Ch.10 Athena's Gift

Chapter 10

“We are all atheists about most of the Gods societies have ever believed in. Some of us just go one God further.”- Richard Dawkins

Holy Cow! I’m not dead! WTF…? The room faded again.
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“That really won’t be necessary…” I heard Jeff saying conversationally, “She isn’t going to cause any problems once she understands.”

“Until we understand her, she will remain as she is.” A familiar voice argued, “She is awake.”
So much for pretending. And, Ouch. I was trussed up like a turkey.

“Get me out of this, Jeff!” I said grumpily, my head hurt too.

“We will put you in one of those chairs, but, know that your friends lives depend on your cooperation.” Muscles said, leaning into my field of view. He seemed to be trying to catch my gaze.

“Fine.” I answered, step one accomplished.

Muscles produced a long knife and cut the rope from my feet to my hands. Then he picked me up and set me gently into one of the folding chairs, facing him.

I allowed the blood to circulate while I studied the room and its occupants. I’d get my shot; I just had to wait for it.

“Lucy, these are not Demon Touched.” Jeff tried to explain.

“And I suppose our new friends are Angel Touched?” I cut him off sarcastically.

“Well, no.” He said. He looked like he was going to say more, but Muscles interrupted him.

“We are not here to discuss me, we need to discuss you.” Muscles said harshly.

“Well, ask then.” I said crossly.

He took a deep steadying breath. Good, I wanted to be under his skin a little.

“I know that Jeff has already asked you this, but I am going to ask again. What are you?” he looked me in the eye. These intense stare downs were getting creepy.

“I don’t know what you mean. And what’s with the googly eyes?” I returned.

He let out a frustrated breath and got up from his chair. The door to the room opened and Bartender John walked in.

“Mikhail and Annabeth left.” John announced.

“We’ll deal with them later. Is anyone following them?” Muscles asked.

“No, they slipped out while we were dealing with the humans.” John answered, “Do you need me for anything?”

“No, just keep things going up front.” Muscles instructed. John stepped back out.

“What about Jill and Suzanne?” I asked, concerned for the mere humans.

“They are fine. We sent them back to the apartment.” Muscles answered me in a tired voice, but I doubted him. I looked over at Jeff and he nodded his head in confirmation. I was just going to have to accept that for now.

“What happened with your friend Jason?” Muscles asked me. He was clearly trying to throw me off balance. I shot Jeff a glower before I told Muscles everything I knew about it. Maybe I could get some information in return.

“Hmmm.” Was all I got. Muscles, Jeff and the other two trench coats got up and left the room.
I took that opportunity to try to loosen my feet and hands up. It wasn’t working out very well.

Jeff came back in with a pocketknife and started slicing off the ropes. It was now or never. Should I try to outrun him or knock him down? Could I do both?

“We are free to go, please don’t say or do anything to change their minds.” Jeff said as if he was reading my mind.

I hesitated as I planted my feet. He reached down and took my hand. Maybe it was supposed to be comforting. I had the feeling it was meant to keep at least one arm under control.

We walked out of the back room and I glared at everyone. That was the best I could do at the moment. My gun wasn’t in my pocket any more.

“See you later, Lucy.” John called after me. Jeff pushed me out the door before I could reply.

“Okay, we’re going, I’m going.” I said petulantly, shaking Jeff’s grip off my hand. “What in Hell was that all about? Why are walking out?”

“I’ll explain when we get to your apartment. Just keep walking.” He picked up his pace. He seemed perfectly normal, even for him.

We said hello to Sister Marta as we went up the stairs. Jill and Suzanne had better be here, I muttered to myself.

The ladies unlocked the door after peering at us through the peephole. I had to push Suzanne’s gun down as we walked in, she was on a hair trigger with worry. They had been escorted back to the apartment by one of the Coats, but they seemed to be having difficulty remembering details.

Jeff kept assuring us that we were okay. He tried several times to explain things to us, but we kept getting off on tangents. Shaking his head, he finally walked off into the bathroom. We heard the shower going and realized we were going to have to wait for him to come out to fill us in.

Briefly we discussed going in and talking to him anyway. But we couldn’t quite work up the nerve.
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Jeff says that the people in the tavern, except for the dartboard guys, are actually Angels. I was pretty sure his head had been tampered with, since we all knew that we had seen Angels at my parent’s house.

It turns out we were both right.

The Angels at the tavern were sort of blue collar Angels. They had been among us since the time of Christ when they were given instructions to observe the spiritual evolution of Man. Angels, as they were properly referred to, were charged to correct minor imbalances with the minions of the Devil.

