I know and I feel that Azriel is right, something’s not right. This town, Collin, Bart. All of it is not right. Collin has said so many versions of what he considered as the truth. I was left standing there by the front door, trying to decide whether to stay here or go out for a bit. Then I went to the living room where Azriel and Merikh were, “any of you want to go out or something?”
Azriel was flipping through channels, “no, thanks. Enjoy though.”
Merikh was laying on the other couch, sleeping. I just nodded and went out of the house. I walked towards the bus stop, just a few feet away from Mrs. Durham’s house.               
The bus arrived just minutes after I got to the stop. I went down at the stop near a cupcake shop and the bakery just beside it. The smell of freshly baked bread filled the air, and it smelled divine. I went inside and bought myself two pieces of sweetbreads. Then, I walked around the beautiful town. It’s already past 6 in the evening and the sun is still setting, giving the sky a beautiful hint of orange and purple. I didn’t know where I was going until I bumped into this girl, “oh. Sorry, I didn’t see you,” she looked at me real surprised and she tried to scurry away. “Hey,” I said, “are you okay?”
She embarrassingly turned to face me, “yeah. I’m, uh, I’m fine.”
“Are you sure? ‘Cause if you need anything, I could, you know, help you out or something.”
“No, uhm, I’m okay. I promise.”
I nodded, and as she turned around, “do you work in the library?” I finally asked, she stopped from her tracks and slowly turned to face me. She smiled at me, “yes, I do.”
“Is that why you were hiding in the shadows? Behind those bookshelves?”
She just looked down, biting her lower lip. “Look, I, uhm,” I slowly walked towards her, “I’m not going to hurt you. But if you do need anything, you can tell me. Since you work in the library, just know that I’m living at Mrs. Durham’s house. I’m sure you know where it is and who Mrs. Durham is, right?”
“Y-yes, I know her,” she replied, then she stood taller.                
“Okay, then, guess I’ll see you around?” I said, then she nodded. We parted ways and I walked straight ahead. With no direction in mind.
***
After Collin and Bartholomew talked, they both headed to the kitchen. They needed to pass by the living room to get there, then Collin noticed Mia was not there with the two brothers. “Hey,” he said, eyebrows furrowed, “where’s Mia?”
Azriel looked away from the TV, then looked around, “wasn’t she with you?”
“No, I was with Bart. I left her with the both of you.” Bartholomew went to the kitchen then back to the living room, “she’s not in the kitchen either.”               
The four of them, then, scattered to look for her in the house but she wasn’t anywhere. Then Azriel remembered she asked them if they wanted to go out with her but he said no and Merikh fell asleep. He didn’t know that Mia will actually go out of the house with none of them around.
They went into town and started asking people if they’d seen her. Describing her, showing photos of her. “Hi, excuse me,” Collin stopped a couple walking by, “sorry to disturb you but have you seen a girl around here? She’s 5’6 in height, brown hair, light brown eyes, uhm, hair up in a ponytail or a bun, very pretty?”
“No, sorry,” said the couple.
“Alright, thanks.”               
He proceeded to go to another place.
“Excuse me,” Merikh said, “have you seen this girl?” he was showing a picture of her on his phone. “Sorry, sweetie,” the old lady said, “but I haven’t seen her.”
“It’s okay. Thanks anyway.”               
He left the old lady and went straight to the bookstore.
“Hello,” Azriel started, “have you seen a girl with brown hair, brown eyes, and uhm, her skin is paler than a normal person should have?”
The man looked at his wife, “if you think we can tell you where you can find a ghost, you’re asking the wrong people, son.”
“No, she’s not a ghost. She’s alive. She’s my friend. We kind of lost her and she doesn’t know this town.”
“Sorry,” said the wife, “we haven’t seen anyone. Did you go to the sheriff’s office?”
“No, I haven’t.”
“Why don’t you go there and ask for help? Just walk straight down that road, turn right, and then make another right. You’ll see his office there.”
“O-okay. Thank you and God bless your souls.”               
He leaves and goes straight to the Sheriff’s office.
“Excuse me, ma’am,” Bart said, tapping on a woman sitting on a bench, “did you happen to see a girl with brown hair? Uhm, maybe she even had an attitude? Pretty but likes to glare at people.”
The woman looked confused, “sorry, but no. I don’t know anyone like that nor seen someone.”
“Oh. Okay. Thanks.”
The four of them met at the bus stop near the bakery, “anything?” Collin asked.
“Nope.”
“No.”
“Nada”
“Damn it!”
“Wait!” Azriel exclaimed, “I forgot I can communicate with Mia.”
“What do you mean? What does he mean?” Bart asked and looked at both Collin and Merikh. “It means he can talk to Mia’s head,” Merikh explained, “he can read her mind and he can communicate with her telepathically.”               
Bart looked at Collin, concern was written all over his face. Collin looked back at Bart, furrowed his brows, and shook his head, it was like he’s telling him not to worry about anything.
