Number 666

Number 666 Chapter 7

Chapter 7

It was a dark and beautiful night. Raphael walked into the restaurant an hour after he had gotten the text from Gabriel. He felt under dressed for this kind of place. He hadn't been used to the fancy places like this. He was just barely getting by financially. He didn't have the financial stability like the others. Even before this whole Angel situation he had never really been able to hold a job. He felt out of place as he walked into the restaurant and when he walked to see Gabriel, he felt even more out of place.

She was dressed beautifully. She had always been an elegant girl but now she looked more like a woman. Her wild curled were tamed and slicked back. Her face was beat with beautiful hues and contour. She had on a golden evening gown. To Raphael, she was the prototype of class saved the whiskey on the rocks that betrayed her true nature right in front of her.

"You should have warned me," Raphael stated, "I would have worn something nicer."

He said it only to save face. Raphael didn't really own anything nicer than what he had on at that moment. Fashion wasn't really his big saving grace and money definitely never was. He had lived a hard life and things weren't getting easier. Some wounds not even the archangel's blessing could heal.

"You're fine. I just didn't want to eat alone," Gabriel replied.

Her reply was something that Raphael hadn't expected. She was usually strong and at times somewhat abrasive. That is what Raphael always liked about Gabriel. She was a woman who could always hold her own. She an Amazon among the female race. Her physical strength was only overwhelmed by this strong sense of pride. Right now it seemed like there was only a shadow of the woman he had grown to admire; love even.

"What's wrong Gab?" Raphael asked. He had known her for a year now. He'd known her long enough to know that she wasn't herself.

"Nothing. Really. Well. Just clearly I wasn't supposed to be eating alone. Uri was actually supposed to join me. But he got pulled away last minute. Michael called him."

"Are you saying that Michael called Uri and he stood you up for a date?"

Raphael was shocked by that.

"He was told it was an emergency..."

Raphael listened well. Gabriel didn't confirm or deny whether or not she was on a date with Uri. That's what he really wanted to know. Raphael always loved Gabriel. Ever since the first day he met her he was in love with her. The idea that she was going around dating bothered him more than he wanted to admit. Raphael acknowledged that Uri was handsome. Uri was probably more traditionally handsome and well groomed than he was. Uri seemed like a guy that girls would fall for. Raphael always wanted to be the kind of guy Uri was...secretly. He always wanted to be that clean cut, appealing guy.

Maybe if he had been more like Uri, Gabriel would have gone on this date with him initially and wouldn't be using him to just warm a seat that Uri didn't fail.

Raphael couldn't show weakness. He knew that was the one thing Gabriel hated more than life. He put on a bold face and questioned her while watching her down her strong drink, "What kind of emergency?"

She shrugged. She loosened the knot in her hair and became herself again. The wild curls of Gabriel streamed across her back like the wilderness of nature. Raphael always believed she should have been the lion of God...not Ariel.

"He didn't say. I should have known once Michael came calling that Uri would go running."

"He can be persuasive..."

"Whose that?"

"Michael. Of course. Remember that situation that you saw in the car. That was Michael. I don't blame Uri," Raphael stated shaking his head, "Just another victim to Michael."

Gabriel looked at him and laughed. He knew she didn't take him serious. He had to make sure that before the night was over she was well aware of the threat that Michael was.

"Car situation? You mean when Michael was giving you head?" Gabriel asked.

"Shh---" he stated looking around feeling a blush of embarrassment almost immediately, "He...he is so persuasive. I'm not like that. You know I'm not, Gab. All these years that you've known me, since when have I been...gay. That kind of lifestyle...that kind of thing is an abomination really."

"So what he convinced you to let you do that? Is that really what you're trying to tell me."

"That's exactly what I'm saying. He can't be trusted. There's something not right about Michael. You know it and I know it. What kind of angel...carries on like he does? He's the son of an archangel and he sins more than the worst of us."

He didn't know how else to describe it. Raphael had spent nights awake thinking about why he was so weak to Michael's touch at times. It had to be the fact that Michael was evil. Michael had to have been evil. He had to have been some sort of thing sent to strike them down. He just had to convince the others of it. He had to convince the others that Michael was evil before it was too late. They had to see the light.

It had to start with Gabriel...

