3

I don't think I could've ever imagined the truth that Chris told me that day. Even if I always knew that I was different, I never would have thought that I could be the child of a Fallen Angel. Okay, so maybe no one in their right mind would ever think that, but it was still a lot to absorb now that I'd learned it.

I looked at the box in my lap, thinking about all of this as I sat up in my room. I still wasn't completely sure that I believed all of this, but at the same time, I couldn't deny what had happened to me. There was no way that this was all in my head, especially when I looked at the bandage still wrapped around my wrist.

I shook my head as I stared at that box. The child of a Fallen Angel. I was the daughter of a Fallen Angel. If it had been anyone else telling me that, I would've called them crazy. However, thinking about Chris, I knew I believed him. But that also meant that I had to face a harsh reality, one that I needed to try and understand.

I took in a deep breath, then let it out, opening the box and pulling out the pictures. I guessed that I could start with trying to place where these may have been taken in that house. I'll admit that I was still amazed to think that someone could take photos of something like a Fallen Angel, but I supposed that they probably had a lot of clever tricks to use when working on what they wanted in the human world. Obviously, they must have been able to make physical bodies for themselves, if all of what Chris had said was true.

But the thought that they could get a woman pregnant was disturbing to me. Did these women really choose to get pregnant by these creatures, or were they raped in their sleep with the Fallen acting as an Incubus would?

I shook my head, trying not to think about it. That was way too much right now. Instead, I focused my attention on what I'd been doing in the first place.

I looked at the pictures in my hands and studied them. I was certain that the one of Faith Evans had been taken in the den room. Nothing looked unusual about her. She was smiling like she was the happiest woman in the world. It was kind of disturbing.

Flipping to the picture of the one named Saffron, I reasoned that this must have been taken outside, possibly on that rotting deck. I studied him closer. So, this was my birth father. Even if he wasn't supposed to be human, I could definitely see the resemblance between us. He'd really left his mark on me as far as our looks went. No wonder that woman's angry ghost came at me with such a vengeance.

But thinking about her, I wondered who she had been. Was she someone who had crossed paths with them at some point? Maybe Saffron had killed her too. Maybe that was why she hated the sight of my face, because it looked so much like his. I had the feeling that we may have had the same eyes as well. Even from this old black and white photo, I felt like his eyes stood out. I had very blue eyes that many people commented on. Some even told my mother that they almost seemed unnatural.

Certainly makes sense now, I thought.

I put the photos back into the box and opened the book to look at what was written there. While I had skimmed through it while I was with Chris, I hadn't really taken the time to read it fully. This, of course, was more for the fact that I'd just begun realizing that it was written by one of the two Fallen involved with the Evans woman. It had freaked me out a little too much at the time, so I'd put it back.

But now I found that I was far too curious to pass up the opportunity to really look at it. Maybe this would give me some insight about my father, the one called Saffron; and maybe, just maybe, it would tell me more about what had become of him.

This book was like a journal. It was small, but someone had done a lot of writing in it. The handwriting definitely matched what was on the back of Faith Evan's photo. I flipped through the first few pages, skimming through the words. But as I did, a realization hit me.

It was written by Saffron.

For a split second, I felt like I'd hit the jackpot. I was holding something written by my father. But the reality was a lot more sobering as it set in. This was a journal kept by a Fallen Angel detailing what he was planning to do with a woman who had been dumb enough to call on him. There couldn't have been anything remotely good in it. I closed it and set it aside.

But looking at it on my bed, I couldn't deny my pull to it. What had he written in there? Now that I thought about it, Chris had said that there were two Fallen Angels involved, and I'd seen two men in those pictures. But the name of the other hadn't been put on his picture. This was enough for me to pick up the book and reopen it.

I skimmed through the writing, trying to find a name for the other Fallen. Incredibly I was able to catch it on the very first page.

Jade.

Reading more of what Saffron had written, it was sounding like Jade was in charge back then. But the more I read, the more I realized that Saffron seemed to deeply resent that. He spoke of taking advantage of Faith Evans, of using her against Jade to get even. For what, I had no clue.

