“Feeling’s mutual. Alice?”
“I have a pulse; she’s okay. I blocked most of the damage.”
Cole looked back to see Jake’s body sliced multiple times with hunks of glass sticking out of him, Alice safely tucked in his arms. Jake set her down on the headboard that was now the floorboard, before unbuckling his seatbelt. Cole unbuckled his belt and climbed through where the windshield used to be. He walked up, determined, toward the angel. Take him out. He heard Jake’s voice say.
“It seems you are more resilient than Rogziel anticipated,” the angel spoke. Cole walked swiftly up to the angel, and as the Fallen landed in the road around them, Cole ran at the Angel, knocking him to the ground. The Angel swung, knocking Cole off of him, temporarily. Cole punched him in the face and blocked a blow to the gut. The Fallen rushed to Jake and Alice, staying clear of the fight between Cole and the Angel. Cole, not wasting a breath or anymore energy, jumped onto the angels back placing his hands upon the angel’s head and ripping it clear off of his body, screaming as his and Alice’s rage consumed him momentarily.
“It’s done son; let’s get Alice out of here,” Kokabiel said with a reassuring hand on his shoulder, though after watching his son do what he had done to that angel, he wasn’t sure if he should be proud or afraid.
“How much more are we supposed to endure?” Cole said with glossy eyes.
“As much as we have to,” his father said with a heart that was breaking.
COLE SAT AT THE KITCHEN table alone, drinking a bottle of whiskey as the Fallen had kicked him out of his room to tend to her wounds. He knew they were lucky to have Briathos there, being the healer he was. He wanted to take her to the hospital but no one would allow that to happen. Jake entered the room, grabbing a shot glass on his way to the table. Cole silently poured them each a shot. They could all feel the pain Alice was in as if it had happened to them. They weren’t surprised when the Fallen outside came to see what had happened since when they returned home, they had rushed the wilted Alice into the house.
“This has to end.”
“It will.”
“But when?” Cole demanded.
“When He chooses it to be so. I know that isn’t the answer you want. We are all hurting, and I know it’s nothing compared to what you are enduring, sharing the gift with her.”
“I don’t mind it. If I feel what she does, at least I know she is alive, she is fighting.” Screaming erupted echoing down the stairs from Alice. Cole poured another set of shots, trying to numb the pain as he clutched his own stomach. “There is only one seal left and she is in no condition to fight. We’re running out of time and I am having trouble believing that He will speak with her or even consider saving us all. Why would He allow his Angels to come down and do these things to us over and over again if He cared at all?”
“We have to have hope, faith, like Alice does. That’s all that we can do at this point.” Jake’s eyes were sad as he spoke. The pain began to dull and Cole stood up nervously.
“What’s happening?” he shouted up the stairs, afraid that this would be the moment he would lose his one true love.” Jake grabbed ahold of him, stopping him from climbing the stairs.
“She’s okay, the healing is working. Trust me, Cole, I wouldn’t say it if it weren’t true.” Paul descended the stairs to find Jake and Cole standing in their own anguish.
“She’ll be alright. Briathos healed what he could. She’ll need rest for as long as we are able to give it to her. She’s sleeping now.”
As those words left Paul’s mouth, the rage that coursed through Cole dissipated and grief took hold. He almost lost her, again. He collapsed to the floor in a river of tears. Jake and Paul stood silently for a change, allowing Cole to deal with his over-amplified emotions. Cole buried his head in his hands as he sobbed, at what had happened and the far worse fate that was still to come.
