CHAPTER 10

CHAPTER TEN

It'd been a month since China, and the crusaders kept on the mission. A lot had changed since Raphael was no longer with them, giving Calista more work to do.

Seth found himself having flashbacks of his childhood days: how Father Adams loved him and was always there for him. Father Adams never allowed anyone else to bathe or even feed him. Seth knew no other as his parents, and even on his birthdays, Father Adams made sure that Seth was always happy and smiles all through. He remembered a scene on his tenth birthday when Father Adams was trying to make him laugh. Just then, he saw Lucifer in his innocent appearance right behind Father Adams. Then his face suddenly turned scary, with big fangs. He screamed and woke up.

When Seth got up, Calista was standing beside him, while Marcus and Rico were still sleeping. She asked what the matter was. He replied, 'The nightmares are back.'

She tried to talk him back to sleep, which she did, and then went back to where she was before his fright caught her attention. She was standing on a very high platform on the industrial facility, where they made camp for a few days now. She kept watch over them, day and night, since she didn't sleep at all.

While Seth was still sleeping, he found himself dreaming. This time, he was running very hard in the woods, as though he were being chased by something or someone. He ran as fast as he could. When he became tired, he leaned on a tree to rest for a few seconds while he was being vigilant of whatsoever was after him. Suddenly, from behind him, came out this very horrible demonic form that was about to grab him, but he fled again at the sight of it. He kept on until he couldn't run anymore, and then from nowhere came Lucifer in his innocent form, calling him to come and take a rest from all his running, that all was well, that no one will harm him. Then Seth calmed down for a bit, though still frigid. He listened to Lucifer for a while, after which he got up and started asking why he betrayed him and used him to destroy the world.

Meanwhile, where they were all sleeping, a mighty snake was coming through into their sleeping camp. It went over Marcus and then clambered through Rico. The snake was about fifty feet long and one and a half feet wide. It began to head for Seth with his black eyes and wagging tongue. Back in his dreams, Seth was still seeking answers for the destruction caused by Lucifer.

Lucifer became very emotional as he spoke about his incarceration in hell for eons, and yet, they did not have any intentions of letting him out. So, he was left with no choice but to do what he did.

'If you were in my shoes, you would have done the same thing,' he said. 'Being locked up in hell for so long and still not going to be pardoned. I am stronger and smarter now. I will not leave empty-handed this time. Even if I decide to stop, I can't return to the pit. Never,' Lucifer said. His anger and gesticulations were uncoordinated.

'I can't allow you to destroy all of humankind because you feel vindictive,' Seth responded. Lucifer took a few steps closer, while Seth took a few backward.

'To really hurt a man, destroy that which he loves, and then you can watch him grieve,' said Lucifer with a smile. Seth paused for a moment, with his eyes fixed on Lucifer, but his thoughts were travelling.

'But God is not man,' Seth spoke out. 'You must be dumber than I give you credit for. Where do you think man got his emotions from? And whose life do you think man shares? Or why did He give His only son for man?' Lucifer asked him. 

Seth then took a few steps back and said, 'You leave me no choice than to put you back in your rightful place, your cage.'

Lucifer chuckled. 'And how do you plan on achieving such a monumental task, if I may ask?' He turned away from Seth with a curious look on his face. But Seth knew he was trying to get him talking, so he kept words sealed behind his teeth and a hardened heart that had learned from his mistake. Lucifer suddenly disappeared from the scene, leaving Seth alone. Seth looked around and realized that he was not anywhere near his friends, so he whispered to himself, 'This is just a dream, and nothing more.'

Then with a loud tone, Lucifer responded from behind a distant tree. 'Yes, it's a dream, your worst nightmare, and guess what? If you die here, you'll also die in the real world. Isn't that amazing?' He spoke from diverse angles in the woods. His voice kept coming from all around, as it re-echoed his words to Seth, just like a floating ghost, to instill fear in the kid.

In his fear, Seth spoke with a shaky voice, saying:

'That will make my job easier because I could just kill you right now, and you will be dead in whatever world you are in.' His words were so amusing to Lucifer that he let out a wicked laugh that echoed throughout the woods. Seth reached for a piece of wood on the ground. The ground was covered with dried oak leaves and broken branches. It was as though winter had come and the trees were shedding their leaves.

That was when Lucifer appeared before him. 'Not if I kill you first.'

Immediately, he turned into a mighty serpent and started chasing Seth all around the woods. His pace was fast, but the snake was determined to kill him as it sped through the woods to catch up with him. In his reality, the snake was preparing to strike him. It was already past six in the morning.

Back in a dream world, he couldn't escape Lucifer, no matter where he ran. He finally was knocked down by the snake, putting his face on a pile of dirt, without being able to move a muscle. The mighty snake crawled on its belly around him, as a predator savoring its prey, with poisonous venom dripping out of its open jaw, tongue hissing. The boy lay there shaking with the uncertainty of what was to be his fate from this soured relationship. Then the snake rose above him to make the deadly strike.Seth screamed and woke up to meet another snake launching out to swallow him up. His scream reached Calista on her high ground of watch.

'Not on my watch,' said Calista as she reached to her quiver and pulled out an arrow, shooting it at the serpent. The arrow flew as though it had a sense of direction, making bends and turns, to hit the coo-coo-na demon, a pack of mighty anaconda sort of serpent that are always seven in number. She anticipated that the arrow should hit its target before the serpent did, so she bolted off with the speed of the wind to give support to the arrow. There were six females and a single male. The male was the alpha and could grow as long as a hundred feet and three feet in circumference. The females could be sixty feet long and one and a half feet in circumference. The end was far from near, seeing that the remaining six pages were scattered around the world, and the fate of humankind was tied to Seth finding them.