Gabriel (16 page)

Father,
please guide this soul home. Thank you for not allowing her to suffer.

The Kematian raised his
clawed hand to his throat and swiped in front of it, then pointed to the angel.
“You are next, angel,” the Kematian said with a throaty laugh.

Gabriel took a step towards
him. “I do not think so.”

The Kematian lunged at
Gabriel, and claws ripped through his shirt. Gabriel back pedaled, avoiding
most of what would have been a very lethal strike. He heard Robert’s footsteps
and turned to him, keeping his other senses attuned to the Kematian's
movements.

 
“
I am fine.
Do not come any closer until I tell you to.”

Gabriel turned back in time
to dodge the next swing and hurled forward, slamming the demon into the brick
side of the building. The Kematian’s skull bounced off the wall. He shook it
and smiled. Gabriel clasped his shoulders and tossed him to the ground. The
Kematian shot up to his feet and swung his claws, but Gabriel jerked his head
back in time to miss the swipe meant to take his head.

He rammed the demon with his
shoulder, knocking him off his feet sending them both to the ground. Gabriel
scrambled to get on top of the Kematian. The demon threw a fist, popping
Gabriel in the nose. But being on its back lessened its momentum. Gabriel
ignored the stinging sensation and the tears that welled in his eyes. Gabriel
pinned him down and hollered to Robert. “Now!”

Robert approached with the
syringe in his hand, but before he could inject the formula the Kematian threw
Gabriel off, his momentum crashing him into Robert. They both smacked into the
wall. Robert stood, wobbled and charged the back of the Kematian, piercing the
needle through the skin, and pushed the plunger. The Kematian back-handed
Robert and sent him crashing into a nearby dumpster. His head caught on the
metallic arms protruding from the dumpster. He fell to the ground. Gabriel
heard a loud cracking noise. He punched the Kematian in the mouth, and its head
jerked to the side. Gabriel punched his midsection until the Kematian staggered
back and fell down.

“
Are you okay?” Gabriel asked Robert who was now on his feet and heading
toward him.

Robert
rubbed his eye. He also had a huge gash on his forehead, which was cascading
red.
  
“Yeah, I think so.”

“
Is anything broken? I heard a cracking noise.”

“
Just my pride.” Robert sighed, reaching down and pulling shattered
bits of glass from his knee. Gabriel looked over to where he had fallen and
noticed a broken bottle. He winced. The Kematian started bucking, and Gabriel
swayed from side-to-side trying to maintain his balance. Robert jumped onto his
legs pinning them down.

The Kematian kicked, and
Robert fell to the side. He scrambled to get back on the flailing limbs. “He’s
one tough son of a bitch!” Robert yelled.

“
Yes.” Gabriel punched the demon in the face, avoiding the razor
sharp teeth. The Kematian lurched forward gnashing his teeth. Gabriel struck
him again, and its head smacked into the ground.

The Kematian went still.

“
Is it over?” Robert asked, wiping his brow.

“
I do not know. We will have to wait and see.” Gabriel remained on
top of the demon.

Robert panted. “What are we
going to do with her?” He pointed to the young woman who lay in a pool of her
own blood.

“
Only her shell remains. Her soul is now with the Almighty.”

“
So we’re just going to leave her?” Robert situated himself on the
demon’s legs.

“
Yes.”

They waited a few more
minutes, but the demon didn’t move. Gabriel motioned for Robert to get up and
then eased himself off the demon. He picked it up and flung it over his
shoulder, and carried it to the car. Robert opened the trunk and handed Gabriel
a rope.

“
What is this for?” Gabriel asked.

“
To tie him up.”

Gabriel raised a brow. “It
took two grown men to hold him down. I will ask again. What is the rope for?”

Robert scrunched up the rope
and tossed it in the trunk. “Never mind.”

Gabriel tossed the Kematian
inside and closed the lid.

****

No one said a word as Gabriel
headed to the basement with an unconscious Kematian over his shoulder. The
silence was palpable. Robert opened the door, and Gabriel threw the Kematian
inside. Gabriel stepped outside and ran his hands across the front of the bars
before he left the room. Robert held Maree in his arms.

“
How is Calla?” Gabriel asked.

Maree pulled away from Robert
just enough so that her face wasn’t buried into his chest and traced her
fingers across his swollen eye. She brought her hand to her lips, kissed it,
and gently placed it over the puffy eye.

“
She’s fine. All of her vital signs remain normal.” Maree asked,
“What happened?”

Gabriel walked into the room
and sat on the wooden chair that was next to the bed. His elbows rested on his
knees, and his hands covered his face. He then recounted what happened.

The battle did not last long.
Gabriel had been surprised by the tenacity Robert had shown, given his age. He
had been knocked down several times, but had gotten right back up, although
each time he had gotten to his feet a little bit slower than before. Robert had
been right. There wasn’t any way Gabriel could have captured the Kematian in
one piece, alone.

All that was left was to
wait.

Robert stood in the doorway.
Gabriel heard his breathing and glanced up.

“
How are you feeling?” Gabriel asked.

“
As good as I look,” Robert said with a forced chuckle.

“
Give me a few more moments and I will be right out,” Gabriel said.

