore or if it was because I scared the shit out of him. Either way, it made me smile on the inside.

"How exactly does this work?" He squeaked out once I was standing in front of him. I easily grabbed the bundle of money from his hand and slipped it into the back pocket of my jeans. I took another step closer to him, my breasts brushing up against his chest while the rest of our bodies were only mere inches away.

"Tell me your wish and we'll seal it with a kiss," I whispered, moving to where my lips were up against his ear. I felt his body shiver against mine before he took a step back, no doubt already intimidated by me. He didn't know how to react around me. I loved watching him squirm.

"I wish that my band will become famous," he admitted. Typical, fame and fortune was the only thing humans cared about. Then again I couldn't say shit since I was making deals for the money. Who could blame me? I was living with humans, after all.

"Deal."

His lips felt indifferent against mine. He wasn't even a good kisser, but that was how the deals were made. They gave me cash, told me their wish, and we sealed it with a kiss. No actual harm in it for them, seeing as they didn't need to sacrifice their souls for their dream. How would I do that if I had a soul myself?

Just as the human was getting into the kiss, I pulled away and pushed passed him, exiting the alley. I turned towards the front entrance of the school, but froze when my eyes landed on a figure leaned up against the wall, his body lined up perfectly to see straight inside the alley. A hood was pulled over his head and sunglasses sat on his nose, preventing me from seeing his face.

I wasn't stupid, he had watched everything that went down in the alley. He watched me make a deal and something told me he wasn't entirely human. My body itched to go over there and confront him. To pound his face and cause total chaos. I didn't do that, though, instead I turned on my heel and went inside the school building. I wasn't about to give the guy the reaction I sensed he wanted.

---

One thing I hated about being in the human world was the fact I was forced to go to school. My mom forced me to go so I could experience a normal life since my father wasn't about to let me live with him. Benjamin was in the same boat as me, except his was smooth sailing because he loved school. What a perfect boy.

"What do you mean we have homework to do? You do the work, I copy your answers, that's how it's always been. Wait, is my angel finally going to stand up to me?" I questioned, my eyes turning to my precious best friend. I stopped in my tracks and turned to look at him, causing him to do the same thing. The eye roll he gave me told me that I was overreacting, like I always did. Could he blame me? He was the perfect son of an angel; I was the daughter of a demon. It was only a matter of time before he realized he was too good for me.

"Ember, I was merely suggesting that you could help me with the homework. You are smart, probably smarter than me," he told me. A smile was on his lips, but a smile was always on his lips. He was pure. I didn't know why he hung out with me. I didn't know why I hung out with him. Actually, I did know why. Who else would protect him from this cruel world? Definitely not his angel father.

"I thought angels weren't allowed to lie? Besides, I have plans to devour your mom's cooking while kicking your ass at Call of Duty," I grinned, turning away from him and continuing our walk to his house.

"You know I don't play Call of Duty," he let out a sigh but followed me.

"You do play, you just suck at it," I retorted. I could practically feel his precious eyes glaring at me, but he didn't say another word as we finished our walk. Once we reached his mansion sized house, I threw the door open like I owned the place and did a beeline towards his room. Ben let out a sigh behind me along with the front door gently being shut.

"Ben, is that you?" A loud, feminine voice called out. His mother.

"Yes mom, Ember is here too," Ben replied, the same reply he gave his mom every day after school. You would think after almost six years of the same exact conversation; she would realize I was always there.

"I'll get some snacks for you two," she called out.

"Make that calamari," I added. I was craving some fried squid and I knew for a fact that she could easily get her personal chef to whip it up. Yes, I said personal chef. Ben's mom was drowning in money thanks to her being the best lawyer in the state of Texas. She had definitely gotten me out of trouble more times that I could count, even if she didn't necessarily like me.

I shoved Ben's bedroom door open and discarded my leather jacket and kicked my shoes off, all managing to land in different places on the floor. I glanced over my shoulder to see Ben roll his eyes but continued to be a gentleman as he picked up my clothes and put them in a pile next to the door. I couldn't help the small smile that made its way on my face at his actions. He had been picking up after me since the moment we became friends.

"Team Deathmatch or Blackout?" I asked, collapsing on his white couch. I grabbed one of the controllers off of the coffee table and turned on the Xbox One and the TV while Ben sat down next to me.

"Do I even have a choice? You don't even like blackout," he pointed out. I sent him a grin because we both knew he was right. The whole concept of dying once and not being able to respawn seriously pissed me off.

An hour later I had finished a full plate of calamari and was kicking ass in Black Ops 4. What could I say? I was a perfect badass.

"You just got your asses kicked by the Queen of Hell, bitches!" I yelled, tossing my controller next to me on the couch.

