Last One Home (IN EDITING)

Chapter 2

   As soon as my head hit that pillow I was dreaming.

I strolled along a broken stone path, singing and dancing like a child. A large dark brown wolf circled me, acting as my protector. I smiled at Alex and glanced up towards the starry night sky. Before my mom had started abusing me she was actually a kind of good mother. She told me stories about the world of the Other and had opened my eyes to everything. I remember a conversation on a night like this one when things started to change.

   We were sprawled out under an old weeping willow at our favorite park, staring up at the stars. My mother had been drinking a bit but not too bad. The look she had on her face when she did it, that's what made me realize things were changing. It was cold, emotionless. A scary thing for a twelve year old to see. But right now she was happy and laughing with me, trying to find constellations.

   "Mom, what are stars?"

   She laughed and cast a side glance at me. "Why don't you tell me?"

   "In science class they said that it's floating bundles of hydrogen and oxygen." I gazed at her, watching her face become thoughtful.

   "I suppose that's the scientific theory. I was raised to believe something different though."

   I scooted closer to her, eager to hear this theory. She smiled slightly at me, her blue-green eyes mischievous.  "When I was about your age my mom asked me what I thought stars were and I said floating lights. She said I was partially correct. What do you know about Angels?"

   I bit my lip a moment and thought, my eyes tracing the stars right above me. The big dipper. Cool. "I know that they made appearances to humans in the Bible but that's it."

   My mother stretched her arms out in front of her. "Well, some Angels Fell because they joined Lucifer to go against God. When the time came he cast all of them down. The stars are the paths the Angels took when they fell. The reason stars glow the way they do is because when the Angels were cast down, they were stripped of their wings. The stars are the pieces of their wings in all their Holy glory."

   I listened to this story with wide, wondering eyes. I traced the big dipper once more and wondered if that was actually true. How many Angels had Fallen? Obviously thousands upon thousands. So many souls that had been Damned.

   Thinking back now I understand why my mother told me that theory. She was slowly  edging me into the world of Other. I smiled at Alex's wolf form, staring up at the sky once more.