Azmaria ran as fast as she could. The loud sound of wings beating against the air could be heard only a few yards behind her. This was not exactly what she had in mind when she arrived at the scene. The demon was supposedly already dead, and she was supposed to arrive to proclaim that it was dead, and pour holy water on it before it disintegrated into the ground.
Who ever thought the demon was dead was very wrong. Shortly after Azmaria arrived, the demon arose from the ground, and started to attack the town. It seemed with no intent either.
Running through an alley way, hoping to lose the demon, Azmaria contacted Sister Kate.
"I need back up!" She squeaked into the phone. She then loaded her gun once more and jumped out, the demon right in front of her. Azmaria screamed and shot the demon several times, aiming for the horn located on the top of the head. Each shot was blocked by an arm or a tail.
The demon swung his large arm with incredibly sharp claws at the end of each finger toward Azmaria. She was able to roll underneath the demon, and distance herself from the monster. Azmaria looked around. She had to get the demon out of the city, before he destroys all of it.
Azmaria turned on her heel and started to run. She noticed the demon continually following her before, so perhaps she could lead it out of the city. The plan seemed to work considering the demon took flight with his wings, zooming full speed to catch up to her.
Azmaria couldn't look behind her. She had to keep running. It was the only thing she could do for now. She seemed so close to reaching the edge of the city. The homes were gone, and it was just the little shops and stations. Azmaria could feel the demon right behind her. She screamed, turning around a shooting her gun.
Azmaria hit the demons horn strait on. It snapped clear off the head, and flung itself high in the air, landing somewhere quite some distance away.
Azmaria landed on her back, keeping an eye on the demon which was flung sideways and landed a few yards away with a loud crash. Azmaria got to her feet shakily and picked up her gun. She slowly walked toward the demon, but before she could get any closer, the demon stood up slowly.
Azmaria could tell that it was weak. It was struggling to stay on the earth for as long as it could before it had to return back to the horrible place it came from. It finally collapsed once more on the ground, disintegrating and disappearing for good.
Azmaria drew a shaky breath, as she looked around. It seemed even though Azmaria had lead the demon out of the city, it created even more damage. Azmaria walked toward the demolished buildings and destroyed homes, her stomach feeling as though she had swallowed a lead block. How could this have happened? why did this happen?
"Even when I protect people they end up getting hurt…" She said to herself, tears falling down her cheeks. She saw the injured people, the unfortunate people who had lost so much, and the people who had died. She simply could not bare it. Something from inside of her was ripping her apart. A strange feeling she could not explain. It was not the pain or anger she felt. It was something completely different. Azmaria wasn't sure if she was feeling alright. She wasn't sure what to do. The only thing she could think of was singing. And that's exactly what she did.
Azmaria could feel the warm and comforting sensation flow through her body. A very familiar and almost forgotten feeling. It was as though the heavens had opened and was shining down on her. Everyone looked to see the beautiful sight, as one of Gods chosen worked a miracle. The beautiful song could be heard for miles, the word of Gods grace uplifting everyone's spirits, and restoring heath and life to those who lost it.
Azmaria finally stopped singing and looked around. Everyone was alright. They actually looked happy from listening to her song. So many people came up and thanked her, blessing her with their own prayers, as she stood their dumbfounded.
"Azmaria?" Naomi yelled finally getting her attention. Azmaria looked over to see Sister Naomi and many other order members looking around for any other wounded, or any other demons. "Are you…alright?"
"I don't know how it happened, Sister Kate…but it just did…" Azmaria tried to explain. She looked around at the table of people including Sister Naomi and the Elder, along with a few other order members. They had been sitting in this meeting for two hours now, and the only thing they had concluded was that Azmaria had obtained her power once more.
"This is ridiculous Sister Kate! The only thing we are able to do with every sign…or what ever the heck they are…is just let it be! There must be something we could do…some…some…test or experiment…or something!" The elder said in frustration.
"Just what exactly do you propose we do Elder?" Sister Kate answered. Elder fell silent. "And it's no doubt that Joshua is sick because his powers are also coming back. Azmaria's power was the proof." Just as Sister Kate opened her mouth to add to her comment, a loud thud caught her and everyone else's attention.
"NAOMI!" Azmaria cried. She ran out of her chair to help Naomi up who had fainted and fell out of her chair.
"I'm fine, just a little woozy…" She replied getting up shakily.
