by Luke Valen
“He must have been tracking you ever since you two saw each other,” Jade interjected. “That means he may know about my place and the sword. We need to find that sword, and we need to find it now.” Jade slammed the book down.
“Jade’s right. We need to go now,” Bryon said, reaching under one of the pews and grabbing the bags they had put together last night.
“Where are you going?” Abigail asked quickly.
“There is no time to explain. Jade and Bryon are right. If we are going to get ahead of this, we need to go now. Lucifer is not waiting for any of us. He is moving up plans fast. We have less than two weeks according to my dad,” I said, grabbing a few things from my room and stuffing them into my bag.
Jade slung a pack over her shoulder. “Lucifer must be close. There is no way all this is going down in AngelFire without him keeping an eye on things. Especially you, Dean. We need to find him—the more we know, the better.”
“No!” Abigail shouted.
“What?” Jade asked.
“Abigail, what is it?” I asked.
“You can’t.” Abigail ran over to me, placing her hand on my chest.
Jade placed the bag on the ground. “Why not?”
Bryon looked at Abigail curious.
“You just can’t. Dean, it’s too dangerous.”
“It’s going to be okay,” I reassured her, placing my hands on her shoulders.
“I don’t want to lose you…You’re the only one who gets me. You’re the only one who is like me.” Abigail grabbed my hands, placing our wrists together.
“I’m going to be fine. We’ll be back in no time,” I said, holding her hands.
Abigail’s eyes started to well, begging me not to go. What did she know that she wasn’t telling us? She looked at Jade and Bryon quietly, raised my hands, kissed them, and turned to leave.
“We don’t have time for this, Dean,” Jade said.
“Give me a second, okay?” I said, already following after Abigail.
What was it about this girl that continued to draw me in? Abandoning my sense of urgency to calm a girl. To make her feel okay, comfortable, at peace. The wind blew and the shards of ice cut at my face like frozen razor blades. The weather was becoming even more unpredictable. Calm snow one moment, melting spring air another, and now a punishing blizzard.
“Abigail!” I tried over the howling storm. “Abigail!” I shouted again. Fighting the blizzard, I forced my way through the powerful winds, walking nearly horizontal. “Abigail!”
There, her red coat. I spotted it through the white haze.
“Abigail, what are you thinking? It’s freezing out here. You’re going to get sick.” I placed my hand on her shoulder. She turned with a face full of tears. “Abigail, what is going on?”
“You can’t leave. He is going to know. He will know, and he will find you and kill you!” Abigail shouted, barely audible above the storm.
“Who is? Who is going to kill me?” I shouted back.
“I can’t lose you, Dean,” she shouted as the winds began to die down. I could hear again.
“Abigail you are not going to lose me. I can do this, I promise.” I pulled her into my arms.
“You don’t get it. You are the only one who has never placed expectations and judgments on me. My dad expects me to run his business someday. Everyone at school expects me to be little Miss Perfect. Everyone judges me as a spoiled rich girl. I get teased for not having my mother,” she said as the tears began to swell in her eyes once again.
“Abigail. No one thinks those things,” I said, holding her a little tighter.
“Yes, they do,” she said.
“Everyone loves you. I’m sure your dad thinks very highly of you if he is trusting you with all his life’s work. And Cherry—what about Cherry? She loves you, she admires you, and she tries to copy everything you do, right? And a lot of people don’t have moms. I mean, look at me. I don’t know my mom and I turned out okay, right? Wait, don’t answer that,” I said making her giggle.
“Dean…I like you,” Abigail said, pulling away.
“I like you too, Abigail,” I said. “I really like you. You’re the only one who gets me too. Abigail, I…”
“No, don’t. Don’t do that. Don’t say what you’re going to say.” Abigail pulled away. She started backstepping into the storm.
The winds began to pick up once again as snow swirled all around us.
“What are you doing?” I shouted.
“I can’t do this. I’m sorry.” I could barely hear her as she continued backstepping. “Just don’t go! Don’t leave! He will find you and he will kill you!” she shouted, becoming less and less visible.
