The Warriors of Light

The door swung open, then, as I tried to quickly hide my gun. Mallory and Gregory walked in to

my surprise, but why would I be? Whenever there was a demon around, Gregory was sure to be there. They both looked at me as I nearly passed out, sitting on my knees gasping for air. Mallory ran over to me once she noticed.

"Oh my god, Ray what happened? Where are the girls?" She thought immediately running upstairs to their rooms. Gregory walked over bending down to me.

"You fought your first demon alone and survived. I admit I'm rather impressed." He teased, nearly smirking. I grabbed his collar looking seriously into his eyes.

"Agares has Brad. Did you know? Why are these demons after me?"

"Ray...I..." he started to tell me something until, he stood quickly, hearing Mallory run down fussing as she screamed at me. I could only try to stand confused as I held my chest. Why was I always the one in trouble?

"What the fuck is wrong with you? Why would you lock them up in the closet and scare them like that? You think this is some kind of game? They just lost their father for fuck sake, Ray. Sorry, Father Gregory." Maddie and Brandy ran over to me and I hugged them tightly silently thanking the heavens they were okay. Mallory pulled them back from me. "Stay away from him, girls. He is banned from this family." I looked hurt at her.

"Banned? I didn't..."

"No. Every time you are around something happens and I can't...you are far too reckless, Ray. It's not what this family needs right now." Mallory argued wiping her tears of fear away. "It's my fault for thinking you could do this."

I scoffed, "That's not fair," I said shaking my head. "You can't tear me away from my family. I was protecting them. Something...somebody is out to attack this family, okay. I'm not..." I wanted to explain, but I could only hold my tongue since I couldn't tell her the full truth. I still couldn't believe the full truth.

"I think what Ray is trying to say is he heard someone try to break into the house and he warned the girls to hide to keep them safe. Johnny Stan and this unknown killer are still out there and this family may be the target, Mrs. Segal. I think Ray here is the hero in this scenario."

"It's true, mommy." Brandy said.

"We heard noises and saw shadows," Maddie chimed in.

Mallory still didn't want to believe it. "It's fine girls. I can understand when I'm not wanted somewhere." I walked out, covering my behind so the gun wouldn't show to frighten anyone. Gregory followed me out. He placed his hand on my shoulder and I just jerked away from him. "I need to know everything, Gregory. My family almost...these demons are after me for whatever reason. I need it to stop. We have to find Agares, fast."

"You said he has Brad?" Gregory asked trying to connect the pieces himself. "That's not possible. Brad was for sure to go to heaven."

"Well, that's not what I saw." I started to walk off the driveway until Gregory pulled me back. His seriousness was back and he was ready to fight me for the information if he needed to. "What did you see?"

"Brad...in his office. There was this black hole...it was cold...eerie...he called out to me. Then I saw Agares, again. He demanded Johnny Stan." Gregory's eyes darted back and forth as he tried to make the connection. I continued as he took a step back. "The demon...he...it...said 'misit deus'. What does that mean?"

Gregory's eyes darted to mine. "Show me where."

We went back to the house and knocked on the door. Gregory spoke to Mallory to let us back in and we walked up to the office. My hands were in my pockets. Mallory was taking angry glances at me, arms folded as I leaned against the door while I watched Gregory. It was if he could feel the presence of the entity or the portal there as his eyes widened. He tried to showcase a smile as he looked over to Mallory.

"Mrs. Segal, would you be so kind as to bring me some water, please, no ice," he requested. She nodded and got right to it as he looked at me. "You said the portal came from here, right?" I nodded. "Brad's presence is definitely more potent here. Must have been his favorite spot in the house. You said the demon called you, 'misit deus'?"

"It's what he said..."

"It means God Sent. It's what they call all of The Order, but you don't bare the mark of one. So how do they know who you are?" Gregory asked confused, more to himself than to me. "The gun, maybe. I did blow a hole right through his..."

Gregory held his hands up to silence me. I looked offended, but then I understood why after a few seconds. Mallory walked back in, handing Gregory the water. "Thank you so much. Will you leave us? I would like to bless the house before I go. We will lock up. You should go get some rest, Mrs. Segal."

"Are you sure? I can..."

"You've done so much already." Gregory interrupted taking a small sip of water. She glanced at me one last time and walked out without a fuss. "Close the door." He demanded, now getting back to work. The Gregory I knew was back. He walked around the desk where the hole came out, studying it.

"You know, for someone who claims to be such a loner, you surely have a way with people... preferably women." I said, folding my arms as I continued to lean against the wall. "Yes...well...you sound as if you are jealous. Ray, are you trying to make a move on your brother's wife?"

I winced disgusted. "No, of course not!"

"As a priest, people are top priority. It's imperative we learn how to talk to them, how to comfort them. It can also be hard to resist the amount of power the people bestow upon us. Remaining humble is key." He threw the water and I thought it was going to hit the floor, but it sizzled right before it started to harden into ice. My mind wouldn't even allow me to believe it, if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes.

Gregory sighed and that let me know he feared what I did, the worse. "Brad's soul was, indeed, taken by Agares in place of Johnny's. Good news is he hasn't found him yet. Bad news is we have only a few weeks to find him for Brad. Once he is laid to rest, his soul will be forever stuck there." My eyes widened. "We have to find Johnny Stan or postpone the funeral."

"His family needs closure, Ray. We will find Johnny Stan soon and carry on with the funeral as planned." Gregory walked off, with the final word, as I followed closing the office door behind

me.

"You are so vague. How the hell are we supposed to find this guy? And when we do, are we just going to give him over to Agares? Hey," I grabbed his arm to turn him around to me on the bottom of the stairs, "I need to know what's the plan. You can't leave me in the dark on this. You know something. I need to know."

Gregory sighed, nearly biting his lip to keep from talking. "I will have to show you." He said as he walked off to the car. I followed him in my car back to the church.