Nick pulled into Jake’s driveway and met his twin Rick just stepping out of his car, his hands full of grocery bags.
“Hey,” Nick called. “What ya doing?”
“Just went to get supplies for ice cream sundaes!” Rick’s face beamed.
“Really? You?”
“It was Jake’s idea. I was just accommodating him.”
“Uh-huh. Yeah, sure.”
“Shut up… whatever…”
The two brothers came barreling through Jake’s kitchen door and froze in their tracks. Rick dropped his bags to the floor.
They saw Caleb trapped inside of circle of strange flames, flames that didn’t spread nor produce any heat or smoke. Caleb reached out to Nick, making eye contact with him. His expression was pure terror. “Please Nick! Help me!”
“Jake! What the hell are you doing?” Nick approached him but Jake pushed him away.
“Stay out of this, Nick. I have to finish this, goddammit. He’s almost gone… he’s almost out of here for good.”
“Have you lost your mind?” Nick cried. “Get away from Caleb.” Nick grabbed hold of Jake’s arm, the one holding the sigil.
Jake turned around, his brow furrowed, rage burned his eyes. “Get the fuck away!” He swung his arm hard, catching Nick in the jaw.
Nick grunted and stumbled into some cabinets. His brother Rick launched himself at Jake, and a brother’s protective anger took over. He threw a punch at Jake and hit him square in the face.
“What the hell is wrong with you?” Rick grabbed Jake with both hands and threw him into the wall. “Don’t you ever touch my brother!”
“Shit…” Nick crawled to his feet and steadied himself. He rushed to Caleb but stopped before reaching the circle of fire.
“I cannot move or cross the circle,” Caleb said to him.
“What can I do?”
“Break the circle. Step on it or something… the flames can’t hurt a human.”
With some hesitation, Nick put his foot cross the fire and the flames died. He reached in and took Caleb’s hand and pulled him out.
“Thank you.” He turned to Jake. “He was trying to banish me back to Hell. He has my sigil…written on some paper.”
Jake made a move to hide the sigil in his hand but Rick grabbed his wrist. “Give it up asshole.” He twisted Jake’s hand, causing him to scream and pried the sigil out of his grip.
Rick walked over to the stove, turned on one of the burners and put the sigil into the flames, destroying it. He went to Nick and Caleb to make sure they were all right.
“No…” Jake squirmed on the floor. “He is putting us all in danger. He needs to go back to where he came from. I need to send him back!”
Rick curled his hands into fists but Caleb put his hand on Rick’s shoulder. “Do not harm him. He is no longer a threat.”
Caleb put his arm around Nick. “I am sorry Nick. He said that if I was out of the way Micah would realize how he belonged with him instead of you.”
Nick’s eyes welled. “You son of a bitch.”
“He’s lying!” Jake growled. “I was doing this for us…he’ll only bring death down on all of us. He’s a demon… he’ll never change!”
“Go to Hell,” Nick said lastly
The kitchen door flew open again and Micah charged into the room. He was out of breath. His jaw dropped when he saw the scene. His eyes met Caleb’s and the two embraced immediately.
Micah’s chest heaved as he caught his breath. He whispered in Caleb’s ear. “I felt that you were in danger. I could feel your fear. I got so scared.”
“I am okay now. Your friends were here.”
Micah smiled and kissed him. A moan escaped Jake.
“What happened?” asked Micah.
“I will tell you all of it later,” Caleb said. “Nicki is alone.”
“I know…I had to…”
“We should head back there.”
“You guys all right?” Micah asked Nick and Rick.
“We’re good,” Nick replied, wiping tears from his face. “Jake and I are over. Rick will stay with me while I get my things.”
“Okay.” Micah glanced at Jake who refused to look at him. There was blood seeping from his nose. Micah took a dishcloth from the counter and threw on the floor in front of Jake. He took Caleb’s hand. “Let’s go.”
###
Caleb sped across town driving Micah’s wagon, determined not to leave Nicki alone for too long.
Micah took hold of his car door and held on. He broke out into laughter. “Whoa… how did you learn to drive a car?”
“Your television.”
Micah laughed even louder. “Oh man, not the greatest of examples. I can teach you someday.”
“That would be nice.”
“Listen… I’m so sorry I wasn’t there in time. If it wasn’t for Nick and Rick, I don’t know…I …I can’t even think about losing you.”
“It is not your fault, Micah.”
“I sensed something. I could almost feel that you were in danger. I should have paid more attention and left sooner. What Jake was going to do to you is unforgivable.”
“He is a flawed man. I could see the pain and conflict inside of him. He did not truly know what he was doing.”
