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Chapter 12 - The Fall


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"Can you get down from there please," Cam repeated up to me.

I shrugged. "I'm scoping."

"No, you're not. You said that yesterday and the day before but I know you're just resting."

"Well, we've been travelling for almost three days we might as well rest."

"She's right," Kimberly said as she stopped beside him. Wow, she's siding with me. Odd how the world turns around when everyone has to work together, "It's been three days since we've been in this forest and one and a half of those days were getting down that damned cliff." 

"We need to rest a bit. I'm tired and hungry." Jack said as he sat beside a tired Bonnie wolf.

Bonnie hadn't really said much through her mind in the past day because she was exhausted. Changing back and forth from her dog form is a tiring transition so she hadn't even bothered yesterday. I was getting worried about her.

Cam was the one making us carry on even though we were all completely fatigued. I hadn't slept since I'd had my dream. I'd explained everything to Bonnie the night before and she told me not to tell anyone. 

I was afraid to sleep. I didn't want to see Gabriel like that again, he looked too... weak.

"Cameron look," I pointed ahead. "The lake is over there; we can have a fresh water supply as well as make a fire to rest."

He frowned.

"Come on." My jaw clenched. 

Okay, so Cam and I have been talking but now and again it's been a bit snappy because we were both exhausted. 

"Fine a few hours."

"It's going to be dark in a few hours and we've learnt from mistakes not to travel in the dark." It'd only been dark a few minutes and we were attacked by a flock of crazy birds.

"Alright, alright." He grumbled. "Let's go."

Bonnie was already moving before all of us even tried. I jumped from the tree to catch up with her. "Bon," She kept trotting along, not even a thought about saying hello. "Bonnie, what's wrong?"

'Nothing, I'm just...' The wolf shook its head and swayed a little.

I glared toward Cameron before picking Bonnie up and cradling the wolf in my arms.

"Asshole," I muttered to him as I passed. Bonnie had already passed out. I didn't realise she was this tired. 

We made it to the edge of the lake and I asked Kimberly to help me. I didn't have time to ponder on how beautiful the lake looked; I wanted Bonnie back to her human form.

"Jack, can you lie the blanket down for when we get back?"

"Where are you going?" He asked.

"Changing Bonnie back." I brushed past Cameron rather forcefully back into the woods and said, "Bonnie's clothes are in her bag. I'll help her." I carefully shrugged off the bag. "She's too tired to change so I'm going to have to try and..."

Kim eyes widened. "Try and what?"

"Help." I frowned and I scratched behind her ear. "Sweetie?"

Her eyes opened for a second but closed. "Bonnie, this might hurt a little."

"No one has ever helped me change," Kim mumbled. "Be careful because it does sting for us to change."

I nodded and carefully sat down with her still cradled in my lap. I shut my eyes and went right into her mind. I tried to make it as painless as possible. To push her humanity to the surface. There was a small grunt and her fur slowly turned into skin. 

I opened my eyes as smiled down at Bonnie's sleeping human form. 

"Lon..."

I looked up at Kim. "What?"

"Your nose."

I brought a hand to my nose and wiped the blood away. "I'm okay. Can you help me dress her?"

"Sure." She helped me put on a pair of shorts, a t-shirt and her shoes. 

Cam didn't so much as glance at us as we walked back. Kimberly laid the blanket out and I careful place Bonnie on top. 

I grabbed a bundle of wood and lit it in the middle of us all. Throughout the evening, we ate after Jackson went into the river for fish or whatever they are around here. I held Bonnie to me as she slept soundly, letting the others eat and rest. 

"Can you feel the door?" Jack asked Cam.

"Yes, half a day and we're there."

Half a day was right but with the exhaustion taking over all of us, it'd be a bit longer. 

I stared up at the sky and smiled when Kim blocked my vision. She lay beside me and said, "Are you pissed?"

"About...?" I turned my head. 

"Cam. He's being a bit of an ass lately."

"I don't know why, either." I frowned. "Maybe it's because I promised him I'd sleep."

"Yeah? Why? You knew you wouldn't sleep."

"I know but I thought it would ease him a bit."

"Oh..." Kim sighed. "You know, I worried about you after I got my memory back. Everyone did, even the elders."

"The elders hate me."

"No they don't. Especially the first elder and his wife,"

A flash of two figures filled my vision and I twitched. "The first elder?"

"You were like a daughter to them. Don't you remember?"

