Copyright 2004. All rights reserved. No portion of the following may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, except for brief quotation for vital reports or reviews, without permission from the copyright holder. Copyright infringement may result in legal recourse. The following is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to any actual events, locations, person or persons in entirely coincidental.

Fall from Grace

First Installment

When Angels Are Awakened

BANG! Silence, blood, and death followed. A figure stood, his body shaking violently, stood, staring at the woman on the floor. In his vibrating hand, a small shotgun was held. His eyes were wide; his mouth slightly open, as if he could not believe that he had just killed this woman, who lay bleeding on his living room floor. A small, circular wound, near her temple where the bullet had pierced her flesh and skull, bled with that horrible slowness. The bullet had killed her as soon as it had reached her brain. The man dropped the gun, ignoring the loud clatter that it made from the metal hitting the hard wood floor. There was a creaking noise from someone awaking from upstairs; they would have heard the gun shot. Panicking, the man stumbled back to his senses and ran from the house, yanking the door open and slamming it behind him, running out into the night as a young girl walked down the stairs, yawning a sleepy “Daddy?” Never to be answered.

Two figures watched the scenario sadly, from where they were perched in one of the large oak trees in the family’s yard. A slight fluttering noise and a small shower of leaves, two or three blindingly white feathers mixed into it, and one of them took off, the other close behind. Two, three, four steps after landing and they had reached the cadet blue painted door. The latter leaned up against the brown bricks as the former of the two reached hesitantly up to grab the bronze handle. The one at the door had brownish-red hair, the other aqua-blue. The brunette’s hand shrunk back and he offered the aqua haired boy a look that screamed, “I don’t want to do this.”

 “You have to, Divinee.” He sighed. “Her soul is waiting for you to come.” The aqua haired boy, Damnum, shook his head as Divinee gave him a look; one that was close to tears. “It is an honour to be chosen for Angel of Death, why do you look so sad?”

“Honour or not, I can’t kill her.” Divinee shook his head.

 Regalis sighed. Divinee had always been such a pacifist; never a warrior like the rest of his bloodline, which was obvious. He truly was not cut from the proper mold to become the Angel of Death, yet he had been the one selected. Regalis would make sure that he did a proper job of it.

“You’re not killing her.” Regalis protested, wearily. “Her husband did, you’re going to help her, Divinee. It won’t do her any good to be stuck around here."

Divinee shook his head again, sadly. This was his first assignment as Angel of Death and he was being…difficult, was most likely a bad phrasing. Impossible was more accurate. He turned from the door and began to fly away, humans weren’t in tuned enough to see him anyway.

“You mustn’t refuse this, Divinee.” Regalis shouted after him. “He wants her back. You can’t tell Him no.” Thing were going to get dangerous for all of them if Divinee didn’t turn around now.

“I can’t take her, Regalis.”  He called back. “I can’t do it, I won’t.”

Regalis’s eyes widened in terror. Oh, how he wished that Divinee hadn’t just said that. Things were only going downward when an Angel refused to take orders from Him. Divinee was no ordinary Seraph, either. The Angel of Death would be banished the first time he refused. No second chances when it came to a matter of mortal souls.

“Please, Divinee, tell me that you don’t mean that…” Regalis begged. “Please tell me that you don’t mean it! You said something that you didn’t mean, I know it.”

“I meant it.” Divinee snapped, glaring at the aqua haired Seraph. “I won’t take her.”

Suddenly there was a horrible screeching sound in his ears, almost supersonic. Divinee cried out in pain and fell to the ground, curled up at the waist and clutching his ears with his hands. It was awful, blinding. And assault on his eardrums. Then the pain started to spread, moving down through his neck and shoulders, halting at his shoulder blades…his wings! The white feathers began to darken. Grey, charcoal…black…sweet Heaven’s Keeper, his wings were molting!

“Divinee…?” Regalis reached slightly toward him, or at least in the general direction, but shrunk back as the last of Divinee’s feathers fell away. Two long, bleeding, bright red stripes running down his shoulder blades, right were his wings should have been.

