CHAPTER 21
DETERMINED NOT TO DISTRACT himself and look at the brutal spiritual battle between the Angels and Demons, Jasper focused on having the animals cut loose and brought up the main steps. Six cows, four horses and one donkey were brought into the main doors of the Half-Way House. Everyone was worried if the old wooden floors of the historical building were solid enough to support the weight of the big animals.
Jasper wasn’t worried. He was more concerned with finding wood to stoke the large fireplace in the main seating area. Furniture, picture frames or whatever; if it was made of wood, Jasper said, “Burn it.” Soon a raging fire was warming things up. As the fire raged, Megan and Tessa stayed with it to make sure it was fed. Everyone depended on the heat from the fire with so much work ahead of them.
Jasper saw the threatening abominable snow-men blow through and leave the Half-Way House as the Angels helped the fire to grow. The heat drove such a terror away. Too bad it didn’t have the same affect on the Insufferable Six.
Most people went on with Jasper as they toured every inch of the building. Jasper tried to remain professional as he saw the Angels go ahead of them, vanquishing Demons as they encountered them from one room to the next.
The group moved around from the basement, then up through each and every level of the building. Not only was Jasper inspecting the building, but a couple of the Angels were in close communication with him. Other Ceramecians felt, if they could be close to Jasper, they too would be close to the Angels. Already, they missed the incredible feeling of being in the Angel’s presence.
All water pipes were frozen and the gas pipes; inn-operational. The Half-Way House was four levels high and one of the much smaller buildings on the block. The entire facility had been abandoned. They could see where people had been staying with evidence of leaving in a hurry. Crack pipes and needles were left carelessly laying around amongst their blankets and trashy belongings. Jasper noticed Randy looking at such things and walked him out. As the two men left, Jasper told the girls to organize a clean-up and have the entire building cleared out.
After leaving Randy by the fire, Jasper looked around at the rooms of the top floor. He could feel his purpose on earth would be connected with this place somehow. Taila entered the room at Jasper’s side. She knew what he was thinking and she said to him, “This will be where it will all begins.”
In the depths of the earth with a pocket of stone, near the boarders of Hell, Morbidant joyously laughed at Starr who was bound by shadow and pressed next to the wall of hot brimstone. There, Morbidant toyed with Starr. “Now let’s have a look at those gorgeous wings of yours. Ahhhh, yes. They are magnificent, but where I come from black is the preferred style. Scout! Show our guest how good she looks in black!”
A plump, hairy little wart infested Demon came flying near Starr. Fluttering its leathery wings and peering at her with the gaze of its glowing yellow eyes, the child-like Demon Scout preceded to take a can to a stone wall that had a dark fluid oozing out of it. Filling the can, the Imp Scout returned to Starr. Pulling an old ratty wide paint brush from its belt, it dipped the brush into the can. Holding the brush out to present it to Starr with the thick fluid dripping off of it, the Scout went ahead and began to apply the black gunk to Starr’s wing. Starr screamed as though the paint was causing her pain.
“Oh, yes, scream child. Scream as loud as you like. No one can hear you from here. Soon you will be coated in darkness and your light will cease to shine. Then perhaps you will understand my world a little better.” Morbidant relished any moment of opportunity to humiliate the Angel.
Starr continued to struggle against the shadow people who held her wrists and ankles to the stone so firmly. Then Starr settled down and began to concentrate. Going within herself she found a connection to the glory of God’s incredible love. This empowered her so much that she charged her doves with more faithful light than she ever had before. Upon releasing her doves of blinding brilliance, the shadow people released her, disappearing into the brimstone, the Demon Scout dropped its can and brush of dark tar-like fluid. The black paint of Starr’s wing burned away.
Telepathically, Starr told one of her brightest doves to go back to the surface of earth and report her location to the Angels. With that simple thought, one single dove winked out its bright light as it disappeared into the black volcanic stone.
Morbidant didn’t expect Starr to be so strong. Falling back, Morbidant lifted her hands to protect herself from the brightness. Rising over her, Starr overthrew Morbidant, lifting her shimmering sword of truth.
