Chapter 9 – November 2025

Previously in ‘Heaven, Hell or High School’…

Nuriel is, was, an angel. But now he’s trapped in the body of a 17 year-old guy. It’s God’s idea of tough love to teach Nuriel humility and not to make bets with any demons, especially not Lamia.

And he has no idea what she’s planning next…

Chapter 9 – November 2025

Nuriel

I slept well that night, dreaming deeply, a world of human flaws and frailties that I no longer found feeble and unfathomable. Instead, I had come to believe that Father loved humans because of their weaknesses, because weakness offered the possibility of change, of redemption. If one does not have to struggle, how can one succeed against the darkness of depression and hopelessness? Without pain, how can we understand the nature of pleasure? Without effort, how can we know reward? Only through imperfection can we change for the better; only through challenge can we grow.

Instead of futility, irrational and illogical humans, I saw potential—I saw hope.

And as I dreamed, I saw Father in a field of golden sunflowers, their faces turning towards the radiance of His presence.

“Walk with me, Nuriel,” he commanded.

I rose from my slumber, blinking in the brightness of His light.

“You are learning,” he said.

“I am, Father,” I replied, bowing my head, blinking rapidly as my eyes watered, dazzled by the celestial brilliance of His presence. “I have learned so much.”

He waited, His eyes all-seeing, His mind all-knowing, His patience without limit.

“But … but the more I learn, the more I see gaps in my understanding.” I frowned, puzzled by this conundrum. “It’s as if … the more I know, the more there is to know, and therefore, I know less than I thought.”

I shook my head at this oxymoron.

“It can be confusing, Father.”

“Ah,” he said, smiling so brightly, even the sunflowers dipped their heads.

“Emotions are … singular … and yet multiple, all in the space of a mere fraction of a second. It’s remarkable. Humans are far more complex than I’d realized.” My brow furrowed. “And yet, there is a simplicity about them that is very appealing.”

“I have great hopes for you, Nuriel,” said Father, and I felt the warmth of His hand upon my cheek. “And great plans. But winter is coming…”

I stared up at the endless blue sky, puzzled by his words.

I turned around to ask Him what He meant, but found I was alone.

A tremendous wind began an eerie howling around the red rock hills, and the sky turned black and heavy with rain. Cold drops fell from the sky, frosting on my skin. Dread sent icy tendrils through my veins and I shivered.

“Father!” I called out. “Father! Do not forsake me!”

But the empty echo of my voice mocked me from those sandstone hills.

I woke up in bed, cold and afraid, but what had scared me, I could not say. I only knew what Father had told me.

Winter was coming.

Lamia

You know, the first millennium in Hell was kinda fun. The Devil was ticked, I mean seriously ticked at He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named (and I’m not talking about Voldemort, although he has a certain style, right?). No, I’m talking about HESNBN’s favorite son before that do-gooder JC; I’m taking about Lucifer, my boss, the one-and-only Boss. He was raging about the injustice of it all, you know, the failed rebellion, the fall from Heaven into the fiery pits of Hell, all of that.

“Oh sun, to tell thee how I hate thy beams,

That bring to my remembrance from what state I fell;

How glorious once above thy sphere;

Till pride and worse ambition threw me down.”

I mean, he didn’t always talk like this, but that Milton dude, he knew a thing or two about the Boss. So, he starts copying how he speaks in that long poem he wrote, Paradise Lost.

Well, seems like Paradise wasn’t all that great to me. Poor old Eve—she had it rough from the start. I mean, she didn’t even fancy Adam, not even a little. You know, when she was created, she was staring at herself in a pool of water and thinking that she’s looking pretty hot, too. Then she has to go meet Adam, and she’s like, “Nah, dude. I’m prettier. I think I’ll stick to girls,” but since she was the only one, she didn’t get to have any say in it.

Milton even has her saying, “God is thy law, thou mine.” But get real, buddy. That’s sarcasm! She was not into that Adam dude, not even a little. I gotta say, it’s creepy that she was just told to date him. Free Will, anyone? Yeah, no.

But I’m digressing.

So, Hell was kinda cool … well, fiery hot, but you know what I mean, and I got to torture a bunch of shit-heads, but it all got, ya know, same shit, different day. And the Boss, he’s all about productivity and career progression, so he sent me on a sabbatical to Earth to see what mayhem I can create. Yep, that’s me—bringing the party from a place called Pandaemonium.

And I’ve gotta say, bringing Nuriel down a peg or ten has been the best time. He was an angel with a giant stick up his butt, so frickin’ holier than thou. I mean, yeah! I’m a demon! Of course he’s holier, but so what? It doesn’t make me a bad person.

’Cause, ya know, not even slightly human. LOL.

I’ve been watching him, messing with his head every chance I get, and High School is the perfect place for a thousand mixed up human hormones swirling around in a pit of depravity and lust, but now I’m upping the stakes.

I know the deal I have with Nuriel; I know that neither of us are supposed to be using anything than our ‘powers of persuasion’ to win our bet, but hello! I’m a demon!

Anyway.

Watch and learn.

It’s twilight, my favorite time of day as the sun make its fiery descent as the Earth turns. And then … it just stops.

Everything stops.

The town is frozen in time as people are going about their lives. It’s so cool just seeing everyone like a still from a movie: one minute moving, the next minute, boom, frozen.

The sky boils with dark clouds then rend as if by lightning. This dude knows how to make an entrance.

I pulled on my Prada sunglasses and sat back to watch the show.

A glorious, winged being descends from the clouds, robes swirling, as if made from molten bronze … and stops in front of me.

“The Lord is in love with his own creation. And yet, unlike us, that creation is fallible, illogical, irrational. Humans are a plague upon the Earth. We will smite them down. They are a rash that must be cleansed. Then the Earth will be purified, the scales will fall from His eyes and the Lord will see that what we have wrought is good.”

“Gotta say, dude,” I grinned. “You’re talking my language.”

“He will not be wroth with us but will know that we are truly his faithful servants.”

Jeez, didn’t even crack a smile.

See, that’s the problem with the Chrysolites—absolutely no sense of humor. And honestly, do they really think that He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named is going to be pleased with this plan? Oh, I think not.

In your dreams, buddy.

Which is the best part of it.

But, of course, I don’t say that.

“Works for me. Nice to see you guys finally woke up to the flaw in the Big Guy’s plan. Paradise … Tree of Knowledge … yadda yadda yadda.”

The Chrysolite’s eyes flashed a yellowish-green, which was amazing, and something I was definitely going to try in front of the mirror later.

“Beware thy forked tongue, serpent!” they bellowed.

“Sticks and stones will break my bones … not. Like you care?! Well, you know what they say … my enemy’s enemy is my friend.”

“You are no friend of mine, demon.”

“Whatever. But we still got a deal, don’t we … angel.”

“Yes, demon. We have a deal.”

Hell, yeah.

The Chrysolites are angels, specifically warrior angels. And for once, we’re on the same team. They want to cleanse the Earth of all humanity—I just want to throw a wrench in the Big Guy’s plans for Nuriel.

Bet you didn’t see that coming, did ya?

I know for sure that poor ole Nuriel didn’t…