Dair stood at the back of the classroom watching alongside Raphael as the female teacher explained the week’s assignments to the children. It was Emma’s second day at her new school and, from what Raphael had said, the night at Mr. Jones’ home had been uneventful, which was just another way of saying that the old man passed out after drinking himself into oblivion. But as long as he didn’t lay a drunk, or sober for that matter, finger on Emma, he could drink and pass out all he wanted to.

“She’s good,” Dair said quietly, regardless of the fact that the children couldn’t hear him. He didn’t want to feel like he was attempting to talk over their teacher.

“There is light in her,” Raphael agreed. “And it’s not her own. She’s not just a moral person. It’s a light that comes from the Creator.”

“What has you so worried then, my old friend?” Dair asked.

“The principal,” Raphael bit out. “He’s going to be a problem.”

“What’s wrong with him?”

“He’s possessed. The demon inside could see me,” he explained.

“Did you warn Emma? Have you confronted it?” Dair asked.

Raphael gave a single shake of his head. “I only told her there was something not right about him. I didn’t want to overly alarm her. I haven’t confronted it because I didn’t want to leave her alone.”

“I’m here now, go see what you can find out,” Dair said as his eyes found Emma. She sat straight up with her eyes focused on the teacher.

The angel disappeared from the room, leaving Dair to hear about an upcoming field trip to the state capital.

Raphael stood outside of Principal Flannigan’s office, listening to the man speak on the phone. He sounded like a normal human being, but Raphael could see beyond the flesh and sense the evil within. He waited until he heard Flannigan hang up the phone before reappearing in his office.

“I wondered how long it would take you to come see me, soldier.” The demon’s voice came out of Mr. Flannigan’s mouth.

Raphael hadn’t been a soldier in a long time. He was currently considered a messenger of the Creator, but he didn’t bother correcting the demon. Messenger, soldier, it mattered not. He was equipped to fight evil regardless of his title. He met the eyes of the man and simply stared at him. The principal squirmed under his scrutiny. “What purpose do you have at an elementary school?” Raphael finally asked. “Most of these children are still too young to be of use to your master.”

“Damaged children do not go on to care about a Creator who left them to be abused,” the demon snarled. “Damaged children hate, and that hate festers and grows. Or they simply wither away. Regardless, neither are a threat to my master’s plans.”

Raphael felt the depravity flowing off of Mr. Flannigan and wondered how any of his employees could stand to be near him. He said nothing, merely staring the demon down.

“I do not hear you defending your master,” it hissed.

“He does not require my defense. And your lies are not worth the time it would take to address them. I will ask you again, what purpose do you have here and what is your name?” He added the last part so that he could gain some measure of power over the creature. He could share the name with Emma and then she too would have that as a weapon.

Mr. Flannigan glared back at him, his eyes practically glowing with the fires of hell. He didn’t want to give his name, but there were some commands a demon simply could not disobey: a direct request for one’s name by a heavenly being couldn’t be ignored.

“I am called Dantalion.” Flannigan’s mouth moved awkwardly as he spoke the demon language.

Raphael couldn’t feel the human sensation of nausea, but the demon’s response would have made him queasy if it were possible. Dantalion was a demon that targeted children, seeking to enslave them. He often used those in direct contact with young ones, knowing how trusting innocent minds were, and how easily an adult in a position of authority could gain influence in their lives. The vile things that demon could unleash with a willing and easily influenced follower was horrifying.

“I have not taken the human’s free will.” The demon hurried on. “Every suggestion I make he follows willingly. He practically invited me into himself. I am not breaking any rules.”

Unfortunately, the demon was telling the truth. He was not doing anything he did not have the authority to do. Humans had free will. They had the blessing and curse of choice. And as long as the demon wasn’t taking the human’s free will, there was nothing Raphael could do to thwart the creature.

“You should get used to my presence,” the angel warned. “I will be watching you closely.”

“Do you think you’re the first solider to come through this school?” Flannigan asked. “We have your kind here already, though, I admit, perhaps few of your rank. Regardless, I am not afraid of you.”

