When Angels Fall

by Stephanie Jackson

  “You sound a lot like my Father,” Gabriel said to Dani, and walked over and drove his sword through Sraosha’s heart, effectively ending what never should have started in the first place.

  “I’m sorry,” he mumbled. “I don’t know how to even begin to explain…”

  “You don’t have to,” Michael said. “Just, no more, alright?”

  Gabriel nodded his head in agreement, “No more.”

  “And for the love of God, would you stop throwing me around?” Michael said. “I’m on your side in this, remember?”

  “Of course I remember,” Gabriel said sheepishly. “Sorry, little brother.”

  Dani linked her arms through theirs and led them towards the house, hoping things would be less…intense, inside, “How is he your little brother? Weren’t all four Archangels created at the same time?”

  “No, Lucifer and I were created first,” Gabriel said. “Then Michael was created, followed not long after by Raphael.”

  “They both have more power than Raphael and I,” Michael said. “That’s one of the reasons that Gabriel is the only one who can defeat Lucifer. They were created to be equal to one another.”

  “That’s not really good news,” Dani said.

  “I said they were created to be equal, but they didn’t remain that way,” Michael said. “Lucifer may have been our Father’s favorite, but I don’t think our Father ever fully trusted him. If he had of he wouldn’t have given the power to smite exclusively to Gabriel.”

  “Speaking of our Father,” Gabriel said. “What has He said to you about being down here so much?”

  “Nothing,” Michael said. “He hasn’t said a single word to me about it. As a matter of fact, except for the one message He sent to you, He hasn’t spoken of what’s happening now on Earth at all.”

  “What message?” Dani asked.

  “It was nothing that concerns you,” Gabriel lied easily. “Just a private family matter.”

  Michael rolled his eyes. Dani saw it, and Gabriel had a strong urge to punch Michael in the face.

  Dani looked at Gabriel, “Are you lying to me about something?”

  “Absolutely not,” Gabriel lied again. “Why would I do that?”

  “I don’t know, but I know your hiding something from me.”

  “That’s enough,” Michael said and touched Dani on top of her head. She slumped over on the couch in a dead sleep.

  “What did you do that for?” Gabriel asked.

  “So we can talk,” Michael said. “Do you want to tell me what’s gotten into to you?”

  Gabriel shrugged, “I don’t know what you mean.”

  “Yes, you do. I’ve never known you to lie before, Gabriel. About anything,” Michael said. “Now you lie with nearly every breath.”

  “Nothing we know will benefit Dani. It would only upset her,” Gabriel said. “Michael, please let our last little bit of time together be as peaceful as possible for her.”

  “Fine, I won’t offer any information right now,” Michael agreed. “But when you die, if you die, I’m going to tell her everything.”

  “I would expect no less,” Gabriel said.

  “I said if you die,” Michael said with a smile. “I told you I’m still holding out hope.”

  5.

  “Where’s Michael?” Dani asked when she walked out onto the porch a couple of hours later.

  “He left,” Gabriel said. “He’s been helping us as much as he can, but he still has responsibilities in Heaven.”

  She sat down next to him on the steps and rested her head on his shoulder, “Did one of you knock me out? The last thing I remember is walking back in the house with the two of you.”

  Gabriel laughed, “Of course we didn’t. You passed out as soon as you crossed the threshold. You’ve lost a lot of blood. You’ll be weak for a few days, but you’ll be alright soon.”

  “Uh-huh,” she said.

  She didn’t know why, but she didn’t believe him. She was sure she was weak from the blood loss, but she was equally as sure that she hadn’t passed out. Not on her own, anyway.

  “So,” she said, changing the subject. “Did all the people at the restaurant die today when the demons converged on it?”

  “No,” Gabriel said. “Humans can’t actually see demons unless the demon wants to be seen, and the demons today had no interest in the humans in that building. There was some screaming, but I imagine that was from the sheer smell of the demons. They probably thought they were breathing in poison.”

