February 19, 2007

  • From Hell to Hell, chapters 5-6

    76a50179

    Finally got chapter 6 done, and I want to post at least two chapters of this at a time. So, enjoy.


    Chapter Five: Sara's Chapter

    Ivan’s chance came sooner than anyone, including himself, foresaw. Not two days after the incident, he found Vlad packing a traveling bag. “Where are you going?”

    Vlad shrugged. “Wherever Kaggren decided I’m needed.”

    “What about Azazel?” Ivan asked, sitting on the bed next to Vlad’s luggage. He stretched his legs out before him and leaned back on his hands, wary of his wings.

    “What about him?”

    Ivan looked into Vlad’s eyes and was almost shocked by the concern he found there. Was this fallen, the toughest he had ever met, threatened by him? Was he afraid Ivan would do something to Azazel while he was gone? “Shouldn’t he be in here, helping you prepare to leave?”

    Vlad sighed. He snapped his bag closed and hoisted it over his shoulder. “He doesn’t know I’m going anywhere,” he replied, opening the bedroom door.

    Well, this was a surprise. “Why not?”

    “This mission is ‘of the utmost confidentiality’.”

    “And you would rather leave without telling him than risk another fight with Kaggren?”

    “Of course not!” Vlad glared at him. “Mind your own business.”

    Before Ivan could think of a retort, the black haired fallen was moving down the stairs. Ivan followed him into the hallway and peered down over the balcony.

    “Azazel is going to be worried about you,” Ivan called after him. “He isn’t going to handle this well.”

    In response, Vlad pulled an envelope from his bag and placed it on the table near the front door. “Make sure he reads this,” he said before scooting out of the house and from sight.

    Ivan waited until he was sure Vlad wasn’t coming back for something he forgot before grabbing the envelope and stuffing it into his robes. “Sorry, Vlad. This would only manage to get in my way.”

    - -

    Azazel waved cheerful at Ivan when the angel joined him in the large garden. Already, the blonde had forgiven Ivan for the other day. He held up a bundle of roses, smiling like a little kid. “Aren’t they lovely?” he asked. “Don’t they just warm you up inside?”

    Ivan nodded. “Certainly.”

    “Vlad loves roses. He acts tough and whatnot, but he’s really sweet.”

    “You live for him, don’t you.”

    Azazel set the roses on the grass. “And he lives for me. It’s part of a relationship.” He glanced at Ivan before continuing with his preening. “Speaking of living for someone, what do you want for dinner?”

    Ivan looked at the house. Azazel would be in no mood to cook anything. “Why don’t we order a pizza.”

    Azazel looked horrified. “Order out?” he asked, as though the very idea struck him dumb. “Whatever for?”

    Ivan shrugged. “You cook all the time for us, taking a break won’t kill you.”

    “Humans aren’t exactly used to delivering to angels.”

    “Who cares?” Ivan exclaimed, standing up. “It will bring excitement to their dull lives!”

    Wrapped in the angel’s infectious attitude, Azazel nodded, smiling brightly again before standing as well and carting the roses into his house.

    ‘A smile worth a thousand others‘, Ivan thought, watching the blonde. ‘Oh, Vlad, if only you knew what you were missing.’

    - -

    “Are you sure you haven’t seen him?” Azazel asked again, frantically. He opened the door to the bathroom a fifth time and looked around, even going so far as to peer in the shower.

    “I haven’t talked to Vlad all day,” Ivan replied quietly. He had been following the panicked boy for almost an hour and finally accepted Azazel wasn’t quite in his right mind.

    Haunted silver eyes stared at him, almost as if they could see his deepest thoughts. Azazel turned hurriedly away and moved on to begin his search again. “He wouldn’t have left without saying goodbye first,” he murmured, voice hitching. “He wouldn’t have!”

    Ivan placed a comforting hand on the blonde’s shoulder. “I’m sure he’ll be back soon. Maybe he went to the store.” He didn’t have to look at Azazel’s face, however, to know the other didn’t believe him. “We could search outside for him, if you want, but I don’t feel his presence nearby.” Without thinking, he pulled Azazel into a hug. “He’ll be fine, I promise.”

    Even though the blonde made no noise, Ivan knew he was crying. He could feel the crystalline tears soaking through his robes.


    Chapter Six: Crystal's (my) Chapter

    Azazel lay on his side, facing the spot the other Fallen had always occupied with jaded silver eyes. He tried to sleep, he really did, but he kept worrying about Vlad. The other never left without at least leaving a note behind so that he at least knew where he was going. It was something that agreed on for each other, since it was true that in some instances, it was best not to know where the other was going. But he didn't find a trace of Vlad or anything that would have told him that his lover was leaving.

