CounterPoint (25 page)

“If this place is sacred, you wouldn’t be here,” declared Amber, holding her ground and not budging.

He kept moving forward as the air was getting colder and colder. Amber, deciding to show some force and let him know that they could defend themselves shot a massive jolt of energy just in front of him. The ground singed and he stopped.

“As you can see, we can take care of ourselves. Now start talking! What is this place? What’s your name? What’s the meaning of this?” she shouted, pointing towards him and the mutilated baby on the altar.

“Why don’t I show you?” he grinned, and started off towards a small wooden door in the back of the church.

Deciding she needed answers, she would have to follow him. Looking at Lana, they both agreed.

He waited for her at the door as she walked over. She motioned for him to go first, ready to blast him into a million pieces if he tried anything. Behind the door was a long, narrow winding staircase carved from stone. Water dripped from the ceilings and only the occasional dimly lit candle on the wall provided enough light to stop them from falling. The stairs led to a vast cavernous room. It must have spanned the whole length and breadth of the church. Each of the four walls were barely visible, drenched with maps and book shelves. A couple of candles in the middle of the room sat upon an old oak table and helped illuminate the place. The stranger walked over to the table and sat down, motioning them to do the same.

“Don’t think I can’t see your true form, you little angel,” he spat, using the sleeve of his coat to wipe some blood away from his mouth.  Remaining standing, Amber was taken aback by the statement. “You’re here because of the corrupted ones. The ones who have powers that shouldn’t. The dirt of the Earth. Those who were born with no right for their gifts and who use them for your own advantage!” he shouted whilst slamming his fist of the table. The candles blinked with the sudden motion ripple. 

Amber stayed standing and maintained her cool. Lana simply stared forward, cold and calculated.

“I didn’t come down here to be insulted. I want answers and if you don’t give us them we’ll get them ourselves. If that means torturing more blood out of that mouth of yours believe me when I say I have no problem in doing that. We are on a schedule,” shouted Amber, her eyes now ablaze. Her patience had run out. She felt this might have been a wild goose chase.  A momentary flutter of fear showed on his face.

“It’s them. The dirt of the Earth” he replied.

“What?”

“Exactly.”

“Explain now. Or die.”

Lana stood behind her, unsure of how this was playing out, and she half suspected they may not like what they were about to learn.

Chapter 28

David had been to Jerusalem once when he was a child. He hated it then and he hated it now. He regarded the city as a poorly patched together assemblage of history. Destroyed and rebuilt and pillaged time and again.  This mission was in his mind impossible. He could only rely on angelic help, much to his chagrin. In a cab on his way to the
Church of the Holy Sepulchre David was astounded by the total sadness that seemed to linger in the air. The airport was empty; they didn’t even enter the terminal. Once their private jet landed a taxi was waiting for them and the driver seemed to be under some sort of mind influence. He was clearly programmed to obey any order they gave. As they crossed through into what was known as the Old City of Jerusalem the mood worsened more. It almost seemed as if these people knew a lot more than the rest of the world, him included. The cab motored on through the small narrow streets, its window wipers battling the storm at full force. Explosions sounded in the distance as the Middle East attempted to tear itself apart.

Approaching the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, David spotted a lone silhouette of a man standing just outside. He was holding an umbrella and as the cab got closer, he vanished.
 
Ariel took time to peer out the windows and inspect the area. He didn’t care much for someone vanishing but at the moment they had more pressing matters to attend to. Considering how close they were to the epicentre of religious purity, unusual happenings were only natural especially given the current climate. Stepping out of the cab in their long winter coats, David was instantly grateful for them. Even with the long thick coats and leather gloves, ice cold wind and rain still seeped through. Before now, he didn’t even think it ever rained in Jerusalem.

“Is this weather normal for this time of year here?” shouted David over the storm.

“Nothing’s normal about today,” replied Ariel, in his signature monotone. “Follow me; we don’t have a lot of time. Events are moving forward. We sense we are not alone here.”

