by Heath, Joel
“Is she going to be alright?” Spencer asked turning a glance to Gretchen. Michael approached Gretchen and put his hand to her chest just beneath her throat. Spencer, Vince and Jessie waited nervously for Gretchen to stir.
Michael closed his eyes; he seemed to be concentrating on something. Sweat began to bead up on his brow; his countenance began to glow with glorious celestial light.
Finally, after ten nerve-racking minutes, the celestial light faded and Michael stood, his expression told Spencer everything: the news was not good.
“She’s not going to wake up…Is she?” Spencer asked.
“She is alive.” Michael confirmed, “What happened?”
Spencer wasn’t sure what details would be important so he began well before Satan’s grab into her chest.
“After the third horseman arrived we made our move, but Satan quickly immobilized us, then he made another attempt to transform me into a demon but somehow Gretchen broke free and fought back, she managed to defeat him and break his hold on us. Satan tried to convince me to join, and when I told him to go to hell he reached inside her body and pulled out a ghostly copy of her and it condensed into a.”
Spencer explained and Michael filled in the gaps.
“The copy turned into a sphere.” Michael said before he stood up. “Satan stole Gretchen’s soul.”
“Is she going to be alright?” Spencer asked.
“She will be.” Michael replied,
emphasizing the first word.
The worry on Spencer’s face urged Michael to explain.
“Her unborn child will die if her soul and her body are not rejoined soon. I would say, two days.” Michael explained.
Spencer about choked on the words Michael had just uttered. “She’s P-pregnant?” He looked at Jessie, she turned away in shame. “You knew? When were you going to tell me?”
Jessie turned back to Spencer.
“Telling you wasn’t my job.” Jessie chided.
“How can we get her soul back? Vince asked.
“You’ll have to go to the lowest level of hell and best Satan in a contest of skill.” Michael explained. “But He has already sealed off access to hell.” Michael said, and then paused as if to think.
“Except, there might be one way in.”
“Where is it?” Spencer demanded.
“The Devil’s Triangle.” Michael replied.
“That makes sense; ships have been getting lost there for centuries.” Jessie piped in.
“I’ll go.” Spencer courageously volunteered.
“Wait a minute; we have to intentionally get lost in the Bermuda’s triangle to get to hell if we want to rescue Gretchen and defeat Satan once and for all?” Vince asked.
“Unless you have a better plan,” Spencer said.
“You stand the best chance if you are able to defeat him before he reaches the gates of Heaven.” Michael explained.
“Which means I need to go to hell to attack the problem at its source.” Spencer clarified. “I’ll go at first light.” Spencer said with finality.
“How are you going to get there, the only way in is in the Bermuda’s Triangle?” Jessie challenged.
“I don’t know.” Spencer said, “Wait, do you think Air Force One could make it?”
“It’s possible, but don’t you mean ‘we’re in this together’?” Vince corrected.
“Count me in.” Jessie chimed in.
“What about Gretchen, who will stay and watch over her?” Spencer asked.
Michael nodded.
“With Lucifer defeated on earth I can protect her from whatever Lucifer would send short of himself, but that means I cannot go with you to hell.” Michael offered.
“Will she be alright?” Spencer asked incredulously, “I thought the Archangels were nothing more than messengers.”
“I said ‘most are’, she will be fine with me.”
Spencer nodded, “If you’re with me, then we leave at first light.”
“Before you go there is something I must teach you: How to bind Satan.” Michael offered. “This is crucial knowledge that you must do or Satan will once again have power over the hearts of men.”
“What’s that?” Vince asked.
“For millennia he has been deceiving men by offering them what they want if they can best him in a contest of skill,” Michael revealed. “None have ever bested him because nobody knows what challenge he is good at.”
“I don’t suppose you know what we should challenge him to.” Jessie asked.
Michael leaned in and whispered something to Spencer, he lingered for several moments.
Stepping back Michael took a position next to Gretchen and he did not move.
Spencer was able to sleep after that, but his dreams were disturbing to say the least.
In his dreams, Spencer found himself walking through a field of fiery geysers that spouted fire and brimstone. Searching for Gretchen, he stopped as he came to a cliff overlooking a vast open field with volcanoes surrounding the castle that Spencer thought had been obliterated.
Spencer turned in all directions trying to figure out where he was.
“Help me.” A voice pled, almost moaning.
Spencer looked for the source of the plea but found nothing.
“Welcome, Mr. Garza.” Another voice called.
Spencer turned to see Lucifer, but he was fifty feet tall.
“You will join me, willing or not!” Satan vowed then laughed manically, Spencer turned to run and found himself in a dungeon, archaic prison cells on either side, fireflies flew around. No they weren’t fireflies, they were disembodied souls.
“Spencer, please help.” The ethereal voice still pled for help.
Spencer ran to get away from them and the arms of the damned reached out for him from behind the bars moaning in desperation, frantically trying to reach for Spencer as though he was their escape.
Spencer tried to get out of the dungeon, but is just stretched on forever he was unable to escape, unable to find Gretchen.
Then he started falling down into a deep dark abyss of never ending woe.
“Spencer, I love you.” The ghostly voice professed.
