Chapter 2: Faith and Trust

"Once our mission was complete, I had no further need to keep a human vessel, so I returned to Verity's home. Thank you, I told her. You have done a great service to Heaven. It will not be forgotten.

"But before I could leave her, she spoke. She was dazed, disoriented, overwhelmed as humans tend to become when they're possessed by an angel, but she had maintained some limited awareness of her surroundings throughout the ordeal. Wait, she said. Did you save the child?

"I stopped, not sure how to answer that. The child? I repeated, maybe a little dumbly.

"Yes, the child, she snapped impatiently. She was growing more and more lucid as we conversed, so I created an illusion for her that would allow us to talk… face-to-face, as it were. She would have seen me as a duplicate of herself, which was probably disconcerting, but she took it with remarkable aplomb. Actually, she was scowling at me.

"'I heard a little girl scream,' she said, and her face and tone softened. 'And I could… I could feel how it affected you. How it still affects you. It's making my blood run cold.' She stepped close to me, her eyes searching my own. 'Castiel… what happened?'

"Thinking about it did bring on a chill—a very strange feeling, as I wasn't really used to being in a vessel yet. I had to keep telling myself we'd done the right thing. After all, Heaven's laws are absolute. But Akobel was my friend, and I regretted the necessity of his death. I still do. And as for the Nephilim… well, I just had to have faith that the edicts of Heaven were just. To think otherwise was frankly inconceivable to me at the time.

"But when I tried to explain it to Verity… she didn't quite see it that way.

"'It wasn't a child, precisely,'I said carefully.

"She backed away a little and folded her arms. 'It?' she demanded sternly.

"'It was a Nephilim, a-a monster,' I told her. I glared back at her to emphasize my point—and to try to hide my own doubts. 'That "child" would have grown up to wreak havoc you couldn't possibly imagine.'

"Not in the least intimidated, she held my gaze for a silent moment, considering. Then abruptly she asked, 'Do angels know the future?'

"The non-sequitur caught me off guard, and I blinked at her, confused. 'Excuse me?'

"'Do angels. Know. The future,' she repeated, hands on her hips, her tone clipped and biting.

"Unsure of where this line of questioning had come from, I replied slowly, 'We're capable of some limited time travel, but it's difficult. And we have experience with history and prophecy that make us uniquely able to predict patterns of events. But if you're asking if angels are actually prescient—no, no more than humans are.' I frowned. 'Why do you ask?'

"She nodded, a look of grim triumph on her face. 'So,' she accused, 'you don't actually know what this… what did you call her, Nephilim? …what this Nephilim would have done. Only what she could have done.' Her eyes widened as she studied me, and all of a sudden, the breath left her in a rush. 'No, it's worse than that,' she whispered in horror. 'You don't know what she could have done. You have no evidence. You killed that little girl because of a… a taboo.'

"'Verity, I didn't—' I began, but she cut me off with a gesture.

"'I don't care whose hands it was that murdered her!' she shouted, her posture rigid with rage. 'How many of you were there? You're all complicit. And you made me complicit! If I had known I'd be party to this kind of atrocity…' Her eyes filled with tears, and when she spoke again, her voice was soft and unsteady. 'I trusted you, Castiel. And you betrayed me.'

"I bowed my head with a sigh, and tried one more time to make her understand. 'Verity, the Laws of Heaven—'

"But that was apparently the wrong thing to say, because her anger came roaring back. 'Heaven? Heaven? Do you really expect me to believe that God would… that angels…' She trailed off and backed further away, stumbling, an expression of utter terror on her face. 'You lied to me,' she breathed. 'You're not an angel, are you? Who are you? What are you? What do you want from me?'

"To be honest, that stung a little. 'I assure you, everything I told you is the truth,' I insisted. 'Regardless of what you choose to believe, I am an angel of the Lord. I needed a physical body to effect my mission here on Earth. And I cannot remain in yours without your permission.'

"But it was no use. 'Oh, you can't, can you?' she bit out. 'Well, you have it no longer!' She pointed a trembling finger at me, eyes blazing. 'I cast you out!'

"And then everything was light and sound and pain.

"Don't look at me like that. Have you ever been forcibly expelled from a vessel, Metatron? It's like… like being turned inside out and crushed through a sieve. At high speed. It's not an experience I'd care to repeat. It left me reeling, disoriented and exhausted. For a while, I couldn't even summon the wherewithal to limp back to Heaven. So I stayed near the house, invisible, nursing my weakened grace and wounded pride.

