Dark Temptation

by D. S. Molinari

  “Mikah was the only one who wasn’t surprised when they mentioned that Samael, isn’t it strange?” Ali commented.

  “No” Kaliel replied. “He is an archangel: he knows all the angels and demons, their hierarchies and locations... He probably also knew that Samael was Darry's Master”.

  “The strange thing is that Annabeth knew” Sabrina said. “The vampire princes guard the secret of their origin with suspicion”.

  “Why? Who is this Samael and why do they all seem to tremble with just hearing his name?”

  “Because he is an extremely powerful demon, only comparable to Lucifer himself! He is a prince, commander of entire infernal legions, the original father of all vampires...” Sabrina enumerated with frenzy.

  “They called him the poison of God” Kaliel murmured with his eyes lost in the sky, as if he remembered very old things. “He was a powerful archangel in Heaven and after the Fall, his hatred of God was only overcome by hatred of his Creation. In his eagerness to corrupt it, he began by seducing Lilith, the first woman of Adam” Ali remembered when Sirus, the sorcerer she had visited with Chase, told her the story of the mother of the vampires. “He also tempted Eva. Samael was the father of Cain and not Adam...”

  “Do you mean that Cain was a nephilim?”

  “That explains his violence...” said Sabrina who seemed not to know that part of the story.

  “All the seed of Samael is a cursed offspring” Kaliel added with a disgusted expression. Then he jumped to his feet and searched among the books on a bookshelf. Thick clouds of dust fell from a thick tome bound in black leather when Kaliel pushed it away. For a few seconds, the room was in a disconcerting silence until he found what he was looking for: “Also known as Asmodeus. Currently commands a thousand legions and is the prince of carnal pleasures, especially lust...” read Kaliel.

  “It makes sense after what you've told us...” said Sabrina.

  “He was the first paramour of history...” laughed Ali sarcastically.

  But Kaliel didn’t respond. He had remained reading with a frown.

  “No, I don’t think...” hesitated.

  “What?” Ali and Sabrina asked almost in unison.

  “He is the prince of France...” he said.

  Sabrina couldn’t finish understanding. Ali took a while to do it.

  “France! Do you think it has something to do with Patrick's warning?” Ali jumped out of the chair and began to rummage through the papers of the trunk while trying to find a relationship between both events. “But what would Gladius Dei and Samael have to do? Could they work together?”

  “The Gladius Dei?” Sabrina shuddered slightly. At that moment, Ali handed her Patrick's letter and she read it carefully. Kaliel watched in silence.

  “I doubt Gladius Dei works with a demon...” Sabrina thought out loud. Then she looked back at the letter she held in both hands. “Who already knows?” She asked referring to the letter.

  “The all-seeing eye?” reasoned Ali.

  “God?”

  “Or the eyes of God on Earth, as they are considered” Kaliel intervened: “The Gladius Dei...”

  “Well, and what do you already know?” Sabrina continued. “Who is Lucien? What’s the secret in the blood? This is incomprehensible!”

  “That's why I have to talk to Patrick!” Ali exclaimed, surreptitiously begging for Sabrina's help. “What he knows is the key to finding my father and surely also has to do with me...” Suddenly she remembered. “That's why my father wanted us to move so urgently... He knew they would come...”

  “What if they didn’t want him?” Kaliel ventured.

  Ali dropped into the chair.

  “My father always knew that the demons stalked me... He wanted to protect me from them... All the time...” Ali's mouth was trembling. Everything her father had said was true. It seemed crazy but it was true. She heard Alexander's voice inside her head as clearly as if she had him in front of her: The flames of hell are on you girl: you belong to them before they were born. “Alexander also said it... And before him Mikah told me that these gifts hadn’t been given to me by God...” her voice had become a whisper as she ran out of breath.

  “Ali...” Kaliel knelt on one leg in front of her and took her hands in his as he stared at her like someone who is going to give serious news. “You have no guardian angel... There's only one way for that to happen: to have sold your soul to Lucifer”.

  “I never...!”

