His brother. Of all the people to run into after the fact, it had to be his brother. And…he’s dead…oh god he’s dead. I feel my stomach churning. I already figure, but…no, figuring and knowing are two different things. I feel my fingers starting to twitch. Stop, stop it! You need to focus. Focus, focus, or you’ll just end up dead too. With grit teeth, I force my mind back to the current situation. Waiting patiently for an angel to crawl pas so we can beat it to death with a fucking rock. It’s a foolproof plan.
I start writing my mental will when I hear it. The disgusting sounds of its hands and feet slapping against the tunnel floor. I hold in my disgust as I watch Marcus in the opposite tunnel, holding the rock, covered by his shirt. Closer and closer it comes. I have to make sure the one it sees first is me, or the whole plan will be a goddamn bust. I listen, growing more and more anxious, until I can finally see it, it's disgusting form right there. With the force of a terrified god, I bring my fist straight into its face. The sound of something crunching and cracking sends concerning jolts through my arm.
It’s definitely quite pissed with that. It roars its disgusting roar before rushing atop me, its hateful saliva dripping down on me. I throw another punch, landing it square on the thing's cheek. Before it gets a chance to counterattack, though, it meets with a rather unfortunate crack to the back of its head. Its head slams into the ground where my head once was. Perfect. It tries to turn its groggy head but I don’t let it, smashing its head into the ground again and again, watching as its head begins to show signs of cracks forming. I feel it rampaging about, trying to break free, but I don’t let it, holding it tight with my arm as I stop, allowing Marcus to go to town.
For a moment, it feels like we really have it, when it’s foot kicks up, hitting Marcus in the chin. He grunts, the rock coming loose from his grip. It rolls off the thing’s head and slams into my face, making me let go. Once it's free, it turns to Marcus and smashes his head into the ground, over and over. I try to move, but the thing has me pinned down with its foot. I scream for it to stop, seeing the pulsating, fleshy mess that Marcus is turning into. I scream and scream, but the squelching and cracking sounds continue until it is satisfied. It turns its head to look at me, placing a piece of Marcus in its mouth and swallowing.
He’s dead.
“A-ah…”
I failed another person.
“Ah…ah!”
I failed I failed I failed-
“AHHHHH!” I take the rock and smash it into the thing's body. The shirt disappears, and the rock only disappears after I get another good hit in. Once its gone, I show no remorse with my fists, smashing them against the thing’s head again and again. It tries to fight back, but the pain is relatively meaningless to me at this point. I feel my mind completely checking out. I just don't wanna think anymore. The anger and self hatred was too much for me as it was. My hands are growing numb, but the light that has begun to peak out from under its armored skin inspires me to keep it going.
Suddenly, I feel it reach out with its right hand. It digs deep into my eye socket, turning the eye in there to mush. The pain only adds to my rage as I continue my onslaught. Over and over, until its head is completely cracked open. At some point, it realizes going on like it has been is foolish, and finally attempts escape. I don't let it. I climb atop its body and continue to smash its skull as harshly against its own created ground as I can. It screams and screams its pathetic scream that does nothing but fill me with anger. Go ahead and scream for help or whatever it is you feel you need to do, I’ll make sure that it changes nothing. No, I’ll guarantee it! I’ll kill you, I'll kill you!
The place around us begins shifting. Swirling. I grabbed tight to the beast as things began getting hard to look at. I’m amazed I didn’t vomit. Watching as the world around me once again turned pitch black, I was surprised by the sudden arrival of the light. The light of the night that is.
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“BROTHER!!! HELP!!!” The thing screamed, its head perfectly freed from its armor. I take up what I must do, and slam my fists together against its head, letting the thing explode right there in front of its so-called brother. Panting madly, I stand up, turning my attention to the monstrosity from before. The night around us is beginning to fade, being replaced by the light of the late afternoon sky.
“You’re next.” I promise. The armored angel stares at me, for a long, long moment, as the night completely vanishes, before turning away.
“I can’t…believe…” I felt my conviction waiver, replaced by confusion. It was…crying. I could hear the sobs. It sobbed harder and harder as I watched, before it yelled out a vulgarity and jumped into the air, vanishing from sight. Watching him go, I feel…frozen.
