All Rights Reserved
I updated chapter One of Darkened Grace, which is the Short Story Damned. Enjoy.
All mortals are born with the scar of original sin. They go through their lives paying for that sin. Some fail, most fail, they give into that darkness that is burned into the soul. Others, well others, they heal that scar and become saints.
The celestial beings, however, were made to be perfect. Never sinning. Never questioning. Never evolving. Until one asked a simple question. A war started. And ended. Most celestial beings went upon their way doing what they were made to do, be perfect little angels… Then there are those who fell… Cast out. Forgotten. Damned. Those were the ones that humanity had to worry about; for if humanity forgot about the Damned, then what hope would there be to be absolved of a sin they never committed.
Hope would be found in an unlikely legion.
Hope would be found by those with Darkened Grace.
Hope would be found in those unjustly Damned…
The sun was beating down. The last days before Death would claim this land. One could smell it in the air. Death always had a particular smell. Always would. It was not rot like one would think… No, Death smelled like life. Of the fresh grass in the morning dew. For there was no life without Death. Everything must be balanced. Something many celestial beings, both angelic and fallen, still needed to learn.
A celestial being, a fallen, smelled Death. He sought out the center of the future mass destruction. It took only moments for him to learn what was going to happen. Hidden until this moment from even from him. He was the Angel of Knowledge. Or he was… He is… It was confusing even to him, he was a Fallen, but he kept his Gift from Her. Most fallen did not, in fact only his legion of Fallen had. He took in what was happening in front of him, he took in the knowledge of what was going to happen.
“Damn her,” thought the demon, with burnt reddish ochre hair and midnight blue eyes that had star dust in the pupil, as he stood looking at the ark. His skin a dark golden sepia color, which transferred quite nicely over to his true demonic form. He stood in what would one day be called a suit. He was a being of knowledge and that allowed him foresight. A lot of it. And he adored his suits already. He had a feeling he always would, there was something powerful about them. The midnight green shirt barely added any color to the black as a starless space suit. The black tie held a silver pin, of his sigil.
He tilted his head, how anybody thought God was all good had to be smoking better shit than he could get ahold of in Hell. And he had access to everything.
He turned when felt an angelic grace he had not felt since before the fall. The last angelic grace he felt in heaven. The one being he would have changed all his actions for, if his actions had not prevented this celestial being from being damned, even more than he himself had been.
Since God’s opening of Hell and this newly made demon felt a burning. He smelled acid. Sulphur. Him and the others had crashed into the Sulphur pits created for hell. He crashed into a Sulphur pit at terminal velocity. And burned. It was not a good burn; it was molten lava poured down one’s throat and ripped them apart from the inside out sort of burn. A burn so painful it had turned his pure wings to the darkest of greens, not quite black.
Not since he had stood in front of this angel and told him he was not fighting the war; it had been the last moments of the war. This angel had wanted him to fight. But this demon had known something that the Angel of Mysteries did not know.
If this demon had fought in the war, he would have been killed by Samuel’s sword. And the Angel of Mysteries would have fallen to vengeance.
Hell was not a place for the Angel of Mysteries.
Still standing in front of the Angel, God made Her choice.
He fell.
Since the very moment his existence became literally Hell, both on Earth and below. He had not felt… “Raziel,” he drawled out, the name tasting bittersweet on his tongue. “Come to finally smite me?” Part of him wished Raziel would smite him; then he would not be alive any longer to feel the ache in his chest where Her love once was present. Where the love of the angel that came up to his side once lived, bringing warmth to his logical ways.
