“Everybody's heard that sermon. What about the demons.”
“I'm getting there. You see, when an angel gets the boot from heaven, they get cut off from its power. And slowly but surely, Lucifer and all his brothers and sisters started to get weaker. But then, Lucifer had an epiphany. They didn't need heavens power, they had an unlimited supply all around them...”
She waited for Jerry to catch on. He thought back to what Wick had told him before and realized what she was talking about. “Human souls.”
She nodded. “That's what the soul is you know. Raw power. But, it's not the easiest thing to tap. You have to break down it's defenses first.”
“That's why your telekinesis doesn't work on the living.”
“The undead are easy. Twisted, warped creatures. Their life force has been poisoned by the disease they carry, just like most other things out there. But humans, as sick and depraved as they can be are still the way they were meant to be. Even evil souls are still whole. So Lucifer tortured and maimed those poor bastards until they couldn't take it anymore. Once they were broken he started to siphon off the power from them which had a very interesting side-effect. He saw what those souls were becoming and then another light bulb lit up above his head.”
“He did it on purpose. Transformed them into demons.”
“When he was banished, he took a third of the host with him but he was still out numbered. He'd need more troops to continue his war against heaven. And yes, I was one of those recruits. Nasty place, hell. I honestly don't remember what I did to get sent down there. I can hardly remember anything from when I was human. That's what hell does. It destroys you in every single way possible. It burns away anything that makes you a person. The torture gets so intense that you forget what it's like not to feel pain. And the only mercy you get down there is if someone, someone important, takes a liking to you. That's how I did it. I found an angel that took a shine to me and he took me under his wing, no pun intended. Decided to give me special treatment. You see, some he just uses for power, others he designs specifically. Gives them certain abilities, tries to make them into an elite soldier. Unfortunately, demons, no matter how powerful they are, simply can't stand up to an angel.”
“Boo hoo,” Jerry snorted.
“Not really. Because it was then that I learned what his real plan was. He wasn't trying to create demons. He was trying to create a new army,” she smiled.
Jerry's face fell as her words sunk in. “Angels...he was trying to create angels. But I thought only God could do that?”
“That was the rumor. He tried and tried and tried but it just wasn't working. Until...little old me came along. You see, he came closer with me then he ever did before. He said there was just one thing missing, one little piece of the puzzle. And he said that the reason he couldn't find it was because it wasn't in hell...it was on earth.”
The look in her eye, the teasing of her voice, the knowing grin. She was confessing to him. And the revelation went through him like a lightening bolt. Her plan was far worse than he ever could have imagined.
“Ascension,” he gasped, wide-eyed and scared. “That's what you're doing here...you're trying to turn yourself into an angel!”
“Ding, ding, ding, ding, tell him what he's won Susan,” she laughed.
“Demons can't become angels!”
“And the earth can't be round! The sound barrier can't be broken! We'll never get to the moon!” the fake drama in her tone almost put Jerry's sarcasm to shame. “Never assume anything is impossible Jerry, you'll just end up being proven wrong. Imagine it though. An angel not built by God, not loyal to him, not bound by heaven wouldn't have to obey its laws. An angel like that could waltz in and out of any plane of existence whenever it wanted. With an army like that at his command, he could finally conquer the throne.”
“You're the prototype...Lucifer's super weapon...and you think that I'm your Blue Fairy, that my blood is the key to making you whole?”
“Bingo. I'm not technically a demon Jerry, and I'm not an angel, well, not yet. I'm something in between.”
“How? How could I possibly turn you into an angel?” Jerry said with his voice starting to shake.
“That is what I intend to find out,” she picked up a marker pen from the table and started drawing strange symbols on her left hand.
“You're wasting your time. Magic doesn't work on me.”
“That's why I'm casting this spell on myself. Got the idea from your little psychic friend,” she said happily.
“You mean the one you tried to kill!” Jerry said with pure venom in his voice.
“Stop whining, she's still alive,” Aria brushed off.
“She's fourteen years old!”
“And she was trying to melt my brain. I just returned the favor,” she shrugged.
“Yeah, well, you signed your own death warrant when you hurt her!”
“Oh, please. You should have realized by now Jerry, I can't be killed,” she said like she was stating one of the laws of physics. She then closed her eyes and began muttering something under her breath. The symbols she'd drawn on her hand started to glow a strange purplish color. She then walked closer to him. “Let's take a look shall we? Daniel Jericho, this is your life.”
She laid her glowing hand on his arm and Jerry felt a strange tingling sensation go through his body. It wasn't painful but it didn't feel good. It actually made him feel almost as if he was being violated somehow.