“You should be,” Raphael said simply. “Your defeat is already assured.” He held the demon’s gaze until the creature finally dropped his eyes, unable to continue to face the light that lived inside of the angel.

Raphael left the office in search of his comrades that Dantalion had spoken of. They wouldn’t be hard to find. Angels could sense their own kind when needed. But they rarely reached out to each another, despite oftentimes being in the same vicinity. Their purpose was not to build relationships with one another. They were formed to serve the Creator, whether that meant delivering messages, protecting the created, or fighting Lucifer and his minions.

He came across the first angel in a classroom filled with children that were younger than Emma. Each of them was wearing a smock and standing at a small easel holding a large sheet of white paper. The woman teaching was standing at the white board at the front of the class drawing a bright picture.

“First,” the woman said as she drew a sun, “I want you to draw something that makes you happy. Next, I want you to draw something that makes you sad.” She drew a snowman melting. Raphael thought it interesting that the sun made the woman happy, yet it was also the very thing that caused the melting snowman, which made her sad. It seemed to be a universal truth for humans that the very things that often brought them joy, in turn, also brought them great sorrow.

“Have you come to learn how to make pictures out of your emotions, brother?” a deep voice asked from behind him.

Raphael turned. He smiled at the angel whom he had not seen in a very long time. “I hear it is a good way to deal with stress,” he replied.

“I do not believe any amount of drawing therapy, or any therapy for that matter, could help us deal with the stress we face.”

Raphael nodded. “True. How are you, Simeon?”

“Still fighting,” the angel said with a weary smile.

To Raphael, his eyes seemed dimmer than the last time they’d met, and his shoulders drooped as though the weight of all the sorrow in the school was cast on his shoulders. “How many of us are here?” Raphael asked.

“In the school, there are twenty-four,” he answered. “I am not sure exactly how many are in the town.”

“Is there an overseer?” Raphael asked.

“Michael,” Simeon told him.

Raphael’s brow rose. “Michael?” This was interesting news. Michael was an Archangel—the highest order of celestial beings. He was a general in angel army and one of the leaders in the battle of the great fall. For him to be the overseer of Pine Bluff, a town that was quite small in the grand scheme of things, meant something significant was at hand.

Simeon crossed his arms over his broad chest and glanced out over the children who were drawing their own pictures in response to the teacher’s prompting. “It wasn’t always him,” he admitted. “He was appointed just two decades ago. Before him it was Jemesh, but then something shifted. There was an influx in the number of demons that gathered here. Violence rose to an all-time high and with it the number of children being murdered or injured. And now it has shifted again. Children are going missing.”

Raphael was sickened by the thought of innocent children being hurt at the hands of perverse adults under the influence of a demon. It angered him that humans, the very beings the Creator fashioned, could be so cruel and uncaring of their young. It made no sense to him. So many of them screamed so loudly and so hollowly about injustice. What about justice for the little ones so dependent upon adults for their welfare?

“How many missing, and how long have you been assigned here?”

Simeon let out a sigh. “In the past six months, twelve kids. Ages 8-17, male and female. And I’ve been here long enough to wonder if there is any hope for this place.” He glanced at Raphael. “What has brought you?”

“I have a charge who is here for the time being,” he explained. “She was visited by Brudair.”

The other angel’s brow rose. “She is of great importance.”

Raphael nodded. “Already one human was willing to sacrifice herself for the girl. She took a bullet for the child.”

“And she is your only human?”

“Yes.”

They both were quiet for a bit as they watched the children attempt to draw things that made them laugh. Raphael tried to figure some of them out, but they all just looked like squiggly lines and circles.

“What do you know of the principal?” Raphael asked.

“He is vile. Even before the demon processed him, he was a cruel, disgusting human being. But now, most of the staff can’t even stand to be near him. I keep thinking that he is probably involved with the disappearances, but if he is, he’s very good at covering his tracks.” Simeon’s face grew hard as he spoke, his eyes nearly glowing in their intensity.

“Why has he been allowed to remain in his position as principal?”

“Nobody has been able to prove that he is doing anything illegal or that violates school policy. I’ve only ever seen him gawking at some of the female teachers and leering at the students. So far, he hasn’t physically touched any of them, that I know of.”

