Fallen Melody: Fallen: Book 1

by Layna Snow

  She pressed some number in and waited for a moment. Finally, a voice that sounded remotely like Seth answered. He sounded tired, but it was difficult to tell over the static. “Ya?”

  “Someone named Melody here to see you, or Caleb… said she needed to talk right quick before going to cook some food.”

  A grumble sounded on the other end before Brooklyn released the button. She chuckled on her way back to her seat. “He’ll be out soon, Melly. Doesn’t sound too happy ‘bout it though.”

  Melody wasn’t too happy either, she wanted to see Caleb, not Seth. Caleb was easier. Cay liked to make jokes and comfort her, while Seth was grouchy and short-tempered. Not to mention Emily’s words ringing in her head.

  You can’t see Seth. If you run into him, you have to ignore him, alright? It’s best for everyone.

  11

  When Seth walked out of the hallway, he looked exhausted. His skin was slightly pale and his shoulders were slumped somewhat. His eyes were a little red and his hair looked a mess. Right away Melody could tell that he was under a lot of tension and she still wanted to hold him, breathe in his scent, touch him.

  It took a lot to push those thoughts from her head. It was difficult to just ignore him, when her body begged to be close to his. But she had to try, for Caleb.

  “How’d surgery go, doc?” Brooklyn asked, tilting her head towards him in question.

  Seth just shook his head, rubbing his clean hands along his lab coat as if to get something off. Melody didn’t see anything, and wondered about the habit.

  “Ah, he died?” the girl asked again.

  This time Seth took a deep breath before answering. “Yeah, better call his owners. Caleb will need to talk to them.”

  It was then that Melody understood the weight of the problem. Seth had been trying to save an animal and had been unable. The poor thing died, and she hoped that it was in a better place now. Melody had never seen animals in Heaven, and was unsure of where they went when they passed on, but she was sure that they were at peace. God wouldn’t let an animal suffer in the afterlife. He wouldn’t abandon them.

  “Oh Seth.” She called, seeing how it affected him. Mel rushed to him, intending on hugging him, offering comfort as Caleb had offered her. But at the last minute she stopped, unsure of what to do. Emily told her to stay away, but Seth looked like he was hurting inside.

  Seth just turned to look at her, his head down slightly and his eyes weary. He needed something, but how could Melody hurt Caleb to help Seth?

  Seth reached out quickly before hesitating, as if unsure of his action, but finally took Melody’s hand in his. This seemed acceptable. She had touched Brooklyn’s hand. She just wished she could do more.

  “I’m sorry, Seth. He is no longer in pain. God will take care of him now.”

  Seth nodded before visibly composing himself. He took a step back and looked around the room. “Good shopping trip? Where is Emily?”

  Melody shrugged, unsure how to answer. She’d have to tell him about her ears, Seth had asked her to let him know if something like that happened, but she didn’t want to do it now. “She had to go, I think. She was upset.”

  Seth simply shrugged at the news. Melody knew that Seth put little energy into other people’s emotions. He didn’t think they mattered very much, didn’t think that it was his job to fix them.

  “Caleb will have to stay to inform the owners. We can go home now. I will help you cook dinner.” Seth said, removing his lab-coat and hanging it on the peg. “When the Gellarman’s come, you can leave, Ms. Torres.”

  Seth then took Melody’s arm and guided her out of the building. The air was so warm and wet it felt like Melody walked into a wet shower curtain, again. It made her hair frizzy and made her skin feel restrictive. She didn’t like this weather and hoped they would get home soon.

  The grass was very green, as they stepped into the backyard of the clinic. It looked fresh, vibrant, as if it liked all this wet weather. It had rained the day before and washed the cobblestones of any dirt, while enlivening the trees and plants. It looked beautiful, the colour so bright it almost hurt Melody’s eyes. It was a good thing that Seth held onto her, because she could barely see where she was going.

