Angels

The sentence, “I’m an angel”, echoed through my head and I began to step back.

“How is that possible?” I asked in a whisper.

“Well, I used to be a complete angel, but I’ve still got a little bit in me,” Alex said, not really answering my question.

“I don’t understand.”

Alex’s blue eyes looked into my eyes and my heart skipped a beat. I felt like running to him and yet I felt like running away. “I fell from Heaven, but I was given some of my powers back from an old friend of mine,” Alex replied. “If you want more answers, I can show you rather than tell you.”

“Will it make me tired again?” I asked, unsure.

“A little, but not as drowsy as the first time,” Alex replied, holding out his hand to me while looking at me seriously.

I thought for a minute and then took his hand.

I felt a heavy breeze hit my face, accompanied with droplets of water and I quickly closed my eyes.

I moved my foot and my eyelids sprung open. Small rock debris fell down the steep edge where my foot had just been. Air chewed at my face, harshly pulling my hair back. The clouds looked dim, like an artist threw dust on them and it neatly stuck. The sun was barely visible behind the dust sprinkled clouds and water roared and attacked the large rocks at the bottom of the steep cliff. Spray struck my face and I stepped back further. I turned around in mid step and nearly jumped.

A tall figure stood next to me, his hair was ruffled and mangled, but it was around the same length that it had been in the last vision.

Alex’s face was set and his eyes were red and puffy. He wore a black pea coat that was unbuttoned and fell just below his knees. A white cotton and lace men’s shirt was underneath the coat, stained with mud and dirt. His black pants clung to him just as the white pants had the last vision. The same black boots were on top of the black pants. He looked like a furious and depressed ghost.  

Alex had his fists clenched and his body was standing tall and rigid.

I stepped to him and reached out to touch his shoulder. My hand touched a thin, cloth shirt and I jerked my hand back. I knew it was the Alex in front of my body and not my eyes. I took in a breath and was about to say something along the lines of “sorry” when the Alex I saw in the vision took in a breath. I watched him swallow and step forward to the ledge.

“You have it your way,” Alex said to no one and put his foot out, about to step off the ledge and I grabbed for him, but only met Alex’s thin white shirt again. I couldn’t see anything except for the vision, but I was scared what was going to happen.

Just as Alex started to fall, I saw something come from the sky and within a split second, Alex was fifteen feet from me. I turned on my heels to run to him, but nearly fell as wind pushed me forward. I slid a few feet, but the wind kept coming.  

“Alex!” I yelled out, but could barely breathe. The air from my lungs came rushing out of me and I couldn’t catch my breath. My hair flew in every way as I gasped for air. It then stopped and I turned around to see what had happened. I opened my mouth.

A few feet from where I laid, a giant man stood up from a crouch and slowly extended bleached white wings from his back that came out to be equally proportioned to his body. He didn’t wear any clothes which made me blush, but I couldn’t look away from him. It looked like a large light was shining behind him where there was no such light, making his skin appear to be a light gold. The man looked to be ten feet tall, at least, and had brown hair that was ruffled from the wind. His muscles were hard on his stomach and arms, but weren’t excessive. He had a soft yet hard sculpted face and his eyes were clear, liquid silver. The silver eyes were focused harshly on Alex who I saw had propped himself up to look up at the man.

Alex’s expression didn’t seem impressed or shocked. Instead, his expression seemed enraged.  

The man pointed his large finger at Alex.

“You will not disgrace yourself like this, Alexander,” the man said in a velvety yet harsh voice. I blinked as I slowly pulled myself up.

I looked up at the man in amazement. He continued to stare intensely at Alex, who stared back with equal intensity.

“I am not disgracing myself,” Alex spat. “Why have you interrupted me?”

“I am not standing by to let my lifelong friend and partner destroy the life that he so desperately fought to obtain,” the man replied, letting his pointed finger rest by his side. The man dropped his expression and it turned sympathetic. “Let me help you, Alexander.”

“Has she chosen Heaven?” Alex asked and Vincent shook his head, “no”. Alex let out his breath and looked away. I could see his eyes starting to water from where I stood.

