Darkness and the Light

"For the darkness is passing away and the real light is shining." 1 John 2:8

"The night is nearly over, the day is almost here." Romans 13:12.

"How can light and darkness live together?" 2 Corinthians 6:14.

It was late, the small digital readout on Arnika's watch read 9.00 p.m. but it had done for the last three days, so she wasn't entirely sure it was correct. The wind whistled through her hair, as she cranked down the accelerator, breaking thirty kilometres an hour. Her torn Burger King clothing was keeping her uncomfortable, as well as cold, and she still had half an hours journey till she reached her insect infected flat.
Two wires protruded from her ears, leading to a small radio affixed to her belt, that had long since stopped broadcasting due to its absolute uselessness. The static was beating into her mind, she wanted to take it out, but that would take stopping and further lengthening her journey, instead she just gritted her teeth and took the agonising sound. In all of the small aches, pains and agonising sounds, the worst thing she couldn't get rid of was the smell.
Working at Burger King had no advantages, she had been meaning to hand in her resignation for weeks. What one is meant to think about at work, is that although it is hell, the wages are good, or the wages may be crap but one does enjoy the work. Getting just over minimum wage after working at Burger King for three years, might have been ok, if she enjoyed cooking meat.
Unfortunately, she was vegetarian and the very smell that stuck in her nose for hours after work, was the smell she had detested ever since she stopped eating meat when she was ten. She sighed, and from the static she heard a clap of thunder. As the rain began pouring down completely soaking her through, she let a rare swearword pass through her lips.
Suddenly lightening began flashing around her, in front of her a bolt split into the road. She slammed her feet on the brakes, but the scooter slid towards the prolonged bolt. As she got closer, she realised it wasn't a bolt at all but something else, forming out of the buzzing electricity. Her scooter finally stopped about a metre away from it. Feeling a sudden urge to hide, she leapt off the bike and knelt behind its substantial motor.
The electricity formed into the shape of a man. Weaving and firing it rose its arms and the sky lit up, bolts spiralling into him. At first distorting his shape, the electric glow that surrounded him burned away and and the man was left, in a bright white suit, his hair carefully combed over, high cheekbones, thin frame, and quite short, holding a small suitcase. He looked around; he seemed to be crying, then gasping for air he dropped onto his knees.
After a few moments of uncertainty, she stood up.
The man looked at her, his face distorted, and he screamed. His voice was like nothing she had ever heard, perfect yet terrifying. The scream sounded so high that it would pierce reality itself, she started weeping uncontrollably. After a second, or infinity, Arnika thought memorised it stopped, the man was up and walking towards her.
She tried to turn and run, but she couldn't tear her gaze away from the man. His perfect features, his golden expression, the unearthly glow surrounding him. She had been a Christian since she was ten, the same day she had given up meat, she had "given her life to the Lord". Ever since she hadn't really been challenged by it, just accepted it, not really even thought about it but the old feelings were flowing back into her veins.
He was close now, his features seemed blurred, as if a thin layer of steam lay around him. She brought her hand out in front of her, and tried to speak but her throat was dry. He brought his hand out in front of him, and they touched. In a flash, images flashed before her, images of beauty, images of plenty. If ever asked to describe them, she could not issue a word, they moved her beyond all understanding.
The man seemed similarly moved, his eyes closed, his hand quivering. Suddenly his hand withdrew and he opened his eyes wide.
His voice began again, and she fell under its magic, "No, you are the darkness…."
He was shaking now, she could see it, although shrouded in mist, glowing with energy, his eyes were burning out, he was dying. The rain had stopped, she realised, the man realised too and was looking around nervously.
"You are Arnika, darkness lies within you, darkness that has never come before, a darkness that will engulf the world." He was pointing at her, his hand was aflame.
She shivered, and backed away, "No, I believe in God, I am good…please…"
Suddenly darkness crept upon them, in a moment, the street lights were extinguished. The man seemed scared, apprehensive, he opened his arms wide and his blurring light penetrated deep into the darkness, but it was still surrounding him. Arnika looked up, realizing with horror that the sky was pitch black too, everything had faded away, apart from him.
He now pointed both arms at her but he saw the light began to fluctuate, the darkness creep further around him. She felt something lurch with a strange kind of pleasure deep in her veins. Something was getting closer, she could feel it, "What is happening."
The body of the man distorted suddenly, and he seemed to grow, his outline became blurred, in a few moments he became almost one with the mist surrounding him, he was breathing hard, "They come."
Arnika blinked, and finally tore her gaze away from the man, who was now appearing more terrifying than attracting. She looked at her arms even in the bright glow of the man, they were indescribably black. Suddenly, from behind her she heard something, light was flooding onto her back, voices, whispers, sniggers she felt a rush of fear and turned around.
There was a car, a dark car, it appeared to be some kind of posh car, maybe a Rolls-Royce, but she couldn't be sure, it seemed at one with the pitch-black, and yet separate from it. There were shapes around the car, men, at least they seemed to be men. She turned, and looked at the man, he was no longer pointing: he no longer appeared to have arms. He just seemed to be light, pure white blinding light. The light in the darkness.
The men, or the shapes were moving towards the man. Arnika realised she was in-between the strange lightening man and the dark newcomers, there was something passing between them, almost like an exchange of fire. One sliced clean through her hand. She looked at the blood pouring onto the ground, the darkness faltered. She looked at the flame, and realised with a start that it was it that had shot the bolt.
