Numbers 13:31-33

A/N: Okay sorry it took so long, this chapter was quite difficult to write, and truthfully its mostly a filler. Still I hope you enjoy it. Following the advice of another user I've changed the style how it is written. Tell me what you think of the change, if you like it, I might keep it.

Chapter Five: The Siege

Asmodeus paused at the window, smiling he looked in before slowly continuing his walk around the truck. Sheldon's eyes darted around; there were about a dozen other demons, but they were all standing a short way back. Asmodeus had completed his circle and was beguiling a second one. He was clearly toying with them. He could kill all of them with ease and he wanted them to know it.

Sheldon's eyes focused, he gulped and began frantically searching again, as if looking for another answer. Then he focused once more and shook his head solemnly. "Guys," he said very calmly and softly.

"There is one and only one chance out of this, so when I say so, I want you to jump out of the truck." The others stared at him through the small opening that connected the driver and the back.

"But he's…" Howard began. Sheldon spun round and gave him a piercing look.

"We've got one chance; I need you to trust me." Howard looked unsure, "Okay, don't trust me, but still you've got to jump. If you want to live, jump."

Asmodeus began his third encirclement; he either hadn't heard them or else didn't care what they were saying. Sheldon gulped. One chance, one chance alone that was all he had. For the third time Asmodeus paused to look in on them and that was when he acted. Sheldon grabbed Leonard and Penny, while muttering something under his breath. The three of them vanished into thin air.

There was a moment of silence, then the sound of wings flapping and then they reappeared right next to the truck. Asmodeus paused, surprised by this unforeseen act. "Jump" Sheldon barked. The others dived out of the truck, grabbing whatever they could carry. They hadn't even hit the ground, before Sheldon grabbed hold of the side of the truck. Letting out a great groan he heaved upwards, flipping the entire truck up on top of Asmodeus.

Sheldon spun round; the other demons paused for but a second before charging forward. He grabbed Leonard and Amy with his hands, "grab on," he barked. The others frantically grabbed him. Straining his wings began to flap; he jumped forward and shot into the air. The demons frantically tried to grab hold but it was too late. Suddenly Asmodeus's arm smashed through underside of the truck, tearing the metal like cardboard, his finger pointed straight at Sheldon.

And with that he fell out of the air, the others screamed as they fell forward and collapsed into the dry plains around them. Groaning they all got back to their feet.

"What happened?" Penny shouted,

Sheldon stood there confused; he glazed round at the each wing in turn, "Its Asmodeus. He's clipped my wings, I can't fly."

"What do we do?" Leonard asked.

"Run!" Sheldon replied. The angry hordes of demons were already changing towards them.

The group charged off, not sure where they were running. "Keep going this way," Sheldon shouted leading the chain, "it is our only hope." The demons were closing fast. Save from Penny and Bernadette, no one really had the physical fitness required to continually sprint. And even with her fitness level, Bernadette's shot legs didn't make much difference. Penny had to literally pull her along. Sheldon spun round. He could see that his friends wouldn't be able to keep up for much longer.

And then Leonard tripped. He went forward straight onto the earth. "Leonard!" Penny screamed.

Sheldon spun round, "keep going," he screamed, before charging forward. A large, quite handsome demon stood above Leonard. Sneering, he slowly leaned forward, reaching out to grab Leonard. Sheldon charged into him like a stampeding rhino. The creature went flying through the air, smashing straight into another demon. The others were not far behind.

Snarling another Demon lunged at Sheldon, but Sheldon smashed him in the face knocking him to the ground. Spinning round he grabbed Leonard and hoisted him over his shoulder before turning shooting off down the terrain. Leonard held on for dear life. Still running Sheldon quickly caught up with the others. Frantically he grabbed Amy and hoisted her up over his other shoulder, and then he grabbed Howard. Carrying all three he kept running. Penny meanwhile had given up trying to pull and was now carrying Bernadette. However even she was tiring. What hope did they have? The demons were clearly no faster than normal people but unlike them they didn't tire.

And then they came over a ridge and found themselves looking down at a small, almost isolated Valley. An old church sat in the middle. "Keep running," Sheldon shouted, he had quickly caught up with Penny despite having stopped to save the others. Never the less he was clearly also getting tired. Frantically, burning what she had left, Penny broke into a clear sprint down the valley towards the church. Sheldon was right behind her before he passed her.

The two of them ran through the gate, before slamming it shut before them. Sheldon placed the others back on the floor, before hunching over to gasp for breath. Penny also put Bernadette down. The demons were right behind them, but as they approached they started to slow down. It was like the sight of the church was worrying them.

