The Divine Fallen
Book Two in The Other World Series
Lorena Beaver
Copyright © 2018 Lorena Beaver
All rights reserved.
Digital Edition
ISBN: 1723420425
ISBN-13: 978-1723420429
DEDICATION
For Natalie, if it wasn’t for you this would be a book with no name.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
To my parents and Brett, thank you for always supporting me.
To my friends Jessica, Kayla, and Natalie for letting me blabber on and on about these characters and worlds for all these years. You’ll never know how much I appreciate it.
To Shawna, thank you. If it wasn’t for your help two years ago I may not be publishing my second book now.
Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty One
Chapter Twenty Two
Chapter Twenty Three
About the Author
CHAPTER ONE
Drip. Drip. Drip.
I flinched.
Drip. Drip. Drip.
One by one I regained my senses. Something cold and hard laid underneath me.
Drip. Drip. Drip.
My hand lifted to my cheek. It was wet.
Water?
I opened my eyes.
Rain.
My joints felt as if they hadn’t moved in a thousand years. I rolled over on my back. The sky was black as rain felt cold on my face. I eventually got my arms under myself, sitting up. I looked around.
Where am I?
As my eyes adjusted I realized that I was sitting on a stone platform. Its stairs were cracked and worn. For as far as I could see through the darkness there were trees much larger than myself everywhere. Water dripped from their branches as they intertwined together to construct a canopy above. Slowly I turned to look over my shoulder, pain running down my spine. There was a building. Its doors were ajar.
Where am I?
It took all my strength to get my legs under myself and push. When I stood I held onto one of the doors to balance myself. I closed my eyes as pain pulsed in my head, then in my right arm. Putting my hand to my forehead I looked down at my arm. On my skin, it was marked with a tree bare of leaves. I dropped my arm looking down at myself. I was armed to the teeth with small knives. There was a strap on each thigh, two crisscrossing over my chest and one on each bicep. I reached down pulling one from its sleeve. The blade was razor sharp and had dried blood on it. I flipped it over. I tightly gripped the handle before aiming for the closest tree. The blade embedded itself deep into the trunk.
Right.
I turned around. Water ran down the doors in a steady stream but beyond that, it was hard to see much else in the darkness of night. I placed a hand on each of the open doors which sent a burst of energy through my whole body. I let go, jumping back.
Oh—okay.
I turned to look down the steps again to the leaves that covered the forest floor.
“Oh. No. No, no, no!”
I ran down the steps turning in circles as the rain seemed to come faster.
Where are they?
“Chase!” I screamed, continuing to turn. “Ryan! Michael! Where are you? Come on! Chase!” My voice cracked as a lumped developed in my throat. “Where are you?” I whispered as I dropped to my knees, my tears mixing with the cold rain. “What have I done?”
CHAPTER TWO - ABIGAIL
As the first rays of light came flooding through the trees it taunted me with the false joy. I looked down at my lap, my hands were shaking. I hadn’t moved from the spot in front of the stone stairs.
“Chase? Ryan? Michael? What have I done?” I whispered, looking up to the sky letting a few last drops left over on the leaves hit my face. “Owl? Where are you?”
With a deep breath, I wiped my hands over my face taking away my tears.
There’s no more time for crying.
I pushed myself to my feet. The building from the night before was now revealed as a chapel that must have been a thousand years old. The old stone it was made from was cracked and covered with wet vines. The old oak doors were faded to an ugly gray. A ray of light came through the crack between them. I turned away from the chapel as a heavy feeling washed over me. The knife in the tree glistened. I walked over pulling it out of the tree. There was still blood on it that made mine run cold. I wiped each side of the blade on my black jeans before replacing it in its sleeve on my chest.
Oh, my... Mom... Dad... Carson.
Without another thought, I took off running.
I didn’t stop running until I ended up in front of my home. From the outside, everything looked the same. With a shaking hand, I turned the handle to the front door. At that moment my memory failed me.
Is this what it looked like yesterday? Was it yesterday when all of this took place?
That was when I realized that I had no concept of time. I took a quick look over my shoulder out to the street before closing the door.
“Mom? Dad?” I paused. “Carson? Chase? Ryan? Owl?”
No response.
“Anyone?”
The door slammed into my back sending me to the floor. Grabbing a knife from the strap on my arm I turned over onto my back to see a man that from this angle looked to be at least seven feet tall. He slammed the door shut as he stomped in. I slid back using my elbows to pull me along.
“Who are you? What do you want?” I stumbled to my feet as he continued to advance towards me.