"Sister Naomi, I feel you are way to week to be up and about. You should be resting. You don't have much blood to keep yourself well and healthy. Please, go to your room." Sister Kate said sounding incredibly stressed as it is. She had so many of these 'signs', and sister Naomi's stigmata wasn't helping. It was like she couldn't escape the phenomenon happenings no matter where she was or what she did.
"I'm fine really…" She responded.
"Sister Naomi…" Elder said with a stern look. Naomi sighed.
"I'll take her to her room…" Azmaria said walking Naomi out of the office.
"Make sure you don't get out of bed ok Sister Naomi?" Azmaria said putting the blankets over Naomi, who was already dressed in her night gown.
"Az, what time is it?" Naomi asked sleepily.
"Its 3:00 in the afternoon, why?"
"It's way too early for me to be resting…" Naomi said.
"Not if you're sick. Look you even look sleepy...and your incredibly pale…please rest…I'll be back up later with food ok?" Azmaria replied leaving the room and shutting the door gently. Naomi closed her eyes, falling into a nice deep sleep.
"So you're still hanging on to your creed then?" Ewan responded almost coldly over the phone to Sister Kate. He felt horrible the moment he had said it. "I understand perfectly well but…no…of course not…why do you bother with reporting these things to me. There is no use…what good is this? You must learn to put the past behind you, and move on." Ewan replied into the phone. He hung up and ran his left hand through his long blonde hair, exhaling with a lot of force. Ewan was stressed. He wasn't sure why, and he wasn't sure for how long. He was lost and confused. He felt no worse than a teenager struggling to find what they really and truly believe in. His spiritual dryness wasn't getting him anywhere.
"You seem depressed Ewan…" Joshua said walking into the room. Ewan turned around. "I could see your feeling better Joshua…" he replied. "Are you hungry?" He asked walking into the kitchen. Joshua followed him.
"No not really…I kind of wanted to take a walk…I have been stuck in here all week…can I go visit the order? I haven't seen Sister Azmaria and Sister Mary and Sister Kate for a while…"
"I don't know Joshua…you might not be up to it…" Ewan said due to the fact that he did not feel like showing up at the order after he made a complete fool of himself over the phone to Sister Kate.
"Please?" Joshua asked. "I promise even for just a few minutes…" Joshua said trying not to lead onto the fact that he really wanted to go to sneak into the restricted section of the order library. The last time he wandered in there he found the coolest records cases like exorcisms and dealing with real demons. It was the most intriguing thing Joshua had ever heard of. It gave him new ideas for his novel.
Ewan sighed. He knew he had to go and apologize to Sister Kate anyways. Alright, get your jacket…" Ewan replied sliding into his own.
By the time the two men had arrived to the order, the sun was a little more than halfway through the sky. Joshua jumped out of the car and made his way to the library without saying anything to Ewan.
Ewan rolled his eyes at the fact of knowing what Joshua was going to be doing, and headed for the building. As he stepped inside, he looked around. He made his way to the office, and knocked on the door. He could here voices, and knew he shouldn't have knocked.
The door was answered by Elder who looked a little surprised to see it was Ewan. "Well, well, well… look who we have here." He joked. He led Ewan into the room. Sister Kate who was sitting at her desk now stood up.
"Remington…"
"Joshua wanted to come and visit with some of the people here. He's feeling a lot better."
"Oh, I see. Well that is very lovely to here." She replied.
"I came here to apologize." Ewan added. "I didn't mean what I said before. It was foolish…It is…just a little difficult for me right now."
"It is quite alright Remington." Sister Kate said with a smile on her face.
"I'm also sorry for interrupting your meeting…so I'll just…"
"Actually we were just about to have some tea and discuss some of the inventions Elder has been working on. You may join us if you would like."
Finally, a conversation with his friends that did not contain talking about faith or belief…just about what new things could do to demons. It was a great relief to Ewan. Sister Kate was his friend, and Elder, his closest friend. It's hard to talk to them now a day. All they seem to want to talk about is Order stuff.
Ewan sat down and was handed a cup of tea from Sister Kate. He listened as Elder began explaining his newest invention. Ewan smiled.
Joshua ran his fingers across the spines of each book. Luckily there were not many people in the library at the moment, and the restricted section was in a dark shadowed area. Joshua frowned as he looked at all the dates stamped on the spines. These documented journals were too old. He needed something recent, something he hadn't already read before.
Joshua's finger stopped on a book he had never seen before. On the spine was the date 25'-30'. "YES!" Joshua yelled out loud, then slapped a hand over his mouth. He peeked out from behind the book case. No one was there. "Phew…alright they updated!" He said in an excited quiet tone. He grabbed the book out of the book case, sat down and began to flip through the pages.
