“By saving the world from eternal damnation.” He looked up once more, a sharp glint shining with his golden as eyes as he assessed her from head to toe. He tossed the parchment aside and grabbed a corner of her white shirt. “Come with me!”
“Who the hell do you think you are?” she balked as she resisted. Caspar’s grip was strong, however, and he dragged her toward the staircase with ease.
“Caspar Socrates,” he replied. “That answers your question, am I right? So now come with me.”
“Why and where are you taking me?”
“I know exactly why he is taking you,” a voice murmured in the distance. They turned to look behind them. With fire in his pale eyes and big, wide
wings unfurling, Samuel came forward.
“An angel!” Caspar muttered. “So you are the Dominion who is protecting the Prophet?” The angel looked like a normal teenage boy except for his wings and the color of his eyes. “Fascinating. I would have thought of an Archangel protection, but Dominions are ratty in nature.”
“I am no ordinary Dominion.”
“Bad luck, then,” Caspar mused with delight. “Because I am no ordinary human, either.”
The angel swept past Caspar with such speed and ferocity that it almost tripped him and caused him to fall down. His grip on the girl loosened and she ran, staggering on her feet, for she could feel someone was trying to stop her even though she could not see him or her.
Balthazar was holding on to the girl’s ponytail when he felt a cut slice across his rocky body. He fell down as his wings were clamped. The angel turned about to face Caspar as he came to his feet with his cane’s support.
“We are not the bad guys here. We are the good ones,” Caspar tried to explain. “What do you want, man?” His tone and vocabulary was evidently influenced by today’s generation. “I am here to protect her and I will do just that, even if you are
the good ones.” Their eyes met before the angel glanced in Vivian’s direction.
“Ah, I do see a romantic angle here.” Caspar smiled and stood up straight. “If you weren’t so busy cuddling with your childish girlfriend, I would like to inform you that Lucifer has risen and is trying to immanantize the eschaton.”
The angel narrowed his eyes. For a sharp second, he believed Caspar, yet he knew he was an intruder. He was the one trying to take away his beloved Vivian just a minute ago. “I know that Lucifer has risen, but I am not sure what she has to do with it.”
“Lucifer wants her,” Caspar explained. “To obtain information on how to end the planet or something else, perhaps. I don’t know. What I do know is we need to find a haven and hide her before he or his minions come and take her away. So if your curiosity is successfully quenched with my explanation, I would like an apology from you.”
“Are you speaking the truth?” the angel asked.
“If you don’t believe me, would you prefer a lie? I would tell you this as well. We are in a fairy tale in which a rabbit monster is trying to sprinkle sulfuric acid around the rabbit town and we are the ones, the chosen ones, who could stop him. Would it satisfy? After all, it is the truth.”
“All right,” the angel said as his feet touched the floor.
He folded his wings folded, his pupils slowly turning back into brown eyes. He looked like a normal teenager, perfectly ordinary, with cheeks sucked in, hair messed up, and a jacket hanging over a t-shirt that read, ‘TRUTH LIES’. Denim jeans and shoes completed his ensemble. He wasn’t wearing the school’s uniform.
“You came here because you felt she was in danger. You were perhaps in your house trying to relax when you had to rush here to protect her. How were you aware of such things? It puzzles me. Is it some ping that breaks your sleep or some alarm or something?”
The angel called out to Vivian. She stepped forward carefully, unsure as to which of them she could trust. The one she found solace in was a freak with wings and white eyes. Yet he was determined to protect her. She remained at a distance from him, yearning for an embrace from him, a tight one.
“What is your name?” Caspar asked.
“Siphon,” he answered as he looked at Vivian. “I am sorry, but it’s not Samuel. It was just a name I came up with. I had to lie.”
Shock registered across her lovely features. “Why did you lie to me?” “Because I am not what you think I am. I am not human like you. I am different.” Hurt spread across her face. “I am an angel. You are a prophet. An
important person, one who needs to be protected. I was assigned this duty, to protect you, so I couldn’t reveal the real me to you. I am sorry, but that was how the things were supposed to be.”
“So all this time, you didn’t love me?” she asked and took a step toward him, a slight courage building within her chest. Although, it couldn’t be called courage, since the emotion welling within her was more like anger. “You said things that made me fall for you, things I was never ready to hear from a stranger like you. You manipulated me. I loved you Sam – Siphon or whatever your name is. I started loving you!”
“It was a duty. Initially, it was an assignment every angel has to perform. I swear to you, I fell for you slowly. I learned that I love you as much – no wait, I love you more than you love me and if I ever get a chance, I would rip out my wings so that I can be with you as a mortal in this world.”
“I can’t trust you, but . . .”
“Oh, please, stop your melodramatic rant, you love crows! Balthazar!” Caspar growled. He turned to face the gargoyle that was now visible and was watching the conversation between two lovers. “Look at them. Love can make fools of wise people. Please, my ears will start bleeding if you don’t stop.” He frowned and rolled his eyes.
The corridor was free of people as the faculty and the students were busy in the auditorium where a school play was taking place, enacting scenes from Hamlet. Balthazar caught sight of a long figure in a silky gray suit standing near the doors, with two men beside him.
