Nephilim's Fall: Chapter Seventeen

Chapter 17

 Long after I step into my room and close the door behind me, I can't get, Conner's words out of my head, “No, you can't go home.”

I am a prisoner. I know Conner is good natured, but I wish he will tell me what is going on. That instead of protecting me by withholding knowledge, he will fill me in on the truth. I love Conner, of course I do. He knows me better than anyone. Every time I see him, I yearn for him. And yes maybe in a more than friend way lately, but how well really do I know him?

 

Staring at the dwindling fire in the hearth, a knock on my window makes me jump. Before I can even get up, there is a second knock on the pane, this one sounding more hesitant. I rise from the floor and tentatively step to the window. Tonight all I want is to be left alone. Conner never understands that.

 

I fling open the wooden shutters, then push up the pane, knocking a large pot of flowers over the ledge as I plunge my head into the darkness ready to rip into Conner, but it isn't Conner standing on the ledge in the moonlight. It is Sebastian, he has changed out of his usual clothes, wearing just dirty sweatpants and a plain black tee. Most of his body is in shadow, but the outline of his broad shoulders are clear in the deep blue night. His shy smile, brings an answering smile to my face. He is holding a gold cornucopia, full of sunflowers in his left hand. I can see the cowlick in his hair as the chocolate locks blow in the wind.

 

“Sebastian,” I say. The word feeling funny in my mouth, it is tinged with pleasant surprise, and fear. A moment ago I had been so prepared to be nasty, but now I don't really know how to act. I know I should be afraid. My heartbeat picks up and I can't stop the swirl of butterflies.

 

“How crazy is it that I can just walk up to your window? I thought Conner was supposed to keep you safe?” His voice is serious and accusatory.

 

I shake my head, stunned. I have never even been outside this window, and am surprise to see the road several stories down.

 

“How did you get up here?” I ask taking a small step back now, remembering what Sebastian is. I can't get my heart to stop racing. A week's worth of warmth fills me as I lean back through the window, feeling rebellious.

 

His tremendous ebony black wings beat gently behind him. Probing the black night. Luring me in. They seem to beat in the sky, almost in time with my heart. I know I should be afraid, but I don’t feel like Sebastian is here to hurt me. The small horns twisting up out of his hairline, seem to shimmer with a thousand colors in the moonlight. I want to touch them. It is a stunning thing to see him floating outside my third story window.

 

“What's with the flowers?” I ask with a smirk and feeling my face flush.

 

He chuckles, his voice like honey, “I just saved them from a very brutal death at your hands.”

 

Confused, I look back down to the golden flowers, seeing the pot attached to the bottom. “Oh,” I laugh feeling somewhat embarrassed. “Why are you here, Sebastian?”

 

His wings bristle nervously, “I’ve been sort of watching over you, Stella.”

 

“Watching over me? Why?"” I tear my eyes away from him. “I don't understand why everyone thinks I need protection! Conner took me away to protect me from you, but if you're not trying to hurt me, then I should be able to go home.”

 

He stares at me as if he is chewing on the idea of how much to tell me. “Stella, Conner didn't take you away to protect you from me. Heck, I'm the one who went to Conner and told him where to find you"” He runs his hand through his hair. “He made you leave town, because I told him to, Stella.” 

 

My mind swims, racing. An avalanche of lies and half truths. “You went to Conner. You told him to take me away? And he listened? Why?”

 

His grey eyes look almost silver in the moonlight. “Someone bad is trying to get you, Stella. Someone really bad. I’m not going to lie to you, I was supposed to take you to him. When I disobeyed and had Conner take you away, the man made others like me, and he picked ones that like to hurt people. They went on a killing spree looking for you.” He glances away.” I've been watching over your mom, she's safe, but I had to come check on you to make sure they were protecting you. I have to admit, I'm a little annoyed by how easy it was to get this close.”

 

I feel lost for words. I look at his black feathered wings, taking in every line. After a long pause I finally find my voice. “You’ve been protecting me? And my mom? You're a demon. Why would you care about me?”

