It was February when the Angels came.
They rained from the sky like comets in a blur of fury and smoke.
Scattering across the town of Newark, New Jersey.
No one knew exactly what they were or why they had come to the Garden State
in the dead of an otherwise ordinary winter.
The event became known as "The Fall."
¿Donde está la biblioteca?
$56.39.
Shit!
Oh sorry. Sorry.
Azra was late, even though I reminded them
that they were covering my shift, like, five times,
I was so annoyed.
Hi.
Hi. How was work?
Fine. Did you eat?
Not yet.
Liquid dinner, huh?
Well, we can get something after,
but we should probably go in, like, five minutes.
Okay?
Brian? Five minutes.
I'm almost ready.
Okay, I'm sorry, I just don't wanna be late.
What are you doing? Where are your shoes? We gotta go.
Yeah.
Okay.
Okay, just... give me a sec.
What's the matter?
Nothing.
My stomach.
What's wrong with your stomach? Are you sick?
I... I think I may have eaten something bad.
I thought you said you didn't eat anything.
I just think... maybe,
maybe I should stay.
Okay.
Sorry.
No, it's fine. If you're not feeling good.
Uh, I just wish
you would've said something before I got my shift covered.
- Wasn't like the easiest thing to do... - I said I'm sorry.
No, it's fine. I just wish I would've known.
Dr. Byrd said it would help.
You know, if we meet some other couples who have gone through similar things...
It's not the same thing.
Their kids are all dead, our kid is not dead...
- I know, I'm just saying... - Amy, come on, please.
- What? - Don't pressure me.
I'm not pressuring...
Well, I can just go by myself.
It's not a big deal.
Um, and you can come with me next time when you're feeling better.
Okay.
Fine.
Uh... bye.
There is a light.
A beautiful stream of orange
that fills you
from the tips of your toes
to the ends of your hair.
Like water to a dry sponge,
it seeks to find the hidden, healing truths inside you.
Do you feel it?
Yes.
Good.
Now that you are filled to the brim,
I'm going to ask you
to walk back in time
to the day your daughter went missing.
Do you remember the day?
Yes.
November third.
Good. Are you there now?
We're walking.
I just picked Tabitha up from ballet and we're going to get ice cream.
Keep going.
I'm inside the store.
I'm paying for the cones, and... there's a dog outside.
She's been begging for a dog,
and she wants to go and pet it.
And you say?
"Go on, honey.
"Just stay on the sidewalk.
Don't go far, okay."
Good. And then?
I know it's hard.
Push into the fear,
and the light will shield you.
Then...
She was gone.
I go outside. Scan the street.
Keep going.
Her ice cream is on the ground.
A woman with an umbrella. I ask her, "Have you seen my daughter?
She's wearing a pink tutu."
- Tabitha! - Good.
Push, Brian. What else do you see?
There's...
There's... a car.
A minivan.
I've never seen it before.
Go to the car. Walk toward it.
There's a license plate, but...
I can't see it. I can't read it.
You can. It's there inside your mind.
Follow the light. Reach for truth.
Brian.
Hey.
Hey, how you doing, buddy?
Well, I... I'm great. Thanks.
Um, but Is Barnes here? 'Cause I called him...
Oh yeah, I was just about to say Barnes is a little tied up.
He's doing dog and pony for CID, so...
But he's interested to hear what you found.
- So do you have a new lead? - Yeah. Here it is.
It's, um, a license plate?
It was there on the day, so I thought maybe you'd wanna run it,
see what comes up.
Uh-huh.
No, yeah, this is, this is great.
Say, how did you come by this again?
I just remembered it.
In therapy.
Just sorta came back to me.
In therapy.
Hypnotherapy, yeah.
Uh-huh.
It's not cold, is it? Our case?
?Cause I know it's been 16 months, but there's still some avenues...
Hey, hey. Don't worry.
Barnes, he's, he's old school.
And these unsolved ones, they, uh,
they eat a guy like him until they get themselves solved.
- Okay? - Yeah. Sure.
It was February when the Angels came.
Some folks thought they'd come to save humanity.
While others wondered if they were even Angels at all.
