by Nicole Thorn
I heard the clicking of a hammer being pulled back. I almost didn’t have time to react when I heard the next shot ring out. The bullet shot out of the chamber and I did the only thing I could do.
My wings ripped through my shirt and bra as they unfurled from their hiding spot so I could wrap them around Hale. My arms went around his neck as I wrapped my wings around him too. I held my wings tightly around him as every instinct in my body told me to protect him.
The same instincts that brought us down to Hell and away from the danger.
I only had a few seconds before the agony would set inside of his head. I gathered myself as quickly as I could so I could get us topside again. But it wasn’t quick enough for him to not get a peek of the place through my sky blue feathers.
I used everything in me to bring us to my bedroom.
We stood there, both catching our breath. I looked up at his face and moved my wings back so I could see him better. I let my arms drop from his neck.
I took a step back when I saw the look on his face. His mouth was dropped open and his eyes were wide as they tried to convince his brain that this was real.
My bedroom door opened and I heard Hadley. “Hey, Aurora you home—”
I turned to look at her and she was just as shocked as Hale was. She took in the scene and started slowly closing the door. All she could say was, “Fuuuuuuuck,” as it shut.
I looked back to Hale and it was like he didn’t even see her. He was still staring at me. He was in shock but I was coming back to normal. I looked down at myself and realized that I was topless. But at least Hale didn’t seem to notice.
Or at least I didn’t think he did. Then he pulled off his sweater and handed it to me, still looking like he wasn’t fully aware of what was happening.
With shaky hands I took it from him. I folded my wings back in and concealed them with the tiny bit of Fallen magic I have. I pulled the sweater on while I stared at Hale.
Through his heavy breathing and shock he said my name. I almost didn’t hear it. “Rory.”
The name I loved hearing from him. Born out of a strange affection he had for me for the silliest of reasons. It was my favorite word. But the way he said it…
Only once. One word. But it said so much. It said everything.
Rory, what just happened?
Rory, how are we here?
Rory, how did you do that?
Rory, why did you lie to me?
Rory, are you real.
Rory…what are you?
Who are you?
I saw all of those questions in his eyes and on his lips just waiting for him to say them. And I waited for his face to catch up to his mind. I waited for him to look terrified of me. For him to be disgusted with me. For him to leave me.
But I didn’t give him the chance.
The last thing I heard before I vanished into thin air in front of him, was my name being whispered one last time.
What I was sure would be the very last time I heard my name on his lips.
Chapter Twenty-Four: But Tomorrow There’ll Be Hell To Pay
I didn’t go home again for hours. I ignored twenty-seven calls from Hale, eight from Mom and four from Hadley. Eventually they got the hint.
The truth was that I was scared to talk to any of them. I didn’t want to hear my mom say I was irresponsible and I didn’t want Hadley to say it was all going to be alright. Most of all I didn’t want to hear Hale. I didn’t want to hear anything he might have to say. I don’t want to see his face when he calls me a monster.
I hid in the Hungry Bear restaurant at Disneyland. It was well after closing so I had to throw my invisibility shield up so the cast members wouldn’t see me.
When Hadley and I were little, before Dad got too sick to leave the house, we used to take a trip to Disneyland about every six weeks. I didn’t like Splash Mountain when I was a kid. So when Mom would take Hadley, Dad would sit and wait with me in the restaurant. We’d look out at the ducks in the river and watch the Mark Twain boat go by.
I went back home to sleep and I was so grateful that Hale didn’t wait for me. Then the happiness went away when I realized that he was probably at home having nightmares about me.
Saturday morning I woke up to my mother and my sister sitting on my bed. I was still in Hale’s sweater and it almost made me cry.
Then it did make me cry.
“Aurora,” my mom hugged me. “It’s going to be okay. Tell us what happened.”
My back hit the back of the bed. “What did you tell Hale?”
“Nothing,” Hadley said. “He came out of your room and he stared at me for a while. Then he just walked out of the house and drove home. No one said a word.”
Well that was something.
I went over the story of what happened with them. I told them about the gun and my wings coming out, though Hadley already knew. “And I don’t know who had the gun. Or why they were shooting at us, if they actually were.”
Mom and Hadley exchanged a look. “We shouldn’t rule anything out,” Mom decided. “Tell her about the cat,” she ordered my sister.
“Brom Cat came home. I already told you that. But his mouth was covered in blood. I think he took a piece of whoever grabbed him.”
“You think someone took him too?” I asked.
“What else could have happened?”
Nothing. This was part of it all. Even though my life was in danger, I couldn’t make myself care as much as I should. My mind was on Hale and Hale alone.
“I spent most of the night out with Hadley looking for anyone suspicious. But unfortunately, you would have been the most useful thing in that situation.” Mom didn’t say it accusingly, or with anger. Just a matter of fact.
“I’m sorry I took off,” I said. “I just didn’t know what else to do. He saw my wings. He knows now that there’s something really wrong with me.”
Mom put her hand on my knee. “There is nothing wrong with you. You’re not human. That doesn’t make you a freak and it doesn’t make you wrong. It makes you different and that’s okay.”
