Number 666 II Chapter 1
Chapter 1
“What are you in for Mike?” the guy stated.
“The name's Michael.”
“Damn sorry about that I just assumed.”
“Don't assume. I got locked up because I'm a bad person and when people mess with me...I make them pay.”
The other inmate looked over at me. A few of the others looked over as well. I rarely talked to anyone since I had been locked up for the last 8 months. I stayed to myself and it really freaked people out. Some people liked to act tough in prison every once in a while but before long...the lights would flicker and weird things would stop happening.
Strange things happened when I was mad. Things that the people in the prison didn't understand. So for the most part...they left me alone.
“Don't talk to him...he's the devil...” I heard another inmate say.
I got up out of the common area of the prison at that moment and walked away. The other inmates were looking at me. It was almost time for lock-up anyway so I just headed to my cell.
The devil. That's what they called me. Truth was I wasn't the devil. Matter of fact I wasn't close to being the devil. I just so happened to be an angel. Half at least. They call us nephilim. We are half-angels sworn to defending the world against dark things.
“Michael Vorhees,” the corrections officer stated walking back.
“Here.”
He locked up my cell. He would walk around and make sure all the other inmates were in their cells before the lights went out for the night.
I closed my eyes at that moment. It was getting easier to sleep at night. I had given 20 years for manslaughter for a crime I didn't even commit. My mother was killed and I was framed for the murder. I didn't really have a defense either. Any defense would have made me look crazy. What do I tell them? I was a half angel in a fight with demons and the demons are trying to break me? I would have been in a psychotic ward. I couldn't sleep easy there.
No. So here I was...closing my eyes. The dreams came today. They hardly ever came anymore but now I could see them so visibly clear.
I was in a room. A twisted room.
I wasn't alone.
Cham was there.
“Cham?” I asked in my dream sequence.
Cham was another nephilim like me. He was one of the few who actually liked me. He was literally the only one who showed up to court for me when I got convicted. Cham had what was called the third eye. He could see things that other people couldn't. He could see energy and predict the future. I had a bit of that third eye as well but nothing like what Cham had.
“You can hear me?” Cham asked, “You can see me?”
“Is this a dream?”
“Yes but I'm communicating to you through your dreams...”
“How is that possible?”
My heart skipped a beat. Cham had asked me to call him a couple of times. I never did. The other half-angel Raphael had written some letters to me but I never opened them. The other half angels Gabriel, Ariel and Uriel were missing in action. I hadn't heard from them. Even Uriel. Uri who I loved more than anyone else. He hadn't even attempted to reach out.
I was alone. Now to see Cham speaking to me in a dream scared me.
“I discovered a new ability to communicate through thoughts,” Cham asked, “I have a third eye and a third voice now...”
He laughed. Cham was the type of person who really entertained himself. He was always like that. Sometimes it was nice to see someone always carry around this positive energy but other times it just reminded me of how negative my own energy was.
“I'd prefer you not to enter my mind,” I explained to Cham.”
“I wouldn't unless it was absolutely important,” Cham stated.
“What do you want?”
“We need you.”
“Why?”
“We're losing out here. We are losing badly Michael. If we lose this war...there will be nothing left.”
I knew the war that Cham was talking about. The Archangels had given birth to the nephilim in order to the fight the demons on Earth that had come. This battle was foretold a long time ago. I fought hard with the other Nephilim and we'd defeated Leviathan...a general of Hell. However there were more enemies. There were other things much worse than Leviathan.
The desperation in Cham's tone was clear.
“Is there no other choice?” I asked him.
He knew what I was referring too. For me to help them I would have to do something desperate. I had a shaky feeling that whatever I would have to do wasn't going to be the right thing.
“I have been in contact with the church. The pope himself has approved...”
“I'll be back shortly...”
I woke up at that moment. Cham was gone. There was nothing but the cold bars and smell of prison. I looked around. Duty was a hell of a thing. 8 months ago I wouldn't have given a fuck about this war nor given a fuck about demons but I knew very well what they were capable of. They killed my mother and framed me for it. The demons would stop at nothing to create ruin and destruction.
I had to stop them.
I stood in the darkness alone. Before I knew it was I was rocking back and forth.
“Help me. Guide me. Archangel Michael...send me your cherubim.”
I wasn't alone all of a sudden. My father had sent his angels. The angels that I was referring too were a lower class of angels that were able to exist temporarily in the human's dominion. When they came I could feel this warm feeling all around me. My body heated up like I was all of a sudden in a crowded room. I could feel them all around me brushing past busily. An army of invisible, winged creatures ready to serve me.
That was my main ability. They came with their invisible swords and their invisible helmets and they stood like warriors before me.
