Chapter 6

"Are we supposed to trust him?" Raphael asked.

We were in the next room. We looked into the dining room. This boy. Jophiel was sitting there. My eyes were pressed up against him. I didn't know why he looked so familiar. I didn't know why I connected to him.

He had kissed me and even now as he sat in the room alone, I touched my lips and could feel him. There was something there. There was something that I didn't understand.

"The church sent him," Cham stated.

"Weren't we dealing with this on our own?" Uri asked, "Didn't we all agree to that? Didn't we all agree this was internal. We don't know these people in this church."

"Rag trusted them and so do I."

"We agreed goddam it!" Uri stated.

We all turned to him. Uri was standing in front of Cham's face. Uri could be intimidating if he wanted to. His thick eyebrows bent over with all this anger and masculinity echoing from him. I had to admit it was sexy when he did things like that.

"Are you mad because he's here...or are you mad because of something else?" Cham asked Uri.

I didn't know what Cham was referring to at first but things got quiet and it seemed like we all had time to think about it. I wondered if Cham was using his third eye, but I assumed maybe he was talking about the kiss. That was the only thing I could think of that would make Uri all of a sudden start blushing. He looked very odd and very awkward.

"That isn't fair," I stated in Uri's defense, "Uri is right. We all did agree not to get the church involved. Rag had a relationship with the church. Not us."

We knew nothing about this `church'. We had no idea of their history. We had no idea of how much they knew about the battle with these demons. Was Jophiel the only other angel they knew about? Did they send him to help us? Did they send him to spy on us? I had no idea. Looking around the hallway it was clear everyone else was feeling just antsy as I am too.

"That was before we lost Ariel and her child," Cham replied.

"Who do you think you are to make that kind of decision?" Uri asked.

"I did what Rag would have done."

"You don't speak for Rag and you don't speak for us," Uri replied, "We voted. Do you get that Cham? We voted and you went against that. How can we trust you now? We stick together. I thought that was the plan. I thought we were all in this together. You are out here just making decisions without acknowledging anyone else. We don't know what he is. We don't know what this guy knows."

"How about we find out then?" Gabby stated.

"Gabby, wait...GABBY!"

It was too late to stop her. I watched as she stormed into the dining room. She approached our new strange guest with a force that would make any man run and hide. He didn't though. He looked up at her. His crystal eyes fixed on her. He didn't move. He didn't flinch. He stayed completely still staring at her with more interest than anything.

"Why were you sent?" she asked.

The rest of us stayed on the other side of the room. I wasn't sure why honestly. Maybe it was fear or uncertainty. We had all been through a great deal and the last thing we wanted was to be attacked in our own ho me. Uri and Raphael stared bullets into the guy. Cham was the only one who seemed relatively friendly giving the guy some sort of half smile. I was the furthest away. I leaned in a corner and stared him up and down. His eyes were so alluring next to his darker skin. They contrasted completely.

"The church believes you are losing this war. The presence of evil has grown and they sense you may have need of further...assistance after speaking with Chamuel. There is a war coming."

"We've been fighting this war. We killed Leviathan," Gabby replied.

Laughter.

This guy had some balls. I had to admit that. This Jophiel person was laughing in the face of Gabby. I could see her hand twitch. Knowing Gabby it was a miracle she didn't take a swing at him. I think Uri was thinking the same thing. Maybe that is why Uri walked over to Gabby and pulled her away a little bit. He whispered a few words to her. I had no doubt he was trying to calm her down.

When Uri was done talking to Gabby he turned back to our visitor.

"Is something we said funny?"

"Everything you say is funny. Thinking that killing Leviathan was an accomplishment," he asked, "Leviathan is one of many. I have been watching you all...from a distance. I saw the fight from the sky. It took all of you to defeat him. You are all dead men walking."

The way this visitor was talking was cocky. He was full of himself.

"You can do better?" Raphael asked.

"I'm here to help," he replied, "You've lost Raguel. You've killed Ariel. You're numbers are dwindling. You are weaker than ever. Are these the great protectors of God? You lot. The only one of you who has your wings yet is Michael."

"Wings, we are supposed to have wings?" Raphael asked.

