by K. D. Peters
“You're a complete mess. Only you would want to do such a thing. But you need to rest now. It will go a lot slower if you don’t, and you’re well aware of that.” Zane told him.
“I would, but the pain won't allow it. You know that from your own wounds. But lucky you that they’ve already healed. But cuts heal quicker than straight through open wounds on us. Especially ones as large as what I have.” Will said.
“Don’t worry her so with such terrible things. You’ve worried her enough.” Zane scolded him.
I couldn’t help but feel bad then. It was no good to see a friend in pain, even if he’d brought it on himself. “Maybe I can help.” I offered, laying a hand on his side. This was a trick that I hadn’t told them about, and that I’d learned with Chris only a month before. He’d usually end up pretty sore from sparing with them, and I found that I was able to ease pain when I touched an area and concentrated. Hopefully, I could use this to help Will. It was the least I could do, considering he’d helped me pull myself back together, not to mention saving my life twice, the first time from Judiel's hold and the second from the Shade.
Will sighed in relief as I did that. “Thanks. Maybe now I can actually get some sleep.” he whispered, smiling softly as he closed his eyes.
Zane looked at me in surprise as he drifted off to sleep. “I didn’t realize that you could ease pain as well.” he admitted.
“It was something I learned a while ago. But I couldn’t just watch him suffer like this.” I replied.
Zane let out a long breath, putting his cheek against his hand. “It’s odd for me though. You actually have it in you to be forgiving towards him, and allow him not to suffer for what he did. Saffron has been the same, although only with saving him and making sure that he’ll follow his orders. You I could see. But with him, the purpose still eludes me somewhat. And that worries me.” he said quietly.
“It’s probably because of me. He knew how hard it was for me to lose Chris already, and I certainly didn’t want to lose you and Will either.” I reasoned.
“Huh? You really think so?” Zane said, looking back over at me.
“I know it’s weird, and maybe most of the others aren’t like this, but Saffron’s told me before that I’m the only thing that's ever mattered to him. Even if he is a fallen angel or demon or whatever they want to call him, it feels like at least a little part of him cares enough about me that he would do anything he could to keep me happy.” I explained. At least, that was what I wanted to believe. But there was still a small piece of me that believed that Saffron had an ulterior motive for saving Will. And it may have had something to do with his connection to the ruler of Hell.
“Well, he does have a rather twisted personality, even for the ones like him.” Zane agreed. “I’ve heard a lot of stories about the one called Saffron, and I believe every one of them now. If there is any that I could label close to the human term psychopath, he’d be it. He’s cold blooded, yet smiles to the faces of all those he meets. With the exception of you, I’ve heard that the more he smiles at you, the more he hates you. And trust me, I’m sure that you’re the only exception to that rule from all I’ve gotten to see and hear now. If it hadn’t been for Will’s orders in all of that, and who he is as well, I’m certain that he would’ve killed him himself then.”
So apparently, Zane knew my father’s reputation fairly well. I couldn’t say I was that surprised. After all, he was Astaroth’s only remaining son, and apparently one of the oldest Shadow Wings left. But his words intrigued me as well. In all honesty, I didn’t know a whole lot about Saffron in the end, aside from what he’d done in the time between when he’d been with Faith Evans and when I'd been born. Maybe Zane could help me bridge that gap in there. “So, where did you get to hear about Saffron anyways? Was it from Astaroth?” I asked him.
Zane nodded slightly. “Somewhat. As you know, I am a bit different from the other Fallen Children too, just like you, Chris, and Will. I won’t use my father’s name right now though, for as you’ve seen, it can cause undo trouble. However, in the times I’ve met with him before, it hasn’t always been a fight and then goodbye. Sometimes, he would speak to me afterwards. Once again, this does demonstrate the twisted personalities they can have, but we won’t get into that right now. Anyways, there were several times that he spoke to me about the other Fallens, and in particular Jade and Saffron. I guess you could say that they amused him at times.” he explained.
“Amused him huh?” I said. What a strange way of putting something. But then again, we were talking about Fallen Angels.
“Yes.” Zane said, smiling slightly. “I suppose part of it was just because of how those two tended to interact so much. They formed a bit of a partnership after their fall, and worked together for quite a while afterwards. But apparently, Saffron also came to see Jade as one of his possessions in that time. He would become easily angered if Jade took an interest in any other besides him, and it led to many fights between them, and others. They were often quite physical as well. I’m sure you’ve heard the story about when Christoff was born. Saffron made quite a few efforts to kill his mother even before his birth, and it was all out of twisted jealousy. Even now, he hesitates with Christoff because of it. Even though he wants him close to you for whatever reason, he still loathes him for being born as Jade’s half human child.”
“I understand that one after what I got to see.” I agreed.
“But you know, it did surprise me a little bit too with all of this. When Christoff first told me years ago that he was going to look for you, I really didn’t get it. He knew that you were Saffron’s child, and he knew that Saffron had aimed to take his life several times before. But he was so adamant about it. And the more I think about it, the more it’s begun to dawn on me about just why that was. It all ties into what he’s always believed, even as a child.” Zane continued quietly.
