by Jerel Law
Jonah picked his head up from the floor and looked down the road. She was right. They were quickly coming to the end of this road. If they kept going straight, they were going to pass under a bridge. And then, on the other side, he could just make out the lights on a passing boat.
If this creature of the hidden realm had his way, they were all going to end up drowning.
David continued to try to fight Sisera but was getting nowhere. The strength of this driver was impressive.
Jonah narrowed his eyes, stretched down, and reached for the bouncing sword, but Sisera swerved yet again, and Jonah felt the hilt slide out from between his fingers.
“Come on, Jonah!” yelled an exasperated Eliza. Suddenly, she threw herself on the floorboard. A second later, she emerged with Jonah’s angelblade in her grasp.
The horses were under the bridge now, heading straight for a dock that extended into the wide East River. It seemed as though they were traveling over a hundred miles an hour. In a few seconds, they would be hurled into the air.
Eliza was right behind the driver, Jonah’s sword in her hand.
“The river, Eliza!” David shouted. And then he pointed toward Sisera. “Do it!”
There was no time to hand the sword to Jonah. There was no more time to think.
She pointed the blade at the driver’s head and drove it into the temple of the Canaanite soldier. His scream pierced their ears, and he began to melt. In one last act of evil, he twisted his hands fiercely, even as they turned to liquid. He slapped the reins down as hard as he could, and the horses leaped. Sisera was nothing but a puddle. Eliza still held the sword, her mouth hanging open. But the chariot, having reached the dock now, had turned upward, flipping straight into the air.
Suddenly, Jonah, Eliza, Jeremiah, and David were ejected. Jonah spun upside down, unable to control his body. He could do nothing to brace himself for the impact of either the concrete of the dock or the cold, dark water below.
TWENTY-FOUR
ALPHABET CITY
Just as Jonah had begun to say what he was sure would be a short and final prayer, he noticed a flash of light. He landed on the dock, right beside Jeremiah and Eliza. But instead of his body cracking against the hard surface, it felt like he had landed on a thick gym mat.
He looked up to see that Eliza had surrounded them all in her shield, forming it into a bubble of light. It encased all three of them.
But David had been too far away. He wasn’t in the shield with them.
The horses and the chariot had careened over the edge of the dock and down into the water below. Eliza dropped her arms, causing the shield to disappear, and they ran over to the edge. The water swirled and bubbled, but the chariot had sunk.
“What about David?” cried Jeremiah.
Jonah watched the water for another second but saw no signs of life. Pushing off his shoes, he poised on the edge of the dock.
“Jonah!” Eliza called out to him, but he didn’t have time to talk with her. He jumped down into the water.
It was colder than he expected, and murky. He tried to open his eyes, but he could barely see six inches in front of his face. The only thing he could do was kick his feet as hard as he could and reach down into the dark, dirty water.
Just when he’d begun to wonder if he’d dived too far to make it back on one breath, he felt a hand brush against his fingertips. Grabbing it quickly, he pulled upward, swimming as hard as he could. He burst through the surface, his arm wrapped around the limp body of his friend.
“Jonah, over here!”
He looked up, and Eliza was waving to him, standing at the top of a ladder along the side of the dock. He swam toward it, and summoning his angelic strength, heaved David over his shoulder and climbed up the rungs, finally laying David flat on his back on the dock.
David lay motionless for a few seconds, Jonah, Eliza, and Jeremiah hovering over him. Jonah leaned down close and realized David wasn’t breathing. He pushed down hard on his friend’s chest to start CPR.
“Elohim,” whispered Eliza. “Please save David. Wake him up!”
After Jonah’s first few pushes, nothing happened. But then David began to sputter, turning his head to the side and spitting water out of his mouth.
“You’re okay!” said Jeremiah, grabbing his arm and helping him up so that he rested on his elbows. Eliza patted him on the back a few more times, for good measure.
