Chapter 7: Missing Links

I was reading in my room about a couple of hours after the angels had had the meeting, but my mind was not at all focused on the book in front of me.

Why were the trucks not in possession of any company? And more importantly, who was able to get all of those trucks and coordinate them so perfectly? Frustration crowded at the edges of my mind until I finally got up, went over to my bookshelf, and grabbed a spare notebook from the top shelf. Pulling out a pencil, I began to scribble the notes onto a blank page:

12 Mack trucks. 12 dead hybrids.

2 Yukons. Source unknown. Involvement of demons possible?

Investigate shadowy figure of rear Yukon.

At the last line, I gave pause. Shadowy figures...now hadn't I seen figures just like that before, especially during my deployment in Kuwait? I had seen them all around the barracks, and especially when there were firefights between some of my units and a pack of Iraqi forces. But then again, my memories of what happened during my years of service are somewhat foggy, and the shadows could have simply been hallucinations or phantoms around the edges of my eyes. I would have to review the tapes again and see if anything clicked in my mind. With that, I stood up and went downstairs to watch the evidence.

Mikael was sitting on the edge of the couch facing the TV, and it looked as though he was reviewing the tapes as well. The screen was currently paused on the scene where the trucks crept in, and he looked to be studying the license plates intently. "These plates...can't we try and find out what lies behind the numbers?" he inquired, not looking away from the screen.

"We could try and ask Marcel about his connections with the police around here, but..."

Mikael looked over at me. "But what?"

I continued thinking for a little while. Then realization struck me. "Balthazar has some under his command that are in police forces across the United States- part of keeping track of demon movements." I looked up at Mikael. "We could ask him!"

Mikael looked blankly at me for a moment, then the first grin I'd seen since I met the man spread across his face. "Nice idea. Impressive, even."

I grinned back, then stood up and headed upstairs to Balthazar's study, with Mikael towing behind me. I knocked on the door, and Balthazar opened the door. "Need something, darling?"

"If you are not busy at the moment, we have some questions."

He opened the door further and nodded us both in before shutting it. "What would you like to know?" he asked, looking back and forth between the two of us.

"You do still have some under your command here in the New Orleans police force, right?" I inquired.

Balthazar thought for a moment before nodding. "Yes, they are still stationed there. Why?"

"Do you think it could be possible for them to run the license plate numbers of the trucks in the video?" Mikael inquired.

"Of course. In addition to those numbers, also give me the numbers of the plates on the two Yukons to send in as well." Balthazar sighed and scratched his head. "High Command has yet to give me my orders, so I will be of assistance until Haniel returns with our assignments."

"Thank you, Balthazar," I replied, hugging him before Mikael and I returned to the living room and went back to when the first Yukon pulled into view. As the tape played, I scribbled down the numbers of the license plates of the vehicles:

Yukon 1: WYT775

Truck 1: DFGT889

Truck 2: BVD785

Truck 3: GHEF34

I continued on writing the numbers for the rest of the trucks, but when the feed reached the last Yukon, I said,"Wait- pause the video here." The shadowy figure had stepped out of the vehicle and was in full view of the camera; my mind immediately began to race. Mikael was looking at me skeptically. "What is it?"

"That figure- I've seen it before." My stomach dropped. There was no mistaking what I'd seen in Kuwait, and it was certainly no hallucination. "Mikael, that's a demon."

"So thereis demon involvement in this?"

"There is no mistaking what that shadowy figure is- I've battled against them many times before."

A wave of realization washed over Mikael. "So your supposed job is some kind of a...demon hunter?"

"Yep."

He fell silent after this. Whether it was a good silent or a bad silent I'm unsure, but now was not the time to focus on that. I hastily scribbled the last license plate number onto the paper and tore it out of my notebook before dashing upstairs and knocking urgently on Balthazar's door. He opened it and ushered me inside quickly. "Abira, I've something to tell you. Haniel found out.."

"It's demon involvement," we both sputtered at the same time.

"Sorry. You go first," I said, catching my breath.

"Haniel just got here a few seconds ago-she just left- and she reported that the witches the power angels had battled against had broken the martial law in 2013 in order to set up an alliance with the demons, especially since their power was diminishing greatly. In return for their allegiance, the witches agreed to let the dead hybrids be puppets for the demons. But it's worse than that." He took a deep breath. "Haniel was right- there were other hybrids from '91 to 2012 that had been brought in also by the witches' deal, except those witches were killed in a previous skirmish with some of Michael's forces, leaving them to be under the complete control of the demons. Now those hybrids will join the newly brought ones."

My stomach fell, and my heart began racing in fear; this news was dreadful indeed. "Mikael and I were watching the tapes again, and I noticed that in the rear Yukon, there was a weird shadowy figure that had stepped out and cut the security feed. I remembered seeing them all the time in Kuwait and in Iraq during Desert Storm, then I remembered that the figure was a demon, not just some weird camera trick or hallucination, since I have been seeing them for years now. This would make sense, especially if the demons saw the slaughter and ordered the witches to bring them back here." Then I remembered the license plate numbers, and I handed the paper over to him. "I hate to disappoint, my dear, but those numbers will be irrelevant now that we know who brought the bodies in. But thank you for helping."

I nodded. "No problem. What should Mikael and I do now that we know the demons are involved?"

"Haniel informed me to tell you guys you will now be patrolling every night except for Friday night. Patrol the road where we saw the security feed down to the one outside Lafayette Cemetery. Be armed and be ready in case of an attack."

I nodded, understanding how grave the situation had now become. Looking outside at the window, the sky was now already dark, and faintly I could see the constellation of Orion rising in the western sky. Sighing, I turned to Mikael and said, "Well, we might as well get an early start. Meet you in the garage?"

Mikael nodded at this, and with that I headed down to where my Trans-Am was waiting. I paused for a moment and rested my head on the wooden stair rail.

Help us, Lord God, for now the stakes have been raised and we could both wind up losing our immortality.

Help us.