The Damned and The Pure Series: Books 1-4 (The Damned and The Pure Series Box Set)

by J. D. Stonebridge

  “The news…” David muttered. He rubbed his eyes and continued. “On TV. They’re always talking about it too. Lots of speculation. A lot of people on the internet are saying it might be aliens, considering the location. Of course, there are those who are crazy enough to believe that it’s the sign of the apocalypse which is actually sort of true.”

  “It’s been really bad in the major cities,” Mikaela added. “A lot of the homeless are crying out that they should repent for their sins, it’s the end of the world, all that. Of course, there are those skeptics that choose to turn a blind eye but that was before the monsters started to appear.”

  “Monsters?” Caelum repeated as he dug into the pancakes.

  “Yup.” Mikaela confirmed. “You know how monsters have been hiding for centuries from humans? Well, now that the world is going straight off the cliff, they decided it’s open season and came out of their caves.”

  “So they’re attacking people out in the open?” Jenny asked.

  “Attacking, controlling, spreading their wisdom,” Mikaela added. “A lot of them have this idea that because they are more physically powerful, they can protect the world and stop the apocalypse. And because of that, humans should be submissive to them.”

  “And here I thought we were past that human sacrifice thing,” David muttered.

  “That is terrible,” Ariel commented.

  “Desperate times attract desperate people,” Caelum said, wincing as he did so. The others around him noticed his tone and all eyes fell on him. He did not notice, however, as he stared at the plate in front of him. His vision was blurring, and his head felt as if it was swaying side to side.

  “Are you alright?” Ariel placed a hand on his shoulder.

  “Um, Jenny?” David said. “What did you put in his pancakes?”

  “W-what? I just added blueberries!” Jenny defended. Then, her brown eyes grew wide. “Unless… don’t tell me you’re allergic to berries?”

  “It’s not that,” Mikaela answered. She rose from her seat and walked to Caelum. Her green eyes stared into his, and Caelum could not even focus enough to make a snarky remark about it. Great, being human stole all of my abilities.

  “Can you see it as well, Mikaela?” Ariel asked.

  “Sure can,” Mikaela answered without removing her gaze from Caelum.

  “Will you please not talk about me as if I’m not here?” Caelum said, annoyed. “I feel like a lab rat being poked on.”

  “Well, you’re not just my lab rat. You’re also my most successful experiment,” Mikaela said. She leaned back and crossed her arms over her chest. “But if you must know, what we can see is that your soul is very weak.” She looked at Jenny and David then added, “Compared to these two, your soul is incredibly weak, even for a mortal.”

  “Please tell me, this is the part where you tell me the good news,” Caelum said.

  “The good news is that I’ve discovered how to return the soul to the body. But there’s bad news too. Only a part of the soul is returned. Therefore, you’re weaker than you’d normally be.”

  “A part of my soul?” Caelum asked, bewildered.

  “Well, I couldn’t really infuse your entire soul into that pendant while you were still using your body, could I?” Mikaela defended. “I was hoping the soul would attach itself to your body and grow in due time. But as far as I see right now, I think it’s gotten even weaker.”

  “Is there a way for you to fix it?”

  “I really can’t say,” Mikaela admitted. “I can try, though. I was able to split apart your soul and place it in the pendant with the hellfire. Of course, the fire was able to keep the soul alive despite it being in an inanimate object. The hellfire also purified it and rid it of the demonic energy. I wonder what is wrong…”

  Everyone fell silent as if allowing Mikaela to think. She held her chin between her thumb and fingers, staring absently at Caelum while she mumbled a few things to herself. Caelum had mixed feelings of awkwardness and irritation at his current state but chose not to antagonize the witch, lest he angers the one who was trying to fix him.

  “How did you die?” David blurted out, shocking even himself for speaking. He smiled nervously. “D-did I say that out loud?”

  “Hold on, you may be going somewhere there,” Mikaela said.

  David replied, “I am?”

