THE FALLIN

If walls could talk, this wall would scream. It would yell with a pain of vengeance and defiance. Its voice would be of a disheveled monster trapped in the confines of stone clawing its way out. It is stained with blood, some fresh, while some long dried centuries ago. The wall is about fifty feet tall, twenty feet wide, and decorated with wings.

Humans keep the antlers of the deer that they kill as a prize. Angels save the horns of the demons that they slaughter. But demons keep the wings of angels. And not just any wings, the wings of angels that have fallen pray to my Queen. The wings are all white and splattered with blood. Some hang awkwardly, broken before being cut from the owner's body. While others have a bone sticking where the wing is supposed to attach to a spin. The wings above the bone throne still have the entire spine attached. The spine points down to the power that rests in the throne made of the bones of the sinned. I was there the day she ripped the poor bastard's wings right from his body with her bare hands. His screams still vibrate through the very wall.

Sited on the bone throne in front of the wall of wings is a woman far worse than any demon, for she is their queen. Many know her as Lucifer, but those close to her call her Lucy. Her dark skin glimmers in the darkness of this room of death as her tongue lick her crimson-stained lips. A crown of thorns grows from her head in coils of black death. Her dress is cut low seductively to attract the eye of all in a room. She is the description of pride, greed, wrath, envy, lust, hungry, and indolence. She is sin wrapped in black fabric and soft skin.

Her blood-red hair shifts over her shoulder as she faces her next victim. His white wings glimmer in defiance as his eyes take in the horror before him. His brother's and sister's wings stare down at him in a warning. Lucy stops in front of him, her lips peeling back in a seductive smile as she takes in the angel before her. She is a whole head shorting than him, but she still manages to look down upon him.

“Any last words, Azerial.” Her eyes glimmer, and the wall behind her screams and cheers at the knowledge that another set of wings shall be added today.

Azerial’s body shakes as he takes a step back away from Lucy. Shadow pours from her hands and traps his feet in place. Her smile grows as the scent of fear flows out of Azerial, as his eyes never leave the wall. His voice shakes as he speaks. “You killed them all.”

I want to laugh at that statement, but I keep quiet and watch. Lucy slowly circles him, her shadows coiling around her hands and reaching out to caress the skin of Azerial. She chuckles under her breath, and the hair on my arms stands on end as in warning to the predator. “No, I didn't kill any of them. That would be too easy and too kind on my part.” Her lips peel up in a cruel smile as she stops before him. “I cut the wings off of them. I cut them from their breathing, living souls. Then I make them walk for eternity, just like my father did to me. My name is Lucifer Morningstar, and I am the devil herself. The devil is a woman, at that, a peach.” My lips curl up in a smile as I watch the carnage in her eyes. “I am the queen of hell and the taker of angels. And you are next on my list.” Her fingers brush over his wings, and he shutters. “Your wings will look beautiful on my wall.”

In one swift motion, she slices the wings off Azerials back with a blade from shadow. Azerial’s scream pierces through the air, and the room fills with the scent of his pain, and I breathe in every last drop. Lucy calls back her shadows, and Azerial slumps to the floor. Two bleeding stumps protrude from his back. The angel is fallen, never to kiss the clouds again. The soft white feathers shimmer with a forbidden light lying behind him in the blood. Lucy stands above him, looking down at the crippled angel. “You are the 300th angel I have caught and de-winged.” Her shadows coil around the white wings as she lifts them into the air. Blood drips from them, creating a trail to the wall of death. Her shadows grow as she lefts them higher and higher. She mounts them to the wall, and the tops of the wings kiss the ceiling. The wall hums with contentment at the newly added wings. I look at the two empty spaces behind it, wondering when they will be filled.

I look back to Lucy as she looks up at where the heavens lay. She does not shout. Her voice barely drops as she growls at what lies above. “And you, father, you have lost another soldier. Next time send your best. This one was too easy.” Her lips curl up in a snarl as she looks back at the angel.

The angel gets up from the floor, covered in his crimson blood. His body shakes as he stands without the weight of the wings. He points at Lucy. His finger shakes as he tries to hold himself up. “You are going to pay for what you have done.”

She huffs out a laugh. “Oh honey, I already live in hell.” With that, she walks down her black marble stairs showing off her two dark stubs that now match his.

Azerial falls back down to the floor in a cry of pain as he looks up at his severed wings. The blood drips from them, staining the wall and creating small rivers of crimson. I step over the crying angel and reach the wall of wings. My fingers brush over the cold stone. This wall not only holds the wings of the fallen but knows the truth behind the brutality of Lucifer. This wall is only covered in wings because Lucifier is searching for wings that fit her. So she can fly back to heaven and release the truth about her father. Release all the evil deeds that he has done to gain power. For he is the one that created the sins of the world. I drop my hand from the wall—the beast inside growls with the need for more blood.