CounterPoint

by Daniel Rafferty

  “But why Mum?”

  “Because. First they need to learn to work and fight together. I suspect they will come to rely on each other for the considerable future as this plays out. Also darling, anything may have happened to our protectors over the last number of years. They might have been killed. We just don’t know. So say nothing. Let them appear darling and then we will have some backup.”

  “If you’re sure Mum, I will respect your wishes,” said Catherine. There was a steady silence, and Catherine couldn’t help the stream of tears that started flowing down her right cheek.

  “Oh darling,” said Mary, her voice inflected with concern and pain. “Don’t be crying, trust me when I say we will be together again. And this won’t be the last you see of me anyway. I promise you that.”

  “Mummy!” she let out a childlike cry. Catherine knew it never got easier, and that it had all run full circle. Catherine came into this world and grew up with Mary caring for her. Then as Mary got older, it was Catherine who started caring for her mother as she got older and needed more support.

  “Darling, it’s not goodbye forever. Just till the next time.” Mary looked lovingly at her precious daughter. She knew the times ahead would be tough but her daughter was made of stronger stuff than she yet realised. She wished she could face the coming storm with her family, but knew her death had done more to help them than anything she could do in the living. It had united them and lit a spark in David which would now never be extinguished. Sadness would turn to determination in her family, she knew this well. She smiled at Catherine one more time, extended her hand out to hers then slowly faded away into air once more.

  Catherine sat alone in her mother’s bedroom once more quietly sobbing.

  Chapter 38

  The once warm, natural gathering spot for the Bassetts – the kitchen – felt unusually cold in this early morning hour. The complete darkness outside made the cycle of night and day a thing of the past. The lights were off, with only two candles in the centre of the room for light. Lightning from outside in the far distance wasn’t able to penetrate the darkness.

  To David, it now all felt so surreal. He was acutely aware that there were angels, demons, humans and those of a more eccentric kind currently standing around the main kitchen island. Ariel, looking haggard but determined, was naturally organising the defence of the house. While the angel was acting his usual self, David knew he sensed a change in his demeanour even if it was a slight one. He wasn’t as dismissive of ideas from others, especially Lilith. David assumed he had finally realised the situation they were in called for more than just his angelic experience. If they were to be facing the might of Heaven and Hell, Lilith could possibly become as indispensable as him and Amber.

  “….and unfortunately we do not have ample time to prepare the house for battle. We are already surrounded,” said Ariel. He looked around the room as everyone nodded their agreement. He knew they were weary, but this would be the first battle among many. If they were to survive to see future conflicts, they needed to make a strong stand. They had a purpose, a righteous cause. There was no time for self-doubt on any level. The time to act was now.

  “They’re out there, hundreds of them.”

  “Not hundreds, David, but definitely one hundred, possibly two hundred,” corrected Ariel, walking up beside David peering out of one of the tall white paned windows which overlooked the neighbourhood. In normal battlefield conditions, being perched atop a hill would have been considered a tactical advantage, but Ariel knew it just made it easier to spot, an easier target to hit. Angels would be attacking them from every direction, on the ground and from the sky above. He knew the house was surrounded from all angles, but they were waiting for their general. He suspected Raphael would be leading them. Michael would not appear until the end, if even.

  “Ariel, this house is built upon sacred religious grounds. I will be able to fortify it with some extra protection. It won’t win the battle for you, but it will be able to absorb some of the damage before it fails,” said Pravuil grandly.

  “Religious grounds?” queried Ariel and Amber, just as Catherine walked into the room and ensured she looked as confused as the rest of them.

  “Another question I have no answer to,” said Pravuil irritably. It was for precisely this reason he had decided to seek out The Holy Ghost, God’s official representative who left with God after the War in Heaven. “I don’t think I need to remind anyone here about the dangers we now face. I recommend vigilance above all else, I suspect this won’t be a typical onslaught until defeat. What we saw at the cottage was simple in comparison to what lies ahead. The angelic hierarchy will be tactically looking at this from every angle. There are numerous tacticians skilled in the art of battle in buildings surrounding this house who will be acting almost as squadron commanders,” explained Pravuil. He was hoping The Holy Ghost would be able to shed some light on the information Amber obtained from the creature in Detroit. Pravuil knew he needed to clarify this before they could begin an attack of their own. If what was spoken of was genuine, then their problem had just categorically changed.

  “Well can we not take out these tacticians, fuck up their command and control centre so to speak?” asked David.

  “They’ll be too heavily protected,” dismissed Ariel, “we would only be wasting valuable energy and lives trying to take them out. The best thing we can do is defend the house from different points.

  “Amber, you’re the finest sharpshooter here. You’ll position yourself at the top of the house and destroy incoming projectiles and angels as fast as you can. I expect a large aerial attack coupled with a ground attack from more experienced angels and other creatures Michael may feel are necessary.”

  “Agreed, sir,” said Amber, aware of her strengths and knowing she could lay down heavy suppression fire across most angles of the house above and below. It would also give her a view of how the battle as a whole was progressing, being able to warn those on the ground of impending attacks. “Sir, I also recommend we considerably strengthen the glass in this house so it shall not shatter. Humans are particularly vulnerable to such injuries.”

