Friday 24 July 2015

FALLEN



So, I decided to try something different from Twilight fan fiction. Here it is...Fallen....an angel, a human and a vampire. It is a work in progress, I am working on one chapter at a time, no planning ahead, I will let the story take me where it will.........come along for the ride.




FALLEN

Prologue

 Eyes glittering sapphires set in a visage of perfect astounding symmetry, a nose so finely formed. 

Lips of the ripest strawberry red, plump and juicy with a hint of wickedness. 
When you could tear your gaze away, there was more. 
Translucent perfect skin, with a blush of pink. 
Strands of silky red hair perfectly waved, a neck swan like on top of bare shoulders.

Then the rest.............a vision of impossibly beautiful proportions. 
Taut muscles, sleek lines and form. 
Lean and shimmering in black leather, dangerously high heels, a stance full of confidence as she stood before me pointing the 44 magnum revolver at the middle of my forehead. 

"At last........we meet", she whispered huskily in a voice of melted honey, seductive and sinful, both angelic and devilish at the same time.

Her scent drifted over me like a gentle summer breeze, Crimson and clover. 
I could not move, I could not speak. 

Was this the end of me? 


CHAPTER 1

EVANGELINE

I am an angel. My name is Evangeline, which means "bringer of good news." Angels are spiritual or mythical beings that are portrayed as messengers of God who protect and guide human beings. Most angels are thought of as having a halo, wearing white and floating through the air with beautiful wings.

Okay let me put a few things straight in that statement. Yes we are spiritual beings, yes we are messengers. Yes, we can try to guide human beings, but you people are stubborn and resist change. As for the latter part of that statement; hell no! I have no halo, apart from the light which emanates from me naturally. This can be seen by other angels and spirit entities, but does not show on the earthly plane to mortals. I never wear white! Black is my colour of choice, it compliments my scarlet red hair. 

My purpose is to guide a mortal towards their " good news " or "good tidings" whatever you like to call it. I was a young angel, compared to some, as I was created a mere three centuries ago.  I had only recently been sent to the earthly plane. I had been assigned a human and I needed to make sure they had something good happen to them whilst in my care.  Now, this may sound easy to you, but believe me it wasn't! You mortals are not easy to work with. 

My human was Asher Xavier Smithson, or Ax as his friends and family liked to call him. Hey, I had no problem with shortened names or nicknames, just don't mess with mine! I am Evangeline, not Eva, not Angel, not Lina okay?  

When Ax came screaming into this world during a wild thunderstorm on the last day of the year 1995, I was there watching the whole performance with fascination and a touch of horror. So this is how mortals were born! How gruesome!   

Asher was a beautiful baby, creamy skin, black hair and the greenest eyes. I was smitten with him, as was his Mother. She was tiny with long raven hair and an exhausted demeanour. I didn't blame her for that, Asher had taken over six hours to push his way out of her body. she kissed his smooth forehead and whispered words of love to him. Outside the rain lashed against the hospital room window and the lightning seared the sky. 

I was invisible to the humans in the room. I stood at the other side of the bed from the Mother and I gently touched the baby's soft cheek. " I am Evangeline. I am your angel. I will help and guide you for the rest of your earthly existence".  

Asher's green eyes appeared to focus on me and he gurgled happily. Surely he couldn't see me? Although, I had been warned that some humans can see spiritual entities. 

Just as that thought fleeted through my mind, I caught a slight movement out of the corner of my eye. An older lady, the image of the Mother was standing at the foot of the bed, smiling down at the pair. "Hello Asher, I am your Grand-mother my sweet boy. I am so sorry I didn't live long enough to meet you, but I will always be here, watching you",  she said sadly. 

So this was a ghost? I gazed at her, she slowly returned my gaze with a smile and a nod of her head. Then she disappeared

I smiled and nodded to myself, happy to witness this event. There was such a resonance of love in this room, it was tangible and bittersweet for me. Angels are not allowed to fall in love, it would distract us from our heavenly duties. It didn't mean we were immune to such feelings, we just had to stay focused. Anyway, once we were assigned a human we rarely came into contact with our own kind. No-one else could see us, apart from ghosts apparently! 

