The desert they were walking through was now left behind as they moved forward into the miles of vast dunes and valleys. They wanted to keep the large mountain where they encountered Yeqon and brought about the death of Azazel behind them. Before them was only blackness upon blackness, and Adele started to feel the physical effects of Hell. Her stomach grumbled, her mouth became dry, and she grew weaker. “How much longer until we get to the doorway?”
“There’s no telling,” Maxwell said.
“That’s the point of this place. It’s meant to break you. As soon as you think you’re close, you’re nowhere near it. You will break because it’s a place built on a foundation of crippling souls. You’re not a soul, so you’re not going to last as long,” Gabriel explained.
It was then she decided she would never end up there. She couldn’t bear it as a human, so she knew she’d never be able to handle it as a soul.
They soon fell back into silence, only interrupted by a wandering soul wearing a dirty cloth diaper, not yet realizing he had died. “Help me, please. I’m so lost,” the elderly man said, clinging to Gabriel. “I’m supposed to find my wife. Her name is Ruth. Have you seen her?”
Maxwell and Gabriel could see into his soul. This shattered, broken, and concerned gentleman was much less than he appeared. Adele got the impression he was a kindly old man searching for his wife, but she couldn’t see what was within him. “We haven’t seen her. I’m sorry,” she expressed kindly, but it only angered the man.
“You have seen her, haven’t you?!” he shrieked, pointing at her. “You’re keeping her from me!” The dirt on his face shadowed his features as his jaw elongated. “You whore-bitches… You’re always so sneaky! You think you can fool me? Don’t you know who I am? I want my wife and I want her now!”
Maxwell stepped between Adele and the man. “Back off,” he said calmly, holding his hands up. “You don’t have to be this way. We haven’t seen Ruth.”
Before another scream could escape from the man, a hairless demon swooped down, scooping him underneath his arms and carrying him off, heading back toward the mountain. The man screamed, but his words were inaudible curses at the trio and the demon now carrying him back to where he belonged.
“Why did he look like that? He still looked so human. Why was he out here like that?” Adele asked.
“When a human dies, things happen to their soul, depending on the transition. If the death was traumatic or quick, sometimes they become lost,” Gabriel explained. “Sometimes they stay Earthbound, reliving their lives, repeatedly trying to figure out what happened to them, or going on about their routine as if nothing happened. Sometimes, if they’re evil enough, they just come here. They wander around, unaware of their surroundings, how they appear, and so on. If they’re more human, they have yet to give in to darkness. He probably saw you and thought you were like him.”
“He had a darkness in him,” Maxwell continued. “You can sense demons, angels, things of that nature, but the soul of a man is something only truly gifted demons and angels can sense. What’s sad is so many have that talent, that feeling someone’s just not right, but they ignore it.”
“What did he do that was so evil?” Adele asked as they began walking once more.
“He murdered his wife. She got sick and couldn’t do what he felt were her ‘wifely duties’. He got tired of hearing her suffering noises and killed her. Not to end her suffering, but to remove the annoyance of her bellows and cries. He died alone, committing suicide,” Maxwell explained.
Gabriel added, “Her soul is in Heaven. She was a good woman who just happened to marry a very bad man.”
The story was heartbreaking. Adele knew people like Ruth. Men and women doing the best they could for those they loved, all the while being mistreated and abused throughout their time with that person. Growing sad, she hugged herself as they continued through the limitless badlands, hoping not to see another of Hell’s wandering souls.
As they approached what seemed like a small pile of pebbles, Maxwell noticed something different. Adele was unaware of it, lost in playing with flames she’d conjure up with her fingers. Once more, her veins on her hands were lit, trailing up her arm. Gabriel kept an eye on her to make sure no one got burned. “Look,” Maxwell said, pushing his hand through the air, seeing a wave move from his touch. It was some kind of force-field.
“We’re here.” Gabriel’s attention went to the invisible force field before them, his fingertips exploring it. “Must have it protected so wanderers don’t end up opening it by accident, or so a rogue demon can’t dig its way through.”
Adele’s icy eyes looked at the two of them. “Maxwell, how did you escape Hell? If this door was secured, the others must’ve been, too, so how did a fallen angel escape?”
He hesitated to explain. “It was a very long time ago. Some of us got out; some of us died trying.” That was the answer he was giving for the time being. Adele nodded, thinking that was the whole answer. He was relieved she didn’t push for more.
Gabriel thought of using his horn but thought better of it as he did not want to draw any attention to them. Maxwell had plans of his own. His tongue licked his bottom lip and he began whispering a chant. With closed eyes, his head turned one way, then another as he pushed at the field with his words. The scriptures written on his body began to shine.
