Post by Bene Elohim on Feb 8, 2024 13:59:09 GMT -8
The Malibu home of Xaria Linette was a bustle with activity following the raid of the safe house owned by Valdemar Johansen. It was used for the housing of Children’s founder and exile Anthony Crawford, simply known as Sathanas, the Demon Lord of Wrath. Box after box was carried in by the black-robed Demons and laid around the room being used by Lucifer as his office.
The base of operations.
Lucifer himself stood at the head of the table with both palms laid on the wood and looking down at a spread of papers. Bank statements, rental agreements, and property deeds for a dozen locations all across the US.
All of which upon being raided by the Children, with Ashley Kenyon and the Twins leading the teams, had turned up nothing but empty, abandoned buildings. It would seem this Lord Apollyon had learned his lessons well when he studied at the feet of the Devil.
His safe houses were compromised and must be abandoned.
With one hand still on the table, the other shifted the documents back and forth across the table looking for some connection. Some useful bit of information that could connect all the puzzle pieces and make the picture come to life, but it eluded him.
As he stared down at the puzzle, a soft knock sounded on the opened door. He brought his eyes up to the figure in the doorway and found the stunning form of the Harbinger. She crossed the room and leaned up on her tiptoes, kissing the corner of his mouth, and then whispered.
Xaria: “Mon Seigneur, you have a visitor.”
Lucifer lifted a well-manicured brow and turned his gaze to the door as a second figure rounded the corner and walked through it. This figure was male and in his early forties with long grizzled graying hair that hung to his shoulders. He was a portly man who faintly waddled as he walked with thick glasses on the bridge of his nose and wearing a nice brown suit.
Lucifer smiled and opened his arms. The two men embraced warmly before the man stepped back and dropped to kneel with his head bowed.
Man: “My Lord. I came as quickly as I could.”
Xaria looked on with intrigue and stepped back to watch the pair. She thought she had met everyone in the organization, but she didn’t know this man. Lucifer lightly touched the man’s head and he rose to his feet.
Lucifer: “Alistair...my son. How is Jennifer?”
The man smiled happily and opened his arms.
Alistair: “She loves the new house you gave us. She sends her thanks again for what you did for her sister.”
Lucifer shook his head, waving a dismissive hand to the thanks, and Xaria began to put the story together. She had heard of Alistair, the man behind the tech wizardry the Children were capable of. Shutting down security systems and hacking power grids to shut down power anywhere they needed at any time.
He served because Lucifer had done something to protect the man’s wife’s sister. The man set down a small case on the table and opened his hands to the small phone sitting on the table beside it.
Alistair: “Is this it?”
Lucifer: “Yes. We found almost nothing useful in the safe house Sathanas was using, but he couldn’t grab this in time.”
Alistair: “He’ll tell me his greatest secrets before this day’s over, Sir.”
Lucifer patted the man on the and blocked his hands behind his back. He began to pace back and forth across the floor beside the table. From the case, Alistair withdrew a large square box that when pulled opened revealed a strange laptop. He attached a table to the phone’s USB port and began to hit the keys on the keyboard.
Lucifer: “You see Knight?”
Alistair glanced up with only his eyes, his gaze dark and angry.
Alistair: “He’s gonna be a problem, Sir. He learned a lot from me during his time in the Tombs before it was destroyed.”
Lucifer grunted and nodded in agreement.
Lucifer: “Speaking of the Tombs, how is the rebuild coming along?”
Alistair: "Slow, Sir. Replacing a lot of that equipment is proving difficult. It was all military-grade and my contact is no longer in the game. You can’t exactly announce you are looking for military-grade computers on the market. That’s a good way to end up in… Sir, are you sure this was his and not the girls?”
Lucifer stopped suddenly and spun around in shock.
Lucifer: “Why?!”
Alistair: “There is nothing here, Sir. No contact files. No target files. No correspondence with this new Devil and his new Harbinger. Nothing. Just texts to someone named Maya and some blonde baker.”
Lucifer: “Could he have deleted them?”
Alistair looked up again over his glasses, and Lucifer chuckled, holding his hands up in withdrawal of the question. The man looked back down at the computer, his hands working furiously on the keys.
Alistair: “It pings a lot in Kimmswick, Missouri or close to it.”
Lucifer: “That’s where the safe house was.”
Alistair’s fingers continued to click away at the keys looking through what he could find.
Alistair: “The only other place this phone’s been more than a handful of times in Philadelphia. It returns there every couple of weeks.”
Xaria looked up from where she leaned on the wall and locked eyes with Lucifer as his head came up to match her own.
Xaria: “That’s got to be where he is. Valdemar.”
Lucifer gave a grave nod and his eyes narrowed taking on a bloodthirsty look.
Lucifer: “Can you narrow that down?”
Alistair continued to type furiously before finally coming to a stop and gently closing the laptop, shaking his head.
Alistair: “That’s as close as I can get you.”
Lucifer blew out a deep breath through his nose and growled low in his throat, while Alistair slid the laptop back into the case and zipped it up.
Alistair: “I’ll go and see to the Tombs and the construction.”
Lucifer: “Thank you, Alistair.”
