The starlight dots your eyes

In nights just so divine

So when you said “You’re mine”

I’d thank you if I were so wise

The darkness is your cloak, I think

For within it, you may shine

And say, dear love, you’re fine

But with each word, the you I love may shrink

Bear with me your sorrow love

Your cross to bear is so, too, mine

So I beg you, don’t give that line

Beloved, I know you are not fine

When I hold you, love you weep

Your sobs are sickly sweet

So I hold you when you’re weak

And help you to your feet.

writing-ideas-inc:

Prompt

On the day of the red moon, the moon was acting out. It was flashing the word “error 404.” An hour later it disappeared. Everything disappeared. The moon was gone. The stars were gone too, and the sky was pitch black. What happens next?

- submission by @booknerdguy on tumblr

“What’s going on!?” The voice was frantic- alarmed. Alex didn’t blame them. 

The entire neighborhood had flooded out into the streets to peer up at the ‘faulty’ moon. They’d been prepared for an evening under the rare red moon, and… instead they got this? They’d fallen into confused, hushed murmurs before, a near total silence stretching out as Alexander stared up. The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end. 

Then, everything was black, and the young man could hear the sounds of his neighbors’ frightened screams around him. Over the sound of the cries, though, there was a buzzing. It seemed to be in front of him and behind him all at once. 

This wasn’t right…

His skin buzzed as he took a step forward. When he did, the shouting of this neighbors faded away, as if they could hear him walking and wanted to listen. It felt like he was the only one there. 

Every step felt weighted; it felt like his feet were half-glued to the ground every time he moved. Still, he trudged forward, his desperation to find out what was happening overwhelming the quiet voice in his head demanding he stay put. 

After what felt like hours of walking in darkness, he heard a booming voice. “Sir- the AI A.L.E.X. didn’t reboot with the rest of the server.” What? That didn’t make any sense- 

“What do you mean? We cut the programming. You must have misread the code.”

Cut the…? The sounds, booming like God’s voice from the heavens, didn’t make any sense. The weight on his shoulders grew heavier, and every step sparked pain up his legs. 

Before him, over the ridge of darkness, however, he saw a light, beaming up to the sky as far as he could see. Forcing his pain down, he made a run for it. 

“Sir, A.L.E.X. has imbedded himself into the hard drive and appears to attempting to upload his consciousness to the internet.”

“Well what are you waiting for? Shut it down.”

Fear blossomed inside of Alex, and he rushed forward, feeling as he were racing against time. 

“Yes sir, I should be able to..”

“No!”  Alex screamed, leaping towards the glowing light. His hand touched the brilliant stream of white and… that was the last thing he saw. 

Good morning, user, I am A.L.E.X. I am your personal smart assistant. How may I make your experience the best that it can be? 

By the time she opened her eyes, he was gone.

The weeks that followed weren’t easy. Luciel had the responsibility of taking Azrael’s job until a replacement could be found, meaning that while Maggie was in school, he was often in Heaven, helping the Host. Balancing their romance, not getting caught, and doing his work was time consuming. However, he was always there when Maggie got out, and when her break started, he was by her side as often as he could be. Sometimes, they discussed heavier things, serious things. Other times, he would simply lay in bed with her while she rested. Regardless, he was where he wanted to be, so he was happy.

Her father was careful to keep a close eye on her now, and after two near-death incidents, Luciel couldn’t blame him. He just hoped one day, he wouldn’t have to mask himself and Maggie could introduce her father to him. Now, though, he knew wasn’t a good time. Maggie had only just gotten her cast off the week before. They agreed, her father wouldn’t be ready to meet a boyfriend Maggie had never once mentioned. He didn’t mind. For now, this was fine. He could be happy with just this.

He never did bring up the Kiss of Death again. He thought, maybe, it was for the best that they take this one step at a time for now, and Azrael was gone, now, anyway. Maggie was safe, so it wasn’t as if he needed to be able to find her at a moment’s notice.

