Devil or Angel

"Time was when angels walked the earth. Now they are not even in heaven," Cody whispered. He rocked back and forth, hands wrapped around his knees. 

Agent Dunham stood on the other side of the one-way mirror and watched him intently. "He's crazier than one who flew over the cuckoo's nest."

Sam shook her head.  "No, I don't think so."

Dunham raised his eyebrows. Sam could admit his skepticism was warranted; Cody was disheveled and unkempt, his hair and beard greasy and tangled, his clothes torn and stained. He looked like he'd been sleeping in a dumpster. Local PD had picked him up in an alley on the wrong side of town. 

"He's a complete and utter nutball," Dunham said.

Sam wouldn't tell Dunham that she'd heard the voice of the angel who accompanied Nicodemus Cohen, that she'd known deep down in the space between her heartbeats that she'd heard the voice of death.  But she couldn't hear its voice now.

"He's hiding something," Sam said. "I want to find out what it is."  She pushed open the door and laid a file down on the table. "Cody Cohen, we have to talk."

He lifted his head sharply, blinked at her like she'd flipped a light on in a dark room. "A young angel, an old devil," he said. 

"Where are the angels now?" Sam asked. 

"Gone with the wind," Cody said, and smiled faintly, as if at a distant, happy memory.

"Are they here?" Sam asked. 

Cody shook his head. "You know what they used to say?"

"What?" Sam asked patiently. 

"When the angels present themselves, the devils abscond."  Cody shook his head and laughed. "It's not true anymore."

"Oh? Why not?"

"Because you brought them here," Cody said. "You brought the devils and gave them voices, and now they won't go away." He lifted his head and gazed up at her with hollow eyes. "Have you ever seen a person inside out?"

(325 words)