“I think he really did fall in love with her, but he’s really confused now. He’s trying to protect her the best way that he can. If he didn’t bring her in, the Archangel Council would have hunted her down and taken her by force. Or the demons would have gotten to her first.”
“What would the demons have done to her?” Sam asked accusingly.
“Sam, my people are not perfect, I am the first one to admit that. But we are not murderers. We want to co-exist with humans, while the angels want to destroy the human race. If they had taken Taylor, they would have brought her back to the demon Lair and allowed her to live there safely. Just so you know, I think that decision would be against everything that we believe in. We need to find a way to protect Taylor and my people, without sacrificing Taylor’s chance at a real human life.”
“The demon Lair, huh? That sounds welcoming.” Before Chris could respond, she looked at him seriously and asked, “Why are you telling me all of this?”
“Because I think you deserve to know and…and because I think I need your help.”
“What can I possibly do?”
“I want you to come with me to the Lair. From there we’ll devise a plan to get Taylor back once we’ve confirmed that she’s with the angels. I think you could be important to any plan we come up with because we’ll need someone there that she trusts to convince her to abandon the angel cause.”
Without hesitation, Sam said, “I’ll come with you. When do we have to leave?”
“Immediately.”
Chapter Forty-Five
In the Lair, it looked like the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. Demons were running about everywhere, making preparations to defend their strongholds. Jonas had arrived shortly before and had, to his credit, laid it all out on the line, so to speak.
He had told the Elders everything, including his blunders, bad decisions, and misuse of the authority granted to him. The Elders were harsh in their rebuke, but in the end they gave him credit for his honesty. Then they sounded the alarm.
This was not a drill and everyone knew it. The rule in this situation was to get where you were instructed to be as quickly as possible. While no one, other than Jonas and the Elders, knew for sure why the alarm had been sounded, there were rumors flying around already. People were saying that the angels had a new weapon, like nothing they had ever seen before, and that they were planning to use it very soon. One of Jonas’s goons had probably leaked the information.
The demons would not go down without a fight.
Chapter Forty-Six
Samantha had packed lightly, but still managed to scrunch three or four changes of clothes into her overnight bag. When she asked Chris how long the trip would be, he said, “A couple of seconds, we’ll teleport.”
She cringed, still trying to come to terms with the fact that her boyfriend was a demon with incredible powers. “That’s not what I meant. How long before we will be back at school?”
“Oh, umm, there are too many factors to know for certain, but if it all goes smoothly, we will get Taylor back and save the day before Monday.”
Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday; Samantha ticked them off on her fingers. Four days. She really hoped it wouldn’t take longer than that.
“Are you ready?” Chris asked.
“I think so,” Sam said.
She held Chris’s hand, but then released it. “Wait, wait…I forgot my toothbrush!”
“You’re about to go on what will likely be the most thrilling adventure of your life and you’re worried about your teeth?”
She stood up, putting her hands on her hips. “Christopher Lyon, above all I am still a human and I will not be getting cavities while on this little excursion of yours, regardless of whether it is a great adventure or not. Do demons even have to brush their teeth?”
Chris chuckled. “I brush my teeth and even floss sometimes. I also eat, shower and sleep, too.”
Sam was happy they could both laugh a little before leaving for the unknown. She tried to remember that she was doing it for Taylor, which made her less scared and more determined. She added her toothbrush and toothpaste to her bag and then grabbed Chris’s hand once again, more firmly this time.
“Okay, now I’m ready,” she said.
Chris concentrated and then she experienced the same temporary blindness as before, but this time, she felt a pulling motion as well, like her body and mind were twisting in tandem. The sensation was longer than before, but only by a few seconds.
She could tell that her vision was restored, as the absolute darkness became a murky black, but she still couldn’t see. Chris said, “Sorry about that, I didn’t have time to tell the command center that we would be arriving, and it seems that unlike Motel 6, they did not leave the lights on for us.”
Sam groaned at the bad joke and then asked, “Where are we anyway?”
“The teleport room in the Lair. All teleporting is controlled through this room to prevent the chaos there would be if demons were appearing and disappearing constantly throughout the facility.”
Sam was still clutching his hand, afraid of getting lost in the dark. She squeezed harder. “Oww!” Chris said.
“Oops! Sorry, Chris, I didn’t realize I was squeezing that hard.”
“It didn’t really hurt, I was just messing with you.” Sam could feel him massaging his sore hand in the dark.
“Didn’t hurt, huh?” she said, grabbing his hands to show him she wasn’t fooled.
“Well, maybe a little.”
“That’s what I thought. So, how do we get the lights on?”
“If I show you another demon power, do you promise not to freak out?”
Sam rolled her eyes in the dark. “Seriously, Chris? You just teleported me who knows how far and I didn’t freak out, so I think we are past all that.”
“More than three thousand miles,” he said.
“What?” Sam asked, confused.
“That’s how far I teleported you, more than three thousand miles.”
She gasped. “Wow, really? That’s amazing! And you said Gabriel had to fly Taylor here?”
“Yep, it would have taken them at least seven hours, so even though they probably had more than twelve hours head start they would have only arrived a couple of hours before us. Aren’t you glad your boyfriend’s powers are way cooler?”