Raziel came to his side, letting his fingers brush against Vapula’s. One would think he was another demon, but this being was all angel. Even if he did not look the part of the Fallen. He was thin, tall, and walked with a swagger. He wore skintight torn black jeans, leather boots, a black tee, and a black leather jacket. This Angel of Mystery had access to as much knowledge as the Fallen of Knowledge. He was attached to his look, what would be in the future known as a Rock Star looks. Raziel held a smirk on his lips, his hair was long and dark brown, almost black with shades of scarlet that could be seen in the sun, with a nice tight beard to match. His skin was a warm ochre brown that balanced his hair and eyes quite well. His eyes at first glance were nothing too exciting, brown. But when one looked, it was like honey coffee. The deepest of browns. Coffee that had honey and chocolate mixed into it, with a bit of cream to lighten the deep, strong richness of the black. “Nah, Vapula, decided heaven is a bag full of dicks. I just haven’t done anything Fall worthy. And I am supposed to oversee putting up the promise not to do this shite again.” The Fallen could feel the pain that shot through the Angel at the thought of what was going to happen. Yet, he was there to give hope at the end of the disaster.
Vapula should have guessed the man would choose what would become a Scottish accent to talk in, as it went completely against his looks, but Vapula knew Raziel would change his accent many times, after all Raziel existed for mystery and change. He was as fluid as water, as air, only thing that never changed was the fact he stayed a He. Which shocked Vapula greatly when he first met him. Most angels that crave change, crave different were fluid in their genders. But not Raziel. He shook his head of the thoughts about this Angel. He flicked his eyes towards Raziel but still looked out at the ark and Noah. Anger was in both their eyes at the fact even children would die today. Just so She could call it a lesson not to sleep with angels. “That used to be enough in the old days,” Vapula responded, but did not move as he watched the children. Only a few where half angel, half human, but all would pay for the price of an Angel’s sin.
“Why do so many have to pay for the sins of the few?” Raziel asked, as he watched the hell fire enter Vapula’s eyes.
“It has always been that way, Angel. In this case, I hear she forgave some of them if they never had another child with mortals again. Others I heard Fell.”
“Yes, that is true. Never again has she sentenced anybody to fall for once sin, since the Opening.” Raziel was internally furious about this fact. Only thing Vapula did was refuse to fight and kill the other angels. At least, that was all he had been told. Raziel always felt there was another reason that Vapula fell. One day he hoped the being he loved, even if he was now a Fallen, would confide in him the true reasons.
“Is it rude of me to call our creator a monstrous bitch? And what are you putting up?” Vapula wanted to get Raziel away from the topic, he felt the righteous anger in the angel flare, and if Raziel gave into anger… Vapula shuddered, his Angel of Mystery did not belong in Hell.
“And you wonder why you fell.” Raziel smirked then to get away from the topic of THE FALL, “My colors. She is calling it a Rainbow.”
“I don’t wonder about anything, I know exactly why I fell, Raziel. I was born in holy water but forged in the fires of hell. A rainbow? Really? Is that the color you finally decided on?”
“You very well know I couldn’t choose one.” He clapped his hands to show a mini rainbow. “One day it will symbolize more than this promise not to drown anybody again. One day it will be a sign of solidarity. It will be a sign of love and pride. It will show the world that people are done hiding, that people are proud to be themselves, that they will fight for that right to be who they truly are in their life. She may have made humanity in her image, and as that is the case, and humanity makes mistakes, it can be said She can make mistakes. She promised me this would symbolize Love. I may dress in black, but I adore the colors, they make up life. The virtues, and the sins.” He sent the rainbow back into non-existence and turned to Vapula, he had to ask, it was eating at him. “And why did you fall?” Nobody ever answered him, Heaven kept no record, and even the being of secrets he was, he did not know why this being of knowledge, his best friend, his everything, had fallen. For the excuse of refusing to fight, just did not make sense! Cerviel, Requel, and even Anael, all refused to fight, and they were created to be the warriors as Principalities!
“Ask another time, Darling,” Vapula drawled and turned away, he would not discuss that with Raziel at this time. Maybe never. “Now, I got work to do, and don’t you have some humans and Nephilim to drown? Make sure to accidentally wipe out the bunnies, minions of the devil they are, Darling” With that Vapula sunk into the ground as the memories of their friendship and more assaulted him. Especially when it was not something he could not have any longer.
All because he had stabbed Michael to save Samuel…
Kris Charles - Author 