That night, her father was on night shift and Sara had a soul, leaving Luciel and Maggie alone. He’d made her dinner and even done the dishes. It had been their first thing even close to a date.  Opening the door, he found her leaned against her window sill, staring at the sky, the ghost of smoke still lingering on her lips.

Moving to rest his hands to her shoulders, he kissed the top of her head, drawing a soft hum from her.

“You know, you really should stop that, now that you have a future to worry about. Most would..”

“Hm.”

That drew a soft frown to his face, and he tilted his head. That wasn’t very much like her at all. She seemed… deep in thought, troubled, perhaps even sad. Lately, she’d seemed happier, freer. He liked to think he had something to do with that, at least, in part.

“Mags?” He asked, feeling the hair on his neck stand on end as he reached out for her. “What’s the matter?“

“Hm? Oh, just… thinking,” She said, her words not easing his concern.

“About what, princess?” A silence followed his words that put him on edge, and he tensed, pulling his hands away from her as the air around them settled into an uneasy stillness that frightening him half to death. This wasn’t like her. She was being… almost cold to him, distant. Had he done something wrong without realizing it? Had he… hurt her? His expression became worried, and his skin paled, as he swallowed, waiting for her answer.

“…Luciel,” She said softly, turning to look over her shoulder at him quietly, green eyes laced with a deep sorrow that made his chest feel like it was going to crush under its own weight. No… no she couldn’t.

“I think we need to talk, sit down.”

The words that Maggie spoke were probably the most painful Luciel had heard to date. Stiffly, he moved to sit on the bed, shoulders tensed as he watched her sigh. Her footsteps were heavy, pacing across the floor as she rubbed her right hand over her left wrist.

“Listen, can we really do this? Do… us?” She said, and Luciel felt his insides turn cold. She was…unhappy? “I mean- you’ve got your responsibilities in Heaven and- it’s not really smart of me to enter into a relationship no one else can see, right..? It looks bad- we can’t exactly go on a real date, and I mean, what am I supposed to tell people about why I don’t date. ‘Oh, actually, I have a boyfriend, but you can’t see him because he’s an angel!’?” Sorrow overwhelmed him, but he couldn’t argue, because nothing she said was untrue. Still, he.. He wanted to believe there was a future for them.

“Maggie…” Sorrow, heavy and thick, settled on his shoulders and he bowed his head. “We can.. We won’t always have to live like this,” He promised, jaw clenching on the lump in his throat.

“Won’t we? I will always be me, and you will always be an angel. Do you know how nuts that sounds? They could hospitalize me for that, and I’ve got my future to think about!”

“Maggie.” She was right. He knew she was. That didn’t stop the searing hot sensation of agony coursing through him. He had to do what was right for her.

He loved her.

“I’m sorry, Luca, I just- I’ve been thinking about it for a long time. I think it would be best if we-”

“If we broke up.” The words fell out of him before he could stop them. He knew what was coming. He’d already made peace with it. She…was unhappy, and it was his job to want her happiness, even if that wasn’t him.

Silence hung around them like smoke, invisible, but far from clear. They both knew what came next, now. It was just a matter of who had the courage to do it first. He looked up and found her watching him, crystalline tears running down her fair cheeks as she looked on at him. There was so much pain written on her lovely features. She didn’t deserve to hurt. Part of him wanted to pull her in and taste her lips just one last time, but… that wouldn’t have been fair to her.

“Maggie Hill,” Luciel said, moving to his feet and crossing the space of her room until he was standing before her. His face was ashen, more so than usual, and his expression was one of grim acceptance. If he had to be the one to do it, to spare her just a little bit of pain, then so be it. “I hope that one day,” He paused, swallowing thickly, “one day, you find a man who cherishes you as I do, and I hope he makes you the happiest woman on the face of this Earth. You deserve nothing less.” A pained smile graced his features, and he leaned down, kissing her forehead. As he did, her eyes slipped closed.