ALICE
ALICE’S EYES OPENED SLOWLY. SHE was groggy from what felt like too much sleep. She looked outside her window to see an orange glow bouncing off of the foggy glass. Snow fell, softly gathering on her windowsill. She started to stretch but the reminder of her injury returned as a reminder when she attempted to. Cole was sound asleep next to her with furrowed brows. She wondered if it was from worry or if he too was having horrible dreams about the place they once loved to go. She gently kissed a cut on his forehead, assuming it was from the car accident she suddenly remembered. She lifted up her shirt to assess the damages the Angel had caused her. There was a wound a few inches long just below her ribcage. It was sewn shut and looked to be healing fairly well. She wondered how long she had been sleeping because the wound had healed as though it were at least a week old. She vaguely remembered Briathos healing her. The memory of the agony of it all was quickly coming back. Cole’s eyes opened and as he saw her leaning up on her elbows, he shot up. “Easy, Cole, I’m all right.”
“You’ve been asleep for days; I was worried.”
“I know you were,” she said, pointing to her head. “Connected, remember?”
“I’m sorry, I’m not used to dealing with my emotions the way you are.”
“Don’t do that. I’m glad you embraced them, all of them. The rage you felt helped me survive this. You always help me survive.” She smiled before kissing him gently. “What’s that look for?”
“Huh? Oh, well I’ve been trying to determine how Rogziel knew where we were. I thought only Jake and our fathers knew, unless he knows where you are at all times, and that’s even more frightful.”
“I didn’t tell anyone. Except…”
“Who?” His anger began to build.
“Relax, I told James, but he’s on our side. He has nothing to gain by exposing us to Rogziel and it’s not as if we have a telephone number to contact him. Shouting his name at the sky doesn’t work, I’m sure,” she joked.
“Unless he was contacted by Rogziel.”
“Just stop. He’s my friend.”
“I will stop, but just for now, someone needs to speak with him and confirm that he wasn’t involved.”
“Fine,” she said lying back down and rolling over onto her good side, facing away from him. She couldn’t bear the thought of him questioning her friend, looking for answers that weren’t there. She knew her friend was innocent, but a part of her brain dared to ask if she was sure. Sadly, she wasn’t and the tears betraying her, challenged the faith she had in him.
COLE
COLE AND KOKABIEL SAT QUIETLY in Sariel’s old truck heading towards the AIH. Although Cole had attempted to fix his car over the last week, it was in far worse shape and too far gone to save. He loved that car, the way the engine roared as he drove down the highway, much more than the clunking that echoed from Sariel’s old pickup.
“Maybe she’s right, maybe I’m grasping at straws looking for answers.”
“It is entirely possible, Son, but so is your intuition that this Nephilim, James, is involved. It’s hard to say why we all do what we do, but mostly it’s for love. He’s a Nephilim, which means that he, too, knows loss and heartache. That is enough to make anyone mad.”
“For his sake, he better not be involved.”
“Just remember, whatever you do will come back to Alice.”
“I’d die for her, but I will not sit back while our own kind betray us.”
“If he did,” Kokabiel added as a reminder. Cole was overwhelmed by his emotions lately, and being attacked only added to his struggles. “I am sorry you’ve had to go through all of this and though I know I should regret more than that, all I can say is I am proud to be your father.”
“I know, Dad. This beats the alternative.”
“Always the cynic. I did call the Dean and let him know we would be on campus, and oddly, he knew why and has asked us to meet him and his son in his office.”
“Keep him off of me,” Cole demanded.
“I will, but please choose your actions carefully.”
“I understand, hopefully it doesn
’t come to anything more than talking. I make no promises to you or Alice, as to what I may or may not do.”
“Understood.” Kokabiel knew that the trouble in the air was laced with deceit and wanting. Each soul that scurried passed them was thick with hope. Even though they fell from grace and lived in this world, they never truly lived as humans did. They were filled with knowledge of the hereafter and without the blind faith in a God they knew existed, it was as if they were doomed to feel anything but faith and hope. Until they met Alice. Kokabiel did his best to keep up with Cole’s angry footsteps.
“Kokabiel, Cole. Come on in,” Dean Vassago said, greeting them at the door.
They entered, and as they did James came into view, and Cole’s skin began to crawl as his heart began to beat rapidly. “I just came to ask a question,” Cole stated.
