Rise of the Fallen 1 - My Soul to Keep (3 page)

This wasn't happening. I wasn't going to lose my soul over a wish,
especially one that I didn't want. I didn't see an answer on the horizon. That kind
of pissed me off and started me thinking. I thought of every supernatural being
I had ever heard of and tossed the thoughts as quickly as they came. Nothing would
help. I stared at her. I wanted to outsmart her in the worst way. Inspiration struck.

“I want to be like you, I want to be one of The Fallen.”

Chapter 3

She moved so fast I didn't even see it. One moment she sat on her motorcycle
looking quite bored. The next she stood behind me and had me in a headlock. Quite
shocked, I watched the beautiful Harley tip over and fall to the ground on its side.
I could feel arms trembling as she held me. She seemed almost nervous, like she
was expecting somebody to show up at any second. Moments passed as we stood under
the streetlight above.

 “Listen very carefully, worm,” she hissed in my ear. “The Fallen are
not made, they’re born, and none in the last eight millennia to boot. You can’t
wish for that. I need you to very clearly and slowly say the word, 'Rescind.' Can
you do that for me?” She loosened her grip on my head but slipped her other hand
over my mouth. I nodded I would, and she very slowly took her hand away.

“I want to be one of the Fallen,” I said as fast as possible. Her hand
shot back to my mouth, clearly not expecting me to disobey her.
Stupid Fallen,
tricks are for kids.

“You frigging idiot…”

She let go of me, took three steps back, and looked up at the sky.
The moon was bright, even though it was only a half. The clouds rolling in unnaturally
fast blocked it quickly. Something very bad was coming. Something very, very bad.

I turned to start running like I should have done to begin with. Before
I even made it an inch, she had me back in an ironclad grip. Not a headlock, this
time she merely grasped my shoulders from behind and turned me to face the approaching
storm. The clouds split and moved around us as they sank lower and lower. The sky
turned a sickly shade of greenish-black, completely blocking the stars above. The
cloud formation started rotating clockwise, forming a vortex around us. The blackness
thickened and I could vaguely make out a shape in the center. The more I watched,
the larger it grew. I realized it wasn't flying.

It was falling.

Just before it crashed into the street it unfurled its wings with a
resounding
whump.
That slowed it down enough to keep it from punching a crater
into the asphalt, but only barely. The dust-cloud its wings kicked up took a moment
to settle. Once it did, a winged man with glowing red eyes stared angrily at the
two of us.

I couldn’t help but stare at his wings. He drew them in close to his
body as he placed his hands on his hips. Even without the wings he was impressive
and frightening. He stood over six-feet-tall and made most body-builders look flabby.
Apparently he liked leather clothing, too. Pants, vest, and boots were the only
things he wore. The Fallen must all have biker tendencies.

“What in the mortal realm is going on here?” He sounded even more pissed
than he looked. I tried not to start shaking. The Fallen holding me probably would
have thought it was funny.

“It’s the boy, Darius. He made an incomprehensible wish. I gave him
the chance to rescind, but in a fit of stubbornness, he repeated it.”

“I heard his wish, Clarisse. Did you explain to him it is not possible?”

“I did. I don’t know what to do.”

I didn’t like being talked about while I stood right in between them.
I also didn’t like the look Darius gave me as he moved and circled around Clarisse
and me. I lost sight of him as he walked behind us. When he came back into view,
his wings were gone and his eyes had faded into a smoldering blue color which looked
a lot more appealing than the red they'd been moments before.

“Can you just let me go? If you can’t grant my wish, no harm, no foul.
I don’t mind,” I said proudly. I smiled like I just won a game show.

The wings and eyes came back in a burst of movement as Darius grabbed
my shoulders from the front and lifted me up to his face. “No, tiny human. It doesn’t
work like that. You signed a contract and your soul is ours, no matter what. In
thousands of years we have never failed to deliver our end of the contract as the
laws command. I admit, I am perplexed, but a solution will be found.”

He dropped me and stepped back. I only fell about a foot and a half
but I hadn’t been expecting it. The impact jarred my ankle and pain shot up my leg.
I barely managed not to cry out.

He stood there staring at me for a moment before spreading his arms
and wings out wide. I heard Clarisse walk past me before I saw her. She moved closer
to the other Fallen and turned to face me as she opened her arms and wings, matching
Darius perfectly. They both turned their heads skyward and closed their eyes.

I debated running. The thought of the two of them kept me rooted to
my spot. I doubted I could have gotten away from one of them, never mind two, so
I stood there and watched as they cocked their heads from side to side. After what
seemed to be an hour or two, they finally opened their eyes and stared at me like
I had crapped my pants.
That might be a possibility.

“It is done. Boy, come here,” Darius said. I could hear the defeat
in his voice and hope filled me. “Stand in front of me.”

I followed his command as Clarisse closed in behind me. I felt very
puny as the two of them held out their hands and touched them together above me.
A chill ran down my spine and I thought about running anyway, again. My nose itched
and I tried to lift my hand to scratch it, but it wouldn't move. My arms and legs
felt like they'd been filled with lead.
So much for running
. I could still
move my head so I looked up at Darius’ chin. The sky above still smoldered with
the green blackness. That seemed a lot more interesting so I looked above his head
and focused on that instead.

Energy vibrated all around us. I could feel it in my bones. Darius
and Clarisse began humming, matching the power around us. The sound started to drown
out the rest of the world. It filled my ears and echoed in my head becoming all
I could think of. I could see the sound. I could even taste the sound.

Green light pierced the clouds, completely bathing us in its glow.
It replaced the air around us and I fought not to breathe it in. I started to black
out after only a few moments and let out the air I'd been fighting to hold on to.
I breathed in the light. It burned my lungs and I couldn’t even scream through its
thick, watery power. As a kid, I choked on seawater on a trip to the beach. The
light was ten times worse.

