Fallen

Chapter Four

I sit on the edge of my bed turning my angel blade in my hands. The length of the whole thing is roughly 16 inches. It's about the same as the length from my inner elbow to the tip of my middle finger. I run my fingers along one of the flat faces of the blade. Mother's words ring in my ears:

If you ever want to talk to your father, just pray to him.

I take a deep breath and set my angel blade next to me on my bed. I close my eyes and start to fidget.

"Castiel?" I say aloud. "Can you hear me? I-I don't exactly know how this works, so," I trail off. "This is Celeste. If you really have been watching over me my whole life, then you probably know that I've said and thought some pretty nasty things about you. I just wanna say that... that I'm sorry. I've misjudged you." I pause for a moment, but my eyes stay closed. It's like I'm waiting for a response, but I know I won't get one.

"Anyway," I continue. "If you're listening, then I need your help. I don't know what to do with this grace. I don't know what to make of it. Any of it." I wait in silence again. "Castiel? D-daddy?" My shoulders slump and my eyes open. "Stupid," I mumble.

He's probably just... busy, I tell myself.

I look at my clock on my bedside table and see that I need to start getting ready for work. I change out of my church dress and into a graphic tee that has Mario and Luigi on it and ripped jeans. I brush through my long black hair and put it into a high ponytail. I put a bit of eye shadow and a quick coat of mascara on my blue eyes. I don't usually like wearing makeup, but I feel like I have to look the part for my job at Hot Topic.

As I grab my bag from the floor and am about to walk out of my bedroom, I catch a glimpse of my angel blade on my bed. I pick it up and stuff it into my large bag. Thank god it's big enough to conceal it. I hope I won't, but I may or may not need the protection. You never know what could happen.

I pull my 2010 Dodge Dart into the apartment complex and park in my usual spot. It was a long day at work today. I was so distracted by all this angel business. I kept thinking of Castiel possibly trying to answer me, and I was paranoid about someone finding my angel blade. Neither of those things happened.

I lock my car and head to our apartment. When I get to the door, I notice that it's cracked and I hear voices coming from inside.

"Where's the girl?" A man shouts. I stand back and listen.

"I'm not telling you anything," my Mother's voice says. I hear the sound of someone getting hit. Instinctively, I grab my angel blade from my bag.

"Where is the nephilim?" A woman growls. Nephilim?

     "Go to Hell!" Mother shouts.

     After a moment of mumbling and shuffling, I hear a scream. I fling open the door, gripping my blade tight. My mother is tied to one of our kitchen chairs, her face swollen and covered in cuts and blood. The bald man and grungy woman that stand over her jolt around at the sound of the door hitting the wall. They both smirk at me, and the woman pulls a knife out of my mother's stomach.

     "Mom!" I scream. My bag falls off my shoulder, but my blade remains in hand. I look from my limp mother to the faces of her attackers. Their smiles grow, and their eyes change. They blink and their eyes turn completely black.

     I take a step closer to them. I'm ready to fight. Or give it my best shot, anyway. I bring my right hand back and charge at the woman, my blade pointed directly at her. Before I can impale her, her knife finds its way into my stomach. She lets go of the handle and pushes me back.

There's no pain. I feel nothing. I look down at the knife then back up at the woman. She and the man exchange a look of terror for a split second. I pull the knife out of my stomach and drop it on the floor. There's a huge gash in my shirt where the knife was.

I sigh and look back up at the woman. "I loved this shirt." Then I lunge forward and jam my blade into the side of her neck. An orange light sparks from behind her skin, and she drops to the floor.

Oh god. I just killed someone! Like it was nothing! Oh god! What have I done?!

I hear the man holler from behind me, but when I turn around to kill him too, a new man stands between us with his back to me. He has short black hair and wears a long beige trench coat. The trench coated man puts his palm on the intruder's forehead, and a bright white light beams from the bald man's eyes and mouth. He cries out in pain until the light fades, and his lifeless body falls to the floor.

The trench coated man starts to turn around, and I slowly back away. My hand that holds my angel blade trembles. The man makes eye contact with me. His eyes are blue, like mine.

He takes a single step toward me and gently puts his arm out to me. "I'm not going to hurt you," he says. His voice is like a deep growl. He places his hand on top of mine that wields the blade and slowly pushes my arm down.

"Wh-who are you?" I ask. "Who were they?" I say, gesturing to the bodies on my living room floor.

"Not who. What," he says. "They were demons."

Any other day, I would question the existence of demons. But right now, I just don't have the energy. I look from the man to my restrained mother. A tear escapes my eye and I rush over to her. I kneel down in front of her and pick up her head in my hands.

"Mom? Mom! Mom, please, you have to wake up!" I shake her, but she doesn't move. Tears pour from my eyes. "Mom, please!"

The man puts his hand on my shoulder and gestures for me to get up. I do so and step aside. He places a gentle hand on Mother's cheek for a moment, then he raises two fingers to her forehead. Before my eyes, all her wounds disappear. Slowly, her eyes flutter open and she lifts her head up.

"Mom!" I say.

Her eyes blink very slowly as her gaze moves up to the man's face. He puts his hand back on her cheek when their eyes meet. Her smile grows and her eyes brighten. "Castiel!" She croaks. "It's you!"