Discussing the failed Revelation.
Josh just stood there. Too much has happened to him too fast. He stared at his Angel, eyes blank and expressionless amid all the destruction, camera loosely held in his hand.
The echoes of the Symphonic alterations continued to blight the area. The absence of any sound of celestial approach added to the fundamental wrongness of the situation. There had been no divine response. No Ophinim of Laurence or Michael raced toward them, no Malakim came with drawn swords to face the wrenching Sound of diabolical intervention.
The Echoes just slowly began to fade away.
Jason was silent for awhile, sorting through the implications of what had been said. He looked up to see the puzzled expressions on the faces of the other Angels. He shook his head, "You should spend more time reading."
The Mercurian looked up from the seraph's heart which she'd been perusing and matched that comment with a quirky smile. "I thought that�s what we had librarians for!"
Smiling at her, he continued "In the Book of Revelations John prophesies the future. The Lamb, Jesus, has a scroll with Seven Seals, as he breaks the Seals great destruction will be let loose upon the Earth.
"The first four Seals bring the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, Death, War, Famine and Disease. The breaking of the fifth Seal brings forth all those martyred throughout the ages, after the sixth Seal is broken, Angels are supposed to go around and mark 144,000 people from the 12 tribes of Israel with the seal of the Living God. This will protect them from harm.�
"The breaking of the Seventh Seal is followed by 'silence throughout Heaven, which [will seem] to last for half an hour.' This is followed by the destruction of most of the world, including bringing on seven angels with seven trumpets.�
"The blowing of the trumpets brings on terrible destruction, but those with the seal of God are protected. The blowing of the final trumpet I believe heralds Judgment Day, and there is War in Heaven between Michael and his Legions and the Dragon, Satan, and his minions. Satan and his host are cast from Heaven to Earth, then Satan and the Creature, the Anti-Christ, work their final havoc upon the Earth."
Jason let the others connect what he had said to what Yves said. "From what Yves said, it appears that someone has disrupted God's end-game. I'll get a Bible so we can try to get as much as we can from what Yves has said, but first I want to clean up this mess."
Jason busied himself righting bookcases and cleaning up the remains of Brad. No emotion shows on Jason's face as he numbly cleaned the mess and mulls over everything that has happened.
As Jason continued his initial explanation Lynne�s gaze drifted to her servant contemplatively, then back to the speaker. She simply comments, vaguely amused, "Judgment day, I think maybe I've read that bit before. It doesn't necessarily sound too bad... if there was anyone around to do the judging," but the expression in her eyes shows concern.
Karen's eyes reflected the concern seen in Lynne's as she spoke. "At the moment I don't think we should be worried about whether there was anyone doing the judging, but more about -who- was doing the judging. If god and the archangels are in trouble and unable to concentrate on the world, I have to ask about who is responsible for doing that, and worry that if Judgment Day does arrive soon, there maybe someone from below sitting in the judges chair. Or someone from neither side..." Her voice trails off as she contemplates this train of thought.
Josh seemed to snap out of his reverie as Jason began to work. There was a pause, then, in an attempt to both ignore the horror around him and make light of something, he said, "Oh, yeah, the Bible. Revelations. I've seen the Omen. I remember all that. The number of the Beast, and the great whore of Babylon and Damien and stuff." his tone failed a little. "The four horsemen of the Apocalypse. Death, War, Pestilence and Disease..."
Lynne raised a soft chuckle. "Point. Why read when you can watch a film instead?" and she beamed at him across the room, projecting warmth.
"It was Pestilence, War, Famine and Death, in that order." muttered Melanie.
Josh shrugged, then carefully treaded out of the mess, and came close to Lynne as if for support. "You remember all the reports I was telling you about? What if all that crime and madness was, like, signs of the... well, the Apocalypse. Could the world be coming to an end?" He asked quietly.
