Black Wings

Chapter 27

"Lucifer!"

"Michael, take three of my men. She'll be hard to deal with yourselves."

"Right. Gabriel, Joshua, Anna, we have to capture her alive. Rachel is coming with us, just maybe we can all put some dense into her."

"Let's go."

*****
Golden grass swayed in the wind, leaves rustled in the wind. It was beautiful end of summer weather. Somewhere in Kansas, where the grass stood tall and the sky stretched endlessly. These were the wild fields, forgotten but not dead. Rabbits and foxes, mice and owls, crickets and little snakes. Wild flowers in all colors broke through the golden rays of grass and wild wheat. This was a place untouched by time or humans, a wild place where nature controlled it as its own. One of God's last untouched masterpieces.
*****
The grass was only disturbed by us and them. For so long I had only seen her through the television. She had her back turned to us as if she had been walking away. Unlike all the times she was on the news, she had her leather jacket now. Rina turned to us with a sad look. But a silver angel blade dropped out of her sleeve and into her hand. The demon next to her, Jeremiah, stood back nervously.

"There's still time to leave. You don't have to do this." She said.

"We're not leaving here without you Rina."

"I wasn't talking to you, Michael. I know you won't leave, I'm speaking to Lucifer's men. They can back out of his rule, but once they follow through, they're stuck."

"What do you...?"

All three of Lucifer's men dropped blades out of their own sleeves. Rina just sighed and vanished. But she appeared right behind one of the men, stabbing him through the chest. I wouldn't have believed it was Rina killing until this moment. She wore a blank, merciless expression as she did it. She slashed another diagonally across the chest before returning to her original position.

"One more chance. Speak up or forever hold your peace."

Not one of us moved from shock. Rina sighed once more. She lunged forward towards the last of Lucifer's men. But Joshua intercepted her.

"Get out of my way."

"No."

"Get out of my way. Now."

"No! Not if you're going kill someone. This needs to stop! Killing someone is not the ans-"

He was cut off by choking on his own blood. He was stabbed through the abdomen, Rina closer now.

"I warned you, Joshua." Rina said softly.

She removed the blade, letting Joshua fall forward into the grass. With one quick movement, Rina cut the throat of the last man. She returned to her demon as Anna, Gabriel, and Rachel ran to Joshua's aid. With one last look over her shoulder, they were gone with the flutter of wings.

"Joshua! Joshua, hold on! You're going to be okay, we're going to get help."

*****
The wait was killing us. Sitting outside the medical ward, just waiting to know if Joshua would make it. The scene flashed behind my eyes. Charred grass around fallen bodies, Joshua's blood staining the grass and earth the same color as the setting sun. Anna came out the medical ward, her eyes red and puffy.

"Anna, Joshua is he..."

"No, he's going to make it. The Rit Zen say the blade just missed anything vital. But they say the way he was stabbed, it didn't hit anything vital on purpose."

"Thank goodness, Joshua's okay." Rachel sighed.

"Not quite, but he will be." Anna corrected.

"Every angel knows at least basic anatomy, Rina must have known just where to hit. But why not kill him?" I questioned. "No offense to Joshua, just wondering why."

"It seems to be only Lucifer's men. I knew Rina was loyal, even if she didn't have much to be loyal to, maybe she still has just a little? Just enough not to kill him?" Gabriel threw out there.

"Maybe. I can feel something from her, but it's too faint to pick up what I'm feeling from her."

"Anna, go get some rest, it's been a long day for you." Rachel said, putting a hand on Anna's shoulder.

Anna nodded and let Rahel lead her away. Rachel had become one of us in the weeks Rina had been gone. The angels had been a little apprehensive at first, but she quickly became a trusted member of Heaven. She even participated in training and meetings sometimes. Only Raphael didn't trust her. But every single one of us knew Rachel was going to die one day. If only there were some way to turn her into an angel.

*****
Joshua was barely awake when I came in.

"Hey, Michael, never thought you'd be the one to come visit me." Joshua joked weakly.

He winced as he tried to sit up. I put my hand on his shoulder and gently pushed him back down.

"Rest, you more than deserve it. I dragged you and Anna into this, I'm sorry."

"Anna was right, Rina flipped you head over heels and gave you a heart, tinman. There used to be a time not so long ago where you wouldn't have given a crap about any of us."

"I guess she did."

"Why she choose you, I just don't understand."

"What, you wanted her too?"

"Nah, I got Anna. Just wondering why."

"You and me both actually." I said, scratching the back of my neck awkwardly. "All I ever used to give her was hell, it was Gabriel always treating like she should be."

"Because you were like that twelve year old kid that didn't know how to talk to the girl he like. So you acted like a jerk and she saw right through you."

"Ha, she's always been able to see right through me."

"You better bring her back. And when you do, no more stabbing!"

"I'll keep that in mind. See you later Joshua."

*****
The house was the same as ever. Michael, Rachel, and Gabriel weren't home, just Amy and Jason. I walked past them, invisible to their eyes. Our room, Michael and I's, however wasn't the same. The nest on the bed had been ripped apart, a lamp knocked on its side and smashed, clothes a mess on the closet floor. I knew when and why this happened. This happened not long after I left in a fit of fury and pain. Why I came back now, I didn't have the slightest clue. It just felt right.

I spied photo book sitting on the edge of the bed. It was all of Michael's pictures. I was in almost all of the pictures in the book. There were also pictures after every one of our hunts. One of me and Rachel smiling, side by side after defeat a wendigo. Rachel with a vampire head. Michael and I covered in blood after purging a different vampire nest. I smiled down at the photos as I flipped through the pages. I wanted to go back to this, I wanted so bad. But my plans weren't ready, not yet.