Just before Starr delivered her fatal blow, Morbidant lifted her hands higher and said, “No more, Starr! Have mercy on me! I know we are enemies, but do you not remember how we played as children so long ago?” Starr withheld her striking blow a moment. When Morbidant saw this pause, she quickly continued, “You do remember. We were sisters then. I too remember it well. Such images haunt and plague my thoughts.” She giggled and looked down as she recalled their history, “Everyday was an adventure.” Morbidant risked the tilt of her head to look back up at Starr.
Starr lowered her sword slightly as she too recalled such precious memories, “Every walk in the woods was deliciously sweet and I cherished those moments. You were always so strong.” Her sword lowered so it pointed to the ground, “Sisters you say? You were my big sister; my hero.”
Morbidant rose up slightly but she was no longer threatening, “Yes, but before you burn me with your light and leave me blind, I want you to know, I chose the darkness because I believed I was strong enough to infiltrate it and weaken it with my goodness and faith. I was wrong. In trying to defeat the darkness it was darkness I became. Like your friend, West, I fell from grace and now your opinion causes me to descend further into depression and despair. Have you ever known such regret? Is it possible, Angel? I remember once I used to fly, so high, as you do. Perhaps higher. My ways were bound to freedom, but now I just fall. Always falling deeper and deeper. There is no end to the abyss of my depression. You don’t know the depths of Hell. Not like I know it. There is no light for me anymore.”
“When we were together, nothing could stop us.” Starr reminded Morbidant. “Yes, perhaps you can still defeat the darkness. Together we could win over the despair that holds you so tight.”
“You think it’s possible? You could be my fallen Starr and I could be your Twilight.” Morbidant had a strange sparkle in her eye.
“What do you mean by, fallen Starr?” Starr asked skeptically.
“I need you to come to me, to save me. You need to meet me here, at my level. Yes, you can save me and we can be beautiful sisters again. I will prove my pledge to this cause. Join me and we will rescue West. He is in terrible pain. Let us save him from his suffering and restore our family. Come, Starr... Come to me now… When I find you in the darkness, I will stay with you. Tell me you will pledge yourself to this cause along with me so that, one way or another, we will be sisters again.”
Starr was hesitant. For a moment, Morbidant was sure Starr was going to take the step. “No, Morbidant.” Starr answered, “Not one way or another. There is only one way and you better listen well. Call out to our Father in Heaven. Repent from your ways and may God have mercy on your soul!”
The Angels instructed Jasper to acquire resources for everyone. When Jasper walked downstairs to the main lobby he had everyone help to break apart walls and use the materials to build new walls in large openings so heat couldn’t escape up or down the stairs. They had to heat no more than the main floor if they were all to keep warm. The main floor seemed to have a lot of room, but once everyone came in along with the blind-folded farm animals, space ran out quickly. By flipping tables up on end and placing furniture around the animals, they were able to fence the horses together and separate them from the cows.
The sound of ice cracking in the distance echoed throughout the tall buildings. Great chunks of ice and frozen snow fell from great heights and crashed to the streets below. While Jasper
gazed out at the city and filled his lungs with the sting of cold air, a chunk of ice came down at his side, narrowly missing him and crashing to pieces at his feet. Jasper could see the severity of the situation when he began to venture into the frozen city. He took a cow with him out into the cold to explore neighboring buildings in search of anything useful that he could carry back. Leaving to go out in pursuit of food for the people and the animals, Jasper completely depended on the Angels to guide his steps as he was a stranger in the city.
After riding the cow three blocks away from the Half-Way House, Jasper heard the sound of a vehicle engine revving up. The wind was loud as it howled, in combination with the engine and echoed between the tall buildings. The wind current carried small crystal flakes of snow that stung Jasper’s exposed skin like prickly little needles. Expecting the vehicle to pass him, he directed the cow to the side of the road. When he heard the sound of a loud impact, Jasper feared the worst. Heading out to investigate the crash, he wasn’t prepared for what he found.
