Seraph

  Oscar and Andrea had been spending every waking moment with each other. They’d been going on dates and long walks, but the majority of their time was spent indoors. Andrea had completely fallen for Oscar in this short time, and her infatuation for him was the closest thing she’d felt to being in love since she was a teen. Oscar was no better than she was. He had completely lost focus on the task he had been charged with, all of this was so new to him. Even though he was essentially several millennia old, he had never experienced romance. Neither of them said those three magical words, but to anybody on the outside looking in, they looked as if they’d been together for years instead of for a twenty-six-day-old midsummer fling. He had explained away the supposed potential client as not having the “it” factor, and that was the last Andrea ever worried about it. She was happy, truly happy, making love on warm summer nights with the most devilishly handsome man she’d ever met in her life. Oscar was equally as thrilled until one night his master summoned him and he knew that playtime was over.

  Upon waking, Oscar left Andrea sleeping with a note so that she wouldn’t get worried, assuring her that he would be back shortly, but a business meeting with his partner Lillian was something unavoidable. He left the suite and took the elevator down to the garage where the yellow Corvette had been waiting for him. He climbed in and drove off.

  The drive was peaceful, no radio, no music, just silence. He used his spirit vision to follow his master Lilith’s trail to the safe house she’d been using. He drove close to an hour away to a deserted wooden cabin surrounded by pine trees and brush. He hadn’t seen or spoken to Lilith since the night he had arrived at the hotel with Andrea and Sophia. He hadn’t the slightest clue what kind of mood Lilith would be in, but when one is summoned, one must appear.

  When he entered the cabin he saw his master sitting in a big comfy red leather antique chair, wearing a red miniskirt and a red top that showed off her equally impressive figure. She sat in her chair and stared him down as he stood in the doorway, waiting for her to end the deafening silence.

  “Have you been having fun?” Lilith asked while Oscar only stood there. “Well, have you? I’ve been watching you . . . Surely you’ve been having fun going out, eating steak and shrimp, going to the theaters, courting this woman as if you were an actual human.

  “Have you forgotten the mission? The very reason why we are here?” she continued.

  Oscar wasn’t sure if the questions were rhetorical so he remained mum until she demanded that he speak up.

  “No,” he finally spoke up.

  “THEN WHY HAVEN’T YOU COME TO ME AT THE SAFE HOUSE UNTIL NOW?” she yelled, rising out of the chair, picking up a kitchen knife, and throwing it into his shoulder. Oscar screeched and fell to the floor clutching his injured shoulder.

  “DO YOU KNOW HOW LONG IT’S BEEN SINCE YOUR LAST CHECK-IN?”

  “Twenty-six days,” he murmured.

  “Twenty-six days you’ve been running after that worthless whore and for what? You’ve gotten your first taste of human flesh, and you’ve gone off the reservation? You should ask your fallen brothers if chasing after the daughters of men is worth it.” After a short pause she continued. “Do you still remember the parameters of your mission? Seduce her, impregnate her, and present the child to Lord Satan. Did I miss the part of the plan that included ‘long walks on the beach’?”

  “There aren’t any beaches here, mistress,” he interjected.

  When she heard those words exit his lips she walked to him, pulled the knife out of his shoulder, and then dug her six-inch red leather heel into the wound, making Oscar howl.

  “You think this is a game?” she asked in a deadly tone.

  “Please . . . mistress . . . I didn’t mean to be funny.”

  “You had better not,” she said, stepping further into the wound before letting up.

  “I hope you made the most of your time with her because you will not see her again, ever. You will remain here until I have the child in my possession, and you will watch Sophia. And if by chance something were to go wrong, Ornias, I will make you wish that I’d thrown you in the burning Sea of Fire. Have you misinterpreted anything I’ve commanded?”

  “No.”

  “No, what?”

  “No, mistress.”

  Lilith began to leave, but Oscar spoke up.

  “Wait, I have a question.”

  “Speak, swine.”

