“I’m starving,” Alice said with a knowing smile.
“Me, too,” Jake added, raising his hand like a child.
“Yeah, yeah, alright. I’ll make you guys something. Let’s go in,” Cole shook his head, happy that was all over.
PENEMUE/PAUL
PAUL SAT IN A SMALL office at Alice’s campus, awaiting the Dean’s return. Kokabiel sat at his side in a wide stance thrown across a leather chair while Paul sat upright.
“Brother, can you please attempt to relax?”
“I am relaxed,” Paul answered.
Kokabiel burst into laughter uncontrollably. “Far from it, but I understand why. Vassago is on our side and he will protect Alice while she is here, you are doing the right thing, even she will think so.”
“That’s what worries me.”
The door opened and shut behind Dean Vassago. “Brothers,” he announced with an outstretched grin. “I heard the good news. Alice is home safe.”
“Safe isn’t the word I would use,” Paul said.
“We’re here to request a heavier detail,” Kokabiel said.
“While still remaining discrete,” Paul added.
“We’ve agreed that coming back to school is the right choice, but we need to know she will be looked after while here. We have no idea what the bounty hunters will do next, if anything at all, with the condition Alice left Purah in,” Kokabiel said.
Paul growled at the overabundance of information Kokabiel was providing. Trust me, brother, he can be trusted. He thought to the over-protective father.
“I can hire new men, though two of my best men are on duty watching my son who has grown fond of Alice. I can split them, and when they are together, their detail will be stronger,” Dean Vassago offered.
“Plus a few new hires and you’ve got a deal,” Paul said sternly.
“For the father of the savior? Anything you need,” the dean said with a nod of affirmation.
“I’m sure you can feel the absence of the pull. A new Fallen was thrown from grace, stopping the fourth seal from being broken. I don’t have to tell you how important it is that the Fourth Horseman doesn’t get the chance to ride. We will let you know if we have any news in the future,” Kokabiel offered.
Alice’s Fallen family stood and excused themselves from the office. Kokabiel nodded to Theresa, causing her cheeks to flush at once. Always a charmer. Paul joked.
“Let’s go home and see what kind of trouble our Alice has gotten herself into.”
Paul smiled but he knew the likelihood was that, in fact, she had gotten herself into some sort of mess. She was too much like her mother in that way. She had always said, “I’ll rest when I’m dead.” He smiled momentarily at the joke, until the reminder of her demise snuck back into the forefront of his mind.
KOKABIEL AND PAUL DROVE SILENTLY down the dirt road that led to Alice’s small house. It was quaint and they enjoyed being there whenever possible, always trying not to overstay their welcome. Paul looked around with hesitation as he approached the front door. The stink of the air was electric and he knew something had happened. Kokabiel opened the door uneasily and entered the kitchen to find Alice and Jake at the kitchen table and Cole cooking. He may have felt relieved but he knew his brother felt it, too. “What did you do?” Paul stared at Jake.
“Dad, it’s not his fault.”
“He is capable of saying no, and you should have known better. You are not ready for any strenuous activity. Look at you, you’re still covered in bruises and I know there are more breaks than you pretend to know about.”
“Penemue, I told her no, but she’s right. If she is to defeat Rogziel and fight in the End of Days battle, she must be able to fight at her weakest. If it’s any consolation she kicked my ass, and I didn’t even let her this time,” Jake answered her Fallen father.
“Dad, it had to be done. Look at him; can’t you feel the warmth inside him now? He has changed; he is that much closer to being ready to stand at our final battle. It’s terrifying to think that after all this we will still have to fight again. I hope that I can change each of you as I have changed Jake and just maybe He will listen and see that we are not something to be eradicated.” Alice stood in front of her father, pleading.
“And what if He chooses not to listen? This will all be for nothing,” Penemue said. He was terrified for his daughter’s safety.