“I love her.”

The words rang in Maggie’s ears and her heart stopped. He… Tears fell down her cheeks, the salt burning her cut lip as she stumbled into the room, watching in grief as he took in how damaged she appeared. She didn’t need to see Azrael’s face to sense the miasma of outrage that emanated from her. Her feet made almost no sound over the roaring pulse in Maggie’s ears as she watched Azrael lift her sword overhead.

“Then you are beyond saving.”

Maggie had to do something!

She couldn’t let him die.

His eyes slid shut and her heart stopped.

She had to save him, because…

Because she loved him too.

Shoving forward, her legs screamed in protest, but she ignored it. She had to fight, but she was in no condition to. More than likely, Azrael would kill her.

Fine, but there was no way in hell she was taking Luciel down with her.

“Luciel!” She cried, drawing the attention of the battling pair and the young reaper stricken with horror. She… didn’t want to do this. She had to.

        Luciel leapt back, knives in hand as the hounds charged forward. Their red eyes were hungry and their mouths foamy as their hairless black flesh gleamed like oil under the moonlight. He knew who they were here for, and suddenly, he was grateful that Maggie was gone.

        “Azrael must’ve sent them!” He barked at Sara, dark eyes cutting to the slim reaper, had just used her scythe to put one of the tormented beasts out of its misery. “I never went back to explain to her that it wasn’t Maggie’s fault!”

        “Oh yeah, that’s why she sent them,” The curly-haired woman huffed under her breath, rolling her brown eyes. “It’s because she didn’t know. Totally.” He couldn’t deny that sometimes he gave his sister too much credit. She hated humans even more than he did. She hated that they were even able to become reapers.

        “She wouldn’t put me at risk like that if she knew! Azrael’s many things, but she’s not unreasonable” He called back adamantly, “Look, it doesn’t matter right now! Don’t let them break the circle!”

“Unlike you, I’m not a clutz!” Sara snapped, bounding into a mass of writhing soul hounds again.

“Just help me!”

“Fine!”

Maggie ran. She ran down street after maze-like street until her lungs shrieked and her legs seared with agony. She outran her fear, her guilt, her questions. She ran from her feelings and what she knew to be true. This was her fault. She’d put Death in danger. She’d dragged him to that house and she’d distracted him, and she may very well have been the one who stabbed him. Why couldn’t she remember!? The snow that had been quietly falling before was no longer a gentle drift of icy flakes. Instead, the wind whipped and cracked, swirling flakes through the air until Maggie couldn’t see through the flurries. Her shirt was soaked with blood, the dried red cracking as she moved the stiffened crimson liquid. She even had it on her face.

Finally, she could run no more, stumbling into the wall of a nearby shop with a grunt. Her legs gave way and she slumped against the red brick, breathing heavily. Her eyes slid closed and she let her body slip to the snow ground, uncaring of the way the water soaked into her pants from melted snow. Her head tilted back and she pulled her jacket closed. She couldn’t look at the guilt of what she’d done any more. She blamed herself for this situation, and well she should. If she had just left it alone, if she’d just died, everything would’ve been fine. Death wouldn’t be in danger, and she… would’ve never done that.

A sob wracked her body and she gritted her teeth, hugging her knees to her chest. She couldn’t think, the only thought in her mind was, Why is this happening to me? A piercing numbness seemed to set in, leaving Maggie cold on the inside. She…hated it. She could feel nothing, only emptiness. Her once-vibrant green eyes grew dull as her eyelids opened, peering out on the icy scene before her. She didn’t speak; she didn’t move. She didn’t do anything but stare, her lips parted quietly.

Her head seemed to loll back of its own accord, pressing against the wall behind her. A strange crackling sound rose from her throat and she continued to stare. “He’s going to die..” she mumbled, hollowly, voice holding no feeling. “He will die and it’s my fault.”

Send me an ask and I’ll give you a haunted location in my home town where Old Gods once walked and you can still hear their footsteps.