The Devil's Assistant (Watty Awards Finalist 2011)

Devil's assistant [14]

Chapter 14

For about five minutes, Lucius, Gabriel and Ezekiel stood there in shocked silence. Each of them staring at me with wide eyes and open mouths before Gabriel cleared his throat and sat down on the arm of the sofa looking totally defeated.

“What does He say?” His voice was detached and emotionless as usual but his eyes held some emotion that I recognised in myself…fear. I gulped and looked down at the scroll before me.

“Savannah, upon entering this life you were marked to be one of the protected, to be one of mine on earth. You are by far the most cherished, the most important, and I’m sorry to say the most threatened of the protected ones. There is a book, one that was written by a mortal prophet at the time of the creation of the Bible. It was designed for the purpose that should the Angelic or the Demonic become a threat to the existence of humanity, then humanity would be able to fight back. This book which had been hidden away and forgotten has now gone from even my sight. It could mean that there is something protecting it which is beyond my eyes but I fear that the book has fallen into the wrong hands. Please save my sons, all of them, even the ones that should be cast down by me. They may not be welcome within my gates but they are still my children.” I cleared my throat loudly as I looked up at the three and was shocked to see Lucius looking teary eyed. What shocked me even more was Ezekiel who walked the few steps up to him and patted his shoulder in consolation. Returning my gaze to the page as more lines appeared, I cleared my throat once more before continuing to read.

“Young one, you are just starting out on life but as a parent, I am asking you to save my children. Though the book was meant for good, in the wrong hands it can cause irreparable damage to the world. My sons will tell you more but let it be known that you cannot trust anyone except the three in your presence; they are the only ones who hold no taint and are loyal. Only one is totally loyal to me but the others are loyal to you and know that they would fight to the death for you. I will give you guidance as I can but in my position, I am not allowed to interfere directly with the balance, which is why there had always been a protected one.

“Young one, keep your heart true, keep your heart brave and most of all believe because without faith, all hope is lost –“ I stopped when I realised there was no more script and quickly dropped the paper when it started to heat up.

We all watched wide eyed as the paper curled up and blackened at the edges before being completely incinerated by some unseen flame, not a trace of dust there to show that the scroll had even existed. There was a silence that hung in the air for several minutes before she nodded to the charred remains. “So are you going to tell me what that was all about? Apart from the possible end of the world scenario, I am at a complete loss. And what about a prophet, is that a seer or something?”

Leaning back in the chair, I ran a hand through my hair noting how it was shorter on one side but my attention was drawn to Lucius as he cleared his throat.

“That damned book is coming back to bite us in the as…” I shot him a glare before he could finish the word and nodded towards Danny who was snoozing on his chest. With a snort he amended himself but his eyes showed his amusement. “Bite us in the butt. Anyway, the book is called the Book of Eve. Of course the destruction of all mankind and the celestials would be down to the words of a woman.” Shooting him another glare I shot my arm forward before realising it was my injured arm so I stopped before my hand could grasp a cold chip from the plate of food that was sitting on the table. I didn’t even want to know when that had arrived because I hadn’t even noticed, instead I waited for the pain but nothing came. When it didn’t I shook it off as the pain pills taking effect.

“What he was trying to say was that the Book is the single most powerful and dangerous one ever written.” Gabriel cut in, his face deadly serious.