Fallen : Part 3

by Tamsin Baker

  “I need to get to my son, Titan.”

  He’s all I have left.

  “What happened to your woman?” Titan repeated, his voice harder and more serious than I’d ever heard.

  And that was when it occurred to me that I didn’t know why Titan had been thrown out of Heaven. Perhaps he too had been part of a love triangle gone wrong? Or something worse?

  “She…” My throat closed up as though someone had wrapped a hand around my neck. “She… sacrificed herself for us. She threw herself into Hell… She…” I couldn’t say any more.

  Titan’s hand fell away as his eyes went wide.

  “I’m sorry.”

  I took a step away from them all, my eyes blinded by the tears that gathered and fell down my cheeks.

  Michael, who was nearby caught my eye, and instead of looking away in spite, bowed his head and put his hand on his heart. A deep sign of respect.

  I nodded at him and spread my wings out around me. I needed to get back to Nathaniel. I had to fly to Tabitha’s, despite the damage my body had faced through the battle.

  The pain in my muscles couldn’t compete with the pain in my heart, and as I slowly made my way up into the air, my damaged wings beating as hard as they dared, the scream inside my head grew.

  She’s gone.

  Kadie’s gone.

  And there was no way I could live without her.

  Chapter 3.

  “Tabitha!” I pushed open the door to her home.

  She was ready for my return, already loaded with buckets of water in her arms.

  “Come into the bath. The baby is asleep.”

  I staggered into her bathroom and stripped the clothes from my exhausted body.

  Tabitha poured water all over me. My wings, my shoulders, even over my head so that the screaming inside my mind began to ease as the pain subsided.

  That was when the sobbing began.

  I couldn’t control it.

  Deep. Dark. Soul wrenching sobs that couldn’t be contained and racked my body to its core.

  Tabitha stroked my head and said soothing things that I couldn’t quite distinguish. And I didn’t care. Nothing was going to fix this now.

  “She’s gone,” I managed to get out.

  “I know… I know…” Tabitha’s calm voice finally breaking through to me.

  I allowed my breathing to slow down and my body to rest into the healing flow of the water.

  Eventually my head cleared of the bright red colour. The screaming stopped and all that was left was a dull emptiness. I felt like a fruit that had all of its centre scooped out.

  There was a thin cry in the air and Tabitha left me to tend to Nathaniel.

  I had to get up and out of this bathroom. I didn’t want my son to see me like this.

  I scrubbed my face with my hands and pushed myself up to a stand.

  The water had washed away a lot of the physical pain, so when I stood up, my legs were strong and sturdy beneath me.

  I towel dried my body the best I could and tucked in my wings to heal. My nakedness didn’t bother me normally, but at this moment of feeling totally vulnerable, I needed something solid around me.

  “Here’s Daddy. Daddy’s back,” Tabitha walked back into the room. I wrapped the towel around my waist and tied it tightly.

  I wanted our bed. I wanted to crawl into the warmth of the last place Kadie had slept and never get out.

  “Here you go,” Tabitha handed over my son, whose chubby hands were reaching for me as he attempted to climb out of Tabitha’s arms.

  “Come here, beautiful boy.”

  I cradled my son in my arms and pressed my lips to his head.

  His warmth filled a small part of me with happiness and I let out a huge sigh that I’d been holding in.

  I closed my eyes and wished the world away.

  “Come into the lounge room and tell me what happened,” My Agent instructed me, and I did as she bade.

  We moved into the living space and I collapsed onto the couch, cradling my jumping boy who was still smiling and moving about like his world hadn’t ended.

  His innocence made my throat swell and tears re-emerge in my eyes.

  How was I going to tell him that his mother was gone?

  Maybe I didn’t have to. Tabitha could raise him and I would be nothing more than a memory.

  “Tell me what happened Gabriel,” Tabitha asked again, this time with a tone that brooked no argument.

  “We fought, all of us. The Fallen Angels. A legion of true Angels. The Witches. Some died, I’m not sure of the numbers.”

  “And Kadie?”

  Yes… Kadie.

  “Kadie worked out, well she guessed correctly I suppose… that the only way to close the gateway to Hell was to sacrifice herself.”

  I continued to bounce my standing son on my knee, unable to look at Tabitha while I spoke.

  “She threw herself in there, and then everything stopped. The Demons practically disintegrated on the spot.”

  There was a moments silence in the room. The only thing to interrupt it was Nathaniel’s beautiful baby babble.

  “So, our premonition about Nathaniel being the saviour was incorrect.”

  I nodded my head, my vision blurring with fatigue. I hope so. I couldn’t go through all this again in a few years when he was fully grown.

  “I think so. Looks like his mommy was the hero after all…”

  I couldn’t hold him anymore. Nathaniel’s eyes were his mothers, his lips…

  “Take him for me, would you? I’m going to go to bed.”

  “Bed? What do you mean? You don’t sleep.”

  “Then I have centuries to catch up on then, don’t I?” I handed the baby to Tabitha.

  She took him with practised ease and I stumbled away to the bedroom where Kadie had slept for the past month.

