She ran, all she could feel was the stinging burn of the cut at her side and the warm blood rushing through the wound, but she ran. No stopping now, safety is her number one priority.
"Anael get back here!" She could hear them scream, they were getting closer. She ran.
Anael knew safety had to be just around the corner, it was a city after all, even in the late night she could always find refuge. "Anael you know you can't escape!" She heard them screaming many times before. Anael could see the end of the alley, the street light and a shop door rounding that corner. What she didn't know was that this store would be the beginning of the end.
She entered the store and quickly ducked behind the door, panting she tried to calm herself, Anael closed her eyes and took small breaths one...in...two...out...three...in….four…
"Can I help you?" The male voice startled her, she opened her eyes to see a store clerk watching her from behind the register, he is tall...maybe close to 6 feet and strong built, maybe close to 40 years old, blond hair and unshaven face.
"I'm sorry" Anael whispered "I'll leave soon, I promise...just...one second" she looked through the mail delivery slot on the lower half of the door, no one was there.
Where did they go? Anael thought to herself.
"You're bleeding pretty bad" the store clerk pointed out but did not move from his spot at the register.
"Oh, it's nothing really" Anael tried to sound convincing, she knew she was losing too much blood...not that it would make a difference to someone like her.
"I can patch you up" The clerk moved to look for something behind the register, Anael looked back at the clerk. Where was she? Why would a store be open in the middle of the night? Why haven't they come looking for her? They saw her come in...didn't they?
She looked around, and saw...really saw what this store was; Symbols painted on the walls, the glass blackened to protect customer privacy and on a very small corner of the window facing the front of the store a symbol...the symbol used to signal that this store catered to a specific clientele.
"You're a hunter aren't you?" Anael asked the clerk
"Haven't been in a few years, got hurt in the field...now I just supply to others like you" The clerk stepped from behind the register to help Anael, this is when she saw he had a prosthetic left leg.
"Daniel" The clerk introduces himself as he opens the emergency kit he brought to her.
"Anael"
"The cut is not too bad, but you need some stitching" Daniel cleans Anael wound "I need to disinfect the stuff for that...think you can follow me into the kitchen?"
"Yeah, just give me a sec" Anael tries to stand, feeling heavy. Once in the kitchen Anael removes her button up business shirt, it's cut and covered in blood and dirt.
"Just like a hunter...no shyness" Daniel retorts looking at this woman sitting on his kitchen table wearing only a blue bra and dirty pant's suit...no shoes
"I just thought you may want easiest access to the wound" Anael looks down at her dirty pant suit "think you have anything I could change into?"
"I might have something stashed somewhere" Daniel pushes a chair close to Anael "let's take care of this wound first"
After getting stitched up Daniel found some sweats and a loose shirt for Anael to change into "You can use the shower...it's there for hunter use"
"Thank you" Anael took the clothes and walked into a small bathroom located in the very back of the store, the back was more like a small apartment than a storage unit. Once she was undressed and waited for the water to warm up she examined herself in the mirror.
At 5 feet she was quite short, long wavy blond hair spotted with blood and dirt, White pale skin covered in bruises and a stitched up cut on the left side of her stomach. Why were they after her? She had been living peacefully and alone for centuries, why were Angels chasing her now?
"Everything ok?" Daniel asked outside the closed bathroom door
"Yes, Thank you" Anael answered and stepped into the running shower
"Listen, if you need a place to stay you are welcomed to use the small hideout here, I'll be watching the front tonight so I won't need it"
"Thank you, that is very kind of you"
Anael watched the dirt and blood flow down the drain, she felt the water hit the cuts and bruises bringing burning pain with it
The night was long and Anael was now laying on the small old bed in the back room, even though she had been stranded on Earth for so long Anael never slept and never had the need to.
"How can I help you?" Anael heard Daniel ask someone at the store
"Yes I am looking for someone, a girl" That voice, it was definitely one of the Angels that chased her.
