Fallen Angel

Chapter 36: Emily

Waking to darkness I sat up on the bed feeling rather groggy. My head was thumping heavily and I felt disorientated. Swinging my legs to the edge of the bed, I felt the sharp bite of the cold against my feet. The bedroom door was closed, I could hear the sound of laughter, soft giggles of someone feminine.

Tiptoeing across the floor, I reached the door and pulled it open, warily edging past the door frame. Arcaedia was entertaining a few female friends who were rather under dressed. Or as most would call it, naked. The freak didn't even have the decency to do it in his bedroom. On the coffee table was bottles of nectar, specifically ones that were kept for the archangels. How he got his hands onto them I'll never know but I didn't care. The stuff was potent and he would be rather delirious at the moment.

This I was going to use to my advantage. Quietly I closed the door, pressing my ear to it. There was no difference in the sounds that they were making, giggles and moans, it was rather stomach churning. So much for me being made for him, clearly he didn't care. Either that or it was a lie and I wasn't intended to be his partner. Personally, I'd rather go without than have him as a partner.

Reaching for the knife, I scraped it along the wall as I continued to listen. Everything remained as it should so I quietly padded over the floor and crawled under the bed. Sliding to the wall I began to cut into it, quietly and as forcefully as I could. The knife was nothing more than a standard piece in a cutlery set, a serrated knife would have been much more useful.

It didn't matter, I would keep going until I broke through the wall and when I did that, I'd cut a hole big enough to crawl through. After a lot of scraping, I managed to cut through the wall. The knife made a thunk sound as it pushed through, my whole body tightened, fearing that Arcaedia had heard it. After a minute of waiting, I let out a soft sigh of relief and pulled the knife back through the small incision.

This would take forever, I was certain but it didn't matter. It was enough to give me hope and so long as Arcaedia was kept occupied, I could keep going. I continued to slice through the wall, slowly making the cut longer. Then I cut along the length at the end of the cut, forming a v shape that I could hopefully pull at.

When I heard Arcaedia's heavy feet thumping over the floorboards, I quietly put down the knife and scrabbled out from under the bed. I'd barely made it back onto my stomach before he opened the door. Laying there, pretending that I was still out of it seemed to amuse him. I heard the chuckle and the door close and lock, seconds later music erupted and the party continued.

Idiot my mind whispered as I rolled over. Sliding back under the bed I continued to work away at the wall until I had cut a length as long as my shoulders and as wide as my head. I didn't need much and I didn't want to waste time cutting something larger when I had to get through the next layer.

The next layer, that in itself was a problem. I could see the clear coating, the soft silvery sparkle that would darken as my fingers moved to it.

"Damn it." I hissed softly.

He'd put a thermal coating over the apartment which meant that he feared demons coming near the place. That's how he knew the dove was at the window. It was set to a temperature range of the average of a demon. With a heavy huff I touched the coating and waited. Nothing happened, no alarm going off, no Arcaedia storming through the door.

So I carried on, cutting through the next wall and trying not to let my body overheat. When I broke through the wall, I waited, struggling to keep my heart rate normal. Not a single sound was made, no one investigating the blade poking through their wall, just the sounds of Arcaedia and his hedonistic party.

The light of the moon was shining over the floorboards as I peeked into the next apartment. I'd cut a small hole to see what and who might be in there. It was a bedroom, things scattered over the floor and looking like a mess. More determined than ever, I continued to cut the wall away, ripping bits and doing my damnedest to be free of this nightmare.

When I'd cut a hole that I thought was large enough, I began to wiggle my way across the void and to the next room. It wasn't wide enough for my shoulders, I had to angle them in a way that hurt but I didn't care. Entering the next apartment, I looked around at the items on the floor.

It was clearly owned by a couple that were a little lax on their tidying skills but that wasn't my concern. I picked up a pair of pants and boots, putting them on quickly. As I stood I searched through the cupboard and found a thick jacket and other woolly delights. With the beanie pulled down tight and my red hair hidden, I almost looked like a man. Which was exactly how I wanted it. Dressed as a man might be enough to fool Arcaedia if he went searching for me.

Sneaking out of the bedroom, I raided the fridge for an apple and then went to the front door. Carefully opening it, I looked across the dull corridor. The place wasn't that different to my apartment in New York, what was different was the interior which made me angry and sad.

Stepping out into the corridor, I closed the door behind me and scampered down the stairs. I wasn't crazy enough to use the elevator, if that thing binged loud enough that Arcaedia heard it, I'd be in trouble. No, the less noise I made, the better.