Guardian Of The Sheep: The Battle For Heaven's Gate, #1

Dedicated

To my Angel, who saved me.

Table Of Contents

Foreword

Trouble Always Finds Me

Talking To An Angel

In Waist Deep

My New Team

Many Truths Come To Light

Hell's Awakening

The Day Before 5

Evil Plans Unfold

No Turning Back

Heaven's Gate

A New Beginning

Into The Dark Hours

One Last Fight

About The Author

Foreword

Since the beginning , mankind has butchered, modified, and grossly misunderstood the meaning of religion. While there is a heaven and a hell, and earth has and will always be the battlefield, we are all born as good souls – angels in training, so to speak – and are all given free will, with the ability to decipher right from wrong.

Now, the Lord does not interfere with free will, that is the work of the angels, and even they have rules to follow. There are Light Angels and Dark Angels among us at all times. The Light Angels try to lead us all in the right direction, and advise us as we let them, and the Dark Angels do just the opposite; they try to manipulate mankind do evil against one another.

In 1942, Lucifer began to see his worst fears coming true, mankind seemed to hold more good than evil in their hearts, and he and his Dark Angels were struggling to gain souls. The rules were broken for the last time when Lucifer took on human form and entered the world, committing unthinkable acts of cruelty and genocide, and with very little effort turning many good men evil.

Throughout mankind's existence on earth, whenever Lucifer or the Dark Angels would interfere with the freewill of mankind, the Lord would send his patriarch angel, Michael, to earth in human form to restore the balance between good and evil. This time when Lucifer broke the rules by taking on human form the Lord, furious at his interference with man's free will, directed Michael to open heaven's gates and take no prisoners of evil. In a great battle, Michael defeated Lucifer's army, killed many Dark Angels, and slayed Lucifer, then drug their souls to heaven for God to deal with. Removing an angel's wings not only destroys the body, but disintegrates the soul, never to be usable again.

The Lord took what Michael had left of Lucifer and showed him no mercy as he obliterated his once powerful equal. But Abbadon, a great, dark warrior of death and destruction, and Lucifer's most cunning Dark Angel, escaped during the battle. Over the next fifty years, as a calm settled over the earth and mankind, Abbadon worked with the remaining forces of Dark Angels to gain strength, and structure their ranks, creating a unity in Hell that had not been seen since Lucifer's demise.

TROUBLE ALWAYS FINDS ME

(B eep, beep, beep)

'Damn! Already? Seems like I just fell asleep.'

Well, technically I had. As the years pass, I've found it harder to sleep most nights. We all live with our demons, but mine seemed to be relentless, and growing in number almost every day.

Once again, there was not much in the fridge to eat for breakfast, so fast food it would be. It seems like I live in drive-thrus anymore – well that and my favorite local bar. It's a toss up as to which one sees me more. I can't remember at what point my life became a vicious cycle of fast food, demons, and violence.

Arriving at the precinct, I find it's chaos as usual. My partner, Charles, is most always waiting on me. He's a sort of health-nut, and has a tendency to preach scripture, but he's a good cop. He has been my partner for over a year now; we balance each other real well. He started in law enforcement in a small town in Texas and moved up quickly, but he wanted to work big city cases and genuinely wants to help people. I know he's a great father to his two children and a loving husband, the couple times I've been over for dinner it was easy to see they had an almost perfect family.

I catch Charles looking at me with that same look I get every morning, that one your mom or dad gives you when you have been caught staying out too late. I know he means well and wants me to settle down, get married, and have children – he says it would change my life – I just have a hard time thinking of bringing a child into this horrible world that I see every day.  There just doesn't seem to be much good anymore.

I was in bed at a decent hour...and I have an appointment with my doctor next week, I assured him.

Again with the parental look. Yeah right, I'll believe it when I see it.

MICHAEL! CHARLES! yelled John, the police chief.

That was never a good sign. John had never really taken to me, I guess you could say, but he knows that I am one of his best detectives on the force. He may not like me or my methods, but he knows I always get results, and close cases any way I have to.

As we shut the door to his office, I see a look of...well I was not sure. He didn't appear to be eager to chew my ass out as usual.

The mayor is on my ass! he began. Sexual assaults have risen, murders are on the rise, and as fast as we lock them up, they're back on the streets. Now, to make matters worse, his daughter and her best friend didn't make it home last night! I want you two on it, now! This takes precedence over any other cases you're working, I'll get someone else to handle them. He tossed a manila folder our way. Read the file, it isn't much but get started ASAP.

