Angels

“As I stand here, looking at your body laying on the cold, hard ground I begin to wonder if you are worth my time. I know you can hear me. Yes, I know you can feel me here. Look at yourself; really look at the wreck you’ve become. You are not worthy of being His messenger. Get up! Stop feeling sorry for yourself and for the things you’ve messed up. They are in the past. You must stop thinking about what you had and start thinking about what you have. To you it may look close to nothing…to me it looks like a heck of a lot more than most. You need to get up and stop wasting away your life. Stop wasting time. Get up! Take control of your life and screw what everyone says. Live for yourself and no one else. Get up!”

Josh instantly sat up, breathing heavily and covered in a cold sweat. He blinked a few times and realized he was in his bed in his small apartment. Calming his breath he glanced over at a small digital alarm clock resting on his small maple nightstand. It read, 2:10AM. Groaning he unwrapped the sheets that he was tangled in, placed his bare feet on the soft, plush carpet and rose to an upright position. Blindly walking to his bathroom, he flicked on the fluorescent light and shielded his eyes from the lustrous emission of energy. He reached the small counter made of cheap, white tile and looked at himself in the medicine cabinet mirror directly ahead. The blurry image he saw in the mirror was partly because of his lack of sleep. He shrugged and turned on the water so that it rushed into the silver sink. He cupped his hands under the cold water. They got full and he bent over and brought the small puddle of water to his face; repeating the motion several times before reaching for a jet black hand towel. With it, he rid his face of the remaining water droplets still on it and looked into the mirror again, squinting, hoping to see something different. Unfortunately for him, the person squinting back at him was the same person as always. He had short, raven hair in complete disarray, gray eyes, ghostly skin, earrings, and a faded black tank top. He wasn’t all that muscular looking on the outside; to normal people he would seem like a plain, scrawny young man of eighteen. Josh was special, he had an inner strength that no one was ready to encounter, not even himself.
Closing his eyes he sighed and turned around for an instant, then spun around, fist balled, and its destination was the mirror. A shattering sound was created as his fist slammed into the mirror. His breath was quick and his eyes glowing a golden color for a moment before fading back into a lonely gray. Staring at the growing puddle of blood on his bathroom floor he sighed and straightened himself from a hunched position. There was no pain; there was no sense in feeling pain when the feeling didn’t exist. To him, there was no such thing as pain, love, happiness, any emotion that a human would feel, except anger and loneliness. The only company he ever felt, and had, were his dreams, and they weren’t real. He was done with people and trying to understand them. They are always messing up their world. Killing each other, thinking they are justified in doing so because they speak, look, and believe different things. Humans were stereotypical hypocrites who murder each other because they find each other immoral and malevolent. It was true that he was posing as a human but the truth was that he was far from it. He was sent to Earth by God with orders to meet with nine others, which he had sent at an earlier time. Together, they will make the human race realize how frail and unethical they really are.
Sighing, Josh turned off the light and exited the bathroom. He plodded his way back to his bed and sat down on the edge. “I can’t believe all this crap…why the heck now? Hmm? I was getting use to being in this world and you send orders to destroy it and all that live in it. You created them…do it yourself.” He whispered as if someone else was in the room with him. His eyes fell to the shadowy outline of his bloody hand; he could smell the bitter sweet liquid as it poured from the gash he created. He let his eyes stray off the shadow and onto the digital alarm clock again. 3:50AM. He shrugged and got up. Putting his arms out he walked around feeling for his dresser. His fingertips brushed something cold and he grabbed it. It was the handle to one of the drawers. Pulling the drawer open he reached in and grabbed what ever his hand found first and yanked it out, throwing it over his shoulder. He closed the drawer and turned to find the item he so idly tossed aside. It had landed on his bed about to slip off when he grabbed it. “What will I be wearing today?” he asked the object in hand. He studied the outline of the shadowy object for a few moments. “Ah! Pants…what else is new?” he growled sarcastically as he put them on. He didn’t bother going in his closet to get another shirt for the fear of a bunch of junk falling on his head was too great. So instead, he grabbed a jacket off the back of the desk chair and put it on. Then he pocketed his keys and left the apartment; pausing to lock it as he left.
He didn’t understand why he locked the door really; he had nothing to hide and owned nothing of value.
The night air was cool and thin since there were no people out this early. Josh would occasionally spot a hooker or druggy wandering around looking for a new client or another quick fix. It was people like them that were an obstruction to humanity in God’s eyes. To Him, the governments, monarchs, and people that run them were an obstruction. People had no right to govern themselves when they weren’t even capable of maintaining a stable household in most cases. Deep down, a human was no smarter than an ape and for that reason alone led God toward this final battle. He would not directly influence, that was against the Law that God and Satan created in order to maintain a peaceful balance. Instead, he has sent nine envoys to Earth to await a sign that He will send. Then the true struggle will begin for all humans. They might have started the wars, but God was going to finish them…once and for all.