“How can you help me, Vincent?” Alex asked, tears starting to fall from his eyes and drench his words. Alex ran his fingers through his hair and he let his hands fall into his lap. “I have nothing.”

Vincent walked to Alex, each footfall seemed to rumble the ground underneath me. I ran to keep up with him and the large man stopped only a few feet away from Alex.

“You have a home, Alexander. You have friends who care,” Vincent replied. Alex looked at Vincent with tears streaming down his face.

“I don’t have my family anymore,” Alex stated in a harsh tone. “You can’t understand what that really means, Vincent. She didn’t choose Heaven because of me, I know it.”

“She didn’t choose Heaven because you are still here,” Vincent replied.  “She wants you to find her, Alexander. Her soul is out there.”

“I can’t do that to her again. My sons,” Alex said and the tears poured down his face. “They’re gone, aren’t they?” My heart skipped a beat and I felt something stir inside of me. I felt my organs start to grind against each other at the sound of the plural word.

When Vincent didn’t reply, Alex put his hands through his hair, resting his elbows on his legs and sobbed. Vincent leaned down and laid his large hand on Alex’s shoulder which took up all of Alex’s shoulder and part of his bicep.

“All is not lost, Alexander,” Vincent said. “You still have her. I will help you find her.”

“Why, Vincent?” Alex asked. “Why did you do this!” Alex screamed, looking up at the sky.

“You know he has no control over what happens, he only knows what will happen,” Vincent answered in a calm voice.

“He didn’t warn me of this. If he had warned me-” Alex started, but Vincent cut him off.

“You wanted to be human, Alexander, therefore, you must be treated like a human.”

“My sons didn’t deserve this,” Alex said, looking down at his hands. “They didn’t deserve what happened to them.”

“Stand up, Alexander,” Vincent said, taking a hold of Alex’s shoulder. Alex stood up slowly and I got closer to the two. Alex seemed so small in comparison to Vincent and I felt puny. “I know how strongly you feel for this woman. Therefore as your friend, I will help you find her again.”

“I will never have my children back, will I?” Alex asked. His eyes were redder than they were minutes before. Vincent sucked in a breath.

“You can have more,” Vincent stated, trying to help the situation, but Alex looked at him as if he were a monster, pushing Vincent’s hand away. Alex started backing up.

“Are you absurd?” Alex yelled and ran his fingers through his hair again, looking away from Vincent and at the cliff. “I could never do that again. I will not put any children on this Earth again if it means I cannot see them again after this human life is over.”

“Just a suggestion,” Vincent replied.

“Who did it, Vincent?” Alex asked, looking at Vincent. All of the emotions in Alex seemed to turn burn with anger. “I know you can tell me that. Was it Samuel?”

“You know I can’t lie,” Vincent said. “Well, I could but-”

“Tell me, Vincent,” Alex demanded.

“Yes…it was,” Vincent said and started to say more, but I saw a fire start in Alex’s eyes.

Alex yelled and began running to the cliff, but Vincent grabbed him from behind and threw him back a few more feet. I had to run to catch up with Vincent’s large steps as he approached Alex, furiously.

“You will not do such a thing,” Vincent roared.

“Well you go fetch him for me!” Alex yelled.

“You stick to your wife and I’ll deal with Samuel.”

“No! I want to show him what he’s done!” Alex screamed and stood up.

“Killing your body will not help you find him and you know that!”

“Yes, well it will make me feel better,” Alex said a little calmer. After a pause, Alex started again. “Tell him that if he comes back down, I’ll kill him.”

“I’ll tell him that if he comes back down, I’ll bring him back myself.” There was a pause.

“Has she come back yet?” Alex asked.

“She will not come back for a while, although that should give you time to get a hold of yourself and your temper.”

“When will she come back?”

“She won’t come back for a hundred and fifty-three years, but you will lose her again. She will die young, but not of anyone’s doing except God’s.”

“Why?”

“She is part of his plan, as is everyone, but she will come back a year later onto this Earth.” Alex shook his head and sat down on the ground.

“Am I ever going to die, Vincent?” Alex asked.

“I’ll give you some of my abilities to keep yourself young,” Vincent replied.

“How long will I stay young?” Vincent looked down at Alex.

