The forbidden girl

It was cold outside, but somehow I was too hot to sleep. I threw the covers off me and tried to ignore the overwhelming sense that something was about to happen

"It doesn't mean anything, you must be ill, Sarah," I told myself

I got up to open the window and that's when I saw it, a meteor shower or a host of falling stars? It didn't quite look like either but I couldn't explain it. I just know that it meant something. It couldn't be good. Good things don't fall out of the sky like that. I couldn't know how my life was about to change, but I did feel an overbearing sense of danger. I know it sounds crazy, but it was more than enough to make me get dressed, grab a bag and frantically throw in whatever was nearby. I almost forgot to empty the money from my jar. I was saving for a holiday with Ryan, but something told me that wouldn't happen. With the money in the side pocket of my bag I hurried downstairs and out of the house and I ran without even stopping to lock up. It didn't matter I was never coming back. I was prepared to run across the whole of England, if it meant that I could shake of the feeling of dread building up inside my gut.

Daylight finally came and I couldn't force my legs to keep running. I had to slow down to a brisk walk and even that sent an aching burn up and down my thighs. The sun began to heat up, taking away the chill of the night, replacing it with warmth. As I felt its touch on my face, I could almost pretend I had over reacted, almost. If someone had asked me what reason I had for leaving nearly everything behind in the middle of the night and running away as though my life depended on it, I wouldn't have had an answer for them. I could still remember the eerie feeling though and as much as I couldn't put it into words, even the heat of the sun wasn't enough to make me turn back. I was still trying to work out my next move when I saw him. He was handsome in a rugged way, with messy blonde hair. That's not what made him stand out through. I couldn't help staring at him because he was completely naked. If Ryan was there with me, he would have covered my eyes. I can't blame him, I wouldn't want Ryan staring at a naked woman. What I did next was completely out of character for me. Some old lady was threatening to call the police on him for indecent exposure. I ran across the street.

"Sorry about this," I told the woman, "this man is my...cousin and he's not well. I'll make sure he gets home and I'll ensure that this doesn't happen again. I mean his nurse was meant to be with him, I don't know what happened," I began to get so caught up in my story.

"Well just mind that it doesn't happen again," she warned before adding, "so sad that someone should get into that state," then she walked away muttering to herself.

"I am not your cousin," the man declared as I reached into my bag and pulled out a thin blanket and wrapped it round him.

"I know that, but that woman was going to have you locked up," I explained.

"I don't want to wear this constraint," he declared shaking off the blanket.

"It's not a constraint, it's a blanket," I said while putting the blanket back round him.

"What is the point of it?" he questioned.

"What?" his question caught me off guard.

"The blanket, what is the point of it?"

"Well most men wear clothes, to cover up their..," I pointed in the direction of between his legs, while trying not to look, as the wind moved the blanket. I couldn't help it as my eyes seemed to lower without my consent. "What the...that's not possible, what/s wrong with you? Sorry that was callous what I mean is...what happened to you?" I stared open mouthed, not quite believing that the lady who had been about to call the police could have missed his lack of a manhood.

"I fell," he replied like that explained everything.

"Oh my God, and it just fell off? Where is it?" I asked, remembering stories about taking chopped off body parts to the hospital and getting them reattached if you were quick enough. I realised that didn't make sense. There was no blood or a scar to indicate that it was removed. It was more like he had never had one to begin with.

"I don't understand," he told me.

"Well that makes two of us then."

I led him down the street, not sure of where I could take him. I saw a cheap looking B&B ahead of us and decided that was the best place. I could get him off the street and decide what to do from there. As strange as the sight of him wrapped in my blanket must have looked, we weren't asked any questions, as I checked us in and paid in advance for one night. When I got us up to the double basic room, he lay down on the bed, seeming to enjoy the comfort it provided him.

"I always wondered what these things felt like," he said with a big smile on his face.

I couldn't understand his happiness about the bed, it was a pretty basic bed and definitely nothing to smile about. He acted like he had never laid on a bed before.

"Great," I muttered.

"Come lie with me," he requested.

"What?" I was surprised by what he was asking.

"Come lie with me, there's room for both of us"

"I'm sure there is, but I have a boyfriend, I'm not going to sleep with you," I replied. The curious part of me couldn't help wondering how that would be possible, considering his unique condition.

