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

by J. D. Stonebridge

  Taking slow steps as to not startle the man, Caelum studied the man’s behavior before he reached him. Who could possibly be here at such an unforgiving hour? His curiosity was piqued, and he watched the man fidget and glance at the sky every other second.

  When he was close enough to be within earshot, but not enough to be attacked suddenly, Caelum spoke to the man. “This is a restricted area, if you don’t know that already. What is your purpose here?”

  His query startled the man who jumped at the sound of his voice and turned to him. The strange man was wide-eyed as he scanned Caelum from head to toe. He seemed to be middle-aged and of foreign descent. Mexican, perhaps? Caelum considered. There was something odd about how he looked at Caelum. It was as if he were seeing another human being for the first time. “Wh- who are you?”

  “I believe I asked a question first,” Caelum reminded him.

  “I- I don’t—” The stranger stuttered, his fingers vigorously tapping at the side of his leg. “I don’t have to tell you anything.” He turned to leave.

  “But you must.” Caelum stopped the man. “Otherwise I can have you arrested for trespassing in a restricted area.”

  “Arrested?” The man turned to Caelum again, giving him another scan with his eyes. His expression suggested he wasn’t impressed by a man in a casual jacket over a dark blue sweater and denim pants.

  “I am undercover,” Caelum quickly claimed.

  “Undercover?” The man laughed. “For whom?” He spread his palm out to the open fields.

  “Well, we are expecting a terrorist infiltration any time, given the recent events,” Caelum began. “I am posing as a civilian trespassing on government property, available to be held hostage by these people which would allow me access to their hideout.” Then, he gestured to the man. “Will you now show me some identification to relieve you of suspicion?”

  “I— Ah…” The man trailed off again. He looked at something over Caelum’s shoulder, and a look of fright appeared in his eyes. Caelum followed the man’s stare, only to find that the man was looking directly at Daniel.

  But… mortals shouldn’t be able to see angels, unless they allow themselves to be seen. Caelum watched Daniel intently, seeing that the angel was not even paying close attention to them. Daniel wouldn’t— He turned to the man again only to see that he was fleeing.

  “What— Wait!” Caelum chased after the man. It took him no more than a few long strides to catch the man by the arm. “Hey, tell me who you are right now,” he demanded, but the man didn’t seem to be listening to him.

  “Something must have gone wrong…” the man blabbered. “He should have returned by now. ‘When Light is in Darkness, and the Damned gain Salvation, welcome me home.’ But where is He?” The man continued to mutter to himself without giving Caelum even a wink of attention.

  “What are you talking about?” Caelum eyed the man warily. The man looked up to him with dark eyes and gazed into his. Fear, confusion and doubt were all present in the man’s expression, and a sense of empathy came to Caelum. But the moment the man swatted his hand away and began to run again, the empathy became annoyance.

  “Hey!” Caelum ran after the man again. The strange man paused after gaining a certain distance from him and assumed a position. His arms were crossed over his chest with his fists balled tight, his head hung low, and his eyes closed. Then, there was the light that radiated from the man’s skin. Caelum paused at the sight of him, wondering what was happening.

  When the light glowed brighter, however, a sense of urgency washed over him. Caelum leaped forward, covering the distance between himself and the man in one stride. He reached out to him. His palm landed on the man’s shoulder, and suddenly, something sparked under his palm.

  Chapter Eleven: Riddles for Angels

  Out of breath and with sore feet, David and Jenny emerged through a set of bushes in a small neighborhood, miles from their house. David checked on his sister as he dusted himself, wincing at the pain in his ankle. “Are you okay?”

  Jenny nodded, wiping her forehead. “I'm good, I think.”

  They had run through the foliage after emerging from the tunnel that had saved their lives from the attack. When they reached the land above, they witnessed the roaring fire, and they turned their backs on their home. For hours, they’d struggled to find their way through the forest, resting after securing a good distance. Now, they’d arrived in the quiet neighborhood and had no time to mourn for their loss or to celebrate their survival.

