The Belial Stone(86)

“Tried to stop them again,” Jake said, a smile forming on his lips.

Patrick smiled. “Yup. She didn’t go in alone, though. She brought backup in the form of her friend, Darby. The other child didn’t get beat up that day, but Laney and Darby took a good few hits. Of course, they gave a good few as well. When she came home that night, I asked her what had happened. She confessed the whole story to me. I asked her why she took the bullies on again, even though she knew she was going to get hurt. She told me that life wasn’t about trying to avoid getting hurt, it was supposed to be about doing the right thing. And keeping that child from getting hurt was the right thing to do.”

“Her childhood…” His words disappeared for a moment, and he struggled to control his emotions. “Her childhood was not easy. But it gave her a very strong sense of right and wrong. And she’s lived her life staying pretty much on the right side, even when it’s been at great personal cost. She’s always trying to help the person who needs the most help. But I think you’ve all seen that already.”

The men nodded back at him.

Patrick took a deep breath, hating the words that he needed to say. “So, I’ve been trying to think of what Laney would want us to do. And the answer is obvious, although it kills me to say it: She would want us to help those men in the compound, regardless of the risk to her. It’s the greater good.”

His hand was unsteady as he raised his teacup to his lips and took a small sip. “We need to follow through with the plan to take out the compound. And we need to do it fast, because they won’t be expecting that. They’ll expect us to take time, to re-group. We need to move now.”

“Are you sure, Patrick?” Henry asked. “We don’t need to make any decision right now. We can take some time.”

“And if Gideon gets the stone?” Patrick asked. “What then?”

“We don’t know for sure it’s even there,” Jake said.

Patrick looked at each man at the table before he answered. “We have to work on the assumption that it is. Do you really want to bet the fate of the world on the possibility that it isn’t? That Azazyel has gone to all these lengths without being sure he’d find it?”

Jake stared at him and then looked away, his jaw hardening. He shook his head.

Patrick stood up. “You all know as well as I do, the sooner we do this, the better chance we have at succeeding. Now if you’ll excuse me, I think I’ll leave you to finish planning while I get a little fresh air.”

Patrick could feel their eyes on him as he walked out into the night. He turned right, heading around the side of the house.

Once out of sight of the windows, he stopped and leaned against the building for support. He wrapped his arms around his stomach as if he could keep himself from splitting in two.

Tears streamed down his cheeks. “Oh, God, please protect her and keep her safe.”





CHAPTER 69



Laney spent the rest of the day brushing and shoveling dirt from the megalith with Tom. Her back ached from being hunched over. Her hands were covered in blisters.

A layer of horror blanketed her as she worked. During the day, she’d seen enough brutality and its aftereffects to last a lifetime.

At the same time, she couldn’t help but be amazed by the history in front of her. The megalith she was uncovering depicted what appeared to be a history of man. The pictographs seemed to support Cayce’s explanation of how humans came into existence.

There were depictions of the thought forms that, at first, took residence in animals. Then human bodies were created and they took residence there, followed by a time of peace and harmony.

Later on in humanity’s timeline, others descended from the sky, bringing violence and despair. The fallen angels. Destruction began the moment they set down. With their arrival, the frames shifted from the pictures of peace and harmony to frame after frame of violence. The hieroglyphs depicted murders, wars, human sacrifice. That was where the depictions stopped, unfortunately; the rest remained buried.

Throughout the megalith, there were also depictions of the Belial Stones. At first, they appeared to be revered and worshiped. With the arrival of the fallen angels, though, emissions from the stones were used in violent acts.

There was nothing, though, in the megalith that indicated where the stones might be found. And with the guards constantly looking for the slightest deviation from work, she hadn’t been able to take a long look at any of the other megaliths near her.

Laney rubbed the back of her neck, trying in vain to work out the kinks as the sun began to sink in the sky. They couldn’t work much longer with the light dimming. Her hands had started to cramp severely a few hours ago. Now, they were practically numb, which was actually a blessing because it was less painful.