"That's… umm… wow."
TJ sat at the small table in the kitchen, trying to comprehend what had happened while he was gone. They all had gathered there not long after his arrival, including Eagan and a reluctant Michaela. Unloading everything that happened in the past 6 months in about 10 minutes,took a toll on TJ, and his head was reeling. He didn't know what to ask, or how to clear up the questions that were swirling in his mind. Instead, he stammered on in confusion.
"So…"
"Daly." Said Ben
"And you both?" He questioned while pointing to Mick and then Ben.
"Almost died." Mick said with a nodd.
"But you're.."
"Pregnant. Very pregnant." She added with a laugh.
"And Drea…?"
"Unfortunately is gone." Zeke caught the glimpse of sadness in Mick's eyes, and couldn't help but anser for her.
"And you found out…"
"Adrian is a fallen angel. Yeah we know it sounds insane."
"Why didn't any of you call me?"
The room fell silent. Truthfully they didn't know why they didn't make much of an effort to update the boy. But with everything happening in the manner that it did, they barely had time to do anything except look for answers. Olive kept in touch with TJ for a while, but when she met Levi things changed.
Suddenly, she felt guilty. She wanted to be with TJ, but what would she tell Levi? "Oh sorry, my boyfriend came back from Egypt so bye." ? Her thoughts consumed her for the remaining time they all talked
"Well everything was so…" Ben began. But TJ stopped him, lifting up his hand. "I totally understand. Seems like your hands were full here."
They all eventually dispersed. Mick and Zeke went back to their place, Eagan, somewhat begrudgingly, left as well. That left Olive, Cal, TJ, Ben, and Grace in the living room. They all fell silent, not knowing how to start a conversation… or more like what to start it with.
Moments passed, and all that could be heard was their breathing. It wasn't awkward, but it also wasn't normal either.
Suddenly, Olive and TJ both cleared the silence.
"I'm sorry." They said in unison. They smiled at each other, staring in each other's eyes for a pause. "I should've called more." Olive spoke. "I'm sorry."
TJ gripped her hands tightly, reassuring her. "No. I should've been here. I should never have left."
Olive tilted her head, catching a glimpse of sadness gripping his demeanor. She squeezed his hands. "No. You got the opportunity of a lifetime. Who would I be to stand in your way?"
He smiled. Really smiled, for what fell like the first time since he stepped foot in Cairo. Bits of him felt guilty for leaving. Big parts of him missed the Stones. And when the project ended early, all he wanted to do was run home to them. To his family.
"So what are we gonna do about this Angelina news?"
Grace's voice rippled between the moment, causing them to come back to reality.
For a brief moment in time, Olive forgot. She forgot the worries of the world. She forgot about the pain her heart felt, or the guilt of leaving TJ behind. She forgot what they were gathered around for. She forgot that Angelina was gone.
Angelina was gone
She whispered those words to herself softly, dragging them out like a heavy weight. They reverberated in her bones like a speaker booming with the music of a bass guitar.
She hated her, sure. She tried to kill her mother, and kidnapped her sister for Christ's sake. But she was still a person. And she didn't believe she deserved death.
"I can't believe she's gone."
Cal sighed, knowing that what he was gonna say next would piss them off a little.
"I think…" He paused, letting the thought sink in. "I think Adrian did it."
Mick was asleep in bed, snuggled as close to Zeke as her bump would allow. She held him tightly, one arm wrapped around his chest, and the other underneath him. She felt peace, until something stirred her awake.
She shot her eyes open, feeling a wisp breath on her bare arms. It made the hairs on her body stick up sharply. She turned her gaze, watching as Adrian stood over her and Zeke's bed.
She unraveled herself from her husband's body, sitting upright in the bed.
"Zeke!" She yelled, skating him violently in an attempt to wake him up. Nothing.
"Zeke!"
"Oh. He won't wake up for a while." Adrian spoke, pulling out two small, orange pill bottles. "There's nothing that a little bit of lorazepam and benadryl won't do."
"What did you do to him?" Mick roared in a panic, pushing herself closer to the headboard so she could check her husband's breathing. She lifted her head, watching the rise and fall of his chest.
Relief filled her body. He was alive.
"Relax." Adrian whispered. "He's just sleeping. But I wouldn't expect him to be up for another four hours… at least."
She jerked to the side, reaching for her phone on the nightstand. But when she ran her hand across the hardwood, it was gone.
Adrian held it up to her, taunting her with the power he now held.
"I wouldn't call Ben if I were you."
'What do you want?!" She snapped, feeling her voice break.
Adrian's face changed. His spirit was sinister only moments ago, but now… it was evil. There was no amount of good left inside of his body. Michaela wondered if there ever was, or if it was all a facade from the very beginning.
"You've forgotten. I'm here for your life."
Michael tilted her head. "What? My life?" She asked. There was a tangible cloud of fear filling the room. She felt as if she was staring into the depths of hell.
Adrian smiled at her, his white teeth glimmering in the light of the moon. The smile on his lips was so rotte, that it made Michaela's stomach turn. Her stomach was unsettled from the moment she saw him in her bedroom. The babies inside her instantly began thrashing around, like they knew what Adrian was there for.
