Purely Fallen by D. Richardson (best affordable ebook reader TXT) 📖

I walked into the cafeteria with my two shadows. The new girl, whose name turned out to be Sara, was on one side and Gabriyel was on the other. They never talked to each other, even though they had spent the entire day walking and sitting next to each other. It was odd, but who was I to judge.

Brett on the other hand did not look happy to see them. That was something I had no intention of ignoring. I sat in my usual seat, Brett sat in his, and the other two took seats as far from each other as possible, and still sit at the same table.

Sara seemed nice enough. She asked me small questions, such as my name, what grade I was in, if I worked and so on. Gabriyel was nice in his own way. When Sara wasn’t asking me questions he tried to make small talk. I liked them well enough as individuals, but the tension they carried around with them made me uneasy.

Brett spent the majority of his time ignoring them both. We talked as much as we could with people listening in so closely. I had never been so relieved to see the end of lunch. Unfortunately, they also had the same fifth hour as me, and sixth, and seventh. They shared my exact schedule and I was starting to get paranoid.

“You free tonight?” Brett asked effectively jolting me from my thoughts. I shook my head.

“Nah, I’ve got to work tonight.”

“Closing?”

“No, the short shift.” He nodded, and then we separated for our separate classes.

At the end of the day I waved goodbye to my new stalkers, and headed for my car. It wasn’t an overly nice car, but it suited me well enough. It took maybe ten minutes to get to the bar, where I worked. Legally I wasn’t old enough to serve alcohol, but when I first started I didn’t. I simply served food, and bused the tables. But it became apparent rather quickly that I was the best server that Bo had. So he let go one of his old waitresses and bumped me up. It was good money, as drunk people tipped really well. So I was able to bring in a full time income while just working part time after school, four days a week.

I changed out of my combat boots in favor for a well worn pair of tennis shoes. Have you ever tried to wait tables in combat boots? It isn’t easy, and causes quite a bit of discomfort.

It was a Tuesday night, so I worked with only one other girl. Her name was Jenn and she was a sweetheart. Sometimes I gave her some of my hours. She was twenty four and working to take care of her two year old son. I guess the father skipped out when he found out she was pregnant. When she was short on a babysitter I would watch him for a while. I was kind of the go to girl for odd babysitting jobs. I did it for free so I was pretty popular.

“Hey Jenn, how are you doing tonight?” She had dark circles under her eyes, and her normally vibrant red hair looked a little dull.

“Okay I guess. Jake had a fever last night, but he seemed better this morning.”

“That’s great. Do you think he’s getting his molars?” She nodded.

“Yeah, he’s miserable. I was going to try to pick up Betty’s shift tomorrow night, but I don’t have a sitter. My mom has a date and doesn’t want to cancel. I’m glad though, she hasn’t dated anyone since dad died.”

“Well, I can take him for a while tomorrow. I don’t have any other plans.” She looked at me with such a grateful expression I almost blushed.

“You’d do that?”

“Of course, just drop him off on your way here.”

“Oh thank you, you are an angel.” I chuckled, she said that every time I offered to sit for her.

“Oh, I have Sam tomorrow night too, will that be a problem?” I asked. I suddenly remembered that I watched Mr. B’s son every Wednesday night, so they could have a date night.

“That’s fine, Jake loves Sam, he’s always excited when he gets to play with him.” I nodded. Sam was only three, so they were close enough to the same age to actually get along.

The rest of the night went quickly. It was usually just a steady stream of taking orders and cleaning tables. By the time eight o’clock I was ready to leave. Too many drunk men and college boys for my taste. They tended to get a little handsy around their fifth round or so.

When I got my boots back on and waved to Jenn and Bo, I was ever so glad to see the end of the place. The drive home took about fifteen minutes. We lived out in the country so the commute back and forth was a bit of a pain sometimes. But the quiet was nice. If I could describe my home in one word I would say peaceful.

I pulled around to the back of the house. It was a two story Victorian style, but wasn’t over the top. It was modest but beautiful at the same time. There was a sliding glass door that led to the kitchen that only the family used. Well, the family and Brett. I saw his car in the usual spot that he parked when he came over and perked up a bit. I was tired and Brett always helped me relax after work.

I walked in quickly but paused when I turned to survey the room. Brett and my parents were sitting stiffly at the dining table, that shared space in the kitchen with the rest of the appliances. But that wasn’t what made me hesitate. Credit for that goes to Gabriyel and Sara, who were sitting at the opposite side of the table.

