The Divine Whisper

by Rebekah Daniels

  ******

  After getting the text saying he needed to go to the corner of Elm and Peck, Gemariah sped through the city to get there. His mind conjured so many scenarios to what he would find, from man and wife screaming at each other, all the way to helicopters and swat teams surrounding the area.

  Finally making it to the subdivision, he turned the corner to find nothing out of the ordinary, nothing except Gideon smoking a cigarette and leaning against the back of his car.

  Parking his truck in front of where Gideon was standing, he was a little more than irritated when he turned off the engine and swung himself out.

  “Took you long enough.”

  Gemariah bit the side of his tongue to prevent him from snapping back at his teammate, but couldn’t keep the bite and exasperation out of his voice when he spoke. “What the fuck is going on?”

  “There’s been some odd complaints about 4218.” Gideon jabbed his thumb over his shoulder to indicate a house that was up a ways from them.

  Trying to prevent himself from lunging after the man in front of him, Gemariah crossed his arms in front of his chest. Beyond irritated that his day had been ruined, he snarled, “So what, there’s been complaints all over this neighborhood.”

  Keeping up with his bored persona, Gideon flicked his cigarette into the street, and straightened to his full height. “Yeah, but none of them get tips that involve distributing drugs nationwide to kill off as many people as possible.”

  That got his attention. “How come it’s us handling it, and not the police?”

  “Is this, or is this not the area you were assigned to investigate?” At his curt nod, Gideon continued. “Then you need to get off your ass and fucking do some investigating. The tip came directly to us, and not through the police.”

  Now, Gemariah was more confused than ever. “What? How would anyone know to come to us?”

  “Because after I was put to oversee things here, while you played house, I put in a plant.” When Gemariah opened his mouth to argue, Gideon held up a hand to silence him. “No need to thank me. It’s just a lower level demon that wants more time here before being banished.”

  There were so many things wrong with what was just said, that Gemariah was shocked momentarily into silence. It didn’t last long, before he exploded. “What the fuck? You put a demon into my mission? That was not your call to make!”

  Unfazed by the outburst, Gideon spoke calmly when he said, “You haven’t been around, and I thought it would be beneficial.” He sneered in Gemariah’s direction, obviously liking the anger surrounding them. “Your buddy, our fearless leader, approved it. Take it up with him, if you have a problem.”

  “Damn straight, I will.” Taking a deep breath, he turned around to get a hold of his emotions. The last thing he needed was to get worked up before a mission. After a few moments, he felt more in control, and turned back around. He still couldn’t keep the sneer from his face when he looked back at Gideon. “How’d you even find a demon willing to help?”

  Gideon shrugged his shoulders. “You just have to know where to look. I got connections.”

  “Oh yeah? Family friend of yours? Maybe a long distance relative?”

  The fire that flared in Gideon’s eyes was unmistakable as he straightened and walked around to the side door of his car. “Listen, I’m not even going to pretend to like you. I think you’re a slacker that doesn’t take anything seriously, and this is the last place I needed to be today. Unfortunately, it’s not up to me. Malachi ordered me to help, so we’re stuck together.”

  He watched as Gideon removed his mambele, a nasty looking hooked blade, from its case, and placed it in his holder underneath his jacket. “Let’s just get this over with.”

  “Couldn’t agree with you more.”

  When they both just stood there in silence, Gemariah snapped, “Well, aren’t you going to inform me on the specifics?”

  “Oh yeah, I forgot that you don’t know shit, because you’ve been too busy watching over another screw up of yours.”

  Gemariah could feel the anger rising inside him, almost to an unbearable level. Inwardly seething, he stared back at Gideon, but kept quiet. The quicker they got things done, the quicker he could leave his present company.

  Obviously taking the hint, Gideon started to explain. “My source heard rumors about a drug operation going down at the house. Everyone supposedly involved has been extremely tight lipped, but apparently it’s not your run of the mill type of drug. It’s something bigger, something lethal.”

