Fallen

+ Chapter One

I squeeze my eyes shut and try to fall asleep, but I can't. The room is far too dark. I open my eyes and almost wish I hadn't.

There is a demon standing in front of the door. It stares straight into my soul, practically eating it with its eyes. Near it is some sort of monster. It crouches close to the floor. I swear, it just moved right now! I gulp and stare at the ceiling instead. That's mistake number two. On the ceiling, there are a bunch of tiny spiders crawling around. They catch me looking at them and now they are all coming down the wall to attack me!

I can't take this anymore! I immediately turn on the fairy lights on my headboard. Their soft glow is enough to illuminate the room. I sigh in relief as I realize that: no, that is not a demon, that is just a towel on the door; no, that is not a monster, that is just a bean bag chair; and no, those are not spiders, that is just the texture of the ceiling. I look at the clock on my bedside table.

3:23 AM

I groan in frustration at my stupid fear of the dark. I am a twenty-one year old man! I should be able to fall asleep in a dark room without having my mind turn every shadow or movement into a monster.

Annoyed, I stand and walk over to the window alcove. I sit and look out into the night. The sound of the few passing cars and the wind blowing through the trees can be heard. The full moon and the stars shine down on London, making the buildings a pale white.

As I looks out of the window, I can't help but feel so alone. I am alone, I think as I hug my knees to my chest. My birth parents are dead. My adoptive parents are dead. I have no living family members. I live alone. I have no friends. I don't have a job. There is nothing tying me down to this world. I could easily disappear and no one would notice.

I sigh and look up at the starry night. As I stare at the sky, I see a shooting star. I close my eyes and make a wish.

I wish I wasn't cursed.

I open my eyes and expect the star to be gone, but it isn't. It just seems to be glowing brighter and getting bigger. I open the window to get a better look. The wind messes up my curls for a couple of seconds before it stops completely.

Everything just stops. The noises stop. The wind stops. The movement of the trees stop. Everything is eerie quiet. The only thing that doesn't stop is the star. Instead of shooting across the sky, however, it is falling down. It continues to fall—fast. If I'm not mistaken, it looks like it is coming my way. As it falls, it gets bigger and bigger. It looks like a ball of falling, white fire.

Fear runs through my veins as I realize that the meteor is going to collide straight into my apartment! I have no time to react because, before I know it, the ball of light is falling straight into the Earth. A blinding white light falls over everything, causing me to lose my sight for a couple of seconds. I fall to the floor in surprise. A small earthquake rocks everything in those few seconds before it all goes still again.

I gasp for air as I slowly get up to peek out of the window. I expect to see some kind of crater or destruction, but all I see is a ball of light in the middle of the street, right in front of my building.

"Oh my god...oh my god!" I say as I start to run outside to it, ignoring the fact that I'm only wearing boxers and and an oversized shirt. I don't even bother putting my shoes on.

What in the world could that be? Aliens??

I run out of my room, through the hall, down the many stairs, and out of the front door. I run straight to the ball of light, stopping a few feet away. I stare in wonder as I see that there is grass growing throught the cracks in the ground that surounds the ball of light, forming some sort of plant bed. It's not really a ball of light now that I see it up close. It is a person, but I can't see their features clearly do to the huge, white, glowing wings that surrounds them.