Alex flinches at her words. His head lowers as his wings expand out. “And you really feel she had a choice?” His head turns back to look at Lilith. The sneer on her lips was all he needed to answer his question. As he looks up, the ceiling of the condo rapidly pulls away, and the early morning sun illuminates the room. Bending his knees, Alex takes off as the ceiling closed itself again, leaving Lilith inside.
Flying across the sky, pain takes hold of Alex’s heart. He’s lost her, his Lisa. He’s lost his reason for living. Pain rips through him and he begins to tumble from the sky, yelling out as his hands grip his chest and the pain radiates harder through him. Without warning, he hits against the earth and rolls a few times, debris and grass exploding from his impact, landing face down. His hands move out to his sides and his palms press down on the earth. He begins to sob into the grass, all the will inside of him to be an angel is gone. In this moment, he knows what he has to do. In this moment, he chooses his fate. He chooses to become a Fallen. Sitting up, he looks up to the Heavens. “Forgive me.” Closing his eyes, he drops his head. He knows that he must find Lisa, no matter the cost. “I am in love with her.” The sun begins to cloud over and thunder rumbles. Shadows appear over the landscape and the sounds of nature cease. Lightning strikes and two demons appear in front of him. He looks up to see the demons Samyaza and Balam, Samyaza standing taller as anger crosses his features.
Stepping towards Alex, Samyaza reaches for his head, grabbing a fistful of hair and yanking his head back. The stench that pours out of his mouth causes Alex to gag. His naturally light skin is darkened from the tar-like substance that demons carry on their bodies. His skin is scaly like a snake. Upon looking closer, Alex can see the scales changing in color from white to gray to black. The wings on his back are a dark, sludge-like green. Alex grits his teeth in pain from Samyaza’s touch.
“So, you chose your fate willingly?” Samyaza chuckles.
Balam steps forward. His dark skin is smooth like silk, but hard as glass. He moves his hand up to grasp his chin lightly, rubbing the black goatee. His thin build and long legs give him a bird-like appearance. Walking around Alex, he comes up behind him, making eye contact with Samyaza. “You choose this, for a woman?”
Balam grins, stepping right behind Alex. His long talon-shaped claws wrap around each of Alex’s wings. Alex struggles against him and Samyaza jerks his head back further. Pressing his foot into Alex’s back, Balam grips tightly around the muscle. Alex closes his eyes and a single tear streaks down his cheek. Balam pulls and the flesh rips away. Alex screams out in pain as Samyaza keeps a hold of his head. The dead appendages fall to the ground, seeping blood into the grass. Alex cries out, his voice carrying across the open field. Samyaza shoves him to the ground.
“Selaphiel, you should have let fate take its course,” Balam tells him. “She signed her soul away years ago. He was ready to collect on what was his.”
“But now,” Samyaza circles around him, “he gets two for one!” He sneers, looking down at Alex. Grasping his hair again, he yanks Alex's head back. Pulling his arm back, Samyaza’s hand erupts in flame, a fireball rotating in the palm of his hand. Alex looks up at Samyaza and the fire illuminates his eyes. Looking up to the heavens, he says a silent prayer for protection as Samyaza’s hand slams hard against Alex’s chest, the fire absorbing into his body.
Alex falls back, his body violently thrashing. The fire burns inside of him, burning his soul, burning everything angelic. He turns over onto his stomach, his back searing with pain. He screams out and his fingers dig into the earth. Flesh pushes its way out from Alex’s back as thousands of tiny little claws grasp his skin. Pulling its way out of his back, the flesh burns as a fire as black as night ignites across him. Alex screams out in pain as Balam and Samyaza take a step back, watching, grinning.
The flesh pushes out to at least six feet in length. His flesh burns against the new appendages and sears down into a sulfur flame. The hue of the flame is a dark blue onyx before it extinguishes. The smoldering flesh dies out and Alex is left with black leathered wings.
Panting heavily, he presses his palms to the ground and pushes himself up to his knees. His chest and back heave in and out with his breaths. Facing Balam and Samyaza, his face lifts up and he opens his eyes. Black orbs glare at the two demons standing before him.
Samyaza takes a step forward, grasping Alex’s arm to hoist him to his feet. With a sadistic grin, he says, “Welcome home, brother.”