His name echoed across the empty pews of the church in a shriek of panic. Gabriel hastily tied his cincture he’d been wrapping around his waist, rushing across the room as he did toward the open door where his name flooded through again. Down the main aisle of the sanctuary ran a recruit, his face pale and expression grim. The soldier’s eyes lit up as Gabriel name his way completely out of the room and into his line of view.

“Father Campo, please!”

Stopping in his tracks, the solider waved for Gabriel to continue up the aisle and meet him. Putting a perk in his step, Gabriel rushed up the aisle making it halfway to the frantic angel before he took off. Just up ahead, Gabriel noticed two more soldiers, armed with semi-automatic weapons, their expressions also telling a story of fear and confusion. Grabbing onto the material of his Alb, Gabriel hoisted it high enough to allow him the speed needed to catch up to the angelic solider who now seemed miles away.

The rosary wrapped around his neck bounced against his chest as he found his knees high, his steps hard and fast running across the field that separated the church from the rest of the training compound. His eyes focused on the soldier before him but Gabriel found that his peripherals were taking in the rest of the scene that blurred by him. Military men were everywhere, armed and alert. Civilian male and female angels were being led inside, away from the building Gabriel found he was headed to.

What has happened?

His mind ran a hundred miles per hour as he thought of the last time the gates had been attacked. Gabriel had still been a soldier back then, the calling of the priesthood a silent itch in the back of his mind. He had been seventeen, a recruit just six months in, sitting across from his twin brother studying a chart of the overseeing hierarchy. No one had seen the attack coming. It had been almost two hundred years since anyone or anything had tried to force their way through heavens gates. They had been unprepared.

Gun fire, violence and terrified screams still haunted him in his sleep. It was a night that neither he nor his brother had ever forgotten and one that their best friend Pagan had never seen. If Pagan had been around in those days, Gabriel was sure heaven wouldn’t have seen the amount of destruction it had. The fallen had attacked hard, breaking the gates and entering the realm they had once called home. Many of them had been angels stripped of their titles, thrown through the gates against their will as punishment who had wanted to extract revenge. They had gotten it.

Gabriel shook his head, trying to force out the sounds of female angels screaming as they were pushed, beaten and raped. The males had fought, killing as many of the fallen as they could but unable to handle the amount that had managed to get through. It had taken them months to recover from the cosmetic damage. Gabriel didn’t believe anyone had ever recovered from the physical and emotional ones but it had brought about a stronger gate and with it a stronger army; one led by an angel Gabriel, like the other angels, not only admired but feared. As a view of an angel throwing up on at the doorway of the building he was about to enter came into view, he prayed that Pagan was on his way.

Skipping steps, Gabriel continued to follow the solider who had now reached the main entrance to a building Gabriel didn’t recognize. He slowed, stopping at the top of the stairs to take a quick glance behind him. Nothing in the area was familiar. Before being able to wonder how far they had actually run, Gabriel’s name was yelled and his attention was redirected. Through a stone framed door a small hallway lead to a stone staircase. There were no windows, no doors beside the one he had entered. Like a tomb with a secret, Gabriel followed the solider down into and into a world he would have never expected.

Glass walls created small dorm like rooms. The soldier, noticing Gabriel’s sudden loss of interest in following him, grabbed the priest by his arm and began to drag him down the hall they had just entered. Each small room held equipment, some medical in nature while others Gabriel couldn’t recognize. He had dropped his Alb, his legs now limited to the length they were able to stride and Gabriel found himself tripping more than once to keep up.

“What is this place?” Gabriel asked, turning his head to face the soldier still pulling him forward to a door wide open and bursting with movement. Without an answer, Gabriel continued to be lead before he was pushed into the room where bright lights told the story of a violent and bloody battle that had taken place. His went wide with fear.

Blood?

“He’s over here! Father, please.”

Gabriel’s head snapped to his left, the solder pleading on his knees the bloodied head of Leonardo resting on the angels lap.

“Dios mio,” he breathed before rushing across the room and throwing himself on his knees.

Leonardo’s lifeless eyes looked up at Gabriel. There was no recognition, no movement. Gabriel lifted Leonardo’s head, pushing the solider that had been holding him away and moving into his place. The angel’s heavy head now on his lap felt cold, Gabriel let his fingertips move across the angels frozen cheeks down to his neck where he found no pulse. Gabriel began to shake, his whole body going into shock from the scene before him. Without a second thought Gabriel began to pray, his voice shaken, the words breaking as the lump that had formed in his throat threatened to choke him completely.

Soldiers surrounded him, their hats off, hands clasped in front of them and their heads bowed. Closing his eyes, one hand on Leonardo’s forehead his other palm down over Leonardo’s heart, Gabriel continued, seeming to use every prayer he had ever learned. His words were rough, the emotions flowing out of his raw and he used them as if willing Leonardo’s body to revive. Gabriel wasn’t sure how long they had mourned but the sound of Azul’s voice broke them out of their trance.

