"Then why the Hell didn’t you stop him?" Mark asked, horrified at what his father was doing. I laid a restraining hand on his arm trying to calm him, but he shook it off, stepping closer to Haniel. "Why didn't you stop him?" His anger-laced voice sounded nothing like my Mark.

"We tried. We set a trap, hoping to lure him out. That is where my responsibilities lay last week, preparing the band of Guides and Protectors for battle. We foresaw him plotting his attack and planned accordingly. The Dark One, however, fed him the knowledge he needed to attack when we were least expecting it. He wiped out the entire band in one swoop. All eight are dead," Haniel said, hanging his head.

"Why is he searching for Guides and Protectors to kill when he has two at his disposal? Or did he already murderer them too?" I asked, suddenly horrified for the two that belonged in our band, but had been snatched from us.

"He will not kill those two. He has a greater purpose for them both," Haniel said.

"Like what?" Lynn asked.

"I cannot say," Haniel said vaguely.

"How did he ambush them?" Sam asked quietly.

"He killed them in their sleep while they dreamed of each other. He used their connection against them."

Tears sprang to my eyes and silently rolled down my cheeks as the implications hit me. Innocent celestial beings were murdered while they were lost in each other's arms in their dreams, and now the man who haunted my own nightmares was more powerful than before.

"Why does the murder of celestial beings make someone stronger?" Shawn asked, standing behind Sam with his hands on her shoulders giving her comfort through his touch. I yearned for Mark to hold me the same way, but his body language made it clear he didn't want to be touched.

"Normally they do not. In this case, Victor is being rewarded by The Dark One for the deaths of those that stand against him. He is using him as a catalyst to win the battle for Earth's souls."

"Why doesn't God just strike him down?" Sam asked, voicing my own question.

"To strike him down would start the war that ends the world. He has the protection of The Dark One on his side. If The Light were to strike him down himself, the celestial realm would open, allowing The Dark One to release his vengeance on humanity."

"That is why The Light created you," he said, indicating us. "You can stop him and delay a battle between Heaven and Hell before humanity is ready for it. Some day that battle will be inevitable, but until that day, we rely on our Guides and Protectors to protect humanity."

"Where is he now?" Mark asked in a controlled voice.

"We do not know. The Dark One has him cloaked well."

"So, he could be murdering others as we speak, getting even stronger as we stand here?" Mark asked, once again furious.

My stomach clenched not only at his words, but at his tone. I felt sick seeing him so conflicted between anger and despair. I gathered my emotions together and sent them toward him, hoping for a break in his anger.

"I have met with the other bands and ordered them here. They are safe and will be here soon. You will prepare together and you will destroy the Dark Angel before he can harm another one of mine," Haniel said possessively.

His words gave my emotions the opening they needed as Mark's anger once again shifted to despair. Pushing all that I had toward him, looking for cracks in his armor, I blanketed Mark's every emotion with my own. Watching him closely, I waited until his anger ebbed away and his body language relaxed before I approached him. Wrapping my arms around him from behind, I gave him the comfort he needed. He rested his hands on mine and leaned more fully into me.

"How many are joining us?" Robert asked intrigued.

"Two of the last three active bands," Haniel said gravely. "The last active band will stay in a secure location to protect the Guides and Protectors that are no longer on duty and the Guides and Protectors that are too young to fight. One of the bands is still intact, but the other recently lost a Guide and Protector in an unrelated assignment. They are still digesting their loss and trying to recover."

"How will we find Victor when the time comes?" Sam asked.

Haniel studied us gravely. "You will not have to seek him out, he will come on his own. You must prepare yourselves, because make no mistake, he will not be alone. Evil will be at his beck and call, Daemons will be at his disposal, making him a force to be reckoned with."

"Why try to kill us all at once instead of hunting our bands separately like he did the others?" I asked.

"We believe he used the murders of The Light's Chosen Ones to set an example. He does not wish to destroy all of you, as you learned before. His desire is for you to join him."

"Why would he believe any one of us would choose to join him?" Sam asked confused.

"Because we all have free will," I answered before Haniel could. Haniel had told me the night we talked by the pool that God left the choice to us. The idea seemed ludicrous to me that someone would choose evil over what we were destined for.

I saw my friends shift uncomfortably at my words.