“Yes, of course,” Dean Vassago answered. Cole looked James in the eye before asking his question, as he wanted to see the truth betray him.
“Did you tell anyone that Alice and I were going to the movies a few days ago?”
“Why would I do that?” James asked.
“That would be my second question, but let’s try answering the first one, okay?” Cole said, seething.
“I didn’t even know where you were going, just that you were going to the movies. You drove all the way over here for nothing.” Cole’s patience dissolved into hot ash and he was ready to set James on fire. Cole reached out, grabbing James by the throat and shoved him up against the bookshelf. Kokabiel intervened when Dean Vassago went after Cole.
“Answer my question! Alice has lost enough but you hold no importance to me.” Cole said with a growl.
“Okay, okay! Holy shit, let go!”
“Start talking!”
“The angel! I told the angel.”
“What?” Dean Vassago asked, confused by his son’s confession.
“Put me down already,” James pleaded. Cole set him down violently. “I know you’re pissed, but I didn’t know anything was going to happen to her.”
Cole went after him again, but James pleaded with his hands up, flinching from the possible threat.
“Now, why?”
“He told me he wanted to talk, to offer a trade for her to stop the End of Days.”
“And you thought this was true?” Kokabiel asked.
“I don’t know. No, I suppose not.”
“Then why did you tell him? She almost died!” Cole yelled.
“He told me if I just told him when you were away from the Fallen, he’d only talk to her and…”
“And what, James?” Vassago’s voice boomed with disappointment.
“And he’d free mom’s soul,” James said, staring into his father’s eyes. Cole wanted to hit him, and continue to do so until all he saw was a sea of red, yet a piece of him understood how difficult it would be to ignore the granting of your mother’s soul salvation, instead of an eternity of damnation.
“I’m sorry, Cole, truly. He didn’t even follow through. I suppose I shouldn’t have expected anything else from him. I really don’t get how he’s the good guy in this scenario.”
“I wonder the same thing,” Cole added. He was tired and angry and the one outlet he might have had, he had now begun to feel sorry for. “If you betray us again, I will kill you. Understood?”
“Loud and clear,” James said.
“Let’s go, Dad,” All too much emotion was quaking inside of him with no outlet. He left the room and quickly went outside and climbed into the truck. It was freezing out but he still felt the heat of his anger.
“Well, you were right, Son,” Kokabiel said climbing into the truck. “I’m sorry you were, but I’m glad you followed your instincts.”
“I didn’t completely.”
“What do you mean?”
“It took all the strength I had to walk out of there without pounding on his face first.”
“Ah, yes. Well, that quality is partly from me and partly from your mother. That woman had a temper, believe me.” Cole smiled slightly at the mention of his mother, yet it reminded him of all of their mothers’ fates. Damnation, eternal damnation.
ALICE
ALICE AND JAKE SAT ON her couch watching random sitcoms to pass the time, while Cole was threatening her friend. She was doing much better physically and her wound was nearly healed although the internal damage was not even close to being healed, Briathos had warned her. She doodled in a notebook on her lap while Jake’s laughter sounded throughout the house. It was soothing to her current mental state. She could feel Cole’s rage spike and she knew that meant one of two things, either James had had nothing to do with her recent run-in with the Angel so now he was left with no answers, or worse, James had admitted to betraying them all. She looked over to Jake to find him oblivious to her worries. She was glad that before she lost her grandfather he had showed her how to block such things from those around her, those she loved.
“How long do you think we have before the sixth seal is broken?”
“Is that what you’ve been fuming about over there?”
“Yes and no.”
“Honestly, it could be any day or it could be a century from now. I’m assuming it will be sooner rather than later, as Rogziel has managed to convince the Lamb to open the other seals. I know that’s not what you want to hear. Try not to worry, everything has a purpose, has its time. When it comes to pass, we will deal with it as we well as we are able to.”
