The lights came on suddenly, causing Angelina to squint her eyes at the brightening of the room. Black robed figures scuttled around her as she turned to move back into the shielded room. She ran directly into one of the figures standing in such a way as to block any entry into the next room. Angelina bounced off the hugely built man and lost her balance, falling to the floor. Two of the strangers grabbed her arms and pulled her roughly up to her feet.
“What is this a toga party?” Angelina asked brightly. “Look, let me slip into the next room. I’ll get my costume. It won’t take…”
“Shut up, you bitch!” A short wiry man yelled in her face.
“Whoa… breath mint,” Angelina cringed away from him. “Someone get this guy a tic-tac.”
The man slapped Angelina across the face open-handed with all the force he could muster. Angelina’s head snapped off to the side as the men holding her sought to keep her upright. Angelina spit blood out. She grimaced at the man who struck her with disdain.
“You hit like a girl,” Angelina said, knowing the last thing in the world she should be doing is running off at the mouth.
With a growl of anger her assailant punched Angelina in the solar plexus. He watched with amusement as she jackknifed out of her holders’ grips and onto the floor, clutching her midsection. Angelina gasped painfully for breath, thinking of how Raphael would have been shaking his head at her smart mouthed replies and subsequent punishment. They left her on the floor for only a moment before yanking her back to a semi-erect position.
“Got any other cute little remarks for me?” The man who punched her asked.
“What’s with your face…” Angelina gasped, pretending concern at what she saw, “…you get that weird flesh eating virus?”
A few of the man’s companions stifled laughter. Before the man could react, Angelina kicked him in the groin. She chuckled appreciatively as the man screamed in a high pitched voice, flopping backwards to the floor. He gripped his injured area with both hands while rocking back and forth. The men holding Angelina released her into the arms of the giant who had blocked her retreat through the doorway while they attended to the man sobbing in pain on the floor.
“You wouldn’t have lasted a day in the prison camp, sissy,” Angelina muttered under her breath. “Why don’t we quit dancing around? Tell me what you guys want.”
“We want your little nun friend,” the big man holding her answered.
“Is that all? Let me go in and get her for you.” Angelina tried to move out of his grip toward the room she shared with Catherine.
“Very funny.” The big man continued watching the man who had punched her still writhing on the floor in pain while the other five members of his group stood around helplessly.
“Do you geniuses know who Sister Mary Catherine and I are hooked up with?” Angelina asked, genuinely curious.
“Your friends don’t scare us.”
“Then you boys need a brain transplant,” Angelina stated. “When the Archangel of the Abyss finds us… and he will, you bunch…”
The big man laughed. “The Archangel of the Abyss is a myth.”
“Where the hell were you guys when Abaddon massacred seven new generation demons down by the dock? Didn’t you feel the earth rock when those bad boys bit the big one?” Angelina tried to turn around and face the man holding her.
“We were instructed to leave and return to the hotel,” the man holding her replied. “We know of no such battle taking place.”
“If this is all make believe why bother with Cat and I,” Angelina reasoned, taking a deep breath. She ignored the shooting pain where she thought one of her ribs might be cracked. “We’re just a couple of…”
“Angelina!” A muffled voice called out from the doorway where Catherine stood with her palms against Raphael’s shield.
Angelina stomped on the big man’s instep, eliciting a satisfying grunt of pain. She broke away for a moment, lurching toward the doorway where she was again grabbed by two of the robed figures.
“Stay there, Cat!” Angelina shouted. “Don’t…”
The big man caught up to her. He grabbed Angelina’s hair and yanked her roughly to the floor. He grinned up at Catherine as he pulled something out of his pocket. An instant later, he had Angelina’s head in one huge hand and a knife at her throat.
“C’mon out, little girl, or I’ll cut your smart mouthed friend up right in front of your eyes.”
Instead, Catherine dropped to her knees, her hands clasped tightly in front of her. In the bar at the Top of the Mark, Catherine’s cry cut through the two Archangels’ consciousness as if she were screaming their names from two feet away. Dropping all pretense, Raphael and Abaddon disappeared.
“Get up, bitch!” The big man threatening Angelina ordered, the blade at Angelina’s throat beginning to draw blood.
The only thing his companions saw was a black shadow engulfing both their comrade and Angelina. The big man’s screams were what they remembered for the rest of their lives. When the Archangel of the Abyss allowed the dusty black ash to fall from his hand the remaining robed figures ran for the door. They ran directly into the intense light of Raphael, his brilliantly white wings spread magnificently, sword and shield in hand. The remaining six men fell to their knees. Abaddon pulled Angelina into his arms, healing her pain instantly, his black wings glistening in the light of the room.
“Are you all right, my love?” Abaddon brushed aside the hair over Angelina’s smiling face.
“I am now.” Angelina kissed Abaddon lightly on the mouth, the intensity of his emotion flowing through her like jolts of electricity.
“Would you excuse me for a second, my Lord.”
