Soul Quest

Chapter 2

Aengels and Daevas

Time - September 10, 2001 (the eve of 911)

Place - The Waldorf Astoria Hotel 

Manhattan, New York

"Be sober, be vigilant;

becauseYOUR adversary

the devil, as a roaring lion,

walketh about seeking

whom he may devour."

- Bible, 1 Peter v. 8

Etheline frowned at herself in the mirror. She was never exactly beautiful in her human form but now she was morbidly grotesque. Her hair was once a shiny, softly curling, platinum blond. Now it looked stringy, bleached and brittle. She remembered how interesting her hazel eyes looked when the sunlight spilled into them. Now they took on a dullFLAT black. Her skin was always fair but now her pale skin could make a corpse look healthy. Avna noticed her scowling at herself in the large mirror in the foyer of the hotel suite.

"Don't fret my sweet. It won't last forever. I was even uglier than you in my Aengel form. I'd compare thePROCESS to the life cycle of a butterfly. You are no longer a lowly larva. You are changing, a chrysalis of evil. Once you have taken enough human souls to complete the change you will become a Daeva, beautiful and powerful, just like yours truly." she laughed wickedly, sweeping her lovely, fiery red ringlets behind her shoulder as she admired herself in the mirror.

She was more than beautiful now. Her porcelain skin glowed against her dazzling, onyx eyes and flaming red curls. Yes, she remembered Etheline's gruesome plight well. She remembered a dull gray face with charcoal for eyes framed with limp, orange, wiry hair. Ew! All is well that ends well, she thought. Etheline glared at her.

"See!" Avna gestured toward herself in the mirror. "No worries." she bragged.

"Not for you." Etheline spat back. "Did you infect me just so you could torture me until my transition is complete?" Etheline whined.

"Don't be like that, my pet." she purred. Etheline hated it when Avna referred to her as her pet. It was degrading to her.

"Besides, we have far more important matters to concern ourselves with, my dear, do we not?" she prompted.

"Yes Avna. I know that. Has Shyam received confirmation from the humans yet?" Etheline asked.

"Not yet, but it shouldn't be much longer." Avna replied. "If this plays out the way we suspect those incompetent humans will end up doing half the job for us." Avna snickered.

"Do you really think they will take the bait so easily Avna?" Etheline wondered.

"Of course they will. The stupid humans haven't even an inkling of suspicion about our kind. They will blame each other for this 'so called' tragedy." she sneered. "They will go to war and blow each other to kingdom come. Afterward we can devour the aftermath, a buffet of souls practically served to us on a silver platter." Avna cackled wildly. Etheline joined in her laughter. This was going to be so easy. "Where is Lefu?" Avna asked suddenly, realizing she hadn't seen him in awhile.