Confronting the Fallen (14 page)

“
Think
about all that has happened to the world in the last hundred years or
so, young man. Two world wars. Genocide. Small countries constantly
in battle with each other. Hatred based on race or religion or
politics. There has never been a bloodier period in all of human
history. And now the world has two things that will entice evil more
than anything else: over seven billion souls for the taking and
weapons of mass destruction that could be used to reap those souls.
It is enough to tempt the devil himself. Which we believe it has.”

“
And
why are angels being born in human bodies?”

“
What
else could fight a demon? Humans can only do so much. Only the
greatest force for good can battle the greatest forces of evil. God
is making his last throw to save the human race. We are blessed,
although it may have come too late. But this is humanity's world,
young man. And so, humans must lead the way. The angelic souls are
bound within the mortal body and are at the command of the human that
they are a part of.” She indicated the box on her lap. “And
so we come to the test, Christopher. We believe that your soul is
that of an angel. Your powers all point to it. But there is only one
way to force an angelic soul to reveal itself. And that is by
confronting it with great evil.”

Chris
stared at the box in apprehension. He had had a bad feeling from the
simple-looking thing since Anna had entered the room. It made him
uncomfortable, squirmy; like an itch that he couldn't quite scratch.
He watched as she slid her hands down to the front of the box. There
was a sturdy metal clasp holding the lid closed. Chris stood up
abruptly and backed away from Anna, almost knocking his chair over in
his haste.

Anna
stared at him in surprise. “What is it, Christopher?”

He
pointed a shaking finger at the box. “It's that thing. I...I
don't like it, Anna. Please don't open it. I have a bad feeling about
it.”

“
Now,
now, young man. Don't worry. I've used this box in several tests.
It's perfectly safe. It won't harm you.”

“
No,
no. It's not me I'm worried about!” Chris was almost babbling.
“It's not me, it's you. I'm afraid of what will happen to you
if you open it.”

Anna
chuckled. “I'm not afraid of the contents of this box,
Christopher. Trust me.” And she slipped the clasp open and
lifted the lid.

“
No!
Don't! You can't...” But it was too late.

Whatever
was in the box caused a wave of nausea to course through Chris' body.
He wanted to vomit, but the feeling was swept away by a red-hot fury
that suddenly burned in his mind. Blind, primeval hatred. Revulsion.
A desire to strike out, destroy. And then Chris was no longer in
control of his body. It was as if he was pushed aside, a mere
observer of events. He was mute and helpless, just watching in
terror.

The
room was blazing with a blinding silver light. Instead of staring
almost eye to eye with the seated Anna, Chris was towering over her;
staring down at her as though he was suddenly twelve feet tall. From
over his shoulders he heard a heavy flapping. Wings? He had no way to
look but somehow managed to get a glimpse of his torso as he stared
at Anna.

He
was wearing armor; thick, heavy iron armor. It looked dented and
rusted but it glowed a dull red, as though it had just been pulled
from a forge. And then there was a voice, but it wasn't his. It was
deep and hollow, as if it rolled up from the ground, and the sound
shook the room so that Anna grabbed the sides of her chair to keep
from falling out.

“
Unclean!”
roared the horrific voice. “Accursed before God! You dare bring
that abomination into my presence?” And suddenly Chris saw two
massive hands, clenched tightly. They swung up and over his head. Oh
no, he thought. She'll be crushed! Close the lid, he wanted to
scream. Close the lid on that damned box.

Anna
was staring in shock at the figure that towered over her. Over the
echoes of the terrible voice, Chris thought he heard someone pounding
on the door, trying to break in. Anna tore her eyes away from
whatever she was seeing and fumbled with the box, trying to get it
closed. Chris felt the massive arms swinging down, the fists passed
into his field of vision. Stop it, he yelled inside of his head. He
couldn't even look away. And just as she was about to be smashed to a
pulp, Anna slammed the lid shut and slid the clasp home.