“That’s Longhorn Darcy!” Vivian exclaimed.
“Not anymore,” Caspar whispered, his voice barely audible.
“Oh, how embarrassing! I see familiar faces and I blush,” Lucifer replied, a fake smile plastered across his face. “Well, I hate to kill you all, friends.”
Siphon kept his wings folded. Vivian didn’t care what kind of creature he was as she hugged him to her. Caspar and Balthazar shouted in unison. Caspar rolled a smoke bomb across the hallway which exploded into green smoke. The cloud gave them a means of escape and they ran downstairs toward the portal where the others were waiting for them.
Lucifer clapped his hands and a quick burst of wind crept through the corridor to clear the smoke. He walked briskly; his face calm and composed. He made his way downstairs. At the far end of the corridor, Ivy stood with a cigarette between her lips. Caspar was puzzled, but didn’t say a word. The devil was chasing them and they needed to leave as soon as possible.
The group hurried toward the Nephilim and she led them from there. Fib stood in the washroom and waited near the portal. Ivy threw away the cigarette and urged Siphon and Vivian to go into the washroom. Caspar stood outside with his cane, ready to deflect an attack from the devil.
Vivian had no idea as to what was going on, though she just trusted Fib. She tried to take a leap of faith, but her legs seemed as if they were cemented to the floor. Siphon grabbed her hands and smiled as he tugged upon her hands and led her inside.
Her eyes were closed as she held on to his hands for support. She wasn’t sure as to what was going to happen further, because she was stuck in the present.
Caspar acknowledged Ivy’s signal to go inside the washroom, so that they could go back. He heard Lucifer’s voice thunder throughout the corridor.
“You think you won, Mr. Socrates? And that I lost?” he asked as the two demons stood beside him, waiting for further instructions.
“I don’t think. I know,” Caspar responded.
Ivy was dumbstruck by Lucifer’s sudden appeara
nce. Caspar eyed her from the corner of his eyes. She was debating whether to attack the devil or to just play it cool. Though he couldn’t gauge her emotions, he could read her facial expressions clearly.
“Don’t worry. I am coming fast for you and the Prophet, Mr. Socrates. I will surely come. And when I do, you will regret it because I don’t lose. People like to think I do, but I don’t. I like to cherish the look of surprise on the person’s face. I am waiting for that look to cross your face and I know for sure that you will have it someday soon,” he gloated.
Caspar smiled. “I am waiting for that day, but with a slight change – the look of shock and not just of surprise that will surely come from you.”
With that said, he winked and hurried into the washroom with Ivy in tow. He looked behind him, expecting to see if the devil would step in, but he didn’t. The washroom door was vacant with no apparent shadows around it. They rushed toward the portal and stepped inside. Fib was the last to enter as he closed the portal behind him.
Or
acle
The House of David was an ancient and sacred temple made and consecrated during the reign of King Solomon. It was said he used many djinns and angels as workers to build it so it could be furnished and developed in such a manner that no demon, not even Lucifer, would be able to enter until given permission to do so.
Over a period of time, the House of David’s location had been shifted from Jerusalem to Egypt to Rome to London and finally to the U.S. The temple’s appearance from outside was of a simple structure without any signs that pointed to something unusual or magical. It looked like a normal, perfect looking beach house with an open porch and well maintained glass windows.
While Caspar, Ivy, Fib, and Balthazar were out, Capernaum and Harvard were able to locate the House of David, which could be used as a useful safe house for now. They arrived at the beach house on a stormy night the same day the Prophet had been taken.
Caspar and Ivy walked along with Balthazar floating along beside Harvard. They tried to understand the grave explanation of how Harvard turned into Eros. Vivian and Siphon followed close behind them. The temple loomed in the distance, away from the bustling streets of the town where the river touched the seashore. Caspar recognized it as soon as he saw it. It was not bricked, but made of wood and its canopy shadowed the porch and the backyard.
“Why is the House of David useful to us?” Caspar inquired.
“Because no one can track us here. The demons have help from their sources and fairies to find what they need, but here, no fairy, demon, or person would be able to locate us.”
Caspar nodded. Vivian decided to stay outside with Siphon to talk about certain things once they reached the porch. He could feel the burden of responsibilities that had been put upon her shoulders so unexpectedly and understood her dilemma. She debated whether to be amongst complete strangers who are all weird or to be in her school to complete the rest of her education.
“The talk, it’s bad. The talk is always bad,” Ivy whispered.
“What was with the cigarette, Demetrius?” Caspar turned to face her. She looked dumbfounded because of the abrupt question. “As far as I know, you don’t smoke. You’ve always been a good Catholic girl in keeping away from such vices.”
He could see that she was trying to come up with a convincing lie. To her surprise, the truth spilled from her lips instead.
“I am anxious, Caspar. Everyone is. My own family –my own race, I mean, has lost hope. We’ve retrieved the Prophet, but do you really think you’ll be able to make her talk?”
“Who gave you the cigarette?”
“Baltha . . .” she stammered, her cheeks flushed with color.
