Uriel (The Hallowed Chronicles Book 1)

by Angie Anomalous

  "That’s a Red Kite. Not only is it rare in this country, but it is my favorite; and most of all, it is the bird that reflects who I am."

  "I can see it. It's... amazing."

  "Uriel."

  I turned fully toward him, facing him and those azure eyes that watched me. They turned serious, even as the red kite circled above our heads. He was trying to tell me something and by the knot forming in my stomach, I had a feeling that what he was about to say, wouldn't be positive. His hands grabbed mine and he pulled me forward. "I don't know what the future holds and I hate to say this so close after what happened yesterday, but I want you to know something. If I don't make it--" he started. I interrupted him. "Stop, nothing will happen and you will make it... we both will," I said quietly, ignoring the tight feeling in my stomach.

  "Please listen. If I don't make it, I want you to know that no matter what, I will always be with you. Look to the skies... I will be that Red Kite guiding you because I would never let you go through this alone."

  All words escaped me and my breath froze in my lungs as I hung onto every word he spoke. These words reminded me of what Nikita had said and I closed my eyes, straining to hear the wind, giving up when nothing was said. I found myself escaping his grasp and touching the scar pulsing faintly beneath his shirt. He shuddered beneath my touch, only to do the same; his fingers traced the scar against my chest and I exhaled a shaky breath. I couldn't find anything to say to him so all I did was look at him, my palm still against his chest. He didn't expect me to say anything back, instead, he continued. "I also want you to know something. Angels aren't supposed to love the way humans do, but technically, we're still human. We have lungs, a heart, emotions... we're more human than anything else. That is why I want to tell you this; I think I love you, Uriel," he said. My heart leapt up to my throat and I swallowed hard, ignoring the twisting feeling in my stomach. I had never felt love for anyone other than Nikita and never loved anyone of the opposite gender. What was I looking for in this?

  The world stopped; it was only the wind and us. The wind whispered to me in Nikita's voice; advice she would have given me... Advice she took the time to give me in that moment. Don't let him go. Tears made liquid trails down my face and he wiped them away with his fingers. Sniffling, my eyes fell and his hand lifted my chin. I stared into those beautiful eyes, knowing for sure that I could get lost in the ocean of them. And he kissed me. Something inside me exploded as our lips touched and he cupped my face before backing away. He ran a hand through his hair. I stood there staring at him as my heart raced in my chest. Touching my lips, I scanned the sky; the sun seemed to have brightened. The red kite remained in the sky, dipping past the hill and I studied the edge, Jophiel doing the same. "You want to follow it?" He asked softly.

  Looking at him, I nodded, still dazed from his kiss. He pulled of his shirt, letting his wings stretch from behind him and I did the same, not caring that I had been only wearing a bra beneath my shirt. Together, we held hands and watched as the red kite swooped up, calling to us, beckoning us to feel free. And we jumped, forgetting the merciless reality that threatened to separate us. Freedom had never felt so good.

  Chapter Sixteen

  We had loved before; an endless chain of love that had branched from the very beginning. Though I was young, his eyes caught mine and even without the memory playing like a scene before me in my dreams, I knew he had whispered one word to me. Mine. It was as if my growing feelings for Jophiel had unlocked memory after memory of each time we had awakened. Was this fate or was this just petty human emotions toying with us? Even as the question lingered in the forgotten corners of my mind, I couldn't find the answer, and I didn't care. I wanted to live in the now and fight by his side; I wanted to protect and be protected and it seemed like even Nikita had wanted me to find strength in the love we shared.

  It had been a few months since he revealed his love to me and we had shared a moment to escape the harsh reality that pushed the world onto our shoulders. All the walls I had put up to protect my feelings from being hurt came down, and I found myself staring into a white light that parted to reveal Jophiel in his ethereal form; a celestial being that radiated chastity. Through my wonderment, something else had tugged at my heart; a heavy feeling I couldn't shake. If we take our celestial forms; we lose our human selves... the selves we grew to know. If we were to take this form, would we lose everything we thought we knew of each other?

