Tears Of An Angel

Prologue

He fell, plummeting down to the solid earth a million kilometres away, with an anguished cry of aid. The haunting – yet fearsome – face of his leader was branded into his mind, a permanent reminder of his former home and disappointment thrust onto him. He frantically attempted to beat his snow white wings, summon them to lift him up – but they failed, now also a remnant of his previous life.

Fiery tears cascaded down his pale cheeks, some blown away into the atmosphere – tears of disgrace. There was a deep hole in his chest where his heart should be. Death appeared to be much more blissful at the moment. Refusing not to weep heavily, he curled up into a sphere, hiding his shameful, delicate face behind his knees.

For what seemed like hours on end, the final brutal impact of the Earth smashed onto his body, causing an explosion of an unusual feeling in his back. It was excruciating – earning an agonizing scream of pain. Pain was a new sensation and it wasn't pleasant – not at all. A cloud of fine, brown dust filled his nose, causing the youth to sneeze daintily – the motion awkward.

Everything was so new yet so terrifying. He'd never experienced human senses and sensations. It was so exhilarating it took the youth's breath away. This was his damnation – to start a new life on this tiny world in the midst of a fathomless black universe.

An abrupt soothing wave of liquid coated his limp body, chilling him to the bone. He laid back into the mass of fluid numbing the huge ache in the small of his back, a short sigh escaping his dry throat. He licked his chapped lips, smoothing the skin – a faint tinge of salt rolling on his tongue. If it weren't for the burning pain in his back, his activity would have been great. He shut his eyes, welcoming the angel of sleep to whisk him away into the land of dreams.

He woke up in a pearly white room, all four walls the exact same colour with a golden rim. The burn in his back was now ebbed to dull throb. A constant beeping sound was only heard aside from his shocked gasps of oxygen and the immediate pain it caused as he breathed in his chest. He was lying on lumpy mattress in a metal railing bed, white sheets covering his body. He watched the sharp green lines on a foreign black machine jump up in time with his heartbeat. His first emotion was astonishment. He had no recollection of being transported to such a mysterious medical room. He knew of medical societies where humans came and went to be aided from diseases; but he'd never experienced being in one.

"He is awake." He heard a bubbly, female voice chirp. He propped himself onto his elbows, observing his surroundings. A petite, blonde woman wearing a rather tight uniform was standing at the door, a clipboard in her hands. His azure eyes took in her appearance, finding nothing particularly special about her.

"I'll go inform the doctor you're awake." She said with a forced, tight smile before scampering away. He sat there, dazed slightly, wondering about his future. He had a sudden epiphany. His wings were gone. He spun around, trying to see his soft, feathery, angelic wings. He gasped in horror to see that they had vanished. The only part of his former life was gone from the universe. Hot, fire-like tears formed in his wide eyes, spilling over the edges of the lids, catching onto his short, black lashes. He wept for his once luxurious existence – something dissolved forever.

"What's wrong, son?" A gruff, male voice asked, filled with concern.

He looked up to see what they called a doctor. He was well built with a growing beer belly and dark hair – all in a white coat with a device hanging out of his front pocket. He shook his head, refusing to answer the man's question forwardly.

"I'm Dr. Maclean. Please tell me your name, son." The doctor said kindly, stepping forward with a steady hand to calm the shaking man in front of him.

He swallowed the lump at the back of his throat and rasped out, "Arden."

Dr. Maclean nodded, scribbling his name down on the clipboard at the foot of his bed. "Last name please,"

Arden cocked his head to the side, a stray tear rolling down his cheek. 'I don't have one." He answered meekly.

Dr. Maclean's eyebrows rose to his receding hairline. Disbelief was written all over his tanned, leathery face. "How could you not have a surname? That's not possible." His voice was strained – choked back by his astoundment.

Arden's eyes pooled again, a claw ripping his chest open again to dig deeper into the hollow place of his heart. "I'm sorry but I'm afraid it's true." Arden said, sorrow marring each soft word. Where he was from, surnames weren't necessary.

"Please forgive me, Arden. I didn't realize how touchy this topic was to you." Dr. Maclean's pitiful face suddenly brightened with an idea. "Would you like me to give you a surname?" His enormous brown eyes bored into the cerulean orbs of the young adult.

Arden's face illuminated with pure joy with a slight hint of incredulity. "Really? I'd be most gracious." Arden sat up properly, his honey blonde locks sweeping into his face. "Want did you have in mind?"

Dr. Maclean smiled genuinely. "I'll have to get back to you on that. Now" – his face darkened – "about your injuries. You have a fractured skull, five broken ribs, a broken leg and bruises on every inch of your body. You've also lost a lot of blood. You'll have to stay here for at least another week for observation." His voice was gravelly as he spoke those words. "There is also a possible chance you have amnesia."

Arden nodded his head obediently, terribly confused on the matter. He understood the doctor's reasoning for him to stay but he'd never intended on being hurt so badly. He gingerly lifted the sheet covering his body and reacted mentally whilst his facial expression blanked out.

Oh. My. Goodness. He thought, for once, frightened of his own body. Black, blue and purple blotches what the doctor called bruises were decorated all over his pallid skin, some large some small yet too many to count. Arden's head spun unexpectedly, bringing his body down and his head landed onto the soft pillow.

"I'll keep you sedated for the next few hours for your body to heal a little." Arden heard the doctor say before he blacked out.