by Yvi Valentin
“I told you, Lucifer needs you.”
“I don’t believe you. I’m easily replaceable to him, there’s nothing he could need me for that he can’t find someone else to do.”
“You’re wrong. No one else can erase and replace people’s memories. You’re valuable to Lucifer and he needs you to come back…I need you.”
Evan sounded shocked by that last part. “What do you need me for?”
“I’m in love with you Evan, I thought that was obvious!” Gina yelled.
“Gina, I…” Evan paused. I’ve never known him to have nothing to say. “I don’t know what you want me to say…”
“I want you to say you feel the same way and you’ll come back with me,” Gina said desperately.
“I can’t. I’m not this horrible person Lucifer wants me to be,” Evan replied.
“It’s because of Aimee isn’t it?” She emphasized my name in a disgusted manner.
“No, I’ve finally gotten over her, but I still want to start making up for all the horrible things I’ve done.”
“Please, come back, I just want to be with you.” I could hear Gina crying. I thought it was weird that such a horrible creature would get so emotional. In what world did that make sense?
“You’re not a good person. You started out wanting to work for Lucifer and I didn’t. That’s the difference between you and me. I don’t think we would be good together.”
“You’re right, I like working for Lucifer, I like raising hell and I want someone who likes raising hell with me. Thanks for pointing that out before I made a huge mistake.”
“Glad I could clear that up for you.”
“Alright, bye,” Gina said cheerfully.
I heard the door close and footsteps coming towards our room. Evan knocked and opened the door shortly after. “That was weird.” Evan uncomfortably fidgeted with his hands.
“Yeah, it was kind of weird to listen to,” I replied.
“Do you think Lucifer is going to try to get you back too?” Andy asked.
“Probably,” Evan answered. “I never thought I was valuable to him.”
“I can tell,” I said.
“I don’t think anyone else can erase and replace people’s memories,” Andy pointed out.
“Well Aimee might be able to if she tried,” Evan started. “I noticed she’s been able to do a lot more than anyone thought was ever possible.”
“I wonder why.” Andy looked deep in thought.
“I don’t know,” I answered.
“Maybe it has something to do with the fact that we’re on the verge of the apocalypse,” Evan offered.
“What would make you think that?” I asked.
“Lucifer wanted to train you to do other things I never thought were possible,” Evan explained.
“What kind of things?” Andy asked.
“Controlling a massive amount of people…like in the thousands, maybe even more…” Evan started.
“I already can control a lot of people, I’m not sure about thousands at once,” I interrupted. “What else was he planning to teach me?”
“It mostly had to do with control. He wants you to be able to control anything and everything. There was also healing, but no one can do that,” Evan laughed.
“I can and have done it before.” I laughed as Evan’s jaw dropped in response.
“How is that possible?” Evan asked.
“I’m not sure,” I answered. “But do you really think this has to do with the apocalypse?”
“Maybe that’s why you’re the key to winning this war,” Andy offered. “No one else has been able to do all the things you can. So many have tried and failed.”
“Yeah but why can I do all of these things nobody else can?” I asked.
“We should ask Michael,” Andy suggested.
“Do you think I’ll be allowed anywhere near an archangel ever again?” Evan asked.
“I think so,” I answered. “You’ll definitely have to explain yourself though.”
“And you won’t be able to get anything past him,” Andy added.
“I’m willing to do that. Whatever it takes to get back on the right side,” Evan said.
I was shocked by his willingness to go to a place where many people hated him. It made me reconsider his intentions. If he was really planning on screwing us over, he was going the distance. I didn’t think he would have ever been willing to talk to Michael if he was still working for Lucifer. Part of me didn’t want to believe him. I could tell Andy thought the same thing.
“We’ll go see Michael when Brian and Jen get back,” Andy announced.
“Are you nervous?” I asked.
“I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t,” Evan answered.
“Well I don’t think you have too much to worry about,” I started. “As long as you’re being genuine you’ll be fine.”
“I’m not trying to give you up to Lucifer, I really want to help,” Evan replied.
“Forgive us for not believing you right away,” Andy said sarcastically.
“I understand. I haven’t given you any reason to believe a word I say.” Evan sighed and rested his head on the table.
“No, you haven’t,” I replied.
“Then let me prove myself to you when we talk to Michael, you know I can’t lie to him and get away with it,” Evan pleaded.
Jen and Brian walked through the door and looked satisfied. I figured they were successful in putting the handkerchief in a secure location. It was one less thing to worry about, but there was still plenty to be done.
“Hey guys,” Andy said cheerfully. “How’s the family doing?”
“Great,” Brian answered.
“Yeah, they’re safe and happy,” Jen added.
“That’s good to hear,” I said.
“So what’s next?” Brian asked.
“We have to talk to Michael,” I replied.
“About what?” Jen asked trying to keep up with the charade. We still didn’t trust Evan so we couldn’t let him know everything we knew until after he saw Michael.
“About Aimee’s abilities,” Evan began.
