Heaven and Hell

When 11:00 came Serena exited the lobby and saw Li Yung already waiting for her on the sidewalk. He greeted her with his customary bow, which she returned. They spoke briefly about their plan for the night, which involved them getting to separate taxis and having Li Yung follow her to the synagogue. Once they got there he was to remain hidden from view until the meeting concluded, or if it was revealed that Serena was in danger.

As always Serena carried and hid from view inside her coat, Demon’s Bane and Divine Retribution, just in case they were needed, which she hoped they were not. She kept at least one hand near them at all times, even as she hailed her taxi. Once the taxi had arrived she wished Li Yung good luck, which he returned in kind.

She entered the back taxi, gave the driver the address and was off. She remained silent throughout the journey and alert. She did her best to stay relaxed by taking deep breaths. Her heart was pounding in her ears as she grew ever closer to the meeting place, dozens of scenarios playing through her mind as she tried to plan for every possible outcome.

Serena tried to find Li Yung’s taxi following her, but with no luck. She couldn’t see any sign of the young monk, but she knew that he was still tailing her at a distance. The thought helped keep her slightly at ease throughout the journey. She glanced at the clock on the dashboard and saw that it was ten minutes to midnight as she finally reached her destination. She paid the driver and left the cab and looked up at the synagogue. It was a large, grand building made of bricks. It stood at least twelve stories high, maybe more. It had two pillars on each side of it, giving it an almost castle like appearance. In between the pillars was the symbol of the Star of David, the symbol for Judaism.

She looked around and there was nobody around on the streets. It was eerily quiet, especially for New York. The quietness unsettled her. Keeping her hands close to her weapons, she proceeded up the stairs toward one of the three large wooden doors and knocked three times as the note had instructed. She waited tensely for what seemed like several minutes, but was only several seconds when the door opened. Standing before her was an elderly man with snow white hair and a long beard that reached his collar bone. He wore round glasses that hung on the edge of his long nose, was dressed in an all black suit and tie, and a purple kippa sat upon his head. In his left hand, which Serena noted was trembling slightly, was a long wooden cane. He stared at her for a moment, then looked behind her as if expecting to find someone else.

“Hi, I was told to meet someone here,” Serena said slowly, unsure what to make of the old man.

“I am aware of that, come inside quickly,” he ushered her in. Inside was a large circular room with a high ceiling. It had an awestruck effect on Serena as she looked around the room quickly before returning her attention to her host, who was closing the door. He held out a hand and said,

“I am Rabbi Caleb Rasofsky.” Serena took his hand and shook it.

“I’m Serena Johnson,” she replied.

“A pleasure Miss Johnson. A great pleasure indeed!” he smiled broadly at her. “Come, young master Katz is awaiting for you.” He led her up the winding staircase. Along the way Rasofsky talked animatedly about the history of the synagogue, pointing out several rooms of importance such as the Torah study and the main prayer hall. Serena listened silently while smiling and nodding politely, the old man seemed harmless enough, just very talkative. When they arrived at their destination he stopped speaking immediately. They were at the far end of upper levels, standing before the last door on the right, which looked like every other door she had seen, beautifully carved wood.

“This is where Master Katz awaits you my dear,” he said. “Knock thrice and enter, if you have need of me I shall be in my own study.” he smiled and left. Serena waited until he had turned the corner towards the stairs and his footsteps and clinking cane had faded before taking a deep breath and knocked once. Twice. Thrice, the door opened slowly, creaking as it did. The room inside was too dark for Serena to make out who or what was in it.

“Hello?” she whispered. No answer came so she risked speaking a little louder. “Is anyone in here?”

“You may enter Serena Johnson,” a voice replied. Serena hesitantly stepped forward, her right hand dropping to her weapon. “There is no need for that I assure you. You are here as my guest, I promise no harm will come to you, or your young monk friend spying on us from the other side of the street.” he indicated towards the window where sure enough, Li Yung stood, arms crossed and head down on the other side of the street.

A candle flickered, illuminating part of the room. Then another, and another until seven candles were lit, forming a semi-circle around a silhouette of what Serena hoped was Azriel.

“I apologize for the near darkness, but I don’t want the enemy to know we are here. As you probably know, I work best in the shadows, so I feel most comfortable in their embrace.” he continued. “And I know the question is going through your mind and yes, I am Azriel.”

“Prove it then,” Serena replied. Though she couldn’t see him she was sure the man was smiling at her.

“We met a few nights ago, I saved you and your friend from a feral demon who surely would have killed you if I had not intervened. Afterwards your friend and I had a slight disagreement about the jurisdiction of your order and mine.”

“Okay, my next question is how did you slip this note in my pocket?” she asked holding up the note to him.

“Quite simple actually, when I bumped into earlier today I just slipped it in your pocket and continued on my way.”

“That was you?” Azriel chuckled.

“Yes, I believe we need to work together in order to stop the Witch from doing the unthinkable.”

“You have my attention,” Serena said. “What’s the Witch planning?”

“I have reason to believe that she is about to summon a demon from the pits of Hell. And not just any demon, a powerful one, named Alvora.”

“Who is Alvora? I’ve never heard of him.”

“Neither had I until I did a little digging. He is a powerful demon who was banished to Hell over a century ago by one of our Agents. He thrives in the darkness and apparently looks similar to a bird in his true demon form. There is a cult still dedicated to him, though whether the Witch is a member or not is unknown, but I would assume she is a member.” he replied.

“How do you know this?” she asked. Azriel recounted the events that had transpired the other day, of how he had tracked the Witch to the site where she killed Jared Morris, and of how he had barely escaped his encounter with the Witch alive. When he finished, he added

“And I think the next sacrifice is you.”

“Why me?” she asked.

“I heard Alvora telling the Witch that the next sacrifice needed to be a woman of God with great beauty and a strong mind, and that she was to be a virgin.” Serena blushed slightly at the compliment of being of great beauty of and strong mind.

“I appreciate the compliments, but there’s just one problem with your theory Azriel.” she said. When he remained silent, she cleared her throat and continued, “I’m not a virgin.”

****
Maria lay in her bed, wide awake and unable to fall asleep. She didn’t know why she couldn’t, she just had an uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach. She threw off her covers and walked to the bathroom, turning on the light and closing the door behind her.

She looked at herself in the mirror, her red hair was sticking up, her eyes were bloodshot because she had hardly gotten any sleep and she noticed her skin was slightly paler than normal. She then relieved herself and left the bathroom to the living room to watch some late night television when a shadow darted pasted her peripheral vision. She whirled around but saw nothing. She shook her head.

“Girl you’re losing it,” she muttered to herself.

“Oh, you’re not losing it,” a voice behind her said. She turned in time to see a little girl dressed in a plain white dress standing over Colleen’s body, blowing a green powder in her face. Maria yelped and stumbled backwards as she was momentarily blinded. She tripped over something on the ground and fell to the floor with a loud grunt. She could hear the sounds of footsteps. Maria blinked several times and growled in frustration as she could only see green specks. She sensed someone was near her, so she blindly attacked and hit what felt like a leg. She was rewarded with a grunt of pain and what sounded like a stumble. She swung her arm again but caught only air. She tried to get up, but her whole body felt incredibly heavy. She began to feel very dizzy and lightheaded.

“Oh good, the Broncus Powder is taking effect.” a distorted voice said. The last thing she heard was the child’s giggling as she blacked out.