“YEEEESSS!” shouted Adam, “another 100% in Ancient Latin and Hebrew.” Josh looked over at him with an awkward smile on his face. “You are such a geek it’s unreal.” They all laughed and carried on perusing their individual reports.
Josh boastfully nudged Jaime on the arm, gesturing for him to look at his PBs. “You see that? 250kg dead lift! Woooo” He screamed in self-admiration but his celebration was short lived however as coach interrupted him, “Soon to be 255kg at the beginning of next week Joshua.”
Andrew read through his brief but as his eyes scrolled downwards, his facial expression became nervous and weary. Jaime noticed it straight away. “Hey, bro what’s up?” Handing the book to Jaime, Andrew highlighted the paragraph with his finger. Jaime’s expression also switched to a look of utter confusion.
“Umm Coach, it says here that A.R’s next durability trial is a bullet test?” The room went quiet as everyone looked at each other nervously. Coach replied calmly, “Yes.” Jaime replied with a fearful tone, “And that is?” Sean gently placed the plates of food down in front of each person, “I’m going to fire live rounds at Andrew and see if he dies or not.”
All four friends exploded in protest. A feeling of disbelief and shock could be felt within their disagreement of the procedure. Coach sat back, relaxed, and ate his breakfast, listening to the boys yell reasons as to why this test was dangerous and unsafe. Wiping his mouth with his napkin after taking a few bites he rested his cutlery on his plate and clasped his hands under his chin.
“Andrew do you think you are not ready for this test? And do you think my judgment of your progress is inaccurate?” The room fell silent, awaiting an answer from Andrew. Jaime went to speak but was confronted by the hand of Sean, “the question wasn’t asked to you,” he said. Andrew looked nervous and felt slightly intimidated.
“Sir, with all due respect, this is a gun we are talking about. With like, real bullets and shit. I could die!!! Sean let out a slight chuckle. “You underestimate yourself, Andy.” The room was still in silence as Sean took a bite of his eggs. “You seem to forget that you can lift a 2-tonne car with relative ease, most blunt force melee weapons have no effect on you and your body can regenerate from a stab wound within seconds. So what makes you think a bullet will be any different?” Adam’s soft spoken voice followed Coach Stevens, “He kinda has a point A.R. By all accounts the training you’ve undergone up until this point should have killed you already. Plus I’m sure coach will probably just shoot you in a non-fatal area anyway, right coach?”
Sean took a smooth sip of his tea. His eyes remained transfixed on the four boys. He softly placed the cup on the table and took a gasp of satisfaction as he savoured the taste of his hot beverage. Grabbing the daily newspaper he opened it up and momentarily perused the front page headlines. Then from behind the publication, with a cool tone of voice he calmly answered, “No Adam. Head and chest shots only.”
“Are you kidding me?!” screamed Jaime. As he was about to begin to a rant, Coach Stevens cut him off dismissively. “I suggest you eat up boys, A.R’s training starts in an hour and I’ll need your assistance. He finished his last few bites, folded up the newspaper and took his plate to the sink. Then exited to his private quarters and left the boys at the table to discuss what had just happened.
The boys debated for a few minutes on the mornings events. Jaime was clearly against the procedure, as it put his best friend at great risk. Adam, on the other hand, was quite intrigued with the experiment. Josh was in two minds about the whole thing. None of their opinions mattered, though, as Coach Stevens was clearly unwavering in his decision to go ahead with the training. His voice suddenly rang out over the PA system.
“A.R, training begins in 20 minutes. Everyone meet me in the ballistics room, on time.”
Andrew looked nervous but he knew there was no getting out of this. Jaime reassured him that nothing bad would happen. “Bro, I’m not happy about this and I think coach is putting way too much pressure on you. Saying that, Coach isn’t going to change his methods just because of what I think.” He patted Andrew on the back. “This is probably the greatest test for you so far man. Just believe in yourself and you got this.” Adam and Josh added their encouragement as they all exited the breakfast table and made their way to the ballistics room.
