Fallen Angel (The Crow)

Chapter 4: Learning about Eric

Ashlyn followed Eric to another apartment, this one belonging to Officer Albrecht. The two quietly entered and saw him with his back turned.

"Freeze!" Eric yells, startling him.

"Jesus." Albrecht swore, "Don't ever do that, man."

Eric then walked over and picked up a photo. "Good likeness." He says before setting it down.

Ashlyn then picked up a photo and saw a group, one of them looking like Eric with the black makeup drawn on the photo. Something about it looked oddly familiar...

"I saw your body, man." Albrecht says, "You died. You got buried."

This caught Ashlyn's attention. "What?" She asked.

"You still have your hat on." Eric comments, and Albrecht removes it.

"I gotta sit down." He says quietly while Ashlyn looks through the photos and files.

"Oh my god." She said under her breath. It was slowly starting to click in her mind. How he could tank any injury, and how they fully healed second later. He was dead, and somehow came back.

"Say..." Albrecht starts, "Are you some kind of... ghost?"

"Boo." Eric says before handing him a beer. "I don't know what I am." He adds, sitting down. "I need you to tell me what happened to us."

"You took a six-story swan dive out of a window." Albrecht explained, "She, ah, was beaten and raped. Died at the hospital. Hey, you asked, man." He added when he saw the look on Eric's face. "Come on, read the file. Shelly Webster held on for 30 hours in intensive care. Her body finally just gave it up. I saw it man, I couldn't do jack for her." He handed the files to Eric, but he ignored them, so Ashlyn took them instead.

While she was looking through, she didn't notice Eric place both hands on the sides of Albrecht's head before stumbling back.

"Eric?" She asked, setting the files down and going to help him.

"Don't touch me!" He shouted, and she backed off.

"You okay?" Albrecht asked a short moment later.

"I saw her." Eric says, "I saw her through your eyes. You stayed with her the whole time."

"Yeah, well, you got to understand something, all right?" Albrecht says, "I was hoping she'd come out of it, you know. Give me something I could work with."

"So why didn't you do something about it?" Ashlyn asked, joining in on the conversation as she moved over and stood by Eric.

"Look, you think any of those people in that building- even the ones who signed the petition- would talk after what happened?" Albrecht countered, "I kept asking questions and finally got busted for sticking my nose where it wasn't wanted."

As he was talking, Eric noticed a photo of the cop with a woman.

"This your wife?" He asked.

"Yeah, we uh- well, not anymore." Albrecht says, "We're getting a divorce."

"It's funny." Eric says, "Little things used to mean so much to Shelly. I used to think they were kind of trivial. Believe me, nothing is trivial." He then took the cigarette Albrecht had been smoking and took a drag from it before putting it in the ashtray. "You shouldn't smoke these." He adds, "They'll kill you."

"So wait, what about you?" Albrecht asked Ashlyn.

"What about me?" She countered.

"I mean, how did you two run into each other? What got you all made up?"

"We share a common enemy. It was a happy coincidence. And before you ask, I'm just doing what he does, only slower."

Eric then stood and started to walk away. "Come on, Angel." He says.

"You two going to vanish into thin air again?" Albrecht asked.

"I thought we'd use your front door." Eric replied.

"Look, man, um, I'm sorry as hell for what happened to you and your girlfriend." Albrecht says

"Yeah." Eric says quietly before leaving with Ashlyn.

The two continued another walk in silence until she spoke.

"Ashlyn." She says suddenly.

"What?" Eric asked, stopping.

"My real name is Ashlyn Reed." She says, "I work at a local music store. About three years ago now, T-Bird and his goons trashed it after they somehow found out about me saying how much I couldn't stand them acting like they owned this place."

"Is that why you're all dressed up like this?" Eric asked, "Because they trashed your store?"

"It's one of the reasons." Ashlyn replied. "It wasn't until last year when I heard about you and Shelly that I'd even considered becoming Fallen Angel. I was even there when I saw her get rushed to the hospital. But now I guess listening to you guys back there explained some things, like how you brushed off every attack thrown at you since we've teamed up."

Eric remained silent as he listened to her, and she noticed that he was also watching intently as she talked.

"I'm sorry, I'm rambling now." She adds quickly.

"No, it's alright." Eric says, "You've got stuff on your mind. You can keep talking if it helps."

"I saw your band play once." Ashlyn continued, "One of my friends was a huge fan, and she dragged me to one of your shows. Got me hooked on the music, too. I thought you had looked familiar when I saw you and Tin Tin fighting in that alley, and again when I learned your name at the pawn shop."

"Glad you liked the music." Eric says.

"Okay, now I'm actually rambling. We should head out." Ashlyn says.

"A lot's happened." Eric replies, "It's totally fine. Come on, I think we both deserve a quick break."

"You sure?"

"Yeah."

They headed back to the loft where he and Shelly used to live and climbed onto the roof. Eric then started playing on the guitar while Ashlyn sat down, looking out at the city. As she listened, she couldn't help but find a song forming in her head, even if it didn't exactly match.

You can't save yourself or save your soul

When you meet the man whose life you stole

With weathered wings and broken bones

A flight for the fallen, flies the crow