Fallen: A Divine Mystery

Chapter 8. Collecting the Shards

At home, Theo walked straight to the kitchen cabinet and grabbed a bottle of whiskey. He had discovered this drink on the day he moved in - it was a farewell gift from his friend Urchin. Decorated with a posh red ribbon, it had a paper note attached: "I hope this home will be a happy place for both of you!"

Theo tore the paper off and threw it in the garbage bin. The ribbon was disposed of in the same place. Then, he made his way upstairs.

To his relief, Elliana was too busy bathing, so he locked himself in the bedroom. He sat on the floor, leaning his back against the bed. His gaze fell upon a wilted red rose petal, a painful reminder of the woman he had just lost.

Theo gulped down the drink, feeling the burn as it traveled down his throat. A warm wave of relaxation washed over his body, but the pain of thinking about her still lingered. He averted his eyes from the petal and shifted his gaze to the ceiling. It was painted in a bright blue color, adorned with puffy white clouds. When he had discussed this unusual and childish design with Ann, she had been thrilled. Ann had even promised to bring paints and draw angels sitting on those clouds. Ironically, an actual angel had entered the picture and ruined all their plans. Theo let out a heavy exhale and took another gulp of whiskey.

A knock on his door made him freeze. He hoped Elliana would simply go away, assuming he had fallen asleep.

The knock repeated. "Theo, I know you're in there! Please, open up!"

He held his breath.

"I can sense your loneliness!" Elliana's frustrated voice came through, almost on the verge of tears. "Please, talk to me!"

Groaning, Theo reluctantly stood up and walked towards the door to unlock it. As he turned the lock, Elliana pushed the door so forcefully that he had to quickly jump back to avoid getting his face squashed.

Elliana was wearing Ann's pink dress, which had a charmingly open back, and her white wings flapped behind her as she moved. And why didn't she find this dress earlier? Theo wondered. It could help us avoid this trouble.

Wrinkling her nose, Elliana looked at him disapprovingly. "Are you drinking?!"

"Yes," Theo admitted, extending his hand with the bottle. "Wanna try?"

"Can I?"

He shrugged. "Why not? It's how we cope with things in our world."

"Okay, give it to me," she said, taking the bottle from his hands. Then, she turned and walked towards the window. As Elliana opened the window frame, doubt began to crawl into Theo's chest.

And then, she did the thing he had feared - Elliana threw the bottle out of the open window.

"The hell are you doing?!" Theo rushed to the windowsill and leaned over, desperately searching for any glimmer of the glass bottle. If he was lucky, maybe it had landed in the bush without breaking... Shit. The moonlight illuminated the shards lying on the pavement. His only solace for the night was gone, destroyed by the very hands that had put him in this situation.

Slowly, he turned to face Elliana. "So, ruining my relationship wasn't enough for you. What's next? Are you going to set the house on fire?" He raised his hand, allowing flames to dance on his fingertips. The fire reflected in her wide-open eyes. "I swear, if you don't leave me alone, this is what I'll do next!"

Elliana shook her head in disappointment. "I can't believe I was confused about Ann's ability to face a love challenge. I thought it was her fault, and that you had to do your best to stop it. But now I see the truth."