When Angels Fall

by Stephanie Jackson

  She stepped around him and walked across the yard to the street.

  “Where are you going?” he asked.

  “To Mrs. Thompson’s house,” Dani said. “She just lives on Greenland Ave; it’s only a couple of blocks away from here.”

  She thought he would grab her and make her go back in the house, but he didn’t. What he did do was walk behind her all the way to Greenland Ave.

  She didn’t know how she was going to tell Mrs. Thompson what had happened to Buddy; or that Mrs. Thompson would even believe her. But she had the right to know that her son was never coming home.

  She walked up to Buddy’s childhood home and knocked on the door. Now that she was here, she almost wished that nobody would be home, but Mrs. Thompson opened the door almost immediately.

  “Oh, Dani! How are you doing, honey?” Mrs. Thompson asked, giving Dani a warm hug.

  Dani had only seen Mrs. T. for a minute at her mom’s funeral. She’d given Dani her condolences, (and a casserole, of course. It was a Southern tradition to feed the bereaved), and then had quietly slipped out. Dani was touched that she’d come at all.

  Mrs. Thompson had really bad arthritis in both of her hips. It had plagued her for years, and Dani knew how much it pained her to go out and about.

  “I’m fine Mrs. T., thanks for asking,” Dani said. “Um…can I come in and talk to you for a minute?”

  “Of course you can, sweetie,” Mrs. Thompson said and stepped back to let Dani inside.

  Dani looked back for Gabriel, but he was nowhere to be seen. The chicken shit had left her.

  Mrs. Thompson’s house looked as homey as ever, but for the first time in her life, Dani felt uncomfortable there.

  “Mrs. T., I have to tell you something, and you’re not gonna like it,” Dani said. “Buddy came to my house last night.”

  “Good God! Are you alright?” Mrs. Thompson asked in concern. “He didn’t hurt you again, did he?”

  “Yes, he hit me again, but I’m fine,” Dani said. “Buddy’s not, though.”

  “What do you mean? Is he in jail again?” Mrs. Thompson asked. “I fully understand if you had him arrested. They need to force him into rehab. I can’t believe he violated the Restraining Order; and on the day that you buried your mom, too! I’m so sorry Dani.”

  “He’s not in jail, Mrs. T.” Dani said. “Buddy’s gone, and he’s not coming back.”

  “Gone? Gone where? What do you mean he’s not coming back? Mrs. Thompson asked. “Where did he go, Dani?”

  “To Heaven,” Dani said.

  “To Heaven?”

  “Yes, ma’am,” Dani said.

  Mrs. Thompson glared at Dani, “Are you telling me that my boy is dead?”

  Dani nodded, “Yes, ma’am.”

  Mrs. Thompson stared at Dani like she was a bug.

  “Did you kill my Buddy, Dani?” Mrs. Thompson asked.

  “No, an Archangel killed him, but I forgave Buddy, so now he’s in Heaven.”

  As soon as the words passed her lips, Dani wished she could take them back. It sounded like a lie even to Dani, and she knew it was true. She could only imagine what was going through Mrs. T’s mind.

  “If you killed my son, Dani, you tell me so!” Mrs. Thompson said in near hysteria. “But don’t you come in my house and tell me lies!”

  “I didn’t, Mrs. T. I swear I didn’t. It was an Archangel!” Dani said.

  Dani never expected what happened next. Mrs. T. picked up a vase from the table beside her chair, and flung it at Dani’s head.

  Dani was so stunned that she didn’t even bother to duck. She’d never seen so much as an ounce of violence from Mrs. T.

  The vase never hit her, though. Gabriel materialized and caught the vase in mid-flight before it could make contact.

  Mrs. Thompson’s mouth formed a tiny ‘O’, and she swooned in her chair.

  “She’s telling you the truth,” Gabriel said, tossing the vase harmlessly onto the couch. “I killed your son.”

  “Good gracious,” Mrs. Thompson said and made the sign of the cross. “An angel.”

