by Roy Bright
He grins at him. “Okay, no need to be rude. Anyhoo, once God had dispensed with his dinosaur fixation he moved onto the ants, namely you lot. But he knew that he would need help and therefore created many of the wonderful angelic beings that you see here today, except Gabriel of course as he had already prodded a bit of life into him eons previously, isn’t that right, Gabe?” He makes rude thrusting gestures with his groin.
Gabriel rolls his eyes and sighs. “Get on with it, moron.”
Azazel smiles. “So, we now have some iddie-biddie people being cultivated, some nice angels to watch over and keep them honest, it was all going so well. Although at this point it should be said that God was still new to this whole father thing, and so he created himself a little protection, a sort of backdoor virus program if you will, in the form of The Book, which was held together with the Seven Seals.” He pauses for dramatic effect as a few hushed ‘ahhs’ sounded from around the room. He is enjoying himself, reveling in the drama of the story telling, at how everyone now hangs off his every word. “Basically, he wanted an overly flamboyant way of ridding himself of the ants should they become too… pesty.” He smiles. “And, guess what – you did. You became very, very pesty.” He pauses once again.
Charlotte looks around and then, opening her eyes wide, says, “So? What happened next?”
“Well, around the time of this one’s intended time upon the world,” he points at Judas who in turn, frowns at him, “he had truly grown weary of you all and was pretty much going to pop all of the Seals and smash you to bits.” He smiles once again. “But he didn’t – because of him.” He points at Gabriel. “The G-man there managed to convince the big guy not to wipe you lot from the face of the planet. Instead, he suggested a different course of action to put you all back on the straight and narrow.”
Judas offers a sharp laugh. “The plan. This is how you came to decide on putting Christ among us.”
Azazel puts his finger on his nose and points at him. “Bingo. Give that man a cigar.”
Judas looks at Gabriel. “You did this? This was your plan?”
Pursing his lips together, Gabriel raises his eyebrows. “It seemed a much better way than the removal of all sentient life from the planet, and believe me he would’ve done it.”
“That he would,” Azazel says, nodding along.
Conrad turns and looks at Gabriel, then points at him. “You. You are good man.”
Gabriel smiles. “I try to be, but alas I’m not actually a man, not a real one that is.”
“Well,” Conrad replies, nodding, “you know what I mean.”
Gabriel smiles again.
“Err, so,” Charlotte says, raising her hand, “why are we chasing Seals if they are supposed to be in Heaven?”
Azazel looks at her with confusion. He then shifts his attention to Judas. “Why does this one ask so many questions? Why has she not gained the knowledge? She is the second one, yes?”
He shrugs his shoulders and shakes his head, his arms raised at his sides.
“Don’t talk about me in the third person, you jerk,” she says, looking down her nose at him.
“Ahh, maybe the attitude explains it.”
She hops off the desk and moves toward him.
Judas holds out a hand to stop her.
“Dick!” she says, scowling at the demon.
Gary interrupts the angst-ridden standoff. “It’s a good question though – why are we chasing Seals if they are supposed to be up there?”
Gabriel stands up. “In the Book of Revelations, it is written that John saw The Book being handed to Jesus. The understanding was that this had been done because he was the only one worthy of opening it should the time come. That is not quite correct. What he saw was Jesus receiving it because he asked for it. He wanted to remove it from the temptation of any Divine being who might wish to open it and so he entrusted the Seals and the Book to Barachiel who was to hide them so that it could never be opened.”
Azazel claps his hands together once again. “So here we are, we’ve come full circle. We need to find Barachiel and get him to tell us where he has hidden the Seventh Seal.”
“That’s all, is it?” Gary says, sarcastically. “We just need to find an angel as old as time, that has hidden himself away and not been seen for God knows how long? Yeah, no problem.” He blows air out of his mouth, rippling his lips. “Any ideas where to start?”
“Yup,” Azazel says, grinning.
“Really?” Gary replies, his eyebrows raised.