But it was also easy to see that Saffron had become infatuated with her too. She intrigued him in many ways; some that had me blushing with embarrassment. Saffron saw a lot of advantages in keeping a human woman around, and he used his charm to use her however he pleased.

Yet that didn't seem to be enough for him, and eventually, he began thinking of ways that he could keep her for himself.

It was horrifying to read how he planned to kill her. It was just like Chris had said. He planned on killing her and allowing her to be reincarnated for him and only him, over and over. He spoke of changing a seal to do it. I had no clue of what that meant. But before that, it seemed that he had one more loose end to tie up. There was someone he needed to eliminate; a woman named Lacy Manson.

Reading on, I was certain that this was the woman I'd seen in that house. She had a connection to Faith Evans too. She'd been having an affair with Faith's husband, and had witnessed his death, although she couldn't see what had attacked them. Saffron bragged about that, claiming that he'd been the one to hold her down. He even implicated that he'd sexually assaulted her during the attack. It was like he took a perverse pleasure in knowing the pain he'd put her through.

But as I saw him write about her more and more, I noticed that it seemed like he'd developed a deep seeded hatred for her. Right before he'd planned on killing and taking Faith Evans, he went in and killed Lacy while she was in a mental hospital. He'd possessed one of the other inmates that was being kept there and set her on fire. He even bragged that he'd kept her soul afterwards. She would forever be his pet.

I frowned as I read that. A tortured human soul and he called her a pet.

Once I'd finished reading that part, I came to how he'd killed Faith Evans. He'd thrown her in front of a train while Jade watched, helpless to stop him. His words about it were chilling:

He'll never have her now. She belongs to me.

Well, I thought, he definitely knew what he wanted to do.

But flipping through more of the writing, I began noticing a pattern. The dates were in increments, and each entry spoke of a new incarnation of this woman. Flipping towards the end of the book, I finally found the one I was looking for; his writing about my birth mother, Faith Kent.

I confess that I didn't know much at all about Faith Kent. I knew that she was only sixteen when she'd died right after I was born, but that was about it. Reading through the entries that Saffron had made, I was beginning to get the sense of what she was like. Faith Kent seemed very lonely from what Saffron described. He claimed to feel pity for her. Such a pretty creature shouldn't be left to rot like she was by her parents. So, he decided that he wanted to get closer to her this time instead of tormenting her like he had done with the past incarnations.

But all at once there seemed to be a distinct change in his focus. I reread one of the passages several times, barely able to believe it. He'd begun talking about his desire to have a child. Apparently, he was aware of other Fallen Ones, as he called them, who had successfully done so. He also claimed that Jade had a child as well, although it had been centuries before. These children were forbidden and often hunted, but they were also special in his eyes. Children of a revolution, he'd called them. He wanted his child to be one of the ruling ones. He had the power to give them. All he needed was a willing, child-bearing woman.

And with Faith Kent, he'd found one.

"She starves for my attention, so easy it is for me to take her whenever I feel like it. I'll make sure that the seed is planted before he finds her." I read softly.

This was it, my planning and creation. Saffron had definitely planned me out, and apparently, he'd also taken steps to make sure that I'd stay protected.

But what had happened to him after that? I hadn't seen him in my lifetime, or at least for what I could remember of it. Could he have decided to abandon me? It seemed very strange that he was so hellbent on creating me then turned around and abandoned me.

That didn't make sense either. Not when I thought about the pendant that I was wearing. I hadn't mistaken Chris's words about it. He was using this pendant to at least keep track of me. I had an even bet that Saffron had been the voice coming through it to warn me about getting out of that house. Was there some specific reason that he could only use that to speak with me now?

A sudden soft click caught my attention. I looked back at the box and realized that the bottom of it had opened. There was a hidden compartment there. I set the book aside and carefully pulled out the false bottom. Inside of it was another envelop. I opened it and pulled out a small stack of old pictures. It looked like they had been taken recently, in the last twenty years. I could barely believe my eyes as I went through them.

They were pictures of my birth mother, Faith Kent.

