Chapter 37 R̴͊͂́̈́̓̿E̴͗͂͐́͊̈́͘͝S̵͗́͑͐͘E̷͌͛́͘͘͝T̵͐̈́͗̾̀́
This wasn’t real.
That was what Maeve kept playing in her head. Again and again. That he wasn’t real, and she probably had already toppled over and died. Yes. That was what it was.
He sighed, “Understandable. Here,”
In the blink of an eye, black wings sprouted out of his back. Maeve’s eyes almost burst out of its sockets as she watched it flap once, then twice, before it suddenly folded back into… wherever it came from.
“Now,” He held out his hand to her, smiling gently, “I cannot force you off that spot by my own will so you would have to take my hand—”
“No.”
“Eh?” He looked genuinely confused, then he turned around, unsure if she was speaking to him before he faced her again, “I… alright. Listen. If you fall right now, you would… you would not die, yes? You would be in a place of torment and suffering until you are supposed to—”
Maeve jumped.
The motion was freeing, like she was finally letting go of everything that had been holding her down. For the first time that day, a small smile spread over her lips as she stared at the sky. Happy. Grateful—
Until she saw something moving fast.
Too fast.
The world didn’t rush up to meet her like she thought it would. Instead, the wind split, sharp and screaming in her ears, her jacket snapping violently as something caught her.
Not hands.
Arms.
Strong. Unyielding. Wrapped around her middle like iron bars as the air itself seemed to recoil.
Maeve gasped, the breath punched out of her lungs as she was yanked sideways— up— the force suffen. The city lights spun uselessly below them, blurring into streaks as black wings cut through the air with a thunderous beat.
She screamed. She couldn’t help it. “Put— me— DOWN—!”
“Absolutely not,” Azrael snapped, his voice suddenly nothing like the gentle tone from before. It was sharp now. Ancient. Annoyed.
And then all of a sudden, everywhere went silent and when Maeve blinked, she was in a completely dark space. Alone. She didn’t let her breath flow through her chest before she yelled into the nothingness, “You— you said you couldn’t… you couldn’t force me—!”
“I said I couldn’t force you off the ledge,” His voice was louder. Less human. There was something else coating it, like he was using every ounce of his energy to retain his human voice, “I never said I wouldn’t catch you. And as the angel of death, isn’t it so much better that I prevent a death that is not supposed to happen?”
Maeve’s hands curled into fists at her sides. The darkness pressed in on her from every angle, thick and suffocating, like it wanted to crawl into her lungs and replace the air. She hated the feeling.
Her eyes darted around, her hands reaching out to the place around her. “…Where are we?”
“This is a space between moments,” Azrael replied. His voice no longer came from one direction. It was everywhere. “You fall. I catch you. Time does not appreciate interruptions, so I borrow a corner of it.”
Maeve laughed— just one time. Dry. Disbelieving. “So what? This is some waiting room? Purgatory? A lecture hall?”
“If it were a lecture,” He said calmly, “I assure you, I would not be the one you would be speaking with. We have… stricter protocol for that. And before you ask what ‘we’ is, I mean angels. I never understand why people always seem so confused when I mention I’m an angel as well.”
“You don’t look like one?”
“… not sure if I should take that as an insult or a compliment but I have little faith in humans anyway so I’ll believe that you have just insulted me.”
Maeve almost scoffed. She didn’t. She wanted to panic, or worry. A normal person in her situation would have, but she felt the complete opposite. She needed a break. And no one seemed to give her one. The one time— the one time she decided to make an actual selfish choice for herself, it was taken away from her like she didn’t deserve it.
“What am I doing here?”
“Hmm? Ah. I am… checking your file,”
“You’re lying.”
“Angels cannot lie,”
“You lied before.”
“You humans' term for lies does not apply with angels. And what is it? Do you need to sit perhaps? It would explain why you are so feisty—”
“Sexism? Of course. I should not expect anything even from a male angel,”
“Sexism?! Angels do not— and I am not ‘male’ or whatever you call it. It is just a sex you humans created for me. None of you would be able to gaze upon my real form anyway— why are you making me speak so much?! Why can’t you just… stay quiet, and let me keep doing what I’m doing?”
He sounded tired. Irritated too.
Maeve couldn’t care. She really couldn’t. Still, she could feel whatever energy she was having slowly slipping out of her body, like something was tapping gently into her chest and carefully siphoning her soul away.
She sighed. She wanted to rest. Why wouldn’t they let her rest? “Just… tell me what you’re doing. Please,”
Before what’s happening takes me away.
She heard nothing back at first, and for a moment, she was sure he had abandoned her to her devices but then his voice came, “True. You would not remember it. You certainly didn’t remember the last time you were here,”
What? “L-Last time?”
“Yes.”
He was suddenly in front of her now.
It was as if his entire aura had changed. There was… overwhelming pressure and though she couldn’t even see him because everywhere was black, she could sense his eyes staring into her soul. Searching. Dissecting. “If you know our… boss, you would know he also has a thing for… games. I find them beneath him but he enjoys them. Feeds his eternity or something,”
Maeve felt even more confused. “God?”
She heard him laugh. “There is no God.”
The words landed softly. Like he was stating the color of the sky.
For a second, she thought she might laugh. For another, she thought she might cry. Instead, she felt strangely empty and muttered out quietly, “Figures,”
“But as I was saying, my boss… and a group of others made a bet involving you. The only issue is how your soul is quite tricky and we can’t really quantify your behavior half the time,” There was a sigh. “We had all been hoping you’d remember on your own but waiting has never been my forte. And human memory is also tricky.”
“R-Remember what?”
Suddenly, hands were grabbing her arms tight. She felt her entire body freeze, locking in one position as she heard him say, “Probably will get punished for this but those people keep refusing to respond to my tickets so just… just do me a favour and stop trying to die, okay?”
Maeve wanted to say she couldn’t care, that she didn’t— but all of a sudden, she felt his mouth on hers.
It wasn’t a kiss the way humans meant it. There was no warmth, no softness. It was just pressure, and something very electric, like biting into metal. Maeve’s breath caught painfully in her throat
And then it exploded.
\[WELCOME BACK, AUTHOR\]