  Nodding in acknowledgment, Gemariah walked around to the side of his truck and opened the back door. After strapping a couple smaller knives to his belt, and putting a few throwing stars in the inside pocket of his jacket, he turned to ask Gideon, “And your guy thinks this would be in our area of expertise?”

  “Apparently… but who can trust a demon, right?”

  Without taking the bait, Gemariah reached in his truck, and grabbed his battleax. Not caring to hide it, he slipped the shaft through the holder at his hip, and let it hang there. The ax looked old and anyone could see that it had been through its fair share of battles. The wood handle was dirty, chipped, and carved in a few places from when he was bored in his youth. To the naked eye, it looked as if it were about ready to fall apart with one swing. What most didn’t know was that it was indestructible.

  The only thing that could be done to the ax, had to be by his own hand. It was made to last forever, and blessed by the almighty himself to eradicate as many demons as possible by sending them back to their hell. A gift given to him as a young boy, it was the best thing a young Norsemen warrior could have ever received.

  His life had been complicated before the Godsend Warriors had found him. From what he could remember, it had been so full of hate and animosity, but at times he vaguely remembered the warmth he felt around his mother. He couldn’t remember exact details, but he could remember that she had cared for him.

  Giving one last caress to the top of his ax, he directed his mind away from the memories, and stared at the house they were about to investigate. Nothing made it stand out amongst the others, but he guessed the idea was for a drug house not to not stand out.

  “Alright, fearless leader, what’s your plan?”

  Gemariah looked over at Gideon’s sardonic jab, and smiled. “We walk up to the front door and ask. What else?” Without looking back to see if Gideon followed, he started walking in the direction of the house.

  “So you’re just going to walk up and ask if they’re making drugs in the house?” Obviously, his company had decided to stay.

  “More or less.”

  “This should be interesting.”

  As they walked up to the door, Gemariah took in the potted plants hanging from the porch and the welcome mat at the front door. As he knocked on the door, he couldn’t help but think that he wouldn’t be surprised if Gideon’s source had it wrong.

  Once the door opened, he wasn’t so sure. After opening four inches, a frail looking woman peered out at them. Her drab blonde hair was matted and her skin was so pail that it appeared almost transparent. He couldn’t help but think of another little blonde he knew, but it was as if the one in front of him had lost all the fight in her. Her lip quivered when she asked, “Can I help you?”

  “How are you doing today, ma’am?” Gemariah smiled, and tried to put on a little charm to ease her nerves. The waves of fear were pouring off of her. It was so much so that he was getting light headed.

  “Fine.”

  He knew that she was anything but fine.

  Kids. They’re looking at us from around the corner.

  At Gideon’s projection, Gemariah slowly glanced up and over the woman’s head. Sure enough, there was a small boy peeking around the corner. Gideon said ‘kids’ though, and he only saw one. Just then, another little hand curl around the corner and a small wisp of golden hair appeared before both kids were gone.

  “Don’t let him see you,” he heard whi
spered from the voice of a young boy.

  After a small argument between the two children, a boy and a girl from what he could make out, he found out that their father and his friends were in the basement, and they were supposed to be quiet, or else.

  By the stiffening of Gideon’s shoulders, he knew that he had heard as well.

  The woman was still standing there expectantly, therefore the kids’ revealing conversation was not known to her.

  Gemariah brought his attention back to the woman, and smiled softly once again. “There’s been complaints’ coming in about this house.” Looking over her head once again, he tried to see anything unusual.

  “I don’t know why. We’re a very quiet family.” He looked down when she spoke and saw the moment she noticed his ax. Her eyes widened, and she took a step back. “I think you need to go.” She tried to swing the door shut, but he put his hand out to stop it.

  “It’s alright. Don’t be frightened.” When he reached out to touch her, she automatically flinched away.

  “You need to leave! Now!” When she went to slam the door again, he didn’t stop her.

