Rapture Falls (44 page)

Baine looked up to see the archangel step from behind the standing stones in typically theatrical fashion; upon a second look he could see that Gabriel seemed different somehow. On their first meeting he had appeared brightly
serene;
he had floated
around his
Cardiff
apartment as though he wore a human suit that struggled to contain his own majesty, now however he seemed lessened, more real as though he was h
eavier weighed down by humanity and more
anchored
to this earthy realm.
Baine ran through his internal monologue of smartass remarks but decided against attempting some
Hollywood
movie quip that would have sounded empty and false in the real world, instead he started to run. He fixed his eyes on Gabriel’s face; the archangel seemed to be smiling in a strange manner that did not reach his oddly glazed eyes.

             
“Easy child” Gabriel’s voice resonated down the mound, something
in it stopped Baine dead, he could sense that Gabriel was eager for a physical confrontation and he was more than willing to accommoda
te him despite being outmatched,
but Gabriel was holding onto something obscured by one of the giant stones.

             
“I have something for you Baine, a gift if you will; I choose to release you from your burdens
and set you free”
Gabriel’s voice burned with fervour.

             
Baine already feared the worst, he edged around to his left to gain a better view of just what Gabriel was holding, it was a slender wrist that ran down a
slim
feminine arm attached to a sl
umped woman.
Gabriel dragged her
lifeless form across the sodden ground approaching the ancient structure leaving a wet crimson stain upon the grass.
Her head was bowed
but Baine did not need to see her face as he knew every inch
of her tender
figure
by heart as she had danced through his mind a
million times, despite the stench of death emanating from his fallen love and his own probable demise, he ran.

             
Lucifer watched the drama unfold amidst the gothic surroundings; she and McCullum had
hidden
away at a safe distance and were now viewing from an ensconced position through procured binoculars. The ground was wet and bitterly
cold;
Lucifer lay upon a tartan travel blanket
taken from the guesthouse
. McCullum had regressed into a child like state, his eyes were glassy and distant,
a hazy smile fixed his face in a grotesque parody of happiness,
she cast a sideways glance at him, he
laid
stomach flat on the
drenched earth oblivious to the
discomfort, soon she would awake him
.

             
Baine’s knees buckled and he sank heavily as his heart submerged deep into his chest, he cradled her head in his lap and stroked her matted hair
for the first and last time
. Somewhere off in the distance he could hear the faint drone of Gabriel’s voice
standing a safe distance away and
preaching, but he had no inclination to listen. His salvation had been taken in a single cruel stroke of a maniac
’
s hand, during his short enlighten
ing
journey she had been his tenuous fingertip grasp on the bottom rung
of humanity. A single tear leaked lonely from his left eye and began a solitary trek sliding down his cheek, he pushed out his tongue to meet it and was puzzled by the salty taste.
Baine carefully rearranged his dancer’s clothes, smoothing the creased garments and gently pulling down her rucked up skirt, he softly laid her head upon the damp grass and folded her arms tenderly across her chest. He now realised that he had no knowledge of love but had surprisingly held a quiet comprehension of the powerful notion, he had never known her name but she had been his reason. Baine stood and faced Gabriel for the first time, whatever lay across his face stopped the angel dead, Baine had no
taste left for conversation and walked slowly
forward.

             
“Are you really that
ungrateful?” Gabriel roared
astounded at the sheer impudence, “You are but a speck of dust in the presence of a God, you should sink to your knees in death before me insect” his face contorted with uncontrollable fury.

             
Baine walked forward

“
I seek to set you free, to shatter the shackles that would chain you to this earth as HE would seek” he jab
bed a claw like finger skyward to indicate to whom he was referring.

             
Baine walked forward.

             
“
I deem to speak to the filth beneath my feet and I meet nothing but ignorance”

Spittle now flew from Gabriel’s enraged lips as Baine walked forward, for the first time noticing the mad glean in the angel’s eyes.

