What a long day, she thought as she climbed the stairs. She was beyond exhaustion, and was surprised that Cole still wasn’t home. She considered reaching out to him with her voice, but she felt it was such an invasion of privacy. Everyone needs a little alone time. She was too restless to sleep, so she turned the shower on and got in. Cole had been slightly distant with her lately; she feared it was due to her growing bond with Jake. Why can’t he see we are family? Jake is the closest thing to a brother I have ever had. We love to hate each other, tease each other. And after that day, she knew that her bond with Jake had only grown deeper. She climbed out of the shower, feeling no more refreshed then when she had entered it. Pacing while waiting for him to return was only going to stress her out further, and there was no point in that. Her eyelids insisted on sleep and she couldn’t bear the thought of Cole asking her how her day had been. She crawled into bed on his side and breathed in his scent which lingered on the pillow, until she lost herself in it and drifted off to sleep.
Alice opened her eyes to find herself lying in the familiar field of her dreams. “Can’t a girl get some rest?” she asked angrily. She sat down in the grass, shielding her eyes from the sun. “And why is it so fucking bright?” She was fed up with everything, and the anger rolled off of her like sweat.
“It’s just the way you see this place in your mind,” Marie answered.
“Wonderful, when it rains, it pours. I wanted to rest; instead, I get haunted by my dead mother,” Alice seethed.
“I know this is all a struggle for you, but you need to be cautious with all things you do in your life. Many depend on you.”
She sat up and turned towards her mother’s voice to make another snarky comment, and stopped. Her entire body froze as she saw the light bounce off of… Mom?
“I know you are angry sweetheart and you have every right to be.”
“Wait, this has to be a trick.” Alice jumped up from the grass, putting a good ten feet between her and the woman who stood in front of her. “If you are a bounty hunter or something, this is a real sick joke.”
“It’s not a joke, and I’m sure I don’t have long. You called to me while you slept. I’m not sure really how it works, but I heard that you travel here in your sleep from time to time. In your dreaming state it’s a beautiful place with sun and golden grass.” Her mother turned and looked around her, “Obviously the woods are still very much dammed and darkened by it, but the rest is truly stunning, Alice.”
Alice moved closer, walking sideways to remove the glare from the sun and to truly see this woman who claimed to be her mother. She was beautiful, same eyes and dark hair that she had. They almost looked as if they were sisters. Alice watched the woman smile at her and remembered her father had said how infectious it was. “So you keep telling me to be careful, as if that information were new or useful.”
“Quite the attitude, reminds me of your father,” Marie said and then staggered, grabbing her head.
“Are you okay?” Alice said nervously.
“I’m dead and dammed, sweetie,” she laughed, “I can feel the pull. The angels wanted to make sure we suffered for our choices and were trapped here until the end. Even though I’m technically still here, I’m not in here, not really.”
“That must be awful.” Alice glared, thinking what her father had done to them both.
“Don’t do that, Alice, he loves us both to a fault. I knew exactly what I had gotten myself into. I didn’t care. I loved you both.”
Alice’s eyes began to fill; she clenched them shut, refusing to cry any more tears. Her mother approached her and whispered in her ear, “The bounty hunters and angels are at odds. The angels want them to end their problems for them. The bounty hunters want to make a trade. If the angels refuse the trade, I fear the bounty hunters will be out for more than just vengeance. When the angels and bounty hunters resolve their dilemma one way or another, they will be coming for you. I fear for you.”
“How do you know that? Why should I believe you?”
“They often come here to meet in secret. Most Fallen do not come back here once they have buried their loved ones. But those Fallen who have become bounty hunters, are heartless, soulless beasts that have no remorse for those they or their brothers have dammed here.” Alice heard her mother’s voice fading, “Be strong my beautiful daughter, I have always loved you.”
When Alice opened her eyes, her mother was gone, and she was once again alone in the field. She wasn’t sure how much more her heart could take, but she was certain the worst was far from over.
Kokabiel stood at his living room window staring out into the night’s smoky gray sky. He was worried, a human emotion he didn’t have much experience with. His son was putting himself in grave danger, or was about to, he sensed. Cole was angry that Jake was the one pulling Alice from the darkness that was trying to consume her; all of this fueled the need for revenge against the bounty hunter who had killed their friend.
He wasn’t sure what to do. Cole was headed for a destructive, out of control, path. Jake was a drunken mess that only Alice could save. Penemue was an emotional disaster. Everyone was out for blood; that much was certain. Yet Alice, in all her turmoil, was the strongest of them all, the mostly angel human with her very human soul, broken, struggling. How is this girl going to save us all?
He was puzzled by their friend’s death. For a bounty hunter to kill a human, a human who meant something to Alice, it had to be a message. But what was the message? He shook his head, attempting to shake the questions from his mind as he went into the kitchen and poured another cup of coffee.
