Fate's Choice (ON HOLD)

Chapter Three // The Fallen

David came home at about two in the morning. His hair was dripping wet and his clothes were damp and dirty. I tried to tell from his eyes how it had gone. He smiled and they lit up so I assumed it was alright.

“Saved a guy from suicide.” He explained easily, turning towards the small cupboard to hang up his coat. Xavier took his momentary distraction as an opportunity. He moved closer to me and put his hand very high up on my thigh. I stifled a gasp just as David turned.

He started at Xavier, whom he hadn’t seen at all upon coming into the house, and grinned. Quickly, though, his grin was replaced with a glare when he spotted Xavier’s hand. I fidgeted uncomfortably, trying to slide subtly away, while Xavier and David had a show down.

Without any warning, David flung himself toward us, knocking Xavier off the couch. He tackled him, ripping his hand away from me. To anyone else, it would look like a vicious fight between two rivals. To me, who had lived with David for two years, it looked like a mock-fight between brothers.

I’d seen what David could do. He wouldn’t waste time tackling and pinning Xavier to the ground if he seriously wanted to hurt him. Nor would he smirk slightly when Xavier huffed under his weight.

After a few minutes, Xavier chuckled and stopped fighting back against David and David followed suit. They both grinned up at me goofily.

I pursed my lips and turned my head, deciding that I was mad at David.

David was suddenly beside me on the couch, his shirt off so his wings could flutter around. “Don’t be mad. I came back as soon as I could.”

I rolled my eyes at him. He was out saving people. Like I cared if he missed curfew. “I’m not mad about that. I know you can’t help it.”

Bad things happened to angels that gave up faith or refused to do the job. First, they turned back into humans. Their wings die and fall off; they lose their speed and strength. Then they get hunted down by the more important angels that ran the business. The hunt doesn’t usually take long because humans don’t generally do a very good job at hiding from an angel. The other angels don’t kill them, but they take their memories. Since angels usually stay angels for centuries, they don’t just erase all the memories of being an angel, because that would mean that the person would have a huge gap in their life and that would be more than slightly suspicious. They implant false memories into their head. They have to implant things that lead them away from their life as an angel and their life before. They might give someone the memory that they ran away from home because their parent abused them or that their family died and they moved. Things that could explain why they suddenly turned up in a place away from the last place they remember seeing their family. According to David, it would be too hard for the angels to track down the families and leave the newly-mortals with their families.

If David lost faith or refused to work, they’d erase my memory as well as his. They’d also separate us, maybe put him somewhere in Europe and me in America.

If someone was to stumble upon something important from their life as an angel, they can get their memories back. If I met David again, I might get my memory back because he was so important to me. It had to be something that strikes a nerve with the person. It can be meeting another person who was special to them, having an event happen, or finding an object that causes déjà vu.

“What are you mad about then?” He asked when I didn’t reply, too lost in thought.

I glared at him. “You left me alone with him.” I gestured to Xavier, who smirked and winked at me. “Don’t wink,” I told him. “It’s not attractive.”

“It can be.” He said in a seductive voice.

“Bite me.”

“Don’t tempt me, darling.” He replied easily, smirking again.