Satan's Vessel

*

Afterwards, she sat on the steps of the chancel, eating her way through her bag of food. They'd bought her a meal from a local takeaway—of all things. Despite her mixed feelings about churches, she couldn't help but feel guilty about eating something so "sinful" in such a place.

Soon after her and Jacob's brief talk, the rest of the angels had returned to the nave, spreading themselves out, sitting in the pews or leaning against pillars. Jacob was sitting on the chancel steps alongside her.

Along with the blankets and food and other essentials, they'd brought several battery-run lights, torches and a bunch of candles. Behind her, on the back wall, the big bronze crucifix gleamed against their flickering glow. It made the church seem less scary, though they illuminated the massive cobwebs in the ceiling and between many of the pews. Jacob had wrapped a blanket around her shoulders.

She took a long drink from her can of soft drink. It was too quiet and Kaitlyn was starting to feel uncomfortable. She broke the silence. 'Aren't you going to have anything?'

'Angels do not eat,' Jacob told her. 'Or drink or sleep, for that matter. We don't need to relieve ourselves. We don't even need to breathe.'

'We are neither alive nor dead,' the angel, Samuel, with the hard yellow eyes added at her surprised look.

'How is that possible?'

'It's simple when you don't have hearts or lungs or blood,' he continued. 'Or any kind of humanly organ.'

Kaitlyn stared at him, her mouth open. She shut it. 'That doesn't really answer my question.'

He gave a half-smirk.

Her eyes drifted over the others before falling onto the only female angel—Catherine. The angel had introduced herself earlier. Like the others, she'd since removed her sweater. Kaitlyn wasn't sure why they seemed to dislike them so much. She could only assume that it had something do with their wings. Though she couldn't see them, she wondered if they were still tangible in some form or another she couldn't comprehend.

Instead, the angel wore something similar to a black crop top. Long black dreads fell beyond her waist. Her very dark skin gleamed against the candlelight. She was extraordinary. No religious image, painting or story had ever depicted an angel anything close to what she was. Even in Kaitlyn's own mind, she was everything an angel wasn't. It made her twist her mouth. How could they have gotten it so wrong? Then again, as she looked around, she couldn't say any of the angels really fit the bill.

Hoodies. Cars. Beer.

Kaitlyn took a bite of her burger.

Five angels. Five angels to protect her. Kaitlyn recalled what Father Alex had said: How are you going to protect her? Five of you against how many? Legions?

It made her heart clench. What had he meant by legions? What exactly were those dark angels? Why did that priest try to kill her? How were they going to keep her safe and for how long? So many difficult questions. She felt sick.

What if Satan did capture her? What then?

The Reckoning would be upon us and all that you know and love would be consumed by hellfire.

Kaitlyn shivered.

Jacob rested a warm hand upon her shoulder.

Kaitlyn put down her burger. 'You need to tell me everything,' she told him. 'So I know what I'm up against.' She turned to the others. 'And you need to be direct with me.'

Her voice sounded so loud in the empty room. Samuel draped his muscular arms over the pew in front of him. Zeke rubbed at the back of his neck. Catherine leaned her head back against the pillar behind her. As for Jacob, he released her shoulder.