“Move back,” Gabriel said, grabbing Adele’s arm as he stepped back. He wasn’t sure what Maxwell was conjuring, but he knew they didn’t want to be close for it.
Maxwell’s head continued to move slowly, focusing on opening it, creating a doorway. His hand began to shake against the force field and, as his power focused, his hand began to shake in the air, his eyebrows drawing together in concentration. Maxwell couldn’t be weak in this moment or he would have to start over. He was much more powerful than he let others believe. He had the Word of God, the written word of man, and unimaginable gifts tucked away. He wasn’t as strong as Gabriel, but what made him strong was etched into his flesh.
His face rose to the sky, eyes open…but they were gone. Only empty sockets remained. After all, his eyes were just an illusion. His chest rose and fell, forcing air out of his body. Lips came together, and he blew over the force field. It waved and broke under his hand, allowing him to push it through. With one hand now on the other side of this safeguard, his other reached out for Adele and Gabriel.
“One will take my hand. The other will take that one’s hand. I’m going to walk you through.”
Adele grabbed his hand and Gabriel grabbed hers as they were led through the invisible wall. Fearful of the things she may see while passing through, Adele closed her eyes, gripping tighter to the angels’ hands. Maxwell’s shoes began to crunch as they moved through the doorway and into a heavily wooded area in Georgia.
As soon as Gabriel was safely on the Earthly plane, Maxwell went back toward the portal. Once more, he focused and chanted against the door, slowly closing it.
As the door closed, they could hear screams so loud, it startled them. He knew that meant Yeqon was gone. Another brother lost to this damned cause.
“What was that?” Adele asked as Maxwell continued focusing on sealing the portal.
Gabriel turned toward her. “That was the sound of a fallen angel being killed. Yeqon has died to help us. Kokabiel has ended him.” He closed his eyes. “When wars are waged, lives on both sides end. Mankind knows all too well about war, but they know nothing of the ending of an angel. When we’re snuffed out, we don’t go to Hell or Heaven. We just…cease to exist.”
Adele’s face twisted with sadness and bitterness. She wondered if Gabriel ever saw the loss of life of mankind. Did he ever see the ripple effect of the loved ones mourning for those they’d lost senselessly or for a patriotic purpose? Perhaps Gabriel was detached from mankind because of what she had done so very long ago. He knew better than Adele thought, though. He had seen many lives end, but mankind had a place to go, unlike his siblings and himself. They ended. Period. They didn’t continue on an eternal path because they were the eternal path, the gatekeepers of the afterlife.
Maxwell’s face was turned up, upset with the loss of Yeqon, no matter the battles the two of them had. “It’s sealed. Let’s go.” He marched past the two and headed off, Adele following suit.
“Do you know where we’re going?” she asked. “You’ve said Alabama, but there has to be an address. Where is Goodwitch?”
“I don’t know, and I can’t make a compass to find her like I was able to for you.” Maxwell kept trekking through the dead leaves, over shrubs and fallen logs.
“Compass for me?” Adele blinked several times. “What do you mean?”
“Goodwitch isn’t her real name. It’s a title,” Gabriel explained. “He has to have the birth name of someone to create a compass in his flesh. Goodwitch Anya isn’t her birth name, and I’d bet she has cloaking for her own protection.” He grabbed Maxwell’s arm, holding it up, the compass in plain view. “He did this to find you. That’s how important you are. You’re in his armor now.”
Yanking his arm free of Gabriel’s grip, Maxwell fixed his clothing. “It was the only way I could think of to find her.” He scowled at Gabriel, feeling judged. No judgment was stronger than that of an angel.
Trying to patch the wound he’d caused in his younger brother’s ego, he added, “It’s clever.”
Adele crossed her arms as they bickered. “My god, you are brothers. If I didn’t know any better, I’d assume you were married, as well.” Her brow arched as she stared at them, then moved past. They stared at her back.
“What’s that mean?” Gabriel asked, wanting to understand her remark. “What do you mean by us being married?”
“It’s a common saying here. When two people bicker, some people remark that they ‘fight like a married couple’. It’s well-known that siblings bicker and completely forget about things around them, becoming absolutely absorbed in the argument.” Moving underneath a hanging vine, she added, “All I’m saying is you’re fighting like a couple of human siblings. Perhaps it’s something we got from the angels. Did angels invent fighting amongst siblings?” She smirked to herself. She found it adorable that Gabriel, so ancient, would still have moments of detachment toward the mortals he claimed to love so endlessly.
Maxwell remained quiet. He knew what she was doing by poking at him. Amused, he finally chuckled and shook his head, looking back to make sure they were not being followed. Nothing there, for now. They were not out of the woods and anything could still happen.