Part I
Prologue
I stayed there for a long time, just staring into those vacant eyes that no longer carried life. I was sad as I watched her go—she’d had so much strength in those baby blue eyes, set deeply into her wrinkled face. It was her heart, in the end—it had just given out.
I hated my job, even though it was what I’d been created for. I was a…what was I exactly? A deliver? A carrier? I wasn’t sure. All I knew was that I had been given the job of taking the dead to Heaven, delivering them to await Judgment. Sadly, this job also entitled watching as the last few minutes before Death dragged its victims through the dirt. But, for me, it was the last part that always cut me so deep, forcing me to look away. It was those last few seconds where the victim knew they were dying and that the life that they had fought so hard to keep was now leaving them—it was that part that always got to me.
I stood there for a few more minutes, looking at the elderly woman’s lifeless form, and I probably would’ve stayed longer—that is if it wasn’t for the Heavens calling me for my next assignment. With as much respect as I could muster, I leaned down and pressed my lips against the woman’s. They felt as if they were made from old paper, wrinkled and destroyed from age. Then I felt the woman’s soul seeping from her body, forming so that she was standing next to me.
“Am I dead?” the woman asked, her voice thick with an Irish accent.
I couldn’t help but to wonder what she’d looked like when she was younger. Even now I could see traces of beauty in her withered face. I would’ve been willing to bet that she had been very beautiful.
“Yes,” I answered. I was forbidden to say anything else—it was how I’d been trained. I had to keep everything professional.
Without another word, I reached down and grabbed a hold of the woman’s hand. Then, with a flash of light, we were gone. The trip wasn’t a long one, for I had mighty wings that allowed me to travel very fast, even for an angel.
We arrived at the Gates of Heaven, and I couldn’t help but to miss what I’d left behind for this job. My family, my friends, my Creator’s company…
“Wait here,” I told the woman. “Someone will be out to help you in a minute.”
And with that, I spread my wings and soared back down to earth—ready to receive my next soul.
The Girl
I was on my break when I got the call. I flew down to where the soul was waiting; somewhere in the middle of North America. It was a gunshot wound to the head—instant death—and it was definitely messy. I hated messy deaths—the people were always so scared and confused.
It went by quick; I got the man’s soul and carried him to the Gates. Not once did I stray from my script. I hated my job…
Much later—I wasn’t sure whether it had been minutes or months, for time traveled differently through Heaven. To me, it had only felt like seconds, but I had a feeling that it was much, much later.
Anyway, I stood around with the others in my unit, talking about the souls that we had delivered. If there was only one thing I liked about my job, it was my unit. Over the years, I had grown to love them like my own family. They had my back, and I had theirs.
First and foremost, we’ll start with Micah. Black-haired, black-eyed Micah was new to the unit and hadn’t had enough time to make his mark on us yet, but we still cared for him all the same. Next was Ariia, the only woman. She was tough and rough, and awfully deadly with any weapon. She wasn’t a very big woman and almost resembled a pixie, with pointy features and light complexion, but yet she was the most feared by the unit. Then, there was Ezekiel. Zeke was the biggest and the baddest of them all and had a horrible reputation for causing the most casualties during a fight. Zeke, who towered over people at a staggering six-foot nine, was probably crushing skulls with his fingertips. Last, but certainly not least, was me. I was different, a Light-giver, as they called it. For some reason, whenever Darkness attacked, light would erupt from my body and drive the Darkness away. The only bad thing, the bright light contrasted oddly with my dark-blue eyes and my dark-black hair.
Now, as you may have noticed, words like fighting and attacking were said a few times above. Those words are referring to the fact that the battle for souls between Good and Evil, Light and Dark, is forever raging on. The rule is, whichever side claims the soul on their domain first, that side gets to keep the soul and it is protected by the Creator of that domain. Our job is to deliver the souls safely to the Gates and to not let them be tainted by Darkness…
“I lost one the other day,” Ariia said, leaning up against the wall of the break room. “I could’ve used you, Elijah.”
I let a rueful smile tilt my lips. “Sorry,” I answered her. “I’ve been running double, and sometimes even triple, shifts lately. I think the Creator’s worried about another war; He seems to want me out there all the time. But I don’t mind though…”
I felt bad about lying to Ariia when I said I didn’t mind the extra shifts. Now, most people believe that angels can’t lie, and that’s partly true—most angels can’t lie. But, because we travel to Earth so frequently, we are more susceptible to their faults than the others. So, yes, I can lie, though I always feel remorseful afterwards.
