God's Gone AWOL

[2] Breaking the News

Back in Jericho, everything was as they left it.

"We need to get Hazel and get out of here as soon as possible." Atticus pulled Bentley up the front steps of his house.

Before, he had been so preoccupied with "angel-napping" Bentley that he hadn't even thought about Heaven yet. He had already guessed that people were out looking for her, but it hadn't even occurred to him that he was also a person of interest. He had accidentally stolen a piece of God's soul without realizing what it was. Even if his fellow angels didn't know that he was aiding and abetting one of their worst enemies across all four realms, they would probably come knocking eventually.

It had only been a couple hours since the incident in the church. Atticus wasn't a particularly important angel, so it didn't come as a surprise that he wasn't top of the heavenly priority list. But after hearing Frances mention the new bounty on Bentley, he was suddenly reminded of his situation. He really had to get everyone to a safe place before they did anything else.

—If Bentley would actually let him, of course.

"Atticus." She tugged her bindings, stubbornly refusing to follow him into the house.

"Bentley?" He turned around.

"What are you doing?" she asked,

"What do you mean?"

On the other side of the door, Hazel was still sitting on the stairs. As soon as she heard the muffled voices coming through the wood, she jumped to her feet. If she opened the door and addressed the two directly, she would once again be ignored or given vague answers to all of her questions. So this time, she just pressed her ear against the door, digging for her answers by listening instead..

Behind her, a loud groan sounded from the living room.

Owen came stumbling out into the hallway, rubbing the back of his head and blinking around with big, bleary eyes. The sleeping charm had finally worn off.

"Haz'l?" He squinted through the dark of the hallway, "What just—?"

"Shh!"

She waved her hand hurriedly, beckoning him over. Bewildered, Owen obeyed and shuffled up to the door as well.

On the other side, Bentley and Atticus were still going at each other.

"Don't dismiss my question. Why are you here?" the demon asked.

Atticus tilted his head, confused.

"I might have returned from the dead to raise up the end of the world, and yet you're just following along?" she elaborated.

"I'm not following you," said Atticus. "I'm monitoring you. The closer I am, the easier it is to stop you if something goes wrong,"

Bentley snorted, "Of course,"

"Additionally, Hazel is my friend. Having me by your side is an asset in this case,"

"I can't argue with that," said Bentley, "But you did pose a good question. How do we explain to that kid that she's... y'know...?"

Finally having succeeded in diverting Bentley's attention, Atticus let out a little breath of relief.

"If these were the olden days, we could just explain everything in a dream and the person would accept it," he said, "Unfortunately, humans have started to dismiss anything supernatural. I'm afraid that unless she's given direct proof, Hazel won't be able to accept anything that we tell her,"

"I mean, we don't have to prove anything if you think about it. We can just kinda... Kidnap her and—"

"There will be no kidnapping," Atticus told her.