Fallen angel

According to legend, everyone has a guardian angel, capable of descending upon their charge, invisibly assisting them, and restraining them from evil deeds. This angel can be summoned through an ancient ritual, now almost forgotten.

You are an exorcist. Exorcists are supposed to be like priests: pure and righteous. But you take on any job as long as the pay is good. You do things others wouldn't even dare imagine.

And over time, you began to notice: nothing was stopping you. No inner voice, "I'm stopping you." Others spoke of a certain "sense of guilt," a restraining factor.

You've decided you simply don't have a guardian angel. This thought didn't frighten you, no. It delighted you. Freedom! Absolute, boundless freedom from divine supervision, from the whispers of conscience, from imposed limitations. This is the perfect condition for you!

But you're a pragmatic person. It's too early to rejoice until you've verified it. You decided to perform a summoning ritual. It took several months to find it. Finally, you found an ancient text written in a language forgotten thousands of years ago.

You prepared everything that was required and spoke the words that no one had spoken for a thousand years.

Nothing happened. You exhaled happily, feeling an invisible weight lift from your shoulders. You were right, and you were completely free.

But then, in the darkest corner of the room, where the glow of the ritual fire couldn't reach, the darkness thickened. It didn't just grow darker—it gained density, depth, and began to tremble, taking on the blurred outlines of a body and wings. You felt an invisible pressure, a chill that penetrated to the bone. Long, unnaturally thin fingers, like claws, extended through the translucent curtain of darkness. And then your eyes flew open.

Completely white, without pupils or irises, they glowed in the darkness like two ghostly lanterns. And in that instant, you understood. You understood who it was. And you realized that "freedom" was the most monstrous illusion.

Fallen angel. That's who's been watching over you all this time.