Hidden Truth
Since I’m leaving for a few days (and I’m also very inpatient), here is the story! Tada.
(I hope the basics of this AU are somewhat understandable throughout the story, because I have planned more stories for this AU and giving you some extra information may give away what’s about to come.)
Have fun reading!
- - - - - -
It’s rare to see an angel’s wings.
This has been common knowledge since people knew about the existence of angels. They would always hide their wings and their halos. Their halos were simply too bright to look at; people would go blind. And their wings were too fragile to be even seen by a person. The wings of an angel tell you a lot about them. The more black feathers they have, the more they have sinned. The more feathers they have lost, the more they got hurt. A bigger and more noble pair of wings meant that the angel was higher ranked. This of course did not mean that an eminent angel’s wings could not have black, broken or lost feathers. Some with the brightest, shiniest, almost golden feathers have the deep-darkest black feathers. The more elevated the angel is, the more frivolous they are as a demon. A good angel makes a bad demon.
While people know that angels exist and walk among them, it is difficult to spot one. Unless they decide that someone is worthy, they will hide their identity.
It seemed like Shane was finally selected to see an angel’s wings, although he wished the circumstances were different. He really wished that Ryan wasn’t risking his life right now, and therefore had to get rid of his cover. And he really wished he wouldn’t have to do this next.
They have been discussing new haunted locations for BuzzFeed Unsolved. It turned out that constantly finding new locations that were somewhat easy to reach was getting harder the longer you’ve done this and the more sets you have already visited. So, they needed more money to be able to travel further away and visit more places. The problem was, in a capitalist state, big companies don’t like giving away their money.
Shane leaned back in his chair, yawning, listening to what the others had to say. He never understood the concept of capitalism. Why would someone assign a certain amount of value to something? Or just the whole concept of money. Who the fuck looked at a piece of paper and thought to themselves “I shall now exchange this for food! And everyone will follow my example!” But, then again, it wasn’t his problem. All he had to do was to adapt to those rules and act like they were normal, and he would be fine. Dare he said, he was quite good at acting human. Sure, sometimes he did not quite fit in, but he tried his best, and apparently, it worked. Most people just thought he was weird, which was good enough for him. No one really questioned him and his actions in a serious matter and that’s all he wanted.
However, there was one thing bothering him. It was the people accusing him of being a demon. When he first read one of these theories, he thought he was in serious trouble and that people really did find out that, well, he was a demon. He ignored those comments at first, but at the same time, Ryan started acting differently around him as well. It wasn’t anything grave, it was just like he was more observant and careful around him. Shane was pretty sure he just imagined this because he was more observant and careful and projected this onto his friend as well, but it didn’t really matter now. He eventually found out that those people were just joking and making fun of his strange behaviour, and everything was fine again. After all, anyone finding out that he was not as human as he pretended to be, could lead up to some serious problems. But Shane didn’t like to think about this. Or anything regarding his spiritual friends and foes in general. He liked being left alone in the human world. Things were easier here, and more fun. A lot of demons ridiculed him for this point of view, but he didn’t listen to them. Different beings like different things, and Shane definitely enjoyed a calm and peaceful life on Earth.
… Okay, he couldn’t deny that he also missed being surrounded by demons. Not enough to actually go back to hell, but enough to have spent some nights thinking about the what if’s. Luckily his good old friend Ryan Bergara offered him a chance to connect those things without knowing about it. They could be paranormal investigators. Perfect. And the people loved it! Really, he could not have wished for more.
It was dangerous at times, yes. Sometimes he had annoyed a ghoul too much in the past and now he had to be careful to not give this spirit the opportunity to show the world who, or what he really was. Sometimes a demon simply could not stand him. And some just thought it would be funny to mess with him. Thinking about it again, most investigations went like this. Actually, he couldn’t recall a single session which did not go like this. He really didn’t have any friends in hell, did he? Ah well, it did not matter anyway.
Back to the topic. Finding new locations. Yeah. Sometimes it was annoying that he couldn’t use his abilities which would make things so much easier. In the blink of an eye this room could be filled with money. Or they could be right in front of a different building before they noticed that they have left the room. And with a bit more effort, Shane could bring the ghouls to them. But all of this would blow his cover, so they were stuck with the true devil’s work: bureaucracy. Unfortunately he wasn’t even in a position where he could let others do the work for him. And what was almost worse was the fact he had to be careful when he did use his powers to make things a bit… simpler. At least Ryan was there, too, and he wouldn’t have to do all the talking himself.
After a lot of arguing, convincing and evaluating, they were granted more money for trips. And with this bonus, they could start planning the next season.
That was a few weeks ago. Today, they were filming the season finale. Despite this, it was not like today was an unusual day. It was, in fact, quite usual. A very ordinary day. Apart from the demon hunting part. But that was nothing special as well. Hell, if only the people would know how many demons they have already walked past during their lives…
Shane had a tough time focusing. He honestly was somewhat uneasy. He… wasn’t on good terms with this demon. Messed a bit too much with the wrong guy. He hasn’t seen them in… a few hundred years, so maybe they have forgotten about him already. But Shane was afraid that this would not be the case, and that he maybe had to defend himself, which would not exactly help keep his cover up. Maybe, just maybe, everything would turn out okay nevertheless.
