Angelfall - Chapter One

The weather had improved, even if my condition really hadn't.

I woke up in the alleyway later, a throbbing ache in the front of my skull, with no idea where I was or what happened. Until I remembered the ambush, and Anti the not-demon.

I hobbled out of the alleyway into a dreary, grey morning. On the sidewalk, I decided to make a call.

I pulled out my phone, dialed a number. Waited for the call to be picked up...

"Hello?" asked the voice on the other end, though she knew perfectly well who I was due to my contact name.

"It's me," I said, knowing this perfectly well, too.

"Will," she said in a tired voice, "what's up?"

"Not Will. Matt. My human name is Matt," I corrected her. My human name is Matt Faller, but when I was an angel, my name was Will. We tend to call each other by our angel names, but it's not a good idea in my mind.

"I know," agreed Rebecca, also known as the fallen angel Sophia. "What do you need, or are you calling uselessly?"

"Something's wrong," I said. "There's someone new in town."

A pause.

"Where are you?" she asked, suddenly all business.

I gave her the address, and she picked me up relatively quickly.

Soon, we were cruising at a safe but boring speed and talking relatively quickly. I told her about the alley.

"Anti?" she asked. "That's not a standard demon that I can think of..."

"When I asked him his name, he waited a second, too," I added.

She swerved slightly, the car slowed down, and then she regained control.

"He what?" she demanded.

"He's not a demon, but he's not human and he's not an angel, either. I don't know what he is."

Rebecca shook her head. "There's something seriously wrong with this."

"You think?" I commented.

She gave me the can-you-please-shut-up look I tend to get from her a lot.

She sighed. "If anything else Anti-related happens, tell me. You have my number, obviously."

It took me a second to realize we had reached my apartment.

"Well, nice talking to you," I said, climbing out of the car, closing the door without looking back, as we've done in more ways than one. But I won't get into that.

I walked into my apartment, took my shoes off, collapsed onto the couch. Next thing I knew, I was asleep.

End of Chapter One