Amber by Dan-Dwayne Spencer (e book reader .TXT) 📕

yourself. Breathe.” She cleared her throat and continued. “That wasn’t a demon. He was an angel, but not a good one. He works for that guy you call Satan.” She paused. “You can’t tell anyone about what you saw. They will have you see a psychiatrist and call you crazy. Ponder what you have seen and heard in your heart and tell no one. Remember, no one needs to know about this. The demons and the fallen angel have all been vanquished, at least for your lifetime. You have nothing to fear.”

Roger said, “Arland, I wish you could reach into his mind and take away his memories of all this.”

“Sorry, it doesn’t work like that.” I scowled. “I have the power of revelation and sight. I’m not a vampire with psychic abilities.”

“How do I write up this incident at the cemetery?” Officer Barrett asked.

I explained that the people who couldn’t see the demons thought everything was fine and what drew the crowd was the noise. I also mentioned what I had told the old man about the lightning striking the tree. I said, “Tell everyone that you were assigned to escort the procession of cars to a graveside funeral at the cemetery and the minister got long-winded. Report the fire in the tree as an unimportant event because the rain put it out. It only provided a bit of excitement at an otherwise boring funeral. Other than that, you should report today as uneventful as usual—a normal day in Blue Eye.”

Stoney inserted the key into the ignition and twisted it. The engine tried to turn over but didn’t. He pumped the gas pedal for a while and tried again. It started like nothing was ever wrong.

“Thank the Lord these VW vans have the engine in the rear,” Stoney commented. “If we had plowed into that tree in another type of vehicle, we’d be stranded.”

We left Officer Garrett at the Post Office and went back to the DX station to fill up with gas before getting on the road. Roger wanted another look at the ancient library book. Flower said it would be fine. The Principality had probably left after we did, and she was right. I described the other librarian to the current librarian. She said no one by that description worked there, and she had been working all morning. Furthermore, we had not been in the library, else she would have seen us. I scratched my head. She must have been under some book shelving charm to keep her busy.

It was just another angel cover-up. We gave this new woman the reference number of the book we had been examining, but she said they never had such a book. I had no doubt the Principality had taken it with her.

Compared to our trip to Blue Eye, the trip back was uneventful. We successfully bypassed the sacred Mountain of Purgatory; this time. When we got back, Flower took me to the clinic.

“In your vision, you touched the dead people with the star and they dissolved. You told me the dead people in the dream were my patients here and the star was the talisman. It’s time to see what happens when you touch them with this thing.”

There was nothing to say. She was right. I spoke to the medallion, and it dislodged from the book. I didn’t know exactly what to do or how to go about using the thing. I gripped the medallion and approached the raven-haired beauty lying in the hospital bed. I gently touched the talisman to her forehead and her eyes flew open. She sat straight up, grabbed Flower, and said, “The Sheriff is not human he is a demon. I saw him in his hideous, hellish form. He took me out of my body and trapped me in purgatory to keep me from telling.”

While she talked, I went to each of the men and touched them with the talisman as well. They all sat straight up and called for Flower.

She gathered them around her. Laying hands on them, she comforted them—mended their frayed nerves, calmed their fears, and soothed the anxiety caused by the hellish experience.

The raven-haired teen said, “It was like my soul went traveling. Nothing I could do made any difference. I was trapped.”

“Becca, we simply kept you comfortable and waited. Nothing I did helped. For the first time ever, I felt powerless,” Flower replied.

Becca said, “I knew my body was here, but at the same time, I also knew my consciousness had been transported to one of the nine rings orbiting a burning lake of fire. It was horrible. At different times, I could see the separate rings as they revolved—and more. I could faintly see the tormented souls struggling there on each plane.” She teared up and burst out weeping. More than that, she wouldn’t say.

When the four came down the stairs, the entire population of the commune rejoiced.

The Happy Hollow hippies gathered in the Roundhouse for a celebration. I thought wine came in bottles. They rolled in a five-gallon barrel and hammered a tap into it. There were lots of hugs, cheers, and toasts for their revived friends. Stoney sat in a huddle telling his version of the battle of Blue Eye. Needless to say, everyone had a great time. Regretfully all Roger, Jimmy, and I got was fruit juice, but we enjoyed ourselves.

Miss Tabitha pulled me to the side and said, “While you were away, the elders met and considered your petition for residency.”

I gave her my best hopeful expression.

“They rejected it with an option. If you return in three years when you are eighteen, they will automatically accept you.”

I smiled and said, “I had a strong feeling that would be their decision.”

“Of course you did. After all, you are a prophet,” she laughed. “We will allow you to stay a few more