A crowd of people had already gathered at the accident scene. Though Jasper was happy to find so many people in the city, there was obviously something extraordinarily terrible about the accident. As he tried to get closer, Jasper passed the window of a huge hotel; the posh Ramanada Hotel. There in the window of the lobby were many more people. They had gathered there to see the truck accident. Protected from the cold, the people had been keeping themselves warm with use of the hotel’s back-up generator. Huddled at the window, the people began to focus more on Jasper, “How odd,” they said, “A man riding a cow down the road in the midst of this freezing temperature and winds?”
“Let’s call him in with us.” They gestured with their hands for Jasper to join them but Jasper couldn’t see well enough through the wind and snow to notice them.
Continuing closer to the accident scene, Jasper realized two children were lying on the frozen street. A little boy and a little girl, likely a brother and sister. People had carefully moved the small children onto stretchers and applied neck braces. The mother of the children wasn’t dressed appropriately and was crying while she tried to explain what happened. “The children were left alone while I went out to ask if anyone had some milk to spare. The children became worried about me and my whereabouts so they went looking for me.” Demons were active in the area and Jasper could see them. A large reptilian fish-like Demon of guilt attacked the unsuspecting mother by biting onto her side. It locked its jaws onto her and wouldn’t let go.
The men who wore uniforms administered aid to the children, but behind each of the aid workers was a buzzard Demon. The buzzards rode on their backs and chewed on their heads. While one of these men tried to assist one of the children to keep breathing, Taila tried to fight one of the Buzzard Demons away. Swatting at it with the swords at her wingtips, the scrawny, wrinkly thing just flapped its tattered black wings and squawked. They wouldn’t leave because they were attached to the medics by their sharp, strong talons. “These Buzzard Demons terrorize these human servants by attacking their minds.” Taila explained, “They call this post-traumatic stress disorder on earth, but it’s these ugly Demons who feed off their dark experiences.”
Taila was the only Angel who remained with Jasper and she was constantly busy fending off the horde of Demonic antagonists. Taila worked to keep the other forces of darkness at bay as the Demons desperately wanted to enter the accident scene and add to the chaos. “The children couldn’t find me inside so they went outside to find me. Then this truck came driving down the road in such a rush, and, oh Lord, my babies!”
Crying out hysterically the mother saw her children unconscious and injured. People did what they could to get the children breathing and coherent again.
Dismounting from off his cow, Jasper led it with a rope to the front of the crowd of onlookers. Straining his white eyes to see and study the accident scene, Jasper felt there was nothing he could do.
Listening to the driver of the truck tell his story, Jasper listened carefully, “We cannot just sit here and do nothing, waiting for someone to come and save us. Someone has to leave this accursed city and bring help here. We’re out of food! After getting this truck running I took off to find what I could; water, supplies. We can’t waste any more time. My family depends on me!” Blood was seeping through the bandage that had been applied to his head.
The mother of the two injured children began fighting with the men in uniform who held her back from going to her children. She had to be restrained and taken away by the men in uniform. Were they police? Security guards? Jasper wasn’t sure.
Movement caught Jasper’s eye. It took him a moment to realize the spirits of the two children were running from a Demon on the other side of the crowd. Jasper approached the two children and shouted at the Demon. “Get out of here!” The crowd of people turned to Jasper and a few people near him moved away.
The bewildered pig-like Demon was confused that Jasper had the ability to see it. Focusing on the children once more, the Demon quickly forgot about Jasper and its hideous grin stretched across its face again. Taila darted toward the Demon and stopped in front of it, when she shouted, flaring an incredible flash of light, “I forbid you from bringing harm to the innocent!”
Fear twisted the Demon’s face, then it quickly turned and fled.
Jasper bent down and spoke to the spirits of the children. “Don’t be afraid of me children. I am Jasper and I have a gift that allows me to speak to you. Who are you?”
“My name is Nate and this is my sister Debbie.” He pointed to his sister. Debbie remained silent depending on her brother to protect her.