This was the first time that I'd seen any picture of my birth mother aside from the newspaper clipping that Mama had saved, which described her untimely death. She certainly didn't look at all like that terrible picture they had used. It may not have been a death photo, but it sure as hell looked close enough to me.

I thought that she was beautiful as I looked at her in the first picture of the small stack. She had long, light blonde hair and big brown eyes. Looking through the pictures, I saw that some of them were very innocent, almost sweet pictures of her. But the later ones were extremely provocative. He must have liked putting her in those positions, maybe even convincing her that it was okay to do so.

I shook my head in disgust, tempted to just put them away. But then I came to the last one, and I stared in disbelief.

The picture was of a nude Faith Kent sitting on her bed. Her head was down, and she had a hand over her very pregnant belly. Turning it over, I saw that there was writing on the back; Saffron's writing.

Faith Kent, final days of pregnancy, my baby girl.

There it was. She was pregnant with me in this picture. Saffron had been very proud of it too. But now things made even less sense to me. Why did he abandon me if he felt this way about me being born? Something must have happened. Something must have driven him to leave me behind. Could it possibly have been what Chris was talking about with us being hunted? Or did it have to do with the soul he'd been keeping?

A knock at the door made me jump. I quickly threw everything back into the box, stuffing it under the other side of my bed against the wall.

"Yes?" I called.

Mama opened the door and peeked in, "There you are. I was getting worried. It's so late and I didn't hear you come home." she said, actually looking relieved.

"I'm sorry Mama. I went for a walk and didn't realize how late it had gotten. I didn't want to disturb you, so I came up here to read." I apologized. I wasn't about to tell her about all of the time I'd spent with Chris or that house where I'd been attacked by a ghost.

"Okay." Mama sighed, "But you still need to be careful about things like that. I know this is a quiet place, but even quiet places can have bad people."

I watched as she came in and took a seat beside me. I mentally prayed that the box I'd wedged behind my bed stayed in place, "I know, and I'm careful. I promise."

She spotted the bandage on my wrist then, "Are you alright? Your wrist..." she started.

"It's okay." I interrupted, "I wasn't looking where I was going, and I tripped on a tree root coming out of the sidewalk and fell. I scraped it up, so I cleaned it off and wrapped it up."

"Oh my Ariana, you really need to be more careful. Would you like me to check it and make sure it's okay?" Mama offered. She took my hand and looked at the bandage.

"No! It's okay. I had... a friend help me with it and they said that it would be okay." I assured her as I pulled my hand back.

I hoped that I wouldn't regret those words. So much for not telling her about seeing Chris. But I didn't want her seeing that this was actually a burn in the shape of a handprint.

Mama immediately froze, "A friend? Who? I wasn't aware that you'd made friends here. You've never told me about any."

I saw the fear come into her eyes, and with that, I knew that Chris had been right. She knew. She had to have known the truth.

But I wasn't ready to argue about all of that yet. It may not have even done me any good. If she was this afraid, and if it truly was because of Saffron, she probably wouldn't talk.

I tried to downplay it again, "Well, he wasn't really a friend. This guy just happened to be walking by and offered to help me when he saw me fall. He was really nice, so I agreed."

"Oh, I see." Mama nodded slightly to herself. She looked like she was deep in thought, but she spoke again before I could ask her what she was thinking, "That's good of someone to be that nice, but be careful about who you trust. People like that don't always have the best of intentions, especially men."

I continued to play along, "I understand, but he's been so nice to me, so I thought that it was okay to trust him just a little."

"He's been?" Mama quickly stood up, "You saw that boy again, didn't you?"

"I just ran into him, but he seems really nice and he's really cute too."

Mama just stared me. She looked upset and angry. But instead of voicing it, she abruptly turned and walked back to the door.

"Well, there's not much we can say to that, is there? I'm sorry, but I need to get back to my work now. Please don't stay up too late. It's not good for you."

Watching her, I decided to take one more chance. There was something I wanted to see if she'd respond to.

"Hey Mama, I was wondering about something too. Did you know my birth father?" I asked her.

Those words made my mother freeze in her tracks. I didn't mistake the tense posture she suddenly had. That only came from absolute fear. She had to have suspected that I was figuring things out. But she still avoided the question.

