Divinity: The Gathering: Book One (50 page)

              The knock on my door caught us both off guard, me especially since I was already edgy and on my guard.

Joel stood and looked on as
I went to the door and tip-toed to peer out of the peephole; catching sight of large, magenta, pink and white colored lily petals, and white roses.

I wrinkled my brow, glancing back at Joel who was standing closer behind me now
, as I opened the door.

             
I was greeted with a large, gorgeous bouquet in an equally beautiful rose tinted vase, being held by a young, flower delivery guy. The fragrance was sweet, and it made me smile automatically, not even knowing who they were for yet.

“Delivery for Star?” The young boy read in que
stion on his sheet of paper.

Me? At first I wondered
, and then I thought of Cam.

“That’s me, thanks. Just a second,” I said as he handed them to me. I took the flowers and moved past Joel to set them on the counter
, and get a few bills out of my purse for a tip.

             
Joel casually strolled back over to the counter and eased back onto the barstool with an inquisitive expression, while I tipped the delivery boy and rejoined him in admiring the bouquet.

I pulled the small card from the plastic holder and opened it.

It read: ‘Hope these brighten your day. I look forward to tonight — see you at seven.’ — Cam

My heart instantly melted with excitement and flattery.

Stargazer lilies were one of my all-time favorite flowers.

It was uncanny that he would pick them
, and beautiful ones at that.

“Let me guess, from Officer Cam?” Joel pursed his lips with a crooked smile that seemed to hide something else he was trying to suppress
, as he fingered a gorgeous slender petal with its brushed pink centers, and darker pink speckles.

“Yeah,” I said almost breathless
but not meaning to sound like such a giddy school girl.

I couldn’t stop smiling
, as I leaned in to smell them again.

“Wow, he’s making all us college dudes look bad.” Joel then kidded.

“Guess you college dudes need to step up your game then,” I winked.

He gave a wry smile.

“Found it. I thought I had lost my license but it was in my glove compartment, weird huh?” China’s voice sounded as the door opened and she entered with a small, black organizer and her car keys jingling in hand.

Speaking of, I’d better check for mine
. The demon cop had them last — but how did China find her in her glove compartment then?

China saw me and spoke first when before her eyes went to the bouquet, “Hey, you’re back. He
llo, who got the gorgeous flowers?” She grinned.

“Courtesy of Officer Cam. I’ll see you in a bit,” Joel said to me
, as he headed towards the door and waved, letting himself out.

“Okay.” I told him.

              China eyed her pot on the stove and picked up a spoon to stir it with a frown.

“Oh, it’s got a skin on it now.” She whined and pouted.

I chuckled.

“Flowers before the date huh? Those are so bea
utiful, he has good taste. You should put them in the window over there and put a tiny bit of bleach in the water, so they last longer. Now I really can’t wait to meet this hot Casanova. You’re home early, did you get sick again?” She asked opening the donut box and choosing a glazed.

“No, the gym was closed for maintenance.”

“Oh really? Good, then you can come with me early then.” She grinned.

“After I do some laundry,” I told her.

“Laundry? Star that can wait, come on. It’ll be hard to find a good parking spot if we don’t go early.” She whined.

“It can but if I don’t do it now I won’t feel like it tomorrow and Joel wants to tag along so I’m ri
ding with him anyway. Sunday is rest day.” I told her.

She groaned and rolled her eyes,
“Oh alright fine, don’t take too long. I’ve got to go get ready and leave in a few myself. Yours truly managed to be one of the three lucky ones to score an exclusive interview with the guys from Fire Raiser,” She said excitedly, shoving the donut into her mouth as she headed to her room.

“Fire Raiser?” I raised a brow with a soured face.

“Yes and they are one of the more popular newer groups. They’re hot too, especially the lead singer, which is a nice bonus. There’s a bunch of new bands actually; Fire Raiser, the Screaming Demons, Code Red, Null and Army Oblivion to name a few,” She called out from her room.

I rolled my eyes and shook my head
, but so grateful that for now everything seemed to be going well and normally.

“Sounds more like heavy metal to me.” I called back
, still admiring my lilies and roses.

“I know
. Well, Steve will have a field day networking that’s for sure.” She called back.

That was China, every musician was hot. I su
pposed that’s why she was dating Steve. He played bass guitar in his band Scarz, but their music was more local alternative industrial than rock.

             
In taking the time to gather together the contents of my hamper and stripping the muddied sheets off the bed, I was curious. I couldn’t get past what had happened in the park and knowing that I had seen and talked to Drake, and I distinctly remembered him touching my back. The wash of a cool sensation spreading across my back when he did, had me turning around in front of the full length mirror on my closet door, and lifting up my shirt.

My mouth fell agape as my heart began to thump wildly.

Every single scratch…was gone.

My skin was smooth and even once again
, with no trace of the marks or scarring whatsoever that I could see let alone feel.

             
I swallowed. Now I know there was something supernatural about Drake, I was sure of it, and I thought of everything he said to me too. Demons can mask themselves as anything and anyone, which I knew, but before I drew my own conclusions about him and Cam, there was one more thing I wanted to verify.

             
I powered up my laptop with trembling fingers and pulse racing, as I watched it go through the startup screen and then launch all my regular programs.