 

He just smiles at me. “I get a choice, Stella. I may be a demon, but if I want to pretend I'm an angel while I fly around, then that's my right.” 

 

I look at him, staring into his face, I believe him. He isn't hiding things from me like Conner is. He is just telling me how it is and I love it. It feels so free to have all the information. Sure it is scary, but I'd rather know. Now that I know, I know what I'll have to do.

 

“People are being killed because this monster is looking for me?” I stare up at Sebastian wanting, needing, an honest answer.

 

He meets my gaze, his face turning grim. “Yes, Stella. People have died. I've tried to stop it. You're safe here tho"” with the sound like an enormous flock of birds taking off and a bang, Sebastian is gone. Something spiraling, iridescently white and winged, hitting him from the side making him barrel towards the ground like a canon ball.

 

Conner, unfurls his silver-white wings. They fill my plane of vision, stretching fifteen feet into the sky. Broad and beautiful, glowing in the night, they must be the most glorious wings ever made.

 

With a sound like an enormous flag being unfurled, Conner beats his wings and dives down towards Sebastian, tucking his wings close to his body for speed. With a bang, he lands a few feet in front of where Sebastian is pulling himself up and out of the newly broken asphalt. The street absent of life at the moment.

 

A dead silence hangs in the air as the two winged men stare at each other.

 

Conner finally breaking the silence, his voice enraged, “I told you to stay away! I told you I would handle protecting her from now on! Why the hell are you here?”

 

Sebastian ruffles his wings, shaking the dirt out of them. “I wanted to make sure you were actually watching over her. I shouldn’t have been able to get as close as I did!” I can hear the frustration in Sebastian’s voice as he speaks.

 

Conner looks to the side, his expression a grimace. “You’re right, you shouldn’t have. If you know where we are then most likely they do too. I’ll have to take her away. Somewhere that they won’t be able to find her.” He looks up at Sebastian, staring him dead in the eye. “I’ll make sure she’s safe. They won’t get their hands on her.”

 

Sebastian is silent for a moment, he stares into Conners eyes as if looking for something. Finally, he nods and unfurls his wings. Looking up, he smiles at me, then closes his eyes and spreads his arms out at his sides. Sebastian’s wings are as different from Conner’s, as day is from night. Conner’s are iridescently white, almost blinding, they are magnificent and strong. Sebastian’s are jagged and rough; they look as though they’ve survived a lifetime of battles. The black feathers give Sebastian’s wings a dark, sensual quality. There is something magnetic about them. But no. He is a demon. I need to remember that.

 

Sebastian beats his wings once, lifting his feet off the ground. The wings’ flapping is tremendously loud and kicks back a swirl of wind that raises leaves from the ground. 

 

“Thank you,” I say, crisply, before he coasts past my window. Then he is gone in the shadows of the buildings.

 

 “Sebastian is protecting me now?” The thought makes me reel. 

 

Conner is wearing jeans and a white T-shirt. His pearl-white wings beat gently behind him, luring me in. I want to bury myself in them. I feel speechless as I watch him gently beat his wings outside my window.

 

Reaching out his arm he takes my hand and pulls me over the windowsill and out into the air and his arms. But then he sets me down on a wide, flat ledge under the window that I’d never noticed before. I always feel the urge to cry when I am happiest.

 

“Conner"you have wings!” All the nasty feelings I had earlier towards him are forgotten. Conner has been my best friend since childhood. As he softly flaps his glorious white wings before me, I take him in. Photographing every piece of him in my mind. He is the most gorgeous creature ever made. I don’t know how I never saw it before.

 

Warmth radiates from his wings. When I look over his shoulder, all I can see is white; the world is white, all softly textured and aglow with moonlight. And then Conner’s great wings begin to beat"My stomach drops a little and I know I am being lifted"no, rocketed, straight into the sky. The ledge below us grows smaller and the stars above shine brighter and the wind rips across my body, tousling my hair across my face.