  “Sophia . . . Where is she?”

  Lilith didn’t answer him. She walked to the stone fireplace in the small cabin and pushed a brick; a wall of stone moved in and slid to the side. Another wall slid forward and there was Sophia, shackled to another stone wall in her human form, wet from head to toe. She was totally healed from her battle with Ornias and she was livid. When she saw him she snarled and tried to set herself free. She shook and screamed, but Lilith commanded her in an angelic tongue, “Gervau gongisa,” which roughly translated is “be still and quiet,” and doused her with a nearby bucket of water.

  “Do that every hour on the hour. There is a small stream not too far behind the cabin. When her hair is completely dry she will burst into flames and burn this place to the ground,” Lilith said.

  “I will burn this place to the ground,” Sophia promised, fury living in every word.

  Lilith only smirked at Sophia’s prophecy and addressed Oscar. “For your sake, she had better not.” She left the two supernatural beings disguised as humans in the cabin and flew off.

  John Summers finally arrived in Wilsonton, Kansas, and landed just outside of town. The sun was going down, and he would walk the rest of the way in. He had seen from his bird’s eye view that flying into the small town would definitely get him spotted. And he wanted to remain as inconspicuous as possible. He knew he would surely stick out enough as the stranger in town.

  He was about a mile outside of the town limits when he heard police sirens behind him. He turned around and there was a Wilsonton Police Department patrol unit pulling up right behind him. The bright lights from the police cruiser shone in his face, and he tried to block the light from his eyes. The officer sat in the car for a moment and then exited his vehicle.

  Officer Robert Smalls was ironically a big portly fellow with an unfriendly disposition. He was mean and surly and didn’t take too kindly to visitors in his small town.

  “Identify yourself,” the young officer said.

  “John Summers.”

  “Do you have proper identification, John Summers?”

  “Yes, hold on.”

  “WHAT ARE YOU REACHIN’ FER?” Officer Smalls cried, reaching for his holstered weapon.

  “Whoa, sir, I’m just reaching for my wallet.”

  “Did I tell you to reach fer yer wallet, son?”

  “No, I guess you didn’t.”

  “You guess?”

  “No, you didn’t say that.”

  “That’s right, son, I didn’t. Now reach fer yer wallet very slowly,” Smalls said unlatching his sidearm but keeping it holstered.

  John did as instructed and handed the officer his wallet with his other hand in the air. As soon as the officer took it, his other hand shot to the sky. John had never had an incident like this in New York City, ever. Even as a black man he was never harassed by the local law enforcement, which some of his peers couldn’t say. Luckily his father had taught him how to deal with a quick-tempered policeman if he ever encountered one.

  “Where are you headed, John Summers?”

  “Into town, sir.”

  “Are you tryin’ to be slick with me? I can see yer tryin’ to git in’a town. Where are you headin’?”

  “I ah I’m—”

  There was a chirp on a walkie-talkie that interrupted John’s answer, and a voice came through.

  “Smalls, where are you? You should’ve been back with the gas for Mrs. Ferder’s generator.”

  “I’m on the way; I just saw me some city slicker just strollin’ inta town, and he looks spusisious . . . supusisiou
s . . .”

  “Suspicious,” John added.

  “Shut yer mouth.” Officer Smalls glared at him.

  “Excuse me! Who do you think you’re talking to?” came a stern voice from the other end of the radio.

  “I’m sorry, sir. Not’chu. I was referin’ to this suspeck’ . . . he looks guilty of sumptin’.”

  “Did you catch him doing anything?”

  “No, but I—”

  “Look, just bring him in. Mrs. Ferder is going to have a conniption if you don’t hurry back with that gas. Now get back here.”

  “Yes sir, right away, sir.”

  “I’ll just be going,” John said trying to slip away.

  “Don’t move. Turn aroun’.”