*~*
As he walked down the damp, paved street of New York City, Josh came to a street corner and stood under the blinking street light. No one was around, which was strange but it didn’t seem to bother him much. He couldn’t believe how peaceful a city such as this one could really be. He shook his head and rid his mind of any thoughts about disobeying orders. This city would be the first to go and there was nothing anyone or anything could do about it. A small sound caught his ear and he turned around quickly to see the cause. His eyes became wide and muscles tense as the shadowy figure approached him. Not able to make out any facial features, he just waited for the figure to enter the light, as it flickered on and off. When the figure reached the place on the sidewalk where the darkness met the light it stopped. Josh couldn’t budge, it was like his entire body was in suspended animation; the only thing he could do was blink and breathe. The figure extended what looked like an arm, into the light. Just as the arm became visible to Josh’s eyes the street light became refulgent, blinding him; he couldn’t help but close his eyes. Warmth was felt on his shoulders, neck, back, arms, every part of his body; must be from the enormous amount of energy emitting from the bulb is what he thought. An explosion sound was heard and the warmth vanished. Josh waited a while before he opened his eyes making sure he wouldn’t get an eye full of radiation. Darkness was all he saw. He wasn’t sure if he was really blind or it was just extremely twilight. He noticed that the sun was starting shine an orange color in the sky. Not sure who or what the figure was he just pushed the moment into the back of his head, hoping it to stay there and not resurface. Placing his left hand on his hip and his right on his head he felt little pieces of glass on it. He looked down at the ground around him and noticed little sparkles from all the glass as the morning light reflected off of them. Glancing up he noticed that the street light was completely destroyed. He shrugged and walked away from the mess, not bothering to brush the pieces of glass out of his hair.
A bell rang as he entered a diner on the corner of 3rd and 5th. There were a few people in there conversing over coffee or reading the newspaper while eating a light breakfast. Josh would always come in here around this time and watch the humans before they day got busy and they all turned into rotten, pushy and easily-irritated people. Pulling up a stool to the counter he sat down and placed his hands on the counter, then motioned for the man behind it to get him a cup of coffee. The man looked at Josh funny, apparently noticing his bloody hand and the glass shards in his hair. Feeling the man’s eyes on him, Josh just continued to stare at the checkered tile which made up the counter. A white paper cup was placed in front of him along with a small piece of paper with his order on it. He took the cup in his wounded hand and felt the sting of the heat enter the laceration. The sensation went away quickly as always and he brought the cup to his lips, sipped some, and placed it back down; his eyes never leaving the counter. The little bell made a noise, telling everyone in the diner that someone has entered. Out of simple curiosity he lifted his gaze from the counter onto the new member the diner had collected. The person sat down at one of the booths in the corner and was conversing with a waitress. Josh could only see blonde hair and white skin with a brownish tent to it. After the waitress left with the order he could see that the person sitting there was a girl. He turned his head a little more so he could see her entire facial features. Her hair was pulled back into a messy, unkempt pony-tail and she was wearing a dark blue T-Shirt, with matching jacket, and a few little black bracelets on her wrists.
There must have been some invisible force that made Josh move from his perch on the stool because he found himself walking toward the booth. When he reached it, the girl didn’t notice him standing there, or she just didn’t care. He cleared his throat to get her attention and when she looked up from the paper she was reading he spoke.
“Do you mind if I…join you?” He asked a bit hesitantly. Her eyes trialed over him from top to bottom and then back to the top; shaking her head she motioned for him to take a seat across from her. As he sat, the waitress brought the girl a white glass coffee cup and set it down on the edge of the table; the waitress left but the girl didn’t reach for the cup. This puzzled Josh, for he has never seen someone just ignore the actions of another. He turned his attention to her and was about to speak but she beat him to is.
“What do you want?” She asked, not lifting her eyes from the paper; her voice cold and stern.
“I…just…” he began not really knowing how to answer a question such as that. “I need to tell you something important...if you’ll listen.” He said slowly, trying to figure out what compelled him to say those words. She looked up and her eyes met his; he got lost in them. They were an emerald green with specks of blue. Josh had never seen anything like them.
“Humor me.” She said placing her elbows on the table and lacing her fingers together in order to give her chin a resting place. Josh would humor her all right, humor her right into thinking he belonged in an asylum if he wasn’t careful about the words he chose.
“What if I told you that I wasn’t who everyone saw me as?” he began. She just stared at him and he continued. “I’m not like other people. I’m…different…” He paused and looked at his hand. The blood and gash was gone, not even a scar remained. All she did was look at him, her expression the same as when he first started to talk. He decided it was time to just tell her; her, a complete stranger that he met not five minutes ago. He was going to tell this girl, this human, that he was not human. Before he could change his mind the words fell from his lips in a whisper that only she could hear.
“I’m an angel…”
*~*
She stared at him for a moment, letting the words sink in. All of a sudden she started to giggle, and then the giggle turned into a crazy, uncontrollable laugh. Everyone in the diner looked and stared disapprovingly. Josh simply sat there and watched the girl’s reaction; he stayed completely serious. Her laughing calmed into short gasping breaths after a while because she couldn’t catch her breath; that slowly died down into short giggles. Reaching up to wipe the tears out of her eyes she spoke, still obviously amused.
