by Roy Bright
“You’re being a baby.”
He smiles at her. “I’m still not used to this.”
“To what?”
“You. At this age.”
She glances down, smiling.
“A few days ago you were eight years old, now you’re 18.” He sighs. “Nope, not used to it at all.”
“But isn’t that always the way?” she says, raising her eyebrows. “Don’t parents always say that their kids grow up too fast, that they remember them being only little, like it was yesterday?”
He laughs. “It’s kind of a different thing though, isn’t it? Those folks got to see their kids grow up, with you, I didn’t.”
Her smiles wanes.
He notices. “But, hey! I am super-stoked to be thought of as one of your parents.” He taps the side of her arm.
“Super-stoked?” she says, frowning at him. “C’mon, Gary. We’ve talked about you and this ‘down-with-the-kids’ type of talking in the past. It doesn’t become you, or my dad for that matter.”
She leans into him, resting her head against his, and they both laugh. He has always been the fun uncle to her playful child and she had always enjoyed the banter between them but as they prepare to say their goodbyes – for now – she understands how he must be feeling at not being a part of her last ten years, and it saddens her.
“Hey!” he says, taking a hold of her and lifting her head up. “It’s fine, really it is. And I am glad I can now see the woman that you have always been destined to become, especially since there were times I thought I might not have made it this far.”
“Don’t talk like that,” she says, placing her hands over his. “My uncle Gary will always be here. He’s going nowhere, I won’t allow it.”
“Talking about me in the third person and promising immortality. That’s a new one, even for you.” He laughs, snorting air out of his nose and pulls her in close, hugging her tight his chin resting on the top of her head. “No heroics, yeah?” he says, sighing.
“No heroics.”
“Promise?”
She pulls away and lifts her head up. Cocking it to one side, she bites her bottom lip, and raises her eyebrows at him.
He rolls his eyes. “Uggh, never mind.”
They both laugh.
“Don’t get killed, Mr Cross.”
“Likewise, Miss Hope.” He kisses her forehead.
“You two set?” Judas says, interrupting the emotional moment.
They look at each other, smile, and then almost in unison acknowledge that they are, indeed, ready.
“Right, good. Then let’s go. Gary you need to be in the motor pool with the Colonel and the others, Charlotte you’re with me. Time to make a portal.”
Gary and Charlotte share a final, quick embrace and then she heads off in the direction in which Judas had come.
“Looks like I’ve come full circle,” Gary says, glancing over at the Fisher kids. “Babysitting the future of the planet again.”
Judas laughs. “But you’re just so damn good at it, brother.”
Gary joins him, snorting. “Yeah. Yeah, I guess so.”
Judas admires him. With the exception of Charlotte, he thinks that Gary could be the best friend that he ever had, and he has known many people in his time. He walks over and hugs him. “You look after yourself, pal. And take good care of those kids.”
“You too buddy, you too,” Gary replies.
They slap each other’s backs, adding a dose of masculinity to the embrace, almost apologizing to one another for their lapse in manliness and stooping so low as to show their feelings. They pull away, rounding the farewell off with a handshake, a final nod, and faint smiles. Nothing more is said as they walk away from each other.
***
“Okay, guys listen in. Here’s the plan,” Charlotte says as she approaches the Hellwatch, waving her arms indicating that she wants them to gather around. Each member of the team turns to face her.
Michael looks past her, toward Judas who is following, offering him an expression of surprise and happiness at how she is taking charge of the situation, living up to her responsibilities, and he returns the look, the only difference being the introduction of a slight wink.
“So we are about to hit Barachiel’s castle and I want to make sure everyone knows and understands the script before we do.” She looks around at them, studying each of their faces. She takes their silence and unwavering attention as a good sign, and that they are accepting her position as leader of the mission. Walking toward them, she had been worried over what role to take on among them for this task; concerned that they saw her as a passenger, nothing more than a baby to sit rather than the savior of the world and human race. It had begun to bother her a great deal. She had contemplated whether she should take her place on the periphery, observing and soaking in as much information as she could, appearing to glean how to act from the greatest of teachers, but had decided against it. She knew that in order to take her true place at the head of the organization, she must become more than she has been, that she needed to be much more serious about her role and she knew that this was the moment in which she could seize that opportunity. Yes, their attentive and smiling faces was a good sign, a good sign indeed. She waves them in further. “Come on, come on. I won’t bite.”
Archangels as old as time they may be, but they know their place and who is in charge, and they do as asked without question.
“Okay, cool. Right, as I was saying, I want to go over the mission just so we are all clear. The mission is capture Barachiel – not kill him, are we clear gentlemen?” She eyes them all and each one offers a small nod. “We absolutely must know the location of the seventh Seal and The Book and we cannot accomplish that if the only creature on Earth with the information is dead.”
Raguel, who is normally a quiet, thoughtful, and contemplative member of the team, speaks up, causing his brothers to look at him in surprise. “You have our word m’lady, each one of us knows and understands the importance of the mission and we will absolutely not disappoint or let you down.” He bows.