"Oh, what she look like?" Daniel asked, acting oblivious
"long, blond hair...she is my sister, ran away from home"
"I'll keep an eye out for ya, but I haven't seen anyone all night...this graveyard shifts are a pain" Daniel joked
"If you do see her, please tell her to come home...we miss her" after a few seconds Anael heard the store door close.
She waited, knew better than to come out….the Angels were probably watching them, and it seemed Daniel thought that too. After half an hour Daniel finally came to the back room.
"What kind of trouble have you gotten yourself into girl?" Daniel asked and sat by the small bed in the room
"That's what I'd like to know" Anael started to get up "I should go, you're in danger if I stay"
"No, I'll be in more danger if they see you come out through the back" Daniel was quiet for a moment "I may have someone that can help"
Daniel produced a small flip cell phone from his back pocket "Hey, still got that Angel with ya?"
A long pause "listen, there is something weird here, I have Angels chasing a girl….yeah, I know you are busy Dean but she may die, had to stitch her up already"
A man appeared into the room, long trench coat, black suit and a blue tie tied backwards. The man is 6 feet tall, black hair and striking blue eyes. She knew him, she knew that aura...the aura she missed every day since she's been on Earth.
A faint whisper escaped Anael's lips "Castiel"
The man looked at her, deeply "Anael" his rusky voice stayed in her ears, he hasn't said her name in so long
"I take it you know each other" Daniel looked between them
"I thought you were dead" Castiel did not move an inch
Anael couldn't stop staring at Castiel "Is that what you were told?"
"Yes, Everyone said you died in the war between Lucifer and the other Angels that went against Heaven" Castiel tried to come closer to Anael but stopped
"I don't know weather to think that's a good or bad thing, you've changed haven't you? Your wings…"
"Wait...wings? You can see them? You're an Angel aren't you?" Daniel got up from the bed startled
"I'm so sorry Daniel, I really am…" Anael reached out to Daniel
"No, just don't say anything more...this is way out of my league"
"What Angels are chasing you?" Castiel interjected
"Cerviel, Chayyliel, Elyon…"
Castiel interrupts "Elyon!"
"What? Why does that name matter?" Daniel knew this had to be bad
"Elyon is one of the Angels who brought the plague to Egypt" Castiel looked at Anael, only Anael.
"I'll go get the Holy Oil" Daniel walked out of the room, leaving Anael and Castiel alone
After a long silence Anael spoke "I should have contacted you, I missed you"
"Where have you been? I thought you were gone, I watched the Earth alone"
"I wanted to be there, you don't know…"
"No, I don't" with that Castiel disappeared, only the sound of his wings left behind.
"Ok I got…" Daniel came back holding two very old looking mud jugs "where did the other one go?"
"I don't know" Anael could feel her heart sink, she felt desperation
"There is something you ain't tellin?" Daniel put the jugs down and sat next to Anael
"No one will understand, He won't understand" Anael felt a tear roll down her cheek, something she has not felt since the moment she landed on Earth
"Tell me, neither you nor I may live after this...we might as well know why we dyin"
Anael looked into Daniel's eyes, he was right...if you are going to die then you might as well know why
"It's been centuries, only God and I knew but I guess word has spread; I was created with Castiel, along with a small handful of Angels, our job was to watch the Earth as it grew. 'Do not interact, just watch' is what we were told.
I watched, and watched, and watched...but it wasn't the Earth I was watching, I was watching him...I was watching Castiel.
At the time Lucifer was recruiting Angels, his army to rebel against God...he did not like the idea of Human being above everyone and for us to love them more than God himself"
"Did you join his army?" Daniel interrupted
"NO, I didn't care...Human are flawed creatures yes but why should we go against our father? I had told Castiel about my way of thought, I guess that is why he decided I died in the war"
"Anael" Daniel held her hand "What happened during the war? Why are Angels after you?"
"Days before the war, one of the Angels in Lucifer's army found out about how I felt, how to me Castiel was the one and only I wanted to watch...not Earth, him.
