God's Gone AWOL

[12] Xander to the Rescue

Behind the veil of smoke, Bentley and Atticus continued with their three-in-one struggle package deal. Bentley was trying to hold Atticus down, while Atticus was trying to fight against her and fight against himself all at the same time. No matter how they looked at it, the situation was quite bad.

Not only did Atticus have to focus on regaining control of his own body, he also had to stop himself from hurting Bentley. But he was attacking her more often than he was pulling away. It was like two different layers of torture on top of each other. Bentley was supposed to be the one he was protecting, and yet here he was, causing her more harm than anybody else.

It didn't help that Bentley accepted two out of every three of his attacks. She would dodge some of them, but most of the time she just allowed him to hit her. Whether it was a blast of magic aimed at her heart, or a slap across the face, she took the blow and continued her attempt at keeping him occupied.

Atticus knew better than anyone that she was fully capable of bearing the pain. Especially since Lucifer had helped her juice up her power earlier. But it was precisely because he knew that she wouldn't back down that Atticus was so upset. Even as blood smeared across her cracked lips, and her pale skin became peppered with bruises, she remained persistent. And she would remain persistent until he killed her, or worse. It was awful. Physically and emotionally.

She was just trying to restrain him. She would never, ever hurt him. Why was he so determined to fight against her? He was the one who had promised her nothing but safety for the rest of her life.

Things weren't supposed to be this way.

But everything that had gone wrong up until this point was undeniably his fault, wasn't it? Allowing Camael to control him, entering Purgatory on his own accord, allowing a false sense of hatred to brew in his heart. These were all sins that he had committed, and Bentley was the one who had to pay for them while he watched helplessly from the sidelines.

This was his fault.

It had all been his fault.

Not just what was happening right then. Everything was a direct cause of his own wretched existence. His unstable birth, his father's disappointment, Bentley's determination to fall from Heaven, Damaris' death, and worst of all... Bentley's death. Even before Bentley had been resurrected alongside Atticus' entire life, he was the one causing all of his own problems. From beginning to end, he was the only one to blame, even if people said otherwise. It was always his own fault.

"Bentley..." He finally managed to break through the surface again, just to speak the sacred name.

"Tell me what to do," she said obediently.

"Just kill me,"

"Nope." She didn't even blink, "Not an option."

Then quick as a flash, she grabbed Atticus during his moment of weakness and pulled his forehead against her own. Although the gesture was very sudden, it was also very gentle like a kiss. Their eyelashes brushed against each other, and their noses bumped slightly. A heavy influx of energy rushed over him, as Bentley used her own magic to try and overwrite the hostile coding now engraved into Atticus' every being.

But while she was struggling to save him, Atticus watched helplessly as his hands moved on their own accord, wrapping tightly around Bentley's throat.

.
Seeing how Lucifer was still standing, Uriah and the rest of the angels were now twice as frightened as before. By all logic, he was supposed to have been obliterated the moment their combined killing spell struck the ground where he stood. But not only had he survived, he was now facing them, dark wings stretched wide, wearing the most blood-chilling smile imaginable. It was enough to invoke terror in the hearts of everyone who saw him.