She shrugged, "You know it was pretty strange how in the subway station I was attacked over anyone else. It was almost like the demons knew----"

"Don't call them demons."

She shrugged, "Listen. Raphael. That's what they were. They are demons but that's besides the point. They knew Raphael. They knew that I was the strongest of us. They knew who to go after."

Raphael had regretted it. His angelic blessing was nothing more than healing. He remembered how Gabriel was attacked in the subway. He remembered trying to help her. It was impossible though. His healing was a passive gift. It wasn't aggressive. Ariel had her animals but there were no animals for her to use. She had been to afraid as well. Then there was Michael who seemed to have an offensive gift, but he was refusing to learn how to use his abilities. Uri had been the one who had saved her. Uri...one of the newer angels.

Maybe that's why Gabriel liked Uri. Maybe it was because Uri had power...true power and not just the ability to heal. If only Raphael had true power like that maybe Gabriel would see him the way she saw Uri.

"How do you suppose they knew to attack you?" Raphael asked.

Gabriel shrugged, "I've tossed and turned thinking about it...what if you're right? What if you're right about Michael? What if he isn't who he says he is?

"Perhaps not."

"And then he's the new one. You know? And you're right. There is something so dark and negative about him. I feel more like a devil, you know?"

"Yes. A devil. Yes....exactly what I think."

"Did you see anything angelic? Me either? That time he attacked you. Those cuts...that seemed more demonic than anything. Rag would believe anything that came his way. He's not reliable. He's not a real leader if you ask me. It's up to me. You know. A strong angel---you know?"

"Yes. A strong angel like you. That's right."

"Still----Cham would have seen it though. In his third eye. Don't you think?"

Raphael shrugged his shoulders, "Possibly...but Cham has been wrong many times before."

He watched as Gabriel took the alcohol to her head. It didn't take much convincing with her. Before she dropped the glass he knew that he had her. Maybe her own doubts had caused this in her. Maybe she had seen Michael's true colors a long time ago. Maybe it was a woman's jealousy that was creeping in. Uri had abandoned her tonight to because of Michael.

Now it was up to Raphael to save Gabriel. It was up to Raphael to save Uri. He had to save them from the succubus that was Michael. The bible stated that in the end there would be a false prophet. What if Michael was this false prophet? He had to have been. Why else would Raphael all of a sudden have these sinful desires for Michael?

Michael had to be a fallen angel.

Gabriel's glass hit the table, "You're right. I've made up my mind. He's my enemy. And as my enemy I'll have to get rid of him. I'll have to get rid of him before he puts our lives at risk again."

Raphael smiled. It hadn't taken much convincing at all. He had seen that look of stern aggression in Gabriel's eyes. He knew it well. There was a reason that her name meant the Strength of God. There was a reason that she was born of one of the mightiest archangels. She had a resolve unmatched by anyone.

He knew she had her mindset and it would only be a matter of time before Michael was removed out of the picture, and his life, for good.

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"Is she ok?"

I had invited Uri over to the house. I didn't know who else to reach out to besides him in regards to this. I had gotten everyone's phone numbers but for some reason Uri was the only one that came to mind. When he walked in the house he saw my mother. She was praying...frantically in the living room. I had never seen her like that really. Candles were lit up. She had her bible out. She was rocking back and forth.

I didn't answer Uri in regards to my mother, "Let's go upstairs."

He nodded. I was glad he wasn't a pushy guy. It was quite embarrassing to have to explain to him that my mother was breaking down right in front of my eyes. She had helped me take Cham to my room. She had heard Cham muttering strange...things about demons and what not. Luckily for me Cham had stopped making much sense at that point. He seemed to be speaking nonsense. It wasn't until I googled what he was saying that I realized that he was quoting verses from the book of revelations.

Well that completely freaked my mother the fuck out and. I had no idea how I was going to recover from this.

"You said it was an emergency," Uri stated.

"You doubt me?" I asked raising an eyebrow.

Uri laughed, "It's not that. It's just. You know? It's getting late..."

"Did you have plans?"

"I was out."

"Out? With everything that we have going on you have time to go out?" I asked.

