Hey guys! Quick warning, there's a lot of exposition in this chapter because this chapter (as well as the one I'm currently working on) set up the entire story. Once again thank you to all my reviewers: Charlottee96x, Stewart02,bookwormgrl101, Hearts of Pjamas Ash x, liv408, JustAlison. You make me write faster! Hope you enjoy, tell me what you think. More Patch is on the way in the coming chapters! Please Review!
CHAPTER 3The darkness lifted from my mind as I came back to consciousness. I opened my eyes and saw what must have been the interior of the shack I had so desperately wanted to avoid. It was no better looking on the inside than it had been on the outside.
The furniture was in various states of distress, dotted unconsciously around the room. The ceiling was covered in a pattern of wet spots, letting the rain drip through. I sat up and swung my feet onto the floor, which felt damp beneath my feet. I made an effort to get up but as I stood a surge of dizziness and a sharp pain in my ankle crashed over me and I fell back onto the lounge.
"Welcome back, Nora." Patch spoke from next to the window. He was holding a shabby curtain back and peering out into the night. "I was getting so bored, waiting alone."
"Waiting…waiting for what exactly?" My voice trembled a little.
"Not for what…but for who," he smiled, "my partner." The words not only confused and frightened me but they also caused me pain. Pain like my lung had been pierced and now the air was slowly escaping. Once I had been his partner, his mate. Now I sat in the middle of nowhere waiting to die, most likely at the hands of his new partner.
'Who…who are they?' I even sounded out of breath mentally.
"Don't worry Nora, you'll love them." Patch said jubilantly. Dropping the curtain he begun walking over to me. His feet stopped just before me and he stood there, next to me, his eyes watching the door expectantly.
About a second latter, a bang sounded as the front door was kicked open. Shocked, I watched as long, pale, cascading hair emerged through the splintered doorframe. Dabria. How could she be alive? Hadn't Patch 'taken care of her'?
"Nora." She whispered to herself. Her sea blue eyes swept over my body, assessing my utter helplessness. "You can't imagine how glad I am to see you," a grin broke out across her face, "especially in the state you're in." Not taking her eyes off me, she acknowledged Patch's presence for the first time, "Well done my love." Patch beamed wickedly back at her.
'My love?' Seriously, this couldn't be Patch. The Patch I knew would be making gag noises if somebody had referred to him as 'my love'. He wouldn't be wrapping his arms around her like he was right now. And holding her. And kissing her. It was that image that gave me the courage (and the anger) to question Dabria.
"What the hell did you do to Patch?" I shot at her. Their lips reluctantly broke apart. A silent moment of communication passed between them. Patch then grinned at her, and walked out of the shack through the creaky front door. Dabria let out a huff as she unwillingly tore her eyes from Patch's back and turned towards to me.
"I just thought it was time that you saw his true colours, Nora. It's not fair that he keeps stringing you along," she smirked.
I sat up. "True colours, huh? Funny how his 'true colours' only emerge when you're around. You're not fooling me Dabria, I know who Patch is. I know this isn't him. What did you do to him?"
"You really want to know, Nora?" She teased.
"Cut the crap and just tell me now." I spat back at her.
Her face turned sour at my words, apparently I was spoiling her little game. "Fine then, your dying wish is my command. Let me share my brilliance with you.
"After the night Patch just about killed me…yes he did attempt too." Seeing my confused face she explained, "you see he was in such a hurry to get back to you that he left before he entirely finished the job, so thankyou for saving my life." I mentally cursed at Patch, and at myself too, knowing that this whole situation could have been prevented.
Dabria had paused and was looking up towards the ceiling. It appeared as if she were reminiscing in some private place within her twisted mind. A clap of thunder came from beyond the crumbling walls and she resumed her explanation. "Well after that night, I couldn't stop thinking about him. The one whom I loved most. A near death experience will do that to you. I needed him, whether he desired me or not. I had to have him. So I looked to the heavens for answers, ways by which I could reclaim him as my own. It was a very difficult search, as I was on what you might call…probation. But I persisted, out of sheer love and finally came across something in The Book Of Enoch. The sacred book that possesses all knowledge…and secrets of Angels."
I definitely remembered what I knew of The Book of Enoch. It's hard to forget the book that's contents compel people to kill you. "Well among the stories of nephil vassals and human possession; I found an ancient spell, a spell that preceded the practice of pushing angels from heaven, forcing them to fall. The spell that was used to correct the behaviour of the 'troubled' angels."
I had no idea where she was going with this story; she definitely hadn't corrected Patch's behaviour. She continued, "The spell worked by distilling the angel's personality into separate components. Then the archangels would bring out the component that they desired."
I looked up at her pale, oval face. "I don't follow…"
She showed her annoyance but clarified, "Nora, they would take an angel who had been 'acting out' and preform the spell. Splitting the angel's essence, taking what makes them good and separating it from what made them bad. They would then bring out the angel's good side, in turn causing the eradication of the bad side."
"Dabria, you can't honestly expect me to believe that you've brought out Patch's good side."
"I never said I used the spell exactly as the archangels did. In fact I did quite the opposite. I brought out the component that I desired."
My mouth dropped open. "You brought out the bad… You made him evil?"
"Nora, Patch has always had evil inside him. I've just brought that evil to the surface."
That part wasn't my issue. I was focused on the 'eradication' of the other side. I knew I had to clarify with her, "But you've destroyed everything good in Patch?" Everything that made me love him, I added silently.
"It depends on what you see as good. For example, in my mind, removing you from the world…is good. And the new Patch, he agrees."
I didn't know what to say. I could feel my death approaching, my life span rapidly becoming shorter. Knowing this, I raised an issue that had been bothering me ever since the walk to the shack. "Then why didn't Patch kill me himself? He had ample time to do it."
She let out a high-pitched laugh, "Stupid human, do you not remember why I wanted to kill you myself last year? If Patch kills you, he becomes human and I will remain an angel. I'm not letting Patch and I become the next human-angel couple. And if I kill you, I prevent that from happening." She smiled.
It all made sense now, why he hadn't killed me. Why he'd saved me from the crash, why he'd brought me here. Patch couldn't do it himself. It had to be Dabria.
Dabria interrupted my sudden epiphany, looking rather bored. "So, dying wish granted." She paused, a sudden look of excitement appearing on her face. "Now all that's let for you to do is…die.
"Ready?"