“Then we fight. You can’t baby me; I’m a full-grown woman who is a little more than half Fallen. I may be broken, but I am stronger broken than anyone who is whole, who knows no pain or truth. I am the one and I feel that now more than ever before. Trust in me.”
“I do trust you, I just worry.”
“Of course you do, I’m your daughter. Now we just have to remind Him of that feeling, remind Him of a father’s love and devotion or die trying.”
“You’re a wise soul, Alice, and I will stand by you always,” Kokabiel said with a nod.
“There’s just one thing standing in your way,” Briathos remarked as he entered the room. “Rogziel and his army of God’s chosen ones will do everything in their power to keep you from Him. I haven’t seen or spoken with the Creator since I was formed. I never questioned until now if Rogziel was carrying out His plans or his own evil plot. As I have said, I will stand by your side, our side.”
Alice’s gaze beamed throughout the room, shining brightly on them all. She closed her eyes and focused on her tattered wings, collapsing them into her back one more time. With a thud she almost collapsed from the quick moment of pain, but her father caught her. “Let’s eat,” was her only response, charming them all once again with her intense strength and bravery.
ALICE
ALICE SAT DRINKING A CUP of hazelnut coffee while staring out her kitchen window at Jake and Cole sparring on the lawn. She was grateful that they had found peace with one another, especially with all that had happened. Cole was faster and stronger than anyone had anticipated, even stronger than Alice at times. She breathed in the sweet steam of her coffee as Kokabiel walked up next to her.
“He’s really come so far in such a short time.”
“Which one?” she asked.
“Touché.”
“They’ve grown so much, they don’t even realize how important their friendship is.”
“No, I suppose they don’t.” Kokabiel poured a cup of black coffee into a blue mug. “I wonder that I do not regret my choices since the Fall, am I even able to be saved?”
“There is only one way to find out, I suppose.” She reached out and took Kokabiel’s hand and stared into his eyes, searching for the light within him. Unlike Jake, his light was bright and colorful, reaching out toward her as if it had found a home. She was almost dizzy from the forward flash video feed of his life flashing behind her eyes. It slowed with memories that she could only assume were Elizabeth, Cole’s mother. She was beautiful and full of sass, a perfect match for him. A memory she had seen before, hours after Cole’s birth, only this memory continued and showed a frightened Kokabiel.
‘Take our son and protect him always. I wasn’t meant to survive such a childbirth.’ Elizabeth’s voice echoed in their eardrums. Tears began to leak from Kokabiel as he scooped up his child and turned to his true love, ‘You are the love of my life. I am so sorry I have damned you in this matter, and I promise to save our son from this selfish act.’ He kissed her tenderly before ducking out the window. Alice wondered what had happened to her but knew the only way she could gather that information would be to meet with the soul of Elizabeth, trapped at the Field of the Damned.
Kokabiel pulled back, heartbroken. “What I’ve done, cannot be forgiven.”
“Not true, but for you to forgive yourself, I fear I must first speak with Elizabeth. I think I should speak with my father before I make such a trip,” Alice said, a little winded from the emotional tug of a love so similar to her love of Cole.
“Whatever you need,” he said, excusing himself. He carried a certain sadness that he rarel
y showed and it ripped through Alice viciously. Alice glanced out the window to see Cole flip Jake over his head and onto his back, both of them smiling like children playing in the grass. She smiled but it was fleeting, as she couldn’t discern which was worse, her future conversation with her father or with Cole’s very dead mother. She sighed loudly as she finished her now cold coffee. She wasn’t sure how much time she had before Rogziel came to finish them all off, but she knew it would be sooner rather than later.
COLE
JAKE LUNGED AT COLE, WHICH he countered by flipping him over his shoulders flat onto his back. They both laughed as Cole reached his hand out to lift his brother up. Briathos walked stiffly onto the porch to watch.
“Want a try at him?” Jake asked, jokingly.
“Why not,” Briathos answered unexpectedly.
Cole and Jake exchanged surprised glances and met him halfway across the lawn. “I’m getting better it seems.”
