41.

**Blake **



I could feel my body floating, drowned in a dark blue and starry abyss like the night sky as an oddly comforting warmth enveloped me completely.

Strong, even thuds resonated in my ears like a white noise, their tempo so familiar as it was the only sound I could hear, my mind drifting through that same state of numbness for what felt like an eternity, surprisingly enough with no attempt to even try and escape...

And that because it felt so good...

Too euphoric and relaxing to even bother wondering how or why did I get here, any previous memories completely forgotten, deeply buried somewhere at the very bottom of my mind, preventing from any disturbance or unwanted distraction whatsoever.

So I let myself fall even deeper and deeper, pointlessly swaying away like a falling leaf in the breezy wind, comforted by that same, constant sound.

Until it suddenly changed its pace, turning considerably slower, for some reason the abrupt change creating a very peculiar and restless feeling deep within me, quickly finding myself starting to fight my way back to the surface as I could feel that alarming anxiousness only increasing, to the point where it turned into a downright battle.

So when the first breath of air finally filled my lungs I violently coughed it out, feeling my throat so scratchy and dry, clearly indicating the lack of use.
And for some unknown reason, I could literally hear my own heart pounding so hard inside my chest, accompanied by another pulse, only much slower and way too...unnatural.

No...Could it be...?

Slowly, almost hesitantly my eyelids fluttered open, finding myself gazing into those deep midnight orbs, once again forgetting how to breathe as they held my own for the longest moments, their intensity rendering me so bewildered that I failed to even acknowledge our surroundings and current state, until his chest pressed a little firmer against my palm as he moved to sit up, only now noticing we were both actually half-naked and glued against each other, in my bed.

Oh my god.

My cheeks quickly heated, suddenly feeling so apprehensive as I couldn’t help but wonder exactly what happened here and why, but before I could even conjure the courage to ask him he abruptly moved away and left the bed, curiously enough noticing how his movement appeared so unusually difficult to execute and forced, almost like it took a great amount of effort out of him.

What the...

“Azrael?”

I immediately shrunk back in my spot the moment his name left my lips as it came out so weak and small, almost like a plea, basically fighting with myself not to look down as he turned around to face me whilst his fingers slowly moved to button up the shirt he had retrieved from a chair only moments ago.

“What’s...What’s going on? What happened?”

My questions remained unanswered as he only watched me for another couple of moments, feeling a so heavy pang of sorrow settle within me through the bond, momentarily rendering me so shook before he suddenly turned to leave.

“Wait!” I called after him, apparently to no use since he simply ignored me and exited my room, my body moving on its own accord as I hastily climbed off the bed and trailed right after him.

“Azrael, wait!”

My cries met complete silence as he seemed so hell-bent on getting away from me as soon as possible. Yet I only followed, determined to make him face me and give me a damn answer when the sounds of a few different and very unnatural pulses suddenly reached my ears, accompanied by an excruciatingly painful headache, making my knees buckle and fall on my butt right on the last step from the first set of stairs.

I let out a pained groan, my vision blurring as I struggled to regain control of my own body, my hand clutching against a bar from the wooden hand rail so tight, almost failing to hear the small crack it let out as it snapped like a flimsy twig in the palm of my hand.

Holy shit! What the fuck?

My eyes widened, staring in utter terror and disbelief at my own doing.

What the fuck is going on with me?

My breath quickened as I sat there, frozen, my lightly shaking hand slowly detaching itself from the broken wood piece. Another wave of numbing pain and dizziness hit me hard and fast as those chaotic sounds only kept ringing in my ears, their unsynchronized tempos abruptly interrupted by that unmistakable sound of huge, powerful wings whooshing through the air a single time.

“Azrael?”

Feeling that oh-so-familiar fresh scent reaching my nostrils I stumbled to my knees, wobbly rising to my feet after a few unsuccessful attempts and like a moth drawn to a flame I unsteadily started walking down the darkened corridor, almost tumbling all the way down the grand staircase in my stupid attempt of moving even faster in such state.

Only the moment I finally reached the last step my breath faltered as unexpectedly, my sight was being greeted by the most amazing yet scary thing I could ever see.

Glowing like rays at sunset, light blue stripes of light danced in the darkness, forming the shape of two enormous wings, their luminosity fading so fast though, almost like shying away from human sight.

His trace.

His aura...

I couldn’t understand how or why, but somehow I knew that he left this. This was the last spot he had finally spread his wings and flew away.

Fuck.

Feeling tears rapidly gather in my eyes and spill all over my cheeks I finally let myself fall, rather dully collapsing on my knees, but not before letting out an equally frustrated and sorrowful cry.

“Fuuuck!”

I slammed my fists a few times against the marble flooring, feeling like my heart was being literally ripped in half as I stared at the now completely empty space, hopelessly broken.

Again.

