Rapture Falls (29 page)

“Motherfucker” Gabriel screamed repeated an insult that he had observed from the city centre, he reached out and snatched the grey haired man by the throat

“Ssssorry” the man stuttered drunkenly, “But why don’t you watch where I’m going” he laughed heartily, unaware of the fuel that he was heaping into the furnace

“Easy big fella” the barman intervened, “Jasper don’t mean any harm, do you, you drunken old sod”
the barman laid an unwise hand on Gabriel’s shoulder in an act of diffusion, “Why don’t you let me get another one for you, lets make it a double” he readdressed Gabriel

Gabriel felt a low contempt for the barman’s pathetic pleading
tone;
he reached up and grabbed his wrist whilst easily maintaining his grip on a now struggling Jasper,

“
I’ve got a better idea” he spat and
wrenched the barman’s hand upward in a smooth savage motion, the bones cracked and splintered as he crushed and grinded the mans fingers together and continued to push the hand backwards until the fingernails lay flush against the forearm.

The barman screamed and sank to the floor behind the bar, Jasper’s brain had slowly kicked into gear as the scene unfolded in front of him, Gabriel rose and stood lifting the older man off of the floor one handedly whilst Jasper’s legs kicked out uselessly at his knees.
Gabrie
l brought the man in close to his face so that they were nose to nose, he slowly squeezed his hand around Jasper’s throat, his fingers began to dig into the skin and crush the windpipe and he stared intently into the dying mans eyes watching mesmerised as the light faded with the lose of life.
Gabriel was now rolling and no force on earth would be abl
e to stop his unleashed fury
, the remaining customer was sat rigidly staring at him from across the room whilst t
he stripper
still danced on obliviously and the barman whimpered. Gabriel
bounded across the stained carpet excitedly, the man sat bolt upright and rooted to the spot in terror, Gabriel took hold of the man’s head between his long and powerful outstretched fingers and began to force his hands together. The man began to flail about as the pressure increased, Gabriel exerted his strength, the man
shook
violently as blood seeped through his eyes and ears and out of his nose, his head suddenly caved in on both sides as his eyeballs popped and the grey brain matter leaked through the cracked pieces, Gabriel
sucked the juice from
his fingers and turned back to the barman who had now crawled around the bar and was creeping towards the exit. Gabriel circled the barman who looked stronger and fitter than his other two victims, Gabriel raised his foot over the mans head as he crawled and brought it down hard in a stamping motion, the force of the blow caused
an
immediate and disappointing cessation of movement. Gabriel sauntered over to the small stage and the chemically distant woman, as he drew close she began to see his blood streaked face
lined with evil intentions
, slow realisation dawned
through her drug addled mind
too late as Gabriel leapt upon her, tearing viciously with nails and teeth as he finally set free his burgeoning dark desires
and buried himself i
n her
fragile
flesh
.

ON LOCATION

“
I have come to bring fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled! But I have a baptism to undergo, and how distressed I am until it is completed! Do you think I came to bring peace on earth? No, I tell you, but division. From now on there will be five in one family divided against each other, three against two and two against three. They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law
”

Luke 12:49-53

St
David’s
is considered to be the smallest city in the UK, Baine read in the lite
rature that he had found on the internet at the guest house in Port Talbot and subsequently printed off
, apparently it was named after a man born on a cliff top near Capel Non on the South West Wales coast during a raging storm. Supposedly both of his parents were descended from Welsh royalty. He was the son of Sandde, Prince of Powys, and Non, daughter of a chieftain of Menevia which was now
known as
St David's.
 
The site of
David’s
birth is marked by the ruins of a tiny ancient chapel close to a holy well and the
re was a
more recent
ly constructed
chapel dedicate
d, i
n medieval times it was
actually
believed that St David was the nephew o
f King Arthur.
David grew up
to be a priest and after
being educated at the monastery of Hen Fynyw under
the tutorage of St. Paulinus a
ccording to legend David performed several miracles during his life including restoring Paulinus' sight. It is also said that during a battle against the Saxons, David advised his soldiers to wear leeks in their hats so that they could easily be distinguished from their enemies, which is why the leek is one of the emblems of
Wales
. David became a missionary and
travelled throughout
Wales
and
Britain
and even made a pilgrimage to
Jerusalem
wh
ere he was consecrated bishop, upon his return h
e founded 12 monasteries including
Glastonbury
and one
at Minevia
which he made his bishops seat.
 