Sheldon managed to straighten up, despite still clearly being exhausted. He rushed towards the building. Fumbling for his lock pick, he tried to open the door. The Demons were approaching the gate. They were now mere feet away. The others backed away as the demons came closer, each one panting and gasping for breath they could run no further. The demons were right outside the gate, only for them to stop. Every last one of them stopped right in front of the gate. Not a single one even tried to open it. Staring Bernadette suddenly smiled, "there demons," she said happily but tiredly, "They can't walk on consecrated ground."

But Sheldon hadn't stopped fumbling with the old lock. There was a click and frantically he pulled open the door. "Quick, get in," he shouted. The others paused unsure, "We're not safe yet," he replied "get in!" As fast as they could manage the others lumbered in. Sheldon stood watching each one as they entered. The demons continued to stare at them from behind the fence. And as Sheldon watched the crowd parted to let another demon walk through. Asmodeus stepped to the head of the group. He stared at Sheldon; for a moment the two of them eyes met, before Sheldon turned and ran into church. He slammed the heavy door behind them.

Staggering he walked forward towards the seats, but collapsed before he made. "Sheldon," Amy managed, also exhausted she lumbered forward. "He's okay," she said crouching by his side, "I think he's asleep." The others let out a groan. Everyone was too tired to move.

Still panting, Penny forced herself to her feet. Walking over, she peaked out of the window, there was no sign of the demons any more, but there had been no sign of them just before they attacked almost every time since she had discovered there were demons. Penny shuddered worrying memory's washed round her head. At first she had remembered nothing of that night, but now it was almost as if… no it was nothing, it was just fears, just fears.

Leonard paused; he forced himself to his feet as well and walked over to Sheldon. "We can't leave him on the floor."

"He looks pretty comfortable," Howard replied, still hunched over panting for breath.

Leonard shot him a look, "he just saved your life," Leonard replied irritated.

Penny shrugged, "Your right, let's move him." walking over to Leonard the two bent down. Causally the both grabbed Sheldon's sides and began to lift him up, hoisting him over their shoulders. Suddenly Sheldon stood up straight. He grabbed them both and pushed them away, holding them at arms lengths. His eyes clicked open. Seeing there shocked faces he instantly let go.

Leonard and Penny staggered backwards from him in shock, "Sorry," Sheldon replied, he paused and looked around disorientated, "how long was I out for?" he said with a yawn.

"Little more than five minutes," Penny replied "Are you okay?"

Sheldon paused, "I feel fine," he said as he collapsed onto one of the seats, "more or less." He didn't look anywhere near fine.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Penny asked.

"I'll be fine," Sheldon replied pulling himself to his feet, "I'm just tired; I burned a lot of energy. But there's no time for that now, first thing first what do we have?" Catching his drift the others paused and slowly looked down at their bags. They had each grabbed the closest one when they jumped out the rest had been destroyed when Sheldon flipped the truck and they had also dropped one or two while running from the demons.

Penny looked at the three bags they had left. She bent down and poured out the contents onto the floor. "Well we've got the shotgun ammo and the shotgun, one bag of food and some clothes we got while in town." She said examining their supplies.

"Turn out your pockets." Sheldon said worriedly. To the pile they added four wallets, sixteen dollars in loose change, a comb, a black pen, some gum and a packet of breath mints. Sheldon paused and slowly walked over to the window, he gazed out before turning back to the others.

"Are they still out there?" Penny asked.

"Yes," Sheldon replied. "Which puts us in a dangerous situation!"

"Why don't they just come in?" Penny asked.

Bernadette shot her a look, "I just told you," she said, "There demons; they can't walk on concerted, or blessed ground."

Sheldon nodded, "Indeed they can't. Basically they are physically unable to walk on this or any other ground which has been blessed."

"So where safe?" Leonard asked.

Sheldon shook his head solemnly, "were far from safe."

"But if we they can't come after us, what can they do?" Leonard asked.

"These guys have been doing this for thousands of years," Sheldon replied, "they no every trick and rule in the book and more specifically every loop hole to the rules. There find a way to get us, mark my words. They may not be able to walk on holy ground, but there is no rule saying they can't do something like chuck a Molotov cocktail through the window and use the flames to drive us out." He paused; everyone looked around in silence, expecting to hear the sound of glass breaking. Nothing happened. "Believe me," Sheldon said, "we've only managed to stall them and for how long I have no idea."

Silence fell, "That demon who was leading the others, the one who stopped the truck. Who is he?" Penny asked.

"His name is Asmodeus!" Sheldon replied.

"Is he another lord of hell?" Penny asked.

Sheldon nodded, "Asmodeus is the demon of lust and that's lust in both the carnal and the ambitious senses. As such he exemplifies both traits to their extremes. He is both a tempter and a conqueror. Thus making him very dangerous in multiple different ways and if that wasn't enough he is also the demon of Revenge and Vengeance." He shook his head "Three of the most powerful, cruel and dangerous beings in existence and they're all chasing us."

"So what do we do know?" Penny asked.

"I don't know about you," Sheldon replied, "But I'm going to sleep."