  “Why can’t they see them?” Dani asked. “I’m human and I can see them.”

  “You carry the Blood of God,” he said. “That changes things a bit.”

  “That girl that helped me today,” Dani said. “She had no idea that she was a Nephilim. How is that possible?”

  “No Nephilim knows what they are before they’re needed,” he explained. “Cambion only know what they are because they are contacted early in their life by their demon father. A demon that creates a Nephilim never contacts the child. To do so would alert other demons to what they have done. It would mean the death of them and their child.”

  “So a Nephilim leads a normal life until they’re called on to serve God?”

  “If they are ever called on at all,” Gabriel said. “Most Nephilim lead their entire lives without knowing they’re different from everyone else.”

  “I guess it’s better that way,” Dani said. “That girl was terrified.”

  Gabriel shrugged.

  “Are you alright?” she asked.

  Gabriel took her hand and kissed her fingers, “I will be. I just didn’t expect to have to fight Heaven and Hell.”

  Dani jumped when Gabriel jerked his head around and stared out into the darkness. She held her breath until his shoulders relaxed.

  “What was it?” she asked nervously.

  “Just a ghost,” he said. “Don’t worry, it can’t hurt you.”

  “I know a ghost can’t hurt me,” she said. “I know there’s no such thing as ghosts, Gabriel, so stop teasing me.”

  “Ghosts are very real,” Gabriel said, and smiled at her. “You’ve even met one in the last few days.”

  “Right…” she said. “I think I would have noticed if I’d met a ghost, Gabriel.”

  “I bet you wouldn’t have. Not now anyway, because he’s no longer a ghost. He was…I mean not to long ago…he used to…never mind, it’s a mess. A lot about Potter’s family is confusing. Even to me.”

  “One of Potter’s family members used to be a ghost?” she asked in astonishment. “Who?”

  Gabriel laughed, “If you don’t know, I’m not going to tell you.”

  “That’s not fair,” she said.

  He laughed again, “Life rarely is.”

  “Are you serious?” she asked. “Is there really a ghost out there?”

  “Yes, there is.”

  “Okay then,” she said and launched herself into his lap.

  Gabriel laughed and put his arm around her, “Are you telling me that you’re more afraid of ghosts than you are demons and Cambion?”

  “I can see the Cambion and demons,” she said. “I can’t see the ghost. That makes it creepier.”

  “I can fix that,” he said and raised his hand out in front of him.

  In the distance, she saw something start to glow and shimmer. She didn’t know if Gabriel was causing it, but it was also getting closer. She buried her face in Gabriel’s neck.

  “Look at it, Dani,” Gabriel said. “It’s not going to hurt you.”

  She slowly raised her head and looked in front of them. What she saw wasn’t so much scary as it was sad. It was an old woman in long, old fashioned dress that went from her neck to her feet. The ghost gazed at them. The look in the woman’s eyes was almost as if she were pleading with them.

  Dani whispered, “What’s wrong with her? Why does she look so sad?”

  “She’s just lost,” Gabriel said. “She can’t go back and she can’t go for
ward. She’s stuck on this plane of existence and can’t find a way out.”

  “How did she get lost?”

  “She either chose not to go with her angel or her angel never came for her at the time of her death,” he explained. “Either way she’s stuck here until the final Day of Judgment comes.”

  “Can’t you help her?”

  “I could, but it’s not really my place to do so,” he said. “She has an angel somewhere that is responsible for her.”

  “Well pardon me for saying so, but her angel has shit the bed on this one,” Dani said. “Help her.”

  “Dani, I shouldn’t…”

  “You did something horribly wrong tonight,” she reminded him. “Now do something right.”

  Gabriel thought about it for a few seconds before nodding his head and standing up to walk over to the ghost.

  “I’m going to help you,” he said to the woman. “This won’t hurt, but I need you to stay very still. Can you do that?”