“Any other demons I need to be aware of?”

Simeon huffed out a laugh that was anything but humorous. “Too many to name. Keep your eyes and ears open and your charge protected at all times.”

“Of course, you too, brother. Call if you need me,” said Raphael as he disappeared, rejoining Dair back in Emma’s classroom.

“What did you find out?” Dair asked, keeping his eyes on the classroom full of students.

Raphael explained what he’d learned about Principal Flannigan, missing children, and the demons and angels present. He didn’t hide his worry from his longtime friend. Regardless of his status as an angel, Raphael still only possessed so much power and was required to follow certain rules.

“So, basically, Emma has been dropped into a cesspool of demon activity?”

“It looks that way, unfortunately,” Raphael huffed. He glanced at Dair and noticed the worry in his eyes and the tightness around his mouth. “How is your female?”

Dair’s eyes darkened and began to swirl with emotion. “Having nightmares.”

The angel’s brow rose. “The mate of the Sandman is having nightmares?”

“Don’t think that the irony is lost on me.” Dair grumbled. “I’m going to figure out who or what is causing it.”

“And what happens when you do?”

“I’m going to cast them back to the pit where they belong.”

“No offense, brother, but you’ve never killed anyone, nor cast a demon to hell,” Raphael pointed out. “Are you sure you should be making threats like that?”

Dair shrugged. “There’s a first time for everything. Isn’t that what the humans say?”

“I don’t know.” Raphael shrugged. “Humans say a lot of things that seem ridiculously obvious or purposely obtuse. Who can keep up with their lingo,” he said. “What is your plan?”

“I’m going to follow a trail of nightmares,” Dair said. Even as he said it, he dreaded where that trail would lead. “If someone comes under a demonic attack during sleep, I can find the demons responsible. It may not be my job to deal with them, but I can see them. I will seek these demons out and see if I can gain any helpful knowledge.”

“Do you think it wise? To draw attention to yourself that way. You know that the enemy will find out you are poking around,” Raphael pointed out.

“It is a risk I have to take in order to find out what is happening to Serenity.” Dair’s heart was heavy, and the worry he felt for his love was beginning to eat away at him. He had to keep her safe. Whatever the cost, he must ensure that Sarah Serenity Tillman remained alive and well, with him, where she belonged.

“Be careful, comrade,” the angel told him, and held out his hand.

Dair wrapped his hand around Raphael’s forearm, just as the angel did to his. “You as well,” he told him. When he released his friend, Dair slipped from the classroom and let his will pull him to the other side of the planet, where night was reigning. When he reappeared, he was in a remote village. He stood outside of a small hut-like home, and the sulfuric fumes wafting from the place nearly gagged him. Whoever was sleeping inside of that hut was so wrapped up in evil that the demons had literally taken up residency. It was sad, but it was also exactly what he needed in order to attempt to gain the information that could help him. He willed himself inside of the house and followed the scent of evil and heavy oppression into a small room where a single mattress lay on the floor. As soon as Dair stepped into the room, the man lying on the mattress sat up, his eyes snapped open, and yellow, cat-like orbs stared back at him.

“You are not welcome here, Brudair, loyal pet of the Creator,” the demon hissed out of the man’s mouth.

“Unlike you, I do not have to be invited in,” Dair said coolly. “Give me your name, old one.”

“I am many,” he answered.

“Your. Name.” Dair drew on the light that was imbued inside of him by the Creator and let it seep into the area around him. Though darkness was his domain, it did not change the fact that he was made from the light of goodness. He was not born of evil and, therefore, could call on that light when he needed it. He could see the pain that the demon was feeling as the heavenly light touched him.

“You know me well, Brudair,” the demon mocked. “I am Epiales.

Dair’s heart jumped into his throat. He recognized the name all too well. Epiales was Dair’s exact opposite—the high demon of nightmares. He was charged by his master to twist dreams into terrible nightmares in order to influence the destiny of humans. But where the Creator used Dair to set humans on the path of goodness, Epiales was commanded to lure humans into the service of darkness.

