Fall into Darkness

by Skyler Andra

  He laughed again then grabbed my ass. “Make it three.”

  Lust hit me with a ferocity I’d not yet experienced. I clutched the sink, wanting him to lift me onto the bench and take me right there.

  But he didn’t. He chuckled while covering the meat tray in a thin metal. “You’ve got to cover it with foil to keep the heat in. Then you throw it in the oven once it’s heated up to one hundred eighty degrees.” He twisted a dial on the oven.

  “Okay.” My voice came out dry and raspy.

  “Now we chop the vegetables,” he said, and the last of my lust dribbled away into my toes.

  I let him do it, watching him work with ease and a comfortable speed. He added the sliced vegetables to another tray.

  “Want to brush them in oil?” he asked, putting down the knife to grab a glass and brush. To the glass he added an inch of oil. “Brush the vegetables with oil. Then sprinkle these herbs on top.”

  I dipped the brush in the oil and stroked it over the vegetables. As I worked, the homeless man returned to my mind. His strange words played on repeat. Angel’s blood. What did that mean? And why had his eyes flashed white?

  “I can’t stop thinking about the man from the soup kitchen,” I told Uri.

  “The weird one watching us and writing in his notebook?”

  “Yes, that one,” I said, now finished with my task. I leaned against the counter, facing Uri. “He said the words ‘angel’s blood.’ What do you think that means?”

  Uri abandoned what he was doing to rub my shoulder. “He’s a lost soul. I’ve seen them too many times. Just ignore what he said.”

  The harshness of his words slapped me in the face, and I recoiled. “You speak of kindness, yet don’t show it.”

  He sighed. “A lot of the homeless have lost everything they felt dear. Some split up with their wives and lose their home, their family, their pets, and they have to start all over again.”

  I knew the pain of losing my family; I’d lost my sister Gabriel and all the angels that preceded my arrival on Earth. It was a small loss in comparison to the pain suffered by the humans, yet the rawness stung my chest whenever I thought of them.

  “Others have businesses that run into debt,” Uri continued. “They borrow too much money, can’t repay it ,and fail. Then they lose their homes, cars, and lifestyle and have to rebuild form nothing.”

  I gripped the tray of vegetables. How had such a financial system, that kept the humans slaves to debt, been allowed to operate? A streak of anger chased through me over the way the governments of Earth had given up on their people.

  Uri wasn’t stopping there with those examples. “Others have addictions to gambling or drugs that cripple them, and they sell everything to feed that hunger.”

  I grabbed my cramping chest. This wasn’t fair. No one deserved to live in such a state of depression. My heart bled for these people.

  Prior to Michael’s arrival on Earth twenty years ago, angels were forbidden from intervening in the lives of humans. They had free will, and as part of that, they made good and bad choices, which lead to their upliftment or destruction. All we could do was ease their pain whenever they prayed for assistance. We could show them kindness in a world of bitterness and cut away the pain holding them back from happiness. While we were able to teach them that there was always another way, that they didn’t have to live in anger and hurt, in the end, it was up to them to decide which they preferred. They had to make the decision to live in state of happiness and love or one of darkness and depression.

  Luc had broken this covenant by going beyond his orders to tempt the humans from the path of divinity. He spread his plague, influencing the humans and giving them little option but to fall prey to it.

  The Most High had issued a new decree to the angels: return to Earth and rid it of Lucifer and his destructive ways. We could fight the darkness as we saw fit, so long as we didn’t harm the humans. Zak straddled the line of that rule by punching and kicking the demons. Given that he remained on Earth, and had not been recalled to Heaven, I presumed this method followed the rules, even though it didn’t feel right to me.

  Darkness swirled inside of me, almost gloating at the pain it wreaked across the planet and capitalized on. A voice rose in my mind to match that malevolence. Look at our mighty power, it said. Look at what we can do. We’ve brought mankind to its knees. And you’re next.

  A shiver wormed up my spine. My fear and pity fed the darkness, and I didn’t know how to stop it. Each day it grew in power, and I felt helpless against its stranglehold on me.