I looked back over at him. “You knew him as a child too?” I asked.
“Yes and no. He was still considered pretty young when we met. I meant every word when I told you before that I was less than a hundred years behind Chris in birth. And Will is actually older then the both of us. We’re the three remaining originals left.” Zane replied.
Okay, so I definitely had forgotten about that one. But his words immediately caught me off guard. Will was older than them. So technically, that meant that Will was the oldest of the Shadow Wings, not Chris. Again, I considered the connections he had. And slowly, a startling realization began to dawn on me. Will had a connection with Lucifer, and wasn’t like other Shadow Wings. Could it be…?
Zane immediately seemed to catch onto my thoughts. “So you understand now. Will is quite special in this world. He’s always going to be the strongest because of his connection to him. Because he created him.” He said quietly.
I found myself looking back at Will in disbelief. So it was true. Lucifer had a child in the mortal plane as well. That explained the strange thing with Will’s eyes. It was showing the power hidden deep inside of him.
“So, he made him do that because of who he is.” I finally breathed.
Zane nodded, guiding me back out of the room. “Yes. But we shouldn’t speak of it in here. It’s better for him to rest. And I don’t want us to take any chances either. I think you understand.” He said as we stepped back out into the hallway.
I still couldn’t believe what I was hearing. “Hey, we need to talk now. I think you owe me a lot about this.” I told him.
“I understand. Come on. We’ll talk privately in my room.” Zane agreed.
The room that Zane chose to take there was up towards the end of the hallway, and not that far from the one I’d been put in originally. The room itself was just as large, and nicely decorated, although done completely in dark colors. I found myself taking that in as I took a seat at one of the large windows overlooking the front of the house. Zane stood near me, quietly fixing the sheet over a painting that he’d been working on earlier. I had noticed that i
t was of the house we were in, and that he'd even incorporated me with my wings out into the painting as well, standing in front of it among the willow trees. It surprised me how he could do such detail from memory alone.
But at that moment, I also had more important things on my mind. “So how long did you and Chris know the truth about Will?” I asked him as I watched him step back from the painting.
Zane thought about it for a moment. “Well, it’s actually been quite a long time now. Although I admit that we weren’t completely aware of it when we first met him. I actually knew Chris before I met Will. And at first, neither of us suspected anything more to him. It wasn’t until we were around him more that we began seeing the signs. And eventually, it was hard to ignore the power he had, considering that he had to let it loose that one time.” He explained.
“Let it loose?” I repeated as he sat down across from me.
“Yes. That’s the best way to put it.” Zane replied. “It was about two years after we met him when that ended up happening. At the time, the hunts had resumed, and they were going full force. Honestly, what happened with Judiel this time was only a prelude to what can come for us. He’s been testing, seeing what can happen once they go on the offensive. And, more than likely, he’s hoping to prove to the Creator that we should be eliminated completely this time.”
Well, no real surprise there. I didn’t doubt that they were looking to get rid of us for good. But I still wanted to know just what he meant with Will’s power. “So what happened then? Why did he have to let this power loose like he did?” I asked.
“It was necessary in the end. At the time, a large number of us had been cornered in a small section of Rome. We’d gone there in hopes of perhaps finding a way to end all of fighting between us and those angels. Contrary to what any of them believe, there isn’t a Shadow Wing in existence that really wants to fight. We’re not evil creatures like they make us out to be. And Chris himself was hoping that perhaps he could find a way to speak peacefully with one of the leading angels about us and those clans that were getting ready to start. At the time, we had heard that the first of those women had fallen pregnant. We wanted a chance to have our say, and for to plead our case. For a while, we even believed that we may get the chance. However, the ones like Judiel intervened before we could get any messages to the higher angels, and that's how they ambushed us that night.” Zane explained.
I stared as I allowed the visions to flood my mind. In it, I could see a group of people standing in a huge, round room. It looked like it may have been part of a massive church. Will, Zane and Chris were there with them. And looking at the others in there, which were maybe around twenty, I realized that they were all Shadow Wings like us. They seemed to be waiting with them for something. But all at once, there were bright lights that came down from the high ceiling. And then, there was bright white fire. They all would’ve been killed right then and there, except that at the same time, I saw Will react. His eyes changed color from violet to red, and his wings quickly burst out. And with that, a bright burst of black flew up and effectively blocked the white flames. They were immediately put out. But it wasn’t over yet. The black continued up, and I could hear horrible screams of pain as it did…
The feeling of Zane touching my face again brought me back to the current reality. “As you saw, Will has a lot of power within him. He saved all of our lives that day, although he had a very hard time containing that power again once it was over. It nearly caused him to lose his mind. So he doesn’t use it unless he absolutely has to. He’s even been hiding himself since that day, going so far as to make sure that he changed his original name. And he feared telling you the truth because you may look at him differently. No matter what Will came from, he’s not bad himself. And he doesn’t want you fear him.” He said gently.