"You mean one of us could turn against our family here?" Shawn asked, indicating all of us as a whole with a sweeping motion of his arms. "No way man, I just don't see it."

"It has come to pass before," Haniel said simply without looking at Mark, but his implication was clear. Not only had Victor turned on his own family, but he had orchestrated the decimation of his entire band.

"Well, I don’t care what you say, our band is solid," Shawn said with certainty.

"Then the first part of your battle is already won," Haniel said, flashing us one of his rare smiles. "We will reconvene in the morning. Pressing matters will have me away until then," he said abruptly, walking purposefully toward the patio door.

"Wow, talk about a hit and run," Sam said, breaking the tension that Haniel's words had cast over our group.

She nailed it perfectly. Haniel had come in and steamrolled us with talk about murders, Daemons, and Mark's crazy dad, then left us to deal with how to process it all. Most of the time Haniel could almost pass as a human, but at times like this he failed miserably.

Sam's comment set off a ripple effect in our group as each of us talked over one another. Maybe it was a knee-jerk reaction to ease the tension, but it took us a few moments to calm down and listen to what each of us had to say. After a few minutes, some of the fear released its grip on us and we were finally able to discuss what we had learned somewhat rationally. Mark was quiet through most of the talking, which was understandable. His father was the Devil's spawn, and I knew the knowledge of this was disheartening for him without having to read his thoughts.

Once we had exhausted the topic, it was obvious we needed a break. There was nothing we could do about the situation at that moment.

"Anybody want to watch a movie?" Sam suggested.

"Ooh, good idea," I agreed. "Let's make it like a camp out in the living room."

The guys got to work, clearing the middle of the floor, which proved to be an easy task, even though the furniture was heavy. It definitely paid to have three crazy-strong guys around. Lynn, Sam, and I gathered the snacks and everyone's sleeping bags to the now empty floor space. Mark lit a fire in the fireplace for the s'mores, while Shawn and Robert prepared the skewers of marshmallows. Within five minutes, our camp in was ready and pj's were on.

Mark loaded the first Blu-ray into the disc player. We reluctantly let the guys pick the movie, hoping they wouldn't pick something obnoxious.

"Oooh, I love this movie," I said, plopping down on my sleeping bag to watch the latest The Fast and the Furious movie on the fifty inch flat screen.

"Who doesn't?" Shawn said, sitting next to me. "Dude, you need one of those cool 3D TV's we saw at the mall last week," Shawn said in an awful Vin Diesel impersonation.

"Wow, that totally sucked. Oh wait, were you trying for the Muppet version of Vin Diesel?" Robert said from across the room, laughing at his joke.

In typical guy fashion, Shawn chucked a pillow at him, and before I knew it, an all-out pillow fight erupted in the room as each of us tried to out-do the other. Of course as lightweights, Lynn, Sam, and I didn't stand a chance. We just could not get enough oomph behind any of our throws to compete with the guys.

Our lighthearted mood was superficial as we made an unspoken pact to place our worries on the backburner. We all knew what was expected of us, and tomorrow we would be Guides and Protectors again. Tonight though, we were just goofy kids blowing off steam.

***

Haniel woke us early the next morning to prepare for the other band's arrival. Sleeping arrangements had to be made to accommodate twenty of us. It was decided ahead of time that we would be sleeping in two shifts. But even with sleeping in shifts, we needed all the additional space we could get, including the two rooms we had avoided, his father's office and bedroom.

Mark tackled his dad's office like a madman, pushing all the furnishings against the far wall with a careless attitude, slamming each item together with bone-jarring crashes. Once the heavy furnishings were moved, he tossed the heavy leather desk chair on top of the desk with one hand, scarring the deep mahogany exterior as it journeyed the length of the desktop. We didn’t question his methods and felt his attitude was justified.

His father's room though, was another issue altogether. Mark's hand paused on the doorknob, but he couldn't seem to find the inner strength to turn the knob.

"Dude we got this. Why don't you and Krista go get the supplies we're going to need?" Shawn suggested, nudging Mark's hand away from the knob. "We got this under control," he said again with emphasis, giving Mark and me a small push down the hall.

