by S E Brower
Away he zipped into the logging truck. Chatumdar only realized Mephitic was there just as the demon exited the bus. The Guardian knew this demon was up to something, but didn’t know what, so he waited and watched. It was a fateful decision with dire consequences.
Now Mephitic, on the logging truck, used his powers of persuasion to coerce the driver into brief distraction, by the girl on the sidewalk. When the demon was sure it glued the truck driver’s eyes to her, he then darted to the girl, making her think she might have stepped in some dog doo. Whispering a suggestion, she bent over to check her shoe.
All at once, Evan’s Guardian, Chatumdar, understood what was about to happen, and was powerless to stop it. Mephitic would create an ‘accident’.
The truck driver’s eyes widened taking in the site of the beautiful girl in the short skirt, when the truck driver’s Guardian intervened, whispering to mind his driving. Feeling guilty, the truck driver turned his attention back to the road. Mephitic, seeing the Guardian interfere, became enraged. He would not let this Guardian ruin his plan. He would have the praise from Lucifer he deserved.
In a wrathful fury, Mephitic changed course, zipping away back to the bus hurling his disgusting essence straight into the bus driver’s body. The demon arrived with such force, it sent the bus driver into convulsions. Shaking, his hands slipping from the steering wheel, he slumped to the side. The twins saw what was happening and thought the bus driver was having a heart attack. Both boys jumped from their seats to try to help him, but it was too late. Careening forward, the bus smashed head long into the logging truck.
The crash was a slow motion, horrible, screeching mountain of twisted metal, broken glass, bodies, and blood. After the ‘accident’ the scene on the street was chaos. People running in all directions, screaming, sirens, fire trucks, and then came an ambulance. Chatumdar remained by Evan’s side in the mangled wreckage, watching rescue personnel work to extract each accident victim one by one.
Chatumdar looked up, seeing several other Guardians, two of whom ascended straight away. This could only mean their assignment was over, their charges expired, and that Chatumdar witnessed their passing, also meant he failed Evan. The drivers of both the bus and logging truck died upon impact. It was their Guardians he watched leaving the Earthly realm taking their assigned souls onward to a higher plane of existence.
The other eight Guardians he noticed meant their charges might not survive. Guardian protocol dictates that near the death of their assigned humans, they become visible to other Guardians while still in the Earthly realm. The only other way was by speaking another Guardian’s name aloud.
By remaining unseen to each other, the Guardians are better able to focus on their own assignment without distraction. They assume there are other Guardian Angels close by. While they know of them, they do not concern themselves with them. Often knowing the names of every human in relationship to their own assignment, they do not interact or interfere. They can only suggest or persuade to aid in help or protection of their human charge. Guardians, as do humans, have free will.
The twins were taken to the nearest hospital. The scene in the emergency room was mayhem as Doctors, and Nurses scrambled to tend to the dozens of accident victims. Chatumdar looking on, witnessed two more Guardians ascend. A medical team set to work trying to revive the twins. They were both still alive, but injured, and unconscious. The doctors moved them into a private room, hooked them up to monitors, and respirators assessing their injuries.
In the realm unseen, the sneaky evil red mist that was Mephitic, slipped away to report to Dreck, who reported to The Author. The deed was near completion. The Author, upon hearing this, smiled a sly smile. Things were going according to plan. Lucifer would reward them for their actions.
***
The hospital contacted Reverend Alsop. Upset, he rushed to the hospital at once. Upon arriving, the doctors told him the injuries both boys sustained were too massive, and they would most likely not survive. It shattered Reverend Alsop. He called his wife and then, began Ministry with the Dying.
As he knelt between the twins, it was the most difficult thing he had ever done. He was heartbroken, thinking the last time he saw his sons they had asked to speak with him, and he had rejected their request. He left them. Now his mind was full of questions, wondering what they wanted to tell him, and he would most likely never know.
Filled with sadness and regret, he sat down between them, the room dead silent, except for the occasional beep of the monitors, and the constant swoosh of the respirators keeping his sons clinging to life. Hanging his head, he prayed, wept, and prayed again.