The Archangel was a blur as Gabriel finally opened his eyes, the tears that his closed lids had been holding back now flowing out. Azul stared down at the vessel that had once been an angel stunned but recovered far more quickly than any of the others had. Before Gabriel knew it, Azul was barking orders and Leonardo was being taken out of his arms. Gabriel himself was lifted off the floor, his white Alb now a ruby red drenched from the blood that had once filled Leonardo with life. An arm wrapped around him, Gabriel could barely walk allowing the angel who was holding onto him to do all the work of moving his body around.

Sunlight and warm air brushed over his face as they excited the tomb and made it back outside. Gabriel hadn’t so much as taken a look at the glass boxes he had seen upon his arrival, he hadn’t even noticed they had passed by them on their way out. His mind was shell shocked, unable to understand if everything that had just happened, really happened.

“Father Campo?”

Gabriel’s eyes lulled over to the Archangel who now stood beside him. Azul’s eyes were focused on Gabriel intently, concern registering across the angels face.

“Take him back to the rectory, he needs to rest.”

“No!” Gabriel bellowed.

Pushing the soldier holding him away, he drunkenly shifted from side to side in an attempt to get himself together.

“I’m not leaving, I’ll be fine.”

“You should really get some rest, Father.” Azul continued, waving his hand in the direction of the soldier to continue helping Gabriel back toward the church.

Gabriel pushed again, this time forcing the soldier to lose his footing and fall on his behind.

“Father Campos!” Azul scolded, his thumb and index finger rubbing his eyes in frustration. “There is nothing you can do from here, this is now a military investigation of which does not need any interference. So, please, take your leave.”

His eyes formed dangerous slits that could kill if they wanted, Gabriel looked up at Azul anger being the form of water that quickly sobered his grief.

“I am not leaving. I want answers.”

Azul stood before Gabriel, his features calm and collected. They were the same height, 5’9 but something about Azul’s stance always made Gabriel feel as if the Archangel towered over him. He wouldn’t let it falter him, Leonardo’s blood painted the floor and walls of a room that had until today never existed on the compound. He watched as Azul’s light blue eyes glistened in the sunlight. The Archangels eyes had been a dark blue when he had been coroneted, as his reign continued throughout the years they had changed; lightening over time. The longer he remained Archangel the lighter they would become until completely white, a sign that he was truly next to godliness.

Without another word, Azul turned the white robe he was wearing fluttering behind him as he made his way down the short hallway and back down into the cave they had just been minutes ago. Back on his feet, the soldier Gabriel had knocked down grabbed the priest by his arm and began to escort him back across the field and over to the church. Not defeated, Gabriel fought the soldier as they continued their walk struggling to get out of the angels grip and walk freely.

“Father Campos,” the soldier sighed, stopping midstride. He looked around, checking to see if they were an earshot from anyone before continuing. “I respect you as a priest but I also respect you as the soldier we all know you were once before.”

Gabriel finally muscled his way out of the grasp of the soldier but did not run away from him, allowing the young recruit to continue.

“I will take you to see her.”

Her?

Not wanting to waste time or give the angel a moment to rethink what he was about to do, Gabriel nodded before the recruit who introduced himself as Harry, lead the way across the field and over to a building Gabriel knew about but had never visited. Going into the building first, Harry ensured no one else was in the tiny room before he brought Gabriel into it. Just as Gabriel was going to ask where they were and what they would be doing, Harry pressed two buttons and a screen popped on.

She is scum.

Gabriel repeated the phrase over and over in his head as he looked at the broken and battered woman on the screen before him. He closed his eyes briefly, reminding himself that she wasn’t even that. At the tender age of seventeen, she could barely drink at a bar but had already managed to take a life. Harry had rolled off as much information as he had been provided about the prisoner before them, besides her age the soldiers knew nothing else about her. A file which had been pulled in a frantic search for information had missing pages, fragments of some which had been found burned in a trashcan beside Leonardo’s body.

She is scum.

He opened his eyes and felt his heart breaking. On her knees, wrists shackled to chains cemented to a stone wall, the girl looked hopeless. Her dark brown hair was matted, strands holding together in knots as if for dear life. Others were pasted to her forehead and cheeks, frozen to the blood that had dried across her face; some of it hers, the rest that of Leonardo’s.

Hands resting at his sides, Gabriel adjusted his posture clasping them together in front of him. He was in pain, the loss of a great friend burdening his shoulders while the vows of the priesthood screamed at him to protect the girl held prisoner.

“I know this must be difficult for you, Father. Given the event, I assure you it is necessary.”

“Was it necessary?” Gabriel snapped, losing himself for a moment.

