Chapter 18

Frantically looking for a place to hide, I turned the corner and saw the elevator. I pushed the up button many times in panic. To my surprise, it opened immediately. There were twelve floors. Unsure of which floor to exit on, I pressed the twelvth floor. The twelvth floor was just as dark. Did I make the right choice? Should I have gotten off at another floor? It was too late.

Closing the gap between the wall and me, I ran faster down the hallway, looking for a place to hide. As I tried to enter a room, the door was locked. Then I tried another one, it was locked too. This floor seemed different; there were no patients on this floor. When I finally found a room that was unlocked, I realized I had entered a storage room. It was filled with various medications, shots, monitors, IVs, and things whose purpose was a mystery to me. Regardless, I thought I could use them if I needed to defend myself. At this point, I didn’t care where I hid as long as they couldn’t find me. I knelt down behind a storage container in an effort to be invisible. Where are you, Michael?

All was quiet and still. I was sitting here like a target duck. My heart could no longer take the anxiety attack I was having. I couldn’t breathe. The room was spinning, and I couldn’t focus. Then I heard footsteps, and I froze in absolute silence.

“I know you’re in here, my little angel.” His voice was strong and sharp.

He made me shiver with just the sound of his voice. Uncontrollably my body trembled from fear and my hands felt clammy. I contemplated my next move, knowing this was now a life-or-death moment. But I was unable to move. I didn’t know what to do. I was scared out of my mind.

“Don’t be scared. I sent my friends away so you and I could have some alone time together. We need to get better acquainted. This room isn’t big enough for you to hide in forever.” He laughed slyly.

A large dimmed emergency light hung overhead, and I could see his shadow cast on the walls around me, getting larger and closer by the second.

“Your friends have some surprise visitors. I’m afraid you are on your own. Well, not quite alone, you have me. So why don’t you come out and end this cat-and-mouse game.” He paused and waited for me to show myself. “I’m running out of patience. If you don’t come out now, I’m going to have to hurt you, and that is not my intention.” He was getting irritated, and his voice was getting louder. “Come out now, Claudia!”

He sounded so forceful that I wanted to dig myself further into the ground. Suddenly all the tables and containers were lifted, and I was exposed. Stunned by the power that I had witnessed, I curled myself into a ball. He stood, smiling through narrowed eyes, focusing solely on me. “There you are.”

The items, still hovering, were tossed to one side of the room, leaving me wide open and vulnerable. I cringed and covered my ears to block out the noise.

“It doesn’t have to be this way. I didn’t want to scare you. Come to me,” he said gently.

“Michael,” I whispered. Not knowing what else to do, I stood slowly, sliding up against the wall to balance myself, as my legs were still shaking. Even though I knew he would win, I had to fight with everything I had.

“Come, Claudia.”

My mind begged me not to move, but slowly my body, against my will, led the way as I struggled to resist every step. I was fighting inside my head, but he was too strong. I surrendered, unable to fight any longer. I was certain all hope was lost, and then he called my name.

“Stop, Claudia!”

Hearing Michael’s voice triggered a sense of hope. I snapped out of the trance, but remained motionless. Aden’s hold grew stronger and more intense. Unable to turn even my head, I fought against his power. It felt like I was dreaming with my eyes open. No matter what I did, I could not wake up.

“Michael!” Aden yelled, sounding appalled. Aden spread his brilliant alabaster wings, lifting him just above the ground. He was the worst form of evil; a dark, soulless creature, undeserving of such beauty.

In an instant, Aden released his hold on me. I swiftly ran toward Michael. In my peripheral vision, I noticed Davin, Vivian, and Caleb. Although terrified, I was overwhelmed with relief to see them all again.

“Too bad your puppets were cut from your strings. We enjoyed sending your friends back to hell,” Davin said, as he crept closer to Aden.

Davin’s remarks infuriated Aden, triggering a strange phenomenon. His hair and wings that were so beautifully pure in their color turned jet-black. I was astonished to witness such a quick transformation. How was such a thing possible? It was surreal. He began elevating himself higher off the ground. You could almost feel his temples pulsating as the blood rushed through his veins, full of hatred and rage. He looked like he was about to explode out of his body.

“You’re outnumbered, Aden. Turn yourself in, or I will have no choice but to kill you. This is not my intention, but I will do what needs to be done,” Michael attempted to reason with him.

“You’re a fool to think this is over,” Aden replied.