  John did as the officer instructed, and he was promptly handcuffed and stuffed in the back of the police cruiser. Officer Smalls drove John the rest of the way into town. Past the bar, the church, and the family-owned convenience stores before arriving at Mrs. Ferder’s home. Mrs. Ferder was an old widow who lived alone. All of her children had families of their own and had moved to bigger cities after graduating college. Her home was experiencing a blackout, and it was getting dark. A very old tree, already on its last legs, had crashed into a power line.

  When Officer Smalls pulled in he rushed out of the car with the five gallons of gas for Mrs. Ferder’s generator. That would give her enough power until a tree removal company arrived in the morning. John saw Officer Smalls being reprimanded by a short slender man in a police uniform. The short gentleman put his finger in the chest of the tall, rotund man and then pointed toward the squad car. After he was done scolding Smalls, he walked toward the car and opened the car door. He let John out of the car and took off his cuffs.

  “I’m sorry about Officer Smalls, he is . . . overzealous but means well. I’m Sergeant Thomas Goodwin, but you can call me Tommy; that’s what my friends call me.”

  “We’re friends?”

  “Sure we are, John; any friend of God is a friend of mine. I know this sounds weird, but I’ve been expecting you for almost a week now. As soon as we’re done here, I’ll take you to my place for a nice dinner.”

  John raised his eyebrow and gave Sergeant Thomas a strange look.

  “My wife’s making meatloaf.”

  Both men laughed.

  When the police had done all they could do for the old widow, they began to leave. John sat on the passenger side of Sergeant Thomas Goodwins cruiser as he drove home. Tommy didn’t live too far away from the widow’s home, so any attempt at an in-depth conversation was useless. Tommy pulled into his driveway, welcomed John into his home, and greeted his lovely wife of fifteen years. They were both in Andrea’s graduation class and were family friends too.

  Tommy introduced John to his wife, Kelly, and their three children, Thomas II, Brittney, and baby Derek. Tommy’s sister Sally would also be staying the night because her house was affected by the downed power line as well. After the meal was over, Tommy and John went out to the porch with a couple of sodas to talk. Kelly and Sally stayed inside to get the kids ready for bed.

  “So Thomas is named after me of course, Britt is named after Kelly’s little sister who died from lupus, and Derek is named after the famous baseball player,” Thomas said.

  “You like the Yanks?”

  “No, my dad does. He loves them but he grew up in the glory days of the team with Babe, DiMaggio, and Gehrig. I liked the Met—”

  “No way, don’t even say it. That’s just sad,” John laughed. “Are you from New York?”

  “No my dad was; my mom is from here. They met in New York, though. They went to college in Syracuse. Fell in love and lived in the city for a while. My grandfather got sick, and they moved back down to Kansas to care for him. Then Mom had my sister and me here, but Dad raised us on New York baseball.”

  “And you chose Queens over the Bronx?” John laughed.

  “Yeah, my dad wasn’t thrilled about that either.”

  “I’m sure he wasn’t. I’m not thrilled about it.”

  “You like the ‘Evil Empire’?” Tommy joked.

  “Ha! The ‘Evil Empire.’ Yes I do, like a true New Yorker.”

  “So it is you then?”

  “I’m sorry?” John asked still smiling.

  “Kelly . . . She dreams a lot. Sometimes those dreams are premonitions. She’s sort of a prophet. Anyway, she had a dream about a stranger coming into town every night this week. But she can tell it better than I can.”

  Tommy called for Kelly and she came down, leaving Sally to finish bathing the kids. When she came down she saw the two men having drinks and waiting for her arrival. She was a short, blond woman with beautiful blue eyes. She had been really pretty as a young woman and had aged gracefully over the years. She sensed Tom wanted her to share her dreams with the young man and so she spared the pleasantries and got right to it.

