Angel of Tears

Prologue

              My captor and punisher stood before me, with a cold, stoic expression as always. We were not meant to feel emotion, at least not like humans. We were meant to be robots with opinions based on rationality and facts of cases brought before us. Thus, I looked back at him with the same expression plastered to my face.

              I stood chained to a wall, with my muscular arms bound above me; an iron nail pinned them to the concrete wall of the dungeon where I was being kept. My wings were nailed through at both the apex and points to forcibly spread them, making me unable to move. An iron belt was hooked around my waist, connected to the wall by a mere few inches of chain and my feet were spread shoulder-width apart, chained individually in the same manner my waist was.

              Although I had been allowed the decency of pants, they had stripped me of my shirt so as to have better access to my body for beatings. Each one of them had come before me, save for the few who were incapable, or rather, had no desire for getting their hands dirty. The one who stood before me now was probably the worst of the lot. I knew that, even though we were supposed to be incapable of feeling anything, he enjoyed doing this to me. But what else could be expected of Uriel, the Archangel of war.

              Yes, I was not supposed to feel anything emotionally, but physically I was being torn apart. Uriel stood before me with his dagger, twirling it around in his fingers like it was the most beautiful thing in the world to him. He had cut me in almost every spot displayed to him. The wounds healed quickly, but I was still losing a lot of blood and the pain was becoming almost unbearable. This had become our daily routine.

              He slowly walked up to me, still showing nothing upon his beautiful features. His hand came to rest on my cheek, cradling it, while his other hand, holding the dagger, brought the sharp point to my abdomen, right where my jeans began.

              "Tell me where he is Cass," Uriel murmured.

              His face was only a breath away, almost promising the contact of our lips. I stared into his eyes, knowing how much the next words I spoke would guarantee the kiss of his blade, rather than his mouth. Those beautiful green eyes of his glinted with desire. They were framed by his dark red hair that fell in messy tendrils, cupping his cheeks, as if he had just rolled out of bed. But I knew that he always looked like this. He wore the title of chaos fittingly.

              "You will never find him," I whispered.

              Uriel smirked, giving away how much he enjoyed tearing my flesh apart. A moment later, I could feel the blade press into my abdomen. My desire to not break eye contact shattered. Gritting my teeth and squeezing my eyes shut so as not to yell out, I lowered my chin to my chest as the pain tore through me. But, Uriel was not having it.

              He gripped my jaw with the hand that had been cupping my cheek and forced my face back up to his so he could bask in my agony. The dagger started making its way up, slicing through my abdominal muscles. He kept cutting until he reached the top of my pecs, lingering on my collarbone. I gasped out the breath I had been holding. Sweat poured down my brow as I panted heavily.

              A smile curled across his face. He knew I wouldn't be able to handle much more. The dagger scraped against bone as it was removed, but the relief of having it freed from my flesh was short-lived as Uriel quickly spun it in his hand, then slammed in down through my chest, right under my shoulder. I could no longer hold back the scream that had been building in my throat. As I let it out, I could feel my vocal cords straining with the effort to make a sound they were not used to.

              Uriel backed up a few steps after my scream subsided. From the look on his face, I knew he wasn't even close to being done with me for the day. I saw his eyes trace the lines of my wings and he reached out to pet the silky, white feathers. The pleasure of this touch was such a big contrast from the pain the rest of my body was feeling.

              "I've been ordered to remove these you know, after you reveal Lucifer's whereabouts. Such beautiful, delicate things aren't they? They don't look nearly as strong as we all know them to be."

              My breath hitched as he spoke. Remove my wings? I'd be banished to Earth after that, no longer able to return to the Heavens without the ability to fly.

              "This is the punishment Raguel has dictated for all angels who stood with Lucifer in his revolt. But you want to know what's so special about you? You will not only be the first to lose his wings in all our history, but Michael has something really delectable waiting for you once I'm done."

              Uriel unsheathed another dagger and I could just barely see the glint of the smooth steel out of the corner of my eye. His left hand came to rest on the part of my wing that protruded just under my shoulder blade.

              "I don't believe you will ever say where Lucifer is. That is, if you even know. You've been a fun plaything these past few months, but I grow weary of you. So, I will carry out my orders and hand you over to Michael."

              I squeezed my eyes shut, anticipating the coming blow. No angel had ever had his wings removed before. There was nothing that could prepare me for this. I felt the cold metal come to rest against my skin, and within the next moment, Uriel began sawing through the thick membrane and bone that connected my wing to me.

              This scorching agony was beyond anything I had ever experienced. My iron will, my pride, my dignity -- all vanished within that first cut. I let out a scream that shook the room, and as Uriel continued sawing, it grew louder and louder until I thought my throat might break. Tears streamed down my cheeks as I screamed. When at last the sawing stopped, I could feel the absence of my precious limb, and my shoulder blade had an unbearable ache.

              I clenched my jaw as I continued to cry with my head hanging. Uriel said nothing as he placed himself on the other side of me to start the process all over again with my other wing. He braced himself just like he had before and began to cut. My mouth flew open to deliver more screams, but by the time he finished, I had lost consciousness.

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              Michael had brought me down to Earth. We were in an old house on a piece of land surrounded by forest. I was on my knees, head hanging, with my hands chained together in front of me. Tears still ran down my cheeks from the absence of my precious wings and my whole body was covered in blood that had dried by now. I knew that I looked like a mess.

              "Cassiel, for your crimes against God and Heaven, I hereby banish you to this room for all eternity. You are to never step past the threshold and will never see the outside world again. You will live here in solitude now and forever."

              I continued to keep my eyes on the floor. "At least I won't have to see your ugly face anymore."

              The comment surprised Michael as well as myself. It had been involuntary and was laced with anger. As an Angel, I should not have acted this way nor spoken so emotionally.

              "Interesting. I suppose losing your wings causes you to feel emotions like a human. I wonder what else is in store for all of you we have banished." Michael seemed genuinely intrigued rather than worried.

              I raised my head so I could look at him one last time. I wanted to burn the memory of him into my head so I would never forget who's heart I would rip out one day, given the chance. Even though I had called him ugly, both of us knew he was not. He was an Angel, an Archangel at that. We were all beautiful. But, Michael, being now first in command now that Lucifer was gone, had a regal beauty about him.

              He had ice blue eyes and silver hair that fell softly around his face. His bangs were swept to the side, partially covering one of his eyes and small curls poked out from under his earlobes. He had a muscular build just like the rest of us, but he also had height on his side. Uriel was shorter than me by almost half a foot. Michael, on the other hand, had almost a full foot on me. His lips were full, with the bottom lip protruding just a bit as if he were pouting and his upper lip was vacant of any cupid's bow, unlike mine where it was pronounced.

              Those lips twitched up into a smirk as he stared down at me. "This room will be stuck in time. As the world outside moves forward, you will move nowhere. May your soul be ever lost to Heaven's gates." And with that he turned away from me, sweeping his cape out. Once he stepped past the threshold of the bedroom, my chains disappeared and I was left there to rot out the rest of my meager existence in solitude.