But it was true though, the Creator had been giving me extra shifts for the better part of a year now. I honestly thought that He believed there was going to be another war—and He is never wrong. So, I did as I was told and didn’t ask questions; I had faith in my God.
It was then that another call came in.
The hospital was dark, for it was well past midnight as I walked down the hallway to get to the waiting soul’s room and it seemed that most of the staff had left for the night. It wasn’t hard to find her; the smell of Death’s embrace was lurking all throughout the shadows near the door to her room. I was afraid that I was too late and that the Darkness had already claimed her, but as I walked into the room all of the Darkness scattered and left me alone with the girl in the light that came from my body. The light illuminated the room enough for me to see that it wasn’t very big, and whatever free-space there was it seemed to be occupied by beeping machines and sterile-looking wires that ran to and fro the girl’s body.
She had leukemia. I’d seen it enough times to recognize the signs: the smell of chemicals from the treatment in her blood, the faint smell of vomit, and worse of all, the disease coursing through her delicate body. I let the light fade from my body, moving to her side as I waited for her to pass. It was only then that I saw her.
She was so beautiful. She had long wavy hair, which luckily hadn’t been taken away by her treatments, and it was as dark as a moonless night. Her eyes, which would open and shut randomly in her delirium, were gorgeous. She had heterochromia, or two different color eyes—one ice-blue, the other leaf-green. Her nose and lips were perfectly formed, small and delicate like the rest of her figure. The only thing that was unsettling, yet still stunningly beautiful, was the color of her skin. Her skin was chalky white, but framing her eyes were circles of dark pink.
A golden tear fell from the corner of my eye as I looked at her. I couldn’t help but to fall apart at the sight of a being as perfect as her so close to death. I knew I was being irrational, but I couldn’t help it. I felt something deep for her.
Before I knew it, my lips were on hers. The only bad thing was that she hadn’t died yet. A kiss from an angel is one thing when you’re dead, but if you’re still alive and you receive a kiss from an angel…
I didn’t even want to think about what would happen. I broke from the kiss quicker, and with more intensity, than I had intended. My momentum shot me out the door and into the hallway. Before I could even gather myself again, the Darkness was on her. It covered her entire body and seemed to smother her with its essence. I ran after her, forcing light from my body, but I was already too late. The Darkness, it was bringing the girl with them.
Without thinking, I shot after them, tearing through the unfamiliar domain so that I could reach the girl. The girl that I loved.
Darkness
It was so dark. Everywhere I looked, all I could see was darkness, but that didn’t keep me from hearing the screams of the tormented souls. It was unsettling after being created in the Kingdom of Light, especially since I had broken the cardinal rule and every single Dark being was on my trail, hunting for my blood.
But, to be honest with you, I was feeling pretty confident. Or at least I was until the light came over the horizon like a haunted sunrise, lighting up enough of the ground below me so that I could see the souls of the damned. I say haunted because, regardless of the screaming souls, it also gave off a light that was totally different than the brilliant light that came from the sun, this light was Dark light. I had heard stories of Dark light, but had never witnessed it for myself.
Dark light was the worst form of light. It was even said that if Dark light were to shine on you for too long, it would take your soul. I had to act, and act fast. So, I flew harder than I ever had in my life as the blood-red Dark light flashed on my skin. I would save her before it was too late, I had to.
Soon after the Dark light came over the horizon the Darkness stopped. The good news: they set the girl down on top of a rock and left her unprotected. The bad news: they turned to face me, baring their teeth and extending their claws. Fear sunk its own claws into my gut and wrenched it into oblivion, but only for a second, as I pushed it away without hesitation. I had been trained for this. I sent out the call for help from my unit.
After I was sure that they had gotten the point and that they were on their way, I set out to fight the Darkness. I tried to use the light from my skin, but it wouldn’t work in the darkly lit cavern. I would have to fight it with something more powerful than that—Heavenly Light. Every angel is equipped with an arsenal of Heavenly Light weapons, or very powerful weapons made of fires from Heaven. They were designed specifically for fighting the darkness.
