Fallen Angels by Warren DeBary

Author:Warren DeBary [DeBary, Warren]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2020-04-25T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter 19 – Pazuzu

“Why are you hiding, Matthew?” the man on the golden throne asked, his face as black as night against the red stone, his voice familiar, velvet on a sledgehammer.

“I’m not hiding.” I dripped with perspiration, the heat of the molten rock below suffocating, the sulfurous fumes choking. I was surprised that I could feel the heat, smell the rotten-egg stench below me. I wasn’t supposed to, not in a dream, at least not in any dream I’d had before. “Rene told me this place is dangerous.”

“It is dangerous, but they are preventing you from becoming what you are.”

“Who are you?” I asked.

“Pazuzu plays his role. Even now, he gathers strength to thwart you. You must confront him if you are to survive.” The shadow nodded and images raced through my mind.

Large vessels descending from the skies, cities on fire, screaming children clutched in lifeless arms: each image was more horrible than the next. Rene with wings of plasma, fighting off attacking ships of crystal and light, his body ravaged by wounds, his face ragged and grim. Aunt Emily below, a coronal glow, protecting the mansion, but failing. The vineyard on fire, the wrought-iron gateway cracked and broken as Ms. Maggie held Kayla in her arms, shaking her head, a lone tear falling from her face.

George fallen: dead eyes staring into the abyss.

I woke back in the throne room of molten rock, shaken and confused. “Is any of this true?”

“It is a possibility. One of many.”

“But how did we get there?”

“You failed.”

“How can I fail if I don’t even know what’s going on?”

“If you are to lead, you must not hide…”

The voice faded. Tendrils of sleep slipped away.

I woke to the sound of someone at the door.

“Eh, Dirtbag! You awake?” George yelled. I shook away the cobwebs, waking to the half-light of late twilight.

“Yeah, yeah! Hold up, will you?” The memory of George’s lifeless eyes was still in my mind.

The dream was so real, so very real.

Seeing George’s grin when I opened the door was unsettling. It was like seeing a ghost. The dog walked in closely behind, looked around, gave the room a few sniffs, and lay down in the corner.

“What you doing? Gonna sleep your whole life away?”

In actuality, I was still exhausted, but the dream had me so disturbed, I didn’t know what to think.

As I started to move, my ribs screamed in protest. I pulled up my shirt; uncovering dark bruises on my left side. I guess I must have aggravated Tuli’s handiwork in the test this morning.

“Looks good, Matty-Boy. Makes you tougher,” George laughed. I guess there would be no sympathy from him.

“Yeah. So why didn’t it work for you?”

“Funny, so what are we up to tonight?” George asked.

I measured him to see how much of my dream I should tell him. I didn’t know if he would think I was nuts and not come with me. But after what I’d seen, I didn’t have a choice. I needed to see what was going on.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.