Abaddon released her. Angelina spun around in fury. The Archangels watched in surprise as she ran up to one of the kneeling robed men and kicked him in the back of his head. When the target of her attack lay face down amongst his terrified colleagues, Angelina kicked the man in the groin as he lay face down on the floor. She smiled at the sound of the man’s tortured scream, his body instantly collapsing into a fetal position.
“That’ll learn ya.”
It was only then she glanced up and saw Catherine’s startled look. Angelina waved daintily and walked over to the adjoining doorway. She pressed her palms against the shield. An instant later, Angelina was standing next to Catherine with an arm around her shoulders.
“Hey, girlfriend, you feelin’ any better?”
“You walked right through the shield. Wha…what happened tonight? Who are those people? I don’t… feel so good, Ange.”
“C’mon,” Angelina waved back at Abaddon and Raphael as she helped Catherine walk to her bed. “You did real good summoning help. That clown was going to give me a Tijuana haircut.”
Catherine nodded, lying back in the bed as Angelina covered her shivering body. “That feels better, Ange. Are…are we okay now?”
“All better. Go to sleep and I’ll help the boys sort out the loose ends.”
“Don’t let them kill all those men, Ange,” Catherine pleaded.
“I don’t think we get a say in that, Cat, but I’ll do what I can. Close your eyes now. I’ll see if I can rustle up some aspirin when I come back, okay?”
Catherine’s eyes were already closed as she mumbled an okay. Angelina rejoined the Archangels and their captives in the next room. No one had moved other than the still writhing man on the floor. Angelina walked up and kicked in the rib cage, evoking another howl of pain. Raphael shook his head after exchanging amused glances with Abaddon.
“First off, how did you get through the shield, Ange?” Raphael asked.
“Concentrated nun power.” Angelina removed the men’s hoods and threw them off to the side. “I saw you guys had snuck out to party without me. I phased through your shield, thinking to catch up. This bunch was already here waiting. They wanted Cat.”
“We found the man who had been shadowing our movements when Catherine summoned us,” Abaddon explained. “He
must have been keeping us under observation while these others plotted a way to capture you and Sister Mary Catherine. We should never have left. We will not make such an error again, my love.”
“It wouldn’t have been a big deal if I hadn’t decided to prove what a big shot I was by leaving the protection you left.” Angelina glared into each of the men’s faces. “I don’t know any of these guys. The guy you toasted told me they had been ordered away during the demon battle tonight which explains why they were stupid enough to think they could come here.”
“Abaddon’s right though,” Raphael added. “We should not have taken any chances. It seemed like a good idea at the time.”
“What do we do now, Raph? Catherine doesn’t want you to kill the rest of these guys.”
“Regretfully, I do not feel anything redeemable in these men.” Raphael exchanged glances with Abaddon.
Abaddon reached out and grabbed up the nearest man, causing him to begin pleading for his life, thrashing around helplessly in Abaddon’s grip. The man’s companions looked up in horror, knowing they were to share the fate of the man Abaddon had literally incinerated.
“You have been judged,” Abaddon recited, “and the punishment is…”
“Wait, my Lord.” Angelina gripped Abaddon’s wrist. “It would mean a lot to Catherine if you would spare them.”
“We can only spare them if they were of any use to us. They are a danger we cannot abide.”
“I…I can help you,” the man in Abaddon’s grasp suddenly turned to a different angle. “Please…we can make a deal.”
“No deals,” Raphael said. “Who are you men and how did you trigger the attack on us last evening?”
“Tell him nothing,” one of the others on the floor blurted out suddenly. “The Dark Lord…”
“What Dark Lord?” Raphael interrupted as Abaddon released the man he held.
“These guys are Satanists, Raph,” Angelina interjected with a laugh. “Lucifer must have contacted them directly. They must think they’re really on top of the food chain.”
“That would make sense. If Lucifer actually made an appearance to these cretins they probably would be stupid enough to work his will blindly.”
“The Dark Lord will roast you all in the fires of hell!” The man who had told his companion to stay silent shouted suddenly, causing another bout of laughter from Angelina.
“These…these guys…” Angelina spoke between fits of laughter, “they…they’re so cute.”
“One nearly killed you, Sister Angelina,” Abaddon reminded her.
“The first thing you and Raph told us was this would be dangerous work.”
“Maybe these idiots can be saved,” Raphael said. “We…”
“Saved from whom? We serve the Dark Lord. Satan is all powerful,” the same man interrupted. “He…”
“Stay silent!” Abaddon ordered, trying to reach around Angelina and snatch the man who spoke from the floor, but Angelina blocked his attempt. “Speak again, and I will make your death last for days.”
The massive Archangel of the Abyss, his armored figure with black wings spreading out behind him, made for a surrealistic sight with only Angelina’s mini-skirted body standing between Abaddon and the man’s certain death. The man shut up and looked away.
“As I was saying,” Raphael continued, “why don’t we take these men to the place you plucked me out of, brother.”
Abaddon nodded enthusiastically. “They should see what their mighty Dark Lord has in store for them.”
