Page 49 of The Fallen

?“I love you, too Brenton. Now get some sleep, I'll be here when you wake up.”

?“You promise,” he said, his eyes drifting off.

?She held back the tears, “I promise.”

?He fell asleep soon after and she left the room.

Chapter Thirty One

Marie ran to her room, slammed the door and fell face first on her bed. She cried into her pillow until she felt there was nothing left.

?She couldn't bear the pain in her chest. When would the hurt end? She hoped this was the right thing to do. If it wasn't, what would she do with herself; knowing the feelings they shared and not being able to express them.

?She had a strong feeling that he did not love her as much as he thought he did. When she looked back, he had only begun to seem smitten after Helena had removed the shield. She guessed that even though she knew nothing of her real father, the block changed the way people acted around her. She had noticed the difference before, but didn't think anything of it until now.

?She turned over and put the pillow over her face. She was exhausted from crying so she made herself go to sleep.

?At first, it was dark in the dream. She walked forward with her hands out making sure she didn't bump into anything.

?There was a light at the end of the tunnel and she headed for it. The closer she got to the light, she could see that the walls she was passing through were silver; the floors were a shiny, royal blue. Once she made it out of the tunnel, it opened up to a massive hallway. The walls of the hallway looked transparent and the floor was made of glass. The scenery kept changing as she went along.

?She carefully walked across, wanting to know what was at the end of this hall. She kept going for a couple of minutes, until the hall divided up into two paths. To the left of her, she felt an aura of pain and suffering. To the right was a warm and inviting feeling. It pulled at her, making her feel safe, like it was where she belonged. Something kept screaming, “Trap” in her head, but the longing of the what was down the hall to her right, overpowered the voice. Her voice of reason had abandoned her.

?She went down the hall and ended up in a large room filled with tall, gorgeous people. The room was lavish and dreamy, so perfect as to seem almost illusory. All of the people in it had wings, each of different colors, adorned with beautiful clothing, crystal looking eyes and flowing hair. They all turned to stare at her and she immediately knew this was some kind of trick. The warm, secure feeling left and was replaced with a sense of dread.

?They were all smiles as she walked further in. She could sense they were grateful to her, but she couldn't understand why.

?She made it to the other side of the room and there was a table laid out with an assortment of food. Everything there was something she had eaten before and was a favorite of hers. Her stomach began to growl.

?“Please stay, eat,” a voice said and she immediately recognized it as Azazel's.

?She looked around, trying to find the source. He appeared through a wall on the other side of the room.

?“What is this for?” she asked.

?“Why, its for you, of course. Just a little thank you for freeing me from my prison. I couldn't have done it without you,” he smiled. “They appreciate you as well,” he pointed toward their audience.

?They all bowed their heads then Azazel snapped his fingers and they were gone. He took a seat at the table and began picking through the food. She didn't know how he could, since he had a goat body, but he managed.

?“I had them get all your favorites. I hope you're pleased.”

?Marie didn't know what he wanted with her, but she didn't want to stay to find out. She backed up and took off running in the opposite direction, only to end up back in front of Azazel and the display of food. How could you run from something and end up running back to it?

?“You know how this works, my beautiful Marie. You don't leave until I say you can,” he said. “Please sit, let's talk.”

?She gave up on trying to escape. She would have to sit through this and get it over with.

?“Wise choice,” he said in her head.

?She sat across from him and grabbed an apple.

?“Ah, the thing that has been getting mankind in trouble since the dawn of time.”

?“What is it you want?”

?“Straight to business, I like that. Well, I don't want to waste your time seeing that you have many pressing matters to tend to,” he grinned. “I brought you here to give you one last chance. You can be my queen and rule at my side and your heart would never want for anything. You are a rare one having the blood of two of my comrades and together we could take over the world and then our next stop will be Heaven.”

?“You have completely lost your mind, you know that?” Marie scoffed.

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