Lynne glanced at him sideways and sighed, replacing the little heart in her pocket. She folded an arm about his waist comfortably. "I don't know, Josh. Things haven't been making very good sense since the world turned upside down last night .. its possible." It was probably not as reassuring a tone as she was aiming for.
The man managed a weak smile, but let her lean against his shoulder. "Don't give up the day job to go into PR.. 'K?"
"Well, you did ask," she said reasonably. "And I think.. we're all a bit afraid of the answer to that one. So.. we reckon War was the second horseman that Yves was talking about then? The one who meets the one given his own name? This seems relevant, given that we know Michael has been in town and Baal dropped in just now... "
She trailed off and made some quiet comment to her servant, which drew a smile.
Melanie looked at Jason beginning the tremendous task, and she slowly shook her head. "Mr. Jason, Sir..." pause. "Umm, I really do not think that is a good idea... All the mundane noise that was made here is bound to have attracted attention. In a few minutes police are going to be here, and it is going to look a bit suspicious if you are found cleaning up a body..." Pause again. "In fact, Karen and I can probably get away with making up a story if we have to, but it is going to be harder going the more people around... and we are probably going to have to spend a whole heap of time down at the station clearing this all up if we do. We might actually all be better off heading to someplace else and letting the police to try to sort this one out for themselves." She suggested quietly.
Lynne nodded, looking to Jason. "Melanie has a good point," she said mildly. "You're in shock, and you're looking for comfort in your usual routine, but it may not be the best thing to do right now. Yves told you to save yourself, not the books..." It was fairly clear that books came a fair way below people on her list of priorities. "There've been a lot of gunshots. Getting caught up in police enquiries isn't going to be all that helpful and it isn't as if we can exactly hand the culprits over."
Lynne paused briefly, and a grim smile brushed her lips, "After all, they've already got what they deserved. For now at least."
Karen seemed lost in thought, perhaps because of the conversation around her, perhaps within her own thoughts. It's only as Melanie and then Lynne spoke that she shook herself and realized what was going on. "Oh dear. I'd not even thought about what the police are going to do about this. Although I think with the amount of crime and chaos going on around here, this investigation will easily be swept into the too hard basket. As long as they don't have anyone here to blame." She shook her head and chuckled mirthlessly "or then again...perhaps they'll be ready to believe it when we tell them what truely happened?"
Melanie opened her eyes wide, remembering. "Hang on, where is that guy... that guy that was here?" She started looking around for the Afro-American man behind fallen bookshelves, fruitlessly.
"We should find him," the Mercurian agreed. "The books can wait, he probably can't. Reckon he is still in the library?"
Karen blinked and nodded, checking herself that the man was nowhere to be seen on this floor
Mention of the other witnesses brought Jason quickly out of his contemplation. Looking over to Melanie he said "Jason is fine, just Jason. I am afraid that having my tether defiled by a Demon Prince just rubs me the wrong way, and to leave it that way goes against the grain. I am not worried about talking to the police, I am a paramedic after all. Speaking of which, I better check on the lady with the head injury. We should find out what if anything she and the man saw. It might give us some clues. If anyone wants to leave and meet me at my house in 45 minutes it is on 7th Avenue at 51st Street, number 777. My apartment is 7G."
With that Jason tossed Lynne and Karen spare sets of keys and returns to the first room to see if his patient was OK.
Lynne shrugged and caught the keys Jason threw in her direction. "'K, suit yourself. Maybe bring some suitable religious texts when you join us and we'll go over them together?" Again mild concern in her eyes as she blew him a kiss, laden with a point of essence, and had another brief word with her servant.
Karen spent a few moment in murmured conversation with Melanie. As some sort of agreement was reached she looked around the room again and sighed. "Well Jason, if you feel you have to stay, then I'm willing to stay with you and speak with the police, although I don't recommend that as being a wise course of action. I think you should go with Lynne, study, try to figure out what this all means, or whatever you want to do. Melanie and I have a few loose ends to chase up before we go too much further, so I think I might leave it until tomorrow to meet up with you."
