visions?”
“Yes. I’m having some difficulty with them. I can’t predict when they’ll come or why. And the violence . . .”
“I know. Did they just start for you as well? On New Year’s Eve?” Gabe asked.
She nodded.
“That’s really weird. So they just shipped you in, too, after they started?”
“No. I’ve been in Durham for a while. Not long after I was born, I was sent to live under the care of Carlyle when my parents died. We moved around the United Kingdom and Ireland for several years before ending up here. He’s sort of been the only parent I’ve known. Once he felt I was old enough to understand, he told me everything. But when the visions hit, so did the reality, I guess. I’m only beginning to understand. It can be a lot to digest.”
Gabe looked out onto the city, wishing he could get lost in it and disappear. “At least he trusted you enough to tell you.”
“I know. It was unfair, but your father did it with your best interest in mind. The point is, you know now. You don’t have to accept everything at once. It will come in due time. Preparation, however, is imperative. Something is happening out of turn that none of us understand. We don’t have the luxury of waiting until you’ve been convinced of the truth to start readying ourselves for what’s to come. For now, just cooperate. Play along, if that’s the way you see it. Eventually, I know you’ll come around. In the meantime, you’ve been enrolled, like me, into Durham University. More specifically, Castle College. We’ll be under the tutelage of Professor Carlyle in the Theology and Divinity Program, which will, of course, be your major.”
“Sounds like I don’t have much choice in the matter.”
“You do. There’s free will in every choice we make. But you’d do well to start listening to Carlyle. His sole purpose for being on Earth is to help guide you and me through these times. He’s not all piss and vinegar—he can be a laugh. Well, not often, but you know.
“Look, it isn’t all that bad,” Micah continued. “You’ll attend class here as a freshman with your core studies first. After class, we’ll do extracurricular studies with Carlyle. Think of it as Archangel 101. The important thing is to act like a regular student. Fit in, as it were. Be inconspicuous, and an inconspicuous student is one that acts like the rest of them.”
“So, pretend nothing’s happened. Do stuff like homework and hang out at the student pub,” Gabe said.
“Exactly or participate in sport, if you can find the time. Football is quite popular. Sorry, soccer as you Yanks call it. Cricket and rugby as well, though you look a little fragile for a scrum. Durham isn’t New York or London by any means, but life is good here. Besides, you’re the only other, you know—one of us—I’ve met. I was beginning to think I was the only one.”
Micah smiled at him, and he began to feel better about being here.
“Wait. I thought there were others on the way,” Gabe said.
Her brow furrowed. “Unfortunately, it seems they are running quite late.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Septis stood behind the yellow partitioning tape that separated the sidewalk from the cathedral grounds and watched the scurry of activity in the still-smoking ruins. Firefighters dug through ash and rubble, seeking burning embers to extinguish with their crude devices.
He felt cheated, uncertain as to how the dispatched boy had not been Gabriel, when there had been so little doubt inside the church. Now, instead of glory, the destroyed house of God served only as a reminder of his failure. A hollow feeling festered inside, a fear of what his prey’s escape might mean.
If Gabriel could not be found, if somehow he were to unite with the remaining three archangels, then Septis would have much to answer for. While the boy still lived, the Hellgate remained closed. To punish his mistake, Mastema would send another by exploiting the splintered pathway
“Yes. I’m having some difficulty with them. I can’t predict when they’ll come or why. And the violence . . .”
“I know. Did they just start for you as well? On New Year’s Eve?” Gabe asked.
She nodded.
“That’s really weird. So they just shipped you in, too, after they started?”
“No. I’ve been in Durham for a while. Not long after I was born, I was sent to live under the care of Carlyle when my parents died. We moved around the United Kingdom and Ireland for several years before ending up here. He’s sort of been the only parent I’ve known. Once he felt I was old enough to understand, he told me everything. But when the visions hit, so did the reality, I guess. I’m only beginning to understand. It can be a lot to digest.”
Gabe looked out onto the city, wishing he could get lost in it and disappear. “At least he trusted you enough to tell you.”
“I know. It was unfair, but your father did it with your best interest in mind. The point is, you know now. You don’t have to accept everything at once. It will come in due time. Preparation, however, is imperative. Something is happening out of turn that none of us understand. We don’t have the luxury of waiting until you’ve been convinced of the truth to start readying ourselves for what’s to come. For now, just cooperate. Play along, if that’s the way you see it. Eventually, I know you’ll come around. In the meantime, you’ve been enrolled, like me, into Durham University. More specifically, Castle College. We’ll be under the tutelage of Professor Carlyle in the Theology and Divinity Program, which will, of course, be your major.”
“Sounds like I don’t have much choice in the matter.”
“You do. There’s free will in every choice we make. But you’d do well to start listening to Carlyle. His sole purpose for being on Earth is to help guide you and me through these times. He’s not all piss and vinegar—he can be a laugh. Well, not often, but you know.
“Look, it isn’t all that bad,” Micah continued. “You’ll attend class here as a freshman with your core studies first. After class, we’ll do extracurricular studies with Carlyle. Think of it as Archangel 101. The important thing is to act like a regular student. Fit in, as it were. Be inconspicuous, and an inconspicuous student is one that acts like the rest of them.”
“So, pretend nothing’s happened. Do stuff like homework and hang out at the student pub,” Gabe said.
“Exactly or participate in sport, if you can find the time. Football is quite popular. Sorry, soccer as you Yanks call it. Cricket and rugby as well, though you look a little fragile for a scrum. Durham isn’t New York or London by any means, but life is good here. Besides, you’re the only other, you know—one of us—I’ve met. I was beginning to think I was the only one.”
Micah smiled at him, and he began to feel better about being here.
“Wait. I thought there were others on the way,” Gabe said.
Her brow furrowed. “Unfortunately, it seems they are running quite late.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Septis stood behind the yellow partitioning tape that separated the sidewalk from the cathedral grounds and watched the scurry of activity in the still-smoking ruins. Firefighters dug through ash and rubble, seeking burning embers to extinguish with their crude devices.
He felt cheated, uncertain as to how the dispatched boy had not been Gabriel, when there had been so little doubt inside the church. Now, instead of glory, the destroyed house of God served only as a reminder of his failure. A hollow feeling festered inside, a fear of what his prey’s escape might mean.
If Gabriel could not be found, if somehow he were to unite with the remaining three archangels, then Septis would have much to answer for. While the boy still lived, the Hellgate remained closed. To punish his mistake, Mastema would send another by exploiting the splintered pathway
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