The others stared at him in confusion, "Sleep?" Penny asked amazed.

"It's late, I'm exhausted and for the present were in no immediate danger, as such I recommend we all get some sleep," Sheldon said. The others paused, seeing the logic in what he said and feeling tired themselves they agreed. However Sheldon wasn't finished. "But first while were in here, a few ground rules, one don't eat anything until we have carefully examined are supply problem, two stay away from the windows, don't look out of them or even go near them and three don't go outside. Not even into the church's grounds, it's not safe." And with that he turned and lied down.

The others were unsure, but all managed to find a place to get comfortable. Exhausted by the night's events they were all soon asleep. Safe for the moment in there sanctuary, while the forces of evil prowled the land outside.

Amy violently shook and shivered before suddenly sitting upright, painting heavily. Groaning she held her head in her hands. She hated night terrors, she always had. All these years and she still had them. Still shaking, she slowly raised her head, her eyes squinting as they adjusted to the faint light. Normally if she was at home she would cry for a while, before getting up to have a hot drink, then waiting for about an hour before she tried to get back to sleep. However in her present situation this was not possible.

As her eyes adjusted, Amy managed to find some comfort in watching the others sleep, it at least reminded her she wasn't alone. Leonard and Penny lay next to each other, cuddled up in each other's arms. Howard and Bernadette lay on the other side of the room, they were further apart as Bernadette had refused to be intimate while in a church, but never the less it was clear they were together. Amy sighed and then she noticed something. Sheldon was not where he was supposed to be.

Confused Amy's eyes shot around the room, where was he? Maybe he had gotten up to find a more comfortable spot? If so where? The room was dim but Amy felt sure that Sheldon wasn't in here. If so, where was he? And then Amy heard a creak. It was like something was moving above her. Unsurely, Amy got to her feet and listened and there it was again another creak, someone or something was up there.

Startled Amy paused, her curiosity getting the better of her; she slowly walked across the room, into the back and then up the stairs. It was getting darker, in the dim light Amy fumbled around for something, her hand brushed against a small rectangular cardboard object. Grasping it, Amy opened it and struck a match. The stairway was lit up slightly; slowly Amy began to walk up the remainder of the stairs. She was reasonably high up now, the stair way seemed to go up to the rafters and that's where she went. There before her Amy saw a large door, her match had already burnt itself out, so she struck another. Amy paused unsure. She listened, sure enough the sound was coming from behind the door, and listening Amy heard what sounded like…wings flapping?

Slowly Amy reached forward and opened the door. Gingerly she opened it and emerged into a dark room. She was up near the top of the building now, the floor boards creaked beneath her feet. Multiple beams went through the ceiling; the room was filled with cobwebs and dust. It looked like no one had been here for years. Amy looked around her eyes searching for the source of the sound, slowly she walked forward.

Suddenly something flew past her, there was the flapping of wings, a breeze and her match went out. Plunged into the darkness Amy frantically tried to strike another, but the match wouldn't light. In the darkness Amy heard another sound… a scratching. Once again a pair of wings flapped and again Amy felt a small gust of wind against her face. Scared Amy reached for another match, but in her haste she accidently dropped the contents on the floor.

Amy fell to the floor, feeling for another match. The sound was getting louder as if what it was getting closer. Amy continued to practically crawl on the floor. Her hand found another match, grabbing it she struck it against the box, but she struck so hard the match snapped in two. The lit end hit the floor. But in the second of light Amy saw the other matches. Grabbing another one just as the lit one went out, Amy quickly struck it. The match lit and once again Amy could see.

Slowly she got to her feet looking around, what was the cause of that noise? Now feeling very worried Amy was about to go for help, when something moved out of the shadows. Amy spun round to find herself staring at a small bird. The bird chirped slightly, before flying off into the rafters. Amy smiled and shook her head. She turned to leave, when a figure fell down from the rafters.

Amy screamed and jumped backwards dropping her match. Once again the room was plunged into darkness. She fell to the floor and huddled there, when a soft white light lit up the room. "Sorry, did I wake you?" A familiar voice asked.

Amy looked up, "Sheldon?" she asked shocked. Her boyfriend hung there from the beam, upside down like a bat, his wings was out stretched giving the dim room some light. As Amy watched, he casually pulled himself back up onto the beam. He then jumped off and landed in front of her. Bending down he took a match from the floor, striking it, he put against a lantern that was hanging on the wall.

The room was illuminated. Calmly he stood there, "what are you doing up here?" Amy asked in surprised. Sheldon paused as if searching for a good answer "I'm…" he began. "Sleeping." He finally replied. Amy stared at him in confusion,

"Why up here…is this like in the barn? Why do you need to sleep so high up? Is this another thing that comes with what you are? Do you need somewhere to perch?" Amy shot the questions as she thought of them.