  David palmed his pockets for his phone. “Good.” He sighed. He switched the phone on and a picture of strange writings was on the display. “It’s all we got, now what?”

  Jenny took a glance at the picture. “If someone else knows anything about this, it’s definitely Mom or Dad.” She recapped the situation and sighed in disbelief. “I don’t know how we are going to find them though, especially with all the things happening right now.”

  David pursed his lips. “I know a way.” His eyes spotted a man in a loose sweater with a bag slung around his shoulders, jogging off towards the corner of the street. He shouted, “Hey! Hey buddy!”

  The man stopped and said, “Yo, dude, you look beat.”

  “Hey,” David greeted again. “Sorry, we need to borrow your laptop.”

  Jenny’s eyes blinked in wonder. “How do you know this guy has a laptop?”

  David waved his hand at her. “Trust me, I know a fellow geek’s style when I see one.”

  The man nudged his bag to his back. “Hey man, I ain’t letting you borrow nothing. Nothing personal.”

  With that said, David dug into his pocket. “I know, I know, you heard the big explosion earlier right?”

  The man squinted. “You dudes from that explosion?”

  David found his wallet and flashed it open, revealing an ID with the words ‘Agent David Tenney’ in big font. “Yeah! I mean, yes. My name is Agent David, and this is my associate, Agent Jenny. We were in an undercover investigation regarding a string of terrorist attacks. But we were ambushed and now we need to call in reinforcements." He pocketed his ID before the man could give it another look.

  The man eyed Jenny curiously. "You're an agent?"

  "Look, I don't have time to explain our training programs to you." David was quick with his lies. "We need your help to protect this country from the terrorist attack that began in Area 51!”

  The man gaped at them. “Y’all assigned to that big ball of light all over the internet?”

  Jenny flashed a look of desperation at the man, and in less than a second, the man unzipped his bag and took out a laptop.

  David’s eyes shone at the device. “Seriously?! You own Alienware?! You’re awesome, man!”

  The man showed his very white teeth. “Nothing but the best! Just don't break it, though.”

  David took the laptop and opened it as he took a seat on the curb. Jenny placed her hand on the man’s shoulder. “Thank you. You’re doing a great service to mankind.”

  Jenny asked the man to give David a bit of space, and he complied obediently. The man leaned on a nearby fence and watched David pecking away at the keyboard. Jenny toddled towards David and whispered, “Agent David? Really? What the heck was on that ID?”

  David’s fingers clacked on the keyboard. “My official membership ID to the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Organization.”

  Jenny giggled. “Oh my god. My brother is a nerd.”

  “It’s an official organization! We’re recruited for the research and development of array decoders. And further—” A loud tap on the keyboard followed David’s outburst.

  A beep alerted David and both of them glued their eyes on the program David was accessing. “Okay, good.” David sighed, nodding to the house behind them. "I managed to connect to this house’s Wi-Fi.”

  Jenny’s jaw slacked in disbelief. “First the ID, now hacking into someone's Wi-Fi?”

  Jenny watched him work a program that changed the laptop’s wallpaper into a pict
ure of the Justice League. “Seriously, Dave, do you even have to do that?”

  David waved his hand at her, obviously annoyed. “No! I accessed my computer at home! Let me concentrate!”

  Jenny found herself leaning against the fence with the man who seemed as entertained as she was. Before long, David shouted, “Pinged! I found Mom!”

  Jenny ran to him. “Wait, really? You found them that fast?”

  David stood up and showed an image of a map with an arrow pointing to Alabama and slowly ticking towards Louisiana. “Mom was here less than eight hours ago.”

  “That’s amazing!” Jenny cheered. “Wait, Dave, I know a bit about tracking people, and that takes time.”

  David averted his face from her peering eyes. “Well, I have occasionally checked your locations. Just so I can avoid you guys."

  Jenny looked at David’s bashful expression. You still care.

