Birthmarked

16-To Know the Truth

I paced back and forth. There was no clue as to what was happening on the outside, the walls of the mansion were like a soundproof booth.

I began to entertain myself with the thoughts of this whole mess being over, with the idea that things could go back to the way they were.

So engrossed was I in these thoughts, that I did not hear the angel until he was right behind me. I turned quickly and gasped. The angel smiled widely. "Hello," he said pleasantly.

He was close enough for me to see my reflection in his depthless, black eyes. I couldn't speak, my mouth had gone dry.

"Ahh, how do they say it, cat got your tongue?"

I began to back away from him, his oily black eyes capturing my every move. Before I could turn to escape, he had a cold hand around my neck. With a flick of his wrist, I was sailing through the air. I hit a wall and crumpled to the floor, hissing at the pain that ran through my body.

The evil angel was at my side before I could push myself up. He grabbed me by the neck again and lifted me. I screamed in pain. His hand tightened around my neck, choking off the sound and cutting off my airways. My vision began to blur and dark spots blotted out the angel's sadistic smile.

I'm going to die.

"Uh, uh, uh," the angel said. He loosened his grip a bit, allowing me to breathe again. "You can't pass out before the big finale," he cooed.

I opened my mouth to tell him where he could shove it when he lifted a sword that hadn't been there before. He gazed at it lovingly. "Casrel, the sword of death. It's unlike any other."

I watched the sword as he passed it in front of my face. It didn't glow like the others did; instead it flashed a very unusual color as he passed it through the light.

"Hmm," he said, "too bad." And without any hesitation he plunged the sword into my stomach. I gasped loudly, the adrenaline pumping through my veins, numbing me to the pain, but it didn't last long. As he pulled the sword back out, a searing pain made my insides coil and burn.

I screamed, clenching the wound as my insides burned like a white hot branding iron.

The angel let me go and I dropped to the floor, writhing. A loud shattering made the angel turn. A bright light flashed before my eyes and the angel let out a short, painful screech before falling to the floor.

"Penny," I recognized Edon's voice, but it wasn't Edon who was at my side. Instead, Nathan squatted next to me, examining my wound. He swore.

I tried to smile through my pain as I said, "I didn't know angels could swear."

He returned my smile weakly. "It's this human body. It's so easy to act like one of you."

"Come on," he said, slipping his arms underneath me. I cried out as he lifted me into his arms.

He began to walk towards the stairs. "What about the others? What happened? Is everyone okay?"

It was Edon's voice that answered me. "Everyone's okay. The other angels retreated. You should be worrying about yourself. You're the one who has a gaping hole in your stomach," he teased, though his voice was strained.

I winced and gripped tightly to Nathan's arm as the severe pain only became worse.

Suddenly, the others were in front of us, hurrying up the stairs ahead of us.

Isra pushed the first door on the right open, Mac's room. "Place her on the bed," she demanded. Nathan lay me down gently.

"Open her shirt," she said. Nathan reached for my shirt, but was stopped by Edon. He gave him a cold warning glare.