SUNNYVALE

(81) THE REVOLUTION HAS STARTED IN A EASTSIDE HOUSE

Sunnyvale had changed deeply in only a matter of hours.

The angels that got trapped under the dome had to hide, as the humans left would hide in their houses, shocked by the knowledge that everything they believed in was not only real, but completely false: Heaven was not a place where an Almighty and good God would protect humans at all costs. The proof relied in the fact that their God let them all down, even the ones from the Eastside, because in truth She did not care about human lives - and the feud between West and East suddenly felt meaningless.

Watching her back at all times, Julie had gone out of her family house through the night, determined to find out if the angel who saved her life twice - that another angel called Julie's soulmate - was still alive here in Sunnyvale. And, somehow, she could feel it - ever since she saw Ingrid's green eyes, and after their long conversations when the dark-haired was emprisoned, Julie felt as if it was more and more believable that they could actually be soulmates.

For whatever unknown reason, Julie could not just wait and hope that Ingrid was alright.

While she wanders through the night, quite afraid that she actually made a mistake by coming here, she hears a weak groan coming from a dark street. When Julie sees a couple gigantic white feathers on the ground, she immediately starts running. 

Only, it wasn't Ingrid: the angel in question has beautiful black braids and piercing black eyes, and her beautiful brown skin was sprinkled with an almost translucent liquid, that might as well be angel's blood. Realising that she was silently begging for help, Julie rolls her eyes and walks through the dark alley.

This is when she realises Nichelle isn't alone: Kristie is there too, visibly in great pain. She is facing the ground, while her crop top would slowly rip while something was moving on her back - it took only seconds for Julie to figure out that wings were growing.

Her eyes going wide, she listens as Nichelle weakly says:

"P-please help u-us"

"H-how ?" Julie asks, confused.

"Only y-you can summon Ingrid, j-just... try to reach her... before it's too late, because Kristie needs constant care and I am too weak to provide her with it..."

"S-summon I-Ingrid?"

"Angels have a special connection to their soulmates" Nichelle briefly explains, fighting the pain away, barely keeping her eyes open. After a few seconds catching her breath, she adds: "Call her, and she will appear if she is still alive."

Frowning, Julie watches as Nichelle bleeds out slowly, before she bites her lips and looks up at the sky.

Ingrid, if you can hear me, right now would be a good time to make a dramatic entrance..., she thinks to herself, thinking that all that was crazy.

Only, the flapping of wings occurring only minutes after her thoughts left her mind makes Julie look at the sky as two gigantic wings suddenly appear, as Ingrid lands only inches away from Julie.

When they catch eyes, Julie feels a fuzzy feeling inside her chest.

"Y-you found m-me..." Julie whispers, in shock.

"Always" Ingrid whispers in return, before cracking a smile.

She then turns around and closes her eyes, her hand reaching out for Nichelle's body - a sudden and unusual light  brightens the night, as Nichelle's wounds close slowly, making her sigh in relief. Then, Ingrid turns toward Kristie and also points her hand at her, the light now surrounding the blonde's body, stopping the desperate and painful cries coming out of her throat.

Ingrid turns to Julie, before saying:

"We are with you - and we need to take them somewhere safe."

Julie nods, before she, Ingrid and Nichelle carry Kristie, now unconscious, right to the Mewis' household.

***

"Oh my God, Kristie!" Sam exclaims, running toward her sister, who was carried by Ingrid.

"Well, well, well..." Kelley lets out, rolling her eyes, staring at the angels, "... look who's here..."

"Easy, they're with us" Julie immediately hisses, throwing a dark look at the brunette, who rolls her eyes.

But when Tierna enters the room, followed by Tobin, the mood changes: while Tobin rushes next to Sam to help her carry Kristie to her bed, Tierna just stares at Julie, raising her eyebrows.

Next to her and Ingrid, Nichelle catches her breath slowly, as her wounds almost closed themselves up.

"So, just 'cause you've got it bad for the bitchy angel means we can trust her and she won't betray us?" Kelley insists, visibly annoyed.

While Julie blushes, Ingrid just steps forward and says:

"I give you my word, to all of you : the Goddess only cares about herself, and yes, our duty is to serve her, but now that her heir has arrived, every angel will have to chose a side."

"And you choose mine?" a voice says behind them.

While everybody turn around, Shelina enters the room, followed by Crystal and Pernille - the other angel - who immediately runs toward Nichelle and hugs her tightly, as she was afraid she'd lose her best friend. While Crystal seemed overly worried about Shelina's newly found role - being God's heir is one thing, but becoming God's enemy is another. 

Although it has always been Shelina's destiny, it wasn't without risks. 

Quite immediately, Ingrid gets on her knees, urging Nichelle and Pernille to do the same. As an inexistent wind that was not there before starts to blow harder, getting inside the house and surrounding Shelina and the three angels at her feet, as something beyond human's comprehension is happening. 

Shelina opens her arms and says:

"I am no Goddess, I won't make the same mistakes than my mother : I am just a regular person, and you three are as free as everybody else here in this room. I set you free."

Nodding their heads, the three angels get up while Ingrid concedes:

"It is time to overthrow the established order" 

"Let me read your past, please" Crystal suddenly says, advancing toward the leader of the angels. While Ingrid frowns, staring at Julie from afar, the other girl adds: "In order to fight the system, we first need to understand it."

Ingrid nods.

When Crystal grabs her hand, the whole scenery changes...