  Once they got to the house, Seth moved quickly to unlock the doors and swept her in front of him. He seemed more impatient than he usually was, more abrupt and quick with her. Usually he indulged her some, giving her space and time to peer and ask questions, but this time he just hulled her across the yard and inside.

  Melody took off her shoes and hurried to the kitchen, hoping that he wasn’t serious with his offer. Sure, the boys offered to help cook all the time, they even did take care of some of the aspects of preparing a meal, but Melody enjoyed feeding them, pleasing them in that small way and knowing that they had the nutrition for their busy, demanding jobs.

  But Seth just followed, washing up after her and moving to the fridge to retrieve ingredients. He didn’t even ask her what she wanted to cook! How rude! And she had wanted to comfort him.

  “Emily informed me today that having pierced ears was important.” She commented.

  “No.” he said simply, removing a container of ground beef from the fridge.

  “She told me that all girls get their ears pierced when they are young. That it was weird that I don’t have them done.”

  Again, Seth responded with a short, concise “No.”

  Annoyed that he would try to order her around like a child, she spun to face him, ignoring the vegetables that she was washing.

  “I wasn’t asking permission. I’m a grown woman. I only follow His rules. I do not need you to allow me to do so. In fact, I got them pierced while we were out.” She told him smugly, happy that she could go against his imagined authority over her.

  “And how did that turn out. You are not wearing earrings now, I see.” He said, watching her arrogantly, and deflating her with his comment. Of course he would know what would happen. But Melody didn’t want to tell him.

  “Well... it hurt a lot at first. I do not understand why people would get that done! Why would you do that to a child, just to hang little pretty pieces of plastic and metal from them? It’s ridiculous!” she explained, hoping to change the subject like Emily could do so easily. But the man seemed to have too good of memory, and didn’t bother arguing with her.

  “What happened after that?”

  “I’m sure you know what happened. It healed.”

  Seth nodded and leaned to the side to examine one lobe. Even from where he was standing she was sure that he could tell that there was no swelling now, and definitely no earring.

  “And?” He waited.

  “And, it did something—rejected! That is it. My body didn’t take to it. It got really large and swollen and hurt too badly. I had to get them to remove it.” Melody didn’t want to mention that the man said that rejection did happen, but never that quickly, and that bodies don’t ever heal that fast. She didn’t want to tell Seth that everyone looked at her oddly, and people came to examine that she had no hole or scab at all in her lobe.

  “How many people know how fast you heal?” He asked, getting to the heart of the matter.

  “There were six in the shop, and then Emily. But she said that she already knew. Someone in town mentioned it. Everyone seems to know. I didn’t tell anyone, so stop looking at me antagonistically.”

  Seth just shook his head again and gestured for her to continue what she was doing. “Alright. Tell me everything that happened.”

  Melody didn’t want to do this. She didn’t want anyone to know that she made a bad decision, especially not Seth. Caleb would understand and try to make her feel better about her failure, but Seth would just accept it as part of her person, damaging his understanding of her and use it to base his opinion in the future.

  But she knew she had to. He would know what to do. “I did not want to get this done. I did not know that it would involve a needle. Emily convinced me that I needed it to
be normal, and you told me that I had to be as Human as possible.”

  Seth made a noise of acceptance as he took out pots and pans.

  “Once there, the person pricked my ear and it bled for a moment. Then it healed before he was able to put the ring through. He then tried with something called a gun. He said that he couldn’t find the hole. This time it went in, but tried to heal around the metal.”

  “Your healing ability must not have understood that the stud was foreign.”

  “Yes, I felt a burn and he mentioned that I must be allergic to the silver, though I do not quite understand what that means.” Melody tilted her head in order to look at him while rinsing a piece of lettuce.

  Seth put something in the pan, probably the ground meat, as he listened. “I will explain it later. Go on.”

  Melody nodded and went back to what she was doing. It was easier to explain without watching him. “He then commented that my ear was rejecting it.”