  The room was still tainted with her fresh smell and as I closed the door and fell between the sheets, her scent enfolded me like a blanket.

  The tears rose and fell and my heart broke once again.

  And no one was around to see it. For which I was glad.

  *

  The hole inside my heart grew bigger with each passing day and unfortunately Nathaniel’s laugh began to annoy me, in the worst possible way.

  He grew bigger and stronger, and I resented the presence of the child in lieu of his mother.

  After a month, my future was decided. I could no longer stand to live without her.

  The gnawing blackness inside me would only spread, and I couldn’t continue to be around my innocent son without infecting him also.

  I was dying inside. Slowly, and painfully.

  It didn’t matter how many Demons I killed. How many innocents I saved. It was all a fruitless journey to nowhere.

  Night time fell and I picked up my sleeping son, his thick eyelashes fanning out over his plump cheeks.

  “I will love you for as long as the sun and moon rise and fall.”

  I placed him back in his cot, content with the parent I had inadvertently chosen for him. He would be safe with Tabitha.

  Safe, and loved. Understood and guided by another half Witch, half Angel.

  “You’re leaving then?” Came Tabitha’s harsh tones as I snuck through the house.

  I stopped and turned, pulling on my jacket.

  “Yes. Demon hunting in Greenwich Village tonight.”

  A final goodbye to Kadie’s home and I’d be finding a nice pack of Demon’s to commit my final fight to.

  “I can’t stop you from doing this Gabriel, but I must advise against it.”

  “I don’t know what you mean,” I lied, wanting out of this conversation.

  Tabitha rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest. “Oh please, don’t insult me. I know what your plan is, and I don’t want you to go through with it. Nathaniel needs you, I need you. The world, and all its victims need you.”

  I looked away from her impassioned face.

  “The Demon
s barely cross over to follow anyone any more Tabitha, you know that. I’ve had what… two targets to protect in the past month?”

  The attacks on Witches had stopped and the list of targets was way down.

  Either the bad side was mounting forces for another attack, or their side had taken a massive hit when Kadie had severed the connection to them.

  “Gabriel. Please. Don’t.” Tabitha’s pain became unbearable and I backed away from her. Towards the door.

  Towards the living world where Demons resided.

  “You have been a wonderful friend for a very long time, Tabitha. Please look after my son. I trust you with him.”

  Tears streamed down her pale face. “He still needs you Gabriel.”

  I smiled as I reached for the door handle, oblivion not far away now.

  “You will be a wonderful mother to him, Tabitha. Just make sure he doesn’t forget us.”

  She sobbed and wrapped her arms around her body as though to hold in her breath.

  “I will…”

  I turned away from her and opened the door, the cool breeze on my face the best I’d felt in too long.

  Not long now.

  I extended my wings and flew towards Manhattan slowly, my damaged wings barely able to hold my weight.

  I’d lost so much in the recent battles, I could easily justify this choice.

  I was no use to anyone. Broken and beaten as I was.

  This was the right thing to do. And I would go out in a blaze of glory. I was sure of it.

  Chapter 4.

  I followed my instincts and chased down a large group of Demons, rallying together not far from Kadie’s home.

  They were terrorising a young woman of amazing intellect and as I got closer, the heat on my spine was as familiar to me as an old friend.

  A smile lifted my lips as I landed in the courtyard, lit up with the orange and yellow fire of the Demons.

  I drew my sword and folded my wings into my body so tight that it seemed as though I would be fighting as a human.

  The woman they tormented screamed inside her home and ran for her life. I could hear her foot falls on the tiles as she hid in another room.

  “Come on. If you want me. You’re going to have to fight for it,” I yelled at them.

  There were five of them. I could take out a few before I folded. Surely.

  One last good deed before the end.

  I charged forward and sliced at the first two Demons, taking off their heads and arms, loving the disintegration of their beings as they burnt to ash before me.

  Three others appeared as though by magic. I laughed as I spun in a circle and collected two more hands.

  Did they know of my plan and wanted to help out?

  Whatever the reason, I was glad they were all here.

  My heart raced as I parried and thrust my sword into each Demon, the heat of their bodies surrounding me and making sweat roll down my face.

  Then the heat burned my wings as one grabbed me, and the other scorched my shoulder.

  I cried out and swung my sword wide, hoping to connect with one final Demon, but then my sword was gone.

  Knocked out of my hand. Flung across the yard.

  I dove for it and was blocked by a mountain of fire.

  I pulled myself up onto my knees and stared the Demons in the face as they surrounded me. Their dark holes of eyes boring down on my helpless body.

  I panted hard, my heart thundering in my chest in these last few moments of my life.

  I’d lived well, and loved the most beautiful woman I could.

  My time on this Earth was done.

  I closed my eyes, the heat of Hell on my face… oblivion was in reach.

  And then it was gone.

  A cool breeze passed over my skin and my eyes popped open to see a bright white light in place of the yellow fire.

  Had I passed over? Had I been granted access back into Heaven despite my transgressions?

  Impossible.

  I looked around the back yard and my mouth fell open as my heart began to gallop in my chest like a race horse.