Azazel smiles at him for a few moments, which in turn causes Gary to try to hurry him along by raising his arms and looking around at the other members of the room.
“Well?” Gary says, irritated by the demon’s silence.
“Well what?” Comes the snarky reply.
Charlotte has had enough. She motion-blurs forward, punching Azazel square in his face.
Everyone is too shocked to react, taken aback by the speed of her attack.
She prods a finger at him as he glowers at her from the floor. “Right. That’s it. Enough of this. No more games, no more stories, or damn riddles. I’m sick of demons and I’m utterly sick of your bullshit. If you know where this man is, then you tell us right now and we get on with the mission. If you don’t, then get back in your cage on my dad’s back and shut the fuck up.”
The use of the ‘F’ word garners a disconcerting look from Judas.
“I don’t care,” she says, shrugging at him, “I’m sick of this crap. We have work to do and anyone that isn’t part of the solution is part of the problem.”
Judas smiles then looks at Gary who returns the gesture. He looks down at Azazel, still crouched on the floor, eyeing her with disdain. “You heard the lady. On your feet and no more bullshit. Let’s get this thing underway.”
He glares at Judas for a moment, angered at the treatment he has received from the girl.
Judas’ face grows serious and he leans down. “On… your… feet. Now!”
Azazel takes his time getting up and even more making a show of dusting himself off, bad eyeing Charlotte the whole time.
“Right, good. That’s the last of it. No more of this,” Judas says, then looks at Charlotte, “…from either of you.”
She raises her hands to her shoulders and is about to reply, to enter into a ‘he did it, not me’ argument but then thinks better of it and capitulates. “Fine,” she says, huffing. “But you better keep your dog on a leash or I’m gonna Divinity his ass back to the shadows.”
Judas’ smile is small, crooked, and he bites his bottom lip in an attempt to not burst into laughter. Regaining his composure, he then stares at Azazel for a few seconds. “Just remember what she is to me, okay?”
“Of course, my Lord,” he replies, subjugated.
Judas stares at him for a few seconds more, and then breaks off as his subordinate smiles at him, more a grin than anything else. He shakes his head. “Tell us what we want to know Ika.”
The demon looks around the room, his theatrics diminished compared to his earlier role as the pompous storyteller. Eyes track him as he paces up and down albeit at a much slower tempo than before. “Every legend has its origins and every story, no matter how fantastical, has a beginning.”
Zadkiel flaps his arms in the air and slaps them down at his side. “Uggh, he’s at it again. More stories.”
Azazel looks at him from the corner of his eye, annoyed. “Except this story is important, so listen up and I’ll get to the point as I don’t want to get to get bitch-slapped again.” He glances at Charlotte, sarcasm writ large across his face.”
She shakes her head and rolls her eyes. “Okay, just let him speak and maybe we can get this day over and done with.”
Zadkiel rolls his eyes and offers a dutiful nod then returns to leaning against a desk.
Smiling a little, Azazel continues. “As I was saying, every legend has its beginnings even if a torrent of fiction and misinterpretation follows it. For example, deep in th
e Carpathian Mountains there is a stronghold known as Corvin Castle. Now, this place very much reflects everything you would come to expect from certain types of movies, its aesthetics, location… everything. But, what you don’t know is that there is a reason this place became the stuff of legend. Vlad the Impaler, as he is commonly known, carried a lot of responsibility for the origins of the vampire Dracula story—”
It is now Gary’s turn to wave his arms around in exasperation. “For fuck’s sake. We have serious stuff to do and demon-boy here is leading us down the ghosts and goblins path.”
“Let him speak,” Gabriel states, a little annoyed. “Two years ago most people in this room wouldn’t have truly believed that my kind existed and yet here we all are. Just let him speak. What he says is the truth, even if it does sound barmy. Just… let him continue.”
“Thank you, Gabe,” Azazel says, “I trust there will be no more interruptions?” He glances around the room. No one speaks. “Okay, so for a second time, as I was saying, Corvin Castle was a notorious and inspirational focal point for a plethora of vampire movies, with good reason. It was, indeed still is, inhabited by the ex-angel Barachiel and I say ex-angel because what that creature has been doing over the centuries is not what the big guy upstairs would expect from his team.”
