The Fall

Chapter Six

Alta stood in tense silence as she waited. She could almost sense them, with every inch they grew closer the knot in her chest grew tighter. She felt naked, standing in the middle of the barn alone as she waited for them to find her, a part of her actually wished she had the demon beside her, at least he was a better fighter than she was and could offer some aspect of a defense.

She swallowed the nervous lump in her throat as she tried not to fidget on her feet, she could feel her heart beating thunderously against her chest and wondered if anyone else could too; if her brothers and sisters could hear it, then they would know she was afraid, and unsure that what she was doing was the right thing.

She had moved one of her knives into her side pocket and fingered the handle, trying to bring some sense of security to herself; the notion that she wasn't completely helpless if this failed.

Closing her eyes she worked to steady her breathing, she had to remain calm. Just as she had cooled down to a somewhat relaxed rhythm, the barn doors were blasted from their hindges, wood shattered and flew around her, hitting her roughly but she managed to remain on her feet, ignoring the sting left by a few sharp pieces that had scraped across her legs and torso.

Letting her eyes snap open they fell on the angels, all six were standing there before her, mixed emotions of confusion and hurt, and in the eyes of Ezekiel she saw pure betrayal. She couldn't bring herself to look at Alexander.

"What are you doing?" Ezekiel demanded, taking a step into to barn, "Why did you release him?"

Alta opened her mouth to form some kind of answer, hating how heavily her heart fell in her chest when she finally caught gazes with Alexander, what she saw there. West cleared his throat from the side of the barn, gaining all of their attention, "You know," he mused with a lazy grin, "it's rude to talk about people when they're standing right there." And before the angels could even move, his bloodied hand came slamming down onto the sigil.

It was instantaneous; bright light shattered through the barn, engulfing them in a sea of pure white and a noise similar to the wail that came from running your finger around the edge of wine glass, only this was ear piercingly louder.

Alta fell into a crouch, hooking her face into the crook of her elbow and brought her hands up to her ears, her head was screaming in protest at the suddenness of it all.

The effects lasted all of three seconds, it stopped as quickly as it started and when Alta felt brave enough to dare a look, she found herself alone with West, the angels were gone, black smudges painted in the walls as if they had been forced into the wood and had left their shadows behind.

West was grinning from ear to ear, wiping his hand down his shirt, leaving a scarlet smear down the front. "Now that was impressive." But Alta did not feel pride, she felt as though she had blasted herself along with them.

"Let's just get out of here before they come back." She muttered, climbing to her feet and retrieving her bag before throwing it over her shoulder and making her way out of the barn again.

She faintly heard West trailing out behind her, but she didn't dare look back, if she did she would have to accept that she had chosen his side this time. Instead she kept her eyes forward as they headed down the hill until they reached the road that headed into town.

It had been almost an hour of walking in silence and Alta felt now would have to be time to speak up, if she and the demon were to do this together, then they would have to form some kind of a relationship to work.

She turned on her heel to face him, only to have her breath knocked out of her as West lunged forward and pinned her to a tree that stood at the edge of the road. Her protest had died in her throat, fighting back a surprised scream as one of his hands pressed against her throat, successfully keeping her in place.