Soon after, Evan’s alarm sounded. Hospital staff arrived in response, pushing the Reverend to the other side of the room. After what seemed a long time of trying to save his life, the ER Doctor turned to the Reverend saying, “I’m very sorry to tell you, Evan has passed away.” The Reverend was in shock. He couldn’t believe this was happening. “I’ve evaluated your other son,” the Doctor continued, “I am saddened to say, there is no brain activity. I don’t expect him to live much longer either.” The news he would lose not one, but both his boys, was devastating.
As Evan’s physical body died, his spirit slipped away, and his Guardian, Chatumdar was at his side. Even though the Reverend could not see him, the Angel placed a hand on the grieving Reverend’s shoulder to lend him comfort, and to show respect for the Reverend’s own invisible Guardian, at such a troubling time.
Chatumdar blessed Evan’s spirit, relaxing his consciousness, putting him into a dormant state, making the transfer to the next plane much easier. He condensed Evan’s soul, consisting of an effervescent, sparkling blue vapor-like mist, to a size small enough to fit into one hand for transport. Placing Evan’s soul in a carrying crystal was the protocol. But Evan was young, his death so unexpected, Chatumdar was ill-prepared.
He was about to ascend with Evan’s soul, pausing when he noticed Garret. Chatumdar was aware Evan’s twin was also near death, but Garret had no Guardian. He scanned the room. No Guardian was present. There was something else peculiar about Garret. Then, he realized he could not see Garret’s soul. Chatumdar, knew Garret had a soul, he could sense it. Although it wasn’t visible to him, it should have been.
Never coming across a situation like this, it was perplexing to him. He wondered if Garret could be a Rogue Soul. He knew of them, but had never encountered one, until this instant.
Holding Evan’s soul, Chatumdar ascended to the Library to report this revelation to The Author. Upon arriving, Aalonray directed him to The Author, who was seated at his desk, atop a construct of great height. “Please, forgive the intrusion,” the Guardian began, “I am Chatumdar, of The Guardian Library.”
While The Author was familiar with the humans for which he kept the Books of Life, he did not concern himself with their Guardians, only bothering with them when it was essential. “I am saddened to report there has been a terrible accident,” Chatumdar continued, “my charge, Evan Driscoll Alsop has passed.”
“Oh, dear,” The Author shook his head, “how unfortunate. What a tragedy,” The Author lied. “May I inquire, what happened?”
“It was chaos caused by that insolent, insignificant demon, Mephitic,” Chatumdar spat the demon’s name, “I saw him briefly before it happened. He was the cause, I am certain.”
“That is a bother,” The Author shook his head with mock sympathy.
Chatumdar straightened his shoulders back at attention, he looked up at The Author, “Evan Driscoll Alsop was a prophet. His time should not have ended thus. I must tell The Father of his untimely passing.” The Author closed the book on his desk and stood.
“Excuse me, but there is another matter to report,” Chatumdar continued, “Evan has a twin, named Garret. There was no Guardian, at least not that I knew of. Also, I could detect his soul, but could not see it. I believe Garret to be a Rogue.”
The Author’s eyes widened, feigning surprise. “That is a revelati
on. I must take care of this, but first, you are correct, we must report to The Father.”
It was then that Dreck arrived in the Library, hidden and listening. The Author was busy trying to separate the Guardian from Evan’s spirit. “I assure you, we will protect the soul in the Library. Together, we shall seek council with The Father,” The Author insisted. Taking Evan’s soul, encasing it within a crystal the size of a softball, he placed it on his desk. “Worry not, dear Chatumdar, the soul shall come to no harm,” The Author smiled.
It was not the protocol, and Chatumdar kept his eyes glued to the desk, anxious about leaving Evan’s soul unguarded. But The Author assured him all would be well, and after some reluctance, he agreed. The two departed the Library, but not before The Author signaled Dreck to set their plans in motion.
Dreck swept in with his stinking vapor, stealing the crystal containing Evan’s soul, a bright, blue and glowing effervescent mist. Descending to Hell, he delivered the soul to Lucifer as ordered.