"I can't believe they finally finished documenting these past years…I wonder what went on…" Joshua said to himself as he started with October of 1926.
"J...Joshua?" came a loud and high pitch voice. Joshua looked up in panic.
"Oh...hi…Sister…Mary… heh, heh…" Joshua said giving her a cheesy smile.
"Oh Joshua…" Sister Mary said rolling her eyes. She took the book out from his hands and put it back in the correct spot on the bookshelf. She helped Joshua up.
"You know you're not supposed to be here…" She said walking with him to sit down at a table.
"I know Sister Mary, but I can't help it! Can you blame me?" He said with a sad pout. Joshua had learned from previous experiences that pouting for Sister Mary gave him an easy access to anything in the library.
"Oh no not the pout!" Sister Mary blushed. "Joshua stop that!" She giggled. Joshua continued to gaze into her eyes with sad brilliant blue eyes. "No!" she said with a laugh. She looked away and stood up. "C'mon…lets get out of here." She said. Joshua stood up and followed her, hanging his head for a few seconds with the knowledge of his first failed attempt.
"Oh applesauce…" He muttered to himself as they left the library. "I guess I'm losing my touch…"
As they walked outside through the courtyard, Joshua stopped to pick a dandelion. He ran to catch up with Sister Mary and gave it to her.
"Who's this for?" She asked smiling.
"It's for you silly." Joshua replied.
"Oh thank you so much Joshua it's really pretty. That was so nice of you." Sister Mary said with another smile. "Perhaps you should pick some for Sister Naomi. I bet it would make her feel a lot better." She said.
"Why? What's wrong with Sister Naomi? Joshua asked.
"I'm afraid she's sick again…and I heard she passed out in a meeting today." She said with a frown.
"Oh well that's terrible!" Joshua said stopping in his tracks. "Is she alright?" He asked concerned.
"I think she will be, as long as she gets some rest. Why don't you visit her? I'm sure she will like that. She was telling everyone how she couldn't rest because she had to go and take care of you." Sister Mary said with a smile.
Joshua began to pick more flowers. By the time he was done, he had a whole handful of different kinds. Although they were mostly weeds, they were very pretty. Sister Mary led Joshua up to her room, and left to go back to the library where she was still supposed to be, researching some strange spell.
Joshua quietly tip toed into the dark room. The sun was now pretty much set, and it gave the room a red glare as if it were on fire. Joshua quietly closed the door, and slowly walked over to the bed where Sister Naomi was resting.
Joshua watched as her chest rose and fell with every breath she took. Joshua tilted his head, getting a better look at Sister Naomi's arm, which held the covers up over her body. Why were her wrists wrapped up?
Joshua placed the flowers down on her bedside table, and reached out, about to touch her wrist. Before he could, Sister Naomi rolled over, onto her side facing Joshua. Joshua jumped back, tripping over one of Sister Naomi's boots. He landed on his butt with a loud thud. "Ow…"
Sister Naomi slowly opened her eyes, to see a dark silhouette, getting up from the floor. She blinked a few times and rolled over onto her back. "…Joshua?" She asked groggily.
"huh? Oh…hello sister…" Joshua said with an 'oops I didn't mean to wake you up tone'.
"Are you alright Joshua?" She asked quietly, slowly sitting up.
"Me? I should be asking you the same thing Sister…"
"I'm fine." She said.
"You should really lie back down." Joshua said. "You need to get more rest so you can feel better."
"Oh no not you too Joshua…" Sister Naomi said. Everyone was telling her that.
"It's my turn to take care of you." He said with a smile. He headed over to her bathroom and got a wet cloth, and walked back placing it on Naomi's head. "Now, since you told me a story and it got me better, I think I should tell you a story….you want a preview of my novel?" Joshua asked excited.
"Of course." She said with a smile. Joshua smiled back. He pulled up the chair that was in the corner of her room and sat down.
"I could recite it from memory…one of my favorite parts…here it goes…" Joshua cleared his throat.
"And then the demon spoke, attempting to fool the human's with his horrible lies. 'I am the Alpha and the Omega! Join me my friends! We can live free lives! Join me, and earth will become heaven, and heaven will become…"
Joshua was interrupted by Sister Naomi who sat strait up in bed with a shriek. Before Joshua could ask what was wrong, she bolted out of her room, running down the hall in nothing but her underwear covered with a thin slip.
Joshua sat in the chair dumbfounded. He finally came to his senses and ran out of the room after her. "Naomi! Get back into bed! Your sick!" He yelled after her.
