SCAN MAGAZINE SPRING 2021
The angel and demon stared at each other. Sandalphon in his motel robe and donut powder on his face and hands, and Samael in snorkel gear.
all that remained of him, so he introduced himself to Lily. When she turned to walk away, he followed, waiting for an alley to drag her into.
“Vacationing in the —”
Before he could, the bomb struck.
“Maldives.”
“Go figure,” he said. In the next moment, Lily slammed into him, propelled by the force of the blast.
“Oh, nice,” Sandalphon wriggled his fingers over the button. “It looks like you’re having a hard time.” “Not me,” the angel laughed uneasily. “Uh huh. And what are you doing with that button?” the demon nodded empathetically, standing like he was waiting in a line. Sandalphon hesitated. “Just a teensy restart on our little project. Hope you don’t mind.” “Maybe Boss would. You keep restarting before we’re even halfway to finishing.” “He wouldn’t, though,” said the angel earnestly, coaxing the demon to see things his way. “Our project has too many inconsistencies. He likes keeping things straight, right?” “Yes, heterosexual.” “No, straight!” Sandalphon shifted and pulled Samael in next to the button. “Here, you do it. If He sees that even a roundabout twisted folk like you can’t handle it …” Immortal for the Apocalypse Oppenheimer was not-a-man starved. He hadn’t eaten in weeks, such was the case for vampires who hated blood. It made him gag. But hunger was
When he opened his eyes again, she was gone, and so was the city. Sitting up, he noticed stains on his clothes. Blood. He opened his mouth as Lily’s face appeared in front of him. She blinked as he emptied his stomach in her face. The content of it passed straight through her. “Hey, man, what the hell!” She lunged at him, trying to hold his mouth shut with her hands, but she fell through him and disappeared in the ground. Oppenheimer scrambled to stand, searching for her. She appeared moments later, floating up from the rubble. “Am I dead?” The vampire saw that she was. His hungry nausea turned into nauseating hunger. He started to weep. The Ulcer There was a scream somewhere under the rubble. Oppenheimer ran for it. Lily floated forward, catching up to Oppenheimer who was digging for the screams. Lily clasped her hands around the survivor’s arm but they passed through it. Oppenheimer leaned down to help but noticed a trail of blood on the man’s face. He couldn’t stop his vomiting but manag ed to pull t he s ur v ivor up any way. It was t he Actor. “O h my g od,” L ily g as ped, “C ould you autog raph my … my ..."