Darkness Chapter 1: The Urban Legend

The clouds in Heaven were dark grey today as the Angels went about their daily business. It used to be quite rare to have days like this but ever since about twelve to thirteen years ago it was like that all the time. The clouds burst and it started to rain hard. The Angels didn't mind though, because they were used to this by now. Used to the cold harsh winds that were so normal after a few years.

One Angel in particular stood at the window, watching the rain fall. He wore a hood to shroud his face from any onlooker.

"Echo?" An Angel walked up to the hooded one. "What are you doing?"

The hooded Angel named Echo thought for a moment. "I guess...I'm just thinking of the past is all. Why do you ask Asher?"

Asher was caught off guard with the counter question. He'd actually been looking for Echo to ask him something but had no idea how to phrase it. He'd asked other people this same "something" but no one have him a straight answer.

"Do you know why the dark clouds and the rain never ends?" He finally asked. "Ever since I got here five years ago it's been very gloomy. If this is Heaven then how come the skies aren't clear?"

Echo turned to look at Asher for a moment then turned away. "Did you ever hear of the 'Black Wings Incident Of 1912'?"

"Isn't that just an urban legend?" Asher scratched the back of his head. "A tale just to creep out new Angels that arrive here?"

Echo chuckled at these words. It was funny how Angels did there best to cover up fear and sadness. Just because it was Heaven didn't mean that those things were off the table. Quite the contrary there usually was more of it depending on which path you chose upon getting here. Asher himself was a man of twenty who was killed in a bar due to a drunken sheriff. He joined the Guardian Angels and was still in the academy. Soon he'd see how rough it really is.

"An urban legend you say?" Echo spoke again. "Believe me it's no legend. A lot of Angels fell that day by the blade an evil man."

"An...evil man?" Asher stuttered. "Not a Demon?"

"It was an Angel." Echo explained making Asher gasp. An Angel who cut down...his own brethren? It...was unthinkable. "A very angry and bitter Angel."

"Why did he do it?" Asher asked eagerly. "And how did it cause this constant rainfall?"

"Well as long as you're willing to listen to an older angel's tale." Echo responded making Asher nod. "It was about 22 years ago to the day when a teenage boy was killed protecting an innocent girl. The boy was awakened as a different Angel. A black winged Angel. This was a rare occurrence that was considered a taboo amongst us all. So naturally we all shunned him and told him he was worthless. This was a mistake."

"That's not fair!" Asher interrupted. "He couldn't help being different. Especially since he was here early for saving a little girl."

"As the years went by." Echo continued. "He grew to hate everyone. The Angels of our world were disgusting to him. So when the time came to graduate the academy he graduated early with another Angel who was the only one who ever spoke to him. They went to Sunnyvale, New England to slay Demons and did so for a few months."

"Wasn't Sunnyvale supposedly the place of the incident?" Asher mumbled to himself.

"Yes it was." Echo answered nodding his head. "For a time it looked like the two Angels were unstoppable. Until one day as if from nowhere the Black Winged Angel flew up to Heaven and stole our staff of dreams."

"Staff of dreams?" Asher tilted his head. "The rumored staff that made any dream of yours a reality?"

"The very same." Echo explained. "It was a very powerful symbol of hope here. The black winged Angel took it and tried to use it for evil but was stopped by our Lord. However there was a loss. In his anger the now Fallen Angel struck down the one he called friend. He was banished to the nether realm for his crimes and the staff was lost. Presumably he still had it."

Asher stood there in shock. These kind of things were...unthinkable. No single Angel had the power to do all this but...it happened. Echo gave him a moment to let it sink in before continuing.

"The Fallen Angel didn't stay in the nether for too long." Echo sighed. "He escaped and laid waste to Sunnyvale. That was when our late second in command Shimada had to step in along with a team of one thousand first class Guardian Angels. None of them had the power to take him down. Angel after Angel fell and only about ten or twenty of them made it out alive. Shimada thought he could win in a last ditch effort but...he was defeated."

Asher was horrified. This was the stuff of nightmares. One single Fallen Angel destroyed almost a thousand Angels. That was unreal. There was no way that could be true. One question still remained though.

"How did this make the rain start?" Asher inquired. "It's a chilling tale and all but how does it all connect?"

Echo placed a hand on his shoulder. "No one really knows. Shortly after The Fallen Angel killed Shimada which was dubbed as 'The Black Wings Incident' he vanished. Some say that he had a moment of remorse and restored the town of Sunnyvale before vanishing. All that's known is that after the incident Heaven's once clear skies turned grey and cold and the warm sun vanished."

Asher sighed deeply. Now he had more questions than answers. One thing was for certain though. He got to hear one hell of a story. After shaking Echo's hand and thanking him for his time he ran off. Echo once again stood alone looking at the constant rainfall.

"I wonder..." He asked no one in particular. "What are you doing now Atticus Parker?"

"Edward!" A voice called out to a teenaged boy who was enjoying his sleep. "It's time for your mail run get dressed!"

The boy groaned and rolled over. There was no way it was morning already. Edward wasn't ever happy to get up. He had so many amazing dreams at night that it sucked to wake up to frozen Nome. He'd dreamed of a field of flowers and colorful fireworks by moonlight. But most of all he'd dreamed of a grey schnauzer mix hugging him.

"EDWARD!" A man slammed open the door. "YOU'RE GOING TO BE LATE!"

Edward shot up and fell out of his bed. He landed on his rear end hard. "Sorry Uncle Tony I was having a really good dream." He looked up at the man. Tony Thomson, or Uncle Tony, was a very tall man of almost seven feet and a great muscle belly to match. His short brown hair did nothing to hide his light green eyes which softened when he looked down at his nephew.

"Here." Tony reached out a hand. Edward took it and was pulled up to his feet. "Now you have about twenty minutes to get to the post office. Try not to be late ok?"

"Yes Uncle Tony." Edward nodded. Tony smiled and left the room.

As Edward stood in his room he stared at the painted wall. It was covered with drawings and pictures of wolves of various species. Besides that was a bookshelf containing information about Alaskan wildlife. He'd read all of them but still wanted to know more. Wait what was he doing standing around? He was running late!

The teen ran to the bathroom and looked in the mirror. A teen with Raven Blue hair and Emerald Green eyes looked back. He used his pale skinned hands to ruffle his hair out of its bed-head. A toothbrush was on his sink which he gladly picked up and used to get rid of his horrible morning breathe. When Edward was done he ran into his room grabbed a pair of black moose hide pants and a Rabbit fur brown long sleeved shirt.

They looked pretty normal considering what they were made of. He put them on then tucked in the shirt. A thin but warm black hooded coat was on the floor which he picked up and pulled on.

Edward ran to the door with his socks on and crammed his black snow boots on with his pants tucked in. When he stood up Tony pulled him in a tight hug.

"Have a great day at work today nephew." He told Edward then released him. "Try to stay out of trouble ok?"

Edward grabbed his mail bag, "Me get into trouble?" He chuckled. "It's Nome, Alaska Uncle Tony. What's the worst that could happen?"

A/N: The sequel has begun! Holy crap I'm so excited to get started on this. I'd been planning this for a little while even when I was still writing the first book. I hope it didn't disappoint because I enjoyed writing this chapter so much. I wanted to put a perspective on how the opposition felt about Atticus and what they think is going on. Plus I wanted to showcase Edward already. Anyway I hope you enjoyed! Atticus out!