We looked around the room. The visitor was just shaking his head at that moment as though he wasn't the slightest bit entertained by us.

"You're an angel," Jophiel replied, "Do you all think this is a game. There are legions of our enemies. He's returned. He's returned to claim the sinners. Every last one of them and they'll all come after you...in time."

My heart beat faster and faster. I scared. The way that Jophiel was talking worried me. None of us asked who `he' is. I think we all had an idea. I crossed my arms at that moment. I had no choice but to walk up to Jophiel. His crystal eyes glared at me as he did it. There was a presence there. A power. I didn't know what he was capable of besides growing wings but I felt like there was more to him. It made me wonder.

"Then help us."

"On one condition," he stated.

"What?"

"I take charge of this," Jophiel stated, "Everything I say you all listen. Everything I want, you all do. No questions asked. If all of you can agree to that, then I can help."

"Absolutely not," Uri replied.

"Well then have a nice day."

Jophiel got up off the table at that moment. He seemed not to care about anything at that point. As he got to his feet he didn't even look at us. He walked past us. His looked straight ahead and really started to walk out of the room as if it was nothing.

"Wait. You can't just leave us like that," Cham stated.

"I'm not wanted," he replied, "Clearly Uri believes that you guys have this taken care of. Isn't that right Uri. Same as you've always been. Stubborn."

This man was talking as if he knew Uri too. His eyes caught up with Uri at that moment. Uri looked over at him as though confused.

"Wait...there's so much we need to know," I stopped him.

I don't know why I was stopping him. I felt like I was turning my back on Uri. I felt like I was betraying him. Uri flashed me over a stare. The stare was so cold that it could freeze flames. I could feel Uri's eyes on me when I had stopped our visitor.

Jophiel stopped next to me. He leaned in again at that moment.

That was when he kissed me.

He pressed his lips up against mine. My heart stopped at that moment. The feeling of his warm lips pressed up against mine made me warm all over. What was this? Why the fuck was he kissing me again? Why was I letting him kiss me again.

"You'll start to remember, my love," he replied, "All in time."

With that he walked away.

Cham was the one who ran after him but I had a feeling that Cham wouldn't have been able to convince Jophiel to stop. The others just sat in the room completely perplexed by this strange character who had walked in the room like that. No one seemed to understand exactly what happened.

I hadn't been paying attention to how hard I was staring until I heard the front door shut from a distance. Just at that moment I saw Uri storm past me. He stormed past me with all this aggression. He even brushed past me a little bit.

I followed him intent on catching up to him.

I found him Uri in the backyard. He looked like he was getting a breath of fresh air. His dark arms leaned over a post that led to Ariel's garden. He didn't speak at first and I stood there wondering how I could approach him. I could feel him steaming there. I could feel him steaming in the distance.

"Shouldn't you be chasing after your love?" Uri asked.

Uri knew it was me without even turning around. We were alone in the backyard. He didn't look back at me.

"I don't know that boy."

"Clearly he knows you."

The sound in Uri's voice was clear. It was jealousy. I knew the feeling. I had felt the feeling with Gabby. A part of me was happy that there was some emotion there at all. A part of me was happy that Uri seemed to care but at the same time I couldn't relate to this kind of care.

"Wait are you jealous?" I asked Uri.

Uri shook his head, "No one's jealous. Clearly that is your thing. You like to lead people on and act like a hoe to try to get them jealous. How many times have you done that to me now? And like an idiot I keep falling into the same shit over and over."

"A hoe though."

"Hey. I call it how I see it."

I was shocked that Uri had just called me out of my name like that. The fact that he was calling me a hoe just blew my fucking mind. I had done some stuff in the past. I had even had sex with someone in front of Uri just to avoid us getting involved with one another. I had changed though. I was only interested in Uri now and I thought I had made that clear to him.

The old me would have withdrawn. The old me would have run away but now I had to face this. Uri had a reason to be thinking the way he was. It was all my fault.

"Listen. I'm sorry for the past Uri, but he kissed me. I wasn't trying to make you jealous. I honestly wasn't."

"You let him kiss you. Don't play me."