“What do you mean?” Brian asked.
“He means we need to ask Michael why I can do all these things nobody else can or thought possible,” I explained.
“Then let’s go now,” Brian urged.
I laughed. “We were waiting for you.”
Chapter 24
We arrived in the Critical Issues Department only to find everyone staring. It wasn’t us; it was Evan they were staring at. I wasn’t sure anyone had seen him in a long time and knowing he had been working for the devil, it was hard to believe he even considered showing his face anywhere near an archangel or headquarters at all for that matter.
“I think everyone’s staring at me,” Evan said in a hushed tone.
“Well yeah, can you blame them?” I replied.
“Let’s just talk to Michael and see what happens.” Andy clenched his jaw and had hatred in his eyes. I had never seen him so irritated with anyone like this.
We walked into the conference room and sat down. Michael looked just as astonished as everyone else. Michael gained his composure before he spoke. “Evan, I didn’t expect to see you here.”
“I decided to switch sides,” Evan answered.
“What changed your mind?” Michael asked.
“Well, it was actually Aimee,” Evan started. “When she was brought to Lucifer’s hiding place, she made me realize how horrible I was. All I want to do now is make up for all the damage I’ve done.”
Michael stared at Evan attentively. The tension in the room was high. None of us knew what was going to happen. “I believe you.”
“Thank you,” Evan said as he breathed a sigh of relief.
“What are you going to do to help us?” Michael asked.
“I can tell you what I know about Lucifer’s plans,” Evan answered.
“Start talking,” Michael demanded.
“Luci
fer is planning on using Aimee to control thousands of people at once and to build an army,” Evan started. “He was going to teach Aimee how to do things I never thought were possible.”
“What kinds of things?” Michael asked.
“Like healing people, breaking down protective shields, control the weather, lots of stuff,” Evan answered.
“Aimee can do all of those things,” Michael mentioned.
“I have done all of those things,” I added.
Michael stared at me with a twinkle in his eye and his loving energy caused tears to well in my eyes. “I was not aware of this. You’re progressing more quickly than expected.”
“Yeah, we were wondering…” I started.
“If you know anything about why Aimee can do all these things nobody else has ever been able to,” Andy finished.
“The reason is because Aimee was chosen,” Michael answered.
“Chosen?” I had to have heard him wrong because there was no way I was chosen for anything. I must have been dreaming. There’s no way the daughter of the devil could ever be chosen for anything good.
“You were chosen by God to be the one who ends this war,” Michael explained. “He gave you gifts no one else has in order to help you with your mission.”
“But why me?” I asked.
“I cannot answer that, it was God’s decision,” Michael replied.
“Okay…so…now what?” I asked.
“I think we can trust Evan enough to let him help you with your mission so why don’t you tell me the status,” Michael replied.
“We have the first object in a secure location,” Brian answered.
“Good, which horseman did it belong to?” Michael asked.
“Pestilence,” Andy answered.
“Wait a minute,” Evan interrupted. “That thing you made me take to the bank belonged to one of the horsemen? But I didn’t make it.”
“We know,” I said. “We needed to find out if we could trust you so we gave you a fake one to see what you would do. Jen and Brian took the real one someplace safe.”
“So the guy who tried to steal it from me…that was Pestilence?” Evan asked. Something felt off, I got a nagging feeling that Evan was putting on a show for our sake.
“Yeah,” Andy answered.
“If Pestilence tried to get the handkerchief back once, he’ll be back,” Jen mentioned.
“You will have to make sure no one gets to it while you gather the other three objects,” Michael pointed out. “Do you have any leads on the other three horsemen?”
“No not yet,” Andy answered.
“We were on our way back from getting Pestilence’s handkerchief when Evan showed up,” I added.
“We had to deal with him before we could do anything else,” Brian chimed in.
“You know what you have to do next,” Michael said. “You should go back now and get to work. Fill Evan in on everything.”
“Are you sure about this?” I asked.
“Be sure to check back in next week.” Michael avoided my question. He gave me a look that confirmed my suspicions. I was relieved to know Michael had a plan.
Moments later we were back in the Manhattan apartment. We all met in the living room and wondered what was going to happen next. We knew what we had to do and we had to act quickly if we were going to be successful, but we partially wondered how this was all going to pan out.
“Alright Evan, grab a laptop and look for headlines that hint at the presence of Famine, War or Death,” I ordered.
“So we’re looking for the four horsemen of the apocalypse?” Evan asked.
“Yeah…we already found Pestilence and took away the artifact that gives him his ability,” I explained.
“One down, three to go,” Brian chimed in.
“How do we find each horseman?” Evan asked.
“We’ve been reading the headlines,” Jen started. “We found Pestilence through an article about an outbreak of an unknown disease.”
“Alright, let’s get to work,” Andy demanded.
We each buried ourselves into our laptops, looking for anything that would lead us to one of the horsemen. It was more boring but necessary work. The only sound that could be heard was typing on our keyboards as we did our research. It seemed to take forever to find anything that even remotely hinted at a horseman. I wasn’t a fan of reading thousands of headlines from all over the world. All I wanted to do was get to the action. I was sure we all wanted the same thing.