  “I know” he interrupted. Something in his eyes, like deep wells of calm waters, gave her peace in the midst of chaos. “I think you've been given in a pact since before you were born...”

  “Like the twins?” Ali looked at Sabrina but she seemed more concerned about the letter.

  “Why are you so sure that this Patrick guy is referring to the Gladius Dei?” Sabrina said. “It would make more sense to think that your father and his friend knew that Samael would look for you and that was what he meant by asking him to flee...”

  “It's true... The morning we visited the burnt house I could feel the remnants of very strong demonic presences” remembered Kaliel.

  Ali covered her face with her hands in an attempt to cover her sobs.

  “I'm just like in the beginning! I have no idea what happened to my father!” She whimpered. “And it could be too late right now!”

  “We have to find who wrote this letter” said Sabrina. “It’s clear that there is no other place to start”.

  “But I can’t get out of this damn place!” Ali protested through tears. “I can’t go to France... I can even go to the post office because I'm supposed to be dead too!”

  “You don’t need to do it!” Sabrina smiled like she just had a brilliant idea. “At least not for now...”

  They both turned to watch her expectantly.

  “I know of a messenger from the underworld who could find any being in any dimension” Sabrina smiled triumphantly. “He lives under The Poultry Cross...”

  “How under?” Ali wrinkled her nose.

  “Do you remember that I told you that there are tunnels that cross the city underground?” Kaliel replied. “Down there it's almost like a city apart”.

  Ali stood up, still smiling, and wiped away her tears: that's what she needed. Then she had a better idea.

  “In that case we could ask him to find my father directly!”

  “Yes... And no” said Sabrina clearly embarrassed. “You’ll see... Kalo is a fallen angel. Before, he was an angel and his main function was to be a messenger of God and of the heavenly hosts. That's why Kalo can send and receive messages with extraordinary ability but through another dimension. In that dimension there is no space or time. Kalo only sees the light of the souls finds them and sends them the message, which passes to the dimension in which that soul is in a way that is comprehensible within its own reality. For example, a written message may come to you; appear suddenly on your bed or in your backpack. In antiquity these messages came in the form of voices that people heard in their heads, dreams, visions, prophecies... Whatever is most appropriate for each one. Do you understand? That guarantees that the message reaches its recipient but Kalo doesn’t know where they are. He can’t act as a kind of spy from the underworld... Although...” Sabrina considered the idea for a moment: “We could definitely ask him to try to communicate with your father”.

  “Perfect!” Ali exclaimed determinedly. “We have to go as soon as possible!”

  “That's right, but the sooner it can’t be before midnight” said Sabrina. “Nobody can know that we went to the underground city or it would be very dangerous. Especially now Ali” her look was suggestive. “You have enemies outside and inside the cathedral”.

  “It’ll be tonight then” said Ali.

  Sabrina nodded and headed for the door to leave but Kaliel stopped her:

  “I need to ask you one last thing...” he said.

  That took them both by surprise. Did Kaliel need anything from someone, especially a nasty bloo
dsucker, as he called Sabrina's race? She kept her eyes wide open, waiting for him to speak.

  “I need you to find out where to find any of the surviving copies of the Maleficat” Kaliel released.

  “What would you want it f...?” Sabrina shuddered. She couldn’t even finish her sentence.

  “You well know that Mikah will be unable to give the order...” Ali saw the plea in Kaliel's eyes. “Remember what Darry did to you... Please”.

  Kaliel saying please? Ali never imagined living to hear it.

  For a moment, Sabrina closed her eyes and breathed. Ali didn’t know what they were referring to but judging from Sabrina's melancholy expression, that memory hurt her to the core of her being. Finally, she opened her eyes and nodded at Kaliel before turning back to the door.

  “Rest well Ali, tonight you'll need to be very awake” she said and then vanished behind the threshold.

  Kaliel remained a few seconds downcast and silent while Ali looked at him confused. Then it was as if he had counted Sabrina's steps to make sure she was already far away to hear them. He reacted suddenly and closed the door before hurrying to Ali who was frightened by his sudden impetus and fell back on the couch.

