The Fallen (Crow City 1.5)
Anyone who knows me will know that Cole McCade is one of my top favorite authors. His writing not only moves me as a reader, but bewitches me into the stories he creates. The emotions behind each voice he gives the characters are something to leave a memorable mark on you for some time. It did with me and still does to this day.
The Fallen (Crow City 1.5) was no different with how the words flowed rhythmical. For those who have read The Lost, this will bring you a deeper understanding to the story of who is Gabriel Hart and the man he became. The life he led before the telling of Leigh side swept his life.
Gabriel Hart knew darkness, it was a comfort that surrounded him but also tormented him each time he let it sink in. But he knew how to come to terms with it even though the days that took control felt like he was losing the battle.
“But he didn’t know what he was fighting. Not anymore. There was nothing left to fight but himself.”
After the war, Gabriel came back home to a reality he didn’t want to be a part of. Losing his sister to the cancer, was part of the worst pain he felt. Being captive and tortured was nothing like losing his sibling that was a big part of his life. She was everything to him. A limb that was lost and could no longer function without it. But what killed him the most was the decision and selfish behavior to stay away from his sisters last days. He couldn’t bear not saving her or watching her wither away from the person she once was. So bright, so vibrant.
But if the thoughts of his sister didn’t plague him, it was the pain that crippled him each time they came. And the song that followed to take one more white pill to ease the suffering even though it would come calling back for him like a siren’s song.
”Because now you’re trapped here. With me. And I want that pretty white candy, Gaaaaaabe. I want it and I’ll make you suffer for it.”
The pills, the drinking, brought the monster out of him. He didn’t want to let the monster over take him because he knew that there would be no more coming back to the surface if he did. And he didn’t want to feel the failure of what he became if he let go, but it was so easy to know that if darkness came for him then he would silence the storm brewing within… forever.
The more I fell into Gabriel, I felt incredibly sadden for him. Not pity. The man was broken through everything he lived through. Trying to find his way in this dark life he led was the difficulty to find where he fit in. Society had changed once he came back to civility and so did the man he once was. Trying to find that purpose and being able to let go and forgive himself for the things that where weighing him down where suffocating. But seeing that the journey towards forgiveness and acceptance where on the horizon, you couldn’t help but feel triumphant for Gabriel.
"I wasn’t suppose to save you. I know that. I know some things aren’t that simple, and sometimes there’s nothing you can do, but knowing it doesn’t mean I can accept it. And your acceptance doesn’t mean I can forgive myself for the choices I made. But I can try.”
The growing in this story was knowing that the struggles will continue for Gabriel Hart, that darkness would still continue to knock on his door. And that he would have to make the choice in his own path to see where they would lead him. And that is what made it more interesting for me, it gave me in in-dept look to the foundation of Gabriel.
Once more, Cole McCade brought this story to life in vivid colors of darkness, but his character’s made a way to break through the darkness.
