Underground Angels

Chapter Forty-Six || Why did it have to be Blood?

Chapter Forty-Six

Why did it have to be Blood?

Noel was pissed right the fuck off. Of course, she was scared too, but mostly pissed off. "Come ON!" she shouted to the sky, dragging Gabriel away from the crevice. She knew what came next. "Fucking – zombies –fuck."

"Watch out for zombies!" she shouted across the widening crack in the ground.

"Zombies?" Stephan yelled back, the others looking stricken. "How –"

"I'm a fucking SEER, Stephan!" she somehow managed to huff and yell at the same time.

"Right, I trust you." Stephan saluted her, and they began to run towards the river.

"You never swear." Said Gabriel, dazed.

"I'm stressed." She huffed, feeling blisters form on her skin. It had been cold on their way into Hell, but the air had started to warm the moment Gabriel was freed. "C'mon, get up." she said finally, pulling Gabriel to his feet. His clothes were tattered, and with each step he seemed to grow weaker. His body was wracked with violent coughing, and soon Noel's own clothing was speckled with blood.

The black smoke behind them morphed into un-dead soldiers, flesh hanging from their brittle bones. Gabriel's breath was becoming haggard, and the farther they ran the more he leaned on Noel.

"Gabriel, please!" she cried as he fell to his knees, pressing a hand to his chest "What did they do to you?"

Noel could feel the heat rising, hear the clatter of bones from the soldiers. Gabriel's hands sought hers, and he was about to speak, words on the brink of his blood-spattered lips. The chains, she realized – she had to get him out of them, or they wouldn't stand a chance at all.

"I can't get them!" she cried, looking over his shoulder at the black smoke that was slowly drawing closer. "C'mon Gabe, we have to go."

He laughed, but it soon turned into a cough – blood spattered the ground, speckling his pale lips "Go on Angel, I'll be okay."

"No, Gabriel-" His fingers brushed her cheek, and those pale eyes looked into hers – like the movies but better, just like in her dream. The feeling she hadn't understood flooded her, and she started to cry, tears streaking her dusty cheeks. It was the same ache she now recognized, that had plagued her for years and years in her sleep. It had always been real.

"Go on Noel, I'll be okay – it's fine –"

"Gabriel Darcy, I did not come all the way to Hell just so you could die." She said firmly, taking the chains and throwing them over her shoulder and putting his arms around her. "We are getting out of here."

They began moving again, and the crack swerved so they couldn't move any further toward the river. Noel swore and looked about, spotting a dip in the land. "That must be the river," she panted, feeling the ache in her bones. Gabriel had lost a lot of weight while imprisoned, but the chains weighed more than he did. "Only a little further."

They neared the slope, and breathed a sigh of relief upon reaching the edge as they saw a stream trickle through the bottom. As Noel was about to asses how to get down, it was as if a wind pushed them forward. They shouted, grabbing each other, only to lose hold as they tumbled down the rocky gradient.

Noel moaned as they rolled into a shallow lake, the water red, thick and sticky. "What –" she gasped. "Oh hell – why did it have to be blood?"