There was no pain, just a sickening feeling in her stomach, she fell to the floor, but something seemed to stop her hitting, and she was suddenly moving through thin air. The darkness, the men, they were moving her. Everything was black, but fear was no longer in her; she was slipping away. She looked over at the flame, it was flickering, moving, fire was extending against the men, but now the darkness was slowly encroaching it.
She closed her eyes for a moments rest and fell into a deep sleep. As the darkness slid her into the cars open door, she dreamt of nothing. She woke up a few hours later, the car was moving, darkness still lay everywhere as if it was a mist.
Two men were sitting next to her, one was nursing an injury on his shoulder, and they were both wearing entirely black suits, with sunglasses equally black. The car light was switched on she could just make out their facial features; they seemed to be somehow exultant.
"Who are you?"
They both looked surprised she was awake, one put his arm round her shoulder, "We are friends."
His voice was dark, mysterious and sly, as if he was hissing and not talking at all, Arnika felt fear creep back into her, "I don't want that bullshit, what the hell is happening, where am I, who are you?"
The arm was withdrew, and one breathed heavily, "You will not understand."
Arnika was angry now, she was tired, exhausted and overwhelmed. The anger brought all her fluctuating emotions to the boil, "I don't care, I don't care if I won't understand, I don't care at all, just tell me what the hell is going on."
The dark men looked at each other, the thinner and darker looking one shrugged, "If you wish, the thing you just encountered, that was an angel."
Arnika gasped, she had expected as much but an angel, she thought back to when she was ten, when she had believed in things like angels. Not anymore, her faith had not so much disappeared as darkened; she believed in the essentials, nothing more.
The man continued, his voice almost injured, "It was a seraphim, a angel of the highest choir, you may know his name, "Michael"."
She nodded, she wasn't fluent in biblical knowledge but she knew the Archangel, "Why was he on earth?"
They looked at each other again, seemingly afraid, the bigger and kinder sounding replied carefully, "This may cause you fear."
Arnika shrugged, gesturing they continue. The thinner man, shaking his head, took over again, "If you wish, I will have to explain. The diety you know as God is often mistaken for taking sides in the cosmic battle between good and evil."
She nodded, "He is all that is good, love incarnate, it says so in the bible."
Echoes of chuckles seemed to pass around the car for a moment, the thinner man again draped his arm over her shoulder, "My child, you have a lot to learn, we like to think of the bible as a beautiful story, a beautiful story designed by the angels to depict their cause the better."
Arnika smirked, and something clicked in her mind, angelic propaganda, good vs evil, the darkness, it all made sense, they were demons, "Are you demons?" she asked angrily.
The car shuddered to a halt, the man had withdrawn his arm and the two in front were staring at her with hate boiling in their eyes, the nicer one whispered slowly his teeth clenched into her ear "No, we are the fallen angels, not demons. Demons are the name they gave us, as if we were at fault, as if we were wrong."
The slimmer man made a quick gesture to the men in front, and the car continued driving, although from the sound of loud hisses, she could tell they were not pleased, "Arnika, you cannot understand, if anything you have been designed by them and their ways, you will learn in time."
Arnika nodded, feeling very vulnerable as the demons in front seemed to grow with rage.
The fallen angel gritted his teeth, he hated this; comparing the reality of the universe to a film, but it usually seemed the easiest way, "Well, try to think of God as the Matrix, except there is no world beyond God, the Matrix is the real world, beyond Him there is nothing."
"Then try to think of the agents as Angels, fighting for what they believe is God, fallen angels simply follow a different calling, we believe God is different than the way the Angels believe God is. We left Heaven, the dimension of Angelic beings, and built our own alternate reality that has been labelled Hell. You cannot hope to understand any of this, it is far too much to take in."
"Just try to understand that the Michael was trying to kill you, because you are important to our side, that is all."
Arnika was reeling, although she technically didn't believe a word what the demons were saying, they were telling her that everything she had ever came to believe or understand as real, was wrong, they were saying that the bible was wrong, "No, no you are trying to tempt me."
A fallen angel from the front turned around, his voice faltering, "You fool we offer you the truth you reject it, there are those amongst us who would destroy you in an instant. Lord Beelzebub has given you a chance to aid in the good cause, and you deny his knowledge."
Beelzebub rose his arm sharply, "That will be enough Cain."
Arnika shivered, the demons outburst had almost felt like a physical attack, "I can't take this anymore, I want to go home."
The kinder fallen angel laced his arm over her back, "Do not fear young one, but you must remember this, and think about it. You are more important than you could ever hope to comprehend, if you are ever in trouble, or at mortal risk, I will be there, never fear, never panic, never let go."
Suddenly, everything faded away, as if someone had hit her very hard on the head, she woke up seemingly seconds later, lying on the ground next to her scooter. The rain was still pouring down, she looked up and let the rain dribble into her lips, something beyond strange had happened to her that night and she would never forget the words they had told her, no matter how untrue they were.

The fallen angel's car faded away into the night, literally. Two voices remained slowly echoing in the wind, "A strange girl, was that a Burger King uniform?"
"Indeed, our hopes are pinned upon a fast food waitress."
"Nevertheless, she has the power within her."
"We cannot fight them forever, they will come for her in numbers we cannot defend against."
"Have no fear Beelzebub, she will learn and then they cannot stop her."
The voices faded away to a whisper, and light flooded back into the street as the lights slowly turned on, and the stars reappeared glimmering in the sky. As Arnika buzzed away, she was sure she could hear an ancient chuckle on the wind, echoing out in the cold morning breeze.