“We will win this, Alice. This is our destiny, as shitty as the journey has been at times.”
“It’s been wild.” She touched his face gently. “I wouldn’t change it for the world.”
“Let’s send this bastard to the abyss where he belongs. Now we just have to figure out how to get you in to talk to God.”
“Just add it to the list.” They got dressed and headed downstairs, they hoped not for the last time, knowing it more than likely was. Hope was all they had to cling to.
ALICE LOOKED AROUND AT HER Fallen family as they fought against the pain building inside of them.
“We should head there now; who knows when they plan on showing their faces,” Paul said.
“She’s not healed enough for this,” Kokabiel added.
“She can hear you,” Alice retorted.
“She is stronger than anyone has given her credit for. She will be all right; we just have to protect her,” Briathos said.
“How do we get God to talk to her?” Cole asked.
“Briathos?” Paul asked.
“All of His children will be there, there’s even the possibility the Lamb Himself will arise as it is prophecy for Him to return. You will have to tap into them, into their connection with Him. That’s how you will get your time to speak with Him.”
“Will it work?” Jake asked.
“I don’t know but it’s all that we have.”
“Let’s go,” Alice ordered.
They all filed out of the house, giving orders to the Fallen and Nephilim that had gathered for their cause. The sky was covered with a sea of charcoal clouds, yet the moon shone brightly through a wildly bright crimson. Alice felt it was an omen of the bloodshed that was to come on their battlefield and all around the world. She had not forgotten what the End of Days meant for the kin of her other half, mankind.
Alice was eerily quiet in the car ride to the field that held their mothers’ souls and the souls of so many others. Now that she knew all those souls had been suffering relentlessly for centuries, she became even more determined to save them all. Rogziel had chosen this place for the sentimental value it held for her and she knew it. He thought it was her weakness but all of the Fallen knew it was yet another strength she held. Rogziel had the ability to rain hell, or heaven, onto her and her loved ones on her property, as real estate meant nothing to an angel of God. She shivered slightly, trying to shake the nerves that crawled across her skin, yet she felt a calmness set in as Cole radiated his gift through her, an echo from their supposed gift from God. She couldn’t believe that after everything they had done and gone through, Rogziel was still this determined to eradicate them all. Many of the Fallen from their last battle there returned to stand by her side one more time. She wondered if God knew that Rogziel was fighting a war in His name. It was her understanding that He wasn’t a fan of bloodshed in His name, not that it was very different from all the wars mankind had fought in His name. Their fathers followed closely behind them in Sariel’s pickup filled with weaponry, mostly swords, as they were old fashioned that way. The thought of her grandfather chilled her to the core, washing sadness all over her, but it was quickly turned into a flame of rage. She might not live to marry her beloved Cole, but she wasn’t going down without a fight. None of them were.
“We’re almost there,” Cole said.
“We’ve beat them before, we can do it again,” Jake said.
“I hope so,” Alice added nervously. She was ready; her entire life had been leading up to this moment. She wasn’t going to let an overzealous angel or a hateful God stand in her way. “I wish Sariel was here,” her voice faltered.
“We all do, Alice,” Jake said with a reassuring hand on her shoulder. She held his hand for a moment in her hand before letting it go. “All we can do is fight for our right to exist. It’s no longer about going home to a Father who doesn’t love us any longer. On top of that, mankind does not deserve an apocalypse just because one angel wants to end us all.”
“No, they don’t, and neither do we,” Cole spoke with fury in his voice. She had almost forgotten that he, too had a difficult childhood, a difficult life. Nothing had really made any sense to either of them until they had found each other, until they had found their family. Alice stared out the window to see that broken down liquor store lightly covered in a blanket of snow and knew they had finally arrived. Cole and Alice shared a mutual debate of whether they were ready for what was about to go down. The funereal precession of cars trailed behind them as they pulled over on the side of the road and began exiting their cars.
The air was chilling on her skin but her blood was hot with anger. Penemue, Kokabiel and Briathos lowered the tailgate of the truck and began passing out swords. Alice took a familiar one that Kokabiel had tucked inside the cab for her.
“Are you ready for this?” Kokabiel asked, concerned.
“As ready as one could be,” Alice smiled. She was terrified but something inside her gave her hope that they may survive this in one way or another. She felt the weight of the world on her shoulders, as she was sure they all did. They slowly covered half of the field and waited for the first burst of lightning to warn them of the Angel’s arrival. As the clouds lit up like the fourth of July, tension rose among all that stood proudly, some with hope, some who felt they had nothing left to give, and some with blind faith.
“That seems like an awful lot more of a preshow than last time,” she whispered.
“Don’t let them spook us. Stand strong!” Penemue announced.
Lightning zapped across the field, burning giant holes in the dead grass and causing many to jump and panic. Alice took a deep breath and held it, slowing down the space around them.
“Here they come!” she yelled after she exhaled quickly. First a dozen angels dove to the ground and began swinging swords made from the same lightning bolts as before, swinging directly at nearby Fallen. Soon hundreds were covering the field and panic began to set in as Alice and her Fallen were greatly outnumbered.
