The Wicked End

I rested for three days, a stead unconsciousness taking over my body. Johnny had told me that the change my body underwent while turning into an angel would take quite a bit of rest to heal, and the fact that all of Brian's energy had back-lashed through my sword only worsened it. In doing so, I had frazzled some of my own energy, but Johnny assured a few days' sleep would get everything back in order.

When I woke up the morning of the fourth day, the battle had already ended, but the real war had just begun. The angels and evil souls had countered each other evenly though the angels were outnumbered, and now none of them were left. The world was completely empty, save for four: Johnny, Matt, me... and Nicky.

In the midst of all the battling going on around me, I had completely forgotten that Matt had taken my son from me. I wondered how he was; he could have been dead all that time, but Johnny assured me he was very much alive, and every bit as evil his father was. But he was still my son, and though I was now an angel, I still felt a strange sort of love toward him that I just couldn't seem to shake.

Getting up from the bed on the day I had awoken, I looked down to realize I was dressed in an all-white suit that clung to my body, my feet even covered in white boots. My wings unfolded behind me from their resting position, and I stretched, heading down the stairs to find Johnny. He was stood at one of the windows, gazing out into the dark, silent, empty street.

As if he had heard my silent entry behind him, Johnny glanced briefly over his shoulder.

"Today is the day," he said, his voice ominous.

"The day for what?" I asked, and Johnny turned away from the window to face me fully.

"The day that you must fight him, and determine the fates of the world for the Rebirth," Johnny answered, and I nodded slowly. I knew that day was coming, and now it was upon us. There was no turning back now.

Swiftly moving to the couch, I grabbed my sword that had been leaned up against the arm of it for the three days I was under.

"Alright then, wish me luck," I sighed, taking my sword and heading for the door. In the open doorway, I was stopped.

"Wait," Johnny said, and I did, turning to look at him as I slid the blade down into the hip sheath. "There is something else you must do first."

'You must sneak into the palace unnoticed by Matt, and lure your son away from his father,' Johnny had said before I left. 'And then you must kill him.'

There was no part of his instructions that I liked, but as I stood outside the palace at the bottom of the white alabaster steps, I knew I was already there and had no choice. Creeping silently up the steps, my wings folded tightly behind me, I slipped through the front entrance without a problem. There was no one there to guard the palace - only Matt waiting inside, and where exactly he was I didn't know. I just knew that I couldn't run into him. Especially not with our son in my arms.

I came upon a long, dark entrance hall, stone pillars reaching up to the ceiling and a long, white staircase across from me. Once I crossed the room and ascended the flight of stairs, I reached a landing that branched off with stairs to the right and a hallway to the left. Closing my eyes for a moment, I felt something tug me in the direction of the hallway, so I headed that way, looking into each room that I passed, hoping Matt was nowhere in the hall, and nowhere near my son, for that matter.

Hearing a noise in the doorway to my left I jumped, turning to see Nicky standing there like a deer in the headlights, and I breathed in a sigh of relief. He had grown taller since the last time I had seen him, but I still crouched down to his level and reached out for him. He took a few steps closer and looked at me curiously.

"Nicky, baby... It's Mommy," I whispered, motioning for him to come to me. If he was like he used to be, then he still hated me and this probably wouldn't work.

Suddenly Nick was in my arms, his little arms wrapped around my neck in a hug. Hurriedly, I wrapped mine around him, holding him to me as I stood and began carrying him down the hall.

"Mommy, where are we going?" he asked, and I quickly shushed him, making it back to the landing of the stairs going back down to the entrance.

"We're going to go outside and play," I said quietly, feeling that this was way too easy. Silently I crept quickly down the steps, breaking into a jog as I rushed back out of the palace, letting out a sigh as I carried him down the steps.

Instantly, the air was filled with an ear-piercing shriek coming from inside the palace. Matt knew his son had been taken. Quickly, I ran to where Johnny was waiting in the desert, setting Nicky down on the ground.

