Seraph Read online

  Sophia landed on her back from the strong blow and her armor vanished. She was abruptly left dangerously vulnerable. When Ornias noticed the battle was nearing its end he powered down his armor, but his assault on Sophia took a ruthless turn.

  Ornias jumped a defenseless Sophia and punched her repeatedly, lacerating her face. Angelic blood spilled from her nose and mouth. He then lifted Sophia above his head and slammed her into the car. She lay still, clearly battered from the fight. Ornias approached Sophia and peeled her from the car, which was now totally destroyed after the angel was body-slammed into it.

  He threw the helpless angel onto the road and put his foot into her back, pulling at her left wing as hard as he could and ripping it from her body. Then he did the same to the right. Sophia cried out in pain. The deafening shriek shattered the lightbulb. Her flaming hair extinguished and then she blacked out. The road was completely dark. The only light came from the faint red and white glows their spiritual bodies emanated.

  Ornias carried Sophia and materialized the yellow Stingray, morphed into Oscar, put the bloody and brutalized angelic body in the trunk, and drove back toward the bar. Once he pulled into the bar he saw Andrea walking out. He pulled up beside her and got out of his car to talk to her.

  “Hey, Andrea, I’m so sorry I’m late. I had to take care of some business. Where are you going?” Oscar asked.

  “Well, I uh . . . I changed my mind and don’t want to go with you,” Andrea answered.

  “What? You don’t want to follow your dreams? What happened to the beautiful and precocious woman I met yesterday?” Oscar asked.

  “Nothing, I just changed my mind.”

  “Or someone changed your mind.”

  “Huh? No!”

  “Relax, Andrea, everything is okay. Did you meet a young woman named Sophia tonight?”

  “How do you know that?”

  “I was afraid of that. Sophia is a woman who couldn’t cut it in the entertainment business. She’s been following me and trying to ruin my recruitments. I have a restraining order against her . . . She’s not even supposed to leave the state of California.”

  “No, that can’t be true! She turned into an angel! I saw her with my own two eyes, and she told me things that I’ve never told anyone. She said you were lying to me and that you were a demon!”

  “A demon?” he cried condescendingly. “Don’t tell me you’re one of those whackos who believe in angels and demons, heaven and hell, and that heebie-jeebie, superstitious mumbo jumbo? Did you have anything to drink tonight?”

  “Yeah, I had a Blackjack. One Blackjack.”

  “Did she give it to you or did you get it from the bartender?”

  “She gave it to me,” Andrea answered.

  “She’s done this before. . . . You were given a hallucinogenic drug called Lysergic Acid Diethylamide. Also known as—”

  “LSD.”

  “You know the drug?” he asked.

  “I experimented some in college.”

  “Well, Sophia has met many of my potential clients in the past, slipped them this drug in a drink, and you won’t believe the stories that some of her victims told. But she is arrested and on her way to a jail in the next county. I saw her in the bar talking to you and I called the cops. With the restraining order, they were more than happy to arrest her and did so just down the road . . . I came back to meet you before you disappeared.”

  “Show me the police report,” she said skeptically.

  “I don’t have one.”

  “If you want me to go anywhere with you, you better show me something.”

  “Okay, okay. Hold on.” Oscar turned around and headed into his yellow sports car and acted like he was looking through the glove compartment. What he really did was use whatever energy he had left to materialize a piece of paper that looked like an official restraining order from the state of California and a mug shot with the image of Sophia for good measure. When he exited the car with the papers, he showed Andrea—who was flabbergasted.

  “I don’t get it . . . How did she know about my miscarriage and my abuse? How did she know about my son?” Andrea asked as things began making less and less sense.

  “I don’t know . . . But before I discovered her, she was a computer genius and she has been known to hack into people’s backgrounds. I assume that she did the same to you. If there is personal information about you anywhere online, then she’ll find it and use it against you. She is a crazy woman, and you aren’t the first person she’s done this to. All of this because I refused to work with her. She is a very sick and insane person. Trust me.”

