Seraph Page 5

  In the middle of an elementary school cafeteria he watched as a friendly and innocent Andrea Lewis shared her lunch with a bruised Kenneth Rose. He skipped ahead a few more years and stopped at a place where a 17-year-old Kenneth Rose finally had the courage and strength to fight his abusive father, sending him to the hospital, nearly beating him to death, and earning his first run-in with the law. He skipped past Ken’s college years and even the Lewis-Rose wedding.

  He did, however, stop at the point when Andrea was pregnant and Kenneth kicked her down the stairs. He watched Kenneth become an alcoholic, and he finally arrived at the day Kenny died by driving off the bridge. He saw Ken drown in the river below and then saw his soul swim to the top and grab onto the snowy river bank.

  He watched as four demons appeared in an electric, deep purple vortex and dragged Kenny, kicking and screaming, into the great white judgment hall in heaven. Ornias saw Kenneth watch in horror as the angel was unable to find his name in the Book of Life. He saw Kenneth plead for his soul yelling, “There MUST be some mistake,” and saw him being dragged by the four demons that escorted him into the great hall. He skipped ahead to see Kenny brought before Satan himself; he saw Kenny’s fear as he gazed upon the devil and was sentenced. This is what he was looking for, the sentencing.

  “Kenneth Rose, I’ve been waiting for you,” Satan said.

  “Where the hell am I? Who the hell are you?” Kenneth cried, his voice full of fear.

  “Where? Why, you are in hell of course. Your home for the foreseeable . . . eternity.” Satan laughed. “And if you are in hell then I must be . . . ?” Satan asked.

  “No, no, nooo you can’t be,” Kenneth cried.

  “Oh, come now, who am I?” Satan asked again.

  “The devil?” Kenny whispered.

  “Close, the devil is what I am, who I am is Satan. And your new lord,” Satan gladly corrected the prisoner. “Anzu, you did a marvelous job bringing yet another soul into the fold. Please enlighten me about Kenneth Rose’s crimes.”

  “Who is he?” Kenneth looked on in confusion.

  The demon greeted Kenneth with a backhand to the face for speaking when he wasn’t being spoken to.

  “I am Anzu,” said a tall, menacing, and extremely aggressive demon with the face of a raven and the body of a man, with big black feathery wings. He was a particularly evil and powerful demon. “I was assigned to you upon your conception to keep you away from the love of The One and to tempt you into all types of wickedness and I succeeded. With your help, I was able to defeat the many angels that were assigned to you on a daily basis. You made my job easy and I thank you.” And then turning to address Satan he continued. “My lord, Kenneth Rose is guilty of fornication, adultery, and idol worship, but his major crimes are drunkenness, the physical and verbal abuse of his wife, Andrea Lewis-Rose, and the murder of his unborn child when he kicked his wife down a flight of stairs.”

  Satan was thrilled because he had so many punishments in mind for Kenneth. “There are so many crimes here. I truthfully don’t know which one to pick.” He laughed aloud and said, “Truthfully, that is something you don’t see every day. Should I have you sent to our forest where my demons spend hours building their strength by hacking away at human trees? Or perhaps I should send you into the Lake of Fire. Although I would like to, I pride myself on judging fairly, and you do not deserve that. I reserve that for the truly wicked or if I get lucky enough to judge one that has fallen away from the truth. No, you should not be sent there.

  “Ah, yes, I have it. I will send you to the Ottocom Desert. I send most humans who are guilty of abuse to this place. Since you have beaten and abused your wife in the privacy of your own home, there you shall suffer in the privacy of your own coffin. You will be locked in a coffin lined with spikes on the interior. For company you will be abused by our chemaworm, named chema from our tongue meaning wrath. These worms originate from this planet, not unlike your leeches but way more deadly. Razor-sharp teeth that secrete a toxin that paralyzes their victims and also causes an intense burn once injected into the bloodstream. They live beneath the dirt of the entire surface of this planet and you will never see a more venomous creature.”

  Kenneth Rose wept bitterly, he cried so profusely that he could barely put words together to form a coherent sentence.

