Hellbound Second Advent Read online

  He remained calm as he listened to her story. He was familiar with the bishop she spoke of. He had helped the bishop a long time ago, and they had lost contact since then.

  The lady fell to her knees before Peter and grasped his warm, comforting hand. She looked him in his hazel eyes and said, “Please help me find my daughter. By the grace of God, I beg you. You seem to be a person of good morals, and you seem to be very brave also. Please help me.”

  Peter helped the weeping mother to the couch. “Don’t worry. I will get your daughter back. The man you spoke of seems far too familiar. I will track him down.” He put on his coat and positioned his sword on his back. Sadness filled his heart as he closed the apartment

  door. He jumped off the fifth-story’s plane and set out to find the man who had taken the woman’s daughter.

  Chapter 2

  It Was Written

  Two eleven-year-old boys ran around in the bishop’s ministry like little wild animals as they were supposed to be cleaning it. Inside the Catholic school on the south side of Brooklyn, they were idling, goofing around, and hitting each other playfully.

  “Cut it out, Randy. That stings!” One of the boys screamed as he fell to his knees, holding his shoulder.

  Randy went to see if his weeping friend was okay.

  “Got ya!” The friend hit Randy with a cloth.

  “Andrew, that was not nice!” Randy shouted as he counterattacked. Back and forth, they hit each other with the cloths. Soon, their idling ways caused them to knock over an ornament from the bishop’s table.

  “Shoot. You broke it!” Randy stooped down to pick the broken pieces from the floor.

  “No, I didn’t. You broke it!”

  The boys knew they were going to be in big trouble when the bishop got back from his meeting. He had been gone for some time now, and the boys decided to play around. The boys were being punished for not paying attention and talking to each other while the instructor was teaching.

  “Hey, what’s this?” Randy asked as a strange-looking chest caught his attention under the bishop’s desk.

  “It looks like a treasure chest.” Andrew gasped then asked, “do you think it has gold inside?”

  Randy laughed so hard that he held his stomach. “No, silly. You watch too many pirate movies.”

  Randy opened the leather chest and saw a scroll lying on top of a very large, peculiar book. The scroll was old and faded, and the book resembled a holy book.

  The book was black with large gold writing on the cover, but it was not in English. On the edges, it had gold plated designs running around.

  “Whoa, what is this?” Randy opened the seal ribbon on the scroll and looked inside. The pages were ancient, but they were sturdy.

  After his friend opened the book, Randy felt a surge of energy throughout the office. He heard whispers that caused him to look behind to see if someone was there. Then he looked at his friend but his expression was innocent, he didn’t seem to be affected by anything. Randy thought he must've imagined it; he shrugged his shoulders and watched his companion flipped the pages.

  “I think it’s a Bible, but it’s written in letters I’ve never seen before,” Andrew said.

  “Give it to me.” Randy snatched the book and look at the cover. “It’s written in the language of the Muslims. This is the Qur’an, but it’s somewhat different.”

  “How do you know—and what’s a Qur’an anyway?”

  Randy looked at Andrew and said, “It says it on the cover, stupid. My grandma is from Arabia, and she taught my mom how to read Arabic.” He flipped through a few of the pages and began to read to himself.

  “What does it say, smart guy? Since you know so much, read it to me.”

  Randy rested the book down and picked up the scroll. “I’m not going to read this book. It’s too big, and we’ll be here all day. The scroll might be an incite of what’s in the book. My mom taught me how to read in Arabic a little, so bear with my mistakes, okay?”

  “Okay. Just read it,” Andrew was anxious.

  “The scroll says:

  In the beginning, there was Adonai, who was the supreme being of the universe and the creator of mankind itself. Adonai was also called Allah, Lord, the Almighty, and God. He lived in heaven with his angels, and he had a son. His son’s name was Iblis. Iblis was a leader in his father’s kingdom, but he was a rebellious son and had his own prospect and regulations. As time came to pass, Adonai created a second son. His name was Iesus. Adonai told the angels and his eldest son to kneel in the presence of Iesus, and they did. But Iblis didn’t. Iblis grew angry with this because, at the time of his creation, God didn’t acknowledge him. So he envied his younger brother and quelled to harm him.