She looked from one to the other around the small group of people, watching each one carefully for a few moments and then frowning. "Normally I can tell just from concentrating, about whether anything bad is gong to happen to those I�m attuned to in the near future. When I think about each of you I get no feeling that anything bad is going to happen to any of you, but I�m not sure whether that is because it is true...or because something is getting in the way." Melanie's worried expression returns, although for the moment she says nothing, as Karen continues "I may be able to give you a few moment's warning if something bad is going to happen, then again, perhaps not. You all have my phone number - don't hesitate about using it, no matter what time it is."
Jason nodded, then kneeled next to the woman on the floor. She seemed to be stable, but probably would not be talking to anyone in the near future. A definite possibility of mild concussion. Melanie stopped looking about for the other fellow, as her eyes fell on the prostrate form and Jason. A look of guilt came over her, as though she remembers that she was asked by Jason to look after the woman and the man, and she came close to them. Her mouth opens, and a gentle Song fills the air. Slowly the wound on the woman's head ceased to be, and the note of kindness mingles into the other reverberations in the area.
The woman opened her eyes, and looked into Jason's.
Lynne took a last look at the carnage and headed for the stairs, releasing Josh. Josh, in turn, gave a melancholy look about him, an expression not often seen on his face, then followed his angel up stairs.
Karen found nothing finally in this area, and took Menalie, and headed to the entrance of the library to see if there was any sign of him leaving the place.
Jason was left on this floor with the woman. At first she tried to get up, but Jason slowed her, and explained that she had been hurt, and should take things slowly. Minutes passed, and she slowly began to speak.
"It was so strange... Are you a doctor?"
Jason told her he was a paramedic.
"Am I badly hurt? I don't feel too bad, maybe a little woozy."
Jason told her she would be fine, but that she should relax until another ambulance came for her. He gently asked what she remembered.
"I remember that I was coming for a book on the Wiccan faith in the stacks, you know, I have always found the stories of witches to be interesting, and I just was reading up on it... Then there was this strange flash of light and I heard two people talking a bit loud. I was going to hush them, but then I saw the strangest thing... It was like the glass of the room that they were in was reflecting ... you know it was better lit in there than it was out here, but I still could not see in."
Jason asked which room it was, and she pointed off to the side, where Ashikel had been.
"Any way. So I was going to leave them to their own business, then I saw someone go from that room to over there..." she points at the second room, where the demons were. "And he was wearing a funny costume... like from the eighteenth century, or something. And when he went in to that room, he shut the door, and I heard him speaking loudly with someone, but I could not hear the voice very well, she sounded tired. And I couldn't see in that room either."
She frowned, the age lines of her face becoming furrows. "I am not sure about what happened next... it was very fast..." she paused. Jason held her hand reassuringly. "I think there was a funny noise, like a ... like a choir singing... then a clap of thunder, and I was hit by something ... and then there was that choir again ... and then I woke up."
She looked at him, frowning. "That is all I remember." Jason reassured her that this was all right, and turned in time to see two police rush into the room, guns drawn.
Meanwhile, a few minutes before, Lynne had rushed upstairs, and practically fallen over the prostrate form of the youth who lay to the side of the top of the stairs.
One look at him showed several of the same signs Lynne could recall from seeing Melanie several minutes before. With Josh's help, she raised him up onto a chair, even though he started is shock at any contact or movement, as his eyes flick about him, unseeing.
Karen rushed up the stairs, Melanie in tow, to see the three figures. Faintly the sound of sirens could be heard in the background. Realizing they would not have time to get anything from him before the police arrived in his current state, Karen stood in place, and for the second time this evening, sang a song of ethereal healing.
The man trembled a bit, then looked into the reassuring eyes of Josh and the others. "What happened?" he asked, looking around him as if to confirm that his situation had changed from whatever he actually remembered.
Josh paused for a second, eyeing his angel, then spoke. "Hello there. These two are police, and we are here helping their inquiries. It is really quite important that you tell us everything your remember, no matter how strange it may seem..." he said is his best reassuring voice.