  “An Archangel, actually, and you should be grateful that Dani forgave your son before I smote him. If I’d have had my way about it, your son would have rotted in Tartarus until Judgment Day,”

  Gabriel said. “But no; instead of being grateful, you throw things at her.”

  “I didn’t know,” was all Mrs. Thompson managed to say.

  Dani looked at Gabriel, “Please don’t hurt her.”

  Dani would never forgive herself if Mrs. T. came to any harm because of her.

  “Why would I hurt her?” Gabriel asked Dani. “Believe it or not, Dani, I do have some understanding of the shock a parent feels when confronted with the death of their child. Her violence; while inexcusable is completely understandable. I’m not a complete monster.”

  “My boy is really in Heaven?” Mrs. Thompson asked.

  “He is,” Gabriel confirmed.

  Mrs. Thompson crossed herself again, “Thank the Lord.”

  “No, thank the Dani; the Lord had nothing to do with your son going to Heaven,” Gabriel said. “Dani is the one that made that decision.”

  4.

  Mrs. Thompson slid slowly out of her chair and tried to get to her knees to kneel before Gabriel; a moan of pain escaped her lips.

  “Mrs. T., don’t!” Dani said. “You’re gonna hurt yourself.”

  Gabriel gazed at Mrs. Thompson, “You’re sick.”

  “It’s not so bad,” Mrs. Thompson said, still attempting to get knee bound in front of Gabriel.

  Gabriel looked closely at Mrs. Thompson’s body. Her hips were nearly destroyed by the arthritis that plagued her.

  “Nonsense,” Gabriel said, and helped Mrs. Thompson slowly to her feet.

  He pulled her close to him and ran his hands down the sides of her body until they settled on her hips.

  Gabriel stepped back and said, “You will hurt no more.”

  “What did you just do to her?” Dani asked.

  “I healed her,” Gabriel said.

  Dani watched in amazement as Mrs. Thompson dropped easily to her knees and kissed Gabriel’s bare feet.

  Gabriel lifted her back to her feet and raised her chin until she was looking into his eyes. “I’m sorry about your son, but I have to go now.”

  Gabriel nodded at Dani and vanished.

  5.

  “I’m sorry about Buddy, Mrs. T.,” Dani said, standing to leave.

  “I can’t imagine how hard it was for you to come here today and tell me this,” Mrs. Thompson said and gave Dani a hug. “My son is in a better place now because of you. Thank you so much, Dani.”

  Dani hugged her back, and then walked quickly from the house before she started to cry. She thought it was strange that Mrs. T. was at peace with Buddy’s death just minutes after Dani had told her he was dead, but she was happy that was the case. She looked around for Gabriel but he was, again, nowhere in sight.

  She thought about walking home, but she really didn’t want to be there right now. She decided to walk to the cemetery instead; not really to visit her mom’s grave, but to find the mark that Gabriel had left when he hit the ground.

  She believed what he’d told her, but she wanted to see the evidence for herself. Out of respect, Dani visited her mother’s grave first. Afterward she walked, in ever widening circles, looking for the spot where Gabriel had landed. She found it about twenty yards away from her mom’s grave.

  Gabriel had underestimated his landing. The dip in the ground was closer to two and a half feet deep and over six feet in diameter. At the bottom of the dip, she saw a clear imprint of Gabriel’s left foot. Next to that was a dent that Dani assumed had been made by his right knee.

  She could see the outline of his left hand where it had slammed into the ground beside his left foot. She could now clearly picture what position he had landed in. She was walking around the perimeter of the depression when she caught the scent of decomposition o
n the breeze.

  She turned to run, but found she’d turned right into the Cambion’s arms. Before she had a chance to cry out, struggle, or even try to fight, the Cambion was ripped away from her.

  She watched in horror as a fist came through the Cambion’s chest. The fist was holding a human heart. The hand jerked back through the body, and the Cambion fell to the ground.

  Gabriel tossed the heart aside and grabbed Dani by the arm with his bloody hand.

  “You can’t be here!” Gabriel snapped. “Don’t you remember what happened the last time you were here?”

  “I just wanted to see where you landed; I was curious,” she said, looking down with nausea at the dead Cambion at her feet.