They never made the report of Evan’s passing. Chatumdar, Evan’s faithful Guardian, met with an untimely demise of his own, at the hands of The Author. This mission completed, The Author tasked Dreck with returning to the hospital to smother Garret, without being detected and return to the Library with his soul.
Dreck obliged. He wasn’t often granted permission to kill a human. Relishing the thought, he spirited himself to the hospital room where Garret lay clinging to life. Garret had no brain activity. He could not ask The Father for help. The demon smothered the life from Garret, setting off alarms sending a flurry of Medical personnel to the room.
Dreck laughed as he extracted Garret’s soul from his physical body. The teenager watched in terror as the thick, stinking, dark mist that was Dreck, hovered over him. Garret’s life was being extinguished as Dreck smothered him. It was horrific. In that moment, Garret knew it wasn’t Evan’s death he dreamt of all those nights, but his own.
Garret couldn’t comprehend why this was happening to him, and Dreck, because he was evil, couldn’t comprehend that The Father had sent a team of Angels to surround Garret’s body in love and protection.
The mighty all-knowing Father froze time just long enough to speak with Garret. With gleaming clarity, and purpose, Garret understood that he was to allow the demon to end his life and take his soul. He was to to follow Lucifer into Hell, to find his brother.
At the instant his soul left his body, and Garret died, Aalonray felt ‘the stir’ in the heavens, and she knew. Collapsing to the floor, her wings folding round her, she hung her head as a silent tear slipped down her cheek.
Meanwhile, five hundred miles away, Jessie also felt ‘the stir’ on that fine spring day back in Chesapeake. Although she didn’t understand it at the time, Garret’s passing set her on the path towards her mother’s death, and her own uncertain destiny.
Dreck sped towards the Guardian Library with Garret’s spirit in tow. Garret was cheated from the benefit of the calming blessing Evan was given before making the trip to the Guardian Library. It proved terrifying for him. When Dreck brought his spirit before The Author, he was accompanied by six other demons. They surrounded Garret’s effervescent blue mist, enclosing him in a circle. The energy emanating from them suspended him in an electrified prison.
The first words The Author spoke were to the demon Dreck. “Well done Dreck, well done. Now, fetch your master. Tell him I have delivered his second trophy.” He leaned down close to the demon. “Be quick about it!” he bellowed. Dreck disappeared, taking his putrid essence to the depths of Hell delivering the message to Lucifer. The Author turned his attention to Garret. “Well now, what have we here?”
Garret railed in anger. “Why have you done this to us? Where is my brother? Why have you taken my life?” Garret screamed at The Author, trying to free himself, but the demons’ lock on him was too strong. The Author laughed as he watched Garret twist and swirl, trying to get away.
“I will be the one asking the questions!” The Author shrieked at him, “you will tell me how you knew of our plans. Did someone tell you? Speak now!”
Garret spat at him. “I’m not telling you anything. Where is my brother?” he shouted right back. Garret’s defiance surprised The Author. Then, in anger, he nodded to the six demons surrounding Garret, signaling them to force high concentrations of negative energy to pass through his spirit, from every direction. The result was unspeakable despair, followed by excruciating pain.
Garret writhed in agony, his screams echoing throughout the Library captured the attention of Aalonray. She followed the sound until she found its origin, shocked by what she witnessed. Although she had convinced The Author of her allegiance, he had not summoned her to be a witness to this sordid business involving the Driscoll Brothers.
Aalonray thought it best to not alert him to her presence, remaining quiet, hiding in an unseen corridor. The Author may have been the great overseer of the Guardian Library, but no one knew the Library like Aalonray. He would not find her, she could watch unobserved.
She let out a gasp, covering her mouth so she wouldn’t give herself away as she beheld the atrocities perpetrated against poor Garret. Cringing, she knew how much pain he was enduring because of her. She knew also her fate rested in the resolve of this teenager.
If Garret spoke her name, she would face the wrath of The Author, and much, much worse. It would dash her hopes of putting an end to their plans. Her eyes were wide with terror, her hands clenched in fists of rage as The Author laughed, mocking Garret’s pain. She felt responsible yet was powerless to do anything.