We were at the top of the stairs at this point. Uri turned to me and smiled a little bit. He shrugged his shoulders in a sly way. That was when I noticed more about him. I noticed how he was dressed. He looked nice. He wasn't a basic dresser like Raphael. Uri had style and charisma. He had on some slim fit jeans that were pressed nicely and hugged his muscular legs. His shirt was fitted and he had on a stylish black coat over it. He smelled good. I could smell earthy cologne drifting into my nostrils as we stood at the top of the staircase.

"I was out with Gabby," Uri told me at that moment.

My heart dropped. I hadn't suspected it to drop like that. It didn't just drop. It tumbled down the stairs in a way. Maybe in my mind it really did because all of a sudden I was looking back down the stairs instead of looking at Uri. I clenched at my chest. I could almost feel something there. I was overreacting. I knew I was. I tried to gain composure of myself.

"A date?" I asked.

Uri raised an eyebrow, "Huh?"

He'd heard what I had said. I was standing only a two feet away from him. He heard exactly what I said. Maybe it was the embarrassment of the topic that made him act like he didn't hear me. If he was light skin I wondered if his face would blush red or not. His brown, chocolate even skin tone seemed to hide those kind of flaws however.

"You don't have to tell me. We have more important things to talk about," I replied.

I wasn't going to force him and clearly this wasn't a conversation that he wanted to be having with me. I lead Uri into my bedroom.

Uri's eyes shot open when he saw who was laying there.

"Oh my god."

"Yeah. Cham is back."

"How....when...oh my god...oh my god! He's back!"

At that moment Uri hugged me. I was surprised by it. Cham didn't even budge even with Uri's excitement in the room. He must have been exhausted. God knows what he had been through and I didn't want to really disturb him before I had to.

"He showed up at my door...talking crazy..." I stated crossing my arms, "He was butt naked. And you know...I'm gay as a Tequila sunrise so I'm thinking it's very inappropriate that he be in my room. You know. So I figured. Why not call Uri? You could...you know? Get rid of him. Or whatever. I don't know. Take him somewhere."

Uri looked at me with the look I was trying to avoid. Suspicion.

"I don't get why he came here. Either way I can't take him to my house. He clearly needs rest. He shouldn't be moved. You know. Why can't he just stay here?"

No. He couldn't. He couldn't stay here.

"He just can't."

"Maybe I can call one of the others. Maybe Raphael...or Ariel. Ariel seems like she would have a place where he would be comfortable. You know? That girl looks loaded."

"No. I don't want anyone to know he came here," I stated shaking my head.

"Why?"

"They don't trust me already," I replied shaking my head, "That's why I called you."

"You think I trust you?"

He smiled when he said it as though he wasn't being serious with the question. He was taking this as a joke but I was really serious. He had to get Cham out of here before midnight. He had to get Cham out of here.

"Whatever. It doesn't matter if you trust me or not. Don't you think he's safer with you?" I asked.

"Safer?"

"Yes. You know. The demons are afraid of your candles," I stated, "It keeps them away. Don't you think he's better with you there where you can light a candle?"

"Can't. My roommate is having a party. Dwight. You remember him..."

Was he being smart? Clearly he knew I remembered his roommate Dwight. I used to have sex with his roommate Dwight. I shook my head looking at Uri. I had to get him out of here. I had to get Cham out of harm's way before something happened.

"He can't stay here," I stated.

"Are you afraid of something?" Uri asked.

I hated how Uri did that. I hated how Uri could look at me and somehow understand me more than I wanted him to. Right now he was doing it again. He was looking at me with those kind welcoming eyes and maybe I let my guard down. Maybe I just let my fucking guard down for a minute and being the fucking scavenger he was Uri always found a way through. He always found a way past my guard.

"No..."

"I don't believe you..."

He was right. I was lying.

I was afraid of the Bull. The Bull had been getting stranger and stranger each day. I didn't know what would happen next. Me being in the house with the bull was one thing. Cham being in the house with the bull was another. Cham was defenseless. I couldn't risk anyone...getting hurt. Of course I wouldn't tell Uri this. I wouldn't want him to think that I was some victim. I wouldn't want him to think that I was weak too because I cared about what happened to Cham.

I had to play it off. I had to be the cold...distant Michael that I always had been. That was the only way to survive things like this. Never let anyone see your weakness.

"I called you because I thought you could help me. If you can't take him away then. Fine."