He tried to open a mental
link with Michael, but it remained closed. He tried to reach out to any of his
brothers, but it was as if they were gone. Uncertainty and a feeling of loss
washed over him.
 
The last time he had
seen his brothers, they had separated to battle the Kematians alone. Gabriel
had almost lost his life, and from what little he could read from Michael, the
last time they communicated, it seemed that he wasn’t faring so well either. If
their leader, their mentor, Michael struggled with defeating the Kematians, did
any of them stand a chance? They were defeated as a group once before. Could
any of his brothers survive independently?
 
What if he was the only one left? He was drowning in human emotions.

As if someone could sense him
slipping away, a feeling of peace and love started to fill him. He could catch
his breath, and the tide of sensations started to recede. A voice
reverberated through his mind.
 
You are
not alone
.

Father, I need your strength as mine is failing.

Ask, and ye shall receive.

Do my brothers still live?

A
weight had been lifted and doubt erased. Familiar sounds, smells, and images
filled Gabriel’s mind. His brothers were still alive, but he knew they were
running out of time.
I will not fail you.
They had a lot of work to do. Gabriel got up and found Maree.

“
Have
you had a chance to look at the sample Robert collected?” Gabriel asked.

“
It’s
being processed right now. When I asked him if this sample was before or after
the drug he was hesitant to answer. How was he able to get that before it was
drugged?”

Gabriel
was hesitant to respond. He was sure she would not be happy with the answer.

“
He
obtained it while I had the Kematian pinned to the wall,” Gabriel said, hoping
this was the end of this line of questioning.

“
Why is
he so banged up?”

“
Kematians
are very strong. It was not easy to keep its body under control. I am sorry
Robert was injured, but I am going to remedy that right now.”

Gabriel
strode over to Robert, who sat on a stool looking into a microscope. When he
placed his hands on the older man’s shoulders, Robert began to turn around.

“
Stay
still. This will just take a moment,” Gabriel said.

 
A vibrant gold emanated from his hands. Soon Robert was
filled with the same golden glow. Gabriel stepped back as he dropped his hands.

Robert
sat still for a few more moments and then turned to Gabriel.

“
Thank
you,” Robert said. “You wouldn’t be able to bottle that, would you?” he asked,
his voice filled with laughter.

“
No. I
shared a part of my essence with you. How could I get that into a bottle?”
Gabriel asked.

 
“
It was a joke, Gabriel.” Robert shook his head.

“
Oh,”
Gabriel said as he walked away.

Maree
pulled some papers off the printer and sat down next to Robert while she looked
the information over.

“
Oh my
God!” Maree said.

 
“
What have you found?” Robert asked.

“
The
blood results we’ve been waiting for are in. I have identified the regeneration
cell.”

“
What
does that mean?” Gabriel asked.

“
It
means I can work on a formula to destroy their ability to regenerate. It means
we have a chance.”

“
How
long will it take?” Gabriel asked.

“
Mmm, it
could take a few days, months, or maybe even years. I don’t know until I start
working on a formula.”

“
We do
not have that kind of time. Tell me what to do, and I will help,” Gabriel said.

“
It’s
not that easy. It’s going to be trial and error until we find the right formula
that works. I’m sorry, Gabriel. I will do this as quickly as I can, but this
isn’t going to happen overnight.”

“
I
understand. If I can be of assistance, all you have to do is ask.”

A loud
crash erupted at the other end of the basement. Gabriel raced to find out what
was happening. Maree and Robert were several paces behind him. He stopped in
front of Calla’s room. She still rested on the bed, and the machines remained
quiet. He turned to the room with the cell, and there was another crash.

Gabriel
went inside the room, and where the Kematian had been, a man now stood. He was
about six feet tall, with tan skin and brown eyes. Jet black hair rested at his
shoulders. Scars marred his body. He was banging on the bars and speaking a tongue
Gabriel did not recognize at first.

Robert
and Maree stood behind Gabriel.

“
What
the hell?” Robert asked.

“
Indeed,”
Gabriel said.

“
What is
he saying?” Maree asked.

“
I
believe the language is similar to Hurrian,” Gabriel said.

Gabriel
began speaking to the man. He moved closer to the bars, and Gabriel placed his
hand on the man’s head.

“
Where
am I?” he asked.

“
He
speaks English now?”

“
Yes.”

“
Answer
me, damn it!” The man’s voice resounded within the acoustically muffled room in
which he found himself.

“
And he
speaks the language better than you do, Gabriel,” Robert said.

“
Yes.”

The man
grabbed the bars straining every muscle in his body as he tried to tear himself
free from captivity. Gabriel glanced back at Maree. She was keeping her
distance, which he could not blame her for.

“
Maybe I
should go get him some clothes,” Maree said as a hint of pink colored her
cheeks.

Robert
and Gabriel stepped out of the room. The man continued to shout.

“
What
did he say to you?” Robert asked.

“
The
last thing he remembers was sitting on the palace floor, cradling his father’s
head in his lap. The palace was attacked by creatures that he described as
Kematians.”

“
A
Kematian’s bite changed him?”

“
It
would appear so,” Gabriel said.

“
Were
all Kematians humans at one time?”

“
No.”

“
How do
you know?”

“
I saw
their creation through my Father’s eyes,” Gabriel said.