“How are you able to be here, not doing your job, with the Revenant at my back?” she asked him.
The angel of death began to chuckle, and she put her hand on her hip, maintaining a straight face as she stared at him. She was going to stand her ground and wait for an answer. She was done with all the games the angels had to play with her.
“First of all, the Revenant doesn’t own this world. In fact, they don’t own any world at all. Just because they are the ruling class does not mean they control everything. If I have learned anything, it is that,” Oryx snapped bitterly in the most serious mood she had seen him in since their first meeting.
“Besides, look around you, Alexandra. Doesn’t this look like death’s domain?” he asked, that familiar smirk coming back to his features as his body relaxed again. Alex looked around with the wave of his hand and had to agree. Death was everywhere in this place and why the Revenant had picked this place for operations, she could only guess. And she had no good guesses at the moment.
"I guess you can't always be wrong," Alex told him, crossing her arms over her chest defensively. For some reason she hated admitting that Oryx made any sense at all. Maybe it was because she was starting to feel that there was something inside of her that wasn't all white and pure and right. Maybe that was just part of growing up, though, and had nothing to do with the evil he reeked of. "So, since you’re here, why don't you tell me what happened to this place? Why does it look like this? How was it destroyed?" Alex questioned him, unsure that she actually wanted the answer. Deep down her fear was that this was the very fate awaiting her own world. And then what would it be like for her family and friends when the time came? Would they feel unimaginable pain or just be gone in a second?
Alex shivered at the mere thought.
Oryx looked thoughtful a moment as if weighing his options in actually revealing something to her. "I think I will let the ones with the white wings tell you this one. I know that they mean to in time. Or maybe that boy they are keeping like a loyal little servant."
Alex narrowed her eyes at him. "You mean Gabe." It wasn't a question. There was no mistaking who he could mean. "So what, you just like know everything and everyone?" she accused. He was less like an angel and more like a ghost.
"No, not everything. I still don't know how this all ends," he said quietly. "I just get around a lot."
Alex scoffed at that. "So, what now?"
"Well, if you are not going to go back in, maybe you would like to take a walk with me?" he asked, raising an eyebrow at her.
"I never thought I would say this, but right now I would rather face you than anyone in that building." She felt her arms relax at her sides, very much aware yet again of her hunger and thirst as they fell in step together, her a little bit ahead so his wings did not block the view of his face.
"Even if it doesn't mean much, I appreciate the sentiment," Oryx said, breaking the silence that had been laid over them like a blanket. That was the most striking thing, even with everything burning and churning, it was dead quiet. "They have not fed or satiated you," he said as a loud growl emitted from her stomach. There was no use hiding it.
"No, it's like they have some spell that keeps us from needing anything. Guess it broke when I came out here."
"If you would allow me to, I can fix that." Oryx stopped and looked into Alex's eyes, and she shuddered in the same way she had before, in the way she hated. She was not supposed to feel anything for such a creature, a purveyor of death and pure selfishness. How did he keep getting under her skin?
Alex shrugged, trying not to let him know his gaze affected her. "What choice do I have?"
His hand reached out towards her, and just before it landed on the side of her stomach, he hesitated, a slight quiver that she might not have caught had she not been watching him so intensely. She told herself it was to make sure he didn't try anything, but the truth was too scary to even analyze.
His hand covered up the right of her stomach, almost like a man feeling for the kick of his baby from an outsider's perspective, and then she felt the area heat up. It was an almost unbearable warmth, but she began to feel better, as if she had just had a glass of water and a large meal.
"Thank you," she gruffed out as he pulled away, neither of them able to form anything else in that moment. She did not like this. The back of her mind screamed at her to stop feeling whatever it was she refused to give a name to; to tear her eyes away from him. "What's your motive?" she managed to ask him quietly, dragging them out of whatever trance they had fallen into. "Like, why are you even here right now? I am clearly not dying."
Oryx recovered, going back to his typical arrogant stance. "Maybe I just wanted to check out how you were doing and see if you might be on the winning team here," he said with a smile, and she rolled her eyes. "Or maybe it's something more than that." She couldn't help but feel his searing gaze on her lips, and she looked away.
"That can't be possible. You're evil, and you can't feel anything else but that." Alex wasn't sure who she was trying to convince as she turned her back to him. She felt him brush up against her hair before turning back around to find him backing away quickly.
"You think it's so straightforward? I have a test for you. Is it good for a good man to die?"
Alex shook her head. "That was easy. I think you've gone soft," she teased.
"Is it good for a bad man to die?" he asked, ignoring her jab.
Alex bit her lip. "If I say yes, then I just wished ill of someone. If I say no, then I have said I am okay with a bad man continuing to live and do bad things. There's no winning."
"My point exactly."
