To Fall (The To Fall Trilogy Book 1) (3 page)

Caleb and Calista’s lights bolted after a dark form in the street. Hannah ran ahead of me into the house. The door was missing, blasted off its hinges and my chest constricted.

We were too late. Again.

Hannah huddled over Anne’s roommate, Margaret, in the living room, pushing her splayed body over from a pool of blood. When our eyes met, I knew she sensed what I did—two souls were present when there should be three.

Tearing through the home, I called for Anne and stopped at her lifeless body slumped on the carpet of a light pink nursery. “Anne, no!” Picking her up, my gift flowed from within me and into her, willing her body to heal, but her soul was gone. I placed a hand over her swollen belly; the life within her was alive. “Hannah, the baby is dying!”

“I cannot help you yet, Brother, get the baby out! You do not have much time!”

Get the baby out? How? Oh no…

Shaking, my hands hovered over Anne’s stomach. I had never done anything like this before. I had never inflicted injury to a human, and though she had passed, it seemed so wrong. But if I did nothing, the infant’s soul would return to Heaven. I had faith that God placed me here for this. He needed me to save the child.

Closing my eyes, I prayed to receive strength. With my fingers, I opened Anne’s belly and removed her child, desperate to block out this horrific scene and focus on saving God’s Ordained Soul. After healing the umbilical cord, I grabbed towels to clean the baby. A shock of dark brown curls crowned her head. Her eyes had a blue haze, but they would turn brown like her mother’s.

Gazing at her, I felt a strange tug within me as though an invisible bond had linked between us. Her soul was unique, somehow different from any other human I had known. The baby’s hand wrapped around my right ring finger and I drew in a sharp inhale. My heart felt bigger in my chest and the corners of my mouth tugged up. The touch of this child made me…happy. How odd. Angels only felt a modicum of human emotion, and this feeling was much stronger than anything I had experienced before.

My joy was shattered with the awareness of her heartbeat: erratic and weak. With her cries, her breaths grew ragged, skin paled, and extremities turned a purplish hue. There was something wrong with her heart. I placed my fingers over her tiny chest to heal her. Her heart was just a damaged, frail thing. I could control its contractions, relax her lungs, and take away her pain, but her heart did not strengthen as I had believed it would.
This made no sense
. “Hannah! There is something wrong with the baby. I cannot heal her heart.”

“What? I will be right there!”

When Hannah appeared in the doorframe, I noticed we were both covered in blood, she in Margaret’s and me in Anne’s. The air was thick enough with the metallic scent I could taste it. The scarlet color tainted the innocence of the room, evidence of our failure painted on our hands. A memory that would forever haunt me.

Hannah knelt by me. “What do you mean you cannot heal her heart?” Leaving the baby in my arms, she placed her bloodied hand over the child’s chest and drew back. “What is going on?”

I shook my head, bewildered as she was.

Margaret stumbled into the room, gripping the wall. Hannah bounced up to shield her of this horror, but she was too late. Her best friend lay torn apart on the floor, and two winged creatures held an infant who should still be in her mother’s womb. Margaret’s scream could splinter a soul, the kind that embedded into my brain and I prayed to forget.

Putting her hands on Margaret’s temples, Hannah placed her in a dream state. “Call the Archangels, Alexander. They will heal the child.”

“They have not helped us yet!” I objected. “They have just ignored us.”

Closing her eyes, she knew it was true. “It is beyond us to question their reason. We have to try, Brother.”

I nodded, having forgotten my place.

With the baby, Hannah and I stepped outside. Our wings unfurled behind us and extended our angel light toward the Heavens, praying they would not deny us answers again. Archangels only came to Earth when called upon; the circumstances were dire when we did. Perhaps they were waiting for the child to be born before they answered our plea.

We breathed out a sigh of relief as the Heavenly light returned to Earth, making the night appear as day. Hannah and I waited for the Archangel’s descent, not knowing which of the seven would answer. Encased within his light, Gabriel appeared. The Archangel’s glory and presence humbled us; his light shone brighter than ours ever could, filling us with warmth and God’s Love.