"Wait..."

"You'll take him."

"No...but I'll stay the night too..." Uri stated.

At that moment this guy actually had the nerve to take of his shirt. He threw his shirt on the floor in a pile. It was nothing to him as he sat on the rug that moment underneath Cham. I struggled not to look at him. His body was so sexy. His frame was so fucking hot. I mean Cham was an OK looking guy but now I had a sexy, drop dead gorgeous guy in my room with his shirt off telling me that he wanted to stay the night. Not only that but it was the guy who I clearly had a crush on since before I could remember.

I retreated into myself, "You can't stay here."

It was so odd how I acted around Uri. Any other man I would have jumped at the opportunity. Uri was my type. Everything about him was my type. Maybe that was what made me nervous. Maybe the fact that he was my type put up that school boy nervousness that I had conquered with everyone else.

That was it. I had conquered everyone else but Uri.

And he was so resilient, "I'm staying here tonight. Ok? Cham shouldn't be moved. Whatever he's been through he needs rest. So I'm staying here. I'll keep you company make sure the two of you are ok---"

"I don't need your fucking protection."

I almost spit the words out. I hated Uri being nice to me. Stop being nice to me. The last man that was nice to me was a pastor and he hurt me. He hurt me so bad. I didn't want any men to ever be nice to me.

Cleopatra once said 'All strange and terrible things are welcome, but comforts we despise'. That was what Uri was. He was a comfort. He was a comfort that I didn't want. He was a comfort that I didn't appreciate. He was a comfort that I despised and being around him...it made my bones shake. It made my mouth dry. Why did this boy make me feel like this? I should have never invited him.

"Fine. I'll stay to protect Cham. This isn't about you," he stated shaking his head, "Whatever has you so afraid. Whatever has you so shook up...isn't going to come near Cham tonight."

I hated him.

"Suit yourself."

I got a comforter out of the closet and made a place on the floor. Uri stared at me. He probably thought I was making an area for him but I wasn't. I was making an area for myself. I almost smirked when the disappointment emerged on his face as I laid down and stretched between two comfort sets spread out across the floor.

I thought he would complain or even attempt to join Cham on the bed but he didn't. Uri just sat there on the floor and closed his eyes. It pissed me off even more. It pissed me off that I couldn't get underneath his skin. I knew I was being immature. I never said that I was some mature person. I was passive-aggressive. I was fucked up in the head. I was the first person to admit it.

===========================

The night drifted on. I found it hard to sleep. There was a heavy snoring coming from Cham on the bed however. It was so loud that it kept me awake. It must have been late at night. Still I was in this strange area of comfort even though I wasn't asleep.

It wasn't until it got incredibly cold that my eyes shot open.

I breathed a second. I could see my breath.

What the fuck?

Had someone turned off the thermostat in the house? I looked at the time on my cellphone. It was at midnight. The bull came home around midnight.

My eyes turned to see Uri. He was still sitting up against the wall. He had taken off his shoes and got somewhat comfortable. He must have noticed me stirring because for some reason he opened his eyes.

"You ok?" he asked.

He was looking around quickly panicking in the darkness. He looked so beautiful. The moonlight hit his dark body and turned it into a shimmering copper. His dark eyes glared around like a protective wolf in the middle of the night. There was something very powerful about him. There was something about Uri that made me feel very protected even at night...even in this house.

"Look. It's pretty cold. Why don't you come under the comforters?" I asked him.

"Let me find out Michael Vorhees is actually being nice to me..."

"Don't make me change my mind."

He got up that moment as though realizing I was probably more serious than not about changing my mind. He must have realized how could it was too now that he was up because as he walked over he was shivering.

He came under the comforters and immediately I regret inviting him into the comforters. He was so fucking warm. His body generated this heat. He had closer to me than I would have liked him to. I had to scoot back a little bit to avoid us touching one another. Just being this close to him seemed to excite me more than I liked to admit. My body was aroused. There was weight on my penis almost immediately.

He turned to me in the darkness. At first I didn't think he was going to say something and I was beginning to force my eyes shut and hopefully feign sleep.

"Is it always this cold in your house?" he asked.

Even in the middle of the night his breath smelled like cool herbal breeze as it whispered across my face. His head was only inches away from mine at this moment. His eyes connecting onto me.