  Through the months we spent away from school; unable to attend so we could train, we fought lesser demons and trained until our breathing became labored and our limbs threatened to fall off. In between training and fighting, we lost ourselves in each other through first and in between kisses, hugs, long talks and flying in the dead of the night. The hill had become our spot; a trusted area that whispered escape and we did what we could to steal each other from the threats of the world falling apart.

  Jenna had called and texted several times in those months, giving up eventually as I was told to distance myself from the only friend I had made. There were hundreds of times within the months that I had the urge to call her for her messages were getting frantic; a silent call for help, but I didn't want to expose her to this world I was chained to in fear of losing her to the very demons I was protecting her and the rest of the world from.

  We watched the news from the kitchen television every day to see the changes the world was going through to see if any miracles were done to stop anything in hopes to find the others. As we trained and grew stronger, time was thinning and there were no signs of the other five. There were times where I would try to feel them, but in the end, could only feel four, one of them being Jophiel. I was scared, thinking the worst have gotten to them and my hope began to dwindle. But even as the world grew darker, I realized that those we lose are never truly lost; they watch from Home, where we belong, and help however they can by the side of Our Father. He has something planned... I just know it.

  On a Tuesday evening, Gazardiel, Jophiel and I sat around the kitchen table with the news playing on in the background where the story of bombs exploding all over the world in different areas played. Things in the world were getting worse and the five of us that seemed to remain were still the only ones that could truly stop it. With a bible in hand, we read and studied the text, figuring out what would happen next to signal the end of days; a hope that we would find the pattern and stop it before it could happen. As my eyes trailed through the text, a story on the news drew my attention of something that was happening close to us.

  Breaking news in the city of New York; a teenage female is found standing on the roof of a building near the edge. Police officers have identified the female thanks to several witnesses that claimed to have seen her go into the building moments before a pedestrian looked up and saw her standing at the edge. The female is identified as Jenna Chandler, age sixteen, who attends the school only a few blocks away.

  My heart stopped in my chest, and I bolted out of my seat and out of the house. No one stopped me; I knew they understood, and I took off with my shirt in my hands and extended my wings outward, taking to the skies behind the clouds that would shroud me from human eyes. My way there was full of questions and regrets that all revolved around Jenna. Could this be about her father? What had happened in the months Jophiel and I disappeared? Why didn't I just call her back? I landed quietly, being cautious not to frighten her. I pulled my shirt over my head and stepped forward. "Jenna!" I yelled over the wind that whipped at my face. She turned around and I noticed her depression from the black under her red eyes and constant tears that didn't seem to let up. "Why are you here?" she cried. And I stepped forward, making her step back closer to the edge and I stopped.

  "I'm here because I want to help you."

  "No. If you wanted to help, you would have answered my calls!”

  "I couldn't, Jenna. You need to understand. I'm here now. Please talk to me."

  She rubbed at her face, choking on a sob as she did so. I coul
d tell she wanted to talk and that she planned on it, but I also knew that talking wasn't the only thing she was going to do. "Let me come closer," I said loudly over the wind that had picked up. Taking slow steps, I made my way to her, joining her at the edge of the building. I didn't dare to look down; knowing the severity of the fall if she were to jump. Holding out my hand, I waited for her to take it, but she didn't. "You both abandoned me," she said sobbing. "You and Jophiel just stopped showing up for school and neither of you answered your phones. Why?" My heart tugged with regret. I couldn't tell her the full truth, but I couldn't lie to her either. "Nikita was murdered, Jenna. I'm still recovering from all of it; she was like a mother to me," I said, fighting the tears that threatened to fall. There was sympathy in her eyes, but that's not what I wanted. "No, don't sympathize for me, Jenna. It's not about me. Jophiel has been making sure I was okay, but right now, I want to know what's going on with you. Why are you doing this?" I asked her helplessly.

