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“Christian!”
My name was being called in every direction. From every side of the room, a congratulations. The continuous laughing and chatter had begun to blend together into a monotone buzz.
But this cry of my name caught my attention. I turned and saw the one who had spoken.
“Kris! Hey!”
The tall, lanky man gave a half smile and waved me forward. I made my way through the crowd, receiving continuous congratulations as I did. I simply nodded by this point. Hour three into the party. My bachelor party.
After weaving my way between numerous people, I arrived at Kris’ side.
“Hot in here, isn’t it?” he stated casually, pushing his sliding glasses up the bridge of his nose. I nodded and pulled my sweaty shirt away from my body.
“Yeah. Too many people,” I chuckled. Kris joined in my laugh and glanced hesitantly towards the exit way.
“To the roof?” he asked. I grinned.
“After you.”

Our hang out. Our quiet space from when we were young. Always had been. Always would be. I turned to my best friend and smiled. He swirled his drink absently in his hand as he stared over the roof’s edge. The street below was still bustling at midnight. That’s New York, for you.
I chuckled and glanced at Kris. But my smile slowly fell. His face was contorted in a look of absolute pain.
“Kris?” My hand clasped against his shoulder.
Kris’ eyes glanced to mine.
It could have been the glint of the city lights from his glasses, but for a moment, his eyes burned a deep red.
With a jolt, I pulled my hand away. “Buddy, what’s wrong?”

There was no excuse for it. In one motion, he loosened his fingers from the glass that he has been attached to all night. My eyes followed the falling glass in seeming slow-motion. While my attention was away, Kris pulled back his fist.
A shock of pain rocketed through my jaw. Its spasms coursed down my neck and through my body, causing my knees to buckle. I stumbled backwards as the glass shattered against the rooftop.

I landed flat on my back. The air whooshed from my lungs, leaving me gasping for the sweet oxygen that refused to enter my throat. The ground shook dangerously close to my head as Kris lunged at me. He landed, catlike, in a crouch above my body. With one violent shake, I managed to inhale.
“What the hell, Kris?!” I screamed. He roared over me.
“How dare you!” he snarled, his face inches from mine. My eyes darted between his deep red irises. I opened my mouth to interject, but he caught me first.
Kris jumped away from me, bending backwards in a way no human could ever achieve. As he turned himself, one hand remained locked to my chest, bending backwards. I was sure it would snap like a twig, but it remained in-tact. It was then that I realized I was sliding backwards. As he jumped away, one hand pushed me farther.
When the cement beneath my head disappeared, I began to flail. Kris stood at my feet, his hands balled into fists at his sides. I tried to stand. To get away. But Kris yowled and shoved my hips with both of his hands.
A normal human could not shove an average human male that far. But the strength behind Kris’ push sent me flying over the edge.

For one brief second, I floated. The scream that rang through the air was the only thing I could hear. Not the cars below, not the wind twirling around me. Nothing.
I don’t know how, but my hand managed to close around the raised edge of the roof top. My body plummeted, jerking my arm with an unpleasant pop. I screamed louder as the pain from my shoulder shot up my neck. I fumbled with my other hand and clung to the edge of the fifteen story building for dear life.
My arm was throbbing. My eyes were watering in pain. My mind was screaming at me, wondering what was going on.
A shadow enveloped me, only raising my awareness of the headlights below. I forced myself to look upward.
And there he stood.
His eyes danced like fire behind his glasses. But his eyes were no longer the true cause of my fear. Two scaled wings were protruding bat-like from his shoulder blades. He shuffled forward, his feet crunching down on both my hands. I recoiled slightly but forced myself to turn back.
Through his legs, I saw the edge of a forked tail, the edge dragging along the ground. I forced my head upward, compelling myself to look at Kris’ face.
At the first sign of eye contact, Kris roared at me. His lip was curled into a full snarl over his newly sharpened canines. I couldn’t stand it anymore.
With all my strength, I forced myself to speak.
“K-Kris,” I started with a stutter, “I’m sorry.”
He snarled again.
“For what?” His voice was inhuman.
“For sleeping with her. I shouldn’t-”
“You cheated on my sister!” he growled. My eyes closed tight.
“I know. But-”
“But nothing!” he yelled. The pressure on my fingers became close to unbearable. I screamed under his weight. I tried to push myself upward.
“What are you!?” I yelled over the rush of cars beneath me. There was a moment of silence as I struggled to heave myself to the roof again. But Kris quickly stopped it. He chuckled ominously under his breath.
“What am I?” he asked, his voice almost sneering. I felt him crouch on top of my hands, only increasing the pain. But now his face was closer. Two fingers snapped to my face and pulled my face upward. For a moment, he merely smiled. And then, the burning started.
His fingers erupted fire onto my skin. With my hands trapped beneath his feet, I was useless in escaping. I screamed as loud as my voice would allow, trying any method to keep the burning at bay. But the fire spread from my cheeks. It rolled effortlessly across my face and down my chin. My neck flared, but no fire was started. I was sure my shirt would catch, but it too remained unchanged.
“I’ve been keeping a little secret from you,” Kris stated. I looked straight into his eyes.
“Really? I wouldn’t have guessed!” I spat humorlessly. Kris chuckled again and only tightened his grip. The flames under my skin grew white hot. I was burning alive.
“Christian, I’m the devil’s advocate,” he whispered. My breathing, though already labored, increased in tempo. Somehow, he increased his weight against my crushed fingers. I gasped in pain but refused to cry out. I assured myself he would continue without my asking for him to do so.
“With this lovely gift,” he continued, “I am to choose who stays on this earth,” he squeezed my face tighter between his burning fingers, “and who dies.”
I felt the weight lift from my fingers. The gust of wind from his wings blew my hair from my face. As my fingers began to slip from the edge of the building, I realized the weight he had supplied was the only weight that kept me from plummeting to my death.
My fingers were broken, refusing to latch to the cement border of the building. I scraped at the edge as I slid slowly, ignoring every stabbing pain my fingers released through my arm. My breathing became frantic. My heart thundered in my chest, sending more of the boiling blood coursing through my veins.
I couldn’t cling any longer. My fingers slipped from my wall. My body lurched downward. But my face was still caught in the clutches of my best friend. We now both hung above the rushing street below. My hand clutched at Kris’ wrist, trying hard to hold on.
“Kris. Please. I’m sorry.”
“It was my sister, you bastard,” he snarled. I felt his fingers loosen. I kicked my legs uselessly through the air.
“Kris you have to listen to me. I didn’t mean to hurt her.”
“You are marrying her! And she doesn’t even know!” he yelled, pulling my face closer to his. My other hand clenched his wrist. It was getting harder to breathe. I struggled upward, trying to loosen his grip.
“I love her!” I choked. My last supply of beautiful oxygen. How I had taken the simple act of breathing for granted. Kris’ hand closed tighter around my throat. We had risen another thirty feet into the air.
His hand stretched me out away from him, dangling me like a rag doll in the air.
“She deserves so much better than you,” he snarled. “My friend,” he exhaled deeply through his nose, as if the word friend was not worthy of his body.  I could feel the world beginning to darken. My neck becoming limp in his hands. My eyes struggled to stay open. I felt my hands slacken around his wrists. “You are not worthy of this earth.”
I felt his hands slip away. I began to free fall.
As I was sliding into black, my body felt weightless. The wind rushing past my ears was my lullaby. The darkness that engulfed me was my blanket.
I was dead before I hit the ground.