Rebirth - The Beautiful Fallen (16 page)

             
“Chris!” I said, trying to sound more urgent.  I was getting scared now.

             
“Okay, okay.  Just try to relax.” Chris said, although he sounded a little more like he was trying to reassure himself.  “Saffron’s forced your blood to wake up now.  Your body’s getting itself ready to change.  Hopefully, if I’m timing this right in my head, we’ll be able to make it to Zane in time to get you to a safe place to finish.”

             
I put my head down, closing my eyes tightly and rocking back and forth in my seat.  It hurt even worse now.  I could actually feel something beginning to grow in my back.  In my mind, I was cursing Saffron now.  I wasn’t ready to do this yet.  Even though I had felt like I wanted to be equal to Chris before, I really wasn’t ready for this yet.  It wasn’t fair that he had just forced me into this.

             
As I sat there curled up though, I felt Chris reach over and squeeze my hand.  Even through the pain, that actually felt comforting.  At least I felt like I wasn’t alone now.  “Just relax.  We’ll be there soon.  And hopefully there won’t be any cops out along the way.” he said anxiously.

             
I really don’t remember a lot of that ride from there.  I do recall glancing up a couple of times from my little spot and seeing that we were definitely going at a very illegal speed, but that was about it.  Instead, I found myself mostly drifting in and out of my mind.  I saw a lot of things while I did that.  I dreamed of when Chris was a child and his family was killed, and of how Jade had saved him and sealed off his powers.  It was Jade who had taught him how to fight, and helped him when he finally awakened.  I remembered feeling rather surprised by the whole thing.  Jade was more of a father figure then anyone would’ve thought a fallen angel could've been.  He offered him support and praise, and even discipline like a parent would.  He remained here in the mortal world, taking care of him and teaching him how to fight, as well as making sure that nothing could harm him before he learned to hold his own.  All in all, in was very easy for me to see how important Chris actually was to him.  It was obvious that Jade saw him as much more than just a possession he'd created.  He'd even said it himself one time.  Chris was his child, and a legacy that he wanted to live on in the mortal world.

             
But along with this, I also had other visions.  I saw a young man with pretty green eyes and ash colored hair talking to Chris outside.  It looked like they were seated outside of a small restaurant in what looked to be a big city.  Almost instantly, I had the sense that he was another like us.  And joining them was Will.  Both of them seemed to know Chris well, and even seemed to be his friends.  From the impression I got with the surroundings, this had been many, many years before.  The three were talking about something, but I couldn’t quite make out all of what they were saying.  I strained my ears, and tried to understand just what I was seeing.

             
“Trust me, there will be another like you one day.  And they will more than likely come from him.” the one with green eyes was saying.

             
“It’s preposterous you know.  Those two hate each other.” Will told him.

             
“They love and hate each other.  It’s been that way for thousands of years.  So I’m content to just wait.  She will come.” Chris said.  Surprisingly, he looked most content as well as he sat there with them.  It was a look I really hadn't seen from him before.

             
The vision faded for me after that.  For a long moment, I saw nothing but darkness.  And then, another vision came through.  In this one, I was in Faith Kent’s room.  She was sitting on the bed, holding a very pregnant belly.  Saffron was also there, standing in front of her.  It seemed as though they were having a pretty deep conversation.

             
“So I won’t get to see her?” Faith was saying as she looked down at her belly.

             
“No.  Women who carry Fallen Children never survive the birth.  The child simply takes too much of their strength.” Saffron told her.

             
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.  So Faith wouldn’t have even survived my being born?  Was that why Saffron took me like he did?  Not just because he felt like he had to kill her?

             
Faith sighed, sitting back a little.  “You know that’s not fair though.  I wanted to see her.  I know she'll be beautiful.  She’ll probably even look just like you.” she said.

             
“Perhaps.” Saffron said, smiling slightly to himself as if the thought had amused him.  I watched as he moved over to sit beside her.  “But you know what must be done as well.  My time’s getting short, and she’s almost ready.”

             
“I know.  But are you sure Miss Mabel will be able to care for her?” Faith asked.

