Gabriel (20 page)

The layout was wide open with
a steel staircase on the far wall that went to the loft which covered half the
ceiling. Faint rays of light shone through small crevices around the wooden
covered windows. It was not an adequate amount to see but just bright enough to
cast shadows.

There were large wooden boxes
scattered on the floor. The loading equipment was pushed to one wall. The rest
of the space was empty. A dove flew down from the steel rafters, and Tre and
Robert ducked.

Gabriel peered down at the
two men who were squatting on the floor. “A dove,” Gabriel whispered.

“
Right,” Robert said, as he and Tre stood.

“
You two go up the stairs. Stay together. Shoot first. Ask
questions later,” Gabriel said.

“
If they are all up there and we need you, how will you be able to
get to us?” Tre asked.

Gabriel extended his wings,
and the faint light danced on their tips. “I will be there.”

Robert glanced at Tre.
“Amazing.”

Tre nodded.

Tre and Robert headed up the
stairs, keeping close to the walls. They arrived at the top where Gabriel
waited, inside the door. They entered the loft area. A large office took up
two-thirds of the space while cubicles filled the rest.
 
The edge of the loft was a metal railing that
opened up to the floor beneath it. Robert glanced down and jerked back up. He
stopped and clenched the railing.

Gabriel turned his head.
Robert’s face had lost a few shades of color. “Are you okay?” Gabriel
whispered.

Robert nodded and continued
to walk, keeping himself a little farther from the edge.

They entered the first cubicle, Gabriel taking
the lead, and did a quick sweep of the four-by-five space. It was empty except
for a desk and filing cabinet. They entered the next one, and it was the same
thing. They were making their way to the large office. Two of the walls were
glass, and five foot filing cabinets lined them. They approached the door.
Gabriel pushed it open with ease.

He stepped into the room a
large oval conference table dominated the area. A small door was at the far
end. Gabriel led the way as they entered. They walked to the other end without
incident.
 
Robert and Tre faced the
opposite direction to cover their flank.

Gabriel reached for the
handle and gave it a slow turn. The door squeaked when it opened, and a putrid
scent filled the conference area. Robert began to gag. Gabriel entered the
space. It was the bathroom. Bodies were stacked to the ceiling in each of the
three stalls. Dried blood coated the floor, and flies filled the air. He exited
the room and closed the door.

Robert and Tre only caught a
glimpse, but from their expressions Gabriel thought they had seen more than
enough. Tre and Robert each sat on a chair with their heads between their legs,
each taking deep breaths through their mouths. Gabriel stood at the door, watching
for any movement.

Both men sat up continuing to
breathe through the mouth. Color was still absent from them, but they stood and
walked over to Gabriel. Gabriel pointed over the railing. There was movement
coming from the corner. A beam of light reflected off the pale white skin with
blue lines.

Gabriel directed them to the
stairs and jumped over the railing, landing on the floor without so much as a
speck of dust disturbed. Tre and Robert descended the stairs then moved next to
him with their weapons drawn. They approached the area of movement with
stealth. Gabriel took one more step, and a Kematian lunged at him. Tre was the
first to get a shot off. The Kematian struggled with Gabriel as two more
Kematians appeared.

Robert fired the weapon
twice. The darts penetrated both Kematians, but they continued moving toward
him. He started to run in the opposite direction. Three more appeared from the
other end of the warehouse and moved with blinding speed, trapping Robert among
the five of them. Tre shot his gun and hit two of them, but missed the other
one.

Two of the Kematians turned
and began attacking Tre. One of the Kematians lunged at him. Its claws raked
through his side, and blood rushed down his side where it began to pool. With
the Kematians distracted for a moment by the fresh scent, Tre tried to get away
as he fired another shot at the one he had missed. The Kematians realized where
the blood was coming from and knocked his gun from his hand as they attacked.

The Kematian Gabriel was
fighting fell to the floor.
Five minutes,
he thought to himself. That’s how long it had taken for the drug to work.
That’s too long for a human to survive.
No sooner had the thought left him when out of the corner of his eye he saw
Robert hurtling through the air towards the concrete wall. He jumped into the
air and grasped Robert and set him on the ground.

“
Five minutes. It takes five minutes for the drug to work,” Gabriel
said, before he flew over to Tre.

He grabbed two of the
Kematians and flung them. He reached for the third that was licking the river
that ran out of Tre and yanked him off. Gabriel tossed the Kematian into the
other two who were trying to stand up and helped Tre to his feet as he swayed
from side to side.

“
Did they bite you?” Gabriel asked, searching through the blood to
try to locate any marks.

“
No.”

Behind him Gabriel could hear
Robert running from the three Kematians. Gabriel flew and landed in front of
Robert. He lifted him up to the loft, and then went back down for Tre, setting
him beside Robert. There was no way the humans could last much longer.

Four more Kematians emerged
from the corner.

“
If all we need is five minutes, let’s shoot them from here then
block the stairway,” Robert said.

“
Good idea,” Gabriel said.

Tre tried to face the ground,
but he was losing too much blood and didn’t have enough strength to turn
himself around. Gabriel rested a hand on his shoulder and could feel the warm
sensation that filled Tre, who then succumbed to the darkness.