Chapter 8
You have to learn the rules of the game. And then you have to play better than anyone else. ~Unknown
JUST like that, Oryx was gone as quickly and mysteriously as he had appeared, leaving Alex feeling lost and discombobulated. She turned on her heels and walked back towards the door she came out, not knowing what else she could do. It wasn't like she was going to stay out there in the barren world forever and expect to survive or make any progress with all the others on the inside. She knew she would owe them all answers; an explanation as to her outbursts. And then the fact that she didn't get hurt when she walked out of that room. But she didn't know the answer to that any more than they did. If it were up to her, she would just go and rest instead. There was no rest in a place like this, though.
Alex didn’t know what to expect when she went back inside, what her punishment might be for what she had done, but she was quickly approached by an angel she did not recognize. "Your presence has been requested by Emuriel," he said in a deep voice, and he turned and escorted her, not waiting on her to give any kind of response.
With a sigh, Alex followed all the way back to those golden doors she had been through before. They opened for her, and she realized that this time she was going to be all on her own as the guards and everyone else were dismissed. It was just Emuriel and herself in the room, and she didn't know if she could trust anything he said now. Or anything she felt.
She allowed herself a long look over him again without even hiding it. Every time he appeared with his striking white hair and his predatory gaze, Alexandra was taken by surprise. There was a hint of some other feeling there too, but she would never admit it.
"What have I been asked here for; am I going to be punished?"
Emuriel leaned to one side, his hand on his face thoughtfully as he looked her over. She swore his gaze burned her like he was trying to read her very soul. Perhaps that was exactly what he was up to. "I don't think so, but I need to know some things from you if I am going to keep you safe. Our goal has never been to punish but guide unless guidance is out of the question." Alex knew exactly who that was a jab at, but she let it roll off her back.
"Good to know I can still be guided to do what you want. So what is it you want to know?" Alex retorted, defeated.
"I want to know what your power is and if it had anything to do wit
h breaking through our barriers without harm."
Alex looked at Emuriel in surprise. That was not what she was expecting. Could it have to do with her powers? She didn't even know them. "I don't know what my powers are. I never discovered them, though everyone assumes I must have at least one. Look, shouldn't you be able to like look at me and tell?" she wondered out loud.
Emuriel actually cracked a smile, and instead of looking unnatural like she might have expected, it made him even more breathtaking. It was like he was giving her a gift. She felt her heart begin to pound in her chest. "There are some angels who are good with those sorts of things, but no, it is not a given just because I lead the Revenant. I don't think most beings understand what it is we actually do and don't do."
"I would have to agree with that, especially considering a lot of people don't even believe in you." She regretted it the moment she said it, but it was the absolute truth. She didn't know before this that angels and any of that could be real. She wasn't adamantly against the idea, but it was right up there with the possible belief in fairies and werewolves.
"There's no reason to be afraid of speaking the truth. You are right that in many cultures we seem like a myth. Sometimes, though, it is easier to operate when no one knows exactly where we are or what we are doing."
Alex shook her head, unsure if she could ever think of it that way. “So, then, you don't know what my power is," she said flatly.
"No, I don't. There are some possibilities, but speculation can be dangerous. What I do know is that you are special." She felt her cheeks getting warm at the statement. A lot of the tension she had held before was dissipating, and she was turning back to her normal self, at least the new normal she had created for herself since landing herself with the Revenant. "In fact," he started again, forcing her to gaze into his eyes as he bored deeply into hers. They were a deep blue like the ocean at night time, and they pulled her in just the same. "If you stick around and learn, you might even get to be like us one day. Our work is never done, and we can always use more righteous bodies to help with our cause."
Alex was mesmerized by Emuriel and what he was offering to her; a chance to be something angelic and pure, a chance to do some good with what she had been given. Maybe she wouldn't be a waste after all.
"I know how the dark angel tempted you. I know how he made you believe things and feel things so that you would find a way to save him and make sure that he lived," Emuriel said suddenly in a deep and quiet tone. That struck Alex, a lone tear escaping from her right eye at the thought of Amon betraying her. And yet, the way he was saying it, it just made so much sense. Why would such a figure, this pure, white winged angel, lie about such a thing? It was hard to think of the man she had loved so deeply, the only one she had ever loved, as a trickster, as bad, and it was easy to make excuses for him. Like maybe he did love her for giving him hope. But either way, it was still being used.
"You think he tricked me?” she asked meekly, wanting him to say it outright.
"Those dark angels, they were stripped of their white wings and their positions here for a reason, Alexandra. We are all given the power to tempt and influence, such as the way we make you not hungry or thirsty, but it is how we use it that defines what kind of angel we are and whether or not we can be trusted."
Alex slowly nodded, letting the information run through her body slow as molasses. Otherwise, she would choke on it.