Charlotte laughs. “So you’re telling us that this Barachiel character is actually Count Dracula?”
He sighs and closes his eyes. “Not exactly. The stories and folklore that followed Barachiel’s early descent into madness are just that: stories. But most stories of old are fueled by truth of some sorts. You see, Barachiel went mad long before all of this started. His remote isolation and the removal from the Divine Presence all contributed to him going a bit, well, funny.”
“Funny? Funny how?” Gary asks, puzzlement spread across his face.
“Well, by funny I mean ‘grew tired of and came to despise the entire human race and decided to hunt people down and feed off their carcasses.’ Y’know… funny!”
Conrad groans. “I’m starting to get a bad feeling in my stomach.”
Azazel acknowledges his statement with an innocuous nod to the side and a flick of his eyebrows.
“Question?” Charlotte says, raising her hand. “Surely Corvin Castle is or was a hot spot for tourism back before the end, so how could a creature such as Barachiel remain undetected in such a high traffic area?”
Gabriel pipes up. “Because he exists in between the spaces of reality. The Corvin Castle that he walks within is not the same as what normal people visit. He would pass by them, through them, and they wouldn’t even notice save for a small shudder. And if we are to confront Barachiel, we must enter his reality. This is a task that even I do not relish.”
Gary points at Gabriel. “You knew, didn’t you?”
“I’m sorry?” Gabriel replies.
“Don’t play coy with me, Gabe, you knew where he is and you have also known what he has been doing all these years – killing people.”
Gabriel takes a deep breath and eyes the room.
Judas screws up his face, surprised. “Is this true, Gabe? Have you known all along what this creature was doing and more importantly, where he was?”
“Look,” Gabriel says, his demeanor that of a schoolboy who had been caught cheating on a test, “there are a million and one injustices in this world every day. You people were killing one another in your thousands almost daily since the dawn of your time. In the grand scheme of things, Barachiel going rogue has been but a mere blink of an eye in time for us and a few hundred dead people wasn’t going to put him onto the Father’s most wanted list. It wasn’t worth the time and resources to put such a formidable foe in his place, and believe me people, Barachiel is formidable indeed. He had also done much to keep his presence hidden so a live-and-let-live policy had been adopted. Obviously, now, we must do something about him.”
“For crying out loud, Gabe,” Charlotte says, “didn’t it ever occur to you people that a man whom had been entrusted with the holy version of the Death Star had gone friggin’ nuts and that he might use the damn thing himself?”
Her comment receives a reaction of support from around the room.
Gabriel shakes his head. “To be honest, no. He had never given us any cause to think that may be the case and we had no visions whatsoever of any involvement from his part. We were, of course, wholly focused on you, my dear. You and Judas.”
“Well, did you not think he may become a problem after the power of foresight was removed from your race?” She is struggling to understand why nothing has been done by a higher power to remove the threat from what is clearly an unstable character and her body language emphasizes her annoyance.
Gabriel has no answer to her question, he has nothing to come back with, no words of wisdom or explanation. He looks at Judas in the hope that he may understand, that he may jump in and help him out on this one.
“Don’t look at me, pal. You lot fucked this one right up. Not only that, you answer to her now, so I suggest you do just that.”
Gabriel sighs and looks back at her. “I’m sorry Charlotte, I don’t have an explanation for you. Yes, you are quite right, something should have been done about him, some sort of precaution or measures put in place, but they weren’t, and I nor any of my brethren were ordered to do so. Please accept my humblest apologies and know that I and all of the angelic here will help to put this right.”
Looking into the Archangel’s eyes and hearing his heartfelt apology for something that was without doubt out of his control, Charlotte feels pity and regrets tackling him with such anger. A powerful and high-borne entity Gabriel may be, but he is still a soldier in an army, and like all soldiers he follows orders. If the Almighty had not commanded him to do anything about Barachiel, well, then there was nothing to do or be done. She understands that now. Sighing, she approaches him. “Gabe, it is not you who should be apologizing, it is I.” She holds out her hand. “Please accept my humblest and most sincere ones.”