  Gideon turned to him and sneered as they heard the locks click into place. “Smooth. Real smooth.”

  “Oh shut it! At least we know more, than when we came here today.”

  “Really? What do we know that will help us; the fact that a terrified woman opened the door to two armed men much larger than her?” Gideon glanced down knowingly at Gemariah’s very visible ax. “Newsflash. Anyone in her position would have felt just like her. That’s nothing new for us.”

  It was true, but something still didn’t feel right to him. Something was off at the house, and he wasn’t leaving till he found out what it was.

  He was lost in his own thoughts of what else to try. It was why he wasn’t paying more attention, and it was exactly the reason why there was no warning. There was a loud pop, and his chest felt like it was on fire.

  The impact made him stumble backwards, and he instinctively covered his chest with his hand. When he felt something warm underneath, he looked down to see the blood pooling out. It was then realization hit… he had been shot.

  Quickly looking over to Gideon, Gemariah saw him weave to the right, and nearly missed a bullet to the head. What the hell?

  They were being fired at from one of the front windows, so he dove inside the cover of the front bushes to by himself some time. Cringing at the pain, he leaned his back against the house and looked down at his chest. He had to control the bleeding, or the blood loss would make him slow and sluggish, and it was definitely a situation where he needed to be at his best.

  Sudden movement made him pull a knife free from his belt, and hold it up defensively. When he realized that it was just Gideon, he leaned back onto the house, and lowered the hand holding the blade.

  “How bad is it?”

  “Gotta… get the… bullet out.” Gemariah was having a hard time talking through the pain. “Won’t… heal.”

  “Alright, give me your knife.” Gideon held out his hand expectantly.

  Gemariah’s grip tightened on his knife, and he glared at Gideon. “Yeah, that will be the day.”

  He reached up, and pulled to make the bullet hole bigger in his shirt. Taking a deep breath, he gritted his teeth and put two fingers inside the whole in his chest to feel for the bullet.

  After a minute with no luck, he removed his fingers and slouched back onto the house. He took a few seconds to relax before taking a deep breath and trying again. Except before his hand made it to his chest, Gideon hit it away.

  “This is fucking ridiculous! If I wanted to kill you, I would have done it a long time ago. Now, we have a small window of opportunity before they come looking for us. Personally, I would rather go find them, before they find us.” Taking a small knife from his belt, Gideon positioned it over the wound. “Brace yourself. This is going to hurt.”

  Tensing up, Gemariah put his head back, and waited. When initial contact was made, it was all he could do to not yell through the pain. He didn’t see what was being done, but he felt everything.

  “Shit, you’re damn lucky.”

  At Gideon’s words, curiosity got the better of him, and he looked down. Gideon was crouched in front of him, peering inside his chest. The knife he was holding was inside the hole, and pressed to the side to hold the wound open while he was digging with his other hand. Gideon’s previous statement came back to him, and he would have laughed, if he thought he could without wanting to scream. “Lucky?”

  “Yeah, the bullet got lodged in your sternum. If it would have passed through your rib cage, healing would have been more difficult, and the wound would have been a lot more painful.”

  Gideon started to dig some more, and Gemariah shut his eyes to the flashes of white that had started. “Yeah… more painful,” he managed to get out through gritted teeth.”

  “Shit. It’s stuck pretty well.” Sighing in obvious frustration, Gideon removed the knife, and sat back. He frowned and eyed the wound like it was a longtime enemy of his. “Dammit!” Coming to some sort of a conclusion, he sat forward and placed his hand over the wound.

  Almost instantly, Gemariah felt something strange. It was as if a force was making his chest rise. A split second later, there was a small cracking noise, and he felt something pass through the many layers of his body till it reached the surface. It had to be the oddest thing, to date, that he ever felt.

  Holding up the smashed bullet, Gideon showed it to him before he dropped it to the ground. It was then that he knew what had happened. Gideon had used his telekinesis to remove the bullet.