“You will tell me what you know!” the big voice boomed. He ordered Garret tortured over, and over again, but Garret remained strong giving up nothing. Concealed from view, Aalonray wept in silence, her heart pounding, her mind a mix of anguish, anger, and fear.
The Author realized Garret would not cooperate, still he continued to have him tortured. “No matter,” The Author told him, “there is no need to suffer insolent fools. I have all I require. I will find and eliminate all the Rogues, and I will tell them they have you to thank for their demise.” Garret had reached his breaking point, still screaming in agony when Lucifer appeared in the Library.
Lucifer shook his head smiling. “Author,” his voice jovial, “is this the way we treat our honored guests?” He motioned for the demons to release Garret, and they obeyed. There was no danger of him escaping as they had exhausted him. His spirit no longer sparkled. His beautiful effervescence siphoned from him, leaving him dull, and weak, bereft of the hope of ever finding his brother.
An exhausted Garret watched Lucifer move towards him, expecting to see a hideous demon. Something so gruesome, so heinous, mere words could not express, but it was not so. Garret was disappointed to see that Lucifer wasn’t hideous at all. In fact, he was quite handsome.
His hair was as dark as his eyes, and the physicality he projected was one of absolute perfection. However, what most captured Garret’s attention was Lucifer’s face. That face held a beauty unmatched by any mortal, man or woman.
He wore long flowing robes of black. At first glance the only hint of his identity were the hordes of demons carried with him on his person. Their putrid red mists swirled around and through him as he walked, no longer detectable when he was still. Lucifer strode right up in front of the blue mist that was Garret.
As Lucifer stood before him, Garret was able to sense the darkness behind those eyes. For a split second, he recognized the pure evil staring back at him. Garret felt if he were not a spirit, and had a heart, it would have beaten through his chest. Lucifer terrified him, but he would show no fear to this Master of Hell.
“What have you done with my brother? What have we done to deserve this?” Garret shouted in defiance, and to his surprise, Lucifer’s response was rather polite.
“Dear boy, no need to shout. Your brother is being well cared for and it is not about either of you… it is, leverage.” Lucifer’s smile was beguiling and to his amaz
ement, Garret found himself being oddly drawn to him. This was not at all what he had expected from the Lord of Hell.
Suddenly, Lucifer rounded on The Author. His menacing gaze pierced him like a laser as he commanded, “You will not have me fetched like a dog’s bone. You would do well to remember that.” Lucifer’s voice was low, devoid of emotion, and yet it was terrifying, still. The threat was not lost on The Author.
Garret could see the nervousness in The Author’s eyes, making him think, “Ok, there’s the Lucifer they have told me about.” Despite the pain, he found it amusing to watch The Author squirm.
“Apologies, my Lord,” The Author bowed, temporarily appeasing Lucifer.
It was such a bizarre situation, winding up dead in front of Lucifer, surrounded by demons. Garret wondered what would happen to him, when the words of The Father came rushing back. “Follow Lucifer into Hell and find Evan.” Garret didn’t know how he would accomplish such a thing, but knew he had to find a way.
The way found him in the form of Aalonray. The Author called her to appear before him. After waiting an appropriate amount of time, she entered the chamber where Garret was being held. She did not speak but stood awaiting his instructions. “Find a carrying crystal and bring it here.” She exited the chamber to do as he told her, while The Author gathered up Garret’s spirit, condensing it to the size of a fist.
Aalonray returned handing the crystal to The Author, bristling when she realized Lucifer was still there. The Author opened the crystal, placed Garret’s spirit inside locking it shut. “Take this, archive it, and see you place it somewhere safe. Somewhere, no one will find it.” He handed the now glowing blue crystal back to Aalonray.
“As you wish,” she nodded leaving the chamber, not able to abide the company of Lucifer for long. She decided the safest place to put Garret’s crystal was in the Relic Room, which contained among other items, sacred artifacts, such as the many scrolls of the Bible, the spear of destiny, and the hammer used to nail The Father’s mortal Son to the cross.