Her boyfriend stared at her, "Amy," he said calmly, "I know I have wings but I'm not an avian."

"Then why are you sleeping up here?" Amy asked. Sheldon paused, racking his mind, what did he say? He tried to think of a convincing explanation but thanks to his near inability to lie his mind went blank.

"Because I want to," Sheldon finally said.

Amy stared at him, "why?"

"Because I want to!" Sheldon repeated, this time with more emphasis. He shook his head solemnly. "And I can't have much of what I want any more." Amy could tell this wasn't the real reason, but seeing the sadness in his eyes, she didn't interrupt. "I mean how did this happen? Thirty-three years of peace and quiet, I was always so careful; I never used any of my abilities even in the most genuine of emergencies." Sheldon had seemingly zoned out, he wasn't looking at Amy at anymore it was like he was looking past her.

"I had a good life, I had friends, I had my dream job, no one knew my secret, I was just an a highly acclaimed slightly eccentric Physicist. No one suspected anything. Sometimes, in my weaker moments I even allowed myself to believe that that's all I was, that my secret was simply nothing more than a figment of my imagination, an illusion, just a dream which I had created as a child to help me understand why I was different." He paused and for a moment he smiled, "and it was during those moments that I was actually…truly…Happy."

And then his smile faded, "Then despite it all, despite all I had done, all I had hidden, all I endured while knowing I could have easily gotten out or away from, despite all of it, they found me. And now here I am sleeping on a beam in an old church, under siege from the forces of darkness themselves with several of the only people who've ever cared about me in danger, all because of me…" he was now on the brink of tears, "…All because of me." He managed breaking up.

Amy tried to walk forward to him, but at that moment his wings began to flap and he shot up into the rafters disappearing into the shadows. Amy stood there, her eyes searching but Sheldon had vanished from sight and the wind of his wings had also put out his lantern, so she once again she was standing in darkness. Amy paused and listened to the sound of sobbing, she wasn't sure how to respond to what she had heard. And she didn't really know what to do next, but one thing she did know was that she couldn't leave.

So she just stood there in the darkness, waiting and listening. Eventually she succumbed to exhaustion and just passed out there on the cold, dusty wooden floor. A gentle wind blew against her skin, as Sheldon silently landed. Calmly, he knelt over her, gently lifting up her head, he placed a makeshift pillow underneath it. He paused looking down at her; she looked so beautiful, he paused again unsure, before slowly getting back to his feet. Spotting a sheet, he shook it out, putting it over her as a makeshift blanket, before flying back up into the rafters.

Cautiously Sheldon and Penny looked out of the window, it was now bright and sunny outside and as such it was getting hot in the church. "Are they still out there?" Penny asked, Sheldon nodded, "so we can't leave yet?"

"There never going to leave," Sheldon replied, "there stay out there until they find a way to get us out, there in no hurry, don't forget Demons are patient creatures, they have all the time in the world, we do not."

"So what do we do?"

"We assess exactly what the situation we are in is, bring everyone up to speed with the developments and exactly what were up against and then plan are next course of actions following that." Sheldon tried to sound calm but he was clearly worried. Penny nodded, she turned to walk away but Sheldon grabbed her by the shoulder.

"Penny," he said, "I don't think I need to stress to you that this is a very risky situation, we are all in a lot of danger, even more so than we have been before now. As such I need your help, we have to keep moral up with the others until we can find a solution, if they lose faith or if cabin fever or even starvation sets in their turn desperate, in which case there most likely put themselves in danger and if they do that, it will put us all in danger. I need your help or else it won't matter what happens were still lose."

Penny nodded, slowly, "I'll help you with whatever you need."

Sheldon also nodded in acknowledgement, "good in which case go get Leonard, we need to examine are supply problem. Remember try your best to keep the others distracted from are problems, if they start to panic, well I think you understand."

The three of them stood over the contents Penny had taken out the night before, "not much food for six of us," Leonard said. Sheldon nodded slowly, he looked down at the food longingly, it being several days since he last ate anything.

"Well the others are searching this building in case there is anything else," Penny said, "that should help."

"Food's not critical, we can all survive a few weeks without any food, what's important is water," Sheldon said. "And there's reasonable plumbing in this building so we've got plenty of that."

"That means we can stay here till we starve to death," Penny groaned. Sheldon shot her a look, "But were figure out a way to get out of here before that happens." She quickly added.

"So now what?" Leonard asked.

"We ration the food out," Sheldon replied, he however kept staring at it, "make it so that it lasts as long as it can." At that point the others walked back in. "Anything?"

Bernadette shrugged, "some bread and wine, but nothing else," she replied, placing the small amount of food they had found into the centre, "clearly it was for Eucharist."

"Well if it's here," Howard said, "that means this church must still be in use, which means that sooner or later someone will come here."