Lilith saw this to her advantage to missguide me, recruit me in his army...she said 'if God sees you love an Angel more than his precious human he will abolish you, you'll be nothing but star dust...just think what he'll do'
At first I did not believe her, but then it started to make sense...he would be mad, he would bring the worst punishment upon me...he will take me away from Castiel.
I had a plan, if I could leave heaven...I would be able to watch Castiel from a distance, He would not need to know about my feelings...All I wanted to do was watch him.
Lilith told me Lucifer knew a way I could leave Heaven, all I had to do was join his army"
"Is that why they are after you? Are they seeking revenge?"
"No, I joined his army...but I did not fight, I did not kill my brothers and sisters...I wanted out of Heaven that is all, Then Michael came and banished Lucifer along with his followers...when he was about so banish me I pleaded, I begged, I screamed 'please, I didn't want to follow Lucifer...all I want to do was love Castiel...love him from a distance!'
I think God knew all along because he stopped Michael, told me he understood my wrong doings but I also needed to learn from my mistakes...he gave me a favor, said he would not banish me to hell but he would also not allow me to watch Castiel any more...I have been bound to Earth since then, God said he was granting me one more favor to hold for him...that I would know when the moment came to use it and that once I used it my punishment would be lifted"
"And this favor?" Daniel asked
"I must give my life when the time comes, then my punishment will be over and balance will be restored" Anael held her hands to her chest "I don't want anything to happen to you, please stay in this store...keep safe"
"OK, we must go" Castiel came back "I have a place we can hide you while we find out why the others are after you"
"Go with him" Daniel handed Anael the old dirt jugs "this should help"
"Wait" but before she knew it Anael was at the top of a building, behind her were cages with different animals staring at Castiel and her "where are we?"
"This is a small petting zoo, there are symbols guarding this place from other Angles under the animal cages" Anael walked up to one of the cages...a small rabbits sat inside, a small ball of white fur.
"Anael, why did you leave?" Castiel was now standing directly behind her
"Remember when rabbits were nothing but cells? Small amoeba that would one day be a walking fish?" Anael opened the cage and brought out the small white rabbit "it took this little creature many centuries to become what it is now"
"You always did that...change the subject when I asked a question you did not want to answer" Castiel took the Rabbit and placed it back in it's cage "What are you hiding?"
"I used to look up at the sky and just watch...see if maybe I could catch a small glimpse of your blue aura" Anael reached out to Castiel and touched his cheek "it's still blue, but now there is some black too"
"You need to answer me" Castiel grabbed Anael's hand but did not move it way, just held it where it was
"Blue suits you, Blue eyes...I'll never forget them" Anael could feel another tear forming, but just when it was about to roll she felt it...someone was there.
"You know, you really should not move things that cover sitgils, it disrupts them" Castiel quickly turn and sees a very tall woman in a suit, her long dark blond hair and slim built a sign that she may not be just a human
"Elyon" Castiel pushed Anael closer to his back
"Castiel, what a surprise to see you without those hairless apes we hear you associate with now" Elyon starts to walk closer to Castiel
"Elyon you need to go back to Heaven" Castiel put his hand in front of him, a sign that Elyon needs to stay where she is
"Oh Castiel" Elyon said in a sarcastic tone "you're not the boss of me" She throws a punch at Castiel which sends him flying across the roof "The boss is gone...right Anael"
"Listen, Elyon I really don't know why-...but please stop this" Anael held up her hands and had a quick glance at Castiel slowly getting up from where he landed
"Why? Why what? Why we want you?" Elyon stepped even closer to Anael "you know we know, don't play dumb"
"Know what?" Castiel is now standing, a confused look on his face
"Are you serious? She has not told you?" Elyon looked at Castiel, examined to see if his confusion was true
"Tell me what?" Castiel looked over at Anael, a desperate expression on her face.
"Little Anael here" Elyon grabbed Anael by the hair stress forming on Anael's face "well she has what we all need to finish the Apocalypse, don't you Anael?"