I pulled out a long sword. The sword was just a normal sword at first, but then I pressed it to my lips and whispered to it in the Creator’s Tongue. It burst into white flames. I only had enough time to take my stance before the Darkness charged, screaming their fury as a war cry. I stood my ground just until they was within my reach, then I swung. With one swipe, the Darkness dissipated and began to fall back. For just one second, I rejoiced—but only for a second, because just then the swarm of Darkness surrounded me on all sides.
I couldn’t take them all, that I knew, but I would sure try. I swung the blade left and right, arc after arc, swing over swing. My feet spun this way and that in the red dirt, kicking up a thick cloud of red dust. I must’ve taken a hundred before the sounds began to echo from above. My unit.
“What have you done?” Ezekiel shouted as he landed.
“Never mind,” I yelled back, swinging his blade around in a wide arc and claiming at least six more. “Fight first, explain later.”
And that’s what we did. We fought. But not only did we fight, we fought as a team, as a unit. We fought as one. Nobody’s back was left uncovered as we fought, taking what we could from the Darkness like we were a herd of hungry lions. The fight was laborious, but we supported each other through it and never let a team member fall. But it wasn’t enough.
“We need to stop trying to destroy them all,” Micah bellowed over the noise. “We just need to destroy enough so that we can get away safely.”
“No,” I yelled into the crowd, not realizing that Micah was right behind me, covering my back. “We have to get the girl first.”
Nobody questioned my motives; they just nodded and began to make their way toward the girl. It was a long time before we made it to her, by which we were covered in sweat and ash. We were tired and fatigued from the fight; we were drained and drowsy from the Dark light. But we got the girl. We got the girl and then took our leave.
Expelled
It wasn’t a long flight, but it seemed like the Darkness had wings just as powerful as ours because they had no trouble keeping up with us. But finally we made it to the safe zone, and the Darkness fell back. When we made it back to the hospital to return the girl back to her room, she looked almost…better. No, I was just seeing what I wanted to see. Wasn’t I?
“What in the…heck was all that about?” It was Ariia. She had that stern look on her face like a mother would have when she was reprimanding her children. I would never admit it to her face, but I was afraid of her.
“I…” I tried to think up an answer, but none came. “I don’t know.”
We all seemed to exhale at once, trying to take this one step at a time. “Well, you could start by telling us who this girl is,” Ezekiel barked.
“I…I don’t know that, either.”
Ezekiel laughed without humor, sounding more like a dog’s bark than anything else.
“What do you know, Elijah?”
I looked up at Ariia. “I love her,” I whispered.
“Huh?”
“Pardon me?”
“What was that?”
They’d heard me—angels had the hearing of a thousand eagles—but they just wanted to make sure that they’d heard right. “Did you say that you love her?” Micah asked.
I nodded. “Yeah, I did—and I do…love her, I mean.”
It was so weird for me to say the words. In Heaven we had love, but not this type of love. Love in Heaven is friendly and respectful; this love was unexplainable by words, so that’s what I called it—love. Had I the words to explain the feelings I had for her, I would’ve said them right there and then. But I had no words for this, so I called it the one word that has always been completely unexplainable—love.
Nobody said anything; they just seemed too shocked to say anything. They had never experienced love either, or at least not with a human.
I walked over to the girl’s side where she lay on the hospital bed and began to stroke the hair from her brow. She was so beautiful, even in her fever-induced delirium. Every once and a while she would sigh and then whimper, making my heart lurch with pain. But every time she sighed, I could imagine her voice whispering in my ear. That’s probably why I didn’t hear her begin to mumble. Finally, it was Ariia’s hand on my shoulder that brought me back from my reverie.
“Mmm…” the girl mumbled, shaking her head as if she were trying to wake up from a nightmare. “Huh…”
She seemed to be waking from her delirium. I put my head on her forehead…
“Her fever’s breaking!” I said, to nobody in particular. Everybody ran to her side, and Micah—who’d begun to show an interest in medicine—ran his angelic hands through the air over her body. He leaned closer and without thinking I growled. Shocked, and embarrassed, that I had just growled at my friend, I backed away and let him continue. He eyed me one last time, then leaned down again and sniffed the air just above her head.
“The leukemia is fading and she seems to be going into remission…” Micah said.
They all looked at me accusingly. “What?” I asked.