5:20pm
ST. ANTHONY'S CHURCH

Uziel was on the roof of the church. He was with another angel.

The stranger was of moderate build. He wore black leather pants, white button-shirt, leather boots, and a dark overcoat. His skin was slightly pale, with short black hair. He had a crown-shaped scar on his neck. He held a trumpet in his right hand. He sat perched on the edge..hunched on knees, hands folded together. "So..Uziel. What do you know of the half-monkey?"

"He's here, Gabriel."

The seraphim nodded. "Yes. I know that..but where?"

"He attends an academy..St. Anthony's Academy. He has made friends
here."

"Who?"

"Darren Winthrop and Tommy Tammosimo."

"Ah. Young talking monkeys. Do they know what he is?"

"No. I spoke with Cadmiel. He's involved himself in affairs of one of the students."

"He has? Interesting."

"Cole. The mystic child."

"Yes..wait." He saw Cole walking across the street. "There he is."
He watched the boy head towards the church. Someone dressed in white
was passing him. "Ah, it's Josiah."


Cole made his way across the street. A boy in white clothes passed him on the sidewalk.

The boy turned his head towards Cole and said, "Oh..hi, Cole." Then he kept walking.

Cole turned around. **What?? How did he..** He decided to forget it and opened the big red doors, going inside the building.


Gabriel smirked, "Josiah is here too. Interesting, since I didn't ask for him."

"Is he here for Diabolus, too?"

"Maybe. I often used him to kill nephilim in the past. He may be acting on his own. Uziel, this changes things. We now wait, see if Josiah is here to help us. But he made contact with Cole just now. Cole, the boy who sees spirits. I'm going to have a talk with him." He stood up and jumped off, quickly landing on the ground. He walked up to the doors. He opened them and walked inside.


Cole sat in one of the pews by the altar. He was reading a book on angels. The pages showed medieval drawings. Under them were the symbols and description of each angel. He read silently to himself. **Zophael--'Spy of God, Bridge between Rebel/loyal factions in Heaven, true allegiance unclear'. Oh, here's another..'Josiah, Angel of Innocence--cherub assigned to preserve childhood, peace, and love. One of the lower angels under Gabriel'.** Zophael's symbol looked like a zig-zag, the Innocent One's was a circle with a line through the top. He looked closer at it. The sketch of Josiah looked almost identical to the kid who spoke to him outside. Weird. Suddenly, Cole heard footsteps behind him. He quickly put the book into his bag. He turned around to see a man walking toward him--a thin man with black pants and coat, with a white shirt.

Gabriel stopped and sat in the pew that was behind Cole. "Hi."

Cole didn't know what to say. He could feel an otherworldly presence. Like the ghosts. Maybe this guy was an angel. "Uh..hi."

"You know..it's so nice to see someone like yourself in church these days. Important. Though most little boys don't have a habit of playing with soldiers. Not playing today, Cole?"

Cole gasped. "You..you're-"

"Go on, say it."

"You're an angel.."

"Yes. We know all about you, Cole. You may think you know more
because you see the Other Side people, but you don't know the half of it." He leaned closer. "You have NO idea..the trouble that's about to happen around you."

"What do you mean?"

"Do you know a student named Diabolus?"

"No. Why?"

"Your friend Tommy does.."

"He's not my friend. He thinks I'm a freak."

"He doesn't know what *DJ* IS! Now, *there* is a freak for you. But he will. If you value your sanity, you'd best stay away. Away from DJ, from Tommy..lest you play a pretend-game, only it's for real. It's called..'Locked in the Abyss'."

Cole got on his feet, suddenly a little irritated. He didn't like the sound of that. It reminded him of the time he was locked in the closet at Darren's birthday party..all alone with that violent, 18th Century ghost. All because Tommy and Darren wanted to play a little game. Of course, they didn't know what was REALLY in that room..only Cole knew. But it didn't make it any easier. "Leave me alone..I don't want to talk anymore!" He turned to leave.

"Then don't..little Cole."

"You..you better..oh, forget it." He waved his hand impatiently at him and started walking away from the pew.

"Stop!" He rose to his feet and walked over to Cole.

Cole stopped walking and turned around. "Why, what do you want?"

"I want to look at you." He bent himself lower, eye-level with Cole. He looked into his eyes, searching into the boy's soul.

Cole looked back at him. He saw that the eyes were of an eerie-blue color. "What? What are you staring at?"

Gabriel straightened up. He pointed at the boy and asked, "Did you ever wonder how you got that little white patch in your hair? I'll tell you...long ago, eons before you were born--way back!--I gave you a present. I put my hand there and told you to keep it. And I said..'Shhh!'." The angel turned and walked to the door, leaving Cole confused.

"What?" Cole looked around at the empty room. "I..I can't do this. I'm going to get home now.." He ran to the doors. His mom was going to get worried if he didn't get home soon.