by Maya Nicole
Rumors of my scream had spread fast since several third-year students were part of the rescue mission. When I screamed with everything that was in my heart and soul, something had happened. Something that I had already tried to replicate countless times once my dad finally spilled the beans about it. At the time it happened, I hadn't even noticed because I was so distraught.
But when I had screamed, the Fallen dropped to their knees and dropped their weapons. It made no sense to me, it made no sense to anyone. The Fallen hadn't even known what had come over them, but described it as a compulsion to surrender.
We learned nothing more than we already knew from the Fallen. Someone wanted to open a gate to hell and needed angel blood to do it. My role in it all was still unclear. Maybe I was the sacrificial lamb or leverage. All we knew was that the mystery woman and John Adamson Sr. were nowhere to be found. John Jr. was back at school, apparently the charges against him and his father for drug trafficking, distribution, and coercion were dropped.
I spent my nights off campus at Asher's place because I needed to be close to him, to them, and the only place I felt that way was in his bed or on his roof. Since the weather was getting a smidgen warmer, I'd pull his duvet off his bed and sleep on a reclining lounge chair under the stars.
The stars, the moon, the faint sounds of revelers down the street always relaxed me enough to fall to sleep even though sleep was painful. The scene played on repeat night after night. Me turning right and running, running, running. Until Asher threw himself on me and died.
My nightmares seemed to suddenly stop and I could finally get decent sleep. In fact, I found myself looking forward to sleeping every night, where I'd get lost in a dream so vivid and enjoyable that it made me feel guilty considering Tobias and Oliver were still missing.
Two weeks had passed since returning to school, three since my world imploded. It was early for me to sleep, barely nine, but I had a long day dealing with the sneers and under-their-breath comments from the Devine 7. They had been so quiet that it surprised and saddened me to hear their demeaning remarks yet again.
To make the day worse, now Spring had decided to bring a shower with it, the sprinkles hitting the duvet I had just gotten comfortable under. I grumbled curses at the sky and trudged my way to the door, the duvet trailing after me.
"Danica?" My hand was on the door knob and I froze at the sound of my name on Tobias's lips. My heart sped up and I dropped the duvet as I turned around.
Tobias and Oliver stood in the middle of the roof, their wings still extended. They were dressed in white cotton pants, no shoes. I stepped forward, over the duvet. Was I dreaming?
They both turned their heads and looked at each other and their wings folded back and away. My heart stopped and I reached out and grabbed onto the back of the chair near me.
Asher.
His eyes met mine and a grin spread across his face as he moved his wings in the smallest of movements. I couldn't move, the shock and the awe too much. Olly and Tobias passed by me, hugging me tightly, but my eyes stayed glued to Asher. They laughed and went inside, leaving me on the roof with him.
"Are you going to fuckin' stand there and stare or come here?"
"Are angels allowed to cuss like that?" I finally regained my composure and met him halfway.
He brought his hand to my cheek and wiped away the tears that I hadn't even felt falling with the raindrops that were hitting my face. Then he pulled me into him, wrapping his arms and wings around me.
"I'm sorry we couldn't come back sooner. They had to go find my soul," he said as if it was the most normal thing in the world to have his buddies go track down his lost soul. "Let's get inside."
It was an outer body experience being reunited with my angels. I had almost come to terms with the fact that not even the two I thought were alive were coming back.
Shocked. That's what I felt. After spending weeks in a steady state of grief that had numbed me, the onslaught of feelings ripped my heart out of my chest, put it in a blender, then shoved it all back in my chest cavity creating a gooey mess.
We sat on the couch, draped over each other like a pile of puppies. There was so much I wanted to say, so much I needed to know. They had been gone for practically a month and it had felt like an essential part of me was missing.
"Asher is the first of his kind. Never has a soul been plucked out of the pit of lost souls," Olly explained, stuffing a cookie in his mouth. In heaven the need for food was nonexistent so he was eating enough cookies to make up for the lost time.
"How? Why?"
"Angel baby and Toby went to the outskirts of heaven where the lost souls are sent. It's kind of like a prison but the souls just float around like jellyfish in the ocean, can't communicate, no corporeal form, just there in solitude and silence. Probably a couple of weeks passed and I felt them getting closer but I couldn't yell for them. The next thing I know, they are standing buck naked in front of my soul. I'd never been so happy to see two limp dicks before in my life." Asher twirled my hair around his finger as he spoke.
"Why were you naked" I asked Olly and Tobias.
"Couldn't risk a soul getting their hands on something they can attach to," Tobias explained. "A soul by itself can't escape that part of heaven, but if it attaches itself to an item it can."