  “They will be looking for you here. The Cambion expect you to visit your mother’s grave,” Gabriel said. “They know here is their best chance to find you. You can’t come back here again, ever. Do you understand me?”

  “Fine, yes, I understand you, now let me go!” she said. “And maybe, just maybe, if you’d stop disappearing, I wouldn’t have been here alone!”

  “I thought it would be pertinent to obtain clothing,” Gabriel said. “You seem to have a problem with the sight of unclothed skin.”

  For the first time, she noticed he was completely dressed. He had obtained a shirt and shoes to go with the jeans she’d given him. She didn’t bother to ask him where he’d gotten the clothes. She was sure that she didn’t want to know.

  “Do you not understand that if even one other Cambion were to see you here that you would again be in mortal danger? And what’s worse is that, if another Cambion saw what just occurred here then he would’ve seen me as well. We could soon be dealing with another demon; and the next one won’t be a low level demon like Vetis,” Gabriel said. “We’d be dealing with a demon that will be much stronger. A demon that would have much more power.”

  “Could a demon like that defeat you?” Dani asked. “Could he kill you?”

  “No, it wouldn’t be able to kill me. Just because demons were created as angels doesn’t mean they can kill a higher ranking angel. If it’s one of Lucifer’s higher ranking demons; say one of his top four, it’s slightly possible for them to damage my body for a few moments and render me unable to defend you.

  “But the only angels that can take my life, and not just damage my body, are my brothers, the other three Archangels: Michael; Raphael; and Lucifer,” Gabriel said. “Michael’s not quite as strong as me and Raphael is…well, he’s something else, but he can’t defeat me. The only real threat to my life would be Lucifer. And we’ll soon find out if he’s as capable as he thinks he is.”

  “And you really call each other brothers?”

  “We were the only four angels made from God’s Heavenly body; we are brothers,” he said.

  “And Lucifer?” Dani asked. “Do you still call him your brother?”

  “Yes, he is and always will be my brother. Nothing he’s done can change that,” he said.

  “But all the evil he’s done! How can you still claim him as family?”

  “Because he’s my brother, and even though I will strike him down, I still love him, Dani.”

  Dani shook her head in confusion, “How can you love him after all he’s done?”

  Gabriel looked at her coldly, “I could ask you the same question. How could you love Buddy after all the evil things he did to you?”

  “That’s not the same thing,” she said.

  “It absolutely is the same thing. You can’t explain love. If you can tell someone why you love a person, then it’s not really love.” Gabriel said. “Love doesn’t care if you understand it, it just is.”

  Dani wasn’t in the mood to start another argument with him, so she changed the subject, “Thank you for talking to Mrs. Thompson.”

  “I wouldn’t have done it if she hadn’t have thrown that vase at you.”

  “It’s not like it was uncalled for. I should have known that she’d think that I’d killed Buddy,” Dani said. “After everything Buddy and I have been through, me killing him was a logical conclusion. I wouldn’t have believed me either.”

  “You were telling her the truth,” he said. “I did kill him.”

  “I know that, but you’re a ‘see it to believe it’ kind of person. People say they believe in angels, but it doesn’t become real until you show them proof,” she said. “You were my proof.”

  “People used to take the existence of God and His angels in faith,” Gabriel said. “No proof was required.”

  “Yeah, well times change,” she said.

  “Obviously,” he said.

  “That was a nice thing you did for Mrs. Thompson, fixing her hips like you did.”

  “I figured it was the least I could do,” he said. “I did just kill her son, after all.”

  “I didn’t know you could heal people,” she said.

  “What did you think when you woke up in that hotel room?” he asked. “That your fractured skull and broken nose had healed themselves?”

  “I knew I should have been hurt; I remember being hurt. I just didn’t know why I wasn’t hurt,” she said. “It just didn’t occur to me at the time that you’d had anything to do with it.”

  “Well I did,” he said with a smile. “And you’re welcome.”

  “Thank you; of course, thank you,” she said, and then stood on her tiptoes and kissed him on the cheek.