“Well,” she says, caught off-guard by his polite and gentle way, and glancing around at the other members of the team, “that’s great. Nice one. But please,” she waves a hand, “Charlotte is fine or, if you absolutely must, Goddess will do, but no more m’lady. Okay!” She smiles.
Raguel laughs a little. “Of course, m’Goddess.”
She raises a thumb and winks. “Getting back on track, when we get there it’s likely that we will have to split into two groups to cover more ground. I don’t want to break us up smaller than that as the general consensus is that Barachiel is a mean sonofabitch and a hefty challenge. So, unless he greets us in person, myself, Judas, and Michael will form Team A and Sammy, Jophiel, Zadkiel, Raph, and Uriel, Team B. Questions?”
Uriel raises his hand. “Shouldn’t more be with you? After all, you are The Light, the one we are sworn to protect.”
She places a hand on Judas’ shoulder. “I can look after myself, I assure you. But if it gets mega-dicey, then I have all the protection I will ever need right here.”
Judas smiles.
“No problem,” Uriel concedes, taking a step back.
“Okay,” she says, clapping her hands together. “We have no idea at all of what to expect when we get there, or any clue of the layout of the castle so remain alert gentlemen and let’s do this quick and with as little fuss as possible so we can finally start to put an end to this nightmare. Any further questions?”
Everyone remains silent.
“Good. Right then, let’s get to it. First things first, a portal.” She takes a step back, getting ready to bring up her arms and start up a portal.
“Ahem!” Gabriel coughs behind a closed fist.
She looks up at him. “Problem, Gabe?”
“Not a problem as such, more of a question.”
“All right, shoot.”
“Have you ever been to Barachiel’s castle or even that region
before?”
She knows what he’s getting at. “No, no I haven’t. And rule number one for portal safety is always have knowledge of the place you are going to before you create one.”
Gabriel nods. “Shall I, my dear?”
“Please, be my guest.” She takes a step back, indicating for him to step forward.
Judas leans into her left ear. “That was exceptionally well done. And the team will be impressed that you have humility and an in-check ego.”
She whispers back to him out of the left corner of her mouth. “Kinda winging it and shitting myself. S’why I’m grinning like a freakin’ imbecile.”
He laughs. Not loud enough for the others to hear, but loud enough for her to return one of her own, and just as quietly.
Gabriel closes his eyes and concentrates. He circles his arms around clockwise a few times and a blue haze forms around them, then he thrusts them forward and a portal rips open, crackling and fizzing. He gestures toward it with his right hand. “Gentlemen – and of course, m’Goddess.”
She smiles at him. “Thank you, Gabe. You’re not coming I take it?” She screws up her face, “Huh, rhetorical question I guess. I know you’re not, I’m just being polite by asking.”
He laughs. “No, I cannot. He upstairs has requested my presence back in the throne room. I’m surprised I have been allowed to stay this long.” He looks around at each of them. “Good luck to you all. Bring us a result on this one, yeah?”
Michael nods and then turns to face his team. “It has been an odd few hours my friends. First we thought we were going to have to take orders from Iscariot over there.”
Judas offers him a sarcastic ‘thank you’ look to which Michael smirks.
“And now we are heading into Barachiel’s lair. I know we will be successful as we have The Light shining upon us,” he looks at Charlotte, “and each one of you are the most capable beings I have ever had the pleasure of commanding.”
The Hellwatch troops shift in their positions.
“So let’s get in there and do it for humankind.” Michael steps into the portal and is gone.
The rest of the team follow him without hesitation.
Charlotte glances at Judas then steps through.
As Judas prepares to follow, Gabriel takes a hold of his arm. “Be mindful, Judas. Something isn’t sitting right with me.”
Judas frowns. “What is it, Gabe?”
“I don’t know, my friend, and that bothers me a great deal. Do not underestimate Barachiel – do not underestimate him at all.”
Judas nods then turns and steps into the portal.
***
“Gary, you’re with me,” Nathan says, waving him over. “Conrad, you drive. Put Jonesy in the rear Humvee covering our asses on the .50 up top.”
“You got it, boss,” he says, saluting with nothing more than two fingers tapped against the side of his head. He grabs Jonesy and pulls him away before he has a chance to speak. “You. Come with me.”
“We set then?” Gary says, slinging his gear into the left-rear passenger seat of his assigned Humvee, second in the convoy.
“We are,” Nathan replies, moving around to the front passenger seat. “Two armored vehicles with top gunners up front, this one included. One at the rear with four transport trucks in the middle, loaded with the civilians. And I thought this would make you happy. Y’know, to have them close.” He beckons over the Fisher kids, indicating for them to get into the rear of the vehicle and sit alongside Gary.
He smiles. “Yeah. Yeah it does. Good call.” He reaches down and picks up Abigail as she gets alongside him. “And you, young lady, are not going to be leaving my sight, no matter what.” He places her in the vehicle and she slides along into the center of the rear seat.
“Aye-aye,” she says, saluting him.
He laughs. “I think that’s for the Navy guys, sweetie. It’s affirmative in the Army.” He glances at Nathan who stands up straight and salutes her causing her to giggle.