It wasn't always this cold. It scared me honestly.

"Sometimes," I lied.

"What? You guys don't pay the heat bill or something?"

"It's an old brownstone."

He nodded. I had a feeling he didn't believe a word I was saying. I had a feeling that he knew I was just trying to put it on. What was I going to tell him? Was I going to tell him that strange things had been going on right under my house? What the hell could Uri possibly do about it?

Maybe it was best to tell him.

"You got an issue facing things don't you?"

"Facing things?" I asked, "Are you like calling me a punk or something?"

He shook his head, "Did I say that?"

"You were insinuating something. I'm just trying to figure it out."

Uri shook his head, "I'm not insinuating that. I'm just saying. You like to hide from things. You like to ignore them and act like things aren't happening. This house just dropped 40 degrees and you want to sweep it under the rug. You think that's normal."

He had a point. I hated that he had a point.

"You don't know me."

That's the best thing I could come up with. I felt stupid. Somehow Uri always had a way of making me feel so fucking stupid. As soon as I said it I wanted to just close my eyes and start snoring but I knew that would be even more awkward and make him think I was scared to face him.

"That's the best you got? Really?" he asked.

I sighed, "Ok. Whatever. Sometimes I just didn't know how to deal with my issues honestly. But you still don't know me. You still don't know my life."

"Who hurt you?"

Uri looked me in my eyes. I hated this. I hated talking about shit like this.

"What?"

"Who hurt you? I look at you and I see someone who has been hurt so bad that he's backed up in a corner growling at anyone that comes near. Just like an abused dog. Who hurt you?"

"God..."

"What do you mean?"

I sighed. I couldn't believe I was letting him in, "I was raped. As a child."

"How many times?"

"More like how many years. It happened most of my youth," I explained to him, "It happened every chance I let my guard down. So you ask me why I am standing in a corner. It's because if I'm standing in a corner I know that there's no one behind me. There's no one going to grab me from behind. There's no one that is going to sneak up on me. So that's what I do now. I sit in the corner. I growl. And I spit. And if anyone comes to close---I just might bite."

It was a warning. I hoped he was happy. I hoped he knew how angry I was. I had tried to explain it to people before. They felt like I was just making an excuse. It was always the people who couldn't understand it that felt that way though.

One rape could change your mind state.

Multiple rapes...could change your life.

Just at that moment Uri did the strangest thing.

He moved close.

He moved close and closer. And closer...even as I moved away he continued to move close until I had no where to go. I was facing him. I was only an inch away from him. Our noses touched. Our bodies were pressed up against one another. I had never felt so uncomfortable in my life. I had never felt so intimate with someone in my life either.

If I moved my lips too wildly I would be kissing him probably.

I literally had to be careful with how I spoke.

"What are you doing?"

"I am getting close. I realize you aren't growling. You aren't spitting. You aren't biting..."

My heart was racing. Did he feel it? He had to! His chest was pressed calmly against mine. Then I noticed something else. I noticed something just as strange and confusing. Uri's heart was beating heavily as well. Uri's heart was pressed up against mine. Our breathing started to match one another. It was almost like we were breathing in unison.

And our breathing was getting heavier. Heavier and heavier.

Was I moving closer? Maybe. It was so delicate. One centimeter at a time.

Could I do it? Could I kiss Uri right now?

Is that what he wanted?

Our lips...were so close. One more second and we would be touching...

FOOTSTEPS!

Not normal footsteps.

I jerked up all of a sudden throwing the comforters off of me. I knew who it was. I knew who was coming up the steps. I had heard the loud footsteps before. They weren't normal footsteps. It was almost like stomping. They had started not too long ago.

The Bull was here.

"What the fuck is that?" Uri stated jumping to his feet as well.

At that moment it made me feel a little bit more sane. I had thought that I was losing it every night when I heard the Bull stomping around the house like that. I thought I was losing it because I didn't understand how my mother never heard it. My mother never said anything. She never opened her door. She never acknowledged it in the morning.

My heart was racing.

"He's here."

"Who?"

My heart was racing. Stomping. Closer. Closer. Closer.