  She was startled at how fast he jerked away from her. She hadn’t meant to offend him. She was just trying to say thank you, but she’d apparently crossed an invisible line.

  Maybe you weren’t supposed to touch an angel, or maybe he just didn’t want her to touch him. Either way, she’d have to be more careful. She didn’t want to run off the only thing standing between her and death.

  Chapter Six

  1.

  “We should leave,” Gabriel said. “It’s not safe for you to stay here.”

  It was true; it was very dangerous for them to stay in the cemetery any longer, but he would have said anything that would have given him a reason to step away from her. She made him feel…something. The brush of her lips on his cheek was too much for him to take. Was this part of God’s punishment for him?

  To put him with a woman who kept him off balance; that made him feel as if he were spinning in circles? He didn’t know, but he knew he would somehow have to find a way to keep his distance from her, without ever leaving her alone. He couldn’t let whatever it was he was feeling for her distract him from protecting her. He could not fail. There was too much at stake.

  “Um, sure, where do you want to go?” Dani asked.

  “It’s your city,” he said. “You decide.”

  “Clarksville’s a small college town,” Dani admitted. “There’s not really a lot to do here except shop, eat, and drink; and it’s way too early to drink.”

  “Alcohol?” Gabriel asked. “Do you drink alcohol?”

  He hadn’t watched her during her life up to this point, so he didn’t know what she did or didn’t like to do. He wished he’d have paid more attention to her when he’d had the chance. He couldn’t see her soul, so he was at a loss when it came to her.

  “Sometimes. I have plans tonight, actually. My friend, Donna, is taking me out to go dancing at Kicker’s. She thinks it will make me feel better after losing my mom. But you already made me feel better, didn’t you? That’s why I haven’t felt any grief since I woke up at the hotel, right?”

  “Yes, there’s no reason to grieve for your mother,” he said. “She’s in Heaven, so there is absolutely no reason for you to be sad anymore.”

  “You did the same thing for Mrs. T, didn’t you?” Dani asked. “You took her grief away when you healed her hips.”

  “I did,” he said. “Now can we get out of here?”

  “Right, sure,” she said. “Let’s go.”

  “Lead the way,” he said.

  “Can’t you just zap us home?”

  “Not unless you want to be vaporized
,” he said in horror, “Human beings weren’t made to withstand that particular mode of travel.”

  “Well shit, never mind then,” she said in mock terror.

  He had to suppress a small smile. He wasn’t sure that he actually liked her, but she was starting to grow on him.

  2.

  “You know you can’t go out dancing tonight, don’t you?” Gabriel said when they got back to her house later that afternoon.

  “Oh, yes I can. I promised her I would go. I’ve never broken a promise to Donna before, and I’m not about to start now.”

  “I won’t allow it,” Gabriel said.

  “You can’t stop me. The one thing that God gave to humans is freewill; you said so yourself. And it doesn’t seem to matter where I am, the Cambion keep finding me anyway,” Dani said. “It will be harder for them to find me in a room packed with dancing people.”

  “A bar is not a safe environment for you to be in right now,” Gabriel said.

  “Apparently, neither is my home,” she said.

  “If you go, I go.”

  “Of course you’re going. I wouldn’t dream of going without you, but can you dial back the angel mojo a little bit?” she asked. “I don’t need everybody at Kickers breaking their necks to bow down to you.”

  “I can try to blend in if you’d like,” Gabriel said. “And I promise to do my best to keep my ‘angel mojo’ in check.”

  “Good. Now if you’ll excuse me, I think I’ll try to take a nap before I have to get ready to go out tonight.”

  3.

  He thought she’d go upstairs to her room, but she walked over and laid down on the couch instead. She was asleep in a matter of minutes. He walked over to the smashed window pane on the floor and waved his hand above it. The glass swirled for a moment before rising from the floor. It rose into the empty window frame and repaired itself.

  He couldn’t believe he’d been foolish enough to leave his sword at the cemetery the night before. He’d been in such a hurry to get Dani out of there, that he’d left it behide. It was a mistake he could not afford to make again. It had taken precious time to summon the sword back to him. Time he may not have the next time.