“Do you see your mother over there, crying?” Jasper asked.
“Yes, we tried to talk to her but she doesn’t see us.” Nate answered again.
“She’s very worried she’ll lose you. She loves you. Obviously you’re her entire life.” Jasper told them.
“We want to be with her too, but this is a very scary place. An Angel has asked us to follow it into a bright light. Debbie was going to go but I told her not to. We just keep running. We don’t know what to do!”
“If you want to be in Heaven, you go into the light, but if you want to go back to your mother, you must return to your bodies. If your family is important to you, go back to your bodies, but if you choose Heaven, you’ll be loved there too.”
“I want my mommy!” Debbie cried.
“What is he saying?” asked a lady from the crowd.
“The words coming from his mouth weren’t English.” A man standing nearby said.
“Complete babble, or some other language. Not English though, I can tell you that.” Spoke someone else who was even closer to Jasper when he spoke to the children.
The people administering the assisted breathing decide to give up, “Would you have the time?” asked the first aider.
“Three O’clock.” Came the answer.
“Alright, time of death, three O’clock.”
The mother was about twenty feet away and despite the frigid wind, she heard the medic and began to wail and lament. Hope drained out of her along with her will to go on. She went limp in the medic’s arms.
Jasper spoke to the medic who reported the time of death and said, “Please, I know you’re tired, but if you try just a little more, these children will survive.” The paramedics looked at Jasper like he was crazy, “What have you got to lose?”
Exchanging glances for a moment, the frustrated and exhausted paramedics rolled their eyes and tried to revive the children again.
Taking the children by their invisible spiritual hands, one on each side of him, Jasper walked them back to their bodies. Approaching the bodies of the children laying on the stretchers, a man in uniform stopped Jasper, “Sir, please return behind the barrier or we’ll have to have you detained.”
Jasper let go of the children and took a step back. The children smiled at him before they laid down on the stretchers and phased into their bodies.
 
; Suddenly, the children began to breathe again. Everyone cheered. The Mother almost jumped out of her own skin and broke free from the medic’s hold. Running to her children, she collapsed before them. Looking pale, she had forgotten to take a breath of air for herself. Hugging and kissing her children, she’d forgotten about the temperature and just melted into them.
Jasper called the Angel, Taila to come and remove the fish-like Demon off the mother and heal her wounds. Taila used the swords from her wingtips to unlock the Demon’s jaws. Touching the mother’s spiritual wounds on her side with loving hands of light, Taila healed the emotional wounds so well, not even a scar remained.
The children; still on the stretchers, were carried into the hotel. Along with them, everyone else who was on the street also went in out of the cold. One of the men in uniform asked Jasper, “Won’t you come in with us? We don’t have much to give you but we do have warmth.”
Jasper looked to Taila to see what she thought of the offer. She was floating down the road with her hand out to him for him to follow her. “I have somewhere I need to be.” Jasper told the man. He mounted his cow and meandered down the frozen wind swept street.
A shopping mall with its windows and doors smashed out was evidence people had already plundered the facility with looting in a desperate fight to survive.
Crazy natured Demons echoed what they remembered from the shouts of the mobs of people who stormed through recently. The spirit of confusion and terror was still present within the frigid shadows.
The battle between the Angels and the Insufferable Six continued inside the Half-Way House as the Angel’s, concern for the whereabouts of Starr, became a matter of increasing importance. Within the Half-Way House the battling forces ended up getting split up throughout the multiple floors and rooms. Just as the Angels needed to regroup, the Insufferable Six realized their leader Morbidant, was also missing. Without the guidance they’d come to depend on, the Insufferable Six pulled out of the Half-Way House to recover themselves also.
Krustatious called out, “My Imps have found refuge for us. Follow me!”
Moving throughout the untraceable shadows, Krustatious led her companions to a low level sub-way terminal. The terminal was left in complete darkness as the power was still out throughout the city.
“What’s happened to us? We didn’t need to retreat? We had them!” Vyxcious said angrily.