St David
was said to have
died on 1 March
589A.D.
at Minevia,
allegedly over 100 years old h
is remains were buried in a shrine in the 6th century cathedral which was ransacked in the 11th century by Viking invaders, who plundered the site and murdered two Welsh bishops.
 
All of the research seemed to suggest that it was unclear just how much of this information was based in actual facts and how much was actually myths and legends, one thing that was clearly true was that in 1996 bones were discovered in the Cathedral and speculation was rife that they were the remains of St David himself. Baine read all of this with interest, he had surprised himself with a growing interest in history as he discovered more and more about his own past and that of his family, his brother had directed him to the cathedral but had not been specific as to the reason why, the place was obviously steeped in mythical history
which fit the profile of this developing story.
He was now parked in a small National Trust car park at the top of the city which seemed to consist of one main street lined with a handful of shops with the great Cathedral lying in a basin below, the day was now growing into its stride and visitors were arriving in numbers even at this time of year.
Baine found himself annoyingly bombarded by friendly greetings as sensibly coated walkers eagerly debarked their cars and coaches
and headed down the hill
. His normal short fuse seemed to be dimming, his general anger had dwindled and what was left seemed to be held easily
in ch
eck with memories of his dancer. He played that scene on a continuous loop through his mind, e
very gentle skirt swirl
and spin
calmed
his thoughts and cooled his temper
, perhaps there was a place for him in this world and amongst these sheep after all
. T
he day was barely awake and the wind was gathering pace whipping the light rain heavily into faces stinging eyes and lashing faces
, armed with thoughts of her the water ran harmlessly from his warmed face
.
Baine had no choice but to attach himself to the chattering masses as they descended into the holy city, whatever lay in his path at the cathedral was unknown, un-trusted and more than likely un-welcome but after he had come this far, what the fuck.

Azazel
watched Lucifer’s glowing form as she emerged from the steaming shower, her impossibly firm yet supple body glistened with moisture as she towelled herself dry, despite his appetite for human women he felt no physical attraction as he had witnessed her true form firs
t hand and it was far from lust-
worthy. She primped and primed herself in the full length mirror, of the many sins available on this plane she had been cast fully into the pits of vanity; her excessive wardrobe bulged at the seams laden with expensive clothing and a shoe collection that defied belief, he had yet to see her in the same outfit twice. He watched from a distance as he was not bringing her news that would please. Despite all of their resources they had lost track of Baine, unbelievably he had managed to disappear from sight taking the book with him and no doubt stealing a march on the quest for the Cube, the Grigori had to be there when Baine took the Cube, as it could only be retrieved from its resting place by his hands alone. The stories of the Cube’s power were now the subject of myths and legends; it had been so very long since the angels had ruled the world and much of their assertions concerning Metatron’s Cube remained to be seen.
Azazel
was un-convinced as to the abilities that were to be gained from the prize, he knew that Lucifer and Gabriel had absolute faith in the Cube; they both saw it as the capability to change the world to their very different ideals.
Azazel
however was increasingly indifferent to this holy grail quest, he saw that the world had already caved in on itself to a certain degree, the earth was already awash with pain and suffering, it was a platter to wet his sinful appetites, the Grigori already held companies of great financial wealth that funded a lifestyle of gratuitous excess, their followers sat upon boards of industry as well as political seats of power, Lucifer’s fanatical desire for the Cube had already threatened to destabilise everything that they had achieved.
Azazel knew only too well as to Samyaza’s intentions, he was excessively vocal on his ambitions and the failings of Lucifer, Samyaza only thoughts of the Cube were as to its possible power and what that could offer him whilst Lucifer’s fanatical religious obsession seemed to blot out all reason from her thinking, he knew that there was a power struggle coming over the horizon between the two of them and he would only have to wait within the shadows for the right time to make his move and scoop up the broken pieces.