The Fallen

Part Two

Thomas

I looked up at this creature and wondered what this was all about. She had answered my questions but everything she had old me was simply too insane for a rational man to believe.

And yet I did believe her.

One look at her showed me that she was not of this earth, her skin glowed with some kind of otherworldly​ light​. She met my gaze and I found myself frozen in place. I wanted to believe that I had a second chance, free of all my previous burdens, I wanted her to come with me on this madcap scheme of hers, but it all just seemed too ​good​ to be true.​

I also couldn't quite believe that jumping off a building wouldn't kill her.

With a silvery shimmer, her white flowing garment transformed into something darker and more akin to modern fashion then, as though in slow motion, she began to tip forward.

My pulse stuttered but I expected her wings to open and stop her fall but instead, she began to rotate, end over end and my heart stopped for a moment.

She landed with a sickening thud and the moment she struck the pavement, her wings evaporated, like smoke blowing away on a breeze.

I ran to her and knelt down beside her.

"Are you alright?" I asked.

She blinked a few times but didn't answer. She seemed unharmed.

"You alright, Miss?" a navvy joined us, kneeling on her other side, and a few other dock workers gathered nearby to watch. "What 'appened?"

"She just tripped," I answered, hoping they hadn't seen her fall from the building.

She still just blinked, looking from the navvy to me, her eyes blank and showing no signs of recognition.

"You speak English?" she asked.

I remembered what she had said about not knowing me and how I had to make her believe that she did.

"Yes, we're in Ireland, remember? We're sailing to America tomorrow."

"Who are you?" she asked as I helped her to sit up.

"Your husband, remember..." How could I convince her we were married if I didn't even know her name? "Angel?"

"I­"

"You must have hit your head harder than I thought, darling. Let's get you to the inn and you can rest a while."

I leaned forward to pick her up but the man opposite me held his hand up.

"Now 'ang on fella, I saw you a few streets back, alone and talking to yourself. 'Ow do I know this woman is anythin' to do wiv you?"

On the one hand it was good that he cared about a woman he had never met but on the other hand, it made things more difficult.

"We were robbed earlier," I explained, "I was talking to myself because I was angry and worried about my wife, whom I had told to run. I should have something in here that will prove who I am, it's the only thing they left me with." I took the satchel off and opened it, praying that she had told me the truth.

First I found some sketches of the two of us, with 'Emily and Thomas' written on the back of one, which I showed to the man, then I found a marriage licence showing that Emily St. Aubert married Thomas Valancourt four years ago.

"Right you are, Sir," he handed me my papers back. "My apologies for keepin' you."

"Not at all, my good man, I'm glad you look out for ladies in distress. I wish there were more like you about." I put the papers back, closed the satchel and threw the strap over my head once more, then I picked Emily... no, that name didn't suit her. I picked Angel up in a bridal carry. "You couldn't direct me to the Sheep's Heid​​, could you?"