Useless

Every morning there’s a halo hanging on the corner of my girlfriend’s four-post bed. Or, at least, there was a halo. 

She was quite excited when she came over my apartment with the news the first time it happened. Yvonne barely got through the door before she was falling over in excitement, nearly vibrating with her eagerness to tell the story.

“I woke up this morning, and this light was in my room! It was bright and huge and it reminded me of an angel. More specifically, the halo they wear that hovers over their heads. At first I just laid there, sure it was a trick of the sunlight, but then it moved. I freaked out and was practically chained to my bed, but an hour passed and it didn’t hurt me or whisk me off to another land. It followed me around the house while I got ready and bobbed when I left the house.”

I was calm while she told me about her morning. “So, you saw an angel?”

It wasn’t that I didn’t believe her, but if someone came to you and told you a fantastical story such as this, what would your reaction be? To my credit, I didn’t laugh in her face or belittle her by calling her names, such as stupid or idiot. I sat and nodded while she talked and tried to seriously consider the fact that an angel’s halo was at my girlfriend’s house.

When I asked her my question, it was like she deflated. Her vibrating stopped and the eagerness in her voice evaporated. “You don’t believe me,” she whispered.

“I didn’t say that,” I replied. “It’s just…hard to believe.”

“Then sleep over,” she said, standing and coming behind my chair, grasping my shoulders gently and kissing my neck. “You haven’t slept over in ages. You can see the proof with your own two eyes.”

The next morning arrived, bright with hope. I was awakened by my girlfriend poking me in the side. I opened one eye and looked at her. She was sitting on her side of the bed, knees to her chest, eyes glued to the end of her bed. I stopped her finger and sat up as well.

A bright golden halo hovered over the end of the bed, and an ethereal body could barely be seen. When I squinted my eyes to see more, it looked more corporeal. I stared for a moment and then rubbed my eyes, sure that it wasn’t true. But it was, and the truth was right in front of me. It had to be an angel’s halo. There was nothing else it could be. I glanced at my girlfriend and she was watching my face with a wide grin on hers, her eyes alight with laughter and happiness, and her entire body was vibrating, awaiting my words. I looked back at the halo and then shook my head, laughing.

“You were right.”

She squealed and jumped out of bed, dancing all the way to the kitchen. The halo stayed for a moment, staring at me, and then followed Yvonne downstairs.

This continued for about a month. I slept over ten times in that month, and every morning I’d wake up and the halo would be there. It didn’t feel dangerous or evil. It was just there. Yvonne thought it was her guardian angel and was eager for the protection from evil. I didn’t know what to believe. It was strange how it just followed her around the house, and stared at me from time to time.

One morning I decided to take her out to breakfast. She had been complaining lately about how we never go anywhere, and more relationship stuff. This was my way to try and be a better partner. I came over her house and knocked. She didn’t answer. I knocked again, looking around at the other neighbor’s homes. It was still early, only students and nine to five workers would be out this early. I waited before knocking again, and then I pulled out the key.

Everything looked calm and tranquil when I walked in. I swept my gaze over her orderly living room before closing the door behind me and walking upstairs. It would be more romantic if I woke her with a kiss, and then we could have a fun day together.

I opened her door and the first thing I noticed was the halo. Or the absence thereof. My eyes drifted to her sleeping form. There was something strange about how she was sleeping. Normally, she would be spread out all over the bed, the blankets tangled and the pillows askew. Instead, she looked like a sleeping angel. The blankets were pulled up to her neck and her eyes were closed, her face facing the ceiling.

I walked over to her and gently caressed my fingers across her face. She was cold.

I kissed her forehead lovingly and waited for her to open her eyes. She was a light sleeper, and I was honestly surprised she hadn’t woken up just from me knocking on the door and coming into the house. I could go pee in the middle of the night and she’d be awake when I stumbled back.

“Wake up babe,” I said loudly, sitting on the edge of the bed. “Let’s go out for breakfast. We can go to that spot we like so much, the ones with freshly squeezed orange juice.”

She didn’t answer, didn’t even stir in the bed at my voice. Frowning, I stood up and drew back her blankets. My eyes widened and I stood frozen, the blanket shaking in my outstretched hand. I looked over her bloody, mangled body as my body refused to move, my mouth opened wide in a silent scream, and my mind refusing to process the scene before me. Blood covered her from head to foot, making her look like a head atop a blood bath. The sheets were soaked with blood and she was spread-eagled on the bed.

My mouth tried to form words, but only ended up choking in emotion. Tears streamed silently down my face as I looked at Yvonne, my dead girlfriend. Silently, I fixed the blanket back up to her neck and called the police. Somehow, I managed to talk to the operator without choking on my tears. When I hung up, I sat on the floor at the end of her bed, head in my hands.

It was the halo. There wasn’t anything else it could’ve been. Yvonne thought it was her guardian angel, but instead it was her death. It followed her around the house to get to know her schedule and the house itself. It stared at me to see if I was a threat to its plans. Why did it do this? Why did it enter her life? Why didn’t I warn her against such a thing? I remembered when she told me about it the first time. She had been so full of life, so excited. Now she was dead. She would never be excited or vibrant again.

“Yvonne,” I whispered as tears streamed down my face and my body shook with emotion. “Yvonne,” I cried again, wishing she was still alive.

A motion in the doorway made me look up from my mourning. It was the halo. It stood there, calm and floating, watching me. I stood, anger and grief overcoming my intelligence. With a loud battle cry, I launched toward the halo, ready to tackle and destroy the figure that killed my girlfriend. I passed right through the figure and fell down the stairs, landing at the bottom hurt and bruised. The halo stood over me as I struggled up. Suddenly, I felt its weight and couldn’t move even as I attempted to struggle beneath it. Dread filled my stomach as I looked at the halo.

I no longer had to squint to see its physical form. It was the shape of a human, with the halo around its head. It wore white long robes and wooden sandals. It was faceless, and the skin was an alabaster white with bright blue veins sticking out and pulsing all over. Tears continued to stream down my face, and I screamed at the halo, wanting to know why. Why Yvonne? Why her? Why?

The halo put one hand into its robes and pulled out a long, gleaming, samurai sword. Even as I struggled underneath the halo and cried out for help and my dead girlfriend, the halo grasped the sword with both hands and plunged it into my heart.

Blood spurted out my mouth as I coughed and tried to take in breaths to start my stilling heart. The halo didn’t move as I lay there dying. It watched death overtake me moment by moment. If it had eyes, I would say it was glued to my face.

“W…h….y?” I gurgled, managing to speak with my last few breaths.

“Because you are useless.”