Fallen Angel

Chapter 39: Brannon

We followed the beggar down the alley, he hobbled as he held the wall for stability. A cold, harsh wind burled past us, the vampire behind me complained at how thin his pants were and how he couldn't understand how the man in front of us could cope with such conditions.

Except that he wasn't an ordinary man, he was something else. He moved with a lot more ease now, still hobbling but not as bad as when he stood and leaned on the wall earlier.

We passed cardboard boxes that lined the brick walls, trash cans that overflowed with rubbish and smelled terrible. The further we went along the alley, the more I began to wonder where it was that he slept. Boxes lined the walls but there was no huddling them together to make a wind break. No blankets or possessions, nothing that made it look like his home.

"Do you sleep here?" I asked the fellow.

"Oh, here and there. You know how it is. Can't sit idle, the law likes to move us along."

Yeah, sadly that was true.

"I don't see any blankets in these boxes."

"That's because there aren't any."

I could hear the humour in his voice, though I wasn't sure of why it was so funny.

"Don't you get cold?"

"All the time, don't you?"

"Yeah." I said, feeling rather defeated.

He sounded like he wanted to play a game of words, one that I wasn't really in the mood to play.

At the end of the alley was a tattered fence that went as high as the building overhead. The brown paint was peeling, some of the panels were broken and chipped.

The beggar pulled at the panels, opening a door that wasn't really there. I looked at my father who had narrowed his eyes, a smug smile on his face. When the old man walked into the darkness beyond the rickety fence, my father gestured to the gap.

"Go on Brannon, if you seek an answer then I would suggest you follow him as he has asked."

Lowering my body, I climbed through the cut out and into a large open area. Looking back I saw a wall that was not a fence and the opening in the fence was a proper door. Luca and my father stepped in through the cut out, the door closing behind them.

"You are the wizard." I said, turning back to the beggar.

"I am or more commonly referred to as Nathul. Now come and rest for a while, dinner is almost ready and I am sure you are famished."

Nathul looked at Luca and smiled.

"I can offer you blood that has come from raw meat, will that be sufficient?"

"Yes, of course. Thank you."

"Good." The wizard said with a smile. "Please, sit by the fire and warm yourselves. I am sure the journey here has been most cold."

We followed the wizard to the sitting area that was by a large fire place, chairs dotted around it with blankets and rugs for warmth.

"Tell me, what brings you to this part of the world?"

"We are looking for someone, a woman."

"There are plenty in this town, you are going to have to be a little more specific. Do you have anything of hers that I can use?"

My father produced the vial with Emily's hair inside it, the wizard took it and looked at it with a smile.

"You seek an angel, what business does the devil, his son and a vampire have with this woman?"

"She's my son's girlfriend, an angel abducted her from one of my layers."

"Abducted or ran away? I find it interesting that you claim an angel has been abducted from hell. Are you certain of the circumstances?"

"Yes." I blurted out.

The wizard looked at me with curiosity, the hair twirled in the glass as he folded it into his palm.

"We are certain that she has been abducted. We are not fooled by the attempt to make us think that the abduction was staged and she went willingly. Can you find her?"

"Of course I can but you need to ask yourself if you want me to find her for you? Are you positive that there is nothing that may conflict with her return to your life?"

"I wouldn't be here if I didn't want her."

Nathul looked at me with a plain face, not a hint of emotion showing.

"I have been searching for a month for her, I am worried that she is hurt. There is nothing in my life that will conflict, I don't even know why you'd ask that."

"Maybe he knows something." Luca interrupted. "Maybe he knows more than he lets on."

The wizard smiled at Luca.

"Such a bright lad, well done. Tell me about this."

A photo appeared in his fingers, as he stretched his arm out I took the image and looked at it. Luca leaned over and gasped.

"Dude, when did you kiss my sister?"

"I didn't. This is a lie."

I looked up at Nathul with a lot of anger.

"Where did you get this?"

"It was given to me by someone who found the image rather distressing. If this is truly a lie then you have a lot of issues Brannon, not just because of the implications surrounding you and the girl you're looking for but for those who have created this lie."

"Who gave it to you?"

"Is that my business to say? I don't think it is."

I huffed, crushing the photo in my hand and tossing it into the fire.

"I was nowhere near Chloe, I haven't gone back to school. I've been in hell or looking for Emily, there was nothing else for me. I did not want to venture anywhere else, all that I wanted was to know that she was safe."

Gripping the mantle I watched as the photo shrivelled into the flames. The lie was gone but the pain still lingered. Who would create such a lie?

"And what will you do when you find her? Because in this hair alone, I can feel that she does not have the wings of the fallen. She is filled with the purity of heaven. What are you going to do about that one?"

"Offer it to her again, if she wants it. Now stop with the games Nathul. Was she here, did Emily give that picture to you?"

"I did."

My heart stopped for a brief moment as I turned to the sound of the voice, seeing a shadowed figure at the back of the room.