Black Roses

"The suffering caused by loss usually leads to a fall, especially if you lose love..." - Seth Falling from the sky was painful, but Seth had to get out of there by any means necessary. God had betrayed him, someone whom he trusted immeasurably, whom Seth loved as his Lord. But He took from him his most precious treasure, the lady of his heart, his beloved Rachel. How could He dispose of her angelic soul and put it into some lousy human being? Seth didn't want to listen to the excuses any longer, that there was no way to save her...

There was always another way out. He simply chose the simplest one. Why would Seth stay in Heaven now if she wasn't there? He had to be where Rachel was, and at the moment, she was here, on Earth, her soul trapped in the body of some human. Seth wanted to find her as soon as possible. Only then could he safely return to Heaven. Seth was one hundred percent sure that he would be punished for his disobedience, but he didn't care anymore. Seth knew that if he could find Rachel's soul, free her, and bring her back to Heaven, he would gladly accept any punishment that awaited him. Seth was ready to do anything to see his beloved again, to touch her, to breathe her in…

He had to get his Rachel back.

At the memory of his beloved, the pain in Seth's heart increased. A fall from Heaven was no match for it. Suffering filled Seth's body, and he screamed at the top of his lungs, but no sound came out of his mouth. Seth knew very well why this was happening—an Angel's place was in Heaven, not on Earth. An Angel could only leave Heaven with God's blessing, but he left His Kingdom on his own, breaking a whole lot of rules. That was why Seth had to come to terms with the fact that he would suffer. Suffer a lot.

Ultimately, however, no suffering could compare to being separated from Rachel. He had to find her. She was here, among the humans, in one of these mortal bodies, probably with no rememory of who she really was. Seth wanted to be reunited with her as soon as possible. However, he had no idea where to look.

Maybe if Seth had been more patient—if he'd asked Him for some leads, begged Him for permission to come down to Earth and look for Rachel's soul—maybe then the search would be easy and quick. Now, however, Seth couldn't go back to Heaven, and he had to figure out some way to deal with it all by himself.

Whether it was because of his fall from Heaven, the loss of his beloved, or both, Seth suddenly passed out. He heard the whispers of the Fallen Angels calling for him to join them. They promised to take the pain away, but Seth would rather suffer a hundred times than forget. He had no intention of forgetting Rachel or becoming one of the Fallen. Maybe he was angry at God and had left Heaven without His consent, but he had no intention of serving Lucifer. So Seth resisted, constantly reminding himself why he was on Earth. Of course, memories of Rachel were associated with constant pain, but he didn't care at all. One could even say that Seth wanted this pain, wanted to completely immerse himself in it, and that was probably why all the voices of the Fallen Angels fell silent. Seth's love and desire to remember his beloved, even at the cost of enormous suffering, were stronger than any of their whispers and promises.

When Seth woke up, the Earth was dark. He rose slowly from the concrete floor and looked around. It turned out that Seth had been lying on the roof of some skyscraper. He descended like a normal human, down the stairs, using a little of his power to become invisible, but only while in the building. When Seth emerged, he stopped using his powers. He did not know how long he would be on Earth, so he had to save his power in order not to exhaust himself completely. Then he would become an extremely easy target for the Fallen, not to mention he wouldn't be able to find Rachel to free her soul. Seth couldn't risk it. Plus, he had to find Rachel soon because her soul would attract the Fallen Angels, which meant that not only she but also the human carrying her soul were in great danger. Sensing an Angel's soul in a mortal's body, the Fallen would do whatever it took to draw out the Angel's soul and consume it, thereby increasing their power. And they certainly wouldn't care about the wellbeing of the human who held this soul. They would simply tear Rachel's soul out, condemning the human to death. Perhaps Seth had partially rebelled, had left Heaven without permission, and was interested in freeing Rachel and returning her to Heaven, but he was still an Angel, and he had no intention of sacrificing a human life. Seth had to find the person with Rachel's soul first and gradually prepare them for the ritual of releasing it. No matter how impatient the close proximity to Rachel's soul would make him, Seth had to do everything he could not to endanger the human in which his beloved was hidden. If he killed a human, His dearest creation, Seth would not only be banished from Heaven forever, but he would also become easy prey for the Fallen, and no matter how much he resisted, he would eventually join them. An Angel who committed any kind of sin, especially such a serious one, became as weak against evil as a human, which eventually led him to fall.