Samantha Cole: age 19 and Connie Brown: age 18. Both girls graduated with honors. They are cheerleaders, 4H officers, and very active in their church. Both girls received scholarships to Ivy league colleges and were preparing to start classes in the fall.

As Charles and I prepare to meet the respective parents of both, I wonder how in the world two girls this smart and with so much to look forward to could put themselves in any kind of situation that could jeopardize such a bright future.

Ok Charles, let's get started and see what we can find out, I said.

In the car on the way to the Mayor's home, Charles broke the silence, We might not want to assume the worst, these seem to be pretty good girls. Maybe they had one wild night and this will all be nothing. It's happened before...remember that girl a while back that came up missing for two days, and come to find out she had a boyfriend that the family didn't even know about? Remember? We found her and her boyfriend camping down at the lake just to be rebellious.

I did remember, but I just couldn't stop feeling this would not turn out that way. I know, I have lost all hope that there are good people out there, but I could not shake this weird feeling that this was more than my dismay for society.

THE MAYOR AND HIS WIFE described just what we already knew: good, kind, sweet, caring girls. The kind of people you don't meet many of anymore. They are both very active members of their church, volunteer on holidays at the local soup kitchens and shelters, and they both love singing in the choir.

I interrupted their description of their daughter so that I could rule out other scenarios. I am sorry...I need to ask you some questions you may not like, but we have to rule some things out. Did either of them have a boyfriend that they hung out with?

The mayor's wife was quick with her answer, It is not possible. Neither girl had anytime for dating.

Ok, did either of you notice, or did your daughter mention, any strange people in the area? People that don't belong? Or maybe a feeling of being followed recently?

The parents looked at each other, then the mayor spoke, My wife and I have been very busy with the Town Hall meetings...we haven't been home much the last few days. But no, I haven't noticed anything out of the ordinary, and neither girl mentioned anything like that.

I'm sorry, Mr. Mayor, but we would like to search Samantha's room, if that is ok with you.

He led us to his daughter's room, then went back to the living room to console his wife. As we looked through Samantha's room, I wondered if all teenage girls rooms were this disorganized. We managed to find her diary and computer, but nothing out of the ordinary popped out at me. Charles and I agreed that we should take the computer with us so that the tech boys at headquarters could dig deeper and see if there were any encrypted files that we couldn't find.

I gave Mayor Cole my card and asked him to call if they heard from the girls, or if they remembered any information that might be relevant, then we went next door to the Brown's house. We got pretty much the exact same story – and nothing to go off of in the diary or computer, but we took Connie Brown's computer for evidence too, hoping there might be an email or web post that would help us find these girls.

When we left the parents' houses, we decided to go where the girls seemed to spend the most time; Church. On the way there, I had the office pull both girls' phone records, being unable to shake the feeling that nothing good was going to come from this. These were good girls, but they were so naive to the evils of the world and so they had no fear of it.

As Charles pulled up to the church, it seemed very familiar. I am not a religious man, though I believe in a higher power, so I usually only visit churches for weddings or funerals, and don't attend weddings; but just then I heard this voice inside my head calling for me to come inside.

Now I remember this church, I told Charles. It's where my last partner's funeral was held. It's huge...with lots of parishioners. I think this will make it harder to find someone close to our missing girls. You should take the lead on this one, I am not as versed in the biblical path as you are.

He smiled, but agreed. As we walked towards the church, the front door opened and a man in jeans and a white polo shirt rushed out to meet us.

Hello, I am Pastor Gabriel. I have been expecting you. Please, come in...I would like to help you any way possible.

During the interview, the pastor did say something that was helpful. It seemed the girls had been helping a homeless person that lived behind a dumpster off of Main Street.

The girls thought they could change his life, he said. They would take him food and money. They even were working with a shelter, waiting for an opening for him be accepted. Both the prison system and shelters nowadays are well overcrowded, which tends to leave a lot of hopeless people on the streets.

I nodded my head in agreement. As we left the church, the pastor gave us his number. Please keep us informed, and if there is anything the church can do to help, let us know.

Charles and I shook the pastor's hand and thanked him for his time. We will let you know if we find anything, I said.

We spent the next several hours searching all up and down main street trying to find this mystery homeless person. The phone records came back as we searched, which verified that the girls had been searching homeless shelters and called them. A quick call to the shelters confirmed what the pastor told us about the waiting lists. Other than that there wasn't much more that stuck out at this point, so as we got back into the car, I asked Charles to search the arrest records in the area.

