Fallen Angels chpt 15

The Mystic

After drinking the blood of the Black Veil Bride, as it had been called back at the Temple, the sunlight hurt even more. The next morning felt like a knife wound right to the skull. He could barely summon the courage to move from the wooden floor; his limbs felt like iron. The world was in turmoil above. The light was flooding through the windows. It galled him to have to face the day.
"What the Hell happened last night?" He muttered, wrapping his forehead with his hands.
Ashley rolled onto his front; seemingly unaffected by anything the night had brought. He scanned his eyes across the ceiling and pouted his perfect lips in thought. "I don't really remember… Must have been fun though!"
"Ah, my Goddess!" Carolyn groaned as she sat up from the floorboards where she'd collapsed hours before. "I haven't done that in years…"
Andy furrowed his brow as he tried his best to fight through the smog in his head, back to last night. He could remember Carolyn telling them off, but most memories were lost forever, beyond reach.
"If I might be of any service," the voice rattled inside his aching skull, "I can recall you made up the most charming little chant, Andy! You called it your 'call to arms'!"

Oh yes. He remembered that. He remembered being sat on the now horizontal stool at the bar, sharing something with Jake when he suddenly yelled out, "Hey! I've got the best idea ever!! We should have our own theme song!!!"
"Theme song?" Jake frowned.
"Yeah!! Like super heroes! We are like super heroes, right?" He smashed a fist through the air. "On a mission to rescue the world and save the Outcasts!" He flapped his hand excitably. "It should go like this! SCREAM! SHOUT! SCREAM! SHOUT! WE ARE THE FALLLLEN ANGELS!!!!" He shrieked even louder, punching his clasped fists. "It'll be like having our own cheerleaders!!"
"CHEERLEADERS??!" Ashley twisted around. "WHERE?!"

Oh yes.

"I thought it was very catchy!" She chuckled.
"Oh go away, I'm in pain!" Andy barked. Ashley blinked at his sudden outburst. Jake sprang up and dashed out of sight. They heard him being loudly ill elsewhere in the building. Andy raised an eyebrow at Ashley. "And why aren't you looking so rough?"
Ashley shrugged. "I've built up immunity. Half of my blood is alcoholic, don't you know? That's how I'm so damn irresistible!"
"Irritating is probably the better word." Carolyn muttered under her breath.
"Lady, I resent that comment!" He answered with a flourish. He got to his feet, straightened his hair with a mere flick of his head, and went after Jake.
"Well he's definitely the Deviant. He couldn't be anything else with that attitude." Carolyn folded her arms.
Andy licked his lips. He looked to her, blue eyes begging, and whimpered, "Carrie… could you help me up, please? I think my bones have gone."
She paused a moment. He'd only called her Carrie when they had been very young children. She smiled. It was touching to her that he resorted back to it when asking for her help. "Sure. Although I don't think one night on the razz can make your bones disappear." She put her arms around his chest and pulled him to a sitting position. He shrieked and clutched his head. "I'll get you some water, ok?"
"Am I really bad?" he asked.
He could hear a tap pouring behind the bar. "You'll get used to it. There's a first time for everyone." She carefully carried the wobbling glass back to him. "You've just been stuck living like a saint all these years, that's all."
"Oi, I'm NO saint." He growled, taking a sip.
"No. Of course not."
Ashley tip-toed back into the room. "Hey, guys?" They stared at him. There was a look of repulsion on his face. "Jake's just thrown up… and I don't wanna touch it!"
Carolyn sighed and stood to attention, her hands on her hips. "You know, for all your male whining about women being the weaker sex, where would you be without us? Especially when something needs cleaning!" She rolled up her sleeves. "I've seen worse things emerge from the human body, trust me! Where did I put my doctors' bag?"


