The Cross

"Why do you do that?" she asked as she watched his fingers trace the curved edges of the silver cross. It hung from a delicate silver chain around his neck and rested just below the hollow of his throat. She'd always seen it there, even back in elementary school, but this habit of his hadn't started until a few months ago, just after they'd begun their junior year of high school.

He turned to her, looking slightly surprised. "What?" His hand immediately dropped from his cross when he saw where her eyes had gone.

"You never touched it so much before," she informed him, turning her gaze back to his face. She was surprised to see the hint of fear that now filled his deep blue eyes, and concern quickly shifted her features. "Colt..." She trailed off, knowing the worry in her voice and gray eyes asked the question for her. What's wrong?

Colt averted his gaze and reached for the cross again without thinking about it. "I'm fine," he mumbled, now clutching the cross as if it would protect him from her questions, her eyes, her voice, her concern, just...her.

She let those eyes of hers drift to the ground several feet below, though her voice wouldn't be so easily deterred. "Something's wrong, Colt. I've known you since we were fighting over shovels in the sandbox, and I know when something's wrong."

He was silent for a long moment, staring up at the crescent moon in the dark sky above. "It's nothing," he lied.

"It's not."

His grip on the cross tightened. He said not a word.

She looked around the silent cemetery, taking in everything from the wrought iron fence surrounding the property to the tombstones within and the small mausoleum they were perched on top of. The sites were all familiar to her, as she'd pretty much grown up in this place, but she continued to admire them, anyway.

Finally, her gaze settled on her legs, peeking out from beneath a pleated black skirt. They almost seemed to glow in the moonlight, the result of never being touched by the light of day. "Tell me, Colt," she nearly whispered. "If something's bothering you, I want to know." Her eyes moved back to his, watching her intently. "I want to help."

He merely stared. For a full minute, he stared. Then, finally, he spoke.

"Come with me." He slid off of the mausoleum, landed easily, then began walking toward the old gravel road. She followed him without hesitation.

They walked in silence until they started up a hill, the steepest one in the cemetery. At the top there was only one thing: the church. She groaned inwardly, having a feeling that some Christian rant was coming. She'd thought he was done trying to convert her, but apparently, she was wrong.

"Come on, Colt. I'm an atheist and I always will be," she said, continuing to walk after the male. In the darkness of the night, she could make out only his figure, tall and lean and dark against the pale gray of the tombstones all around. He didn't reply, merely pushing open one of the small church's creaky old doors.

The scents inside, dust and old things, were familiar to her, just as the cemetery was. She would've found comfort in it had she not been worried about more religious arguments with her closest friend.

Colt stopped before the big wooden cross towering over him at the front of the church. Even when he joined it upon its raised platform, it was at least a few feet taller than him, almost frightening in its height and span. He knelt at its base, both hands grasping his own tiny cross.

"Colt..." She trailed off again, watching from the aisle between the dusty, disorganized pews. In the sparse moonlight streaming through the three windows where the church's ceiling curved, growing into a high, steeple-like structure, she could see him more clearly. He bowed his head and held perfectly still, not a single blond hair shifting, not a finger twitching.

She waited.

"Theresa," he murmured after almost three minutes had passed.

She hesitated for a moment, but soon moved closer. "Yes?" she almost whispered.

He took her hand gently, then slowly curled her fingers around the cross he'd been holding. She gasped.

It was hot. Not just warm from his hands, but burning hot, as if it had been held over an open flame. She tried to jerk her hand back, but he held her there with ease, eyes closed and utterly calm.

"Colt, what-" She stopped dead when he stood, his hands still holding hers to the cross. His eyes opened, and another gasp escaped her.

She found herself gazing into depths of the most beautiful sky blue, a color so bright and clear that it couldn't possibly have been human.

"Theresa, I..." He looked down at where his hands surrounded hers. He felt her fingers shaking beneath his, and he knew this had been a bad idea. He couldn't take it back now, however, so he had no choice but to plunge onward. "A few months ago, I...I found out that I had cancer." He felt her stop breathing. He wouldn't look up, but he knew the look she was wearing. Her eyes were wide, filled with fear, and her lips were parted, as if her jaw wanted to drop, but it was stuck. It was the look she'd gotten before, when her mother had been diagnosed with the very same illness. She didn't speak, so he continued. "It was too far along to stop...but for my mother's sake, I decided to go along with the treatments, anyway..." Here, he looked into her eyes. He saw the tears welling up. "I only went through one, and I...the night after, I..." He lowered his gaze. "I died, Theresa," he whispered. "I died." His grip on her hands tightened, and he looked up again, excitement in his eyes. "But He saved me. God Himself saved me." Her disbelief was apparent, but he went on. "He told me...He told me I was to become an Angel, and I had only one purpose back on Earth." He stopped, knowing very well that this next part would be even harder to believe than the rest. Finally, he said softly, "You."

"Colt, I-"

"I know you don't believe me," he interrupted. "I know it's...it's hard to believe, even for those with faith. But...you feel the cross, you see my eyes. I'm not lying. About any of it." One of his hands moved from hers, drifting up to cup her chin. "I've been sent back to save you."

Slowly, her free hand moved to wrap around his wrist, just a gentle touch to convince herself that he was really there, touching her face with that look in his eyes. "Colt...why would I need saved?"

"Because you're an atheist."

"That's...all?"

He smiled softly down at her. "Not even close." His thumb stroked her cheek lightly, and his smile grew. "He knew you needed me. He knew you needed faith. And, most of all, He knew what would happen if you lost someone else so close to you."

A tear finally spilled over, streaming down her pale cheek until it dripped from her chin. It hit his hand, but he didn't move. "Did He know...that I loved you?"

He put his forehead to hers, his hand slowly sliding down her cheek. It grasped the one that had been holding his wrist gently. "Yes," he whispered. "And He knew that I loved you." Their lips met in a chaste kiss, their eyes closing to savor every feeling, physical and emotional, of this moment. A shudder rippled through him, then a sudden bright light brought both of their eyes open. She drew back in shock, her hand slipping from his and letting go of the still-burning cross about his neck.

His wings...

To either side of his body stretched a pure white mass, feathery and bright and at least six feet in length. Both wings flapped once, creating a breeze that tousled Theresa's dark brown hair, forcing several mid-back-length strands out of the messy bun they'd been confined in. When the wind subsided, the wings were folded against Colt's back, still glowing brightly and emanating an odd hum. Just looking at them made a feeling of peace settle within even the darkest corners of Theresa's mind. She found it hard to turn her gaze back to Colt's face.

"Now do you believe me, Theresa?" he said softly, watching her face intently with those strange, heavenly blue eyes, taking in every shift in her expression. "Do you believe in Him?"

Her gray eyes, widened with shock and wonder and fear, bore into his as she whispered, "I don't want to, but...I do."

"Good. Then one of my tasks have been completed."

After this, both of them fell silent, merely gazing at each other, waiting for someone to make a move or to say something else. After a long moment, Theresa stepped closer to Colt and threw her arms around his neck, burying her face in his shoulder. He returned the embrace, his arms tightly around her waist.

"I love you, Colt," she told him softly.

"I love you, too, Theresa."

His wings unfolded and curved about her, a shield against the rest of the world. They were alone now, together, safe from all Earthly harm. And that's how it would stay forever, until He called them both back to his side amongst the safety of the clouds.