“You’ve got to be joking. You seriously need to stop thinking of yourself so highly.” She said placing her hands on the table. “I’ll humor you since you humored me so well. If you are what you claim to be, what is my name? I mean, you should know these things if you are of a higher power. Right?” she grinned and raised her eyebrows. Josh didn’t say anything and looked at the empty space of the booth she was sitting on. She followed his gaze to the bare space and then turned to look at him, puzzled.
“Your name is Elizabeth May Rowe. You were born on the 5th of June in the year 1981, which would make you about twenty-four years old. You just graduated from ____ this year with honors. You majored in journalism and are currently looking for a job, hence the paper you have; that is a sample of your work that you are reading. You currently live on the third floor of the apartment complex at the corner of 4th and Main. Your room is number 325 and you hide your spare key under the flower pot on the outside your room.” Pausing for a moment and looking at her he smiles slightly. Her expression was anger and shock; mostly anger judging by her white knuckles. “Shall I continue? There is a lot more to be said.” She didn’t answer; instead she got up, placed a few dollars on the table, and walked out in a hustle of fury. Josh turned his head and gazed out the window, watching Elizabeth walk past it. He shrugged and placed two dollars on the table, got up, and walked out of the diner in a calmer manner than her. Turning toward the direction she scurried off to, he walked.
It didn’t take long for him to catch up to her; he had the advantage after all.
“Elizabeth, will you please stop?” he asked weaving in and out of people while still remaining at her heals. She kept walking as if he wasn’t there. “You can’t avoid me forever Elizabeth. I know where you live remember?” he said finally as they turned down an alley, away from the crowd at last. She stopped and turned to face him; he almost couldn’t stop himself from barreling into her.
“Look,” she began, “I don’t know who you are or why you are apparently stalking me but if you stop now I won’t call the police.” She finished and stared him down, trying to hide her fear; she was failing miserably.
“You…You think I’m a stalker?” he asked suppressing a smile. “Are you serious?” he had to fight a laugh.
“Yes, I am very serious. How else would you know all those things about me? Hm?” she asked placing her hands on her hips and tapping her right foot in annoyance and frustration.
“I asked your Guardian. He knows everything there is to know about you. He’s been with you since the day you were born.” Josh said simply, as if it was just a normal thing to talk about.
“My father is-“
He cut her off. “Dead? Yes I know. I wasn’t referring to him.” He sighed. “Your Guardian Angel, Elizabeth. He was at the diner sitting right next to you. You can’t see him because your mind is of a lower plane.” He explained as her expression turned from annoyance and frustration to a this-guy-is-crazy kind of look.
“Anyone could get the information you said back at the diner. You are just feeding me lines of crap…why? I haven’t quite figured that out.” She spoke the last of her words softly and turned to walk away.
“For someone who studied angelology in their spare time, you sure don’t know much!” he exclaimed at her, hoping she would hear.
Either she did hear him or she was stopping to tease him; which ever it was she looked back at him. By that time they were a good twenty feet away. “Leave me alone. I don’t want you near me ever again.” She growled and turned her head forward and began to walk again. There was a huge flapping noise, like a flock of birds just flew over head and she turned back; he was gone. Her eyes caught something white floating to the ground. Curiosity getting the best of her, she walked back into the alley and stood a short distance from where Josh had been standing.
Elizabeth knelt down and picked up a farley large, white feather. Her finger brushed over it gently as she looked up out of the alley toward the gray-tented sky.
“Could he…” she whispered as her eyes fell on the feather again. “Could he have been telling the truth?” She trailed off then stood and put the feather in her jacket pocket, then walked out of the alley.
Josh watched her from the roof of the building he had landed on. His white wings were resting against his back and he was in a crouched position. She can stop it, he thought, she can make the entire human race see just how wrong they really are. His fingers ran through his hair and removed the remaining glass. Standing, Josh’s wings seemed to melt back into his body as he placed his hands in his pockets.
“So here you are Jophiel. I thought I felt your presence in this section of this miserable little city.” Someone said from behind Josh. He turned to confront the owner of the voice
“Gabriel…” Josh growled in a most unpleased manner. “What are you doing on Earth?”
“Oh now Jophiel, let’s not be rude. Remember, I am of a higher rank then you my dear friend.” Gabriel said holding up his hand.
“You are still just an archangel to me, which makes us the same you lying piece of-“
Gabriel cut him off, “Watch it. I wouldn’t go about speaking that way. He could be listening.”
Josh rolled his eyes and looked back over the edge of the building. He growled in frustration. “Great…”he mumbled.
“Aw. Did I cause you to lose sight of your eye candy?” Gabriel mocked taking a few steps closer to Josh. “You’ll find her again Jophiel, don’t worry.”
“Stop…calling me that.” Josh managed to say through his teeth, trying to hide the unbearable feeling of total anger.