             
“Trust me, she’ll be good enough for the job.  I’ve given her enough power to keep her safe until the time comes when she meets the ones she’s supposed to.” Saffron assured her.

             
Faith rubbed her belly again.  “Okay then.  But you’d better keep her safe.  I don’t care if you don’t feel anything for me.  But she’s your daughter.” she said.

             
“I never said I felt nothing towards you.” Saffron told her.  “If I didn’t, I wouldn’t have even spoken to you, let alone given you this gift of making a child for me.  You can go to your grave knowing that much.”

             
At that, Faith actually smiled at him.  Her blind devotion was almost stunning to me.  How could she have been so dedicated to him like that?  “Fine then.  I guess I can deal with that.  But before you do what you have to, please, give me one last kiss.” she said.

             
Saffron smiled at her, holding her cheeks and kissing her gently.  Then, there was a sickening snap as he suddenly broke her neck.  I heard myself scream as I watched her body fall to the floor.  Saffron himself knelt down between her legs and quickly reached inside of her, pulling the newborn out of her.  All I could hear then was an infant’s cries mixed with my screams as they were brutally brought into the world.

             
And with that, I blacked out completely.

Six

             
“Why did they have to die?”

             
I found myself staring as the little boy whispered those words.  Standing there in that room, it took a moment for me to gather myself enough to make sense of the fact that I was seeing something entirely new once again.  I blinked a few times, and realized that I was standing at the foot of a large bed.  A beautiful sheer blue canopy was draped over it, and I could see inside through one of the openings.  Lying on the soft looking velvet comforter of the bed were two figures.  I couldn’t quite believe it when I realized who they were.

             
It was Jade, and Chris as a child. 

             
They were lying there, with Chris curled against Jade, who had a protective arm around him.  He looked so frightened now.  He was dressed in different clothes than what I'd always seen him in before.  Older looking clothes, perhaps what a child would have worn centuries ago.  He wore a dark vest over a white ruffled shirt, and blue pants.  Jade was dressed in black, as he always seemed to be.

             
“It wasn’t your fault.  You only did what came natural.  Those who killed them will always have to be your enemies.” Jade told him.  He tone was soft and sounded very understanding.

             
“But I don’t want to be a monster.  I don’t want to hurt anyone.” Chris said, his eyes filled with tears.

             
Jade just held him close, sighing slightly.  “You’re not a monster.  You’re a very special child.” He assured him. 

             
“I am?” Chris whispered.

             
“Of course.” Jade replied.  “Because you are my child.” 

I felt my eyes closing as he said that, and the next thing I knew, I was waking up for real.  Blinking my eyes, I realized that they were trying to focus on a room.  For a long moment, I wasn’t even sure of what had happened to me.  But as I slowly sat myself up, I realized that I still had a slight pain in my back.  That’s right, I thought.  Saffron had forced my blood to awaken, and it had started happening in the car.

              As I thought of this, I could feel a slight weight on my back.  Turning to look over my shoulder, I realized, in awe, that I had wings now.  Like Chris’s, they were very dark, like the moonless night sky.  I sat myself all the way up, reaching around to touch one.  The feathers were actually soft, and I could see that there was a bit of dried blood still on them.  I was kind of glad now that I couldn’t remember this happening.  Maybe falling into that strange state had been a good thing after all, even if I didn’t exactly want to see all of those things.

             
Finally letting go of my wing, I looked around me again.  My eyes were completely focused now, and I could see that I was in a very nice looking room.  The furniture in there reminded me of the movie North and South, and the walls were painted a beautiful blue.  Across from me, I could see a large, antique mirror over a beautiful vanity.  Even the comforter that was over my legs looked intricate.  It was white, with beautiful patterns woven into it, and the ends were long and frayed all the way to the floor.  I couldn’t help but wonder where in the world I was now…

             
I looked up to the sound of the nearby door opening.  To my surprise, a very handsome young man walked in.  In fact, I felt very surprised as I looked at him.  He was the same one from my vision with Chris and Will.  He hadn’t changed at all either.  Looking to be around my age, he was slightly taller than me with vibrant green eyes and ash colored hair.  He was dressed very nicely as well, with dark pants and a white button up dress shirt.  Seeing me looking back at him, he actually looked a little surprised as well.  “Oh, you're awake.  How are you feeling?” he asked.  His voice was quite a bit lighter then I would’ve imagined, and I could hear a southern accent in it.