“Hmm,” she said closing her eyes. “Cute little bromance, lots of warm fuzzies for the other misfits...obsessive sense of duty...but wait, a flurry of fear and self-doubt coming in from the south, dark clouds are gathering in the east along the unhealthy addiction to violent coast line.” He couldn't believe she was making his life seem like a weather report. “Some rainy patches of sexual angst, followed by a slow building storm system of guilt, depression and self-loathing. Oh, I see the alcohol abuse has started early this year. Let's go a little deeper...”
If only she was a little closer. He could have head-butted her. It wouldn't have really helped but I might have made him feel better.
“Rough seas in this place. You have some seriously twisted nightmares and enough family issues to sink an oil tanker. Ouch, the revelations about mommy scares the living crap out of you and as for daddy...oh,” she actually opened her eyes and looked at him. The sad look on her face would have helped if it had been real. “You and dad, now there's a minefield I wouldn't wanna walk through...he didn't care about you enough to even smack you around...he couldn't stand the sight of you.”
Those words made him feel sick to his stomach. “Screw you!”
“Patience, all good things to those who -” She suddenly stopped looking confused. “What the hell is that? Jerry, why do you have a bank vault the size of the Grand Canyon in your brain?”
Jerry said nothing but it didn't matter.
“Oh, so that's what she was doing. Your little psychic was trying to help you pole-volt over this big-ass metal wall. Sorry honey but I don't think you're ever getting -” She stopped again but this time her eyes lit up in shock. “I know this magic!” she pulled her hand away from his arm and the light faded from her palm. “Tell me Jerry...you had any visits from a woman in white lately?”
This time Jerry's eyes were the ones that went wide. Those words even made him forgot all the things she'd said about him a moment ago. “You know who she is!”
“Yes, I do. I've even met her once. She's the one that healed you in the hospital isn't she?” Aria seemed to be getting more and more excited by the minute. “Oh, Jerry, I knew you were special but…GOD. DAMN! This is incredible!”
“Who is she, tell me!” he demanded but Aria seemed to be ignoring him, trapped in her own thoughts. “Tell me who she is!”
“No, sorry, Jerry, but if she hasn't told you then it's because she doesn't want you to know yet and she's not the type of woman you contradict,” Aria said smoothly. She then moved in front of Jerry and sat
in his lap, moving her long smooth tattooed legs over his and wrapping her arms around his neck. Amazingly, even with her wings, she was light. For a second he thought she was going to kiss him but instead she just gazed longingly at him and smiled. “You are just full to the brim with surprises, aren't you?”
“Tell me who she is!” he hissed, resisting the urge to head-butt her which he was now close enough to do.
“You're not ready to know,” she murmured into his ear, like she was speaking to her lover. “Now I know why you smell so good...you reek of destiny.”
“I don't believe in destiny.”
“You should, it seems to believe in you,” she whispered before licking his ear. Jerry jerked his head away quickly but still couldn't help feeling slightly aroused. Even after everything he'd just found out, she was still too seductive for his body to ignore. She seemed to know that she was affecting him and looked him in the eye while licking her lips. “We are going to have so much fun together.”
“You're right. It'll be fun when I cut your heart out,” he scowled.
“You can have my heart Jerry,” she purred. “You can have any part of me that you want.”
“Then I'll be taking your head as well,” he said grinning darkly.
She just laughed and pulled his angel necklace from under his shirt. “Ahh, is this me?” Aria smiled and yanked the necklace off before climbing off his legs. “Great likeness by the way. This news is cause for celebration. Let's have a drink.” She walked over to the table and began pouring out another glass of whiskey while tucking his necklace into her pocket. She had her back to him and he watched her wings flutter slightly.
“Tell me something. When you were routing around in my egg salad, did you happen to pick up on my skills?” Jerry asked.
“Engineering, a few fancy fighting moves, old school taste in music, encyclopedia of movie knowledge...”
She was listing them but Jerry added the important one.“Picking hand-cuffs,”
She spun around looking shocked but she didn't have time to act. Jerry already had the gun pointed at her and fired instantly. She didn't have time to put up that telekinetic shield of her and the bullet ripped through her right arm, blasting it off completely. Aria was so stunned that she actually stood there frozen. Jerry fired again, this time catching her in the chest. The bullet sent her flying backwards, straight through the wall of the cabin.
He was about to bolt when something occurred to him. He rushed forward and picked up the severed arm before darting out the door. He found himself in the woods, no sign of civilization anywhere but he could hear running water coming from somewhere. He knew he only had a few moments before Aria came after him and so he didn't hesitate in running. He followed the sound of the water, rushing through the trees still holding Aria's arm in one hand and his gun in the other. He had no more rounds for it but he could still hit her with it if he had to.