"Sleep, no I don't sleep." He sat up, the blanket dropped, only serving to remind me of that condition.

Somehow this made me feel safer with him, so I walked towards the bed and sat down next to him.

"So comfortable isn't it?" he questioned. He wasn't being sarcastic and he seemed childlike, except for his muscular arms and chest. Those definitely weren't childlike.

"Who are you?" I questioned.

"I am Michael," he declared.

"As in the angel," I found myself saying.

"Exactly, that's me."

"What?"

"I'm the archangel Michael," he confirmed.

"No way,"

"Yes way, you know I'm telling you the truth, just like I know that your name is Sarah Bingham, you're the daughter of Aidan and Melissa, although they aren't your biological parents, but you've always known that, but you think of him as your mother and father anyway."

"How do you know all that?" I demanded, "I only told Ryan about that, do you know Ryan? Is this some joke?"

Michael went on to tell me a crazy sounding story about how he had been in heaven with the other angels, when what sounded to me like a giant trap door just opened up and he along with the others were dejected. He told me he didn't know how long he had been falling before he hit the ground, but the process had been the most painful of his existence, which apparently span across thousands of years.

"Okay," I shook my head when he finally finished, "and you expect me to believe all that?"

I don't know what bothered me more, the fact that he expected me to buy his story or the fact that part of me did.

"It's the truth," he told me while looking me directly in the eye.

"Well I think you believe it," I replied.

I asked him how he knew things about me. He told how that every time he met a human everything about them was automatically imprinted onto his brain.

"Really? It must get crowded in there?" I rested my hand on top of his head, as he smiled kindly at me.

"We're different to humans, our brains can hold more information."

"We?"

"Angels,"

"Of course."

He asked me why I doubted him and I couldn't make him understand why I or anyone else would doubt the existence of angels. There was something about him though, like he had lost something. So I decided to try to help him, even of if he was deluded. The first thing I needed to do was get him some clothes. He was curious about why this seemed important to me. I remembered my lessons from Sunday school. I told Michael, it was because of Adam and Eve and the shame they had felt at their own nakedness, after eating the forbidden fruit. Michael told me angels don't feel the shame of nakedness as humans do, but I explained the best way to fit in was to pretend to be human and he seemed to understand this at least. I promised to be as quick as I could, then I left.

I found a cheap looking menswear shop round the corner, guessed his sizes, bought a pair of jeans and a t shirt for him, then returned to the bed and breakfast. Something was wrong, I could tell before I opened the door to our room.

"Michael," I saw him laid out on the bed, groaning, blood seeped from his chest. "What happened?" I grabbed the blanket beside him and used it to slow the bleeding.

"Demons," he muttered like that explained everything.

"I don't understand."

"They're free too, the demons, when the doors to heaven opened and ejected us, the gates of hell opened and they're all free now."

"Right, well that makes sense," I replied despite the fact that it make no sense at all.

"So you understand what this means?" he asked.

"No more Nandos?"

"No more anything, they will tear this world apart."

"Okay, so bad then," I retorted trying to ignore the chill that spread across my arms as he spoke.

"We have to stop them," he insisted.

"We have to stop this bleeding," I argued.

He tried to tell me it would stop and that he was only taking longer to heal because he was so far from heaven. Six hours later it was like he hadn't been bleeding at all. There was no wound, scar or any other sign of an injury.

We checked out of the bed and breakfast. I still had doubts, but I couldn't explain his quick recovery, or the part of me that felt like I knew Michael somehow. I told him I needed to find Ryan. I had an awful feeling something had happened to him, but I couldn't explain. Michael seemed to understand though, but told me the best way to help Ryan and everyone else was to defeat the demons. I didn't bother to argue. I was still unsure of what was happening, but I knew I was caught up in something I didn't understand.

We made our way to Manchester on the train. Michael seemed certain that we would find the leader of the underground there. I thought he meant Satan, but apparently Satan was just the name demons used to refer to their leader. Michael told me there had been at least 1000 different "Satans" over the years and it helped the demons cause to make everyone think of them all as one entity.

"My name is legion, for we are many," I found myself recalling.

"You know the bible,' Michael didn't sound surprised.