             
“I guess I’m alright.  But who are you?  And where am I?” I asked him.  I was certain that he was like me.  I could sense that.  But we hadn’t really met before.

             
The guy smiled, walking over to take a seat on the bed beside me.  “It’s okay.  Don't worry, I’m not going to hurt you.  My name is Zane Hedel, and you’re at my home.  I’m assuming that Chris told you at least a little bit about me.” he said.

             
So this was Zane.  This was the one that Chris had wanted us to get to before I changed.  Now that I thought about it, I did recognize his voice from Chris’s phone call before we’d left to come there.  But thinking about all of that, I found myself looking around again.  “Is Chris here?” I had to ask.  Now that I was coming back to my senses, it was dawning on me that he wasn’t anywhere to be found.

             
“Don’t worry.  Chris is fine.  He’s just getting some much needed rest in the other room.  I don’t think it’s good for anyone to be awake for over twenty four hours like that.” Zane assured me.

             
“Twenty four hours?  How long was I out?” I asked, shaking my head.

             
“I’d say a good day or so.  But this change can take a lot out of you.  It’s quite taxing on the body to have such a violent thing happen, such getting our wings.  But it’s rather amazing how quickly we tend to heal afterwards too.  I’m sure the pain is much less for you now, considering you seem to be back to your senses.” Zane said.

             
I couldn’t help but study him for a moment.  Zane certainly didn’t seem much like Chris.  He certainly wasn’t as stand offish in personality apparently, although neither was Will when I thought about it.  Not that Chris himself didn’t try to be friendly to me, but he certainly wasn’t half as open as they'd seemed to be.  I had to wonder about the other Shadow Wings as I looked at him though.  Now I’d gotten to see three of them.  Zane, Will, and Chris.  Each of them were very different it seemed, just like normal people could be.  It made me wonder if all of the other Fallen Angels could've been this diverse as well.  Thinking about Jade and Saffron, and what I'd come to know of them, I imagined that such a thing might have been the case.  That was interesting though.  Did this mean that all of these fantastic creatures had something in common with humans after all?

             
Zane looked at me almost thoughtfully, slowly nodding his head.  “So you’re the one.  It’s hard to believe that none of us realized that you’d come to exist before recently.  I was beginning to think that Christoff was the only one who kept believing that you’d happen one day.  Even I was beginning to think that I’d been wrong, and that rarely happens with me.” he admitted.

             
There it was again.  Zane seemed to have a habit of referring to Chris by his full name.  “You don’t like calling him Chris, do you?  Why?” I had to ask.

             
“Not really.  It just doesn’t feel proper that way, although he hates it when I do.  He keeps telling me that there’s no need to.  But I’ll confess that I’m a bit old school with a lot of things, as many today would put it.  I like calling people by their proper names.  Although I admit that I do feel a bit rude right now.  I haven’t asked you what yours is.” Zane admitted.

             
Oh yeah, I thought.  I guess he might not know my name if Chris hadn’t yet told him.  I was, after all, just Saffron’s daughter to them.  “Oh, sorry.  It’s Ariana.  Ariana Benson.” I told me.

             
“Ariana.  What a beautiful name.  It’s been quite a while since I’ve heard it.” Zane commented.

             
I couldn’t help but smile back at him.  Suddenly, I was feeling very comfortable there.  Zane just had this way about him that felt like that to me.  It was just like Chris.  “Thanks.  I think Saffron was the one that picked it though.” I told him.

             
“It wouldn’t surprise me.  After all, it seems like all of our fathers pick our names when we’re born.  And besides, our mothers are never really given the option.” Zane admitted.

             
“Yeah.  Apparently, they die when we’re born.” I said.  I shivered slightly at the thought.  What a terrible thing for a woman.  Having to know that you’ll never be able to see the child you’re carrying.  Again, I thought of Faith Kent.  What a terrible fate she’d had.  It didn’t really seem fair to me.

