Read Online Demonic Designs (To Absolve the Fallen) by Aaron Babbitt - Free Book Online

The sun was shining in on him.   It was hot and blinding, creating a feeling of disorientation.    There was something that weighed heavily on him, but he couldn’t put his finger on it, something that his mind didn’t want to think about.   Then, his attention focused on the person driving.  
    Alex snapped quickly out of his stupor.   The severity of his current situation had drifted from his consciousness for the night only to return at the sight of Jeremiah driving him...somewhere.
    The demon still looked as he did when Alex had gone to sleep.   The look seemed to be the one Jeremiah preferred—that of a man in his late twenties or early thirties, with an average height and build, dark—maybe Arabic complexion, jet black hair, and pale gray eyes.   Alex wondered if that was the demon’s actual form.
    The boy’s voice cracked and trembled a little when he finally found the strength to ask, “Where are we going?”
    Jeremiah looked over at him with surprised delight.   “Ah, you’re awake!   How did you sleep?   I didn’t move you long ago.   You spent most of the night in a bed.”
    “Where are we going?” Alex repeated, this time with more conviction.   “I can’t leave.   My parents are going to worry.   You have to take me back.”
    Jeremiah shook his head in mounting frustration.   “Didn’t we go over this already?   If you go back to your old life, your enemies will tear it apart piece by piece.   Even if Heaven doesn’t let them touch you, they will destroy everything you love.   Or we can try to make them believe you’re dead and buy ourselves some more time.”
    Alex’s emotions overtook him once more, but he defiantly wiped the tears from his eyes, determined not to show weakness here.   Weakness, however, was all he felt at the moment.
    “I just...” he stammered, “I just don’t think I’m the right person for the job, that’s all.   You talk about all these demons and prophets—people who are powerful, who know what they’re doing.   That’s not me.   I don’t have any special powers or anything.   I’m just a normal kid.”
    “You’re the only person for the job,” Jeremiah countered.   “Right now, you’re nervous.   That’s to be expected.   I’m probably giving you too much too quickly.   We can slow down, but stopping isn’t an option that either of us really wants.   If you think about it, you’ll agree.   I don’t plan to hold you indefinitely, just long enough to make my point.   After that, you’re free to go wherever you want.   In fact, I’ll take you there myself.”
    “Will you at least give me some idea of where we’re going?”
      “We are going to Nevada—after a quick stop in Texas.”
    “Nevada,” Alex repeated dazedly.   “Texas.   What’s there?”
    “We are going to Nevada because you need to be trained, you need to meet the people with whom you’ll be working, and because that may be the only place I can keep you safe without having to watch over you all the time.”
    “Watch over me?   What for?”
    “I told you, Alex; there are others who would use you to their own ends.”
    “But you would rather use me to yours,” Alex finished for him.
    “Correct,” the demon admitted.   “My way, unlike theirs, hinges on you living.   That should be some small conciliation.”
    “You said something about the people I would be working with.”
    “Yes, they’re about your age.   They’re both a little older than you are, but not by much.   I guess Heaven thinks it’s funny that I should have to oppose demons with children.”
    Alex laughed.   “There’s me and two others, and they are about my age.   What are you going to train us to do, wash your car?”
    “You shouldn’t underestimate what the three of you can do.   It’s even more unwise to underestimate me.   You keep judging what you see and what I say from your limited human vantage point and by your limited human experience.   The