  “Kadie…”

  The white light I’d seen was shooting from her hands, taking out every last Demon still standing.

  They were all reduced to a pile of ash around me. I blinked.

  But she was still standing there, before me. A vision in white.

  With black wings…

  Hang on a second.

  “Kadie?” I repeated, pushing my weary body to its feet. “Is it really you?”

  I had to be dreaming… or this was a trick Hell was playing on me to drive me truly insane.

  I didn’t care if it was the latter. I’d get to feel her again. I reached out both hands, needing to touch her.

  She came forward and slapped harshly at my hands, the pain shooting through my body like a knife.

  I dropped my hands away and stood up straighter. If this really was Kadie, that was not the response I would have expected from her.

  She glared at me, the angelic glow around her shining even brighter now.

  “Don’t give me that! Of course, it’s me! But if you seriously thought I’d just rush into your arms when you were planning on killing yourself, then you’ve got another thing coming!”

  She stamped her foot like a toddler. “How dare you even think about it? Let alone come this close to achieving it.”

  She swept her arm out to encompass the ash on the grass.

  My heart rate began to slow and a strange euphoria settled over my body.

  “I’m dead, aren’t I? Is this really how Heaven looks?” I glanced around, waiting for things to shift and change. I remembered Heaven being a lot more majestic than this.

  Another harsh slap to my shoulder had me turning around to look at her once again.

  “No, you are not dead. And no this is not Heaven, this is New York.” She rolled her eyes and her lips lifted up into a semi-smile. “The city of Angels.”

  “That’s L.A.” I pointed out and she smacked me again.

  I rubbed my shoulder as the pain vibrated along my tired muscles.

  I’m definitely not dreaming this.

  I had another look at her, not quite believing what my brain was concluding. So, I went through the list once again. Slowly.

  She shone like an Angel.

  She had black wings like a Fallen Angel.

  She had powers like a Witch.

  “What happened to you?” I asked, my senses still totally overwhelmed.

  “Come over here.” She took my hand and led me over to a bench seat in the courtyard.

  The shiver of invisibility moved over me and it wasn’t mine.

  “How…?”

  Kadie took a deep breath. “Okay, well… after I broke the connection of Hell to Earth…”

  “By throwing yourself into Hell and basically killing yourself,” I finished for her, surprised with the amount of anger in my voice.

  She stared at me for a moment, seeming to absorb my feelings at the same time.

  I cleared my throat and tried to calm down. That had come out of nowhere.

  “Yes. I had to, and you knew that.”

  “It may not have worked, you know. And you would have died for nothing.”

  She reached over and grabbed both of my hands, squeezing them tightly with her own.

  “I know… but it did work, as I knew it would. I’m sorry I had to put you through such a terrible ordeal.”

  “I can’t live without you, Kadie. I thought I could, I hoped Nathaniel would be enough… but…”

  She jumped at me, wrapping her arms around my neck and sliding onto my lap like she used to.

  I held her as tightly as I dared, pulling her into me and praying to God that this wasn’t a dream.

  She laughed softly in my ear as she pulled slightly away so we could look at one another.

  “I’m not a dream, quite the opposite. We are both very much alive and on Earth.”

  “How?”


  I’d never heard of anything like this before. Not in the millennium that I had lived in both Heaven and Earth.

  “Well, as I was trying to tell you before. After I threw myself into Hell, I was transported up to Heaven, of course. Having never killed anyone, and you know…”

  “Saving the whole world with your selfless act?” I finished for her. I should have thought, but it had never occurred to me this might happen.

  She looked away, her embarrassment obvious in the slight shrug and redness in her cheeks. “Yeah… well. Anyway, I got to Heaven and they wanted to just leave me up there to enjoy whatever they do up there.”

  She ran her hand through her hair and brushed it away from her face.

  “And you didn’t like that idea?” I asked, the humour of the situation finally getting to me.

  I could just see her, marching up to those in charge, and demanding to be sent back down again. A request that would be denied to ninety-nine-point nine percent of people.

  “Of course, I didn’t like the idea of frolicking around Heaven for God knows how long, waiting for you all! My son was just born, and I’d left him!”

  My heart fell like a stone beneath the weight of the water.

  “Nathaniel is beautiful, just like you. I know he’s missed you,” I managed to say, though my chest seemed to be under the weight of an elephant’s knee.

  Kadie’s hands moved up my arms, across my shoulders and came to rest upon my face, where she cradled my jaw and looked into my eyes.

  “Gabriel, I didn’t come back just for Nathaniel, I came back for you.”

  My hands tightened on her waist, pulling her closer.

  “What do you mean?”

  We’d had so little time together, to express how we truly felt. Although I’d declared my love for her, I’d never been quite sure if she loved me the same way.

  Kadie leaned forward ever so slightly and kissed me upon my lips. The lightest of touches. So fair, it was almost as though I imagined it.

  “I love you,” she whispered against my skin, and my heart sung in raptures.

  “I begged for the chance to come home to you both, not as a human, who will die all too soon, but as an Angel that could fight along-side you. Live as long as my son will. My ultimate dream.”

  She pulled back and I stroked along her back where her feathers would protrude.