“Don’t defend him. He knew exactly what he was doing. He was getting you out of the way so he could get to me. He’d been hitting on me ever since I met him.”
Caleb nodded. “He is going to need our help. His pain is not over.”
“I want nothing to do with him. He is dead to me.”
“That is not really you, Micah. I know this. I can see the colors of your soul. He will need healing. Your natural inclination is to heal others, I see this.”
Micah didn’t answer. He bowed his head and closed his eyes, remembering seeing Jake taking drugs while at the hospital.
A few moments later, Caleb pulled into Nicki’s condo complex and parked. The two of them hopped out of the car and hurried to her condo. They both entered her bedroom hoping beyond hope that nothing had happened to her or that things weren’t worse.
Nicki opened her eyes and stared at Caleb as he entered the room. “Ah, still here Caleb? It’s so good to see you again.”
“You helped Jake,” Caleb said. “You taught him the binding circle and my sigil.”
“Son of bitch,” Micah hissed and charged the bed, his hands curled into fists.
Caleb took him by the arm. “Micah…. It is still Nicki inside there. You cannot. It will not hurt him.”
Nicki laughed in Sebastian’s laugh. “Should have known that human couldn’t follow through. If you want something done you have to do it yourself. That is so true Caleb, isn’t it? When I am free from this room I’ll take care of you myself.”
Caleb shook his head. A gurgling sound rose out of Nicki and thick, black saliva oozed out of her mouth.
“Oh God,” Micah gasped. “I’ll go get her a towel.”
Caleb watched Micah rush from the room then moved closer to Nicki. “Sebastian, why do you hate me so much?”
“I don’t hate you Caleb. It’s nothing personal. I’m following our master’s wishes.”
“Our master? You mean the one who broke every promise to us he made? The one who failed to lift us out of the pit and return us to Heaven? The one that continues to lie to us over and over again? He betrayed us, Sebastian. He used us to fight his war and when he lost all of his promises turned to dust.”
“You keep telling yourself that. The war is still waging, my brother. And you’ve gone AWOL. I need to take you back.”
Micah returned with a towel. Caleb halted him and asked for it. “Let me. Please. Give me a few moments alone with Sebastian.”
“Okay.” Micah looked surprised but did as Caleb wanted. “I’ll be right outside if you need me.”
Caleb turned back to Nicki and gently wiped her mouth. She stuck out her black-coated tongue and tried to lick him. He refused to be frightened and continued his cleaning.
“I know you Sebastian,” Caleb continued. “You are hoping to go up the ranks of the hierarchy. You want to ascend the legions of Hell.” Caleb shook his head. “No one has in centuries. You are wasting your time. Lucifer has forgotten us. He has forgotten you.”
“You wish he has Caleb. So you can stay out of the pit and escape your suffering. Did you think of any of the rest of us still suffering there?”
“Is that what this is all about? Is that why you cannot leave me in peace? You are jealous that I escaped Hell? You are jealous that I found love here and want to stay? Sebastian, you can leave too? Just do not go back…. Leave Nicki’s body and stay on the Earth.”
“Love? With these primates? Are you serious? I wouldn’t stay with them for anything in the universe. Disgusting piles of meat—so imperfect, so weak and vulnerable. They are pathetic. And you are pathetic for conniving with them. You are soiled. Filthy to us. You are a traitor and deserve what Lucifer has in store for you.”
“You are wrong about the humans. Very wrong. They are beautiful beings. They strive to be better, so many of them have pure love in their hearts and souls. Micah and his friends welcomed me into their fold and have given nothing but love to me. Did you ever stop to think why you hate them so? Why your master hates them so much? No, you just blindly follow. The war is over. We have lost. You know it in your heart. If could only see them how I see them you would—
“Enough traitor! The war has just begun and you will see! It is going to end right here on the Earth and soon we will…”
“What did you say?”
“Oh yes,” Sebastian cackled loudly, it was the sound of crows and screeching cats reverberating around the walls of the room. “You finally know…fool. It is coming, a battle to end all battles when Lucifer will crush your precious humans. They are the abominations not us.”
“No…” Caleb shook his head. “He cannot. He… they are better than us…do you not see that? We think we are perfect so we remain dark or light, we never ascend. We have just the same feelings as they, wrath, hatred for each other, jealousy, rage but they try to be better. They try to be more than who they are despite their sins. We just remain the same.”
“It’s already too late, Caleb.”
Caleb’s eyes welled. He stormed from the room while Sebastian continued to mock and call after him.
He entered the hallway, slamming the door behind him and slumping against the wall. Warm tears rolled down his cheeks.