They emerged from the tavern all together; Jake now patched-up and leaning a little on Carolyn. Andy's head still hurt, but it was fading. Ashley was bright as a new button. "Hey wait a minute," he growled suspiciously, "where'd the city go?"
It was unbelievable – the entire city was gone, except for a few ruins here and there that looked like they'd been there for years. The towers and paved streets were no more. There were no people. No signs of anyone having lived there for a long, long time.
"Amazing!" Carolyn whispered as they crept into the new landscape. "The illusion must have been built on this the whole time!" she turned back her head. "Look at that!" The tavern they had only just left was now thin air; nothing but a square of weathered stones.
"This is NOT helping my head!" Andy cursed, staggering away. The others followed. He walked to the edge of a broken wall and gazed around. "Wait! What's that castle over there?"
"Castle?" Jake repeated in a confused tone. "That's no castle! That's just a cave by a tree."
Carolyn widened her eyes. "No way! I know that building! That's The Gunsling Inn! I'd know it anywhere!!"
Jake narrowed his eyes. "Hang on… What do YOU see, Ashley?"
Ashley was silent for a long while. He folded his arms and stared. Occasionally a faint smile flickered across his face. Finally he could contain it no long and gave a huge grin. "Dude, you really don't want know!" Together they glared at him. "All I'm going to say is it's the kind of place where clothes are optional. In fact," he sprang over the wall, "I'm going to investigate!"
The closer they got, the more they noticed that in the trees surrounding them were loads of, what seemed from a distance, white dots. Ashley was running on ahead. They saw him run, reach whatever the building was in their eyes and hold his hand out for the door. In a second, quicker than a blink of the eye, he'd disappeared. Carolyn stopped sharply, pulling Jake to a halt, and stopping Andy with her arm. "Did you see that?!" She shrieked.
"He's gone." Andy whispered, frozen still. "He was right there and then… he just…"
"I don't like this." Jake hissed. He raised his head, and spoke to the wind in a loud voice, "Hey! Jinxx! We know you're around here, buddy! It's us! No need for these tricks!" They waited. The wind carried the message past them and up into the branches of the tree. Andy followed them and his eyes fixed on the white fruit in the trees. He trembled and grabbed Carolyn's sleeve.
"Dolls!" He shouted. "In the trees!! They're all dolls!" The trees were populated by hundreds upon hundreds of dolls; all different. All unique. They had glass eyes and loose, swinging limbs. They hung by their necks on stalks from the trees, like ghostly colourless apples. The stalks were black and red ribbons. They clicked together in the breeze. "That's dead freaky!"
"Who would do that? Who made them?" Carolyn added.
"It's obvious, surely." Jake replied. "Jinxx did." He paused, and pointed to the lowest branch of the nearest tree. Swinging there playfully, almost beckoning them in was a tiny Ashley doll, complete with facial markings and tiny feathered wings. Beyond him, Andy saw the castle door open slightly.
"So Ashley's a doll now?" Carolyn quaked inside her hobnail boots. "That's horrible!"
Jake scratched his head. "Jinxx is our friend. He wouldn't intentionally harm him, so don't worry.He's just trying to mess with our heads a little - that's what he does."
"Worry?! About Ashley?! No way!"
"I think we have to go inside." Andy interrupted. "That's where he went, right? Won't we find him that way?"
"Does that mean we'll become dolls too?" Carolyn urged, clutching Jake's arm.
Jake shrugged. "I don't know! But I agree with Andy – I think we should follow him."
Carolyn tightened her grip on the bag's handle and nodded. She let go, and together they stepped closer to the building; she to The Gunsling Inn door, Jake to the mouth of the cave, and Andy to the portcullis. He saw the door unfold and open for him. He paused to glance back over his shoulder. Carolyn and Jake were no longer there. His eyes spied the tell-tale trail of smoke across the sky. His blood chilled. The Invasion was close by. That was all the prompting he needed, and he leapt inside.
The door slammed behind him.