Angels and Demons had been duking it out since biblical times, awaiting Armageddon. In an effort to blend in, many of them have adopted human habits. Many of them have adopted humans for that matter. Those that have taken to human ways, with families and day jobs are often seen as tainted by the others.

The creatures at my mom’s house were Angels as well, but of a higher order. They are probably Hashmallim, part of the Dominion order of Angels. They are pure and inflexible, sent to regulate the lower order Angels and pass Judgment upon the people in their care. Jeff says that these Hashmallim are somewhat resented by the Angels as too idealistic for a world with no Gods.

“A world with no Gods?” I asked. “What does that mean?”

“The Angels have been waiting for God to return. That’s what Judgment Day is supposed to be about. Word has come from the Hashmallim that Judgment Day is here, but God isn’t making an appearance.” Jeff answered me in a sad voice. He gave us all a moment to let that sink in.

“There are other problems before us right now. Or rather, for the Angels.” Jeff began. “Angels & Demons have integrated into society, blurring their own lines of good & evil. As you saw, many have taken to human ways. The Demons have developed a drug that dampens Awareness. It is highly addictive and it keeps the Angels busy with rehabbing their own.”

“I am not sure how it works but the Demons have also fallen prey to it, no one seems to care about that.” Jeff added. “I believe this is where my skills will be most useful.”

“What, rehabbing Demons?” I asked, not quite able to wrap my head around these revelations.

Jeff indicated we should all take a seat on the couch.

“Look, the world is experiencing a holy free for all. Right here, in this city, it is Angels vs. Demons. This is true for most of the Western world, aside from some small pockets like your Retreat.” He said with a nod to Jill and Suzanne. “We do NOT want the Demons to win. It’s really that simple, you have to pick a side.”

“But, if the Demons and Angels have no power in the Retreat” Jill began “then maybe we don’t need to get involved. Maybe we shouldn’t.”

“She has a good point.” I piped up, thinking of the peaceful life they had carved out. “Why bring this fight down on them?”

“Here is the problem. It's just a matter of time before the Demons decide that they can hide out in your sacred places. They may not have any direct power, but the minute one of you steps off the Reservation, they can possess you just like anyone else.” Jeff answered gravely. “ What happens if Demons decide to farm your people? They’ll just never come back. The enslaved may even exert influence on others.”

That shocked us. He was absolutely right. No one at the Retreat was screening anyone for religious beliefs, just assuming that they would assimilate peacefully. It may be possible to get enough staunch Christians together to change the spiritual balance, allowing Angels and Demons to hold sway over Mother Earth.

I almost voiced that sentiment. But, what if that is what was supposed to happen? Shouldn’t we as Christians welcome the battle with Evil? Was I willing to cut my Christianity, such as it was, short in order to allow what were essentially Pagans to escape Judgment?

Didn’t Judaism and Islam have an Angelic tradition as well; did they get the same version of Angels we have? I was beginning to feel information overload creeping in.

“Jeff, if God isn’t coming, does that mean that we are on our own?” I asked. I am not sure exactly what I meant by that. I was so confused.

“We’ve been on our own for a long time.” Jeff responded. “That part of the human story won’t change. I believe God left us to our own devices to see what would happen without his interference. Whatever other human errors may have crept into the Bible and Torah and Koran, he promised us all a Judgment day. And this is it. It just isn’t the way I expected it. Our survival is what is at stake here. The Demons would love to take over and the Hashmallim are going to do their part by Judging us. If we are going to survive, and I have to believe that God meant for that to happen, we need to stop thinking in conventionally religious terms.” Jeff said. “It isn’t about saving souls any more or conversions to the correct religion. Its about surviving Angels and Demons for us. I don’t think God cares so much about blind faith followers, the people who might one day make it into his presence will simply be survivors.”

“So, I think I am understanding you correctly,” Suzanne said with a methodical tone, “maybe what needs to happen is that we get rid of the Demons and the Angels will leave. Theoretically allowing humans to go on their merry way.”

“Except the ones sent to Judge us.” I put in, “What do you think their criteria are?”

“I think it comes down to basic Good and Evil. People have chosen to follow Christianity, Judaism and even Islam in this part of the world. Their generations of belief in GOD as we know it is what has given these Hashmallim the power to Judge us. The criteria probably shift depending on your religious flavor.” Jeff speculated. “But, to be honest I really can’t say anything specific about that. The Hashmallim we saw really seemed alien to me.”

That we could agree on. It seemed to me that the easiest solution we could push for would be to try to give the Angels a leg up on the Demons, keep them both out of the Native American spaces, and just hope we were up to snuff the next time we came across a Hashmallim.

We’d probably start with the cracked out Angels tomorrow.