The light from Heaven vanished, but Gabriel’s remained as he kept his wings furled to his body. The Archangel’s immense frame surged with muscles as he moved toward us, smashing down the gravel beneath his feet. The lone sapling in the yard fell over from the aftershocks of his steps. The white gossamer angel garb covering his middle swayed and gold embroidery shimmered. We angled our heads back to greet him and Gabriel’s cold silver eyes met mine.

“Thank you, Brother Gabriel, for answering our call,” I said. “We require guidance for this child. Lucifer’s spawn conceived her. The baby’s heart is weak and we cannot heal her.”

He did not speak, possibly reading my thoughts to understand what evils we had seen. Then he considered the child, gazing upon her with indifference. Gabriel’s long, pale fingers reached out to touch her, heal her. As their skin met, his fingers recoiled, almost imperceptibly.

Gabriel’s gaze locked onto me. “This soul has been affected by evil. This is the reason for her weak heart. The First Choir cannot heal her, only the angels of the Upper Echelons can. Brother Alexander, the Throne commands that you, Hannah, Calista, and Caleb be her Guardians, henceforth. If Cresil should return to Earth and find her alive, he will finish what he started. More than likely, he believes he succeeded here tonight.”

I shook my head, confused. Gabriel was of the Second Choir—a higher echelon than the First, the Guardians. “Brother Gabriel, you mean this child shall remain unhealed?” Disbelief colored my tone.

“Yes. As is everything, her creation may be of God, but as you stated, a demon is responsible for her conception.” His massive hand gestured toward the Heavens with such grace that one would never guess its owner was a brutal soldier. “We cannot be certain what kind of soul hers will be. Let us first see what she does with this life, with this gift she has been given, if she is worthy of His Design. We will afford her the same opportunity as any other of His Creations and judge her when the time is prudent. If she has proven hers a pure soul, we will heal her heart. If she proves hers a soul best fitted for evil, we will deny her. Hell can have the child.”

I implored him, “Gabriel, she exists because God wills it. He meant for her to live. We must reason He alone know her soul to be pure. He would not want a life of suffering for her.”

Hannah jerked on my arm to warn me.

Crouching down to meet my stare, Gabriel’s white-blond hair brushed up against me like the clouds. “No error has been made here, Guardian. If He meant the child to have a healthy heart, He would have given her one. Fate dictated you to be present on the night of her conception. Fate dictated you were here for her birth. And the Throne dictates the four of you remain with her until judgment. It is beyond me to have knowledge of His plans for this soul, only to deliver His message. You question me, you question His Throne!”

My head bowed to him. “Brother, my apologies. My intent was never insolence, merely understanding.”

With a nod, Gabriel rose to his full height. “Yes, her existence is quite extraordinary. You will hide the child, protect her.”

Hannah cut me off before I could argue any further. “Yes, Brother Gabriel.”

“For God’s Throne.”

We repeated the vow without an angels’ salute, and then he was gone with a bright flash of light beaming back into the sky.

Hannah swiveled on me. “What is wrong with you? Have you snapped your wings?”

“Hannah, as far as we know, Cresil is the one demon to know of her existence. If Gabriel destroyed Cresil, the child would be safe.”

Hannah’s brows knitted together. “And what reason can Gabriel give Astaroth and Lucifer for Cresil’s sudden destruction? You want to demand that a lord from the realm of a prince in the High Court be sent to Oblivion? The matter would be brought to the Council of Angels and Gabriel would be forced to expose the truth. Lucifer will flood the Earth with demons searching for her. Gabriel is right. Cresil more than likely believes her soul is in Heaven. He will go to Hell and sing his own praises. Lucifer will rejoice they have won a battle tonight. She is safer this way.”

“Why deny healing her?” I challenged.

She shook her head. “Perhaps it was part of God’s plan.”

I grunted in disagreement.

Anne had planned to keep the baby, even though she was young and scared. She had loved this child regardless of how she came to be—a result of unthinkable violence.

