The Fallen Angel

Chapter XXI

When they left, I ran upstairs and gathered my things. I eyed the dagger peaking from his luggage and snatched it quickly, looking around by fear that someone had caught me stealing it. I changed quickly, pulling on the pants I had worn the night before and zipping my coat up, ready to brace the cold. There wasn't a chance I was staying inside, even if things could turn for the worse. I had nothing to loose, not anymore.

I made my way downstairs and walked into his office, searching through his desk for something that could be useful. I found a pistol in the bottom drawer and held in the palm of my hand. I didn't have the slightest clue how to use it but I decided to take it with me anyway. Everyone looks more threatening with a gun.

I stepped outside and realized how big the forest really was. It was quiet, the birds beginning to chirp as the sun rose in the East. It was still dark but the glimmer on the horizon gave me a little light to see. I slid the gun in the pocket inside my coat, the heavy weapon weighing it down. I hid the dagger in the sleeve of my jacket. If it was souls that it wanted, I was determined it would get some.

I began walking, my feet sinking in the thick layer of snow. The scenery was calm, suspiciously calm, which made me even more cautious of what could be waiting for me behind the next tree I passed by. I tried to follow a set of tracks but there had only been one, which I assumed were Lucifer's, but eventually they disappeared out of thin air, as if he had vanished. I looked around, hoping I would catch a movement between the trees but there was nothing to be seen for miles expect acres of pine and maple.

The sound of a breaking branch made me jump and I looked towards where the sound had come. My heart started to race and I looked all around me, but I could find nothing. I kept walking, trying to convince myself it had been a deer or a fox. I didn't know where they had all gone too but I knew they couldn't have gotten very far. A crimson colour staining the snow further up the path caught my attention and as I got closer, I felt myself becoming nauseous. Five or six bodies were laying in the snow, all of them dead. They were all wearing black suits, that left much of their arms exposed to the cold, but I guessed that was the least of their problems now. A body a little further away made my heart stop beating and I ran towards it, feeling bile rise in my throat. I dropped in the snow and turned its head to the side. It was Sarah, lying dead with her beautiful blue eyes still wide opened.

I let out a cry, feeling the oxygen leave my lungs, as if I had been punched straight in the chest. I let the back of my hand glide on her cold cheek and lifted my fingers to shut her eyes closed. A dagger had been plunged into her stomach purposely, destroying any chance of the child's survival. I started to cry heavily, warm tears descending my face as I laid my head on her chest, her warmth and energy completely gone.

"I'm so sorry Sarah," I croaked. I felt myself grow angry. Angry at the people that had done this, but mostly angry at myself for thinking that this could have worked. I began slamming my fists into the snow, letting out shouts and swears, hoping to release the aching feeling pressing on my chest. It felt like I couldn't breathe it hurt so much. It was too much for me to handle.

"What a shame," a woman's voice said and I raised my head abruptly. She stared down at me like a victim she had claimed, a prideful smile on her lips as if she was proud of her work. She had bright red hair tied up tightly in braid and a long sword at her hip. She was dressed like the others I had found.

"She yeld out your name before I plunged the dagger in," she said matter-of-factly.

"How could you?" I cried and she laughed.

"With a lot of pleasure," she smiled and I felt my insides twist. "But not as much as I'm going to have once I'm done with you."

"I've done nothing to you!" I shouted at her.