Tyndal, page 8
“How long have you been standing there?” Tyrus asked.
“Long enough,” Tyndal admitted before adding. “No one needs to tell me how much of a chance Rhys took to do what he did, or how taxing it can be on the system. No wonder he looked like he hadn’t slept properly in a week.” She smiled as she entered the room and walked to the coffee table to place the sandwiches on it. “You are to eat every bite,” Tyndal ordered Rhys.
Rhys had stood the moment that Tyndal entered the room and could feel the weakness deep inside of his bones. He was every bit aware of how much he needed the food she had brought to replenish his energy level. He got the impression she was going to have quite a lot to say to him too shortly after Tyrus left the room, which was what was happening at the moment.
“Sit, before you fall down,” Tyndal fussed over Rhys, as she took charge. “Trust a man to go over his limits for no good reason.” She knew this wasn’t the case, but had some idea of how dangerous the contact could have been. She admired him for taking the chance, and some deep inner voice kept repeating that she could have lost him. She realized then that she couldn’t have stood that, that she loved him, and that she wasn’t certain when or how it had happened.
Rhys mistook the longing in Tyndal’s eyes for concern. He was certain it couldn’t be much else, although a man could dream and hope, for all the good that did. He slowly moved to sit and found his movements stiff and his body sore.
Tyndal noticed his awkwardness and moved to help, only it didn’t work out the way she first intended. Instead of guiding Rhys to his seat when she reached for him, she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him. She felt his arms encircle her, then their lips met, and he pulled her closer to kiss her properly. Just that quickly, she felt like she was home, and she opened to the possibilities this presented. She wanted this man in her life and she fully intended to make sure it happened.
Lucifer was the first of the Angels who walked through the doorway to answer Tyrus’ summons for the meeting. His reaction to seeing this couple in each other’s arms wasn’t what any of them expected, not even him. “Get your filthy hands off of her, you aren’t good enough.”
Rhys immediately backed off. What Lucifer had said was true. He wasn’t good enough. He had already been married once before, to a woman he hadn’t loved. It was proof enough that he wasn’t above taking advantage of any possible chance presented. He couldn’t allow himself to do anything like that to Tyndal. He bowed slightly, as he took a small step back and apologized.
“You are right. I should never have allowed this to happen.”
Tyndal glared at Lucifer, as she watched Rhys withdraw from her. She was angrier at him than she had ever been at anyone in her lifetime. But, this was not the time for her to take him to task over his words. The others were gathering and this meeting was about to start.
“You might have noticed the weather has suddenly cleared up,” Tyrus began. He had noticed how the atmosphere in the room had changed over the last new moments and decided he should be the one to open the discussion. “I am not sure of the reason. However, Rhys went to the portal, and I believe he can expand on it.”
Rhys turned red at the sudden focus of attention and took note of how hostile Lucifer viewed him. He had the look of a man who had caught someone with the woman he loved. It explained a lot about how things stood between him and Tyndal, but not all. Tyndal, it was plain to see, was furious with Lucifer, and this was noticeable in every facet of her being. She not only was glaring at the man in a pointed fashion, but her body language was shouting at him. Her arms were crossed before her, her lips were pressed together and her legs were crossed, something he had never seen her do before.
Rather than dwell on what was happening between Tyndal and Lucifer, Rhys turned his attention on what had transpired during his trip, “My purpose for going to the portal was to see how volatile it really was. I also wanted to speak with Kodac about a theory I had. I found out several things I believe everyone here should know.”
“Everyone?” Lucifer asked.
“Yes,” Rhys confirmed. “I have been working under the misconception that the boundaries between our worlds were no more than elements. I was wrong. They are living beings and quite capable of communicating with us, when they choose to do so.”
“I don’t think you are alone in this belief,” Tyrus sounded shocked. He would never have thought of the portal as a sentient being before.
“What made you think otherwise?” Michael asked.
“I spoke with it,” Rhys stated bluntly. “It told me what it wanted. I was left to guess why the weather was acting up.”
“Was the portal being throwing a temper tantrum?” Lucifer snickered. He was having trouble believing any of what he was hearing and thought to belittle Rhys in Tyndal’s eyes by mocking him. When she narrowed her eyes more at him, he caught the message that it hadn’t worked.
“Basically,” Rhys answered, without thinking twice about whether he should take offense to Lucifer’s flippant question. This was not a time to play games. The matter they were discussing was serious, and they all needed to recognize this. “It wants something, and until now, it hasn’t been able to make its choices known.”
“So it reached out to you,” Lucifer snorted.
“No,” Rhys admitted. “I reached out to it on the off-chance that what I was feeling about it was real. I was just as surprised to find out that this was the case as you sound.”
“So what does it want?” Michael asked. He was getting sick of Lucifer’s snide remarks and decided to take over from him.
“In its own words, it wants its children to come home,” Rhys answered.
“Its children?” Tyrus didn’t understand and was sure that those with them weren’t any different.
“It wants its sons and daughter to cross through the portal and return their bloodlines to the worlds they came from,” Rhys repeated for clarity.
“You are talking about us?” Raphael asked.