  “John . . .” Kelly Goodwin said, “I often receive dreams from the Lord; some are pretty clear and others require interpretation. The dream I had about you was the latter. In it, I see you and I know your name. You are standing with one of the biggest angels I’ve ever seen, shadowing you like a silhouette, the two of you moving as one. I’ve never seen anything like it before. You have one hand on a burden, and the other is free. I see God standing on one end, asking for the burden you carry, but you won’t give it to him. You walk with the burden, and you come across a fire woman who burns without burning. But a dark, hooded figure appears, and you try to fight it.

  “He starts to pull your free hand and it looks like you are about to be ripped in half. God is begging you to let go so you can fight the demon, but you don’t and the demon rips your arm from your shoulder. When you finally let go of the burden the demon vanishes, and you find yourself in a meadow. However there is only a single rose growing in the field, and the flower itself is the face of a woman. . . . It is our friend Andrea and her flower has three poisonous thorns on the stem that choke out the flower and it dies. After the thorns destroy the flower, they begin growing and causing devastation to the field . . . but then I wake up.”

  “Wow . . . that’s some dream,” John said softly.

  “I’ve had that dream for three nights in a row. . . . Does any of that mean anything to you?”

  “Truthfully, no. I don’t even really know what to make of it. The only thing that sounds familiar is the fact that I am looking for a woman, but I have no clue why she’d be on fire.”

  “It’s a warning, John. What I saw is going to come true very soon. Make sure that there is no sin in your life, or whatever is going on with you is going to end very badly.”

  When John heard this he was taken aback. He had just met this woman and she was overstepping her boundaries, giving him warnings and talking about his private life. He didn’t care whether she was a prophet of God or not, he felt that she was being rude, and his pride wouldn’t let him receive another word, whether true or not. Truth was he didn’t know her and although that shouldn’t stop him from hearing a word from the Lord, he felt judged. Whether she intended that or not, she had offended him.

  “Excuse me? Lady, don’t talk to me about my sins, you don’t even know me.”

  “I’m sorry. That’s not how I meant it. I don’t mean to upset you, but you need to hear this.”

  “Kelly . . . ,” Tommy interrupted.

  “No, I don’t.” John began walking off the property, but before he could make it off the porch she called out to him.

  “Wait, this is so much bigger than you! The Lord has such a mighty hand on your life right now, and you can’t even see how great you are going to be. You are going to protect all of God’s entire creation. Not just earth but even planets in other galaxies of the universe. The things you will see, the things you will do, you can’t even begin to comprehend. But first you must defeat your worst enemy.”

  “Oh yeah? And who is that?” John asked.

  “You.”

  John softened his position, b
ut he still wasn’t ready to break bread and have a clichéd hug and crying session. He simply took the words for what they were. He knew that he should believe what she was saying and repent for the lifestyle that he had accidently slipped into, but his pride convinced him that whatever he and Camilla were doing was right because they loved each other and felt married, in their own eyes anyway. Who was this woman to question him about sin in his life like she was the consummate idea of a Christian?

  John left the Goodwins standing on the front porch as he walked off seeking some alone time. He walked and thought about Camilla, what she might be doing, where she might be, what she might be wearing. He truly loved her, and it wasn’t a love that was clouded by animalistic lust but a true mentally, emotionally, and spiritually connected love. If he was being honest with himself, he had loved her since he met her on that summer night at Lake George. Of course his young mind didn’t interpret those feelings as love, but as he grew older he realized that he had always had those feelings. He wanted to talk to her, to see how her day went. She had never left his mind since he left her.

  As he walked, he came upon Mrs. Ferder’s home. He saw the tree on the ground atop the downed power line. He couldn’t fix the power lines without the necessary equipment, but at least he could move the tree. So he approached the big oak tree and got a good grip. He lifted the big tree with complete ease from one end until both ends were off the ground.

  When he had complete control of the tree he tossed it high into the midnight sky, and it flew several miles. Due to the darkness, he lost sight of the tree, but he heard a very faint thud. He had clearly thrown the tree farther than he anticipated. Getting used to all of his new abilities was very challenging and, according to Kelly Goodwin, he hadn’t even tapped in to his full potential.