  “We can’t expect anything from Mikah” he said to Ali with that fixed and penetrating gaze that he used to deal with delicate matters. The green of his eyes glowed fiercely. “He is an archangel and cannot destroy anyone who still has a chance to redeem themselves... We have to finish Darry and we must do it on our own”.

  Ali could not articulate a word. She wondered how they could stand alone against a vampire as powerful as Darry seemed to be. If at least she could learn to control her gifts she would feel more secure but that would require a time she didn’t count on. Before her silence, Kaliel approached more to her without taking his eloquent glance from her and he sank again to be at her height. Why did he suddenly act so against his nature? Or would that be his true angelic nature showing itself at last?

  “If we don’t take Darry out of the way, you won’t be able to go out in search of your father...” he said.

  “Yes, of course, and you run the risk of losing your bait to find that demon you're looking for...” Ali narrowed her eyes suspiciously. “Don’t deceive me Kaliel: when the tithe is great even the saints distrust...”

  He sighed theatrically.

  “I thought you wanted me to stop being rude to you” Kaliel smiled wickedly. He had been teasing her all the time. “Or did I go so far that you're considering selling your soul for me?”

  Now that he didn’t need to pretend, he sat back at the window, looking coldly at nothing.

  “You’ll have to do much more than that if you want me for all eternity” Ali objected. “You're still far from being nice and you have to know that I'm much more demanding than Charlotte... Surely she didn’t have Facebook: there are too many blond guys”.

  Kaliel tried to tighten his lips but at last they gave way and twitched in a faint stolen smile. Checkmate: she had humiliated him at his own game. Ali started to laugh and he turned to look at her while thinking of a way to counterattack. Then he regretted: again that feeling of déjà vu and the unexpected satisfaction of seeing her smile so sweetly... The certainty that a truth was revealed to him very clearly and, nevertheless, it escaped from him. Then he felt a tingling in the skin of his arms, partly out of fear, because he knew he had just left open a door that will never close.

  “This has nothing to do with Baaltazhar...” he said and continued to look out the window.

  19

  A messenger from the underworld

  The only time Ali left her room-yes, it was also hers now, or at least, that's what Sabrina was taking care of- was to go to the bathroom. And on all those occasions, she tried to look terribly sick, also on Sabrina's advice.

  “So I won’t raise suspicions when I come to visit you tonight with a bowl of hot soup” she had said. “And make a list of all the things you need: we'll leave it to Dorothy under her door and you'll see that tomorrow you'll have everything in yours”.

  Then she had argued with Kaliel, who was protesting sulkily from his place in the window.

  “You're not going to take my books out of there”.

  “She is a woman, not a dog!” Sabrina scolded him. “You can’t let her sleep in a corner on the floor!”

  “Really, it doesn’t bother me...” Ali tried to calm the waters but Sabrina didn’t seem to listen to her.

  “A week ago you have the same clothes” objected scandalized. “Are you going to tell me that here they have the same shampoo that you used in your house? Every woman knows which one makes her hair better. And did you make up? How do you do to stay so beautiful after being kidnapped by vampires and demons?” Sabrina said hastily. “No doubt you must have demon blood... or fairy blood!”

  “Does that even exist?”

  “Let's go!” Sabrina took her arm and began to drag her towards the door. Ali gave Kaliel a look which said is she like this normally? “You bathe and I'll lend you my clothes and my make-up and we'll see how beautiful you can be... And you take that horrible trunk out of there!”

  “No” Kaliel repeated for the umpteenth time.

  “Well then she’ll move to my room!”

  “Of course not!” He exclaimed, clearly exasperated. “They'll kill her while you polish your nails...”

  “Well then you'll take good care of her. When I come I want to see that you have moved the trunk...” she ordered in a capricious but firm tone. Ali gave Kaliel one last apologetic look as Sabrina dragged her out.

  “If he's that rude now imagine him in a couple of months...” Sabrina said as they walked in a hurry to a series of corridors that Ali still didn’t know. By the time they reached Sabrina's room, the shrill tone of her voice had become more serious and calm.

