—†— CHAPTER TWO —⸸—
In The Wake Of The Aftermath
There was no way to hide that something big had happened in front of the cathedral a few nights earlier, nor could anyone hide the death of Father Emil. Sarah and Marcus told the authorities there had been a terrible accident. In the bad weather, Father Emil had lost control of the truck while transporting Frank Weber, the man who had been reported missing. Their story was that Emil had found him, and that both men were killed when the truck crashed.
None of us felt good about lying about Father Emil’s death, but the story satisfied the authorities and matched the damage to the front of the cathedral. In the end, the whole incident was written off as a tragic accident.
It also finally gave Marcus a solid reason to close the cathedral, citing concerns that the building might not be safe after what had happened.
“There you go. Now you’re getting it, sister,” Az said.
I sat up in bed and froze, surprised to see Sarah sitting in a chair beside me. She was leaning forward in deep concentration, one hand raised. An apple floated a few feet in front of her.
“You’re doing great,” Az continued. “Now crush it!”
Sarah closed her hand into a fist, straining. I watched as the apple imploded, collapsing in on itself with a soft, wet crunch.
She jumped up in celebration, only then glancing down and realizing I was sitting up and awake. A thin line of blood was running from her nose.
“Jay, you’re awake,” she said as the blood dripped onto the floor.
She felt it on her face and flushed, suddenly embarrassed. She quickly grabbed a cloth from the nightstand beside the bed and wiped at her nose.
“I don’t understand,” I said. “How did you do that, Sarah?”
She hesitated. “Honestly, Jay, it’s been an interesting few days. And you’ve been asleep for a long time.”
I tried to stretch my arms and looked down at my chest, expecting bandages, scars—something. But there were no wounds. No marks at all.
Shining in the top right of my vision was the familiar icon of system windows waiting to be read, but I brushed them aside for now.
“I meant, how did you move that apple like that? How did you crush it?”
“Because you and the sister here have more in common than you think,” Azazel said, wearing a huge, shitty grin.
“Oh yeah? What’s that?” I asked, turning sideways and letting my feet touch the floor.
“Apparently both of you like to stab my old boss in your free time,” he said with a snicker.
“Azazel, did he know who we were? Did he know who I was?”
“Don’t get your panties in a bunch,” the little demon said, disappearing and reappearing standing on the end of the bed. “He followed the hellhound back to the cathedral. When he found the sister here, I don’t think he had any idea what he was walking into.”
“After we cleaned up the front of the cathedral, Marcus insisted that I come back here,” Sarah said. “I was going to wait to go over my points and character sheets with you, but Remial thought it would be a good idea if I at least accepted the rune.”
“When Sister Stabby here stuck that son of a bitch, it gave her full credit for the kill. Even though I’m pretty sure the spirit turning him into a pincushion did most of the work,” Az said through an impish grin. “The System gave her a rune for completing a hidden objective.”
“I’m pretty sure I got one too,” I said. “But my head is killing me, and I really need some coffee.”
“I’ll leave you be,” Sarah said, “so you can clean up. You also had a delivery while you were resting.”
She pointed toward the other end of the room, where stacks of paper-wrapped packages tied in twine sat on a table.
“The tailor brought these for you personally.”
I stood up quickly, only then realizing I wasn’t wearing any clothes. I grabbed the sheet off the bed and pulled it up in front of me.
Sarah’s face turned red, and she quickly turned to the side, trying not to look at me. I could see the faint line of a smile at the corner of her mouth.
“I’ll wait for you downstairs,” she said, and left.
“Smooth, Mud. You decided to go straight streaker on her, huh?”
“Shut up, Az. I didn’t know I wasn’t wearing anything. Also, you and I are going to have a nice, long talk about what happened on that farm.”
“Oh goody. You sure we can’t just go back and let that hellhound kill us instead?”
“No. Now fuck off,” I said as I started tearing into the packages. It had been a long time since I’d been able to wear clothes that actually fit.
I could feel the smile on my face from ear to ear as I walked out of the apartment and started moving down the steps. It was amazing how something as simple as some new clothes could make a man feel.
I chose the slick, more casual-looking pinstripe suit. The shirt was white and the collar crisp, and I pulled the suspenders up over my shoulders as I walked down into the office.
“Why, Mr. Donati, I have to say, ya clean up nice,” Sarah said as I walked into the office. “Those clothes fit you a lot better than Emil’s old suit.”
“The suit I had been wearing was Father Emil’s?” I asked, feeling the room get quiet for a moment.
“It was,” Sarah said after a quiet moment. “What I’m curious about, though, is how you could be wearing his suit and his clothes while at the same time they could be hanging in a wardrobe in the cathedral. And I do hope one day you’re willing to explain that.”