The man inclined his head once to the Harbinger and bowed to Lucifer before exiting again. Lucifer grabbed the phone off the table and tossed it with a scream of rage. The phone slammed into the wall and shattered into a thousand tiny pieces on impact while he stood panting through his nose.
Xaria crossed the room and slid her arms around his back resting her chin on his shoulder.
Xaria: “We are closer than we were before, Lord Lucifer.”
Lucifer: “We cannot search the entire city of Philadelphia, Xaria.”
Xaria: “We can and we will, Sire. Every building. Street by street, building by building. Even if it takes us years.”
Lucifer took a deep breath and turned around to face her, sliding his arms around her waist. He gave a small nod.
Lucifer: “Even if it takes years.”
The workday was finally done and the employees all filed out. At the back of the group walked one of the new employees, his face covered by a hair shadowing the details and the stubble across his cheeks. He carried a tool belt over his right hand over his right shoulder and the keys to an old rusted truck in his left.
Voice: “Hey! Hey Jake! Jake wait up!”
Another man was behind him shouted and he turned around glancing behind him. A man in his late twenties jobbed up, holding a tool belt of his own in his right hand.
Man: “Hey, the guys and I are going out for a drink. You wanna join us, man?”
‘Jake’: “Nah, afraid I can’t, Gerald. I’ve got plans.”
Gerald: “What could be more important than some good old fashion male bonding?!”
The man he had called Jake glanced over to a woman standing near the door of a Saturn. She had a pretty face and shoulder-length blonde hair. Gerald let out a shrill whistle and clasped the man on the back proudly.
Gerald: “Jake! You old dog! You two don’t even start working here for more than a week and you’re already hitting that?!”
‘Jake’: “What can I say?”
The man he called Jake flashed a grin and began to make his way over toward the woman while Gerald laughed and walked off shaking his head. When ‘Jake’ reached the woman she lowered her eyes. It was Tamiel, one of the Watchers who served the Twins Ramiel and Ananiel, Tamiel.
Watcher: “Sathanas.”
Anthony Crawford: “You know what needs to be done?”
Watcher: “Yes, Sir…you are sure it has to be this way, Anthony?”
Anthony Crawford: “They tried to kill me. I don’t want a single brick left standing, do you understand me?”
Watcher: “...Yes, sir….”
Anthony Crawford: “Do it Saturday while everyone is gone. When they return home on Sunday? It’s the last time anyone will see the Children of Nephilim.”
Anthony turned and walked away toward the old beater truck, while she slid into the car and pressed her forehead against the wheel. She believed in the old way. It worked. It protected women like her and the children of the world. She believed in Apollyon…
But these were her friends. Her family.
And she had to end them all.
The base of operations.
Lucifer himself stood at the head of the table with both palms laid on the wood and looking down at a spread of papers. Bank statements, rental agreements, and property deeds for a dozen locations all across the US.
All of which upon being raided by the Children, with Ashley Kenyon and the Twins leading the teams, had turned up nothing but empty, abandoned buildings. It would seem this Lord Apollyon had learned his lessons well when he studied at the feet of the Devil.
His safe houses were compromised and must be abandoned.
With one hand still on the table, the other shifted the documents back and forth across the table looking for some connection. Some useful bit of information that could connect all the puzzle pieces and make the picture come to life, but it eluded him.
As he stared down at the puzzle, a soft knock sounded on the opened door. He brought his eyes up to the figure in the doorway and found the stunning form of the Harbinger. She crossed the room and leaned up on her tiptoes, kissing the corner of his mouth, and then whispered.
Xaria: “Mon Seigneur, you have a visitor.”
Lucifer lifted a well-manicured brow and turned his gaze to the door as a second figure rounded the corner and walked through it. This figure was male and in his early forties with long grizzled graying hair that hung to his shoulders. He was a portly man who faintly waddled as he walked with thick glasses on the bridge of his nose and wearing a nice brown suit.
Lucifer smiled and opened his arms. The two men embraced warmly before the man stepped back and dropped to kneel with his head bowed.
Man: “My Lord. I came as quickly as I could.”
Xaria looked on with intrigue and stepped back to watch the pair. She thought she had met everyone in the organization, but she didn’t know this man. Lucifer lightly touched the man’s head and he rose to his feet.
Lucifer: “Alistair...my son. How is Jennifer?”
The man smiled happily and opened his arms.
Alistair: “She loves the new house you gave us. She sends her thanks again for what you did for her sister.”
Lucifer shook his head, waving a dismissive hand to the thanks, and Xaria began to put the story together. She had heard of Alistair, the man behind the tech wizardry the Children were capable of. Shutting down security systems and hacking power grids to shut down power anywhere they needed at any time.
He served because Lucifer had done something to protect the man’s wife’s sister. The man set down a small case on the table and opened his hands to the small phone sitting on the table beside it.
Alistair: “Is this it?”
Lucifer: “Yes. We found almost nothing useful in the safe house Sathanas was using, but he couldn’t grab this in time.”
Alistair: “He’ll tell me his greatest secrets before this day’s over, Sir.”