Sure enough, it was too good to be true thinking it was over. Numerous fallen appeared out of thin air, surrounding Aden. They, too, made their swords magically appear in their hands. Immediately, I knew something was different about them. One looked directly at me, and I was taken aback when I noticed his eyes were completely black. From afar they looked like fallen, but bigger. Close up, they looked like the worst possible demons imaginable. Looking into their eyes sent chills through every part of me. It was like looking into a black hole and feeling like the more I looked, the further I would fall into their world. I was petrified.

“We have more company!” Caleb shouted, with a look of fear.

“Meet the newest members of my family!” Aden declared.

Vivian, Caleb, and Davin held their swords up and congregated in a circle with their backs facing each other. I hid behind Michael. Slowly, the fallen started edging toward them.

“What are they?” Davin asked, rocking back and forth, ready to defend himself.

“They’re not fallen. They are demons,” Michael answered, his voice betraying the alarm he was feeling.

“They look repulsive. Their eyes are completely black,” Caleb stated, grimacing.

“There are too many of them!” Davin shouted in panic.

“Not a problem. Come to mama, and I’ll show you what hell is really like,” Vivian taunted.

“Stay behind me,” Michael instructed, as his wings extended. Though his wings were blocking my view, they were also protecting me as I stood behind them.

Suddenly, I heard the loud metallic clangs from the swords, and I knew the demons had attacked. I looked up, and I was surrounded by sparks. The clashing of the blades was so powerful, it created a shower of fire. I froze from fright. As I drew in deep breaths, I felt excruciating pain on the palms of my hands. I hadn’t realized I had rolled my fingers into a ball, clenching so tightly that my fingernails dug into my skin. I released my fingers, knowing I would be safe as long as I was behind Michael, but that wasn’t enough. I needed to know that Michael and his friends, my friends, were safe too. Inching away little by little from my safety zone, I backed away until I had a clear vision of the room and knew exactly where everyone stood.

Michael turned to his right, facing several demons head-on. Raising his sword over his head, he placed it in a horizontal position as he swung his weapon, cutting off the demons’ heads. I gasped in horror at the sight of them being decapitated. Demons or not, it was repulsive to witness. Michael defended his own neck by swinging vertically. As the sword came down, he thrust it into the demon’s chest. In that split second, the demon burst into black ashes. Some of the ashes landed on my shoulder, and I quickly brushed them off in disgust.

More demons leaped toward Michael. He leaned to the right. One demon barely missed him on the shoulder as he sliced through a monitor instead. Bright golden sparks were shooting in all different directions, like fireworks. At that moment, Michael’s wings blocked the sparks from flying toward me. Swiftly Michael swirled his sword to his left and drove his weapon into the second demon’s chest. With a snarl, a nearby demon lunged toward him, and the tip of his sword barely nicked Michael in the chest. Michael gave him a look that could kill, spun around, blocked an incoming blow from his right, and jumped into the air. As he landed, his sword swung around, eliminating the demons surrounding him.

Vivian was now positioned adjacent to Michael. As a demon charged toward her, with a flick of her wrist, the swords were caught up in a circular motion. The demon’s sword went flying; slicing anything along its path, until it finally landed about twenty feet from them. His eyes wide with shock and full of fear, Vivian took the opportunity to drive the sword into his heart. Drawing the sword out, she pivoted to her right and blocked an attack by driving it straight up. She recoiled backward, barely missing a blow as her long hair fell across her face. She gracefully ducked, dodging a swing that came from behind. She flipped, positioned herself behind a demon, and thrust the sword into his back. Screeches of pain and defeat echoed all around.

Instantly, Davin was standing nearby, surrounded by demons. His sword swung from left to right, blocking, attacking, and slashing each of them. As more appeared, Davin dodged all the blows except for one small, unexpected swipe that cut him across his arm, knocking him down to land on top of a demon’s feet. As the demon gave a menacing smile, he positioned his sword to plunge directly into Davin’s chest, when Vivian knocked it out from behind.

“Take that, you worthless monster,” Davin shouted and gave Vivian a thankful smile as he flipped back up. He somersaulted and landed behind more demons. I couldn’t see what happened, but black ashes rained on the floor, and without a trace, they vanished.

“Ashes to ashes and dust to dust you shall become,” I heard Caleb say as the demons were executed.

Suddenly, without warning, Michael was surrounded by ten of them. He gently pushed me to the side. “Stay here under the desk.”

“Come and get me!” he shouted at them.

There were many of them swarming in full force. I was terrified, worried about Michael. My fingers dug deep into the floor as I took a peek. Michael’s wings were opened slightly, and when they came close enough, he opened all the way. His wings were like blades. He spun around, slicing one after the other until all ten lives were taken, leaving Michael in a tunnel of ashes. I couldn’t believe what I had just seen. As soft and delicate as his wings were, I would have never imagined that they could be used as a weapon. It was frightening and completely remarkable at the same time. Relief overcame me as I saw Michael standing there without a scratch.