"Who do you think sent Daly to kill you?"
The world stopped as Michaela's eyes widened. "You…" she began. "You orchestrated all of it?"
Adrian laughed. "Oh no, not all of it. Drea well… she was collateral damage."
Mick felt like there was a knife in her chest. Pain radiated throughout her body. She gritted her teeth, standing up from the bed.
"What about Angelina?" She asked. "Was it part of your plan to kill her too?"
Adrian dropped his head. "Oh, sister Angelina. So young. So much potential." He twisted his face into a look of confidence, of pride. "She should've been the first to go."
Mick swallowed hard, feeling her body shake in fear. "What do you want with my life, Adrian?"
"Isn't it obvious?" He walked over to Zeke's side of the bed slowly, like a predator about to attack their prey. He stared at him, his dark eyes scanning every inch of his sleeping body. Mick circled around, backing up into the embrace of the door. She felt the cold wood tap her skin, and a sense of comfort came over her. She felt safe by the door, gripping the knob with her left hand.
Adrian caressed Zeke's cheek, making Mick shiver. "I want to bring balance."
Mick furrowed her brow. She felt as if she was already pleading for her life, and he hadn't even attempted to end it yet. "And how will killing me and Ben do that?"
He walked around the side of the bed, putting his hand on Mick's belly. Her babies jumped at his touch, kicking violently in response.
"Oh Michaela. So naive." He walked towards the window, pulling the curtain to the side, and running his hand over the lock.
"You see, I can't have you save the lifeboat. I need you all to die when your time comes." He popped the window open, staring into the bright glow of the moon.
Michaela crept closer, keeping her distance as best as she could. "But why?" She asked angrily. "Why do you want the lifeboat to sink? You'll die too."
"Oh, that's where you're wrong." He said with a laugh. "When I fell, my spirit was trapped between worlds. Freely roaming and taking control of whomever I felt like." He sighed, looking out towards the darkness of the sky. "If I take the souls of those in the lifeboat for good and give them to Azriel, I can finally free myself from this prison."
"So you can go to heaven again?" Mick asked.
"No." He replied. "So Azriel and I can rule Sheol."
"Hey!"
Suddenly Zeke was standing over Adrian, his hand raised above his head. Mick had no idea how he woke up from the drugs, but she didn't care.
He struck him to the ground, punching him in the jaw. Adrian didn't hesitate, and kicked him off with full force, throwing Zeke backwards and onto the bed. Zeke shot up, wrestling with Adrian until he was able to grab him by the neck. They shuffled as Zeke pushed him towards the open window.
Zeke stared into Adrian's eyes, intense rage filling his bones. But when he expected to see remorse or fear in his gaze, he saw that Adrian was smiling instead. Tilting his head, he began to laugh. "You shouldn't have done that."
He pushed Zeke's hands away, and turned him to the window. He held him over the ledge, taunting him with the release of his grip.
"Zeke!" Mick screamed in despair. She was close to hyperventilating. She couldn't lose him.
She couldn't.
"This is too bad." Said Adrian. "I planned on killing you last."
Suddenly there was a gunshot, and Adrian screamed.
Mick stood behind them, her gun held tightly in her hands, hope and anger in her eyes. Adrian cried out louder. Though he couldn't die, he could still be hurt. Zeke pushed himself away from the windowsill and fell to his knees, collapsing into Mick's embrace as she met him on the ground. He held her close, whispering that it was all ok.
Adrian tried to stand, but instead stumbled into the corner of the room. He knew he couldn't stay there for long.
They couldn't see him hurt.
He refused to be captured.
Hurriedly, he changed his form and morphed himself into a raven. The wound that was once engulfed around his shoulder, was now on the top of his wing. He flew upwards, pushing himself out of the window with all of his strength. Completely ignoring every ounce of pain he felt.
As soon as he was gone, Mick slammed the window shut. She locked it abruptly, standing in the soft light of the sky with her hand on her forehead.
She paced for a second, before standing still. Part of her wanted to collapse. Part of her wanted to go back to sleep. But she knew only nightmares would fill her dreams.
With her mind racing, she burst into tears.
"Hey, hey, hey." Zeke spoke lovingly. "I'm here baby. I'm here."
They were alive… all four of them.
But they knew Adrian would be back to kill them. They knew he was coming, and wouldn't stop until he got what he wanted.
They just didn't know when.
Wow. Adrian is a little bit insane huh? Can you believe he was the one who sent Daly? The master behind all of this.
So next chpater will be a two-parter entitled "Mayday." I had intended for chapters 20 and 21 to be Mayday Part I and II, but it just didn't work with the flow of the story, and i had more things i wanted to do before I got to this next part. There will be a time jump and some cliffhangers, but plz don't hate me lol. I'll most likely release them both at once because I'm a nice person haha.
After 24/25 there will be a few more chapters and then the epilogue! So this story will be coming to a close soon, and that's surreal to me. To those of you who have stuck around since I first posted chapterone, i love you like crazy. And to the newcomers, I'm so grateful to have you as a part of this fics journey!
As always, let me know what you thought about this chapter here, on archive, or my twitter!
Love you all!
- The Color Gray