"Yeah, let's go do the shopping," I said, grateful for my brother's suggestion. I hated seeing Mark so torn up and I felt a little alone time was exactly what we needed. "You get your keys and I'll grab my bag," I told him, skipping toward my room, lighthearted at the prospect of alone time. I loved all my friends, but at times I selfishly craved the solitude of just us.

Grabbing my small purse off the bed, I slung the long slender strap around my neck so it crisscrossed my body. Carrying a purse was not a favorite of mine so I bought the most functional purse I could find. The pretty paisley print made up for its function, giving it quite the girly look and keeping Sam's negative remarks about my fashion sense to a minimum drawl. Pausing in front of the dresser mirror, I ran the brush through my hair and swiped a quick brush of lip gloss across my lips. Grimacing at my bland appearance, I finally gave up on making my reflection something it wasn’t.

The ride to Walmart was quiet. At first I tried to fill the silence with mindless chatter as he drove, but when he remained silent during each attempt, I finally clammed up. I couldn't help feeling hurt that he wouldn't open up to me. Blinking away tears, I kept my eyes on the landscape that passed outside my window, struggling to keep my emotions at bay. I was crushed by the chasm that seemed to be growing between us.

We were different than the others by the fact that his father seemed destined to ruin the closeness Mark and I were supposed to share, I couldn't help thinking to myself, as I kept my eyes firmly turned away from his so he couldn't see the moisture I had to blink away.

Once we arrived at the crowded Walmart, all thoughts of having a decent conversation were out. We focused on maneuvering our buggies between whiney kids begging for toys, harassed parents trying to get their weekly shopping done, and elderly people scooting along on their motorized vehicles.

Our conversation strictly consisted of short sentences.

"Grab a couple extra tubes of toothpaste," I told him, while I threw several packages of toilet paper into the buggy.

By the time we loaded up one of the buggies with air mattresses, blankets, sheets, toiletry items, and extra towels, I was sick of the store.

Still needing actual food items, we headed over to the perishables section of the store. I threw soda, chips, deli lunch meat and all the fixings for sandwiches into the cart without hesitation, hoping to escape the confines of the store as quickly as I could.

The back of my foot was run over twice by shoppers not paying attention and I had to put a restraining hand on Mark's arm when a guy around our age dropped a two liter bottle of soda on my foot and didn't acknowledge it at all. "It's fine," I said, bending down to pick up the offending bottle of Mountain Dew and placing it back on the shelf.

Needless to say, by the time Mark pulled out of the parking lot, I wasn’t feeling overly thrilled about the store.

"Well that was a nightmare," Mark said, finally sounding like himself.

I let out a burst of laughter, relieved that at least he was acting normal again. "Um, that's putting it mildly. I can't believe people subject themselves to that torture every week. We would starve if that was our only option," I added jokingly.

"Good thing we're junk food junkies," Mark said, grabbing onto my hand as he steered the vehicle with his other.

"Yep, guess so. It will be nothing but burgers and chocolate for us every single night," I declared.

"And pizza," Mark added.

"And French fries," I threw in for good measure.

The rest of the drive was lighthearted as we bantered back and forth, throwing more and more junk food onto our list. My fears on the drive out seemed silly and immature. Mark obviously just needed a little space to process things without me throwing in my own insecurities into the mix.

Relieved to be back, we arrived at Mark's house to find a white Suburban sitting in Mark's usual spot. We both climbed out apprehensively. It was a surreal experience to know that we were about to meet others like us.

"Well, here we go," Mark said, linking his fingers through mine as we headed up the front walk.

I was surprised that the house was as quiet as a tomb as we opened the front door. Puzzled, I glanced at Mark who had tensed up at the silence. He even stepped in front of me protectively as we cautiously walked toward the living room, hyperaware of our surroundings.

I ran into his back when he halted abruptly in front of me.

I prepared myself for whatever danger awaited us. Frightened of what I was going to see, I peeked around Mark's back. I couldn't help the gasp of surprise that left my lips.

Chapter 14

One of the bands had arrived, and they were unlike anything I could have ever imagined. They weren't as imposing as Haniel, but they definitely projected an aura of greatness. They portrayed the very definition of unity as they stood together. To place their age would have been difficult. They had the builds of our youth, but the maturity of a wiser and older generation. They stood together as one. My friends, on the other hand, were scattered around the living room, looking disjointed.