Chris
was suddenly kneeling on the floor in front of Anna. He fell forward
on to his hands trying not to throw up. The door smashed open and
Anna's grandson leaped into the room, followed closely by the judge
and Martin. Without a moments hesitation, the huge man ran straight
at Chris, obviously thinking he was a threat.

“
Johnny,
stop! Do not harm him!” Anna's order caught Johnny in
mid-stride and he almost fell over as he skidded to a stop. “I'm
not hurt, grandson,” she continued, her voice strained and
quivering. “Chris is not at fault here.”

Full
of concern, Johnny hurried over and checked to see that Anna was all
right. She pushed him away gently.

“
Don't
fuss. I said I'm fine.”

“
What
happened, Anna?” Judge Hawkes asked. He was very pale and kept
looking at Anna and then back at Chris.

She
shook her head in seeming disbelief. “What we never dreamed
would happen, Ethan. I can barely believe it myself and I saw it with
my own eyes.”

Chris
sat back on his heels, breathing heavily. The nausea had passed but
he felt exhausted, as if he had just run flat out for a mile. He
listened closely to what was being said, but he didn't know what was
going on.

“
He
has the soul of an angel, Grandmother?” Johnny asked as he
looked at Chris dubiously.

Anna
shook her head. “No, not an angel,” she said faintly.
Chris felt a moment of despair. So what the hell had just happened?

“
What
then, Anna?” the judge asked. Chris wondered if he heard
suspicion in the judge's tone.

“
Something
far more terrible and glorious. He has the soul of an archangel.”

The
room grew quiet. Chris stared at the old woman. A what, he wondered.

“”
Are
you sure, Anna?” The judge sounded both awed and excited. “We
never dreamed that Heaven would allow such a powerful being to enter
this world.”

“
Didn't
you hear him, Ethan?” She asked, now sounding faintly amused.
“I have never seen one, even in visions. But I know what it
was.” She turned to looked at Chris. “I hope you are all
right, Christopher?” she asked. Chris just nodded. He was too
tired to even speak. “Good. You see, what normally happens
during the test is just a revulsion, a sickening feeling from the
person exposed to the contents of the box.” She patted its lid.

Chris
found the strength to murmur “But what's inside there?”

“
It's
an ancient relic, Christopher,” the judge answered instead of
Anna. “My ancestor discovered it in his travels, buried in a
hidden crypt deep underground. We believe it is the claw of a demon.”
At Chris' look, the judge nodded. “Yes, a real, physical demon.
Before such a thing, an angel cannot help but react. We didn't
realize that an archangel would be so powerful in his reaction.”
The judge paused and then added ruefully, “Of course, we never
believed that the soul of an archangel would be born on Earth at all,
so I suppose we can't really be blamed for our carelessness.”

The
judge walked over and gently helped Chris to his feet. Chris swayed
for a moment and the man steadied him until he could stand on his
own. “I'm okay now, sir,” Chris said a little more
strongly. He was embarrassed by his weakness but the judge just
looked at him with understanding and patted him gently on the
shoulder.

“
Sit
down, Christopher. Take a few minutes to recover.” He turned to
look at Anna. “Are you sure you're fine, Anna?” he asked
a bit anxiously. She sighed and rolled her eyes.

“
Of
course I am. Really, Ethan. I'm not the important one here. See to
your charge, judge. He's the one we need to be concerned about.”

Anna's
grandson rolled her chair over until she was sitting next to Chris.
He looked at her a bit apprehensively. He was worried about what she
might think of him after what had just happened. Her tone was
reassuring though.

“Be at ease, young man. I am well
aware that you had no control over that event.” She reached out
and patted him gently. He returned her smile gratefully. Anna then
looked back at the judge, seemingly a bit puzzled and perhaps
worried.