Maybe we can get a hit off of a recent suspect from around here. He looked at me funny. I know, it's a long shot, but what else do we have to go on right now?

When we arrived back at the station, we informed John that we were leaning towards either a kidnapping case, or a robbery gone bad. We filled him in on the interviews and the direction we were heading, trying to get to the bottom of this all; though even I was not sure which direction that was.

I cannot express to you how important it is that this is solved quickly and these girls are brought home...ALIVE! was all John said.

ON MY WAY HOME, THE case was all I could think about; which wasn't unusual. This one was really bothering me though, and I needed a way to clear my head, so I stopped off at my local cowboy bar to have my nightly sleeping drug.

When I walked in the place was pretty dead – just as I like it. But then, as I downed my fourth beer, a very attractive young lady came in, and sat beside me at the bar. As long as I have been coming here, no woman that good-looking had ever been in here. I wasn't sure if I was up for that kind of company tonight, but curiosity got the best of me – girls that looked this good can't be passed up – so when I ordered my fifth beer, I asked the lady; "Can I buy you a drink?

Without hesitation, she replied, Yes...I would like a Jack and coke please...and my name is Lilith. Then, she leaned over and whispered, You can just call me Trouble.

Shocked, but intrigued, I smiled. Ok, it's Michael. Nice to meet you.

What few people that there were in the bar that night couldn't take their eyes off this beautiful lady, and she was interested in me. I wasn't good at conversation, I cannot dance, and I was much older than she appeared to be, so why was she so interested in me?

But she certainly was. I don't think I had ever been groped so much while shooting pool in my life. I had never met a girl quite so brazen. The things she wanted to do would make any man blush in public.

The clock on the wall struck midnight, and I thought I had better call it a night before I couldn't find my couch. The only good part of the night, I thought, as I paid a very large bar tab, was that I had not thought about my work or my past all night. Walking back over near the pool-table where I had left the attractive young lady, to pay the tab, I saw that another gentleman was in deep conversation with her, flirting, and since she seemed to be into it, I said; Good night...I appreciated the evening. But as I turned to leave, Trouble asked if I was going to take her home; which kind of floored me, since I thought she had already moved on.

The man who was talking to her at this point became very unhappy, however. "I thought we would finish the evening up together! Let a real man...one who can hang all night and doesn't have a bedtime...show you what you've been missing out on."

Now, any other weak-minded man would probably have cleaned his clock and mopped the floor with him, but there was no way I was going to that place, I had seen enough of that in my life. Besides, that was why I hung out in this little run-down bar anyway, the lack of human contact. So again I said, Ma'am, goodnight. then started to walk out of the door.

But when I opened my truck door, the lady from the bar was already at the passenger side. Won't you at least let me show you a good time? she asked. Take me home...I promise you won't be sorry.

This girl is trouble, with a capital T,  I thought. But, it had been a long time, and I was tipsy, so I hit the unlock for her to get in.

Then I felt a rather sharp pain in the back of my head, at the same time I heard the crack of the pool-stick over my shoulder. In sheer, instinctive response I swung around – and it was the man from the bar, who had followed her out to my truck. It was clear that he was shocked that I was still standing.

I grabbed him by the arm and shoved it behind his back, then threw his head into the back door of my four-wheel-drive, and without any hesitation gave him several stout blows to his kidney area. After the third, I finally came to my senses and stopped, quickly checking his vital signs to make sure that he would live to be an ass another day.

His buddy from the bar came out then, so before he decided to avenge his friend I announced to him that I was a law enforcement officer. You probably should get your friend home. And if I were you I would invest in some ice and Tylenol...he will be hurting when he wakes up.

He nodded as he drug his friend to the car, muttering something about how stupid he was. The bartender, my friend Carl, who witnessed the altercation, apologized. I had been coming to this watering hole for years, so we knew each other well.

You know we don't tolerate scum in here like that, Michael. He will not be allowed in here again, Carl promised.

It isn't your fault your clientele are assholes, I told him.

The woman, now sitting in my truck, didn't seem to be phased by what just happened. That was so hot! I really want to fuck you so bad right now. Let's go...you won't be sorry.

'Trouble' is right,  I thought. After all, I felt like she was the reason this man had reacted the way he did. Besides, I had to get my mind right; I had two girls whose lives were depending on me to be on the ball. Tomorrow could be their last day of survival.