They were wingless creatures with bony fingers and hollow eyes.
Looked more like monsters than anything holy.
Made even churchgoers wonder,
did these things come to save the world
or to destroy it?
Hi, uh, I've been coming for a little bit
just to listen.
So... uh, sorry, I'm Amy.
Hi, Amy.
Welcome.
I don't really know where to start.
Anywhere is good.
Doesn't even have to make sense.
Uh... Tabitha, my daughter,
uh, she really wanted to be a ballerina.
She was only eight years old, but she was very serious.
She loved it.
And she really wanted a pair of those brown ballet shoes,
that those girls in Alvin Ailey would wear.
But our dance store, they only carried pink.
And so my husband,
he would take a brown Sharpie and he would
sorta color them in, kinda janky,
but she loved it.
She wore them everywhere,
outside, in the snow,
and the marker would rub off,
and so he'd color them in over and over and...
And now I have all of these markers.
And, like, what am I supposed to do with
a hundred brown Sharpies?
It's just stuff like that, you know.
Like, it's all there, but she's still missing.
- And I feel like a bad... - Wait.
So your daughter's missing?
I'm sorry?
I don't understand,
you want your daughter to be dead?
No, that's not what I...
- Alright, this is a safe space. - That's not what I meant.
I really don't think that's what she's saying.
- Amy? - No, it's okay. I'm done.
Hello?
Amy? Officer Clayton from Newark PD.
Just calling with some news.
Amy, you there?
You found her.
What? Oh no. Sorry, no, it's nothing big.
Just following up on the license plate to let you know
unfortunately it was a dead end.
What license plate?
Brian brought it in from the, uh, hypnotherapist.
Right.
Between us, felt kinda like a goose chase,
but you never know.
Anyway, left him a message, thought I'd try you, too.
Thank you for letting me know.
Sure thing. Take care, Amy.
Tabitha?
Tabitha!
Sweetie? It's me. It's, it's Mommy.
Hey.
Where are the markers?
Amy?
She's dead.
What?
- Who called? Did Detective Barnes call? - No one called.
Wha...
Amy, honey,
I'm gonna need you to tell me exactly what it is you're saying
because you're just about to give me a heart attack.
It's a feeling.
A feeling.
So you got rid of the markers.
I've been thinking for a while,
and tonight I realized
I know. I feel it.
Babe... she's gone.
I feel she's gone, in the air.
And I can't feel her anymore.
No. No.
- I know you know it too. - I do not!
- You do. You do! - I don't. I don't know anything.
- You can't just give up on her. - I'm not.
- It's not what I'm saying. - Amy, it's our kid...
I'm just trying to survive!
But you can't just throw her away!
Don't... That's not... You can't put that on me!
Don't put that on me. I see her everywhere.
I'm dying, seeing her around every corner,
waiting for her to come to the door.
But she's... she's coming back.
- Yes! - No.
When she does, she'll have everything waiting for her
so she knows that we never gave up.
Jesus, she never even had a Christmas...
One percent.
- That's how many come home. One percent. - But those are statistics...
But there are other places that say different...
No. No!
- I am not having this conversation! - It's, it's true! It's...
- Hello? - Mr. Cooke?
This is Jim, PI from over at Secure Solutions.
We got a 20 on the plate you sent.
Belongs to a Bill Deckhart over in Harrison.
- Mr. Cooke? - Yeah, I'm here.
Did you, uh...
Is there an address?
Baldwin Street. One-forty-two.
Baldwin. One-forty-two.
Listen, if you need anything else, you just let us know.
We're happy to dig a little deeper. Alright?
Right.
Thank you.
You got it.
The good news is the charges have been dropped,
so other than the impound fee, he's good to go.
- What were the charges? - Trespassing.
I guess he went over to Harrison to snoop around.
The neighbor saw him, got nervous. That's when we got the call.
I don't understand. I thought the plate was a dead end.
Yeah, it was.
The guy, Bill Deckhart? He wasn't even in town when Tabs went missing.
He was off on some gay cruise or some shit, I don't know.
So what was he doing going to some guy's house?
I guess I kinda get the feeling he was looking for someone to blame.