In an instant, the group was transported to the hellish realm Lucifer had been torturing Raphael in when Abaddon interceded. The robed Satanists were at once incapacitated with abject fear and horror as they looked around one of Lucifer’s kingdoms of eternal night. Cries of unimaginable pain and suffering filled the very atmosphere where teeming millions of lost souls condemned themselves for eternity. Angelina clung to Abaddon as if he were a concrete pillar in the midst of a raging river.
“Sweet Mother of God,” Angelina repeated over and over.
“Well, here we are friends.” Raphael gestured at the scene similar to Dante’s Inferno around them. “This is one of the Dark Lord’s happy places. You’re probably wondering what the Dark Lord has to say about all this. Would you summon the mighty Satan for our guests, Abaddon?”
The Archangel of the Abyss gently gave Angelina over into Raphael’s care and clenched his right fist as he closed his eyes in concentration. A split second later, Lucifer tumbled out of thin air onto the surface at Abaddon’s feet. Lucifer looked at Abaddon with hatred so intense the hellish dimension began to shimmer and pulse with his rage.
“Calm down, Lucy,” Abaddon warned, “or I will hack you apart into pieces so small it will take you a month to regenerate.”
“What do you want?” Lucifer finally managed to ask.
“We picked up a few of your minions. They wanted to take a look at your home turf.” Raphael turned to the petrified men in robes. “Here he is, the Dark Lord himself, any questions?”
“Blast them, Lord Satan!” The man who had challenged the Archangels verbally shouted out. “Make them burn!”
Lucifer gestured at the men with disdain. “There are millions more where they came from. What do I care about a few humans?”
Raphael chuckled. “You heard him, guys. Want to hang around here with the Dark Lord for a while?”
One of the men broke away from the others. He knelt quickly beside Raphael. He was the one whom Abaddon had held in his grasp while Angelina pleaded with the Archangel for mercy.
“I would return to earth with you, Lord Raphael, if…if you will allow me.”
All but the man who had called on Lucifer to blast the Archangels hurried to join their companion near Raphael. Even the man Angelina had kicked into submission followed the others over. The man left by himself pleaded with Lucifer, hurrying over to throw himself at Lucifer’s hoofed feet.
“Strike them down, Lord Satan. Show the weaklings your might.”
“You dare to order me!” Lucifer screamed, grabbing the prostrate man up by the neck.
“Drop him, Dark Lord,” Abaddon warned Lucifer. “No one dies here unless I say so.”
“You have no right to assert authority over me in my own realm.” Lucifer shook the man as if he were a rat.
“Do what you will with him then.” Abaddon’s ominous tone stopped Lucifer in his tracks. “Know this though - everything you do to him I will do to you ten fold.”
Lucifer met Abaddon’s gaze for only a moment before tossing the man to the craggy surface. “Fine, take this piece of shit and get out of here.”
Raphael walked over with the others behind him, half carrying Angelina.
“Well, Einstein, what’ll it be?” Raphael asked the man on the ground. “Are you coming back with us or staying here?”
“I…I’m staying here,” the man said defiantly. Lucifer laughed in appreciation.
“When will you Cherubs learn these humans crave pain and darkness like a long lost mother,” Lucifer said, pointing at the man.
“Let’s go, brother, we have a lot of work to do,” Raphael urged, seeing Abaddon’s face after Lucifer called them Cherubs. “Leave the human to his fate.”
Abaddon’s sword flashed in the hellish light, cutting off Lucifer’s legs at mid thigh, eliciting screams of pain as the so called Dark Lord fell on his back reaching for the gushing stubs of his legs. Angelina clutched Raphael’s arm, her excitement nearly palpable. The cold fury with which Abaddon attacked Lucifer surprised even Raphael. Abaddon crouched next to the screaming Lucifer.
“Each time you make an attempt on Sister Mary Catherine and Sister Angelina I will come back here and hack a different part of your body off until you stop. Do you understand?”
When Lucifer continued howling in pain instead of answering, Abaddon gripped one of the healing stubs and twisted it violently, causing Lucifer to shriek in agony.
“I asked you if you understood,”
Abaddon repeated calmly.
“Yesssss…yesssss… I… understand,” Lucifer grunted out the answer between peals of moaning cries.
Abaddon rejoined Raphael. He looked around Lucifer’s torturous kingdom, sadness enveloping his features. When he looked down at Lucifer his hand tightened on the hilt of his sword.
“Abaddon!” Raphael reached out to grasp his brother’s arm. “Please don’t think about it. Even your contemplation of such an act causes ripples in reality.”
Abaddon stood for a long moment unmoving, his sword hand showing the strain of his emotions, throbbing with power applied to the sword hilt almost convulsively. At Raphael’s pleading look, Angelina reluctantly enfolded Abaddon’s sword hand with both of hers. The change was instantaneous. Abaddon swept Angelina up in his arms, holding on to her tightly. Raphael smiled gratefully and seconds later they were again in the Archangels’ room at the hotel.
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