I shook my head. "After The Fall a lot of angels chose to forget. I forgot a lot. Then I returned but not to the Elders likings. I couldn't be in the wrong hands could I? I mean the fate rested on me. Still does. So they allowed me to return. The Elders don't worry about someone like me."

"Perses and Helena do."

"What are they, Greek Gods or something? I didn't think they were associated within this,"

"Only he is. He is the Titan of Destruction and Peace."

"How ironic," I muttered.

"The Elders are from each sector of the universe or Gods if you will. Perses from mythology. The rest are from their religions."

"Wouldn't it be Zeus?"

"He has his own problems he doesn't have time to be an Elder."

I sat up. "You're telling me this Perses... He cared for me?"

"Like his daughter. That's why they call you Princess. Not only are you the Decision, The Goddess of Power, you're also someone's baby."

"Bull."

"Come on Lon, can you honestly say you don't remember Helena or Perses? There are books on them, many of them. And although you may not be in any of them, you are in many in the Angelic World."

I shut my eyes when no memory came to mind and remained silent. 

"Alright the silent treatment, fine. But you will remember when you see them."

"I won't be seeing them," I mumbled. "We go there and we get Gabriel and we leave. Easy."

"Not so much. They'll know you're there as soon as you enter heaven, sweetie."

I, once again, didn't reply and Kimberly let it go. The sad thing is I knew they would know when I arrived in the Angelic World. It was obvious, I wouldn't be able to get up there silently, that'd be a dream come true.

But when have I ever been that lucky?

**

The fire had gone out hours ago. Kim slept beside me as well as Bonnie. Jackson lay across from us breathing slowly, calmly. The only heartbeat and breath I couldn't hear was Cameron's. 

I stood up slowly, making sure not to disturb them as I tiptoed around them. I walked along stream trying to search for Cam's mind. 

During the Fall, Lucifer fell as well as his followers and those such as The Grigori (Watchers) and God's Sons', but before that, it was the War of Heaven. Lucifer and his followers wanted power. He thought he was equal to God thus beginning the fall from heaven. Angels, such as myself and Cameron, did not have a say in this final word. And one unruly comment from me about the fairness of this 'anarchy' had the ground disintegrated from beneath me and poof. 

I fell with them for nine days.

God continued his creation of earth casting the first humans onto earth, and continued on. 

Second chances were not permitted, The Morning Star himself had told me personally. "They would never allow you back, Lonsa."

The interaction between us had caused havoc in Heaven. They feared Lucifer would sway from what was right and wrong what with my First Decision mere days after the Fall. 

So they brought me back.

I blinked the memory away and continued walking. 

I hadn't thought about that in a long, long time. Bringing back memories like that were unnecessary. But I couldn't very well help it. Because after that, and after my First Decision, Lucifer had lost it. He blamed everything on the Elders and God. He blamed me. The reason for so many battles after the Fall including the recent ones are because of what happened six thousand years ago. It wasn't just about me. I can skip the details in between now and then and come to my latest decision. Elijah and Grigori. Eli, the moronic fool, was destroyed years ago thanks to Gabriel I was told. But Grigori... No, he still lives. I hadn't seen or heard anything as the world changed from the better although I had been looking. I wanted him dead and gone. But what damage could he do that wasn't already done?

I stopped at a corner when I saw Cameron sitting by the lake, cross-legged with his eyes closed.

He was dreaming. It was mainly colours, shapes and numbers which were odd. But then it changed into people I didn't recognise. There were no words spoken but just actions. Their lips were moving but I couldn't hear anything.

I sat down by a huge boulder and leant against it, watching him. He looked peaceful compared to the snappy mood he's been in the past two days. I wanted to get this over with as well but he didn't have to be an ass about it.

I started to close my eyes, the weight of my fatigue suddenly hitting me. Sleeping meant dreaming and I did not want to dream again. I couldn't handle it. But... A part of me started to believe that if I did dream about present Gabriel then maybe I'd finally be able to contact him or get hold of him.

I was literally on the edge of sleep when I heard a crack of a branch and the silent tread of paws on the ground.

Immediately, I woke up and kept extremely still. I glanced around me and saw nothing but I could still hear the quiet pat of paws on the ground. I heard another strong fast heartbeat that sounded nothing like an angel or even an average sized animal. It started to get closer but not to me... To Cameron.

I slowly started to stand when a very large almost jaguar like animal emerged from the tree line, its bright grey eyes only for Cameron. The fur of the animal was completely black almost making it invisible. It must be a shifter, it has to be. There is no other way for that animal to possess those grey eyes. If I were to stand beside that animal, it would stand beside my forearm.