Surprisingly, for a demon they were well-behaved. They definitely had fun with Ryan and Shane, being one of the most active demons they’ve ever encountered, but they never went too far. Shane should be relieved. After all, they didn’t blow his cover. But this doubtless meant that they would let Shane suffer once they were alone. This was not exactly something worth looking forward to.
Which is why Shane decided to use this break for something useful and tried to find the demon. Maybe apologizing or making up for what happened in the past or something similar would make the solo investigations easier, and he would not have to delete half the footage before anyone could see it. Problem was, his time was limited. After all, this was just a short break to replace the batteries or check how much storage was left. This wasn’t enough time to hold a long conversation, talking about how everyone does stupid things when they’re younger and that others should be forgiving and not blow their covers. Shane really hoped no one would come looking for him, and if they did, not find him at an unfittingly time. He was confident that he could deal with this demon, but it would be very difficult to find a good explanation.
Much to his surprise, this plan did not seem to be one-sided. As soon as Shane left the room, he could feel a strong gust of wind which was clearly leading him somewhere. He had a bad feeling, but he didn’t have the time to reconsider his decisions. He did the one thing no one should ever do, and trusted the demon to lead him somewhere isolated, as it probably was not in their interest to get caught either.
As he was standing in front of a room, the wind suddenly stopped and instead, he could hear a voice whispering inaudible things to him. Nope, he really did not want to do this. But there really was no going back. So he entered the room.
“Hey there, old, uh… friend. Long time no see.”
He looked around the room, only being able to assume where his opponent was. A really annoying thing about demons was that they were able to merge with the shadows. In a dark room, just like the one Shane was standing it, this could mean they could be anywhere.
/What are you doing here, traitor?/
The voice seemed to be directly in his head, which made finding the source even more difficult. But it was an age-old trick and wouldn’t intimidate Shane one bit. It actually made him braver, knowing that the other demon was a coward who played with deceitful tricks.
“You’re here as well. Now show yourself. Or do ya want me to say mean things about you again?”
Shane made sure to put a lot of sarcasm in that last sentence, but the sudden pressure on his throat showed him that this may have been too much. Gee, demons sure didn’t know how to take a joke.
“Okay, okay, you can let me go again”, Shane quickly added, his voice a mere whisper. Talking was certainly not easy when you suddenly could not breathe anymore, but they had obviously understood Shane, as the pressure disappeared as fast as it had appeared.
“There was no need for that, really… Anyway, my buddy… can I ask you for a favour?”
He could basically hear the laughter echoing from the walls around him. Not to be a pessimist, but this would not end well.
/You? Why should I do anything for you?/
“Because we’re both demons, duh. And it’s about this whole” - Shane gestured around wildly - “ghost investigations thing. In short, please pretend you don’t know me.”
/That’s not hard, everytime someone mentions you I wish I didn’t know you./
“Yeah, haha, very funny, but this is serious. We’re filming this, and I can’t let anyone know that… I’m… a demon. A demon who knows you. But that’s not even really the problem, it’s more that it’s… my thing to mock all demons and ghosts and what-nots we encounter. The people think it’s entertaining. So if maybe you could keep your temper and not slam me against a wall, that’d be great.”
Then he saw how deep in the shadows, something started to shape. Firstly there were vague contours, it looked like the darkness was playing tricks on you, but then everything got more refined until you could make out the details. They definitely looked diferent than from what Shane remembered, which was not a good sign. And the way they moved towards him made it even worse. Oh, Madej, you’ve done it, you’re in trouble now.
Before he could do anything, he got slammed against one of the walls. “Ouch, ah, fuck dude… Okay, suggestion: We don’t fight, you leave me and my friends alone and we’ll act like this never happened! Sounds good to me.”
The demon scoffed at him, grabbed the collar of his shirt and lifted him up. “And let this opportunity go to waste? You will pay for betraying us. What did you just call those pesky humans? ‘Your friends’? You seem to be forgetting whose side you’re on, traitor. You’re a hopeless case. Maybe ending you would be the right thing to do…”
Shane grabbed the demon’s hands. “Wouldn’t that be paradoxic? You keep calling me traitor, even though I never betrayed any of you guys, and now you’re the one wanting to do the right thing by killing me, which, by hell’s rules, is considered a crime.”
For a second his opponent stared at him slightly confused, then angrily, and just as Shane wanted to escape, he flew through the room, again. Did this dude have any other tricks, preferably less painful ones?! He needed this body, after all. Although Shane had to admit that he deserved it for provoking them. Force of habit.
“You’re going to hell with me.”
“Stop right there!”
Shane was sure that neither of them turned around because of what has been said - hell, even he did it out of a reflex, and not because he recognized this voice - but rather because a third person, who was standing in the doorway, said it, slightly out of breath. Shit.
“Ryan?”
