NOTE: This is the second chapter I've posted tonight - be sure to read the first (chapter 43 - Brother and Sister).
Okay! Hopefully you're still with me :) I think this weekend I'll finish this whole thing. Can't wait. I've been enjoying the moments far ahead of this one.
If you have the time and the inclination, I hope you'll leave a comment. Thanks for reading, and take care, everyone. Next updates will be this weekend.
Chloe sat in a chair in the front row of the auditorium, frozen in place.
She was not alone. The entire school was here, unblinking, unbreathing. Disconnected from the world's normal flow of reality.
Timelocked.
Until a little girl's scream echoed through the halls, filtered through the auditorium and washed over her in waves.
The sound slipped through the distortion of time.
A daughter's pain was heard by a frozen mother.
And the blessed soul awoke.
Swelling brightly in the space, the soul pushed back against the distortion, shattering the lock, and freeing its human form from the Third's hold.
Sucking in a loud breath, Chloe jerked back against the seat.
She blinked furiously, horribly disoriented.
But... she'd heard a scream!
She stood to her feet in an instant, and finally absorbed where she was, and the strangeness of the space around her.
This... this was Trixie's school?
She frowned, staring around the crowded auditorium.
And everyone was here?
But...
...nobody was moving?
Her skin crawled. Because they weren't just unmoving. They weren't... breathing.
"Oh my god," she whispered, dropping down to the child next to her, pressing her fingers against his throat.
But she couldn't quite reach him. Something was in the way. Some barrier that made her fingers numb.
Another scream tore through the hall, faint and wavering.
Oh god!
That was her child!
"TRIXIE!" Chloe cried. Ignoring the stillness around her, she ran up the middle aisle and slammed into the doors, throwing them open. "I'm COMING!"
The screaming faded to faint cries of pain.
"No!" she yelled, her body sparking in horror. Adrenaline pulsed through her, pounding her heart against her ribcage, fueling her frenetic energy - her muscles seemed to leap under her skin as she sprinting down through the hall.
Her baby was close, she could feel it!
She turned the corner, had one glimpse of a tall dark figure pulling her crying daughter by the hand, before her world was filled with white.
Something held her tight - there was a rush of air and swift movement as her stomach lurched, and then a sudden stillness that came with scathing sunshine.
She looked up.
Into Lucifer's worried face, flanked by folding wings, luminous in the sunlight.
No, not Lucifer
Her gut twisted.
Samael
He lowered her gently to the ground. Stepping onto red dirt, she stared about herself in utter confusion.
They were in the middle of the baseball field, at the back of the school. Smoke rose in massive dark clouds to the east. Sirens were sounding in all directions.
What the Hell?
"Stay here. Be safe."
Samael's unaccented voice pulled her back, and she caught him turning, his wings spreading wide.
"No," she said, grabbing onto his arm before he could leave. "Don't you dare do this to me again! You take me back, right now! My daughter needs me! And, yes, I know she's not just my daughter, but I don't care! She's hurt! I have to help!"
With a look of sorrowful regret, Samael turned back to face her.
Every part of the landscape of his features made her heart ache.
He's not Lucifer... but...
"I cannot take you back. He will kill you."
"Who?! That guy in the hall?! I can handle him! Take me back!"
Samael straightened, the regret sliding to pity. "That is the child you birthed with Lucifer - a being infinitely more powerful than I. You cannot 'handle him'."
Chloe stiffened.
Her child? But he was an adult! He was...
How the hell was that possible?! How was any of this possible?!
She wanted to ask how, she wanted to understand everything, but when she looked up at Samael again, his eyes were filled with a terrible fear.
It stopped every thought in her mind.
"I cannot defeat him," he said in a low, quiet voice. "But I... I can be a distraction. I can give my Father time to act, to save those in this reality that he can. I have not had much time here, but I wish for you all to live."
His gaze grew soft.
"I wish for you to live, so you must stay here."
Chloe's heart lurched, and she reached out to grasp Samael's hand.
"No... you don't have to sacrifice yourself... that's not..." Her eyes blurred with sudden tears. "What about... the others? Michael? Amenadiel? Remiel?! Aren't there other angels that can help? Why are you doing this on your own?!"
Samael stared down at their joined hands.
His warm thumb stroked hers gently as he spoke.
"Michael cannot leave Hell. Remiel is dead. Azrael ferries the growing dead. My other siblings only know the one before me. I have neither their love or trust. I am here, and they are not."
Chloe's mouth fell open.
Remiel is dead?!
He looked up at her again. Resolute.
"This is my task."
Chloe shook her head sharply. "No - you're not doing this alone!"
Squeezing her eyes closed, she began to pray.
Amenadiel! Michael! We need your help! God's in trouble! Please come!
"What is human love like?"
Chloe's eyes snapped open, her thoughts swiftly obliterated again.
Samael held her hand still, his skin so soft against her own. His eyes held a yearning that made her heart ache.
"I..." she started, and then stopped, unsure what she could possibly say that could express what Samael needed to hear.
Frowning, he shook his head, his eyes darkening, and he released her hand.
"I am wasting time. Stay here, be-"
Chloe let her instincts lead her. Let her love for Lucifer guide her, and she stepped forward, gently curling her hand over the back of Samael's neck.
And she kissed him.
He froze as he did before, his eyes searching hers as she looked up at him unflinchingly, with love.
Then those beautiful eyes closed, and he held her, returning the kiss gently, tentatively, as the smallest tear spilled down his cheek.
And in the next breath, he was gone.
Chloe stood, frozen where she had been, her hand looped over nothing, her lips raised to the air.
The hand that had held his was curled against her chest, empty now.
Closing her eyes, she let her own tears fall free, and lowered her arm by her side.
Then she steeled herself for what she knew she had to do.
She had to go back.
Time warped around her as she ran, clawing at her to slow her down, shoving violently at her to speed up.
But it all slid over her and away, as she ran with her heart and blessed soul focused on only one thing.
Saving the ones she loved.