Fallen Angel

15. Burning in flames

Cassius chuckled.

"Wow, you really love him."

"A lot." She said it seriously and confidently, looking him straight in the eyes.

"We have a problem, then."

"We just have to be apart, don't we?"

"You don't understand, Aurora. Ethan would be willing to die, for you. He would be willing to give his life if it meant spending a few more hours by your side. It's not about the distance, now, it's about your feelings. About his feelings, especially. I've been trying to get him to hold back his feelings for weeks, but he can't control it. His father...

"Do you know his family?" Aurora cut him off.

"Didn't he tell you about it?" Cassius looked surprised.

"No, he didn't. He's always very reserved, and I haven't asked him anything either. I guess because of his mission, it was easier for me not to know much about his private life. But I would love to know more about him."

"Why don't you go to his house and ask him yourself?"

"It's just that..." she looked at the floor.

"Oh, it's true. You've argued and you both are so stubborn that neither of you wants to apologize. I don't know if he'll like me to tell you about it, but... if you let me through, I can tell you a few things."

Aurora smiled. For the first time in two days, her eyes shone with emotion. She let Cassius into the living room and made him some coffee. The archangel sat on the sofa. After a few minutes, Aurora sat down next to him, leaving two cups of coffee on the glass table in front of them.

Cassius began to explain to her that Ethan was repeating the same story that his father had already experienced. He told her how he fell in love with Ethan's mother, who was also human, and how that affected Ethan and his father.

"But then, didn't Ethan's father die despite falling in love with a human?" Aurora asked, curious.

"No, because Ethan's father was actually an archangel. When the rules are broken, you drop one level in relation to the category you have. Being a higher level, the level to which it would descend would be that of an angel. In Ethan's case... he is already an angel; the only thing lower than their category are the fallen angels. As an angel, one can still live well. The life of fallen angels, on the other hand, is pure misery. It's not something that usually happens, but..."

He went on to explain how Ethan's father had to enter a centre and how Cassius had taken care of the angel since then. When he finished, there was a silence that Aurora broke after a few seconds.

"You mean that... even with this childhood shit, he still had time to think about me and worry about me?" She thought out loud.

"Aurora... He cares about you because he loves you. He started out as a fool, but his feelings have won him over. Archangel's word." He put his hand to the side of his head, like a soldier. Aurora laughed. Cassius remembered the day Ethan had been so in awe of the girl's beauty, that day in the library when the sunlight filtered through the giant windows. He would never forget the strength of that feeling, so intense that it reached the archangel. That day he realized there was no turning back.

"What saddens me the most is that we said we love each other in the middle of an argument." Aurora had the cup in her hands and looked at the coffee and the small waves that formed every time she drank.

"I find it very passionate. You still have time to go see him and tell him sweetly. Maybe he'll be dramatic because he's having a hard time, but I'm sure you'll heal his soul with your inner light." He winked at her.

"Thank you, Cassius. For everything." She looked at him.

"Thank you. For making Ethan want to live again."

***

It was 6pm when Aurora decided she was going to talk to the angel. She rang the bell three times, but no one answered. She thought of another place he could have gone.

She went down the elevator and headed to the river behind the building. The place where she had promised herself never to trust anyone again. But... could she trust Ethan? Or at least try again? While she was thinking about it, where she expected to find the angel, she saw a red-haired boy. He was older than her. Yes, she knew who it was. Nathan. Memories of that fight in the art studio came to Aurora. She shivered and turned around, but the demon had already sensed her presence.

"Wow, look who has come. Were you waiting for your beloved angel?" His voice was dark, deep as the darkness itself. He was looking at her with those bloodshot eyes and his hands in the pockets of his black tuxedo, as if he had the situation under control.

"What are you doing here?" Aurora tried to hide her terror.

"I was waiting for you. Have you done your homework yet, Brown?"

"Where is Ethan?"

"Oh, Hedger? He does not behave well, he does not know how to be quiet, he is very violent. I think you deserve someone more gentlemanly."

He approached her slowly, he took a hand out of his pocket and caressed her cheek, ending by grabbing her chin roughly to force her to look at him.

"Hedger is where he needs to be. And now you will come with me."

"I don't plan to go anywhere with you, devil."

"You're very beautiful when you're angry, have you ever been told that?"

"I'm sorry, but the angel you hate so much has gotten ahead of you and he told me before. Sorry, you're not original at all." She spit in his face.

Nathan let go of her and shouted an insult. Aurora moved away and kept her distance. But the demonic powers were superior, and in thousandths of a second, the demon was back in front of her.

"You will come with me, you stupid girl. I don't know what the hell the Lord sees in you."

He grabbed her wrist with such force that it hurt Aurora and she let out a tear. Gray and red smoke surrounded them and suddenly they were in nowhere. Aurora lost consciousness.

***

She woke up. Her whole body ached. Her wrist was all red and purple, she could hardly move it. Opening her eyes, she realized she was lying on the cold, hard floor, in a room that looked very much like a prison cell. Her uninjured wrist was handcuffed to the wall. There was a dim light from the chandeliers in the corridors that could be seen through a small barred window in the door. The cell was divided into two parts by iron bars that went from the floor to the ceiling. And then she realized it. She sat up quickly and stifled a cry. Her eyes didn't lie. On the other side of the bars was an unconscious angel, his arms above his head handcuffed to the wall, his shirt open revealing wounds on his bare chest, his sweat-drenched black hair sticking to his face. Despite being unconscious, he was breathing very fast, as if he was having a nightmare. It was the living image of suffering.

//

Hi! Oops, things are getting complicated, poor Ethan :( What do you think about this chapter? Let me know if you liked it with a vote! Thank you for reading <3