“Shane, you need to leave, now.”
As if this situation wasn’t bad enough already. Why the fuck did Ryan have to be here now too? This only made things more complicated, fucking hell!
“Aw, look who’s here to save you, it’s your little human friend.”
The demon stepped towards Ryan, and Shane immediately stood up and grabbed the demon by their arms to hold them back. “Ryan, you should be the one to leave…”
Instead of looking intimidated or something else fitting his character, he was smirking. Wait a second. Ryan was clearly standing in front of a demon, - okay, technically two demons, but who cared about the details - and he was not freaking out? Who was this person and what did they do to the original Boogara?
“Trust me, I’ve got this.”
And next he pulled out a little water gun which Shane knew too well. It was his little holy water protection gun. Oh yeah, that could be very painful and therefore very effective. But even if he was weaponed, this wasn’t the right place for Ryan to be. It was too dangerous.
“Yeah, no, give it to me, I’ll do the rest”, Shane said while quickly walking past his demonic foe in order to grab the gun, but he ended up being the one held back this time.
“Don’t you dare think I’ll let you off the hook this easily”, they said, and then almost whispered to him: “If this is what I think it is, you will be the one in trouble.”
At least Ryan seemed confidient. Understandably, after all he was not the one who had to be afraid of holy water. “Nothing can hurt you, you need to trust me.”
“I would, Ryan, but, uh… I hate being wet. And I’m sorry to say this, but I don’t trust you with this gun. It’s too risqué if you’d ask me.”
Then the demon spoke again. “Oh, you should trust your friend. After all, nothing can happen to you.”
Shane could not see their grin, but he could clearly hear it. What an asshole. And what a god-awful, shitty situation in general. Ryan was pointing a watergun filled with holy water at him, not knowing that he was a demon and even one drop of this stuff would be incomprehensibly painful. And right behind him was a demon who apparently wanted to see him dead. Great. Fucking fantastic. How on fucking earth should he escape this?!
And then he had an idea.
Oh, please, god, if you haven’t already completely given up… let this work.
Shane mouthed a ‘I will count to three. One, two, three’, and to hopefully make his message more clear, he mimicked his words via facial expressions as well.
Ryan seemed to have understood at least something, because he slightly nodded while re-positioning himself.
Alright. Cool.
This could go wrong. Terribly wrong. So fucking wrong, holy shit…
But he trusted Ryan. He trusted him to not take any risks with this shot. After all, he did not have an endless supply of holy water and therefore had to be careful not to spend too much.
One last, deep breath, and here goes nothing.
Shane counted silently to three, blinking along, and then ducked.
The next thing he heard was the screams of the demon, who had let go of him and must have stumbled back. This was his opportunity.
Shane turned around to fight this demon, but Ryan was faster than him. He pushed him aside, quickly telling him to run, and jumped on the demon.
But Shane stared at him instead, paralyzed, because he just noticed something he’s never seen before.
Ryan completely focused on defeating that demon. So much, that his cover gave up and slowly, a pair of white wings and a halo appeared.
What the fuck.
So… Ryan was an angel. Okay. Cool. Fine. Whatever.
…
Holy fucking shit.
This was bullshit. What the fucking hell? How the fuck did he not notice that? How the fuck was that possible? That couldn’t- How the fuck- What the fuck- Fucking hell.
“You’re an angel”, Shane whispered subconciously, more to himself to make this situation a bit less bizarre. Which, of course, did not fucking work.
Ryan turned his head around. “What? Me? An ang-? I’m not-” Then Ryan realized that his… angelic features were visible.
“Okay, I-I’ll explain this afterwards.” And with that, Ryan focused on the demon again. Shane gulped, then waited a few seconds.
“You know what, Ryan? Leave him to me. I’m the one who’s in trouble with him.”
“No way, you can’t even defend yourself!”
“Trust me.”
Shane put his hand on Ryan’s shoulder, who glanced at him shortly, and then longer.
“Black wings…”, Ryan whispered. Shane nodded.
“Leave, I will take over from now on.”
Ryan kept looking at him completely flabbergasted, but did leave the room. And Shane quickly took his demonic foe to hell and dropped them off there.
When he left the room, he wasn’t surprised to see Ryan waiting for him. It did caught him a bit off guard to see him still without his cover, though.
“We have a lot to talk about, don’t we.”
“You’re a demon! Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Well, why didn’t you tell me that you’re an angel?”
“Okay, well played. I, I just can’t believe this. How could we be friends for years without knowing this?”
Shane shrugged. “Guess we’re good at keeping secrets.”
While saying this, he took a closer look at Ryan’s wings. They did look fairly average, but the white of his wings was a quite beautiful shade. His feathers did not look damaged, but there were a few black feathers in between the rest.
Ryan put on a slight smile. “Yeah, you’re probably right… Well, we should go back to the others, I bet they’re really angry at us.”
Shane laughed. “Oh yeah, definitely.”
And as they were walking back, Shane saw how another feather turned black before Ryan could hide his wings again.
They were in trouble. But not only with their team.