Behold ! Read online

  “I can sense the Gate is directly in front of us, but Ham must be able to see it in order to take action.” Both Frank and Ham could feel the frustration and anxiety emanating from Raquel. Her Brothers were in danger and she had the key to lock the Gate, but how to use it?

  “Hang on,” Ham blurted. “I thought I saw a dirt road back that way a little.”

  “I’m not going off-road in this van with you two in it,” Frank stated. “No discussion; it’s not happening.”

  “Let me check out the map app on my phone,” Ham said. He worked his hand across the screen of the smart phone until he had the map he wanted. “I was right, the dirt road leads around a line of trees to the end of the bridge,” he said, handing the phone to

  Frank. Turning to Raquel, he asked, “Where is the Gate in reference to the bridge?”

  Clara was looking at the phone in Frank’s hand, trying to see the map as well. When he held it out for her to view, she brightened considerably. “As best as I can tell, this end of the bridge is the Gate. Adriel and Azrael are standing on either side, while Camael stands ready for all who exit. Frank, that dirt road leads to within a safe yet visible distance of the Gate. Once he can see it, Ham can close it.”

  “I can?” Ham asked, amazed. “I heard you say that before, but thought I misunderstood. How can I close the Gate?”

  “If my Father has given you power to wield souls and vanquish demons, you are his chosen prophet for this day and can do anything you need to defeat the hordes,” Raquel said as if quoting.

  “So, I can do more than make demons disappear?” Ham asked, now excited.

  “Ham, I daresay, you could make me disappear,” Raquel said solemnly.

  “Now, why would I want to do that?” Ham blurted.

  “Not that you would or should, Ham, only that you are capable,” she replied.

  “Frank, take us down the dirt road only until I can see the Gate,” he said.

  “There has to be another way,” Frank argued. “I know Clara is protected by your presence, Raquel, but I just learned that wraiths are real and can pull you from her body. And Ham has no protection of any kind.”

  “Did you not just hear what she said, Frank?” Ham seethed. “I can do anything I need to stop these demons and close the Gate. Now, take me down the road or I’ll go by myself,” he said, already reaching for the tie-down strap releases.

  “Just wait a damn minute,” Frank bellowed. The other two were startled at his outburst. “This is all moving too fast for me. Will you give me one minute to think?” he exclaimed in exasperation.

  Ham sat mute, as did Raquel. Frank looked at them expectantly, but Ham only said, “Fifty seconds.”

  “Oh, for crying out loud,” Frank groused, opening his door and walking around to the rear of the van. When he opened the rear doors, Ham released one of the three straps holding him in place and was reaching for another when Frank spoke. “Just tighten that right back up, mister. You’re not going anywhere.”

  As he spoke, he pulled a panel off the inside wall of the van and removed an AR rifle along with two large-capacity magazines and a semi-automatic handgun. “Ever fire one of these before?” he asked, holding it out for Ham to see.

  Ham mutely shook his head, so Frank thrust the pistol in the back of his waistband. Slapping a magazine into the rifle, he pulled the charging handle and allowed it to snap back into place. “I just want more firepower than my revolver,” he offered by way of explanation.

  Entering the driver’s door, he propped the rifle against the front doorframe and sat the buttplate in the footwell of the door. Removing his revolver from the shoulder holster, he pulled a speed loader from his jacket pocket and, ejecting the cylinder onto the doghouse over the engine, reloaded.

  Sliding the revolver back into its holster, he reached behind his back and pulled the pistol out, press checking it to see that a round was in the chamber. He wedged this, barrel first, into the space between the seat and armrest of the captain’s chair he sat in. “Now I’m ready. Where’s this dirt road?”

  TWENTY-FIVE

  “IT SHOULDN’T BE MORE than about 200 yards, according to the map,” Ham offered.

  Raquel was craning her neck to see further up the road, and Ham couldn’t see anything with her on one side and Frank in the driver’s seat. The dirt road made a slow sweep to the left, and their headlights illuminated the old train bridge, but there was no one in sight.