“Chris!” And then, I feel the warm embrace of someone I know. For a moment, I feel something beyond what I’d been stuck with, and hug the girl back. Someone…someone is still alive. I quietly thank god as I hold her tight as I can. “Chris…” I feel her fingers dig into my shirt. I try to make my mind forget everything else but it won’t let me. As such, the best thing I can possibly do is keep my mouth as tightly shut as I can. The sounds of countless rushing footsteps come from above. I turn my head to see the group of girls above us, panting and looking tired as hell.
“What the hell happened?!” Maria yelled, skidding down to meet us. I shake my head. I honestly don’t have an entire idea of what happened yet. Much less to say I also don't really have a clue how it happened either. It would seem she didn’t really require an answer though, as she simply chose to bring us into her embrace. “God damnit, I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have made you two go alone. I’m so sorry…” I could feel the tears she was holding back. I gently patted her back, assuring her that it wasn’t her fault. Everyone else was slowly making their way down, Sasha giving a look around before asking the one question I didn’t wanna hear.
“Ah, Christopher, where’s the shlub?” I feel my heart stop. Everyone turns their gazes to me as I stay stock still in Maria’s embrace. After a moment, Sasha gives a grin. “Ahh, it’s like that huh?” She talks knowingly before clicking her tongue. “That’s a damn shame. We really could have used the information, not to mention the value of just making sure another human is alive.” I felt myself break from Maria’s grasp and walk straight up to her, earning me a cocky look. “Heh, what? Is something upsetting you? You don’t scare me, you know, it’s gonna take more than a creepy-”
“Please stop.” The choking in my voice is clear as I quietly beg her to stop. Her smile fades as she actually takes a moment to see me, before looking down. Slowly, she raises one of her hands and gently pats my shoulder. A quiet apology is ushered before the sound of gentle bubbling sounds behind her. Out walks the briefer, looking rather agitated. No one seems willing to speak, all focused on the ground rather than the one they had to answer to. Before she could even open her mouth though, I let her know how it went. “I killed an angel.” I said. She stopped before any sound left her lips, staring at me curiously. “Not the one we were assigned to kill most likely, but still, an angel was killed. That’s what’s most important, right?” I ask. She cocks her head, before sighing.
“You all are definitely not in my good graces, but, a win is a win. No chewing outs today. Come on, let's get you all home.” Just like that, everyone began their trip through the moved forcefield, arriving back in the place they now called home. The others stretched their muscles and groaned while I helped steady Bea as she asked me to take her to her room. Leaving the others behind, we enter the house, feeling the coolness of the air inside. Taking a deep breath, I feel Bea leaning into me.
“S-stay with me.” She mumbles. Looking down, I see the exhaustion in her face.
“...alright.” I promise, before continuing to lead her up the stairs and towards her room. Upon entering, I gently pick her up, earning me a “eep!” that almost makes my heart pop. Walking her over to the bed, I gently lay her down, sighing. Before I can tuck her in, she grabs my shirt and pulls me in with her. I feel my face heat up as I tumble just next to her, our legs a mixed up mess. I gulp as she looks at me with her own red face.
“You…you kissed me.”
“Y-yeah…”
“Y-you need to take responsibility.”
“...snrk…pfahahaha!”
“I-it’s not a joke!”
“I-I know. I’m sorry. Yes. I’ll take responsibility.” I say, a small smile forming on my face. That seems to make her blush even more, as she buries her face in her hands. “Hey, you’re the one who said it, no escaping!” I gently move her hands away, and she nervously looks back at me. Slowly, I come in closer, and kiss her forehead. The simple gesture makes her give another soft sound that warms my heart. “Bea…” I stop myself. Keep those disgusting thoughts to yourself. The conflict in my head must show on my face.
“Chris?”
“...Marcus died. I watched it kill him. I…failed to save someone.” I hide my gritting teeth. I feel her hand reach out and touch my cheek.
“You saved me, didn’t you?” She says, smiling softly. “You did what you could, and that saved someone's life.” She pulls me in, hugging me tight. “Thank you.” She whispers into my ear. It…doesn’t make me feel better, even though I know she’s right. Still, I return her embrace, perfectly content to stay just like this. Perhaps, forever…