             
“Indeed.” Zane agreed.  He quietly leaned over and checked my back and wings.  For the first time I noticed that I’d been changed into a sundress with an open back.  I wondered when in the world that had happened.  And, even more important, who in the hell did it...

“It’s an unfortunate thing really with the ones like ourselves, and it seems to have always been that way.  Although I’ve been told now that the clans can have the mothers actually survive, and even possibly have more than one child.  Doesn’t seem very fair, but I guess there's nothing more to be said to it from us.” I heard Zane continue.

              This would be the second time I would hear them mention the clans.  It made me a little more curious about them.  “Hey Zane, how much do you know about those clans?  Will told me a little bit about them, but it wasn’t that much.” I said.

             
Zane actually looked a bit surprised by my question as he pulled back to look at me again.  “Oh yes.  Well, I’d imagine that you probably wouldn’t know much about them, considering what little time has passed for you.” he admitted.  “It’s just one more little thing in our world.  I’m sure that Chris mentioned to you that Shadow Wings were once called Nephilims, right?”

             
I nodded.

             
“Well, they began calling us Shadow Wings at least fifty years ago.  And that came about because the Pure Ones went ahead with a master plan they’d had in the works.  Basically, they sent three Seraphs into the mortal world, and then had them create three clans under them.  Think of them now as protectors between the seen and unseen world.  Needless to say, there’s been a bit of debate between them and us ever since.  They are not black winged, and definitely will never be hunted.  In fact, they’re looked at as rather holy.  Beings created under the direction of the Higher Powers, and possibly from the hands of the Creator himself.  It’s rather unfair to us, but once again, what more can we say to it when we’re mostly hunted anyways?” Zane explained.

             
“So is that why they call us the Beautiful Fallen too?” I asked.  I recalled Will saying that it was a second name for us.

             
“Well, kind of.  That was more of a name picked for us by our most powerful.  I suppose you could say he took a fancy to it.” Zane replied, a slight smile playing on his face.

             
Well, that certainly would've explained some of what they'd been talking about before.  And just why they wouldn’t like talking about them.  I could still kind of feel the jealousy too.  These were the ones that were born to be loved and protected.  We were the ones born to be hunted and hated.  But his words about the second name intrigued me.  Our most powerful.  Could he have been talking about Chris?  Somehow, I didn’t think so.  Something sounded different with that.  So I decided to ask him about it.  “Who’s our most powerful?  Is it Chris, or someone else?” I asked him.

             
At that, Zane stood back up.  “Someone else actually.  But there’s no need to worry you with all of that right now.  Instead, why don’t we see if we can‘t get you to pull those wings in.” he suggested, effectively changing the subject.

             
“But I don’t know how.” I said, making myself get up with him.  I was a little shaky, but still managed.  Looking down at my dress, I couldn’t help but think of how pretty it was.  It was black, with a beautiful blue pattern all through it, and fell down to my knees.

             
“It’s not too hard.  Just concentrate.” Zane instructed.

             
I nodded, flexing the new wings a little bit.  And to my surprise, I easily pulled them back in.  It felt a little odd inside of my back, like a fullness, but not as bad as I would’ve imagined.  “Great.  At least I can let people see me again.” I said, feeling relieved.  But just as quickly, they came back out.  It took me a few tries to make them finally stay in.

             
“Don’t worry.  You’ll get used to them.  We all did fairly quickly after we changed.” Zane promised, although he was laughing a little to himself.  “Now, why don’t we go downstairs and get you some breakfast?  I’m sure you must be hungry.”

             
Well, he didn’t have to tell me twice.  I was starving.  After all, I hadn’t had anything to eat since several hours before this all started.  And even then, it hadn’t been much.  I’d never been someone who could eat a lot in one sitting.  And this time, it had definitely caught up with me.  I hadn’t eaten in nearly two days, and my stomach felt completely empty.

             
The home where Zane was staying was actually very big.  Walking down the elegant spiral staircase, I couldn’t help but look around me.  I’d never seen such a beautiful home before.  I saw that there was a lot of old, antique furniture, and many paintings on the walls.  “Are you a collector?” I had to ask him.