They walked in and found Sean already gearing up for the session. Before him on a table was an assorted array of weaponry including a Glock, A MP5 Sub Machine Gun and a pump-action Shotgun. Reviewing the selection gave Andrew butterflies as he gulped nervously at the thought of how much damage these weapons could do. As soon as they entered the room Coach Stevens began to bark orders at them.
“Ok, Adam I need you on the monitors, set up the system to record today’s results. Jaime get Andy wired up please and Josh help me over here with these guns please.” The boys did as they were commanded. Andrew climbed into his tech suit. Once on, Jaime fitted him with small receivers that would record the force and damage of all the blasts his body would take. These readings would then be sent to the computers, where Adam would analyze and record the results. “We all good to go boys?” shouted Sean.
“Ready.” Said Jaime
“Affirmative. Readings are all up and online” replied Adam.
Jaime gave Andrew one last pack on the back and headed over to stand with Sean. “Ok, everyone put your headphones on, it’s about to get loud in here.” Jaime and Josh adjusted their headsets and gave coach a thumbs up. Andrew stood firm but nervous and returned the gesture, signalling he was ready. With his noise cancelling headphones on Sean picked up the Glock, loaded it and turned the safety off.
“Commencing test 1. Glock from 15 yards.” Sean took up aim. His posture was composed, eyes steady. Andrew closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Sean’s voice came over the headset, “A.R, you ready?” Andrew clenched his fists tight and said a quick prayer in his head.
God, give me strength.
He exhaled and replied, “Affirmative Coach.” A loud alarm went off to signal the test was about to begin. Adams voice came over the speaker as he begun the countdown. “3, 2,” Andrew opened his eyes, which were now in their magnificent blue form, and braced himself for impact. “1”
BANG, BANG, BANG. Sean let off 3 consecutive shots, aimed at Andrew’s chest. The others watched with fearful anticipation. A weary chill fell down the spine of all 3 boys as they watched their friend become the subject of target practice. Andrew hit the floor with an agonizing thud. Adam, overwhelmed by the sudden impact of the incident lost himself momentarily and was overcome by awe. Sean’s voice resounded into his headset. “Adam? Adam?!”
The gruff, sharp voice of Coach Stevens shocked Adam back into action. “Yes sir,” he replied.
“Check his vitals please,” said Sean.
Adam scurried over to his monitor and began to search for any declines in health. “Everything appears to be fine sir,” said Adam. Sean’s attention then switched back to the guns on the table. He put down the Glock and began to load the shotgun. The uncomfortable groans coming from Andrew didn’t sway his resolve.
“On your feet A.R, the test isn’t over.”
Andrew, still writhing from the impact, slowly stirred to his feet. Dropping down to one knee, he felt his chest for any wounds. Although his body ached him, he was pleasantly surprised at the outcome of the first trial. He patted his chest down with his hands then admired the bullets that lay scattered around him.
Ha. I’m bulletproof! He thought to himself. Standing to his feet, now more confidently he took up position for the second time. “I’m ready coach.”
Coach once again gave the signal the test was about to begin.
“Commencing test 2. Shotgun from 15 yards. Brace yourself for this one, Andy, it’s got a kick to it.” Andrew awaited the alarm to signal again. Planting one foot in front of the other, he took up an opposing stance. The countdown begun again. “3,2,1.”
BOOM!!
A massive blast illumin
ated the room, lifting Andrew off his feet and forcing him a few feet back. He lay on the floor tossing and turning in agony. His hands wrapped around his torso as he desperately tried to gasp for air. The wind had been completely knocked out of him. Jaime and Josh rushed to his side as Adam looked on nervously from the control room.
“Told you it had a kick to it,” said Sean. “Vitals please Adam.”
Adam scanned his screens for any ill, telling signs of bodily damage.
“His blood pressure has slightly increased but seems to be lowering now. Other than that he’s ok coach.”