"Why would you ask me such a silly thing?"

"Well, I know that you found me after my mother died, and you've always let me keep this necklace. I thought that maybe he'd given it to you for me to have." I reasoned.

"No. I don't know who he was. That necklace is just an old family heirloom that I wanted you to have, and please forgive me for saying this to you again, but that girl who gave birth to you was nothing but a whore her entire life, so I can't even begin to tell you who that man might have been." Mama responded. She quickly excused herself and hurried out.

Her reaction spoke volumes to me. She was lying, but even more than that, she was afraid. She must have known about Saffron. Perhaps she'd even known him personally at some point and that was why he'd chosen her to take care of me. I just wished I could remember a time where I'd seen him. Maybe if there was even one time it would explain why he'd just left me like this without any knowledge of who I was or what I was to become.

I ended up dreaming when I went to bed that night, but this dream wasn't like the others I'd had before. Instead of being in that old stone house amid a massacre, I was standing in a small bedroom. It wasn't very nice looking. All of the furniture was old and worn, and the walls were a deep gray. The brown carpet under my feet looked almost thread bare. Whoever lived there obviously didn't take very good care of it.

I looked down and was startled as I saw the body of a teenage girl lying at my feet. I recognized her right away as Faith Kent. Was I dreaming about her death because of all I'd been reading and seeing?

I slowly knelt down to touch her, but my hand went right through her. Looking at her body made me sad. It was obvious that her neck at been snapped. Her vacant eyes still showed some surprise in them. Seeing all of the blood around her, I looked down her body and saw that there was a lot of blood seeping from between her legs. It was pooling around her body from where she was apparently hemorrhaging internally from a horrible trauma that I won't describe. Her neck being snapped first had made this a quick death, although what was done afterwards was incredibly gruesome. Was snapping her neck first someone's way of being merciful?

I forced myself to look away from her as I stood up. When I did, I realized that another figure was sitting in the nearby windowsill. I stared as my eyes focused on them. It was Saffron. I recognized him right away from the picture. He looked almost exactly the same, with dark hair and the bluest eyes I'd ever seen. He was dressed completely in black, but I could still make out that his hands and arms were covered in blood.

He was sitting there snuggling a small bundle to his collar. It took me a few seconds to realize that peeking out of this bundle was a baby. I felt frozen as I stared at this scene. He was holding a newborn baby.

My God, he was holding me.

As I stared at him, I suddenly got the sensation that someone was standing beside me. I looked over and realized that the other Fallen, that one that Saffron had called Jade, was standing there. He was a few feet away from him, over the body and staring at the bundle he was holding with startled catlike eyes.

Saffron smiled at him, "Surprise." I heard him say. It sounded mocking.

"What did you do? You actually created a child with her?!" Jade responded in disbelief.

"She's beautiful, isn't she? Another perfect abomination, as they would enjoy calling her. But I shall call her Ariana." Saffron went on. He didn't seem the least bit concerned over Jade's reaction. He was looking at the baby that he was holding like he was the happiest man in the world.

Jade was less than thrilled about it. His reaction was quick and angry.

"How long are you planning on playing these games?! It's not enough that you've been keeping this soul from me. Now you create this life and flaunt it in front of me?!"

"And what anger should you have?" Saffron challenged him, "You yourself have done it before, and as I recall it, the same soul created yours. You really should look in on him more often. He may actually understand more of his heritage if you did."

"It is not something so easily done, and you are well aware of it. Just what are you planning on doing now that she's been born? You cannot possibly keep this child close if you plan on following this soul again." Jade pointed out, apparently regaining his composure.

"Yes, that is true, but you needn't worry about this precious one. I already have plans for her care. You should come with me some time to visit with her. I know she'll grow to be beautiful."

I awoke before I could hear the response. Lying there staring at the ceiling, the dream replayed in my mind. I was certain that I'd just witnessed my entrance into this world. I could feel the heat from my pendant against my chest. The glow slowly faded as I looked at it. I sighed as I sat up. What was he up to? Was he trying to give me a sign or something?

