10:00 p.m.

New Jersey

The astrologer stared in utter silence, eyes wide and erratic in motion. His hands slipped as they

found the camera button. He shifted the telescope to follow the phenomena occurring before his

eyes. The meteor spiraled down towards the earth. The astrologer watched in fascination as pieces

began to part from the main mass. It had entered the earth’s atmosphere. The astrologer licked his

lips and shifted his position on the stool.

Oddly, the meteorite wasn’t loosing as much matter as was expected. It flew down,

spiraling towards the earth. The astrologer shifted his telescope/camera to track its downward flight. It

shone brilliantly now, as it began to burn up from the earth’s atmosphere and its speed. It was

nearing the final phase of its journey: the landing. The astrologer turned his attention from the

telescope to a pair of binoculars sitting on the table next to him. He snatched them up and put them

to his eyes. He readjusted the magnification and followed the meteor’s final few miles before earth.

There was a small tremor when it landed. The astrologer leapt up from his stool and

rushed out of the room, his coat already on. He rushed down the many steps of his astrology tower

and slipped past his children’s bedrooms. Soft breathing noises could be heard throughout the

hallway. Despite the urgency of the situation, the astrologer halted to listen to their breathing. It was

a calming thought, to know they were safe. He ran down the steps and out the screen door.

His car was waiting. He slid into the driver’s seat and put his key in the ignition. The

machine roared to life and began to cough. He rubbed his hands together. The friction and

adrenaline would be enough to keep him warm for tonight. He set off down the country road, not

heeding the obscure speed limit signs hidden by the shadows the trees cast over the streets. He

passed by several fields, cornstalks rustling in the wind. The chilly night air found its way through the

small holes in his jacket, the wider spaces in between stitches. His hot, moist breath fogged the

windshield in front of him. He turned a sharp left and found himself trundling along beside a farmer’s

corn fields. Flames flickered on and off throughout it, and from what the astrologer could see, there

was a massive crater in the center. He had found his meteor…at last.

“Bingo,” he breathed.

11:00p.m.

The astrologer nearly threw himself from his car in excitement. He grinned maniacally and

forced himself to walk slowly towards the crater. He could see lights were on in the farmer’s house,

miles away. Twice fire licked at the soles of his shoes, while the unsettled dirt and dust swirled around

his feet. The inside of the crater was cracked and dry. The astrologer drew from his pocket a

flashlight. From where he was standing, the crater looked an awful lot like a black pit. He aimed it

down into the crater. All he could see was dark rock, shattered and leading down to the crater’s

center. His flashlight paused. Its light revealed a human arm. With a shout, he stumbled backwards,

dropping his flashlight. There was a rustling sound from below.

There was a shifting of rock and dirt as the thing began to rise from the crater. The

astrologer sat on the ground, paralyzed with fear. His hands shook, barely able to contain the

adrenaline his endocrine system had released into his body. The first hand reached over the crater’s

edge, dirt and rock crumbling beneath its palms. Another hand followed, and soon the being heaved

itself over the crater’s edge. It stood tall in the night, its features human, yet its body was completely

destroyed. It was a wonder it had the strength to stand. It towered over the astrologer, who was too

busy whimpering to notice the being’s wings. He still sat immobile on the upturned earth, staring as

the creature’s body regenerated lost flesh.

From his fall into our atmosphere, the astrologer reasoned.

It had regenerated enough flesh and bone to resemble a young man, raven-haired and

fair. Light seemed to shine from his skin in the moonlight. He finally noticed the stricken astrologer

lying in the dirt at his feet. His wings snapped open, nearly blinding the poor man before him. Each

feather seemed to glow. The angel turned and beat down with its wings, lifting itself into the sky.

The astrologer lay in the dust, tired, cold and dreadfully confused. He heard a car door

slam and someone’s footsteps echoing across the now silent crater.

“Dammit. He already landed.”

There was a click and the dazed astrologer’s eyes refocused, and there was a loud bang as

a bullet breached his cranium.

7 days later

5:00 p.m.

New York City

Gabriel snapped his eyes open.