Hell's Angel (EDITING)

39 - Andrew | Cherry blossoms

I was falling.

Off the edge of a cliff that stood one-thousand-metres above the ground.

The breath was knocked out of my toppling body till my lungs felt like they were collapsing in on themselves. Cold rain pelted me mercilessly, stinging my bare skin and numbing my face. I lost control of my own limbs—they flailed uselessly around as if they belonged to someone else. The freezing wind screamed with sound, seeming to push me down faster and faster.

I thought falling would feel weightless. Perhaps even as freeing as flying.

It was not. It was a crushing weight, the atmosphere pressing into me as I hurtled downwards. I closed my eyes. Falling felt lonely. And it was so cold.

All of a sudden, I felt something other than the pricking rain. Strong arms grabbing me, wrapping around me protectively. A warm body pressed into mine. My eyelids fluttered open and stared into a turquoise ocean.

James.

'I'm sorry,' James whispered as we hurtled through space, clinging to nothing but each other. 'For everything.'

I tried to say it's okay. I tried to say something—anything—but my words were lost to the roaring wind.

Comforting fingers tangled in my curls, stroking it back from where it stuck to my damp face. James buried his warm face in my hair and pressed his lips against my ear, whispering nonsensical things to distract me.

'Andrew... you know what I wish for more than anything right now?'

I shook my head imperceptibly, turning my face away from the sharp rocks speeding towards us. I tried not to count down the estimated two minutes I had left to live, instead wrapping my arms tighter around his neck—my gaze firmly fixed on the promise of shimmering turquoise oceans.

'I wish I were an angel,' James whispered, 'I wish so hard. I wish I had wings that could save you.'

As the words left his lips, a blinding light flashed from the skies. Like lightning. I inhaled sharply, waiting to be struck—the pain never came. For a brief moment, I saw nothing but light. Dazzling, blinding light.

When my vision returned, James was glowing. He shimmered and shone, casting light into every corner of the dark abyss around us. He glowed bright enough to dazzle me but I couldn't look away, my eyes growing wider instead of shutting tight. I gasped in wonder as the light started to take shape and form behind him, transforming into a pair of magnificent angel wings. A golden halo circled over his windswept hair, washing his face with gentle light.

He was breathtaking.

James beat his wings in amazement, holding us in midair. They were larger than I ever imagined wings could be; as tall as he was and spanning so wide that they shielded us both from the pelting rain.

I gazed at him awestruck, my heart palpitating so hard that it almost beat out of my chest. Dazed and overwhelmed with the breath knocked clear out of me. The last thing I remembered was being lifted into the sky.

I could have been unconscious for mere seconds or countless hours, but I felt fully rested as I stirred awake. My eyelids fluttered and opened to a calming white light. I blinked several times in the brightness, and the light finally diminished enough for me to get a sense of my surroundings.

I was under a pink cherry blossom tree. It made no sense because I was lying on the softest bed of feathers. I turned my face to the side, my fingers tugging at the satin sheets. They were littered in fallen petals. A soft, gentle breeze rustled the tree above me—odd since I was in a fully enclosed room and the large bay windows were closed. I gazed at the petals raining down on me and realized it was too beautiful to be anywhere on earth.

Was I dead?

I was certain an angel saved me before I hit the ground. His transformation was imprinted on my mind—I didn't imagine it.

'You're just having a near-death experience, dear,' a gentle voice cooed.

I turned towards it and saw a sweet, smiling face. It belonged to a lady with rosy cheeks and chestnut hair, tied up in a neat little bun with a satin ribbon.

'You can call me Ada,' she said, 'We have a few things to discuss. But, for now, I think there's someone else who you'd rather talk to.' Her eyes twinkled as she moved slightly to the side, revealing James who stood behind her.

He was an angel.

A beautiful, heavenly angel, with snowdrop wings that seemed to fill up the entire room.

'You saved me,' I murmured as Ada left the room, gently shutting the door behind her.

James knelt beside my bed, taking my hand in his. 'You saved me first,' he countered, a sweet smile adorning face.

I couldn't stop staring at him. He looked lighter somehow, and the happiest I've ever seen him. His eyes twinkled with flecks of gold under the light of his halo, brighter and clearer than they have ever been.

'I saved you?' I asked, my brain taking a long moment to register what he said.

'You made me want to change, Andrew. You made me into an angel.'

'You made yourself into an angel, by wishing you were,' I mumbled, ducking my head in a sudden bout of shyness.

'I only wanted wings with which to save you.' His fingers traced lightly over the back of my hand, sending a warm, tingling sensation that spread down my arm and throughout my whole body. 'I guess it saved the both of us.'

He gazed at me for a moment before he continued. 'I was talking to Angel Ada while you were asleep,' James said softly, 'She told me something... rather shocking—but at the same time it made perfect sense.'

I looked at him expectantly as he paused to stare down at our intertwined hands, laying just inches below his lips. My cheeks flushing slightly, I tugged on his hand till he got up off the floor and sat beside me.

James stared at me, a dazed look on his face. 'She told me that Marie... had a twin. One who was stolen at birth by a demon.' He took a deep breath. 'She's my sister.'

My eyes widened as it sunk in. 'James,' I gasped, my mind whirling, 'It was you.' He was an angel; he always had been.... He was—

'You're Hell's Angel.'

His lips tipped up in a stunning smile. 'And here I was—calling Marie the Hell-Angel when it was me all along.'

'I think she's more like the Demon of Heaven,' I joked, grinning back at him. But, remembering our last encounter, my smile soon fell away. 'Is she okay?'