Angel of Light

Chapter 3

Gabriel sat on his cliff and brooded. He reflected some more over his long life. He had spent over a millennium watching humans from Heaven. He saw their very first conception and how they went forth and multiplied and filled the Earth just like his Holy Father wanted. Then, he watched them fall into darkness and the rise of demons and demon worship. He knew his Father was heartbroken, but could not completely forsake His children.

So, Gabriel and his archangel brothers were charged with the protection of human beings from the dark and demonic forces of Hell. They were under no circumstances supposed to care, lust, or desire after human beings. To do so would lead to their ruin and downfall as well as the loss of love and protection of their Holy Father.

Gabriel loved his Father. He never went against His wishes and lived only to serve Him and His cause. So, he was troubled by his thoughts and feelings towards Anastasia. He was so deep in thought, that he didn’t even hear his friend and fellow brother in arms Uriel approach him until he spoke.

“You’re moodier than usual,” Uriel stated as he sat down next to him.

“Everything’s fine,” Gabriel answered.

Uriel probed him and read him like an open book, then frowned, “Humans are forbidden to us, Gabe. You know that. Those who desired them and acted on those desires have fallen and are now residing in Hell for their disobedience to our Father.”

“I know that, Uriel. It’s nothing!” Gabe protested.

“Very well, keep it that way. You are her protector, nothing more. Don’t confuse your feelings of protectiveness for anything else. It would be dangerous to do so otherwise,” Uriel warned.

“You’re right. I do feel protective towards her. It’s nothing else other than that,” Gabriel agreed.

“Good, you need a distraction. The rest of us are flying down to Cancun. There’s a bet going on between Raphael and Michael on who is going to get the most wasted and create the best sand castles. Word is out that Raph wants to recreate the Cathedral of Notre Dame,” Uriel informed him.

Gabe grinned, “And what about Mikey? What’s his castle?”

“Who knows? Knowing Michael, he will probably create a unicorn,” Uriel answered.

Gabe grinned, “What about you?’

All of his brothers were competitive, especially Uriel. Gabe knew if Raph was going to create the Cathedral of Notre Dame, Uriel would probably create the Vatican.

“I was thinking about the Palace of Versailles or the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. Is it just me or have the arts gotten worse over the millennium?” Uriel who was an Archangel of the Arts among many other things asked in disgust.

“Hmmm…you should do the Vatican,” Gabriel suggested.

“I have thought about that too. A whole city versus a measly little church. Very well, my Vatican versus Raphael’s Cathedral and Michael’s unicorn. Who do you think will win?” Uriel inquired grinning.

“That’ll depend on how much the others drink,” Gabe answered.

“I’m paying for drinks,” Uriel offered.

Gabriel smiled, “Poor Raphie and Mikey,”

“All’s fair in brotherly love and war,” Uriel replied gleefully.

“True,” Gabriel agreed as he spread his wings with Uriel to fly down for a much needed night of drinks and fun.

Hours later, Archangel Michael’s sand castle looked like a cross between a unicorn and a duck. “The tides are coming in and washing his horn off!” Michael shouted drunkenly.

Raphael laughed at him and boasted, “Mine at least still looks like the Cathedral!”

Azrael joined in, “Look Raph, it’s the Hunchback of Notre Dame!” He placed a turtle next to the towers. The other brothers howled with drunken laughter.

Uriel grinned triumphantly at his work. His Vatican was perfect but by the time he finished it, he was the only sober brother left in the party. Everyone else was drunk and trashing most of their artwork to his chagrin.

“Nice work, Uriel,” Gabe said smiling at his brother’s sand city.

“Thanks, Gabe. I have a feeling I won,” Uriel informed him smugly.

“What’s the prize?” Gabe asked.

“A week off of cleaning duties,” Uriel announced happily.

“No! I will not clean your bathroom! You always take the smelliest s**t! Yes, you do!” Michael argued with Barachiel.

Zerachiel handed Michael a pitcher of beer to keep him from arguing. Michael drank it thirstily and Zerachiel and Barachiel grinned at each other.

“Say Mikey, my closet needs cleaning too. Want to make another bet?” Zerachiel asked. When he saw Mikey nodding, he went on to announce, “Whoever is the first to finish the next pitcher is off closet and bathroom cleaning duties!”

“Yes! The bet is on!” he shouted. Then, he dropped his empty pitcher and walked drunkenly over to the ocean. He hurled his contents into its waves.

Zerachiel and Barachiel hooted with laughter and elbowed each other. “Do you think he will remember that he lost?” Barachiel asked.

“If he doesn’t, we will remind him,” Zeracheil responded.

Gabriel watched his brothers with detached amusement. Soon, the sun would rise over the horizon. He got up and stretched his wings. Then, Gabe flew home to his chambers to sleep. He dreamt of a female human with crystal blue eyes and a smile that lit up her whole face.

Anastasia read all the info Liz sent her, and then did some of her own research on the internet. So, he was an archangel of dreams and prophecies. No wonder, he showed up in her dream. His beautiful blue eyes haunted her, and the way he fought the demons both in her dreams and in reality, sent shivers of delight coursing through her veins.