  Uri’s grip on me tightened as if he suspected my anguish at hearing this horrible news. His grace told me he didn’t want me to sink further into the mud of the human condition. He had needed the visit to the botanical gardens today too. Despite his support, I couldn’t help it. This body, although part human, contained an angelic soul and abilities. With it came the whole spectrum of emotion. I could either fall victim to it like the humans or work with it and do my job. Seeing how it had affected Zak, stripping him of his compassion and mercy, I chose the latter, frightened of the alternative.

  Uri rubbed my upper arm. “When they hit rock bottom, and they know they’ve lost everything, it leaves them devastated. Some turn to a vagrant life on the streets out of despair and the lack of options to do anything else. Many have complex mental health issues.” His voice turned low and soothing. “That man was one of the worst I’ve seen. His heart held captive by his pain, his mind destroyed from stress.”

  No wonder the darkness had such a stranglehold on this world. It stripped away everything people loved and left them with nothing. I pulled away from Uri, filled with the desire to change this.

  “I want to see him,” I announced, intent on doing what little I could to help. “Give him a new coat and some food.”

  Uri’s head tilted. “We’re in the middle of making dinner. Mike and Zak will be home soon. How about tomorrow?”

  I crossed my arms, resolved to leave now whether he came with me or not. “What happened to the angel who earlier confessed to spreading his light and cheer across Sterling City?”

  Uri picked up the brush and oil. “I know when I can help and when I can’t. But if you’re dead set on going, if it eases your mind, then we’ll go.”

  The clamp on my mind relaxed, and I breathed out a sigh of relief.

  “Thank you,” I said.

  He put the tray of vegetables in the fridge and switched off the oven.

  “We’ve got an hour and a half,” he said. “Get your coat and let’s go.”

  ***

  “They congregate beneath the bridge,” Uri said from our position on the sidewalk overlooking the bridge.

  Cars sped by us, one honking at another on the freeway behind us. Their motion whipped my hair into a frenzy. Black fumes from an old truck speeding by coated us and I coughed. Dark clouds accumulated overhead. We were outside the area of Uri’s influence; here the darkness congregated freely.

  Under one arm, Uri carried a box of tins and water bottles. I clutched the bags of clothes we had bought from a store along the way.

  I stared down at the clusters of people, tents, and belongings under the bridge. We’d have to navigate the embankment to reach them. Above the smell of the traffic rose the odor of unwashed and sweaty bodies, urine, and feces. I’d have to do my best to ignore and not feel ill.

  “Stay close to me,” Uri warned, approaching where the bridge met the road, leaving a space for us to descend the hill. “They’re not always as friendly in their own territory.”

  “Why not?” I asked, wary now.

  “Territorial,” Uri replied, shifting the broken metal fence meant to keep people out of the underpass. “They don’t like anyone sniffing around.”

  My throat clamped, and I stared at him questioningly as I climbed through the fence.

  “A few years back,” he started, replacing the wire. “Seven homeless people were murdered. It was all over the news. Ever since,
they’ve been suspicious of newcomers in their space, and I don’t blame them.”

  Carefully, we descended the hill.

  My grip on the bags tightened. “How do you know this?” From his account, I suspected he’d spent a bit of time with the homeless to be familiar with their behavior and attitudes.

  “I used to drink with Bill at the bar,” he said. “Bought him a beer when I saw him. He told me about it. But I haven’t seen him in a while. Hope he’s okay.”

  That explained it then. I twisted my wrists back and forth, securing my grip on the bags, which felt like they’d slipped from the sweat on my palms.

  We hit the bottom of the hill and he cautioned, “We have thirty minutes here maximum. Then we have to get home. We don’t want to be here after dark. It’s dangerous.”

  My neck tensed at his reminder.

  “Let me do the talking,” he said. “They’ll spot you a mile away and pounce.”