Hey, look. No judgments.
I mean, you guys have been through hell and back.
I mean, I'd be tearin' down walls looking for this guy if it were me.
I'll give you a call about the car, okay.
- Thank you. - Brian.
Are you okay?
I'm fine.
Good. Let's go. Tommy's waiting.
Who?
The guy from grief group that you never fucking go to.
So, you guys just coming from group, or...
What were you thinking, going to some guy's house to snoop around?
- I had a lead. - A lead?
What are you now, Encyclopedia Brown?
At least I'm trying.
It's not your job to try. That's their job.
Who? The cops?
Every time I go over there, they look at me
like I'm ruining their lunch break.
You think they give a shit about a missing black kid?
But the guy was innocent. It wasn't even a real lead.
I know, but...
Just forget it.
- What? Forget it? - You don't understand, okay.
Then make me understand.
I want so badly to understand, Brian, but you got to talk to me.
I wasn't even doing anything.
I was observing.
I mean, Jesus, they've got nothing better to do
than arrest me in my own fucking neighborhood?
Listen, it could have been so much worse, and you know it.
Snooping around a stranger's house?
I would be thanking my lucky stars if I were you.
You're right.
My daughter's been gone 16 months,
and my wife wants to bury her quick
so she can get back to life as usual.
So, so lucky.
What are you doing?
I'm on your side.
I don't point fingers when you drink yourself to sleep
or spend a fortune on Christmas gifts.
When you were too torn up to go to work, I said okay,
I'll go to work for the both of us.
But I can't keep doing all the work alone, forever!
I'm having an affair.
- With the grief guy? - He's a good person.
Oh! Oh good.
- That's good. - I didn't mean for it to happen.
I didn't plan it.
Is this for real?
Jesus!
Haven't we been through enough?
I've been trying to tell you, I'm not doing great.
You're not "doing great" so you go fuck some guy?
This is it, Brian.
The moment where you lose me.
Please. Stop me before I'm gone all the way.
Fight for me.
I can't.
Why?
Because if I do,
she's dead.
I'm going to bed.
Hello?
Uh... hi. You want a menu?
We got everything.
I'm just a little thirsty,
and nothing else was open, so...
Uh, we got beer.
You got anything better?
My manager Ricky's got a secret stash in his office.
Someone made a copy of his keys.
So...
Clink to us.
What's wrong?
Just, uh,
not quite hitting the spot.
Well, we got pie if you want that.
I'm good.
Or I guess we could fuck.
Don't worry, I'm legal.
I'm not worried.
But... I am married.
Oh.
So is that why you're doin' tequila shots alone in a diner at two a. m.?
Drink.
Touché.
And aren't you kinda young to be so jaded?
I'm not jaded. I'm wise.
- That so? - Mm-hmm.
I recently had a,
what do you call it,
an epiphany.
Wanna hear it?
So, it happened last week.
There was this baby in the diner. Wouldn't stop crying.
I mean, kid sounded like a fuckin' fire engine.
Own mother couldn't get it to shut up.
Toni. Wake up. You got a table.
So I go outside to get some fresh air,
and that's when I see him.
He's out there every day on my break, with his fuckin' Buju dreads,
givin' me the stink eye.
And for whatever reason, that day I thought,
"what the hell."
So I go over to him and I say...
What you got?
Angel Blood.
Completely pure.
What's "Angel Blood"?
Magic shit.
From those freaky things that fell out of the sky.
It'll make you whole.
I guess they been callin' 'em Angels.
And some sick asshole figured out if you eat 'em,
gets you real fucked up.
So people been choppin' 'em up to sell for parts.
Thought it was probably full of shit,
but I still had a headache from the screamer
and besides, I'd already paid for it.
Bottoms up.
Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey. What's wrong, baby?
It worked,
and it opened my eyes to the truth.
You know what it showed me?
I'm a monster.
You and me both.
Give me that.
Oh, I got it, let's play a game.
"Who's the Worst Person?"
No?
So, what do you wanna talk about, the weather?
Come on, I'll go first.
So I go to these, like, groups,
like, for parents that lost their kids.
