God's Gone AWOL

[9] The Dying Flame

"Bentley Hellbourne is dead!"

Those words shot like an arrow through Atticus' heart. Even as he stood before the eyes of thousands of his fellow angels, he couldn't hold himself back from flinching slightly.

And the deafening roar of the crowd below didn't help at all. Maybe if the cry had been out of anger or sadness, at least it would have resonated with him. But those angels were cheering— they were actually cheering with joy as though there was anything left in creation worth being joyful about.

Heaven.

"Although our conflict with Hell is hardly the fault of one mere demon, her death brings upon us: a new era..."

His words became a convoluted blur in Atticus' mind. He couldn't listen anymore.

The Archangel Gabriel addressed the world from a raised podium, overlooking the hoards of angels below. Behind him, a long line of higher-ranking angels and choir leaders all stood like a row of columns. Some were smiling and applauding with the crowd. The more reserved ones kept their faces still, but their eyes secretly revealed a hidden and unspeakably evil superiority. Atticus didn't dare look around.

He himself was probably the only individual who stuck out in the line. Everyone up on the stage beside Atticus had some ounce of authority, but he was just there for novelty's sake. He was smaller, plainer, less interesting than all the elaborate and unbelievably elegant angels surrounding him. And even if he had a scrap of a reason to be there, he was still extremely out of place. Everyone else was buzzing with the excitement of the recent twist of fate, but Atticus was completely still. Everyone else's eyes gleamed with pride and victory, but his were dull and red around the edges, unfocused and dazed. If anybody was actually paying attention to him, it would be obvious that he felt none of Heaven's joy. He no longer wanted anything to do with these people.

Although the focus of Gabriel's address hadn't centered on him yet, Atticus knew it was only a matter of time. He had been briefed beforehand; this speech of Gabriel's was partially to explain the temporary ceasefire formed between Heaven and Hell, but it was partially an opportunity for Heaven to wave its own victory banner above Atticus' head and pretend that the ceasefire was a result of Heaven's own heroism —and not the unknowing sacrifice of Bentley Hellbourne. All he had to do was be present and allow them to praise him for his service.

It was disgusting.

A few weeks ago, he would have given his own life to be held up in this light of respect and adoration. He would have done anything for just a single word of praise, let alone an entire crowd celebrating him as a hero. But now, he just wanted to curl up in a ball and fade from existence entirely.

Heaven had found him on the bridge beside Bentley's body. They were only aware of the situation because someone had raised up an alarm after seeing the towering inferno Bentley had started. Even if nobody else knew precisely what was happening, they could all tell that it was much more than a simple brawl. So they gathered up their resources and descended in order to face off with whatever was causing such trouble down on Earth. However when they arrived, they only found Atticus pash de Ophaniel gripping the lifeless body of Bentley Hellbourne.

Atticus was holding onto her so tightly that the angels had to knock him unconscious before they could release the body from his grip. Bentley was returned to the forces of Hell, and Atticus was carried back to Heaven where he was treated for his injuries. Heaven planned on interrogating him the moment he woke up in order to find out just what had happened, but for some reason, he was completely silent on the subject. He didn't dare speak a single word regarding Bentley's death, so everyone just decided that the situation was easy enough to guess.