But thinking about that dream, my mind went back to what Chris had said earlier. Saffron had said it too, at least in a sense. Jade had a child like me. Sometime way before I'd been born, he'd had a child too, and that child was apparently still living when Saffron had me. If they still existed and Chris existed as a Fallen Angel's child, then there had to be more like us; maybe even an entire race living under everyone's noses. Maybe I wasn't alone in this.

I quickly got dressed and grabbed the box from its hiding place. Taking the picture of Faith Kent where she was pregnant with me and the picture of Saffron, I stuffed them into my coat pocket and opened my window. I wasn't sure of how, but I was determined that I was going to find out more about myself and those like me. I also had a decent idea of where to start.

Chris Liam.

I slipped out of my window and climbed down the lattice on the side of the house. As soon as I was on the ground, I took off running. I glanced back to make sure that no lights came on, and thankfully the house remained dark.

I said a silent goodbye to my mother and resumed running until I arrived at the beginning of the next block. That was when I had to stop to catch my breath. The streets were quiet, and the streetlights were enough to allow me to see around me. There didn't seem to be anyone else out, but it was also well after midnight. Everyone was most likely asleep now.

I looked at the houses around me, glad that I had a decent memory. I was certain that I was headed in the right direction to find where Chris was staying.

The night was cool as I walked. It felt kind of nice to be out there. There was a calming feeling in the night for me. But as I went down the sidewalk, I slowly became aware of an odd sound behind me. I stopped for a moment, cautiously looking around, but the sound had stopped.

Maybe I'm just imagining things, I thought.

I took a few steps forward, and the sound returned louder than before. It sounded like a cross between shuffling and scraping. My heart began to race, and my gut was screaming that something was very wrong. My mind flashed back to that woman in the house. She couldn't have been out there, could she? I started running again as the feeling overcame me.

It didn't take long before I was at Chris's house. I banged on the door, glancing back at the sidewalk. My heart began pounding as a dark shape slowly started seeping out of the shadows about ten feet away. It was very large and strange looking. Long, slender claws reached forward from it as it slithered towards me.

But before it could reach me, the door suddenly opened, and I was pulled inside.

"Didn't I tell you not to come out after dark?!" Chris scolded me as he closed and locked the door.

"What the hell was that...?" I started.

He threw a hand over my mouth, moving us to sit under the nearby window, "Don't let it hear you. I'm not in any shape right now to take that thing on." he whispered in my ear.

I could hear the scuffing sounds moving by the window. They lasted a few minutes, then seemed to leave. Chris exhaled, letting me go. For the first time I noticed that he had a large bandage under the black tank top he was wearing. It wrapped over his left shoulder and down across his chest.

"Are you okay?" I had to ask.

"I'll be fine. It's just taking a little more time for this one to heal." Chris assured me.

"What happened to you?" I prodded. He didn't seem like he'd been injured earlier.

"Don't worry about it." Chris breathed. He sat back against the wall and looked at me, "What are you doing here?"

I stopped for a moment. Why had I run back there to Chris? With all of the excitement I'd almost forgotten. Thankfully it came back to me quickly.

"Something weird happened to me while I was sleeping." I answered, sitting back with him, "I think I was dreaming of when I was born, and my pendant was glowing when I woke up."

"That's interesting. Guess he's trying to make you understand more about this now." Chris commented.

I decided to confirm my suspicions, "You're like me, aren't you? You were born from a Fallen too."

"Yes, we're the same kind. There are others like us too, although the numbers have gone down in the last century or so." Chris confirmed.

"Seriously? We really aren't the only ones?"

"Far from it, but it marks us too, and unfortunately, there are other things that like to come after us because they can sense the power inside of us. Either you learn to fight back, or you get killed."

Chris stood up as he said that. I noticed that it took him a bit of effort. He was in pain from whatever wounds he had. But I left it alone for now. I had the feeling that he'd brush me off if I said anything about it.

"You mean like whatever that was outside? I guess you did tell me not to come out after dark." I recalled as I stood with him.

