Whispers on the Wind

Chapter Six: Bloodied Wings

Hushed voices surrounded me, I couldn't tell what they were saying, all I knew was they didn't want me to hear whatever it was. My tail curled around my leg, in the way it always had when I was nervous and needed some semblance of comfort. A heavy weight pulled me back down to the floor when I tried to move.

"Oh no! Dear angel, do not burden yourself with these heavy wings, let us help you," an older male voice said. Several hands touched me in too many places at once, and not in a good way.

I jerked backwards, trying to pull away and fell on what felt like a mattress with the springs sticking out and stabbing into my back. My vision continued to be blurry. I couldn't make out anything beyond several blobs around me, they moved slow and calculated, not malicious, I wasn't in danger.

Angel.

Heavy wings!

It all came back to me, touching the Bible, having angel wings rip out of my back, my brother being trapped off the site of the holy ground, unable to do anything to help me.

"Help," I whispered hoarsely, I couldn't get up, it was too heavy.

I didn't know who I was talking to, or whether I should trust those I couldn't see.

Strong hands gripped my arms and pulled me from the floor. The wings drug on the ground, useless, likely covered in blood. What did this mean? Me? An angel? I had been raised a demon, I had a freakin demon tail, why the hell did I have angel wings? Why was I able to come onto holy ground?

A warm cup was placed in my hand after I was guided to a hard seat, likely a pew. My wings hung over the back, making sharp pain go up my spine and pull on the back of my skull. The warm liquid smelled gross, like cheap ass gas station coffee, but hey, coffee was coffee right?

Hot liquid splashed all over my chest as I missed my mouth with my trembling hands. "Fuck!"

The room was shocked to silence.

"I mean, oh no forgive me god, I am in much pain," I said, unable to hold back to hint of sarcasm in my tone. My vision finally cleared and I was able to make out three priests, a pastor, and two nuns. They all stared at me with curiosity and fear.

"Why did you come here, angel? We have not seen your kind in over fifty years," one of the priests said, his balding, white-haired head shining slightly in the light of the main church room.

It was odd to be revered, to be feared. Demons were the scum of the earth and looked down upon. I didn't know how to respond. Why was I here? Beyond checking out something to help another being, what kind of sick twisted fate was it that everything I was taught would become a lie in seconds? I had more questions than I had answers.

I shrugged, immediately regretting it as the fire ripped through me. "I don't know, something just sorta urged me to drop in."

"Your wings and back are injured. Did you get in a fight? Are you a fallen angel?" The priest asked, keeping himself in an oddly open posture as if he was trying to show me that he was listening and that I could trust him.

I couldn't trust anybody, but I needed to find answers. "What's a fallen angel?"

"Any angel cast down from heaven for being disobedient and rebelling against God's wishes. Lucifer was one of the first fallen angels, he brought many down with him. It's unfortunate that anyone would seek to destroy the beauty that God had created," the priest stated as he flicked his robes out and sat down beside me. "You seem lost, my child. I do not think you know why you are here."

Damn. This guy was perceptive as fuck. What was I supposed to say to that?

"Why would you say that?" I asked, pretending that he did not get to me in the slightest.

"I had a dream last night that I was guided to a lost child of God who needed my help. Her name was Amaya, and while this is not what I expected, I believe that child is you," the priest said as he placed a hand on mine. "I can sense your fear and confusion, it will be alright, we are here to help you."

I pulled away, almost toppling over the back of the pew. "You don't know that. There is more than one Amaya in the world." This was getting freaky, what the actual fuck. "Dreams are delusions the brain gives you for entertainment purposes, they mean nothing."

He nodded slowly. "Some are fallacies, yes, but others are visions. When you get to be my age, you learn the difference. It's okay to have fear, to question, that's how you find answers. But, you know in your heart what is truth and what is lies. I can see in your eyes that you are lost."

"I'm—I'm not an angel," I choked, it was quiet, barely above a whisper. "I shouldn't be here, I shouldn't be able to be here."

One of the nun's took an object out of her pocket and placed it in my hand. It was a small stone, it glowed gold in my grasp. "This is a rock from the mountain Moses went up upon to receive the Ten Commandments. Only an angel can make it glow. Otherwise, it is simply no more than a rock."

I dropped it from my hand as if it had burned me. "No. You don't understand. I'm not holy, I'm not pure, I'm the opposite of an angel."

"That is because you are lost, not because you aren't an angel." The priest reached out his hand, taking a book from the pastor. "Stories of demons kidnapping angel young and turning them into demons have been around since the first fall. The stories tell that demonkind was near extinct, so to grow their numbers, they kidnapped angels, cursed them, and raised them as their own." He opened the book to images of old fashioned devil drawings kidnapping infant angels. "The elders have passed down this knowledge since Catholicism first began. It is our duty to save the lost angels and restore them to what they were meant to be."

Cradling my head in my hands, I tried to breathe, just breathe. A heavy weight settled on my chest, suffocating me. All my muscles tightened, making each movement I made robotic. Kidnapped? Cursed? Why should I trust this random geezer? I didn't know him, he didn't know me. He could be wrong. He had to be wrong. But—I had been lied to by the ones I should've been able to trust. Everything was twisted and wrong. Nothing made sense.

"I want to leave," I said, barely able to get the words out between breaths. "I need time to think, away from here."

"I don't think you understand, angel. We have to save you, it is our duty. We can't let you leave," the priest said coolly. "It is God's will that we help you. If you leave then you are lost to us and to all."

Laughing, I managed to find the strength to stand, dizziness almost made me fall back to the ground. "Make me." Darkness traced at the edges of my vision. "I'm leaving." I took one step and something in my back cracked, turning everything into nothingness.