I reached out to stroke Asher's dark hair and an immense feeling of protectiveness flowed through me. He was perfect. Human, yes, but he was sheer perfection.

I would strive to do my very very best for this human, no matter what.  

 CHAPTER 2

MERRICK

Vampires exist, yes it is true. I know because I became a vampire one hundred years ago. It was a painfully heart wrenching change to my mortal being. I was on the cusp of being married, my sweetheart Tilda was with child, but I would have wed this girl any ways. We were both eighteen and desperately in love. I knew we should have waited until we were married to give into our desires,but I had already experienced a close call with death. It changes you. 

I had been drafted into the Army in February 1915, a weeks basic training then I was shipped out to the fields of France to fight in the dirty wet trenches. My heart beat fast and I was filled with fear as artillery bombardment fell upon us. The Battle of Neuve Chapelle was launched with the aim of capturing the high ground of the Aubers Ridge and in so doing, to create a threat to the German Army in occupation of the city of Lille. Although the British broke through the German Front Line and captured the village of Neuve Chapelle, the German Sixth Army carried out counter-attacks and the British attack was halted from advancing any further. (http://www.greatwar.co.uk/battles/index.htm#1915battles)

On the last day of this battle, March 13th 1915, a bullet flew with deadly purpose straight into my chest. I gasped as the coldness spread quickly through my body. I clutched my bleeding heart, salty tears running down my clammy cheeks.  I saw Tilda's face, her piercing blue eyes filled with love for me, before the blackness descended. I awoke several days later in a stationary field hospital, with my chest bandaged. The lovely nurse looking after me was called Maggie, who informed me the bullet had missed my heart by a mere half an inch. Death had spared me, for now. 

I was sent home a week later, where I spent another week or two in my local hospital. I was a country boy from a crop farm in Wiltshire. We lived near Stonehenge, an idyllic life, until the Great War happened. I met my sweetheart at our village school, she was the sweetest girl you could ever meet. Cornflour blue eyes, blond ringlets framing a perfectly beautiful face, and the loveliest nature anyone could possess. I loved her at first sight. Luckily she liked the look of me too, and we soon became friends. When we were fourteen we shared our first kiss. Whispered words of love in the playground, we were innocent, young and intoxicated with each other. 

The day I returned from hospital, I remember the date so well, it was 1st May 1915. Tilda's golden curls were flowing behind her in the Spring sunshine as she ran to greet me as I stepped off the train. My arms encircled her as she sobbed. I lifted her chin to kiss her, her tears mingling with my own. We whispered words of love as we clung to each other. Before I entered the farmhouse to reunite with my parents, I took Tilda's hand and led her to the quiet barn on the edge of our farm. In the soft hay we gave ourselves to each other, mind, body & soul. Life was too short, I needed her, I wanted her so I made it happen. She felt the same thankfully. That day was the beginning of our secret trysts. Our parents thought we were innocent teenagers in love, but war had changed me into a man, then Tilda completed me. 

The almost inevitable happened. In September 1915, Tilda came to me, her eyes red from crying. "I am pregnant, my dearest Merrick!" she exclaimed. Instead of dread, I was filled with happiness. I wanted nothing more than my own family, with this angel I loved so devotedly. 
I proposed to her there and then, on my knees in the sunflower field. Her tearful face lit up with joy as she accepted my hand in marriage. I then asked her Father's permission who gladly gave it. No one knew about the new life growing inside her. It was our secret, for now. 

Of course, it was a secret which could not be hidden. Our parents were worried what people would say, we were a small community with high morals. They decided we would be married before the child arrived. A new year had come and gone, it was now February 1916 and our wedding was arranged for the end of the month. 29th of February, 1916 was a leap year. I was over the moon to start our new life in the farm hand's cottage my parents had given to us. I would eventually own the farm as my birth right. We would be happy here with our baby, who was due in May. A year almost to the day I returned from war, the anniversary of us sealing our love for one another. I was excited for the future, I was longing to see our child and I was desperate to begin our new life together as Merrick and Tilda Deverill. 