Anne was a single child and her parents had passed away when she was in high school. Margaret was all Anne had until the pregnancy. Together they were going to raise the baby. They had even created this pink nursery for her filled with white wood furniture, plush toys, soft fabrics, and most importantly, love.

Amongst the horrors, this house now told, laid a broken family.

Margaret slept on the couch. Hannah had taken good care of her, healed her wounds, and cleaned her. While she slept, I read her thoughts. Margaret’s sorrow for her friend was immense, worried for the child’s fate. I woke her, and the grief for her friend replaced any shock at seeing two angels before her. Hannah explained who we were and what had actually happened to Anne on the night of her rape.

I held the baby up to Margaret in hopes she would take her, care for her. “Margaret Wilson, Anne Barrett is lost to us, but her baby lives. I understand you both intended on raising this child. Would you like to take her now as your own?”

Trembling, dark fingers held a ring belonging to her friend; Hannah must have given it to her. “I…I can’t. I don’t know how to take care of a baby.” Margaret’s eyes mixed with fear and remorse. “I haven’t even graduated college. I have a part time job, nothing in savings. I can hardly take care of myself, let alone care for a baby.” Looking to her friend’s child, she choked on her words. “May I hold her and say good-bye?”

Cradling the baby, Margaret’s tears flowed mercilessly. “I did this. That night. Anne and I went to a club to celebrate passing our physics test. We were drinking and this man, Jason, came up to us. He seemed nice. He was good looking, wore an expensive suit, and he talked to us for hours. I should have taken Anne home with me. I didn’t and I don’t know why. She always insisted it wasn’t Jason that raped her—” Margaret lost her voice and looked to me. “I left her with a monster. I
left
her. This is my fault.”

I sat next to her. “No, you cannot think this way. He is a demon, a predator. He would have attacked her one way or another. The fault and blame lie with us. We failed to protect Anne that night and again tonight.”

When it came time to give the baby over to me, she held the child tighter. “I can’t give a piece of Anne away like this. It’s wrong.”

Hannah put her hand on Margaret’s shoulder. “If you wish, we can find a place for you in this child’s life.”

Margaret nodded. “I’d like that. It’s what Annie would have wanted.”

Margaret handed the baby to me and it surprised me at how much I had missed holding her, needed to feel her skin against mine.

Margaret went to Anne’s side and knelt by her covered body. “I love you, buddy. I’ll watch over her. I’ll love her as you would’ve.” She sobbed into her hands.

Hannah waited for me to join her outside. “By His Creation, Alexander. This is a mess.” Sighing, her green eyes closed. “I will wait with her until I get the clear from Caleb and Calista. I can wipe her memory when I know Cresil is back in Hell.”

“Perhaps we should allow her to be in this baby’s life. A human ally to watch her may be prudent, Hannah. She is a weak child and Cresil may come back for her someday. Margaret loves the baby, this much is clear.”

She nodded. “I will speak to Caleb and Calista. Are you taking her to Father Frank now?”

“Yes, he will let me stay with her until a home can be found.”

Hannah combed through the child’s brown curls. “Brother, do you—”

“What is it?”

Looking to me, confusion marked her features. “I cannot be certain, but her soul feels…”

“Special?” I offered.

For a moment, I believed Hannah felt the same—this child had a special bond to all angels. But as quickly as the moment came, it passed and Hannah shook me off. I realized it was only I that felt connected to this baby, and only I that had changed. Even with my sister by my side, I felt alone, different, scared for what this meant.

Wrapping the child in a blanket, I took her to the church. With each weak beat of her heart, anger built within me. Gabriel had denied her. Heaven denied a pure soul deserving of healing. For the first time in my existence, I had questioned, disagreed, allowed frustration to engulf me with the path laid out for this child.

It was midnight when I arrived at the church. Father Frank was another ally we had on Earth. I stayed with the baby. Without my healing gift, she would need a hospital soon. I had never held or cared for a baby before this night, but it felt right for me to cradle this child, as if she belonged with me, here in my arms. She slept with me, so peaceful, so beautiful.