Time for darkness to spread…

"I call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised,

And I am saved from my enemies."

2 Samuel 22:4

Chrono offered his thanks to Mary, but then looked back to Rosette. She was silent and ridged as her gaze was fixed across the street. Alarm surged through Chrono, as he whipped his head around. Sure enough there, on the other side, stood a businessman with his hands in his pockets, nonchalantly staring back at them… a man whose soul was blood red.

Chapter 18

Rosette held the bag tighter and took a step closer to Chrono with her gaze locked ahead and whispered, "Is he-"

"No," Chrono answered darkly. "He isn't one directly."

Cars could be heard flying to and fro between them, but the man amidst the crowds stood fixed facing them unaffected by the bustling city surging around him.

"Mary," Rosette spoke side long. "Do you see a man just standing across from us?"

Mary wrung her hands. "Um, there is a man in a black pin-striped suit standing opposite us. Why?"

Rosette and Chrono ignored her; this man was different from all the others they had encountered that day. Likewise, the angels on guard were also more apprehensive to the atmosphere around them. A deep feeling of hate seem to hang in the air like a thick smog just waiting to choke you. Only Mary stood helplessly confused over the hidden danger she was feeling.

"So, he isn't like you?" Rosette clarified. A chill passed over her just from observing his distant gaze.

"Rosette, I know you can see, even now, I'm not entirely human in appearance. You've had too much training not to notice the subtle details. That man, however, is completely human in appearance, which means-"

"Which means that is what a demon possessed man looks like," Rosette stated darkly. He was an enemy.

The man in question nonchalantly turned and began walking away.

"Possessed?" Mary questioned.

Chrono knew what his partner was going to do before she could even voice it. "If we give ourselves about five feet of space in front of the souls we can determine are driving, we might be able to make it," Chrono assessed.

"Right, not knowing the length of each vehicle, we could risk getting hit if we went behind them."

Mary's hand fled to her mouth. "Rosette you aren't thinking-"

"Seth!" Rosette turned. "Watch our bag!" she demanded as Rosette set the bag of goodies down on the side walk.

"Excuse me?" the angel looked on incredulously.

"Mary, if we make it… get the car!"

"What?" Mary panicked. Yet, before she could fathom what Rosette was thinking, Rosette and Chrono intertwined hands and bolted into oncoming traffic.

Horns blared with ahooogas and honks, tires squealed, and cursed yelled as Chrono and Rosette dodged the cars they couldn't see. "Watch out!" Chrono yelled as he whipped Rosette's body back a step as a truck flew past them by the sound of the engine. Dodge, step, choke on exhaust, wait then bolt. Rosette and Chrono made it across without killing themselves or causing a wreck. Mary was sure she lost a year of her life watching that stunt, however the moment she realized she needed to breathe, Rosette and Chrono were already making their way down the street to her left, through the crowds, after the man they had seen.

"THE CAR!" Mary remembered, and then sprinted in the opposite direction to her right.

Seth and Nathan shared a concerned look. Something was surely amiss, but they had their own duties to attend to. However, Seth looked down at the paper bag at his feet. He sighed. Someone surely would snatch up such a desirable and unattended parcel such as this. Looking around, Seth chose his moment wisely and transformed from his spiritual body into his physical one, shedding his Greek-like armor for a grungy pair of jean overalls and plaid shirt. Now looking like a down and out construction worker, Seth sat on the sidewalk and leaned up against the red brick of the bakery wall in guard of the nuns' pastries. It was the least he could do.

Rosette and Chrono followed the paths of the crowds around them, taking big steps in hopes to overcome any trash, tree root, or broken cobblestone that could trip them up as they went after the red soul far up ahead. It felt impossible to hear anything for Rosette, over the beating of her heart pounding in her ears. She had to catch up! She had to stop him! She knew with every fiber of her being the figure up ahead was the reason she was alive. She had to trust her gut. She just had to put a stop to whatever was about to happen!

Rosette took a sudden dive as she tripped hard over a protruding stone set of steps, but was caught short of hitting pavement as Chrono wrenched her arm upwards.

"Thanks," Rosette breathlessly said.

Chrono only nodded, but as they both looked up the red soul had vanished.

"NO!" Rosette yelled, causing all the other pedestrians to glance up for but a moment as they shuffled on by.

