Length - 2000 words
What would you do if you encountered an angel? You'd
probably expect a serene setting, these visits are usually part of a greater
plan and meaningful. Help and comfort in a time of need perhaps. What if the
Angel instead needed help from you?
__________
Angels Fall
1
Have you ever seen
a shooting star? Consider yourself lucky. An angel fell out of the sky tonight,
and with that comes responsibility. Imagine Dustin’s surprise, as he rushed
towards the injured marvel through the dark backstreets that he should be the
first on the scene. There it lay, in the crater of its ungracious impact with
an arm outstretched seeking aid. Their eyes met and Dustin’s decision was made.
He helped it up, though in truth
he doubted he did much of the hauling. When fully stood the angel towered over
him at over eight feet tall. It seemed more that he’d passed a test of faith,
as their places quickly swapped and it was the angel who pulled Dustin along
for the ride.
2
The peculiar
location of its fall seemed answered when it led them quickly to a nearby
Catholic mission, presumably using the holy building as a sort of beacon in its
emergency landing.
His many questions had met with
stoic silence, but when they stalled at the doorway and it still refused to
answer he began to wonder if such a divine creature was allowed to speak to him
at all.
‘In there?’
The angel looked about
impatiently. Apparently it was waiting for him to open the door.
Dustin obliged, stepping through with space for two but it instead chose
to hunker down behind him and spring a surprise on the lone unsuspecting priest
who came over to greet them, out holy-ing the holy man who fainted on the spot.
Immediately the angel was off,
scanning each statue in turn until it found what it was looking for. There was
a look of excitement in its eyes when it saw it.
‘St Michael?’
It pointed vigorously at what
the statue was holding and Dustin almost choked a breath.
‘You want me to take it?’
The angel nodded
enthusiastically.
Tentatively, Dustin leaned forward
to retrieve the sword. The original stone piece had long since deteriorated so
it now held a replica, blunt so that it couldn’t cut or cleave but it still
carried some weight and had a handle for swinging.
When Dustin offered up the
stolen relic the angel took a backward step before swiftly changing course for
the altar.
Dustin thought the angel about
to pray, but its finger was out again, pointing its request in a way he now
recognised as it framed the outline of the table.
‘You want the top cloth?’ The
angel nodded, clearly seeking its blessed touch.
Fearing for time, Dustin pulled
the cloth out like a failed magician’s trick and littered the floor in holy
debris. He folded it hurriedly but again the angel turned his back on the offer
when presented, already making for the door.
Aware he still had the sword to
carry, Dustin quickly removed the drawstring bag he was wearing from his back. The
angel was almost out of sight, so rather than fiddle about he dumped the
contents amongst the existing rubble and shoved the cloth inside before scurrying
out of the building.
3
They stashed the
sword in an old box close to the angel’s dramatic entrance before it guided
Dustin back towards the opening they’d used to find the mission.
When they got into the opening the angel gestured for Dustin to stay as
it walked back out into the alley.
Since frightening the priest it had concealed its wings, but now it
stood first tall, and then bent over double, and Dustin’s ears began to thrum.
The angel’s back split open, and
the wings sprouted back into existence, grand and golden white. The second hung
limp after its initial unveiling but the first began to flap, powerful swoops
that scattered the debris around them and forced Dustin off balance. It carried
the angel a couple of metres skyward but it was awkward and ungainly and it
soon dropped back to the ground before running over and hauling Dustin back to
his feet, arming him with an old iron bar it’d picked up on the short journey.
An instant later a beam of light
cracked open from the sky a few feet ahead of the angel’s failed effort. It was
mute, but the force with which it ripped through the night made Dustin think
there was sure to be a delayed burst of sound like distant thunder. He had to
keep his eyes slightly beneath the summit due to the intense light.
Suddenly he became aware of a
presence.
A couple of bare feet appeared
in his eye line and he took a backward step, awaiting the descent of the winged
figures.
He hesitated.
Demons, shades, shadows or monsters. He wasn’t expecting their three
celestial visitors to look quite so... heavenly.
4
Hesitation wasn’t
part of the plan. Dustin was launched forward by an encouraging shove in the
back from his new friend to set them back on track.
As he fought to keep his footing
he used the momentum to direct his charge whilst the angel slipped away unseen.
The bare feet he’d seen were now
planted firmly on the ground and belonged to a manlike figure wearing a white
robe. Behind it stood a second, with a third moments away from landing, all
three pairs of white wings on display and a look of confusion on their perfect
faces.
Dustin decided their guise a devious masquerade. They were much closer
to his size than the eight foot tall precedent and a steely resolve reinforced
his attack.
He swung the bar at the first figure’s head. It stood its ground and the
bar crashed against its cheek, but the metal snapped like a twig, leaving it
with nothing more painful than an astonished look on its face.
Dustin’s resolve wavered.
