Fallen Angel Meets Black Goddess

The passions that drive us. Nothing quite like them in this world. My name is Arkriel. A six-foot-tall, lean and athletic, good-looking young Black man. That's how I look to the world. Nobody knows that I'm actually a Fallen Archangel. And I kind of like it that way. These days, I live in the city of Toronto, Province of Ontario. I work for the Ontario Provincial Police. The world knows me as Xavier Guillaume, twenty-five-year-old graduate of York University's Criminology program and a rookie cop with the O.P.P. Nice, isn't it?

I like the city of Toronto. When I fell from Heaven, it is one of the first place I visited. Long before Europeans settled in what is now called Toronto and long before the Aboriginal peoples crossed the continental divide between Asia and the Americas, I landed here. Thousands upon thousands of years ago. A Fallen Angel always remembers the site where he or she fell. In many ways it becomes a part of us. My brothers and sisters seem drawn to the places where they fell. I guess it's part of our undying nature. A special connection to the places where we experienced our greatest losses and victories at the same time.

Toronto is my kind of city. The town that embodies Canada's best hopes. Scores of immigrants from Continental Africa, Latin America, the Middle East, India and China have it their home. And they make up about half of the city's population. In all of Canada, it's the only place where I feel like I belong. I made a life for myself here. I'm doing fine at work. I am also dating a beautiful young woman named Marguerite Alistair. The only daughter of Paul Alistair, a wealthy French businesswoman and Jeanne Oeuvre, a Haitian entertainer. My Marguerite is a uniquely sexy, tall and short-haired, caramel-skinned young Black woman who simply took my breath away the first time I met her. She is currently studying business administration at the University of Toronto. To say that I'm smitten with her would be an understatement.

When I'm with Marguerite, I feel that life can actually be worthwhile. She almost makes me forget my past. There are tens of thousands of Fallen Angels hiding on the planet Earth. And every day we live in fear that Heaven's Soldiers will find us. God forgives the sins of Man but not those of Fallen Angels. I know that someday, God's Army will find me and I dread this moment. However, I can't spend the rest of eternity living in fear. Life goes on, even when you're Immortal. I am starting to like my life here. The other day, I saved many lives. A school bus full of brats fell into a freezing river near the highway. I was on the highway in my patrol car at the time. The bus fell into the frozen lake and there was nothing any ordinary lawman might be expected to do, other than wait for the fire department. By the time they got there, the brats and their schoolteachers would be dead.

It's a good thing that I'm no ordinary law enforcement officer. Moving faster than the human eye could see, I shifted forms. I went from a tall, ordinary-looking young Black man to my true form, pure energy. Unseen, I lifted the bus out of the frozen lake. Thirty seven lives saved, no harm and no foul. Not bad for a day's work, eh? I love using my abilities to help people. Kind of makes me feel like a superhero. Not that I look good at tights. The miraculous rescue made the news, and there were cameras and news people everywhere. As the first police officer on the scene, I kind of got some unwanted attention. I tried my best to play the part of the dumbfounded rookie cop who is just as amazed by the miraculous rescue as anyone else. I should have known not everybody would buy it.

When I went back to the police station that afternoon, I was the center of attention. Every guy and gal had questions for me. And these aren't people it's easy to B.S. to. These are hardened law enforcement personnel. They've heard all the lies, both from the general public and their fellow cops. They can smell a lie a mile away. It's what they do. It's all they do. Now, being a Fallen Angel doesn't make me a better communicator than anybody else. Sure, I can speak thousands of languages, but I can't make anyone believe anything they don't want to believe. Free will is seen as sacred by even the vilest of Demons. And I won't be the one to violate that sacred law. I endured the questions and answered them as best I could, then I went home.

I was a few minutes late for a romantic dinner I was supposed to have with my lovely Marguerite at Chez L'Auberge, this new Haitian restaurant in downtown Toronto. I changed into my civilian clothing. A red silk shirt, Black silk pants and black timberland boots. I doused myself with cologne and then hit the streets. By the time I got to the restaurant, I was running five minutes late. Marguerite was sitting there, waiting for me. Man, she looked amazing in a bright red dress. She rose to her feet when she saw me. I smiled and shrugged apologetically. To my immense surprise, she wasn't mad. I soon found out why. Like everyone else in the city of Toronto, and probably the rest of Ontario, she had seen the news reel. My darling Marguerite hugged and kissed me, then asked me if I was okay. I tried my best to reassure her as we enjoyed some delicious Haitian cuisine together.

Marguerite pestered me with questions about what I saw. I was getting tired of everybody asking me questions, to tell you the truth. I took Marguerite's hand in mine and kissed it. That shut her up. Marguerite smiled and asked me what had gotten into me. I said nothing. Instead, I got down on one knee and pulled something out of my pocket. Something small and shiny, which happens to be a diamond ring. A truly unique diamond ring, actually. The rock comes from the Forge of Heaven itself. It was given to me by one of my fellow Archangels for my bravery during the war against the Fallen Archangel Lucifer Morningstar and his Rebel Angels. I fashioned it into a ring capable of fitting the lovely fingers of my beloved Marguerite. She gasped when she saw it. Smiling, I placed it around her finger.

Marguerite's excited squeal could be heard halfway around the world. She jumped up into my arms and kissed me. In spite of my Angelic strength, she nearly took me off my feet. I lovingly embraced my bride-to-be. I love Marguerite, you see. In all of eternity, she's the only person I've ever loved. She makes it all worthwhile. I don't know how much time I have. Even though I'm Immortal, as a Fallen Angel I know that God's Army is out there, slaughtering the Fallen. Those of us who left Heaven because we weren't happy with our Father. I want to marry Marguerite and I think I can make her happy. I want to be with her until the day I die. Yes, Angels can die. With all the heroics I've been pulling lately, it's only a matter of time until God's Army finds me. And they are merciless. However, until that day comes, I will enjoy my life as an ordinary man on this Earth. None of us know how much we have left. That's the most human thing of all, I think. Anyhow, wish Marguerite and I luck. We're going to need it.