The Four Horsemen emerged on their gloriously enormous steeds from the darkened woods beyond the field. Gasps echoed across the field in panic as they took in the beauty of the Book of Revelations in the flesh before them. They were all connected due to one of Alice’s gifts; Alice crumbled to the ground as their panic rose to enormous heights. Cole was crumbling to the ground as he was connected to Alice like no other, and her turmoil was his. She attempted to block the agony from the rest of the Fallen, panicked as if this was Rogziel’s plan all along. “Cole!” she screamed.
You must calm down before you get us all killed before the battle even begins. Penemue’s calm voice spoke to all the Nephilim that were causing Alice and Cole’s discomfort. There you go, relax. We will survive but we must all believe it to be so.
Alice stood up, clutching her father’s hand thankfully. She regained her ability to block what was left of the panic from the Fallen and Cole. “Are you okay?” Cole nodded and she turned to their fathers, Briathos and Jake. That can’t happen again or we will all die on this field.
I will keep them calm. You can say Cole and I are similar in our abilities. Briathos offered.
“Do it,” Cole said. The lightening continued to zap across the gray sky, bringing their attention back to the Four Horsemen who were moving steadily towards them. Cole, Jake and Alice moved with backs together, ferociously defending each other and themselves.
“I don’t see him!” Alice shouted.
“Who?” Cole asked mesmerized by the Horsemen.
“Rogziel,” she answered.
“He’s here somewhere, I can feel it and he’s looking for you,” Jake said sniffing at the air.
An angel came down in between them, breaking their connection loose. They quickly recovered, jumped to their feet and locked arms. Alice ran up the Angel’s body, kicking him in the face and knocking him back several feet. When he stood up and ran at her, Jake severed his wings and threw him to the ground. Briathos ran up to them, m
aking sure they were all right, taking out more than a few Angels on his way. “Are you all right?” he asked Alice.
“I’m all right,” she nodded her head, less convincingly. They were all completely surrounded by the giant force of Angels pushing against them. “Their herding us like cattle!”
“Just hold strong!” Kokabiel yelled over the clanging of metal and screaming of injured Fallen and Angels.
“I’m sorry, my brother.” Briathos whispered as he killed another Angel.
“Why are you apologizing?” Jake asked.
“They were my family; don’t you feel anything about what we’re doing?” Briathos asked in between swings of his sword.
“Of course we do. I just meant, not really time to apologize to each one, especially at the rate you’re going,” Jake said. Briathos snickered at the implication that he was killing a high volume of his so-called brothers.
“I suppose I am still stuck in my old ways.”
“As many of us are, brother.” Penemue said as he backed into Briathos, protecting his blind side along with Kokabiel. Many Fallen lay at their feet, moments away from being sent to the abyss. They fought with honor, for the right reasons and for the good of all kind; mankind, Fallen and Angel. Angels collapsed, bursting into light as they traveled back to heaven. Alice spun in a wide circle as her panic surged through her like cancer.
“He’s close” Alice yelled.
Yes, I am. Rogziel spoke to her mind. She scanned the bodies burrowed in between cotton and charcoal wings.
“Then come out where I can see you and stop playing games you coward!” Alice screamed into the air.
“As you wish!” Rogziel said as he slammed his sword fiercely down toward her. Cole and Jake both stopped the blade with their own.
“You never did like to play fair,” Jake teased.
“You know what you’re doing here doesn’t matter. The End of Days will come and both your Fallen and your human kin and all those alike will perish into the abyss where they belong! This battle is what breaks the final seal, and there is no stopping what is to come!” He swung his sword, Alice countered.
“We have the right to exist, you pompous bird boy!” She was running thin on insults as well as patience. This had all gone on for far too long. Too much pain had been dealt, too many deaths in the name of God. Alice focused on Rogziel and all the Angels connected to him, opening the floodgates of all her pain on them. They clutched their heads in agony, giving the Fallen a momentary advantage. As she latched onto the Angels, she searched through them for their connection to God, as planned.
“If God wanted your pathetic existence to continue, He would change your fate, but God has spoken and His justice will be upheld by the law of our kind!” Rogziel bellowed.
Alice went to argue but she felt a tug inside of her, the light that had grown as she had healed each of her Fallen, was growing much faster as if it were about to burst. Her wings sprang out from her back, crippling her temporarily from the brutal pain of the bones breaking as they separated in her back to allow her black wings to unfurl. Her mental hold over the Angels was dwindling as she fought to keep hold. She moaned in pain as the glow began to project out of her like the sun’s rays searched the earth. The pain was earth-shattering, forcing her to let go of the hold she had over the Angels. She could feel herself rise into the air almost like a platter being set in front of Rogziel and there was nothing she could do to fight it. She sucked in a final breath, attempting to give herself a chance not to meet her end when so many needed her. Something was calling her. Someone.
“No,” she whispered.
You cannot survive this, you were not meant to live. Lay your sword down, except your fate and I promise to consider your proposal.
He’ll kill me, he’ll kill them all if I do that! Alice’s voice screamed back at the booming voice in her head.
I do not wish My children to be dying, not humankind or Angels, regardless of their faults. Trust Me as you once did as a young child, Jane.