On our wedding morning my life as I knew it changed forever. 


CHAPTER 3

AX

It was New Years Day, 2016 and I had the hangover from hell. A combination of New Years Eve and my twentieth birthday had caused my predicament. My head throbbed and my throat felt raw, most probably due to my awful singing as my friends and I gathered by the Thames for the fireworks. Much laughter, much singing and oh my there was a girl asleep next to me!

 I rubbed my eyes as I gazed upon the sleeping form next to me. Tresses of ebony hair spread out on the pillow, black as a ravens wing, unmistakeably Xanthe, my closest friend. Oh please, don't say we took our friendship too far? I loved her, yes it is true. I hadn't told her that unspeakable truth had I? I groaned aloud, causing her to stretch and turn around, her bright emerald green eyes staring deep into mine. 

"Don't panic X, we didn't do anything! It was just way too cold to sleep on your lumpy old sofa!" she laughed endearingly.   

I mentally gave myself a high five, "As if!" I snorted indignantly, hiding my true feelings successfully. 

"So X, want to cook me some breakfast as payment for my services?" I asked cheekily. 

We affectionately called each other X, an obvious nickname! I met Xanthe Courtney Parker in our first year of Primary School, and we had been best friends since. We declared ourselves boyfriend and girlfriend at age seven. She was my first sweet innocent kiss. Nothing else had happened between us apart from undying loyalty and the best-est best friend I could ask for.  I had been involved with other girls, but it never progressed to serious. I couldn't give even a little piece of my heart, it was all hers, and hers alone. 

She jumped athletically out of bed, dressed only in a scarlet red vest top and matching  shorts. Her skin was perfectly tanned, her body sculpted but soft, and she had the most enchantingly beautiful face. Emerald eyes, high cheekbones and full rose pink lips. A vision. I did my usual; I drank all of her in surreptitiously, so she wouldn't notice my adoration. It became second nature to hide my true feelings. I couldn't ruin our perfect friendship. So, I stayed quiet and in my dreams we were together in every way imaginable. My cheeks flushed slightly as I recalled one of my most cherished imaginings involving us, two X's as one. Oh please Ax, give it a rest! I chided myself mentally. 

Xanthe was singing to herself as she whipped up some scrambled eggs and toast in my small but functional kitchen. I smiled at the sound of her voice, she could not sing but to me it was like a heavenly choir. " Get your rocks off, get your rocks off, yeah yeah yeah!" Bobby Gillespie eat your heart out! I jumped out of bed, pulling on my old grey sweat pants, leaving my pale chest bare. My black hair was cropped now, I used to wear it to my shoulders! X said I should shave it off, so I did. She loved running her hands over my scalp, the bristly short hairs tingling with electricity at her touch. I hurried into the small bathroom to quickly brush my teeth and splash cold water on my face. My green eyes were bleary and betrayed my hangover. I groaned as I stuck my tongue out at my reflection. Our other friends often commented on the fact that Xanthe and I were so similar in looks. I was paler, but she loved the sun whereas I loved the Winter. I was a December birthday, she was June.  We both had ebony hair and green eyes, although her hair was darker and her eyes were greener! Obviously.   

I joined my bes-tie in the small kitchen. she was perched prettily on one of my old wooden stools, her elbows propped up on my scratched worn breakfast bar, shovelling eggs into her perfect mouth with relish. I smiled as I watched her eat, X could put away twice as much as me and never put on a pound. She said it was due to her high metabolic rate and the fact that she swam every day. I half heartedly went to the gym three times a week. I was naturally slim, but had developed something resembling muscles in my arms, chest and back. She pushed a plate of eggs and toast towards me and a mug of steaming black coffee. 

"Eat, drink!" she commanded, her mouth still full of eggs. Her table manners were most definitely not perfect but still I was entranced with her. I was in love, completely and irrevocably!