There was a pounding on the door. “Evan!” It was Gina.
“Crap!” Evan shouted.
“What is she doing here?” I asked.
“Go get rid of her,” Andy snapped.
“You guys should hide,” Evan said. “She doesn’t take kindly to new people.”
“She doesn’t take kindly to anything,” I mumbled.
“Except Evan,” Brian laughed.
We all laughed as we walked into our rooms to hide from Gina. I hoped he could get rid of her fast. We had a very important job to do and couldn’t afford distractions. I figured after this incident we would end up going back to our place in New Jersey, assuming we didn’t get a lead in the near future.
“Gina, what are you doing back here?” Evan asked.
“I had to see you again,” Gina answered. Her voice sounded hoarse, like she had been crying for hours.
“Why? I thought you were over me.”
“I’m not. I can’t stop thinking about you Evan. Maybe I need a good guy in my life to keep me from going too far.”
“I don’t think so, Gina. You’ve never cared about going too far.”
“But I don’t want to lose you.”
“You already have, now get out!” Evan yelled.
“Not until you come with me!” Gina shouted back.
“I’m not going anywhere with you so just leave!”
“If you’re not going to come with me willingly then I’m just going to have to take more drastic measures!”
“Get out already!” Evan yelled. Seconds later the door slammed. I heard footsteps followed shortly by our door opening. “Sorry about that.”
“It’s alright,” I said. “I know the feeling.”
“Yeah…I’m sorry I put you through that,” Evan apologized.
“Well anyway,” Andy interrupted. “If Gina is going to keep coming over we need to leave.”
“Where will we go on such short notice?” Evan asked.
“We have houses all over the place,” Brian answered.
“You should know that from all the stalking you’ve done,” I added.
“Okay, I get it, I was horrible,” Evan said. “But I’m different now.”
“We’ll see about that,” Andy challenged.
“Anyway, where are we going to go?” Evan asked.
“What about my apartment in Chicago?” I offered.
“There’s not enough room for everyone there,” Andy answered.
“It’s not like we’ll be spending a whole lot of time sleeping there.” I tried not to make it obvious I knew the truth about Evan. I had no intentions of taking him to any houses he didn’t already know about.
“Okay, let’s go,” Andy said suspiciously.
We packed up our stuff and left for Chicago. It was extremely awkward having Evan with us. It was his fault we had to leave Manhattan, though it was his fault we had to stay in Manhattan in the first place.
“Let’s get back to research,” I suggested as we all walked through the door.
“We don’t get any time to relax?” Evan asked.
“What do you think that trip was?” I asked.
“Awkward,” Evan replied.
I couldn’t help but laugh. “Either way, we don’t have time to relax; we have a world to save.”
Evan sighed as he grabbed a laptop. “You’re right.”
We were back to the boring task of looking at headlines. We were glued to our computers for hours trying to find any sign of a horseman wre
aking havoc somewhere. Finally I was so bored I couldn’t take it anymore. “I think Gina’s going to end up causing some big problems for us.”
“Are we really going to talk about this right now?” Evan groaned.
“Yeah, I’m bored and can multitask,” I answered.
“I think she’s just trying to get me back for Lucifer. Once she heard I’m a good guy, she was uninterested. She’s never liked the good guys so she was putting on an act with that whole “I want you back” thing.”
“Lucifer will do anything to get what he wants,” Andy pointed out.
“And he probably knows Evan is with Aimee so it would be a two for one,” Brian added.
“Guys I found something,” Jen said.
“Finally a lead!” I exclaimed.
“What is it?” Andy asked.
“War,” Jen started. “There have been riots and violent outbursts in Holland.”
“Alright, Amsterdam!” Brian cheered.
“Yes, Amsterdam is the capital,” I replied.
“Can we just go find War now?” Jen asked, annoyed. “You can play out your fantasies later.”
“Like when we’re not trying to save the world,” I added.
“Alright, let’s go,” Andy said.
“Make sure you bring the gloves,” I reminded.
“What about a container?” Jen asked.
“We’ll get one after we find the object,” Brian suggested.
Chapter 25
We landed at the airport in Amsterdam. It was the only way Jen and I could get Brian to shut up about it. I had a feeling this mission was going to be harder than the first. Something bad was going to happen and I had a feeling Evan was somehow involved.
“Alright, we’re here, happy now?” Jen pursed her lips which was what she always did when she was mad at Brian.
“Yes,” Brian answered.
“Great, now where do we start?” I asked.
“We could go to the Red Light District,” Brian suggested in as innocent a voice he was capable of.
“Are you kidding me!?” I shouted. “You want to go there when we have an important job to do!?”
“What’s wrong with you!?” Jen yelled as she punched his arm.
“What!? It’s a popular spot, maybe the horseman is hanging out there.” Brian held up his hands defensively.