“As I said, I have never seen an
archangel before; no one has. But there was something wrong with the
figure I saw.” She rubbed her palms across the box on her lap.
“It was...twisted. Broken. I couldn't see very well through the
light that blasted from his face, but the wings were wrong.”
She glanced at Chris, looking sad for some reason. “ One of
them was...crippled? Twisted?” She shook her head. “Something
wasn't right. That's all I could see.”

The judge looked confused. Chris had
never seen that look on his face before.

“Twisted? Crippled?” The
judge sat forward and looked down at the floor. He was quiet for a
moment. “No,” he said. “That's a new one on me. The
only maimed angel I've ever heard of was...” He and Anna
exchanged looks.

“The Angel of the Morning,”
she whispered and covered her mouth in shock.

“No!” Judge Hawkes said
emphatically. “It is not him. He is buried deep and will not
dare to enter this world until the end is near, if then.”

Chris looked between the two of them.
“The Angel of the Morning? Wait. Why does that sound familiar?”
He thought perhaps he'd heard his father mention that title before
but he wasn't sure.

“That was the original name of
the devil, Christopher,” the judge said quietly. “He was
an archangel before God cast him out. Now he is our adversary, the
cause of this march toward Armageddon. The story is that he was
crippled in some way before he fell, but the details are hazy at
best. Supposition and guess-work mainly.”

Chris' eyes widened. “The devil?
Wait a second.” He looked at Anna. “You think I have
Satan inside me?”

She shook her head firmly. “Of
course not, young man. I said the only one I had heard of was...that
demon. But that doesn't mean there weren't others. Angels are, after
all, the soldiers of God. And the archangels are his generals. In
their battles against evil, surely many have endured injuries that
perhaps even God's power cannot heal. How can we know?”

Chris sat back, feeling a little
relieved.

“We know so little about them,
even now that they have arrived to help us,” the judge said
with frustration in his voice. “Tales from revelations made by
seers and prophets? How many are mere fantasy? Or the products of
delusional minds?” He stood up abruptly and everyone stared at
him in surprise.

“We must do better!” the
judge exclaimed. “If Christopher does indeed carry the soul of
an archangel inside of him, we have to know all there is to know
about them, speculation or not.” He looked over at his
assistant. “Martin, call our sources. Get our researchers on
this. I want all material on archangels collated and on my desk by
tomorrow morning.”

As Martin started to protest, the judge
cut him off. “Yes, I know it's asking a lot in a short time.
But that is the point; time is short. An archangel, Martin. Think of
the ramifications.”

Martin nodded. “Yes, of course,
your honor. I will contact them immediately. We'll get everything
available to you as soon as possible.” He started to walk to
the door.

“Tomorrow morning, Martin,”
the judge said firmly.

Martin sighed but kept walking. “Yes
sir. Tomorrow morning.” He left the room and closed the door
behind him.

“Now, Anna,” the judge said
and knelt down beside her chair. “Fine or not, you've had a
shock. I'd like you to get some rest. Your usual room is prepared for
you and you know you need only call the front desk if you need
anything.”

Anna looked like she was about to
protest but then nodded wearily. “Perhaps you're right, Ethan.
I need to sort out everything that's happened anyway.” Johnny
looked relieved as he approached Anna's chair. She looked at Chris
with a strangely gentle expression.

“I think our young friend could
use some rest as well.” She reached out a hand and Chris
quickly took it in both of his. “Christopher, I foresee a long
road ahead of you, and a hard one. But you have friends here now. And
I count myself among them. Remember that.” She patted his hands
and smiled.

Chris felt himself blushing but smiled
in return. “Thank you, ma'am,” he said gratefully. “I'll
remember.”

With that, Johnny turned Anna's chair
and headed for the door. Before they left, the large man looked back
at Chris and, for the first time, smiled slightly at him. Chris felt
a rush of relief as he returned the gesture. The big man made him a
bit nervous.

Judge Hawkes returned to his chair
behind the desk and sat down. “Anna made a good point,
Christopher. You look a little done in. Maybe you should go to your
room and get some rest.”