"Just little snippets, coming back to me from my Sunday school days."

"That is not surprising,"

I didn't ask him what that was supposed to mean.

I followed him when we reached Manchester, he seemed to know where he was going and I was still hoping that if I helped him with whatever it was he was doing, he would help me to find Ryan.

"Wait," Michael grabbed my arm and held onto it, as I tried to cross the road.

"What?" I looked at him questioningly.

"Demon!" he declared.

"Where?"

He pointed towards a man just outside a restaurant across the road. I recognised him almost immediately, with his dark hair and the black t shirt and old jeans he was wearing.

"What? No. That's Ryan, but what's he doing here?" I tried to break free from Michaels grip.

"Your boyfriend is a demon, sorry."

"Don't be ridiculous, I've known Ryan since I was in secondary school. Don't you think I would know if he was a demon?"

"Not while the gates of hell were shut. He would have passed as any other human, just like you have for all these years."

"What? So now you're saying I'm a demon too?" I lost my temper with Michael, finally managing to yank my arm away and run across the road towards Ryan.

"Sarah," Ryan looked surprised. "What are you doing here?"

"I was trying to help someone, you?"

"I don't know," he looked disorientated. "I woke up the night before last and felt like I had to go somewhere. This is where I ended up."

"Most likely the lord of the underground calling to all his lost demons," Michael interrupted from behind us.

Ryan spun round, "who the hell are you?"

"Ryan, this is Michael, the one I was helping, it turns out he's crazy."

"I am not crazy, this man is a demon," Michael insisted.

"Of course I am mate," Ryan replied.

"See he evens admits it,"

"Michael," I pleaded, "Please, Ryan is not a demon. He was being sarcastic."

"I can not make you believe, but the lord of the underground is in that building, that's where you were heading Ryan, correct?"

"Yes," Ryan admitted, I was going into the restaurant, because I'm hungry, not because I'm a demon going to meet Satan."

"Ah, I never said Satan, how did you know that's who I meant?" Michael reasoned.

"It wasn't that hard to figure out," Ryan shrugged.

The two of them had stood there, as though rooted to the ground, each trying to out stare the other, until I was sure that they were about to tear each other apart with their bare hands. I stood between the two, agreeing with Ryan that he couldn't be a demon, while trying to appease Michael by agreeing to go into the restaurant and see for myself. Ryan wasn't happy, but I pointed out that's where he was going anyway, so the three of us should get a table together.

We waited to be seated, Ryan was ushered towards a table at the back of the restaurant, while Michael and I tried to follow.

"Not you," the man told Michael.

"What? Why not?" I questioned.

"We don't take angels in here," the man stated, while sniffing the air in my direction. "You, well you could go either way, but until you decide on a direction, you can't come in either."

"Ryan," I called out. He stopped for a second, looked back at me, then continued towards the table full of heavily built men at the back of the restaurant.

I waited until Michael and I were outside before I accosted him with questions about what was going on, asking what he had meant when he had suggested I was a demon and what the man in the restaurant had meant when he said I could go either way. Michael began to explain to be that my mum had been an angel, while my dad was a demon. They had met while on separate missions. The two of them had been unable to stay away from each other. They had planned to start a life together away from heaven and hell after I was born, even though their love and my conception were strictly forbidden. My parents had left me with a human friend of theirs, while they had gone to fight those who would have prevented them from being together. They had never returned.

"You knew all this when you met me," I accused.

"I had heard the stories and I suspected who your parents were after I learnt everything about you. I only knew for sure when we were in the restaurant."

"What did he mean I could go either way?"

"Whether you like it or not, you're part of this fight now, you can choose either side. I won't lie to you Sarah. In rare cases where one parent is demon and the other is angel, the offspring tends to lean towards the fathers side of the family."

"And my dad was a demon,"

"But you have a choice," he took hold of my hands, "you don't have to be a demon.

"Good," I couldn't help crying, "because I don't want to be a demon."

"I know," Michael assured me as he protectively wrapped his arms around me.

"How?" I asked as something occurred to me.

"How what?"

"How did my parents conceive me, no offence but you don't have...," I pointed to him, down there.

"Most demons and angels have genitalia, but it's a blessing for an angel to be born without, as we are the only ones who can become archangels."