  “Pull the front to the right so that the rear doors face the bridge,” Raquel directed.

  Once positioned, Frank got out and opened those doors. Ham had already turned his chair around in the tight confines of the van and sat facing Frank when the doors opened.

  “I’m not sure what I’m supposed to do here,” Ham said cautiously.

  “You are the Prophet of the Father,” Raquel said regally. “You have the power to close the gate.”

  “But there’s no gate here,” Ham responded plaintively.

  As if in rebuttal to his claim, the night began to shimmer near the west end of the bridge. Angry red and yellow sparks flew from seemingly nowhere about four feet off the ground and a bright orange glow, like the rising sun, filled the center of the space.

  Frank had turned to watch the display, and Ham heard Raquel turning Clara’s chair around in the center of the van. A figure emerged from the shadows of the woods to their left, and Frank’s revolver was instantly pointed at it. Ham had raised his hand to throw power at whatever it was, when the figure called out.

  “Easy, LT, it’s me; Omikawa,” Jason said.

  “That’s the second time tonight I’ve almost put a bullet in you,” Frank growled.

  “Well, I’m pretty sure a bullet won’t do me much harm right now,” Jason quipped.

  Then his eyes flared, and Camael spoke to Raquel. “It is good you are here, Sister. Amom’s horde amasses on the opposite side, and I fear we will not contain them without your help.”

  Turning to Ham, he continued. “Prophet, you must focus all your energies on closing that portal,” he commanded, pointing at the expanding ball of coruscating fire and light, now beginning to fission the night sky.

  “But, I don’t know how,” Ham said again, sounding both frustrated and frightened.

  “Be not afraid, Prophet, I will guide you, as will Sister.”

  Raquel had moved Clara’s chair up to where she was directly behind Ham. She reached and placed her hand on his shoulder, and Ham felt soothing calm flow through his being. Moving to the open van doors, Camael reached for Ham as Frank stepped around the van toward the driver’s door.

  “Open yourself to our power, as you did before when you resurrected Frank,” Raquel instructed.

  Ham had just a moment to think resurrected? Then he felt Camael in his mind, as he had Uriel in the hospital. Focus with us on the gate, and reversing the power being used to tear open space, he heard Camael say in his head. Following their lead, Ham stared intently on the roiling wall of power even as it continued to grow and coalesce. He could sense energy rising from deep inside him, but was uncertain how to control or direct it.

  “Just like when you move people from one location to another, move the power of the gate back to whence it came,” Raquel said softly in his ear.

  Redoubling his effort of will, Ham pushed against the force he could feel emanating from the gate, and felt something yield. Encouraged, he began to push harder, focusing his mind on that single point of resistance.

  “It’s working,” he exclaimed, elatedly. He could see the gate begin to shrink, and felt it’s presence diminishing.

  A sharp report sounded from the front of the van, and Raquel’s hand slumped from Ham’s shoulder. Immediately, the gate began to expand rapidly, and Ham felt himself losing control of the force within him.

  “Clara, no,” Frank bellowed.

  Unable to turn, his concentration completely broken, Ham lost his mental grip on his new-found power.

  Camael gripped his forearm more f
irmly, and ground out, “We must continue to resist the force of the portal.”

  Ham’s mind was scattered. “What happened to Clara?” he asked over his shoulder.

  A staccato burst of weapons fire answered his question, as he heard Frank cursing like he had never witnessed before.

  “Come and get some, you bastards,” Frank screamed.

  Camael pulled on Ham’s arm to get his attention, but Ham yanked free. “My sister is healing Clara as we speak, but her wound is grievous,” Camael explained.

  “What wound?” Ham demanded.

  “A human in the woods beyond shot her,” he said pointing toward the front of the van.

  “How bad is it?” Ham insisted.

  “They blew her brains out, that’s how bad it is,” Frank yelled. “Over hear, shitbird,” he screamed, as the rapid repeat of his rifle claimed another aggressor. “Jason, I could use your help up here, there’s gotta be at least 30 of them,” he barked. The clatter of the magazine being replaced added counterpoint to his desperate plea.