My system went into overload.
Do I know this man and not remember him?
I stopped. I grabbed another knife holding both defensively in front of myself.
“Alright,” I said trying to keep my voice steady. “Who the hell are you?”
He tilted his head to the right stopping a few feet in front of me.
“Hello? I’m talking to you. Usually, you answer someone when they ask a question.”
He lifted his left hand.
“Hello?” I questioned.
His hand slowly started glowing a dull orange.
“Well,” I nodded. “A Flasher?”
When it was glowing bright red he turned his hand sending a flaming red fireball at me. Instinct kicked in and I dropped to the floor covering my head. Strangely though I didn’t hear the sound of the living room catching fire. It was silent.
“Nope, not a Flasher.” I looked over my shoulder to see nothing out of place or on fire. I pushed myself to my feet as the man began to laugh. He raised his left hand again. I threw a knife. It plunged deeply into his left shoulder making him drop it to his side. His opposite hand wrapped around the handle. Looking down at it, with one quick movement he pulled the knife out dropping it to the floor looking back up at me.
“We’re growing stronger. Your fight is over.” His voice echoed in my ears. Even though only one man was speaking it sounded like an army was yelling.
I took a step back.
“We’re rising. We’re stronger.”
“Who the hell are we? What are you—”
No.
A smile that will haunt my dreams for many years painted the man’
s face.
“He’s growing more powerful every minute.”
Limbo. Ether. Aaron.
I had one chance to get this right or I was dead.
As the man lifted his hand again I threw my other knife as I simultaneously pulled another out throwing it too before reloading. The first knife went through the palm of his hand, the second entrenched itself right under the man’s right knee making him drop to the floor. I flipped the knives through my fingers before throwing one dead center in the man’s chest. He groaned as he lifted his bloody hand to the knife in his chest. I took two large strides around him. I placed the knife to his throat drawing a small drop of blood as I did.
“What are you doing here?”
He groaned again. “I’m not telling you anything.”
“Why. Are. You. Here.” I repeated, drawing more blood.
“You won’t kill me. I know where Chase is.”
I froze.
Chase?
The man grabbed my arms pulling me over his head slamming me to the ground. I closed my eyes as the pain radiated through my body. I held my breath when I felt a hand on my chest pulling at a knife. I opened my eyes just as the knife was being pulled from its sleeve. I lifted the knife I had tightly gripped in my hand to his arm, slicing from elbow to wrist. The blood began to flow immediately. He fell back. I rolled over wiping his blood from my face. With all my strength I drove the knife into his thigh. He screamed as I pulled another knife out, rising to my feet. Again I walked around him. Without a thought to what I was doing, I pulled the knife across his throat allowing the deep gash to drain the man of life. With three shallow breaths, he fell to the ground.
“You—will—n-never—find—t-them.”
CHAPTER THREE - ABIGAIL
I stared down at the lifeless body for what seemed like an eternity.
What did I just do?
My world began to spin. I dropped the bloody knife to the floor hearing the metal ring when it hit the hardwood floor. I grabbed onto the wall trying to slow my breathing.
What have I done?
I took a deep breath running to the door locking it. After that, I run to the kitchen. I grabbed plastic bags, cloths, paper towel and any cleaner I could find. Running back to the hall the amount of blood seemed to have doubled. I knelt down by the dead man beginning to clean up what I could of the blood.
“Oh God,” I cried as tears began flowing from my eyes. “Oh God,” I rolled the man onto a layer of garbage bags cleaning up the rest of the blood. I placed three bags of paper towels and cloths by his head. Pushing myself to my feet I grabbed the bloody knives being careful not to drip any blood as I ran to the kitchen. I threw the knives into the sink trying to tune out the sound of metal on metal, reminding me of what I did.
As I ran down the hallway again I was careful to walk around the man, watching him the whole time. Once past I flew up the stairs to the bathroom. At first, I didn’t recognize who was reflected in the mirror. Whose blood was I covered in? I didn’t know. I began pulling at the straps of knives as tears fell from my eyes again. I threw them against the door peeling my clothes off next. I struggled to turn on the shower with my shaky hands as I stepped in. When I pulled the curtains closed I dropped to the floor of the tub letting the water hit my back. Red water flowed around me as I curled into a ball.
What have I done? I just killed a man in cold blood. How many people have I killed? All of them in the forest, this man—
“Oh, my—oh God. Oh, God.” I cried as I rocked back and forth. “What did I do?”