That was when it happened. The doors of the cell were cut open.
An alarm went off as I stepped out into the common area. I could see the eyes of other people looking at me. Way above me was a source of light. The moonlight trickled down into the room. It was a sunroof in the prison probably used for some sort of ventilation. As I looked up it domed high on a ceiling. That would have to do as a way to get out of here.
“HEY! HEY stop right there!”
I turned. Correctional officers. I was sure that was who they were. Pointless.
“Don't move Vorhees!”
Guns were pointed at me. I didn't have time for this. I had to get out of here. I looked around the prison. It would be nice if the cameras didn't work. As I thought about this my cherubim were quickly at work destroying all the cameras around. I didn't want any video evidence of what was about to happen.
The eyewitnesses were enough. I noticed the other prisoners gathering around at their bars noticing that I was out. An alarm was going out in the prison and the lights had been turned on. People were panicking at the fact that I had escaped my cell.
They didn't know how to react.
“VORHEES!”
They kept screaming my name over and over. It was useless. I had to admit. I looked up one more time. Yes. That roof would have to do for me to get out of here. I would be able to get through if I could make it that high.
“Get down on the ground right now Vorhees. You hear me?”
Pointless.
“He's the DEVIL!” a voice had said, “LOOK AT HIM!”
The prisoner must have been reacting to what was happening. The cameras in the prison were crashing down all around.
“DEVIL!”
“DEVIL!”
I ignored them. I looked up one last time. I took off my shirt and threw it in a pile next to me. I wouldn't need that shirt. As I did I started to flex my shoulder blades. Something was growing out of them and it was clear the prisoners were afraid.
“DEVIL! DEVIL!”
The chants got completely still though when they realized what had grown out of my back. They were wings. Beautiful full white wings.
No...not a devil...an angel.
Uriel laid in the tub. He was soaking his body. He felt so sore. The battles were getting harder and harder. He had barely survived today. The jacuzzi in the tub wasn't working but it didn't matter to Uriel. He had the ability to create his own heat. Before long the water was steaming.
Uri sore body pressed against the tub. He could have asked Raphael to heal his scars again but he wanted to do this the old fashioned way. He wanted to feel it.
His body was so warm. Times like this he was blessed that he had always been exceptionally athletic. His muscular tones were used to stress.
As he laid in the tub his thoughts wandered.
He had so much stress. So much stress. He just wanted to relieve some of it.
Uriel looked down at his dick. His dick was pretty big. He had never gotten complaints about it from any girls. They seemed to love it. Uriel could make a girl fall in love by giving her the dick. However for some reason it was hard for Uriel to feel the same way about those girls. He found himself looking at his dick and thinking about someone else.
“Michael...”
It had been so long since Uriel had said his name. It hadn't been the first time he had thought about Michael to relieve some stress though. He would think about Michael's face. He would think about Michael's strong bone structure and how tight Michael's body was. He remembered when he was kissing Michael one time and he squeezed his tight ass.
“Fuck...” Uriel was saying at that moment.
It was coming to a surprise to him that his dick was precumming in the water. Before long Uriel found himself slowly stroking his dick. He did this often to relieve stress. It was the only thing that helped. It was the only thing that made him feel like just a regular man. He this urge. He had this urge to make love and he knew once he'd nut that urge would go away. He would be back to being that half-angel in the battle for Earth.
He jerked his dick up and down thrusting his hips up at the same time. It felt so good. He found himself leaning back. Closing his eyes.
Thud. Thud.
The water splashed around him. He thrust harder playing with the precum in his fingers. The sticky stuff made him even more horny. He loved the feeling of it between his fingers.
There was still just that one thought. Michael.
“Can I help you with that?”
For a moment he had thought he had heard Michael but when he opened his eyes he noticed it was someone else. Gabriel.
She looked over at him. Gabriel was beautiful to Uriel. She always was. She had this really long curly hair that was wild and untamed. It fit her though making her look fierce, wild and seductive all at the same time. Her face had very soft features and were feminine but her expressions were very sharp. She had full lips and a rounded nose. She had walked into his suite at the mansion often and this hadn't been the first time she'd caught him pleasing himself.
“Sorry.”
“No need to apologize,” she laughed, “You been under a lot of stress lately. I hope you had some good thoughts in your head.”
“Always of you,” Uriel replied to Gabriel.
Gabriel walked over and sat at the side of the tub. She kissed him hard in his mouth. They had been in an official relationship for about 5 months now.
“You should have just came and got me.”
“I didn't want to bother you.”
