Faded Light
By: Ashley H.
Chapter 1
Gabriel stood there as she watched John Constantine and his new little "girl friend" walk away. She still held her hand to her face, still feeling the throbbing of the punch. Pain? This was pain? Didn't seem all that bad, she thought, stepping out of the small pool.
A mortal am I? Couldn't be that hard, could it? To live amongst humans as one of them.
Gabriel walked out of the building, looking around, back and forth down the street, wondering what she would do now. For a moment she thought that revenge on John would be nice, but figuring out how to live a mortal life would be better and to do so there was only one person she could think of…Balthazar.
But Balthazar was dead, right? She herself had done away with him. However, half breeds were as easily brought back as kill, for her anyway. But to make matters worse, she would have to convince him to join forces with her; because she had killed him he would most defiantly be more than angry.
Gabriel headed toward the church she had lived in her whole life, turning a few heads as she walked down the street. Her room was as she had left it, neat. It was dark, so she lit a few candles and the fire place at the far end. Her room was filled with books, mostly different versions of the Bible and some other books she found interesting.
Gabriel took her first shower, feeling the warm water hit her skin and actually liking it. These must be human feelings, pleasure I believe it is, she thought, one of the better of the few. She may have not known many human feelings but this was unmistakable. With a new change of clothes, Gabriel headed back into her room, standing by the fire place.
"Balthazar…" she said, staring into the dancing red and orange flames. "I call you forth…hear my voice and be reborn!" Instantly the flames arose, so much in fact that she had to back away. Like a strange type of cough, the fireplace spit Balthazar out onto the red carpet of her floor. He coughed and gagged, black ashes spurting from him mouth. Like a defeated animal, Balthazar looked up at Gabriel, and angered expression upon his dirty face.
"What…do you…want," he said through heavy breathing.
"I need your help," Gabriel said, hands on her hips.
Balthazar stood, brushing off his suite and cracking his neck. "You…you killed me! Why should I help you?" he sneered. "And now that I'm mortal, I'd rather have stayed dead."
"You'll get over it…you know more about mortals than I do and sense we both seem to be stuck here, we might as well make the best of it. Enlighten me, tell me about humans," she said.
"Why, when I could just kill you right here and now? Then only one of us would be stuck here," Balthazar said, moving closer to her.
"You could, but then who would help you kill John Constantine?"
Balthazar paused for a moment, crossing his arms and raising his nose to her. "Revenge is what you want? Why didn't you say so?" he snickered, giving Gabriel a snort grin. "I suppose I could deal with being mortal for a while…So, what did you have in mind?"
"I'm not quite sure yet, first I wanted to get acquainted with being a human. I don't know much so I thought you might be able to help," she said, sitting down on an old velvet red arm chair and crossing her legs.
"I don't know much more than you do. Only the dark sides of humans, what they desire, evil tendencies, that kind of stuff. You wouldn't believe what goes through some freaks minds," Balthazar explained.
Gabriel looked Balthazar up and down and said, "You look like hell, you should clean up. Bathroom is through that door," and she pointed behind herself. Balthazar quirked a brow at Gabriel. "Well? Go!" She yelled.
Balthazar jumped at her sudden shout and power walked into the bathroom. Shower? He had never actually felt a shower before, for he hadn't been able to feel what humans feel. He found his curiosity getting the better of him and hesitantly took his clothes off. Stepping into the tub, he reached for the knob, turning it slowly. Water instantly came rushing out and he turned the knob where he thought might be the right temperature.
Balthazar moved his hand under the falling water, it was hot. He quickly pulled his hand away, shaking it instinctively. He turned the knob closer to cold and felt it again, this time it was fine. He turned on the shower and soaked his body under it. The warm sensation felt good and he found himself not wanting to leave it.
From the outside, Gabriel could hear the shower turn on and she waited patiently for Balthazar to come back out. Waiting there, Gabriel found herself experiencing another human feeling, tiredness. Her eyes felt heavy and began to close uncontrollably. This scared her for a moment, but then she realized what it was; she had seen many people do it before they fell asleep.
Suddenly, she was awaken by the loud creaking of the bathroom door opening, and her eyes flew open to see Balthazar standing there, wearing nothing but a towel. He was dripping wet, his hair slicked back, glistening in the fire light; his body was perfectly formed, and for a moment, Gabriel thought she could see the glow his eyes use to shine.
"What am I suppose to do about clothes?" Balthazar asked.
"…" Gabriel just stared at him without realizing she was ogling Balthazar's body.
"Gabriel? Are you alright?" he asked, quirking a brow.
"Hu...Oh…what?" she finally said, shaking her head and looking him in the face.
"Clothes, Gabriel, clothes," Balthazar said.
"Oh, yes, there are men's clothes in the cabinet," she said, motioning her hand to the huge dark brown cabinet to the right. Balthazar took one last confused look at Gabriel and headed over to the cabinet.
Balthazar found a suite that almost matched his old one exactly and dressed back in the bathroom. When he returned he found Gabriel asleep in her chair. Her head rest against her shoulder, her golden short hair draped over her cheek and Balthazar couldn't stop himself from moving it away to show her face. His bent fingers slowly grazed her soft pale cheek and he found himself wishing he could stare into her bright blue eyes once more.
Balthazar stood before Gabriel decided he was tired as well. Though there wasn't any place to sleep, he found himself just fine sitting on the floor with his back against the wall. The last thing he saw before his fatigue became to much was the image of Gabriel sitting in her chair, her face lit by the fire and candles, thinking 'I guess she is sort of pretty.'