The Fallen

Chapter 1

The world was quiet. Too quiet.

The wind was still, not a single leaf moving from the trees. The animals were silent, no dogs barking, no crickets chirping. The streets were empty, houses dark and silent as the hours ticked by. It was a few minutes past three in the morning and sleep was determined to leave me behind. An icy shiver ran down my spine as I observed the still world around me, pulling back to close my window. Sighing, I got back to bed, hoping that if I closed my eyes for long enough, I'd finally be able to drift off to dreamland.

It wasn't an unusual occurrence, finding myself wide awake at odd hours of the night. Ever since my parents died a few years ago, leaving me alone in this world, I found the most meaningless of tasks to be daunting. Sleeping was one of them, the thought of another nightmare chased away my body's need for rest. School made things even harder, deadlines and exams drained whatever was left of my energy. I was determined to graduate, though. Getting my bachelor degree was the only thing getting me out of bed most mornings. Things seemed easier when I had a family to fall back on. But now, I was lost.

I stared at the dark ceiling, my gold chandelier reflecting the streetlights around my room enough for me to spot the shadows that danced outside my window. Small, fast movements caught my attention, my drowsy eyes trying to focus enough to make sense of what was happening.
It didn't last long, the flash of movement disappearing into the dark night so abruptly I wondered if I had imagined it.
Maybe I was asleep after all, and this was the beginning of another nightmare.
Grabbing my arm, I pinched the skin above my wrist.
Nope, still wide awake.

I wondered what it was that elicited this foreboding feeling in my bones. My usual nights consisted of several cups of herbal tea, whatever book I could get my hands on, or a TV show that helped me turn off my stream of thoughts long enough for me to fall asleep at whatever hour I could. They were boring, yes. Identical, sure. Depressing? Perhaps.

But this was different.

Tonight, I wasn't bored, or sad, or irritated.

No, Tonight I was afraid.

There was no good reason for it, of course. I had lived alone for almost six years now, so I wasn't afraid of my own home. The nightmares became a usual thing, but they were never terrifying. Only annoying, as time went by.
But as I peeked outside my window again, I couldn't shake this suffocating feeling, that something was terribly wrong.

Suddenly, a sound so loud it threatened to render me deaf made me jolt in bed, and it wasn't until a few fearful heartbeats later that I realized it was my own scream. I stared at my floor, the shards of glass of what used to be my window lying haphazardly across my room. The frame shook with a menacing groan, further disturbing the silence of the night.
My heart threatened to burst out of my ribcage, fear so bitter coating my tongue I almost puked right then and there. Standing on shaking legs, I took a few steps towards the middle of the room, barely managing to avoid the glass.
My palms were coated in sweat, and I wiped them on my oversized t-shirt. Strands of my hair escaped their bun, sticking to my damp neck. Blood rushed through my veins, the sound of my heavy breathing disturbing the now silent room.

There, right in front of the window I stood at only minutes ago, lay an unmoving man.

The stranger was face down on the wooden floor, his golden hair covered in broken glass, his naked torso cut in several places.
But it wasn't the blood that threatened to devour what was left of my sanity, it wasn't the unconscious man in my room, it wasn't even the fact that he dove in through my fifth story window.
None of that seemed to matter as I stood over him, hands shaking as I tried to reach out to him. Through my teary eyes, I stared at one spot on his back, right below his shoulder blades.

Sprawled across his tan skin, spread out a few feet on either side of him, twitching every few seconds, were massive golden wings.