Fallen Angels Among Us

The war continues to rage in Heaven, as Angel clashes with Angel in the name of faith. The Faithful follow Yahweh, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The Renegades follow Lucifer Morningstar, formerly known as the Archangel of Light. When will the war end? When immortals clash, conflict is unending for neither side can claim definite victory. I grew tired of the war in heaven and left. I came down to the planet Earth. This was in the summer of 1978. Thirty five years later, I am still here. Earth is my home now.

When an Angel falls to the planet Earth, it wreaks havoc upon the natural world. Storms and Earthquakes have been known to accompany an Angel's arrival on the Earthly plane, whether he or she comes from heaven or Hell. I came to Earth of my own volition, so my fall wasn't as painful as it could have been. Nevertheless, it was not something I care to duplicate. Here I am, leading a normal life. Or as normal a life as a fallen Angel can be expected to lead while on the planet Earth, made for man by God Himself.

In the eyes of the world, I am Stephen Brownstone, a six-foot-three, lean and athletic, thirty-something Afro-Canadian gentleman residing in the City of Toronto, province of Ontario. I work for the Toronto Police Service as a constable. Yep, I'm a cop. I'd like to think that I've built a good life for myself down here. I am happily married to a gorgeous woman named Isabel Abdullah, originally from the Republic of Lebanon. We are the proud parents of two lovely brats, Adam and Lily. Life couldn't be better.

Sometimes, I can almost convince myself that I really am a regular guy, a devoted husband and father, taxpayer and homeowner. Almost. At night, when I lie next to my wife and close my eyes ( I cannot sleep, nor do I require food or drink, no Angel does ) I remember everything. In the movies and television programs, Angels are often shown to be men and women with wings. Well, we're not what you think. Angels aren't human. We were never human. We are pure intelligence and power without form. We're invisible, bodiless entities. When we want to, we can enter the material world and assume any form we desire.

The form I wear belongs to an anonymous African whom I glimpsed while on a mission from heaven in what is today called Ethiopia, centuries ago. I remembered this man because he alone had the power to sense when I was near. I did not get the man's name, for I was in a hurry but I remembered him fondly. I've had an interesting time among the humans, to say the least. They're so obsessed with race, gender, sexual orientation, nationality and religion. Those aforementioned subjects have caused wars around the world and destroyed many lives. For an entity without race or gender, being amongst humans makes for an interesting experience.

I find the humans far more complicated than my fellow Angels. Either you serve the Light or you serve the Darkness. You're either a proud citizen of Heaven or a dreaded denizen of Hell. We've always been quite simple, in spite of our vast intelligence and power. For we were created to serve. Humans were made to rule. That's why we're so different. Interestingly, it's only on the planet Earth that the war between heaven and hell can be won or lost by either side. For you see, only while on Earth can an Angel die. While in human form, I possess all the powers of the Seraph I once was. I can fly, teleport myself anywhere with a mere thought, I am vastly stronger than anything human, and I can also generate fire and electricity and shoot them from my fists and eyes like energy bolts.

The only way to kill an Angel is by stabbing him or her with a very special weapon. A sword fashioned in the Armory of Heaven itself. These swords look like ordinary metallic swords, but they can cut through anything. While in Heaven or Hell, they're useless because stabbing a spiritual being is like running a sword through water. You won't accomplish anything that way. However, while on Earth, Angels are forced to assume material form because of The Rules. While in material form, the swords can cut us and even kill us. Sucks, eh? Can you imagine, being alive since before the beginning of time and dying because you got stabbed by a special blade while in material form?

I have recently come face to face with some old friends. Back in Heaven, the Angel Vael and I were good friends. We fought side by side in the Red Wing Squadron against the elite of the Legion, made up of Lucifer's most fearsome Dark Angels. Vael is part of what I call "The New Fallen". Angels who left heaven not to follow Lucifer but to seek their destinies elsewhere. I ran into my old friend one fine Sunday afternoon in Toronto, just as my wife and brats and I were exiting our favorite church. Vael stood there, in the guise of a tall, thirty-something Black woman in a stylish pantsuit. She walked up to me and hugged me like we were old friends, prompting some uncomfortable questions from my wife when we got home, I tell you that much. Miss Vale, as Vael introduced herself, claimed to be an old friend from the old neighborhood. Once I got over my awkwardness, I introduced her to the wife, chit chatted for a bit then went home to have the unavoidable questions issued from Isabel's mouth. Who was this woman and what did she want with me? Just the words any man does NOT want coming out of his wife's mouth.

Yeah, I had some explaining to do when we got home. Early in our relationship, my True Nature was revealed to Isabel. We were out on a date, just walking home from the theater. We were big movie buffs during our days at the University of Toronto. I mean, there we were, just a young couple out on a date. Out of nowhere, two tattooed, bald-headed young white guys came at us, brandishing guns in our faces. They demanded our wallets. I would have gladly handed mine but Isabel, like the Lebanese spitfire that she is, refused. This made them mad. Now, had I been by myself, I would have made short work of them. Bullets can't hurt me. Still, I had Isabel to think about, and she'd just pissed off two skinheads with guns. Toronto was just starting to become the most diverse place in Canada in the 1990s, and many of the locals didn't like that, hence the presence of skinheads.

I hesitated. If I didn't do anything, Isabel could get hurt. If I did, she would know what I truly was. What's a fallen Angel to do? I struck the skinheads telekinetically, sending them tumbling back for a distance of twenty feet. They fell and lay still in the dumpster at the end of the alley. Isabel stared at me, stunned. How? She said, staring at me with astonished eyes. The moment of truth had come. Shall I reveal to her the truth of my identity? Or shall I flee? I could assume another human form, move to a different town, start a new life. Or I could tell her the truth and see what she made of it. I chose to do that. I sat Isabel down and told her who and what I was, why I left heaven and all that. When I finished with the story, I expected her to run off, scared. Most mortals cannot handle the supernatural. Well, Isabel surprised me alright. Instead of running off, she threw her arms around me and kissed me. That's when I knew she was the one.

When we got home, I told Isabel the truth, that Vael was just an old friend visiting. As far as I know, that was the truth. Later, I learned how wrong I was. Vael came to Earth to seek reinforcements. Apparently, the war between Heaven and Hell was moving to a new battlefield, the Earthly plane. And it's not just Dark Angels we have to worry about. Lucifer's agents intend to open the Gates of Hell and unleash an army of demons and monsters upon the planet Earth to thin out the human populace and prepare it for Dark Angelic domination. Heaven's warriors will come down to destroy evil and if they can't stop it on Earth, they will destroy the Earth itself. This I cannot allow. So I must once more war against both good and evil. Wish me luck.