“Fair enough,” I said, reaching down and grabbing the fedora from the end of the desk. “But let’s save that conversation for another time, okay? You know, I was thinking of getting a new hat to match the new threads, but I think I’m going to keep this one.”
I let the side of my lip curl into a faint smile.
“I think Father Emil would have liked that,” she said.
“Okay,” I said, taking a deep breath. “Since we know your concealment ward is working, I say we go find some breakfast.”
Sarah and I stepped out of the office and into a blistering cold winter morning. I could hear the snow crunching under my feet as I rolled my shoulders to stretch and let the new clothes settle properly beneath the heavy long coat. I felt the familiar weight of the matched 1911s in the shoulder rig.
I noticed Sarah walked with one hand tucked inside her jacket pocket. I didn’t have to wonder why. She was keeping her fingers around the grip of that .38 Special.
Two open-back trucks crawled past us through the gray morning, loaded down with grizzled-looking men carrying rifles and shotguns.
I watched them pass. “Did I miss something? Why does it look like the whole town is going to war?”
“They’re going to try and find the bear that’s responsible for what happened at the Sorenson farm,” Sarah said.
“I tried to get there as fast as I could, Sarah, but by the time I pulled up in front of that house, the father was already dead.”
I couldn’t help letting my mind drift back to it—that twelve-year-old boy standing over his father’s body with that shotgun, squared off against that hound. I’d never thought the world was a particularly bright or gentle place, but the memory of it was dark. Real evil.
I shivered and tried to shake it off.
“Was the rest of the family okay?” I asked quietly.
Looking down now, I could see my breath in the air.
“Their boy still hasn’t said a word,” she said. “I’m pretty sure he’s in shock. The mother told the police that somebody showed up and scared the bear off, but he drove away before she could figure out who it was.”
Sarah paused.
“Stepping out of that house to find her husband the way she did—I’m surprised she remembers anything at all.”
Sarah reached over and took my hand.
“Jay. If it hadn’t been for you, that whole family would be dead right now.”
I nodded and managed a small smile for her.
Inside, though, I was somewhere else entirely. Another family torn apart. And those hellhounds wouldn’t have been anywhere near St. Cloud if I hadn’t come through that aperture in the first place.
Az materialized on my shoulder.
“You know, Mud, as entertaining as it is watching you kick yourself in the balls, I’m going to be straight with you. Those hellhounds were already there, circling that church. This was always going to happen. It’s part of a long chain of things that contributed to what happened here.”
Remiel appeared on the other side of me, drifting quietly alongside us.
“He’s not wrong, Nephilim,” Remiel said. “My kind will lay the blame on the demons for what happened to that family. There are some things that simply can’t be changed.”
“I have heard of events that can be altered in the timeline,” he continued. “But nothing that happens here in St. Cloud falls into that category. It was inevitable.”
“I’m starting to see that,” I muttered. “Doesn’t make it sit any easier.”
Sarah looked up at me again, unaware of the conversation happening in my head.
“Will you help me save Marcus?” she asked. “He’s all I have left.”
I reached down for her hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze.
“Yes, of course.”
When we reached Mabel’s, I held the door open and Sarah stepped inside. I followed her in.
Mabel stopped what she was doing behind the counter and came around it fast, pulling Sarah into a tight hug.
“Sarah, honey, I am so sorry about Father Emil. And poor Frank and those kids.”
She held her a moment longer before stepping back and straightening her apron. Then she turned to me.
I glanced around to see that we were the only ones in the restaurant.
Mabel leaned in and dropped her voice.
“Camille Sorenson is my sister, Mr. Donati. She told me what you did for her family.”
She pulled me into a hug before I saw it coming and planted a passionate kiss right on my lips.
When she stepped back, I could feel my cheeks burning.
“Thank you,” she said. “I know you’re a man who likes to keep things quiet, and I won’t say a word. But that was for my sister.”
I stood there, not knowing what to say.
“Well, would you look at that,” Mabel said, one hand on her hip, a grin spreading wide. “Don’t think I’ve ever seen you without something to say, Mr. Donati.”
“He does seem to be uncharacteristically quiet, doesn’t he?” Sarah said, trying to hide her laugh.
Mabel led us back to a table in the far corner and settled us in.
“I’m guessin’ you were out there on account of her husband,” she said once we were seated. Her voice dropped a notch. “Figure you were lookin’ into him before all this happened. I won’t pretend I don’t know what kind of man he was. But he didn’t deserve what happened to him.”
“Honestly, Mabel, it wasn’t like that. I was following a lead out that way, and it had nothing to do with her husband. I just happened to be close by.”
I let a beat pass.
“I just wish I’d gotten there a little sooner. You tell your sister that her husband died protecting his family, and when I pulled up, even with his father dead at his feet, her son was doing the same.”
I saw Mabel get choked up a little bit, and she quickly collected herself.
