Chapter 4
Knock knock
"Just leave me alone to died!" I pouted. I had locked myself in one of the rooms in the Abbey for self-reflection and a pity party. I sat on the stone floor of one of the sisters bedroom. The accommodations couldn't be any simpler with a twin size bed against a wall that gave of you to the beach down below and a small desk. I could barely fit in this room. This would be my coffin.
Knock knock.
"We're coming in".
"No--" I tried to get out as the wooden door opened and Caleb and Flynn came in. Well tried to come in, Caleb sat on the bed, dressed casually and a white one shoulder robe while Flynn could barely get through the door in a black suit. I felt barricaded in with nowhere to escape from my hurt feelings.
"We heard you're getting married", Caleb said gleefully.
"She said no".
"I don't think she really has a choice", Flynn chuckled holding on to the top beam of the door.
"Well, she does and she doesn't want me".
"Isn't this an arrangement? Why are you so pissed" Flynn asked.
"Because the woman he loves rejected him. That's not hard to understand", Caleb interjected as he came and sat on the floor in front of me. He gave my shoulder a comforting squeeze. "Ryel, I am sorry---"
"Before today were you even thinking about marriage?" Flynn asked bluntly sounding just like Evelyn.
"No".
"Then, why the fuck do you care?"
"Because.... Because...", I shouted. "She didn't just say no. It feels like Evelyn isn't happy with me".
"She loves you", Caleb was quick to say.
"But, she's not happy and I fear she hasn't been happy in a long time. And I never caught it", until today. I told Flynn and Caleb everything Evelyn had said in the middle of the road.
"So change or get over it", Flynn stated. "She's asking you to show up. You walk on eggshells with Michael and all the other archangels trying to appease them. If you keep it up you'll lose the woman who got you your redemption to begin with".
"There has to be a compromise", Caleb added.
"I thought we were compromising?"
"Seeing your woman every six to seven months isn't a compromise It's the suicide of your relationship. You're going to have to grow a pair of balls and put your foot down with Michael", Flynn said.
"Ryel, not you nor Michael can't force Evelyn to do anything. It's okay that she doesn't want to marry you right now. You didn't even want to marry her until Michael demanded it. This is one thing you cannot rush into. You and Evelyn have both been busy doing the best you can to keep Hell at bay. There's nothing wrong with admitting you both have drifted apart now is the time to come back together".
I don't feel like we drifted. Evelyn was still my lady and I still loved her. I just hated that I hurt her and I didn't even see it.
Every decision I've made has led me to Evelyn. I could not imagine spending the rest of eternity without her. She was so much ingrained in my life I couldn't imagine a future without her the same way I couldn't imagine Caleb and Flynn not being my family. "I need to put my foot down".
"Yeah you do".
"And try to be understanding to Michael's plight. He has existed to protect heaven since his creation. He's been so solely focused on that it may be hard for him to understand that not everyone is that tuned in to the needs of heaven. Let him understand that you understand his desire to protect but if he pushes this he will push Evelyn away from all of us. She's not a woman that can just be bullied into submission".
"Caleb diplomacy has always been your forte, you outrank Michael, you could make him listen", Flynn suggested. "And you..."Flynn said making me stand up,"Go be a better man for your woman. Nobody wants to deal with you sulking for the rest of eternity".
"I couldn't agree more", Caleb added.
Okay, I was done with my pity party / tantrum. Evelyn told me what the problem was and I would fix it. I cared about her and I wanted to put her first now I just had to prove it. And I had an idea.
***
"Okay, enough is enough!" Damion shouted following behind Cullen and I. It only took him a solid 20 minutes to realize I wasn't going to catch up with him and I was heading in the wrong direction. Damion just let me walk following silently behind me. Until it got dark, and he got tired. "We don't have to go to the Abbey, but I don't plan on walking all fucking night in the middle of the road".
"I'm going wherever not there is!" I shouted as I turned around and started walking backwards. All it took was one look for me to know Damion was extremely pissed. "Maybe if you didn't run Ryan over we wouldn't have to walk".
"I am protecting you! You know like Heaven forced me to do!" He shouted back.
"Well I'm sorry I'm such a burden to you!"I spat sarcastically.
"It's good you know you're a pain in my ass".
My emotions were all over the place. I knew Damion didn't mean anything he just said and I didn't either. But when tears started to fill my eyes he was the first to awkwardly hug me; padding my back like I was diseased and he really didn't want to touch me.
"Whatever your problems are they're mine too... unfortunately. If you don't want to get married you don't have to get married. If you don't want to meet Michael we don't have to meet Michael. Sadly enough, I am your guardian angel so you're success is really my success. And I would rather us both be happy".
I hugged Damion back,"I can't...ever get married. I have to stay the way I am".
"And why do you think that?" Damion asked cautiously.
I just took a deep breath and lied,"because we have a lot of fallen to save. Can't mess up a good thing".
Damion pulled away from me but held on to my shoulders. I knew he was studying my face and he knew I was lying,"Whatever you're hiding will come out eventually. Avoidance won't solve the problem. And if you're that tight lipped about it it's going to be a pain in my ass when it finally comes out".
It was working for me so far. And if it ever happened what did it matter I'd be dragged down to Hell forever trapped in the pit. "There is nothing. I just want to do a good job".