Getting out of the taxi they started heading towards the large vaulted doors of the ancient looking church. Considering it was almost 4am, David was sure that they would not be touring the church as others would be.

“You will need to open these doors,” Ariel informed David.

“Me? Why me? You’re the angel.”

“This is a divine building, I cannot cause any harm to it whatsoever.”

“Okay,” he replied, rolling his eyes sarcastically again.

David lifted his arms and spread them apart, focusing all his thoughts on the seals in the middle of the door. It began buckling and sizzling before each side blew open. He turned round to look at Ariel, who motioned for him to head in first. Walking inside, David was acutely aware of the burning sensation coming from the ring he was wearing. The church itself was cold; he could see his breath as they walked. A thin layer of frost covered parts of the floor.

“This isn’t right,” shuddered David, the cold penetrating his clothes quickly, making the hairs over his body stand on edge. He could feel the tips of his toes contracting in the frost on the tiled floors. The ring was glowing brightly now, projecting an eerie amber glow against the haunted frosted walls around them. The corridors seemed to be filled with some sort of mist or fog.

“We are not alone here,” replied Ariel, scanning the ceiling with interest.

“No shit Sherlock. Contact Pravuil, tell him to call in some back-up. Now.”

“No. We don’t have the time. Besides, only Amber and Lana are available and that would just complicate the situation. We need to keep our numbers small here. Remember, angel numbers are limited in this building.”

“Is that a cast iron rule? Or just angelic ruling?” quizzed David, using his boot to swash some mist from side to side.

“Both”

Ariel began striding down the long corridor confidently but carefully – his head turning side to side analysing every detail. The frost had started to creep up the walls covering the infamous architecture and sculpting. David’s ring was glowing brightly in the darkness as his nerves kicked into gear. It also provided some much needed hazy light blue illumination. David’s eyes darted from one wall to the next and around each door. Ariel’s statement that they were not alone really did make him nervous. One thing that he kept thinking was that each time he’d seen this kind of frost and coldness was when angels contacted him such as in the bathroom with Pravuil and then Ariel. Putting that thought to the back of his mind, David knew at the moment he had to concentrate on trying to stay alive.

After minutes of following Ariel around the corridors, they entered a small room which contained a large glass chamber in the centre. The walls were adorned with various religious relics which David would have liked time, in better circumstances, to view. Electric candles produced a warm yellow glow which bathed the room and its contents, a stark contrast to the cold, dark, frosty corridors outside. The glass chamber held what was purportedly part of the True Cross.

“This isn’t real. It’s a fake,” growled Ariel, scanning the chamber and piercing his gaze below the ground onto the deeper levels. “The real cross is beneath us. We’ll have to...”

A sharp thin beam of light blasted Ariel in the back and he exploded, letting out a terrifying, horrific, brutally painful scream. David covered his ears in an attempt to save them from bursting. The echoes of the scream reverberated throughout the desolate church, and the room shook. Dust tumbled down from the ceiling above and the lights shorted out. David swung round to face the attackers, trying to balance himself as the ringing in his ears dissipated. Three men in dark clothes and black hoods stood in the doorway. He could not see their faces or their eyes. He felt his heart beginning to race, the feeling of sweat on his forehead and what felt like a waterfall down his back. Clenching his fists tightly, he desperately tried to ring some sweat from them. His ring began to pulsate brightly, but it didn’t help show who his attackers were. He waited for them to speak. Moments passed. He knew it wasn’t defiance that made him stand there waiting for a reply: it was fear.

“Leave,” said the middle cloaked stranger. The tone in which he spoke sent shivers down David’s spine. A low, gravely tone - as if the vocal cords were drenched in blood and grit.

“What do you want?” replied David, muscling whatever courage and energy he could to speak and try to sound confident at the same time. He was desperately aware they could see him soaked in sweat with nerves.
 