  “Interesting. Your body does not like other objects. I wonder how you would react to medicine or surgery. We will have to keep that in mind. Continue.”

  “After taking the piercing out, the hole closed again and my ear returned to normal.”

  Seth removed some other things from the fridge and then directed his body so he was watching her. She didn’t know why that made her feel more nervous. Or why she wanted to hide herself from him, but she continued to wash the same items, even after they were clean, in order to avoid looking back at him.

  “Were there many people, or later?” She had been concentrating on ignoring him so his question startled her. This is more difficult than I thought it would be.

  “There were other people in the shop. Three workers and three other patrons. They all came to look. I made an excuse and we left. On the way home Emily and I were having a conversation…” She stopped, not wanting to expand on it.

  Seth seemed to catch her nervousness, or maybe he just noticed that she had not continued her thought, but as she twisted around to hand him the veggies—as Caleb liked to call them—she noticed his focussed, analysing look. “It is quite normal to have a conversation but it seems to embarrass you to relay what you were talking about. Why?”

  His smoky eyes were intent, his quick brain most likely forming and reforming possible theories. His stare always seemed to see right through her, into her mind and soul. She knew it was not possible. Only God had that ability but it always made her slightly nervous, and caused her to tell him things that she would have rather kept secret. It would not be pleasant if he knew that she was lying, after all.

  “It was nothing. She wanted to speak about relationships. However the conversation returned to the events at the piercing salon and she mentioned that everyone in town knows about my healing. She did not say who she heard it from, or who knew first.”

  Seth nodded and took the pan off the stove, putting the little kernels of meat into a bowl with some spices from a packet.

  “This is very interesting. Someone with the information revealed it. It seemed to spread pretty quickly, which I hear is normal for such a small town. It would need to be someone who had seen your healing. You are new, as are we, but you came under more interesting circumstances. That would make the news more tempting. I will ask Caleb to go into town and see what he can hear, and if he can get answers for us. We need to stop this quickly. It wouldn’t do for people to know too much about your differences.”

  Melody nodded and looked towards the door. She wished that Caleb was there now. Then she wouldn’t be standing in the same room as Seth, trying to relay all the relevant information. She had given reports to her superiors before, but this was different. This was Seth.

  “It looks like he won’t be able to join us. Might as well eat while the food is done.”

  Mel looked around at the offerings. There were many ingredients but she didn’t understand how it was a finished meal. “What is it?”

  Seth chuckled slightly, the noise rusty, most likely because he did not laugh very often. “It is for tacos. You make them yourself depending on your own preferences. It is something Caleb and I had when we were younger. Cecilia had to work so we often made food for ourselves. I will show you.”

  Seth then picked up a shell and demonstrated. It seemed simple, but she didn’t understand why they weren’t completed by the cook. Seth seemed to relax a little more and so Melody tried to do the same, all the while thinking of what Emily said. She’d have to apologize to Caleb as soon as she saw him.

  12

  Melody could feel the slight pain in her knees as they pressed into the wood floor, her back straight and her head bowed in respect. Her arms were held up, shaking slightly from the difficulty of holding the position for such a long time.

  “You have my love and devotion. You have my trust. May your will flow through me and guide my decisions. You are my Father, my Maker and my Leader. Please look onto me in favour and love. Thank you for the food I have consumed today, the clothes I wear and the warmth of my lodgings. Thank you for those who have helped me in this strange world and for the men who you chose to protect me. I am humble in your regard. I will strive to do your bidding. Every heartbeat is a gift from you. In your name, I breathe.” She ended, before forming a cross in front of her chest.

  Awareness slowly returned to her as she started to pull herself from the floor, only to hear a harsh noise coming from the doorway.

  Startled, she turned, her eyes taking in the beauty of the man who stood before her, even if he scowled, his clothes sloppy and his hair messy. Caleb still took her breath away, still made her smile.