Walking through the city, Seth learned that he was in Beijing, China. For now, all he could do was march on, examining the auras of every passing person, especially women. Unfortunately, Seth didn't sense what he was looking for in any of them. He traveled on, ultimately leaving China and entering the surrounding Asian countries. Seth wondered how long his search would take and where in the world he would find Rachel. He also hoped that he would not be looking for her for too long, because staying on Earth too long wasn't good for any Angel.

The pain in his heart eased, but the urge to find Rachel did not, not even a little, no matter how much time had passed. So Seth kept walking, traversing countries and continents in his long black coat, black jeans, a blouse, and military boots—clothes that he had obtained while walking around invisible in that skyscraper in Beijing, the same one on which he had landed. Seth wasn't one of the Fallen Angels. He didn't listen to either God or Satan. Seth was his own master now, a strange being hanging between Light and Darkness, Heaven and Hell. Were it not for the fact that he still had some power, Seth might have become a pretty good human being.

All he had left were the sweet-scented black roses she loved so much. Such flowers could only be created by Angels, including the Fallen ones. It was one of the things that connected them. Now that was what Seth called his beloved in mind: her. Her name hurt too much, and Seth couldn't afford that pain if he wanted to find her quickly and efficiently.

"I will look everywhere for you, until I finally find you..." he said, walking out onto an empty, gray, dimly lit street.

"Life is cruel. You have to work a long time for good things, but one short moment is enough to lose everything that is precious to you..." - Rita.

Rita was born in San Diego, California, into the Valdez family. Her father, Juan Valdez, had met her mother, Rosario Flores, while they were both in high school in Mexico, where they were both born and raised. After high school, Juan went to study in the US, where he found a good job and obtained permanent residence thanks in large part to his employer. It was then that he brought his beloved, Rosario, from Mexico and married her. About three years later, Rita was born, and since then, the three of them had lived happily together. Of course, life was not completely perfect, especially since, as Latinos, they often fell victim to racism, despite the fact that they were not illegal immigrants. Yet, Juan and Rosario did not care about such things unless they directly affected their beloved daughter. Sometimes Rita would come home from school crying because some other child had made a racist remark and everyone had laughed and teased Rita about it. Her parents would then go the teacher to have a serious talk about the situation, which led to special lessons about racism and bullying at school. Thanks to this and other similar situations, Rita knew that every time she had a problem, she could count on her mom and dad. She loved them very much.

On the 20th of July 2010, Rita was traveling with her parents to visit family in Mexico City. They chose to live in San Diego, California, so they could be as close to their native Mexico as possible. Now that the holidays had come, Rita was finally able to visit her grandparents and many other family members, both on her mom's and her dad's side, since most of them lived in the same neighborhood. She had visited them with her parents for Christmas a few times, but over the past five years, her father's company had struggled with financial difficulties, which meant that Juan did not have enough money to go anywhere besides work, dropping Rita off at school on the way. As a result, they mainly contacted the family by phone. But now that the financial troubles were over, there was more money again, and the Valdez family could afford to go to Mexico by car. Rita sat in the backseat, unable to hide her excitement. In her hand, she held her beloved ragdoll, Milagros, which she had received five years ago on Christmas from her mother's mother, who had sewed it herself with the help of her other grandmother on her father's side. From then on, Rita only parted with Milagros for school. Yes, maybe she was already too big to play with dolls, but Milagros was no ordinary doll. It was a memento of her family in Mexico.