He smiles and takes her hand. This causes him to close his eyes as a tide of Divinity washes through him. The holy power is what fuels angelic beings. They thrive off it, grow strong from it, and as it courses through him, Gabriel welcomes its presence. He opens his eyes. “Thank you, m’lady.”
“For the love of…” she exclaims, letting go of his hand, laughing as she does. “Everyone can just cut the ‘m’lady’ crap out right now.”
He lowers his head, a little embarrassed.
Judas smiles. He is used to recognizing when she makes quantum jumps toward her final and true self and this moment has been one of them. Over the years, even within the alternate reality, he had noticed many paradigm shifts within her as she grew toward the person she was meant to be for this world, and they have been wonderful moments for him. But as he muses, letting the thoughts warm him, enrich him, a new one enters his mind, one that causes his smile to falter. At some point he is going to have to let her go, to let her become the one destined to save the world. Sure, he will remain a faithful soldier in her protective army but the level of interaction they have now will come to an end and he understands that this is what parents must feel when their children grow into adults and leave the nest to forge their own way in the world. The thought pains him, so he shakes it off, instead concerning himself with the matter at hand – taking down and getting information out of a creature that terrifies even Gabriel. This is not going to be fun, he thinks.
Charlotte looks at him. She frowns. “Everything okay, dad?”
He brings himself back into the moment, and smiles. “Yeah, of course – I’m fine.”
“Yeah? It’s just you looked a little distant there.”
“Nahh, I’m fine. Just mulling over the prospect of having to take on something that Gabriel is shitting himself about.”
“Hey!” Gabriel says, looking up. “There is a difference between caution and shitting oneself. I am most certainly not shitting myself.” He looks around at the Hellwatc
h team who all stifle laughs. “I’m not!”
“Yeah, all right pops,” Samael says, laughing. “We believe you.”
Although still laughing, Michael brings his team to heel. “Okay, settle down, settle down. Right, good, we have a plan. We head to the Carpathian Mountains, knock on Barachiel’s door, and ask him very politely for The Book and the location of the Seventh Seal. Piece of cake.”
More laughter from the team.
A nervous voice from the corner of the room causes everyone to look around.
Corporal Jones has his hand raised. “So… what are supposed to do then? And what about the kids?”
Colonel Taylor smiles and nods, proud of his soldier for having the confidence and courage to interrupt the powerful angels and their plans. He backs his man up. “Yes, Jonesy here has a good point. What now for us and the youngsters?”
The room falls silent for a moment. Everyone turns to look at the Fisher kids.
Gary breaks the quiet. “Well, I guess since you lot are all gonna be off doing angely bullshit, we best take the kids and everyone else who’s left here and find a new place to hold up until you guys get what needs to be done, done.”
Judas scratches his head. “But Gary, these kids need to be away from you or any—”
“I’m not letting those kids roam around out there alone, unprotected, so you can just jack that shit in, Judas.”
His temper flare leaves Judas stunned for a moment.
“Look, buddy, I understand what you’re saying and I get it, but I am not leaving those kids to fend for themselves out there – period. You lot just need to get this done fast and put an end to whatever Lucifer is planning. We will find somewhere solid to hole up and keep our heads down. There are hardly any of us left now, I’m sure we can keep people from going ‘Taken’ and as long as the kids don’t do anything… funky, I’m sure we can keep the Seal’s location off radar for long enough. Besides, I reckon they will be looking to what you lot do now. Lucifer knows he needs The Book, and I’m guessing he’s gonna let you lot lead him to it. That child’s Seal is only one part of the equation, one I am sure the pompous prick feels he can acquire at any time. If I am to understand this Barachiel character correctly, stealing the book from under your noses while you fight this monster will probably be the opportunity Lucifer has on his mind.”