Gabriel laughed an icy laugh that made Josh’s hair on the back of his neck stand up. “Oh. Touchy aren’t we? Fine, I’ll leave you alone for now. I just thought I’d tell you the meeting sight.” He said, his sliver wings expanding out. Josh turned around; his eyes were barely open from the glare he was giving the blonde haired angel.
“He put you in this area? That makes my day complete Gab, it really does.” Josh grinned, his tone sarcastic and disdainful
Gabriel smacked Josh across the face. “Watch what you say!” he yelled, his crystal eyes turning a yellow color. He then took a deep breath and regained his composure, then continued to speak. “You are beginning to act more and more like those pathetic humans. If I didn’t know any better…I’d say that you enjoy posing as one of them.” He finished with a tone that emitted disgust.
“What can I say, I do enjoy being human. Well, for the most part. At least posing as one has made me realize something important.”
“Oh yeah? What might that be? Good Hygiene?” Gabriel snickered.
“Nope. It taught me to that no one ever got anywhere being stuck up and self-righteous!” Josh yelled his anger now showing.
Gabriel balled a fist, brought it back, and swung on Josh, nailing him right in the jaw. Josh stumbled to the side of the building, catching the edge quickly saving himself from a long drop. Gabriel walked over and peered over the edge at the now helpless Josh. Josh knew he could easily get out of the situation by expanding his wings but then the people below would see and the entire mission would fail. Gabriel laughed again and shook his head in disappointment.
“Poor boy. You have gotten yourself into quite the situation haven’t you? You could always fly- Oh wait. You can’t risk the humans seeing you. But wait! If you were to fall and survive, won’t the humans suspect something? My my my…quite the situation.” Gabriel said, his lips forming a smile of complete enjoyment.
“If I let go not only will my cover be blown but your will as well! They will know something isn’t normal when I smash into that cemented street and walk away, nearly unharmed. He will find out and you will be in deep you know what. So, I suggest you help me, for your sake.”
Gabriel’s smile quickly vanished and he reached over the side of the building to grab hold of Josh’s wrist. Right when he was about to grab him, Josh let go of the building and began to fall toward the street. He smiled as he saw Gabriel’s expression of horror, and then everything went completely black.
*~*
He heard someone’s voice; they were asking him something he couldn’t quite understand. It was fuzzy, like a bad radio reception at first then it became slowly understandable.
“Are you doing…the right…think?” it said, fading in and out as it asked. “Are you…sure you…want this?”
Josh forced his eyes open. He wanted to see the person who asked him those weird questions. He visions was blurry, like he was in a thick fog or smoke. There was something, someone, standing over him; he couldn’t entirely focus on it. The voice came again, only this time it didn’t ask a question.
“Live for yourself and no one else. Forget what everyone else says, take control and fight for what you believe is justifiable.” The voice said.
Josh choked on his words but managed to ask, “Who are…you?”
No reply. The voice was gone and darkness fell over his world again.
*~*
“Hey! You in there?” someone shouted at him. Josh couldn’t remember much of what happened before he hit the ground. He remembered talking to Gabriel and falling off the roof. He remembered Elizabeth walking away but everything before the encounter with her in the alley was a blur. He forced his eyes open again, closing then quickly as light flooded his vision. He moaned and someone laughed.
“Sorry. Want me to turn off the lights?” it asked. It was a girl’s voice.
“Eliza…beth?” Josh whispered, opening his eyes a bit then completely as the adjusted; blurry for a minute then clear. It was Elizabeth. He went to say something but was stopped as cool fingers touched his lips.
“Sh…Don’t talk.” She said, “I would say you are lucky to be alive but that wouldn’t be fair since you technically aren’t living.”
He looked at her strangely and she continued.
“You fell ten stories and landed on a car. I think you hurt the car more then the car hurt you.” She said with a slight giggle. “Everyone in the area thought you were instantly killed just from the impact alone; quite funny actually. The ambulance came and took you here shortly after the confirmed you were alive.”
“How did you…” Josh began but she finished.
“Find you? It was on the news.” She said straightforwardly. “You rose suspicion in a lot of people…umm…” she paused thinking about what to call him.
“Josh.” He said reaching over and grabbing the IV needle he had in his left arm. With a yank the needle was removed and swinging back and forth, dripping water. He turned his head to look at Elizabeth, smiling at the shocked and grossed-out expression on her face. “What?”
She shook her head and blinked a few times. “Didn’t that hurt?” she asked, not sure how to ask.
“No. I don’t feel pain.” He said getting ready to sit up.
Elizabeth flinched. “I wouldn’t do that.”
He paused, “Why not?”
“Your spine was seriously injured after the fall.”
“I told you,” he said sitting then standing. “I don’t feel pain. My wounds heal almost instantly unless I want to drag them out to make myself seem more human.” He explained, removing the rest of the tubes that were attached to him.
She just stared, speechless as this boy walked over to a chair, which had his clothes, and got dressed as if nothing happened. She couldn’t believe that she was sitting in a room with an angel. She had so many questions to ask but one kept overriding the others. She wanted to know why he was here, on Earth.