Slowly, ever so slowly, Divinee turned his head to face Regalis. His eyes were wide with horror. Just as slowly as he had turned, he lowered his hands from his ears. The white material that his robes had been made of hung loosely on his slender frame. His once bright ruby eyes were now a dull shade of brown, staring in shock at Regalis.

“What…happened?” Divinee asked softly, staying where he was seated on the grassy lawn. “Tell me, Regalis…”

“I’m not sure but…” Regalis walked swiftly across the sidewalk to kneel down next to his Fallen friend. “I think you might be…” Gently, he reached up and ran his index finger down one of the dripping wounds, Divinee cringed at the contact, “You might be mortal.”

No…this couldn’t be! He couldn’t be mortal, when angels Fell they were banished down to the Third Plateau, they didn’t become human. Divinee’s eyebrows knitted together in fretful worry, and he burst into vulnerable tears, throwing himself into Regalis’s arms. He wasn’t scared, he was terrified. If he was human, then he wouldn’t be able to see Regalis once his Second Sight left him.

“D-don’t leave me…” he whispered, gazing into Regalis’s amber eyes. “Please…don’t leave me!”

Regalis nodded softly, stroking Divinee’s hair gently. Divinee didn’t need to worry; he wouldn’t leave until he was sure that the former was safe…completely safe. Nothing could go wrong as long as Divinee had him as a Guardian Angel.

“Shhh…” He soothed calmly, rubbing between Divinee’s wounds. The first thing he needed to do was to get those cleaned, they were quickly staining his robes with a sickly copper colour. Cradling Divinee in his arms, he ran up to the house they were in front of and banged on the blue wood.

The door opened a crack and a young boy, barely thirteen, looked out of it. Seeing apparently nothing, he started to close it again, but Divinee whimpered slightly and the boy looked again. There was a boy floating on his front porch!

“Help him!” Regalis urged the boy to be able to see him, to be able to hear him, to know to help Divinee. “Help him!”

The boy shook his head. “I’m sorry, we’re having a bit of an emergency right now.” He choked out, around the welling tears. “The hospital is just a few miles away though, perhaps one of the neighbors could help you. I’m sorry…” The boy then shut the door on them.

Regalis shook his head angrily and headed off to the next house. Hoping that the person who lived there would have the Second Sight, the ability to see spirits and divine beings. Banging on the door, red this time, he waited impatiently. When the door opened a young woman, clad in a frilly pink nightgown and robe, gasped and shouted back into the house.

“Oh my God. George!”

A few moments later, a man, a bit older than the woman, came to the door. Grumbling he glanced out the door and saw what his wife was pointing at. A young winged man was standing on his porch, cradling a bleeding boy in his arms.

“Please help him…?” The young man begged, nodding down to the boy. “Please!”

“Take them both inside, Molly.” The man, George nodded. Molly, the woman, too nodded and ushered Regalis in.

“You poor dear, what happened to him?” Molly asked after they had entered.

Regalis glanced down at Divinee, sadly.

“Father’s punishment.” He whispered.

“You’re father whips him?” Molly gasped, beginning to clean Divinee’s wounds with a soft, wet cloth that George had brought her.

“Sort of…” He murmured, stroking Divinee’s hair again. Divinee smiled at him and reached up, grabbing Regalis’s hand and licking it lightly, removing the blood from the other’s fingertips.

 “Are you two…brothers?” Molly questioned, nervously.

“No.” Regalis shook his head. “Not that kind of Father.”

“Then is he your…?” Molly cut herself off as George reentered the room.

“Lover?” Regalis laughed. “Dear me, no. Nothing more than a friend and co-worker.”

“Right.” Molly laughed falsely, she continued to dab at Divinee’s wounds. “Such horrible wounds these are. They look as if-”

“Wings were ripped from them?” Regalis blinked slightly. “Close, my dear. Close.”