  Camael gazed deeply into Ham eyes for a moment before he spoke. “You do not need our assistance to close the gate,” he said. “I can feel the level of power within you; you are indeed the most substantial of Father’s Prophets I have ever witnessed.” He was shaking his head in awe. “I do not understand how your frail human mind can even tolerate such energy. You must do what needs be done.”

  The light in his eyes extinguished, and Jason Omikawa called out, “On my way, LT.”

  Moments later, Ham heard the boom of the riot gun as Jason opened up on their attackers. Ham exulted in the confidence Camael had displayed, and turned again to the gate. He could see Marrisa standing beside it, along with Daniel, the Navy Seal.

  “Daniel,” Ham called. “Wouldn’t you be better in a firefight? That way, Camael can help Marrisa stop whoever comes through. He is the Archangel, after all.”

  Immediately, both figures turned from where they were and raced past each other to their new assignments.

  “There’s a bunch of weapons back here,” Ham called as Daniel drew near. The Seal stopped just long enough to gather up several of the weapons lying on the floor of the van, grinning at Ham.

  “Good call, kid,” he said as he rounded the corner of the van and entered into the fray.

  “Frank, I’m going to flank this group in the woods to our left, and get them in an “L” ambush line,” Daniel told Frank. “There may be only two of us, but with this baby, I bet it’ll work,” he said, hefting the Street Sweeper Frank had brought from the assault on his home.

  “Go to it, I’ll lay down cover fire,” Frank responded, slapping a new magazine into his rifle and pulling the pistol from under the armrest to lay it in the seat beside him.

  Daniel sprinted away, and Frank marveled at how fast even a Navy Seal could run when they had an angel power booster. Four figures burst from the tree line headed straight for the van. An apparent suicide mission, it spoke to how desperately the demons in control wanted the gate opened. Frank judiciously held his fire until they were committed from cover, then began ruthlessly cutting them down. They fired as they ran, so their aim was poor.

  Even still, numerous rounds impacted the front of the van. One shattered the driver’s window, showering Frank with nuggets of safety glass. All four figures were dropped and still before they were within 30 feet of the van.

  As a second group of six emerged running from the trees. They were angling toward the other side of the van to keep it between them and Frank. The booming report from the street sweeper dropped them all within yards of the tree line as Daniel opened up in a crossfire.

  No additional groups came into the open, but now slugs began tearing through the windshield and ricocheting off the metal door frame. Frank pulled back to reload yet again, and a huge hole appeared in the door panel where he had just stood. Glancing up, he saw a large man at the edge of the woods leaning against a tree with an incredibly long rifle held to his shoulder. It boomed like a cannon, and another gaping hole appeared in the windshield and the side of the van above his head.

  “Ham, Clara, get down,” he screamed. “Get to some kind of cover, behind a tire or away from the van. He’s got a BMG.”

  Another eight-inch hole burst from the side of the van next to Frank’s face, spraying him with shards of sheet metal. One two inch sliver struck Frank at the outer corner of his eye, penetrating the orb and lodging in his left nostril. He screamed as he clutched his face, but had enough presence of mind to not touch the sharp metal. An answering scream came from the man at the tree, and Frank looked up expecting to see him charging across the field of fire. Instead, Frank saw the rifle laying on the ground and the man clutching his own head.

  “Frank, come to me,” Ham called.

  Frank made his way to the back of the van and Ham reached for him. “I’m sorry I couldn’t stop him sooner, I was focused on the gate. Move your hand so I can fix your eye.”

  Frank looked stupefied with his remaining eye, but did as his young charge directed. Ham placed his palm over Frank’s ravaged eye and closed his own eyes for only a few seconds. When he pulled his hand away, Frank was whole.

  “How...?” Frank began, but Ham cut him off with a motion.

  “No, time,” he replied. “Go stop them so I can get this God-cursed gate closed.”

