The Angel Side (11 page)

“What do you mean Ra got in your way…
in the
way of what?” I panicked
,
releasing my hold on him.

My dad didn’t
need
to say a word. His stare said it all.

“Is he okay?” I yelled
.

“I don’t know.
Once he pushed me out of the way they engulfed him
,
and next thing I know I’m on Amy’s porch. Look, I have to go. You girls stick close to one another. I’ll be back.” Leaving a small dust cloud behind him, my dad took off for the Heavens.

Ra had been a firm believer that every individual in the ranks should be able to handle themselves no matter the situation, no matter how many enemies they were facing
,
but teamwork would ensure a victory. For Ra to shove my dad aside and send him home mean
t
defeat had been imminent.

Guilt swept over me as I thought about my last words to Ra before he went off to battle. I had been horribly heartless
,
and it may have cost the only man I’ve ever loved his life.
Heavy with worry, I fell to the couch, b
lankly staring off in
to
space
,
when suddenly the windows exploded as if a bomb had gone off.
Rat
-
like Demons flooded the living room as
René
, Amy
,
and I stood back to back, ready to fight.

“I don’
t usually kill wome
n
,
but for you I’ll make an exception.” A raspy voice came from the back of the crowded room. Waltzing through the mob with a sinister grin, a Demon
I knew all too well
locked eyes on me.

Memories of a life I’d rather not remember
flashed
in my head. Wailing, charcoal beings of what were once Angels and Demons ripping each other to shreds as they clamor atop one another forming peaks in the sea of the forgotten. Each mist reaching for any kind of relief as their soul endured pain far beyond excruciating. Others lie on the pinnacled ground or tuck away in corners tearing away at their own flesh in
an
effort to end the misery. Gut wrenching screams fill the air so thick
,
leaving no room for echoes in the canyon.

Miles above on the cliffs sits Lilith, The Lady of Purgatory
,
on her throne of dismembered wings and horns. Surrounding her and the ledges stands her cloned army of female guards. Yellow stolas drape over their elongated, fur covered bodies. Jagged fangs drip with an oozing acid, burning the tortured below. Their fluorescent
,
powder blue eyes methodically scan their collection of the damned. Should a spirit get too close to the top, a flick of Lilith’s long, knobby fingers begins a blitz of serrated polearms raining into the throngs. Some are foolish
enough
to attempt to beg her for mercy. But no relief, no quarter, no sanctuary or death will come; only more pain and suffering.
It had been Purgatory.

I prepared to
give
the gigantic
,
cornrowed beast a speech about what would happen if she broke my deal with Lucifer
,
when my dad and the Arch
e
s appeared, surrounding Amy, René
,
and
me
.

Drawing their weapons, the men closed in tighter around us. Bumping into me,
I smiled as Ra glanced over his shoulder
to see what he
’d
touched.
Without as much as a smirk back, Ra coldly
turn
ed
his attention back to the horde. I
began
to protest his icy demeanor when I noticed unlike the other
Arch
e
s,
Ra had
only one wing
visible.

“Back off!” Ra snarled when I touched h
is back, searching for his wing
.

I jumped back, assuming he had barked his order toward me.

“Now, now.
You’d think you guys would have realized
you’re
no match for me
and my ladies
. Just ask dear Rahovart. Tell me Rahovart, what does it feel like having someone else carry you in order to flash? Hurts
the
masculine ego of yours, I bet.”
Lilith taunted as
yellowish-orange sparks burst from Gabriel’s wing.

“Get down!” Ra cried out,
shoving me down as a ball mace whizzed past my head.

Scrambling to my feet, the hardwood flooring next to me splintered into the air as someone grabbed me by my waist, pulling me up.

“Hold on!” my dad yelled as he prepared to flash with me in tow. Sparks flew overhead as a sword ricocheted off his flared wings. Fending off the attack
,
my dad dropped his hold on me. Darting behind Urie
l, I ripped out two feathers fro
m his wings and tossed them to a cowering
René
.