  Mikaela turned back to Caelum and Ariel then asked, “There’s a possibility that whatever injured you affected you in some way I didn’t predict.”

  “Well, I hope you at least predicted that I could have died by the hands of the archangel, since I was crashing his private party.”

  “His sword,” Ariel chimed in. “I am not familiar with the sword Lucifer used against you. It came out from the flames in his cave, but I am certain Lucifer did not wield a broad sword before.”

  “So, is it some sort of holy sword?” Jenny asked.

  “Perhaps. In the middle of his cage, Lucifer had a blazing blue fire that he often sat in front of. The sword came from that fire,” Ariel explained.

  “Blue fire,” Mikaela repeated. “I wonder…”

  “Speaking of our feathered friends, have you received word from the people upstairs?” Caelum asked.

  “Huh?” Mikaela snapped up from her thoughts. “You mean Heaven? No, I haven’t. There have been no sightings of angels since the light in Nevada. Not that I’m surprised though. As far as we can all tell, the big angel from Hell is back up there.”

  Ariel agreed. “It would be chaotic in Heaven at the moment. As much as I wish not to believe it, the other archangels will welcome him back while all others will be wary of his return.” Then, she added in a softer voice, “For the first time, I am glad I am not home to witness the struggles of my brothers and sisters.”

  “What are they planning, though?” David asked. “Now that Lucifer’s up there, what happens next?”

  “War in Heaven?” Jenny offered. “I’m guessing that’s bad news for all of us.”

  “Chaos is not the only thing they wish to accomplish,” Caelum suggested. “They have a different motive in mind, I’m certain of that.”

  “But what?” Mikaela asked.

  “To succeed God,” Ariel remembered. Her eyes were wide, and her voice cracked as she spoke further. “Lucifer said something about how he will succeed God. Though I am not certain what he meant by it.”

  “Succeed God? Like, overcome him?” David asked. “Is that even possible?”

  Mikaela turned to David, her eyes serious. She looked to him then to Jenny. Before she could say what she had in mind, David already guessed it. “Time to hit the books again.”

  The four corners of the family archives had been the hiding place of the Tenney siblings for quite some time. Since David had returned from the tunnel that hid the monsters employed by the Angel of Death herself, he and his sister had read an unfathomable number of books that normally only collected dust and mold.

  The task had been daunting enough that this time, David had taken a cooler from the storage area into the archives bearing sodas and candies to keep themselves awake. He had also equipped himself with a spare iPod to keep himself from dozing off, having learned his lesson when Jenny made a habit of hitting him when he shut his eyes for more than a couple of minutes. Mumford and Sons blared against his eardrums, singing about rage and sadness.

  Where was my fault

  In loving you with my whole heart?

  He mouthed the words and couldn’t help but remember Azrael’s revelation to him about Lucifer and his love for humans that ended with his punishment. Was it really such a crime? he found himself asking, then shook away the thought. God certainly had a reason.

  "Hey, David." Jenny cut his thoughts. He looked up and was surprised to see such worry in her eyes. Jenny had her eyes cast down, her lips pursed into a frown and her brows pulled together. Before he could ask his sister what was wrong, Jenny spoke again. "Do you think Mom and Dad are okay?"

  The question hit h
im. With all the events that had happened, David hadn't given his parents much thought. Sure, when he had the moment to take his mind away from all the thoughts of the impending apocalypse, he allowed himself a moment to think of the people he cared about who weren’t present in the house right now. But his continued research kept his mind focused and off of them. Now, with his sister’s question and the fear in her eyes, he wondered too.

  When he’d arrived at the house a few days ago, their parents had been gone on a trip to Texas to investigate something David didn’t want to hear about when Jenny mentioned it. Jenny had phoned them that same day and was told they would return soon. But after that phone call, they hadn’t heard a word from them. Jenny had tried to call them numerous times but only got the operator saying the other line was out of area. David hadn’t thought much of it before as it was a normal scenario when their parents were out on their studious adventures. David had grown up learning that and learning how to fend for himself and for his little sister. But when one knew the world might be heading straight into the pit, fear and worry was a common thing.