  "My father took it too far. I can't take it anymore, Uriel. My mother isn't here to protect me... to take me away and no one believes my father would do something so damaging. And he started hurting me."

  "Hurting you? He's hitting you?"

  "More than just that. I can't move out and I can't escape. I know you told me to read the bible. I did. I haven't even finished, but I've thought long and hard about this, Uriel. Miracles that happened in the bible won't happen to me. There is nothing for me to repent, no light that will guide me from him. There is no one to save me."

  "But there is. You don't have to look to the heavens to find someone who is willing to take you away from the pain. There are people here that can guide you. God always has a plan. For everyone."

  "How can you be so sure? No one has even seen this 'God.' How does anyone know he even exists?”

  "No one knows about Him because He doesn't interfere with our lives. When you pray for things, He won't give you exactly what you pray for; He will give you the opportunities to make it happen yourself. If He just gave you everything, there would be nothing for us to learn the ways of life; we would always have the easy way out."

  She laughed hoarsely and looked down before looking back up with a blank expression across her face. I could see the fear in her eyes. She didn't know what was held for her when she would take her leap; didn't know where she would end up or what would happen in death. Deeper in her eyes, she felt calm and didn't seem to care, knowing she would at least escape the never ending pain she lived every day. "It's funny," she said. "I was never popular in school, but now it's like everyone is watching me, waiting to see if I will go for it or chicken out," she continued. Shaking my head, I wanted to tell her it wasn't the same. "You can't want this," I said swallowing my heart.

  "How would you know? You don't know what it's like to be in my shoes and have to face the one person who is supposed to make me feel safe, knowing all he wants to do is hurt me and use me for his pleasure."

  "You're right; I don't. But I don't need to know what it's like to tell you that there is a brighter future to look to. I can help you find your escape; I will be that person to guide you from the pain."

  "It's too late for that, Uriel. I trusted you and you just disappeared. What else could possibly be more important than helping the people who opened up to you so quickly?"

  "I-I can't tell you.”

  "So you're hiding secrets from me? After I told you the darkest one I had to live with this whole time?"

  "That's not it! It's not like I don't want to tell you... I just can't."

  There was silence between the two of us; a heartbreaking, shattering silence that made me want to curl up and make everything go away. I longed for Jophiel's comfort as much as I longed to help the one person who went up to me and made me feel like a normal human being. I wanted to help her more than I wanted to help myself, but it seemed that all my attempts to ease her pain weren’t working. "I'm sorry, Uriel. I'm sorry you have to see this end," she said, crying heavily. "But I can't give my father the pleasure of using me for himself." My hand reached out to her as she closed her eyes and jumped sideways off the building, causing the audience at the ground to scream in terror. Nikita's warning whispered to me, but I wouldn't listen to her... Not this time. Whatever you do, don't expose who you really are. Taking a running start, I leapt after her and pushed myself into gravity, falling faster and extending out my reach to Jenna who showed her fear for me jumping out after her. A word formed at her lips, the wind pushing too hard for her to yell. Why? I didn't know the answer and it didn't matter.

  My hand grazed against her arm and my fingers wrapped around it. In that moment, I didn't care for the watching eyes that held fear for the both of us, didn't care for the cameras taking note of everything happening, and most of all, I didn't care what they would see, for they wouldn't see my face; they would only see what it was saving the broken girl trying to end a beautiful life she was meant to live. Taking a hold of her other arm, I stared into her eyes and stretched my wings that tore through my shirt, letting them break the air and guide us to safety above everyone's head and away from everyone's widened eyes. As I disappeared behind the tall buildings of New York City, I knew I couldn't stop flying until we were finally out of sight. I kept an eye on my grip, even as Jenna stared incredulously at me. "Uriel!" she screamed. "There's no way... t-this is what you were hiding?" I didn't answer her. Now wasn't the time; I had to get home. I let my wings guide us through the wind to a secluded area; the hill. Something inside me burst with accomplishment and forgetting Jenna in my hands, my eyes the sky where the sun was peeking through the clouds and down onto me. I did what I had to, even if it meant exposing the existence of angels, and though I believed that I would be punished for it, I couldn't help but feel as if Father was watching me, smiling as He looked down. Savior.

