Read Online The Journey by Jennifer Ensley - Free Book Online Page B

more time, Pooh. I want to hold you for a few more days.”
    “Will you get in trouble—neglecting your duties this long?”
    “Yes, but it’s not the first time.” He held me tighter, burying his nose into my hair. “And it won’t be the last.”
    I inhaled deeply and smiled, relished the feel of his warmth, his touch, his scent. I cuddled into him, relaxing wholly against his firm chest.
    “Tell me a little bit about this petrol creature,” I barely whispered.
    “He is a dragon, a devil—one once tasked with watching over mankind. He failed miserably in that duty.”
    “Watching over mankind? A watcher?” I pulled back slightly. “Drella, do you mean to tell me I have to draw blood from a… Grigori? Seriously?”
    “Yes, and not just any Grigori, no. Azazel himself is your needed supplier.”
    “Azazel? No…”
    “You know of him?”
    “ Of him? Yes. I have read the ancient scrolls, but… I don’t think I ever actually believed he was real.”
    “Oh, he’s real alright. Those things you have only been reading about up until now, they’re all real.”
    “…Real? …All?”
    “Oh, Pooh, you turned them into fairytales, didn’t you?”
    I looked up at him then, still reeling from his unimaginable news. “Fairytales? Of… Of course I turned them into fairytales, Drella. How can a normal person just go about their life truly believing these terrifying creatures yet live? They are from the past, are they not? Same as Nero and Nebuchadnezzar and Ramses the Great—ancient history, the lot of them. It’s all well and good—reading about the past while sitting in the comforting here and now. It’s a whole other thing altogether to have to walk through it as reality. I’ll be bloody lucky if I don’t go mad in the process. Angels and demons and creatures of the abyss—jeez, Drell. I couldn’t be more disturbed if you had told me Vlad the Impaler was just elected President of the United States.”
    “Pffts…” He bit his lip, then hurriedly covered his mouth. “Pffts…” But his laugh burst forth through his fingers. “Hah! That’s the funniest thing I think I’ve ever heard.”
    “Why are you laughing? I’m serious!”
    “Oh, I know you are. That just makes it even funnier.” He inhaled noisily, trying to regain his composure. “Whew… I feel better now.”
    “Better? How’s that?”
    “I feared you had turned these beings into magical fairytale creatures—all filled with good and love, flying about through the clouds with a song on their lips.”
    “What? How could I ever think something like that ?”
    “Because, people mostly equate Angels as being gloriously benevolent creatures.”
    “Not me . I mean, I don’t think I do. Well… not for the most part, anyway. How can I? I’ve yet to find a book or scroll or manuscript that doesn’t scare the life right outta me. Every single story associated with celestial beings of any kind, good or bad, all have something along the lines of… And when Daniel —or whomever— saw the Angel, he passed-out or collapsed or fell to his knees trembling, no longer able to stand on his own. I mean, think about it. Grown men throughout all time, even the ones who had God actually speaking to them, they all lost complete physical control by merely glancing at an Angel. How terrifying are these things? Whether a creature means me good or ill, if the mere sight of them causes me to pass-out…”
    I visibly shuddered.
    “That’s all true, yes, but there are many different kinds of Angels. Most of which, you will never see in their true form. Take comfort in that.”
    “So says the man who has walked among them for the last twenty something years.” I balled his shirt up in my fists, pleading with him. “Drella, please… stay with me. I can’t do this on my own.”
    He placed his hands over mine. “Sure you can, Pooh. If it weren’t so, you wouldn’t have been chosen.”
    “But—”
    “There are thousands of Witnesses upon the