With a burst of pain the light faded. Darius and Clarisse stepped back
to give me space. I collapsed and landed on my knees. Oddly I didn't feel any pain
other than the lingering burning in my lungs. I coughed and sputtered, and I swear
I saw specks of green light fly from my mouth with every cough. After what felt
like an eternity, the pain faded and I stood. I looked over at Clarisse and Darius,
standing there with what looked like pity in their eyes.

“What?” My voice shocked me. I sounded like I had been gargling with
broken glass.

“Welcome, brother,” Darius said with a wan smile. “Very cunning. You
are the first mortal ever to figure out an answer and to keep your soul. Guard it
well.” He turned to Clarisse. “Take him home. Let him rest and on the morrow, introduce
him to what he has become, what he will be, and how the world around him will now
be. Goodbye, brother.” He jumped into the air. With a powerful down-stroke of his
wings he shot into the clouds and disappeared in a flash of light. The clouds slowed,
stopped, and finally started spinning in the opposite direction as the coil pulled
in on itself and disappeared behind Darius.

I turned and looked at Clarisse. She didn’t look too happy with me.
Since I didn't have any idea what had just happened, I opened my mouth to ask the
first of a billion and a half questions. She held up her hand for silence and walked
over to me. I started to take a step back but she shook her head sadly.

“Don’t, I cannot harm you now. You got your wish, worm.”

“Yeah, right. I don’t think so. Nice pyrotechnics and special effects
show, but I don’t feel any different.”

Clarisse opened her mouth to deliver a scathing retort. Or at least
I assumed so. She didn't say anything. Instead she snapped her lips closed and walked
over to her motorcycle, still on its side on the ground. I expected her to pick
it up, but she reached down and ripped the mirror off the handlebars. I winced inwardly
at the further damage to the beautiful motorcycle.

She walked over to me and held the mirror in front of my face. My eyes
stared back at me, blood red and glowing just like theirs. I involuntarily took
a step back and caught sight of my right wing. Clarisse actually laughed when I
screamed.

“Go home? How the hell am I supposed to go home like this? I didn’t
have freaking wings when I left the house, Clarisse!”

“Calm down, worm,” she said and put her hand on her hip in a very Caelyn-like
gesture. It endeared her less to me than calling me worm.

“Will you stop calling me worm?”

“No. Calm down. I need you to close your eyes and think. You need to
remember what it feels like to be a human. Once you remember that feeling, tell
your body to feel that way.”

Her directions made absolutely no sense
. Think like a human? I am
a human.
I tried it anyways. I closed my eyes and pictured myself without wings
and glowing red eyes. I pictured myself like I'd been exactly ten minutes ago. I
told my body to feel the same way.

I opened my eyes and…nothing. Not a damn thing. My eyes were still
glowing and my wings towered over my head by at least eighteen inches. I looked
back over my shoulder and saw the right one extend. I tried not to let a smile creep
onto my face. I did have to admit it, they were pretty friggin' cool. I experimentally
tried to flex one, just a little. It shot fully open with a loud
snap.

“Will you stop dicking around and concentrate? You need to get home
and pretend like nothing has happened.”

“Yeah. Right. Just like nothing happened,” I repeated sarcastically.
I willed my wing to close and shut my eyes.
Pretend to be human…will the wings
away…
I repeated the words over and over. Nothing seemed to be working. “Clarisse,
it’s not working.”

“We haven’t got all night. If you can’t get them to go away, I’ll just
have to cut them off.”

My eyes snapped open and the wings went…well the wings went somewhere.
They didn’t make a noise, they just disappeared. I spun around in circles, trying
to see my back. I probably looked like a puppy chasing its tail. I gave up and reached
behind me. My shoulder felt smooth and normal. Maybe not
normal.
I realized
I had my hand on bare flesh. My shirt and jacket now sported a nice wing sized hole.
“How the hell am I going to explain this?”

“What?”

“Explain the holes in my clothes to my parents!”

“Oh. That’s easy. Turn around,” she said and I did. “I can affect your
clothes, but I can’t change your physical body.” She ran her hand over my clothes
and when I reached back the holes were gone.

“Thanks." I stopped and looked at her for a moment. She smiled
at my thanks and she seemed almost…human.
Maybe she isn't that bad.

I realized something in that moment. She wasn't as scary as she tried
to make herself out to be.
I bet she even said she'd cut off my wings to scare
them off of me.
The more I thought about it the surer I became. I smiled and
said again, "Thanks."

"What for?"

"For trying to scare the crap out of me. It worked. For a moment
there I
actually
thought you were going to cut my wings off.

“I wasn’t trying to scare you…” The confusion on her face frightened
me more than her threat.

Chapter 4

Clarisse reached down and grabbed the Harley with one hand, pulling
it off the ground. Once it was upright, she closed her eyes. I could feel the power
flowing from her as the motorcycle shimmered. I blinked and missed the show. In
less than a second, it went from damaged goods to showroom quality. Even the missing
mirror had been replaced. She sat down on the bike and it rumbled to life. The noise
filled my ears and rumbled in my chest.

I'll probably never even own a car now.
The thought depressed
me a little. I would probably never get married, have kids, or a normal job either.
Hell, I didn’t even know if I would be finishing high school. I needed to do some
serious thinking.

Clarisse motioned me to get on. I slipped behind her, trying to touch
her as little as possible. I had no idea how she would react. She sped off down
the street as soon as my feet left the pavement.

Once the bike got within a quarter mile of my house, the engine noise
stopped. The bike kept moving and I could still smell exhaust, but it didn’t make
a sound. Clarisse stopped in front of the neighbor’s house instead of pulling directly
in front of the big bay window that gave a view of the entire street from our living
room.