Rebirth - The Beautiful Fallen (8 page)

             
“I’ll be fine.  It’s just taking a little more time for this one to heal.” he admitted.

             
“What happened to you?” I asked.  He didn’t seem like he had been hurt that afternoon.

             
“Don’t worry about it.” Chris said, looking back over at me.  “What are you doing back here anyways?”

             
I felt a little lost for a moment.  Just why had I run back there to Chris again?  Well, I guessed the most obvious answer would’ve been for what he’d already known about me.  He knew where I had come from, and knew some things about my father.  And he probably knew what I was going to be. In all, it seemed to me like this guy knew more about me then I even knew about myself at that point.  Could he have really been like me?  I hadn’t really considered it that much before, but now the thought wouldn’t go away.

             
Still, I needed to answer him too.  “Well, I think something happened to me while I was sleeping.” I said, sitting back against the wall.  “I think I was dreaming of when I was born.  And when I woke up, my pendant was glowing again.”

             
“Really?  That's interesting.  Guess he's trying to make you understand a little bit more about all of this now.” Chris said.

             
Here went nothing.  I had to ask him the big question.  “You’re like me, aren’t you?  You were born from a Fallen One too, weren't you?” I said.

             
“Yeah, I was.  We’re the same kind, and like I said before, there are others like us.  Although the numbers have gone down in the last century or so.” Chris admitted.

             
So this was it.  Chris was indeed like me, a child born between a Fallen Angel and a human woman.  In a way, I really wasn't that surprised.  He had the looks for it.  But also, he’d reminded me of what he said before in passing.  More of us.  “Seriously?  So we really aren’t the only ones?” I asked him.

             
“Far from it.  But it marks us too.  And unfortunately, there are other things that like to come after us because they can sense the power inside of us.  Either you learn to fight, or you get killed.” Chris told me, standing himself back up.  I couldn't help but notice it took him a little bit of effort though.  He was definitely hurting some.  But I found that I couldn't say much to it either.  I had the feeling that he might have just brushed me off about it anyways.

             
I quickly got up with him though.  “You mean like whatever that was outside?  I guess you did tell me not to come out, huh?” I said as I looked down.  Okay, so I’ll admit that it had been kind of stupid for me to sneak out in the middle of the night like I did with knowing that there could be something out there like that woman earlier.  But I honestly hadn’t thought that I’d get away from Mama so easily if I’d done it any other way.

             
Chris let out a deep breath.  It actually sounded a little bit painful.  “Don’t worry about that.  Let’s just get some rest.  We’ll figure out where to go from here in the morning.” he replied, walking back over to the folded out futon.

             
I just stood there for a moment.  He had to be kidding right?  “Um, where am I supposed to sleep in here?” I asked him.  I didn’t see anything else aside from the floor to sleep on.

             
“What do you mean?  There’s room on here.” Chris said, lying back down and covering himself up.

             
“Do I really have to say all the things wrong with that statement?” I said, feeling exhausted now.  And it wasn’t just from being up in the middle of the night.

             
Chris looked over at me.  “There’s nothing wrong with it when all you’re doing is sleeping.  Besides, I think you'd want to be close to me if that thing decides to come back and look inside.” he reasoned without missing a beat.

             
Okay, so he had a point there.  I really didn’t want to be lying on the floor and look up to see a monster looking in at me.  Then I probably would die of a heart attack.  So I quietly walked over and laid down under the blanket beside him.  “No funny stuff.” I told him.

             
Chris just shook his head.  “Whatever.” he replied.

             
I closed my eyes as he turned out the small light over the bed.  I’ll admit that I wasn’t at all comfortable about this, but I’d survive.  Holding my pendant, I managed to make myself relax.  And eventually, I was able to drift off to sleep.  Amazingly though, I didn’t end up dreaming.  I actually had a decent night’s sleep, for the first time in a very long time.  It was only as the sun began peeking through the windows that I found myself waking again.

             
When I first opened my eyes, I felt a little more than confused.  I wasn’t in my room, or my bed.  But lifting my head and looking around, it slowly dawned on me that I’d left my house in the middle of the night before.  Of course, I thought.  I remember now.  I’d had that dream about Saffron and Jade when I was born, and I’d decided to go looking for Chris to get more answers.  I had made it to his house, and something had been following me.  Then I ended up staying there for the rest of the night.

             
Turning myself a little, I found that Chris was still sleeping beside me.  He’d turned onto his back now, and I could clearly see the bandages under his tank top.  They definitely wrapped around his shoulder and chest.  I couldn’t help but wonder just what had happened to him.  Obviously, something had hurt him pretty badly.  Had he maybe gone back to that house and fought with that woman some more?  It was possible, right?

             
In spite of myself, I leaned over a little to take a better look at him.  He really was a handsome guy, although I was now certain that he probably had a very stubborn personality.  But looking at him, I couldn't help but suddenly think that his features looked a little bit familiar.  And it wasn't just from my dreams.  There was something familiar in his face....

             
After a few more minutes of me staring at him, I saw him begin waking up again.  I quickly backed myself up again so that he wouldn't catch me.  “Is it morning already?’ he muttered as he put an arm over his eyes.

             
I had to laugh a little.  “You’re not a morning person, are you?” I said.

             
“No.  I hate mornings.  I prefer sleep.” Chris replied.

