Golden wings

Chapter 28 - Iniquitous

Everything was silent, not a sound echoed in the dark. Not until the doors creaked open. Two hands trembled as they pushed, with doubt. Two wings shivered, both with cold and fear.

Alexis had not stopped looking for him. He had not seen Uriel since he got out of that retched place, when he ran away from him.

The hall was completely dark. Not a single candle was alight; there was no trace of him. Everything was silent, eerily.

"Uriel?!"

He hated silence.

Alexis ventured into the manor, dreadfully. He hoped that his demon had sought refuge here. However, part of him suspected that Uriel had not been here, because he had not seen blood on the way. There was not a single drop of blood on the stony floor, and the doors had been slightly open, like how he left them. It seemed that no one had come back since he took flight.

Still, he got deeper into his former home; he kept looking at every door and dark room.

"Please, say something if you're there! I don't know what happened! I don't...! I don't understand!" But he knew he pushed him. "I- I'm sorry!

His own voice echoed back to him, an echo that had no trace of the kind and caring voice that always answered him. He sobbed an angry intake of breath, and then began to hustle through older hallways.

He had to be here. He had to know what had happened, he had to understand. He had to be sure Uriel was safe, he had to find him, wherever he was hiding.

He opened with little care the living room's door. He looked at every corner, at every single table and chair.

"...P-please..."

There was no fire in the fireplace.

The next place he went to was a small kitchen. Again, he did not see or hear Uriel. Not a single timid call, not a trace of the delicious smell from the food made with the most caring claws. The lights were off.

Alexis slammed a fist on the door frame. He was beginning to see blurry again, out of rage and impotence.

He was not dreaming. But he wished he really was in a nightmare, because he felt like he was in one. He wished he had not seen those sharp stones, that red blood, the horror in those violet eyes, which looked up at him in pain. He wished Uriel would just come into the room and greet him good morning, like he did every day. He wanted all this to only be a bad dream, a sickening joke of his own fall, a play in his own mind.

But he was not here at all...

Alexis ran. He had always avoided the deeper corridors of this manor. He had always feared the dark. The rooms were gloomy and empty, but that did not halt him, he kept going through, searching in every hallway and turn. He called, praying to be heard.

"I'm sorry! I really don't know what's going on, I swear! Why did I-?!"

Why did his wings move...?

The angel halted his blind chase slowly. He stopped his senseless pursuit, of someone who was not there. He couldn't keep going. He bowed his head, unable to keep his shoulders from shaking. His wings folded strongly against his back, almost painfully. His inner thoughts became clearer, but not less haunting.

Why did he move his wings?

His hands gripped the top of his wings angrily, he bended a little and screamed; he let everything out in an anguished yell. He pulled at his wings fiercely, not caring that he ripped quite a few feathers off. His scream faded and turned into a soft cry, and slowly, he let himself lean against a wall. He had not rested since he had flown out the manor, he felt like he could break in two at any moment, after what had happened.