Fallen

Chapter 3

I kept thanking my lucky stars on Monday, every time I saw Theo, that he was a wonderful actor. Nothing was different about today than it was from every other day. No strange looks, no hushed words, no one suspected a thing, even Claudia. To be fair, however, she was too busy eating enough mac and cheese to feed a small army to notice anything. She simply commented that Theodore looked tired and that maybe he should have a cup of coffee.

I was unsurprised by Theo's offer to walk me home after school. There were so many questions he'd have, and it wasn't like I could consult my copy of How to Tell Your Best Friend That You're Actually a 106-year-old Angel. We strolled the sidewalks, which were quieter on Monday than any day of the week, and I answered his questions.

The redheaded girl passed us on the other side of the street. I trailed off from telling Theodore what heaven really looked like (think Aruba meets The Sound of Music meets Upper East Side Manhattan) and quietly watched her pass. Theodore noticed me staring.

"Do you know her?"

"Yes. Yes, I do." He looked confused.

"My last assignment. The one I never completed." Theo's mouth dropped open into a silent "o" of comprehension.

"That's her?" I nodded. The day I fell, it had taken me all night to beat off a devil that had some special interest in the girl. He had been ancient and powerful, and I was worn out from previous encounters with him. I eventually got rid of the bastard, but it had taken hours.

Jonas, an older angel who had died in the 1850's, dared to question my ability to take care of the redheaded girl, and my dedication to her welfare. Jonas was not a guardian, he had never even met a demon or a devil. He had no right. I remembered descending on Jonas, flying around him and kicking his ears, his nose, the back of his head. I beat my powerful wings against his shoulders and raked my fingernails down his arms. He was a coward and a liar. It had taken five of the best guardians to restrain me in my rage.

I was banished for my crimes against Jonas, and for previous evidence of the deadly sins. I felt tears welling up in my eyes as I relived my solitary judgement, kneeling before that incredible light, begging forgiveness. I remembered the one time I had fallen from somewhere and my wings were unable to save me.

I shook my head back and forth to clear my head and dry my eyes. "It's done," I said out loud, "she has a new guardian now. She's safe, and that's the only things I care about. Let's go."

~~~~~~

To get back to my house in the middle of nowhere, you had to go through the downtown area, the residential streets, and take a dusty back road with no paint and no sidewalks to the woods. From there the only street was a worn little path from my frequent passing, and even that ended long before my house, when I was far enough away from people to take off. It took an awfully long time. Despite my encouraging Theodore to get a ride from the residential streets, he insisted on walking my to my front door.

Theo didn't really seem up to flying when we reached the end of my little footpath (in fact he went quite green at the mention of it). So instead we picked our way through the trees to my house in peaceful silence. That is, until I heard a cheerful, mocking whistling coming from behind us, and the flap of leathery wings. Someone was following us, and I had a sneaking suspicion who it might be.

"I can hear you, Samuel."

"That was the idea. You've let yourself go, slick. Back in the day you would've heard me coming on Beech Street."

"You go downhill when you fall, Samuel. Bones get stiff. Senses get dull. You ought to know."

A resentful snarl ripped through the air. It was then that I realized that Theodore was looking at me like I had grown three heads. To him, I was talking to myself. I laid my hand on his shoulder just as my conversational partner swooped into view and landed on a tree branch. Theo started out from under my hand when he caught sight of our pursuer.