Taking only one sip, a growl slipped through clenched teeth. The cup shattered on the floor seconds after Kokabiel opened the door. There stood a disheveled man with his back facing the door and a large hood up. He turned to Kokabiel and removed his hood. “Kokabiel,” the man’s deep hoarse voice bellowed.
“What are you doing here?” Kokabiel asked.
“Oh brother, you know exactly why I am here.”
“I am not your brother!” He screamed as he grabbed the man by the throat and slammed him onto his back on the porch. “You betrayed us all, Purah!”
The bounty hunter choked but still laughed, “Betrayed you? We betrayed God; you all are continuing to do so! We choose to do whatever it is that is necessary to get back in God’s good graces, that is all.”
Kokabiel loosened his grip slightly, “Fools. God will not let any of us come home. He will not forgive our choice or the choices we made once we fell. You cannot possibly be that naïve.”
“Kokabiel, let me go. Believe it or not, I am not here to fight.”
“You can speak from where you lay.”
“Fine, we wish to have a meeting with your nephilim. We wish only to talk to her. We believe she can free us all; she alone can ask God’s forgiveness.”
“You really are insane, aren’t you? First, you may not speak to Alice, now or ever. Secondly, she is not Enoch. God will not speak to a Nephilim. What is your real game plan, Purah?”
Purah shot a look of irritation at his position, and finally Kokabiel let him get up. “We wish her to bargain for us all, all the Fallen and your pathetic mankind.”
“What could she possibly bargain with?”
“Her life. She is the only one who has ever been strong enough to take on an angel, let alone take Rogziel out. He may have only been sent back to heaven, but you know he is furious.” Purah laughed. “It’s in your best interest to convince her to meet with us. There are many of us who disagree with your views. It would be so easy to take the lives of those around her that she loves, until there is no one left but her. We are prepared if that is what is necessary to convince her to meet with us and do what she is destined to do.”
“Do not threaten my family.” Kokabiel stood tall, infuriated and ready to kill Purah.
“Just think about it. The rest of the hunters did not want to come to you to mediate. They wished to… approach the girl on their own
.” He walked down the porch and off into the darkness. And Kokabiel, it was me who killed the girl in her car.
Kokabiel’s wings snapped from his back as he ran towards the woods. As he extended his wings, he lifted off of the ground and dove towards where Purah had just disappeared in the wood line. It had been awhile since he had used his wings to fly, especially such a long distance. He grew tired but pressed on, refusing to let his son down by letting the savage creature go. After twenty minutes he realized where Purah was leading him - the field. He could sense Cole and Paul below as he dove into the woods. The voices of the dammed clawed at him as he pressed himself to keep going.
It’s a trap, a familiar voice warned. Kokabiel lost all momentum and instantly collapsed to the ground. He knew that voice, he was sure the woman was still angry with him for never telling her the truth about him until it was too late. Guilt began to fill him and as it did, the voices attacked him. He shut his eyes to focus on blocking them all out.
Get up and get out of here! She screamed. Our son is out there; you must protect him! He gasped from the words. He felt arms wrapped around him and his feet dragging. “Elizabeth?” He whispered incoherently.
Out of the woods, a confused Paul and Cole stared at him. He rubbed his head as if that would help the throbbing. He assumed it was similar to a man with a hangover. That had never looked enjoyable to him, and he did feel as if he would vomit at any moment.
“What are you doing here?” Paul asked.
“Long story. Why are you two here still? It has to be nearly 3:00 A.M.”
“Mr. Fallen Angel here is recovering from his encounter with his ex; either that, or he is waiting for her to return,” Cole said.
“I was thinking. When did you get so cold and angry?” Paul questioned.
“Sorry. I guess we have all been through a lot.” Cole bowed his head.
“You have been quite distant with Alice; this isn’t a time for ridiculous quarrels.”
Kokabiel was having trouble not laughing at the two of them. They actually sounded like they were a married couple themselves. The idea of that was too much to bear, and with that thought, the laughter poured out of him. He was glad, though, to know his sense of humor was still intact.
“What is so funny?” Paul barked.
“You two sound like a married couple,” he said in between bouts of laughter. Paul glared, but then Cole started laughing, which only made Kokabiel laugh even harder. Paul cracked a smile at them, but that was all he was allowing. The moments that led up to this flooded Kokabiel’s mind, ripping the smile from his face.
Cole asked, “So what are you doing here?” At the same moment Paul asked, “Did you speak with Elizabeth?” Then it was Cole’s turn to lose his smile.
“You know, Paul, you were always good at ruining the party. Okay, okay. First, yes, I followed a bounty hunter here, and I wasn’t thinking and went into the woods without preparing for it. She spoke to me; she said it was a trap. Hearing her voice just dropped me to the ground. She could have done that on purpose, it would be like her.” He realized he should watch how he spoke about her. He had never told Cole anything about her.
“My mother?”
“Yes, your mother. She did, after a few moments of agony, tell me to get up, run and protect our son.”