 

Up we soar, higher into the night, until the house is just a black smudge on the ground below. Until the ocean is just a silver blanket on the earth. Until we pierce a feathery layer of cloud. I'm not cold or afraid. I feel free of everything that weighed me down on earth. Free of danger, free of any pain I’ve ever felt. Free of gravity. And so in love. Conner’s mouth traces a line of kisses up the side of my neck. He wraps his arms tight around my waist and turns me to face him. My feet are on top of his. There is no wind anymore; the air around us is silent and calm. The only sounds are the beating of Conner’s wings as we hover in the sky, and the beating of my own heart.

 

He kisses me. A long, extended kiss that seems to claim my lips forever. His hands trace the line of my body, lightly at first and then more forcefully, delighting in my curves. I melt into him, and he runs his fingers along the backs of my thighs, my hips, my shoulders. He takes control of every part of me. I feel the muscles beneath his cotton shirt, his taut arms and neck, the hollow at the small of his back. I kiss his jaw, his lips. Here in the clouds, with Conner’s eyes sparkling brighter than any star I have ever seen, this is where I belong. 

 

“Can’t we just stay here forever?” I ask with a smile up at him. “Why didn’t you tell me you have wings?”

 

“I wish we could, Stella.” He chuckles sweetly, “Remember when I told you that some of us are even born winged? Well, you never asked if I was one.” Conner smiles, but soon, too soon, his wings shift, flattening out. I know what is coming next. A slow descent. I kiss Conner one last time and loosen my arms from around his neck, preparing myself for flight"but I lose my grip. And fall.

 

It seems to happen in slow motion. I tip backward, my arms flailing wildly, and then the rush of cold and wind as I plummet and my breath leaves me. My last glimpse is of Conner’s eyes, the shock in his face. But then everything speeds up, and I am falling so furiously I can’t breathe. The world is a spinning black void, and I feel nauseated and scared, my eyes burning from the wind, my vision dimming and tunneling. I am going to pass out. And that would be it. I will never know why Sebastian is protecting me. I will never know what could have been between Conner and I. And I will never know whether I am worthy of his love. It is all over; this is it. The wind is a fury in my ears. I close my eyes and wait for the end. And then there are arms around me, strong, familiar arms, and I am gently slowing, no longer falling"I am being cradled. By Conner. My eyes are closed, but I know him. I begin to sob, so relieved that Conner has caught me, has saved me. In this moment, I have never loved him more.

 

“Are you okay?” Sebastian whispers, his voice soft, his lips against my ear.

 

I open my eyes, feeling my body jump in surprise. I can discern the beating of his wings. “Y-Yeah. You caught me?”

 

Sebastian smiles down at me; he has a gorgeous smile. “Of course I did. I told you I would protect you. I’ll always catch you when you fall, Stella.” Slowly, we drop back to the world I’d left behind. Sebastian setting me on the windowsill gently and carefully.

 

Conner is barreling towards us at an incredible speed. “Are you okay, Stella!” His shout is followed by a enormous gust of wind as he tries to slow himself in front of us.

 

Still out of breath, I nod up at him.

 

Conner turns to look at Sebastian and extends his hand, grudgingly. “Thank you. I don’t know what I would have done if"err"just thank you.”

 

I can see, Sebastian still holding Conner’s hand, he grips it harder and I heard a pop. “Don’t ever drop her again.” His voice cold and bitter. With a soft snap and rumble like an enormous flag being unfurled, Sebastian rises up into the moonlit sky, bursting through the thick grey banks of clouds and disappearing from sight.

Reviews

[goddessofwriting]

Love, love, love this chapter! Can sense the rivalry between Sebastian and Conner. Love the way you are combining thrill and action with a little bit of romance. :)

- G.W.

[DeNine]

Thank you! :) I'm glad you like it. It's the newest thing I've written. Thank you so much for reading all of my book so far :) I am still trying to figure out where to go for chapter 18. I am thinking about doing it in Sebastian's POV