I shook my head. “You didn’t see the look on his face when he saw them.”
“Of course he was shocked. In seconds, everything he believed in got turned on it’s head and he found out his girlfriend isn’t human,” Hadley said, less soft than Mom was being.
“I’m not his girlfriend,” was all I said.
“Yes you are,” both of them said with the same inflection.
I rolled my eyes. “Try telling him that. But even if I was, I’m not now. I’m the Freakshow that teleported him after blue angel wings ripped themselves out of my back.”
Mom crossed her arms. “That is quite the dilemma. But I have no doubt you’ll figure out how to handle it.”
I seriously doubted that.
I needed a place to hide. I was too much of a coward to do the right thing and talk to Hale. Honestly, I didn’t know what I was going to say to him.
I decided to hide in Hell. The place was empty. No souls, no Sage. I was truly alone.
Hours went by and all I did was stare at the nothingness and the purple sky. I don’t know what I was hoping for. A sign in the nothingness? Some kind of hint on what to do? It gave me what it was. Nothing.
Something cut through the air and a body appeared. It only took me a couple seconds before I recognized him as Luc.
“Oh, hey,” he said when he saw me. He sat down. “Don’t suppose you’ve seen a hobo around?”
I shook my head. “Not in the,” I checked my phone, “six hours since I’ve been here.”
“Six?” his eyes popped open. “What are you doing down here?”
I pulled my knees to my chest and wrapped my arms around them. “I’m hiding.”
“From?”
“The boy. Hale. Something happened and…I just can’t see him right now.”
“Something bad?”
I nodded. “He saw my wings. He knows I’m not a human. And
that’s all he knows. I kinda left him in my bedroom and ran.”
“Oh. Well…that’s not…good.”
“Tell me about it,” I put my hands on my face and leaned my back against the side of the bus stop. “I don’t know what to do now.”
He thought for a few seconds and stood up. “Stay here. I’m going to bring someone that I think can help you.”
I did as he said and watched him vanish. He came back about a minute later with a woman I knew.
“Shiloh,” I smiled.
“Aurora, one of my top three favorite antichrists under eighteen,” she sat down and Luc did so too.
The woman was frozen at twenty and absolutely stunning. Her body was mildly upsetting to look at. She had curves that people would sell their souls for. Her eyes were hazel, leaning more to green. But they flashed amber when she used her powers. Then they matched the coloring of Luc’s. Here hair was shorter than it was the last time I saw her. It had been down to the middle of her back. But now the dark brown locks hung a few inches shorter.
“Top three?” I asked.
“Well, there’s you,” she ticked off on her finger, “Walter, and my daughter. Mallory gets the top spot. Sorry.” Mallory was the baby that Lucifer decided to give them to raise. She spent all of her time on Faith’s hip while Joey was on Shiloh’s during the visit.
“And Walter and I only got our spots because we were well behaved?”
“Yeah. You were angels compared to those darn kids,” she shook her head. “Anyway, Luc said you needed to talk?”
Luc nodded to me and I told Shiloh the whole story of last night. Her eyes popped open wide a few times but she was quiet ‘til I was done.
“Now she doesn’t know what to do about Hale,” Luc said. “I thought that since you were sprung into this life out of nowhere, you might have some helpful words for her.”
“Ah, well I guess I do,” she crossed her legs and faced me. She was dressed in shorts and it almost surprised me. It was the middle of November, then I remembered that her insides were made of fire and she didn’t need the warmth.
“So,” she started. “When I was human I got kidnapped. It kinda happens to me a lot,” she frowned. “But it was the day I found out what Luc was. I got brought down here. And I burned.” Her eyes darkened at the memories in her head. “It left me petrified. I believed in God and all that. But it was still hard finding out that it was all true. And that antichrists were real. It also happened to be the day I figured out I was in love with Luc. That…didn’t help much. That was how the man got me. I left to go call Luc and tell him to come get me. That I loved him and wanted to be with him… Then I was taken. After, I got dropped off at home and I was alone to try and fathom what I just learned.”
“What was the hardest part of finding out?”
She looked at her clasped hands for a second or two. “It was the uncertainty. Of…everything. I was scared out of my mind and confused. The only thing I wanted in the whole world was for Luc to show up. And he did,” she smiled. “Then he got me drunk.”
“You got you drunk,” he said. “I never forced that alcohol on you.”
“Fine,” she rolled her eyes. “Anyway, that was how I coped with it that first day. Not a great idea. But once I talked to Luc, once he explained more, I felt a little better.”
“Did it change how you felt about him?”
She shook her head. “No, but it changed how I felt about myself. I loved him even knowing he was everything that I was raised to be scared of. I knew who he was and I knew that just because something comes from evil and darkness, it doesn’t mean that’s what they are.”
“What do you think I should do? What would you have wanted if you were Hale?”
She glanced back at Luc for a second and he smiled crookedly at her. “I’d want you. I’d want to be told the truth. I hate to say this, but he’s probably half convinced he’s insane right now. I almost thought I was.”
“Oh god,” I hung my head. “I didn’t explain anything…he’s…” I didn’t want to think about what I did to him.
