"We're all kissed by angels but some of us never think to pucker."
- Terri Guillements
Dean
"You want me to what?" I asked Ben. He looked annoyed as he walked over to Lia.
"You need to fight her." Ben said and smiled.
I looked at Lia. She looked surprised too, but smiled and said, "What? Are you afraid I'm going to kick your ass?"
I grinned, "I didn't want to fight you, because I was afraid I would hurt you, but maybe I can beat that ego out of you."
"We're on your side, Princess." James yelled from the side lines. I realised that everyone was gathered outside to watching us fight.
This was going to be easy. I've known Lia's fighting style all my life. She provoke's her opponent to see what drives them and then she pulls that aspect out of them, taking the win.
I smiled and said, "I'm not going to go easy on you, Lia."
Lia nodded, "That's what I'm counting on."
She mocked a punch to my right, catching me off guard and swung a real punch to my left, driving her fist into my stomach. She quickly jumped back, avoiding my kick that would have knocked her down.
I kicked again, and Lia had to block it with both arms. I used the opportunity to drive my fist into her side.
Payback.
She smiled as she recovered and readied herself.
I jumped up and held my fist to lunge at her. She acted quickly, stepping aside and grabbing my elbow as I passed her, then pushed me to the ground. She bent my elbow behind my back and sat on me, just above my wings.
"I see what you're doing." I said and I could hear the smile in my voice. I lifted my wings and pushed myself off the ground. Lia gasped as she fell backwards and landed on her butt. I swiftly turned around and planned to jump on her and hold her down, but she was already up. She was already too close and I couldn't stop her. Her fist made contact with my cheek and her other hand forced my body down and into her knee. She then pulled her leg back and extended it, driving her heel into my side. I knew what would have happened next: she would have jumped on me, probably holding my wings down too, but I wouldn't let that happen. I leapt into the air and hovered there, letting my body rest as my wings held me up just a few feet above the ground.
Lia grinned. She ran to me and dodged one of my mid- air kicks. She grabbed one of my wings as it was going down and she twisted, pulling me to the ground and when I was close to her she jumped up and kicked me with both legs, releasing my wing. I gasped in pain as I hit a tree. Lia darted to me, and I tried to lift myself again, but my wing was injured.
She threw a punch at my face, but I blocked it with both arms, so she threw a second one into my nose. I felt blood trickle down into my mouth.
I jumped up and kicked Lia in the stomach, momentarily dazing her.
She's fighting at a whole different level. If I didn't end this now, I would have lost to her.
I drove my fist into her nose as she was dazed and quickly ran to her exposed back. I used my uninjured wing to send a rush of air toward her body, causing her to fall. I jumped on her back and held her arms down with my hands. I dug my knees into her legs, preventing any surprising kicks.
A terrifying scream emanated from Lia. "Dean! My back!" she yelled and I looked down. I saw two small open wounds across her back.I let go of her arms and stared at her back.
Amelia elbowed me in the face and it caused me to fall off her. She jumped on me and held me down. I couldn't get out so instead I said, "I'm done!" and she let go of me. She stood up and held out her hand to help me up.
The onlookers cheered, chanting Lia's name. I kept my eyes on her back as she walked to them. The wounds were small, but visible. Did she know about them?
I walked to her to ask her about it, but Lucy yelled from the house, "Dean! Mike's on the line for you!"
Ben looked at me. "What could the New York division want?" he asked. I shrugged as I gave Lia one last look before walking off. She didn't seem to notice her wounds, because she was laughing and talking to the group like any other day.
The wounds bothered me, because they formed where her scars used to be. Something felt off, but I couldn't think about it right then. I ran to the house and picked up the land line.
"Mike." I said out of breath, wiping the blood from my upper lip.
"Good afternoon, Dean." Mike said. "I have a favour to ask of you."
"Go on." I said as I leaned against the wall.
"A few angels fell just a few days ago. More and more have been falling and we can't handle the numbers. Our Warriors already have their hands full, with three trainees each. Do you think you could maybe take a few off our hands and train them?" the reply came.
"What about the Texas division?" I asked. "They're mostly Warriors."
"I've tried them and the LA division, too, but like I've said, more angels have been falling and they can't handle the numbers either. We're lucky we could get to this many first before the dark angels could."
I clenched my fists. I hated training new angels. They're arrogant and could get us killed.
"Who do you need us to train?" I asked.
"Could you accommodate five? Two warriors, two matter benders, and a healer." Mike said.