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He had been mistaken. It wasn't a castle. With its high vaulted ceilings and smirking gargoyles it could only be a church. A cathedral to the darkness. Between the burning angels painted among the pillars the stars twinkled back. The floor was a purely polished night sky. Andy stared at his reflection in it for a long time. How odd his white clothes looked now! He slowly paced down one of the aisles, allowing his fingertips to run over the edges of the pews. The heels of his boots clicked with every step. Black roses and vain white lilies blossomed from tall silver vases.
He paused in front of a glowing table. Its every inch was covered by candles. He picked up an unlit one. Spying a small match to the side, he struck it and crowned the candle with a flame. The fire flickered in the mirror-image floor. "This is for the Outcasts." He whispered, placing it down on the table top.
A foot shifted behind him. He jumped, for he hadn't noticed the black figure seated in one of the pews. It was a female, hidden behind a mask of onyx netting. Andy quickly bowed his head. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…"
"No need to apologise. It is rare that we get visitors here." She answered. The veil swung in the breeze. He caught sight of a row of stitching on her face. "And how could we deny you, of all people?"
"Are you a nun?"
"Please look around as long as you like."
Andy scowled. "Please be quiet!" He muttered. "I'm trying to concentrate!"
"Something… on your mind? Hmm?"
Andy didn't reply. He couldn't be sure of where the voice was coming from anymore. She stood up, dropping her skirts to the floor and she glided to a wooden door beside the candles. Andy watched her move. She paused at the door and turned back. "Oh, and if you find anything useful to you here, please feel free to take it. What's mine is yours."
"What…?"
The door closed. He scratched his head and glanced around the vast space. He took a moment to watch as dust caught in the light radiating from windows high up above. He was alone now inside the great hall. He walked out between the pews to the centre of the hall and spun around. He had no desire to hurry – his head didn't seem to be hurting much anymore. He paced the walls, examining the carvings and mystic runes until he could almost piece together words.
He was standing at the altar, turning an elaborate silver crucifix over in his hands to see the hallmark, when he noticed something glimmering at the back of the church. He pushed past the altar table, knocking the chalice of wine that had been left there as a sacrifice. It seeped down into the cloth and over the tiles in puddles, red as blood. Could that be counted as desecration? He didn't have the patience to stop and put it right, so he let the cup bounce away under the pews, and continued to approach the tantalising shine. He pushed back the door of the wooden dividers and stood in silence.
Encased inside a crystalline glass box was the strangest, but most beautiful, thing he had ever seen. It was tall and slender; long necked like a swan but with the curves of a woman's body. How it entranced him! He stepped closer, tip toeing least he disturb the resting beauty. He put his hands on the case. The fine gossamer strings that ran down the neck were perfectly spaced. He had no clue what it was, or what it did, but he knew that for as long as he lived, he'd never forget that moment.

"Your perfect weapon." The Bride whispered.

A sudden splintering sound from the other end of the hall brought Andy back to the real world – or, at least, as real as the world could get – and he spun around quickly. He stood in front of the case, arms out wide to protect the precious object. His heart beat in his ears.
"Time to see what you're really made of, Andy!"
From out behind one of the pillars, a shadowy person stepped. Ropes wrapped their body and a thick belt clasped its gadgets to the waist. Andy's eyes slid up from the waist, around the curve of the breast to the face. He froze in terror as the giant of a woman paced closer and closer. She stopped, stretching a thick rope between her hands and glaring at him like a hunter would stalk a prey.
"The Invasion…" he breathed. How did I know that name?

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Ashley had been lying down on the silk covers when he heard the smashing glass. Instantly the bedroom around him faded into damp, bleak walls. The walls were natural; an open crack in the earth. He lay on the hard cave floor, inches away from the slowly growing spikes that would threaten to stab straight through him. "Oh this is just bloody great!" He hissed, getting to his feet. He brushed his clothes down. "I meet someone and then this happens!" He ran his hand over a wet patch behind him and when he brought it back his fingers were covered in cave slime. "Arggg!! Yuck!" He shook it violently from his shoes and ran in any direction he could. He didn't really know where he was going. "Hey! Anyone there??! I could use some HELP right now!"
A pair of hands grabbed his feet, tripping him instantly. He just narrowly avoided smacking his face on the rocks. Carolyn leaned out from the crack in the wall and put her finger to her lips. "Quiet, ok? We're under attack!"
"Attack? Attack from what?" He spat. He crawled into the dark space with her.
"Those women we saw before! The ones that caught you!"
"Oh crap… Where's Jake?"
"Here." Jake replied, surprisingly close to Ashley's ear. He just seemed to materialise in the dark. "I was looking around when I saw them. I managed to dodge them first time round, but now they're right outside the cave mouth and it's the only way out."
"And? So?" Ashley growled furiously. "If that's the only way, then there's just one thing for it!" He stood up, scrapping his wings against the cave roof. He resisted Carolyn's attempts to pull him down by his pants and scrambled out of the dark. "I am NOT getting beaten again!"
"What – by women, you mean?" Carolyn snorted.
Ashley glared at her and bared his teeth. In his palm a flame had begun. In the folds of light he looked far from angelic. "Yes." He hissed. "That's what I mean…"
"Are you really sure about this, Ash?" Jake slowly got to his feet.
"Of course I'm sure! Cowering in here won't solve anything! That way we'll never get out!" He answered. "And I'm not going to sit here like a coward! We're the fallen angels, Jake! THE fallen angels! We can totally do this!" The flames leapt higher. He narrowed his eyes, "LET'S GO KICK SOME ASS!"
Jake smirked and nodded. "Wait… Guys… Just a human here!" Carolyn called after them. They ignored her. She kicked away a stone irritably. "So what am I supposed to do?!"
"You must have something in that bag – use it!"
She gripped the handle tighter and took a deep breath. Alright. Ashley was right. It was now or never. Time to mean business. Then she remembered something crucial – "Guys, where's Andy?"