“Thank you, Detective Cross,” Sarah says, as she climbs into the vehicle next to her sister.
“Please, call me Gary. No need for any formality between us.”
She smiles and nods. “Move up,” she says, giving her little sister a playful nudge.
“I can’t. Isaac is taking up too much room.”
“Hey!” Isaac says, as he closes the door. “I have no room here myself you know.”
Sarah sighs. “Well, I need more room if we are to have the detective in here with us as well.”
“Gary, it’s Gary,” Isaac says leaning forward to address his sister. “He already told you that.”
As they squabble and bicker among themselves, Gary looks at Nathan and rolls his eyes.
“One big happy family,” Nathan says as he laughs and gets into the passenger seat.
“I’ve heard that said before while getting into a strange car,” Gary says, offering a laugh of his own.
Conrad returns and climbs into the driver’s seat. “Okay. All is set. We go.”
Nathan sticks his right arm out of the window and circles it around. The convoy’s engines rev up and it rolls out.
Forty-One
The cool, crisp, early evening Romanian sky illuminates with a dazzling blue/white hue and a portal bursts open. Michael steps out followed by the rest of his team as well as Charlotte and Judas. In front of them the sun sets, painting the landscape in a beautiful orange glow that takes Charlotte’s breath away.
“Wow! What a sky,” she says, holding a hand to her brow to shield some of its glare.
The world may be dying, broken, and desperate in and around the most populated areas, but here it feels as though the Apocalypse never happened, nor will it such is the traditional idyllic Romanian appearance of the nearby town and surrounding area.
“No time for sightseeing,” Michael says, beckoning them forward with his head. “We have serious work to do.”
“That we do,” Charlotte replies, following him, her attention still on the sunset.
As Michael clears the small brow of a hill leading up to their destination, he holds out his hands. “Welcome to Corvin castle.”
The castle looms into view as the rest of the team clear the apex and stand in front of a long wooden bridge held up by thick stone pillars leading up to its entrance.
Samael frowns. “It doesn’t look much like a vampire’s castle. More… Disney than Dracula.”
Michael sighs. “He is not a vampire; he is a soul reaver.”
Samael turns his mouth down and shrugs.
“He’s right though,” Judas says, stepping to the front, “I feel no ominous presence here. It really does feel more fairy tale than Dracula.” He turns his head to the right a little and leans into the hilt of his sword.
A whispered voice swirls around them that none but Judas seems to understand and the rest of the team glance at each other.
“A veil? I sense no veil,” he says, his attention still on the sword.
The team look at each other again, confusion in their eyes.
“What, like a combination lock?” He nods at his sword. “Okay, I’ll give it a shot.”
Michael takes a gentle hold of his right arm as he grips the sword’s handle. “What did it say, Judas?”
“He says that this castle is not Barachiel’s home. It’s a sort of window dressing. A veil that covers the true nature of what lies beneath.”
Michael looks confused. “But people must have come and gone within its walls before all this happened. How can it be but window dressing?”
He looks back to his sword once again as the unintelligible whispering voice returns. After a few seconds he turns back to Michael. “Okay, maybe window dressing is a bit misleading. Apparently his world exists within some sort of trans-dimensional plane, sitting right on the footprint of the castle. Don’t think we have time to go into it, but he says it is there, we just have to unlock it.”
“And he knows how to do that I take it?” Charlotte
asks.
Judas shrugs while raising his eyebrows. “Guess we’ll find out.”
He steps forward and indicates for everyone to stand back, which they do. He calls to Ikazuchi and the sword flies off his back and into his hands. He then holds it out in front of him, and glances back toward the group who eye him with keen interest.
“Okay, here goes,” he says as he turns back to face the front.
Moving forward a few steps he raises his left hand. It appears that he is looking for something as he moves his fingers in the air as though feeling for a wall. His hand stops over a certain spot and he then takes the sword in both hands. Taking a deep breath, he thrusts it forward and it connects with the veil. Sparks and light flood out of the entry point as though it were water spraying out of a broken pipe, and this causes the others to shield their eyes from the glare. He pushes the sword in further, clear that it takes great physical effort from the strain on his body. He stops as Ikazuchi speaks to him.
“Okay. Now turn to the right.”
“How far?”
“I’ll tell you when you’re there.”
He turns the sword to the right, the veins on his neck standing proud as he huffs while manipulating the weapon.
“Stop!” Ikazuchi commands.
He stops.
“Now back to the left.”
He turns, as told.
“Stop! To the right again. Stop! And back to the left, but just a little. Stop!”
Judas exhales as the effort of maintaining the sword within the crackling and arcing force field takes its toll on him. His face has turned crimson and his eyes bulge.
“Now push with everything you have,” Ikazuchi says.
He leans into the sword and pushes, calling out in the process. It slices into the barrier of energy, causing more sparks and electrical arcing to fire out with furious violence. The veil breaks down with a huge crunch and crackles as it rolls back over the castle, revealing the alternative dimension.
Charlotte takes in a deep breath as the huge and creepy structure swims into view. “Now that is the castle of a vampire,” she says her eyes wide.