  Andrea looked at Oscar. Looked into his eyes and tried to find a trace of deceit, but she found none. She looked over the restraining order and there was Sophia’s name. Sophia Llamas, plain as day.

  “I didn’t know she was a Latina,” Andrea said.

  “She’s Spanish to be exact.”

  “Jesus . . . I’m such an idiot.”

  When Andrea said the name of the Son of God, Ornias had to use every ounce of the strength he had left not to be exposed. His cover was almost blown at the mere mention of Jesus’ name. Had Andrea called upon the name for help instead of using it in vain, Ornias would have been forced to flee. However, he held his composure.

  “No, you were almost just another victim. Look, I understand if you don’t want to go with me anymore, but after everything that happened, I feel like I owed you the truth,” he said as he turned to his car.

  “No, wait . . . I want to go with you.”

  “Really? After everything?”

  “Yeah, I do and I don’t care if I never see this godforsaken town ever again. Let’s get out of here.”

  “Fantastic. You will not regret this. Let’s go.”

  Andrea got into Oscar’s car, and the inhibitions she had had were now quelled. She was ready to begin her new life. She felt so confident in what Oscar told her—that her experience really did come from a hallucinogenic drug. She felt ashamed, hurt, and lied too. She couldn’t believe that someone would stoop so low as to use extremely personal information to hurt someone they’d never met before. But she believed Oscar. She believed he had her best interests at heart and really wanted her to succeed. As they drove, Andrea fell into a deep slumber from her long day, even though it was not yet ten o’clock—she had experienced a spiritual and emotional high and low in a matter of sixty minutes.

  Oscar arrived in Kansas City, Missouri, at about one o’clock in the morning. He checked into the nicest hotel and booked a gorgeous suite for both of them on the top floor. Andrea sleepwalked from the car, to the front desk, to the elevator. From there, Oscar carried her the rest of the way. The elevator opened to the suite, and he laid her on the bed without undressing her. He left Andrea in the comfy bed and closed the door. Then he left the extravagant suite and headed to the roof.

  Once there, a woman was waiting for him, sitting on the edge of the skyscraping hotel without fear that the edge didn’t have a protective gate. Lilith sat waiting for Ornias dressed as a stunning woman in a sexy red dress, crossing her legs with Italian red leather shoes, and sipping a glass of red wine. Her hair was a deep red, which matched her alluring lips tonight. She lived for the night scene earth offered and spent her nights seducing men for many millennia. She heard Ornias arrive on the roof but hadn’t turned around to greet him.

  “You’re late,” Lilith said.

  “Please forgive me, mistress,” he apologized, “it took a little longer than I anticipated.”

  “Where is Andrea?”

  “She is resting for the night in the suite below.”

  “Perfect. Did you run into any trouble?” Lilith asked.

  “As a matter of fact, I did. Sophia showed up at the bar tonight. That is why I took longer than I intended,” Oscar confirmed.

  “What happened?”

  “She met Andrea before I got there. When I pulled in, I could see her sitting there already talking to her. She told her things and
even revealed her supernatural nature to Andrea.” When Lilith heard the news she turned around and crushed the wine glass in her hand, blood trickled from the wound.

  “And then?” Lilith asked.

  “When Sophia left the bar I followed her and appeared before her in the road ahead as a human. She predictably swerved out of control and crashed. After a brief heart-to-heart, we fought and I defeated her in battle,” he recounted the story.

  “Interesting. Does she know of our plan?”

  “No, mistress, she asked but I told her nothing. Afterward, I went back to the bar and convinced Andrea to come with me.”

  “Really? How did you accomplish that?”

  “I spun a marvelous lie. Satan himself would be proud.”

  “Impressive. Where is Sophia?” Lilith wondered.

  “She is in the trunk of the yellow Stingray in the parking garage.”

  “Good. Now listen carefully. You have one chance to accomplish your mission. Show her a wonderful day tomorrow and buy her whatever she asks,” she instructed.