“Until you want to start aging,” Vincent replied. Alex nodded.

“What am I to do?” Alex asked. “

“I’ll take care of what all I can, but I’ll have a talk with Samuel,” Vincent said.

“Don’t do anything absurd. Your powers will become weaker,” Alex said and Vincent laughed. The silky voice echoed in my head.

“Samuel poses no threat to me, Alexander,” Vincent replied. I watched Vincent’s smile and noticed his figure against the sky fading into the darkness of the living room. Alex stood in front of me, but quickly turned away from and sat on the couch, wiping the back of his hand across his eyes.

 “What happened after that, Alex?” I asked. Alex didn’t look at me, but instead looked at the fireplace, holding his head in his hand.

“Vincent helped me find you the best way he could,” he muttered. “I was lucky to have him as a friend, really.”

“I’m sorry, Alex, but I have more questions than I did before,” I said, walking to him. I stood in front of him and he looked up at me. His eyebrows were furrowed, but he didn’t look mad.

“You’ve been born five times on Earth. The first two times, I watched over you from Heaven. Then, I couldn’t stand to not be with you and laugh with you…I came to Earth.”

“So you used to look like Vincent? Tall and with wings?” I asked. Alex smiled and looked up at me.

“Yeah,” he said. I smiled at the thought of a naked stalker watching me.

“When did you first meet me face to face?” I asked, sitting down on the couch next to him.

“I physically met you in 1822. You were 17 years old,” Alex smiled a little at the thought.

“When did we get married?”

“July third, 1824.”

“How many children did we have?”

“Two. Gabriel and Michael… Are you hungry?” Alex asked and stood up. I quickly grabbed his hand and he turned to look at me. His eyebrows were furrowed again as he looked at me. I pulled myself up to look into his eyes. His face was only inches from mine and I almost leaned in to kiss him, but thought against it.

“I’m sorry,” I said instead.

“Sorry for what?” Alex asked, watching my face.

“I’m sorry for not remembering and for what has happened to you. I know you’re telling the truth and I know it must have happened because I can… feel it,” I replied. I put my hand against his face, cupping his cheek. The gentle prickles of his stubble rubbed against my hand. He closed his eyes for a second and looked back at me, making butterflies frolic in my stomach.

“None of this is your fault…will you please remember that?” Alex asked, in a soft tone. “None of it.”

“It’s not your fault either, Alex,” I replied, pushing my eyebrows together to look at him seriously. “If it was your fault, I think I would have known it by now.” Alex took in a breath.

“Why didn’t you find me before now?” I asked. Alex pulled back, taking in another breath. He pushed his hair back with his hand.

“Vincent saw Samuel after our discussion. Needless to say, Vincent has gone with our children,” Alex said, looking at the fireplace.

“I thought angels didn’t die and if so wouldn’t they go to Heaven?” I asked, shocked.

“Once you come to Earth, even if you resume being an angel, you become weaker as a small punishment to go against God’s will,” Alex said. “God doesn’t damn angels to Hell when they become injured beyond healing, but an angel becomes no more. As if to say punishment is not enough…I should have told him not to. I was foolish and selfish.”

I walked to him and put my arms around neck.

“Alex, I don’t think you purposefully killed him,” I said.

“I feel like a monster, Madison,” Alex said, gently pushing me away. “I’ve felt like one for a long time.”

“How did you find me if Vincent didn’t help you?” I asked.

“Before Vincent went to Samuel, he talked to a few of our friends. A few came down to me and have been helping ever since. We’ve been trying to track you down for a while, but you didn’t seem to come up,” Alex said. We were quiet for a while and Alex started toward the kitchen again.

“How did you know it was me?” I asked, trying not to seem like twenty questions, but Alex didn’t seem to mind.

“It’s the way your eyes are and how your personality seems to click. You have this way about you that can’t be genetically modified.” I smiled and looked away. I saw the thick coat on the floor and thought about earlier.

“Where did you go tonight?” I asked. Alex tensed for a second.

“Please eat first, we’ll talk while we eat, but you look too thin to be healthy,” Alex said and walked into the kitchen. I rolled my eyes and went to sit on the couch. A puff of dust came up from the cushion and I looked down at it.