“Get up and fight!” I screamed at
René
, stealing another pair of feathers for myself.

“We’re outnumbered! We need to get out of here! Grab the women
,
and go!” Uriel shouted over the melee. When I turned to grab the closest Arch, a searing pain cut through my spine. My knees buckled,
and
my body collapsed.

“Ra!”
I cried out, when a dark shadow cast over me.

“He can’t help you now. Did you really think you and your bastard children would take my throne?”

“I don’t want it. You can have it.” I bit out as the Demon stood over me, pushing the point of her sword in
to
my chest. With Ra and the others engaged in full battle they had been unaware of my predicament. Any cry for help had been drow
ned out by the sounds of fighting
.

“Dad!”
I tried to call out
,
but the white hot pain coursing through my body turned it to a whisper.

“Oops. Time’s up.” Lilith
said
,
looking in front of her
.

Using every ounce of strength I had
,
I tilted my head to follow her gaze. Ra had gone berserk, his eyes filled with rage and bloodlust as he cut his way through the mass of Demon rats, toward us. Behind him, my father
,
in an equal rage
, finishing
off anyone who made it past Ra.

I told myself they were going to save me as they had every other time before.
T
his
had simply been
another notch in my battle belt. Turning back t
o my would-be killer, I smiled victoriously.

“Enjoy your afterlife.” She returned my smile with a wink as sh
e thrust her sword deeper into my chest
.

With a deafening whistle, the Demon and her legions disappeared.

“Ra. Help.” I gurgled as blood filled my mouth, dribbling from my lips down my chin.

“Etta! No! No! No!” Ra came crashing down beside me
,
cradling me
to
his chest. Tilting my head, Ra brushed my hair aside.

“Baby girl?
You’re gonna be okay.” Seconds later my dad appeared next to Ra. As hard as I tried
,
I had been unable to focus on their faces. Everything spun and blurred as the world turned into a dark
ened
kaleidoscope.

“Where’s Amy?” Ra shouted then returned his attention to me.

“I took her to the house where she
’d
be safe.” Gabriel replied
.

“Well take
Etta
there already!” Ra roared
.

There were a million and one things I needed to say to Ra as I
lay
dying. I wanted to tell him how sorry I
was
for what I said earlier
,
and I didn’t mean a word of it. How I never once regretted marrying him and loved him more than any words
would be able to
exp
ress
. The thought of the life we had flashed before my eyes as I clung to his toga.

“We can’t. She
’s
too injured. Her body won’t be able to handle it.” Uriel said
.

“Then go get her!” my dad yelled, grabbing Uriel then shoving him.

The c
haos around me seemed to make what had been happening all the more bleak
, as I fought to breathe through the
clog
of blood in the back of my throat.

“It’s going to be okay
,
my love. We’re going to get Amy.” Ra kissed my forehead as I coughed up what seemed to be a gallon of blood all over him. My eyelids became overwhelmed with a sudden heaviness
I’d been unable to fight.

“You’re going to be okay. We’re going to get you fixed and by this time tomorrow
,
we’ll be on that vacation you’ve been asking for. We’ll be swimming with dolphins, basking in the sun, and drinking enough virgin
daiquiris
to give us brain freeze for a week. Just hold on
,
honey.” Ra pleaded as my world faded to black.

“Open your
eyes
,
honey. C’mon. Stay with me.” I said
,
shaking and tapping Etta’s jaw. I tried to keep a smile on my face as if all would be well but inside
,
panic and self-loathing had taken over.
Why hadn’t I reacted sooner to the attack? Why did I let her out of my sight?
I had been so worried about staying away from her to drive my point home I had broken my promise
to
protect and mak
e
sure no harm ever came to Etta.

“Is she?” Uriel stood above us.