Only thing is, my kid's not dead.
I left her in some burger place somewhere outside Larose,
drove away as far as I could get.
But I tell stories ?bout her like she's dead.
Good ones, too.
Makes me feel better.
'Least it used to. Kinda wearin' off now, but...
Shots it is.
Where's she now?
Your daughter?
I don't know.
Isn't that nuts?
Don't you wanna know?
I couldn't get her back anyway.
I'm "unfit."
You could still try.
She's your kid.
Yeah.
Thing is,
even if I could go back and get her,
I don't want to.
I'd go back.
Yeah, well, too bad you're not me.
Now it's your turn.
My daughter,
she did ballet.
But she was kinda shy.
So I promised her,
I said, uh,
"I'll watch you."
And I did.
Every class she ever went to, I'd watch her
so she'd be brave enough to go inside.
And then, one time,
we went to get ice cream after class and, uh,
the cashier dropped my change.
So I bent down to pick it up,
bam... someone takes her.
I said I'd watch her,
and I didn't.
I took my eyes off her for two seconds.
I lost her for 48 cents.
Cheers.
To the worst people in the world.
Shit.
Stay there.
I'm staying.
A-ha!
Oh!
Gotcha.
Okay.
Tabs!
Tabitha!
Tabs!
No one knew why the Angels had come to the Garden State
in the dead of an otherwise ordinary winter.
Some folks thought they'd come to save the world.
But maybe the Angels hadn't come to save anyone.
Maybe we were here to save them.
Put her on the bed.
I'm not gonna hurt you.
Sorry.
I'll get a washcloth.
It's okay.
It's okay, sweetie.
It's okay.
What should we do with it?
Should we call Clayton?
No, no cops.
They'll just take her away.
I heard they've been calling 'em "Angels."
That sounds right.
Makes sense.
Bunch of Angels fall from the sky,
we chop 'em up, drain their blood,
and turn 'em into capital.
People are fucking animals.
Why do you think they came here?
I don't know.
Maybe God threw 'em out of the sky.
Maybe Heaven's a dark place.
Maybe.
I think it's here for us.
What's wrong with it?
I don't know. Maybe it's hungry?
Okay, okay.
Let's say she is dead.
I feel so strange. Do you feel that?
If Tabs is dead, then what?
I'm 41 years old.
That's, what, 50 years I've got left?
I can't go five minutes without her,
but 50 years?
What does that even look like?
It looks like me.
We're a family, Brian. We can still be. I...
I know it won't be the same, but at least it'll be.
I don't know how.
Who are we even without her?
Who am I?
I... I never even wanted to be a dad.
But now I am,
and I've got no kid.
What do I do, Amy?
Tell me.
I don't know, I... I feel so strange.
What do I do, Amy?
Oh fuck!
I want you to take that tree down.
No.
It stinks! It smells like death and mildew in here,
and I want you to take it down.
Take it down!
It was my fault. I lost her.
I lost her!
It is. It was.
It was my fault.
Was he a good fuck?
Where?
Here?
A floating gossamer. Baby, bouncing on my knee.
Now you sleep eternally.
And when I wake and see you gone...
Brian, hey.
You alright? You alright?
- Come on. - Hey!
Sorry!
- I'm okay. I'm okay. - Come on. Come on.
You're good.
Where'd you go?
Grief group.
Does this hurt?
Hmm.
Remember when we saw Galaxy Quest?
Yeah, who can forget Tony Shalhoub and the octopus lady?
That must have been
20 years ago?
No, it was more.
I mean, we'd been friends for, like, a hundred years,
but, um, that night, it was different.
I remember I looked down at your hand on the armrest in between us
and I thought,
"Mm. I want him to hold my hand."
And then,
like magic, you did.
Hmm.
I was thinking the same thing, too.
Ames.
I've loved you from the start.
It was February when the Angels came.
No one knew why they had come
in the dead of an otherwise ordinary winter.
One couple had their own theory.
They had lost a daughter 16 months earlier.
And in the height of their grief,
an encounter with an Angel mended their broken hearts.
Though they knew their daughter was gone,
the Angel gave them a chance to say goodbye.
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