"When will they be here?" I asked, hiding the reluctance in my voice.
"Two days." Mike said. "I'm sending an escort with them, in case the Fallen try something."
"Alright." I said and put the phone down.
I sighed as I walked back outside. The group was scattered now and Lia wasn't amongst them. I saw her standing by the lake, washing off her blood.
"What did he want?" Lucy asked as I approached them.
"Five new angels will be here in two days. Two warriors, two matter benders and a healer. Do you think you could train them?" I asked, looking at all of them.
"Five new angels?" Maisie asked. "When did they fall?"
"A few days ago." I said.
"Angels can still fall?" Lia's voice startled us. She stood in the back, staring at me.
I nodded. "They've never stopped falling."
"Yeah, but usually it's just one or two every few years, but five?" Maisie asked. "It almost makes me think that something is coming."
The group looked at Lia. "Have you felt anything from Azriel yet?" Ben asked. Lia looked at her feet.
"No." she said, "He's either laying low, or I can't see it anymore."
The group fell silent for a while.
"Will you help?" I asked. Everyone nodded, except for Lia. She stared at her feet. I wanted to walk to her, but she walked away, going back to the lake.
My eyes found her back, but the wounds were gone. Part of me wondered if they were even there to begin with.
Amelia didn't come to dinner that night. She locked herself in her room and stayed there. I knocked on her door.
"Lia?" I asked. "Are you hungry?"
Lia was silent, so I decided to take a different approach. I went through my room and was relieved to see that the bathroom door was unlocked. I opened the door and Lia looked up at me.
She was sitting in her bed and hugged a pillow.
I walked to her and handed her a plate with pizza. She smiled as she took the plate and scooted aside for me to sit.
I sat down and looked at her. She was just staring at the white covers. "Dean," She said in a hushed voice, "what were my wings like?"
I stared at her and swallowed the lump in my throat. She looked up at me, "Before the fall?"
I frowned at her. "Before?" I asked confused.
She bit her lip, saying, "I don't remember anything before the fall. In my memories I know certain things, but I don't remember them. It's like watching a movie about your life. I remember important parts, but it feels alien and at the same time it feels like a huge burden is lifted."
Lia fell silent, so I cleared my throat and said, "Your wings were the softest, biggest and brightest of all."
Lia cocked an eyebrow at me and I held my hand over my heart. "I'm serious. You are the angel of light. You had the biggest wings, because you needed them to reflect the light in the dark." I said.
Amelia smiled. "Was." she corrected me. "I was the angel of light." She looked at the covers again.
I grabbed one of her pizza slices. "You're still the angel of light, Lia. You showed the white angels a way to win the fight. You were the bright light in the dark." I said as I bit into the pizza.
"Hey." Lia slapped my arm. "That's my pizza!"
I laughed as I took another bite. "If you're not going to eat it, I sure as hell am!" I said in between chews.
"You're disgusting." Lia said as she took a bite into a slice. We sat in quiet for a while and finished eating. When Lia finished her last bite I bumped her shoulder.
"Tell me about your life." I said and wanted to slap myself. Idiot. Now she's going to think you're trying too hard.
"What's there to tell?" She laughed. "My life was a series of fights and sadness."
"Fights?" I quirked my eyebrow. Lia blushed.
"I loved to pick fights with bullies and let them beat me up." She said, her eyes filling with laughter. "They would sometimes even cut me, and when they'd see my black blood they'd run for the hills, screaming 'Demon! Demon!'"
I laughed, knowing that that was something my Lia would do.
Lia giggled, she looked at me and said, "I remember this one bully, her name was Penny, she punched me and when my nose started bleeding she fell to the floor. I wiped the blood off with my finger and held it out to her, saying 'Now your soul will be mine.' Needless to say, Penny became a very obedient Christian."
I laughed. Lia and I stayed up almost all night, talking about her childhood memories. She was born in New York, but hated it there. Lia liked white lilies and she's never seen the sea. I realised that I had already fallen in love with the girl in this life and I wanted to know everything about her. When I woke up, I was still in her bed and she was sleeping softly, her head against my chest.
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I love the way Amelia tricked Dean into winning! She's just so adorable! But what did Dean see on her back? AND ANGELS STILL FALL?!?!?!?!
Is it just me, or does something smell wrong? Hmm... Let's vote for this chapter, comment what we think, share it to a friend and then read chapter sixteen!!!