Uriel was lying. He had avoided Gabriel on purpose. He felt bad about it honestly. The truth was he didn't want to make love to Gabriel at times. At times he'd rather just lay and think about Michael---the one who got away. Gabriel knew that Uriel had an attraction to Michael at one point. She assumed it was just a phase he was going through and that he had gotten over it. The thing was that he had never gotten over Michael. Him escaping to baths from time to time was his way of re-igniting that flame.
“You should have told me as soon as you got in,” Gabriel stated, “Raphael told me that the two of you were attacked.”
“Raphael would run right to you, wouldn't he?”
The same way that Uriel had feelings for Michael in the past, Raphael had once had feelings for Gabriel. Uriel knew it was hypocritical but he had to admit he was uncomfortable with Raphael being so close to Gabriel. The two of them had started a friendship that made Uriel very uncomfortable.
“It's important we all keep communication open. This is the third attack this month. They are getting worse.”
“Don't you think I know that?”
“Where were you guys this time?” she asked.
“We had gone to church to get information from Cham's papal connect.”
“Did you get any?”
“We couldn't get close to the church. The demons were all around it. We barely got away.”
“It's like they are following us all the time,” Gabriel replied.
Uriel shrugged.
“Things are getting dangerous. I'll deal with it.”
Gabriel crossed her arms, “We need to go on the offensive. We need to take them out.”
“We are short three angels,” Uriel replied.
Gabriel shrugged, “I know you aren't afraid. Not Uri...with your flames. You aren't scared of going on the offensive. Are you?”
She did this often to him. She called out his manhood. Uriel hated when she did that but it was Gabriel's favorite mechanism to manipulate others. One thing Uriel hated was to feel like he wasn't pulling his weight in this fight. It was important the others respected him. They looked at him as a leader even though the group of angels didn't have an official leader.
Just before Uriel was about to answer there was a knock on the door. Uriel walked out of the tub, wrapped himself up in a towel and walked to the door.
It was Raphael.
They looked at one another. Uriel wondered if Raphael was uncomfortable seeing him and Gabriel together. They had all lived under the same roof for a long time.
“What is it?” Uriel asked.
He and Raphael had faked some sort of understanding. The two of them both had this dominant male persona that seemed to clash a lot more often then not. For that reason Uriel was very careful what he said to Raphael so that they didn't clash and step on each others toes too often.
Raphael didn't seem that interested in Gabriel. Something else seemed on his mind.
“Michael is back.”
It was known. That everyone's heart stopped once that news broke out.
“Where is everyone?” I asked.
The mansion was warm. It was on holy land. Ariel who was an angel was an heiress and her family built this huge mansion in the hills. It was safe up here. I knew that for sure. The demons wouldn't come to a place like this unless it was corrupted by something foul. I had walked into the house to see Cham. I felt warm. My wings had gone away...disappeared as if they had never been there in the first place. It was quite an annoyance to fly with my wings. They looked strong but they were still awkward, flimsy fluttering things that took way too much energy to flap. The lift was difficult but the thrust to move forward always seemed nearly impossible if the wind wasn't right. Luckily I had gotten out of there without being followed by the law. By the time I had made it to the mansion I felt beyond exhausted.
“Around. They'll be down I'm sure. Except Ariel though.”
“Where is she?”
“Gone. She ran away right after you got arrested.”
“Ran away?”
“Sure did. I mean we did kind of kill the love of her life.”
Cham looked over at me and shrugged.
I shook my head, “I doubt that was the reason.”
I remembered Ariel's relationship with the demon I killed named Leviathan. She loved him at one point but the only thing that Ariel would have taken back was her not being able to kill Leviathan herself.
“Here's a robe...don't want the others to see you in prison pants,” Cham stated.
He walked up to me. I had barely made it past the foyer. He must have seen it in my third eye that I was going to arrive soon because he was there waiting for me. Cham handed me the robe. He gave me a look for a minute as though not sure if to embrace me or not. I assumed my demeanor was the cause of him deciding against embracing me. Instead he just handed me the robe.
“Is my room still the same?”
“I am actually staying in there now,” Raphael stated.
I looked to my right. Down the hallway Raphael, Gabby and Uri walked out. I was shocked to see them. I was shocked especially to see Uri.
What I didn't expect that moment was Raphael to walk up to me and hug me. The dude hugged me! I didn't know how to respond to him. My arms went limp and my eyes cut to him. I saw Cham laughing in the background at the awkward exchange.
Since when was Raphael comfortable hugging me?
“What the fuck is going on?” Gabby asked, “Aren't you supposed to be in jail?”
“I broke out.”
Gabby didn't seem excited to see me. I wasn't surprised to be honest. Uriel seemed to be avoiding eye contact. He stood away from me and the others. I wasn't surprised at that either. The idea that Raphael was excited to see me seemed more of a surprise.
“You used your abilities to break out of maximum security prison?” Gabby asked.
