by Michael Dean
“Oh no, not this again.” Scruffy breathed out a sigh.
“What’s the matter? You scared of heights?” I teased him.
Scruffy quickly composed himself and cleared his throat. “O-of course not. I think I’ve handled these freaky circumstances pretty well, if I must say.” He stood proud.
“Well, all right then, let’s do this.”
Before Scruffy could prepare, I whipped out my wings and he let out a big “whhooahh” as it was the first time he’d seen my enormous objects of flight. I grabbed hold of him and immediately thrust my wings and we took to the skies.
“Wait! I’ve changed my mind! Leave me with the other people! Ohhhhhhh myyyyyy gaaaawwwd!” Scruffy panicked.
It took quite a few minutes before Scruffy would quit screaming bloody murder. I couldn’t help myself and did a few corkscrews and dives just to mess with him.
“Ohhhhh, I hate you…I hate you!” he howled.
All I could do was laugh at him the entire time.
“You do realize I’ve taken Shade on rides, per her request mind you, and she hardly ever makes a peep,” I teased him further.
“Well then, you two can have at this all you want…just leave me out of it from here on out. Ohhhhh nooooo.”
He bellowed again as I took a dive towards the open ocean so I could fly a few feet above the water. I couldn’t help myself; I just had to screw with him the entire flight. I also couldn’t contain my laughter, as all he could do was complain and whine.
When we reached the American shores, from high above the clouds, the sun was setting on this side of the earth. It wasn’t long before we reached Colorado. When we got to my spot, I landed and placed the very happy to be on the ground Scruffy back on his feet.
“See, not too bad for a first time flyer…more or less.” Scruffy sighed in relief.
“Hey, whatever you gotta tell yourself.”
“Look, I’ve gotta get back or my parents will begin to think I’ve gone missing, too.” We walked toward Sandra’s car that was still parked at the top of my driveway. Something occurred to me, it was sitting in the exact same spot it was in my vision. This reminded me to ask Scruffy more about how he came to me in the caverns.
“I know you have to get back, bro, but I need to know, now, about how you knew about where I was…and this Argento person you keep mentioning?” I stopped him right before we approached the car.
“I guess I’ve been gone long enough. Another few minutes’ delay won’t hurt.”
“Thanks, man.”
“Since we’ve been at each other’s throats, I’ve been suspicious about you. Your parents thing, the fact that I’ve known you for two years and never met them or seen your house. So…I started following you. More so to make sure you were okay; like you weren’t hiding being homeless or something.” He laughed, but still seemed serious.
“Well, in a round-about way, you’re right.” I grinned at him back.
“Don’t get mad at me for that, man. It really was so I could make sure my friend was okay.”
“It’s all good. Continue.”
“So, after Sandra and I saw you in the park, we followed you to make sure that you weren’t gonna run off and kill yourself or something over the Shade situation. You looked down and out when we saw you.” Scruffy leaned against the car and folded his arms.
“I knew something wasn’t right with you, Leo. Something was off. Then one day, I was debating about coming up this hill to see where you lived, when all of a sudden I saw that cat of Shade’s, or yours, or whoever’s, holding what I thought…”
“It was Shade’s necklace in his mouth,” I answered for him, which made Scruffy give me a strange look.
“Ye-yeah—how did you know that?” He tilted his head.
“I can’t explain it myself, because it’s something I’ve recently come to learn about myself…I see things. Things that have happened or will happen…I’m not sure.”
“So…is that it? Is that all you know?” Scruffy waved his hands as if urging me to finish his story.
“No. I saw you follow Shadow…our cat, up the hill to my place here, all the way up until you bent over and picked up Shade’s diary and the necklace. I heard a voice call to you…then I saw nothing more.”
“Wow.” Scruff just shook his head. “That’s exactly what happened. Which reminds me…” He reached into his pocket and pulled out Shade’s necklace, then grabbed the diary out of his back pocket and handed them to me. “…here you go. You need to really watch where you guys leave that diary.”
I rolled my eyes. “Trust me…I know.”
“So you don’t know anything past that point?”
“Nope. Just you, somehow, magically, showing up in Transylvania. That’s it.”
“Well, then, as I was trying to figure out what the hell was going on, these two people…” he huffed, “called out to me. They scared the crap out of me in the process, and told me they were your friends.”
“My friends?”
“That’s what they said. The guy was named Argento, the girl was named…I forget. Began with an A, I think.”
“I’ve never heard of an Argento, or either of them, for that matter. What did they look like?”
“Well, they sure knew all about you.” He shrugged.
I could only lower my eyes in confusion as Scruffy continued.
“They both wore long robes of pure white with hoodies resting behind them; kind of reminded of Gandolf’s garb in Lord of the Rings. The two of them had very long, straight, blond hair, nearly white. Their pupils were a cross between silver and white. Almost like those contacts people put in their eyes for Halloween or something. I’d never seen eyes like that before.”
Scruffy began to sound like he was describing a pair of angels to me. But what in the world were they doing around my camp, talking to humans I know? More important than that, why were they here?