All of a sudden I found myself hustling around the room. He was coming! The bull was coming! I was an idiot. I should have gotten Cham out of here when I had the chance. I should have never agreed to have Uri come over. Now I was risking both of them. I was rsking both of them.

"A candle. I need a candle. It's around here somewhere. I know---I know I put it around here somewhere!"

"Michael relax."

It was too late to relax. Much too late for relaxing.

Every night I had barricaded myself in the room. Tonight I didn't though. I didn't barricade myself in the room because I didn't want to scare Uri.

He was going to kill us! He was going to fucking kill us.

"Uri. Help me find a candle. I need you to light a goddam candle!"

We needed his flame. Only Uri's flame could protect us now. I could hear the bull now. He was at the top of the stares. He was marching closer. He was marching closer towards my room.

It was colder...so...so...fucking cold.

It was almost as though the bull had sucked all the life out of the house.

Uri noticed it. He was shivering. He had put back on his t-shirt.

"Michael, calm down---"

He said a few other things but at this point I wasn't listening to him. I couldn't believe I had lost the goddam candle...I was sure I had a candle in this room. And then I realized it. I realized that when I was gone the night before I left my door open. Had the Bull come into my room?

Had the Bull removed my candle on purpose?

Was this his plan?

All of a sudden the door was jingling open. The loud banging inhuman footsteps were at the door. The footsteps sounded like they were an earthquake. Each step shook the base of the fucking house! Uri heard it too. His eyes looked at the door. His mouth dropped open.

He had to hear it. I wasn't going crazy after all! The fear was real...

"He took it," I looked over at Uri.

Suddenly the jingling at the door stopped. Maybe the Bull heard what I said. Maybe he knew we were aware of what he did.

"Is it gone?" Uri asked.

There was a silence. An unnatural silence. I could hear nothing but Cham's snoring below us. It was like the whole world had gone mute.

I shook my head.

Just as I did the door BURST OPEN!

Something was there. Something was there but just as I saw it Uri shined his light. Uri shined his light. The light was in his palm! I didn't know how to feel about it.

The Bull had jumped back into the shadows of the darkness behind the light. I looked at the shadow in the darkness. It was concealed in the darkness. I could see eyes glistening in the darkness. The light of the moon barely revealed hints of the skin tone. It was definitely the Bull. I wondered why he looked paler than before. He looked more...deformed. I wanted to move forward. I wanted to really understand what this---thing---was that I was looking at.

I didn't dare move past Uri's light though.

"Rodney?" I asked in the darkness using the Bull's government name.

Silence. The bull slowly started to fade. I didn't hear steps but it felt like he was moving backwards. Except there were no steps! It was almost like---like he was just fading away back into the darkness.

All of a sudden the door shut. It shut softly...slowly.

And then it seemed like the world went back to normal...except Uri of course. Uri was pacing back and forth. He still had the fire in his hand. It was blazing from his palm like a fireball. It didn't burn him of course. He seemed to be immune to the heat that he created. All of a sudden the temperature in the room seemed to be what it was before. We weren't freezing anymore. It was back to the high 70s. I looked over at Cham. Somehow the guy had slept through this entire thing. He had no idea...

Uri's flame though seemed to really put him on edge. He moved back and forth pacing. He was breathing just as heavy as he was when he were close to each other on the floor earlier.

"Oh my god...holy shit," he was saying his voice a darkness, "Who---what---was that?

I looked over at him. It was different from what we had faced in the subway. He knew it and I knew it.

"My mother's boyfriend."

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Ariel stalked the night. It was completely dark and in the middle of the night. Normally she would have been afraid in the darkness but her animals were with her tonight. She'd gotten a text that said to meet her here. It was important that she came. When she got texts like this she knew that it was important.

The moon was high in the sky and the cats surrounded her. They loved the moonlight mostly. They would dance around it. They would purr and scratch and rub their tails on her legs all night if she allowed them too. She loved the cats most of all but all the animals loved her too.

It wasn't until she heard hissing in the darkness of the alley that she in that she knew she wasn't alone. It was already a cold night. The fleece that she had wrapped around her was pricey thing. It cost a lot of money. It should have kept her warm and it usually did but tonight the temperature just seemed to drop even lower.

She knew what this meant.

She wasn't surprised when he turned the block. She was never surprised.

"Oh my god..."