"Elyon please, stop you're hurting me" Anael tried to plea
"Get used to it, we know God gave you something" Elyon shook Anael by the hair "Where is it?"
"ELYON STOP! YOU'RE HURTING ME!" Anael screamed, the pain in her scalp was bad but the pain from her stitches being pulled was even worst
It was a blur, Anael felt Elyon loose her grip as a blur pushed Elyon. It was Castiel, he had grabbed Elyon by surprise causing her to not only loose the grip on Angel's hair but also giving Castiel the advantage to throw Elyon off the roof
"RUN!" Castiel screamed at Anael, grabbed her hand as started for the roof exit
Once at the door, Castiel pushed Anael to run down the stairs "I'll distract her" he told Anael
"No Castiel, come with me" Anael grabbed Castiel's arm "I am not worth you dying"
Castiel looked into Anael's eyes, green...just like her aura was in Heaven all those centuries ago
"Please Castiel, I can't lose you" Anael's desperation moved Castiel to follow her.
The building was run down, planks of good on the floor and tarps hung from the windows. Once they reached the first floor a false sense of freedom filled Anael, but this feeling quickly rushed away once she opened the exit door and saw Angels in the room, waiting for them...Elyon was the first Angel Anael recognized
"You going somewhere?" Elyon spoke first "think you can throw me off a roof and I'll just stop?'
"Elyon please, this doesn't have to happen" Anael pleaded
"Yes it does Anael!" Elyon screamed in irritation "don't you get it? We want the apocalypse to happen, we want this flawed world to end, Lucifer and Michael are taking too long...waiting on flawed vessels to accept fate? We found a way to make this happen now! Give us God's favor, give this world an end!"
"God's favor?" Castiel asked Anael
"A punishment" Anael looked at Castiel "believe me, I don't want the apocalypse, not now that I found a reason to keep Earth spinning"
"Then we'll take it" Elyon launched herself at Anael, stricking first, at the same time all the other angels attacked. Castiel and Anael fighting back, trying hard to hold their ground.
"Give me the Favor!" Elyon punched Anael with all her might "End this flawed world!"
But Anael was not giving in, with all her strength she fought, out of the corner of her eye she saw a familiar figure and what looked like a blood circle on a wall.
Instantly she knew what was about to happen, she had but a few seconds "Meet there again" she told Castiel as a flash of light took over the room, when Anael's vision cleared all the Angels were gone, she was standing in the same room and Daniel was standing at the wall, a burned bloody sitgil on it and his hand was cut, pressed on the middle of the bloody symbol.
"Daniel, you shouldn't be here" Anael rushed to his side to asses the cut, but Daniel moved his hand away
"Why are you still here?" Daniel grew tense by the second "you should have vanished, like the other angels"
"I can explain, it's not what you think" Anael tried to remain calm as Daniel was growing impatient, she could feel his growing anger
"It's because she is not an angel" A soft voice startled both Anael and Daniel, a figure stepped from the shadows, a woman in a black suit covered in cuts and bruises from the fight that had just taken place "how long has it been since you were one?"
"You're human...but why are you working to end the world?"
"Don't change the subject" the human girl is holding an angel blade "how long has it been since you were an Angel!?"
"Millenia" Anael whisppered "but it's not what you think!"
At this moment a broken light bulb sparked, lighting Anael's shadow showing her true from; her wings were nothing like those of an angel, no feathers, no halo. Her wings were massive and shaped like bat wings, her halo replaced by horns
"YOU'RE A DEMON!?" Daniel shouted
"No!" Anael could feel the mistrust growing by the second "it's not like that"
"LIER!" the human charged at Anael, Angel blade in hand
Without hesitation Anael stabbed the human through the abdomen With her own Angel blade "why couldn't all of you just leave me alone?" Anael whispered as the human girl's body dropped to the ground
"You can't really be a punished Angel and stay an Angel, I too became a demon along with all the fallen Angels Lucifer took."