  “How . . . can . . . I . . . survive . . . that?” Kenneth asked as he continued to cry uncontrollably.

  “What? What did he say? Did anybody catch that?” Satan asked the horde of demons that laughed at the suffering soul.

  “I think he wants to know how he’s going to survive,” Anzu spoke up.

  Satan continued, “Oh simple. When you stood before The One you were granted a glorious body and you didn’t even know it. These bodies are vastly superior to your body on earth. There, depending on the severity of your injury, it may take a few days to a few months for you to heal. You can also die from almost anything there. But in heaven and hell, you cannot die again. When you get hurt here you will heal within a matter of seconds or hours. On earth if you lose a limb, you will never get it back. However, here, Anzu . . .”

  And a demon grabbed Ken’s arm and held it out as Anzu took out his axe and came down with such a devastating force that he cleanly severed Ken’s right forearm. Ken hollered in a way that he never had on earth. The scream seemed to come from deep within.

  “Kenny, stop your screaming. It will grow back eventually. Take him away,” Satan said as Kenny fainted before the congregation of demons.

  Ornias had the location of the damned soul but watched to see how the sentencing played out. He skipped ahead until he came to the Ottocom Desert. There he saw two demons chain Kenneth and kick him into his coffin. He watched as Ken yelled in pain, and he saw one of the demons pick up a jug and dump it on Kenneth. The worms spilled out and fell on Kenneth and quickly began eating him.

  Ornias watched as Kenneth screamed in horror, and he even saw one of the chemaworms enter Kenneth’s mouth as he opened it to scream. The coffin was closed and the screams became more muffled, and then the coffin was lifted telekinetically by one of the demons and placed into a deep hole, where sand was shoveled onto the casket telekinetically.

  The screams became muffled until they disappeared completely, either because Kenneth lost the ability to scream or perhaps he was too far down to be heard. Either way, Ornias had his location. He closed the book and put it back on the shelf where he found it. He was instantly brought out of Kenneth’s world and back in the hall of records where he had started his journey.

  “What are you doing here?” asked a deep dark voice.

  “Anzu . . . what are the chances of meeting you here?” Ornias said.

  “What are you doing here, whelp?” Anzu asked again.

  “Nothing. I was just looking around. What are you doing here?”

  “Sometimes I like to check up on souls that I have imprisoned. . . . What business do you have with the Kenneth Rose chronicles?”

  “Research, sir. I was just interested in what happens to a human soul once they enter our world. . . . I’ve never witnessed a sentencing before.”

  “Really? Do you know what I think? Your mistress, Lilith, is forbidden in the city and she makes you do her dirty work.”

  “No, sir,” Ornias answered, “I’m doing research for myself out of pure curiosity.”

  “Do I look like a fool to you?” Anzu squawked.

  “Well . . . ,” Ornias said.

  Anzu grabbed the small demon by his cloak and lifted him into the air

  “Take care how you answer,” Anzu seethed. “Your master, Lilith, is refused entrance into our city because she is a human-demon hybrid. What need does she have for a lost soul’s chronicles?”

  “She is more committed to the kingdom of darkness than you think,” Ornias said trying to ease the growing tension. “Please, sir, if you are not arresting me, then may I leave to attend the rest of my business?”

  Anzu thought while he still h
ad Ornias in the air. He knew that if he brought Ornias before his ranking officers, they would consider him wasting their time. And even though his loyalty was without question, Anzu knew that his overzealous nature earned him a reputation as a troublemaker in the kingdom. Even though Lilith wasn’t regarded in great esteem, one couldn’t, and wouldn’t, bring an accusation against her without just cause. She was deceptive, intelligent, beautiful, and extremely dangerous.

  Every spirit, demonic and angelic, knew of her throne of bones. They knew she collected the bones of those that tried to oppose her, and Anzu was unwilling to risk his being added to her collection. If he was going to accuse Ornias and Lilith of anything, he needed concrete evidence that they were up to something. So he threw Ornias down.