“Well, it seems like he ended up being a good man after all.”
She reached over and squeezed my hand.
“As far as I’m concerned, you’re a good man too. Now sit tight and I’ll get you both some coffee.”
She headed back toward the counter.
“Jay, this is a small town,” Sarah said from across the table. “You saved that family. So stop punishing yourself for it, okay? And don’t you dare start blaming yourself for Father Emil either.”
She swallowed and steadied herself before she continued.
“What that man did was the bravest thing I had ever seen in my life. He made that choice for me. For Marcus.”
She took a quick, stuttering breath as she tried not to completely lose her composure.
“If you sit there and carry it like it’s somehow on you—you’re taking something away from what he did.”
“I won’t let you do that.”
She wiped the tear from her cheek.
“So what do we do now?”
“Well, first we enjoy a cup of coffee, and when Mabel goes back to the kitchen we’re going to go over your stats.”
“Nobody else can see them except for us. The same goes for these two. As long as we keep our voices down, we should be fine here.”
A moment later Mabel returned, setting down two cups on the table.
I sat back and watched as Sarah ordered pancakes for the table.
Mabel returned to the front counter, and Sarah pulled her character sheet up for us to look at.
☿ ARCANE SYSTEM:
Sarah Brennan, Level 3 Nephilim.
Experience Points: 1500 out of 4500 for Level 4.
☩ Health: 40 out of 40. – ☿ Stamina: 13 out of 13.
♅ Mana: 25 out of 25. – Current State: Awakened.
Ascension 0 —◊– Damnation 15.
† Grace: 14 out of 14. – ⸸ Fury: 16 out of 16.
BASE ATTRIBUTES:
Strength: 4.
Dexterity: 5.
Fortitude: 4.
Mind: 5.
Instinct: 6.
Dominance: 4.
Unused Attribute Points: 10.
RACIAL SKILLS:
– Eternal Mend:
– Ward Memory:
– Incinerate:
– Sanctified Boundary
– Fury’s Grasp
“You leveled twice,” I said, looking over the sheet.
“I know.” She said it quietly, like she was still deciding how she felt about it.
“That’s not a small thing, Sarah. Wait what’s Fury’s Grasp?” I waved my hand and adjusted her sheet to focus on the ability.
Fury’s Grasp:
Channels Fury through your will, allowing you to exert telekinetic control over objects at a distance. You may push, pull, lift, or compress a target through directed Arcane pressure. The strength of the force scales with the size, mass, and resistance of the target, with living targets offering greater resistance than inanimate objects. Each use draws upon your Fury and requires a blood sacrifice. Pushing beyond safe limits may draw additional health as the strain increases. – base cost: 3 Fury and 1 Health. – scalable
“I’ve been working on that one ever since I touched the rune.”
“Az has been helping me. He was patient, and very sweet.” She said as the little gremlin mocked hurt, sticking his finger down his throat.
“I noticed the nosebleeds,” I said.
“Yeah, it really freaked me out the first time I tried to cast it. It looks like any of the Fury-based skills will pull a small amount from my health regardless.”
Remiel had been standing at the edge of the table the whole time, looking at her sheet with quiet focus. I could tell that something was holding him back.
“Where do we start, Remy?” I asked. “And why are you being so cautious all of a sudden?”
“The thought of putting Sarah into a position in which she has to sacrifice her own life force is something that I still find distasteful,” Remiel said. “But I’ve had a lot of time to study the Codex, Jay. For as long as I could remember, the Host looked down on the use of Fury. It was always depicted as evil, as blood magic. The abilities themselves look vampiric in nature, draining one’s life force.”
“I now have a better understanding of it, though. Although these powers are labeled as Fury, they could just as easily be seen as life- or nature-based. They are primal and elemental.”
“My hesitation comes from stubbornness and my own ignorance. Sarah, you should tailor your choices to your natural affinities. You should lean into the elemental abilities and assign points that will support both your Fury and your Mana.”
“When it comes to your attribute points, there are two distinct areas that we should look closely at. The first is Mind. This is going to determine your maximum Mana capacity. It’s a simple multiplier. Mind multiplied by five.”
“Fury is a little more complicated. Your maximum Fury is determined by Mind multiplied by two, plus Instinct. Right now your Instinct is at six and your Mind is at five. If we focus your build on those two attributes alone, your casting abilities would be very formidable for your level.”
“Yeah, she’ll hit like a freight train, but she’ll be a glass cannon,” Az jumped in defensively. “And you seem to forget that those Fury-based skills are still going to pull from her health.”
“Agreed,” I said. “Don’t get me wrong, Sarah, I would have loved to have had somebody to help me in that fight with those hellhounds. But without my Fortitude, I never would have survived.”