  After my attack in the diner, we couldn’t be too careful with the humans. Lucifer’s demons were everywhere. I didn’t feel as safe among them anymore knowing one might attack at any moment. After Uri’s account of the homeless people, I wondered, with nothing left to lose…might they hurt us too?

  A heightened need to leave circled in my grace. It was the darkness talking, demanding I feed it more. I refused to acknowledge it or fuel it further.

  “Fine,” I muttered.

  Three homeless men standing around a rusted metal bin warmed their hands by the fire blazing inside. They eyed us with narrowed, suspicious gazes as we approached.

  “Do you see him?” Uri asked, scanning the underpass in a cautious way that reminded me of Michael.

  I lifted my arms, bags and all, and wiped my forehead. After a quick scan of the area, I told Uri, “No.”

  Uri walked forward and stopped a few feet away from the three men crowded around the fire.

  “We’re looking for a fellow with a beige coat and black beanie,” he declared.

  “Who wants to know?” one of the homeless men growled, revealing all but one tooth lost. His face was dusty and his grey hair twisted in rolls.

  “We do.” Uri tipped the edge of his box to show its contents. “There’s a coat and some food and water in it for you.”

  I held up one of the plastic bags I held and smiled, hoping they did not think me a threat.

  “Who are you and what do you want?” the same man croaked.

  “That’s our business,” Uri said, his voice steady, calm. “We’re not here to hurt him. We’ve got a few questions for him.”

  They whispered among themselves and waved their hands about. Something told me they didn’t want to cooperate. They didn’t trust us.

  Urgency bounced inside of me, and I stepped forward. They flinched as if they hadn’t expected the movement. “He said something strange to me at the soup kitchen.” Uri glared at me to stop. “I want to know more, so we’ve come to seek him out.”

  Their eyes conveyed their hesitation, and they glanced at one another.

  “That sounds like Reg,” another man said. “Always talking about weird things lately. Think he’s going cuckoo.”

  The man beside him, younger and with a full beard, shuffled backward and pointed to the bridge. “He’s under there. Third in from the edge.”

  “Thank you.” Uri crossed the distance to them and held out the box. “Take two items each. The rest is to be shared around.”

  They all took some of the food as prescribed. I offered them a fresh coat and they accepted.

  “You hurt Reg,” the first said, clutching the gifts to his chest. “You won’t leave here alive. We look after each other here.”

  “There’s no need for that,” I said, nodding at them as we left.

  “I told you to let me do that talking,” Uri said.

  “They didn’t trust you,” I replied.

  “I’ve got a trustworthy face,” Uri protested. “And a handsome one at that.”

  This wasn’t the time for jokes. I navigated the disarray of tents, bags, metal trolleys, dogs, and fires, counting down the little space allocations until I came to the third. A fortress compiled of boxes, just large enough for a man to fit into. Inside, old and threadbare blankets were folded up.

  “Reg?” I called out.

  Something inside the boxes shifted, but no once came out.

  “Reg,” I repeated, louder this time. “Please come out. I want to know more about the angel’s blood.”

  Silence followed, but the shuffling inside the box fortress told me he’d heard me. A few moments later, a face appeared out of a hole in the cardboard. White captured his whole eyes for an instant then vanished. His head tipped backward.

  I heard Uri exhale and mumble the words, “What the…”

  Reg crawled out of his shelter armed with his pen and paper. He clicked the button on the end of his pen and wrote something. He tore off the paper and handed it to me.

  I read the note.

  Angel’s Blood: Sweeping Curse.

  I am the Master. You my slaves. Accept my darkness. Your heart it craves. Welcome me with open arms. Fall for my black charms.

  What on Earth did this mean?

  I passed the note to Uri and he read it, his brow creasing.

  “It looks like song lyrics,” Uri said. “Angel’s Blood must be the band name. Sweeping Curse, the song title.”

  Reg nodded. “Yes, Angel’s Blood.”

  Uri held up the piece of paper to Reg’s furious nodding. “What’s significant about this?”

  White flashed in his eyes again, and he glanced at the paper. “What are you doing? That’s mine. Give it back.” He snatched the piece of paper away and crawled back into his hovel.