The cats had formed a barricade around her hissing. Their fur jumped on ends as the man came closer to her. He came closer and closer into the dark alley. It wasn't until he got close enough that her excitement kicked in. She shooed the cats away careful not to injure any of them. They didn't go far of course. Her animals never went too far. They perched close by on garbage cans and fire escapes watching the stranger approach their friend.

"You miss me?" he asked her.

She missed him more than life could say. He didn't see her as much as he wanted to. She was always jealous of the embrace of others. She had seen how Uri and Gabby looked at one another at times. She missed that stare of a lover. As she walked close to him she could feel his warm embrace even before he held her in his arms. And when he finally did hold her it was everything that she had imagined. Every day she spent without him was something that she dreaded.

"Are you ok?"

He had on sunglasses. It was a strange thing to see him with them on in the middle of the night.

"I'm fine. How have you been, my love?" he asked her.

She loved how he spoke. He was an older man, but not old. Still he spoke like he was so far removed from this day and age. The idea that he called her his love made her weak. That's all she ever wanted. She only ever wanted to be loved by others more than her animals. She could drown in this feeling of closeness though. She had been hurt before by her ex husband. He was always a great escape.

But he always belonged to someone else.

"Were you with her tonight?"

"No of course not," he replied.

"You're lying."

"I wouldn't."

"Did you do it---finally?"

"No. He evaded me again. Unfortunately."

Ariel shook her head, she hated this, "I just want this to end. You know. I just want this all to end. When will it end?"

She pleaded to him like this before. Usually he would get upset about it but tonight he didn't. Tonight he just put his hand on her jaw and held it there for a minute.

"It was supposed to end the other night."

"Uri. He's stronger than I thought," Ariel replied, "He protects Michael...for some reason or another and around Michael his flame has a power that I didn't expect."

"Uriel. The light of God," he replied and laughed, "Things are getting interesting aren't they?"

"He doesn't have to die does he?" Ariel asked, "You said only Michael has to die right."

"Yes. Only Michael. And then it would all be over."

"You promise."

"Of course."

"I'm so happy. We'll finally get a chance to be together for real. You can leave her and you can come to me," Ariel stated.

She hated sounding so desperate but even though she was aware she couldn't stop it. She knew she sounded like a little girl taken by love. She was a little girl taken by it. All she cared about was him. Her animals couldn't sooth the loneliness she felt every night when he was out faking this relationship that he was in.

"Do you love me?" he asked.

"Of course."

"I'm going to need you to do it for me. Get rid of Michael...before he gets too strong. Kill Michael."

Ariel hesitated. Love had caused her to abandon the other angels. Love had caused her to go down this path of darkness that she couldn't turn back from. Killing an angel though was something that she wasn't prepared for. She thought she only had to provide her love with information so that he could do it and end this stupid war. He promised that he would kill Michael and the rest of them would be spared.

There would be a truce between heaven and hell. That's what Ariel really wanted. She wanted a truce. She wanted peace.

But she wasn't sure if she could kill Michael to do it.

"Is this the only way?"

"He knows who I am."

"He knows you are Leviathan?" she asked.

He nodded. Leviathan was such a man. Such a strong man. The name whispered from his mouth and many nights she would stay up talking to the birds or the insects or the rats about him. Leviathan. He was an angel once just like her but he had been cast out of heaven by the archangel Michael. All he wanted was his revenge. He just wanted to destroy Michael's son...the other Michael. Once he did that everything would be right in the world.

"He knows I am something," he stated, "I'm going to have to do something desperate unless you kill him."

"Desperate like what?"

"Like marry her..."

"You wouldn't," she stated.

Her heart was racing. Ariel's entire world started to collapse at that moment. He wouldn't marry her. He wouldn't do that.

"He knows me as Rodney Peters," Leviathan stated, "I've been dating Michael's mother for three years. She has the relics of God all around the house. The archangel stirs in them to protect his son. The only way I can stay unnoticed to them is if I gained her trust completley. I wouldn't want to marry her because I love you. I know that would hurt you. Wouldn't it? You wouldn't want me to have to go through all that just to kill him. Would you?"

She wouldn't have that. She wouldn't have that at all. Ariel had made up her mind.

She would have to do what needed to be done for love.

She would have to take Michael's life.

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