Demonic Designs (To Absolve the Fallen) (55 page)

“I think that I’ve been captured by the enemy,” Alex confided.

“Yes.”
 
James Tanner chuckled.
 
“It would appear so.”

“She used me,” Alex declared, slamming his hand down on a coffee table that he couldn’t remember being there before.
 
“I loved her.”

“You only thought you loved her,” his father corrected.
 
“But that doesn’t make it hurt less, I know.
 
The only option you have is to learn from your mistakes.”

“Well,” Alex said.
 
“I’ve made so many, it will take some time to learn from them all.”

Alex’s father leaned back in his chair.
 
“And you may never learn from them all.
 
But part of being human is trying.”

“I was angry with you,” Alex admitted.

“I know.”

“I thought you had forsaken me.”

His father nodded.
 
“But I hadn’t.”

“What will happen to me?”

“You will be tested,” James answered.
 
“Metatron will want you to join his cause.
 
He’ll want to use you to get to Jeremiah.”

“What should I do?”

“You’ll know the right choice when the time comes.”

“I’m not strong enough to do this,” Alex wailed.

“Ah,” his father remarked sagely.
 
“You are already learning.”

***

Abbie and Jeremiah looked at the clothes on the floor in silence.
 
Abbie cried, but Jeremiah was aloof.

“You’re going, aren’t you?” Abbie asked.

“Yes,” Jeremiah replied shortly.

“What should I tell the others?
 
Should I say that now we must defeat Metatron without Jeremiah?
 
Or should I say that we must now defeat Metatron
and
Jeremiah?”

Jeremiah took her by the shoulders and stared into her eyes.
 
“Tell them that I would have done the same for them.”
 
He looked down at the clothes and back to Abbie.
 
“I would have done the same for you.
 
Abbie, my faith is stronger than it used to be.
 
God is using Alex—I can feel it.
 
I will not allow him to be twisted by Metatron.”
 
He let go of her and walked toward the door, adding, “Metatron will never again be my master.”

“Then, I shall go with you,” Abbie said.

This caused Jeremiah to pause.
 
“No,” he responded without turning around.
 
“You will have to keep everything together while I am gone.
 
I’m counting on you to make sure everything goes according to plan, no matter what happens to me.”

“It was
your
plan,” Abbie pleaded.

“It
is
God’s plan,” Jeremiah corrected, and he walked away.

***

Hours later, Matt was standing over the same pile of clothes, alone.
 
Abbie had come to live at the mansion.
 
After she had informed everyone of the night’s events, Matt left.
 
Elizabeth tried to stop him.
 
Abbie tried to stop him.
 
But he knew that this was something he had to do.
 
He brushed the tears from his eyes and pulled out a gun.
 
He had decided, looking down at the clothes, that his miserable existence had gone on far too long, anyway.

“It’s all my fault,” he told himself.

“Is it?” a male voice with a hint of an oriental accent asked.

He spun and saw Lao Shi standing there.

“He may soon be dead,” Matt explained.
 
“And, if he isn’t, he’ll probably wish he was.”

Lao Shi walked over and picked up the clothes.
 
He examined them, dropped them, and sat on the bed.
 
“Maybe,” he replied, “but I am sure he would not wish you dead.”

Matt looked down at his gun.
 
“I shouldn’t have left him.”

“You were angry.
 
He was angry.
 
I cannot think of a better solution than a little time apart.”

Matt shook his head fiercely.
 
“No, I wasn’t going to come back.”

“I do not believe that,” Lao Shi responded, in his matter-of-fact way.

“Just go back to the mansion,” Matt told Lao Shi.
 
He sniffled, not able to stop the flow of tears.

“No.”
 
Lao Shi held out his hand.
 
“Give me the gun.”

Matt laughed.
 
“You can have it when I’m done with it.”

“Besides,” Lao Shi added, “maybe I am more to blame than you are for this.”

Matt would not be deterred, but he couldn’t help but wonder.
 
“Why?”

“I knew it was going to happen, and I did not tell anyone,” Lao Shi admitted, looking away.

“You knew Alex would be kidnapped?”

“I did,” Lao Shi told him.

“Why didn’t you tell us?” Matt demanded.

“I was told not to.”

“Who told you not to?”

Lao Shi looked back to him.
 
“God.”

“I thought you don’t believe in God.”

Lao Shi rocked his head from side to side, deciding on the best way to phrase his response.
 