  “Make her feel special and take her to a very expensive dinner at night. Make her desire you and then seducing her should be easy tomorrow night. Stay the course and remember the endgame.”

  “Yes, mistress.”

  “You did well, I truly am impressed, Ornias, or should I say . . . Oscar,” Lilith praised him.

  “Thank you, mistress,” Ornias said with a wide smile and a bow. He watched as Lilith left him before returning to the suite.

  Lilith walked off the roof and jumped to the ground and once she landed, she walked out of the alley and onto the main street. She walked into the garage and located the yellow Stingray. She went right to the trunk, opened it, and just as Ornias had stated, Sophia was there—still beaten and bruised.

  She was so badly injured that she could hardly move, and her eyes were still swollen shut. She wasn’t healing, she wasn’t speaking. Her fiery hair was still out and she just lay there, barely moving her head in the direction of the noise of the opening trunk. Lilith looked at her and spoke.

  “Sophia, darling, you look a mess. And what happened to your beautiful hair? Yes, you must have been beaten nearly half to death. Luckily, you didn’t run into me because I would have surely killed you. I would kill you now, but I take no pleasure in killing someone who cannot defend herself. But since I know you can hear me, I’m only going to say this once. Our plan, that you so desperately seek to know, is this: Andrea is going to bear a son for Lord Satan, and the child will be raised to rule and conquer the earth and the new earth to come. He will be a conduit that leads millions upon millions of souls to worship Satan. And while Satan and his son rule on earth, I will rule in hell.”

  Lilith finished her small soliloquy and slammed the trunk once again. She climbed into the driver’s side of the yellow Corvette and turned it on. Once again the Stingray came alive with a loud roar, except this time when it started it changed from yellow to red. Lilith grinned and drove off with her prisoner in the trunk.

  CHAPTER 5

  The sun was just beginning to rise when Camilla woke up in John’s cramped apartment. She had fallen asleep on the sofa after watching news about Seraph, which had dominated the news for the whole day and night. Camilla actually fell asleep with the TV on and when she woke, there was still new speculation about who Seraph was and what he was.

  She still had a couple of hours until she had to be at her parents’ private medical practice and then to NYU later in the evening. She sat up and performed her morning prayers and devotions, but her mind was elsewhere. While the whole world was fascinated with Seraph, she was fascinated with the man underneath the mask. She went to sleep thinking about him, she dreamt about him, and she woke up thinking about him.

  If truth were told, John was exactly what she wanted in a man. He was smart, funny, and quirky, but he could be charming as well. She just wasn’t physically attracted to him; she didn’t think herself shallow because she believed everyone was shallow to a degree.

  However with John’s recent physical transformation, she found that she was undeniably drawn to him. He remained the same person she loved, but now he had exceeded even her physical desires in a man. Camilla thought about John and before she knew what she was doing, she was staring at him from his door while he slept, wondering if his feelings for her were any different now.

  John slept soundly, peacefully. The warm summer air had him sleeping shirtless with an open window so fresh air could breeze over his body. His new abilities made it difficult to sleep. His sense of smell and hearing were particularly sensitive at night. Any slight scent in the air would hit his nostrils as if he had inhaled it with his nose touching the object. An ant crawling across the floor sounded like someone knocking at the door. A fly’s buzzing sounded like a motorbike, and a spider spinning its web sounded like a guitarist tuning his instrument for a performance.

  For the first few nights with his new abilities, he stayed awake just listening to the sounds, but by this night he had learned to control his senses to some degree and was able to get a decent night’s rest. This morning John noticed the subtle change in the air and the shuffle of socked feet lightly walking on the tile floor and his eyes opened.

  “Camilla?” John asked in an early morning raspy tone.

  “Yeah. How’d you know I was here?”

  “I could hear you . . . and smell you.”

  “Wow, that says a lot about this deodorant,” she joked.

  “What are you doing up?”