He explained how they are seen as a distraction for the leaders of both communities (angels and demons) I wanted to ask Michael if there was a god, but I suspected it was the same thing that he had explained to me about Satan, with many taking the title over the years.

Michael grabbed my arm and pulled me behind him as Ryan headed out of the restaurant followed by two of the men from the restaurant, although I sensed that they were demons and not human men.

"You shouldn't be hanging around here, this is our town now," one of the demons told Michael.

"Come on Michael," I tried to tug him away, fearing for his safety as well as my own.

"You should listen to her, although you're more than welcome to stay sweetheart, come over to our side," the second demon encouraged.

"Ryan are you coming with us?" I asked.

He only shook his head, before turning away.

"He belongs with his own kind," the second demon told me, "as do you, is your dark side tugging at you yet? It's stronger isn't it? Why not give into it?"

"You leave her alone," Michael stepped directly in front of the two demons, as one lifted a hand to strike him. Michael quickly pointed his hand towards the sky and lightning seemed to flow through it, until it changed direction and zapped the demon, who fell to his knees, then bursting into flames. The other demon grabbed Michael. He struggled to get free, while looking at me as though I could help. I lifted my own hand, feeling scared that the demon would hurt Michael, maybe even kill him, if that was possible. That's when lighting flowed through my hand, as it had done through Michael's. It landed on the demons head. His head burst like a melon that been run over by a truck. The demon released his hold on Michael, then fell to the ground, landing next to the remains of his head.

"Let's go," I grabbed Michaels hand and we ran. I didn't even register how fast we going until I looked down and realised we were actually flying and not running.

"How...," I began to ask.

"Didn't you know Angels can fly?" he asked with surprise evident in his voice.

"But I'm only half," I said as we landed some place unfamiliar to me.

"You made your choice back there," he told me.

I refused to believe it could be so easy, until we landed and Michael explained to me that my demon side would always be there and I'd always be fighting against it, but because I had chosen the angelic side, those were the powers I got. He warned me that I had to be careful not to be lured over to the demons side, because I'd be lost forever. I was certain there was no chance of that.

Michael spent months training and preparing me for a battle between angels and demons, to try and reclaim the towns which they had taken over, while they tempted humans over to their side, so that they would fight for the demons. We gathered up more angels to our cause as we kept moving while training, preparing for what would be our final battle one way or another. As prepared as I thought I was I hadn't prepared myself to see Ryan again. The Ryan I knew had always treated me kindly, despite having a bad boy attitude to him at times. I couldn't have imagined how unrecognisable he would have become in the few months since I'd last seen him. Michael warned me that Ryan would have changed. I had known he was already beginning to change the day he turned his back on me and walked towards the demons, choosing them over me without a second thought.

We returned to Manchester following one of the other angels who had a vision that Satan and his demon army would be there. We were greeted by Ryan and another demon. I barely recognised Ryan, there was no trace of humanity left on his face. His skin was sickly pale, his eyes dark and cold and his smile was menacing.

"Come to join us Sarah? He questioned. "And you've bought a peace offerings." He nodded towards Michael and the other angels.

"I. Will. Never. Join. You," I stated boldly while refusing to look away from his cruel stare.

"Then I have no choice," he stated, although he seemed to be enjoying the moment.

"What happened to you?" I couldn't help asking sadly.

"I found myself," he laughed at his own words before shooting balls of fire from his hands, they went flying towards me and I fell back to Michaels training, leaping out of the way just in time. Michael joined me while the others engaged in the battle with the rest of the demons.

"We have to find Satan," he told me, "if we destroy him, before the others can replace him, they'll all be recalled back to hell, hopefully giving us enough time to lock the gates behind them."

"How do we lock the gate?" I shouted over the screams of both angels and demons.

"One step at a time," he told me.

So I spent what felt like forever fighting my way through the hordes on demons, following Michaels lead who seemed to know where the reigning Satan would be. We fired lightning bolts, dodged fireballs and angry demons who tried to grab at us as we passed and eventually found a short little man no taller than five foot five. He was wearing glasses and a suit which looked like it was two sizes too big for him.

"This is Satan?" I asked incredulously, feeling slightly disappointed.