  The old woman nodded her head, and Gabriel slid his hands inside the ghost’s body. When he pulled his hands back out, the woman was gone and Gabriel was cupping a bright purple light the size of a softball in his hands.

  He held his hand up and blew on the ball of light. It reminded Dani of how she’d blown on dandelion puffs as a child; scattering the seeds to the wind. The ball lifted from his hands and hovered in the air for a moment before starting to rise.

  The light rose slowly at first, but the higher it went, the faster it flew. Soon it had zipped out of sight.

  “That was beautiful,” she said in wonder. “Is it always like that?”

  “Not for me. The souls reap tend to be of a darker nature. The pretty work is for the lesser angels.”

  “Are the souls always purple?” she asked.

  “No,” he answered. “They can be any color at all. It just depends on the soul.”

  “How do you feel?”

  “A little better, actually,” he admitted. “It’s been a long time since I’ve actually helped a soul.”

  Dani smiled at him, “Good,” she said and yawned.

  “Bed,” Gabriel said and pulled her to her feet. “You need to rest if you want to get your strength back any time soon.”

  “Okay, just don’t…”

  “Knock you out, I know,” he said, and walked her into the house. “I promised you I wouldn’t do that again.”

  “So it was Michael then?”

  “Dani, let it go,” Gabriel said. “Go up to bed.”

  “Not without you.”

  “I don’t need to go to bed,” he reminded her. “I don’t sleep.”

  “I didn’t ask you to sleep,” she said and pulled him up the stairs to the master bedroom.

  Chapter Eighteen

  1.

  “Does an angel have to fall to Earth every time they come down here?” Dani asked awhile after their lovemaking. “Because I’ve noticed Michael just seems to come and go as he pleases.”

  “No, we only have to fall once to establish a connection. After that, it’s just a matter of transporting back and forth until our work here is done. If we haven’t been down here for awhile, then the connection is broken and you have to fall again,” he explained. “And you’re supposed to be sleeping.”

  “I’m trying, but I can’t turn my brain off,” she said, and rolled over in the bed to lay her head on his chest. “I’m scared.”

  Gabriel traced his fingers down her back, smiling in the dark when he felt goosebumps rise on her skin, “There’s no need to be.”

  “Be that as it may, I’m terrified about what’s going to happen when Lucifer rises.”

  “I’m going to kill him,” he said. “End of story. There will be no trip to Tartarus for him. Now go to sleep.”

  “You’ve said that word several times,” she said. “What is Tartarus?”

  “It’s where evil souls and bound angels go to await God’s final Judgment. It’s not quite Hell, but it’s not a good place.”

  “Okay. What if Lucifer kills you?” she asked. “What happens then?”

  “Then Lucifer will win you, but that’s not going to happen.”

  She was quiet for a few minutes, and Gabriel thought she’d finally slipped off to sleep. He was startled when she spoke again.

  “Talk to me,” she said.

  “About what?”

  “I don’t care,” she said. “Talk about anything. Tell me something biblical that I don’t know.”

  “Biblical,” he said, “Alright. Would you like to know where Jesus was during his lost years?”

  “Are you kidding me?” she asked. “I would love to know that. Absolutely no one has any idea where he was during that time. All we know is that he was missing from the Bible from the age of twelve to thirty.”

  “He was with me and the Angels of Ministry.”

  “Who are the Angels of Ministry?” she asked. “I’ve never heard of them.”

  “I’m not surprised,” he said. “The Angels of Ministry are sent down by my Father to humans He has personally selected. They deliver the real word of God to Earth.”

  “Okay, but where was Jesus for seventeen years?”

  “At a place known as Pumapunku near Tiwanaku, Bolivia,” he said.

  “Bullshit,” she exclaimed. “I asked for a biblical story, not a fairytale.”

  “Why do you think it’s a fairytale?”

  She said, “Because I know a lot about that place.”

  “Then by all means, fill me in,” he said, laughing. “You must know more about it than I do.”