*~*
Getting out of the hospital wasn’t as easy as Josh had hoped. After much explaining and physical tests, the doctors decided he was perfectly healthy and let him leave. Elizabeth insisted he come with her back to her place for reasons she didn’t admit; he knew though.
They walked silently in the direction of her apartment for a while then Elizabeth spoke.
“I…have a few questions I’d like to ask you. If you don’t mind answering them that is.” Her voice was barely audio able, but he heard.
“I’ll answer whatever you want when we get out of the public. Too many open ears out here.” He said looking around him at all the people. He had been around humans long enough to know not to talk about anything secret that one would want to keep a secret in a huge crowd like this. She could wait a few more minutes, besides, after hearing his explanations she might have been better off not asking.
*~*
Her apartment was small, about the same size as his. The walls were an off-white color and the carpet was a light gray. Dark green, leather furniture surrounded an oak coffee table with magazines and coasters on it. Her bed and bathroom were in a separate part of the apartment, closed off by a white door. She had a small kitchen which was located to the right of the main door. Josh felt a peaceful essence about the quaint living space. It made him remember that not all places and people were as they seemed. Most of the places he had been in gave him an eerie, uneasy feeling of emptiness; as if he pitied the humans, but he didn’t. He had no reason to pity such a race of animals. There was just something about the place she made her home that made him think twice about his orders. He shook his head. You need to stop thinking about disobeying Him. Such thoughts are enough to get you into a heap of trouble. He thought loudly in his mind.
“Come on, sit down and tell me everything.” Elizabeth said sitting down on the leather couch which was against the wall.
He looked at her, his face dispassionate and spoke, “What is it you want to know?” he asked not accepting her invitation to sit down.
“Well to start, how about you tell me how long you’ve been down here.” She said, her words coming out almost as an order instead of a question.
Josh cleared his throat and began, “I’ve been down here on Earth for about two hundred years. Not really all that long considering how long most of the archangels have been here.” He paused and looked at her.
“So you are two hundred years old? You are very well preserved.” She said hiding a smile with her hand. He didn’t find the comment as amusing as she did.
He continued, “I am actually about three hundred and fifty years old. I lived in the Higher Above for some time before being sent down here.” He finished crossing his arms over his chest. He was becoming more agitated with himself the longer he waited to tell her the truth.
Silence took over and they waited in the noiselessness, hoping the other would be the first to discourse again. The silence lingered for the longest while and it was driving Josh to the edge of insanity. If there was one thing he couldn’t stand, it was sustained quietness.
“I was sent here…”he began, hesitating then continuing once he got her attention. “I was sent here by God to join with nine other archangels, like myself. Together we are going to start a war to end all wars. We are going to release a power so eminent that the entire species of humans will not stand a chance. I am going to help bring the apocalypse.” He paused to breathe for her, since she didn’t seem to be. The words he spoke caught her off guard and scared her at the same instance. She didn’t know what to make of it, she didn’t want to believe that what he spoke was the truth, but deep down she knew it was.
“How much longer until you carry it out?” She asked swallowing hard and looking up at him. Her eyes were full of a fear that he has never seen before.
He shook his head. “There really is no set time, as in hours and minutes. Whenever the nine of us get the message from Him, then that is the time we will start. I don’t even know where the meeting place is but I do know the first city that we are supposed to demolish.” He said glancing out the window of her apartment. Her eyes got wide as that simple motion lead her to the conclusion that this city was going to be the first to go in God’s Revolution against all humans.
“Why…why does he want to destroy this place first? Why does he want to destroy the thing he created?” She was almost shouting at him, her fear and anger at God taking hold. She clenches her fists so tight that her nails dig into her palm.
Josh continued to looks out the window, his voice monotone as he answers. “He wants to destroy New York first because he thinks that this is the root of most of the evil in the supposedly moral country of the United States. As for your second question, not even I can give you an answer that you would even begin to understand.” He said placing his hands in his pockets then taking a deep breath. “All I can tell you is that he wants to humans to prove themselves worthy of living in his kingdom after they die. He wants all the evil people to show themselves…To tell you the truth I don’t really think he is justified in what he is doing. Then again I don’t even think the humans are justified in killing each other but hey, you can’t always be right in your methods.”
She sat there and opened her hand to look at little crescent shaped indents on her palm. Blood slowly oozed out of the tiny crevasse and she sighed. “There has to be something you can do to stop it. I mean you can talk to Him can’t you?” She asked standing. “Can’t you make him change his mind? Just show him that not all humans are as he sees them…some are good…” Her voice became shaky and her eyes brimmed with tears. “There has to be someway to stop this…There just has to be.”
Josh looked at her and shook his head. He wasn’t quite sure what to tell her to make the situation seem less threatening to her life. “Listen, someone keeps trying to contact me. I have no idea who they are or even what they are, all I know is that they are telling me to live my life and forget what everyone else says. I don’t want to follow the advice because that would mean forsaking myself…which I really don’t want to do but I know that if I don’t a huge mistake is going to be made and I’m going to have to live with the fact that I couldn’t stop it.” He said turning toward the door to her apartment.