“You’ve changed since I saw you last,” Dair said, as he remembered his previous encounter with the high demon of nightmares. The fiend was much more powerful.

“Many things have changed since we met last, Sandman.” The name was spat at him as if it left a bad taste in the demon’s mouth, which Dair thought was ironic, considering his breath reeked of sulfur and noxious fumes brought from the pits of hell.

Dair stepped further into the room. “Yes, much has changed. But then, there are still some things that are the same. I command you, Epiales to tell me everything you know about the human female, Sarah Serenity Tillman. Speak or I will cast you back to hell, and I’m sure your master will not be pleased by your return.”

The demon stared at Dair. The eyes that peered out of the man’s face were otherworldly and full of hatred. They seemed to be weighing Dair’s words, attempting to determine if the Sandman was telling the truth. It wasn’t sure if Dair had the ability to cast him back, but he apparently decided not to try and find out.

“My master has many plansss,” he hissed. “Your human mate isss just another obstacle in hisss way, and he does not tolerate obstacles. Ssshe will be dealt with. We have broken no rules. Ssshe maintains her free will.”

“That may be,” Dair admitted. “But why torment her? How can she possibly be an obstacle? He’s never been interested in her before. What has changed?”

“She protected the child.” He snarled. “The child wasss not to live. She must die. She cannot be allowed to fulfill her purpossse. The master will do anything to destroy her. He will begin to break rules if he mussst.” The demon’s mouth slammed shut, and Dair could tell the demon realized he’d said too much.

Dair felt his anger rising. “You tell your master that he is being watched, and as soon as he begins breaking rules, the wrath of the Creator will reign down on him and his minions. Your master’s power is only allowed to reach so far in this domain. Whatever he might tell you, he is not equal to the Creator. And tell him to leave Serenity alone or I will begin sending his minions back to him one at a time. If you think my mate is an obstacle, then you have no idea of the obstruction I can be.”

“How am I supposed to tell him these things? I am here.”

“Not for long,” Dair said and held out his hand. It had been a long time since he’d cast a demon back to the abyss. Such a task wasn’t what he was created for, but any of those who were created by the light of the Creator could call on His power by faith and it would be done.

“You said you would not cast me out if I spoke,” the demon whined, sounding more like a child than a demonic being.

“You are a fool if you truly think I will leave you here to continue your attack on the Creator’s children.” Dair closed his eyes and called out to the Creator. I ask in faith that you will hear me, cast this minion back to the pits of hell where he can no longer harm those that are yours. Give ear to my request. Dair felt the light growing in him and spoke the words that came into his mind. “Epiales, I so name you, and by the light of the Creator who you have no power against, I cast you back to hell. Obey and do not return to this domain. LEAVE!” He roared and felt the light leave his body, speeding toward the demon contained in the human body. An inhuman screech filled the room, and the man convulsed before falling back onto the bed. After a few moments, the man’s breath evened out and the presence of the evil was gone.

Dair walked over to the man and checked his pulse. He appeared to be unharmed. Dair reached into his mind and directed his dreams to push him in a direction that would hopefully turn him from the path he’d previously walked. He truly hoped, without the demonic influence, the man would be able to think clearly and realize how far he’d strayed from his true purpose. Dair hoped the man would realize how many people were hurt because of his unhealthy choices. He left the man, but he didn’t return to Serenity. He felt dirty after having been in the presence of such an old evil. He needed to take some time to gather his thoughts and cleanse himself of the residual evil that might have attempted to cling to him.

He sent up a prayer that Serenity would be protected. He didn’t know how he would live if anything happened to her. It was bad enough that she was being tortured in her dreams. He didn’t want her tortured while she was awake as well.

“I’ll be back soon, love,” he murmured as he headed to his next destination. He only wished he’d known when he said those words that it would be nearly a week before he’d see her again. If he’d known that, he would have gone to her immediately. He would have been by her side where he should have been.

* * *

“How long has he been gone?” Glory asked Serenity as she sat in the chair next to her hospital bed.

“Three days,” Serenity said, trying not to sound as forlorn as she felt.

“Did he say where he was going?”