“I hear you are often underestimated,” Briathos replied.
“Seems so,” Cole said.
Jake backed off and allowed the two to face each other one on one. “First one to tap out loses. Ever watch wrestling?”
“Can’t say that I have.”
“Well, whoever cries uncle… meaning whoever gives up first, loses.”
“I think I follow. Let’s begin,” Briathos said with a grin.
Cole swung his right fist directly at Briathos’ face, and right before contact he dodged out of the way. Cole recovered awkwardly, quickly losing the smile from his face. Briathos dodged another swing and swept Cole’s legs out from under him. Cole bounced up quickly and uppercut Briathos, knocking spit from his mouth.
“Nice hit. Again,” Briathos said, wiping his mouth on his sleeve. They continued to spar for close to an hour, neither one the victor.
Cole turned to Jake and said, “Jake, I think he needs more of a challenge.”
”Loud and clear,” Jake smiled happily, accepting the role. He ran up behind Cole and swung at Briathos from behind as Briathos swung at his face. Cole fell down to the ground, causing the two Fallen to punch each other with their clenched fists. As they stumbled backwards, Cole jumped head first toward the ground, kicking his legs out as far as he could reach, kicking them each in the throat. Cole sprung up, satisfied as he claimed his fighting stance in between them. They weren’t preparing for battle as much as they were measuring who was stronger, faster and smarter. The two Fallen requested a time out or as Cole liked to call it, a forfeit.
“Cole, you are something else, man,” Jake smiled, rubbing at his throat.
“Perfect mate for the chosen one,” Briathos added. They all smiled and shared a chuckle. This might not be the life Cole once thought he would lead, but at this moment he wouldn’t have it any other way. He knew something was dawning, beckoning them, but for now he would enjoy these moments and feel more secure that he could protect his love and his family.
COLE
ALICE AND PAUL SAT AT the kitchen table where they could see the others sparing through the kitchen window. Alice was having second thoughts about speaking with Elizabeth’s trapped soul about the day her true love had saved her son but couldn’t save her. Alice wasn’t even positive that securing the light within them, connecting them to her, was in fact going to save them anyway. All she knew was that she had to try, she had to have something to show Him when she finally spoke on their behalf, to Him. “Dad? I need a favor.”
“What’s that?” Paul asked nervously.
“I need to go to the field of the damned and speak with Elizabeth.”
“I don’t think that’s such a good idea.”
“Dad, I’m alright. How about you come with me? That way you’ll know that I’m safe. Okay?”
Paul rubbed his head as if he was trying to drag a better rebuttal out of his skull, like that would work. “Alright, but when I say we are leaving, we are leaving, understood?”
“Crystal clear. Thanks, Daddy,” she said, kissing his forehead and filling his heart with warmth and love. “I’m going to let Cole know, and I’ll see you in the car!” Alice ran out the door quickly to keep him from changing his mind. She knew in time she would see more through her father’s eyes than either of them would like, but for now she had to think about saving Kokabiel. She knew that the peace he needed lay with Elizabeth, at least that was what she hoped.
ALICE EXITED THE CAR SLOWLY as the usual eerie calm set in. So much had happened to her she had barely had time to process it all. That place was imprinted in her mind like a bad memory, yet some good had transpired in the darkness on this piece of land, laying in anguish before them. She planned to talk to her father about the seals and the Horseman on the way home. At the very least, mention that she was aware of them and to remind him how much she hated being left in the dark, especially when it affected them all. She walked across the field of grass and up to the dark tree line. She sat down and started breathing deeply, allowing the dangerous emotions kept in front of her to approach her. She held her breath, turning the walking Paul, now frozen in place as she shifted through the souls, searching for the one she was after. When she found Elizabeth, she allowed her light to reach out to her and as she exhaled, the world around her caught up. Elizabeth’s soul was flung to the edge of the woods in front of Alice as though she were following a beacon.