They had all turned to look at me when I walked in, and it looked like I had interrupted a very serious conversation. They stared at me as I stared at them. Finally, I stepped forward and dropped my keys and apron on the island that separated the actual kitchen from our dining area.

“So, I don’t suppose anyone is going to tell me what’s going on?” I asked, and everyone took a deep breath as if they were all going to answer me at the same time. But it was my mom that ended up speaking.

“Honey, there’s something that we need to tell you.”

Five minutes later I sat staring at my parents. They had to be joking. Just one big elaborate joke. And I might have believed that it was if it wasn’t for the fact that my parents weren’t that good at making jokes. They could be fun, it just wasn’t easy for them to be funny.

“Excuse me, there must be something preposterous in my ear. I’m a what?”

“An angel.” My dad answered. I nodded, they were all sitting on the edge of their seats waiting. I suspected that they expected me to freak out.

“So like an angel of the biblical variety?” They all squirmed a little at the question.

“It’s a bit more complicated than that.” Brett answered. He seemed to be having a hard time meeting my eyes.

“Complicated how?”

“Angels are born of the imagination.” Gabriyel announced as if that explained everything.

“And that means?” My dad cleared his throat after glaring at Gabriyel.

“The first angels were created simply because such a large number of humans believed that they existed. And once so many angels were believed to exist, then others made an appearance. Heaven was believed to be, well, a heavenly place, and so it came to be. Humans believed that there were guardians watching over them and their society, and then all of a sudden there was an angel for everything. Each religion has their own depiction of angels, and their own variety.”

“Okay, so how am I one exactly?” My parents exchanged uneasy glances.

“Well, both of us, your mother and I, are angels, therefore you were born one.”

“You’re both angels.” It wasn’t a question, but Sara decided to answer anyway.

“We all are.” I looked around the table and nodded. Brett twitched a little. Something he always did when he was nervous.

“Why are you both here?” I asked suddenly. I had just met Gabriyel and Sara that day, I didn’t see why they had to be there for the big unveiling.

“We came to watch you.” Gabriyel answered as if it were the most obvious fact of the night.

“Why?”

“Honey, the thing is, is you’re kind of unique.” My mom answered uneasily.

“How am I unique?”

“Born of earth, conceived by both the pure and the fallen.” It was spoken in almost a biblical way, by Gabriyel, of course. I turned on him.

“Could you just, stop talking? I never understand what you’re saying.” He looked a bit offended, but retreated in his chair with his mouth clamped tightly shut. I turned to my parents and my dad took a deep breath.

“You have to understand, Raven. Angels are not supposed to experience the emotions and temptation that humans, and the earth provide. We are ruled by a high council that dictate what we can and cannot do. Granted there are reasons for some of the restrictions, like nephilim. But only because there is no way to rule over the hybrids if they become power hungry. Heaven is a peaceful place, but it is also strict. There are different sects and types of angels. We are all created with a purpose, and it is demanded of us to fulfill those purposes but nothing else. For two angels to experience love and family is rare.

The angels that choose to remain in heaven and do the council’s bidding are considered pure angels. But those of us that grew tired of the restrictions and lack of freewill, the ones that decide to live freely on earth, must fall to obtain it. They are called the fallen, and are actually considered tainted. They no longer hold the purity it takes to live in heaven. If they wish to continue to provide the services that they were made for, they must do so with the limitations that comes with living on earth. It changes…for lack of a better term, it changes the genetic makeup of the angel.

I fell almost thirty years ago.”

“Thirty years?” He spared me a small smile.

“Once we reach a certain age, we can choose how old we look at any given time. I used to pose as an old man when ever you went to the park as a little girl.” My eyes widened and he shrugged looking a little guilty. “You insisted on going by yourself and I worried.” I wracked my memory to see if I would remember him. Then I had it. There was an old man that used to sit on the bench and watch the kids play. I thought he looked like my grandfather would have looked if I had ever met him. I think I might have told him that once.

“Uh, I used to talk to you! I thought you were just a harmless old man with nothing better to do than sit at the park.“ He smiled fondly at the memory.

“Yeah, you used to save your allowance and bring me cookies and chocolate milk.“ I scoffed again, then took a deep breath.

“Okay, so you’re a fallen angel. But he said conceived of