“The gargoyle!” Caspar angrily stamped his cane. “That is preposterous!” “Listen, listen, umm . . .” She found his hand in the darkness and clutched it
hard. He showed no surprise at her doing so. Perhaps it was because he was now accustomed to her. “Why are you being so protective over me, eh?” She raised her brows in question. “Are you trying to be my silent guardian?” she asked, a small, coy smile played about her lips as she gazed back at him.
He pushed her against the wall, wrapping his hands around her neck bone. She gasped for breath as her heart thumped within her chest.
“I can be scary sometimes, Nephilim. Don’t test me.” “Kiss me, Caspar!” she taunted.
He stared down at her, his brows arched in wonder. “Kiss me.”
“What?”
“I want you to kiss me, as hard and as passionately as you can. I don’t care how hard it could be. I just want you to kiss me.”
“May I know the reason?”
“I want my stress to be relieved. A kiss might just do the trick.” “This is absurd.” Caspar pulled himself back. “We have work to do.”
“Don’t say you didn’t have second’s thoughts on kissing me. You did, right?” Caspar couldn’t help but to smile. “You are crazy, you know that?”
***
Siphon sat on the wooden staircase beside Vivian who wore a blanket wrapped around her shoulders. He tried to put his arm around her, but she shrugged it off because she was angry.
“I am sorry. I didn’t know such disaster would strike.”
“Did you mean it?” She didn’t look at him as she was too afraid to do so. “What?” he asked.
“About the fact that you’ll rip your wings off in order to be with me as a human.”
“Of course,” he said. He could feel a glimmer of hope flaring within him. “See, I am sorry the way things went down. I wanted to tell you, but being an angel, I couldn’t. I had a duty that I didn’t do very well on. I am just a Dominion, a young Dominion. The duty I had to perform wasn’t a duty anymore. It was more than that. I began to care for you and then I fell for you hard. The words, initially, might not have been true, but gradually every word which I said to you during the days we spent together was the only true words I said.”
“I am not the Prophet,” she murmured.
“You are. You aren’t getting any visions because you aren’t trying very hard. When you emphasize on a certain aspect, you get more than you bargain for. You are a bag of knowledge for both angels and demons.”
“That’s why Longhorn Darcy wanted me, isn’t it? But how can he be THE Devil?” Vivian remembered that during the trip to the House of David, Caspar had told them everything ranging from Manfred’s chaotic plan to Lucifer’s rise and the host he’d taken. “It’s just weird. He’s the second influential person in magazines and elsewhere.”
“The people...they need you.” He pointed at the door. “They are good. If you want to stay alive and be far away from all this, I understand, but help them before you go away for good.”
“How does it feel? To get these visions?”
“I have never been a prophet, but I will be the person who stands beside you to catch you when you fall and to hold and comfort you.”
Vivian’s eyes filled with tears. She wanted to hug him, but her body wouldn’t allow it. “What about my studies?”
“You are a prophet. One day, you have to leave everything behind so that angels can use you in their time of need.”
“Why are you saying things like this? I don’t want to be used or anything.” “That’s the destiny of a prophet, but I will be there with you. I’ll find some
way to resolve this. But for now you have to help them. You have to save the world. For all we know, the world depends on you right now,” he implored, much to her chagrin.
***
Vivian sat quietly on her chair in the blue lit room. Caspar and Capernaum stood within the doorway, looking strangely at the Prophet while Ivy, Harvard, Fib and Balthazar stood in a corner of the room. Siphon clasped her hand tightly as if he would never let it go.
Because he was a demon, Capernaum had to get a permission to enter the House of David from an angel or someone having angel blood. Ivy had to accept her invitation so he could achieve that purpose.
&nb
sp; “The Prophet has some information. Lucifer wanted her for a purpose, to bring Doomsday on Earth. I think we could use her for our own purposes, however. We can ask her the way to stop Lucifer, once and for all,” Capernaum said.
“Would she be able to give us such information? For last few hours, she had no idea that she was the oracle.”
“She would be. Her head will ache a bit, but that’s the price she has to pay.” Caspar grew angry. What kind of price? She was a poor girl, oblivious to such
things going around her. She didn’t want this. She wanted to stay in school and enjoy
her teenage life. To flirt with boys and go on dates – that was what a girl of her age would do. He could never achieve a normal life, but he wanted her to have it. He knew it was impossible, but a little wishful thinking never hurt anyone.
He felt bad for Vivian and wanted to make things right, but everything was out of his hands. Angels wouldn’t let her live her life the way she wanted to live it because for them she was a powerful being. Yet she was still a pawn in the scheme of things, a player that could be useful to them in the battle between Heaven and Hell. Previously, Caspar wouldn’t have given a damn, but with the recent change within him, he felt bad for her.
He sat down opposite to her, staring at her intently. “Are you ready?” he asked
softly.
“Yes,” she said, her voice trembling with emotion.
“Good. Now, you have to think about how to stop Lucifer. Think about the weapons used during the Great War between Michael and Lucifer through which Michael was able to trap him in Purgatory in order to defeat him. I need to know how he did it. We all need to know everything.”
She nervously chewed upon her lower lip. “I don’t know what to do.”
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