“Caleb,” Micah came to him immediately. “Caleb, what is it? What’s wrong? Is Nicki all right?”
“She’s still ok. It’s Sebastian. He says the war between us all is coming to the Earth. He says Lucifer’s legions intend to destroy all of you to spite the angels. We cannot let that happen… Micah… I will not lose you… “
Micah put his arms around him. “Don’t listen to him. Sebastian’s a liar. He couldn’t tell the truth if he wanted to. God wouldn’t let this happen.”
“Father has not been interested in any of this in a long time.”
“I can’t believe anything that bastard says. He’s just trying to torment you. Don’t give in to him. Remember what you told me? Ignore him, everything that comes out of him is a lie.”
“You are right. I cannot trust his word.” Caleb cracked a smile.
They leaned into one another to kiss when a crash stopped them dead. They turned to see Nehemiah burst through the front door.
A spiked mace materialized in the angel’s hand and he charged. Caleb put up both hands in defense. He braced for Nehemiah and pushed Micah out of the line of fire, shoving him into the living room.
Caleb ducked the first blow and the mace smashed the wall, sending plaster and wood scattering around the hallway. Nehemiah turned and took the mace in both hands.
“Brother wait, please!” Caleb called. “I need your help.”
Nehemiah refused to answer. He drew back his mace but Caleb caught him in the gut with a sharp kick. The angel doubled over and Caleb grabbed him by the shoulders, hurling him down the hall.
“Stop, Nehemiah,” Caleb called. “I need you…we need you. There is a possessed human in this dwelling. Only you can save her soul.”
The angel summoned his wings and levitated into the air. He soared down the hall and kicked with both feet, bashing Caleb against the frame of the living room doorway. The wall cracked behind Caleb and the wind was taken out of him.
Nehemiah wound up and swung his mace but Micah pulled Caleb out of the way just in time. The mace swiped the threshold, smashing the support beam. The angel floated into the living room and targeted Caleb once again. He soared toward him as Micah tried to block him. A quick sweep of his wing sent Micah to the floor.
“Brother!” Caleb cried. “I can feel the conflict inside of you. I know you do not want to do this. Talk to me… make peace with me.”
Caleb watched the mace spin and come right toward him. He pulled back but it wasn’t quite enough. The mace grazed him across the chin and sent him crashing down on the coffee table. The pain burned through his entire face and his flesh smoldered. He looked up to see Nehemiah standing above him. The angel lifted the mace above his head with both hands.
“NO!” Micah screamed and threw himself over Caleb’s body. “I won’t let you hurt him. No! No! Please… don’t kill him. I love him!”
“Micah no…” Caleb cried, tears coming again. “Get out of his way… let him… do it…”
Nehemiah froze, and stared down at both of them. Caleb saw the confused look in his eyes and sensed the doubt in his heart. The angel lowered his mace. “You love each other?” He shook his head and stepped back. He looked at his majestic weapon and wept. Tears dampened his face. “I cannot. I—”
Caleb nodded to him. “It is okay, my brother.”
“No.” Nehemiah shook his head again and fled the room, his wings lifting him into the air.
“Do not go!” Caleb called. He and Micah got up and ran to the destroyed front door but it was too late. Nehemiah had disappeared into the night. “Nehemiah,” Caleb called one last time. “Please return to us. We need your help.”
Caleb turned to Micah and placed his hand on his shoulder. “We need to find him.”
Mocking laughter exploded from the other side of Nicki’s bedroom door. “Poor Caleb,” Sebastian called. “Hunted by a warrior angel. Even our Father wants to destroy you.”
“Shut up!” Micah yelled.
“What were we just saying?” Caleb said. “Let us just ignore him.”
Micah chuckled nervously. “Right.”
They stepped outside where Micah grabbed his cell from his pocket and dialed.
###
Ever since immersing himself in the paranormal, Tom Arson hadn’t slept through the night. He caught a few winks here and there, maybe even a solid few hours but never the entire night. Something inside of his soul woke him nightly, keeping him on edge.
The first light of the morning sun glowed just outside of Tom’s window. Of course he’d been up for a couple of hours waiting for it. He had a sense of something else nearby. He checked his instruments and his magnetic feedback gages, also known as EMF readers, and noted something in the air. He stood by the window and saw the barest blip on his machines but knew something was out there.
He packed up his tools and headed out of the room. Outside the air was still slightly cool as the sun had yet to warm the day. Tom left his car behind and decided to take this journey on foot. He enjoyed the exercise, it kept him ready for just about anything and found it helped him connect to the natural world.