“Why were you following a bounty hunter? We agreed to find out what they want before going after them, and no one goes alone.” Paul’s tone was angry.
“That is harder to explain. I will tell you what happened, but Cole, this bounty hunter I followed admitted to killing your friend. That is why I was chasing him. I am sorry I let you down.” He truly was sorry.
“Well at least you got to talk to mom.” Cole tried to joke. “Tell us what happened, Dad.”
“I was at home, relaxing. Shocking, I know. I heard a knock, felt his disgusting presence and opened the door. It was Purah.”
“Purah? Are you certain?” Paul looked amazed. Kokabiel wasn’t in the least surprised.
“Yes, Purah. I told you he switched sides years ago. Not the point; listen, he said he wants a meeting with Alice.”
“What did you say?” Paul and Cole asked in unison.
“Will you two shut up so I can finish? I said no, of course. They want her to trade herself so that all Fallen, or at least their group of bounty hunters, can return to heaven. They claim it will save all Fallen and all of mankind if she turns herself over to the angels, specifically Rogziel and God.”
“They all really are insane. Our father will never let any of us return.” Paul’s eyes saddened.
“Rogziel? Alice killed him, didn’t she?” Cole asked.
“Yes and no. In terms you can understand, she killed him so he went to his afterlife, which is obviously heaven.”
“What about the Fallen that died that day?”
“They went to Hell, or the Abyss. There really is no way of telling which,” Paul answered.
Cole sat in the grass that was now covered in dew. He looked like he was trying to digest the information he had just learned. He looked up into the moon and sighed. “I should probably go home. Hopefully Alice went to sleep. If not, I am in big fucking trouble.”
“Yes son, in fact, regardless of when she finds out what time you get home, when she does, you will be in trouble.” He smiled at his son. It was so curious to him that in all of this, the most important thing was to not make Alice angry or upset with him. Then again, he had seen her kick Jake halfway across the yard a few times, and she wasn’t even really that angry.
Cole was nervous as he climbed the stairs. It was a quarter past 4:00 A.M. It wasn’t that Alice was the type of girl to jump to conclusions, but he didn’t want her thinking about what he might be doing when she wasn’t around. Especially now that he knew who killed Camille. When he entered the room, he half expected her to be awake with a thousand questions, but she wasn’t. When he climbed into bed, she just rolled over into him, wrapping her arms around him. He smiled a real smile. The love of his life was in his arms and she looked peaceful, even happy. Even with all the new information that he had been overloaded with, the truth was, in that moment, none of it mattered. He knew Paul was right; he had been, in a sense, neglecting Alice. He was irrationally agitated by the closeness that was developing between her and Jake. He also knew he was pushing her in that direction, to find comfort from someone else. Now that he was sitting there really thinking about it, he knew how foolish he was. They had promised that no matter what, they were there for each other.
The last time something horrible had happened to her, he wasn’t there, at her request, but he still wasn’t there. Never again, he thought. He vowed to be there for her always, no matter how hard it was for him, and even if there was nothing he could do to comfort her except just exist, to be within her grasp if she needed him. A few days of tracking and he could kill this bounty hunter and send a warning of his own. If anyone dared to hurt Alice or anyone she loves again, they would answer to him. He closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.
Cole felt himself slowly waking up to an unusual scent. It was entirely too early to get up, but the scent was enticing. He stretched his body out across the bed, noticing Alice was no longer in it. He sat up quickly, disorientated and in a panic. As his brain caught up with the rest of him, his stomach began to growl and he calmed down. Alice was making breakfast. He knew he needed to explain his absence last night and tell her about everything that had happened, but he was sure it could wait until he had a cup of coffee. He kicked off the comforter and went downstairs.
“Morning,” Alice said smiling.
“Morning. What’s all this?” He gestured to the counter that was now covered in food.
“Paul dropped food off for us the other day. I thought I’d make us a breakfast feast. Hungry?”
“Yeah, I am.” He looked around, puzzled with concern dripping off of his face. “You never cook.”
Alice put down the spatula and walked up to Cole, “Look, I know we
’ve been distant with each other.”
“You mean I’ve been distant,” he said, hanging his head.
“Stop that; it’s both of us. Ever since Camille, we have either been tip-toeing around each other, staying out of each other’s way, or snapping at each other. It’s time to move on with our lives, regardless of what the future has in store for us. I love you; you love breakfast, therefore I made you breakfast.”
Her smile was breathtaking. He stared deep into her eyes the way he used to, and he could feel the pull of her soul as it wrapped around his. “I do love breakfast.” That was all it took for her happiness to flood back. He was the answer for her; he had just forgotten that. “Okay, what do we have here?”
“Scrambled eggs, western omelet, well that’s what it’s supposed to be,” she said as he poked at the omelet. “Maple links, bacon, butter cream vanilla pancakes…”
“Wait, what?”
Her cheeks flushed as she answered him. “Butter cream vanilla pancakes.”
Alice's Sacrifice (Alice Clark Series) Page 6