“Why?” I shakily asked between hiccups as I rose my sight to the ceiling, stupidly hoping for some sort of “divine” answer.

But before I could even take a second breath a small sob reached my ears, momentarily disrupting my mourning.

Lightly frowning in confusion, I sat up straighter, then mindlessly wiped my cheeks before straining my hearing to focus better on the sound, soon enough hearing it again, only this time a little clearer.

What the...

As quick as I could, I rose myself to my feet, glancing at the small dents in the white marble at my feet before walking away, everything else momentarily forgotten as I headed straight towards the source.

And not soon enough, I found myself exiting the house through the glass door at the back and walking all the way to that secluded spot between the trees at the back of our yard.

Still driven by pure curiosity I looked around the darkened place, until my eyes landed on the feminine figure sitting on the cold ground with what appeared to be a white shirt clutched so tightly to her chest as she kept on weeping like a newly-turned widow.

“Daya?”

Even from that distance, I could literally hear how her breath faltered before her green eyes rose to meet my own, only to stare at me in utter disbelief.

“Blake? Holy gods!”

Fastly rising herself up to her feet she walked a little closer, still holding the crumpled shirt to her chest as she widely stared in astonishment.

“You’re...You’re alive!”

Wait what?

“Uh...yeah, why wouldn’t I be?” I quickly responded in a “duh” tone, even though on the inside I was fastly crumbling all over again as so many thoughts crossed my mind, revolving around a particular archangel and that certain feeling lingering inside of me before I have woken up laying right in between his arms only a few moments ago.

Oh god.

My gaze refocused back to her as I could feel her own still glued to my face, forcing myself to remain impassive as I then asked,
“What happened? Why were you crying?”

I pointedly eyed the shirt in her arms before shifting my gaze back to her face, noticing how her eyes quickly filled with tears once again, lowering her sight on the large piece of material clutched in her hands as she so quietly answered,
“It’s Rem. H-he’s gone...”

“What? What do you mean he’s gone?” Now it was my turn to stare at her in disbelief.

“He’s gone! I can’t find him! That night when we fought before you showed up at my door, that was the last time anyone has ever seen him...”

More tears fell down her face, my head spinning as I could once again hear an unnatural and very fast pulse ringing in my ears, already aware that it was hers since I could literally feel it, the sudden realization scaring the shit out of me. But before I could even get the chance to say anything my breath stopped in my throat, the moment my gaze fell on her slightly heaving chest.

Burgundy red rays peeked from beneath the skin on her chest, faintly glowing like a malevolent aura as it kept only increasing, my eyes widening as I could only stare, utterly petrified.

Holy shit.

“The...You’re...What...”

The words died in my throat as I watched how her feet suddenly carried her even closer whilst she kept crying, until she was standing right in front of me, her facial expression however mirroring mine as she widely stared back at me in utter horror and shock, letting out frightened whimpers.

“No, Blake, I can’t...What’s...No...

Please...Run...” She breathlessly uttered as she visibly kept struggling to control her own movements, my body still glued to the spot as I couldn’t comprehend what was happening and why, and before I knew it her hand had suddenly let go of the shirt, tightly clutching onto my arm instead, so tight that I could feel her nails digging into my skin.

I let out a small and pained cry, staring at her in utter disbelief but before I could even try to detach myself from her grip a zapping shock went right through me, leaving me momentarily incapacitated, unable to even cry out anymore as an excruciating pain spread all over inside of me.

I could practically feel a force slowly draining the life out of me as I stiffly stood right in front of her, completely paralyzed.

No...I can’t...I can’t die like this!

“I’m so sorry! Please forgive me!” She desperately wailed between tears as she witnessed her own actions, just as scared as I was, my mind screaming for help as I stood there, completely powerless.

“It’s the power! It wants it!” She cried out in defeat, feeling hot wetness trailing down my face as I could finally understand what was happening and why, silently cursing Azrael for ever putting that thing inside of me.

Why? Why did you had to leave right now? Now, of all times?

My gaze rose towards the sky -since that was the only thing I could actually do- feeling so betrayed and sad as I peered at the cold moon rays peeking from between the balding branches, ready to face whatever was about to come when the powerful sound of wings flapping suddenly reached my ears, right before it all stopped.

I only got to take a breath of air before I unceremoniously fell on my butt -for the second time that night- forcefully knocking that breath of air right back out.

“Ow...” I almost inaudibly cried out, staring in utter astonishment as I finally noticed Raphael now standing just a few feet away, those pure white wings slowly retreating behind his back as he firmly held in his arms a very terror-stricken Daya, her entire body visibly shaking whilst her wide eyes remained trained on me.

“You have to summon Azrael back. Right now.”

I only blinked a few times, staring at him visibly confused but before I could even ask that that first thing that popped inside my mind he had already beat me to it,
“Yes, we can always feel each other’s presence or lack thereof.”

“I know he just left.”

“Now, can you summon him back?”