His tools weren’t the only things he relied on for investigations. He had a smidgeon of psychic ability. Not enough to make him famous or anything but just enough to tell him when he was onto something or when something paranormal was afoot. Tom had come to think of it as intuition, something his wife told him all women had naturally and that they didn’t need any tools to register the unbelievable. Over the years Tom had come to agree wholeheartedly with her assessment.
Tom strolled through the old part of the city for a good half of the morning until he reached the edge of some woods. He paused and stared. The branches of the trees seemed to entangle each other like old friends, forming a bond against the outside world, obscuring the true nature of what might be going on deep inside of them. He reached into his bag and pulled out a pair of dowsing rods. As much as he respected the technology all of the young, hip ghost hunters used today, something he felt he needed to take the old fashioned route. Something subtlety was much more effective.
He stepped into the woods and let the rods pulled him along. They were definitely picking up some kind of energy. The rods practically yanked him through the woods, between the trees and across a brook. Tom let the rods lead him quickly to a tree. Vibration shot through his hands and the rods flung from his grip, jabbing into the ground.
At first he didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary but as he looked closer at where the rods had pierced the ground, he saw what looked like some sort of silvery residue. It glinted in the dappling sunlight streaming through the trees. He reached into his bag and pulled out his EMF reader. The needle flicked wildly in all directions. It was as if the instrument had gone haywire. Next, Tom pulled a pair of goggles from his bag and gazed through the infrared lenses. The residue glowed.
Tom pulled the goggles off and reached his hand down. He hesitated, hovering just above the silver droplets that shimmered on blades of grass. He sucked in some air and finally ran a couple of fingers through the grass.
A vision flashed in his mind. He saw a battle. A fight filled with rage and confusion, fear and desperation. It was two celestial beings locked in mortal combat with one another. The surprising thing was he could sense purity in both of them, goodness. What would drive them to attack each other? He snapped back to the present and rubbed the silvery residue between his fingers.
“The blood of an angel,” he whispered.
###
Nick had cried all night and still sobbed when the morning sun came up. Micah held him in his arms. His friend was nearly inconsolable. Rick had gone to stay with Nicki while Micah and Caleb watched over the distraught Nick.
Micah felt only a fraction of the betrayal that Nick must have been feeling right now. He cradled Nick, his arms tight around his poor friend’s trembling body. Across the room Caleb sat solemnly in a chair, his face grim.
“Micah… oh God…” Nick whimpered. “I’m so sorry.”
“Shhh, it’s okay, buddy. It’s really okay.”
“I thought he loved me…”
“I know.” Micah stroked his hair then kissed his head.
“How could he have done…I was such an idiot. He lied to me.”
“He lied to all of us. It’s not your fault. None of us saw what he was, Nick.”
“I should have. I was the closest to him. How could I have not seen what he…?”
“Stop it. Stop blaming yourself. He suckered us all.”
Nick pulled his face away from Micah’s chest and looked over to Caleb. “I’m so sorry, Caleb. He came so close to hurting you. I don’t know what I would have done.”
Caleb mustered a smile for him. “You have committed no crime, Nick. There is nothing to forgive. He did not succeed in his plans. It is good that it is out in the open now.”
Nick sniffled and nodded his head. “Yes.”
Micah curled one of his arms around Nick’s shoulders. “You really need to get some sleep,” he said. “Let me put you to bed.”
Nick nodded. “Okay.”
Micah glanced over at Caleb before walking Nick to his bedroom. He returned to Caleb and sighed.
“Will he be all right?” asked Caleb.
“He’ll be okay. He just needs some time. And you?”
“I am going to find Nehemiah.”
“I figured you’d say that.”
“I must. It is the only way to end Nicki’s suffering and we must send Sebastian back or so many more will suffer. We cannot let him come to full power.”
“You don’t know what Nehemiah will do.”
“I felt his soul.” Caleb got out of the chair. “He did not want to hurt me or you. He was conflicted… more than any angel ever has been. I can reach him.”
Micah sighed again and put his arms around Caleb, kissing him on the cheek. “I’m scared.”
“A part of me is too.”
“Be very careful. I’m still not sure he won’t try to kill you.”
“I no longer think that he will,” Caleb said. “He had his chance. More than once. This is my time to finally connect with him.”
“Okay, I just can’t help but worry. I should go with you.”
“No. It is not a good idea. Both of us together would overwhelm him. I need to see him alone.”
“Fine. But I’m not happy about this.”
Caleb smiled. “I know.” He kissed Micah and stroked his hair. “I love you.”
“I love you, too.”
Caleb made his way out of Micah’s home and headed off to hopefully find Nehemiah.”