Josh and Jaime helped Andrew up to seated position. He slowly began to catch his breath as his friends eased the pain by rubbing his back.
“Slow breaths bro, slow breaths,” said Josh.
“You ok?” asked Jaime.
“I’m as good as anyone can be that’s just been shot at by a shotgun,” said Andrew. They helped him up to his feet and he brushed himself off. He massaged his chest where the gunshot had been aimed then gave an agonizing thumbs up to signal Coach Stevens he was ok. They finished the session with Andrew passing all 3 tests. Adam recorded everything and Sean deemed the trial a success. He was becoming very proud of the accomplishments Andrew had achieved. With his body, tired but visibly unscathed, Andrew took a moment to relax from the day’s events as he lay on his bed.
“So Mr. Bulletproof how you feeling?” asked Josh.
Andrew smiled, “I feel good, little achy but good.”
“Well achy is a good sign, by all means you should be dead,” interrupted Jaime. Everyone laughed.
“It’s crazy how far we’ve all come in a year right,” said Andrew. They all sat and reminisced, talking about everything that happened in the past year; who they missed and how their lives had changed dramatically. The discussion made Andrew think of his mother and how she was holding up without him. He decided to text her saying he would video call her later that evening to catch up on things. Sean interrupted them as his voice came over the PA system, “Dinner time boys.”
They all gathered in the kitchen again and Sean served up the food. Once seated Sean gave a small prayer, then they all tucked into the evenings meal.
Andrew raced through his portions, devouring everything with an insatiable appetite.
“You might wanna slow down there A.R and actually chew your food. You might choke if you carry on eating like that,” laughed Coach Stevens.
Andrew tried to answer with a mouthful of food. Then realising how gluttonous he was being, he took a moment to chew and swallow before replying. He wiped his mouth.
“Sorry Coach, being shot at all day really builds up an appetite.”
Sean smiled and carried on eating. “Umm, sir?”
Coach looked up to find Jaime facing him. “Yes, Jai?”
“Errrm I just wanna take this moment to apologise for my behaviour this morning. You’re my superior and I should have never have questioned your judgement on Andrew. You know better than all of us and we are all here to learn. I just get worried sometimes because he’s my best friend.”
The room fell silent. Sean placed his knife and fork down and placed one hand on Jaime’s shoulder. “You did what any good friend would do son, don’t beat yourself up about it.”
A look of relief swept over Jaime’s face and he smiled and carried on with this dinner. “Looks like we’re all having breakthroughs today aye,” joked Josh, who was promptly dealt a blow for his remark. Everyone finished their meals and headed back to their quarters to relax for the rest of the day.
Josh took a nap whilst Jaime watched some sports on TV. Adam returned to the library, a place he was most familiar with and caught up on some reading. Andrew took the free time to make good on his promise and decided to video call his mum. Setting up the camera, he waited anxiously as he watched the monitor while it connected to his mother. His screen suddenly went from black to the all familiar settings of his front room.
“Hi, baby you ok. I’ve missed you,” his mother screamed as she recognized his face.
“I’m doing good mum. You ok? How’s everything at home?
“You know me, always working but everything here is good. How’s the academy going?”
Part of the alibi Coach Stevens had prepared for the 4 young men to be away with him for so long was a summer camp based on training aspiring athletes from colleges all across America. Andrew didn’t like to lie to his mother but it was to keep her safe. The little she knew the better, for now anyway.
“Yeah camps going great, Coach has been training us hard. Today we learnt some new techniques for bullet passes.”
“Ok. Well, you look really well. How are the boys?”
“Yeah everyone’s good here mum, I’ll tell em you said hello.”
They engaged in conversation for nearly an hour until they finally said goodbye and disconnected. Andrew contemplated the severity of the situation if his mother ever found out where he really was and what he was doing. His phone began to buzz in his pocket. Checking it revealed he had received a text from Louise. As he was just about to read it, Coach Stevens voice came over the speakers. “Boys make your way to my private quarters please.”
