Messenger of Letters

CHAPTER 3 - Life is a Highway (AKA Hitchhiking Sucks Ass)

{May, 1909}

"Where did Gabriel go, anyway?" Vance questioned the shorter, stout man with angry eyes and bright red hair.

"Don't ask me." He answered gruffly. "Vincent jus' said to get our asses to the Archive."

"He's probably there, then." Vance huffed. "I'm gonna scrub that goop if he started without us." He grumbled as the pair walked into the room.

"Well, then I'm glad I gave you an extra few minutes." Gabriel was leaned back on a chair, feet on a desk, reading a book on sigils. "C'mon, get in here. We've got work to do."

Papers from Gabriel's last night lay scattered across the floor, books in mysterious languages splayed wide, their secrets spilled for all to see. Slipped between pages, notes and letters of sigils and translations were set, revealing the hidden meanings and double entendres that the text held.

"Well, I don't know how much coffee you had to drink, but-"

"Is that the Enochian book? That Murray brought last month?" Vince pointed at the ground, picking up a thick tome with handwritten notes shoved between chapters and pages. "Pal, De'van couldn't translate more than a few pages."

"There's a reason that you keep me around, y'know." Gabriel stood up, stretching his back with a distinct few pops. "I'm a good little quick-study." He joked, picking up a few of the papers that had dropped onto the floor. "The book is about demons, angels, all sorts of stuff. I haven't gotten that far into it, but I think it's more about angels than demons. And not anything mythological either, we're talkin' the real deal."

"Don't be a nut." Curtis rolled his eyes at the idea of a mythology book that was as though made for hunters.

"'And so it was written, as it was told, the Archangel Gabriel will come on three wings of gold'." Vance read from a note. "This a direct translation? Thought you said they didn't do the whole 'mythology' thing in this one."

"Well, of course it's still got some mythology stuff in it, kinda has to, but the reason that's written is because of the 'three wings' thing." Gabriel pointed to an illustration in the book. "I think that if we're dealing with any of the Archangels, we're dealing with an angel with six wings rather than a Seraph's two."

"Wait, so you're saying that..."

"Archangels are basically the end of anything unholy times three?" Gabriel nodded, mouth skewed to the side as he took the book from Vance. "Yeah, that's what I'm saying. These are the big baddies of Heaven. Michael," He flipped to a page that depicted an angel with flowing hair and massive white wings, holding a flaming sword over his head. "The warrior. There's some shit in there about him training younger angels to fight, but I'll need to go through it more." Then he flipped to another page, an angel with short, brown hair reading from a Bible to other angels. "Raphael. There's some information on him too, but again... I'll need time with it." He then flipped to a final page, a painting of an archangel with graceful, pointed golden wings descending to talk to Mary. "And finally, Gabriel. Who my mother decided to name me after." Gabriel huffed. "Like, look'it this simp." He grumbled.

"Looks like one helluva self-righteous crumb." Vance laughed at him. "You ain't like that though, Gabe. Don't take offence to it."

"Shoulda' changed my name ages ago."

"Are we gonna keep pointin' out the floozy's stupid hairdo or we gonna do some work?" Curtis picked up a folder of notes. "C'mon, let's translate and catalogue somethin' useful about these posh grifters."