Part 3:
Gabe & Tanner
Chapter 9
Red is such an interesting color to correlate with emotion, because it's on both ends of the spectrum. On one end you have happiness, falling in love, infatuation with someone, passion, all that. On the other end, you've got obsession, jealousy, danger, fear, anger and frustration. ~Taylor Swift
TANNER felt numb as they were all led back into, their room almost like cattle, and he kept looking to Gabe his new found...well, he didn't know what he was. There were times when he believed they could be friends, maybe even something more than friends, and then there were times that there was a complete disconnect because of the way he preached about the Revenant and believed in every little thing they said. Not that Tanner didn't want to believe they could help or get them through whatever came next. In those darkest moments his mind did drift to his little siblings who were waiting on him to come home. He at least hoped they were being taken care of for all his trouble.
The minute the door shut behind the four of them, Gabe began to pace back and forth quickly so that the others had to get out of his path. His hands were in the air angrily as he began to rant and rave about Alex, who had done the craziest thing imaginable; risked her life to leave the building because she was upset. Secretly, Tanner wanted to give her a high five, and he knew from Carlie’s thoughts that she did too. It made him smile, how much the two of them were alike sometimes. Even if Carlie didn't realize it, she was always comparing herself to Alex like one of them was a better model. But it was absolute insanity, and who knew if and when she would be back.
If she did come back, it was clear that Gabe wasn't going to be missing her at all.
"Why in the world did she have to go and fall in love with a dark angel in the first place? It seems to me to be common sense not to trust them or even go near them. They are dangerous and have all done something resulting in being permanently punished. I can't believe someone who seems so smart would fall so hard for their tricks like that," Gabe began, seething between clenched teeth. "That's what has you all tainted; they've told me this. It’s her relationship with that chained up angel back in your home world. They are not something to mess with. Now, to make matters worse, she is trying to defy the Revenant and all their rules and knowledge. She is going to get all of us left behind for dead!" he screeched in a harsh finality that Tanner had a hard time believing. He didn't foresee light angels killing or even indirectly killing a bunch of teens no matter what they had done. But it did put emphasis on whatever it was Amon must have done to land himself chained inside of a city clock tower.
"Why is she making things so hard for all of us? Why can’t she just accept all of it and control herself?" he continued.
Tanner fell down onto the bed, completely overwhelmed by the events of the day, like meeting the leader of the Revenant with his powerful stare. Then watching Alex walk to what he was certain was her death, to escape the awful words Emuriel had said. Top it off with the crush he had on this guy that the rest of his friends didn't even know or trust, and it was becoming too much for him to bear. In his head, he often held thoughts other than his own now that he had opened up to using his power. It wasn't so easy to control. The others seemed to be getting a break from their powers while his were amplifying.
"Can we just calm down for a moment, please. All the girl did was fall in love. What is wrong with that?" Carlie asked, slapping her hands down on her lap as she sat on the cot next to Nick. It wasn't lost on Tanner that she had been spending more time with Nick lately, and he wondered what was going on there. He had always seen her being with someone who was obviously head over heels for her, waiting on her hand and foot, and Nick did not seem the type. He seemed cocky and rude half the time. Impulsive. He also had to admit he missed their closeness. She was his rock and he hers for so long now.
"What's wrong with it? She fell in love with evil, and it made her vulnerable," Gabe answered feverishly.
Tanner sat up and looked at Gabe with curiosity. "Why are you so passionate about this, Gabe?" Tanner inquired, making Gabe stop for a moment. If nothing else, that was an accomplishment.
Gabe sighed and came to sit next to Tanner, surprising him a bit. "I was just like all of you. I still am like all of you, and I learned the truth. I had to learn it all by myself, and I watched as my world was destroyed." Gabe pointed towards the window, and a collective gasp went around the room.
"This was your world?" Carlie asked him in an almost whisper as he nodded his answer.
"This was my world. This is where they found me, and
they saved me from all of it. Without them I would not be here, and not just because of the way my world ended. Sure, they saved me from the destruction because of my powers, my ability to shapeshift into anything I wanted. It was a skill I had to discover and hone all on my own. I never knew if there were more like you because we were never able to find each other, and I doubt the Revenant could have saved us all in time. Our world was destroyed because of a dark angel, and all that was left of it was me. They gave me the strength I needed to carry on; a purpose."
Tanner placed his hand over Gabe's leg in comfort. It just felt natural. That was horrible, and he couldn't begin to imagine what that would have been like to stick around for the destruction of the world and then face it alone, face the aftermath of it alone for that matter. He was beginning to see why Gabe might be so loyal to these light angels.
"I am sorry if we have not been giving them enough credit, but you understand we have family and friends back where we came from that we don't want to lose. And how were we to know the dark angels, the light angels, any of them were good or bad?" Tanner reasoned, and Gabe shook his head.
"No, I know. I get that, but it will be easier for you if you just cooperate and listen to them now." Gabe dropped his hand onto his leg as Tanner was moving his away, and he felt an electric current go through him as their hands brushed and their eyes met. Something was happening, at least for Tanner. This was no backseat make out.
Chapter 10
Falling in love consists merely in uncorking the imagination and bottling the common sense. ~Helen Rowland
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