“Wait! Where are you going?” She said taking a step after him. He turned his head and closed his eyes. Elizabeth stepped back, noticing that he didn’t want her to follow.
“Meet me at Ground Zero around midnight tonight. You know where Ground Zero is, don’t you?” He asked, just to make sure she knew exactly were to meet him. She nodded; a bit annoyed that he is just going to leave without anymore information about why he wants her to meet him at Ground Zero. He smiled slightly and left her apartment, closing the door behind him. She waited a few seconds then ran over to the door, flung it open to see an empty hallway.
“I guess when he leaves, he really leaves…” She said sighing. “He needs to learn how to take his time when going somewhere. Oh well, I’d better get ready for tonight…whatever tonight may bring.” She walked back into her apartment and closed the door.
*~*
Josh seemed to melt out of the wall in front of her door; he had blended himself perfectly with the wall so she would think he was gone and wouldn’t go after him. He had received the meeting point while he was talking to her and decided to leave so he wouldn’t reveal to much to her at one time.
The meeting place was to be at Ground Zero, the sight of the now completely annihilated World Trade Center. Though it would mean quite a drive for her, he was sure she wouldn’t miss an opportunity to witness the beginning of the end. According to the message he received mentally, the other Nine had been contacted and were to meet at that place at midnight. He began to walk down the hallway thinking about the possible reasons for why He wanted to carry out His plans so early.
As Josh left the apartment complex the answer to his suspicious thoughts had been answered. Tomorrow was Easter Sunday, the day Christ rose from the dead and walked again. So, God is going to start the assault on the day His son came back to life. Josh thought as he walked slowly back to his place. By doing this, He will catch all the believers off guard. They will think that Christ has rose again to liberate them, but what they will fail to realize is that the “liberation” is really a crusade to end their lives. Josh had finally concluded that God was going to destroy every ounce of faith left in the human race.
“How could He do something like this to all the people who pray for His son on that day? If he really this determined to prove them a pack of animals?” Josh asked himself, walking into his apartment.
“That is a question no one knows the answer to, not even God Himself.” A voice came from inside his apartment. Josh lifted his gaze and saw a dark, shadowy figure standing in the far corner next to the window. Josh reached over to his left and flicked on the light switch; nothing. “Sorry,” the figure said, “I had to make sure my identity would remain a secret from the High Council.” Its voice was deep and soothing; Josh recognized the voice immediately.
“You’re the voice from my dreams…and from the ambulance.” He whispered as if to tell himself and the figure. “Why are you here?” he asked.
“Answers to your questions will come with time. For the time being I need you to do what your heart tells you Josh, ignore all the thoughts in your head.” It said fading into the dimness of his apartment.
“W-Wait!” Josh yelled running over to the corner, nearly tripping over his bed. His hands slammed into the walls of the empty corner. “Crap…Who was that?” Josh yelled to the vacant corner, hoping he would get an answer but all was silent. He rolled his eyes and walked over to his bed. Plopping down on it, he groaned and ruffled his hair with his hands. He rolled over onto his stomach and stared at the floor, trying to collect his thoughts. Josh closed his eyes for a minute then went limp, falling into the deep bliss known as sleep.
*~*
The sky was a blood red and the smell of burning flesh lingered in the air. A strong wind was blowing and large streams of smoke were sailing off into the atmosphere. Josh looked around in shock and anger as humans screamed and crawled out of burning piles of rubble. His gaze fell to his feet and saw bodies with missing limbs, heads, and giant metal and concrete poles sticking out of their abdomens or skulls. The smell of the scene entered his nostrils and almost made him sick. Suddenly, the world started to shift and spin under him; he fell to his hands and knees trying to keep himself from falling off the Earth. He found himself breathing hard and heard a faint noise in the background; a siren. Slowly, he gathered his composure and stood, wobbly at first but straight after a while. He took slow steps, walking over and around the defunct people. The siren seemed to get louder with every step that he took. He came to a large pile of rubble, about twenty feet high and the length of the street. He felt that he had no other option but to climb it.
He made his way to the top of the pile as quickly as he could without causing a while heap of rocks to fall on top of him. Finally, he reached the top of the pile and the siren was ringing loudly in his ears. He brushed himself off the looked up; his eyes instantly getting wide. He couldn’t believe what he was looking at. It was a crucifix with someone nailed to it; Elizabeth. The siren was unbearably loud and the sight of her on the cross made Josh scream out and fall, not onto the pile of rubble, but into a deep void of darkness. He continued to scream over the siren as he fell into despair, never to see the light again.
He came to a sudden stop and opened his eyes. He saw a very familiar sight; his popcorn ceiling. It was all just a dream. He thought to himself as he sat up and noticed he had fallen off the bed onto the floor. With his right hand, he reached up and rid his brow of the cold sweat he created during the unpleasant nightmare. There was still that siren; it continued to ring in his ears. He looked around and caught something blinking in the corner of his eye. He got up off the floor and walked over to the night stand and punched his alarm clock, and the beeping ceased to exist. He sighed and noticed the time: 11:30PM. He has thirty minutes to get to the meeting place. Plenty of time if he flew, which he could do since most of the people were sleeping.