“They told me to trust them, which I didn’t, and they knew where you were and that I was the only one that could help you. So, call me stupid, I said to heck with it and agreed to go with them. If I’d have known they were about to sprout wings themselves, well, at least Argento did, the girl stayed behind, and fly me to you personally, I probably would have rethought my decision to go. Then next thing I knew, I was dropped off at that hole above you in a tree and, just like that, Argento was gone. That’s pretty much it. I found you and here we are. This has been one of the craziest couple of days in my life.” He shook his head.
“Angels took you to me?” I glared at him with confusion.
“I guess…I don’t know…you tell me.”
I didn’t answer. All I could do was place my hands on my hips, struggling to make sense out of what Scruffy had told me.
“Another time then?” Scruff could probably tell I was perplexed. I turned to the side and looked off in the distance in thought.
“Look, bro, I’ve gotta get home. My parents are probably freaking. Let’s get together soon. You’ve gotta explain this madness to me.” He reached out and we clasped hands.
“You got it, man. I’ll get with you before I go back.” I smiled.
“Besides…it’s the least you can do for me…I saved your life.” He winked as I chuckled.
He opened the door and just before he got back into Sandra’s car, I placed my hand on his shoulder, which caused him to turn back to me.
“Hey, bro…thanks…thanks a lot.”
Scruff smiled. “No problem. You’re my best friend. That’s what we do. For what’s it’s worth, I’m sorry, Leo. I didn’t know…”
I interrupted him with a hug.
“All is forgiven, my man, don’t sweat it. It’s quashed.”
Scruffy sat in the car and started it. “See you soon.” He waved and sped down my hill.
More questions than answers kept coming at me. Now I had to find out if this Argento person was an enemy, or an ally. Either way, it smelled like more trouble.
Chapter 5
> INTRODUCTION
The night had long since set in and I spent most of it looking for Shadow. But there was no sign of my cat anywhere. I was troubled by that. When I finally decided to give up looking for him, I got back in my tree and figured I’d think some things through and watch the sunrise, which was just a couple hours away. Things were much lonelier without him.
While contemplating the recent happenings and what I must do next, I heard the sound of footsteps crunching against the dirt behind me on the ground. I turned as fast as I could to see who it was and was blinded by a bright white light moving toward me from the top of my driveway. This was the type of light that usually accompanies angels when they’re in the presence of demons. This is one of the many reasons why it’s impossible to take out an angel. Being a demon, it’s very difficult to be in the presence of heavenly beings of pure light, so it’s very hard to see angels with demon eyes past their heavenly glow.
Regardless, I called out, “Who’s there?’ as I leaped down off my tree and expanded my wings. I placed my arm in front of my face to try and shield the intensity of the light. I could sense it wasn’t a human being of any kind, so I knew it was safe to whip out my wings and get ready for whatever was coming at me.
Suddenly the light dimmed enough for me to make out two characters heading my way. I was certain they were angels, but what they wanted exactly was up in the air. So I asked them.
“What do you want from me? Why are you here?”
I didn’t get an answer right off the bat but the light that surrounded them went completely out and I was able to gaze upon them. There was one tall male and a shorter female walking side by side. I figured this must have been the duo Scruffy had met. They were just as Scruff described them. I was a little stunned by how much their features resembled Christian. They didn’t have his pale skin, on the contrary, their skin looked much warmer, like blood was flowing through them, but they shared the same long blond, nearly white hair.
“Don’t worry, Leo, we’re not here to harm you,” the male said in a soothing tone.
“Then why are you here? Who are you?”
“I am Argento.” He turned to his companion. “And this is Elysia. I…am hand to Saint Michael the Arch-Angel, and Elysia is hand to me.” He smiled as Elysia slightly bowed her head. Something about his beautiful companion looked familiar, but I couldn’t put my finger on it.
“You still didn’t answer me—why are you here?”
“We’ve always been here.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means that I stay on earth, in whatever form necessary, to ensure balance. Lately, I’ve had all my attention on you.” He smiled.
“Apparently. It was you that brought Scruffy to me…wasn’t it?”
He simply bowed in agreement.
“If you’ve been keeping tabs on me, how have I not sensed you?”
“Like I said, I can take any form that I choose in order to achieve what I need to. This time…I was a cat. You referred to me as Shadow.”
“That’s why Shadow…you never feared me like every other animal on the planet. I’d always wondered about that.”
To be quite honest, I was pretty bummed. I’d just realized that my furry feline friend had been Argento in disguise, and was never going to come back to me. That was hard to digest.
“So it was you with Shade’s chain that led Scruffy to her diary?”
He bowed in agreement again.
“How did you get the chain?”
“It came off Shade when Sierra and Molina kidnapped her. I decided to keep it until…an opportunity presented itself…so to speak?”
“And you’re helping me…a demon…why?”
