Clipped- Chapter One

'Angelus Garatine, you are hereby charged with treason against the judgment of His High Lord. In punishment you will have your wings clipped and will be exiled to the world of Those Who Have Sinned.'

There was a loud roar of noise as people shouted in approval, wolf-whistled and even a small minority of people protested but were drowned out by the overpowering noise.

I was wondering how I got to be where I am now. Nobody should have found out about this whole God-forsaken mess. It was my business, until His High Lord had me tailed into the world of The Living. I should have seen it coming, really. I had been taking way too long in the world of The Living for somebody not to have been suspicious.

I mean, I had to go and fuck it all up, didn't I? But she was just so tempting…the slim figure, the short red hair that always fell across her eyes, the full lips and perfect nose. And then the eyes themselves; they were worth paying money to see. A soulful caramelised hazel when she was happy, smoky grey when she was upset or thoughtful and bright green when she was angry.

It was like the old magics had suggested that there were human descendants of dragons. If there ever was such a human it would be Lizzy. And I went and fell in love with her.

That was my treason. Angels couldn't love the humans; it decided their fate too early in their after lives. Angels were meant to be free to roam, helping everyone they were sent to watch over. It just happened to be my downfall when Lucia (His High Lord's secretary) sent me to Lizzy.

She had been in a bad way; only 18 and thrown out onto the streets by her mother. Beaten by her stepfather and hated by her siblings. Doing drugs to clear the depression and stealing from her caring grandparents to pay for it all.

And yet, I had never seen a more beautiful soul.

As angels we are given the gift to see through the imperfections of the outer soul and look on into the real soul deep down. If a person with a pure soul had sinned angels were sent to repair the damage the sins caused. Lizzy's soul was so white I had to wear sunglasses- and I hadn't worn them since my last trip to the Bahamas for a session with a drug dealer in 1896.

The whiteness wasn't even slightly doused by the fact that she was dirty, desperate and begging for money and anything else that she hoped would come her way.

'Excuse me sir, would you happen to have any food? It's just that I haven't eaten for the past two days and...' She had trailed off when she noticed the magnificent wings sprouting from my back. 'Wh-what are y-you?'

'Help.' The one word caused a flow of emotions mainly ranging from fear to hope.

Oh, that look of hope on her face was enough to send my reinstated heart pumping faster than it had since I was actually alive and well in renaissance Italy with my fiancée.

And so I put more effort into helping her than any of the other 'projects' I had ever done in my centuries worth of angelic business. I taught her all the basics of getting her life back on track: I put her in a home, cleaned her up, got her over her cocaine addiction, got her a job, helped earn her enough money to pay back all that she had stolen. This then led to her moving in with her grandparents. She apologised to her mother and won over the hearts of her two brothers and her sister without my help.

Can you believe that? Without my help, she did all that. Lizzy made her mother realise what a jerk her husband was and made sure he would never lay a hand on another child.

I was so proud of her.

That was when the heart pumping thing started again. I couldn't help but notice how kissable her mouth was or how lustful her eyes got whenever she looked my way. I don't quite know what happened for her to fall in love with me; she says it was the whole 'angel in shining robes' thing, but I just don't understand what she really meant.

'Angel, you showed up when I had nothing, when I was grovelling on the streets. You didn't care that I was begging for food and you certainly didn't care about all the dirt. You know what I think?'

'What?' I had asked her softly.

'I think you did it because you saw who I really was and what I could be, and I don't think it was because you were told to.' I had looked at her with genuine puzzlement. Lizzy had just scoffed. 'Don't give that innocent angel crap; I see the look in your eyes every time I look at you. It's only a four letter word and yet it means so much to me...'

I knew what had she wanted to hear but then I had thought that if I said the word His High Lord would send down one of the lightning bolts we could hear him making every minute of our afterlife.

It had seemed that she grew impatient when she wanted to hear something. 'Love, you dolt! That's all I wanted to hear!'

And that's when I had realised something.

Nothing could take me away from Lizzy. Not the afterlife, not Lucifer and certainly not His High Lord.

'I love you Lizzy Jenkins, nothing will ever change that.'

The smile that had jerked at the corners of her mouth was what I thought of all the way through the painful ceremony of my wings being clipped. There was no medical sedative but with Lizzy's smile I didn't need one. Or want one for that matter.

White feathers riddled with blood were strewn about the floor. The sight didn't even make me gag as it would have done otherwise, but I felt strong. Lizzy made me strong.

And as His High Lord himself banished me to the underworld and Lucifer with a lightning bolt through the heart the one thought in my head was to find Lizzy again.

I would find a way to get back to Earth, whether I had to be reborn to do it.

I would keep that loving smile in my mind through all the torture of demons and Satan just to get back to her.

Even if I died trying...again.