Angels of the Fallen

The Blackest eyes for the Blackest Soul

"Where is the Girl?" A different voice bellows from the top of the aisle of the church.

He slowly makes his way down to meet us wearing a confused and aggravated look. Jophiel visibly shrinks below me and drops her hand from my sleeve. I place my hand on her shoulder and slowly move my thumb in circles trying to comfort her. The man before me made the atmosphere in the whole room tense.

Seraphim is the first one to speak, "Arch-Angel Gabriel what a pleasant surprise! We weren't expecting you," she looks back at the two of us with a scared expression and continues, "Our mission didn't go quite according to plan you see by the time we got there the girl was already too far gone-," she was cut off by a glare from the large man. She bowed her head and slowly backed away.

Jophiel kindly brushed my hand away and sat up swinging her leg over the side of the alter. At my angle I couldn't see her face but could clearly see her tense shoulders. I made a motion to move so I could see her but was greeted with a glare by the malicious man across from me.

Every fiber of my being told me to get away from the man across the alter. But I sure as Hell wasn't leaving without Jophiel.

He moves closer to Jophiel, so close that he is only inches from her face. He looks down at her shirt and plays with the blood stained cuff.

"So tell me what happened. Is she dead in a ditch somewhere? Did you have to chase her down the street? Did you physically beat the shit out of the demon? Or the child? I am disappointed that we don't have a new member for our coven but that doesn't mean I don't enjoy a good story,"

The last comment confused me, 'Were they planning on taking her with them or curing her?'

I had no time to dwell on the comment because the man with out warning brushed Jophiel's hair back and grazed his teeth against her neck. Jophiel's breath became staggered and strained and her back tensed so much I thought I heard a popping sound.

I clenched my jaw and fought the urge to tackle the man from across the alter. The man chuckled and backed away from her then motioned for Seraphim to come forward. The look on Seraphim's face told me that this act was a regular occurrence. The women in front of me sighed in relief and let the tension go in her back.

Seraphim came promptly and stood there in expectation.

"Tell me little Seraphim why have you failed?"

"Failed? Excuse me did you say failed!?" Jophiel snaps at the man in front of her.

"Yes, failed!" The man roars in reply, "That girl was to be indoctrinated into the most prestigious faction of the church and instead she is lying on the ground with a bullet in her head!"

"Curing her of that wretched creature is not what I would call a failure!" Jophiel fires back without flinching.

Silence. Deadly silence is what follows. I don't have to see Jophiel's face to know that Gabriel was on the receiving end of one of her throat slitting glares.

Jophiel stands up slowly and braces herself on the alter. She is about to speak when Gabriel cuts her off.

"You had one job tonight. Please, tell me you at left no evidence,"

Seraphim chimes in, "We trashed the house so it would look like a home robbery, got rid of the chalk line and..." Seraphim looks apologetically at Jophiel and myself, "We shoot her in a place that wouldn't be recognizable. She was so mangled it really wasn't hard to find a spot," As she spoke her voice shrunk till it was barely above a whisper.

"Did you at least bring the gun?" Asks Gabriel rubbing his eyes. In reply Seraphim reaches into her bag and pulls out a small antique looking revolver.

Without taking it he says, "And there it is, the catalyst of your failure tonight-"

He was cut off by the boy still standing at the head of the alter, "We didn't fail... Jophiel risked her life to save that girl!" He stands confidently and without a tremor in his voice proudly continues, "That girl could have lost everything tonight, but all you care about is your stupid doctrine!" At that comment Gabriel's hands start to shake and his eyes turn a deathly shade of black. Dispute this the boy presses on.

"I wish that the person performing my exorcism was her. She may not have saved the girls life but she saved her soul! What about our souls? We have been tainted by the fallen so what happens to us when we die?"

"I don't know, why don't you tell me?" Suddenly Gabriel grabs the gun from Seraphim's hands and fires.

He drops to the ground eyes still open. All I can do is stare blankly as blood rushes from the boys head.

The man laughs, "I thought he would never shut up! Oh, come of Jophiel I know you were thinking the same thing. Don't think I didn't notice his broken nose and your bleeding chuckles," she flinches at the words and her shoulders slack. Gabriel continues to chuckle as he hands the gun to Jophiel and motions for two men to enter into the church.

I search for a bible to do last rights when I meet Jophiel's gaze. She shakes her head silently telling me 'no'. I stare back at her in confusion.

The men walk in and robotically haul the lifeless body off the ground and out of the church as if they had done it a million times before.

"Father Austin I believe? I am so sorry for the mess as well as the inconvenience. Surly, you will now have to re-bless your church and replace the carpet. Don't worry my people will cover all of that for you," He said it with a fake smile and cold black eyes. As he leaves he takes the box, the one holding the cursed card, off of the alter.

As soon as he's gone Jophiel drops the gun on the alter then proceeds to collapse to the floor. I was close enough to catch her before she slammed her head on the ground.

A few seconds of silence passed before I found the confidence to speak, "What was his name?"

Jophiel looks over to the blood stain on the carpet and reply's in a weak voice. "I don't know... What was her name?"

I realize she is taking about the girl and say, "Casey. Casey McKinley,"

"What a lovely name," Then she passes out from sheer exhaustion, with small smile on her cold lips.