             
“By the way, are you ready to tell me what happened to you now?” I asked him.

             
“What do you mean?” Chris asked, looking back over at me. 

             
I pointed at the bandages.  “You look like you’ve been through something with those.” I said.

             
“Oh yeah.  That.” Chris said, sitting himself up a little now.  He cringed slightly as he did.  “Just a run in with that thing last night.  That’s why I preferred not having to do it again.”

             
So that must have been why he was so intent on us not being spotted the night before.  He’d already fought with whatever that was.  And apparently, he’d lost.  “Are you going to be okay?” I asked him.

             
“I’m fine.  But I probably should get up and change these now.” Chris admitted, glancing down at the bandages.

             
Well, it wasn’t in me to just leave him like that.  I knew I could never do it.  “All right.  But let me do it.  I can probably fix those a lot tighter then you can.” I said.

             
Chris shrugged, getting himself up with me.  Going back to the bathroom, I looked under the sink and through what medical supplies he had in there.  Apparently, he had thought ahead about keeping a lot of stuff on hand.  It looked like there was enough for at least one more dressing.  “We might have to find some more of this stuff for you soon.  You’re running low you know.” I commented as I came back out and sat down on the side of the bed with him.

             
“You’re probably right.  We can pick some more up later.  But it shouldn’t be that bad this morning.  It’s had time to start healing now.” Chris said.

             
I nodded as I sat down with him on the bed and he took off the tank top.  Then I quietly began working on undoing the previous bandages.  I was trying very hard to not blush as I did this.  No guy should have been this built.  He may not have had huge muscles on him, but he was definitely well defined.  Not to mention that nice six pack he was sporting.  “Seriously, do you have any fat on you at all?” I heard myself ask. But just as quick I found myself thinking, "Okay, did I really just say that?"

             
“Maybe, but I'm not sure where.  I don’t really get the chance to be lazy anymore.” Chris replied without missing a beat.  My comment seemed like it didn't bother him at all.  That, or he just didn't catch onto what I was saying.

             
Shaking my head at it, I finished pulling off the rest of the bandages.  I was a little shocked at what I saw though.  Even though the wounds were scabbed over now and looked like they were healing some, they were nasty.  One was a long deep cut extending from his shoulder down to the bottom of his ribs, and the other one was a slice across his chest.  “What did this to you?” I had to ask.

             
“It’s called a Shade.  They’re creatures that occasionally slip over to this side of reality late at night, and most humans refer to them as shadow people.  There’s always trouble when they show up though.  They’re killing machines that love to tear just about anything apart with their claws.  And they're tough to fight against, because they basically live in the shadows themselves.” Chris explained.

             
I took a deep breath and tried to steady myself, carefully unrolling the new dressings.  “Sounds to me like you got lucky last night.” I said. Again, I thought to myself did I really just say that?

             
“It wouldn’t be wrong.” Chris agreed, still not catching onto my embarrassment that I was bringing onto myself.  “But I've got bigger things to think about now.  I’ve got to figure out what my next move is.  Now that you know what you are and you’ve decided to come back to me, the change is probably going to come sooner.  Staying in this town would probably be the worst thing for you too when that happens.  More than likely, they’d find you pretty quickly.”

             
“You said something about that before.  What exactly do you mean by change?” I asked as I began rewrapping wounds again.

             
“Sorry.  I keep forgetting that he hasn’t told you anything about this.  Actually, you’ll end up like the rest of us when it happens.  You’re not going to age anymore from now on.  And you’ll get these.” Chris said.

             
To my shock, large wings suddenly came out of his back.  I felt myself jerk back in my seat as I saw them emerge, actually falling off of the futon and onto the floor.  Chris just looked at me in surprise.  "Well, that was graceful." he commented.

             
I felt myself make a face at him then.  "Not funny." I said, pulling myself back up and moving behind him to take a better look at those wings.  They were incredibly beautiful, with feathers that were as black as the darkest night.  Even though I was in awe of them, I couldn’t help but wonder how in the world this was possible.  Was this supposed to be some kind of magic trick or something?  Still, looking back there, I saw that they came right out of his shoulder blades as an actual extension of his body.  Definitely no tricks there… 

             
“Okay, seriously, where were you hiding these?  I slept beside you all night and I never felt anything different.” I said.  I wasn’t about to really say out loud that I’d made sure to stay pressed close against him.  The thought of something looking in at me had me a bit more than paranoid.  That and, as dumb as it sounds, it actually felt nice to sleep beside him.  Like I said before, there was just something about Chris that was way too inviting to me.

             
“In my back.  It’s something that comes natural for us.” Chris said, quickly pulling them back into his shoulder blades.  They went in flawlessly, and you couldn’t even tell that they were ever there.  Even the entrance of where they emerged covered back with flesh as quickly as the blink of an eye.

             
“You got to be kidding me.” I moaned, forcing myself to sit back down and finish his bandaging.

             
“I'd imagine that this is a lot to take, isn't it?” Chris admitted.

             
“I’m going to guess that you’ve known about this your whole life.”  I said, sitting back a little to recompose myself once again.  This was all becoming a lot to take in, especially in such a short amount of time.

             
“I didn’t have much of a choice.  I was born like this, although I didn’t get the wings until I was eighteen.  I almost didn’t make it to that though.  I just got lucky enough to have my father decide to save me when I was a little kid and those others came after me.” Chris explained.