"By nightfall, I'd recovered enough to consider going home, but something held me back. An inexplicable sense of foreboding. I was on edge, tense and watchful. And so I lingered nearby, trusting my instincts and hoping I was wrong.

"I wasn't wrong.

"At the very stroke of midnight, when Verity and her children were sound asleep, I heard it. The growling of a large, savage beast—no, two beasts. Yet I saw nothing. Then they began barking, and I froze for a moment in utter shock when I recognized what I was hearing.

"Yes, hellhounds. They were invisible to me, of course, but I could track them by the way their claws tore up the earth as they walked, and they were approaching Verity's home. They were coming for someone in the house! I knew I could fight them off, but I needed a vessel, and quickly. There wasn't time to try to regain Verity's trust, so I turned to the nearest suitable candidate: her nine-year-old son, Patrick.

"I appeared to young Patrick in a dream. I'm not sure how he saw me—perhaps as a bright light, or perhaps like one of the winged and robed statues in the village church. There wasn't time for me to create an elaborate illusion to make him comfortable. But he was brave and his faith was strong, and he let me in.

"Not a moment too soon, either. No sooner did I get up from the boy's bed than the hellhounds came crashing through the front door, waking and terrifying the rest of the family. They bounded directly toward the master bedroom as though they knew the house, bypassing both Patrick's and his younger sister Theresa's rooms without hesitation.

"Verity's husband was away on business that night. Which could only mean the hounds were after her.

"In an instant, I placed myself between her and the beasts. They would be upon us in seconds, and I was determined to protect her. She screamed when she saw me. 'Patrick, no!' she cried.

"I didn't answer. Fighting blind was… challenging. But the hounds were huge and the room small, so I could locate them by furniture they pushed aside, by the scratches they left in the hardwood floor, and by following Verity's gaze.

"I drew my angel blade, and the beasts paused, growling. They knew what I was. But they had the scent of their prey, and could not be deterred long. One lunged forward and I slashed at it, drawing blood but unable to land a killing blow. The creature yelped and snarled, but drew back a step. The other tried the same, but I spun to let it pass and then buried my blade to the hilt in its back. Black blood geysered forth when I pulled it out, and for a brief moment I could see both of them outlined in gore. That was all I needed. My hands found their heads in an instant, and I smote them with every ounce of grace I possessed.

"They vanished into smoke and embers. Drained and exhausted, I fell to my knees as Verity gaped in astonishment. 'I… am not… your son,' I managed to say.

"She stared for a moment, uncomprehending, then recognition dawned and she gasped, 'Castiel?'

"I could only nod.

"'What are you doing here?' she demanded, adrenaline making her voice shrill.

"Slowly, I looked up at her and began to climb to my feet. 'Saving your life, apparently,' I said. 'Again.' I drew myself up to my full height—well, Patrick's full height, which, while not inconsiderable for a boy of his age, was objectively not very impressive—and fired back a question of my own. 'Verity, what have you done?'

"Her answering laugh was one of anger and disbelief. 'What have I done? You think I'm somehow responsible for those… creatures attacking my family?'

"'Not your family,' I snapped. 'Just you. Those creatures were hellhounds, sent by a demon to drag your soul into the Pit.' I glared at her. 'Did you make a deal with a demon? The truth, now!'

"'No!' she insisted, horrified. 'No, I would never…' she trailed off, eyes wide, then shook her head. 'No. Never.'

"In hindsight, I probably should have pressed her. But you'd think a person would remember selling her soul. My mind was already buzzing with questions and implications and possibilities, each stranger than the last. Only one thing was clear. 'I can protect you until we figure this out,' I said, 'but to do so… you have to trust me.'

"She nodded. 'Okay.'

"'You have to let me back in.'

"That gave her pause. She eyed me warily and asked, 'What about my family?'

"'We will have to leave them for a time,' I admitted. 'But as long as we stay away, I don't believe they'll be in any danger. When this is over, I'll return you to them. I promise.'

"Verity drew a deep breath and squared her shoulders, the set of her jaw determined. 'Then… yes.'

"Leaving a vessel of my own accord was far less… taxing than before. I gave Verity a few moments to say goodbye to Patrick and Theresa and to reassure them that their father would be home in the morning, then I rejoined her and returned immediately to Heaven."