“Even Lucifer?” Michael added in disbelief.
“There is nothing wrong with Lucifer,” Raphael surprised everyone by defending him.
Tyndal gave an unladylike snort, which made everyone grin. Then she asked. “I assume you told this entity we had issues?”
“Most definitely,” Rhys answered. “The instructions the entity gave were clear on that matter. We are to lead Tony Adams to the doorway between our worlds and implement Tyndal’s plan. It will supply the power needed. I assume everyone will know what is expected from them when the time is right.”
“What is your role in this?” Lucifer asked.
“Nothing, as far as I know. This means I will be free to return home directly from here,” Rhys concluded.
“But,” Tyndal was about to ask “what about them us?” when Tyrus unintentionally interrupted.
“When are we supposed to do this?”
“Immediately, because Tony Adams is already on his way to the portal district,” Rhys warned.
“How do you know this for sure?” Michael asked.
“Rhys is a hunter in our world,” Tyrus answered. “If anyone will know where our enemy is, it will be him. I suggest you get ready to ride.”
“Is everyone onboard with this?” Rhys wanted to know. “You must want to leave this world to be able to cross over.”
As far as everyone was concerned, the answer was a simple one. None of them had been happy in this world, and the chance to leave it was heaven sent. They were ready to cross through the portal now.
CHAPTER XVI
Even by utilizing Bill’s workforce, it took the Angels half an hour to prepare the horses and ride into the forest. They knew they would arrive at the site they were aiming for after Tony Adams, but for some reason, that didn’t seem to bother any of them. They had found a calm somewhere in the storm that had been their lives up to this point and were content with where they were. Surprisingly, the one who seemed the most distressed before, now appeared to be the calmest.
Lucifer had made several observations. He had spent several years thinking he was the only Angel that had never gotten married or didn’t have children. As they rode, the group talked about their lives, and he realized that none of them had formed relationships. When it was time to leave for their new homes, they would be walking away from empty lives. They were all wealthy, but none of them were happy. Now, where there had been nothing in their lives, there would be hope. Things were going to change for them, it would be different in the new world beyond the portal. It might not be easier, but there was a certainty that they would find it fulfilling.
The closer the group got to the portal, the clearer the plan became on how they were going to take care of Tony Adams. No one was certain whether it was a product for Tyndal’s mind or for the entity’s. All they were sure of was that they were heading for home.
When the horses came to a stop and refused to move, Tyrus took over, “We walk from here, hoop the reigns of the horses around their necks and send them home. They will know the way.”
“Are you sure they will be safe?” Lucifer asked.
“I have done this more often than anyone I can think of and I have never heard of one of them coming to harm,” Tyrus assured Lucifer. “Believe me, when I say that Bill would have told us if this were the case.”
Lucifer smiled, as he thought of Bill. He definitely could see that man reading them the riot act if one of his precious horses were injured. He accepted Tyrus’ word on this and let it go at that.
“He is here,” Rhys warned everyone, and then added, “He is armed and gives off an aura that tells me he is apt to spook very easily, so consider him dangerous.”
As everyone nodded in unison to show they understood, Tyndal stepped forward and began to explain what was about to happen. “You are to surround Tony Adams. When you are all in place, the entity will supplement your power with one of illusion. What we will see won’t only be trickery. You are to allow the glow that you became familiar with free rein. If you feel compelled to say something, do so. If not, you are to leave the talking to me.
When Lucifer moved to follow the others to surround Tony Adams, Tyndal placed a hand on his forearm and stopped him. He looked at her and she explained, “You have a much larger role to play in this.”
“I have?” Lucifer sounded surprised.
“You have,” Tyndal confirmed. “You are to stay back until I have said what I must, and then you will be expected to live up to your name. It seems the entity has a sense of humor.”
“Obviously,” Lucifer grinned in understanding. “I assume any glow that comes from me will be cast in a different shade so it will play according to his expectations.”
“I don’t know, but I am assuming so,” Tyndal stated. She then commented, “Get ready to play out your part, it is time to teach Tony Adams a lesson about what he has gotten involved with and teach him the price of crossing lines that were never meant to be.”
With that said, Tyndal walked forward and began to glow, as did the other Angels. Tyrus and Rhys stood on either side of the portal, looking like a couple of guardians and watched the scene play out.
Tony Adams looked around nervously, as the effect of the portal worked its fear into him. He was scared and not afraid to admit it, at least not to himself. To assure his safety, he gripped a gun in each hand, one that those who were about to surround him could have told him wouldn’t work, not here and not at this time. The entity had seen what had happed to Tyndal the last time this man had shot her and it wasn’t about to allow it to happen again. He would have nothing to attack anyone with.
“You have been bad,” Gabriel spoke in a soft voice, although she didn’t make a personal appearance quite yet.
Tony Adams whirled around, as he looked for a target. What he saw froze him where he was.
Six glowing Angels came out from the cover of the trees surrounding him. They spread their wings as they slowly moved to close in on him. He pulled the triggers on his guns over and over to try to stop their advance. His weapon had no effect on them. When they stopped, they were wingtip to wingtip, except for where Gabriel was to come forward, which she did as she continued to talk.