  “Agreed. Catherine, Claire, Ariel turned to look at both of them, “I want you to head down to the basement and stay there until this is over.”

  “I’m not scurrying off to some basement while my son and the rest of you fight up here and put your lives on the line. No way,” said Catherine, incensed.

  “Mum, we can’t take the chance of you being kidnapped and then getting used as leverage against us. At least in the basement we know that you’ll both be safe and we can get on with this battle. Mum I am not going to be able to concentrate on this fight if I’m worrying about you and Claire,” reasoned David sincerely, walking over and holding his mother’s hands.

  “I agree with David, Madame,” interjected Pravuil. “Due to the small size of the basement and it being underground I will be able to put in place a number of protective measures to ensure your safety. It is imperative that we all do our part, and we need you to be safe and that is the part you must now play.”

  Catherine begrudgingly accepted their argument. Claire, meanwhile, was too tired and emotionally upset over the death of her grandmother to speak for or against either side.

  “I have a few un-angelic methods I will enact throughout the grounds of this mansion to ensure we have every advantage possible to us,” offered Lilith. Her clothes remained as glistening white as ever, though her brow furrowed in intense concentration.

  “Couldn’t you have done that at the cottage?” asked David.

  “This is the starting battle. The cottage was only a skirmish David, we need to let the enemy know here and now that we have drawn a line. This far and no further.”

  “Well can you at least call up some reserves?” asked David.

  “That would not be wise. Demons are notorious for not following orders and thinking of solely themselves. We don’t want to turn this into a battle with multiple
sides. At the moment we know who we’re fighting, angels, and I think its best we keep it that way. Demons are causing chaos over this world because angels have declared war on them. Trying to marshal them back here is impossible in such a short time,” she replied. It was tempting to summon an entire legion of demons here but they would create even more problems and she couldn’t risk it. Not with so much at stake.

  “I agree with you,” agreed Ariel, “but I fear we may not only face angels in this oncoming battle. Heaven may release some of its more sinister weapons when they see we have fortified the house. David, the courage and power you showed in Jerusalem was astonishing. We will need you to show more of that in the hours ahead.”

  David nodded in agreement. His gaze then shifted inward in introspection, drowning everything else out. He had felt different since their trip. Something had connected with him in that city, as if he had walked through a door and locked it behind him. There was no going back, he knew this. The bubbling, burgeoning power that pervaded every inch of his being was there to stay. He was almost afraid to think any thought in case it accidently set off his new found abilities. They simply had no time to train him. He couldn’t help but feel his grandmother would have had some words of wisdom at this pivotal moment. An image of Thomas flashed through his mind; that grin on his face. Nauseous, he got up and walked out of the kitchen. Thinking of his grandmother again, he asked her to look after Thomas – wherever he was.

  “What about Lana?”

  “I doubt it Amber. She hasn’t been involved directly in our affairs for a very long time now. She has other responsibilities and with Earth essentially roller-coasting through the natural order they’re going to have enough to do up there.”

  “This attack could start any moment now. Let’s get to work,” said Lilith finally. It had been something they had all been putting off actually saying. Now they had to actually get ready.

  The room emptied as each went to secure the house in whatever way they possibly could. Pravuil, as majestic as ever strode down the front porch steps into the garden. Raising his hands to the night sky as if in an offering of peace to the Heavens, he began chanting loudly in ancient Enochian, which sounded like a slowed-down opera ballad. A bubble of pure energy began to engulf the mansion, forming at the apex of the house above and seeping down on top of the outer garden wall. At first a light blue, as the energy enveloped the house it changed to white before a hissing noise sealed it in and it vanished.

  “I have protected the house and the grounds. It will stop angels from using their abilities to bombard the house and they will not be able to use their powers within this bubble until it fails,” announced Pravuil proudly to Ariel and David, still looking towards the cloudy night sky.

  “How long shall this protection hold for, sir?”

  “Not long my dear Ariel. They will bombard this barrier until it is crushed from the outside in. Not only from the sides, but with artillery bombardment from above. You will truly have the wrath of Heaven raining down upon you. But it will give you a fighting chance. It is an ancient protection and it allows you to attack the angels from behind its barrier – a definite tactical advantage.”

  Pravuil now projected his hands towards a section of the mansion’s outer wall. The cement between the slabs of thick straight modern grey stonework lit up in an illumination that spread throughout the rest of the wall. The sound of stonework fortifying itself together rang out in the darkness. The cement work of the house also began the same process. Soon, every rim of every brick was illuminated with Pravuil’s strengthening power.

  “I’ve reinforced the outer wall and the structure of the house. It will be able to withstand multiple attacks from angels and whatever else you happen to face tonight.”

  “We are most gracious, sir.”

  Pravuil walked up to Ariel and smiled. He placed his hand squarely on Ariel’s chest and it glowed white. Ariel let out a deep breath as Pravuil injected him with energy to top up his reserves.