Rita was 10 years old and attended a very good school where she achieved high academic results. Her parents were proud of her. Rita didn't have any big dreams or plans for what she would like to do after school yet, but she liked writing poems, short stories, and drawing. Sitting in the back seat, Rita talked to her mother about what they would be doing with both grandmas.

"My mother will probably want to teach you to cook some traditional Mexican dishes. Five years ago you were too small, but now you can certainly start learning the basics," Rosario said with a smile.

"That's cool," Rita replied, looking forward to it. She loved cooking, especially learning new recipes.

"Eh, how good it is that we can finally afford to visit family? Letters and phone calls are just not the same," Juan spoke up with eyes focused on the road.

"You're right. I missed them so much. I can't wait to finally get there," added Rosario.

At the same time, somewhere in Texas, the car skidded. As it later turned out, this was because of an oil stain on the road, but it was impossible to tell at the time. Anyway, Juan tried to brake, but it was too late, and the car tumbled down the steep slope, sliding on its roof before coming to stop at a tree. The front of the car was almost completely dented, only the rear didn't look destroyed.

Fortunately, in a few minutes another car appeared on the road, and the young man behind the wheel noticed the accident. He quickly alerted the police and called an ambulance. Then the man got out of his car and walked down the steep slope to see if he could help. He wanted to help even more when he smelled the gasoline and, a bit later, saw it leaking, creating a dangerous puddle around the car. Unfortunately, when the man examined the front of the car, it was so crushed he doubted anyone had survived. Fortunately, the man managed to get into the back seat, from which he pulled a little girl. She was definitely no more than 10 years old. The man carried her away from the car, struggling to climb back up to the street. He laid the girl down on the asphalt, knowing that he shouldn't move her more. While he was waiting for emergency services, the car exploded, so the man also called the fire department. He kept checking the girl to make sure she was still breathing, while out of the corner of his eye, he watched the burning car.

When the ambulance appeared, followed by the police, the car had been burning for a good five minutes. The man told the policemen what he had seen, explaining to the paramedics that he had to pull the girl out of the car or she would have burned with the people sitting in front. Then the ambulance took the girl to the hospital, and the man continued on his way. The fire brigade put out the burning car, and the police continued to look for anything that might help them identify the victims. Of course, the burned bodies were taken to the morgue for examination.

Rita regained consciousness in the hospital, but she could not open her eyes. Everything hurt. She couldn't move her fingers, couldn't feel her legs. Suddenly, Rita heard the voices of two men above her, presumably doctors.

"Unfortunately, it looks like the girl will have to be in a wheelchair," said one of them.

"What about her parents?" asked the other.

"They died on location, the father on impact, and the mother when the fire broke out. She burned to death. The girl will probably be taken to an orphanage in San Diego, California, because according to the partial documents found at the scene, that's where she lives," replied the first doctor.

"No!" Rita shouted suddenly. "I want to see my mom and dad! Where is Milagros?" she looked around the bed but didn't see her doll.

"Calm down. Who is Milagros?" The blond doctor looked at her in surprise.

"My doll, Milagros...I was sitting in the car with her," Rita explained in a panicked voice.

"They said that the guy only rescued the girl, so I guess the rest of the stuff burned..." the dark-haired doctor began to say to his colleague.

Upon hearing that she had lost her parents, was crippled, and now also didn't even have Milagros, Rita fell into a rage.

"I won't go to any orphanage! I want to see my mom and dad! I'd rather die than go. At least then I'd see them again!" she screamed and then began to rip off all the wires and tubes.

"Please relax, Miss Valdez. Everything will be fine." One of the doctors, the one with dark blonde hair, held her. The second plugged her back into everything.

Still, she struggled, so the dark-haired doctor called the nurse and asked for some medicine with a strange name. The nurse, a young, terribly skinny woman with blond hair so pale it looked almost gray, brought a syringe filled with a colorless liquid. The blonde doctor was holding Rita the whole time, and the dark-haired man, having checked the pressure in the syringe, inserted the needle into her muscle. The medicine acted very quickly. After a short while, Rita stopped struggling, and after another five minutes, she fell completely asleep.