"I don't think the demons will let them in," Sheldon replied, "Possibly explaining why no one has turned up yet."

Silence fell amongst the group; no one knew what to say. Sheldon's eyes went all over there expressions; he could sense this was not good. "Any way," he continued, "it's probably best we don't dwell on that right now, all that is important is we keep calm we'll find a way out sooner or later and we've got enough supplies to keep us going for several days, so were not exactly starving just yet. Now we're in a church so the chances are they might have something that will help us, have a look around and see if you can find anything that might help us facing the demons, we need all the help we can get."

The others nodded slightly, Penny, Amy, Howard and Bernadette left to explore the church, leaving just Leonard and Sheldon standing there, the moment they were gone Sheldon reached down and grabbed a piece of bread he quickly ate it. Leonard stared at him, "you said we have to ration that," he quickly shot.

Sheldon nodded, "we do, but I haven't eaten in several days and as I need to keep my strength up more than the rest of us, I think we can let this be are one exception? Okay?"

Leonard shrugged, "so how are we going to get out of this?"

Sheldon turned to face him, "I honestly don't know,"

"So what do we do?"

"Wait till I come up with a solution,"

"What if I you can't?" Leonard asked, silence fell between them, Sheldon just stood there he didn't reply he just hung his head. Leonard gulped, he needed to get his friends mind off this it clearly badly affected him. "Um Sheldon?"

"Yes," Sheldon replied, looking up.

"Do you mind if I ask a question?"

"Sure," Sheldon replied, his eyes fixing slightly on his friend, "I'm happy to answer anything."

"Okay," Leonard said, racking his mind for a question, before finally settling on one. "Why is that night when we were on the apartment roof when you…brought out your wings it seemed agonisingly painful, but now your able to do it with ease, how does that work?"

Sheldon shrugged, "you have to understand," he began, "before that night on the apartment I hadn't shown my wings in over a decade, as such they had been inside me so long they had sort of fixed there and I literally had to rip my own back open to get them out, now there loose again I can show them and hide them with ease, its simply down to lack of use, much like how your muscles weaken if you go long enough without exercise."

Leonard nodded; clearly this had worked and managed to distract Sheldon from his worries. Sighing he stared at his friend, he seemed so different to the Sheldon he had learned to love, so quiet and brooding, it was almost like he was an individual interpretation of character in a bad written fan fiction of a much beloved TV show. Leonard shook his head, some of the things those fans fought up could be pretty strange…mind you they weren't much stranger than all that had happened to them in the last couple of weeks...

Leonard paused to smirk at the fact that this was the first place his mind went when thinking about his friends unusual and almost out of character behaviour, almost as if the author was again playing the gag of self-mockery of his work, by drawing attention to any already obviously used device which of course would only reinforce just how bad the story was…

Regardless Sheldon was different, over the years Leonard had seen on many occasions that Sheldon had multiple, quite often conflicting sides and dimensions to his personality, but this was nothing like any of them. And truthfully Leonard couldn't help but wonder was this simply the result of all the stress, turmoil and guilt Sheldon was feeling due to the events going on, or had the Sheldon Cooper he was used to been simply an act, had the man who he had called his best friend been fake? Simply a disguise put on to keep his real self safe? Was next to everything he understood about Sheldon a lie? Leonard shook his head, only time would tell.

Penny stood there straining, try as she might she was having trouble reaching the top of the book shelf, Penny paused and looked around, there was nothing the room that she could stand on. Penny turned back to the bookcase; she stared up at the book she was trying to reach. What it was about she didn't know. Bernadette had spotted it earlier and of course she couldn't reach it, so she asked Penny to get it for her, apparently she felt it could help.

Penny shook her head; once again she strained and stretched trying to reach the book. But she still couldn't reach, how tall was this book case? Sighing Penny groaned, she bent her knees and jumped upwards. Grabbing the shelf she began to pull herself up, only for the bookcase to suddenly fall forwards.

Penny screamed, only for the bookcase to stop in mid-air. Penny didn't however, she hit the ground and all the books fell out on top of her. Sheldon casually pushed the bookcase back up and helped Penny to her feet; she was shaken by the impact. Calmly he led her out of the room into another and sat her down. He then looked over her, "your fine," he said, "just a bit shaken and battered, nothing serious though, I recommend sitting there for a while."

Penny groaned, "Thanks," she murmured, her eyes were still a bit out of focus. "Where did you come from?"

"I was walking past the room, when I spotted your attempt to jump, realising what would happen I intervened."

"Well thanks, if you didn't then that bookcase would have probably crushed me flat."

Sheldon nodded, silence fell neither said anything. "Do you want me to get someone else to keep you company?" he asked.

Penny shook her head, she paused. "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure,"

"You lifted that bookcase back up with one arm,"

"What about it?"

"Well you also managed to overpower those demons and you managed to flip that truck."