  “But Alabama is at least a day’s drive. Also, my car is totaled…” Then he looked down at his right bare foot. And I'm not walking all the way there with one shoe. David cursed the heavens for his luck.

  An angel statue hovered over them as Mikaela set the items she needed on the altar. Ariel, who stood near the pews of the church where they’d taken shelter, had taken them to the nearest safe location she could think of to escape Lilith’s hands. The church was only a few miles away from the house, but it was a strange location that she doubted the demon would risk going to.

  “And the very odd secret ingredient to finding out where they are...” Mikaela announced, procuring the shoe she’d found in the tunnel.

  The angel watched as Mikaela held David’s shoe and took out a small crystal trinket from her pouch. Mikaela closed her eyes and placed the shoe on the marble altar where a priest would usually start reenacting the last supper rites. Ariel watched her hum and murmur, waving the crystal around the shoe. She was familiar with this concept called scrying which was to use a crystal’s focusing ability to let their spirit resonate with another in an attempt to peer into their fates. The shoe started to float, energies of the owner radiating from it while the crystal began to glow. Ariel could almost feel Mikaela’s soul dissipate to become one with the earth. Astral projection, Ariel thought to herself. After a few seconds, Mikaela’s hands went limp, the shoe falling back to the altar.

  “Yes! I found them!” Mikaela jumped, sighing in relief. “They’re not very far from here, they seem unharmed.” She remembered David talking about the escape hatch and was thankful that they’d managed to use it.

  “Ariel,” she called, moving around the altar to face the angel. “Could you take me to this area?”

  Mikaela’s hand landed on the angel’s arm and for a split second, images of David and Jenny flashed into her head.

  Ariel gave a firm nod and grabbed onto Mikaela’s shoulders. Mikaela suddenly felt herself become weightless and opened her eyes. For a fleeting moment, she saw herself bathed in light with Ariel holding her by the shoulders. Ariel didn’t look like her human form, though. Instead, she looked like a creature made of light with a human face. She felt her weight coming back, and the light dissolved. Ariel was back to her human form, and their weight shifted through dimensions until they found the opening to the right location.

  While the rest of the neighborhood began to wake from their slumber, the man leaned on the fence bobbing his head in sync to the tune that echoed from his earphones. He watched the two agents use his laptop and amused himself with the idea. He hummed to himself wondering what kind of agents they were. He had to admit that he had doubts about them even with Agent David’s dedication. He shrugged and pushed himself off the fence.

  “Hey, uhh, Agent David?” he called, making the two agents look towards him. “Can I see that ID again? Cause, you know, official business and all.”

  The siblings slowly met each other’s eyes. David’s eyes widened. Jenny got the message as “I’m out of ideas!”

  Jenny frowned and looked up, which David translated as, “I'm thinking!”

  The man neared, a gleeful grin on his face. David had no choice but to pretend to be digging for his wallet again. “Sure! Give me a second, will you?”

  Three seconds passed, and the man lost his grin. “Yo, ID, please.”

  David took out his wallet and opened it very slowly in front of the man. “Yeah, I’m Agent David from Sh—”

  “David!” a voice suddenly shouted. A bright flash of light burst between him and the man, and two figures materialized.

  A soft familiar smile was what David saw first. “Mikaela!”

  “Whoa!” the man yelled, the ID forgotten. “Whoa! This is some High-tech Star Trek shit!” Astounded by the sight of two beautiful women that seemingly fell from the sky, the man’s grin returned. “Aw, Agent David, my man! Sorry I was bothering y'all. Go on, take your time!"

  David put on a serious face and handed the man his laptop. “I'm actually done, thank you. You’ve done a great service to mankind.” David’s hand landed on Ariel’s arm whose eyebrows twitched up. “Please accept this as a token of our appreciation.”

  Ariel then extended her hand to the man, and resting on her palm was a small crystal ball. The man returned his laptop to his bag and carefully took the crystal from Ariel. Looking at the ball curiously, the man muttered, “Gee, thanks y’all.”

  David smiled and asked the man to leave. “Please get to safety. Who knows when the terrorists will strike again?”