“I do not see God the same way you do.
 
‘That which we call a rose by any other word would smell as sweet.’
 
Does it matter what I name It?”

“Why were we not supposed to know?”

“Some things are a part of a plan, whether we understand them or not,” Lao Shi explained.
 
“If I would have told you, you would have tried to stop what had already been determined.
 
It is better to simply accept that which is meant to be.
 
Accept it when I tell you that you could not have stopped this.”

“I am still responsible.”

Lao Shi shrugged his shoulders.
 
“So am I.
 
So is God.
 
Will you shoot the two of us before killing yourself?”

“This is serious,” Matt muttered.
 
“I won’t even be able to tell him that I’m sorry.”

“Then,” Lao Shi surmised, “you have already decided that Alex will die?”

“Is there any other way?
 
Jeremiah said that he won’t help Metatron, and he can’t beat him.
 
Alex doesn’t stand a chance.”

“If that is true,” Lao Shi countered, “then we are going to need all of the support we can get.”

“We can’t win without Jeremiah and Alex.”

Lao Shi considered this for a moment.
 
“Then, we must ensure that Jeremiah and Alex survive.”

“How?”

“First, give me the gun.”

Matt reluctantly handed over his gun.
 
“You know,” he said, “I have more.”

Lao Shi laughed.
 
“Yes, I do know that, but this is a symbolic gesture.
 
If you want Jeremiah and Alex to live, then you will need to live to make it happen.”

“I presume you have a plan.”

Lao Shi nodded.
 
“Oh, yes.”

***

When Alex awoke, he was on some kind of cushioned bench.
 
He had been jostled awake.
 
Through blurry eyes and a blurry mind, he navigated to find some semblance of order and reason.
 
Instead, he saw a man he had foggy memories of—he may have called himself Enoch—and Jessica.
 
They were sitting across from him.

“Sorry,” the one named Enoch said.
 
“I was hoping that you would sleep through most of the trip, but it seems that the turbulence is a little rough tonight.”

“Jessica?” Alex questioned groggily.
 
“Where are we going?”

Jessica smiled, got up, and walked through a door—presumably separating the cabin from the cockpit.

“Don’t worry about her,” Enoch instructed with a wave of his hand.
 
“She’s inconsequential.”

“I don’t understand,” Alex told him.

“Well, you are going to join me at my home for a little while.
 
I imagine Jeremiah will be joining us when he can.
 
He and I have a lot to talk about, and I thought that your presence might make him more disposed toward civility.”

“So, you kidnapped me?”
 
Alex was sitting up by this point, rubbing his head.
 
“What did you do to me?”

“She put a little sedative in your food,” Enoch told him.
 
“It wasn’t my idea.”

“Your name is Enoch?”

“Yes,” he affirmed.
 
“I was once a prophet, like you.”

“What happened?”

He smiled.
 
“I ascended.
 
God found favor in me and made me an angel.”

“Uh,” Alex groaned, still rubbing his head, trying to become more aware.
 
He looked down at himself and realized that he was naked.
 
“Where are my clothes?”
 
He started getting frantic.

“Oh,” Enoch answered, “we had to leave those behind.
 
I didn’t like the idea of Jeremiah being able to monitor our progress.
 
My privacy is important.
 
May I get you some clothes?”

“Please,” Alex said, covering himself with his hands.
 
“You’re an angel?”

“I was.”
 
Enoch laughed as he got up and began rummaging around in a compartment over his head.
 
“But no more.”

“So,” Alex reasoned apprehensively, “you’re a demon.”

Enoch frowned and tossed Alex a pair of jeans and a shirt.
 
“Yes.”

“Do you work for Metatron?” Alex asked as he pulled on the oversized jeans.

“Realizing that I am about to bias our relationship, I’ll be honest with you.
 
I
am
Metatron.”

“That’s what I thought,” Alex confessed.

“Of course.
 
What did
He
tell you?”
 
Metatron pointed to the ceiling.

Alex was very calm, more calm than he had any idea he could be, given the circumstances.
 
He pulled the shirt over his head and replied, “He told me that you would try to convert me.
 
He told me that you would use me against Jeremiah.”

Metatron sat back down.
 
“Did He?
 
I guess our relationship
has
been biased.
 
You see Alex, He doesn’t appreciate it when people work against Him, but He expects us to placidly accept it when He works against us.
 
That doesn’t seem fair, does it?”