Sheldon nodded, "And you're wondering how I can do all that? It's quite simple, being a Nephilim I can augment my strength much like durability and height."

"So how strong are you really?"

Sheldon shrugged, "I have no idea, before those demons showed up I had always kept my strength below average."

"Why?"

"To hide, it's easier to hide if you unassuming."

Penny paused as something slowly sunk in. "Hold on, you told me that you used to get beaten up a lot during your childhood."

Sheldon shrugged, "I did, what's your point?"

Penny stared at him, "how did you take it? I mean all the time they were hurting you, you could have overpowered them, heck you could have killed them with ease how did you endure that?"

Sheldon paused and then he turned to face her, his features were cold and lacking in emotion "Your right I could have, I could have killed them as easy as squashing a fly and I sometimes used to think about how I could while they were hitting me. But I never did simply because I knew that if I ever did, it would bring something much worse than a few neighbourhood bullies down on me." He paused and hung his head slightly "and now it has."

And with the he walked off. Penny continued to sit there for a little longer, before finally feeling better getting up and going back to get the book. At least she had gotten this that was something. Sadly the book turned out to be not what Bernadette had thought it was and was in fact useless to their present situation. Penny stood there in silence after Bernadette told her, for several moments before walking off grumbling something under her breath.

Howard lay there on the cold ground, he shivered slightly. He was starving, he had of course had his daily ration like everyone else, but it was so small it barely made a difference. He sighed, how did it go from being so hot to so cold so quickly in this daft land? It was unnatural, he shuddered; he hated it here. Why had this had to happen? Why to him?

Howard shook his head, since he had met him, he had known there was something wrong with Sheldon, but he had never expected that one day his constant jokes would mean they would have to flee their homes and stay in an ancient church, perused by the forces of darkness themselves. If he had known he would probably ran for the hills within half a minute that was fair wasn't it? I mean who would want to live through this? He wasn't being unreasonable. And if Sheldon was really so powerful, then why had he never helped them out during all those situations they had been in over all these years they had known each other? So many situations could have been solved by Sheldon, but he hadn't. Why hadn't he helped them? Was he really that selfish?

Howard shook his head, still it was too late he was here, there was nothing he could do about it. All he could do was simply go along and put his faith in Sheldon that he would get them to safety. "Is that really all you can do?" another voice asked. Howard spun round, a fat man with black hair and brown eyes stood there in shadows. Causally he held up his finger, a flame emerged from its tip, lighting up his greasy face as he lit his cigar.

Howard backed away in horror, "no it's not possible, you can't come in here."

Mammon chuckled and took a deep breath on his cigar before letting out a puff of smoke. "Indeed I can't." he chuckled as he slowly lurched forward towards Howard.

Howard stared him in shock, "but then… how can you… I'm dreaming aren't I?"

Mammon nodded, "see I knew you were smart, your right this is a dream."

Howard paused before getting to his feet. "So you're not real."

Mammon laughed, "This may be a dream," he said coldly, "but that doesn't mean I'm not real, I'm as real as you are."

"But how is that possible?"

"Are you really going to question my powers?" Mammon smirked coldly.

"What are you doing here?" Howard asked as he scrambled to his feet.

Mammon smiled, "I told you I liked the look of you," he chuckled. "But before we get down to what I want, let me ask you something, are you really willing to put your life and lives of the people you care about in Sheldon's hands?"

"He's my friend," Howard replied.

"A friend who spent the last nine years lying to you? Who has constantly gone out of his way to mock and belittle you? Who has selfishly never helped you since you met? Think about it, think about all those times he could have gotten you out of all those situations but didn't, all those times he let you down. Think about it, cause I know you were. Does that sound like a friend to you? Are you really willing to put your own and everyone else's lives in the hands of someone like that."

Howard paused unsure, try as he might he couldn't ignore the demons words. "Is that what you really want?" Mammon asked.

"What's the alternative?"

Mammon's eyes lit up, "well there is me, as I said earlier, I can give you whatever you want, just make me an offer and I'll see what we can agree on."

Howard paused unsure, "get lost." He finally said.

Mammon nodded, "I see you need some time to think this over, I understand, I'm not going anywhere any time soon, so once you've come to a decision, just call me."

"I said get lost," Howard replied.

Mammon's eyes narrowed, "don't take that tone with me," he said coldly.

"This is a dream, what are you going to do?" Howard replied with a smirk.

Mammon chuckled, "people have been known to die in their dreams," he said. And with surprising speed he lunged forward, grasping Howard he hoisted him into the air and hurled him into the wall. Howard sat up panting, sweat pouring down his sides.

"Howard, what's wrong." Bernadette cried rushing over; she wrapped her arms around her scared husband.

Howard shivered and shook slightly, "just a bad dream." He eventually replied. Bernadette nodded and kept hold until he felt better. Sighing she walked back to her spot and lying down was soon asleep again. Howard however continues to sit there, now watching her sleep, she was so beautiful.