He eventually reach the water, unfortunately it was about thirty feet below at the bottom of a gorge. The river looked deep enough to break his fall but he was still worried about the rock and the fact that it was moving very quickly.
A heavy boom echoed around the woods from behind him. He didn't need to see it to know what had just happened. Aria, enraged, had just blasted apart the entire cabin and was now in the air searching for him.
He had to chance it. Jerry took and running jump and dived into the river. The water was freezing and before he had a chance to come up for air, he smacked his head on the side of a rock which caused blood to leak out from above his ear. He didn't pass out but did go extremely dizzy as pain cracked through his head. The river would hide his scent and carry him away from the area but Aria would be relentless in her search.
CHAPTER 22 – MOOD SWINGS
Sophinia's Mansion – Sioux Falls.
“We've got to figure out some way of tracking her,” Goose said looking over a map of South Dakota before throwing it down. “These things are useless. With the speed that she can fly, she could be on the other side of the world by now!”
That was unfortunately true. And with Aria's telekinetic abilities, she could just generate a shield around both of them to stop the pressure and cold of flying at high altitude from effecting them.
They were back at the mansion but had relocated to the tunnels in the basement for the time being. They had cleared away some of the guns in Sophie's weapons collection to make room for themselves. The tension was thick and had nothing to do with the firearms.
Sophinia was especially quiet. With Jerry taken and Rachel wounded, she must have been going out of her mind with worry but as usually she was a pillar of calmness and control. She was leaning against a wall near where Vic was sitting on top of an ammo box. The others were gathered around a large green crate that they'd turned into a table.
“There's gotta be some way to track her,” Claire said.
“I told you, she's very good at covering her tracks,” Wick said.
“I think trying to track Jerry would be a better idea but he's immune to magic so none of that stuff will work,” Joe sighed.
“And the Salem girls have already cleared out,” Cass added. “We can't expect any help from them.”
“So basically we got nothing!” Goose huffed.
“Not exactly,” Joe said grimly. “You know as well as I do that Jerry will take the first opportunity he gets to escape.”
“We just have to hope that he get's one,” Claire agree.
“He did.”
They all looked around, wide-eyed to see Jerry walking towards them. He was caped in mud, soaking wet and looked exhausted but apart from the nasty looking wound on the side of his head, he was okay. His sawn-off was tucked into his jeans and he was also carrying a plastic bag.
Joe and Goose were the first to reach him. He was instantly tied up in their arms as everyone else gathered around him. Sophinia was the one that parted them and then wrapped her arms and her wings around him, squeezing him tightly but not so much that it hurt. He hugged her back and a strange feeling of safety washed over him.
“What happened? How did you get away?” Sophinia asked while releasing him. She looked almost weakened by his return. Like seeing him alright had actually shattered that self control of hers and she was actually in danger of shedding tears. He wouldn't have thought less of her if she had but it didn't seem possible that someone as strong as her could do something like that.
“Lock picking is an important skill,” he smiled and turned to Joe. “Thanks for teaching it to me.”
“You crafty son of a bitch!” Cass grinned and hugged him quickly.
“You okay?” Claire asked when it was her turn.
“No. I'm tired, I'm cold and I'm hungry. Plus I got a hole in the side of my head the size of harmonica but...I did get a conciliation prize.”
Jerry quickly unwrapped the plastic bag revealing Aria's severed arm. He threw it to Wick who managed to catch it without cringing.
“You cut her arm off?!” he said looking astonished.
“I know, should have gone for her head,” he shrugged. “But maybe we can use that to figure out what makes her tick.”
“Damn! I should have come to see you guys sooner,” Wick chuckled.
“Nice moves Jerry,” Vic smiled and handed him his hip-flask which Jerry was more than happy to receive. He gulped down a mouthful of whiskey which burned in his chest and took away some of the cold he'd gotten from being in the river.
“Smart move, coming back here. I don't think she'd expect it but she'll definitely check this place eventually. And we need to find a way to stop her now. This bitch is way more dangerous than we thought.”
“What do you mean?” Wick asked instantly.
“You were wrong, she's not a demon...well, she is, but she's also something else.”
“What?”
Jerry quickly recapped everything that had happened at the cabin up until the point of him jumping in the river. “I was washed down stream about three
miles before I pulled myself out. Got lucky on the location. It was next to truck stop. I hot-wired a car and drove back here. The cabin was only about seventy miles away so it didn't take me long to get back.”
“So, wait a second, Lucifer is trying to design the ultimate weapon against heaven and Aria is the prototype?!” Wick summed up looking shocked.
“Yeah, that's what she said. Made it sound like they were BFF's, or teacher and student, you know.”
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