“I forget how smart you are.”
“Thanks, I think,” Jake said raising an eyebrow at her. “Drink?”
“Yes, please.”
“I’ll see if Cole left us any whiskey,” he said, trotting off to the kitchen. Alice stared down at her notepad; the Four Horsemen stared back at her.
“As if I didn’t know,” she scolded them. She shut the book and tossed it to the floor. Jake came back in carrying two coffee mugs of coffee and the bottle of whiskey. She smiled at the sight, accepting her mug. “I feel it will be soon that this will all be over. I’m starting to think Rogziel wasn’t trying to kill me.”
“Why just injure you?”
“He knows Briathos is with us and that he is a healer. Maybe he wants me hurt to increase his chances of killing me at the battle.”
“How are we supposed to know when that is, anyway?”
“I was reading about the seven seals, and I think when the moon turns red and the sun goes black after the fifth seal is broken, is when the battle will be.”
“Did he tell you that?”
“Yes, in a sense. He said the Fallen would know when and that then is when he will seal our fate.”
“You need to rest.”
“What?”
“You need to rest. Alice, we feel when each seal is broken. It’s excruciating, and I’m not surprised that is when he wants to fight. Before the seal is opened, while the Lamb examines it and declares His intentions, we can feel a humming throughout, signaling what is to come. I’ve felt that humming for two days now.”
“No. It’s too soon; I’m not ready.”
“Relax, you have to rest. I suppose it’s good that we were spared the last time you were injured.”
“I didn’t think that during the most important moment of my life, I’d actually be injured like this.”
“I’m sure he was counting on that. Drink. Breathe. I’ll send for everyone and we’ll get a plan in order. Trust me?” He brushed a strand of her hair away from her face.
“With my life.” It was true and they both knew it.
ALICE WATCHED FROM HER WINDOW at the Fallen and Nephilim gathering supplies and weapons. It felt like déjà vu to her. The snow was falling mystically over the property line but no one complained of the cold. This very well could have been the last day or days on this earth and be damned or not, they all wanted to enjoy it. Alice watched Briathos pull up in her car looking solemn as he returned from saying his goodbyes to Theresa. She jumped at the knock on the door. “You scared me.”
/>
“Sorry, Love. How are you feeling?” Cole asked as he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close to him.
“I’m fine.” He raised his eyebrow in response. “Okay I’m at sixty, seventy percent. I’ll be fine. This isn’t my first rodeo.” she laughed awkwardly.
“We’re all scared, Alice, even me. I don’t want this to be the last time I hold you.”
She reached up and allowed her lips to find his. They fell back onto the bed, unable to part their mouths from one another. They both knew they had a million other things to attend to before the Fallen announced the final seal being opened, but their hunger for one another was amplified by their heightened emotions, and they could not breathe without feeling the other as closely as they possibly could. Cole pulled her t-shirt over her head and unbuttoned her jeans. She ripped his shirt off of him and as they hurried to remove the barriers before them, they felt drunk with love. Cole climbed on top of Alice and rocked them hard enough to make the headboard scream. They rolled over and Alice used the wall for leverage to move back and forth on top of him. He slid his hands up her sides, pulling her onto him and closer to him. With a final burst, they released all their emotions, crumbling back onto the bed.
Cole held Alice in his arms tightly, kissing her gently. “I love you.”
“I love you, too,” she said with an enormous grin, still slightly out of breath. She stared out the window and though she had just enjoyed a moment of pure joy, she saw the moon begin to pinken. “Cole?”
“I see it. It’s almost time.”
“We should get dressed and get ready.” Her nerves were leaking through, and although she had known this day would come, she had hoped it wouldn’t come to pass. She had silently begged God to save them all and not to put them through what was coming. She felt foolish, but even as a child when He never responded, she had still felt compelled to ask for His love and help. Cole grabbed her arm, pulling her back into him.
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