They looked frantically all around them for any sign of him. "Let's keep going," Rosette pushed onward. With her near tumble they both now recalled the gift they had been given that morning and reached for their staffs. Extending them, they continued forward with a bit more caution. Could he have gone into one of the shops? But they could see through walls to a degree. It was all a matter of distance, so which way had he gone?

The sounds of the streets and chatter of people changed pitch as they passed an opening in the buildings.

"An ally," Chrono surmised by the echoing sounds and smells of garbage now wafting around them. His look of disgust over the smells was a difficult thing to mask.

"Let's check it out," Rosette decided. "If he had stayed on the main sidewalk we would still have seen him," was all she could guess.

Slowly, as if entering enemy territory, they moved into the ally. The wet dank air enhanced the putrid smells of more than just waste left for disposal. The scents swirling around them gave clear indication to at least one pub at the end of the ally. Their footsteps sounded so final with each step across the old sunken brick path. The apartments looming high above must have been blocking out the direct sunlight because its overbearing shadow fell over them like a blanket.

"It seems like we've lost him," Chrono stated much to both his dissatisfaction and relief.

"Ya, I guess you're right," Rosette finally paused dejectedly, but then fire lit within her. "But if I ever see that slime ball again I'll-"

"You'll what?" An arrogant voice floated down upon them.

Chrono and Rosette snapped their attention above them and sure enough, there stood a deep red soul perched above his pray, seemingly without a care in the world.

Rosette whipped out a gun and aimed the best she could. "Who are you?" Rosette demanded, instantly furious that she hadn't thought about the iron fire escapes that was surely lining the sides of the buildings around them.

"I believe I had asked the first question," the man darkly chuckled. "My, my how rude nuns have become now a days."

Rosette gripped her staff even tighter in one hand and tried to keep her trembling in her sidearm to a minimal. This wasn't a good situation to be in blind. "I am not about to start being obliging to a man whose allowed himself to be possessed by evil! Now tell us who you are and what you are doing!"

He sneered. "Oh come now. I know I am a lawyer here in New York, but I do say, claiming that I'm pure evil is a bit much don't you think," he laughed off. "I can't imagine you'd keep up such an attitude if you need me to represent you in a court room."

Rosette smoldered inside. "Don't toy with me! I may seem blind, but I can see your soul and it's the darkest kind of red I've ever seen. You can't fool me. Whatever you are planning, if it has anything to do with releasing demon swarms, don't think for one second we will let you succeed!"

Slowly the smile fell from his face. His whole demeanor seemed to change as all subterfuge fell away. He sighed heavily and leaned up against the railing three stories above them. "I figured as much," his voice was deeper and darker than before. "It wasn't as if I hadn't been warned about you anyways. But honestly, this is just too pathetic to even entice me to accept your bait. I'm already too far ahead of you, too far above you, to even give you more than a second glance, but you were the stupid one to follow after me."

Chrono was ready to strike. One false move by this man, human or otherwise, and he'd make quick work to climb up and end him.

Rosette on the other hand smiled. "So you are involved then. Good. Save's me the trouble of hunting you down."

"Right," he mumbled unfazed. "What is your God even thinking… sending two blind people to stop me? Absolutely laughable."

Rosette was about to fire back a comment when Chrono grabbed her arm. The silent warning was enough to make her stop. Amidst the far off sounds of the street a low growl began to reverberate around them. The hairs on the back of Rosette's neck stood on end as she came to the realization her partner had just now noticed. One growl, then another, a few pants and then one deep bark; they were being surrounded by a pack of dogs and they hadn't even been aware of it.

Alarm like no other filled Rosette like never before. This was bad… very bad.

"Ha! Well, I see you aren't entirely dull," the self-acclaimed lawyer declared. "But as much fun as it would be to watch your last moments… well, I should say second last moments, but I truly must be going. I have a world to end and you'd be surprised at just how much work it takes to prepare for such an event. Farewell Rosette… enjoy being torn to shreds."

With that the lawyer left. A door up above could be heard opening and closing, with his soul retreating to the structures far side until he disappeared from sight.

"Chrono?" Rosette asked nearly frozen in place. She couldn't even risk firing her weapon in risk of triggering an attack.

Chrono himself was nearly standing at her back frozen as well. One miss step and the pack would lunge. "I should have smelled them sooner," Chrono whispered.