“Gretchen?” Spencer asked.
Solid ground appeared beneath his feet and he found himself in a darkened hallway that sat about eight feet high and fifteen feet across, the walls were burgeoning with plant life, vines that bore the most beautiful flowers. At one end was a horrific scene of fire, brimstone and pleas for help, and the other end was a feminine silhouette, short shoulder length red hair, her hands were holding her lower abdomen.
Spencer broke into a dead run, he stretched out his hand to touch her hand which she then extended. Just before their hands touched Gretchen vanished, and Spencer’s eyes fluttered open. Jessie and Vince were standing over him. Brilliant sunlight streamed in from the open door.
“Good morning sleepy head.” Jessie joked.
“We leave at first light.” Vince said imitating Spencer from the night before. Spencer was confused, then he quickly recalled the events from the previous night, and his dream, for the most part his joy was short lived, but Gretchen’s last words from his dream gave him a new found strength that he didn’t realize he could muster.
“We were just waiting on you.” Vince admitted.
Jessie helped Spencer to his feet.
Jessie took a seat in Vince’s lap, Spencer took the drivers seat before starting the car and backing out of the barn.
Spencer took to the road and sped away heading for Berlin, but as he sped away his eyes lingered on the barn as it vanished into the distance, wondering if he would ever see his beloved Gretchen again.
Brandenburg Airport sat empty except for a single large aircraft, Air Force One. Spencer, Vince and Jessie boarded the air craft and sealed the door before heading for the cockpit, and starting the engines.
“Do we have enough fuel to get us there?” Jessie asked as she joined Spencer in the cockpit.
�
��Maybe.” Spencer replied as he eased the throttle forward, the plane moved to the near end of the runway, Spencer reduced the throttle and then turned the mammoth plane around to face down the runway.
Spencer stared down the runway before pushing the throttle and accelerating to higher ground speeds, the end of the runway approached and Spencer pulled back on the yolk, lifting the plane into the air.
Five hours after the plane reached a safe cruising altitude Spencer turned to Jessie, “Take the yolk; I need to plot the route to the heart of the Bermuda Triangle.”
“I don’t know how to fly.” Jessie objected.
“It’s easy, just hold her steady.” Spencer demonstrated, occasionally making a minor course correction.
Reluctantly Jesse reached up and grabbed the stick and gently guided the jet as she had seen Spencer do. Spencer got up and went to the command center where Vince was seated.
“Vince, I need you to help me with this.” Spencer requested.
“Sure.” Vince said as he stood. “Where are we landing?”
“That’s just it,” Spencer began, “We’re not landing.”
“What?” Vince demanded.
“Michael said there was a massive whirlpool in the center of the Bermuda Triangle.” Spencer explained.
“What? We fly over it and we get taken to hell?” Vince asked. “Sort of a reverse rapture?”
“Not at all.” Spencer replied, and Vince seemed relieved. “We crash into it.”
Vince buried his face in his hands and started grumbling in annoyance and terror for a minute before lowering his hands.
Vince reached for something to write with, and began to draw a triangle on the counter, then started writing symbols and numbers in and around it.
“What are you doing?” Spencer wondered aloud.
“Trying to figure out exactly where the center of the triangle is, if we’re off by even a few miles that would completely derail our plans real fast.” Vince explained and just kept working, it was another few minutes before Vince had added the eastern seaboard to the drawing and added dozens of additional numbers and symbols.
“There it is.” Vince finally said then headed for the cockpit with Spencer on his heels.
As Vince arrived in the cockpit, Jessie noticed him, and a smile briefly form on her face.
Vince reached the navigational computer and plugged in a new set of coordinates, then switched on the autopilot, the plane lurched to the left.
“Where are you taking us?” Jessie asked.
“This will take us to Jamaica; we will pass over the whirlpool before then.” Vince affirmed.
Spencer walked down the stairs into the command center, then down to the flight deck and finally into the galley to find some more MRE’s, though he would have given anything for real food.
Back in the cockpit Vince tried to break the ice, if he was about to die he wanted Jessie to know how he felt.
“Are you as anxious about this as I am?” Vince asked.
Jessie cocked an eyebrow at the question.
“What do you mean?” Jessie asked.
“I’m just a little anxious about crashing into the ocean intentionally.” Vince admitted.
“You think I’m not?” Jessie asked. “I’ve been fighting and killing demons for more than six months and survived this long only to die, drowning in the middle of the ocean with no rescue.”
“Then why are we doing it?” Vince asked.
“Because, I trust in God. I believe that even though I have never seen God, he knows what’s going on, and cares enough. Other wise why would we still be alive?” Jessie asked.
Vince smiled at her, “I just had to know where you stand.” Vince said.
“And where do you stand?” Jessie asked openly.
“If I was opposed to this I would still be in Arizona.” Vince laughed.
“No, where do you stand…with me?” Jessie asked; it suddenly occurred to him; Jessie had subtly developed feelings for Vince.
“I thought it wasn’t a surprise.” Vince replied as he took Jessie’s hand.
Back in the galley as Spencer was finishing up the last of his meal he tossed the remains into a pile that had formed before walking out of the lower deck and back up to the cockpit where he relieved Vince and Jessie.
