Demonic Designs (To Absolve the Fallen) Read Online Free PDF Page A

war in Heaven.   They, or you, fell and that was it.”
    “No, there was a war—not in Heaven, though.   And I had not been created quite yet.   In fact, it was at this point that God brought another angel into the equation.   It seemed apparent that someone needed to watch over the growth of the human soul.   Ergo...me.”
    “So when did you lose your faith?”
    Jeremiah smiled.   “Well, I was given charge of a young boy, not too different than yourself.   He was bright, charismatic, and above all innocent.   I was informed that I--”   He stopped abruptly and looked toward the door.   “Stand away from the door.”
    “What?”
    Jeremiah stood up, and he roared.   “Now!”
    Alex had no choice but to follow the order.   The door to the room flew open.   Four people, heavily armed, rushed in, and Jeremiah burst into flames.
    Before Alex could react, there was a pillar of fire between him and the gunmen.   The others stopped as they entered the room; they must have also been alarmed by the presence of someone on fire, waiting patiently for all of them to file in.   They didn’t raise their guns.   They, like Alex, could only stare.
    Alex was in shock from the whole ordeal.   He didn’t know whether or not to try to extinguish Jeremiah or let him burn.   He put his hand up slowly in Jeremiah’s direction, and he could feel no heat.   His hand went into the fire, and it didn’t burn.   The demon seemed to take notice of neither the fire enshrouding him nor the presence of Alex’s hand.
    Peering around the column of fire, Alex saw another frightening figure enter the room.   It looked like it may have been human once, but now it was completely desiccated and hairless.   The withered frame was disconcerting.   But, more than that, its reddish-brown skin was bubbling, leaving holes in the skin that would reveal patches of muscle before filling in once more.
    Alex interpreted the look on this walking corpse’s face as one of surprise, though none of the expressions this thing was making looked recognizably human.   It did, however, halt for a moment to take in the situation.
    “Jeremiah,” it hissed, “I was led to believe that you were dead.   I guess it doesn’t really matter.   You’re outnumbered.   There’s no viable escape.   Your allies,” he said, pointing to the ceiling, “have not come to your defense.   Give us the boy without incident; there’s no need for us to quarrel, brother.”
    Jeremiah walked up to the speaker; his hand shot out of the fire and retracted so quickly that Alex barely even made out any kind of movement.   He didn’t know that anything had happened until the head of the bubbling guy exploded in a mist of red and gray.   The body fell to the ground, and shortly thereafter it was consumed by flame.
    That action must have shocked the other three out of their confusion and terror.   They leveled their guns at the fire.   A kick sent one of the foes into the far wall.   Flaming hands grabbed the other two weapons and aimed each towards the adjacent hired gun.   When the men fired, they only succeeded in debilitating the other.   Then, both guns were in the hands of Jeremiah.   By this point, the man who had been kicked was getting up, but a bullet in the head put him back down again.   All of this happened so quickly that Alex could only comprehend it later when he reflected on what he had seen.
    Jeremiah waved his hand, and the dead man burst into flame.   Then, the fire around Jeremiah died down, revealing, once more, a human figure.   He no longer looked like that pale, red-headed young kid that he was before.   Now, his hair was jet black, and his skin was bronzed.   He stood a little taller and looked to be in his late twenties or early thirties.
    He turned to Alex.   His eyes were that steel gray that Alex had seen before.   “You should step outside for a moment,” he said.   “I need to talk to these two.”
    Alex moved toward