When Angels Fall In Love

Chapter 17: Frequent Midnight Visitor

Erelah was a mess of sweat and panting as she slumped against a rough tree trunk.  Sword still clutched in her hand, she used it as a prop as her eyes roamed lazily over the scattering of demon body parts around her.  It had only been three demons this time, but in the past week and a half, she had slain almost fifteen.  Is that really how long it has been? The realization was a surprise to her.  This had been the longest time Erelah had ever spent away from Heaven or at least in contact with the angelic population.  It still felt strange, but honestly, she had barely thought about home or how much time had passed.  It could have been a week and a half or months that had passed, and she wouldn't have cared or known the difference. 

Looking to the sky, Erelah wiped the sweat from her brow and peaked at the blue expanse above.  The blue was darkening as the sun set.  She just had a few more hours...

In a shimmer, her sword disappeared and Erelah set about cleansing the demon bodies.  It was nasty work, slaying demons.  Their blood reeked and stuck to everything it touched, so foul it was that it left withered patches of grass as the corpses bled out on the ground. Erelah remembered vividly her first scouting mission and the blood spilled.  Michael's face appeared in her mind, splattered with ichor but a soft smile resting on his full lips.  The memory made her heart seize as she tried to shake it away.  The knot in her chest seemed to tighten.

Don't think about it, dammit...don't think about him...

Sighing heavily, Erelah kneeled beside a corpse and laid her hands upon it.  Angelic prayer fell from her lips, quiet and reverent, as a familiar glow began to emit from her palms and into the grotesque flesh beneath them.  Erelah followed through this practice deftly like she had done thousands of times before.  When all three bodies were no more than ash and whisked away by the wind, did Erelah finally relax.  Tense muscles loosening and shaking hands stilled as she laid back on the grass and stared up at the tree canopy and the darkening sky above.  Just a few more hours...  Her unintentional mantra echoing in her thoughts.

Erelah had become quite acquainted with boredom over the last few days of her extended stay on the mortal plain.  She often wandered for hours on end, experiencing and exploring all there was before finding somewhere to lay, or swim.  It was almost overwhelming the first few days, the constant state of unrest almost enough to drive her mad as her thoughts threatened to swallow her whole. She had found her peace though as fleeting as it was, and again that same mantra echoed unrelentingly...Just a few more hours.

The hours dragged on for what felt like an eternity. Erelah took it all in stride.  The time she spent waiting each day was worth it, oh so worth it...The sun had long since set in the East, its dark companion rising like a beacon in the West while Erelah watched it creep up into the sky from a tall pine tree.  She could barely see it now, the top of a roof just slightly rising above a familiar hill crest.  This had become her routine, purpose, and peace...she just waited for midnight...

When midnight came, it felt like the moon was smiling upon her as she stretched her wings and swooped down from the pine.  Her feet touched down on the hard ground moments later, toes sinking into the loose dirt.  She wasted no time stepping up to the porch.  She had done this many times now.  The cottage door was nowhere near as foreboding as it was the first time she had visited.  Erelah took in the little things that had changed.  The boots on the porch were now on the left side of the door instead of the right.  Fresh flowers had been planted around the standing oak.  No smoke plumed out of the chimney, but one thing always remained the same.  The scent permeated the air like a permanent perfume.  Sweet and subtle, it hushed every thought, fear, and hesitation, drawing her in like a loving embrace. Her mind no longer screamed "forbidden"; she was long past that now, and like before, she found she didn't care...

The key was right where it was every night, tucked away in the boot, the door softly clicking before swinging open for her.  The softest smile graced her lips as she shut the door behind her and leaned against it.  Erelah's eyes surveying everything little change, she found something on the table that caught her attention, however.  Papers were strewn across the surface, a stick of what looked like charcoal laying on top.  Erelah's eyes widened.  They were drawings, countless sketches...A maiden with long hair like her own, a slender face that resembled features she knew all too well, and a pair of grand angel wings extending from her back.  She plucked a paper from the stack with a shaking hand, carefully not to smudge the crude but intricate lines.  Her heart was beating so harshly, Erelah thought it might explode from her chest.  He had remembered her...He still thought about her...

Tears of an unknown emotion threatened to well in Erelah's eyes as she still held the sketching and looked over the others on the table.  Her heart was aching now, a silent wishing that this would be the night she would make herself known again.  Watching him sleep night after night had been such a comfort, but it wasn't enough, never enough for her.  Erelah wished to hear his voice, longed deeply to witness his smile...Never had she felt this way before. It was the only thing that scared her now as she made her way down the hall, clutching the sketch gently in her hand.  Erelah made no hesitation and did not allow herself a drop of doubt as she walked inside and kneeled beside the bed.  She came here so much now, rested in this exact spot that it was a wonder there weren't indentions in the floor.  Hopefully, whatever this was would never continue for so long.

Samuel's face was peaceful, like a resting babe.  Erelah dared to reach out and brush a strand of hair with her fingertips. Not enough...Again the tears welled.  Frustration and sorrow taking hold of her in a death-like grip as the lump in her throat rose to choke her of breath.  Erelah let them fall.  She would only allow herself this one time to weep for the fate that had so thoroughly entangled her with Samuel.  Never in her long life did she think this would be thrust upon her...Why was her Father subjecting her to this?  What was the purpose of putting her in Samuel's life?  What was she supposed to do with these feelings she had kept suppressed for so achingly long?

Erelah allowed the unraveling.  Just this once and no one would bear witness to it...Hot tears tread fiery streaks down her cheeks and neck.  The glass bottle filled with her forbidden thoughts and wonderings thoroughly shattered as she rested her face on the soft sheets and wept.

She lost track of all semblance of time, like it never existed in the first place.  Maybe it slowed just for her, taking pity on her plight and sorrows.  She would have pitied herself too.  How an angel had gotten herself wrapped up in such things, it was just unheard of. 

"Erelah...?"  Her body seized, going utterly still as the whisper of a voice reached her ears and slowly registered in her mind.  The bed she rested against shifted, the wooden bedframe creaking.  Her heart had clean stopped in its tracks as she held her breath.  "Erelah, is that you?" Rough fingertips brushed back her hair and she almost melted into the touch as she sighed quietly.

Tears still ran down her cheeks but she made no effort to hide them, opening her swollen eyes and meeting a familiar pair of green orbs.  She had forgotten how beautiful they were as they stared deep into her soul.  "Samuel..."