  Adonai noticed the jealousy of his firstborn and tried to admonish him and change his mind, but nothing varied. As time passed, Iblis grew more furious with the situation because his younger brother had higher power over him. So he challenged his father’s words and charged at his brother. Adonai noticed his anger, cast his firstborn out of heaven, and doomed him into Hades and the mist of brimstone and darkness. Iblis was furious with is father and swore reciprocation on him.

  Time came to pass, and the Almighty created mankind. Adonai created man from the soil of the earth and called them his second children—not of heaven but of flesh of the earth. When there bodies were lifeless, their souls would go to heaven.

  There was a man called Manshur Abin, an emperor of Adonai’s people who led his people to follow Allah’s teaching and beliefs. Iblis was also very jealous of this act of God and promised Manshur Abin that if he followed him and not Adonai he would give him wealth and everlasting life. Abin, being a man of greed, took him up on his offer.

  Adonai tagged Manshur Abin as one of Iblis’s minions, and he was doomed from the rapture of God. These actions caused God to label Abin the “Betrayer.” The fallen angels called him Azasel.

  Furthermore, the angels of heaven became tedious of God’s kingdom. Some became curious about mankind’s existence and went to earth to analyze God’s second children.

  The Almighty created man from his own image, and the angels fell for the mortals of earth. Of their own free will, the angels pursued mortal women, disguising themselves as humans. God was furious with their actions and banished these angels to earth. Their punishment was to remain on earth, wandering for eternity.

  These fallen angels became legends, warlords, and sorcerers. God labeled them Wantons. Two well-known Wantons were Gabilon and Machnolin. Gabilon became a legend, and his stories were told far and wide. He was one of Iblis’s trusted generals, and Machnolin fathered many children with mortal women. His children were corrupted and had influence over mankind. They became giants, monsters, heroes, and legends. Some of his children brought terror on earth, changing everything into their image. A war broke out between the fallen angels and their children. Eventually, their offspring seized control of the earth.

  Adonai was furious with these actions and decided to wipe out the corrupted angels. He decided to only save a few humans on earth—a man called Yona and his children. Adonai spared Yona and his children because they were righteous people. They were not involved in the unholy act that was taking place on earth. God told Yona to take his children to Mount Everest, the tallest mountain in the world, for seclusion. Thus Adonai cleansed the earth, wiping all evil from it. Presuming that the earth’s corruption was cleansed, God told Yona to return to the levelness of earth to rebuild it. Adonai was not aware that most of the fallen angels were secluded while his purifying was taking place. They remained hidden, undetected, until mankind was rebuilt, waiting for another chance to strike.

  The end.” Randy wrapped up the scroll.

  “Hey, why did you stop reading? It was just getting good.” Andrew snatched the scroll from his friend’s hands. He looked at the pictures beside the words and was spooked by some of the graphic images.

  “I didn’t like it. It wasn’t true—plus it was kind of scaring me
.” Randy walked to the window to clear his head.

  “Scaredy cat! You tryin’ to tell me a little book like this scares you? What a wuss.” Andrew walked over to the window after he placed the book and scroll back inside the chest.

  The boys looked down and saw the bishop. He was walking with his entourage in the building the boys were in.

  “Oh shit, Bishop Wheeler’s coming back!” Andrew rushed to tidy up the bishop’s office.

  “Watch your mouth!” Randy said. “If your mother was here, you wouldn’t be talking like that.” He took great offense to his friend’s choice of words. He remembered his mother teaching not to use foul languages in the presence of others.

  The bishop gave a slim smile when the youngsters ducked out of sight. His associates chatted without noticing the boys panicking act.