  “Kaliel is unbearable and I like to annoy him” she had said, she didn’t remember when but that explained everything.

  Sabrina allowed her to relax in her bath tub with the promise that on leaving she would have chosen a change of clothes suitable for her. The prospect scared her but she finally gave in as she plunged into the hot, frothy water. If it hadn’t been because she still heard Sabrina chattering behind the door, she’d have fallen asleep enjoying the smell of vanilla and coconut from the soap bubbles that flooded the air. That wasn’t bad and neither was Sabrina's choice of clothes. Several minutes later she was standing in front of a giant gold-framed mirror, wearing comfortable suede boots, black leggings and a baggy pale pink sweater. Sabrina brushed her hair that reached her waist. She had outlined her eyes in black in a way that reminded her of Cleopatra and had put a strawberry-colored sheen on her lips.

  “Ready” Sabrina smiled. “You are beautiful!”

  Ali watched closely and her smile twisted in a gesture of disappointment.

  “Not as much as Zhaira...” She sighed. “I'm still the ugliest here”.

  “Zhaira?” Sabrina looked at her confused. “Zhaira is not especially beautiful, she's just... Provocative”.

  “Everyone looks at her and they can’t stop doing it...” Ali huffed. “Except Kaliel, of course” she added, as if she didn’t want to put everyone in the same bag. “Neither she is awesome enough to get his attention”.

  Sabrina burst out laughing. Ali went to sit on the edge of the bed, suddenly feeling frustrated.

  “Yeah... Sure” said Sabrina still funny. Then she cleared her throat and became serious, while she tidied up her cosmetics and the clothes she had messed up. “Zhaira is a demon; he couldn’t be attracted to her in a million years. Easy...” Sabrina winked.

  “It's not... It's that sometimes I'd like to be more like her and less like me...”

  “Ali” Sabrina stood firm and gave her a motherly look, like those glances that the mothers of her friends put when they had just discovered their daughters in a lie too silly. But she had never had a mother to look at her like that, or in any other way. “I can look like a teenager but I'm 200 yea
rs old and you can’t cheat on me: I've seen how you look at him. You like him…”

  Ali opened her mouth to protest and then thought that she couldn’t get mad at Sabrina.

  “He's cute... It's true. But I’d never considered feeling something for him. I haven’t had time to think about me again these days. I just wish he wasn’t so hard on me sometimes... Do you understand? It is just that”.

  “Of course...” she laughed and continued going back and forth around the room. “He’s not harder on you than he is on himself, if that is any consolation”.

  “What do you mean?”

  “Kaliel is very focused on his redemption and what he has to do. He can’t afford to fall in love or he would lose his redemption and loving someone at this moment would only put stones in his path”.

  Ali remembered Charlotte's pained expression when she said: It's as if I was forbidden to love... I don’t know what the rules are like.

  “That means that in these 200 years...” Ali hesitated “Have you never seen him in love or at least...? It has always been like this?”

  Sabrina folded one last red shirt and kept it neatly in the closet. Then she took a notebook and a pen from a table and went to sit next to Ali.

  “It's only been two years since Kaliel is here” Sabrina clarified, to her surprise. “You can’t tell this to anyone, okay?” Ali nodded. “When he arrived, I heard Mikah talking to Gabriel, Uriel and Rafael in his office. Gabriel defended Kaliel and said that this time it had been different and that he deserved this opportunity because God had given it to him. They said that he had sinned by falling in love with a mortal but that his soul remained pure and deserved to be saved. They decided that he would pass his punishment here and Mikah would be in charge of helping him and watching over him since he is the one who inspires the Force and the Will of God, but that if he fell again he would be lost because those were the conditions of his punishment”.

  A knot crushed Ali's throat and she was unable to speak. She tried to make all that fit with what she had been told. Kaliel had told her that angels couldn’t fall in love. That was why he hadn’t been able to reciprocate Charlotte but then, if both were punished, he had fallen in love. However, something didn’t quite fit.