Andrew woke Josh up. They headed towards Sean’s office. Adam and Jaime followed closely. All 4 friends looked at each other puzzled. No one knew what the immediate request was for, as the days training had finished. They all sat down around the table in coach’s room.
“Firstly I want to congratulate you all on coming this far. The year has flown by but every challenge you have completed, every trial you have endured, was a test given to myself when I was being trained. You have passed them all with exceptional ability, exceeded my expectations and I am proud of all of you. But now is the time to apply your new skills. Now is the time for things to get serious and very real.”
The boys looked puzzled. “What are you saying coach?” asked Andrew.
“Remember the first day you came here.” All the boys nodded. “I told you I did some covert missions to retrieve ancient artefacts, one of them being The Key of Solomon. Well up until my encounter with Andrew’s father I never actually knew the significance of these artefacts. But I did some digging and realised the artefacts pay a pivotal role in the End of Days.”
“Armageddon?!” shouted Adam
“Yes. My ex employers clearly want the power these relics hold, but I don’t know for what just yet. But at least we have the Key of Solomon.”
“So what were the other things you dug up for the government then?” asked Josh.
“There were The Lesser Key of Solomon, The Pseudomonarchia Daemonum and The Star of David,” explained Sean.
“So what do they do?” asked Andrew.
“From my research, I now understand that the two books of Solomon combined with the Pseudomonarchia Daemonum make a complete set of manual instructions on how to conjure, control and expel demons. Where the Star of David comes into play is, it’s a ring. The conjurer must wear it in order to be able to use the books.
“So what does that have to do with us?” quizzed Adam
“I have located the Star of David, and we are going to get it back.”
The room fell silent under a hush of complete shock.
“We’re what now?” stated Jaime
“We are going to get it back.” exclaimed Sean.
The 4 friends looked at each other then they all turned to Andrew. He looked them all in the face one by one. Seriousness in his eyes blazed brightly. They could sense the determination in his expression. The previous discussion of how far they had come ran through their minds individually. This was the moment that would validate everything they had worked so hard for. It was all or nothing. And they knew it. They all nodded in approval and gave Coach their consent for the mission.
“Now men, I can understand that you are all nervous. This is your first real field mission. But you’re more than ready and I believe the time is as right as it’ll ever be. Therefore, mission briefin
g will take place at eleven hundred hours then we gear up and head out at twelve hundred hours.
I suggest you get some rest boys because tonight, we make the first move in what could be the end of the world as we know it.”
CHAPTER 12
The time was 7 pm. The boys were all suffering from a case of the nerves. Jaime paced up and down talking to himself, whilst Josh repeatedly threw a ball against the wall and caught it. Adam lay silently on his bed, reading as usual. Everyone dealt with the anxiety in their own way. Andrew sat on his bed, legs crossed in a meditative position. His eyes shut, and headphones in ears, he tried to remain calm and focused. An amalgamation of thoughts went through his mind as he zoned out to the songs in his head.
Wow. So this is it. Our first mission. Would never have pictured myself in this situation a year ago but here I am. I’m just glad I’m here with my boys. We got this, though. But what do we have to expect? What if we come up against an armed resistance? I’ve never killed a man before let alone a demon. Arrrgh lets not think about that now. Just need to stay strong for my team and can’t let coach down. Hmm, it’s like the championships all over again. But if this brings me closer to knowing who I am, who my father was then I have to do it.
Andrew opened his eyes and removed his headphones. He looked around the room and could see the tense restlessness that had taken over.
“Hey you guys, what are your thoughts on tonight? You think Coach is being serious, or you think this is another test.”
Jaime stopped pacing and sat down on his bed. Adam put his book down and sat up. Josh playfully threw the ball at Andrew, who promptly caught it with ease. “Good to see you still got it, bro,” said Josh.
Adam started the discussion off, “I think Coach is dead serious. In fact, I know he is.” The other boys looked baffled. “How do you know that?” asked Josh.
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