  “I- I’m sure they're fine,” David stammered, massaging the back of his neck. “Maybe they caught a whiff of what was happening and are investigating it as we speak.”

  “Without answering my calls?” Jenny asked, raising a brow.

  The older of the siblings sighed. Jenny’s concern was creeping into his mind. “We really can’t do anything about them right now, Jen,” David said mournfully. “At least, let’s do what we can for the rest of the world.”

  Jenny lowered her eyes to the book in her hand. David could see the tears that were brimming in the corners of her eyes, but before they fell, the younger one blinked them away. “I guess…”

  “I hope I’m not interrupting anything.” Mikaela hovered at the threshold, her hair tied up in a messy ponytail like how she often wore it when she was about to work on something.

  “Oh, no, no. We were just… talking,” David said.

  “I can see that,” Mikaela commented as she walked past them. She went for the bookcase to David’s right and began to scan it.

  David followed the witch, and he remembered how he thought Mikaela seemed familiar to him. He felt a strange attraction to her, but he wasn't the type who was too easy to pique the interest of before, much less about things such as romance. He felt his face warm up at the thought of the word. What am I thinking? And at a time like this! he scolded himself. He took a glance at his sister and was thankful that Jenny had buried herself in the book she was reading, her expression clearly stating her desire to be left alone.

  He never had a chance to be alone with Mikaela to ask her if they had met before, nor did he feel confident if he could even bring up the topic. He shook his head, ridding himself of the questions and instead, asked her, “What are you looking for?”

  “That necromancy book I read before,” Mikaela said. She plucked one book from the collection and moved to the table. “I want to see if I can find something for him.”

  “For Caelum?”

  “No, for Santa Claus,” Mikaela said with a stoic face. She looked around and noticed the room had changed. “You moved the table?”

  “Ah, yeah,” David said, pointing at the red cooler next to him. “To make way for this guy. Want some? We got juice, soda, and candy.”

  Mikaela looked from the cooler to David and shook her head. She took a seat at the table. As she pulled herself closer to the table, the heel of her boot nudged something. The witch bent to take a peek under the table and found one of the tiles of the floor discolored, lighter than the rest. She tapped the heel against the tile and heard a thud echo from underneath.

  “That’s an escape hatch,” David answered her unspoken question. “In case of emergency.”

  Mikaela’s green eyes bore through him, deep in thought. “Huh. I should have expected this, seeing that your bloodline has known the world is in Hell since the dawn of time.”

  In the hellish labyrinth below the tower of the queen, a demonic soul fought through the clutches of the monsters within. It saw the light through which the archangel soared up and saw the mass of human souls ridding themselves from the fire, escaping to the land above.

  I escaped long before you. I am powerful. I deserve to be free!

  With its focus on the swirling darkness where the souls swarmed, the shadow of a demon climbed up from the nightmare it had endured for years.

  His kingdom is falling. Now is my chance!

  The monsters imprisoned in the labyrinth were weaker than they had ever been. Their claws barely hurt it now, and their poisonous fangs were no more than an itch from its cold soul. It was the right moment, and the demon shadow would not miss it.

  Like a ball of smoke, the dark soul rose up from the labyrinth and crawled to the mass of souls. The snapping sound of the canine’s jaw alarmed it, but it was powerful enough to pass through the three-headed beast before.

  Cowardice will not take me to my goal.

  It found its way to the mass, blending itself amongst the souls that had been freed prematurely. They were all weaker than it was, and their weakness allowed it to consume them. It ate the souls that touched it, gaining strength as it rose with them to the land above. The climb was tiring and long, but the moment the bright light touched its skin, the formless demonic soul knew it was all worth it.

  I am powerful. I am free!

  But to walk the foreign land of the mortals bearing no physical form was a disadvantage to someone so powerful. It was not able to pass through the labyrinth before the kingdom fell so its only option was to steal the form of another. And so it shall.