***
I’ve been walking around so much until I realized I was away from the busy town I was once walking in. I reached the end of the town, it was barricaded by some forcefield. I can feel how strong it is, I was about to touch it when a girl appeared from the trees, “you’re not allowed to be here,” she said. I put my hand down, “oh, sorry. I’m new here. I didn’t know this place is off-limits.” I replied.
“The place you’re standing on isn’t but the other side is.”               
Then I heard a growl from the other side of the barricade. I quickly looked over and I see glowing eyes of red and yellow from behind the trees. I looked at the girl, but she’s gone. She disappeared as quickly as she came to warn me, then I hear Azriel calling me. I turned around but no one was there, he was calling me in my thoughts. 
Where are you?! he yelled in my head.
Sorry. I was just walking around and I found this quiet place. It’s near the trees.
Trees?! What trees?
It's just around –
Mia! Stay there! Bart said not to go near it! Just stay there!
I looked down as I was pacing back and forth. Then I lifted my head up quickly when I heard some snapping, growling, snarling, and a few thuds on the other side of the barrier but in my view, all I can see was pavement and some lush trees on the sides, just like where I was standing. I took a step back when an electric crackle appeared right in front of me, I see the electricity go up to the skies then it disappears. It was like someone was pushed there and the forcefield reacted to it. I heard footsteps, I looked back and I saw the four of them running towards me. Bart was panting, hands on his knees, “I am so out of shape. That I can tell right now.”               
I was about to say something when the electric crackle happened again, this time Azriel, Merikh, and Collin saw it. Bart walked closer to them, looking at the same electricity. “What was that?” Azriel asked, then he moved closer to the barrier. He lifted his hand and placed it on the invisible barrier. “Azriel, no!” Bart shouted at the same time Azriel touched it and went flying off a few feet away from us. The four of us ran towards him. Azriel’s hair was a mess, dirt on his face. Merikh was tapping his cheek to wake up, then he coughed, rolling to his side. They helped him sit up, “guess the barrier and I had some spark,” he joked.
“Idiot,” Merikh whispered while hugging his brother. Bart chuckled then he stood up, touching the back of his hand to Collin’s shoulder. Collin looked at him, then I heard Bart say, “we better get them out of here if you want to keep them alive.”
Collin just glanced at us then back to Bart. They were softly talking when I walked to them, “why would Collin want to keep us alive? What’re you not telling us?”
The two of them looked at me. Collin was keeping a straight face at Bart, like he was telling him “I told you so”, while Bart on the other hand, looked a tad pale. Merikh and Azriel walked to my side, probably wanting some answers too. “It’s nothing, Mia,” Collin told me, “don’t worry about it.”
“Don’t worry about it? Collin! He just said to you that if you want to keep us alive, you got to get us out of here! Now, what is ‘here’?!” I was standing there waiting for Collin to give me an answer, but he was stuttering. Trying to make up excuses. Don’t lie to me, Collin! You’ve been lying to me since we got here! Don’t do that again! I thought. I know he heard me because the look on his face turned from seriously pissed to him wanting to tell me everything but he’s tied up. “Mia, it’s not that easy,” he said, a little bit almost falling apart. He looked down, a little pained, “even if I wanted to tell you everything, I just can’t.”
“Can’t or won’t”
“Both.”
Then thunder started rolling in the sky, we all looked up and it’s getting darker. The wind was getting stronger, then we heard a crackling sound. We looked for where it was coming from, and then we saw Bart standing by the barrier. Hands up in the sky, the electricity on the barrier that I saw earlier was getting stronger. Collin ran towards Bart then jumped at him. The barrier started closing slowly. I looked at the rift and saw a werewolf with red eyes, staring right at me. Its sharp teeth show as it growls, its saliva is dripping all over his fangs and mouth, then Merikh covered my eyes with his hands. He pulled me close to him, hiding my face to his chest.               
When I pushed Merikh away to see what’s going on, I saw Collin on top of Bart. He was punching him, then Bart threw Collin to the side. He rolled towards us, then Bart dusted himself off. Wiping off the blood from his lips, then he looked at Merikh and Azriel. “I’m sorry, brothers,” he said, panting. Then he turned back to the barrier and started opening the rift again. Without a second thought, Azriel ran towards Bart. Tackling his brother. They were both fighting each other off. Punching each other’s faces. Then Merikh ran to them, helping Azriel out. They were too busy fighting that one of the monsters on the other side was able to hold the rift open. It slowly emerged, when it looked up, it was the werewolf that was staring at me earlier.
He saw me trying to help Collin up. He growled and ran towards us. Then Collin was able to stop him from tearing me apart. His eyes glowing, fangs are out, and his hands were keeping the werewolf’s mouth open. I fought off another monster that was able to get in with the werewolf. The monster I fought was unfamiliar. I’ve never seen it in my life but I was able to kill it with my powers. I tried using Azriel’s angelic touch, and it worked. Then I heard a bone crack and a yelp. I saw the werewolf down, its mouth stuck open, and its eyes turned from red to white.