Now that I thought about it, I had been kind of stupid to sneak out in the middle of the night like I did, especially knowing that there could be something out there like that woman. But I hadn't thought that I'd get away from Mama so easily if I done it any other way.

Chris let out a painful sigh, "Don't worry about it. Let's get some rest. We'll figure out where to go from here in the morning." he suggested.

I stood there and watched as he went over to the opened futon. He had to be kidding.

"Um, where am I supposed to sleep in here?" I asked him. I didn't see anywhere else aside from the floor.

"What do you mean? There's room on here." Chris responded, lying down and covering himself up.

"Do I really have to say all of the things wrong with that statement?"

"There's nothing wrong with it when all you're doing is sleeping. Besides, I'd think you'd want to be close to me if that thing decides to come back and look inside."

He had me there. I really didn't want to be lying on the floor and look up to see a monster staring in at me. I probably would have a heart attack then. So, I sucked it up and walked over to the futon to lay down under the blanket with him.

"No funny stuff." I warned.

Chris shook his head, "Whatever."

I closed my eyes as he turned off the small light over the bed. No, I wasn't comfortable at all about this, but I'd survive. I held my pendant and forced myself to relax, eventually drifting off to sleep. Amazingly, I didn't end up dreaming anymore. I actually got a good night's sleep for the first time in years. It was only as the sun began peeking in through the windows that I woke up again.

I was a little confused when I first opened my eyes. I wasn't in my room or bed. But lifting my head and looking around, it slowly dawned on me that I'd left my house in the middle of the night.

Oh yeah, I thought, I remember now.

I'd had that dream about Saffron and Jade when I was born, and I'd decided to come back to Chris for more answers. I'd made it to his house, and something had been following me. Then I ended up staying there for the rest of the night.

I turned to see Chris was still sleeping beside me. He'd turned onto his back, and I could clearly see the bandages under his tank top. They were wrapped around his shoulder and chest. I wondered what had happened to him. It seemed like something had hurt him pretty badly. Had he gone back to that house to fight with that woman some more and she'd gotten to him?

I was as quiet as I could be as I leaned over him to take a better look at him. He really was a handsome guy, although I was now certain that he could have a very stubborn personality. Oddly enough, I kept feeling like his features looked familiar as I looked at him, and not just from my dreams of him as a child. There was something else about his face that I couldn't place.

As I continued studying him, I noticed that he was starting to wake up. I quickly backed up so that he wouldn't catch me staring at him.

"Is it morning already?" he muttered as he put an arm over his eyes.

I giggled, "You're not a morning person, are you?" I guessed.

"No. I hate mornings. I prefer sleep." Chris grumbled.

We stayed like that in silence for a few minutes before I decided to ask him about those bandages, "So, are you ready to tell me what happened to you yesterday?"

"What do you mean?" Chris asked.

I pointed at the bandages, "You look like you've been through something with those."

"Oh yeah. That." Chris muttered, slowly sitting up with me. He cringed slightly as he did, "Just a run in with that thing last night. That's why I preferred not having to do it again."

So that was why he'd been so intent on us not being spotted the night before. He'd already fought with whatever that was and lost.

"Are you going to be okay?" I asked him.

"I'm fine, but I probably should get these changed now." Chris answered, glancing at the bandages.

It wasn't in me to leave him like that, "Alright, but let me help you. I can probably fix them a lot tighter than you can." I offered.

Chris shrugged, getting up with me. I went to the bathroom and looked under the sink, finding the medical supplies he'd stashed there. It seemed like he'd thought ahead about keeping plenty of things on hand. There seemed to be enough left for at least one more dressing.

"We might have to find some more of this stuff for you soon. You're running low." I told him as I came out and sat on the side of the futon with him.

"You're probably right. We can pick up some more later. But it shouldn't be that bad this morning. It's had time to start healing." Chris responded.

I sat back and watched him take off his tank top, then began working on undoing the previous bandages. I was doing my best not to blush as I did this. No guy should have been this well built. His muscles may not have been very large, but he was very well defined. Not to mention that nice six pack he was sporting.

"Seriously, do you have any fat on you?" I heard myself say.