Spencer sat in the pilot seat and watched out the window as the sea zipped beneath Air Force One.
It was another hour or two when a blip appeared on the navigation screen.
It was an island; it was Bermuda, and it they passed it after twenty minutes.
“Vince, Jessie. Get up here, Bermuda is behind us.”
Vince and Jessie appeared at the top of the stairs after a minute.
“That whirlpool is going to be here any minute, and we’ll only have one shot at this.” Jessie said as Spencer switched off the auto pilot and took the yolk.
Time slipped by as the waves past beneath the plane.
It appeared as a dot on the horizon but quickly came up. Spencer reduced throttle to give a little more time to hit the mark.
Then a whine pierced the plane and a notice appeared flashing on the screen.
“We just lost an engine. We’re running out of fuel.” Spencer called, his voice quickly filling with panic, and then a second engine cut out.
“Get strapped in, it’s going to be a bumpy ride.” Spencer ordered.
Vince and Jessie proceeded into the command center and secured themselves in the first seats they came to.
Spencer looked at the navigation screen and saw the whirlpool was registering, but just barely, it was only a couple miles, how long could the plane stay in the air with the engines running out of fuel?
The whirlpool was now less than a mile away and the plane’s two remaining engines were running on fumes.
The last engine cut out.
Spencer put the nose down to aim at the whirlpool, the sound of Air Force One screaming as it was rapidly losing altitude assailed their ears. The ocean came up at them at ever increasing speed until the windows were flushed with water, the plane had just hit the ocean.
Spencer unstrapped himself from his seat and quickly ran down into the command center where Vince and Jessie were recovering from the crash landing.
“Let’s get to the rear of the plane; this place is going to fill up fast.” Spencer said as he led the way to the now flooding passenger compartment, the lower levels were out of the question now as they were nearly completely flooded.
Vince found a raft near the door they entered through.
“Time to abandon ship.” Vince said as he reached for the lever to pop the hatch.
The door fell into the ocean then Vince pulled the cord to begin the inflation of the raft and tossed it into the water.
“After you.” Vince offered to Spencer who first strapped his sword to his back before he leapt from the sinking plane into the ocean, Jessie went second and then Vince took his turn jumping into the sea. One by one they each climbed into the raft which gently floated toward the whirlpool only a hundred feet away, as it drew closer the raft was pulled toward the maelstrom more and more quickly.
As they slipped into the rough waters on the whirlpools outer edge the raft bumped and rocked, finally they saw it, the gurgling maw of the giant whirlpool, it circled around and around until the raft slipped in, and everybody lost consciousness.
Spencer couldn’t see anything for several hours, the slow echoing drip of water was his only distraction from the darkness for an imperceptible about of time that could have been minutes, hours or days.
Spencer awoke; he found himself on the roof of a tall skyscraper. Spencer sat up and looked around to see Vince and Jessie who were still unconscious. He got up and walked to the edge and took in the view. A bright sun hung high in the sky, and a few thin clouds clung to the sapphire sky.
The building was on a small island in the middle of a vast ocean. Several other identical buildings were seen in the distance and identical islands at random int
ervals.
Spencer saw someone atop each of the buildings in his immediate view so he wave to get someone’s attention, maybe they could tell him what to do next, but as he stuck his arm in the air, so too did every other person atop each of the buildings.
Spencer turned to face in a different direction and repeated his attempt to get someone’s attention only to have the other people wave to some other unseen person.
“What now?” Spencer asked, knowing that he was on the right path, and well on his way to seeing Gretchen again.
“Spencer,” Vince said as he came to, “What are we doing up here?”
“You don’t remember?” Spencer asked turning to see Vince sitting up.
“I remember a dream about crashing into the ocean.” Vince admitted, “We were looking for Gretchen.”
“That wasn’t a dream, Vince.” Spencer reminded regretfully.
Spencer scanned the rooftop. There were two parapets that ran parallel through the middle of the roof so Spencer went to investigate and found stairs that went down.
“Vince, see if you can wake up Jessie and let’s get moving.” Spencer urged, staring down the stairs that descended thirty five feet.
Spencer was soon joined by Vince and a still groggy Jessie.
“Where are we?” Jessie finally asked.
“Hell’s doorstep,” Spencer replied.
“What, this isn’t hell? Vince asked.
Spencer briefly turned back.
“No, it’s not hell, but it’s pretty damn close.” Spencer replied before trotting down the stairs.
At the bottom there was a door, it looked like an old door that would normally be seen in a high-end office building; glass door in a fancy metallic frame. Spencer pulled it open and stepped inside, once there he heard a moan that made his blood run cold.
Spencer regained his strength and pushed past his fear. Vince and Jessie were a little less enthusiastic, but still reluctantly followed Spencer.
After roaming the hall they found them selves in an office of sorts, papers haphazardly filed in trays, fresh coffee sat in a coffee pot along the wall, the aroma filled Spencer’s nostrils.
Vince found another stairwell which went down to a lower floor, as they entered the stairwell the moaning started to build, instead of one person moaning there were perhaps four or five people moaning.