Fallen Angels

by Warren DeBary

  A third guy swung a massive arm, almost clipping me, but I ducked. For a brief moment, the face of the massive boy shifted and changed, just like the dancers on the dance floor.

  “Hey, George! Not human!” I yelled out.

  “You think!” George yelled back as he sailed over another attacker. Interestingly enough, Ricco’s face did not change. He, at least, was human

  Soon all five of them were in the mix, and George and I were just trying to survive.

  One of the attackers swung at me. My dad’s training kicked in and I stepped aside, grabbing his wrist and throwing him toward a row of large ceramic planters. The guy’s head shattered the red ceramic like a sledgehammer; he didn’t seem interested in continuing after that.

  One of them shrieked and his hand burst into flame. Jets of fire shot from his fingertips as I ducked aside.

  “Great, now we got Flame-Boy here!” George yelled as he twisted to avoid one of the blasts.

  “Got it!” I yelled as I lunged forward, kicking Flame-Boy in the abdomen. He gathered himself, throwing a huge punch, and I shifted aside as he lunged. As he went by, I spun and kicked, catching him squarely and sending him into the pool. Ricco just stood there like a silent captain watching the troops.

  “A little help here?” George yelled. Two of the monster boys held George and were doing their best to dance on his head.

  “I thought you were supposed to be protecting me, Angel boy?” I said as I pulled off one of them and punched the other in the face.

  “Hey, this is protecting you!” he yelled back just as someone threw a chair at us. “Believe me, it ain’t easy!” George jumped up and over, using the flat of the Kindjal to slap the monster-boy hard in the back of the head.

  The remaining three stood with Ricco. We stared them down, breathing hard. Ricco looked absolutely insane with rage. An aura of power built around him.

  “You’ll pay for that, Earthbound!” he sneered as the power coalesced. George and I were just about to go on the attack when a voice boomed out over the courtyard.

  “Stop this right now!”

  Ricco’s rage was palpable, but he glanced beyond me. The aura disappeared as I turned to find Devon Pazuzu standing on a terrace above the dance floor. His black suit was immaculate; his hair was slicked back and close to his scalp just like the first time I’d met him. Raptor eyes stared down at us. His mouth silently smirked as Ricco ran and kneeled before him.

  “Ricco, explain to me what this is all about,” Pazuzu said, his face a scowl.

  “They were not invited,” he said with the contempt reserved for some crap under his shoe.

  “A failed Malakhim here? How can that be?” the man asked. “And what, may I ask, is not one but two of the Malakhim sympathizers doing on my property?” His voice was melodious, enchanting and warm, the voice of a father cooing to an infant. But his gaze was so piercingly hostile that I stepped back, away from him.

  “Allow me to ask again, Ricco. What is this doing on my property?” he asked, staring at me.

  “I was just about to take out the trash when you arrived, Father.” His face spread in a hollow smirk. Ricco began to chant, his voice unnaturally deep. Those on the dance floor gathered around. Amused eyes regarded us like wolves waiting for the main course.

  Pazuzu smirked and sat on a large chair overlooking the dance floor. “Well then, proceed,” he said. Now, there was no hatred in his eyes, no emotion. It was as if his face was carved out of ice as he stared at us.

  I felt the steady thrum of power and there was a staccato of sound as the floor rattled right toward us, like something alive.

  George twisted out of the way and I evaded to the left and rolled as a marble column behind me shattered. Ricco sent another wave of energy and this time, George jumped up and over, landing just beside Ricco’s now-unprotected flank.

  His Kindjals were raised to strike when one of the monster boys yelled, “Ricco!” He tackled George before the blow could be delivered and cast them both over the railing to the patio below.

  “George!” I yelled, ready to run to his aid but was stopped by another bolt of energy directed at me. I dodged left and faced my attacker.

  “One down, one to go!” Ricco gathered power once again.

  Pazuzu had taken a seat on a throne like chair, overlooking the patio. He watched with veiled eyes. Several girls sat at his feet, one of them twining an arm around his left leg.