Walking over to his closet he pulled open the two wooden doors and reached in. With his hand he pulled off a hanger a black, velvet robe and put it over his current outfit. He stood there for a moment, and then proceeded to his window. Josh unlatched the little metal lock that was hidden by the blinds and pulled the long white string to raise them. He bents over and grasped the bottom of the window; then lifted. There was no screen, for he had it removed the day he moved in. Stepping out of the window, he stood on a tiny concrete platform. His gaze fell upon the empty city street and he smiled. Leaning forward he allowed his body to fall from the perch. A few feet away from the street he expanded his beautiful, white wings and soared up into the endless darkened sky.
He couldn’t remember the last time he did this. He had never been in the mood for a leisurely flight, so he enjoyed it while he could. As he approached his destination he descended from the high altitude he was flying at. Ground Zero was still an enormous pile of rocks and debris. He noticed eight black figures standing in a circle in the center of Ground Zero. Gracefully, he landed a few feet away from the circle. He couldn’t see their faces because they were hidden by the hoods of their black robes. One of them reached up and removed the hood; Gabriel. The blonde angel smirked as Josh approached the circle.
“You’re late.” He said crossing his arms over, as if disgusted.
Josh looked at him and shrugged. “I would say sorry but that would be a lie, so I won’t.”
Gabriel glared at Josh as he walked past; even though Josh didn’t see it, he could feel Gabriel’s eyes on him. The blonde angel took his gaze off of Josh and looked around to make sure the place was secure and clear. His eye caught something moving then he noticed it was a person. He turned back to the group and began to shout, mainly at Josh.
“We have company boys. Looks like someone told a human about our little project. Now we are going to have to kill them.” Gabriel spread his silver wings and took off in the direction of the human. This action infuriated Josh and he immediately went after him because he knew that Gabriel’s target was Elizabeth.
Gabriel reached Elizabeth before she could even dodge his attack. He grabbed her by the throat and squeezed his hand, not quite crushing her wind pipe. She gasped for air and grabbed hold of his arm and tried to pull it away; it was useless. He laughed at her pathetic efforts and lifted her helplessly off the ground.
“Gabriel, leave her alone!” Josh yelled, flying at the angel, his eyes a fiery rage. Gabriel didn’t even glance at him. In his hand, Josh formed a sword of pure energy and swung it down on Gabriel’s arm, slicing it off. Gabriel stumbled backwards a few feet, a thick trail of blood following him. Elizabeth hit the ground and looked down at half an arm gripping her neck limply. She screamed and tore the arm off, throwing it away quickly. Josh flew around the area once and landed in front of her, sword still in hand. He glared at the wounded Gabriel with cold, unsympathetic eyes.
“I said, leave her alone.” He said in a low, aggravated tone. Gabriel, by this time had regained his composure and was staring down Josh. An icy laugh left his mouth as the words Josh spoke reached him.
“Do you honestly think that I’m going to let you get away with amputating my arm?” he asked hypocritically. He looked over at his arm and it rose from the resting place that Elizabeth had given it. The arm hovered for a moment then flew over to its owner. With his mind, Gabriel positioned the arm near the other half. The muscles, tendons, and veins began to move like worms then attached to each other with ease. The arm grew back in place and the flash liquefied around the muscle. With his other hand he reached over and snapped the bone back into place. Josh and Elizabeth watched this scene in horror and utter disgust.
“There we go, as good as new. It was a nice try though, Joshua.” Gabriel said giving Josh a small applause.
One of the seven stepped forward. “Master Gabriel, we don’t have much more time. We are already late as it is.”
“Yes I am aware of that.” Gabriel growled, slightly annoyed. “Come Joshua, we have a duty to uphold you know. I’ll let her live…for now.” He said walking over to the circle. Josh stood his ground.
“I’m not going to participate in this little plan anymore.” He said under his breath.
“Excuse me?” Gabriel asked stopping dead in his tracks. “I didn’t quite hear that last part.”
Josh could tell he was annoyed, this made him smile. “I said that I’m not going to take part in this anymore. What? Have you been around those choir angels too long or something?” he asked taking a few steps forward. “What we are about to do will make us no more than humans. The war we are about start is going to be meaningless. Come on Gabriel; all of you. Open your eyes. Are you going to continue to allow God to rule over your life? Well, are you? Or are you going to stand up for what you know is the right and justified thing?” Josh was yelling so loud and with so much passion that he thought his head was going to explode. He was no more then a few inches away from Gabriel’s face. “What are you going to do when you are done torching this world and all this live in it? If you are expecting to get praised from the Man Above don’t hold your breath. Nothing will satisfy Him, so why are you willing to try?” he through his teeth. The next thing Josh saw was stars; Gabriel punched him in the temple and sent the black haired boy on a one way flight into a pile of rubble. Elizabeth found her strength and ran over to where Josh was forcefully relocated.