“You must be Alice? You’re quite the extraordinary soul, aren’t you?” Elizabeth asked. “Hello again, Penemue.”
“Hello, Elizabeth,” Paul replied.
“I hate to bother you, but I’m in search of some answers and I believe you are the only one who can give them to me, if you so wish to do so.” Alice didn’t want to beat around the bush, but she felt this was a delicate situation.
“There is something unique about you, Alice, a warmth glowing inside of you that I have never seen before.”
“I’ve been told that once or twice.”
“I’m not sure explaining what I think you’re after will help, but I can show you if you promise to do one thing for me.”
“Anything.”
“Tell my family I love them, and tell them that if put in the same situation, I would have chosen this path every time. They are my world, my everything.”
“Of course.” Alice wiped a tear from her eye, as the story of this poor woman’s soul was sad enough without Alice’s empathy echoing around her, consuming Elizabeth’s emotional turmoil. She hated how her empathy seemed to crave what those around her were feeling as if she needed to endure what they did to truly understand them at all. She began to focus on Elizabeth, opening up to her. To feel her pain, her joy, Alice’s soul reached out to where the story ended that was recorded by Kokabiel’s soul, if that was what he had. Elizabeth’s face was covered in a joy Alice had never known. She looked up from her newborn’s face to the face of the love of her life. He was happy, but was somewhere else.
“Sweetheart, if we only have a short moment as you say, can we please enjoy it?” Elizabeth’s voice sung.
“Of course, my love,” Kokabiel’s voice replied as he kissed her sweetly. Someone came in the door and told Kokabiel they had run out of time, but Alice didn’t recognize the Fallen’s voice. He looked back at his love, “I won’t leave you to be slaughtered! I can’t!”
“You must go! Save our son no matter how you have to do it, and one day, when he’s old enough to understand, promise to tell him the truth about us.” Kokabiel nodded and kissed her feverishly one last time before letting go of her. She gently kissed her newborn baby, Cole’s, forehead one last time and passed him over, tears raging in her eyes. Kokabiel scurried to the window and opened it. He turned back and looked at the love of his life, so strong, smiling at him as if what was to come next would be enjoyable.
“I love you.”
“I love you,” she replied.
Kokabiel’s wings sprung from his back and he flew out the window into the dark night sky with his newborn baby, who they had agreed to put up for
adoption to hide him from the bounty hunters. She got up slowly, cautiously, and shut the window. Before turning to her bed, she whispered, “I forgive you, my love.” Just as she returned to her bed a hideous man almost seven feet tall came in, shutting the door behind him.
“You know why I am here?”
“I do.”
“Where is the baby?"
“It died,” she said as she began to cry.
“Well, all that’s left is you, then,” he said as he wrapped his large hands over her mouth and plugged her nose. She fought as hard as she could, but in time the light in her eyes vanished and her soul was yanked to the very place it would remain for eternity.
Alice’s face was flushed, hot and stinging from so much salt pouring from her eyes. She felt her heart breaking as Elizabeth re-lived each moment as if it were happening all over again.
“I am so sorry.”
“Oh, you sweet child, don’t be silly. I got to see my son as the grown up, handsome man he is, strong, loving, hopeful, smart, and so much like his father. That is more than a mother could ask for, to know that their child grew up to be an amazing human being, even if they were part Fallen Angel.”
“Thank you so much for sharing with me.”
“I’m happy too. If I am stuck here forever, I would enjoy a familiar loving visitor at any time.”
“As long as we live we will continue to do so.”
“Thank you. I’m sorry, Alice, I feel the pull, I can’t hold on much longer.”
“You’re in my thoughts.”
Elizabeth’s translucent figure disappeared like smoke, leaving Alice emotionally traumatized. She looked at her father to see glossy eyes gazing back. When they had made the decision to create Fallen children in hopes to find a savior, they had not realized the effect that the consequences would have on them, and by the looks of her father, they were weighing on him now.
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