"You could have told me, you lie and then want sympathy?" Daniel looked Anael in the eye
"I never lied; you assumed I was an Angel and I once was"
"ANAEL" they heard someone scream on the rooftop "COME OUT HERE BITCH!"
"How are they back already!?" Daniel asked
"Elyon is very stubborn...Please stay hidden, better yet go home" Anael walked up to Daniel "I'm sorry" and with that Anael disappeared and was now stood on the rooftop facing Elyon.
"That was a cheap trick you pulled back there" Elyon holding her side, obviously injured
"Elyon you need to stop this, who are you to decide when the world ends?"
"Who am I!? I brought plagues to a civilization remember, I made fire rain from the sky, destroyed crops with locus" Elyon stepped closer to Anael "took children in their sleep"
"Please, don't" Anael breath
"I want this over...I WANT THE END!" Elyon charged at Anael, Angel blade in hand
As Anael readied herself to fight she saw a shadow stand in front of her, a flash of light, a man scream
"CASTIEL!" Elyon screamed in anger and shock
"NO!" Castiel's face was looking up, his back to Elyon and the tip of the blade poking through his chest "what have you done!?" Anael screamed at Castel, light flashing through his eyes and mouth
"You can't do this...you can't disappear" Anael whispered between tears, holding Castiel's face, she looked at Elyon with anger "YOU WANTED THE FAVOR! AND NOW YOU'RE GETTING IT...YOUR END!" Anael reached for her Angel blade and without hesitation stabbed through her chest, as the blade pierced a bright like explosion took over the building
"Where am I?" Anael thought, all she could see where clouds
"Back in heaven, don't you remember what it looked like?" she heard a man's voice behind her, Anael turned and saw the only person she has seen once in all of eternity
"Father!" Anael ran to the man standing just a few feet from her; the man had curly hair, unshaven and wearing very casual clothes for such an important being
"I knew you wouldn't waste my present" God held Anael the way a father hold his hurting child
"You need to stop them, Elyon and her followers...they are trying to destroy the Earth...your Earth" Anael was frantic and weeping
"I will, anything else?"
Anael looked up to God's face, her face bathe in tears "bring him back...Castiel, bring him back"
"You are very noble you know, you could have asked to come back as an Angel"
"I don't care what happens to me, just please stop them and bring him back...that's all I want"
With his thumb God wiped a tear from Anael's cheek "very well, then I will do something for you" God gave Anael a key "this is your very slice of heaven, I can't make you an Angel again...but I can accept you into heaven as a soul, you can keep watch of him and live eternity as you see please"
Anael took the key and gave God a hug full of all her happiness and her love, God then snapped his finger and they were gone
Castiel woke with a pain in his chest, he looked down at his shirt and was it covered in blood, on his lap Anael laid face down "Anael" Castiel shook her shoulder but she did not move "Anael wake up" he shook her again, nothing
He looked around and saw Elyon on the ground laying on her back, eyes and mouth open as if she was taken by surprise "Elyon" he called out, no movement.
"Anael what's going on?" Castiel rolled Anael on her back and saw the Angel blade sticking from her chest, her face peaceful and eyes half open but no color in them, her green aura gone
"Anael what did you do!?" Castiel pieced things together, he remembered being stabbed through by Elyon
Daniel came rushing through the exit door, saw Castiel and Anael's lifeless body on the ground "I guess that explains it" Daniel said out of breath
"Explains what?" Castiel asked
"Why as soon as everyone came back to the fightin' ground, all the sudden they all started screamin'...Angels and human alike, then there was a flash and they all just dropped" Daniel came close and brushed some of Anael's hair away from her cold face "there is nothing but bodies down there"
Castiel stood up and lifted Anael from the ground, carrying her lifeless body he disappeared and reappeared in the Winchester's bunker. Dean Winchester looked up from his laptop "Cas?"
"Dean, I need your help" Castiel said looking sad
"Who's that?" Sam Winchester asked walking up to Castiel, looking at the body he was carrying...Angel blade still piercing her chest
"An old friend, a lost Angel that deserves a hunter's funeral"