“Who will? Who is? Abigail, you’re not making any sense!” The wind was roaring again. The snow was blinding. She mouthed something just before the snow hid her from my sight. I couldn’t quite make it out.
I turned and ran back inside the church.
“Finally. Geez, what did you two talk about, the dictionary?” Bryon said, sliding out of his chair.
I slumped off the pounds of snow that padded my shoulders. The warmth of the fire was immediate. The air was welcoming and warm.
“She was talking about someone knowing. And trying to kill me,” I said, stretching my hands in front of the flames.
“Knowing what? Who is going to kill you?” Jade asked.
“I don’t know, she didn’t say. Or I didn’t hear her; the wind was too loud. She said someone would know that we were leaving, and they would come after us. To kill me.” I looked at Jade and Bryon.
“She knows something. I don’t trust her.” Jade grabbed the book off the table, twisted its lock, and placed it in her bag, “We need to find out how her father is involved. I bet he has something to do with it.”
Bryon punched his hand. “Let’s do this!”
—§—
“She did what?!” Mr. Li’Ved slammed his fists onto his desk, splintering it into a thousand pieces. Flint and Lucien were in Mr. Li’Ved’s home office once again. The familiar smell of rich leather and Cuban cigars filled the air. A couple small lamps lit the room, a warm yellow reflecting off the brown leather chairs and wooden fixtures.
“Lucien…what are you not telling us about her?” Flint asked, standing in his natural form, tall, ugly, and dead. “Should we know something that—”
“No. There is nothing. I will get her under control.” Mr. Li’Ved said as he composed himself and slicked his nice blond hair back. “What of the boy?” Mr. Li’Ved grabbed a small glass from his dry bar and placed a cube in it. Grabbing a rather large clear bottle, he uncapped it and poured the brown contents into the glass.
“I haven’t had eyes on him since Nile returned,” Flint said through his disgusting snout. “He has been enforcing the order diligently, deporting our soldiers left and right…And, sir…Homer is back.”
“How! I thought he was taken care of at the Red Sea. What is going on!” Spit came flying out of his mouth. Heat waves emitted from his head. Flint winced.
“We will be ready for them next time they show their faces—we have watchers keeping their eyes on all known rifts.” Flint took a step forward.
“Homer.” Mr. Li’Ved took a drink of his single malt scotch from his crystal glass. “Are we still on track?”
“Yes, sir,” Flint said, reaching for a remote to flip on the television in the room.
News channel after news channel flashed on the screen. Genocide, war, pollution, nuclear testing, child trafficking. They all passed through the television one after the other. Horror and sadness made up the faces of the victims across the world.
“Good. Now get out of here.” Mr. Li’Ved said as he took his seat in the soft diamond-stitched brown leather chair. “And find the boy! I can’t afford any more slipups, least of all from the likes of him.”
Flint bowed his head. “Your Grace.”
“And find me those—” Mr. Li’Ved yelled just at the moment Flint disappeared. “Wo
rthless demon, can’t do anything right.”
—§—
The blizzard had finally passed with the morning sun making its glorious appearance. “That’s him, just there,” Jade said. She had made a call earlier that morning to someone she said would help us out. A man in a cowboy hat pulled up in an old 1967 Dodge pickup truck. He didn’t say anything as he stopped in front of us, just gave a friendly tilt of the hat. Jade, Bryon, and I loaded our gear into the back of the old truck. As much as we had wanted to leave sooner, the storm would not allow it.
“You sure you guys want to do this?” I looked over at them.
Bryon winked at me with a glance of approval and hopped into the bed of the truck. “Come on, these demons aren’t waiting for us!” He reached out a hand, I took hold and pulled myself into the truck bed as well.
Jade followed suit.
I am we. And we are I.
As the truck sped down the old dirt road, we bounced in the back with each bump and hole in the path. The wind rushed by, our ears blurring out almost all noise. “So how do you know this airplane guy again?” I shouted out to Bryon.