“Thanks,” he said, shivering and coughing as he spat water out of his mouth again. “Wow. I was unconscious, I think. It felt like a dream, and I was floating downward . . .”
Jonah smiled at him, putting a hand on his shoulder. “There’ll be no floating downward for you as long as we’re here.”
David nodded, grateful. “Now Jonah Stone has saved my mother and me.”
Jonah stood up, pulling his tall friend to his feet. “You can stop that right now, David,” he said, brushing off the compliment. “You would have done the same thing for any of us.”
“I can’t believe we were in a chariot that whole time,” said Jeremiah. “Who did you say that guy was?”
“Sisera was the name of the leader of the Canaanite army,” said David, still shaking water out of his ears.
“From the book of Judges!” Eliza snapped her fingers. “When the Israelites had a female leader named Deborah.”
“You remember how Sisera died?” asked David, his smile returning.
Eliza nodded. “A woman drove a tent stake through the side of his head.”
“Whoa,” Jonah said, thinking about how Eliza had just destroyed Sisera. “That’s freaky.”
“Well,” said Eliza, looking a little creeped out but also rather proud of herself. “How about we not get into any more cabs, okay?” She directed her glare at Jonah.
“Why are you looking like that at me?” he said, returning her gaze with a fierce stare of his own. “How was I supposed to know that guy was really an ancient soldier who wanted to drive us into the East River?”
Eliza held her ground. “We just need to be more careful. We could all be at the bottom of that river right now. You think Mom and Dad would be happy about that?”
“Can we agree to go find the prophet now? We’re wasting our time here.”
But where should they go? They all stood there, looking around for a minute, trying to get a bearing on where they were. Water was still dripping off Jonah and David. Jonah twisted his T-shirt in his hands, trying to squeeze out as much as he could, and he noticed David doing the same until they were both damp, but not dripping.
“Think we’re any closer to Alphabet City than we were?” said Eliza, folding her arms to ward off the chill from the river wind.
As they walked off the dock and back to the street, it was clear that no one had an answer.
A man and woman holding hands and laughing with one another emerged from the sidewalk to their left.
“Let’s ask them,” said Jeremiah, and before they could protest, he exited the hidden realm and approached the couple.
They were too focused on each other to notice a small boy appearing out of nowhere right beside them.
“Jeremiah, wait!” Jonah said, right behind him. “It might not be safe!”
But his brother was out of the hidden realm and couldn’t hear him. The only thing Jonah could do was keep a close watch on the streets around them.
“Keep your eyes open!” he called back to David and Eliza, who were already looking up and down the streets. So far, there was no sign of anything unusual.
“Excuse me,” Jeremiah said. The couple didn’t acknowledge him, walking right past like he wasn’t there. “I said, excuse me!” This time, the man turned around, raising his eyebrows at the kid standing there by himself.
“What are you doing out here, kid?” he said, glancing at his watch. “Kind of late, isn’t it?”
The woman turned toward him too, but Jeremiah didn’t seem bothered. He just stood with his hands in his pockets, smiling at the couple like i
t was the middle of day. Maybe his personality is going to come in handy, Jonah thought.
“We just need to find Alphabet City,” he said. “And I thought maybe you could give me some directions.”
The man looked past him and all around on the street. “Are you okay there, little buddy? ’Cause you said we.”
Jeremiah stared at him for a couple of seconds, looking at him as seriously as he could. “I didn’t say we. Are you crazy? It’s just me out here.”
The woman smirked at him. “Yeah, you did.”
“No, I didn’t, lady.” Jeremiah wrinkled his brow and pointed his thumb over his shoulder. “Didn’t you guys just come from that bar over there?”
The man and woman looked at each other and finally cracked up. “Good point, kid,” he said.
The woman turned and leaned down, looking him in the eyes. “Are you sure you don’t need help finding your parents?” she said, more concern than sarcasm now.
“How old do you think I am? Six?” Jonah said, forcing a chuckle. “My parents let me go out anytime I want. They’re very persnickety.”