Thank you for the offer...but I think it's a little late for us old people, so I'm afraid that I'll have to pass. Is there someone I can call for you...or would you like me to call you a cab?

She was extremely pissed off as she got out of my truck, and slammed the door so hard I thought it would fall off. When I turned and looked at her, I was just in time to see her disappear into the alleyway behind the bar, but I didn't give it a second thought as I started up my truck and headed towards the house.

ON THE WAY TO THE OFFICE for our briefings the next morning (which was easier than most after that kind of alcohol abuse), I was stopped at a red light, and noticed a bus that had pulled up next to me.

'It's no wonder healthcare costs are so high', I thought, as I stared in amazement at the advertisement for Dallas General Hospital, which took up the whole side of the bus. 'We have two hospitals in the area that we could get to in time, and they are spending money to advertise on buses...I just don't get it.'

After our briefing, Charles and I did our morning small-talk routine on our way to the truck; same comments, same eye rolling. Then he asked, You're on a mission! Where are we heading?

The local hospital, of course, I told him.

Good, it's about time we get your head examined.

It's a good thing you are a cop, cause you're a lousy comedian! I told him. Anyway, call it a gut instinct, but I think we might have a shot there. It wasn't all my idea, I guess, after seeing it on that bus this morning, I owed the advertising staff at the hospital most of the credit. It's been awful cold outside, right? Where do most homeless people end up when the shelters are full this time of year?

Charles was quick to answer – with a roll of his eyes, The hospital.

At Dallas General, we had to wait for the ER Supervisor to check our credentials, but after about fifteen minutes a nurse came out and greeted us.

We're checking the local hospitals for any homeless men brought in over the last week.

She – and Charles – looked at me like I was crazy.

This is a hospital... the nurse said. We get homeless people in here all the time...especially when the temperatures start dropping at night. Still...there was a homeless man found a couple nights ago, in the alley on main. His tongue had been cut out...but other than that he had no other major injuries, and was in good health...all things considered.

As we were waiting to interview our only possible witness, (I could not really call him a suspect, as I had a hard time believing one of the girls could have cut out his tongue, even in self-defense), Charles went to call the chief and update him.

Charles always had a hard time with these kind of cases, disbelieving that someone could commit such evil, horrible acts; though you would think after the many years he has been on the force he could see that mankind had changed. It seemed to me that there was much more evil than good in this world now.

As we walked into the room, the homeless man in the hospital bed nearly jumped out of his skin. His eyes went wide open, and even with his tongue cut out he was making a bunch of noise, and began pointing at me wildly, as if I was supposed to know him or something. I was startled, and even Charles was noticeably taken aback by his actions and the commotion. When he motioned me over to the bed, I walked towards him, and he grabbed my arm, pulling me down next to him, then began to move his mouth as if he was carrying on a conversation.

The funny thing is, I could understand everything he was saying to me. Unable to hide the look of shock that came over me, and knowing without looking back at my partner that he had seen it, no matter how quickly I composed myself, I asked, Can anyone else make out what he is trying to say? hoping in a part of myself that someone, anyone else in that room heard what he said; even though I knew it was impossible.

Without his tongue, he cannot form words, only sounds, confirmed the doctor, who had slipped in a moment ago.

But again, as the homeless man's lips began to move, the words were as clear to me as if my partner or the doctor had said them. I know who has those nice girls. Please help them!

I knew what I heard, but I had to make it look as if I wasn't crazy. If I get you some paper, could you write down anything that might help us find the girls that are missing?

Yes, I can do that, but I know you can hear me! God told me you would be able to help them, so why are you wasting time?

Without answering this, I handed him the paper and a pen, but as he wrote he 'talked' to me, describing the girls and their visits to help him. Then one day, this man took them with force, and cut out my tongue to keep me quiet.  And again I could hear every word coming out of his mouth, as plain as I could hear them paging doctors over the intercom in the hospital.

As soon as he finished writing the last line, I grabbed the paper and pretended to read it, then said to Charles, You had better call the chief and have them send a sketch artist down here, ASAP! As Charles turned to leave the room, I hollered after him, Have them get a guard detail on this door, too...no one in unless vetted by the guard or head nurse!

The nurse and doctor followed Charles out of the room to get ready for the inconvenience I had just placed upon their hospital, and as soon as we were alone, I turned to the man in the bed. You were saying someone told you to let this man cut your tongue out? So there was more than one person there trying to harm the girls?