"Satan very rarely fights, he deals with the planning side of things, thinking up new ways to tempt or torture people, that kind of thing," Michael explained.

Satan backed away, while his eyes looked from me to Michael as though he was trying to come up with a devious plan. Then he did something that surprised me, he shrieked, like a little girl who has lost her parents in the middle of a crowd, except this was much louder and more feminine. Three burly demons came charging towards us. I could tell that Michael and I had our work cut out for us.

"Go!" Michael shouted at me, as Satan began to run away.

I stayed, trying to fend off one of the big demons. Michael suddenly enraged, dragged the demon away from me, throwing him to one side while snapping at me, "as your superior I order you to go kill the devil, I can handle this."

I turned and raced after Satan chasing him through side streets, until I could no longer hear the distant sounds of the battle I had left behind. I hoped Michael would be okay, but I didn't have time to think much about him. I had to catch Satan. He finally reached a dead end and seemed to be trying to plot an escape as I shot lightening at him. The bolt hit his leg and he buckled, but it didn't seem to affect him like it did with no other demons. I recalled Michael warning me that Satan would try to trick me, as I saw at least three of Satan standing in front of me. I couldn't determine if any of them were real and if so, which one? I scolded myself for not paying more attention when Michael had tried to teach how to use my senses. I attempted to reach out my senses as I tried to feel which one was real, then Michael was stood by my side, taking my hand in his.

"Which one?" he whispered.

My head seemed to clear and I found my finger pointing to the one on the far right. Our hands fell apart and we both began to shoot lightning bolts at him, continuously and relentlessly, until Satan fell to the ground and his fakes evaporated, while he writhed about in pain on the floor, but we didn't stop, we couldn't, not until he finally stopped moving. Then I collapsed to the ground, tears flowed down my face. I wasn't sure why. Michael simply knelt down beside me, taking me in his arms until I stopped crying.

"Is it over?" I asked, as soon as I trusted myself enough to talk without bursting into tears again.

"The demons will be getting drawn back to hell, we won't have much time. We'll need to lock the gates after them," he reminded me.

I followed Michael to the gates of Hell, surprised to learn that it was on the edge of a woodland area. We watched the demons being dragged into a gaping big hole beneath the trees, until Michael was certain that they were all inside.

"It's time," he looked at me sadly and I knew something was wrong.

"What is it? How do we locked the gates?"

"The blood of an angel, one who chose to be," he said.

"You mean me?"

I was tempted to run, but I stood my ground as he nodded.

"You don't have to do this," he said.

"Yes I do, what do I need to do?"

He took out a knife. "I would have to cut you, throw you in there, then when your all blood is absorbed into hell, the gate will close. I don't want to do this," he insisted.

"It's not my first choice either," I tried to joke, "but this will save people?" I questioned.

"It will, but you'll be gone. I don't want you to be gone," he admitted, before I kissed him goodbye. He didn't try to stop me and even seemed to kiss me back for a moment.

I stood back, closed my eyes and ordered him to do it. I heard him cry out as he plunged the knife into my chest. It's stung, as I felt his hands pressed against me, before pushing me into the pit. Then I fell for what felt like forever, before smashing into the scolding concrete below and blacking out.

It was light when I came to and opened my eyes to see Michael's face looking down on me. I reached my hand to his face and gently wiped the tears from his cheeks.

"Is this a dream?" I asked.

"It's real," he assured me, planting a kiss on my lips and I felt the passion behind it, before he reluctantly dragged his lips away from mine.

"What happened? I was in hell, I should be dead."

"I think we were rewarded for our sacrifice."

"I don't understand," I announced, as he took my hand and helped me to my feet.

"Hell's locked, heaven's locked, but that doesn't matter, because we're both human now, without demons, there's no need for angels," he began to babble excitedly. I'd never seen him that way before.

I slowly processed what he just said and couldn't help myself as I reached my hand down to his crotch, quickly pulling it away as though I'd touched a hot stove.

"You're a man, a human man"

"So are you, I mean human, a woman who is human," he looked away suddenly shy, before I reached up and slowly turned his head so that he was looking back at me again.

"Are you scared?" I asked.

He shook his head. "No, excited," he took my hand and we walked out of the woods together, towards whatever life lay ahead for the both of us in the new world.