The woman covered her mouth with her hand to stifle a laugh. “You mean permissive, right?”
“Yes, permissive,” said Jonah. “What did I say?”
The guy just rolled his eyes and ignored the question. “Alphabet City, huh? You’re in luck. We just came from there. It’s pretty close. Why I’m giving directions to a little kid, I don’t know . . .”
But he proceeded to point across the street at a large group of identical-looking brick buildings clustered together.
“The fastest way to get there from here is to walk south through Stuyvesant Town, those buildings right there,” he said. “Just past them, you’ll find the place you’re looking for.”
The young woman leaned over close to Jeremiah. “Are you sure you don’t need some help? We could walk you over there or at least call someone.” She was reaching into her pocket for her cell phone.
“No!” said Jeremiah, a little too forcefully. He cleared his throat. “I mean, no, thank you. I’m good. I can handle it from here.”
He gave them a big smile and waited for them to leave. He even extended his right arm like a doorman, urging them on. “Bye now! Thank you!”
When they had giggled again and finally walked away, he reentered the hidden realm. Jonah, Eliza, and David were standing right behind him.
“You’re crazy, brother. But good work,” Jonah said. Jeremiah grinned at his brother’s praise.
Again, they tried to stay in the shadows as much as they could, walking along in the hidden realm. Everything was both darker, and more alive, all at once. They passed the occasional group of people walking together but went out of their way to avoid them. Even at this hour, in the dead of night, there were people milling about. It was New York City, after all.
“I’m cold, Jonah,” said Jeremiah, grabbing his hand.
They were walking through the Stuyvesant Town apartment buildings, which towered over them, creating another layer of darkness. Jonah felt more and more enclosed as they went along, but he tried to put on a brave face. “We’ll find her and be out of here soon, guys. I think we’re almost there.”
He glanced down at his watch. It showed the time on the scrolled hands but nothing else. He pushed the button on the side but nothing happened.
“This thing is almost worthless,” he said, disgusted. Eliza grabbed his wrist.
“We knew it would only take us so far,” she said. “Remember last time? At least it told us Alphabet City. Apparently these things don’t give specific locations.”
Jonah nodded, remembering their last journey guided by the MissionFinder. “Once we were close, we had to trust Elohim to guide us.”
He sighed. Just once, he wished he knew exactly where to go and what to do. A map would be nice, with a big fat X right on top of where the prophet was located. But he knew things usually didn’t work that way. Not here. Not with Elohim. Elohim always seemed as interested in how they got somewhere as whether they actually did or not.
David’s smile lit up the darkness enveloping them. “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me.”
“Maybe we should pray,” said Eliza. “What do you think, Jonah?”
“Okay,” Jonah said, stopping. Jeremiah reached out and grabbed the hands of David and Eliza, and they joined hands with Jonah. Jonah closed his eyes.
“Elohim, we’re almost to Alphabet City. But we don’t know where to go from there. We’re trying to do what You want us to do. We left the convent, and almost got killed in a chariot ride that ended up in the East River. We know that, somehow, You are with us. You are here, like David said. So please show us what to do next. Show us where Your prophet is and help us get out of here as fast as we can.”
Jonah peeked up, watching the fingers of white light extend through each one of them and upward, into the sky.
“Amen,” he said. And the light slowly began to dissipate into the dark sky above.
The wind blew quietly between the buildings, and Jonah saw that they had almost made it through the apartment complex. Just a couple of streets over would be the section of Manhattan known as Alphabet City. He knew he was supposed to just trust, but new feelings of doubt began to push their way into his mind. How in the world were they supposed to locate one person in a place like New York City?
“I’m hungry,” said Jeremiah as they walked along. “Do you guys have anything to eat?”
Jonah rolled his eyes. If there was one thing that was certain, it was that Jeremiah was always hungry. “Nobody has anything right now, Jeremiah. We didn’t bring food.”
He sighed. “But I’m starving.”