Unexpectedly, the table that I was under disappeared. It was thrown at Michael from his blind spot, knocking him across the room. I stood alone, exposed and defenseless, as the demons edged toward me. Noticing a scalpel next to my feet, I quickly picked it up and waved it in front of them. Even though I knew I didn’t have a fighting chance, I had a burst of adrenaline. I noticed Michael standing; ready to bolt across the room in my direction. Before Michael could reach me, the demons collapsed. I blinked in surprise, the scalpel shaking violently in my hands. Then I saw Caleb, Vivian, and Davin standing right before me. In that moment I realized three things—the three of them had killed the demons standing before me, all the demons were eliminated, and all of my friends were safe. Not to mention that what had started as a storage room had now become unrecognizable. It was unbelievable!

Knowing this wasn’t completely over, I immediately turned to Aden. He was backing away with an intense glare in his eyes. All the demons had turned to ash, and he was left standing alone. Aden knew he was defeated; his eyes were boiling with anger.

Michael tenderly touched my cheeks, relieved that I was safe. He turned to Aden. “Can’t find enough fallen to do your dirty work, so you had to play with fire? Went down to see the devil himself? Are you crazy?” Michael’s voice was loud and angry. “You don’t have that kind of power anymore. Who helped you open the gates of Hell? What happens if they turn their backs on you? You will leave the humans defenseless against these uncontrollable demons!”

“I am your superior. You do not ask such questions!” Aden commanded and narrowed his eyes at me. “And you…” He pointed to me. “Too bad Lucy got in the way. You should have been there to protect her. It was too bad I had to go through her to get to you.” He smiled a cold, evil smile.

As he started talking about Gamma, I immediately reached for the bracelet she made me. It didn’t hit me at first. I thought Gamma’s stroke was due to her age, but it wasn’t. Aden had killed my Gamma.

Michael gently placed his hand on my back and said, “He is trying to get to you through your emotions. Don’t listen!” His touch and his words calmed me.

“Too bad she had to have a massive stroke. I enjoyed making her suffer.”

My fists were clenched tight. I could only imagine feeling the satisfaction of punching him, because there was no way I could get close enough to do what I wanted.

“It’s not true. They don’t feel any pain when they have a stroke, Claudia,” Davin spoke, walking toward me.

Under normal circumstances that might be true, but Gamma was an Earth angel. I couldn’t hold back any longer. “What did you do to her?” I shouted.

“Nothing much, just the usual torture. She wouldn’t give me the answer I wanted to hear, so I squeezed it out of her head. Such a pity. If only she had cooperated. She could have lived another twenty years,” he said, giving me that evil smirk.

“You are the devil!” I shouted angrily. “How could you?”

“It wasn’t difficult. She fought me with everything she had. She just didn’t have much strength since she had aged.”

While listening to him, my body burned with anger, like a wildfire blazing inside me. I felt like I was going to explode.

“Let it go, Claudia. His powers are weak, with the demons out of the way,” Michael said as he rested his hand on my back.

Then he focused his attention to Aden. “Aden, now I know why you need the fallen and the demons. Besides having them fight your battles for you, you feed on their evilness. You draw from their energy. You are truly pathetic, and yet you call yourself a leader.”

“Come with me, Michael,” Aden’s voice was deceptively sincere. “Better yet, why don’t all of you come with me?”

“Don’t waste your time. We’re not mindless, like your puppets,” Caleb said.

“Your time is up. Either you surrender, or I will kill you myself,” Michael ordered, slowly closing in on him.

Without a word, Aden started to laugh hysterically, and just as Michael plunged into him, Aden disappeared. His laughter resonated, sending chills prickling down my back. His swift, sudden disappearance had startled me and all I could do was stare at the empty space where he had just stood. Where had he disappeared to? It didn’t matter where, as long he was gone. I knew he would be back, and now I knew for sure the reason why. Even though I was extremely relieved that he was gone, my body started to shiver as my thoughts turned to Michael.

Michael was left standing where Aden had been, his shoulders slumped, empty-handed and anguished. The opportunity to eliminate Aden was in his hands, and just like that, it had vanished. Knowing he would blame Aden’s escape on himself, I needed to reassure him that it was not his fault.

“Michael,” I cried out softly with a raspy voice.

Immediately, he tilted his head and looked at me.

I was also debating whether or not to tell them what Gamma had said, when Michael grabbed me. “Are you all right?” he asked. He caught me as my knees buckled, and stopped me from falling to the floor.

