NB: The Search (BoyxBoy)

Chapter 36: ETA to HQ

A black SUV with dark tinted windows pulls up in front of the school.  The driver’s window opens and a man looks out.  “Aaron Hart?” he asks.

“Yeah,” I say and he tells me to get in, motioning for the door right behind him.

There are three men in the car, all wearing matching black suits.  Even though they aren’t using any of their powers, I can tell they’re demons. 

They barely acknowledge my presence, staying focused on their job.  The man sitting beside me is clutching his fist so tight that his knuckles are turning white. 

Are they afraid too?

The driver accelerates hard, going well above the speed limit.  The whole situation is making nauseous. 

Then the car starts to ring.  Not like a dangerous warning or anything, just an generic beeping cell phone ring. 

The driver presses a button on the dash and then I can hear Day’s voice fill the car.  “What’s your status?”

“We picked up the Sword.  ETA five minutes until we’re at Forseti HQ,” the driver says.

“That’s good.  Aaron, how are you doing?” Day asks.

I’m speeding down the freeway at 150 miles an hour with three men in black rejects who are trying to hide me from an evil angel.  How am I doing?  I never get to answer that question.

A ball of light comes flying towards us from up ahead.  The driver tries to swerve out of the way, but it’s no use.  Within a fraction of a second, the ball smashes through the windshield and straight through the driver's head.  It looks like someone took a sledgehammer to a watermelon, scattering bits of blood and flesh over everything.

Out of pure instinct, I cocoon myself in a shell of light as the car smashes into the cement barrier between lanes.  The loud boom on impact almost deafened me from the eerie sound of crumpling metal all around.

“Run,” the guard beside me yells.

Petrus has manifested in physical form above the driver’s corpse and is reaching for me.  He is wearing purple robes and has a sickly pale glow.  I don’t know how I know his name, but I can feel it instantly.

The two remaining demon guards try to stop the evil angel from touching me.

I reach for the door, but it’s jammed.  I wish I could just use the light and force it open, but I’m too anxious.  The window is broken from the crash, shattered glass fallen everywhere.  My best hope is to climb through it. 

As I’m almost free, I look back.  One of the two surviving guards has been physically torn apart while the other is shielding me with his own body.  I can feel all the life being pulled from the last demon, as Petrus scatters the demonic soul, turning it into nothing but light.  Another person who has died for me.

I escape and start to run up the side of the freeway, but it’s no use.  With my guards defeated, Petrus becomes a ball of light again and flies out in front of me, before returning to being a man.

I turn around and start to run the other way, but he reaches out and binds me where I am

“Hello, old friend,” he says.  His voice makes me sick.  His presence is able to go through me, under my skin, and violate my body from within.

“I’m not your friend.  Just leave me alone.  Please,” I beg him.

“We are friends, even if you don’t remember it.  You and I, we had a plan to fix this world, and I still need your help to do it.”

"I'm not the person you think I am.  I won't help you."

"Yes, you will," he insists, walking towards me.  As he comes closer, I feel my raging heartbeat begin to slow back down to normal.  The light is flowing through me, swirling inside between every beat, each growing gap brings me closer to divine perfection.  It feels so warm and right, but I need to resist it.

“Please stop,” I manage to utter.

“You have already seen the destruction demons can bring.  You have felt the pain and chaos that is their nature.  Together, we will eliminate the demons and bring the light of heaven to all the creatures of this world.”

“What do you want?” I find myself asking.

“Gather the demon leaders of this world, and then summon me to help purify them.”