  “I don’t know. I suppose maybe to head home. I have to work in a few hours.”

  “Sure, of course.”

  “Okay . . . so . . . I guess I’ll be seeing you,” she said.

  “Yeah sure . . . I’ll see you around.”

  Camilla started to leave, frustrated at herself for not saying what she really wanted to say. John was equally upset with himself, wondering why he didn’t speak what was in his heart. Why did he just let her walk out like that? Even though he had physically changed, a small part of him still saw himself as the unattractive man he had been just four days ago. Camilla grabbed her jacket and headed toward the door. She opened it but swiftly shut it again and ran back into John’s room.

  “Hey . . . did you forget something?” John asked.

  “Yeah, I did. We should go out tonight.”

  “You’re sure after three straight days that you want to make it four?” he joked.

  “Yes, I’m sure . . . but tonight will be different,” she said.

  “Different?”

  “Goodness, John, do I have to spell it out?”

  “Oh, wow. You mean a date?” John said truthfully surprised.

  Camilla only shyly smiled at him.

  “Yeah, yeah, we . . . I’d like that,” he stammered.

  After that short exchange Camilla headed out of the apartment with a huge smile on her face. John lay back in bed, smiling ear to ear. Both were excited, and even though they’d hung out plenty in their lives, they both knew that tonight was going to be different. Tonight was going to change their relationship in a negative or a positive way. Either way, things weren’t going to be the same.

  Andrea woke in a strange bed that was more comfortable than anything she’d ever slept in in her entire life. The white satin curtains were open wide and the beautiful sun with all its glory shone in. Oscar was on the balcony having a glass of orange juice, waiting for Andrea to rise. When he heard a commotion he turned around to see the woman who was even stunning in the morning.

  “Good morning, sleepy face,” Oscar said.

  “Sleepy face? Do you mean ‘Sleepyhead’?” Andrea corrected him.

  “My apologies,” he laughed.

  “Where are you from that they didn’t teach you how to say sleepyhead?” she joked.

  “I’m not from around here,” he laughed.

  “Where are you from?”

  “Did you sleep well?” he asked deflecting the question.

&
nbsp; “I did; it was amazing.”

  “Good because we have a big day ahead of us.”

  “We’re not going to see your recruit?”

  “No, she will keep for one more day. Today, I’d like to treat you like a princess.”

  “Is that so?” She smiled.

  “Yes, we are going to start with a big breakfast, a helicopter ride, and the rest of the day is a surprise.”

  Andrea was excited about the events of the day. She wasn’t sure what Oscar’s plans were, but she didn’t mind because she was attracted to him. He was tall, dark, and handsome. Everything a woman could want. He had broad shoulders, was over six feet tall, and apparently very successful. She felt that she had hit the jackpot, and although he hadn’t confessed having feelings for her, she knew he also found her attractive.

  The day began as planned and after their massive breakfast, they made their way to the helicopter tours. Oscar was the epitome of a gentleman. He opened doors, held out her chair for her, and even held her hand. There was a rush of different emotions flooding through her mind. He looked at her as if she were the only woman in Missouri and she felt like it. Once they were done with the tour, they walked in a local park and stopped at a bridge with a peaceful stream underneath.

  “This is the best day I’ve had in a very long time,” she said.

  “Me too. I’ve not been on many dates before.”

  “Oh, this is a date?” She laughed.

  “No, I mean, yeah. We can call it that?” he asked nervously.

  “Yeah, we can call it that.”

  He stared into her eyes and grinned.

  “Why are you looking at me like that?” she coyly asked.

  “You’re just so beautiful . . . ,” he answered.

  “Is that all that you see when you see me?” Andrea responded.

  “No, not at all.” He looked deep into her eyes as if he was peering into her soul.

  “I see a woman who is tired of being hurt, who wants to be loved,” he softly replied. “You are brilliant, courageous, kind, and gentle. You are a bright star shinning in the midnight sky, and you deserve someone who will work hard to reach you.”