  Until he made the sound again, a snort of derision. “How could you pray to that asshole?” he asked, his voice slightly slurred.

  Earlier, slightly after supper, Caleb had returned only to be sent back out again. He changed and went to a club, or a shop—she didn’t really understand. He had told her not to wait up, that he would be late. And of course, he had returned late, but she didn’t know why he was being rude. He was never mean to her.

  “Watch your mouth! You do not talk about Him like that! He is all that is good and holy in this world and I will not let you call Him something that heinous!”

  Her tirade did not seem to have any effect on him. Melody herself felt aghast. Anger pushed through her mind, flaring up at the injustice of his words. She stomped over to him in anger, as if that would prove how serious she was.

  Caleb scoffed again, pressing his way inside. “He threw you out! Ripped out your wings. And for what? You never told us what you did. How could anything be bad enough to do that to you? Fuck, he must be a sadistic freak!”

  Melody could feel her whole body tensing, her muscles flexing and her mind screaming for action. She could not let him talk like this. She could not let him call God something that…that…

  The sound of flesh striking caught Mel off guard. It took a moment for her to realize what it was, what she had done. Her palm stung slightly from making contact with his cheek, the pain enough to awaken her to the fact that she had struck another being—not just anybody, but Caleb.

  She sucked in a breath, unable to believe that she had hit him. It was wrong, so wrong. And she had seen on television, had heard stories, of what happened when someone was struck. They struck back.

  Before the shock could even dissipate from his face, Melody ducked around him, darting out the door to the bedchamber. She could hear Caleb calling behind her but continued her escape, unsure about what would be done once he caught her. Because surely he would!

  She dashed into the study—the small room with the computer in it and rushed to close the door. Just before it could shut fully, she looked out the tiny crack, unable to resist looking back to see how close Caleb was.

  Instead of the chase she thought she’d witness, Melody caught the sight of Seth’s back, heard the matter-of-fact tone in his voice as he spoke, most likely to Caleb.

  She didn’t wait to see what decision they could come to. She
did not want to know if they would seek her out together, intent on hurting her or kicking her out. She had surely broken a rule, slapping Caleb as she did. They would not just ignore that. Her commanders would not have.

  ***

  “Shit, Seth! You know that I wouldn’t hurt her. Fuck, I shouldn’t have yelled at her like that but I just can’t believe she prays every night for a god that tore off her wings and left her for dead.” Caleb said, while running his hands through his hair, which looked like he had completed that move at least ten times so far.

  Seth understood Cay’s annoyance. He too thought that Melody’s nightly prayer was unnecessary but he was not going to take that away from her, not knowing that it probably gave her some comfort when the rest of her life was taken away.

  “I know, but next time you want to talk to her about it. Do it sober. I thought that you went out to get information, not intoxicated.”

  Caleb nodded, rubbing his hands over his face. “The locals wouldn’t talk to me. Had to get some drunk first. I still didn’t learn much. Looks like everyone got their information from Suzy at the diner. I talked to Jimmy, but he seemed uncomfortable. He has a brother-in-law in town and I think the guy is giving him a hard time. He did want to know what I knew about Mel. Apparently he’s been out of the loop and doesn’t like it. What a damn busy-body. ”

  “That is no surprise. He always gossips. What else did you learn?”

  Caleb strode back into his room, shaking his head as he went. He didn’t look back to see if Seth followed, or paused as he took off his wrinkled t-shirt. They used to share a room, Seth didn’t care if Cay was naked in his presence.

  “Not too much, man. Just that Lewis is getting a divorce. Caught Nancy in bed with Jackson. Oh, and apparently Nate is interested in Emily. He’s been seen out with her a few times. Got everyone’s notice. They are debating whether she’s into him for sex or for a way out of town. We should invite him over sometime. I’d like to speak with him.” He said, sounding more sober than he had before the slap. Seth had to agree with his assessment.