“No! No! She’s just passed out
,
is all. C’mon
,
Etta. Fight for me. Fight for us. You can’t leave me. C’mon. You gotta fight. Please! Please! Open your eyes! God damn you, Etta!
Fight!”
I begged through a flux of streaming tears, rocking her limp body back and forth as I kissed her blue lips. My usage of Father’s name had been received with
a
choir of gasps
,
but I didn’t care
.
Etta’s stubbornness had brought me to a breaking point. All she had to do was open her eyes.

“Step aside!” Amy ordered as she knelt beside me. Unable to let go, I held Etta’s limp body close to mine.

“Ra!
Let her go. I have to see her wounds.” Amy pushed me aside. John and I stood shoulder to shoulder and watched as Amy put two fingers against Etta’s throat. As Amy lowered her head
,
John held my hand in his.

“Well
,
f
ix her!” I screamed, jerking my hand from John’s hold.

“I can’t.” Amy sobbed as a stream of tears flowed down her cheeks.

“Bull!” I grabbed Amy’s hands, rubbed them together
,
and placed them on Etta’s chest
,
but nothing happened. Amy yanked her hands from
mine
and ran for Gabriel
.

“I can’t raise the dead
,
Ra!” Amy yelled
.

“She’s not dead. Try again.” I went to reach for Amy again when John snatched me up in a full nelson.

“She’s gone
,
Ra. Etta is gone!”

“No!” I slid out of John’s hold and sagged to my knees, pulling Etta into me
. Succumbing to my emotions, a wave of tears rushed from me.

“Ra. Ra!” Gabriel crouched before me.
“
Intake
.”

Bewildered by his statement, I turned my focus back to Etta when Gabriel grabbed my chin.

“If she’s gone here, where would she go?
Intake
, Ra.
She’s at the gates.” It took a few seconds for Gabriel’s words to resonate
,
but I had no way of getting there on my own.

I had suffered greatly during the earlier attack on the gates. A group of Lilith’s Demons had descended on John. In an attempt
to save him, I turned the horde
on
only
myself. Unable to defend against them, they got me to the ground when Lilith came up from behind. With a foot against my back, Lilith had ripped my
injured wing
from me
. Fortunately
,
Father had been able to save
me
before I started to
fall to Hell
,
but the loss of another
wing
had left me permanently grounded. Except with the help of a fellow Angel, I’d never flash again.

“
Take me to her.” I pleaded.

“You guys clean up, I’ll take him.” John said
,
stepping behind me
.
With an optimistic smile,
I held onto
John
as he took off for home
.

On the way I kept telling myself Etta would be at
the
gates waiting to start her eternal life with me again. Th
ough I didn’t want her to die
,
I’d been unable to help
the macabre thought that it all had to be
a blessing in disguise. I would no longer have to worry about living in two worlds or how I would even be able to see
her after losing my wings. She’
d
be able to
take comfort
in the fact
I
’d
be given a desk job
,
and she’d never have to wait for me to return from a mission or spen
d her nights worrying if I
would
ever return
. We’d even be able to start the family she’d always wanted. We’d finally have our ‘happily ever after’.

John and I approached the gates in record time only to find them deserted.
Had she already made it through?
No. The process can take days
,
sometimes weeks
,
to get through intake. Confused, I ran up to one of the guards. Believing I still held the title of Arch, they knelt before me.

“Get up. Did a female with long brown hair
and
almond shaped brown eyes just come through here?”

“No
,
sir.
Intake has been shut down after what happened earlier. We just finished fixing the gates. No telling when
i
ntake will be up and running again.” The first guard answered.

“What in Father’s name—?” the second guard took a step back then rushed to the alarms. As the alarms sounded I turned
,
expecting a horde of Demons rushing the gates again. Nothing could prepare me for what I saw
coming
toward the gates; a raging wall of water.

All of our oceans
were
located in the southern part of the Heaven
s,
and the gates were located at the most northern point
,
making a tsunami impossible. Stunned and
speechless,
I stood watching as the massive wave crested just before reaching the gates. The water rushed through the golden bars, sweeping me off my feet and into its depths. Fighting against the tide, I tried swimming to the surface, but the riptide pulled me deeper.