  But that was all I had time to see, as Ricco aimed a wave of energy at me. I dove out of its way and glanced over the railing. George was busy with the other five burly boys. I was on my own.

  My quick look for George had cost me; a burst of flame headed my way. I tried to scramble aside but lost my footing on the gravel and fell right in the line of fire. This is gonna hurt, I thought. Just as I crouched under the onslaught, my pendant flared brilliantly and the same shield that had protected me against that demon in the sewers. Fire cascaded around me and I was unharmed.

  Ricco screamed in frustration. Again and again, he sent waves of power and again and again, my own personal force field waved them off like water over rocks on the shore. With each attack, I started to get more and more angry. This bastard was trying to kill me.

  “My turn!” I screamed when I had had about enough. My fist crackled as my pendant glowed and I ran toward Ricco, cold cocking him with all the power I had. It connected and sent him flying across the courtyard. I didn’t know I had that kind of power, but it was very welcome in the circumstances.

  I was on him before he had the chance to get up and I seized the advantage, pummeling him with everything I had. I felt my knuckles smash against his skin and the muscle underneath. I kept punching until I felt the crunch of bone. Ricco held up his arms, trying to keep me off, but I was consumed, angry. He had tried to kill me, and I swung with everything I had.

  “No!” Someone yelled and I was thrown across the courtyard like a leaf in a gale, landing with a hard crash on tables some fifteen feet away. My ribs didn’t like that—and come to think about it, neither did the rest of me. The lights spun overhead and I tried to shake the cobwebs loose but couldn’t quite get it together.

  When I gathered enough of my wits to understand what was going on, George was helping me to my feet. The music was gone. Pazuzu stood over us in silence.

  “Ricco, you have disappointed me, boy.” The poison in his voice was tangible and deep. Ricco’s face was bleeding and cut, his cheekbones jagged lines under darkening skin. But none of that seemed to be the reason he looked afraid, horrified.

  “Father, I was not…”

  “Silence!” Pazuzu yelled with such force that dozens of light bulbs overhead shattered. Everyone in the party stared at us hungrily, like we were pieces of meat. Some of them had canines that extended an inch past their curling lips.

  Pazuzu turned to me. He seemed to regard me the way an instructor would a difficult student.

  “Young Matthew Rising? We haven’t been properly introduced.”

  “I know who you are.”

  “Oh, do you? How quaint, this vile thing thinks he knows me.” The crowd around us laughed, the sound dark and menacing. It was the noise children feared in the night. “I’ve been called many things. But you may call me Pazuzu, Devon Pazuzu,” he said. His lips stretched in a smile that didn’t extend to his eyes.

  “Damn, man, will I ever be able to get into a party where they’re not trying to kill me?” George whispered behind me.

  “You think?” I said but was interrupted.

  “Malakhim, you have trespassed where you do not belong. I will have to teach you some manners,” Pazuzu said as his power distended into a sphere so large, it filled the entire night sky.

  He sent a bolt of pure energy. My pendant flared to protect me, but the bolt scythed through its shield like a hot knife through butter. My gut felt like someone had pumped molten lava into my intestines and it was burning its way through my abdomen. I screamed.

  “No!�
� George yelled, jumping to my aid. Pazuzu lifted one hand, stopping George in midair. He hit the ground and writhed, screaming in an agony of his own.

  Ricco stepped over me in contempt. “Fucking Malakhim!” he screamed as again and again, he kicked me. Now it was my turn to protect myself. One of his kicks caught me flush and the world spun once again.

  “Ricco, that’s enough,” Pazuzu commanded. I lay there in agony. I licked my lips, the bottom one cracked and bleeding. George lay on the ground with blood trickling from a deep gash across the bridge of his nose.

  “Matthew, we have so much in common, you and I,” Pazuzu said.

  My head was buzzing and my ribs were aflame, but I got to my feet, my side aching. “Oh yeah?” I didn’t like the guy but I needed time to figure out what to do. “From where I’m standing, I don’t think so.”