Sheldon, Amy and Bernadette sat next to each other; they were in the back area of the church away from anyone else, in a sort of rest area. They were sitting in silence, Sheldon was once again trying to figure a way out, it had been three days now, the food supply was dangerously low now and even with his lack of social or empathic skills he could sense that the gravity of the situation was starting to settling in, the group was tetchier and more on edge than normal.

But try as he might Sheldon could see no way out; he had explored every possibility from flying through the celling to tunnelling out through the floor, none of them would have worked. The only saving grace was that as of yet Asmodeus hadn't found a way to drive them out, but that was little conciliation, he would eventually, Sheldon knew that. Asmodeus was a dangerous opponent, and even if he could find a way to escape and stop him, he would have to deal with Mammon and Azazel.

Sheldon buckled over and held his head in his hands, gently massaging his temples, what was he going to do? "Sheldon?" Amy asked worried at her boyfriend's unusually behaviour.

Sheldon quickly sat up again, "just tired," he replied unconvincingly.

Amy nodded sadly, although she couldn't prove it, Amy felt sure that Sheldon was still sleeping in the rafters. Why was he sleeping up there? Why would he want to sleep on a beam alone? And why wouldn't he tell her. Amy eyed Sheldon, her eyes watering slightly, why?

Then Bernadette spoke out, "Sheldon, do you mind if I ask a question?"

Sheldon shrugged, "go ahead, everyone else has."

"You remember you were telling us about that boy you seriously injured when you were a child?" Upon saying that Sheldon's face fell even further.

"Yes, what about him?" he asked solemnly.

"I've been thinking about it, why didn't you just use your healing powers on him?"

Sheldon shook his head sadly, before hanging it. "At the time I had no idea I could do that, I didn't learn much later in my life."

"How?" Amy asked, interested in this new discussion, "how did you learn?"

"I read it," Sheldon replied, "In my own DNA." He shook his head sadly as the girls stared at him unsure how to respond. Sheldon sighed, "I didn't read much into it, truthfully that night in the apartment, I wasn't sure if it would work, hence why I paused halfway through. Before then I had never used it, I had never used a lot of my abilities, sure I had read about them before, but that isn't the same thing. Even now I still truthfully don't know all I can do, I never practiced, I never studied or experimented, I simply read and I didn't even read that far in, because I thought at the time I would never use them."

"You could do it now?" Bernadette suggested. Sheldon stared at her, "I mean after we escape."

"After we escape, we will have no time for search events, we will have to get as far away from here are possible." He paused and shook his head "I admit I could have done it earlier on, after I did learn but truthfully fear of the demons tracking me down stopped me even trying."

"Um, okay. How exactly does it work?"

Sheldon looked at her, "you want to know how exposing my blood and saying a few words allows me to heal people of nearly any wound?"

"Yes," Amy continued to watch still interested.

Sheldon sighed, "It's far too complicated to explain accurately, but…well let me put this way, blood is the liquid of life it is what causes are bodies to continue to work, without it we can't live. With some effort I'm able infuse part of my blood with some of my life force, turning it literally into a liquid that gives life, thus it shares the life giving properties with the person it meets and heals any wound that it comes in contact with, provided the person is still alive."

The others stared at him. "I know it doesn't sound very scientific," he admitted, "but I can assure you it is, it's simply too complicated for you to accurately understand, I barely understand it myself."

The other paused and then Amy spoke out, "okay so what exactly are those words you say, I mean I know there Latin, but what are they some form of spell?"

"Or a Prayer?" Bernadette asked.

Sheldon paused, and then got to his feet. "A bit of both really," he admitted, "but it's also quite close to a request form."

Seeing the others confused looks he continued. "As you've probably gathered, the fact I'm part Angel means I can access certain Angelic abilities, however as I'm not a full angel I am limited in what I can do. To access the greater powers of an Angel, I need to request it."

"What's to stop the request being denied?" Amy asked.

"Nothing, fortunately up to now they haven't, yet."

There was a pause and silence fell. Sensing this wasn't a good thing to dwell on; Bernadette decided to change the subject. "So Sheldon," she began, "are we really heading for Israel?"

Sheldon shrugged, "Israel or Rome or perhaps Mecca, one of the three, were go to whichever one it's easiest to get to, there all holy, you should be safe there."

There was a pause, "you?" Amy asked."

Sheldon shook his head and was going to speak when suddenly Penny came running in, "Sheldon we've got a problem."

Getting to his feet Sheldon followed her out. The two girls turned to face each other, both slightly worried. "Come on," Bernadette said, "we should probably go to."

Amy nodded; the two got to their feet and went towards the door. Only for a sudden glint of light to catch Amy's attention.

"What's that?"

"What's what?"

"It was a glint of red light by the window."