The man blinked for a moment or two, then nodded to him. "I remember you... you came down to the room just before the ... thing went away."
"Before?" asks Josh in surprise.
Melanie spoke, interrupting him. "Why don't you tell us you name, and start at the first thing that struck you as odd."
The man nodded. "All right. I'm Henry. Henry Sullivan." He lowered his head, thinking. "I came to see Brad, who was pulling a late shift here. He said that he was watching someone for a friend of his, who was in some kind of trouble. Anyway, I hung out with him for a while, but I didn't see her, the one he was supposed to be looking after, she was in a room off to the side, he said. Then there was this really strange light..." He paused.
"Go on." said Melanie reassuringly.
His eyes became pained. "Brad... this man in these really weird clothes like they were out of a movie or something, comes out of nowhere. He speaks with Brad, and ... then ... He just grabs Brad by the front, and lifts him up in the air. I hid, you know, and there was this awful sound..."
"What did the man say to Brad, Henry?" asked Melanie.
He blinked, distracted by her words. "I am not sure... something like, 'I will speak with my servitor, and you will leave.' and then Brad says something like 'There is no one here, and you are making a lot of noise, so please quieten down.' or something like that, and then the other guy says, 'Pathetic. Simply Pathetic. She called me, so I know she is here.' and grabs him."
"So you hid," said Melanie. "and the man grabbed Brad, and then what happened?"
Henry swallowed, eyes remembering the horror. "He killed him."
Melanie nodded. "All right, leave that for the minute, what happened after that?"
The man looked down, trying to concentrate. "Well ... The guy goes into the room. I hear him talking to some one else, a woman, and then he comes out in a rush and goes to another room. I don't hear too much about him after that. But the woman, she comes out, and sees all the ... what was left of Brad, and she gets this funny look on her face. And she follows where the guy went."
"I was just hiding then, you know. I don't know exactly what happened then."
"That is all right, just tell us what you remember." said Josh.
The guy spoke up again. "Well, there was a lot of talking that I couldn't clearly hear, but it sounded like three women and two guys, then there was this big explosion of noise, and I saw the woman, the one who Brad had been protecting, she was backing away from two people towards the room she had hidden in before, and she seemed to be holding something in her hands. And ..."
Melanie quietly said. "She had wings, like an angel..."
He looked at her, surprised. "Yes. She did. And the one woman who was coming towards her was floating above the ground, and the other guy, he had hands that were made out of thorns..." He looked at them expecting expressions of disbelief and patronization, and was somewhat off balanced when he did not find them.
"What happened next?" asked Josh.
"Well... there was a fight, and she was loosing ... the Angel ... so I tried to grab the other woman, but she just looked at me, while the other guy cut the Angel into shreds and I just became so frightened, that I couldn't even move..."
The sound of motion in the background came closer. Karen and Lynne exchanged a look, and then Lynne dragged Josh off to a side corridor. Melanie continued to speak to the man for a few minutes more, and then Karen confronted the four officers that came running up.
The simple story of Karen's held under the police investigation, and her and Melanie's credentials went a long way to reassuring the police. Never the less, both of them and Jason got taken down the station for several hours of report filling. At the end of it all, the police seemed to have much less of an idea of what happened than the angels, but, as Karen predicted, with all the other troubles occurring in the city, they were happy to sweep it all into the too hard basket, and trusted the words of the two DIs and one paramedic who got to the scene first.
Leaving the station, Karen spoke with Jason briefly, before she and Melanie headed off in their own direction. "We have a few leads that we can follow up, so we will probably get back in contact with you tomorrow. You mentioned that you have work, so probably after that, and we can plan our next step together. Good luck."
Jason answered with the same, and headed off home.
In his apartment, he found the wakeful Lynne quietly sitting by the window, thinking. She smiled at him, and pointed to the lounge room, where a prostrate and exhausted Josh lay fast asleep on the couch.
It was about 3am.
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