“He was going to check on Emma.” Serenity sighed. “I feel like I would know if something had happened to him. I mean, we sort of have a connection. He can feel what I’m feeling and sometimes I get hints of what he’s feeling.”

“Maybe he’s just had more people than usual to visit,” Glory suggested.

Serenity shrugged.

“O-ooor,” Glory drew out the word. “Maybe he has another woman on the side and he’s got to spend time with her so she doesn’t learn about you.”

“Really?” She glared at her best friend. “I’m feeling all Dair deprived and that’s what you come up with?”

“You have D.D. … Dair Deprivation.” Glory laughed. “We need to make sure they put that in your charts and I’ll be sure and share your new diagnosis with the Sandman. He needs to stay apprised of all your medical changes.”

“You’re a butthead.”

Glory tsked at her. “If you’re going to start name calling, then please at least make it something more original.”

“Fine,” Serenity huffed. “You’re the butt of a pig with the head of an otter and the legs of a giraffe. And you suck frog eggs.”

“I was thinking more along the lines of hussy, bitch, parasitic whore, but …” Glory waved her hand in a whatever sort of gesture. “But we can go with what you said. It at least shows you’re making an effort.”

“Sometimes, I wonder about your sanity,” Serenity said.

As usual, her words didn’t seem to faze Glory. “Honey, sometimes I worry about my sanity. But life’s too short to worry about crazy. I say we should embrace the crazy. Make sweet love to the insanity that consumes us.”

“That makes no sense.”

“You just pointed out I might be crazy. In what way would that imply my words would ever make sense? You’re setting the bar too high for my crazy, Serenity. Don’t stress me.”

Her faux outrage made Serenity laugh. “Fine, I’ll lower the bar. By all means, commence your embracing and love making.”

“Excellent. Now as free as I am, I’m not an exhibitionist, so I’m going to need some privacy,” Glory said, her words deadpan with no hint of humor.

A few heartbeats later they were both laughing. Serenity clutched her side as she attempted to stifle her laughter. “Don’t make me laugh, it hurts too much.”

“Suck it up. Laughter is the best medicine, sugar makes the medicine go down and an apple a day keeps the doctor away.”

“I take it back. The bar is at the top. Keep your crazy contained.”

Glory shook her head. “Too late, babe. I’m out there Jerry and I’m loving every minute of it.”

“Seinfeld? Really?”

“Are you still thinking about dirt boy?”

“Sandman,” Serenity corrected.

“He left you here for three days and hasn’t come to check on you. He’s dirt boy until he redeems himself. You do know it is my job to get outraged for you in regard to your man when you will not. It’s in the best friend handbook.”

“Glory, hun, if there was a best friend handbook, you wouldn’t have read it.”

“So true. But I would have gotten the cliff notes. Now, enough witty banter. I know you miss Dair, but there’s more to it than that, I can see it in your eyes. What’s going on?”

Serenity had an internal debate about how much, if anything, she should tell Glory. She didn’t want to worry her friend, but at the same time, she really needed to talk to someone and Dair was MIA. Decision made, she looked her best friend in the eye and said, “I’m being attacked by demons in my sleep.”

Glory folded her arms in front of her and leaned back in her chair. “Alright, let’s hear it. And for the record, your man is able to manipulate dreams and he’s not here to help you with this? That makes him less than dirt boy.”

“What’s less than dirt boy?” Serenity asked.

“Pond scum baby,” Glory answered. “And I’m the sucker fish that’s going to devour him.”

“That sounds dirty.”

“He’s pond scum. Of course it sounds dirty.”

“No, I mean you said you were going to devour my boyfriend.”

“Not in a yummy, he’s the icing on my cake I want to lick, devour, you twit.”

Serenity held her hands up. “Okay, okay. Pipe down.”

“Sleep, demons, attacks, let me hear the rest.” Glory’s eyes zeroed in on Serenity’s face and she’d gone into business mode.

Serenity took a deep breath and let it out and then poured out all the emotions her nightmares had been causing. It should have been Dair she was talking to, not that she didn’t love Glory. But Dair made her feel safe and protected. She needed him, and yet she didn’t want to be more of a burden to him than she already was. Serenity also didn’t want their relationship built around lies in a misguided attempt to protect each other. So, with a mental kick in the butt, she decided to tell Dair everything she was telling her friend, when he came back.