Attack was the best form of
defence though so he stepped forward, using what remained of the bar as a
shank, stabbing into its chest repeatedly as more and more broke away like
glass until he was left beating against it with his bare fist.
An arm appeared from beside
Dustin’s waist and closed over the opposite shoulder, lifting him away and
restraining his attack. He was locked in the figure’s grip, kicking and
screaming.
‘Is he crazed?’ Asked the third,
finally landing. Its voice was smooth despite the concern on its face.
The first gave Dustin a searching look, seeming to appraise him.
‘I think not.’ It said somewhat
sadly. ‘He seems deliberate in his actions.’
He continued to struggle in the second’s grip.
‘You must see that you cannot
harm us.’
Maybe not, but he could think of
someone who might.
5
‘We’re here to
pursue a dangerous individual cast down from above who somehow escaped into
this mortal plane.’ Said the third, stepping forward.
The first must have seen the obvious doubt in Dustin’s face.
‘An angel cannot lie.’ It said,
trying to smile some reassurance. But there was something about that line that
struck Dustin a mental blow.
It’s funny, how doubt can tickle the mind. He’d taken silence for
urgency, but that meant dealing heavily in supposition and assumption. An angel cannot lie. But it falls not on
the species, who can judge deceit in words unspoken?
The third must have registered
Dustin’s consternation and its face grew worried and alert.
‘To charge an angel...’ It said,
taking a backward step as if to be further from him. ‘Such a sighting might
render a man numb... unless he’d thought to have already seen one.’
But it was too late. The sword
blade burst through its stomach, leaving a bloody exit wound in its wake as its
body was levered free by the enormous figure behind it.
When the giant stepped forward
under the radiance of the portal its wings burned black as sin, and its skin
appeared several hues darker and matted, its gloss washed away under righteous
light.
It was no wonder it’d not wanted to touch the sword until it needed to.
Its hands were steaming where it burned and its face seemed locked in a pained
grimace.
Although
dull to Dustin’s eyes the sword seemed to have found an edge too, for when the
second pushed past to oppose the beast it was cleaved apart from neck to navel.
Its broken body hit the floor and the beast was soon upon them, ripping the
first aside and cutting it deep, leaving Dustin exposed.
He took a backward step out of the light and his former partner followed
him. In doing so its image reverted back to that display of holy splendour.
Even the smoke from its hands disappeared, though the burns still remained.
‘Angels fall.’ It croaked, and
it was clear now why it had previously held its tongue. No creature of heaven
could speak in such a deep and guttural tone.
It reached out and tugged the
drawstrings on his shoulder and in a fit of panic Dustin handed over the bag in
a desperate act of compliance much more in keeping with the earlier part of the
evening.
It strode back into the light,
once again exposing its true nature, and Dustin was powerless to do else but
watch as it ended the first’s attempt of recovery with a fierce backhanded club
against its face with the sword hilt. It walked around behind and drove the
blade into its back, stopping when it penetrated a couple of inches deep, and
the first screamed out in pain.
Kneeling down to lay the sword
on the ground the beast then untangled the cords of the bag from its other hand
and tore it open to reveal the altar cloth. It gingerly took hold of the
corners, adjusting to the pain as its finger tips began to smoulder, and shook
it out like a bed sheet, letting it settle on top of the first as though
respectfully laying a dead comrade to rest.
The white cloth gained a red
centre piece where it came into contact with the wound and the beast
readjusted, standing over the partially covered being with one leg either side
about the midsection.
Crouching down, it drove its
hands forward into the crimson patch and the cloth folded around them like a
glove as they disappeared inside, the first wailing piteously as it conducted
its gruesome search.
When it located the nervous system
it squeezed hard. The first passed out from the pain and its wings twitched in
reflex.
Taking one hand out it reached
for the sword and using the tip, calmly guided the cloth aside to expose the leg
and then drove the blade inside at an angle to create a makeshift scabbard.
Then it returned its hand back to the wound and began to manipulate inside,
causing the wings to flap, though they buffeted the ground, uninhibited by a
natural pain break.
Eventually it got more control, working the unconscious body up into a
standing position as the wings worked in harmony.
As it started to lift off of the floor the beast jumped aboard, hooking
on with its legs and once again paid for blessed touch on evil flesh with holy
heat. The body began to sag under the weight but the beast quickly added the
strength of its own wing, and after a moment of equilibrium, began to ascend
once more.
6
Dustin caught a
brief look of crazed triumph on the former angel’s face and sunk to his knees.
It rode up out of
sight and the light closed off behind it, leaving him in relative darkness. He
thought back on the moment their eyes met, that hand up that sealed his fate,
and tears came freely.
Given the choice, he’d have taken your star.
The sky then burst to storm and the chaotic, brilliant lightning brought
its mercurial accomplice in droves.
He caught a few of his tears in his hand, an offering to the sky as the
rain mixed with the wetness in his palm.
It had been a clear night, so whose tears were these?
__________
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