  “I will be keeping a watchful eye on you and your mistress. If I find you two planning sedition, I will bring you before Satan myself,” Anzu threatened.

  Ornias stood up, dusted himself off, and bowed before exiting the hall of records. As soon as he was outside of the city he gated out and appeared at the mouth of Lilith’s cave in the Ottocom Desert — where she sat admiring the view of the eerily beautiful red sand and mountain ranges as far as her captivating eyes could see. He bowed low and addressed her. She was eager to hear the news he brought.

  “Mistress, I have good news and bad news,” Ornias began. “The good news is I have found Kenneth Rose, and I know exactly where he is.”

  “Well, don’t just stand there tell me where he is,” Lilith demanded.

  “He is here in the Ottocom Desert. Approximately seventy-eight miles south of our current location. Next to the Sea of Fire.”

  “What are the odds that he’d be buried in my province?”

  “It is good fortune, mistress,” Ornias said, “Every now and then luck is needed to accomplish anything.”

  “Then what is the bad news?” Lilith asked.

  “Anzu found me in the hall of records looking at Kenneth Rose’s chronicles. He was the demon assigned to Kenneth in his time on earth.”

  “Anzu?” Lilith groaned. “He is one of the demons that I hate the most; his hatred for humans knows no limits. He still sees me as human, but nevertheless if Anzu gets in my way, I will add his bones to my throne.”

  CHAPTER 3

  The table was filled with all kinds of food—bacon, waffles, Italian sausage, three cheese omelets, and even cereal—that John had prepared for breakfast. It was positively the best breakfast Camilla had ever had and the best meal John had ever cooked. Camilla ate to her heart’s content, but John had the lion’s share. His new appetite came as a surprise to Camilla because she had never seen him eat that much. In fact, she never even remembered John as a cook. The last time he made breakfast for her was over four years ago when he nearly burned down his apartment. It was also John’s first attempt to impress her in a romantic way and after it backfired, he never tried again. Even though today’s breakfast was no such attempt, Camilla couldn’t help but notice that John was never going to be the same frail little man she once knew. She sat on the sofa with her coffee and inconspicuously admired him as they spoke.

  “So, you’re telling me there is an angel living inside of your body right now?” Camilla asked.

  “Yeah, his name is Ahadiel. He’s huge but nice,” John added.

  “What does it feel like?” she questioned.

  “Well, everything is sharper and clearer than before. Not like putting on a pair of glasses though—it’s more like looking at things through a microscope or telescope. And I can hear and smell everything too, and everything tastes so much better! It’s actually pretty weird,” John answered.

  “Can you read minds? Ooh, what color am I thinking of?” Camilla joked.

  “Blue,” he said as Camilla looked at him in wide-eyed amazement.

  “Oh my goodness!” she exclaimed.

  “Cammy, I can’t read your mind. I knew that because it’s your favorite color,” he said with a laugh.

  “Ha-ha very funny, but seriously what can you do?” Camilla asked.

  “You know, I honestly don’t know. The One never told me.”

  “The One?” she inquired.

  “Oh, it’s what they call him . . . them, Jesus and the Father. The angels call them The One.”

  “Makes sense,” she stated.

  “You understood that?” he queried.

  “Yeah, sure I did. I’ve been going to Bible study on Wednesdays.”

  “Nice,” he said with a genuine smile.

  “All kidding aside, this is the most unbelievable story I’ve ever heard.”

  “But you believe me, right?”

  “How could I not? I mean, look at you . . .”

  She admired his new physique. In her mind it was like he had been cut from black stone.

  “Hey, I have an idea,” Camilla said. “When was your last physical?”

  “What?” responded a bewildered John.

  “I want to run some tests to see exactly what you’re capable of. Come on, let’s go,” she exclaimed. She waited for John to get dressed in clothes that were clearly too small for him and hurried him out the apartment.

  They arrived at her parents’ medical office, which was closed on weekends, except for emergencies; she had John wait in the patient waiting room. When she was ready for him, she called him back to the examination room while donning a white lab coat and a stethoscope. John chuckled at seeing his friend in a doctor’s coat that obviously belonged to her father, because it was too big for her.

