The Above || Completed

43 It's All My Fault

My heart felt as though it had imploded. Aeron couldn't be the angel. I was the one who set off the sensors and led them to his location. Which meant that this was all my fault. He was the council's prime suspect because of me. But why did he stay behind? He should've known that the sensors would detect my powers. Why didn't he leave?
"They've got the wrong guy," I said firmly to Erica.
Zachariah spoke then. "How do you know?"
I hesitated. "I just know."
Zachariah's eyes bore into mine for no longer than a second before he looked away. "I think we should be worrying more about the Renewal. Now that they've captured the angel, it's happening tomorrow."
I felt nauseated by yet another wave of anxiety. That gave me less than twelve hours to discover where the council was keeping its angels. How was I supposed to get my hands on that kind of information before morning? I had to lean against the wall to prevent myself from falling. Everything was spinning, my head a revolving hall of mirrors with voices whispering incessantly.
"Maddison, if they captured him under pure suspicion, and if he really isn't the angel, they'll set him free once they find out the truth," Grace pointed out consolingly.
I shook my head. "No, I need to fix this."
It's all my fault he's in this mess.
Erica gasped. "Look, they're coming."

Shuffling could be heard from the corridor outside the dorm. I rushed to the doorway, followed by Grace and Erica. Aeron had his wrists bound behind his back and his feet were tied together by his own shoelaces. His brown hair was tousled and his lip was swollen and cut.
They beat him up.
But that's not what disturbed me the most. What turned my blood to ice was the device they had strapped to his back. At first, they looked like chains but upon closer inspection, I realized it was made to immobilize angels completely. If an angel decided to try fly away, this device was designed to strip them of their wings.
Erica placed a hand on my shoulder, which I found was shaking. "Breathe."
The guards brought Aeron past and our eyes met. His swollen lips formed a wounded smile.
"Your hands," he said.
Unable to utter a word, I hastily placed my glowing hands behind my back, where Grace was generous enough to throw her jacket over them.
"I-" I tried to apologise to him.
"Don't," he said, still smiling.
Curse his undying charisma.
Then they began to haul him away, down a corridor that seemed shorter that I remembered.

^^^

I followed them. I couldn't find it in myself to stand in that doorway and watch them take Aeron away. I was going to find out where they were taking him, and maybe, that would lead me to the other angels too.
To think, I get him into trouble and suddenly, it's like he never broke my heart at all, I mused.
As they turned another corner, I stopped to peer around it and watched them step through a door that led outside, into the courtyard. I slipped through before the door could close properly and I watched as they walked toward the main gate.
What? An angel not worth a nimbus?

I followed them out of the main gate, hiding in the pale shrubs as they continued along the streets. They took a left then two rights, almost heading toward the center of the Above but instead taking a detour to an area restricted to citizens, the site of the revolution. Or at least that's what I could tell. This must've been a part of it that the council couldn't hide fast enough. The tattered buildings were concealed by a thick forest of trees and the potent mist they gave off. This had to be one of their holdings. My head flashed with an idea and I quickly withdrew the flute from my pocket. The time was now. I would set my father, and now Aeron, free.

But suddenly, everything went black and all I remember was dropping the flute as I fell to the ground.

^^^