“Look. You guys wanted my help...”
“We wanted what?” she asked.
From the look of everyone's expression it was kind of clear that everyone was not on the same accord. So they weren't expecting me after all. We all seemed to have the same idea because in the next moment everyone turned to Cham.
Cham was standing there with that mischievous glare on his face. He seemed to be giving himself away at that moment.
“I told Michael that we need his help.”
“We don't need his help,” Gabby replied.
“Speak for yourself,” Raphael stated shaking his head and then crossing his arms, “I was just attacked today.”
I looked over at Uriel. He didn't look so good either. Raphael had healing powers and probably would have already healed Uriel so it was clear that this was some sort of intentional thing. Uriel's eyes met mine for a quick second but he didn't say anything. He still looked so good. He looked so handsome. His face was perfect even though he had gotten beaten up recently. He had the perfect dark skin tone that seemed to be even and milky.
I couldn't help but to stare at him.
“My boyfriend has been doing just well leading us...” Gabby retorted.
“Boyfriend?” I asked.
“You didn't hear?” Raphael asked, “Gabby and Uri have been a couple forever now. Didn't you read any of my letters?”
I hadn't. I guess I was glad that I hadn't. I couldn't say that I was surprised by this. Before I went to jail Gabby and Uri had gotten really close. To know now that they had been in a relationship seemed to be a blow though. I looked over at Uri. He still made my heart race. I always knew that he probably wasn't gay and had bisexual tendencies at best. Still there was a part of me hoping that the affection he showed me once upon a time was real.
“Raphael, maybe it would be best if you mind your business,” Uri stated bluntly, “Maybe not share my personal life with your prison pen pal.”
Things got awkward at that moment. Uri was sharper than he normally sounded but something about what Raphael had just said seemed to set him off a little bit.
I noticed Raphael's face twitch up a little bit, “I didn't realize it was a secret.”
Uri shook his head as though all of a sudden gaining his own composure, “You know what? It's not. I am just thinking there are other things we should be worried about. Michael. Welcome back.”
He had spoken to me almost immediately. Our eyes connected. I could have said thank you. I could have said something casual. I could have even told him that I missed him because I did. Instead of doing all of those things however I found myself turning to Cham.
“Who is doing the attacking?” I asked, completely ignoring Uri.
Cham crossed his arms, “Some lady in red.”
“That's all you have? A lady in red?”
“She doesn't talk. She doesn't say anything. You remember seeing her before though? Right Michael? Before you went to jail?”
I remembered seeing a woman in red before. She seemed to just be around whenever something bad happened. It scared the fuck out of me when I first found out that I was an angel. Things like that had become common though. Dark, scary figures appearing out of no where and stalking your life seemed the regular thing now.
It was Uri who continued, “We told the church about the fact that she has started to show up on our day to day. And every time she shows up we are attacked randomly by random people. Just like random people in the street.”
“Not random,” Cham stated.
“What?”
“These people are damned. Humans carry the 666 number on their foreheads. These are the people who are living who souls already belong to Satan.”
Even hearing the mention of Satan sent shivers down my spine. That shit was real. The devil was real. Demons were real. Hell was real.
I crossed my arms hearing about all of this. Life was actually so much more safer and easier behind bars then it was outside.
“All I need to know is who she is and where I can find her,” I stated.
“It's not that easy. We got in contact with representatives at the church to tell them about her. We went to go meet with the reps today and we were attacked,” Raphael explained.
Gabby shook her head, “This isn't Leviathan, Michael. You won't be able to kill this one alone.”
She was sleeping on me as she always did. I didn't mind. I didn't care. Truth was I assumed the others had grown in power by now but the fact that they were barely getting away with their lives from time to time showed I was clearly wrong.
Cham surprisingly seemed to agree, “None of us will be able to defeat the lady in red alone. That's why we need the church. That's why we needed Michael...and one more person.”
Cham was on point again because the door opened.
He must have known the person was coming from his third eye. As the door opened someone waddled into the room. I was shocked.
“Ariel?” I asked almost not recognizing her.
She looked back at me.
Cham was the one who explained, “ I reached out to her in the same way I communicated with you Michael. I think it was necessary to bring everyone back in.”
We all looked at Ariel. She was waddling. Her stomach was huge. My heart was racing. I didn't know what this meant but I think we all suspected.
“She's pregnant,” was Uriel's reaction.
Ariel looked down. All of a sudden it made sense why she would have run away if she did run away. She had run away because she found out she was pregnant. As she looked over at us a lot of things became clear.
She must have assumed we were thinking the same thing because she felt like she had to explain herself almost immediately.
Ariel rubbed her stomach. She could have given birth any minute now.
“The baby is Leviathan's...”
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