    Curling up in the blankets, he shivered still. He was so used to sleeping with the warmth of wings around him that made these blankets seem uncomfortable. Plus, the coldness that was beside him was large and intimidating. He tried to ignore it by sleeping facing the other side, but he just couldn't do it. Breaking such a habit seemed impossible at the moment, and it wasn't something that he was exactly willing to do anyway. He wanted Vlad there with him, but it was an impossibility. Vlad had left him, here alone with no way to contact him, and that thought was killing him on the inside.

    Accepting that fact hurt more then it ever should have. He went on a mission most likely. Why was it effecting him like this? He shouldn't be feeling such a big hole in his life, he shouldn't be worrying so much about this. Maybe Kaggren teleported him somewhere, not like the bastard never did something like that before and Vlad would disappear for a few days. Of course, Vlad would make it up to him but that was besides the point. This was gnawing at him and he had no reason why.

    Rolling over on Vlad's side of the bed, Azazel inhaled the familiar scent that made him feel like crying all over again. He still had no idea why this was affecting him so much, why it hurt like was the end of the world for him. He felt the gaping hole of loneliness just keep gnawing at him, slowly increasing the hole until it felt that it was becoming unbearable.

    It was in this lapse of sanity that he thought he should go looking for him, even if he had no idea where the other went, nor was even going to. Hell, he wanted to march right up to Kaggren and demand to know if he had sent Vlad anywhere and try to fight the Leader of the Fallen of Shadows if he wouldn't tell him.

    However, even with such valiant thoughts, he found that he couldn't bring himself to tear himself away from the bed, surrounded by at least the scent of the one who held his heart, and the heart he was hanging so desperately onto. Nuzzling the sheets, he wished that he knew of at least a spell that would allow him to bring Vlad to him where ever he was, or even a projection to allow them to at least talk a little. It was about then that he wished that he actually paid attention to the magic books so he would know how to do such things. He could research in the morning, and planned to do that as he was taken into his dreams, where everything was right again.

    Ivan watched quietly through a crack in the doorway as Azazel changed position every few minutes, and even heard a few whimpers that made his heart cringe at the sound. His will faltered over if he was doing the right thing or not, but he shook himself out of it. He had to go through with this now. Michael was involved and he was Michael's current best and he didn't want to give up his rank. Nor did he want his Angel to be in this situation anymore. He was more convinced then ever that there was a spell placed on Azazel, one that he was hoping to break.

    Entering the room quietly after he was sure that he heard the sound snores of the Angel, he stood by the edge of the bed, looking at Azazel longingly. Opening a portal, Ivan carefully picked Azazel up and walked through, to Heaven and the ever-waiting Michael.

    Coming through the other side, Michael greeted Ivan, as Azazel was still passed out in Ivan's arms. Ivan nodded at the greeting, reluctant eyes pulling away from Azazel's peacefully slumbering face. He hated that he had to do this, since Michael had convinced him that there was no other way for them to break the spell that Vlad apparently had cast on him.

    “You have done very well, Ivan,” Michael smiled. “I'm glad that I have sent you on this very important mission rather then any of the others.”

    “Thank you,” Ivan replied, looking back down at the being he held in his arms. “I was honored to take this task.”

    Smiling, he turned to leave, and pointed to a bed. “Place him there. We don't want to stress him anymore then he is most likely going to be. After all, he hasn't been in Heaven for a very long time. He may flip out a little as well because of the spell cast on him. With loosing his wings, he is very prone to such things.”

    The Arch Angel left, leaving Ivan and Azazel in a lavish room filled with potted plants, scenery that would change every so often and looked so real one could touch it, and a large canopy bed with wine colored blankets with violet and crimson pillows taking up much of the space. Curtains of fine silk glittered a light shade of turquoise, giving the bed an even more ethereal glow. The room looked like something out of a very expensive pent house, nothing spared in the creation of the room of the Arch Angel Michael.

    Laying Azazel softly on the comforter, Ivan watched him sleep a little, wondering what the one that he had watched for so long was dreaming about. What made his face appear so peaceful and full of tranquility? Letting his fingertips lightly brush over the sleeping one's face, Ivan wondered just how Azazel and Vlad met, how the apparent spell was cast and what made Azazel leave all this glory?

    “What made you this way, Azazel,” Ivan asked softly. “What took you away before I could even try to comfort you?”

    *Insert some sort of AWESOME scene separator here*

    Waking up, he was warm, comfortable, and felt like he was floating on air. Blinking a few times, his mind was still hazy and just assumed that he had been there all along. Feeling a weight beside him, it was then that he felt that something was wrong. It was on the wrong side of him and he was on the wrong side of whoever was there. This wasn't his and Vlad's room, but familiar all the same.

    Oh...my...

    “God,” he shouted, sitting up and looking frantically around him. Where was he? More importantly, where was Vlad? The previous day hit him like a ton of bricks, making his eyes water from the impact of it all. But that still didn't explain where he was, and why when he looked to his side, Ivan was curled up next to him.

    I'm...if he's next to me, and if those paintings...shit.

    It was then Michael decided to enter the room, and it all went downhill from there.