She’s never met a fearless warrior like herself. The few times that she was sent on assignments with other agents, she usually ended up saving herself and the agents. No one has ever fought for her, protected her, and saved her the way Gabe had. She fell asleep with his picture and biography still up on her screen. She had no nightmares tonight, just sweet dreams of a golden man with golden wings.

Aaron paced the marble hallways of his palace. His long-time friend and associate Jaleel had just died at the hands of that accursed archangel Gabriel. The deal with the codes did not happen thanks to that meddlesome agent Anastasia. Aaron’s fury rolled through him and blasted his home breaking stained glass windows and a few pillars. His servants cowered in fear away from his wrath.

Well, Gabriel thought he had the upper hand just because he was an archangel who had the Holy Father’s protection! Perhaps, Gabriel had forgotten that Aaron, too was an archangel long before that golden fool came into being. He and his Prince Lucifer were angels of the highest order before their liberation.

Yes, they were liberated from all the heavenly laws and restrictions when they chose to follow their own paths and desires. The Holy Father became jealous of Lucifer’s growing powers and popularity. He stripped Lucifer and his followers including Aaron of their wings once he threw them out, but even He couldn’t strip them of their natural born powers. They too had superhuman strength, psychic abilities, and the ability to teleport at will.

They were like archangels in that sense, but they preferred to call themselves demons. The very old and powerful amongst them, including Aaron, were demon lords. They founded Hell together as a paradise of freedom and pleasure for all their brothers and sisters who chose to follow their way of life.

There was no such thing as sin. Everything and everyone was welcome to try and explore things that gave them pleasure and freedom. There were no punishments and consequences as long as pleasure could be found in the deeds being done. It was glorious in the beginning.

Such liberation and pleasure seeking was intoxicating and contagious. They drew angels daily to their ranks who wanted to follow their way of life. Their numbers grew, and their Prince Lucifer reigned supreme and unchallenged with Aaron by his side. Then, one day, their demons went forth and tempted humans to also come and follow their way of life.

The demons found that humans were more susceptible than angels. They were less fearful of rules and restrictions and foolish things like sin. They too chased pleasure heedlessly. They also were easier to entrance and turn. So, hordes of their demons descended upon the human race and turned them. The humans began to worship Lucifer and his demon lords.

The Holy Father in heaven was a jealous God and couldn’t stand competition. He sent down his band of warriors and archangels to protect his human children from following the god of their choice Lucifer. Aaron and his demon brothers and sisters fought these archangels to give humans the right to choose who they wanted to worship and follow.

To their dismay, they discovered that these newly formed archangels could not be defeated. They were protected by the Holy Father. The demons however, had no such divine protection and were dying by the thousands. The only way a demon could survive against an archangel was to teleport back to Hell where the archangels were forbidden to enter.

Not all demons had that power. Only the very old and the very powerful could teleport back to paradise. There was no safe haven for the rest, so their brothers and sisters continued to die. Then, the fickle humans who once worshipped them, turned on them. They too stood with the archangels and started hunting and killing demons. That was something Aaron would not tolerate. He saw no pleasure in the m******e of his brothers and sisters.

So, he and the other demon lords spread the seeds of hatred and wars amongst the humans. Better they kill each other than his demon brothers and sisters. Any feeble human who disobeyed him or thwarted his plan in anyway, he killed. Yes, he took pleasure in killing them.

He had killed the agent, Anastasia’s parents for thwarting his plan of a world war when her i***t father destroyed his bomb. He learned that humans were not trustworthy. One moment they worked for you and groveled for you, the next they turned and destroyed everything you worked so hard for. The only way to trust humans was to entrance them and keep them that way.

He would have killed Anastasia too, but she had hit him with a psychic blast that took him by surprise. When he had recovered, more humans had crawled all over the place trying to put the fires out and were bringing the bodies away from the rubble. He left in disgust and teleported back to his palace in paradise.

He and his lords were busy raising an army to defend their race. They began to turn very powerful humans with psychic abilities and energies. They kept them in a trance and started to multiply them with demons. Soon, the world will see a new breed, and the demon race will continue and go forth and multiply as he and his Prince Lucifer commands.

He never forgot the girl. He watched and waited as she grew stronger and more beautiful. He saw how skilled she was at hunting and killing his demon brothers and sisters to the point where they feared her. He forbade any of them from killing her though. She was his. He lusted after her energy and her powers. He couldn’t wait to come for her and entrance her and use her in the many ways that gave him pleasure.

When she gave birth to his demon children, they would be fierce and indomitable. Oh yes, she would help him breed a new race that would not be easily destroyed. This breed would be half human and half demon. The archangels would be forbidden to kill them since they were still human. Without the meddlesome archangels, the humans would come back to worship the demon’s way of life. Aaron couldn’t wait and his eyes glowed with red lust as he thought about the great future he had planned for him and his bride Anastasia.