The Mark of a Fallen Angel

41 - Part II - Morning After

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Waking up hadn't been the best feeling in the world. I felt groggy, and... Well, dirty.

I opened my eyes to see that I was in a room I didn't recognize. I was lying down on my front on a big uncomfortable table. 

"Alexis,"

I turned my head toward Brooke who was sitting in the corner of the room with clothes in her hand. She walked forward and held her hand out. "Let's get you showered."

I took her hand and let her help me up slowly. It stung to move so I gritted my teeth and shut my eyes. She led me to the bathroom. I was still in the t-shirt I was bleeding in earlier which wasn't exactly great because it was stained with dry blood.

Brooke sat in another chair in the corner of the bathroom, not watching but turning away as I shrugged the shirt off and closed the curtain. At this moment I didn't care. 

The water was red. 

There was nothing clear about it. It was all red. I was about to reach back and touch my back when Brooke suddenly said, "Don't touch it."

Maybe she could see my outline through the curtain or just knew I was going to touch it. 

So I rinsed off quickly and was handed a towel, black jeans and underwear. I waited for the t-shirt and bra once I dried off but nothing came. Instead Brooke opened the curtain and told me to cover my front with the towel. 

When I walked back into the unfamiliar room, Joseph was standing by the table that now had a bowl of water and cotton sitting on it. My eyes zeroed in on Gabriel who was sat in the chair that Brooke sat earlier with his head in his hands. He was wearing a loose hoodie and pyjama bottoms which signalled he must have dressed in a hurry. 

I didn't want him to worry. I just wanted to grab him and kiss him to reassure him that everything was fine...

At least that's what I kept telling myself.

Maryanne, Elizabeth and Tristan were by the door as if they were ready to make a run for it. Except for Mary that is; she looked slightly pissed. But as I looked her more in the eye, I could see a glint of what looked like worry. I couldn't be entirely sure...

Joe motioned for me to sit down on the opposite side of the table so my back was facing him.

I did as he said and moved my towel dried hair over my shoulder. 

I heard Joe sigh heavily and I waited. I watched his hand grab a piece of cotton and dip it in what I believed was water. Then he touched the two wounds. At first it stung a little but it wasn't as bad as I thought it'd be.

I had a strange urge to tell them about my dream. And I didn't even realize I'd opened my mouth to speak until the words emerged from my mouth. "It's starting."

I repeated the words the woman said to me breaking the complete silence in the room.

Joe's hand didn't pause or even falter as he continued to clean. Brooke didn't look any bit surprised by my words but everyone else did. I couldn't see Gabriel's reaction because he was behind me but I could feel him. I could feel the tension rise inside him and the emotion build up.

I could feel more with him than I could with anyone else.

Could it be because of last night? Was I more connected to him than before?

"Joseph," Brooke began. "Shall I explain? Or will you?"

He paused and replied. "Go on."

Brooke grabbed a chair and sat in front of me with a sympathetic smile.

I shook my head and said, "I'm not looking for sympathy, Brooke. I know my Final Stage has started."

She nodded slowly and grabbed my hands. "Yes it has, and I'm sorry. I'm going to be extremely blunt with you, Alex because this isn't something I can sugar-coat."

I waited for her to continue and watched the usually charmingly happy face turn into a hard cold mask. 

"This is going to be the most excruciating part of your life. You're going to experience the longest, drawn out and torturous part of the change and you're not going to like it. This isn't like your first change, darlin'. This will take time. If you thought today was bad, well I'm sorry but your going to have to suck it up because it's going to get worse--"

"Stop it." Gabriel yelled.

Everyone turned around to him but I remained neutral and staring at Brooke. I knew Gabriel was going to crack. Hell, I was seconds away from doing it myself, but that would have been weak. I couldn't be the weak human anymore; soon enough I'd be one of the strongest angels around. I had to be strong for the right reasons.

'Gabriel...' I thought in a slightly shaky voice that I cursed. Even in my head I couldn't rely on my voice. 'It's okay, I can take it. I need to.'

I could hear the sound of Gabriel's heart as it beat against his chest. I could hear everyone's hearts in fact. I could pin point each of them. I could tell who from whom.