"How are you upset at me? Did you forget that you have a girl pregnant right now. You aren't even sure if you want to be with me."

Uri looked over at me with those same cold eyes, "Time. I asked for motherfucking time. That's all I wanted. I wanted time to figure out things with Gabby. But you couldn't wait. No. Not Michael. Michael has to go around hurting people any chance he gets."

"I don't KNOW who that guy is..."

"Man save it."

"This is NOT happening right now."

"Yes it is," Uri stated, "Thank you for helping me make my decision a lot faster. How about we go back to basics. I have a child on the way. Maybe I'll focus on that and you focus on being heartless Michael. That is the one thing you were always good at."

Uri had always been tough. He had always been strong. He had always been straight forward but now I was seeing a harsh side of him. Maybe it was the stress of this war getting the better of him. I could imagine living in constant fear. I could imagine how hard that could be on someone. I hadn't known what they were going through when I was locked up. Being locked up gave me so much time to really think inwardly about myself and I honestly came out a better person. It seemed like the war had the opposite effect on everyone else.

As Uri walked away I couldn't help but to shake my head. This was someone that I didn't know. This was someone that I had no idea about.

Cham picked up the phone. He had called a Priest by the name of Priest Adams on the phone. Priest Adams was a contact that that Rag had given him. The church had always had only one contact with the angels. As long as Cham remembered that contact was Rag. They wanted to distance themselves from the angels. Cham wasn't sure why. Maybe it had to do with politics. Maybe they felt like the world wasn't ready to know about this war. They'd always been so vague.

"Priest Adams."

"Yes, Cham. What is it now?"

Every time Cham called the church they always seemed like he was more of a bother to them than anything. Weren't the angels fighting their war?

"We can't leave the house. Everytime we leave we are attacked."

"You mentioned this before. We sent help..."

"He came earlier in the day. But...but he's gone."

"Why?"

"The other angels were...resistant to him leading us Personal issues. I think jealousy. Human issues..."

What happened still confused Cham. He didn't know how to explain it. He didn't know why this Jophiel had kissed Michael. He couldn't read anything from Jophiel. His third eye saw nothing.

There was silence on the phone. The priest on the other end of the line was always cold. He was always short. You would think the church was some welcoming place. You would think they would want to help. It wasn't the case with the contact that Cham had. At times like this Cham missed Rag. Rag would have known what to do. Rag would have known what to do about all of this.

"Then you are on your own."

The words hit Cham like a ton of bricks.

"Hello? Hello!"

The priest had hung up on him. Cham looked at his phone completely lost. The demons were after them. They couldn't leave the house without being attacked. Now the church was just saying that they were on their own? Cham's heart beat faster and faster.

Cham walked back in the house. The other angels didn't trust him. Uri was upset with him and Uri seemed to be the influential one in the group. As loud as Gabby was and as powerful as Michael was, it was Uri who seemed to have the most hold on the group. The thing about Uri was that he was always stuck in his emotions. His relationship with Michael caused him to be more emotional than smart.

It was almost night time. He had to figure something out. He had to talk to someone. That was when he heard the moaning in the back. He heard the moaning from the back room. Cham's eyes lead him to the backroom.

Sex.

He peaked through the door the study. There was Raphael standing there. Raphael having sex with Gabby!

It was the middle of the night. The mansion seemed to echo. A part of me was expecting Uri to come to bed. All I wanted was him to come to bed. That was the weird thing about emotions. That was the weird thing about loving someone. You became so vulnerable. This vulnerable side was something that I wasn't used to. I'd spent so long strong that it felt odd. Odd and beautiful at the same time.

I saw him upstairs. He was in the hallway. Uriel. He didn't have a shirt on. He was dark dripping wet.

"Are you...coming to sleep with me tonight?" I asked him.

I hated how fucking weak my voice sounded. It sounded like I was begging. Maybe I was. I couldn't get Uriel out of my mind. Love did that to you. Love made you into a child. Uriel returned my look. His eyes made contact with me and I had all this hope that he would agree.

"I want to but..."

"But?"

"But maybe it's not a good idea right now," Uriel stated shaking his head, "I need to focus on me. I need to focus on...