“Well, as you know, we cannot directly interfere in matters between the powers that be in Hell and their own inhabitants. We can only ensure balance between Heaven and Hell as it pertains to earth. If your Lord Bellock, his council, and anyone else from Hell start to bend the rules to suit Hell’s advantages here on earth, as you know, we must step in and make sure things don’t go too far as it pertains to human soul collection. Christian has done some things that we do not approve of, especially when dealing with you. Shimmer has been out of line as well. Things like taking your beautiful Shade, and the raid the vampires did at the human gathering, sending this town into a panic, are far beyond crossing the line. We are here to make sure this madness does not continue. Balance must be restored.”
“But why did you help me get out of the Caverns of the Forgotten if you can’t interfere?”
“We didn’t.” They both grinned.
“Of course you did. You brought Scruffy to me.”
“Yes…yes, I did. Of all beings, you, being a Drift Demon, should know that there’s a difference between urging a human to do something, doing that something for them, and giving them the choice. All I did was present Mark with an option and he chose to find you, and, well…he needed a lift. So…I gave him one.” He grinned at me cynically.
“Yeah, but you still interfered…”
“Interfere? Is that what you think I did? Was it me that made the choice to try to free you? Was it me that freed you?” Argento raised an eyebrow.
“Well, no, but…”
“Then I did not interfere in your Diccittidel from Hell. Instead, I merely…assisted a friend in need. You know, it’s kind of like when humans give a ride to a stranger when broken down on the side of the road. Besides, there is no rule between Heaven and Hell that says human involvement in spiritual matters is restricted. From what I know, it was Mark, a human, that interfered between you and Shimmer’s vampire clan. Not me, Argento.” He smiled sheepishly.
“Technically…you’re right.”
“What does a technicality have to do with it? If I’m right…I’m right.”
“So, was it you that sent me the neutral portal in the woods that night? The one that took me to Agrelia’s realm? If that isn’t direct involvement, I don’t know what is.”
“You assume too much, Leo. Not I, Elysia, nor any being in Heaven has sent you a neutral portal. That agreement wasn’t made between our side and yours. I would look to one of your own kind to find the answer to that question.” He looked at me sharply.
“So, if you’re not here to hurt, help, or hinder me, where do we go from here? What’s the point?”
“I’ve told you…we are only here to keep balance. Nothing more. Heaven has a stake in your Diccittidel claim as well.”
“And that is?”
“It’s simple. No demon has ever won Diccittidel. It is in Heaven’s best interest to monitor this. If you do succeed, then others of your kind may find encouragement to attempt freedom as well. One less demon in Hell means one less soul under Bellock’s command. That’s good for Heaven.”
“What about balance?”
He grinned and approached a little closer, waving his arms out in front of him. “Well…even Heaven doesn’t mind if the scales happen to tip in our favor.”
“I would imagine not. Even Heaven thirsts for power.” I shook my head.
“Not power, my dear boy, free will. Complete and total free will among the human race. No interference from Heaven, or Hell, just living their lives and accepting the choices they make. The purest of ways to harvest souls. No persuading, no misleading, no urging. Just a human’s free mind making decisions for itself. Those are the purest souls…whether they are good or evil. We hope for the day when this…tug-of-war between the over and underworld will cease. But until the day Hell quits dabbling with the humans, we will always be here to hold the level…and if possible, tip the scales in our favor.”
“So where do we go from here?” I waved my finger back and forth between us.
“We will be watching, waiting, from a distance. Awaiting whatever outcome. If need arises, we will be here to offer guidance, encouragement…even advice. All one has to do is call for us and we’ll be there. Again, not to aid, but to assist.” He winked at me and turned away, walking over to h
is very silent hand, ushering her to follow him.
I stood in silent confusion as I watched them walk away and get nearly into the surrounding woods before calling out to them once more, “Why…Argento?”
They turned back around to face me. “I’ve just told you why, Leo.”
I looked at him with skepticism, “C’mon, Argento…why?”
He just stared at me for a second and started to turn to walk away. Elysia did just that and headed into the woods but Argento stopped and turned back to me with a calming smile.
“Because, Leo, sometimes even a demon gets a second chance.” He half-grinned and walked into the woods behind his hand.
I’d heard Shade say that line to me once before. Now that the introduction was made between me and the mysterious Argento and company, it just made things all the more complicated. More players were in the game now and the pressure was mounting.
Chapter 6
CALM
All morning as I watched the sunrise, I thought about the conversation between myself and Argento. A lot of things he said troubled me, but one thing stood out; it was when he mentioned to “look to one of my own” about the neutral portal that took me to Agrelia. What did he mean by that? Angels aren’t the type to lie or mislead, but was he lying about “assisting” me with the portal in order to help complete my quest? I couldn’t be sure, but if he didn’t do it, who did?
Another thing I thought about doing today was going to visit Scruffy and his family, not just because I missed them or anything, but because I thought of a way to meet up with Anne, Shade’s mother, to get word to her about her daughter, and I needed Scruffy to set it up. Of course I wasn’t going to tell her anything about the vampires and what not, I was going to make an effort to calm her by telling her that I knew where her daughter was, that she was safe, and that I was going to try and rescue her soon. I knew she would pry deeper, but I wasn’t going to give her any more information than that.