"Maybe, but I'm not sure where. I don't get the chance to be lazy." Chris replied without missing a beat. My comment didn't faze him at all. That or he didn't catch onto what I was implying.

I finished pulling off the rest of the bandages, feeling a bit shocked at what I saw. Even though the wounds were scabbed over and looked like they were starting to heal, they were still nasty. One was a long, deep cut extending from his shoulder down to the bottom of his ribs, and the other was a slice across his chest.

"What did this you?" I had to ask.

"It's called a Shade. They're creatures that occasionally slip over to this side of reality late at night. Most humans refer to them as shadow people. There's always trouble when they show up. They're killing machines that love to tear apart just about anything with their claws, and they're tough to fight against because they basically live within the darkness." Chris explained.

I took a deep breath and tried to steady myself, unrolling the new dressings, "Sounds to me like you got lucky last night."

"You wouldn't be wrong, but I've got bigger things to think about now. I've got to figure out what my next move is. Now that you know what you are and you've come back to me, the change is probably going to come sooner. Staying in this town would be the worst thing for you when that happens. More than likely they'd find you easily." Chris went on.

"You said something about that before. What exactly do you mean by change?" I asked as I began rewrapping his wounds.

"Sorry. I keep forgetting that he hasn't told you anything about this. What I mean is that you'll end up like the rest of us when it happens. You'll stop aging, and you'll get these."

I jerked back as large wings suddenly emerged from his back, falling off the futon to the floor. Chris looked surprised as I did.

"That was graceful." he commented.

I made a face at him, "Not funny." I pouted.

I got up and sat behind him to get a better look at those wings. They were incredibly beautiful, with feathers as black as the darkest night. Even though I was in awe of them, I wondered how in the world this was possible. Was this suppose to be magic or something?

Looking closer, I could see that they were coming out from his shoulder blades like an extension of his body. Nope, definitely no tricks here. They were completely real.

"Seriously, where were you hiding these? I slept beside you all night and never felt them." I finally said. I wasn't about to say out loud that I'd made sure to stay pressed against him. The thought of something looking in at me had made me paranoid.

"In my back. It's something that comes natural for us." Chris answered.

He easily pulled them into his shoulder blades. They went in flawlessly, and you couldn't tell that they were there. Even the openings that they emerged from covered back up with flesh in the blink of an eye.

"You've got to be kidding me." I grumbled, forcing myself to finish his bandaging.

"I'd imagine this is a lot to take in." Chris admitted.

"I'm going to guess that you've known about this your entire life." I surmised.

"I didn't have a choice. I was born into this, although I didn't get the wings until I was eighteen. I almost didn't make it to that though. I was just lucky enough to have my father decide to save me when I was a kid." Chris explained.

"You knew your dad?"

"I know him, but I haven't seen him in a long time. Actually, I'm not too sure about how he'd take it if he knew that I was protecting you now, but I'm not worried about it either. He's never really made me listen to him."

This was something for me to take in. Not all of those like us didn't know where they'd come from. But I decided to leave that one alone for now. I had a lot of other things on my mind, and a lot more questions for him.

"How old are you? Will you tell me now?" I pressed.

Chris thought about it, "I'm not that sure. It's been long enough for me to lose track of it."

"I guess." I relented. Seriously, he couldn't have been that old, could he?

"On the subject, I guess I can go ahead and tell you my whole name now too. If you're going to stay around me, you'll probably hear it anyway. It's Christoff." Chris explained.

That surprised me a bit. I'd never heard a name like that before. Maybe he was a lot older than I was thinking.

Chris stood up, "By the way, I have been thinking about all of this since last night, and I think I know someone who can help us out. Hopefully he'll decide to answer his phone and listen to me now." he continued, picking up a cell phone from the nearby table.

"Is he someone who knows about people like us?"

I wondered what someone like that would be like. How many people in the world could have the privilege of knowing that things like angels and demons actually existed?

"No, he's one of us. But he seems to know a lot more about how things like this tend to play out." Chris replied. He hit the speaker button on his phone and dialed a number. It rang three times, then someone answered. The voice that came through was a guy, and he sounded half asleep.