  Footsteps scraped behind us and I turned. The men from the fire hovered nearby. They watched us to make sure we were genuine.

  Uri’s lips pressed into a grim line. He fished out a few food items and left them at the entrance of man’s home. “Thanks for your help, Reg.”

  I removed a coat, setting it beside the tins and water bottles. “Thank you. Goodbye.”

  Uri crossed the distance to the men and handed the closest one the box of food. “Share these among yourselves.” He gestured at me and I passed the other two bags of clothing. “We’ll be on our way now. Take care.”

  We left, hurrying back up the hill, racing the dark skies as dusk closed in.

  “When Mike, Zak, and I met Gabriel in the school,” I said to Uri, “she mentioned that Lucifer was planning a concert, but she didn’t know why. Could Angel’s Blood be a part of that?”

  “I think we might be onto something,” Uri said while nodding. “We just need to find out what the hell the lyrics mean.”

  12

  Zadkiel

  “What are you talking about, douchebag?” said the prick wearing Raff's bracelet in a grating voice. His breath smelled of cigarettes and coffee. “I ain't stole no one's bracelet.”

  Ariel would have corrected his terrible grammar. Me, I would have kneed him in the balls if Mike wasn’t here.

  Good old Mike. Righteous. Perfect. Never did a thing wrong. Unlike me.

  “I'll give you one more chance, dirt bag.” My fists curled, ready to smash this guy’s face in.

  I'd been itching for a fight. I had shit to get off my chest. Namely, Mike telling me what to do. Warning me to stay away from Jojo, for one. I knew I was no good for her. I was damaged goods, beyond redemption, and all that shit. But who the fuck did he think he was, telling me who I could hang out with?

  I'd sworn after Ariel's death never to let anyone get close. I would remain the eternal bachelor, keep my woman tempting and disposable. But Jojo didn’t put up with my shit. She called me out on my crap. Hell, I respected that. Treating her like shit made me feel like an asshole. Maybe a leopard could change its spots.

  On top of his over-controlling ways, it pissed me off that Mike never acknowledged the good shit I did. After the other angels had left following a major
disagreement with Mike’s methods, Gabe and I were the only ones to stay loyal to him. I’d saved his ass countless times. Case in point: stabbing Luc last week. Mike had been caught by Luc’s whip and dragged across the floor like a bitch. Who’d cut him down from the noose around his neck? Me.

  “Get the fuck out of here before I call some friends.” The prick I held by the throat punched me in the gut. That was an invitation for a beating in my books. Annoyance coiled in my stomach, ready to snap and show this guy who was boss.

  “Or do you wanna pay for breaking down my door?” he sneered, revealing a mouthful of golden teeth that did not fit with his derelict lifestyle.

  If I had to put my finger on it, I'd say pimp or drug dealer described his profession. How else would he have paid for those teeth?

  Whoever he was, this guy was asking for it, all right. And I gave it to him, whipping my free arm around, grabbing the side of his head, and slamming it against the wall.

  “Zak!” Mike barked, but I refused to let this creep go. He didn’t like my methods, thought them brutish. Well guess what, they worked. I tightened my grip on the rat’s throat.

  Mike stepped forward. “We just want to know where our friend is,” he told the loser caught in my grip. Diplomatic as always.

  Me, I didn’t mess around. I was a one-two-punch, straight to the point kind of guy. That’s why I was so effective at getting answers.

  I didn't know how Mike held his patience with these fools. If I had my way, I'd be off cruising the galaxy on better assignments and leaving these losers to their own demise. They could go down with the Lucifer ship.

  “What friend?” the guy rasped, struggling against my grip. He thumped my arm, and I jabbed my elbow into his windpipe. If he so much as tested me, I’d crush his Adam’s apple.

  “Stop talking shit.” I shook him and smashed his head into the wall again. Hard enough to show him I meant business, but not enough to cause damage. This guy had answers, and I was determined to get them. “Tell us where you got our friend’s bracelet from.”

  He groaned.