Branded (Fall of Angels)

by Keary Taylor

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

   

  It felt like the amount of cleaning I had to catch up on should have taken longer.  Sadly it didn’t.  When I found myself twiddling my thumbs in the evening, I headed to Sal’s, trying to ignore the burn that blazed on the back of my neck.

  I found Sal sitting next to the window that faced Cole’s house, glaring through the blinds.  From the looks of her, she hadn’t changed her clothes or bathed in a few days.

  “Is everything alright, Sal?” I said as I draped my coat over the back of a chair.

  “Why is he here?” she hissed as she continued her intense glare out the window.

  “Who?  Cole?”

  “That man shouldn’t be here,” she mumbled.  “You shouldn’t be spending time with him, Jessica.”  I realized then that Sal had probably been watching as Cole and I had gone out on the lake in the canoe.

  I was taken aback by her comment.  I had never heard her speak like this before.  She was always so caring, crazy and unpredictable at times, but never hostile.  Though I had heard her screaming her ex-husbands name in her sleep before.

  “Cole is a nice guy,” I said as I seated myself on the couch, tucking my legs under me.  “He’s really sorry about scaring you the other day.  He told me to tell you that.”

  “I don’t like him,” she said as she went to the other couch.  “He should leave.”

  I could only silently chuckle and shake my head.  Sal was stubborn; she didn’t often change her mind about things.  I knew there wasn’t going to be much I could do to change her opinion of Cole.  But then again, I wasn’t really sure what my own opinion of him was.

  Sal never seemed to relax, even after she turned her show on.  She sat in a tight ball, a blanket wrapped snuggly around her, muttering things under her breath.  I hoped her strange hostility would wear off after a few days.

  I knew I was going to have to sleep tonight, it was becoming harder and harder to fight.  My eyes drooped every few minutes and I had to constantly rearrange the way I sat to keep from getting too comfortable.  I could only imagine what would happen if I fell asleep at Sal’s. 

  The credits finally ran and I stretched on the couch, trying to will my body to move.

  “Do you want to watch another?” Sal asked hopefully.  I was surprised by her eagerness as I didn’t think she had gotten much out of the episode.

  “I think I’d better get home and go to bed actually,” I admitted solemnly.  “I’m about to fall asleep right here on your couch.”

  “You’re welcome to if you’d like,” I could hear the enthusiasm in her voice.  In the back of my mind I wondered if perhaps Sal didn’t want to be alone tonight.  This seemed unlikely, Sal almost always wanted to be alone.

  I gave an uncomfortable chuckle.  “Thanks Sal, but I really should get home.”

  “Alright,” she said as she stood and moved back to her position at the window.

  “Sal,” I sighed.  “Really, don’t worry about Cole.  He’s not going to bother you.  You should take a long hot shower and put on those new soft pajamas I just got you.”  I tried to make the suggestions without sounding rude.

  She acted as if she didn’t hear me as she parted the blinds wide and peered outside.

  I sighed again, knowing there wasn’t much more I could do.  I wasn’t going to force her into the shower or her bed.  “I’ll see you tomorrow.  Sleep good.”

  She still said nothing and I slipped out.

  As I stumbled through the door, I went to the phone and saw there had been a missed call from Alex.  I was tempted for a short moment to call him back, but it was well after ten and I knew I was in no condition to think straight, much less have an intelligent conversation.

  My neck seared and my ears started ringing as I nearly tripped down half the stairs.  My breathing came in short intakes and I tried to calm myself before I hyperventilated.  My hands shook violently as I dressed in my pajamas.  It took me a second to realize why my new bottoms felt off, I had put them on backwards. 

  I stood staring at my bed for a long time.  Even though I knew it was only in my head, I could hear the sound of demented laughter and felt as if thousands of eyes were watching me, just waiting for me to slip under.  They were going to win tonight.

   

  I refused to look up from my bare feet as I heard the rustle of wings and knew the council had arrived.  My lips moved franticly as the numbers slipped silently over them.  My hands were balled into tight fists, twisting around each other, causing the golden chain that bound me to dig into my skin.

  “Alice Green,” the leader of the exalted began.  My name is not Alice, my name is Jessica, I hissed to myself as I squeezed my eyes shut.  “The deeds of your life have been accounted for and judgment will be passed.  Your actions must be made known.”

  The demonic laughter rose swiftly from below, nearly drowning out the beautiful voices that descended from above.  I could feel the hundreds of eyes burning into me as they settled themselves along the staircase that wound around the cylinder.

  “Alice Green, your deeds will now be revealed,” the perfect man before me continued.  I could not find the will to even look up to see which scroll was longer.  The numbers continued to roll off my tongue, faster and faster.

  I nearly breathed a sigh of relief as the items on the list were read aloud.  One was much longer than the other and tonight I was fairly sure I would not get a branding.

  I was about to find out though.

  “Up,” the leader of the exalted began.

  “Up,” said the second.

  “Up,” the third.

  As each of the exalted sentenced, me to ascend I finally lifted my head.  Their faces were so beautiful.  How was it possible they could cause such terror in my life?

  But as I observed each of their beautiful faces I stopped breathing.  Something was different.  Where the leader of the condemned usually sat was a lower member of the council.  The leader was gone.  Another angel I had never seen before had taken a seat on the council. 

  I had endured the torment of these trials for as long as I could remember and the council had never changed.  So many things were changing lately.  The terrifying experiences of my life were becoming all the more horrifying.

  I did not even hear what the condemned members sentenced me to as I tried to rationalize why there could have possibly been a change.  I was coming up empty handed.