"Hello?"

"You actually decided to answer my call this time. Are you finally over it?" Chris asked without hesitation.

The guy on the other end made a small, disgruntled sound, "Seriously Christoff? You could just say hello; and yes, I was getting over the last time that we spoke until now. What do you want? You do realize that it's five in the morning here, don't you?" he complained. His voice was light, and I detected a hint of a southern accent in it.

"Hmm... yeah. I guess you are an hour behind there, aren't you?" Chris noted. He sounded like he'd genuinely forgotten about that.

"You're too forgetful sometimes!" the guy growled.

"Whatever. I'm calling you for something important, so I'm expecting that you'd at least hear me out." Chris went on.

"Really? I'd imagine it must be if you're up this early."

Chris ignored his comment, "You remember hearing a while back about that whole mess with that Fallen named Saffron, right? Have you heard anything else about it since then?"

The other end of the line was quiet for a moment. The guy seemed to be thinking about it.

"I do. From what I've heard, about two years ago he ended up in a lot of trouble with the ruler of the Abyss. The seal of the contract was destroyed, and he took him back for some kind of punishment. I'd imagine that he might be getting out soon, considering the time that's passed. I'm sure Jade's counting down the days for another round with him as well." he finally answered.

"I see. So that's why." Chris mumbled. It sounded like he'd had a revelation upon hearing that.

"So why ask? You haven't been interested in either of them for a long time now." the guy noted.

Chris glanced at me, "The game's changed. I found her."

I heard the guy make a small sound like he was surprised, "Found her? You mean as in Saffron's her?"

"Yes. She's here with me now and she's figured out some of who she really is. But it looks like he's sealed at least some of her memories, so I need to figure out where to go from here." Chris explained.

"Oh," The guy's excitement seemed to fade, "Well, like I said, Saffron is still sealed up for now, but you could bring her here. We could always keep an eye on her and help her out until he decides to reappear. I'd imagine he'll want to see her again, and when he does, he may unseal her memories himself."

Saffron would want to see me again and had sealed my memories at some point. On top of that, he'd been trapped for the last two years. As I listened to all of this, it felt like a memory was replaying in the back of my mind. Me as a young child, lying in my bed and snuggled beside a man with dark hair and beautiful blue eyes.

The sound of the guy's voice brought me back to reality, "By the way, you know who's been looking to see you again. Why do you keep refusing?"

Chris tensed up, "We're not talking about that right now. Besides, if he really wants to see me then he'd come find me. I know he's more than capable of that. I'll see you soon." he responded, hanging up.

"Who was that?" I asked as he slipped the phone into his pocket.

"His name's Zane Hedel. Like I said, he's one of us, and he tends to know how to handle things like this. For now, let's get some things together and head to Baton Rouge to stay with him." Chris responded.

I stood up, "Wait a minute. Baton Rouge? What do you mean we're going to Baton Rouge?"

"It's the only way we're going to get to Zane. It's not like he can come up here, and it's not going to be safe anyway." Chris explained. He seemed surprised that I was protesting this.

"But I can't go to Baton Rouge."

"Why not?

I was seriously beginning to wonder if he didn't consider anything but the basics in this, "Think about it Chris. I don't have anything to take with me. All I have are the clothes on my back, and my mother is going to freak out when she realizes that I'm gone and probably report me missing." I reasoned.

"Trust me, if you left that box anywhere that she can find it, she's not going to report you missing." Chris countered, putting a hand on his hip, "Why are you so worried about not having anything packed? It's easy enough to buy whatever you need as you go. All I've got right now is a motorcycle, so whatever you need will have to fit into a backpack. Stop worrying so much about the little things. If you don't leave with me now, then you're going to end up dying here. They will find you and they will kill you."

I couldn't argue against that, especially with everything that had happened already. More than likely, I needed to get to this Zane guy before I got those wings like Chris had, and something deep inside of me told me that I was running on borrowed time.

"Okay then." I relented, "When are we going?"

Chris glanced at his watch, "Let's get out of here within the next hour. I want to get a lot of distance between us and this town by nightfall."