Apologies guys I did indeed upload the wrong chapter, this is the right one…hopefully lol x thank you to alphito for letting me know x

Chapter 6: It Has Started

It was December 22nd, but no one was really in the Christmas spirit. Everyday passed as normal, Ava was concerned, it had been almost a month since she'd heard from Michael and there was still no news. Her mother begged her to come and have Christmas back in LA with her but Ava declined saying she still needed her space. She was glad to be away from the diner every night, she kept waiting for something to attack them all and she couldn't stand being so on edge. She peeled her clothes off and climbed into the shower enjoying the feel of the hot water crashing against her skin. She reluctantly climbed out of the shower and looked at herself in the mirror, she ran her fingers gently over the small incision scar on her lower abdomen, it was slightly puckered at the left end from the infection but it was fading to a pale pink compared to the angry red it had been. She pulled on her shorts and a white t-shirt and rubbed her wet hair with a towel, she lit a cigarette as she flicked through the TV channels until she got to the news, once again nothing about an apocalypse.

She lay in her bed struggling to sleep, she wasn't sure why she couldn't sleep, she was exhausted and her body was aching. She sat up and rubbed her face as her phone rang,

' Hello?' she said tiredly

' Hey honey' Janet said groggily ' there's a man here said he urgently needs to speak with you, he…he kind of looks in a bad way sugar…says his names Michael'

' I'll be right down' she said grabbing her jacket. She walked downstairs bare foot to see Michael slowly crossing the parking lot towards her; she could see he was indeed in a bad way,

' Michael what's happened?' she took his arm and put it round her shoulders to support him,

' Not here' he said wincing. She helped him upstairs to her room and sat him on the bed,

' So come on spill, what's happened?' he pulled the beige coat off slowly and looked at her

' It's started' he said wincing again

' But Charlie's not due for a few weeks, are you saying we have to keep her safe for a few weeks while the world ends?'

' I don't know' he winced again

' Ok what's happened Michael, you're in pain' he looked at her and began to lift his shirt, she could see the drying blood on his back and she pulled it up carefully so she could see his back,

' Oh fuck…Michael…'

' I had to cut them off'

' So does this mean you're human now?'

' Yes, I chose humans therefore I become one' she went to the bathroom and wet a small towel, she wiped away the dry blood gently but fresh blood began to reappear,

' Michael you need to let me re-stitch these wounds they're still partly open and they wont heal, he nodded and she got up to grab the first aid kit that Janet put in every room.

She sat behind Michael and removed the stitched he'd sewn in himself, she cleaned the wounds and started stitching them back up,

' So it's started?'

' Yes as I suspected he is sending fallen angels to possess human bodies and destroy them and others around them'

' So what do we do?' she said tugging the last stitch tighter and cutting off the loose thread,

' Go into work tomorrow as you normally would, I'll come an hour or two later'

' Will it be at the diner by then?'

' No I don't think they can spread that quickly' she wiped the wounds again, the whole time she'd been stitching up his wounds she'd been looking at the strange tattooed markings on his skin, she ran a finger timidly over one,

' What do they mean?'

' It is the script of the angels' she started clearing the bloody towel away when he grabbed her wrist,

' Thank you Ava' she nodded and walked away to the bathroom.

She lay in the bed, Michael was next to her, neither of them could sleep, Ava was dreading tomorrow. She placed her hand over her eyes, Michael looked up, he was lying on his stomach to spare his back more pain, he knew how hard this was for her, and he'd watched her for so long. He placed his hand on her hand that wasn't covering her eyes; she turned her hand over and squeezed his tightly, Michael pulled her over to him so she was on her front as well and placed his arm across her back,

' I'll keep you safe Ava' he said quietly, she never doubted a word Michael said because it was all said in that deadly serious and wise tone, she nodded and wiped her eyes and placed her arm gently across his back, under the wounds.

Michael sat beside her on the bed as she slept, he gently stroked a lock of her hair out of her face and tucked it behind her ear, she didn't even stir, though he knew she wouldn't. Years of watching her had told him everything about her, like how she was allergic to strawberries down to the three different positions she slept in throughout the night. He had seen her happy and he'd seen her in pain, for most of her life he had watched over her,

' What's that?' he looked down at her, she'd woken up at some point during his musings,

' What's what?' he asked her feeling a little thrown

' The red mark round your neck, didn't you wear something there?'

' I suppose you might call it a collar, angels are the dogs of heaven, when I cut my wings off I no longer had the right to wear anything associated with angels so it was removed' she sat up next to him and placed her hand timidly on his cheek, he closed his eyes and exhaled at the warmth of her skin. Michael had privately pined for her touch, he'd longed to know what it felt like for humans when they touched one another and now as a human he knew. She kept her hand there and gently ran her thumb across his skin; Michael kept his eyes closed, he felt her move closer to him and her hand trailed down as she rested her head against his shoulder and wrapped her arms around his chest,

' Michael, what is the child?'

' What do you mean?'

' Why is the baby so important?'

'The child will lead the world out of darkness, that's why he doesn't want this baby alive' he stroked her hair again and she looked up,

' So what will Raphael do now?'

' Hopefully he wont have to get too involved in all of this'

' You never talk about Gabriel, why is that?'

' Gabriel is so eager to please him, he is blinded by it unlike me the rebellious son, he does not see there is another way'

' Will he come?'

' Yes I have no doubt that he will'.