  Chapter Seventeen

  The wind picked up as I landed on my feet with Jenna still amazed in front of me. I had made sure to land us in a secluded area, the hill that Jophiel and I had shared our precious moments and we walked to my house. We were silent as ever as our feet scuffed against the sidewalk and I noticed how quiet the world was around us. It came off as too quiet; an eerie silence that hung above our heads and it only increased as we grew closer to the house. Jenna froze and I turned to her with a questioning look, noticing she was trying to see the wings that had folded against my back to hide from human eyes. "Why didn't you tell me?" she asked quietly, avoiding eye contact. Sighing, I stepped in front of her and looked directly at her. The truth was already out and there was no point in lying. "The world I live in is dangerous. Exposing you to it can lead to many disasters. Demons could go after you to get to me," I replied coolly.

  "So... demons exist then? Lucifer too?"

  "Unfortunately. Let's just get to my house."

  "Is that... how Nikita died?"

  I halted to a stop at the memory and pushed back the tears that wanted to flow from me. I looked to the sky, hoping to see some sign from her, but there was none. Running my hand through my hair, I just nodded, not wanting to get into the details. As we approached the house, the energy shifted to darkness and my heart dropped. This couldn't be happening; not again... not with Jenna here. "Crap," I muttered under my breath, taking Jenna by the hand. "Listen to me, something is wrong. When we get in my house, do not move and do not stray from my sight," I told her. I didn't let her say anything and dragged her into the front door where Jophiel stood shirtless, his wings pressing up against the walls of the house. I was about to ask him what was wrong when an inhumane noise came from in front of him and Jenna screamed. Jophiel turned his head, shifting his body to reveal the black mass of a hunched demon with striking green eyes and crooked teeth. Its flesh was rotting and bubbling from underneath, excreting the foul scent of death.

  Seeing his distraction, the demon lashed out with its claws, slashing Jophiel across the chest. My heart dropped and I immediately summoned my blades, stepping in front of Jenna. Gazardiel appeared
at my side and nodded to me, a silent way of saying he would look after her. I jumped to Jophiel's side, slashing at the demon to draw it back. "Jophiel, are you okay?" I asked worriedly, not letting the demon out of my sight. His breath hissed out of his mouth as his wounds healed and he turned to me, getting back into a readied position.

  "Yea, I'm fine. This thing is one hell of a demon, don't you think?" he asked. I couldn't believe he was joking around at this moment just as much as I couldn't believe this house had seen so much darkness. The demon began chanting in an old language I couldn't understand, but deep inside, I knew what it was doing was not going to work in our favor.

  The house began to shake and with eyes locked on our opponent, we noticed it was shaking too, its body splitting in two. My gut wrenched violently and we found ourselves evenly matched, knowing now we would have to do one on one battles in such a small house. Instead, I summoned my energy and pushed one into the kitchen, letting it slam into the wall. Jophiel understood the gesture and repeated it, pushing the demon hard enough to go through two walls and out into the backyard. Summoning my energy again, I pushed it through the wall and leaped through the hole I made, joining Jophiel's side once more. We stared each other down, not daring to be the one who made the first move and I took the time to study them, attempting to find a weakness. "Uriel!" Gazardiel's voice lifted over the darkness and I refused to look back. "I know we don't know much of this... power you have that is summoned through anger, but they will keep multiplying until you are greatly outnumbered. Try summoning that power; use it to your advantage and control it," he continued, trying to help us out while looking out for Jenna.