"What?" Bernadette stared confused, "what do you mean."

"I saw a glint of red light by the window."

Pausing Bernadette turned and stared at the window, she could see nothing. She was about to turn back, but there it was again. A little red glint like a spark just outside the window.

"What is it?" Bernadette asked, "A fire?"

Amy shrugged, "I have no idea,"

The girls continued to watch, every few seconds there was another small red glint, just outside the window. Slowly they found themselves edging towards it and as they did it started to occur faster and faster. And as it sped up, it also seemed to multiply.

Sheldon stared at the glass of water Penny held before him, his eyes narrowed upon it. "You say that got this out of the tap?" he asked, Penny nodded. Taking it off her, he dipped his finger in the water, lifting it up he let a drop fall of his finger back into the glass. His eyes fixed upon the liquid "Aconitine," he murmured, "an ancient toxin produced from the plants of the genus Aconitum, commonly known as wolfs bane. The waters full of it."

He paused unsure, "no one can drink this water it's lethal."

The others stared at him, "we've been drinking it for days." Leonard said worried.

"And as you're still alive, I think we have nothing to worry about, but we can't drink it from now on. Evidentially it's been poisoned."

"By Demons?" Howard asked.

"Who else would poison a church water supply with a toxin that no one has used since the dark ages?"

"But why?" Penny asked.

"Evidentially to strip us of our water supply." Leonard said.

"So now we have no water and no food," Howard said cynically.

However Sheldon was still staring at the water, "you have a point there, Penny."

"I do?"

"Why? I mean not why do it, that is obvious, but why do it this way? Poisoning water during a siege is hardly the style of a demon like Asmodeus, a regular demon maybe, after all the good book condemns it but not Asmodeus. There is more to this than meets the eye. Tell me, how exactly did you know it was poisoned?"

Penny paused unsure, "I don't know I just felt that it looked wrong, it was the strangest feeling nothing I could do would shift it."

"And you went to me to test it on a hunch? You were so sure you were willing to rush to me and call it a problem?"

"I…I…I don't know, I just felt so sure. And I went to you, because, well I knew you would know…I just knew." Penny shook her head, before put her hands there to steady it, "How did I know? Why?"

Sheldon looked down at the glass, with complete suspicion. "Tell me, did any of the water touch you?"

"Yes? Is that a problem?"

Sheldon paused, before dipping his finger into the water again, still staring down at the water he began to speak, "Deus, indico Satanas falsitas" there was a pause and then the water turned black. Sheldon quickly pulled his finger out and threw the water back down the sink. "As I suspected," he murmured, "it's been corrupted by dark powers."

"Can you just do anything by saying some words in Latin?" Howard asked.

"No," Sheldon replied sharply, "But back to the point, this water is laced so that anyone who touched it would know something was wrong, they wanted us to find the water was poisoned, why?"

"Well they do want to drive us out, not kill us." Leonard replied.

"I know, but no something's very wrong with all this."

"Um, where are Bernadette and Amy." Howard asked.

"They were with Sheldon when I went to get him," Penny replied.

"So why didn't they come with us?"

"There probably didn't feel like it," Leonard replied.

Sheldon shook his head, "that would be very out of character for Amy or Bernadette."

"So why would they not come?" Howard asked.

Sheldon shrugged, "I don't know, I can't see any reason why they wouldn't…unless…." His expression suddenly turned to horror, "Oh my…" And with that he suddenly charged off. Confused the others followed behind him.

Amy and Bernadette stood in front of the window, the sparks had stopped now. Looking out neither of them could see any sign of the cause, what had they been? "What was it?" Amy asked.

"I don't know," Bernadette replied.

Suddenly the door burst open, Sheldon stared in horror, "get away from the window!"

The girls spun round but before they could reply, they suddenly went flying backwards straight through the window. "NO!" Sheldon screamed. He dived forwards through the window after them. Like a lightning bolt the girls shot across the ground. Sheldon ran after them. They flew across the ground and over the fence straight into the arms of two figures standing there.

Sheldon stopped straight in his tracks, his eyes opened wide in horror. Smiling Asmodeus waved at them. Sheldon recovered quickly and dived forward smashing straight through the iron fence, but before he even hit it, they all vanished into thin air. Sheldon stood there on the others side staring in horror, unable to speak he fell to his knees. He was breading due to the iron, but he didn't care. He just kneeled there were the girls had been only seconds earlier. The others ran out of the church, they found Sheldon still kneeling there.

"Sheldon, what happened? Where are Bernadette and Amy?" Penny frantically asked.

"There gone."

"Gone?" Leonard shouted, Howard just stared in horror.

"Gone," Sheldon replied solemly, looking up he faced them, "The demons took them."

Okay I hope you enjoyed that, I'll try to add the next chapter sooner next time. Please review, and don't forget to tell me what you think of this knew style.