  “I know you have expended a lot of power tonight. You’re now back to full capacity. I’ve done all I can, and now must hurry with haste. The Holy Ghost is on this planet. I will find him. Ariel, David,” he looked at both of them, knowing he did not need to impose the seriousness of the cause, “you must hold this line until I come back. Hold it. They will breach the wall, but do not let them breach the house. To use a human expression, good luck.” Pravuil vanished, on his way to see a creature as mightily important and knowledgeable and himself.

  “Now we wait,” said David. He had changed into a full three-piece suit for the evening. It was for a wedding he was due to attend in the coming weeks but since he probably wouldn’t be able to make it, he decided to wear it tonight. The style matched that of the angels and demons. Might as well fit in with the crowd, he mused to himself.

  “Well. We can add some curiosity to our situation,” said Ariel, withdrawing his smaller angelic blade and pointing it upwards. Closing his eyes to concentrate, the entire shield bubble lit up very briefly before fading just as quick. “Now no one can see what’s happening inside this shield.”

  “A definite tactical advantage, sir,” said Amber, walking out to join them. She had scouted out the best opportunities in the upper floors which provided her with a good aim.

  “Agreed. Unfortunately Amber we are expendable. Our priority must only be the Bassett family no matter what else happens tonight, they must not be captured.”

  “They won’t be sir. I feel we can hold the line. Sir, if what that creature told me was true,” she whispered. They hadn’t told the Bassett’s or Lilith yet.

  “If it is true Amber, then this world will need to be broken apart before we can even attempt to mend it.”

  “Sir, it is the greatest cover up in the history of creation.”

  “What’s the status of Catherine and Claire?” he asked after a long pause.

  “I have secured them in the basement and personally sealed every part of that room against attack. I was able to concentrate a lot of power down there. They shouldn’t hear more than slight rumblings from above.”

  “Unfortunately, I cannot say the same for us dear Amber.”

  “Unfortunately, sir.”

  ***

  David, after watching the fight preparations, found himself sitting in the quiet living room of his Dublin home. All the lights had been switched off, with only the distant flashes of lightning illuminating his face briefly. Surrealism engulfed over him like an angry cold breeze he couldn’t run from. He found himself slipping into a slight daze, trying to assess everything that had now happened. His grandmother’s armchair sat across the room opposite from him. He could just imagine her sitting there, even now, directing operations. No doubt with tea and biscuits that always ‘kept her going’. Self-doubt had been David’s constant companion in life, but now it seemed to be deeply embedded in a profoundly disconcerting way. He didn’t know what the next few hours would bring, but the thought of not being able to help truly made him sick to his core.

  Gazing down at his Smartphone, which had survived everything they had all been through the last few hours, he watched as the next text message was sent to Thomas’s phone. It followed the other hundred or so he had sent whenever he had the chance. Thomas wasn’t answering his phone but it was turned on. He knew some would call him a heartless bastard for sitting in his living room while his partner was probably facing death, but David knew what was happening to him, and he would argue it would happen to anyone in the same situation. It simply wasn’t practical to launch a rescue operation to find Thomas. They were barely managing to survive as it was. He had his mother and sister to think about. They had already lost Mary.

  He was compartmentalising things as best he could in his mind. Everything over the last few hours had been leading to this major confrontation tonight. He needed to be on his game, ready for anything. While they weren’t saying it, he knew the angels and his family had high expectations for him tonight after what ha
d happened in Jerusalem.

  “I only wish I shared their expectations,” he whispered to the empty room.

  Chapter 39

  “David, it’s time” said Ariel, standing in the hallway of the Dublin mansion. David had not moved from the armchair, his phone signal had been cut off as had the electricity. Ariel had placed his hand on the kitchen wall and infused it once more with electricity which sparked the house back to life. With his mum and sister barricaded in the basement, David thought he would feel alone but he didn’t. He felt an unusual burning sensation, an anticipation to get this started as soon as possible. With his mum and sister downstairs, and Thomas missing, he had a lot to fight for. A lot of pent up rage was waiting to be unleashed, he hoped he could accurately project and control it for the purpose of this event. Finally registering Ariel’s commanding tone, David gazed up at him and nodded his head in agreement.

  “Indeed it is, Ariel. Let’s go,” replied David, slowly rising and striding out into the hallway. “I just want you to know, whatever happens out here my family and I deeply appreciate how you have stood by us. My only hope is you do not perish in your quest to save us.”

  “A quest in which the person may perish is a quest worth perishing for,” replied Ariel with the same supreme confidence he possessed from their first meeting in the bathroom of the very same house. Now, of course, everything had changed and they now stood behind the front door, ready to walk out onto what would become a battlefield any moment now.

  He nodded to Ariel, and clasped the door handle pushing it down. David instantly felt the cold breeze invade the house as they stepped outside. They stood on the porch looking down the path leading to the main gates. A roar of thunder tore the ground beneath them followed by a flash of lightning which engulfed the sky. David could see faceless shadows standing in every window of the houses around them. He stopped himself from thinking about the neighbours; they were no doubt beyond help now.