Fallen Angels

Chapter 3

Chapter 3

“What are you doing?” 

Lucas stopped and smiled. “What do you think?”

“Are you out of your mind? What has the girl ever done to you? You don’t need the mother.”

Lucas stopped and laughed. 

“You don’t know anything. Not about me, and not about her mother.”

“Well, I know that you’re going to use her as bait. To lure Lilly here.”

“Maybe I am. Maybe I just want to speak to Janet.”

“Doesn’t look like she wants to speak to you.”

 Janet turned around.

“I know you’re talking about me.”

“She can see us? Lucas, you never told me she could see angels!”

“Oh, we go way back.”

Janet’s mouth tightened.

“You… You’ve met before?”

Janet nodded. 

“When I was a child, I often saw him. Hiding behind things, lurking around corners. But nobody else did.”

“Is… Are you Janet’s guardian angel? Like I am Lilly’s?” Lucas gave a brief nod.

“Don’t be stupid, Lilly! You can’t just go running off into the moors looking for Mum. We should call the police.”

“Oh yeah! And what are they going to do about it?” Lilly continued to stuff clothes into her rucksack. 

“I’m coming with you.”

Lilly looked up at Callum.

“I’m not sure…”

“I’m your older brother. I’m meant to protect you.”

She simply nodded.

“Ok.”

He looked at her already bulging rucksack.

“What about things like food? Money?”

Lilly groaned.

“I can’t fit it all in.”

“Maybe a lot less clothes. Just wear a few extra jumpers over the top of your shirt. I’ll do the same. We won’t be able to take blankets, so wear as much as you can.”

“Ok. I guess we’ll be eating a lot of baked beans then.”

“I think there’s some tinned soup in the back of the cupboard.”

“Do you think he’ll kill Mum?” Lilly interrupted.

“I think he’ll use her to lure you. That’s why I don’t think we should go.”

“Maybe if we had help-“

Suddenly, her angel appeared beside Callum.

“Lilly, don’t go. Lucas is planning something, and I don’t know what it is. He’s dangerous. STAY AWAY.” 

Callum followed Lilly’s gaze.

“Is your angel here? What has he done with Mum?”

“I haven’t done anything.” 

“He says he hasn’t done anything.”

“I know, I heard. I just can’t see him, that’s all.”

“Now can you see me?” 

Callum gasped. 

“You don’t look like an angel.”

“That’s because I’m not.”

“Guys, can you come with me? I don’t want to go on my own.”

“Lilly-“

“Please. I’m still going, whether you come or not. Just with you, it’ll be safer.”

The angel sighed, and slowly nodded. 

“So, where did they go from here?” Lilly stopped with her hands on her hips, her shoes being lapped by the waters of the loch.

“Up there.” Callum nodded at the rocky hills, the sparse forest waving in the autumn breeze. The angel stopped and dipped a long hand into the cold waters, splashing it over his face. 

“We’d better get moving. Night will fall soon.”

He was right. No sooner had they staggered to the top of the hill that the first star appeared in the night sky, on the blanket of darkness that slowly spread across the world. 

Callum stopped in a clearing. “We should sleep here tonight.” He pulled the extra jumpers out of the bag and laid them on the rocky ground. Lilly nodded, smiling faintly as she nestled into them. Callum lay down beside her. The angel watched for a moment, before, with a flap of his mighty wings, he heaved himself into the air. He dropped silently onto a lower branch of the tree, his knees tucked into his stomach. Lilly leaned up and looked at the creature huddled on the branch, wings half covering his forlorn face.

“Where you always like this?”

He looked up, and she could see tears in his eyes.

“Yes. For as long as I can remember.”

“You don’t have a mother?”

“I was never born. I never grew. I will never change.”

She noticed the sadness in his voice. Even though she hardly knew her father, her mother had been there all her life. She couldn’t bear to think of what was happening to her mum right now. 

“Why does Lucas hate humans?”

“He doesn’t. He just… I don’t know, he wants to be secret. He hates the thought of people putting him in a cage and experimenting on him.” 

“Has… Has it happened before?”

He wrestled with the truth.

“Sort of.” The second the words slipped from his mouth, he regretted them. And now the secret lay heavier in his heart. 

“I don’t have a name.” He quickly changed the subject.

“No-one has had to call me before, so I’ve never had a name.”

Lilly thought for a second. 

“Do you want me to give you a name?”

“Yes, OK.” She stood up and made her way over to him, sliding onto the branch next to him. Callum lay still, his eyes closed.

“What kind of a name?”

“I don’t know, one that suits me.” 

Lilly looked deep into his big brown eyes, long eyelashes fluttering anxiously.

“How about-“

 His cold lips touched hers, his hand reaching up, running slowly through her long, dark hair. She felt nothing, and then pure joy ran through her veins as she began to kiss him back, slowly, and tenderly. His tongue was warm, sweet and sticky as a hot summers night. A soft breeze whistled through the trees, whipping her hair into his face. He pushed it back behind her ears, moving closer towards her. The kisses became deeper and slower, the stars shining above them.