Total pages in book: 101
Estimated words: 93412 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 467(@200wpm)___ 374(@250wpm)___ 311(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 93412 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 467(@200wpm)___ 374(@250wpm)___ 311(@300wpm)
Gabriel hesitated, but if he couldn't escape this strange mix of nightmare and wet dream, maybe at least he'd get some answers.
He clenched his fist and landed a weak punch on Abaddon’s bruise.
The angel winced, and the sight of his features twisting made Gabriel wish to somehow both step back in fear and hold him.
“This answers your question,” Abaddon said with a tired sigh. “It seems God wants to make me suffer while I fulfill his will. But it is his prerogative to make those decisions. I bet I will soon smell too,” he said and lifted his arm again to sniff his armpit.
Gabriel had been flushed from the heat of the furnace and the hard work scrubbing down the kitchen, but now his face became a firepit, no doubt ignited by the sinful hell unleashed in his brain when the toned muscles moved right in front of him. Sure, they both stank, but he’d never before smelled another man’s sweat and thought he’d like to lick it.
Maybe it wasn’t God who sent Abaddon here but the devil.
“So you will stay here until you finish your job, and in the meanwhile… do you need to shower?” Abaddon’s form had clearly been sculpted by God on a day when he put more effort into creation, and the thought of this glorious creature standing under a stream of water made Gabriel grab a cigarette from his hoodie to do something with his hands.
When Abaddon smiled, his wide mouth stretched into an expression so sunny it was impossible to fathom that he’d killed a man not that long ago. Even if the entire scene had been just a dream made up in the hell of Gabriel’s mind. “Sounds like the best idea in the world. Yes, my mission doesn’t end until they are all wiped off the face of the Earth, and I will definitely need regular showers until then. Can you provide?”
Gabriel lit the cigarette and took a long drag of smoke. This was way too much excitement for him. “Yes, but we can’t be seen. We’ll take a route around the building.”
His head was like a helium balloon, kept from flying solely by the weight of his body. After initial shock had worn off, he hadn’t felt too bothered about Mr. Watson’s gruesome fate, and while he did believe it hadn’t really happened, a part of him rejoiced at the pleasure of seeing justice done. A hallucinated death was appropriate payback for torture he’d hallucinated in the past, but Gabriel remained unsure about his feelings. Was it evil to dream up such a thing? His brain was mush.
“Oh. And I’m sorry I hit you,” Gabriel muttered, wanting to get away from the stinking furnace.
Abaddon shrugged and let go of the little cross before pulling back his brown hair once more. It reached all the way to his waist, dense as the shrubs growing in the woods surrounding the orphanage, and when it licked Abaddon’s tanned skin, it somehow made him seem even more naked. “It is just a temporary shell. What matters is that I’ll see to you being safe from those horrible people by the time I ascend.”
A little voice at the back of Gabriel’s head whispered that maybe this was real, that maybe God had listened to his prayers, but it was too long of a shot when the simplest answer was usually the correct one.
He took another inhale of smoke to calm down before heading out of the cellar on soft legs.
It was around eight now, which meant more activity, but fortunately most of it would be happening in the other wing, where the children lived alongside a couple of full-time caregivers. The part of the building where Gabriel’s apartment was located had only a handful of adult inhabitants and was vast enough to help avoid unwanted run-ins in the corridors.
His biggest worry right after someone finding out he’d helped get rid of Mr. Watson’s body was the kids not eating their breakfast on time, but he couldn’t stay in the kitchen and risk a run-in with Sister Beatrice when he was so dirty. They’d have to make do with one of the emergency meals from the freezer.
Still, he could only breathe freely once the door of his tiny place was locked behind them. Other people would not see Abaddon, but they sure as hell would have questioned Gabriel’s absence from the kitchen.
Abaddon dropped his dirty T-shirt to the floor and frowned, focusing on the stained glass window. His expression made Gabriel freeze in a flash of panic, but then Cloud meowed and jumped out from behind the curtains, approaching them both in quick strides.
“Do you… do angels like cats?” Gabriel asked. Reality couldn’t have felt more surreal than when this beast of a man recoiled from the fluff ball, retreating behind Gabriel’s back as if he feared the small animal. Whatever reaction Gabriel expected, it wasn’t that.