  “You have the power of a god, Matthew. But you’d rather be amongst the rabble. I can teach you to be so much more,” he said and the two girls twining around his legs regarded me with sensuous eyes. “Matthew, if you are with me, you can have anything you want. Anything.”

  “Father?” Ricco breathed.

  “Silence!” Pazuzu looked at the two at his feet. I felt a shiver run through me. I was tempted. But then their jaws opened too wide, exposing teeth that were a bit too sharp. They reminded me of those cats of prey roaming the jungles.

  I looked for George. He was surrounded by Ricco’s gang and pleaded with his eyes to not listen. I owed him my life. The least I could do was not abandon him now.

  “Pazuzu, I don’t know who you are, but I think I’m much better off where I am.” I began to gather my power again and stood in front of him, waiting for his best.

  “So be it,” he said. “It’s time that you Malakhim scum realize that the universe is much better off if your kind were recognized as the animals you are,” he said. “If the bleeding heart council won’t remove you as vermin, I am more than happy to help them.”

  His power tingled in the air and I cringed. “You are not the Mashiach!” Pazuzu shouted. Before his voice died, I felt a power growing around me, a shielded bubble that surrounded me, protected me.

  “Pazuzu, that is enough!” A male voice reverberated with strange harmonics. A figure landed between us, white currents of energy flowing around him like gigantic plasma wings. It was too bright to see who it was.

  “Raphael,” Pazuzu said. “You know better than anyone else the Accords. I am entitled to Retribution for being wronged here.”

  “Wronged?” the figure asked. “All I see are two young men being threatened by you.”

  “Oh no! As you can see, Ricco, my ward, has been brutally beaten, his friends and acquaintances physically assaulted, and these young ones trespassed on my property without leave from me,” Pazuzu hissed. “I am well within my rights for Retribution.”

  The blue field of light faded. It was Rene who stood there. He regarded me with stern eyes. “You fool boy. What have you done?”

  I stared at Rene. What did I do? I was the one who was attacked in this place. I gestured my innocence but was rebuffed with a snarl from the old man.

  “Would you deny the Accords, Raphael? You of all people would not want to do that, would you?” Pazuzu almost purred.

  “If what you say is true, you will be allowed Retribution only after judgment is rendered and not a moment before. Will you file a complaint?”

  “Yes, I believe I will,” Pazuzu said. He smiled broadly, and I realized just how well he had caught us within his trap.

  “Once the complaint is filed, you will be given notice of the date for judgment of tonight’s alleged altercation. As the Protector of the Accords, I will take these boys home and hold them ready. I assume that this will meet with the letter and the law of the Accords. Will it not?” Rene asked.

  Pazuzu laughed. “Yes, old adversary. That will satisfy my needs. It will be a pleasure to see your whelps suffer. Do you feel it, Raphael? The Ancient ways are returning, and these fool humans are exactly what I’ve always claimed they’d be so many millennia ago. My master will be very happy to see this young, shall we call him, apprentice,” he said, looking straight at me. His tongue flickered out against his top lip. His mouth stretched into a toothy smile.

  Rene didn’t say a word but gestured toward the exit. I looked around for Maya, but she was nowhere in sight. As we walked out the hallway, I realized those grotesque statues I’d noticed earlier were actually depictions of the creatures masquerading as kids on the dance floor.

  We made our way outside to a silver Mercedes SUV. Aunt Emily waited in the driver’s seat: her face was a mask, but by the way she wouldn’t look at us, I knew she was fuming.

  “Like I said, Matty-Boy. Really, really bad idea,” George muttered as the Mercedes accelerated home.

  Chapter 20 – The Accords

  He did what?

  Pazuzu has already requested Retribution from the Council. He says he was attacked and his ward brutally beaten, close to death.

  Why would Matthew do that?

  We don’t know; Rene offers no explanation. Perhaps Pazuzu is right. Perhaps these Humans are as violent as he says.

  Perhaps, but is that enough to destroy them?

  Eliminate the risk before the Universe burns. Isn’t that the idea?