"What happens now? What do I do?" I asked, feeling myself tremble as the ground shook, another scream filling the air.

Without answering, Johnny turned away from me, holding his palms out face down to the ground, a concentrated look on his face. With a loud rumble, the ground shook hard and began to sink down into a basin, spreading out and stretching in a line that seemed to go on forever. Turning his hands over, Johnny slowly raised them, and water began to seep up from under the ground, quickly filling the small ravine. The current was slow and steady, the basin shallow.

"This is a river of holy water, Davy," Johnny explained. "You need to drown him in it until he is dead."

"Johnny... I can't," I said, my lip trembling as I held my son closer to me.

"You have to. If you don't, you can't defeat the Anti-Christ. As long as Nick is alive, he is unstoppable."

Sighing, I swallowed the lump in my throat and stepped into the water, feeling it rush lazily pat my legs. I waded in, Nick in my arms, until the water was up near to my waist. I tried to lower him into the water, but he gripped me tighter.

"Mommy..." I heard him say, and when I looked in his eyes I saw how scared he was. My heart thumped in my chest, making it harder to breathe.

"I'm sorry, baby," I cooed, kissing his forehead. "Mommy loves you."

"Davanee, no..." Johnny said sternly from his place on land behind me.

Taking a deep breath, I was able to pry Nicky's arms off my neck, holding him in front of me with my hands under his arms. I forced him down into the water, his screams echoing through the air as the water turned to steam on contact, burning his flesh like acid. I held him under, pushing his head down as I cried, hearing his screams and cries even through the water.

Feeling my hands grow hot, I let go of my son and he burst into a fit of blue flames, even in the water. And then he was gone.

Trudging out of the water, I felt more tears come down my cheeks and didn't bother to wipe them away. I stood next to Johnny, holding my stomach as I watched the water flow past until the river ran dry and the ground came back up.

The tight knot of guilt in my stomach made me want to vomit. Crying harder, I felt Johnny's arm go around my shoulders.

"Sshh... It's alright," I heard him coo, but I pushed him away.

"Don't touch me," I hissed, reaching for my sword and pulling it out. "Sorry Johnny, but you'll have to fight Matt for me."

"If you're going to kill yourself, you can't," Johnny said calmly, but I ignored him as I pointed the blade to my stomach. Swiftly, I stabbed the blade clear through, and sobbed harder when I felt no pain. Throwing the sword to the ground, I cried harder.

"Davy, you're an angel. You can't physically kill yourself..." Johnny said as he came up next to me. Just then, a cry of rage pierced the sky, louder and stronger than the ones before, causing me to cover my ears. The ground shook violently, and I knew it was because Matt knew that his heir was killed. Johnny pulled me close to him to keep me standing until the quake ended, and then he held me out at arm's length.

He put his hands out in front of me and I watched them shimmer until a larger, more beautiful sword than my own appeared. The handle was jewel encrusted, and I could see something etched into the smooth surface of the blade, right before the hilt.

"Davanee, this is the Sword of the Almighty. You must go now, back to the palace, and kill Matt. Only this sword will work, so don't ever let go of it."

He handed me the sword and I held it, blade pointing to the sky. The light flashed off the engraved characters in the metal again, and I looked closely at them, squinting. They were in a language I had never seen before.

"Johnny, what does this say?" I asked, still studying the characters.

"Gam ki eilech b'gei tsalmavet, Lo ira ira, Ki Atah imadi..." he said, speaking in foreign tongues before pausing. "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for Thou art with me."

Sighing, I sheathed the sword at my hip, looking from Johnny to the white palace.

"Davy, you're going to have to trick him somehow... I won't be able to protect you anymore," he whispered at the end, and I nodded. Feeling something come over me, I pulled Johnny tightly to me in a hug, not wanting to let go. But I did, and then I turned away, setting off across the desert toward the white palace, where I would meet my fate.