Once I opened up a web page
, my fingers hovered over the keys as I tried to gather my thoughts and form a question in my head before typing it into my search browser:

‘
Can demons heal people?’

Once I hit enter, I impatiently tapped my fingers
, and a list of all sorts of sites popped up.

Who was to say which was correct, accurate or even true and what would it be based on? Man’s theory? What made me even think I could find the answer to that on the internet anyway?

I suddenly felt stupid as I stared at the screen again for a moment before deleting that search, and typing in a new one:

‘Can demons disguise themselves as angels?’

I hit enter and…my screen froze and then my computer totally crashed to blue screen in that instant.

“
Yes,”
Something whispered right into my ear —making me gasp, as I spun and looked around my room frantically.

I backed up against the wall with wide eyes
, and scanned every nook and corner of my room for any kind of presence, dark shadow or movement, but there was nothing.

I know what I distinctly heard
, and I wasn’t so sure it was just my imagination either…in fact I know it wasn’t. The voice was neither male nor female, and though it was breathy it was still clear, direct and distinct, sounding as if it was coming more from the inside of my head than anywhere else.

I waited for the feeling of nausea and hot static to fill my room and confirm that there was a dark shadow or entity in here with me
, but that feeling never came.

There was nothing dark in here that I could feel, sense or see.

That was both random and freaky, but I suddenly didn’t feel so afraid anymore.

When I glanced back at my laptop screen it was still on the search page with my second question still typed into the search bar
, and a list of possible articles and web pages on the subject; as if it had never crashed to begin with at all.

It took me a few moments to even move from my spot
, and once I finally did, I quickly closed the lid to my laptop shut and grabbed the laundry bag and basket along with my purse and duffel bag, and quickly left my room.

             
China was still in her room but her door was closed now, and at first I felt apprehensive about leaving her alone in here without being sure what or who that voice came from. I chewed my lip and debated waiting at least until she left.             

Well, I could at least
tell her I was leaving now then, I thought as I walked over to her door, and raised my hand about to knock with my car keys.

When I heard her moaning, Steve panting and the head board hitting the wall rhythmically
; I stopped myself. That was quick. They certainly had wasted no time that was for damned sure.

I wondered when he had gotten here
, but it obviously wasn’t long ago given the plate with leftover biscuits and gravy sitting by the sink in the kitchen.

She’d be fine, I rolled my eyes and smirked as I quickly turned on my heel and left the apartment.
             

                            ~~~***~~~

I did what Drake had told me to do while it was still fresh in my head amid everything else, as I watched my colors tumble around to dry behind the large circular glass of the dryer in front of me.

The laundry room was actually empty right now, save for a skinny guy in a hoodie donning a skull with spiked wings on the back of it. He was si
tting on the other side of the Laundromat, listening to his IPod and looking at a magazine.

             
I was still a tad nervous and on guard though, and I’d look up from my notebook every now and then to see if he was still on the other side of the room. The hum of the machines created a steady monotony of some sense of normalcy, which I appreciated for the time being. I had the feather with me this time tucked neatly in the inside of my own hoodie and so far, no incidents. Either it held some protective properties after all, or maybe it was all in my head in believing this feather was an actual angel feather. Whatever the case, I wanted it on my person at all times from now on.

When I took a break from writing to pop my knuckles, I was amazed that I had been able to write non-stop as the words just poured out of me onto paper without much thought to guide the pen.

I didn’t just want to write what I’ve seen in my dreams since I first began to have them ten years ago, but how it made me feel and my own personal thoughts on them. I don’t know why I’d never thought to keep a journal before.

I guess I figured there was no point.

I tapped the tip of my pen to my lip as I read over all I had written down:

October 9
th
, 2012:

             
‘As clear as high definition color, it was always laid out for me.

I can’t explain how I already knew what was about to unfold and not because it was part of an endless repetitive dream cycle. In this last one, there was no more sense of time or daylight and there was nothing to say or comment about what everyone thought was going to happen in the end. The Apocalypse, End of Times, the Rapture and whatever else anyone ever thought about what
judgment day was going to be; proved only one thing no matter who or what religion they were…That we as human beings had all been wrong.

Death was coming for me in the form of a dark fallen.

I felt it more than I knew it.

Too much has happened, way too fast like a blurred nightmare where there was and is no end or escape. Those who preached non-stop falsely, fame hungry evangelists, extremists, killers, non-believers…some for obvious reasons, were all taken first because they assumed that they were the ones who were going to be whisked away to some safe house or planet while the rest of the l
abeled “wicked” and “non-believers” were left to be slaughtered or punished till near death and then left to be preyed upon by the scavengers.

The birds.

Only they aren’t birds. They’re the dark ones, the original fallen angels….the ones that had been here since the beginning before all of mankind, the ones that birthed the original Nephilim and their demon kin imps and shadow servants.

Night falls like a shadow unleashing God’s fury in a colossal deluge of massive, violent eart
hquakes that seemed to split right down the middle of the planet from the North to the South poles it seemed. In turn, epic Tsunamis swept and washed away all the smaller islands and coasts of all seven continents at once. There was no time for panic, terror, warning of stocking up on supplies…we had already been on borrowed time.