Pots and pans began clanging in the kitchen, but I didn’t jump from the sound. Instead, I looked around the room. The gun rested on the floor from where I had dropped it at some point. I lifted the corner of my mouth as I looked harder at the gun. On the side of the barrel was the strange symbol on Alex’s tee-shirt. I leaned in and almost saw that the lines seemed to move. I started to reach my fingers out to touch it…

Glass broke accompanied by a burning sensation. Fire engulfed the room and I could feel myself flying. I tried to scream, kicking my legs and arms, but couldn’t hear anything. My body slammed against the wall, the large portrait’s frame making an imprint in my back. I put my hands out and met the ground.

I called out Alex’s name, but wasn’t really sure what had just happened. Fire was all around me along with shattered glass pieces. I sucked in a breath and it came out in hard coughs. The glass scraped against my skin, a few small pieces were stuck in me, as I tried to sit up. All of the sounds were muffled and I managed to look up at the window, blood trickling down the side of my face. Another sound of breaking glass broke my personal silence, making me come to reality a little more.

Hands grabbed me up from behind and pulled me up. I yelled out in pain, but the harsh hands didn’t subside. They pushed me toward the window that fire continued to spit.

“Alex!” I tried to scream. “Stop!”

The firm grip pushed me toward the window of the living room. I put my hands onto the sleeves covering the man’s skin and looked up to see who held me. I let out a scream and started slashing with my hands.

The dark haired man smiled his nasty smile, a fresh scar lining his face, and picked up my legs. I swung at him, but he seemed to be made of iron.

“Alex!” I screamed and was sent flying out the window through the flames. I landed hard on the porch, the rails of the porch catching my fall. Two hands grabbed me, dragging me to my feet. I fought them, but a loud bang sent me cowering on the porch, my hands over my head as I fell onto my knees. The hands let go, replaced by screams and yells of the people that had taken me before. Chunks of wood and debris went flying around me in flames.

I looked up just as I saw the bulky man from the group land in the front yard of the house. A large hole next to the front door was now in the side of the house that the man had flown from, revealing a clear view of the hallway inside. I saw Alex holding a large gun as he walked from the kitchen and into the living room, disappearing behind the wall in front of me. A knife flew at where Alex had just been and skidded across the wooden floor in the main entrance hallway.

Screams then came and I quickly got up and started running for the porch steps.  Within seconds the loud sound came again and I fell down the porch steps. I looked up and saw that the group had took off running toward the woods, all except a blond haired boy with green eyes. He had his mouth halfway open as he stared at the scene.

I took in a breath and started to stand up. I heard the cocking of a gun and quickly turned around. I widened my eyes to see Alex aiming at the teenager, firing burning around the window in the background.

“Alex, wait!” I shouted and ran to Alex. Alex slid his eyes to me and quickly looked back at the boy. Alex had soot lining his face, his hair mangled and his clothes were partially black. Alex’s eyes looked like they were on fire; gold tinting the edges of the once bright, now dark blue irises.

“He’s one of them, isn’t he?” Alex asked in more of a statement than a question.

“He saved me,” I muttered, looking back at Matt. Matt took in a breath and he didn’t exhale.

“Are you not going to run like the rest of them?” Alex asked to Matt. Matt shook his head slowly, looking at Alex.

“I’m not like them,” Matt replied. Alex grunted and looked at me.

“I think he’s okay, Alex,” I said under my breath. Alex looked up at Matt and then handed me the gun.

“Keep this,” Alex grumbled. He moved across the porch and walked down the steps. I saw Matt take half of a step back. Alex glared at him, but didn’t walk to Matt. Instead, Alex walked calmly to the bulky man and grabbed him by the neck. The bulky man didn’t make a sound and Alex rolled the man over to his back. I saw grass through the large hole in the man’s stomach. I opened my mouth and looked down to keep from throwing up.

I looked at the gun that Alex gave me and noticed the lines on the side of the barrel. The lines glowed dull white against the darkness, but seemed to be dimming down to the color of the cold metal.

Reviews

[Alex Thomas]

Phenomenal. This is probably one of the most unique pieces on this site. At one point you wrote "disserve" Did you mean deserve?