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"If you find anything useful to you here, please feel free to take it. What's mine is yours."

Andy rushed for the case as she sprang forward, brandishing the rope like a great whip that hissed through the air above his head. It seemed odd to him, when thinking back later, that the latch on the glass was so loose. It was almost as though it had been deliberately left open. He swung open the door and grabbed the weapon by its long neck. The knotted end of the rope came sailing towards him. It hit the glass door and it smashed over him in smithereens.
"Don't come any closer!!" He shrieked, waving the instrument in the air. "I will use this!"
She slid from the shadows, out into the open hall. He backed away, clutching the neck and pointing it out towards her. "You don't seem to know much at all, my ancient foe." She rasped. "Let me inform you of something."
She grabbed for his neck but he spun out of the way, just narrowly dodging the attack. He ducked behind a stone column and held the instrument to attention. He spied the shadow creeping on the wall. With a yell he swung at her. The instrument hit her straight on the side of the head, but she only appeared dazed. Andy used the time to run to a set of steps that were disappearing off the main hall. He edged up the spiral staircase backwards. His attacker approached, clattering blades against the wall. The rope was tangled in her other hand. Andy studied the face as it stalked him. She wasn't unattractive, but there was a scar running straight across her nose that was very off-putting. "Now I have your attention, I will start the lesson." She said.
"I can understand you! I thought…"
"The Invasion is made up of many cultures and is as big, if not bigger, than your tiny following. Sometimes," she leaned her head forward a little, and he saw a few strands of Outcast-black hair tumble from her forehead, "even they can switch sides."
"Who are you?!" He shook the instrument.
"Since the beginning the world has been at war. The sun and the moon. The Almighty God and his bride… And us." He dodged her swinging blade and scrambled up the stairs faster. All he while her voice echoed up the stairway. "The Fallen Angels and The Invasion have been at war with each other for as long as anyone knows. We are the exact opposites, in every way. We are divine and you are unholy. We were made by our beloved Sun for one purpose – to stamp you out!"
Andy collapsed through a door, which lead to a tier of pews above the grand hall. The checked floor and the altar were a large drop below, and the vaulted ceiling was closer. He slid down one of the rows, paused, and watched her crawl into the garish dusty light. She whipped the rope up into the air. He took a run, jumping over prayer cushions as he sprinted. He heard the whiz of the rope, and felt it clasp around his ankle. He tripped and fell, twisting onto his front just in time to see her lean straight over him, blade in hand. "Right now the monks at the Temple have employed us to take you back to them… but I don't think we'll do that. They might control the Outcasts but they don't control us. We can do what we like, and the monks are just pretenders. No one needs them. They are an illusion." She smiled. "Do you know what I think we'll do?" He didn't reply. She raised the sword. "I think we'll just end you all!!!"
The silver shot downwards. Andy wriggled his ankle free and pushed his only weapon upwards. The sword clashed with the neck. He gave a hard push and then smacked the wider part of the body up at her head once again. This time she took a tumble backwards. He sprang up from the floor and ran on again.
"Although this is unusual." She muttered, recovering from the blow. "I've never heard of an angel without wings before, have you? You're a rare one. I'm sure you'd make a wonderful trophy…"
"I'm no one's trophy!" He growled. "AND WE'RE NOT AFRAID OF YOU!!"