Robert had already started
shooting his gun. He hit three, but the fourth one was hiding behind a wooden
box. Gabriel jumped off the railing and hovered over the fourth Kematian,
releasing a shot that hit it in the neck and then returned to the loft.

The Kematians were scrambling
for the stairs. Gabriel went into the cubicle, picked up a filing cabinet and
chucked it down the stairs, knocking down the demons. That wasn’t going to stop
them for long, and he was certain it wouldn’t keep them down for five minutes.

The first six Kematians that
had been shot lay face down on the concrete floor. The four who were shot last
were making their way up the stairs again. Gabriel’s hands began to glow. He
wrapped his hands around the metal railings. The Kematians jumped off the
stairs as though they were being burnt.

“
How long?” Robert asked.

“
Two more minutes,” Gabriel said with certainty.

Robert moved over to Tre and
lifted his shirt. The claw marks were gone, and the blood that was there was
already starting to dry. He pulled Tre down so he was flat on the floor and
then turned his attention to the Kematians.

“
Can they climb the walls?” Robert asked.

“
Yes.”

“
Can they climb them in under two minutes?” Robert asked.

“
Let us hope not,” Gabriel said.

Robert watched the demons as
they extended three inch claws from their hands and feet. They started up the
walls, inserting one hand, then the other. They pulled themselves up and then
started using their feet to push. The blades cut into the concrete with ease.

They were moving up the wall
at a remarkable pace. Halfway up the two minutes expired, and all four fell to
the ground. Gabriel released the railing and sat next to Robert.

“
Do you think there are any more?” Robert asked.

“
Yes.”

Robert sighed. “Let me
rephrase. Do you think there are any more, here?”

“
I do not know,” Gabriel said.

“
Why didn’t they attack us all at once? We were clearly
outnumbered.”

“
They work in a hierarchy.”

“
So who goes first, the lowest or the highest rank?” Robert asked.

“
I do not know.”

“
How long should we wait?” Robert asked.

Gabriel grinned. “Are you
ready to face more already?”

“
No, but if more are coming I wish they would arrive, so we can get
this over with,” Robert said as he kept his eye on the door.

“
I know they separated, but I do not know what size their groups
are,” Gabriel said.

“
So we will sit and wait.”

“
Yes.”

“
Will Tre be okay? Before you answer me with a one word quip, keep
in mind I almost died, I’m freaking out, and I’d like to have someone to talk
to.”

Gabriel watched Robert for a
moment. For a human he was doing a remarkable job keeping it together, but if
Gabriel looked closer he could see the edges of reality begin to fray.

“
Yes, he will be okay.”

“
Now was that so hard?” Robert asked.

The front door opened, and
two more Kematians entered, each carrying two females over one shoulder.
Gabriel tapped Robert’s arm and pointed to the left. Robert nodded and took
aim. They both fired at the same time. The darts pierced their skin, but the
Kematians didn’t seem to notice. The demons took a few more steps and stopped
when they saw the others crumpled on the ground.

The women were alive, but
unconscious.

“
We have to do something,” Robert whispered.

“
What do you propose?”

“
You’re the angel. Don’t you have some plan to save those women?”

Gabriel stared at him for a
moment. “No, I do not. Do you suggest we draw attention to ourselves to keep
them here?”

“
Now you’re thinking,” Robert said as he stood up. “Hey, dirt
bags.”

The Kematians took a few more
steps then raised their heads.

“
Yeah, you. You blood-sucking bastards!” Robert yelled.

“
We have four minutes before they go down. They can climb the walls
in just over three. What is your plan, Robert?”

“
I’m winging it,” Robert said.

“
Right.”

The Kematians dumped the
humans and proceeded towards the stairs.

“
Looks like you’re up, big guy.” Robert clasped Gabriel’s shoulder.

“
Remind me to thank you later.”

“
Your sarcasm is coming along nicely.”

Gabriel went into another
cubicle, but there wasn’t a filing cabinet. He grabbed the cubicle wall and
chucked it down the stairs. It slammed into one of the demons, sending it
toppling into the other one. They crashed onto the ground. Gabriel held the
bars, and they began to glow again. The demons righted themselves and placed a
foot on the now glowing staircase then pulled back.

“
Why can’t they touch the stairs?” Robert asked.

“
Love and light appear to burn them,” Gabriel said.

“
Looks like they are going to climb the walls, too.”

“
Yes.”

The demons took to the walls
and began climbing at a faster pace than the previous ones.

“
How much longer?”

“
Two and half minutes.”

“
I don’t think we have that much time,” Robert said.

“
Really?” Gabriel asked.

Robert pulled out a gun and
started shooting. The bullets exploded into the demons’ bodies and slowed them
down a bit, but they kept coming. Robert emptied the clip, reloaded, and
continued shooting. They didn’t seem to notice the bullets that penetrated
their skin. A thick, red substance oozed from the holes, but they kept climbing
until they plunged to the ground.

“
I take it the two and a half minutes are up?” Robert asked as he
slumped to the ground.

“
Yes.”

“
Good to know. Do you think there will be any more visitors
coming?”

“
We shall see.”

Chapter Fourteen