Harry shut his mouth just as quickly as he had opened it. Gabriel’s question wasn’t about the girl’s confinement now but of her confinement the past seventeen years. She had been a secret, a dangerous one which everyone involved should have known would fight back one day. No prisoner wanted to stay one forever. Gabriel stared at the screen, taking in the girls torn pajama pants, her ripped and bloodied shirt and soiled bare feet. They would be painful soon. The cold hard and damp basement of the compound wasn’t meant to be comfortable. Then again, it had also been built on the idea that the prison chamber would never have to be used.

Out cold, it would be hours before she registered what happened or what would. Gabriel had no idea what was next either. He imagined the Azul would punish her, he would have to; but what punishment other than death would be fitting? He couldn’t, they couldn’t murder her just the same.

The sound of metal scrapping cement snapped Gabriel out of his temporary daze. His eyes refocused watching the girl begin to stir, her arms realizing their short range of freedom. Gabriel’s Alb shifted as he leaned toward the security screen in hopes of getting a better look. As if on que, the girl’s eyes darted up locking onto his. Through the filthy strands of hair camouflaging her identity, she had managed to find the camera in seconds. 

A cold dread creeped over Gabriel, something wasn’t right. Leaning completely over the desk now, palms down to hold him Gabriel placed his face so close to the monitor as if he could go through it. Quicker than the blink of an eye, her expression changed.

Was that a smile?

Gabriel snapped his head toward the direction of the Harry beside him who had quickly lost interest in both him and the prisoner and was now texting. Without a second set of eyes, Gabriel couldn’t have been sure of what he saw. He took a deep breath, noticing the girl’s features once again had become lifeless. It had been a long day, draining and emotional. He needed rest but he wouldn’t get any. Apart from dealing with the incident directly after it happened, Gabriel still had the task of giving his childhood friend the news about the event. He would have to explain the impossible with the addition of the deceased’s identity. As far as Gabriel knew, not even being a priest helped telling your best friend his brother was dead.

The girl averted her eyes, hanging her head. Gabriel moved even closer, his nose feeling the warmth of the television screen that had been on now for hours. He was waiting for a sign, perhaps even some words that would shed some light on who she was and what she had been doing living in secrecy among them. Any piece of information that would be helpful. Gabriel knew Azul wouldn’t give any information to him or any other angel willingly. Gabriel had already pushed that envelope, resulting in the soldier escort beside him. There had been a time before his priesthood when he too had been a soldier. It was those instincts that had him practically crawling through the screen and into the room he had been denied to enter.

A thunderous boom echoed through the room so sudden and loud that Gabriel jumped back, away from the screen his hands instinctively shielding his ears. Beside him the solider did the same, the cell phone he’d been holding now face down on the floor. The security room was small, allowing seating for one and barely enough standing room for the two that occupied it. With nothing else but televisions and other small electronic equipment, the echo carried louder than a typical fully furnished room.

Regaining their composure, both angels faced the screen to see a large cloud of dust beginning to clear. Shouting now flooded from the monitor, a solider giving commands for the prisoner to cease any movement. As Gabriel began to notice what in fact the girl was doing, another rumble drowned out the soldier’s pleas. The sound of crumbling stone and newly created rubble shuffling followed. Pulling forward with a force that Gabriel didn’t think the petite girl could conjure, she continued to tug on the chains, pulling them forward ripping them out of the stone wall meant to control them.

Another burst of dust clouded their visual of the room, the shouts of soldiers carried over that of the demolition; commanding and demanding. Gabriel starred at the scene intently, willing the dust to settle. He closed his eyes in an attempt to focus on anything he could hear. The sounds moved just as quickly as the event; the sound of the gates being unlocked, the thumps of military boots charging into the room, the click of a weapon being taken out of safety followed by a round being fired.

His eyes shot open, the solider that had been sharing the room with him was gone; the opened door slamming into the wall behind it the only lasting impression. The dust on the screen was thick and concealing as another round of gunfire rang out, the bright light of each shot shining against the smog. Screams, gunfire and the piercing scratching of chain wafted through the room. Gabriel struggled with keeping still; his vows keeping him locked into place while the solider buried deep inside him urged him to move, help, and capture or if needed kill.

Before he could make a decision, the violence stopped. There was no more screaming or gunfire, even the small pieces of shattered stone stood still. Nothing moved, no one moved; the silence instant. Gabriel gripped the screen with both hands, shaking it. His need to clear the screen and see through clouds panicked. Alarms began to ring, filling the room and hall with a wave of alert they had never held before. Unable to stand another second in the unknown, Gabriel fled the room. Male and female angels ran throughout the halls, confused and frightened. Gabriel lifted his rob, hoisting it high enough to allow him the speed necessary to reach the basement to help.

He pushed others out of the way without apology or concern. His heart beat against his chest hard, drowning out the sirens that wailed around him. As the staircase leading below came into view, a familiar face appeared from it.

David looked up, his expression grim and his eyes full of rage. Gabriel slowed, stopping directly in front of his twin his presence urging for answers. He received only one.

“She’s fucking gone.”