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"How much damage do you really think we can do?" Carolyn gasped as she sprinted alongside the two of them. They were racing up to the open crack; the mouth of the earth that had swallowed them. They could already hear the sharpening weapons.
"Stick together and we'll be alright." Jake answered. "Only altogether can we be strong enough."
That was rich, she thought, coming from someone who could kill with little more than a glance. She didn't have the power to do something like that! All she had were the little objects that were now in her hands; a surgical needle and a small penknife. What chance did she have?
The band of attackers, The Invasion, was ready and waiting outside. They ran out into the daylight, just beneath the tree of dolls and paused, both sides locked in a fight of stares. "Keep close." Ashley whispered to her. The three of them stood back-to-back as The Invasion encircled them; cutting them off from the cave's mouth or any other avenue of escape.  
"We're outnumbered." Carolyn whimpered, hands sliding on the glass of the needle.
"Make ready…" Jake whispered, raising his hands.
A sword was held in the air, and it swooped down. The charge had begun. Ashley and Jake were instantly on their game, throwing all their energy into their defences; the raging orange flames and the hissing masses of death. Carolyn ducked and dived. She developed her own technique – if she ducked to the floor beneath them, she could stick the needle into their legs and push just a little of the numbing fluid into their blood. It wouldn't keep them down, but it was long enough for one of the boys to come in after her and reduce them to cinders.
The Invasion was tough though – they had been trained to hate and that was carrying them through. Not to mention they were all taller and had more to fight with. The three were dangerously outnumbered.
Ashley struggled from under the woman who had forced him to the ground. "I don't think…" he gasped, "I can take… much more of this…" She changed position, allowing him enough space to turn around and blast her backwards with a single shot of flame.  
"How many are left?!" Carolyn shrieked.
"Five!" Jake growled, as he was tripped from his feet and thrown up against one of the trees. His breath was heavy, but his turned his voice to the branches. "Hey Jinxx, we could use a little HELP here!! WHERE ARE YOU?"

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Andy was fairing little better. He was leaning out over the very edge of the gallery, her hand at his throat, pushing him down. He glanced nervously at the gap. The tiles looked too solid to survive. No one could escape a fall like that. He dropped the instrument, deciding his hands were best used trying to push her away. "It's a shame." She muttered casually, holding him on the edge of death. "You are such a pretty thing – seems a waste."
"…Then…Don't…"
She shrugged. "No choice really. You know how it is. Bye bye, angel." She pushed down harder on his throat. He felt the edge of the gallery railing slip.

He threw his head back, and in a voice that wasn't his own he shrieked, "JINXX; STOP THIS NOW!!!"

She snatched at his clothes. He swayed back into the gallery and gripped her arm. They stared as millions of tiny dust particles rose from the floor and the pews into the air. It curled like smoke above their heads. It floated past, catching in clumps that gave the appearance of black confetti. It was drawn into one single point as though magnetic; forming a black shape. Tips of wings. A whole pair. A new angel.
Jinxx balanced on the gallery railing on tip toes and glared down at the attacker. Andy couldn't tell whether he was smirking or not, because on his face was drawn a permanent neutral smile. It spread right to his ears. The scars around his eyes were jagged; harlequin-like. His hair was shorter than Ashley's or Jake's, but still bottle-black and it drifted in spikes atop his head. His body was thin and wiry, cloaked in black. And of course, there were his mighty raven wings.
He didn't say anything. He simply furrowed his brow, and reached for the fallen instrument on the floor. He took a second to fiddle with the silver dials at the top, plucked at a string, and then he lifted two fingers. And clicked.
The lights went out. Andy felt the weight of her body leave his chest. He couldn't see a thing. There was a piercing scream, and loud CRASH and a heavy THUMP! She was pleading? Begging? Then he heard a splatter against the walls.
He was frozen, tongue forced to the roof of his mouth. Footsteps approached. A hand pulled him back over the railings, back to the safety of a floor beneath his feet. And the light returned.
Jinxx was standing before him, and beyond her body lay against the wall, but Andy didn't see, because Jinxx shook his head and paced a hand to his eyes.
"But…"
Jinxx took his hand again and dragged him away. He picked up the pace, running, sprinting. Andy was allowed to see. They were leaving the cathedral far behind; the door of the stairs had turned into a tunnel of rock. They raced into it; towards the bright light that grew closer and closer…