“He subscribes to me on YouTube! He watches all my videos!” Bryon smiled as he yelled back over the noise of the wind and truck. “When I told him who I was traveling with, he said he would be more than happy!”
“Who did you say you were traveling with?!” I shouted.
“You! The superhuman! He loved how you put that guy through the wall. Big fan!” Bryon smiled and nodded.
I smirked, not quite of approval but a smirk nonetheless.
Jade must have been tired—she was passed out cold within ten minutes. I can’t imagine how she was sleeping through the combination of cold and bumps.
I stared out of the bed, watching the pine and aspen trees go whooshing by. The thought of all that these majestic and silent green giants had seen over their life was mind-blowing. Growing from what once was seemingly useless, small, and defenseless into something so strong and elegant. Something so wise and useful, the trees had seen it all. What secrets they held, none of us would ever know…
About thirty minutes had passed when the truck came to a slow halt.
“Okay, we’re here,” the driver said with a Southern twang, leaning one arm out of the window. We had stopped just outside an old run-down airstrip. It was surrounded by a tall chain-link fence with barbed wire wrapped all around the top. There was a sign that read “DO NOT ENTER. PRIVATE HANGER.” The rest was rusted and blown off by what looked like shotgun blasts from all the scatter shots.
“Thank you!” I saluted the cowboy taxi man as we jumped down out of the truck.
Bryon gave the truck a good one-two, letting the driver know we were all out. “All right, team, let’s go meet Scott,” Bryon said.
“Wait, you haven’t met the guy yet?” Jade asked.
“No, he just subscribes to my channel. He said he knows how to fly though, showed me pictures of his plane too.” Bryon pulled out his phone and showed Jade and me pictures of the plane. It was a nice plane, a white jet made for the elite class, one would say.
“All right, seems okay to me,” I said, shrugging my bag up onto my shoulder.
“All right.” Jade exhaled with disapproval.
The three of us made our way through a large hole in the fence and onto the airstrip. The tiny airport had a few small hangers that looked to be made out of scrap sheet metal and the air strip itself was all dirt with a grassy median covered in snow. Old planes from the ’60s and ’70s filled the hangers with a few broken-down aircrafts rusting out in front, icicles formed on the propellers.
“You sure we came to the right spot?” Jade asked.
“Hey! Bryon!” a young man yelled, waving both his hands in the air as he came running out of the hanger on the right.
“Scott!” Bryon yelled back as he made his way to meet the young pilot.
“That’s Scott?” I asked Jade. She gave me a side eye glance with a deep breath.
Scott couldn’t have been older than sixteen, waving his arms in the air in oversized overalls and boots too big for his feet. He had engine grease all over his face and a big smile to accompany. Bryon and Scott were shaking hands when Jade and I walked up to join. Scott’s attention shifted toward yours truly. “Wow! You’re actually here! Man, I’m a huge fan! I loved how you tossed those guys around like rag dolls!” Scott exclaimed, shaking my hand violently without letting go. “Man, me and my friends try to act out that fight together, but we just can’t figure out how you did it!”
“Pshh.” Jade mumbled.
“Oh, I’m sorry, it’s a pleasure to meet you as well, friend. Any friend of Bryon’s is a friend of mine!” Scott smiled, shaking Jade’s hand. “Wow, you’re real pretty, ma’am.”
Jade blushed. That was the first time I had seen her act like a girl. Weird.
“Scott…Scott.” I attempted to calm Scott. “Where’s the plane?” I said, placing my hand on his shoulder and edging him away from gawking at Jade. We had to get moving. No time for flirting.
“Oh, right! Let’s get to it! Bryon said y’all were in a rush. Follow me!” Scott said, waving us to follow him back to the hanger he had just come out of.
The airfield was quiet, like a ghost town full of broken-down birds. It seemed we were the only ones there that day. Probably the only ones there in years.
The skies were clear and blue, like the vast oceans with no ending, only adventure. What a beautiful contrast to the white, snowy ground.
“There she is!” Scott said, pointing.