  “Don’t laugh, it’s for effect,” she said as she laughed with him.

  “No, it looks good,” he replied.

  “Okay . . . now take off your shirt.”

  John looked at her dubiously and gave into her wishes. As he took off his shirt, she observed every newly acquired abdominal muscle that he possessed, making his stomach look like hills and valleys on a chocolate-skinned meadow. She ogled his pecks that were perfectly symmetrical—not bulky like a massive body builder.

  His body now resembled a finely tuned athlete who was in peak physical condition. She kept staring until John cleared his throat and looked at her, which snapped her back to the reason she brought him here in the first place.

  “First, I’m going to measure your new height and weight. Step on the scale.” She insisted and John obliged her because he was eager to see what his measurements were. “Okay, you are now 6’2”.”

  “Whoa,” John said smiling.

  “‘Whoa’ is right.” And you now weigh 223 pounds,” Camilla responded.

  “Good lord, so I’ve grown almost a foot and gained over 100 pounds in one night. That’s got to be some kind of record.” John stated.

  “I . . . I don’t know, John,” she said in disbelief.

  Camilla applied the stethoscope to his chest to monitor his breathing and heart rate and noticed that both were normal. She measured his blood pressure and it was perfect. Next she gave him an eye exam and told him to step back and read the smallest line he could. So he walked down the long corridor as far as he could, which was about sixty feet from the Snellen Eye Chart and read the smallest line he could see.

  “Snellen chart. Copyright 2013. Made in China,” John read aloud.

  Camilla looked at the chart and wondered what line he was reading until she saw the tiny words written in a size smaller than the 20/10 line on the chart. She was stunned at his newly acquired visual acuity and whispered to herself how crazy she thought it was, to which John responded from sixty feet away, “Yeah, it is crazy isn’t it?” Which meant that John could also hear decibels that would barely cause a blip on a decibel measuring device.

  Finally Camilla decided she should assess John’s stamina and strength, so she drove him to an abandoned junkyard in Jersey. Once there, John began lifting old cars and tried to find heavier ones that would push him to his limits. He never found one, so they moved on. He lifted cars and buses with one hand and tractor-trailers and trains with two.

  C
amilla was in complete awe as she watched him lift tons with the greatest of ease. She was more shocked that he said the heaviest objects felt like he was lifting no more than 100 pounds. His new senses and abilities were truly supernatural, and even though she couldn’t measure or discover all of his abilities, she knew that he had become something special and was destined for greatness.

  John had wowed Camilla, albeit with his newfound supernatural abilities, but day was turning to twilight and they were close to ending their day of tests.

  “I gotta say, John, you can do things that people only see in the movies . . . It’s really freaking me out.”

  “Really?”

  “Yeah . . . it’s just so hard to believe because . . . this is real life and people aren’t supposed to do what you can do. . . . And we haven’t even discovered if you can fly?”

  “Only one way to find out”

  “I don’t know, John”

  “Well, I have an angel living inside me.”

  “Yeah.”

  “Well, angels can fly so maybe I can too.”

  “But what if you can’t? It’s dangerous. You can get hurt.”

  “No worries. I have superfast healing too,” he said climbing to the top of a junk pile.

  “Yeah but you can’t heal if you’re dead . . . seriously this is reckless.”

  Once John was at the top, the drop was much scarier than he had anticipated. Suddenly he was apprehensive. Then Camilla started making chicken noises.

  “I thought you didn’t want me to jump.”

  “Yeah . . . but you’re up there now!” she yelled back

  Camilla only made louder chicken noises. John rolled his eyes playfully and climbed to the top of the pile. He looked down from the forty-foot pile and Camilla egged him on.

  “JUMP, JOHNNY!”

  John bent his legs and leapt from the pile and floated downward before falling really hard on the junkyard ground. John scraped his arms and hands and skinned his knees. Camilla rushed to his aide to check on his cuts, but his body was healing instantly. Camilla was in awe.