Angelic Omen

Dreams

I was back in the burning city.

Smoke stung my eyes, the heat pressed in on me as if it wanted to suffocate me, crush me until there was nothing left of me. I tasted the sharp tang of ash in the air as my mouth opened. Burned, bloodied bodies still littered the ground around me, their lifeless eyes all seeming to bore into me.

And standing in the middle of it all was the very same angel I had seen earlier.

I could observe him more closely this time. He was turned fully towards me, revealing his other eye, which was pale blue with a black X pupil. There was a bloody hole in his chest, like he'd been stabbed, crimson streaking his chest where it dripped from the hole. Floating above his head was a crown, identical to Montelor's, but it had a crack down the middle.

No, I thought, This is a dream. Wake up, wake up!

"Alright, who the hell are you?!" I spat at the angel.

The angel gave me a twisted grin. It looked like he was partially scowling because of the scarred half of his face. "I'm afraid I can't tell you that. But what I can tell you is that I am not your enemy."

I glared at the angel skeptically. "You say that, yet you're standing here, covered in blood and ash, in the middle of what looks like graveyard where someone forgot to dig actual graves."

The angel chuckled. "I guess it does look like that, doesn't it? Don't fret. This is the blood of the angels. Your enemy. My enemy."

"You're an angel, though."

"Does that mean I must conform to their ways?"

He had a point. I remained silent.

"I can help you, Omen."

"How do you know my name?"

"We are intertwined. Our fates are intertwined. Together, we can crush this city once and for all."

"You say that, yet I don't even know your name."

"All will be revealed in time, my friend.

Friend? "I feel like you're jumping the gun a bit, I don't even know you."

The angel smiled. "Oh, but I know you, Omen. And we have the same goal."

That's totally not disturbing at all.

"You can't escape your destiny."

I shook my head. "This is a dream. Get out of my head, I can do this myself!"

"Listen to me."

"Listen to me."

The angel's voice overwhelmed me, coming from everywhere at once, from inside my mind and out. I clawed at my skull, trying to shut it out. The voices grew louder. Louder. Louder.

Soon I was on the ground, screeching in agony as the words seemed to burn into my skull.

"Kill them all."

"Kill them all."

"Kill them all."

———

My eyes shot open, and I bolted upright. I breathed heavily, covered in a cold sweat. My heart felt like it was trying to break free from my chest, hammering against my rib cage like a trapped, rabid animal.

I took a deep breath and sighed.

It was just a dream.

It was just a dream.

An very... very vivid dream. That I just so happened to have a vision about less than half an hour beforehand.

Yeah.

Totally normal.

———

543 words