  As the boys hurriedly finish cleaning, they noticed a bat-like man flapping his wings outside the window. His hideous presence startled them speechless. He observed the boy’s reaction, feeding off their fear. He lifted his hands to the window, and a gush of wind ripped out the frames.

  The boys fell to their knees, and held their hands behind the head with their faces to the floor. Glass fell all around them and sliced their uniforms. Blood seeped through their clothes as they screamed from fear.

  The bishop and his associates looked in the direction of the carnage, and their jaws dropped. They rushed into the building to the boys’ rescue.

  The demon glided into the room and landed on the floor. The boys heard the thud of its feet as it walked leisurely toward them. The demon hunched over from touching the ceiling. It uttered a horrific squeal, and saliva dripped from its snout because its teeth were so big. Its horns curled up like a ram, and its hairy face resembled a spider with six eyes. The demon had scaly, dark blue skin. Its eyes glowed as bright as the moon.

  The bat-man looked around in ace as if looking for something in particular. It darted over to the bookshelf, and ripped the book from them.

  Then he picked up each book, one after the other looking at the covers and tossing them over its shoulders.

  The boys ran under a table and shivered in fear.

  Randy rested a hand on Andrew’s shoulder and whispered, “We have to get out of here.”

  “No. I’m not leaving,”

  “If he finds us, we are as good as dead. We need to leave before it comes this way. Leave while he’s distracted.”

  “I’m not leaving. If you want to go, then go.”

  “How you gonna call me scared when you’re the scaredy cat?” Randy scoffed.

  “Well, this is different. That thing looks freaky. I’m so scared. I can’t even feel my legs.”

  Randy peeped out to look in the direction of the demon. The fiend was looking for something in the corner. “I’ll go first. You can follow. We have to be very quiet, okay?”

  Andrew nodded, but he did not like the decision. He could still feel his legs shaking.

  “On my count.” Randy prepared to run toward the door. “One, two—”

  “Wait,” Andrew grabbed his arm before he dashed. “I can’t. I just can’t.”

  “Okay, stay here. I will go get help.”

  “Okay,” Andrew sat down with his hands wrapped around his knees.

  Just as Randy darted for the door, Andrew grabbed after him. He missed and accidentally tripped him.

  Both boys thudded to the ground.

  The demon raised an ear. Its eyes dilated in confusion, it put the book down and snarled at the boys

  “Where is it?” The demon voice growled like a bear.

  Randy gasped after hearing the creature’s powerful voice.

  The demon’s growl made the boys ears bleed. Randy and Andrew crawled away from the it. The broken glass pierced their palms, but the boys failed to notice the blood.

  The demon lifted its hands as if it was about to attack, but before he could beset upon them, he noticed a chest. The chest was spilled over with a book and a scroll resting by it. The creature realized it’s the book it was looking for. The demon gasped and picked up the book with its eyes widened in excitement.

  It looked over at the boys with a sinister gaze. It chuckled and walked toward them. Then the creature heard footsteps and loud yelping behind the door.

  The door blasted open and a dozen people dashed into the room.

  The boys sighed from relief when they saw the bishop and his associates. Randy turned and ran in their direction. He looked over at Andrew and saw that he was frozen from shock, staring at the bat-man.

  The demon darted at them with its claws erected. Delight clouded its face, a taste for blood was written on its swift movement.

  But then, the bishop walked in view. He stood guarding the child on the floor.

  The demon looked in the direction of the bishop in shock. The creature saw him swing his robe away to reveal something it should fear. It gasped on the sight of a cross.

  Andrew awakened from his trans- and ran toward the bishop. He hid behind him, and felt relief at the site of him and his entourage.

  Bishop Wheeler didn't looked surprise or frightened at the hideous and terrifying dark demon. He pulled the cross from his hip and aimed it at the demon. “Cast away, fiend!’” A dazzling light shot out from the cross.