"How many?" She worked to suppress the fear clawing to escape within her.

The growling increased with a few more added barks and snaps as the pack circled; gauging their pray.

"I don't know," he whispered. "More than five, easily."

Rosette shifted just enough to press her back against Chrono as they held onto their blind man's staffs as the clubs they were surely about to become. She carefully holstered her gun. It wouldn't do her any good in this kind of fight. This was probably the worst thing that could be happening to them right now. Yes, they were blind, but they had put too much stock in their ability to see souls to have worried about not being able to overcome anything else. Having been impulsive, Rosette and Chrono now found themselves in yet another impossible situation. How were they to get out alive?

"Any ideas?" Rosette asked with her heart thundering.

Chrono changed his grip on his staff with an unexpected crazy idea. "Pray!" he suddenly yelled, as the pack lunged. In that half a second, Chrono spun around, grabbed Rosette by the waist and threw her high into the air. The dogs attacked the moment his hands released her.

The sudden force of weightlessness amidst full blackness caught Rosette by surprise more so than the ambush. A dog latched onto Chrono's left calf, and another his right thigh, while the pack leader sunk his teeth into Chrono's shoulder. Bearing his own fangs, Chrono reached up and over with his free hand and ripped the dog off his back and swung it crashing down into the one latched into his thigh. They yelped as they hit the cobblestone. Chrono then kicked off the other mutt while spinning the staff in a wide arch to keep as many of the others back as he could.

Rosette in those seconds had no problem putting her faith completely into Chrono to catch her when she was bound to fall back down. As the dogs attacked Chrono beneath her, Rosette's dress fluttered up all around her as she soared up higher. He had said to pray, right? Clasping her hands, Rosette offered up a quick prayer to God to help them find a way to survive this attack and in that moment she felt like she was floating and no longer soaring. Still in prayer, she began to fall back down nearly missing a clothesline.

Chrono swung his staff again, making contact with another four dogs, while two more leapt towards his back, sinking their teeth into his flesh. Chrono cried out as he forcefully whacked his cane over his back to beat them off, which only worked for a moment until his forearm was caught by another. He knew he only had seconds to catch her as he punched the beast in the face knocking the thing out. Hands freed, Chrono practically roared at the pack, swung his staff in yet another hard full circle, then expertly caught Rosette in the last possible moment and instantly propelled her towards the sounds of the city street.

"RUN!" he yelled, as those left on all fours gave chase.

Rosette made clearing swings as she blindly ran towards the souls she could see out on the sidewalks. She hadn't realized just how far into the alley they had traveled.

Chrono stumbled on a drain grate giving the dogs yet another chance to attack and bite the arm which held his staff. Rosette spun at the sound and swung into the darkness hoping to make contact. Two more surged forward, one tearing into her skirt, the other clamped onto her leg. Rosette hissed, kicked the dog off her, and pulled Chrono forward. They were almost to the street, but they were now being overwhelmed. Biting, fur flying, sounds echoing all over, punch, strike, take a few more steps then swing again. Blood, cries, and yelps multiplied as they finally reached the sidewalk, yet instead of finding help pedestrians fled screaming. Traffic was speeding by creating a deadly wall blocking any further progress to escape. They couldn't see! Which way was safe? How many were left? What could they do? Rosette and Chrono were running out of strength fast and needed a miracle.

"Chrono!" Rosette yelled in panic as she swung and kicked off the never ending assault of sharp canine teeth.

Chrono broke the leg of one dog and cracked the skull of another to no end. Honking and yelling with the sounds of engines flooded his senses when suddenly the clear sound of a bell ding-dinging reached his ears. It came from down the street and was getting increasingly louder.

"TROLLEY!" Chrono yelled as he took one final swing, grabbed Rosette by the waist, and thrust out his arm into oncoming traffic. The speeding trolley clipped his arm with a crack, but Chrono kept an open palm and the moment his finger felt brass, he gripped hard and they were whisked away in one quick swoop. One last dog leapt out catching Rosette by the foot, but with one harsh whip towards the ground sent the well trained mutt into the asphalt and to its death as a tailing car could be heard hitting it.

The barking quickly faded away as the trolley continued down the road, taking them away from immediate danger, yet further and further away from the café.

TBC…