“Yes, now that you are all safe,” I said, feeling relieved. My heartbeat finally steadied, along with the shivers. His hold was all I needed to calm me. I placed my head on his chest and let out a heavy sigh.

“I’m sorry. We would have been here earlier, but we were detained by other demons,” Michael said, apologetically.

“I know,” I said, as he continued to embrace me. “That explains why the demons disappeared while I was running away. I thought they were fallen. These demons, where do they come from?” I asked Michael.

“Demons, also known as evil spirits, were angels, followers of Lucifer, and some are children of fallen angels. They are disembodied spirits. They were sent to a spiritual prison called “Abyss.” Humans call it “Hell.” When they enter your world, these demons must occupy bodies of unbelievers. Their eyes turn black so that we can distinguish them. The only way they could be released is by a gatekeeper or by the Royal Council. How they escaped is unclear, but the answer lies with Aden. I do not know how he did it. The only thing that I could think of is that he must have found a fallen gatekeeper to do his dirty work. What puzzles me is that I can’t think of any fallen who was a gatekeeper.”

“Oh.” It was all I could say.

There was dead silence in the room until Davin spoke. “Well, we’re always happy to get rid of them for you.” Then he pulled me out of Michael’s grip. “Share a little,” he joked, giving me a tight squeeze.

I sucked in my breath from the tightness.

“Sorry,” Davin said, chuckling while releasing me. Then he became serious. “I’m just glad Aden disappeared instead of making us disappear.”

“Well, he didn’t have a chance. It would have been four against one,” Vivian answered back. “Since his powers were weakened, I think we could have taken him out. I believe he knew that as well, so he just disappeared.”

“That’s true. We were lucky that he was getting weaker with the demons out of the way. But what puzzles me is what he could possibly want with you, Claudia.” Davin looked at me with curious eyes.

I didn’t answer.

“There must be something else besides you crossing over to Halo City, because he wouldn’t go to this much trouble bringing the demons to Earth,” Vivian said. Then she turned her attention to Michael. “What do you think?”

“I don’t know. Let me think about this,” he said, brushing the question off as if it wasn’t important. “No more questions,” he demanded. “Claudia has had enough. We’ll talk later.”

The alkins didn’t ask me any more questions after that. Everyone had something to say, except for Caleb. I could tell Caleb’s thoughts were elsewhere. I ran to him and embraced him. He was as stiff as a board. “I…I…thanks,” he said, surprised as he leaned away from me.

I didn’t care, nor was I insulted by his action. He was here to help me, and I was grateful.

“Don’t mind Caleb. He isn’t used to it. I think physical affection was missing in his previous life on Earth,” Vivian spoke as she patted Caleb on the back. Caleb quickly looked down, feeling uncomfortable with Vivian’s words.

“You know nothing about my life on Earth, and none of us remember our past,” Caleb said as he stared into the space where Aden had been. Caleb turned and looked at us. “What made him turn so evil? I could only imagine that he was once a good angel, don’t you think? It must have been hard to avoid such temptations that were forbidden, only allowed for the humans. I think eventually, when you live among humans, you think and become like them. Look at us! We miss being here even though we can’t remember our past, whether it was pleasant or not. It’s the freedom to choose, to love, to live to the fullest, that we all hunger for.”

“Wow, Caleb! That was the most you’ve ever said,” Davin said jokingly, placing his hand on Caleb’s shoulder.

Smiling, Caleb pushed Davin a few feet from where he stood. “Shut up!” he said playfully. “You talk too much. Sometimes I have important things to say. I may not share what I’m thinking, but I think about many things.”

“We all think about “what ifs.” We wonder about our lives on Earth that we have no memories of,” Vivian responded.

Michael wasn’t paying attention to our conversation. He suddenly wrapped his wings around me as he was deep in thought, staring into the same space where Aden had stood. He looked worried. “Aden will be coming back with more fallen and demons. He’s just testing our limits. His army is growing,” Michael said, looking extremely concerned. He tilted his head toward the door, grabbed my hand, and said, “We should get going.”

About halfway out the door, I noticed Caleb standing in the middle of the room with his arms stretched out. The door behind us closed by itself, and Michael whispered into my ears, “He’s putting everything back, cleaning. We call him the sweeper.”

My eyes practically popped out. “I see,” I said, looking behind my shoulders only to hear soft noises. It was incredible to witness their powers: Davin, the gatekeeper, Vivian, the locator, Caleb the sweeper, and Michael, with multiple powers and more I had yet to witness. Michael was amazing just the way he was, and it didn’t matter if he had any powers at all.