  “I know it’s really old and that it’s yet another site that the conspiracy theorist think was built by aliens,” she said. “All of the huge stones there were moved and carved in a way that we can’t even match now, so it must have been built by little green men.

  “Pumapunku was eventually abandoned. They assumed that there was an environmental change that caused the people that resided there to move on. There’s no written word from that time to prove anything, so all Archeologists’ can do is guess at what Pumapunku’s purpose was and what happened to force the people to abandon it.”

  “Did you learn that in school along with the Tunguska Event?”

  “No,” she admitted. “The History Channel; it’s my guilty pleasure. I love watching the documentaries about ancient mystery spots.”

  “It’s a very nice story,” he said, “But your version of Pumapunku is the fairytale. The truth is that no little green men were required to build Pumapunku. The stones were moved and carved by the swords of Archangels; mostly mine and Michael’s.

  “We built it as a Holy place. A place where the Chosen could come and learn the Word of God, undisturbed by outside stimuli. I was on Earth for thirty years at that time; from the time Jesus was born until his teachings at Pumapunku were complete. But Jesus wasn’t the first man that was brought there.

  “Moses and several others spent time there as well, though they weren’t there as long as Jesus. Jesus was the last person to receive the Teachings of God there. After he left, we abandoned the site. Before that, the site was always occupied by angels, even when not in use.

  “It didn’t take the people surrounding Pumapunku long to figure out we had left. They thought they must have done something to displease us, and started sacrificing humans to regain our favor.

  “God wasn’t happy about that; my Father is very touchy about the Thou Shall Not Kill thing. We were ordered to destroy Pumapunku and its inhabitants. None of the people that lived in the vicinity of Pumapunku ever left the area; I smote them all. And that is the real story of Pumapunku. Now go to sleep.”

  “They estimate that some of the large stones at Pumapunku weigh over 130 tons,” she said. “You can really lift that kind of weight?”

  Gabriel sighed, “You’re not going to go to sleep, are you?”

  “It doesn’t look like it,” Dani said. “Not anytime soon, anyway.”

  “Come with me and I’ll show
you something.”

  2.

  Gabriel grabbed his sword and led her outside and around the back of the house. There was a huge stone at the back of the property. It stood taller than her and was at least three feet thick and four feet wide.

  “This stone weighs approximately ten tons,” he said. “Do you agree?”

  She looked at the stone in the bright moonlight and nodded her head, “At least.”

  “Do you want to try to move it?” he asked with a grin.

  She pushed against the large rock, putting all of her weight into it, but it didn’t move. She’d never really expected it to.

  “I could push and shove on it day in and day out until the end of time, and I’d never budge it even a fraction of an inch.”

  “Of course you wouldn’t be able to move it,” he said.

  “Oh, snap,” she said.

  “Don’t take it wrong, but you are only human.”

  “Snap, again!” she taunted. “All right, big boy. Let’s see what you’ve got.”

  He winked at her and said, “Watch this, love.”

  He put his hands against the stone and held them still. She thought he was preparing himself to push the large rock, but she was wrong. Without him applying any pressure that she could see, the stone started to lift from the ground.

  When it was about two feet in the air, Gabriel removed his hands from the stone. Dani jumped back to get out of the way of its crashing weight, but it didn’t fall…it floated.

  “Now move the stone,” he said.

  “Are you sure…?”

  “Go ahead,” he urged. “Give it a push.”

  She stepped forward and gave the stone a tiny shove. She was amazed when it floated away from her.

  She looked at Gabriel, “That’s incredible.”

  “It’s how all the stones at Pumapunku were moved.”

  “How did you carve them?” she asked, though she knew it had something to do with his sword. “They were precision perfect.”

  Gabriel set the stone back on the ground, “Like this.”

  He touched the sword to the granite; it melted through it like the stone was made of butter, leaving a crisp clean edge on the stone.