“Tell him what you are,” Shiloh said. “If you love him, he deserves the truth from you.”
She was right. He already knew most of it. It was just those final pieces that he was missing. Pieces he’s probably trying to figure out right now.
“What if he gets scared of me?” I asked timidly.
Her expression was sympathetic. “If he loves you, it won’t matter. But you need to tell him. You can’t let him go the rest of his life not knowing what he saw. It’s not fair to him. You just need to have faith in him.”
I did. There was nothing I believed in like Hale. I just needed to trust that he wouldn’t run.
My hand went to the locket he gave me and my head turned with everything he said in giving it to me. Even though I didn’t let him say the words, I knew what it meant.
“Thank you,” I said to the both of them. “I just need to figure out how to explain this all.”
She smiled. “Hand me your phone.”
I didn’t know why, but I did what she asked. She tapped on it for a few seconds and handed it back. “Tell me how it went.”
“Okay,” I nodded and stood up.
“Good luck,” Shiloh moved so that she was facing the same way Luc was. He put his arm around her. “Just be honest with him about anything he wants to know. Give him what you would want if it was you.”
“I will.” I focused on home and left them in Hell.
Hale didn’t call for the rest of the weekend. Though I wasn’t trying to call him either. This wasn’t something to be done over the phone. I thought about going to his house but his whole family was there.
So I did nothing.
I needed to see him in person to do this. And I was scared that he wouldn’t want to see me.
Monday morning he didn’t show up to bring me to school and that didn’t make me feel any better about talking to him.
When I got to school I didn’t even see his truck in the parking lot. I was starting to think I would never see him again. Maybe he up and took off. Maybe I drove him crazy.
I sat through my first three classes completely unfocused on the lessons for the day. Thank God no one called on me. I would have said complete mush.
When the bell rang in third hour my heart started skipping. I didn’t think Hale would be here at all today, so theoretically I should have been calm. But my body enjoyed revolting against me.
I walked into History and what do you know, Hale wasn’t there. So I sat down. Worried and relieved.
Class started and Mr. Dixon started giving us a talk about the final coming up next month. I couldn’t care less but I knew I should. I’d like to graduate the first time around.
“I’ll be handing out study guides and you’ll be able to use one page from it as you take your—”
The door swung open and a ragged looking Hale walked through. He made a beeline for me.
“Mr. Wyatt,” the teacher said. “Nice of you to join us. Even a half hour late.”
Hale ignored him and instead decided to grab my wrist and start pulling me out of the classroom. “We need to talk.” I barely could grab my backpack before I was out of the room and in the hall. Mr. Dixon called after us but gave up without a fight.
Hale let go of me and stood with his hands on his hips. His eyes had dark circles like he hadn’t been sleeping. “You, you didn’t tell me,” he said.
I felt two feet tall. “I’m sorry. But how was I supposed to tell you something like this?” I stared at the floor and shook my head. “This is why I don’t have human friends.”
He choked out a laugh. “Human…because you’re not human. You’re something else entirely.” His voice was squeaky and frantic.
I covered his mouth when he started getting loud. “Yeah. I know I’m not human.”
He pulled my hand away. “And when did you plan on telling me you’re an angel?”
I had to laug
h at that one. “I am not an angel.”
“Really?” he said, hostilely. He reached into his pocket and pulled something out that I recognized instantly. It was one of my feathers. He dragged it across his hand, feeling it. “You left this behind when you…disappeared. So I knew it was real. It had to be real. Was it real?”
He looked so scared. I needed to tell him everything. But not here. “It was real. Can we go somewhere and talk about this?”
He stared down at my feather and nodded. Then I took his hand and led him to his truck.
When we got there he said, “Wouldn’t you rather just teleport?” It wasn’t quite mocking but I didn’t like the tone.
“No,” I said harshly and got into the truck. He started driving and we didn’t talk again until we stepped foot in my room.
I sat on the corner of my bed and he stood in front of me. “Ask me what you need to know.”
He rubbed his mouth with his hand. “Tell me about how you’re an angel.”
“I’m not an angel. I already said that.”
“Then what the Hell are you?” he yelled. When I flinched in surprise, his entire demeanor changed. He reacted like he’d hit me. He knelt to the floor and put his hands on my face. “I’m sorry. I just…I just need to understand what’s happening.” His hands covered mine on my lap.
I took a moment to gather myself. “What you saw was very real. I said I wasn’t an angel, but my father is. Was,” I squeezed my eyes shut before I opened them again. “He Fell.”
I watched as his mind absorbed that. “The man I met…he is a Fallen angel?”
I nodded and my heart went to my throat. “Yeah. But that’s not the part that’s going to make you walk away and never come back.” Hot tears rolled down my cheeks as I tried to be stronger than I was. “I didn’t want to tell you, but you deserve to know. My father isn’t just a Fallen. He’s the angel who caused the Fall.”
Hale swallowed hard. “But…the angel that caused the Fall was Lucifer.”
I didn’t say a word.
“You’re the daughter of The Devil?”
“Yes,” I said quietly.
His face was stone. “So, the man who I met…was…The Devil? I met The Devil?”