Lucifer patted the man on the and blocked his hands behind his back. He began to pace back and forth across the floor beside the table. From the case, Alistair withdrew a large square box that when pulled opened revealed a strange laptop. He attached a table to the phone’s USB port and began to hit the keys on the keyboard.
Lucifer: “You see Knight?”
Alistair glanced up with only his eyes, his gaze dark and angry.
Alistair: “He’s gonna be a problem, Sir. He learned a lot from me during his time in the Tombs before it was destroyed.”
Lucifer grunted and nodded in agreement.
Lucifer: “Speaking of the Tombs, how is the rebuild coming along?”
Alistair: "Slow, Sir. Replacing a lot of that equipment is proving difficult. It was all military-grade and my contact is no longer in the game. You can’t exactly announce you are looking for military-grade computers on the market. That’s a good way to end up in… Sir, are you sure this was his and not the girls?”
Lucifer stopped suddenly and spun around in shock.
Lucifer: “Why?!”
Alistair: “There is nothing here, Sir. No contact files. No target files. No correspondence with this new Devil and his new Harbinger. Nothing. Just texts to someone named Maya and some blonde baker.”
Lucifer: “Could he have deleted them?”
Alistair looked up again over his glasses, and Lucifer chuckled, holding his hands up in withdrawal of the question. The man looked back down at the computer, his hands working furiously on the keys.
Alistair: “It pings a lot in Kimmswick, Missouri or close to it.”
Lucifer: “That’s where the safe house was.”
Alistair’s fingers continued to click away at the keys looking through what he could find.
Alistair: “The only other place this phone’s been more than a handful of times in Philadelphia. It returns there every couple of weeks.”
Xaria looked up from where she leaned on the wall and locked eyes with Lucifer as his head came up to match her own.
Xaria: “That’s got to be where he is. Valdemar.”
Lucifer gave a grave nod and his eyes narrowed taking on a bloodthirsty look.
Lucifer: “Can you narrow that down?”
Alistair continued to type furiously before finally coming to a stop and gently closing the laptop, shaking his head.
Alistair: “That’s as close as I can get you.”
Lucifer blew out a deep breath through his nose and growled low in his throat, while Alistair slid the laptop back into the case and zipped it up.
Alistair: “I’ll go and see to the Tombs and the construction.”
Lucifer: “Thank you, Alistair.”
The man inclined his head once to the Harbinger and bowed to Lucifer before exiting again. Lucifer grabbed the phone off the table and tossed it with a scream of rage. The phone slammed into the wall and shattered into a thousand tiny pieces on impact while he stood panting through his nose.
Xaria crossed the room and slid her arms around his back resting her chin on his shoulder.
Xaria: “We are closer than we were before, Lord Lucifer.”
Lucifer: “We cannot search the entire city of Philadelphia, Xaria.”
Xaria: “We can and we will, Sire. Every building. Street by street, building by building. Even if it takes us years.”
Lucifer took a deep breath and turned around to face her, sliding his arms around her waist. He gave a small nod.
Lucifer: “Even if it takes years.”
~[Malibu, California]~
~[Southern California Gas Company]~
~[8/4/19]~
~[5:03 PM]~
~[Southern California Gas Company]~
~[8/4/19]~
~[5:03 PM]~
The workday was finally done and the employees all filed out. At the back of the group walked one of the new employees, his face covered by a hair shadowing the details and the stubble across his cheeks. He carried a tool belt over his right hand over his right shoulder and the keys to an old rusted truck in his left.
Voice: “Hey! Hey Jake! Jake wait up!”
Another man was behind him shouted and he turned around glancing behind him. A man in his late twenties jobbed up, holding a tool belt of his own in his right hand.
Man: “Hey, the guys and I are going out for a drink. You wanna join us, man?”
‘Jake’: “Nah, afraid I can’t, Gerald. I’ve got plans.”
Gerald: “What could be more important than some good old fashion male bonding?!”
The man he had called Jake glanced over to a woman standing near the door of a Saturn. She had a pretty face and shoulder-length blonde hair. Gerald let out a shrill whistle and clasped the man on the back proudly.
Gerald: “Jake! You old dog! You two don’t even start working here for more than a week and you’re already hitting that?!”
‘Jake’: “What can I say?”
The man he called Jake flashed a grin and began to make his way over toward the woman while Gerald laughed and walked off shaking his head. When ‘Jake’ reached the woman she lowered her eyes. It was Tamiel, one of the Watchers who served the Twins Ramiel and Ananiel, Tamiel.
Watcher: “Sathanas.”
Anthony Crawford: “You know what needs to be done?”
Watcher: “Yes, Sir…you are sure it has to be this way, Anthony?”
Anthony Crawford: “They tried to kill me. I don’t want a single brick left standing, do you understand me?”
Watcher: “...Yes, sir….”
Anthony Crawford: “Do it Saturday while everyone is gone. When they return home on Sunday? It’s the last time anyone will see the Children of Nephilim.”
Anthony turned and walked away toward the old beater truck, while she slid into the car and pressed her forehead against the wheel. She believed in the old way. It worked. It protected women like her and the children of the world. She believed in Apollyon…
But these were her friends. Her family.
And she had to end them all.