Its mouth opened, exposing its large catlike fangs in a snarl. I started to slowly, cautiously draw closer, my heart wanting to explode in my chest from fear. I was sure as hell not fearless especially with something like this. Its large tail swung low as it paused behind Cameron in a predatory stance.

Just as I saw it extend its claws, I panicked slightly and yelled, "Cam wake up!"

The animal spun around and roared at me. I barely had time to watch Cameron wake up and turn before the animal pounced onto me.

I fell backwards with it on top of me, crushing my ribs almost as I used my hands to push its face away from mine. I gritted my teeth as the animal fought against me, its large paw pressing into my shoulder, the other slashing back and forth against my arm and leg. Its teeth snapped close to my face and I lost it.

I cried out and used everything I had to twist, grab the animal by its thick neck in a headlock and squeeze. It thrashed, tried to throw me off him and succeeded. I landed with a grunt and lifted my head from the sand in time to watch it rush toward me.

I shut my eyes waiting for it to happen but I heard a loud whimper and a slap into water. I opened my eyes and blinked at Cameron staring at its unconscious form lying at the side of the lake.

"You're not physically capable at planning things are you," Cameron snapped at me as he walked toward me.

A red haze of anger clouded my vision and he backtracked a little. "Wait, I'm sorry I didn't mean-"

I pushed off the floor with a grunt and pressed a palm to my ribs. I sighed with relief when I felt that none were broken but at least over half of them were bruised. My shoulder, well... I couldn't say the same. I looked at my bare arm and leg and my lip quivered. Large amounts of blood trickled down my forearm and calf. The wound on my leg wasn't red but it was white. Right to the freaking bone.

"Oh, my God. " Cameron rushed toward me but I ignored him as I spotted the animal twitch.

I limped past him grabbed the animal by its neck with my good arm and dragged it out of the water. I couldn't concentrate but it was enough to hear its panicked thoughts. Yes, this was an angel.

I used everything I had, listening to its screams as I forced its humanity to the surface. The fur changed into black human hair and I looked down at the naked female with a growl.

"Alex, you're bleeding a lot."

I glanced at Cameron and back at the thrashing female. "I couldn't care less. She doesn't deserve to live." Her eyes opened and she began to plead. I ignored her and used my mind to knock her unconscious. I dropped her to the ground and asked Cameron for his shirt. He handed it to me without question and I put it on the girl. "We're taking her with us back to the others."

He was looking at my bleeding arm and leg. "Alex-"

"Please, don't call me that right now." I picked up the girl and held her to me, even with my dislocated arm, as I limped back to everyone.

"I'll carry her-"

"No." I replied.

We made it back within minutes, the sky lightening as the sun started to rise. I placed her next to the nonexistent fire and dropped to my hands and knees beside her. None of the others stirred thankfully. If it took as long as Cam and Jack for me to heal then we have some big problems. Cameron suddenly had his arm underneath my shoulders and sat me beside the edge of the lake. He used an old t-shirt to wash my wounds and I bit down on my lip to stop myself from screaming.

"It'll get infected." He mumbled.

"Check Kim or Bonnie's bag, I remember seeing some kind of small kit at the bottom."

He checked Kimberly's and then Bonnie's bag and found a green box with a white cross on it. He opened it and sighed with relief. He opened a bottle of disinfectant and grabbed dry wipes.

"This'll sting a lot." He warned before placing the drenched wipes onto my leg and arm. I grunted and squeezed my eyes shut as the stinging got worse and worse.

"Now, that shoulder."

"Wait, I'll do it!" I protested quietly but he was already at my side.

"Open your mouth."

My eyes widened. "What?"

He held up a thick piece of rope I recognised from the side of his bag. "Put this in your mouth."

I did as he said and felt the tears forming in my eyes preparing myself for this whirlwind of pain.

He traced his finger along my shoulder blade and stopped where I winced. He grabbed my forearm and looked me dead in the eyes before saying, "I am so sorry for this. But thank you for saving me."

Just as I was about to say you're welcome, a crack sounded. The pain was like being slammed in the face with cold hard metal, maybe even worse.

I screamed, bit down so tight on the rope that it fell apart in my mouth and sobbed as he pulled me into his lap and hugged me, telling me to calm down and it was over and rocking me back and forth.

"Lonny? Oh, my... What? Who is this?" Voices sounded behind me but I just continued to cry into Cameron's naked shoulder. For more than one reason.