"Technically you're only the Princess."

"Technically you suck," I muttered, which Ben laughed at. He opened his mouth to reply, but quickly shut it when there was a knock on the door. A second later his double doors (Yes-I said double doors), opened up and his mom walked in.

"Benjamin, your father's here for dinner," she told us. My body completely froze at hearing that Ben's father, an asshole angel, was in the same house as I was.

"Mom, you didn't tell me father was coming over," Ben almost whispered, his eyes shooting over to me. I was already on my feet and running over to my shoes and jacket, having the full intention on getting the hell out of there.

"You know your father; he likes to stop by whenever it's convenient for him without caring what other people have planned. He showed up unannounced. Now hurry up, don't want to keep him waiting."

With that she turned on her heel and walked out of the room, leaving the doors wide open.

"Shit, I didn't know he was coming today. I'm so sorry," Ben was already apologizing as he made his way over to me. I paused for a second and looked up at my golden boy, my sleek eyebrow raising on its own. My baby was growing up.

"Benjamin! Did you just say a curse word?" I gasped. The dimples fell from his face as his smile turned to a glare. The glare didn't belong on his face; he was too pure for it. That didn't stop me from letting out a laugh at it, though.

"Stop joking around, my father doesn't have much patience," he reminded me as if I wasn't already aware of that fact. While I had never met the dude, I knew he was someone you didn't want to mess with. I could say the same for my lovely father, but at least Ben had met my sperm donor.

"Yeah yeah, good luck. See you tomorrow!" I managed not to yell and instead whisper-yelled as I took long strides to the window. I slid it open and sent Ben a wink over my shoulder before pushing off of the outside wall. The two story drop didn't even faze me as I perfectly landed on my feet, since I was a badass after all. I continued my wicked streak and jumped over their eight-foot fence without any complications. I couldn't help but smirk at my accomplishments as I made my way home, which was on the other side of town. The side of town that was filled with potholes and dudes constantly asking for sex or drugs. It was nothing like Ben's neighborhood, which was literally in a gated community where a guard would sit at his booth and see if you're good enough to enter the apparently golden streets or not. The streets weren't actually golden, but everyone acted as if they were. They were made with the same materials as the streets on my side of town, but lacked the homeless guy standing at the corner proudly admitting he just wanted to buy alcohol. His name was Dave; in case you were curious.

My house sat in the middle of it all. It was as tiny as it looked, only consisting of two bedrooms, one bathroom, and a combined living room/kitchen. The white paint on the outside was in desperate need of a fresh coat, but at least we had a garage while the majority of the other houses around us just had an awning to protect their shitty cars. We also managed to have a peach tree grow in our front yard, but even then the majority of our neighbors would pick them before we had a chance.

"Hey mom, are you home?" I called out when I entered the house. It was a stupid question, seeing as her car was parked in the driveway and the front door was unlocked.

"Yes, we're in the kitchen!" Her voice traveled easily throughout the house. I paused for a second at the confession of her not being alone, but I pushed that to the back of my mind as I walked into the kitchen. The first thing my eyes landed on was my mom literally chugging a glass of red wine as if it was a can of beer. The culprit of her behavior was the man sitting across from her with an empty wine glass in his hand, my father.

"Two supernatural fathers in town on one day? Did I miss something?"

At the sound of my voice my mother all but slammed the wine glass onto the table while my father's gaze landed on me. His humored expression didn't leave his face as his eyes traveled up my figure, no doubt inspecting his greatest accomplishment. I was actually far from being one of his best achievements, but I was his only offspring.

"Must be a coincidence. I'm being told that one of my guys saw you making a deal with someone, is that right?" My dad got straight down to business on why we were being graced with his presence. I say that but compared to some supernatural parents, he was actually a good father. He was there a lot when I was a kid and was constantly making sure my mother and I had everything we needed.

"Ah, so that guy was one of your spies. I'm your daughter, I was granted the ability to make deals with people. Are you trying to tell me I should stop?" I questioned, raising a sleek eyebrow at him.

"I'm rather proud of it, but some of my boys don't appreciate their business decreasing in the area," he responded as I set my backpack onto an empty chair.

"Dad, I make deals with teenage humans. While I know you're losing precious souls, even a demon shouldn't want to kill someone before the age of 30," I grunted, going straight for the half empty bottle of wine that sat on the table. My mother attempted to give me a disapproving look, but started laughing as soon as my father started chuckling. At least they loved me.

"Fine, I'll tell them tough shit, my daughter's making a living."

"Please don't say that."

My father merely gave me a shrug as he turned his conversation back to my mother. He was definitely going to say that.