Chapter 5
Jason looked at the demon.
'There is no way I am going to release this thing, until I figure out how to banish it, ' he thought as he turned to leave.
"Wait! Don't leave me locked within. Free me!" it said in an almost pleading tone of voice.
"I'll think about what to do, and return," Jason said.
Jason made his way up the stairs, and out of the house. He made sure to erase all evidence of his having been inside. The footprints he could do nothing about, but the rest, well, he did what he could.
The evil that rolled off the house and permeated the area, explained why the body had never been removed, let alone found. He doubted anyone would be able to fight their way through the miasma of evil that was here. He had done it because of the sword he pictured in his mind. HE was sure of that, and now he had to figure out how and why he did it.
He walked down the road back to his car and got in it. He turned around, and headed back to the little town he had passed through not too long ago. It was getting late. He decided it was time to find a room for the night, and try to get some more information on this place.
He found a little hotel on the edge of the road. He pulled in and registered for the night. Next, he asked the desk clerk about restaurants. He was informed that there was an all night diner located a couple blocks away.
After eating a decent meal of 'the special' (which was a salad, meatloaf, mashed potatoes, and gravy), he relaxed a drank a cup of coffee. He got a local paper from the waitress, and started looking through it for any items that might catch his interest.
The countryside around the town was beautiful. While farmland was in the area, there were also trees everywhere he looked outside of town, and even in town. He was actually surprised at how much of the land was wooded.
After eating, he returned to his motel room, and settled in for the evening. While the room had a television, there was really nothing on that interested him. He decided to turn in early, and get a fresh start in the morning.
He was dreaming, and he knew he was dreaming, but could not tear himself out of it. He was talking with someone he had known from a time unimaginable. They were on a gigantic wall, and he had a glowing sword in his hand.
The one he was speaking to was the most powerful Guardian there was. He knew this, because he had similar power, just not quite as much of it. Still, he was expressing confidence to his leader.
Soon enough, a battle was joined with those in revolt. He could not believe that they were actually trying to overthrow the ONE!
He fought, filled with a tireless energy. Where his sword struck, those in revolt lost form. It would be ages before they regained a form, if ever they did.
Finally, the assault ended on his section of the wall. He could hear a voice whispering to him. He shook his head, and tried not to listen, but it was difficult. While it was not the voice of the ONE, it was persuasive, and what it said sounded reasonable.
"Step aside," the voice was saying, "It is time to bring return to how it was, before the mortals were created. The world should be ours."
He awoke with a start! His heart was thudding in his chest, and he had a feeling he had been falling, falling for an endless distance and an inconceivable time. As he became more aware of his surroundings, he calmed, and got up from bed. It was five thirty AM, and he was wide-awake.
The image of the sword was clear in his mind! He knew it as well as he knew anything. It was called "Vengeance", and he had received it from the ONE! His heart ached as he remembered this, but could not remember what the ONE looked like. He was surprised to discover tears coursing down his cheeks.
After cleaning up, he went out to find breakfast. He then asked for and received directions to the realty company that had listed the place he was at the previous day. After a breakfast of three eggs over medium, hash browns, sausage, toast, jelly, and orange juice, he topped off with two cups of coffee.
Forty minutes later, he was sitting in his car in the small parking lot of a small wooden one-story building that housed the realty company he wanted. Finally, someone showed up. He waited until they went inside before getting out of his car.
The company was a small branch from a much larger corporation that was located a few hundred miles away, in a large city. She was the local rep for the corporation. She was responsible for all properties handled by her company in the surrounding countryside. She was also in contact with the main office, via computer. She could find just about anything that someone wanted in the way of property for a customer.
She was surprised when he told her which property he was interested in. Apparently, the company had picked it up for back taxes. They were unable to move it, and it had been sitting on their books for years.
The property had started life as a small 120-acre farm. But, it had not been farmed in over seventy years. It had the house listed and a couple outer buildings, which Jason had not seen when he had been there.
She was very surprised when he said he had walked around the main house yesterday, and that was how he knew there was no barn standing where the plat map insisted there was one.
He did admit that he didn't walk very far into the woods surrounding the house, as everything seemed overgrown with weeds and young trees.
The company had not done a survey of the property, but had relied on old plat maps and the title descriptions on which most people base property calculations. Jason invited the agent to accompany him and to see for herself that what he said was so.
He noted with interest she became uneasy when he invited her to go to the property in question. That made him curious.
"Why are you uneasy with going out to the Hamilton place?" Jason asked curiously.