Not wanting to give him a big head she joked, “Hmm, I don’t know, being able to fly is pretty sexy. It’s got that whole Superman vibe, and he was a total stud.”
Bright flames suddenly leapt up in front of her face, blazing with heat. Sam jumped back, ready to stop, drop, and roll if her clothes caught fire. The fire dwindled down to a small flame. It looked like Chris was holding the fire in his hand. She crept closer to him again, peering into his palm. The fire was literally coming out of his skin, as if he was a human lighter. Well, not exactly human, she thought.
Chris grinned. “Can Superman do that?”
Sam smiled back at him, admiring her boyfriend. “No, I guess not. Why doesn’t your skin burn?”
“I have no idea, but it’s cool, isn’t it? I can make my entire body into a torch if I want to, but all of my clothes would burn away.”
A seductive look crossed Samantha’s face. “Ooh, I want to play that game,” she said, the words melting off her lips.
“Later, baby,” Chris said slyly. “Right now we need to find the Elders and figure out a plan.”
He grabbed her hand with his left hand, while using his right hand as a torch, the fire increasing until they were able to see the entire room. It was a rather small room and they were standing directly in the center of it.
Chris pulled her towards the outline of a small door in the corner. There was no handle. He raised his flaming hand towards the door and touched it. Upon contact with the flames, the door swung open, moving outwards. They stepped into a hall and Chris closed his right hand, instantly smothering the fire that had emanated from his palm.
There was no ne
ed for additional light here, as there were torches lining the walls, burning brightly and lighting the way. He led her in silence down the short path to another door, this one much bigger. Again, no handle. Sam expected him to perform the same trick with his fiery door opener, but instead he reached down and pressed a button on the wall that she hadn’t seen.
A voice spoke from the wall. “State your name.”
Chris spoke confidently. “Christopher Lyon. The Elders will want to see me immediately.”
Without another word, the stone door rotated open from the center, creating two smaller openings on each side. They entered through the gap on the left. The next room was much larger, with many doors lining the walls. One of them stood open.
Chris explained, “The security team opened the door we need to travel to the Elders’ Chamber. It’s just a short trip from here.”
“Good, because I am really tired after a long day of travelling and could really use a latte and a bubble bath right now,” Sam joked. It had only been a few minutes since they left the campus.
Chris gave her a wry smile. “Teleporting is the only way to travel. However, I will show you your room after this meeting is over, so that bubble bath may be a possibility after all.”
“Only if you join me,” she said flirtatiously.
Chris’s eyes became misty. His confidence was gone. He seemed…exposed, naked, like she could see into his soul. She knew what he was about to say.
“Sam,” he started. She looked at him expectantly. “I…I,” Chris stammered, unable to get the words out.
“You love me,” she finished for him.
“Exactly, how did you know?”
“Because I love you too, Chris,” she stated matter-of-factly. “Now let’s go get that latte.” She headed for the open door, pulling him behind her this time.
She led him through the door and into a pod-like vehicle that looked like something from Star Wars. Not knowing what to do next, she waited for him to operate the machine.
They made eye contact quickly, a slight awkwardness coming over both of them after having just confessed their love for each other.
“This will take us to the Elders,” Chris said, breaking the brief silence.
The door closed automatically and the pod accelerated through the tunnel. The vehicle was glass on all sides, allowing passengers to appreciate the thrill of its speed, as it twisted, turned, dipped, and dove through the rocky passage.
Soon after it started moving, Chris sat down on the large seating platform at the end of the capsule. He tugged Sam onto his lap, and said, “Hang on!” He held her tightly. She twisted her head backwards and kissed him deeply on the lips, lingering for as long as she could before the motion of the ride forced her to turn back around.
In minutes, the transporter began to slow down, eventually coming to a stop at their destination. The door opened and Chris released Sam from his embrace. They stood up and exited into a beautiful foyer.
Sam’s breath was taken away by the room and the contrast to the dimly-lit, rocky rooms and tunnels from which they had come. The walls and floor were shiny marble and large pillars rose like sentries along the sides. Fireplaces were cut into the bottoms of the walls in at least ten places, each with a healthy fire burning to provide light and warmth.
Sam’s first thought was that the room would be a nice place to curl up and read a book, but she noticed that there was nowhere to sit except for a desk in the far corner. At the desk sat a dark man, patiently waiting for the visitors to approach him. When they neared him, he said, “Hello, Christopher. The Elders are waiting for you, but they were not expecting you to bring company.” He looked curiously at the strange girl before him. Sam wondered if he could tell she was human.
Chris replied with authority. “She is critical to the current situation we are in. I will take responsibility for any consequences of bringing her here.”
The demon stared at Samantha, probably wondering what use a human could possibly have to the Elders. He shrugged his shoulders. “As you wish.” He picked up the phone and said, “Sir, Mr. Lyon has arrived, I’m sending him in.” As he hung up the phone, the oval door next to his desk opened from the center, both doors swinging away from them, like flower petals opening in the Spring.