             
Gabriel suddenly stopped, te
rrified at once again losing his
self control
at the worst possible time,
Archangels were a serene race only their descent onto the mortal plane had upset this equilibrium and his personal deterioration had been accelerating as of late. These worrying plunges into confused rants and rages were becoming more and more frequent and the worst part was that his intellect wo
uld temporarily shut down halting
all rational thought. At a time when he needed his clearest head in order to finally obtain the ultimate prize he was tumbling off course and in danger of throwing a meticulously constructed plan that had taken centuries to perfect into chaos. It was with some surprise that he looked down to see a hand clamped around his throat, it took a few more breath sapping moments for his own physical safety to register, despite his immense power upon arrival on this planet, oceans of time had
eroded
away his superiority. The world began to fade as the strength of Baine’s
hands forged with
undeniable vengeance began to crush his throat, he looked up into the eyes of his pawn marvelling at the cold blackness
as he fell forward into their welcoming shadows, he was strangely intrigued by the sensation of death
’s stealthy approach
.

             
Baine squeezed mercilessly, his raging torrent of anger replaced by a cold calm, Gabriel’s eyes, once screaming with bright vitality, began to dim, Baine closed his eyes and savoured the execution. Suddenly
he was aware of danger from somewhere and
found himself
suddenly and
painfully
airborne, he open
ed
his eyes and looked back towards the impact zone as he cartwheeled through the air
before crashing heavily into the ancient stone standings coming to rest in a sitting position with his back against the structure
.
His head had struck hard against the unforgiving surface, blood swam instantly into his eyes blurring his vision, his left shoulder shattered rendering it useless, he raised his right arm slowly to his scalp feeling it soft and spongy under his wet fingers. Through the red mist haze he looked back to see
Gabriel on one knee with a hand slowly massaging life back into a swollen throat, the distance between them had been at least twenty metres but as Baine pushed himself groggily up from the floor,
one leg at a time, he raised his head, senses swimming, only to find Gabriel’s demonic face
suddenly
level with his
.
Baine tried to stand, tried to fight for her but he could only hang limply before his
fate
, his feet trembled beneath him uncooperatively and his legs wobbled, refusing to support his weight, he could offer little resistance save for the
faint remnants of anger
in a fading
glare. Gabriel snatched out an iron hand grabbing Baine by the throat and lifting him effortlessly, the power from his grip was excruciating and Baine felt his jaw bone splinter and
what was
himself
,
bega
n to fade,
his
eyelids
drooped and the world became a blinding light that burned. Then she was there, a beautifully soft and perfect out-stretched hand reached for him, he strained desperately to find her, groping in the light, the pain was fading now,
falling
behind in the
muddy
confusion
s
of life and death upon the earthly plane. He fumbled frantically for her touch
,
certain in the knowledge that
just a finger
s
brush would sustain him
during a dark eternity of damnation
.
             

             
Lucifer
had waited for the perfect opportunity to
strike;
s
he knew that Gabriel had to perish at his own hand for
them to take the cube
. W
hen
s
he had watched Gabriel’s mad ravings and the half breed wal
k casually forward and seize her
once great, once leader,
s
he paused until
s
he could be absolutely sure his approach would not be noticed.
Baine was choking the very life from Gabriel as Gabriel ranted hysterically,
Lucifer
was fascinated to see the grand Archangel who had once served at Gods feet, set above all of the rest his kind, now reduced to being throttled by some half breed
. Then at what must have been the last possible moment Gabriel’s arms reached out to the sides and his hands upturned, the air around him exploded flinging him backwards in a radiant burst away from danger.
Whilst it was true that their powers had waned over the years as they became
worryingly
more and more affected by humanity, they were still far stronger and faster than their human
or even half human
counterparts. Baine was half angel but he was also half human and
now
very preoccupied with the task of
spinning
out of control
through the air.
Lucifer
did not know who the dead woman was that Gabriel had flung towards Baine but she immediately recognised that their plan was about to become null and void as all humanity drained from Baine’s face and he began walking towards Gabriel.
She
flew across the distance with hands upturned out in
front of her
covering it rapidly
building the tension between her and her
target summoning the once empty vapid air and turning it into a solid force
thrusting it forward
.
The invisible energy
str
iking
the now kneeling Gabriel
as hard as
s
he could muster and
s
he
was
satisfied
to see the
angel
cart-
wheeling
throug
h the air before hammering
into the ancient
ground,
landing hard
and
lying still.
Lucifer
s
tumbled
across the battlefield
knowing that she had used the very last scrapings of her other worldly abilities.
Sh
e surveyed the fallen scene
, Baine was slowly stirring, time was short and not to be wasted,