"You know I consider myself smarter than the average idiot and you hang out with", I opened and close my mouth wanting to say something smart like he was the only person I hung out with. And Cullen didn't count because he was he literal part of me now. "Whatever happened in hell, whatever scared you, cannot have this much power over your life. Eternity is long, even longer if you deny yourself".
"That doesn't seem like the best advice for a guardian angel to give".
"Oh it's hedonistic, but you deserve good things in your life. And if marrying that fucking idiot makes you happy go ahead. Evelyn, I'm not a fucking idiot like those tools you make us associate with. And I've kept this to myself, because I figured you would eventually break. But it's been 4 years and I think you've just done more damage to yourself. Whatever happened in hell cannot define you. If you don't want to talk about it that's fine, you can deny it like it never happened. But I will be damned again if you let hell have this victory over you".
He is right.
Cullen added.
"I.. I'll take it under consideration", I said not liking how vulnerable this conversation left me. I needed to be honest with more than just Cullen. I was deflecting hard to protect myself. I was afraid of hell, that's why I wouldn't marry Ryan or anyone. That's why I started to bitch and whine about anything that would pop in my head. I was fine with the way Ryan and I worked. Time didn't matter when we had an infant amount.
Perhaps we should let him know the facts. And let him make the call for himself?
Cullen suggested.
And let him get himself killed, I thought.
If you do not trust Ryel then maybe we should not be with him.
That was a low blow.
But the truth.
"I fucking hate it when you have conversations in your mind with Cullen. Just say it out loud!"
"We're having a private conversation!" I exclaimed "And I don't need you judging...."
Just then, a flash of light caught my eye, initially resembling a falling star, But the more it fell towards us the clear it became. The flash of light quickly turned into Michael, flying directly towards us in brilliant white armor. He landed cracking the pavement beneath him. His anger was palpable, evident in the way he aggressively stomped toward me, his wings extended wide, blocking me from Damion.
"Did you think you could escape Heaven? That you had a choice in this!" Michael yelled, his voice laced with anger as I instinctively took a step back, feeling both terrified and defiant.
Damion attempted to diffuse the escalating situation, stepping forward, "Michael, wait, let's talk this out calmly. We were actually heading---"
But Michael was unrelenting. "When I call you I expect you to come, Evelyn! You have responsibilities, duties!" His voice echoed with authority and frustration.
I stood my ground, my fear tempered by a simmering defiance. "I'm not... We were figuring things out," I retorted, my voice shaky but resolute.
Damion interjected again, trying to ease the tension. "Michael, we kind of got a bomb dropped on us. We were just heading to the Abbey now."
But Michael's anger didn't wane. "I explicitly told you to be there by noon! And here we are the next day".
"I'm sorry, was I not supposed to panic at the idea of having to get married not wanting it".
"You were supposed to do as I tell you!" He fumed.
"I don't take orders from you, I don't serve you. I don't have to listen to a damn thing you have to say" I argued back.
"You will do the right thing and bind yourself to heaven. Another Fallen has sided with hell on your watch".
"You make it sound like it's my fault like I tempted him to hell. In 4 years I've saved 38 falling. And only three I couldn't reach. What the fuck have you done? Other than be a major pain in my ass and the only stress in my life. I'm doing the best that I can, but I am not your whipping dog or one of your soldiers or anyone that gives a damn about who you are".
Michael and I never got along not even a little in the beginning but he normally left me alone. So why was he so pissy with me today?
"We are leaving and you will tie yourself to Ryel".
"I'm not going anywhere with you!"
"Michael listen to reason for one second. We're all a pain to each other. But we're all on the same golden boy team".
"Go fuck yourself!"
"That's not very go team of you".
"Damion!"
Michael didn't listen to a word I had just said he grabbed my wrist roughly to the point I thought he was going to break it. But I stood my ground pulling away from him as Damion tried to come to my rescue to separate both of us. Michael's wings began to flap. My heart pounded in my chest as Michael lifted me off the ground, his wings beating furiously as they tried to take me. But I was filled with such intense hate and rage that I screamed out in defiance,
"I SAID NO!"my voice echoing through the darkness.
Suddenly, the ground began to shake and rumble beneath us, and strong thick black arms and hands burst out of the Earth, dragging me back down to the ground. Michael refuse to let go of me as he made a sword of pure light appear in his hand but it couldn't cut through the arms that held me and placed me gently back on the ground. Michael didn't have any effect on them, but they had an effect on him burning anything they touched on his body. The arms protectively circled me.
"What the hell..."
"Exactly..." Damion said to himself in disbelief as Michael came to stand by him. I couldn't believe what was happening. Before my mind could even put together what was happening, a sinkhole started to form underneath me. The hands that had just protected me began to drag us down.
And I knew exactly where down led. In a panic, I tried to escape but that only made me sink quicker.
Evelyn stay calm.
Cullen said like this was the easiest thing in the world to do.
"I can't!" I said as I was jerk down hard. I saw Michael and Damion trying to fight to get to me. But I was almost under by the time they made it to me I would be in hell again! I clawed and scratched my way to stay above ground, fighting against the unseen force that pulled me down.
Damon reached out to me just in the nick of time, and together we struggled to escape the pit. But just as we thought we had a chance at survival, one of the hands morphed into a sword and impaled Damon in the back. His blood splashed onto my face.
Damion let go of my hand in a flash of pain, and my world slowed down. Michael fought his way towards us with all his might, but it was no use. I knew I was going to be dragged down into the fiery abyss. And in a second I fell, the world above me turned black.
And I fell deeper and deeper into hell.