* * *

Darla and Wayne walked into the DHS office unsure of what exactly they were supposed to do, but both determined to get Emma back.

“Can we help you?” a portly woman asked as she stepped out of a small office just to the right of the door. Looking past her into the office, Darla could see stacks and stacks of files. So many children in need of help, and yet the only one they could rescue was Emma. If she could save them all, she would. But that wasn’t reality. Her reality was the one child who she knew God had sent to them. Darla knew it in her heart. Emma needed them.

“We need to know who to talk to about adopting a child that we had been taking care of. She was taken by DHS when her aunt died.”

Recognition sparked in the woman’s eyes and sympathy followed “You are speaking of Emma Whitmore?”

Darla nodded. “She was taken and placed with a man who they claimed was her family, but she doesn’t know him. I’m sure she is scared, and we are more than willing to adopt her. We just need to know what to do.”

The woman motioned for them to follow her into the small office. She moved some charts off the two chairs that sat opposite her behind the desk. She took her seat and motioned for them to do the same. “Unfortunately, it’s not that simple,” the woman, who was named Leslie Brummet according to the nameplate on her desk, said. “As long as there is a family member willing to care for Emma, we cannot take her from them and put her with a non-family member.”

“What if that family member wasn’t worth the ground a dog has peed on?” Wayne asked.

Leslie’s eyes widened. “Um, well, there would have to be an investigation after a formal complaint was issued.”

“Okay, yeah, that,” Darla said with a wave of her hand. “That’s what we want to do then, issue a complaint that the scum that has her shouldn’t be allowed to have her.”

The woman started digging through a file drawer and pulled out a stapled packet of paper. “You will need to fill this out and return it to me.”

“No need,” Darla said. “We will fill it out now and hand it right back. We don’t want that monster to have her any longer than necessary.”

“Forgive me for being nosy,” Leslie said with a small amount of hesitation in her voice. “But have you met this man who is keeping Emma?”

Darla shook her head. “No, but the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, and Emma’s aunt was a horrible caregiver. I can’t imagine that her father is any better. Regardless, Emma belongs with us. She might have been given to different parents for a short time in her life, but ultimately, God had plans for her to become our adopted daughter at some point in her life. That time is now. You need to know, Ms. Brummet, we are prepared to fight this come hell or high water until Emma is back in our home.”

To Darla’s surprise, Leslie smiled. “I wish we had more citizens like you, willing to take in children who have found themselves, by no fault of their own, in situations where they need new parents. If more would step forward, then so many lives would be saved. And by that I just mean raising up healthy children who became healthy adults. As it is, we have so many damaged children who never heal. They go through their childhood feeling unloved and unwanted. Can you imagine what it must be like to feel that way as a young child? Being an adult and feeling unwanted is one thing, but to be a child without the ability to comprehend the situation, to just be wondering why no one wants you … I don’t know how anyone recovers from that.”

Darla’s heart broke at the woman’s words. She was right, but what could she do? They were but one couple with limited funds and space in their own home.

“Don’t mistake my words,” Leslie said, speaking quickly. “I am not trying to guilt you into taking more children. You can only change lives one child at a time, and I realize that not everyone is supposed to foster and adopt. God has different plans for each of us. I guess I just wonder how many out there ignore the call they probably have felt at some time to foster or adopt. I see so much pain in this job, and I just can’t take it all.”

“The fact that you care so much is a step in the right direction,” Darla assured her. “You can only do so much. Do not take on more than is yours to take.”

Leslie nodded. “Thank you.” She handed Darla a pen and smiled. “Please, take your time. When you’re done, I will get this processed as quickly as possible.”

“Thank you, truly, thank you.” Darla’s words were filled with emotion that attempted to flow out of her in the form of tears, but she forced them back and focused on the papers before her. Her pen flew across them as she tried to explain all the reasons she believed Emma was in danger and belonged with them. She hoped and prayed they would have a sensible judge who would truly have Emma’s best interest at heart. That was all she could do until Emma was back with them.