“What if I put four points into my Fortitude and split the difference on Mind and Instinct?” she said. “That would bring my health up to eighty. And then maybe put three into Mind and three into Instinct?”
“That would take your Mana from twenty-five to forty, and your Fury to twenty-five. I think that’s a good compromise, Sarah,” I said. “With your Mind attribute at eight, it also gives you six open Ward Memory slots.”
“I was thinking about that too, Jay. I think I should learn the concealment ward as well, just in case something ever happens to the locket,” she said. “On my next level up I want to increase my Dexterity and Strength, though. The only reason I have so many points to spend in the first place is because I had to stab that jerk.”
Before I could stop her, Sarah assigned the points while she was sitting right there at the table.
She immediately put her head down into her arms, and I could hear her groaning.
Mabel came over to check on her, gently rubbing her back.
“Oh, Sarah, sweetie, I’m so sorry. It’s going to be okay. You’ve been through so much. Let me bring you a piece of pie.”
Mabel quickly started back behind the counter toward the kitchen.
“Jay, if she brings me pie, I am going to throw up all over this table.”
I couldn’t help but chuckle a little bit, remembering the sensation myself.
“It’s all right. It’ll pass in just a minute. You assigned the points before I had a chance to warn you.”
“Lesson learned,” Sarah moaned, her face still buried.
A minute later she sat up with a startled look on her face as she took in everything around her.
“Is that how I looked after I dumped points into my Mind?” I asked Az.
“No. She looks like she’s seeing the world with clarity. You looked like a dog that figured out it could lick its own nuts,” Az quipped, dodging my hand when I tried to swat him off the table.
Sarah couldn’t help it and let out a giggle as the tension she had been experiencing eased.
Right on cue, Mabel came around the corner with a small plate.
“See, sweetie, pie makes everything feel better,” she said, setting the dessert on the table. “I’ll be back in just a few minutes with your breakfast.”
“Let’s wait to do the rest of those windows until we get back to the office,” I said. “In the meantime, though, we need to come up with a plan to get Marcus out of here.”
I glanced at Remiel.
“Out of curiosity, Remiel, you don’t remember hearing anything about a crash in the front of the church?”
“I was aware that a member of the clergy had died in an accident, but I didn’t know the details,” Remiel said. “To be honest, at this point my past self was preoccupied with the demons. Samuel and I were tasked with looking into a missing Virtue.”
“My past self will speak with Father Marcus today, so we should avoid the cathedral. I assure you he will be quite safe for the moment.”
“I’m sorry, Jay. I wish I could remember more, but as we stated before, when an angel is pulled from its vessel, we lose the memory of how it happened.”
“You knew something was going to happen to Father Emil?” Sarah asked quietly.
“I’m sorry, Sarah. I didn’t know that it was Emil who had died. My cover was that of a cardinal sent to investigate the cathedral. I had spent weeks surrounded by clergy from around the area.”
“We told Jay earlier that what happens here in St. Cloud is a fixed point in time and cannot be changed. But if I would have known that Father Emil was in danger, I would have tried anyway.”
I spit my coffee back in my cup and set it down on the table, surprised.
“Wait. Are you saying that someone kills you? Kills your host?”
“Yes.”
Sarah and I both immediately turned our eyes toward Azazel.
“Hey, don’t look at me. I didn’t do it,” he said, looking down at the table. “I can tell you that although Feathers here doesn’t remember, he did make it back to St. Cloud before the fire. Unfortunately, that’s about as much as I can tell you.”
“Wait, you get offed as well? Shit!” I said, looking back at Sarah.
Her eyes were as big as saucers.
And I realized then that we had just unintentionally told her a lot more than we had intended to right now—and without context.
“Wait,” she said slowly. “Are you guys telling me that you’re from the future somehow?”
I could hear the hesitation and confusion in her voice.
“Sarah, I know I keep telling you that we’re going to tell you everything, but sitting here at this table is not the place.”
I took a breath.
“Listen. Here’s what I’m willing to tell you now. Yes, in a way we’re from the future. Right now, past Remy and Az are possessing a cardinal from the church and a crime boss. I’m sure you can figure out who is riding who.”
“Up to this point we’ve had a little bit of insight about what’s going to happen. But we didn’t have enough information to stop any of the bad things. All we’ve been able to do is try to avoid their past selves.”
“Is that why you didn’t want to tell me where we had met before?” she asked, watching Azazel’s reaction.
“That’s what I thought,” she said, sitting back in the chair.
Az panicked, looking back at me.
“Jay, I didn’t say a thing!”
“You didn’t say anything,” she said, as Remiel kicked the little demon in the shin. “Until just now.”
“Jay, what are you hiding from me? ” A single tear rolled down her cheek. “Did I do something wrong?”
“Why are you holding back?” The way she looked at me, I could tell that she was hurt.”