  The demon cowered, his skin became ablaze, and he fell backward. The demon cried out in pain, dropped the book, and flapped out the window. The wind from his leather wings blew dust, splinters, and glass toward everyone in the room.

  Smoke trailed from the demon as it disappeared into the sky.

  The bishop’s associates and the boys gasped and cheered at the bishop’s victory.

  The bishop darted toward the broken window to see the creature’s retreat. But his look was sorrowful.

  “Bishop Wheeler, why do you not celebrate with us?”

  The bishop said, “There is no celebration in a battle that was not won.”

  His followers looked at him in disbelief.

  “What do your words apply to, bishop?”

  The bishop slowly tucked away the crucifix and looked at his followers. “More demons will return. Now that they know that what they sought is here, they will come for it.”

  The followers looked at the bishop and began to mumble among themselves.

  Andrew said, “Father, why do they seek this version of the book of Qur’an?”

  The bishop picked up the book, dusted it off, and put the protective seal back on it. “This is not just the book of Qur’an. This is also the book of Enoch—translated from Hebrew to Arabic—it was written many centuries ago by one of the first fallen.

  Everyone in the room looked around in disbelief at what the bishop had said.

  Bishop Wheeler dispatched everyone from the room and put the book in his safe behind a bookshelf. The bishop knew he had been careless by leaving the book under the table where the youngsters could get to it.

  Chapter 3

  Love or Lust

  The sound of the telephone was irritating the homicide detective. With so much paperwork to get through, Ella Abdul could not focus. The microwave, fax machine, and chatter were also getting to her. Ella was working a nine-to-nine shift, most of which was spent investigating dead bodies and picking apart clues and evidence.

  It was getting late, and Ella had a date later that night. She wanted to get home to get ready, and she rushed to finish her paperwork. Ella had met a guy on the Internet and had been talking to him for two weeks. He insisted on meeting with her.

  Ella Zahara Abdul was in her early thirties, but didn’t look a day over twenty-one. She was pretty and slim—but not too thin—and had long, curly dark hair and dark brown eyes. People often said she resembled Angie Harmon, especially when she smiled. They stereotyped her and didn’t take her seriously because of her heavenly beauty. She had a brash attitude at work. Ella was blessed with wide hips from her Muslim descent. Men often flocked to her, but she was very particular about who she dated and what kind of
men she brought around her son. Randy Van Jaques was an eleven-year-old who everyone referred to as a good kid and she wanted to keep it that way. The detective had been married once, and the divorce wasn’t pleasant. Her ex-husband, Ron Van Jaques, moved back to New Zealand to be with his wife and kids from a previous marriage.

  “Hey, Zahara,” her partner called out when he approached her. Sam Williams was the only one who called her by her middle name. At first, it had irritated her, but over the years, she grew accustomed to it. “Sorry about what happened with your son yesterday. Is he doing okay?”

  Detective Sam Williams cared for his partner’s well-being, but Ella knew he had ulterior motives. He was in his early thirties, about six feet tall, and always dressed well. He had blonde hair that was slick back. Sam always flirts with his female coworkers, and Ella didn’t like that. He often came across as a womanizer, but he took his job seriously. Sam was a great detective for the NYPD.

  “Yes, he is doing okay. They said that some lunatic threw a grenade in the bishop’s window. How crazy is that?” Ella shrugged and continued with what she was doing.

  Sam leaned in to her face, but she refused to look in his direction. “So … I heard you got a hot date tonight.”

  Ella pulled away, looked up at him and said, “What? Who told you that?”

  Sam folded his hands over his chest and sat on the edge of Ella’s desk. “Come on. You know nothing is a secret around here. You know … the walls have ears.” Sam leaned in closer.

  She pulled away from him and rolled her chair to the copy machine. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. Besides, do you think I’m gonna go out with a total stranger? Come on, Sammy. You should know me better than that.”