Forever (Original)

Forever [26: Wings of an Angel]

Forever: Wings of the Angel

"Eighty years ago you lived in Little Ridge, Texas with Ian Champion. Your best friend at the time. You guys were stupid and naïve, like any seventeen-year-olds were. But then you died because of a mistake that was made. You went to Heaven, Ian went to Hell."

"What? Why?"

"Because he didn't believe in shit. Didn't know, didn't care," Nigel said bluntly. "Though, maybe if he did believe, I wouldn't have gained such a good friend."

"So how did I end up in all of this?" Maria asked, leaning forward on her elbows.

"You'd always hated Sean, even as an angel. According to him, you were to marry him and have children with him." Nigel wrinkled his nose in disgust. "Oh, but you could not stand him, not one bit. He was, in your words, arrogant, egotistic, and ignorant. So one day you were able to get out and fly down to earth. That's when you met me. I was just strolling calmly down the streets of New York when out of nowhere and you came flying at me. Almost literally - I think you'd just landed. You were quick to apologize and you seemed a bit frantic. There were some people running down the sidewalk, straight towards us, right for you. I recognized one of them as an angel, and I knew I needed to run for it. Just when I started to run, I grabbed you and pulled you with me. You didn't argue, you just ran. When we finally found a place to hide, we exchanged names. Then I noticed all the feathers. Pure white feathers. Everywhere. I'd only seen feathers so pure coming from them. I confronted you on the spot. I had been told that if I ever came face-to-face with an angel, I was to kill it, and they were taught the same about demons. I would have done it. I would have killed you." Nigel faltered and stopped. He swallowed and ran a hand through his hair.

"Why didn't you?" Maria asked.

"I'd started to. I had you by the throat. But when I finally looked into your eyes, something made me stop. Something inside of me snapped. I let you go. You lay on the ground crying your eyes out. And so I held you. You told me that you didn't want to be an angel - that you hated it. So you spent the night with me. And in the few hours that we knew each other, we fell in love. That night, you gave yourself to me in pretty much every way possible. That night, you became a fallen angel. My parents disapproved. For a while, at least. Ian was pleased. Then we died and here we are."

"How did we die?" It made sense. The dreams, the emotions, everything. They all fit together like a puzzle.

"I think you already know," said Nigel.

"They shot us," Maria whispered.

"Yup." Nigel sat back in his chair. "And when I was finally born again, my parents explained everything to me: the prophecy, the deaths, the blah."

"What prophecy?"

"The one about how I get married and rule all of Hell," said Nigel. "I fall in love with a girl of extraordinary talents and together we would have the power to destroy Heaven. But even with that power, I wouldn't, but they don't seem to understand that. I like things the way they are now. I mean I wouldn't do the destroying thing. I'm all for falling in love part."

Maria's eyes narrowed slightly.

"So who are you supposed to fall in love with?"

"You're a moron," Ian said as he sat down next to Maria.

"How am I a moron?" Maria question.

"It's you, you dumbass," said Ian. "He's supposed to fall in love with you."

"Oh," said Maria. "So what happens if we don't fall in love?"

"We die," Nigel said simply.

"Oh," Maria repeated.