I'd been holding this is for days. And add the pain to it, and it'll all just come at once. I don't know why I do it. Why I just hold it in all the time; when it finally catches up on me, it's impossible to stop. And the not sleeping doesn't help either. Maybe I should just give up this stupid hard exterior and show my emotions again. It was a nightmare trying to keep them in check for two years. So why not?

After about ten minutes of me sniffling, my eyes silently leaking and Cameron quietly soothing me, I hesitantly lifted my arms and wrapped them around his neck. "Thank you for... holding me."

He remained frozen for a few seconds before he hugged me back. "You're welcome."

I started to stand from his lap but he stopped me. "Let me finish up."

I nodded and slid to the floor as he started to wrap up my deep scratches. Thankfully, they'd almost stopped bleeding. Bonnie popped up in front of me with wild eyes. "Sweet Lord what happened?! And who the hell is that?" She pointed behind us and I smiled weakly at her.

"I'll explain in a minute." I flinched when I inhaled and lifted my t-shirt with my unoccupied arm to look at my stomach.

Bonnie gasped at the colour of my stomach. "Oh, God. You look like you just took a round with a lion."

"More like a three foot jaguar." I nodded my head back at the girl on the ground behind us and Bonnie immediately looked pissed but I reassured her. "I'll sort it, don't worry."

After Cam wrapped both wounds in gauze, he helped me stand up and started to wrap my previously dislocated arm to my chest. "What're you doing?"

"It'll only be for a day. It's just in case it decides to dislocate again."

I sighed and limped over to the half naked girl. Jackson and Kimberly were watching her, obviously not sure whether to treat her as a friend or foe.

I went through the things we found from the back of the car and found the small roll of platinum wire to tie around her feet and her hands. I sat down in front of her and hefted her to sit up.

I moved her hair from her neck to look at her mark.

And the black veins. A Cacodemon. But her eyes were grey. The Demons eyes were black. That didn't make any sense. 

I slapped her awake.

She grunted and wiggled her nose. Her eyes landed on me and she inhaled deeply. She glanced at everyone around her and let out a strangle cry.

Cameron was growling but I hushed him and placed a hand on the girl's calf. I saw, not much, but enough to see she was only a young naive shifter. "What's your name?" I asked softly.

"Blaine," She said quickly.

She's co-operative so what was running through her mind when she attacked?

"Blaine, okay. What was going through your mind?"

"I... I don't know. I was captured a while ago and told to attack and I didn't have a choice and... Please Princess, don't kill me. I didn't know what I was doing."

I narrowed my eyes and lifted her hair once again. The veins were disappearing. 

"Why?"

"She said to distract you... She told me to kill you or him," She nodded her head at Cameron. "I didn't know who you were until you changed me back."

"Distract me?"

"They said something about a door moving."

Cameron stepped forward. "What do you mean moving?"

And just like that the door that was so close by suddenly moved. Cameron let out a groan and a sigh.

"They said they were coming."

From afar I could feel the fast moving heart beats. 

"Why? Why did they want us to be distracted if they knew the door was moving?"

"Lon," Kim warned but I ignored her.

"So they could catch you off guard. They want you all gone."

"Why?" I pressed.

"We have to move now." Jack mumbled. I stood and ignored the cracks as I unfurled my wings.

Everyone followed quickly and we picked up our bags. Blaine sat there looking defeated. She looked like a damn child. 

If I weren't such a good person I'd leave her. She attacked me after all. But it seemed she knew a lot about what was happening. And... I didn't have the heart to leave her. What in God's name has happened to me?

I bent down in front of her to look at her neck one more time. The veins were gone completely now. I ripped off the wrap from my arm and placed it in the girls lap. Then, I lifted her.

"What are you doing," Cam growled. "Leave her."

"I know what I'm doing." I went to cradle her properly but Cameron took her from me and said, "You'll hurt yourself more."

We all quickly hovered from the ground and flew upwards. The Cacodemon's followed us almost immediately. I followed the lake's stream right to the edge...

Oh hell. It did look like the edge of the earth. There was nothing down there. Not even in the distance.

"We don't know what's down there!" Cam said. "We can't-"

"The energy from the door goes down there!" I yelled.  I turned at the speeding Cacodemon's and added, "And we don't have much of a choice!"

I plummeted downward and everyone immediately followed. The wind hit our faces but in a way it was like it was pushing us back up. I glided faster than everyone else, wincing at the pain from my ribs. The water continued downwards with us but suddenly something flashed in front of us.