"So they got me out and here I am. My job wasn't done yet." Asher looked at Tobias and Olly and they nodded before he continued. "There is a prophecy that was delivered to Michael by Nostradamus that when the darkness overshadowed the light that a baby would be born to the creator's two greatest regrets. That baby would grow into a woman and save the light from the dark with her four guardians."
"When did the darkness overshadow the light?" My heart was beating wildly in my chest, knowing that they were going to tell me. Why else would they be telling me about some prophecy from Nostradamus? I was always under the impression that Nostradamus was a quack job who just had a way with words that could fit multiple situations.
"January 20, 2001."
My birthday. I shut my eyes and took a deep breath. Crap. That was a lot to take in. "It makes sense Lucifer was a regret but my mother? She was just a human who ran a coffee shop." I watched as the three faces around me fell into contemplative frowns. "Right?"
Suddenly, I wasn't so sure, unless the human race was a regret. That would be much more depressing than finding out I was half swamp creature or something. I opened my eyes and Olly took my hand, rubbing his thumb in small circles in the palm. I felt myself relax slightly but not nearly enough to stop the slight panic welling up inside of me. My mom had to be a human. She had to be.
"Your mom is Lilith."
Epilogue
Reve
One week ago
She was curled up on the rooftop chair again, a blanket covering her, her brown hair fanning around her face and shoulders. She was a fragile looking thing. If I dropped her she would shatter into shards that would pierce the skin deep. Striking. Deadly. Beautiful.
I wanted her shards to pierce me.
I ignored my other assignments and decided to take this detour, one night would not set me back in my work. Besides, the bossman was surprisingly distracted and he would never know. He'd never know that I was about to do something that is forbidden. Something based on a feeling that I'm not even capable of.
Her cries were just too tempting to ignore. She was vulnerable. Broken. Delectable. I needed a taste of her.
I descended and landed in a crouch at the foot of the chair. No one was ever up here with her, she was always alone. It's just her and her sorrows that fill the night with her cries for what she's lost. I wanted to feel her pain as badly as a root wants to touch water during a drought.
My body hovered over hers, my breath causing a single strand of her hair to move. I wanted to take her hair in my hands and let it cascade between my fingers like a waterfall. I traced my finger along her jawline, not touching the skin. I wondered what her skin might feel like under my fingert
ips. Would I taint it with my touch?
I stifled back a groan. I shouldn't be doing this. I should be down the street giving Mr. Campbell the nightmare he deserved. But I'm too close now. I shut my eyes and pushed my way into her dream.
She was running, gunshots all around. Feet pounding the pavement behind her.
She was tackled, shielded by a man's body, who took the gunshots aimed at her.
She screamed.
An endless cycle of pain.
She was running, gunshots all around. Feet pounding the pavement behind her.
I grabbed her and took off into the night.
I shouldn't have done it. I should have left her there in her misery and feasted on it. I am the bringer of nightmares, not an eradicator of terrors. If anything I should have made it worse by having all of the men she loved fall to their deaths.
Her scream was what did it. I had heard my fair share of screams, usually feasting on the fear and pain in them, fueling myself. Her scream made my skin crawl and my heart sputter like it was running out of fuel.
So I grabbed her and plopped her into a new dream.
She was gorgeous, standing at the top of the wide staircase, her hair in loose curls around her face. Her dress was red with a lace-up corset bodice and mermaid bottom. My choice. She smoothed her hands down her hips, unsure of herself. She was a princess tonight, my princess.
Eyes were drawn to her and a blush creeped up to her cheeks, turning them slightly pink. She slowly made her way down the steps in her heels, which were probably an inch too high for her. I'd remember to make them shorter next time I put her in heels. Three inches instead of four.
She reached the bottom of the staircase and moved into the crowd. I let her have some control of the dream, but still held the strings tightly in my grasp. A group of three approached her, two young women and a young man. They greeted her with hugs and laughter.
I watched from afar, taking her in. Her smile. Her lips. The curve of her shoulders. My mouth watered for the taste of her, the smile on her lips, the feeling of her skin against mine.
If this was a nightmare I would have killed her three friends right then and there. I would have made her watch as I peeled back their skin. I would have feasted on her screams.
I walked towards her, tipping my head back to drink the last of my champagne. It went down smooth. I passed a server and put the flute on the silver tray. I adjusted my cuff links and straightened my bow tie.
She was only a few feet away. I approached, touching her elbow gently, the touch sending a jolt through my body like a lightening bolt.
She turned towards me, her eyebrows raised in curiosity, a smile still on her face. She didn't pull her arm away and I didn't pull my hand away.
Nothing Else Matters by Metallica began playing as couples took to the large dance floor under the sparkling chandeliers to waltz.
I bent at the waist, keeping my eyes locked on hers, and offered her my hand. "May I have this dance?"
Stay tuned for Descend, Celestial Academy Book 2
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