"Didn't you find it... difficult to even go up the drive? We can't seem to get anyone willing to go there, to be perfectly honest," the agent asked and replied at the same time.
"Yes, that feeling of evil?" Jason queried.
"Exactly! I know it seems strange, but no one will go out there. People we send seem to go so far up the road to the property before they turn back. No one has really done a survey or even inspected the buildings since we assumed the property. The company has been going over old photos of the house and buildings," the agent responded.
"You're not presenting your side very well in this, ma'am," Jason said with a grin.
"In all honesty, the company has directed me to accept any minimum price that will recover the back taxes we paid, the taxes we have spent on up to date, and the transfer fees... if possible," she finished baldly.
Jason was amazed. This was not the bargaining he had expected. They talked a bit more, and the price was so ridiculously low, that he signed the contract to purchase the property right then and there. They must have been very afraid of this property.
After they had done the paperwork, and the check was written, he was asked what he would do about the "problem" of the feel of the place. Jason replied he would find some way to deal with it.
Two hours later, Jason was still wondering what to do. He was also thinking about the dream he had had last night, or this morning. He realized he was much more than the other people around him. After all, when he wanted, he could <see> the aura of any object, be it animal, mineral, or vegetable.
If his dream was true, he was or had been an angel... or what he understood an angel to be. He frowned to himself. Ok, what was he now? He obviously still had capabilities, such as seeing the aura, and reading a persons recent past. What else could he do?
While he was regaining memories of the life of this body... his body prior to the accident, nothing could explain the type of dreams he was having. That was why he thought himself an angel. Plus, he was dealing with a real live 'honest to god' demon. That was a demon in that basement... his basement, now.
He quickly made his way to the library and signed up for use of the internet. While he did not have a local library card as of yet, he showed them his property paperwork, which was enough to get him an hour of internet time. He spent it looking up what he could find about angels and their powers.
He had been hoping that something would nudge a memory, but an hour later, he was still in the dark as to what to do. He still had to go back, and find someway of getting rid of the demon. He would not just release it.
He went back to the room he was renting, and considered his options. He also considered where he was. If his dream was true, and he had been an angel, then he had fallen. But he had not fallen as far as the demon had.
Was he in a state where he could be redeemed in the eyes of god? He had not prayed about anything since his "awakening", in this body. Perhaps it was time to start. He got down on his knees by the bed, and cleared his mind. Then he did something he could not remember ever having done before. He prayed.
He stated his problem, and asked advice as to what to do, then waited. He thought of nothing, just waited eagerly for an answer, any kind of answer. What he got startled him. There was a flash of light, which blinded him momentarily. When his vision returned, lying on the bed in front of him, was the sword that recently had been so prominent in his mind.
"TAKE UP YOUR SWORD IN THE SERVICE OF THE LORD," a huge voice said from the very air around him.
"Who are you?" Jason asked, awed.
There was no answer. He looked at the sword. It seemed to glow in his sight, and when he <looked> at it with his other sight, it positively radiated a brilliant white light. He knew this weapon, and it was his. He reached for it, and picked it up.
It seemed to leap eagerly into his hand, conforming to the shape of his hand even as he held it. It filled him with [POWER]. A face came into his mind clearly, and it seemed to see him as well.
"So! It has come to pass. You are back from your limbo. I welcome you, brother. You have a hard road to travel, yet. But, you did not fall as far as others have. Redeem yourself!" the image said, then both the image of the face, and the voice were gone.
Jason found himself trembling at both the memory of the beautiful face and voice that had been the Archangel Michael, and at the sword's power. He remembered both clearly, now, and knew how capable they both were.
He now knew he had two options with the demon. He could simply banish it; or he could destroy its body, returning it to that place where it had been before its body had been formed.
But he needed something, in addition to the banishing of the demon. He needed a holy person to seal the area, and clear it of demon taint. The sword would take care of the demon itself, but the residue of the evil was the responsibility of the those who lived in this world. Jason knew he had to enlist help for what would be needed after he dealt with the demon.
Who to get. There was not one specific religion that was totally correct. Each that he had heard of in the recent past had elements that were of the ONE and his WORD. Jason wondered how anyone could misunderstand or confuse what was said; but then, had not he himself fallen?
He thought again about cleaning the demon taint. His mind called forth the memory of priests of the Catholic faith. Yes! They had had dealings with demons in the past, and could bless the land, and seal away evil. Yes, they were perfect for this. They were front line fighters against demons, from ages of old.
Edited by TeNderLoin