“Well, you’ll just have to wait until we get back!” Jonah said, a little more forcefully than he intended. “Besides, if you were that hungry, you could have stayed back at the convent, like you were supposed to.”
“Okay, okay,” said Eliza. “Let’s not lose focus, boys. Jeremiah, as soon as we get back, we’ll make you a big breakfast. How’s that?”
“Pancakes?” he asked, a hint of a smile on his face.
Eliza grinned. “As many as you want. And lots of maple syrup.”
The promise of a good breakfast seemed to satisfy him, at least for the moment.
“Now you’re making me hungry,” said David, rubbing his stomach.
“Does it seem odd to you that the fallen angels are just waiting outside the convent?” Jonah asked as they made their way across an empty street. Something had been strange about the way that the fallen ones were just standing around. Camilla had commented on it, but it hadn’t really struck Jonah until now as they walked along in the darkness. “I’ve never seen any of them just wait before.”
“What do you mean?” asked Eliza. “They couldn’t get in. They were blocked by the prayer barrier. What else do you think they’d do but wait?”
Jonah shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know. I guess you’re right. It just seemed strange to me. They don’t strike me as the ‘sit around and wait patiently’ types. It makes me wonder what exactly they are waiting for.”
Jeremiah, who’d been listening in, spoke up. “Maybe they’re waiting for our parents to get there.”
He said it in a matter-of-fact way, but it stopped the other three in their tracks.
“They are after us all,” said Eliza quietly. “The nephilim too.”
The thought unsettled Jonah, but he had to admit, it made perfect sense. Trap the quarterlings in the convent, knowing their parents would be alerted by the angels, and then wait for them to show up. It was a great plan if they wanted to get all of them in the same place at the same time.
“Maybe we should go back,” said Eliza. “If they’re just waiting to attack us all, we need to be there to help. I don’t want to be wandering around in the dark out here, and then we come back and nothing’s left.” She swallowed.
David looked up
at the sky, pondering this. “It is a point worth considering.”
Jonah thought about this too, shoving his hands into his pockets. He walked back through his most recent dream in his head. “No,” he finally said. “We are here now, and there’s a reason for all of this.”
Eliza looked at him, uncertainty filling her eyes. “You’re sure about that?” she said, searching Jonah’s eyes. “Because if we’re not there and they get attacked . . .”
Jonah didn’t know that he was sure of anything, but he had prayed and the MissionFinder 3000 had told him where to go, so he knew he had to trust Elohim; he nodded and steeled his face against the growing wind.
They emerged from the giant apartment buildings and onto a busy street.
“Fourteenth Street, like Sisera said,” said Eliza, pointing to a street sign. “And there’s Avenue B. Since the avenues are letters instead of numbers, this should be Alphabet City. Where to now?”
She looked at Jonah expectantly, waiting for an answer. Jeremiah and David stared at him too.
He waited for some kind of sign, any indication from Elohim of which direction would be best. But he didn’t feel anything. Finally, he picked a direction, pointing straight ahead.
“Let’s walk down Avenue B.”
Jonah checked his watch. It was 5:01, and the sky was still dark. Streetlights illuminated the pavement and the sidewalks ahead. It was a wide street and more occupied than the neighborhood they had just walked through. Jonah was thankful for that. They passed an old man pushing a grocery cart, a loud group of college-age kids probably returning from a party, two teenage girls going who-knew-where, and a younger man in an overcoat, smoking a cigarette. Their presence made Jonah feel a little less scared, even though he knew they couldn’t see or help the quarterlings if they ran into any more trouble.
Humans weren’t the only ones they might see, though. Jonah was especially aware that they might come across other spiritual beings. It was only natural that they would spot fallen angels wandering around. They just couldn’t let any fallen ones spot them and sound the alarm.
Eliza suddenly pushed Jonah, Jeremiah, and David against a glass storefront, into the shadows. She put her forefinger on her lips and pointed across the street.