A few other monsters were able to get in from the rift. Collin and I were fighting them off together. A Wraith was fighting me. His retractable spike shoots out of his wrist, I did my best to not be touched by that thing unless I want to end up getting crazy. When I was given a window, I touched his head with my hand. Light started shooting out its eyes and mouth. He screamed in pain before dropping dead on the ground with burned eye sockets. I saw Collin break another monster’s neck, then he looked at me. I was about to say thank you when we heard Azriel and Merikh grunting. We saw them closing the rift while Bart is laying on the ground unconscious.
“What happened here?” a voice from behind me suddenly said. I turned around and saw Raphael standing there, eyebrows furrowed. He was royally pissed right now. “Bart opened the rift,” Collin retracted his fangs before speaking to him. “I knew it,” Raphael growled, “I knew that isn’t Bartholomew!”
“Wait. What?!” I turned to him.
“I went to Heaven the last time I talked to you here. When I told them Bartholomew was here with Azriel and Merikh, they were surprised.”
“That Azriel and Merikh are here?”
“No,” he paused. “They were surprised that Bartholomew is alive,” he looked down at me, “turns out, they’re in the mausoleum. Hermesiel is grieving. She lost Bartholomew.”
“H-how did he die?”
“He was fighting another fallen angel. His name’s Beleth, the most notorious fallen angel we’ve had. He defeated Bartholomew, tore his wings apart. He had legions of demons and they were occupying the whole of Wyoming.”           
He was about to say more when Azriel looked up and saw his older brother standing with us. He tapped Merikh on the shoulder, pointing their brother. Merikh, then, nodded and grabbed the unconscious ‘Bart’ by the collar of his shirt. Dragging his body as they both walked towards us. Then he threw Bart on Raphael’s feet, “here’s your so-called angel.”
Raphael looked at the unconscious body of this unknown fallen angel, “so you know he’s not the real Bartholomew?”
Azriel and Merikh both nodded. “He said his name’s Tamiel. Another one of dad’s fallen. Following the footsteps of Lucifer,” Merikh said, “and you guys think I deserved the title.”
Raphael rolled his eyes, then five other angels appeared. Taking Tamiel’s body and disappeared. “He will be escorted back to Hell where he belongs. Making sure he never gets out,” Raphael was about to leave but he paused and turned back to us, “tell me where you want to be and I’ll take you there.”               
We all agreed to be sent to Mrs. Durham’s place where our things are, he nodded. He was about to snap his fingers when I stopped him, “wait,” I suddenly said. “Aren’t you going to tell us where we are and how we’re gonna get out of here?”
He scoffed, “Collin will do the explaining for you, but the way out is across where the bus stops.”
The moment he disappeared was also the moment he snapped his fingers and we ended up outside Mrs. Durham’s house.
We entered the house to see the whole place empty. All that was left in the middle of the living room was a blue velvet box addressed to Collin. He walked towards it and took the box off the ground. “Isn’t that the box you got from the library?” Azriel asked. Collin nodded and looked all over the external part of the box for anything else other than the enveloped taped to it.
He opened the envelope and a note fell. I picked the paper up and showed Collin what was written.
Dearest Collin,                               
You’ve grown into the strong young man I always wanted you to be. I know your friends are very lucky to have you. I’m sorry if I cannot be here with you and tell you that I am very proud of what you’ve become. For taking what happened to us and turning it into something good. I’m sorry if you weren’t able to see your brother or Ginny, and I am sorry for hiding who I really was. You have no idea how much I wanted to hug you, kiss your cheek, and be able to say that I love you. But I have promised I will not reveal my identity until it’s time for us to get to Heaven. You saved us. And with that, I thank you for being my son.                                
I love you so much, my Collin.                                                                
PS: the man you were investigating is nothing but a man who was ill-fated to relive the death of his victims when he was still alive. He was a cold-blooded murderer. That’s his punishment in Hell.                                                                                                                      Love,                                                                                                      Mom                                                                                                      (aka Mrs. Durham)
Collin was sniffling when he finished reading the note. Wiping off his tears with the back of his hand. He opened the box and it has four hex bags in it. Another note inside said: wear this to get out of Purgatory.“What the actual fuck?!” Merikh shouted as he read the note, kind of breaking the sentimental moment for Collin. “Nice job, fuckface. Just ruined my moment.”
“Sorry. I ju–we’re in Purgatory!”
“And?” I asked.
He created a big circle with his hands and arms, “it’s one big monster cage!”
“So you’re saying you want to fight monsters?” his brother asked.
“Kind of?”
“Then you stay here. We’re leaving,” Azriel grabbed a hex bag, placed it around his neck, and hid it under his shirt before getting out of the house.               
“Oh come on!” Merikh whined as I placed his hex bag on his hand and followed Azriel and Collin outside. When we were about to ride the truck, thunder clapped overhead. Strong wind gushing, leaves were flying off the ground. The trees were swaying hard, the fences were shaking. A storm is coming, and we know we're about to face something bigger than any of us.