Water swooshed into my mouth and into my lungs. Instinctually I gasped for air, only filling my lungs further. Heaviness took over
,
and I found myself succumbing to a watery death.
And then it
struck
me
;
I had
to
be dreaming. Etta hadn’t died.
I still had my wings
.
I
must
ha
ve
been having
a
nightmare
. It
was
the only explanation. No longer wanting to fight it, I let the water take me. Knowing I would wake up, I released my
last
breath
as
something dove into the water next to me.

Father hooked me by my arms, rescuing me from the deluge. As we broke the surface, the wave receded, leaving Father and I drenched
and
lying on the ground in the middle
of Baptist Square.
F
rightened
, a
crowd formed around us
and marveled
as I coughed up sprays of water
.
Father leaned over me with a worrisome stare. Like a child, I flung myself into Father’s arms, breaking down as he tightened his embrace.

Part of me wanted to rip into him about why Etta had been taken. At the age of twenty
-
two she deserved to live a longer life on Earth. As long as she
was
on
E
arth, she would be safe. The deal she made with Lucifer ensured he would leave her alone until she returned to Heaven. Once she crossed those gates, it would be game on. Lucifer would be back to claim his sister for his wife. Should he get his hands on her, his first task would be to impregnate Etta. His children would tilt the scales of good versus evil
,
and mankind would fall, fulfilling Lucifer’s age-old adage ‘
If you can’t weed them out, breed them out.’
But
Father’s
love swept away any anger I held against him.

“I’m not dreaming am I
,
Father? Etta’s gone, isn’t she?” I sobbed
.

“No
,
my son, this is not a dream. As for being gone, none of us are ever gone.” Father replied, petting my head
.

“Then where is she?” I said, looking up at Him
.

Father looked in the direction of the gates.

“She’s not here.” I said
,
lowering my head.

“She is here. Just not in the
way you a
re expecting. Come.” Father replied as he pulled me to my feet, looping my arm around his.

In si
lence
,
Father led me to the gate
.
F
ear engulfed me
as I stared out between the bars
at an ominous wall of water standing still in the middle of the desert
.

Outside the gates
laid
a desolate landscape of dust storms and debris from previous wars. The Wastelands separated the four worlds
,
making it open territory for any and all souls, Demon or Angel. It had once been full of lush flora and fauna, an oasis where Abihail and I
,
during our courtship
,
had many picnics. But after being plagued by centuries of war against Lucifer, the land lost its luster and withered
into a barren nothingness.
Beyond repair, Father cut it off from our lands.

When Lucifer attempted to step in and take the Wastelands as his, Lilith, Queen of Purgatory, and her minions rose against him. When the dust settled, Lilith had won and claimed the land
as neutral ground
,
making it
a
haven for the souls who
chose no sides
.
Father would send search parties for souls who may be convinced to come back home. However, the souls who sought sanctuary from the celestial politics and wars found themselves targeted by rogue Demons in search of favor with Lucifer.
With a Demon possibly lurking behind a dune or mound of discarded shields and weaponry, Father declared the Wastelands off limits.

“I don’t see her, Father.” I said, searching the area for signs of Etta.

“Look beyond your nose.” Father pointed off in the distance to a wall of water.

Assuming her soul had been washed out by the tidal wave, I ripped open the gates. For all I knew Lucifer had been playing one
of
his games and had a horde waiting for me
,
or worse,
was
holding Etta’s soul hostage. With no regard to my safety, I took off to save Etta
,
but with each stride, the wall seemed to move forward as well. Skidding to a halt, I glanced over my shoulder to Father. I
was
utterly
alone, with no ability to flash or defend myself. He saved me from the first wave, but he would be unable to help me out here. Nudging his chin forward, he must have sense
d
my apprehension.

I drew in a deep breath and slowly released it, hoping my doubts would leave with it. Closing my eyes, I whispered, “Etta, if you’re here, know I will find you…come Hell or in this case, high water.”
as I
took another step forward.