  That hasn’t been done in eons; there is so much more at stake now.

  It was done before, even in this System.

  I know. But haven’t we learned anything since then?

  I suppose not.

  “Do you have any idea what you have done?” Rene shouted, his words echoing off the walls of Aunt Emily’s sitting room. “You may have sacrificed everything we have been working toward.”

  “Rene, what do you think their chances are in Judgment?” Aunt Emily asked.

  “We have no witnesses. No way to prove that anything we say is true. It will only be their words against Pazuzu. These boys have put us in a very difficult position. He was just waiting for a mistake like this.”

  I summoned the courage to ask, “Who is this Pazuzu guy, and why is he such a jerk? We were attacked, not the other way around.”

  Rene looked over, as if measuring me. “That doesn’t matter, as it’s what you can prove, not what happened. Thought you knew better than that?”

  “It’s difficult to remember how passionate youth can be,” Aunt Emily said. I saw the tired, concerned look on her face, and although I was ashamed for what had happened, I knew I needed to be at that party. I knew it was important. But then again, we wouldn’t be in the mess if I had just stayed put.

  “What did that Pazuzu guy mean by it is like he said millennia before?” I asked.

  “Pazuzu is one of the Ancient Ones— been around since before Mesopotamia. He was one of the first that began tinkering with your kind and has been manipulating the human genome since before there were modern humans,” Rene said.

  “Before modern humans? That was like a million years ago. How can he be around that long?”

  “Not that long ago, but stop thinking like an Earthbound, Matthew. The eighty or so years of a human life is nothing in comparison to the lifespan of a Sentient. Some of us have been around for thousands upon thousands of years.”

  “How long have you been here?”

  “That is not of interest.”

  “How long?” I demanded. There was enough vehemence in my voice that he paused.

  “I’ve been on this planet for over ten thousand years.” Rene said. “Pazuzu a lot longer.” I shook in surprise; this person standing in front of me was walking around Earth since before the pyramids were built.

  “He called you Raphael?”

  Rene shook his head and sighed, a deep sound.

  “Yes, I was known as that once. I was a healer, my task to care for your kind. There were seven of us, sent here to oversee, to cull and to purge.”

  “To purge?”

  Rene looked back at me and I remembered the conversation around the greas
y table at Mr. Ching’s restaurant. Rene’s eyes were deep pools of contemplation.

  “To purge those of humankind who did not meet with the standard that had been set so many millennia ago. Many of your progenitors were culled, many upon many.”

  “You mean killed.”

  “Yes.”

  “And you did this?”

  “That was not my job. My job was to heal and protect.”

  “Then why are you still here? Why didn’t you go back to wherever you came from?”

  “There are many of the Fallen, and not all fell because they were cast out,” he said. “It was my decision to defend your Kind and I couldn’t, in good conscience, remain with the Holy of Holies after seeing what I’ve seen.”

  Aunt Emily spoke up. “After the War, there were so many that would have destroyed us if left to their own devices. Beings like Rene stayed to protect our race, our planet. The wars were brutal and on a global scale. Rene was one of our greatest Champions.

  “It was so bad, those who supported our cause went to war in other systems. We were fighting for official recognition and were being held as a test case for hundreds of proto-civilized species that wished to be recognized as well.”

  “There are other planets like Earth out there?”

  “Many upon many, and some not like Earth at all,” Rene said. “Some, like my home, are made from what you would consider clouds; and others are like watery giants with no shape or form at all.”

  I watched Rene. The stern eyes I had become accustomed to were soft, distant. He noticed my attention and his eyes hardened again.

  “Yes, well, as the war threatened to tear our society apart, the Accords were drafted,” Aunt Emily said. “It would have destroyed the balance of power in the universe, and those who already had power didn’t want to share it.”

  Rene stood at the fireplace, watching the gas-fed flames flicker. “It was a truce that gave you two thousand years, one millennia where you were instructed, and another millennia where you were allowed to find your own way. I almost lost hope during the second millennia; the Dark Ages were a very wicked time.”