“You have forsaken yourself Jophiel. I knew that sending you down here for that long period was a mistake. You have grown attached to these…humans.” He spat as his eyes scanned Elizabeth up and down. “Eight is plenty. We will do this without you.” He said turning back to the circle. The sun had begun to rise and time was running out for Josh.
He lifted himself out of the rubble and pushed the worried Elizabeth out of the way. “Take cover.” He whispered as he limped forward. His wings were slightly frayed and feathers were missing in places, but he didn’t notice, much less care. The shape his wings were in worried Elizabeth as she took cover behind a pile of debris. She remembered some writings about angelology; when an angel’s wings become frayed it meant that they were falling from grace. God must have heard him speak, she thought as Josh stopped just short of the circle, then does that mean Josh…is going to sacrifice himself?
Gabriel rolled his eyes and sighed as he saw Josh up and walking again. “Can’t you just stay down or go away?” He said stepping away from the circle again.
“I’m not leaving and I’m not going to give up. I’ve finally opened my eyes and I’m not going to let you hurt anyone on this planet, no matter how much they deserve it. The angel’s job is not to take human lives in their own hands. The only thing we are allowed to do is influence, and even that is limited. Now you better stop this right now or I’m going to kill you all.” He said bracing himself. He wasn’t quite sure why he was doing this, but that voice in his head kept telling him to follow what he thought was right and he was. He was tired of not having a life of his own. He wanted what the humans took for granted. He wanted to be the ruler of his own life; him and no one else. He now had the chance to do that, and he wasn’t going to let anyone or anything change his mind.
“You are crazy if you think you are going to win.” Gabriel laughed.
“I gave you fair warning.” Josh closed his eyes and began to glow. He knew he didn’t have enough power to kill all eight and live, but he had to do something. His targets stood there, unworried. A strong wind began to blow and Josh began to glow brighter. He felt like his insides were going to implode from all the power he had flowing through him.
He couldn’t hold it any longer; he let out an ear piercing scream and released all his power with a blinding flash of light. Gabriel smiled because his power was just a tickle. Then a spot in the fluorescent light of Josh’s power appeared. Gabriel’s smile vanished as he recognized that the shadow had twelve wings; Lucifer. What is he doing here? Gabriel thought, growing nervous. Suddenly he heard screams behind him and turned to see the other seven being ripped apart. He couldn’t scream, something felt knotted inside him. His arms felt a stress at their sockets and his legs lost all feelings. His vision went red and then black. The power that Lucifer had added to Josh’s severed the eight angel’s bodies into small chunks of flesh, bone, and blood soaked feathers.
The light disappeared and Josh fell to his knees in exhaustion. He took deep breaths and looked around at the bloody mess he created. “It’s over…Finally.” He whispered to himself.
“Yes it is. You saved that which you hate the most.” The voice from his dreams came again. He looked up and saw a man with long black hair and twelve silver wings.
“I had a feeling it was you.” Josh said rising to his feet. Lucifer nodded and smiled.
“Are you going to come with me or stay here and face His wrath?” he asked.
Josh blinked a few times. “Let me think, go with you and not be punished or stay here and be tortured for the rest of eternity. I think I’ll go with you.” He said taking a step toward the Fallen One.
“Josh, are you really going to leave?” Elizabeth asked coming out from behind the debris.
He turned and smiled at her. “I have to Liz, I can’t live on Earth anymore. I’ve served my purpose. Now I need you to serve yours.”
She looked at him, a bit confused. “All right.”
“I need you to remember the events that have just happened. You need to somehow get them into the public and make them believe that they are real. Can you do that?” He asked. She nodded unable to speak. He smiled and spoke to her for the very last time. “I will always watch over you Liz. No matter where you are, I will be right there next to you. Take care and live for yourself and no one else.”
With those words he turned away from her and walked to Lucifer. The two angels walked side by side, one with full and beautiful wings, the other with broken, bloody, and naked wings. Elizabeth covered her eyes as another blinding flash of light came and went. She opened them and they were gone, never to be seen again.
*~Two Years Later~*
Elizabeth stared blankly at her laptop, searching her memories for the right words to end her first novel. It had been two years since the events at Ground Zero and she still remembers it like it just happened yesterday. She had been working on a novel about the encounter with Josh and the destructive, yet faithful night. She figured out a way to share what happened with the world and that was through a novel. By writing a book, she could just make up a lie that it was a fiction and that it wasn’t true; which was a lie, but people didn’t have to know that. She knew that somewhere in the world, someone would take her words seriously, and that was enough to satisfy.
Her eyes lit up as the words finally came to her. They were the perfect ending for her work. Her finger pressed the keys on the key board diligently, entering her final phrase. After that was complete, she scrolled her mouse over and saved the document. Rising from her chair, she grabbed her keys and left her apartment, leaving the laptop and document open.
She stepped out of the apartment complex and placed her hands in her jacket pockets. Something soft brushed her finger tips and she pulled it out; a white feather. A breeze came and she let the feather be taken away, free from its confines. She followed it with her eyes and smiles and then quoted the last line of her book to the feather, hoping Josh was listening.
“We are, all of us angels with only one wing; and we can only fly by embracing one another.”