“Tony, we tried to keep you on the right track. Your whole family was warned, but you refused to listen. I weep for what we must do, but you have left us no choice.”
“You are not real,” Tony Adams yelled. “You are an illusion.”
“Am I, Tony?” Gabriel murmured, as she reached out to touch him with the glow from a single finger. As it came closer to touching him,he began to scream with a high, whining keen. “We will be leaving you now, Tony. We will forever remember you as one of our failures. Another will take our place.”
“Who?” Tony demanded. He refused to cower. This had been staged. He would stake his fortune on it.
“Someone you will get to know well,” Gabriel promised. “Lucifer, he is yours.”
Lucifer? Tony Adams was tempted to laugh and would have, if Gabriel and her angelic cohorts wouldn’t have moved off to reveal another Angel. However, this one was in black, and as he opened his black wings, he laughed in a manically gleeful manner. When he spoke, it was in a deep voice, and he sounded amused.
“Welcome to your own special hell, Tony,” Lucifer laughed again, as scene after scene flickered through Tony Adams’ mind. He dropped the useless guns onto the floor of the forest. He screamed and screamed, as he lowered his body onto the ground and curled into a ball. By the time he lost consciousness, his throat was barely able to form a sound any louder than a whisper. Still, the sounds of Lucifer’s laughter resonated through his mind.
As Tony Adams lay on the floor of the forest, incapable of doing more than making pitiful sounds in his semiconscious state, Rhys and Tyrus opened the door of the portal, only there was no sign of another forest beyond. Instead there was a bright light that only Tony Adams could see through the darkness that dwelled in his mind. He dreamed that he saw the Angels leave as they walked into the light. When they had all entered the portal, it closed, leaving him alone in a mass of tears and pitiful whimpers that were not loud enough for anyone to hear.
CHAPTER XVII
Brad and Eldon arrived on the scene where Tyndal and her group had delivered their form of punishment on Tony Adams. They had angrily vented their spleens at Tyndal’s tactics the whole time they travelled and realized they would not be in on whatever had been planned. All they could think of was how much they wanted to kill Tony Adams, and that they would be denied their vengeance. They deserved to be in on this. They had promised themselves they would deliver the blow to end his miserable life. They were being denied justice.
Tony Adams had only begun to regain consciousness when Eldon and Brad entered the clearing where Tony was lying on the ground. He recognized them, at least he thought he had seen them somewhere before. Only, he couldn’t be sure. All he could think of was the Angels, bright light, and Lucifer and the all-consuming darkness that had claimed him. He could still hear the evil laugh that came from Lucifer and how it had surrounded him, and he croaked out a plea through his tears, “Kill me, please. End this torment.”
“What the hell happened here?” Brad asked. There were no signs of a struggle or anything that might have happened to cause this reaction from Tony Adams. They had to admit, the man looked like he had been put through the wringer several times.
“You can’t let them get me,” Tony Adams whimpered.
Eldon and Brad could barely understand what Tony Adams was saying and he certainly wasn’t making much sense. He was also drooling as he babbled. “Don’t let who get you?” Eldon asked.
“The Angels,” Tony Adams explained hoarsely. “They can, you know. They were here, they left when the light came for them. They said they were finished with me, but I know better. Beware of the dark one, he brings nightmares and they called him Lucifer.”
“Lucifer?” Brad looked at Eldon and shook his head. He had no idea what had happened, but from what he could see, whatever it had been had reduced Tony Adams to little more than a mindless lunatic.
“He will get you too, if you don’t do as the Angels tell you,” Tony Adams warned. “They are all bad. They will control you. They will take the light and leave you in darkness.” He then gave a small gleeful giggle at the thought.
“He has lost his mind,” Eldon stated.
“Kill me, end the torment,” Tony Adams begged.
“I almost feel sorry for the poor bastard,” Eldon commented.
“I am tempted to grant him his wish,” Brad agreed. “Can you imagine living a life like this?”
“I don’t even want to try, but I find I rather like the idea of leaving him alive to live in this state,” Eldon noted.
“Has anyone ever told you that you can be a sadistic bastard at times?” Brad asked.
“Yes, Alice, last night, but she liked it so I am fine with it,” Eldon chuckled.
“What do you think we should do with him?” Brad asked.
“From what Alice has told me about him, he treated his family like dirt,” Eldon informed Brad.
“A lot of people fit that profile,” Brad pointed out.
“True, but I understand he was particularly bad to them. Perhaps we should let them deal with him,” Eldon mused. “I am sure his wife can think of a place where he would fit in perfectly.
Brad shook his head as he commented, “Trust you to think of something like that.”
“Look at him,” Eldon motioned at Tony Adams with a wave of his hand, and he looked disgusted. “He has drool running out of his mouth and he has soiled his pants. He is crying and babbling like a fool. Whatever happened to him out here has caused him to snap.”
“Which reminds me,” Brad noted, as he looked up at the darkening sky. “We better get back to that clubhouse where we were told to stay for the night. Bill advised us not to get caught out in these woods, either close to dark or after. He says it can be a creepy place with all the noises the animals make. Makes me wonder what type are out here.”
