Jon’s fingers scrolled through the phone book quickly, his mouth muttering off last names quickly. “Rochelle, Rochendro, Roches, Rochesa,” Jon’s index finger stopped and underlined a name with the tip of his digit, “Rochesberg!”

“Got it?” Andria leaned over Jon’s shoulder, tears still drying on her soft cheeks.

“Yeah, 226 Terryville Road.”

“Terryville?” David pushed in between the two.

“Yeah, not that far.” Jon nodded, grabbing a nearby pen and pad and scribbling down the address.

“I’m driving!” David sped out the door to Jonathan’s house, running to his car.

“Jon, is everything okay?!” Mrs. Romanov called out from the living room.

“Yeah ma… simply looking for someone.” Jon paused, nodding towards Andria and then the door. Andria left hesitantly, joining David in his car.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Hearing the rear car door open and close shut, David turned himself in the drivers’ seat to face the newcomer.

“He was fighting for us, y’know. It’s not like he died for no cause.”

“We all fight for something, Dave… but not everybody dies for it. Why did he have to die for us?” Andria’ eyes began to moisten as she rubbed at her nose softly.

“Maybe he needed to die. Maybe there was something going on that we didn’t know about.” David hesitated at his next words. “I mean fuck, look at where we are now, in search of some demon-human mix.”

The passenger door opened and Jon piled into the car, his cell phone in his hand. “I called the Rochesbergs.”

“What’d they say?” David inquired.

“They said Denis ran off a week ago… left a note saying something about not being what everyone thinks he is.”

“Great mother fuck!” Dave’s hand came down on the steering wheel hard. “Where the fuck does that leave us?”

“I think I have an idea.” Jon muttered.

“Do tell…”

“If you found out you were what he is, where would you go?”

“A church.” Andria’s voice was low, but clear.

“For what?” Dave’s eyebrow quirked up.

“For answers, Dave. He doesn’t know about the war, so he’d still be going to God.”

“So… what’s the closest church?” David started the car’s ignition.

“First municipal. It’s right across from the school.”


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Denis knelt himself in front of the crucifix, his elbows resting on the step leading to the statue and his hands interlocked with each other. With his eyes closed, he began to mumble a prayer he had learned during his communion. The words escaped his lips smoothly until he reached the final “Amen”. His mind quickly reacted as if the greatest of all curses had been spoken through him. A burning sensation coursed through his body briefly.

“Ah, Christ!” He shot up from his position, backing away from the tall sculpture that towered over him. “What the hell was that?”

When his mind finally re-settled itself back on the prayer, Denis knelt back down again, shaking his head before continuing on. God, lord, and heaven all triggered the reaction again as he spoke them. With a push of his knees, he was stumbling backwards, clinging to himself as if to rid the pain.

“Fucking damnit!” Denis rose to his feet, his head feeling a bit light. “What the crap is going on?”

“God isn’t here for you anymore, Denise.” A figure stepped into the church slowly, the light shining behind him giving him the image of an angel. “And the demon in you knows that.”

Denis turned swiftly toward the door, backing himself up against the step. Losing his balance, he fell at the foot of the crucifix. “Who the fuck are you?”

Two other figures followed the first into the church. When the doors closed, the intruders were now only shadows.

“We’re here to help you.” The first one spoke again.

“Help me? With what?” Denis rose from his spot on the floor, taking a step down to the floor and moving himself away from the crucifix.

“We know what you are, Denis; and we know what you’re meant to do.”

“Meant to do? What the hell are you talking about?”

“My names Jonathan Romanov. My best friend, Mark Laurence, was slain for being what you are.” Jon began to move closer to Denis, giving him a better view.

“Laurence? That name sounds…” Denis paused, closing his eyes. “That name was in one of my dreams.”

“What dreams?” The girl of the trio pushed passed Jon in a rush, putting herself mere feet away from Denis. Denis opened his eyes, and immediately his met hers. The lost puppy dog look that crept its way into her eyes caused Denis to feel a bit of sorrow for her.

After a moment of silence, Denis spoke. “It starts out as a large field, then as my mind seems to focus more, it turns into a city. Flames surrounding everything; the buildings, the streets, street signs, all of them are engulfed in an orange fire.” Denis closed his eyes again, lifting his head to the ceiling. “In the middle of everything there lays a clearing, the remains of a park lying across the ground. Standing in the middle of the field is a group of five teenagers, I being one of them. I’m standing to the left of who presumes to be the leader of the group; your friend, Mark Laurence.”

The girl’s eyes grew sadder at the mention of his name, but Denis continued. “In front of us, what looks to be a demon stands taller than any biped I’ve seen. Its eyes are red… a fiery red that couldn’t be mistaken for anything else but pure evil.” Denis sighed, lowering his head. “That’s usually when I wake up; when I feel those eyes piercing me.”

“That’s all you can remember, Denis?” Jon looked to be frowning a bit.

“Yeah… besides that each of us had a weapon.” Denis laughed slightly. “I had two 9mm’s in holsters by my side.”

“What do you know about yourself?” The guy standing at the door of the church asked, stepping out of the shadows and next to Jon.

“What do you mean?”

“You learned something about yourself… which is why you are here.” The look in this guy’s eye was menacing. “What did you learn?”

“Do you think we could go somewhere else to talk about this? Being in a church isn’t all too… comfortable anymore.”

“Yeah… let’s get out of here.” Jon nodded towards Denis, who almost ran to the church doors.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Mark stood atop the church roof, his eyes watching over the four that had just exited the church. He smiled slightly, his wings folding up around him.