Chris had dropped Sam’s hand when they left the transporter. They now walked through the door side by side, but separate, the gulf between them feeling like eternity to Sam. Chris whispered, “Let me do the talking,” as they entered the room. Sam took a deep breath when she saw the many old and wise-looking faces staring at her, regarding her with interest. She steeled herself, determined not to look nervous or scared.
Oddly enough, she observed, many of the faces were smiling at her, their kind eyes welcoming her to the assembly. Chris had explained to her that the demon Elders were comprised of any demon over the age of forty, unlike the Archangel Council, which had only an elite group of twelve.
The demons were sitting on benches in a U-shape, the way you might expect an English Parliament from the 1800s to look. The benches rose five levels high on each side. Sam quickly estimated that there were ten demons on each bench so there were approximately 150 Elders in total, surrounding them as they walked into the center, towards a podium.
At the stand was a particularly old looking demon, whose bushy eyebrows were raised in amusement at the sight of Samantha. His dark beard was short and well-trimmed—had his facial hair been longer and if he wore a pointy hat he could have easily passed for the wizard Merlin or perhaps Gandalf the Grey from The Lord of the Rings.
“Good day, my dear,” he said, speaking slowly only to Sam. “I am Clifford Dempsey, the head of the Eldership of the demons.”
Ignoring Chris’s command to let him handle things, Sam replied smartly, “And I am Samantha Collins, head cheerleader at Savannah High School and now attending the University of Trinton with your little worker bee here, Christopher. We’ve been dating since the beginning of the semester.”
Sam could tell that Christopher had frozen when she spoke. Maybe she had gone a little too far.
But to her surprise, Clifford looked amused by her words. “Nice to meet you, Samantha. Why have you…,” he started to say.
Samantha suddenly remembered why the name Clifford had sounded so familiar to her. Interrupting him, she said, “You said your name is Clifford? Are you the first demon? But Christopher said it all began 150 years ago?”
“Ah, my dear, so you’ve had a full history lesson. I know what you’re thinking, but unfortunately demons do not age at a slower rate than humans. Clifford was my great grandfather and I was blessed with the same name by my mother. Now as I was saying, why have you come with Christopher?”
Sam hadn’t expected such a question to be directed to her, but because it had, she felt obliged to answer it. So far, Chris had not said a word. “I want to help my friend, Taylor Kingston. Oh, and the demons, too, I guess, by default,” she added.
“A noble cause,” Clifford murmured. He now turned to Chris. “And, Mr. Lyon, why do you feel Miss Collins can be of assistance to us?”
Finally opening his mouth, Chris replied, “Taylor is the girl that we have talked about in our legends. For the angels she is the ultimate weapon and can be used to destroy us all. Gabriel Knight, the angel, has brainwashed her into thinking we are the true enemy and she has fallen into their hands. I fear she may already be here, at the front lines.”
He continued, his eyes scanning the faces on the benches as he spoke. “We are going to need someone that Taylor trusts—to help us convince her that she has been deceived. Samantha has been Taylor’s best friend most of her life and she will trust her above all others, even Gabriel, who she has fallen in love with. In short, I believe Samantha is our only hope.”
The head of the Elders stroked his gray beard thoughtfully. He seemed to be considering Christopher’s words. “I agree with you, but first we must figure out how to get close enough to Taylor to allow Samantha to talk
to her.”
Chapter Forty-Seven
The group made their way to central command. Along the way, many angels wanted to stop to talk to Gabriel, saying things like, “Gabriel, long time no see, how are you?” or “Hey, Gabriel, who’s the girl?” Many of the angels were females and Taylor didn’t like the way they looked at her boyfriend. First, they were all stunningly beautiful, making her look even more ordinary than usual. Second, he didn’t shut them down the way she had hoped. His responses were typically, “Later, Rose, we’re in a hurry,” or “We’ll catch up soon, Sandra, gotta run.”
Taylor did not want Gabriel “catching up” with any of these beautiful women. She was relieved when they finally reached their destination. The only one with clearance, Gabriel punched in a code on the door and it opened, twisting like a pinwheel from the center. Looking inside, Taylor could see a bustle of activity, as angels diagrammed attack strategies on whiteboards, looked at security feeds, and shouted orders into headsets. She tried to pick out which one was the mysterious Cassandra, but she didn’t see anyone that might fit the part.
When they entered the room, the flurry of motion, as well as all conversation, stopped abruptly. Then she saw her. Initially her back was to them, but then, with a whirl of perfectly smooth blond hair, she turned, and with her perfectly blue eyes, gazed upon them from across the room. She smiled a perfectly white smile and walked to meet them with perfectly graceful strides. Crap, Taylor thought, Cassandra is perfect; I don’t have a chance.
“Welcome back, Gabriel,” Cassandra said, kissing him on the cheek and generally ignoring Taylor’s presence.
“Cassandra,” Gabriel said coldly, turning his cheek away from her.
He put his arm around Taylor and pulled her close to him. “This is my girlfriend, Taylor. Taylor, meet Cassandra.”
Taylor was pleasantly surprised by Gabriel’s show of affection in front of the supermodel and it gave her a bit of confidence. She said, “It’s nice to meet you. Gabriel has told me what a good friend you have always been to him.”