"Gabby?" I stated.

Uriel walked over to me. He put his hand on my face.

"Yes. I mean no. Not Gabby. The child."

"Is it over between us? Is it over before it even started?"

Uriel looked in my eyes.

"I wish I knew. I don't..."

I nodded walking away. A single tear fell from my eye. I wanted to say so much more. I wanted him to run after me and say so much more but it was becoming more painful than anything at this point.

So I resorted to laying in my room. The huge room in Ariel's villa. The wind drifted into my room from the large balcony in the middle of the night. I cried. I cried for Uriel because I had the feeling that this time there was no hope in getting us back. This time he wasn't going to change his mind. Regardless of how much he assumed that he just needed "time". Time couldn't heal all wounds.

"Since when do you cry?"

The voice shocked me. I jumped to my feet all of a sudden. As I jumped to my feet I saw Jophiel. He was standing there in my room. He had no shirt on. He had black jeans and was barefooted. His jeans were the only thing he seemed to be wearing. They cuffed low on his abdomen to the point that I saw his whole v-section. I had to look away as I noticed a patch of silky black pubic hair on his pelvis. He didn't have any underwear on.

Large white wings stretched out across the room. He must have come from the patio door even though I didn't see him.

"What are you doing here? You can't just walk in my room..."

"I came for you. Come fly with me."

"What?"

"Dry your tears. Take off your shirt. Show me your wings. Fly with me."

I wanted to tell him that I could only grow wings when it was absolutely necessary. I wanted to make an excuse. I wanted to tell him that I didn't know him like that. Maybe I wanted to talk more about the fact that he just appeared off the balcony into my room out of the blue. I wanted to say so much but instead of doing all that I just got off of my bed.

I walked over to him and Jophiel took off my shirt for me. He pulled it over my head.

"I can't..." I started.

He seemed to know what I was going to say.

"Here let me help you."

Jophiel kissed me at that moment. He kissed me on my lips and that feeling was coming over me. That feeling of necessity. And when he stopped kissing me, I had my wings too. The wings were bright, white and colorful. They were smaller than Jophiel's but just as brilliant. It was at that moment the first time that I really felt like there was something else out there.

"How'd you know that would work?" I asked him.

"Emotion gives you strength. I knew a kiss would work. Your abilities work most like mine. They always have."

"You keep acting like you know me...like..."

"I do know you."

"From where."

Jophiel didn't respond at that moment. He just grabbed me by hand.

"Come fly with me."

I began with him holding my hands. Over the balcony. I went down at first. Down. Down and then up. Up towards the skies. My wings were muscles. I had to tense up my shoulder blades and lean them forward so that my wings could flap. At first it was hard but not too much. Soon it became as easy as swimming. Yes. That's what it was like. I was swimming through the clouds. I looked back at the Ariel's villa. I looked back down towards the mountains. They all disappeared. From the height I was they looked like small kids' toys.

The world became our playground. The skies were a sea. I'd flown before but this time was different. This time I wasn't flying alone. The wind beneath my wings made me feel so powerful. As I looked down on the world I saw a beauty that I hadn't known before. And I looked forward to where Jophiel was flying. His wings flapped less than mines. They seemed to catch the current. He soared more through the skies.

The wind beat against my face but it didn't matter. There was something so freeing about being up here. It made me forget for the moment about all the horrible things in the world. At this moment I was a bird.

We flew throughout the night. And it was just what I needed. It was just what I needed to get my mind off of the issues I was having with Uri.

We landed in a place a little familiar. It was a building. I saw Jophiel standing there. His wings had disappeared back into his body. When I landed behind him his eyes caught onto mine. His eyes were like glass. They were mesmerizing.

"You don't remember me at all do you?" he asked.

"You keep saying that. I've never met you."

"Not in this lifetime," Jophiel stated shaking his head, "We are all born of the archangels and a part of our fathers are us. We are literally the mortal reincarnations of the archangels. And as your powers grow, your awareness grows as well. You'll get there. You'll remember me. You'll remember our love."

"Jophiel, listen..."

"Call me Jo."