“Leave.”

“Tell me what you want,’ shouted David, shocked at the anger in his own voice.

“Leave!” the voice bellowed louder.

As if in slow motion, David saw the middle one pulling out what seemed to be some kind of weapon or wand shaped object from under his cloak. David immediately swung his arm across the breadth of the room, sending his would be attackers blasting back through the doorway. The sheer luminosity of the fiery red bolt which exploded from his hand lit up the entire room. The ring now glowed red instead of blue, something he had never seen it do before. David rushed to the doorway. In the centre of the next room lay two of the three figures lying on the ground, blood oozing from their ears and eyes on their blacked facial skin. Hearing footsteps behind one of the columns on the other side of the room David swung round and deflected a demonic attack by the third demon. The force of the attack made David stumble back, dust rising from his rapid footsteps and almost catching his breath. The demon continued to viciously thrash dark coloured attacks at him. Most were red and white- crackling sparks fired everywhere as they duelled it out. Continuously swiping his arm left and right, deflecting each assault, David frantically thought of what to do next. He had no idea he could even thwart attacks, his body seemed to have some kind of natural defence against them. The demon jumped back, thumped his chest and let out a massive ball of red electricity at David.

Acting purely on instinct, David threw his hand into the air in front of the oncoming attack, and a light white misty bubble appeared around him. This shielding bubble absorbed the attack before vanishing back into his ring again. He was alive.

“STAGNO!” shouted David, brandishing his arm towards the demon in a ferocious fashion. A quick bolt of red lightning shot from his hand. The attack hit the demon squarely on the chest and for a moment it was completely frozen, his cloak covered in frost.

“FUMO, FUMO, FUMO!” roared the demon, clearly angered by this attack. He marched towards David, his power being deflected by the human and instead blasting the room around them apart. David himself now began marching forward again, duelling with increased vigour. If this was it, then he had nothing to lose anyway, and whatever this was would be going out with him.

“ANNECTO!” he shouted, aiming directly at the demon. Dark reddish aluminous ropes began to appear around the demon and started binding him together. Seeing his chance and the panic this monster was getting into, David jumped forward and blasted a thick streamed bolt of angry fire like energy forward. The monster let out a loud, animal-like, shattering scream as it exploded. Bits of flesh scattered around the room, one chunk landing directly on the tip of David’s shoe. The other two had vanished as well. He didn’t know if they were dead and had vanished, if that was normal for dead creatures. Or if they were still alive and decided to take their chances elsewhere. Taking a moment to steady himself, he spun around the room in all directions making sure there were no more surprises. A flash of light emanated in the middle of the room under one of the great paintings. Ariel had returned.

“I thought you were dead,” gasped David, still trying to calm himself, almost falling onto the ground again.

“It would take more than a demon to kill me,” insisted Ariel fiercely. Smoke still seeped out of his clothes.

“What the Hell happened there?” shouted David. “How was I able to do that? And what are those words I was saying?”

“You clearly must have inherent capabilities. It’s just a matter of getting them to surface. I will offer some advice though; instead of voicing the attack just think it. Voicing the attack such as ‘Fumo’ gives your enemy that vital few seconds knowledge of what you are planning and how to counter it. Now, we have work to do!”

They both trooped back into the previous room in silence. David had noted that they may had defeated these demons but the frost and chill of the place remained. David was more confused than ever now, he felt so energised. He never believed that any of the so called fragments of the True Cross were ever genuine. Ariel’s statement that the one in this church, one of the most revered in many religions, was also fake startled him.

“The True Cross is beneath us, step back,” ordered Ariel. Doing nothing but stare at the large glass chamber, it began to shake and slowly move to one side of the room revealing a small door built into the floor. Embedded into the hatch in the floor was three long black iron nails. David stood, immediately recognizing the symbolism and wondering if it could possibly be true. Ariel, meeting his eye answered his question.