I looked down, feeling the tears rolling down my cheeks. I knew that I could never blame Will for who he was. He wasn’t really any different from any of us. He didn’t ask for his existence, or to be what he was. Apparently the whole anti-Christ thing was a bunch of baloney after all….
I was pulled out of all of that by Zane quietly pulling me close. “I can’t begin to promise that we can give you a good life in this. But I know that I personally will try to make you happy. Whether Chris comes back or not, I’m always going to be here.” He promised softly.
I couldn’t help but close my eyes as I felt this overwhelming comfort come over me. I think I knew by then just how much I tended to trust Zane. In fact, I’d never wanted to believe before that he would’ve done anything to betray us. Zane was my friend, one of the closest I felt that I’d ever have. If I trusted anyone else aside from Chris, I trusted him. He was the one true thing remaining right now.
He was what I had left to cling to in this terrible existence.
Fourteen
I ended up spending another hour with Zane that morning. I can’t say that we did that much though. Just more hanging out and talking. He showed me the painting he’d been working on, and I had even sat in front of the window and allowed him to do a sketch of me. But eventually, as the morning wore on, he admitted that he had to get moving. He said he had to take care of some things at his home, considering he was going to have to move now. Baton Rouge wouldn’t be a very safe place to stay now that they’d found us there once. It was time for us to move on, and make new homes once again. I’ll admit that the thought was a little bit depressing for me. Constantly moving reminded me of when I was a child. But at the same time, I understood now that it was necessary. We had to keep moving on. We had to find a way to keep living.
I did admit that having the house to myself wasn’t too bad though. Going back to my room, I laid back down on my bed and looked out of the nearby window at the fog still surrounding the house. Closing my eyes, I took in the peaceful silence and allowed myself to think over everything that had happened up until then. A few months ago, I never would’ve imagined that I would've been there now, or know what I did. In a way, it disturbed me a little now to think about what I really was. I truly was a damned child, whether or not I’d actually chosen to be born. But I didn’t want to be killed either. This existence truly was unfair for the ones like us. We were basically born to die.
Feeling tired again, I made myself comfortable and allowed myself to drift off to sleep. I floated in the inky void of my mind for what seemed like a long time. It was peaceful there, and I didn’t really want to leave it. At least there, I could forget about everything for a while. But, as all good things often do, this too had to pass. I felt myself opening my eyes once again. Only this time, I was standing in a brightly lit room of what looked like a mansion. Huge windows that stretched from the white carpeted floors up to the ceiling were near me, and the room itself was quite big and filled with nice looking light colored furniture. I looked around, wondering where in the world I could've been. It definitely wasn’t anywhere I could recognize.
“My, my. It seems I’ve ended up with an unexpected visitor.”
I looked over quickly to my side, following where the unfamiliar voice had come from. To my surprise, a man was walking over by the large couch near me. He had to be the most beautiful man I’d ever seen, with auburn colored hair that framed a smooth face. He wasn’t a very big man, but definitely had an imposing stature to him. But the thing that caught me the most were his eyes. They were the lightest shade of violet I’d ever seen, and the irises seemed to carry flecks of dancing flames in them.
Finally, I was able to find a little bit of my voice. “Who are you? And where in the world am I?” I asked him.
“You’re at my home. Well, at least, you’ve entered it through your dream state. It’s rather odd. I didn’t think that this place could be entered so easily like this.” the man said, taking a seat on the white colored couch. He smiled at me as he patted the cushion beside him. “Please, come and have a seat. The least I could do is speak with you while you’ve graced me with your presence.”
I found
myself standing there, studying him for a moment. There was absolutely nothing outwardly threatening about this man. In fact, the entire atmosphere there felt so peaceful and safe. In spite of myself, I walked over and sat down on the couch beside him. “I guess. But who are you? I’ve never seen you before.” I said.
The man nodded, chuckling slightly as if he was amused. “I’d imagine not. I do not believe that we have ever met before. So I guess I should go ahead and introduce myself now. I am Kinsley Martell.” he replied.
“Kinsley Martell.” I repeated. No, I didn’t recognize his name either.
“You know, you do look familiar yourself. Tell me child, what is your name?” Kinsley asked, tilting my face to look at me closer.
“Ariana.” I replied in a whisper. Those eyes… they were so beautiful. I’d never seen eyes like that before. They were most definitely a light shade of violet, and I could almost see the dancing flames in them now.
After a moment, Kinsley nodded . “I see now. So you’re the forbidden child he was speaking of. No wonder you could get past the defenses. But I am surprised as well. It seems you’ve been attracted to me here.” he said as he let go of me.
“You know my father?” I asked. I really didn’t think he could’ve been another Fallen. He just didn’t strike me as the type. And he also didn’t feel anything like a Shadow Wing either.