Syn

Ten Days Ago

Lifeless...

I held her in my arms, and my head pressed against hers. "No, no, Princess. Wake up. Please." My voice was broken. I held her cheek, tapping. "Please."

She was just sleeping.

She'd wake up soon enough.

I filled my head with these thoughts, fooling myself into thinking the thumping in my head was her heartbeat.

"You need to wake up," I begged her, my teardrops falling onto her smooth skin. "We're supposed to get married soon, baby. Please..."

No answer. I knew there wouldn't be one.

I just couldn't stand it.

I hugged her body, holding it tight against me. I just screamed. Screamed into the silent and empty void. The lights above us burst- falling to the ground around us as I held on tightly.

A sobbed wracked my entire body.

I didn't want to live anymore.

There was no point in anything if she wasn't here.

Take me instead.

"I can't do this." My body shook with sobs as I pressed my lips into her hair.

I cursed God, the heavens, my father...every single thing responsible for bringing her to me and stripping her away. The pain was unbearable.

I damned the world, knowing there was nothing good left if she ceased to exist. Blood would stain the streets of every realm in the universe. Stars would implode, sending meteors and fragments hurling toward the Earth. The skies in every realm would fall, crushing any and everything beneath them the moment I let go of her. Hell would cease to exist-- I would cease to exist in that moment.

I yelled, my rage shaking the ground as I called for retribution. I shouted every vulgarity- my mouth spewing venom toward nothing yet everything.

The Heavens...

They never listened, but they'd hear me today.

I didn't- I wouldn't stop until the Heavens answered me.

And eventually, somebody did.

He appeared just a few feet away from Aiden's dead body, clad in a white suit. His white wings disappeared the moment I looked up at his face and fury rung through me. An angel. Was he sent here to mock me?

His bright eyes dropped to Queen in my arms and I held her tighter. As if I needed to protect her from him. "Why are you here?" I said lowly, my teeth gritted.

He glanced at the watch on his wrist. "Because the Lord is busy with the rest of the world while you're here screaming at us. You must know we can hear you, right? Or was it your intention to get our attention?"

"Tell him I need to speak to him," I demanded. "If he won't come to me, I will go to him with the rest of Hell behind me."

"There is no need for--"

"I will start a war."

"Again, I assure you," he sighed. "There is no need. Whatever you need, you can ask of me. My name is Michael."

The archangel...

Close enough. "Bring her back."

"She is dead," he said. "We can't go around disrupting the natural order because you're heartbroken, Syn. It hurts, but you will move on. This is the way of life..."

"You can tell the future, can't you?" I asked him. "If you or some other fucker up there doesn't resurrect her, I will destroy everything you all value. Every realm will burn-- I don't care. I'll lose my mind."

He hesitated a bit as he studied me. "You wouldn't do that."

"Look into my eyes and see for yourself," I told him. Archangels shared some of the abilities that god did- he gave it to them. If they looked into someone's eyes, they could see their future. I couldn't be sure what he'd see, but I knew one thing. If Queen was no longer of this world, I would destroy it. I would commit myself to ruining everything they had created. Starting with humans-- Heavens' favorite toys.

He crouched down a bit, looking into my eyes like I said. He stared for a few moments before letting out a breath and standing back up straight. "You are a monstrous being." He placed a kiss onto the chained cross in his hands. Whatever he had seen rattled him.

Good.

"Without her," I started with a weak nod, "I will be."

"Be that as it may, I will not be--" He screamed out, gripping his head as he fell to his knees in pain. He dropped his cross into the pool of Aiden's blood and I watched smoke come up from it. He suddenly grabbed it and wrapped it into his fist— blood staining the sacred item.

He let out an angry laugh as he composed himself. "I guess you have a friend up there," he finally said, standing back up and fixing his suit. "I will bring her back." Hope swelled in my chest. "But heaven wants something from you."

Anything.

"What?"

"You," he said. "That is the cost."

"Then take me. Just bring her back." It was an easy decision for me.

"It's not that simple," he said. "We don't want you right now. I will wait." He took a step toward me and crouched down. "Give me your wrist."

I held it out and he grabbed it. He pushed the cross down onto my arm and I winced as it burned my skin. "This mark." He lifted the cross and a bloody red burn in the shape of it stared up at me. "It will disappear. And it will return the moment the Heavens want you to come answer for your crimes. It will choose the moment where you are at your happiest...you're most hopeful, most at peace, and it will reappear on your skin."

I eyed the burn.

"Three days from that moment, you will come to Heaven," he said. "And you will be judged in front of my comrades and before God. You will pay for your crimes, the crimes of your father, and your those of your son. Your spirit will suffer greatly and you will never know rest. Are you willing to accept that fate in exchange for her life?"

I nodded slowly. "I am."

"Well then." He waved his hand and a contract appeared out of thin air. "All you have to do is sign the agreement. By Heaven's law, everything I've said to you has been printed. You will have a copy of your own. You will remember our encounter, but you will remember nothing of the mark or the exchange you've made. Until the time comes, when you think of today...you will only remember that you gave me something for her life. You won't try to remember more than that. If you agree with all the terms, please sign and date this."

He held out the paper and pen and I took both. I read over it quickly, the words blurring as my tears fell onto it. This was it. The life I had been wanting us to have together wasn't going to happen. I'm sorry, Princess. I hated to have to leave her, but she deserved to live a long life. My soul, no matter how much pain and eternal suffering it would face, would rest peacefully if she lived.

I signed my name across the dotted line and a pain shot through my forearm. I groaned, looking down at my arm. I saw the burn sink down into my arm until it was completely gone...

I blinked a few times, my eyes moving from my arm to Queen. You are going to be okay. I moved her hair behind her ear and he took the pen and paper from me. "Once you remember, the contract will appear before you," he said and I looked at him.

"Remember what?" I asked him.

He only smiled at that. "Three days, SinClaire."

Three days for what?

He placed a hand to Queen's head and closed his eyes. "She does not have a heart so I will do my best this once. If she doesn't come back, I apologize in advance."

"If she doesn't come back?" I asked him, anger clipping my tone. "That wasn't a part of the deal."

"I'm an archangel, not God," he said. "And I can only do a spell like this once. Without her heart, there's a seventy-five percent chance she may not wake up."

"I did not sign a contract with you for a quarter chance of her coming back, Michael," I snapped at him.

"It doesn't feel good to be fooled by a contract, does it?" he asked, dropping his hand. "Next time ask the proper questions. It's done."

I looked down at her. She was just as lifeless as she was before he came. "It will take a few days if it does work. I suggest you get her to a hospital fast and try to build up her strength. All you can do from here on out is hope."

"Hope?!" I yelled at him. "How is hope going to help me?!"

He snickered, standing up straight. "Have a little faith," he teased. Before I could yell at him again, he disappeared and a sense of urgency filled me as I stood up on weak legs. My body returned a scorching pain to me, but I ignored it.

I held her body in my arms, set in my determination. She was going to live.

She had to.

I looked down at her beautiful face, her dark lashes fanned over her cheeks. If I let myself believe it, I could convince myself that this was just her sleeping. She'd be up soon enough.

My mind began screaming countless pleas I hoped her soul could somehow hear.

Please wake up, Princess.

Live for me.

Stay with me just one more time...

And we'll never spend another day apart again.

I promise

꧁꧂

The End

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