What did I do? What am I going to do? There is a dead man lying in the hallway downstairs. What am I going to do? Where am I going to put him? Where do you hide a dead man? I can’t leave him here. Oh, God.
My breathing picked up.
Abigail, calm down.
“Calm down. You’re okay.” I tried to take in air but nothing seemed to be entering my lungs.
You’ll figure everything out. That’s what you do.
“I can’t do everything. I can’t do everything.” I panted.
You’ll find them. I’ll find them.
I placed my face in my knees. My breathing was short and quick and my eyes stung as the water mixed with my tears.
***
After what must have been twenty minutes or so my breathing slowed and my body relaxed. Turning the water off I grabbed a towel. Wrapping it around myself I walked to my room.
When I opened the door nothing looked different. My bed was still unmade, my book was still turned over to hold my page, a small pile of dirty clothes in the corner, and the closet and bathroom door both wide open.
After changing into some clean jeans and a blue t-shirt I sat on the edge of my bed.
There’s no one here. Where are they? Mom didn’t leave a note. She always leaves a note if she leaves and we’re not home. What about Chase? Where is he? Where is Ryan? They aren’t here either. What about Michael? I need to go to Ether but not until nightfall. People can’t see me with a dead guy.
I laid back on my bed reaching for my bedside table. I pulled on the drawer blindly grabbing a notebook and pen. Sitting back up I opened the notebook to a clean page, sitting it on my lap.
Okay. What’s first?
Deal with dead guy
Go to Ether
Find Chase, Ryan, Michael, Mom, Dad, and Carson, Owl
Aaron
When I wrote Aaron’s name a chill ran down my spine. I ripped the page from the book throwing the notebook and pen behind me. I looked over my shoulder to see that it was: 1:22 pm.
But what day is it?
I folded the piece of paper shoving it in my back pocket, walking over to the corner where my desk sat. As I sat down I opened my laptop and waited for it to wake up. I tapped my fingers on the table as I tried to figure out where to start.
I still have hours before nightfall. What is there to find here?
The lock screen popped up. I quickly typed my password in, and then waited again. I moved the mouse down to the corner over the time. The date popped up.
Wednesday.
“Wednesday?” I whispered sitting back in my chair. “Wednesday? Wasn’t it Sunday when everything happened?” At that moment I wished someone would walk through the door so I could relay all of this to them. “Three days?”
That can’t be true.
I moved the mouse again to see it read Wednesday.
Maybe it wasn’t Sunday when the battle took place. It couldn’t have been three days.
That’s when I realized that my stomach turned in pain. I was hungry. Really hungry. As I reached the stairs I caught a glimpse of the dead man lying in the hall and suddenly I wasn’t that hungry anymore. I turned away.
Which room should I start with?
I turned right to stand in front of Carson’s room.
Okay then.
I took the two steps from the stairs to the door, turning the doorknob. The room looked the same. Bed unmade, dirty clothes in one corner and clean in the other. But surprisingly his room was cleaner than I thought it would be.
There was nothing in his room to give any clue to where anyone was. I walked over to the phone on the corner of his desk. Picking up the receiver I dialed Carson’s number. It began to ring.
“Come on Carson. Come on.”
Nothing.
I dialed Mom’s cell phone number next.
Again, nothing.
Next, Dad.
Nothing.
“Come on.”
I dialed Mom’s work number.
“Hello, thank you for calling. How may I help you?”
“Hi, Julie. Can I talk to Mom?”
She laughed. “She’s on vacation, honey. Don’t you remember?”
Vacation?
“Oh yeah, right,” I tried to make my laugh sound believable. “It’s just weird because when was the last time she has taken a vacation, right?”
“Very true.”
“Thanks, Julie.”
/> “No problem, honey.”
“Have a good day.”
I placed the phone back on the receiver pulling out the piece of paper from my back pocket. Unfolding it I grabbed a pen and wrote:
Mom on vacation?
Calling Dad’s work I was informed of the same thing.
Dad on vacation?
I folded the paper back up, putting it away moving onto the guest room. Opening the door it was as if Chase and Ryan had just left the room. The bed was half made with the blankets and pillows for the cot at the end. The cot was folded up leaning against the end of the bed. Ryan’s bag sat on the large lazy boy in the corner with his clothes covering it. On the window seat was Chase’s bag with his clothes folded neatly next to it. I took a deep breath letting go of the door. I thought it was finally time to give it a try.
Chase? Chase? Can you hear me? Are you there? Where are you? If you can hear me please let me know somehow.
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