  Starring at the slug that was freshly removed from his chest, Gemariah tried to catch his breath. It wasn’t until he saw a small glow out the corner of his eye that he dragged his gaze away. When he looked over, he saw that Gideon was trying to heal him. Knocking his hands away, Gemariah scowled. “What do you think you’re doing?”

  “What does it look like?” Gideon jerked his head in the direction of the house. “You’re not going to be of any use to me in there if you have a huge hole in your chest. I was just trying to shrink it a little.”

  And shrink it, he had, but Gemariah never felt comfortable enough to willingly let someone heal him. Just the thought of someone locking into his spirit felt too intrusive. That was why he always forewent the healing and did it on his own. Gideon knew that, and it raised his ire even more to know that he didn’t care. “Well, I’m fine now. Thanks, but don’t fucking do that again.” Rotating his shoulders to release some of the tension, Gemariah winced at the pain. Looking down, he saw the still open wound on his chest.

  If Malachi had been there… well, if Malachi had been there, there would still of been a gaping hole, because he never would have used his ability to heal without permission. But if Gemariah would have given consent, the skin would have looked as if nothing had happened. Everyone had a small amount of healing ability, but no one could match Malachi’s power.

  He swooped his hand down to pick up the bullet and pocketed it, before doing a weapons check.

  Satisfied that everything was in order, he sharpened his senses to stretch inside and out of the house. “From what I can tell, there’s a small group that has convened upstairs.” Swallowing, he shut his eyes and pushed his ability even farther by trying to read the emotions of everyone in the house and where they were coming from. “Three people are terrified. I’m assuming that’s the mother and children. They’re surrounded by a hostile group of people not far from the front door.” After a slight pause, he nodded his head, and brought his focus back to Gideon. “Three people are downstairs and calm. The layout to all the houses is almost all identical, and most have an entrance to the basement around back. I believe our best bet is to go around, and make it in that way.”

  Nodding his agreement, Gideon pivoted around. Staying low and close to the house, he made his way around the side and away from the front door. Gemariah followed, a little slower, but just
as stealthy.

  When they reached the six foot high fence surrounding the backyard, jumping and pushing themselves over was an easy task as any. Silently landing on the ground below, they quickly took in their surroundings.

  Is that what I think it is?

  Gemariah looked to the leafy plants surrounding the back yard that Gideon pointed out. “Shit,” he whispered. Sure enough…

  Ricinus communis.

  Also known as, castor plants. The plants were good for keeping the garden pests away, but with that many, plus the rumors about the house, Gemariah had a pretty good idea what they were going to find inside… Ricin.

  Giving Gideon the signal to silently head towards the back door, Gemariah followed in his wake. As he moved, he kept his attention focused on the different emotions inside the house.

  Once they got to the back door, both had their backs against the wall, and were facing the yard.

  How many, and where at?

  That was the thing when working with someone for so long, whether you liked them or not. With a statement anyone else would have been confused over, Gemariah knew exactly what Gideon was asking.

  Closing his eyes, Gemariah tuned out the sounds around him, the pain in his chest, and sharpened his focus to inside the house.

  Three down here, five hostiles and three innocents upstairs.

  Gideon turned to face Gemariah with determination on his face.

  Okay, we go in, take care of the three down here quickly and quietly, and then move to the ones upstairs.

  That was it. Gemariah was not here to take orders, especially from him, but after a moment’s thought, he realized that Gideon’s plan wasn’t half bad.

  Fine! But we spare whatever lives we can.

  Gideon looked as if he was about to argue, but instead, looked away and nodded.

  First, Gemariah silently checked the handle to see if it was locked. When he found that it was, he knew that they would be breaking down the door. Double checking that all his weapons were in place, Gemariah steeled himself for hostile confrontation.

  One… Two… Three!

  They both turned, but it was Gemariah who kicked in the door. Gideon followed behind, as they made it into the basement. What they saw brought them up short. It was no amateur setup they were dealing with, but one with high tech equipment and lab like tables.