  Angry hisses broke from around me as I barely registered the last sentence of “up” spoken. 

  “Alice Green,” the first of them spoke again.  “Judgment has been placed.”

  My skin crawled, twisted and shivered.  I could hear the tearing and pain filled me momentarily as my beautiful wings burst from my skin.

  Being exalted was no less terrifying than being condemned.  There was just less pain involved.  Angry screams ripped through the throats of those with the black eyes as everyone leapt from their seats at once.  Those with blue eyes clasped my hands and with beats of their powerful wings, tried to heave me upward toward the clear blue sky.  The condemned were never willing to let anyone get away though.  Clusters of them grabbed at my ankles, doing their best to drag me back down into their fiery hell.  It is absolutely true when they say misery loves company.

  A brutal tug-of-war began with my body serving as the rope.  I screamed and kicked at the cold hands that tried to pull me downward but I could feel the grasps that held my hands slipping.  After a moment I lost hold.  I heard the heckling, victorious laughter as I freefell through the air, before blackness swallowed me graciously.

   

  I almost called Emily and canceled.  I had been a mess all morning, nearly in a vegetative state as I sat motionless on my couch.  I just couldn’t make sense of the most recent trial.

  But somehow, after a few hours of not moving I found my will again and told myself I had to continue on my mission to gain some normalcy.  A girls day out was very normal.<
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  So I managed to drag myself into the shower and get dressed in some of the new clothes I had bought.  I finally made it out to the truck.  It took another five minutes or so of sitting there with my hands braced on the wheel to convince myself, but finally I backed the truck out of the garage and made it to the freeway.

  It only took me a moment to find Emily once I reached the mall’s food court.  She was dressed in an almost too short skirt that showed off her mile long legs and a cute pink sweater.  Her hair was worn down as always, but one could tell she had taken some time to get the perfect curls to stay.  The whole effect drew quite a few unabashed stares from the male shoppers.  I suddenly felt very plain and boring next to her.

  “So are you hungry?” she said cheerily after we exchanged excited greetings.

  “Sure,” I lied.  The thought of eating made my stomach churn slightly.  Apparently I still wasn’t over the effect last night had on me.

  We each got some food from different places and I decided I was only safe with a smoothie and a bag of chips.  Emily, practically bouncing like a giddy fifteen-year-old girl, led us to a table that wasn’t surrounded by too many people.

  “Thank you so much for coming with me today,” she began as she forked a bit of salad into her mouth.  “I know it must seem really weird, me asking you to come with me out of the blue like that, but I just really needed a friend and I don’t know very many people here yet.”

  “Where are you from?” I asked, suddenly realizing I knew nothing about Emily other than her amazing flexibility.

  “I grew up in Texas but I’ve moved around the west coast since I was eighteen.   I’m twenty-two now.”

  I nodded as I took a long draw of my drink.  We had that in common at least, leaving home at a young age.

  “So tell me about yourself,” she said as she looked up at me, excitement over our surroundings shining in her eyes.  “Where’d you grow up?”

  I chuckled uneasily.  I should have guessed this wasn’t going to be as easy as I might have hoped.  “Um, I grew up in the amazing state of Idaho,” I began sarcastically.  “I finished high school in California and moved up here a year and a half ago.”  There.  I kept it simple and easy.

  Emily’s eyes narrowed for just a moment as if she were considering asking something she possibly shouldn’t.  It only lasted a moment though before she showered me with questions about what I liked to do, what I did around here for fun, guys.

  “So what’s the deal with you and Cole?” she said as we dumped our now empty trays in the garbage and headed toward the stores.

  It took me a second to say anything as I thought over my confused feelings for him.  “I don’t really know.  Things are a little strange in that department.”

  “Well I can tell you now,” she said as she led me into a clothing store.  “Cole’s feelings are plain and clear on his face.  You didn’t see the way he kept looking at you yesterday.”

  “What?”

  “Oh yeah, girl.  He definitely knows what he wants and that is you, my friend.  I’d be careful.  Not that he isn’t absolutely perfect in every physical way, but there’s something a little strange about him.”

  I felt a little relieved as she said this.  So I wasn’t just crazy and the only one who felt a little wary toward him.  “Thanks,” I said simply.

  By this point we only had a moment to wander around the store before we needed to head to the theater. 

  I couldn’t remember the last time I had gone to see a chick flick with a female friend.  I decided as the movie started I was going to have to do this more often.  It made me feel almost normal, like I actually fit into the world.  It almost made me forget that I had a pair of wings embedded into the skin on my back and an X branded into the back of my neck.

  “Oh my gosh,” Emily squealed as we exited the darkened theater.  “I cried so hard at the end there when he finally kissed her!”

  I could only nod in agreement as I dabbed at my eyes again, grateful she’d had a pack of tissues in her purse.  I hadn’t expected the movie to be a tear jerker and a comedy.

  “Do you mind if we stay around here a little longer?” she asked with hopeful eyes.  “There’s supposed to be a killer sale going on right now at my favorite store and I was hoping to get some serious shopping done.”

  Even if I had something going on it would have been hard to deny her with all the hope that shone in her eyes.  “Sounds fabulous,” I answered.  She gave a delighted squeal and hooked her arm through mine as we marched down the hall.

  Emily had meant it when she said she wanted to do some serious shopping.  We were in one store for almost three hours.  Not that I could blame her for taking her time, the sale had been amazing and I knew I was spending too much money as we both checked out.  I could only hope it was true when Alex had said there was a fund to keep paying me.