Casadore: A Spiritscape Chronicles Short Story, Page 2

  Zeke worked for the most powerful of the archangels. Michael was his mentor, his friend, and his defender. Some of the “nice” angels found Zeke's methods too aggressive for their taste. Zeke was often compared to the rogue cop who would shoot first, shoot later, shoot some more, and then not bother asking any questions. In his defense, Michael pointed out that Zeke had never shot a demon. The twisted humor was one of the reason Michael and Zeke got along so well. That and the fact that Zeke would take the jobs no other angels would dare and do it with such brutal efficiency that no one could challenge his results. That led him to the current assignment. There was a demon trying to feed on human souls somewhere nearby and the smile on his face told any who saw that Zeke was ready to kick some serious demon ass.

  The Appalachian Trail was where the trail began. The angel could see a faint trace left by some kind of demon. It was nothing as dramatic as withered flowers or worms crawling up from the ground where the demon had passed. That was what human movie makers thought it looked like. It was just an ethereal blue haze in the air and traces of blue on things that the demon had touched. He knelt down to examine a rotten log that his angel-sight allowed him to see demon essence pervading it. Looking up he saw an older man, who was obviously a seasoned hiker, approaching with his grandson who could not have been more than twelve. The discussion between the two transcended the generations as the commonality of nature brought them closer together. They both looked at Zeke as they approached and looked at what he was examining. Since they could not see the blue of the demon he called their attention to an orange speckled mushroom growing on the log. Zeke smiled an easy smile as he rose and ambled on while he listened to the discussion about the dangers of poisonous mushrooms far beyond the range of normal hearing. He looked into their future and saw the grandson sharing the same information and the source of that trivia with his son twenty-three years down the line. Sometimes he helped humans a little bit.

  The Appalachian Trail continued beyond the road but the trail Zeke was following did not. The beauty of the Smoky Mountains was amazing to the tourists at the overlook where North Carolina and Tennessee meet. If they only knew what was lurking among them – trying to hide – they would not be enjoying their day. It was his job to take care of the things they could not see so they could go on in blissful ignorance. Zeke began looking around at the people who were milling about trying to track down his prey. A large bus was idling nearby with a large group taking pictures and sharing their “oo's” and “ah's” at the view. Zeke walked up and began a conversation with a couple who were taking pictures.

  “Would you like a shot of the two of you? The background is breathtaking,” said the angel, as he examined them for demonic traces.

  “Why, yes that would be...” the woman's voice caught in her throat as she looked into the intense eyes that belonged to the baritone voice. “Ummmm...” she tried to speak as her hormones skyrocketed through the stratosphere.

  “Not again,” thought Zeke as he found the perfect spot with an evergreen in foreground and the misty mountains in distance. With a thought from the angel the breeze picked up and the mist lightened a bit just prior to the snap of the shutter only to die away and darken the distance as the click echoed through the air.

  “Thanks,” said the man snatching the camera back from Zeke. He had not missed the affect the angel had on his wife. He was very anxious to put some distance between the two.

  “Did you feel that breeze?” came the question from the woman who was still gazing at Zeke. “I hope it didn't blow my hair in my face. Can I see?” As her husband handed the camera back she turned quickly to try and get a snapshot of her photographer only to find him gone. As the couple strolled away the woman gasped. “That is an amazing shot! It caught my hair just right! And look at the mountains! They look better in the pic than they do right now.” She looked around for Zeke again, calling out, “Thank you.” To herself she thought, “Thank you so much. Mmmmmm.”

  The hunter had slipped away but still had no trouble hearing her thanks or her thoughts. “I will never understand that,” he laughed to himself. As he continued his search, he found that everyone who was admiring the view really was human. That meant he was looking for a demon who was hiding somewhere between the realms. This would be tricky to track. “Excellent. That makes it much more fun.” He loved his job. It made some of the other angels uncomfortable that he loved it as much as he did. That was their problem – not his.

  He looked at every person around and finally found the one who had the touch. A young man was boarding the bus who had a bluish glow that had nothing to do with a Vegas three-man entertainment group. As the bus driver called for all to board Zeke's name was naturally on the list as he took a seat next to an older woman. The natural conversation began like they were old friends as the angel eyed the young man three seats in front of him. To say that they were old friends was not far from the truth as Zeke looked into her past and saw all the wonders she had seen. He also saw the mistakes, errors, and little white lies told for darker reasons. Still, he liked her. The hunter liked most humans but did not really have time for them. As she spoke of her deceased husband and her grandchildren Zeke looked in on them. Her husband was not the saint she remembered and the angel knew that he was not playing a harp as she thought. Looking across the country he could see her entire family and especially her third granddaughter who was about to get in trouble thanks to a demon whispering in her ear. The young man wasn't going anywhere and this could be fun.

  “Rachel sounds like she is a character. When was the last time you talked to her?” Zeke asked as be prepared to divide his consciousness into two.

  “Oh my boy, she is too busy to talk to this old woman,” came the expected reply.

  “You may not have signal anyway,” was Zeke's leading response as he continued talking while his spirit crossed the miles in less than a blink of an eye.

  “Of course not! No one has signal along these roads. Take a look.” Her eyes widened in surprise as she flipped her phone open. “Well! Full signal! Maybe I should give her a call.”

  Zeke smiled at the woman with the body he had created while his spirit was right beside Rachel. As her phone rang, Rachel went to ignore it but Zeke moved her finger to accept the call. As the two humans spoke, a demon screamed first in frustration and then in pain as an angel showed all the mercy of cheetah attacking a helpless gazelle. The conversation only lasted a couple of minutes. That was enough time for the danger to pass and a demon to be tossed unceremoniously into Hell as a grandmother and granddaughter shared the joy of the Smokies in a place where no one had a phone that worked.

  Returning to the body, the angel decided to share some humorous stories with those on the bus. “A joke could be just the thing to distract young Jerod over there,” he thought to himself. As Zeke began to entertain the people around him, he sensed it. He found his target.

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