The Devil Within

What's the Difference Between an Angel and the Devil?

It took you ten minutes to get to the warehouse the angels were kept in. You parked your bike in between some trees for it to stay hidden as you snuck up to the building, leaving your helmet and motorcycle jacket with your bike so they wouldn't restrict your movements. If there was one thing you've learned about going up against demons, never let anything restrict your movements if you could help it. Demons didn't see you as a huge threat at first, so they rarely used their Demon Mojo unless they really wanted to try and scare you. Normally, demons would just grab at loose clothing and try to beat you to a pulp. You were skilled enough to escape their grasp at least and kill them later. You had a feeling you'd run into a demon or two before finding the angels.

"Their names are Ishim and Esther," Raphael said, his voice ringing through your head. "Be wary of not only the demons but of Ishim as well. He's been known to show some disdain for humanity. While Esther is fascinated with humans, Ishim will be less than pleased when he registers you are his rescuer."

"Good to know Angels can be Choosing Beggars," you snorted, racking your brain for any mention of an angel named Ishim in all of the angelic texts you read. Raphael's been getting you to learn Enochian to speak it and read different texts that can't otherwise be translated. With his help, you were able to read multiple old reports that were no longer deemed reality-changing so you could practice with them. You finally remembered who Ishim was from both the show and the angelic reports. "Ishim was that Flight Commander who reported and killed that Nephilim in the 20th century, right? The guy who was the Head of Castiel's Garrison?"

"Yes," Raphael confirmed as you observed the property before you. "He is still the Head of that Garrison today. It's considered one of the most skilled of all our Flight Garrisons."

Ishim was also the one asshole in season 12 of Supernatural. He was the angelic equivalent of a Nice Guy in the 20th century. While Ishim was one of Supernatural's minor villains, he was scary to you. In a way, Ishim reminded you of your ex, Spencer. Back in the 20th century, the show didn't give you an exact date, Ishim was accidentally summoned to Earth by a young woman named Lily who was conducting research on Angels. Ishim became obsessive over her and told her Heaven's greatest secrets, claiming that he loved her. Eventually, Lily started to fear for her and her daughter, May. She ran away and another angel, whose name escapes you, for protection. Angered, Ishim killed the angel husband and Lily's daughter right in front of her, claiming the nine-year-old was a Nephilim on reports of the incident. The only reason why he needed to report it was because he got his Garrison involved. If you boil it down to the basics, Ishim was obsessive and killed the family of the victim to his obsession over a rejection. The resemblance to your ex was uncanny and you weren't exactly excited to be the rescuer either.

"Are you alright?" Raphael asked, sensing your unease.

"Just have a weird feeling," you whispered into your gloved hand as you studied the property in front of you.

On the surface, the property looked to be an abandoned warehouse with a stone wall keeping the trespassers out. You knew better than that and, frankly, could see better than 99% of the population. With the Sight, you could make out the Warding that was keeping any angel out perfectly. Some of the Warding were symbols you recognized as sigils to keep things in. You would need to break those before getting Esther and Ishim out of there. Of course, they probably already knew about the Warding. Taking a breath to calm your nerves, you scaled the wall like a professional free-climber just as Raphael taught you. The climb up and over was smooth, the landing was not. You landed with a small thump and forgot to roll out the momentum. You've been taught to roll when you jump down from a platform five feet or higher but you didn't. A stupid mistake that knocked you out of your funk.