  The man waved goodbye, cradling his reward as he turned to the corner. Ariel looked at David who, seconds ago, held her arm and thought very hard. “Please give him something, please give him something!” Sure enough, his will, like a prayer, was heard.

  From the way Jenny was smiling at her brother, Mikaela figured out that David had done something impressive. “Hey, here’s your shoe,” Mikaela said, holding out a slightly dirt-ridden loafer.

  David couldn’t help but flush at the sight of it. To see the witch holding his old shoe was embarrassing. “T-thanks, Mikaela. I’m glad you guys are also safe,” he added, changing the topic as he fixed his footwear.

  “I'm surprised you got out of there in time,” Mikaela commented.

  Jenny held out her arm, revealing a bracelet made out of beads and shiny stones. “While we were looking for clues, this started heating up.” Jenny recalled that the bracelet heated so much that she’d wanted to tear it off her arm. “It responds to very high levels of energy. I wear it so I can stay away from very dangerous places.”

  David jokingly scoffed. “Or maybe you use that to find very dangerous places.” A sisterly pout later, David continued, “When she felt it burning, we knew we should leave ASAP, so we used the escape hatch.”

  David recalled breaking the tile hatch with a chair and pulling the handle it revealed. Moments later, after the two had jumped in, a blinding light flashed from above them and both were thrown away from the entrance to the tunnel.

  David looked at his own dirt-covered shirt. “The path was dark and a little cramped, but when we saw a clearing, we made our way through the forest, then walked until we were here.”

  Jenny shared a laugh and muttered, “Yeah, and Agent David here commandeered a civilian’s laptop and found our parents.”

  David blushed, even more so when he saw Mikaela’s approving smile. “So, Agent David,” Mikaela teased, “tell me what you guys found out.”

  “Well,” David said, taking out his phone, “first off, almost every one of our ancestors who looked into angels mentioned something about another archive. One of them claimed that it’s an archive that contains everything that is known about angels.” He turned his phone on and showed them a picture of the parchment. “The only clue we have of its location is this riddle of symbols, and we were hoping to find our parents to help us decipher it.”

  Mikaela looked at the symbols, puzzled by the pattern. It was like a series of geometrical shapes and curves, overlapping on each other and connected like cursive language. David sig
hed. “We found our mother in Alabama, but I’m sure she and Dad are busy like we are. Is there a way we can somehow teleport there or something?”

  The three of them looked at Ariel who had done that very act a few minutes ago. The angel didn’t respond, instead, she leaned closer to the image on the tiny screen. The three shared looks, and a few seconds later, Ariel righted herself. “I know this language. It is Enochian.”

  “Enochian?” the three said at the same time.

  Jenny placed a finger on her cheek. “You mean the language of angels?”

  Ariel shook her head. “Our true language cannot be understood by man, for it is not in spoken words. However, the scribe of our Father was able to place our thoughts into symbols, and the symbols are to represent our will. Through these symbols, man can express his will to us.”

  David chuckled. “So our spoken words could mean different things, but Enochian is a pure, binary language, like Heaven’s own programming code, right?”

  Ariel nodded. Jenny tossed her head to the side. “What does it say?”

  The angel took another glance at the image and said,

  “Where the earth and sea divide, come stand a guiding light.

  Where East and West come together, a primal marker,

  Where North and South discern, an equal pointer.

  Where Null and Void meet, seek my tower.”

  “Great. A puzzle that leads to a riddle.” Mikaela sighed. “First we needed an angel to decipher it, then, based off the riddle, now we need some sort of mathematician or someone who knows maps.”

  Jenny looked at David. He shook his head at her. “W-wait! I’m a programmer, but math is something different, trust me!”

  “Our brother Lucifer always taught mathematics to all the angels.” Everyone recoiled from Ariel, her statement a shocking surprise because of the name she mentioned. “When he left, it was Gabriel that took the role.”

  Mikaela gave a sour look and said, “So angels have schools?”