The man again said to me what I was afraid he said in the first place, God told me to let him, that he would protect me and not to fight. But most importantly, don't get killed because an angel named Michael would need my help. He apologized for not believing in you.

At this point there were hundreds of things running through my mind; 'Did I give my name? Is this really happening? Maybe this man is on drugs...', but I got my composure together and asked our witness to please write down the details that involved the missing girls. I also asked him to leave out his conversation with God.

And just in the nick of time; Charles entered the room. Did he write anything else down of any importance?

He's working on the details now, I answered.

My mind was wandering as I left the hospital with Charles, but I brushed it all off and got back to the case, as Charles said, We will have a drawing soon. We know when...the time...but the real question remains, why? Was it a drug deal they witnessed, or a kidnapping?

On the way back to the precinct, he called both of the girls parents in to meet with us again. Once we walked in, we filled the boss in with (almost) all the details from the hospital. We feel like it was a kidnapping, and we are going to talk to both families again about who it could be...if they've noticed anyone hanging around, watching them, or felt they had been followed in their routines.

The chief agreed that it was a good idea to follow the only real lead we had at this point, so we waited for the families to arrive, but during the second interview, neither family could think of anyone or anything that might help us.

Back to square one again, I told my partner. I still think we need to work this like a kidnapping. I feel that it is the best chance we have at finding these girls.

He agreed and stepped out to make a phone call. After hanging up – with who I assumed was his wife because of the kiss goodbye and 'love you honey' – he looked at me and asked, Would you like to come over tonight for dinner? It's her famous meatloaf...want to have a night off as a bachelor and be part of a family?

Charles insisted it would do me good to be around family, seeing as I did not have any family anymore; my parents passed away a couple years ago. It's been tough, and until now I had thought I had mended that tear in my world, so I thought about it seriously for a few minutes. But last night had been really rough, and after today I needed some time to think about a few other things. The conversation with the homeless man, that no one could hear but me, was still weighing on my mind. And so, though I know he always meant well, I had to decline.

Thank you for the offer, but I've actually got to meet up with an old friend I haven't seen in a while.

YOU REALLY DO NEED to make an appointment with that shrink', I thought to myself; not for hearing the voices, but because I was talking myself into going back to that church from the other day, the one the girls attended. It wasn't en route, but that's where I ended up, not even knowing what had made me drive there. And now I stood, looking at the doors for at least ten minutes, trying to talk myself into walking in, but wanting a reason in case someone asked me why I was there.

There wasn't anyone else in sight as I opened the doors and slowly entered, so I couldn't say what was going on in my head, but I could hear noises that I didn't hear the other day, and it looked and felt different tonight as well; the way the light bounced off the murals and sculptures without any sunlight. There was almost a feeling of calm that washed over me in that moment.

Unfortunately, in my life, that calm feeling never lasted very long.

I heard his footsteps before I saw the pastor approach. Michael, is everything alright? Is there some news on the girls?

I thought quickly, trying to remember what it was I had prepared to say should this moment arise. Can you tell me if any of the family have come to you for confession or counsel? I wanted to smack myself – that was just going to lead to more conversation, but it was the first thing that popped into my head.

Michael, we don't really do the confession thing here, the pastor said with a smile. We have a counselor, who volunteers her time to members that want or need it. You might want to talk to her. Her name is Ariel, he said. I still have your card...I can give her your number, if you like.

'Wow', I thought to myself, 'I'd better get out of here before I say or ask any more stupid questions.'

The pastor assured me that the whole congregation was devastated about the girls disappearance, then said, Michael, there is nothing here to be afraid of. Our Church is a Free Will Church...we understand that man is not perfect. There is no reason for you to feel uneasy here. God is here for you, just as he is for every other person that seeks him. He created you, and he knows that you are not without flaws. I believe that God not only forgives any sins you feel you have done in your work, but that he proudly calls you an Angel, because you are the Guardian of the Sheep.

He and I stared at one another in silence, as if he were waiting for me to break out in a sermon, but after what happened at the hospital earlier, this conversation was just too much for me to process. I looked at my phone as I pulled it out of my back pocket, as though I had just gotten a call or a text.

Pastor, thank you for your time, but I really must get going.

But as I turned to walk away, he put his hand on my shoulder. You are always welcome in God's home. If you ask him, he will guide you...though sometimes, he doesn't wait for you to ask.

I thanked him again and hurried for the doors, but as I was walking