Alice eyes filled with tears, anger and pain. She exhaled, causing her to breathe heavily while debating her course of action. She finally stopped fighting the light radiating in her chest. She looked at Cole with tearful eyes and just as the light inside her erupted, blinding them all for a moment before vanishing, Rogziel ran through the Angels and Fallen fighting below her, climbed upon their heads and drove his sword through her with astounding malice. He grabbed a hold of one of her wings and began tearing it off. She was completely immobilized.
COLE
“NO!” JAKE AND COLE SCREAMED in unison. Cole caught Alice’s body as it crumpled to the ground and all fighting ceased. “Alice? You have to wake up. You have to!” Jake checked her pulse as Kokabiel, Penemue and Briathos ran up to see their savior lying still in Cole’s arms. Just like the painting she had drawn, the one they all thought represented Sariel’s demise; there it was before them. It was their savior’s death, when they needed her the most.
“I’m sorry, Cole…” Jake began to say.
“No!” His entire body was shivering as his heart crumbled into rubble. The emptiness promised from God’s gift if either were to die, filled him up until he couldn’t breathe. Insanity was nearing as grief and rage flowed through him. He set Alice gently onto the ground and headed towards the smug Rogziel.
“You can’t kill me, I just keep coming back.”
“Come back from this.” He lifted a sword from the ground and slid the blade down his shoulder, severing him in two. Jake ripped his wings from his body. Cole waited for the familiar glow to lift from the shell that carried the Angels away. He swung his sword at it repeatedly trying to will it to the abyss. Penemue lifted Alice’s head onto his lap, rocking her body back and forth, tears swarming his face. They all felt the weight of their loss. Alice had died trying to save them all, if only so they could truly live. The Angels remaining began to spring into the air and fly off to wherever heaven was, as their true goal had come to pass. All that was left were the Horsemen standing wickedly before the Fallen, gathered around Alice’s body. Now that the Fallen’s savior was gone, it was only a matter of time until the toll of the seventh seal took hold, ending the world as they knew it and sending all the Fallen, sirens and kin to the abyss for eternity. Cole cursed God as he screamed in agony. His chest felt heavy and his soul felt deserted. God’s gift was raining hell on him. The sky began to rain and all anyone could do was stand around their savior’s body and mourn the loss, knowing the End of Days surely would be upon them all, and as they had no hope to save themselves without her, they didn’t feel deserving of salvation either.
ALICE
ALICE SHOT UP, GASPING FOR air. She looked around the dark space that seemed to be filled with an eerie fog. The damned. She thought. She never thought it looked so eerie for them but she supposed it made sense, as it had to her the times she visited. She wished that she could call out to Cole, to her family. She had failed even before she had a chance to save them; she’d failed them all.
You’re not damned. Yet.
Oh good, more talking in my head. She said, aggravated.
This is how I communicate; only Angels and their heirs can hear My voice.
I suppose that makes sense. So, to be clear, you’re God, right?
The voice laughed, similar to the way Santa laughed. She thought it suited him since she had thought neither were real for the longest time. I’ve been called that before. I’ve been called many things. I am the Creator, as I like to say.
So I’m dead, huh?
Yes, you are. Your soul is in a limbo, I suppose, awaiting judgment.
Though she knew it was true, the words still stung deeply. What about my family? The Fallen? Oh my, and Cole?
Are you not concerned with your own fate?
Not if I can trade myself for their fates, their lives.
I can’t tell if that is from being part human or part Angel.
Who says it’s not both? She spun around searching the
darkness for the figure attached to the voice.
Why do you think they should be saved?
Why do You think they shouldn’t be?
You’re a fiery one, aren’t you?
Alice cracked a smile. I’ve been called that before. Look, I don’t want You to save them because I love them.
Oh no? The voice questioned.
I want You to save them because You love them. They are Your children, and children make mistakes. They love You unconditionally, even though You banned them from returning to You and You damned the loves of their lives and their children to an eternity of hell, all while sending them to the abyss as if any one part of that wasn’t enough punishment. Sure, not all of them are good, but neither are humans and I know You love them, too. We just want to exist, to live in some form or another, to love, to be loved. I just want You to reconsider.
Anger raced through His booming voice. My children betrayed me, left our home to pursue things that were not theirs to pursue. They taught humans the sort of things that cause war and chaos.
But they taught them how to heal and love too! Alice’s voice quivered.
They purposely had Nephilim children in Enoch’s family line, hoping their so-called savior could sway Me when he himself could not. That doesn’t sound like they learned from their mistakes, but more likemanipulation to get something else they wanted that I deemed they could have. What say you?
They only did that because they had no other choice. Like parent, like children, they had to learn the technique somewhere.
You dare say such things to Me?
What have You ever done for me? I was cursed the day I was born, for You to hate me because of what I was and not who I was. I was repeatedly punished for it with no reprieve. I have loved Your children, even the ones You deemed to be damned for their existence or their choices. They had their own needs and wants. I have lost so much; do You feel nothing for me?
Perhaps.
You’re not going to make this easy, are You?
Alice's Insurrection (Alice Clark Series) Page 13