“Something has happened to Morbidant. I don’t like this, something feels very wrong.” Diolucious told her counterparts.
“So what! What’s the bad news?” Saturated in attitude, Wengroangrinch questioned, “Morbidant is gone. I suggest we choose a new leader from our ranks. I’ve been looking forward to this for a long time, anyway.”
“And who would you suggest lead us? You?!” Gewgaw challenged.
“Yeah, you couldn’t lead an Imp if you had a body that depended on it.” Krustatious said.
Spitting words from his deep hood, “Right, very funny. Perhaps we should just go solo then, who needs the lot of you?” Wengroangrinch shot back.
“I’m fine with that! If I don’t follow Morbidant then I’m out too. Any one of us rank high enough to lead our own legion anyhow. May this world burn and all of you along with it!” Vyxcious turned his back to his comrades and began walking away.
“Who do you think you are? Don’t turn your back on us!” Gewgaw shouted.
Suddenly the terminal was flooded with light, but it wasn’t light from the city’s power. The Angels had located the secret meeting area of the Demons. Shrieking, the Demons attempted to scatter and escape, but it was too late. The Angels had them surrounded.
“Sorry to crash your little tea party, Demons, but perhaps you should have considered inviting us. We have refreshments!” Roger lifted the hilt of his water sword and water shot out of it. Aiming the sword at the walls and arched ceiling, Roger made everything wet. Then from his same sword, he caused the wet walls to freeze into shimmering crystal sheets of ice.
Wilson flew past Roger and stopped in the midst of the Demons where his celestial body blazed with light. Then in a loud voice Wilson announced to the Demons, “Behold what you’ve become!” When the Demons saw their own reflections in the ice, the conviction that came over each of them was too much to bear. The guilt of their fall from grace was the source of their madness. Struggling to flee, the Demons shrieked and lashed out.
The Angels couldn’t contain the wild wraiths. Charging past the Angels, the Demons were about to leave but Wengroangrinch managed to get ahead of them and stopped them. Roaring, his horrifically disfigured face became transparent exposing his deathly skull-face underneath. “Have you forgotten? We have vowed not to let the light overtake us! Now get back down there! We’ll prove we can handle these Angels, even without Morbidant!”
When the Demons reluctantly marched back down into the sub-way terminal, Vyxcious made a startling discovery. “What is this? Is there only four of you left now?”
The Angels looked at one another. Their number had rarely dropped so low. West, Starr and Taila were all unaccounted for.
“My fellow Demons, we out number them. This will be easy!” Vyxcious finished. Together, the Demons began to heat up, causing their shadowy forms to expel a gust of black smoke. With so much instant smoke, they quickly smothered the light of the Angels.
Stumbling through the darkness of the black smoke, the Angels were completely disoriented. Elana shouted to her remaining friends, “We’re blind. Like our friend Jasper, we cannot see.”
“How does he handle it?” Joel asked.
“We must think like Jasper and go forward in blindness. Let us use sounds to guide us.” Wilson answered. But it was of no use. The Angels were unable to navigate well enough through the pitch black smoke to defend themselves from the constant attacks of the Demons. Viciously, the Demons administered pain through striking, strangling, burning and slashing the Angels.
Wilson could take no more, but when he saw one of Starr’s doves flap its bright wings passed his face, it sparked hope within him. Finally the news he had prayed for came along with its good message. When Wilson received the report of Starr’s location, he shouted, “Angels, I know where Starr is. Come, I will lead the way!”
The Angels shot away in Wilson’s direction as he blew his small trumpet. When they were free of the black smoke of the sub-way, Wilson explained, “She’s being held by Morbidant deep in the earth! We must follow her dove to her exact location.”
“Let us call upon speed to be our ally in Starr’s hour of need.” Joel called out to the others as they dived straight down into the ground.
“If at all possible, friends, we must swiftly pass between the shadows of evil.” Roger suggested.
“Keep your perceptions sensitive, friends. If we must travel that close to Hell, we may find the opportunity of saving West!” Elana suggested hopefully.