He was getting comfortable. He was getting so comfortable around me already. It was almost as though he knew me from a lifetime ago. Maybe what he was saying was right. I did feel some sort of comfort around him. But that comfort scared me when I thought about it. I didn't know him.

"Listen Jo. I love someone else. Right now things are complicated but I don't see myself actually opening my heart to anyone."

Jo's eyes looked over at mine. The glass eyes seemed to be more confused than hurt.

"Who could have taken you from me?"

"He didn't take me from you. Maybe in another world. Another lifetime I loved you, but here and now I love Uri."

"Uriel?"

Jo started to laugh at that moment. The laughter had caught up to him so badly that he ended up having to sit down against a plank on the roof of the high building we were on. Jo held onto his abs. He had a slim figure but when he laughed he had tight abs, tight as Uriel's were.

"Is it that funny?" I asked him.

"You HATE Uriel. Are you joking?" he asked shaking his head, "You have no idea. Don't worry. You'll remember. Uriel? That was hilarious. You want me to believe you have feelings for the one who tried to overthrow you."

"He did what now?"

"He tried to take your position as leader of the Angels. I can't believe you think you're in love with him. He was Gabriel's love. They plotted against you. You almost threw him out the kingdom."

That part I could believe. I guess sooner or later what happened there did happen here. Gabby and Uri were having a child together.

"What do you mean by threw him out."

"The fall from grace. The same that you did to Lucifer. And the others. Come look."

Jo held his hand out for me. I was hesitant to walk over to him but I did. As I walked over to him he took me to the edge of the roof and pointed down. I noticed the place. It was the office building that we had taken Ariel to. Outside there were people. They all wore black. They all just stood there...waiting.

"Who are they?" I asked.

"The fallen. They are waiting for Ariel to give birth."

I shook my head at that moment, "Jesus."

"Holy shit."

As Jo and I looked down from the building it was almost like a parade. The streets were filled with people. I couldn't count them all. Hundreds? Thousands? They stretched out as far as I could see. A sea of people.

"We have to go down. We have to help her."

I couldn't believe I took her to this place. I TOOK Ariel to this fucking place willingly.

Jo shook his head, "It's too late for her. Ariel fell from grace the moment she lay down with Leviathan. She is there's now. And she gives birth to their savior. The whore of Babylon will deliver him into the world. The antichrist is coming. Do you feel it? Look. Take a deep breath. You notice anything."

"Stale."

The air was completely stale. No breeze. There was a foul stench in the air. Something stunk. It got to my nose and was so heavy that I had to cuff my nose.

"When he comes everything goes wrong. Even the church is afraid at this point. They hide in their cathedrals hoping that we save them. They are terrified. They have good reason to be. The whore of Babylon brings him into the world."

"Him?"

"Who do you think I'm referring to?" Jo asked looking over at me.

My voice shook just by thinking about it.

"Lucifer?"

He nodded, "Not quite. Something close to him though. The beast. The anti-christ. Have you noticed normal humans acting funny. He's come to claim the damned. Have you been attacked before? Regular looking people attacking you everywhere you go?"

I shook my heads.

He's come to collect souls.

"Yes. It's happened to me. It happened to Uriel and Gabby. To all of us."

"They are those who already carry the mark of the beast. His servants on Earth. He's come to claim them. This is a fight for souls and you have to be careful of them."

"How will we know them?"

"The answer is in Revelations. And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six."

"The number 666?" I asked.

Jo nodded, "Yes. It's the beginning of the end. The rapture. You know it? The beast has come to collect his souls and it's up to the angels to stop him."

I shook my head, "A part of me had a feeling this was coming. A part of me just wanted to run away. Sit on a beach. Wait it all out."

"Wait it out?" Jo laughed.

"You find me really funny don't you?"

"There is no waiting it out. This is the end. Win or lose," Jo stated.

"What are you talking about? We can stop him. You said we can stop him."

"Have you read the book of revelation?" Jo asked, "No? Even as a kid? God. Win or lose this is the end. The apocalypse. Stopping the beast doesn't mean saving the world. Why do you think the church has retreated to prayer and hiding. There won't be a beach when this is over. These are the last days."

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