  Chapter Two: A Hellish Power

  A wave of chaotic energy was all around the wingless angel. Many had drastically changed since her release from her cage in Heaven, and the previous her would never have believed she would be standing where she was at that moment. She loved a mortal who had been turned into a demon for the sake of releasing the archangel, Lucifer. Her wings were burned in the flames of Hell to escape the cage so she could carry the demon’s lifeless body only to find him reborn into a mortal through a witch’s help. Now, she was hiding from all of Heaven and Hell with the same demon-turned-mortal, his witch daughter, and two other mortals from a sacred bloodline.

  Too much has changed over a short period of time, Ariel thought, yet she was thankful that she was no longer the single-minded angel who turned a blind eye, wishing to see nothing that would test her closed mind. She had been so faithful to those she thought had spared her life out of kindness only to discover that her life being saved and her release were all part of a scheme to destroy the others that she cherished. Ariel hadn’t lost her faith, however. She’d only learned where to put it better.

  And I will fight to protect those who truly deserve it, she promised herself, looking back to the bedroom behind her where Caelum slept soundly. It had taken effort to convince him to rest his new body, knowing that his soul was on the verge of losing its energy. But he’d succumbed to the weakness he felt and allowed himself to rest. His peaceful face brought serenity to the angel, and Ariel smiled.

  But the sweet peace in the angel’s world was soon shattered by a cold feeling in her spine. Ariel turned back to the balcony overlooking the forest that surrounded the home. She could not see any activity through the leaves, but she felt it. Her heart leaped in her chest and she ran to shake Caelum awake.

  The man groaned as he was forced out of his slumber. He eyed the angel begrudgingly and with much sarcasm, asked, “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

  “I sense a demon nearby.” The simple sentence from her lips sent adrenaline through his veins and had him rousing from his bed. In one second, their days of safety were interrupted by the presence of a visitor from Hell.

  An ominous presence hid in the shadows of the woods. Even the witch, Mikaela, could sense the demonic power of the visitor as she and the rest of the residents of the Tenney home spilled out the front door. T
hey scanned the place for a silhouette of the potential enemy, but none could see its form yet. The chill in the air and the darkening of the forest, though, were enough to convince them of the presence of an unwanted visitor.

  “How did they find us?” Mikaela asked, mostly to herself.

  “I don’t know, but I’d rather focus on how to get rid of it,” Caelum replied, stepping to the edge of the porch to get a better look. He felt his heart hammering against his chest, but he bit down on the growing fear.

  “Stay back, Caelum,” Ariel advised. “Please be reminded that you are now mortal.”

  Caelum’s hazel eyes slid to look at the angel, a pout on his lips. He knew she meant well, but that thought made it worse on his ego. He muttered under his breath, “I may be mortal, but I can still stand my ground.”

  The leaves of a tree shuddered, startling the two mortals behind them as nothing had touched the tree. “The house is protected with a seal,” David reminded them. “Wards off anything uninvited.”

  A hiss came with the wind from the forest. Without warning, a black ball of smoke shot out from the forest, slamming against an invisible shield and bouncing back off. All eyes stared at the thing as it hovered, swirling with dark purplish mist.

  “A soul?” Mikaela called it.

  “A demonic soul,” Ariel corrected her, her blue eyes narrowed into slits as she watched the soul pace around the barrier. Something was different about the way it moved and the power within it. It was a strange sight to see a demonic soul without a physical form, and Ariel knew it shouldn’t have been able to reach the mortal land in that condition. What is happening to the worlds? she found herself asking, her eyes looking to the sky above her head for a split moment.

  “That’s impossible,” Caelum uttered. “How can a soul escape from Hell without a form?”

  “It can’t get through the barrier, can it?” Jenny asked, scared.

  As if to answer her question, the soul reeled back and slammed itself against the barrier again, creating a reverberation that startled them all. It made no progress, however. It seemed that it was not going to give up. Ariel’s eyes widened as the smoke around the soul swirled, growing thicker and stronger.