"Holy shit!" Jackson yelled. "Everyone grab each other!! I know what this is!"

I didn't have time to ask why. Bonnie grabbed my hand, I grabbed Cameron's ankle, Jack took hold of Bonnie's hand and Kim held onto Jack. The flash happened again and suddenly we entered a tunnel. Our speed somehow increased and I tightened my hold on his ankle. The flash began to blink and we all plunged deeper but not at a normal speed, no neither was the speed intentional. The flash exploded and the rush caused Kim and Bonnie to squeal. We were travelling at such an extensive speed, that when the light disappeared we all had to pull on each other to stop.

It was odd... one minute we were plummeting downward and now... we were flying up.

"What the hell just happened?" Cameron yelled. I glanced at Blaine. She'd passed out.

"We, um, just entered the angel's and guard's islands." Jack coughed as we continued to fly up.

"Sweet Lord," I moaned. "How?"

"A portal. It was designed for guards to get here and from there in one piece."

"What's it like here?"

"Well..." He didn't even bother answering as the blue skies came to view. We flew out of the hole in the ground and I sighed.

"Ah, hell. We're screwed."

We landed quickly and stared at the gate and 100 foot walls in front of us. Now this place was a hell of a lot cleaner than where we previously were.

"More like you're screwed." Jack said and I knew exactly why.

Everyone that went through that gate had blonde hair or white hair.

I cracked my wings into my back and sighed. "Bon, pass me my bag. I have a few hats."

I went through it and found a beanie and a baseball cap. I twisted my hair up into the baseball cap and handed Cam the beanie to put on Blaine's head. "Cut her feet loose I have a plan."

Cam did what I said, put her on her feet and chuckled. "And what's that without getting yourself noticed?"

"You'll see." I pulled out my jacket and shrugged it on being careful of my scratched arm so it would cover my mark. "If this doesn't work then... we'll have to wing it. What do we do beyond this gate?"

"This island is filled with shops and hotels and the others are royalty. Your hair... It's like a siren. We have to do something about it."

"I am not dyeing it." I grumbled as I grabbed Blaine's arm and started forward. "I'd rather be mauled by a jaguar- Oh, wait a minute! I almost was." I yanked on her arm she sighed.

I limped whilst everyone walked up to the gate in silence; the guard eyed us before holding out his hand in front of us. "What's your business here?"

"This demon works for The Cacodemon's." I yanked the hat off her head and she gasped. "They are looking for the door to the Angelic World. We believe she can help us get information on where the door is and why they want it."

I tilted my head up a little to look at the shocked guards face. "The door, I can assure you, is safely back behind these walls. It won't be shifting for a very long time."

Good. A smile formed on my lips as I looked ahead.

"Excellent. Now, if you may-"

"Wait." He looked at me closer. "Who are you and your friend's?"

"Guards of course," Kimberly said beside me. "Let us pass?"

He looked between all of us before standing out of the way of the gate. I let everyone in before me, including Blaine, and started in after them.

"Hold on." He stopped me. "You have a bit of..." He held up a loose lock of my black hair and chuckled. "Nice try."

"Let me in-"

"Who are you?"

"If I told you, I'd honestly have to kill you."

"Try me." He smirked.

I flipped my hat off and ran a hand through it. His smile immediately fell and his face paled. "Lord, have mercy. Lonsa, Goddess of-"

"I know who I am; I've had enough of angels stating who I am in front of me. If you tell a soul about me I will hunt you down and rip your head off, understand?"

He nodded sharply. "Yes, of course."

"Good. And I'll know." I tied my hair up and put it back inside the cap. "We go into the city quietly okay?"

"Yes, yes. Okay,"

"I'll make you a deal. Three days and you can alert who you wish. If I find out that anyone knows before then, I will kill you."

"I understand. Go right in."

I smiled at him and walked to the rest.

"You know it will be hell on earth when the rest of the guards know you're here." Cameron said after helping Blaine put her hat back on.

The best thing about this is the door won't be moving at all while we're here. And if the guards don't allow anyone with dark hair through that gate, those damned Cacodemon's won't be a problem. "Well, we better hurry the hell up and find this door."


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Please read this:

I'm shortening the journey to find Gabe. Three or four chapters at the most.

In a way I am sorry about the no upload however I didn't much appreciate the abuse for NOT uploading. In future, if I am slow on the uploads don't demand it. It doesn't speed up the process I assure you.

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