  Frank moved back to the front of the van, but glanced back through the open interior. Ham had his good arm raised above his head, almost touching the roof of the vehicle. His hair stood straight out as if he were about to be struck by lightning, and a pulsing violet orb surrounded his body. As Frank looked on, frozen in amazement, the orb darkened to deep purple and golden flashes began to course through it. Another bullet glanced off the shattered windshield at an odd angle and went whining into the dark.

  Frank grabbed up the pistol from the seat and began rapid-firing at the figure kneeling directly in front of the van. He was less than twenty feet away, and right out in the open, but his intent was hitting Ham. The man saw Frank move back to the driver’s door and turned toward him.

  Three slugs from Frank’s pistol struck the man in the torso. The lever-action rifle in his hands barked once more, and the bullet struck Frank squarely in the chest. Clutching his heart, Frank staggered backward two steps before falling lifelessly onto his side.

  TWENTY-SIX

  “YOU SHALL NOT PASS,” Camael called from Jason’s body as he wielded a flaming sword of light against the vile throng.

  A deluge of misshapen creatures were squirming through the partially open gate as it hung in the air at the end of the old train bridge. Even as they hit the ground and began to run, they either met their end upon the edge of the sword or were flashed into fire when Adriel returned them to the Pit in flames with a mere touch. They were indeed a fearsome pair to behold, yet now and again one of the horde slipped by; there were just so many of them.

  “Come ‘ere, ya little freak,” came a call from behind them.

  Neither of them turned, but heard the boom of the shotgun Hofniel wielded in Daniel’s body. When the demons of the horde were slain by non-angelic power, they apparently just dissolved into a small puddle of primordial ooze. Who knew?

  “I can’t catch them all,” Adriel called as yet another slipped by.

  “I’m running low on ammo,” Hofniel called.

  “We must not let them pass, or all may be lost,” Camael shouted as he beheaded a gruesome figure with an emaciated human form and two heads, neither of which had any skull above the nose.

  “I knew we’d miss all the fun, standing guard out on that lonely road,” Hemah said as he walked up next to Hofniel, brandishing a lethal-looking short-barreled shotgun.

  “Brother, did you abandon your post?” Camael called incredulously, dispatching another nightmare creature back to the Pit.

  “No, we were relieved by a local citizen’s militia group, as they described themselves,” Arariel answer. She held a crossbow of all things, and
had a quiver of bolts slung across her chest. “They arrived 10 minutes ago, in time to witness Hemah slaughter three of the Pit’s denizens. Once the initial shock of their appearance wore off, the group assured us the demons would be just another opponent for them to vanquish.”

  “Those weren’t their actual words,” Hemah finished. “Their version was much more colorful. Some of the phrases even good Catholic Patrick laughed at.”

  “Well, join in, there are ample numbers to keep us all busy,” Camael ordered. “I’m going to check on Raquel.”

  Looking at Arariel, he shook his head. “A crossbow?”

  “Hey, it was offered, and it reminded me of my time in the Han dynasty,” she smirked.

  As he approached the open rear doors of the van, Camael noted two things. One was the figure of his sister once again holding her hand to Ham’s shoulder, and the deepening hue of the energy sphere which he knew meant the gate would soon be gone. The second thing was the still shape of Frank Kratos on the ground, with Hofniel kneeling beside him.

  No one within the van had apparently witnessed his death, and Hofniel knew not to distract them, even though it broke his heart. He knew the longer Frank’s body was without life, the harder it would be to help him recover, and the less complete it would be. Rushing to his side, Camael and Jason were having an argument inside Jason’s skull.

  “You’ve done it before, with Marrisa,” Jason was yelling.

  “Agreed, and Father was less than pleased. I do not wish to incur His wrath again for the same transgression,” Camael replied.

  “Let me speak to Daniel,” Jason insisted.

  “Hofniel is not an Archangel, he cannot resurrect the dead as we can,” Camael replied.

  “If you don’t do something, I will reject you from my body and inform Raquel,” Jason countered. “She’s been close enough to Frank for long enough, she won’t hesitate to save him.”