Naomi ran into Sister Kate's office, out of breath. "Sister Kate! It's Aion! He's going to come back! We have to do something! She yelled franticly. She looked around to see Remington and Elder as well.
Ewan slapped a hand over his eyes, and Elder gaped with a big smile. Sister Naomi looked down and blushed, covering herself as best as she could. Sister Kate ran into her closet and grabbed a coat she could drape around herself. She sat Sister Naomi down.
"Ok…now what's going on?" She asked. Ewan slowly removed his hand from his eyes and cleared his throat.
"Joshua was reading me some of his story and quoted the demons who have been giving us those messages. It's Aion…can't you see?" Naomi asked.
The room was silent, and then Ewan spoke up. "Sister Naomi…there is no doubt everyone has thought about that. But…it would be almost impossible…I was there…I found his body… He's gone. Even his horns…they are gone too."
"Remington…it has to be him…" Naomi said.
"I know…we all know…but there is no way to really prove it…"
"Joshua's story! He just read me some! He said the exact same thing!" Naomi argued.
"I know…and until something happens….there is nothing we could do…"
"Sister! There you are…" Joshua said running into the room out of breath. Sister Naomi stood up. Joshua looked around. "Is…everything ok?" Joshua asked looking around.
"Sister Kate…we have to do something…" Sister Naomi said holding the chair for some balance. She had gotten up way to fast for her liking.
"I'll help!" Joshua said, having absolutely no clue as to what's going on.
"Joshua…take Sister Naomi back to her room. Sister Naomi…we will do something when we have the right signs and chances…for now, you need to get some rest." Sister Kate said.
Joshua walked over and helped Sister Naomi walk back to her room. He wrapped his arm around her waist, and put her arm over and around his neck.
"Sister Naomi…what's going on? Why did you run away like that?" Joshua asked.
"I remembered something that has to do with some demons…" She said. They walked back into her room, and Joshua sat her on her bed. He pulled up the chair and sat down across from her. "Sister…cant you tell what's going on?" He asked.
"I'm sorry, but even I do not know what's going on Joshua…" She sighed.
"Why are your wrists wrapped up like that?" He asked. Naomi looked down.
"um..well…" Sister Naomi was interrupted by the noise of running down the hallway. She called out. "What's going on?"
Sister Azmaria popped her head into the room. "Oh hello Joshua." She said with a smile. "Sister Naomi! A demon was sighted just out of the city! It's destroying everything!"
"Why are all the demons doing this all of a sudden?" She asked. "Sister Azmaria, wait for me! I'm coming." She said. She closed the door and ran into her bathroom getting changed. She walked back out to see Joshua looking at her with a worried expression.
"Sister…you shouldn't be going…your too weak…it could be dangerous…" Joshua said.
"Don't worry Joshua I'll be fine." She said with a smile. She walked toward the door, but Joshua walked in front of it, blocking it from her reach.
"Joshua...?" Sister Naomi said with shock and a nervous laugh.
"You shouldn't go Sister…I'm serious…" He said. "I have a bad feeling…"
"Since when did you get very protective? I'll be fine…you have been reading those documents in the restricted section…haven't you? She joked moving Joshua out of the way. She opened the door and walked out, Joshua following her. "It's ok Joshua…I'll be back…I just have to talk to Sister Kate and tell her I'm leaving…" She said. She waved goodbye and walked into Sister Kate's office.
"Absolutely not!" Sister Kate roared.
"Please!" Sister Naomi begged once more. "I'll be fine… and I will go with Sister Azmaria…" She said. "She's waiting for me outside.."
Sister Kate sighed. "Alright… just be careful." She said.
"Sister Naomi…If you see Joshua…tell him I am about ready to leave." Ewan replied. Sister Naomi nodded and walked out.
Naomi met Azmaria by the doors. "You ready?" She asked. Sister Naomi nodded. They both got into the car and drove toward the city. It didn't take long before they spotted the demon causing chaos. Azmaria pulled the car over and got out. Sister Naomi stepped out.
"Grab the weapons!" Azmaria shouted over all the yelling and screaming. Sister Naomi reached in the back to get the weapons when she noticed Joshua lying on the floor. Sister Naomi screamed in shock. "JOSHUA? WHAT ARE YOU DOING?"
OH NO JOSHUA? WHY ARE YOU HERE?
YOU TREAT ME LIKE A BABY! I WANT TO HELP!
Hey what's that?
THAT'S THE BIRD FROM MY DREAM! NEXT EPISODE Battling The Demon LET ME HELP!