At the end of his fingertip lay a rusted brown-and-white propeller plane with duct tape holding together one of the wings. The cockpit was housed by a semi-cracked, clear bubble windshield. Without saying a word, Jade turned and started walking the other way.
“Jade.” I turned and ran after her. She was quick, almost fifteen yards away by the time I caught up. “Hey, Jade. Where are you going?”
Jade whipped around. “There is no way I am flying all the way to the Middle East in that death trap.”
“How else are we going to get there then? We have to find that sword, you even said it yourself.” I gave a fake smile back to Bryon and Scott waving my reassurance.
“We can’t find the sword if we die!” Jade yelled the last word, making certain that Scott could hear. Scott looked over to Bryon, who simply shrugged his shoulders.
Scott patted the plane. “Miss Jade, is it? I assure you, ma’am, this here plane is plenty safe. She may not look it, but she sure can move,” he yelled over the distance to us.
Jade pointed to the left wing, yelling back, “There is duct tape holding that wing.”
“Like I said, she ain’t pretty, but she makes up for it in reliability.”
“Reliability,” Jade said mockingly. I put my hand on her shoulder, which she quickly shook it off. We walked the end zone back to where Bryon and Scott had been waiting.
“Jade, come on. It’s the only way.” Bryon leaned in. Jade stood there with her arms crossed. “Jade…”
“I’m thinking,” Jade responded.
“Exploration. Discovery. Cool ancient stuff no one has ever found…” Bryon tempted her.
“Fine,” she said, her eyes twinkling a bit at that last one.
“Woo! Let’s go flying!” Bryon said, running to the plane and jumping in the back seat of the open cockpit.
“All right then, let’s get wheels up! This is going to be the longest one old girl has done yet!” Scott said as we all closed in on the aircraft.
“What?!” Jade exclaimed as Scott handed her a helmet from the back of the plane.
“Don’t look so scared!” I said to Jade. “You got me!”
“Oh yeah that makes me feel so much better,” Jade said.
We—now four—loaded into the plane.
“All right, gentlemen and lady, this is your captain speaking,” Scott said just before he flicked the on switch. “Please keep your hands and legs inside the air
craft at all times. Should you feel airsick at any point, please try to miss the wings when you stick your head out the side.”
Ruh. Ruh. Ruh.
The plane’s engine sputtered, trying to turn over. “One second,” Scott said, biting his lip as he turned the key one more time.
Vrooooom. Bum Bum Bum Bum Bum.
The old plane actually turned on. The engine was loud and strong, the propeller was spinning so fast that it quickly became invisible.
“All right! Here we go!” Scott shouted from the cockpit. The plane began to inch forward. Jade tightened her seatbelt as she performed the sign of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit above her heart. The old broken-down plane made its way out of the hanger doors and onto the airstrip. Snow swirled all around as the wind from the propeller spun the air. We were all lined up for takeoff. Scott checked a few of the gauges, and when all looked good, he slowly pushed the throttle forward.
The plane began to roll. The noise from the single engine grew louder and louder as the plane increased its speed. Halfway down the runway, we began to get lift. The tires began to bounce on and off the ground, just as they neared the end.
Liftoff.
The plane now floated among the beautiful New Mexico skies. Jade was already reaching desperately for a vomit bag. Bryon had thrown his hands up behind his head and tilted his hat down for the long ride. There was a serious look on my old, ugly mug face. Now that the journey had actually begun, I knew everything was going to be weighing in. No more irresponsible teen. I must become what this world needs. Popping the collar on my spare black peacoat, I sat in for the long flight.
The beautiful blue sky generously opened her arms, allowing passage. Soft, pillowy clouds filled the heavens. Their prestige shone through at its most magnificent as rays of light lined their edges. The golden lining shone brightly and warmly. The cool fresh air passed under the wings of the plane, lifting it higher and higher.
What a familiar feeling.
—§—
Abigail was on the move.
Horrid thoughts filled her head, thoughts of Dean, thoughts of Asorath, thoughts of her father. Contemplating her next move and the words she would use to sway her father from killing Dean. Something bigger was going on than what her father was telling her.
