Seris held a book in her hand and was going through it when I walked into the room. The book was not her tome like I expected it to be. Hers was sitting securely on her belt. This book was much smaller, with a dying red cover and an exposed spine. It was in tatters, and the pages were yellowed due to the oxidation process over the many years that the book had been around. I walked over to her, but she did not remove herself from the pages and instead shifted her weight slightly so that I could read with her. I stood beside her and looked down at the pages and noticed immediately why she was inspecting the book. The words had all been written in Latin.

Latin itself had been a language gifted from the Divine—a language that had been used as early as the 8th century BCE but one that had been given to the people of central Italy. The language had become common and expanded into Rome but was eventually used by the Infernal to mock the Divine as one of theirs had betrayed them. They call it Latin. The church claims it is sacred, the language of scripture and saints. But they forget; Lucifer was an angel first and he spoke the words of Heaven.

“This book didn’t start out like this, and all religious books in this house are written in Latin,” Seris said, closing the book and placing it next to a pile of other Bibles of different editions and years.

“This is a very pissed off angel,” I said, turning toward the body on the floor. It had been covered in sheets with only the head exposed. The man was human, somewhere in his elder years, probably around 140.

“Multiple stab wounds on his body, all locally where his heart is. No porcelain, gold, or magic involved,” Seris said as I kneeled and peeked under the cover. What I saw matched what she had said, and a glimpse was all I needed. I had seen enough today already.

“He killed himself?”

Seris nodded. “That’s what I think too. I think he saw the angel and went mad. Unlike his wife, his mind twisted, and to correct itself, he needed to end it. She, on the other hand, must have lost her mind while staring and kept doing so until her soul eventually fled her body.”

“She was stuck there, looking at it.”

Seris nodded again, then covered the man’s face with another blanket. “The DOC probably assumed it was the daughter who had killed him because of her attack on the agents, but that isn’t what happened here.”
I was pleased to hear her say that. We had been together for two years now since she had transferred from a Florentina to a Hill. At first, the young prospect was recognized as gifted in the Florentina but was considered too much of a hassle. Insubordination and disrespect to her elders quickly got her punished and eventually, on the verge of banishment from the Covens entirely. It was only because of people like Fowler that Seris was allowed a new position in the Covens society. He had always recognized wildcards and enjoyed them. To him it was like seeing a wild animal grow to become domesticated, and so he paired her with me. She would make a strong Knight one day, maybe sometime soon.

“Correct. I—” I was about to tell her what I thought before I noticed Knight Lorien walk through the wide passage leading from the main living room to where we were now.

“Lorien. Find anything?” I asked, turning my attention to the Roth.

“Just their account of the situation. It matches what the sergeant told us earlier. Would you like to hear it still?”

“Please,” I said.

“The two agents were amongst the five that entered the house initially. When we tipped them off and had them investigate, they sent the two cars. They cleared the first floor, seeing the body you’re kneeling over now and the mother who we saw earlier. When agents made their way up to clear the second floor, they discovered the daughter. One of the survivors stayed with the mother while the other went up to assist. The daughter was sitting in front of an old TV. The agent described the program on the screen to be static but with a single eye in the center. When the daughter stood up, two men in front of the agent were decapitated. One of the bodies fell on him, knocking him over. It appears that saved his life as the agent beside him was violently ripped forward and pulled into the TV, along with the other bodies and the girl. He ran down and attempted to grab the last remaining agent, then flee. Both approached the front door but felt some cold pain in their chest and fell back. They said they were only in there for a minute before more agents arrived and pulled them free. To them, the incident occurred in minutes whereas the agents on the outside had been trying to get in contact with them for an hour. They called for backup and requested Roth, Hill, and Florentina. Technically they got what they asked for with you two.” Seris gave a light shrug, seeing that the Roth had a point.

“The agent who went up, he didn’t say anything about the girl’s appearance?”

“I asked, but the agent said he was in the back and was the last one to walk up. When he arrived, the girl had already been standing up land he was only there for a moment before his teammates were killed. Is it possible that she’s the angel you’re looking for?” Lorien asked, taking a couple steps forward and kneeling next to me, then inspecting the body.

“It’s possible but unlikely. I believe the angel is using some sort of magic to hide himself in that TV. I don’t believe that the daughter conducted any murders; she’s just simply under its control like these two were,” Seris said, speaking before I could.

The Knight looked at her, then me, then back to the body.

“Knight Zariel, do you agree with your prospect?”

I looked at Seris who knew she was wrong for speaking first but was proud to know that she was correct.
I smiled at her then looked back at the Roth. “I agree with her, yes. The angel is most likely obscuring the room’s appearance with some sort of spell and making it appear so that the TV is the portal. When the agents approached, what they saw was the tail end of his possession over the daughter, although I doubt she was the one who killed the agents. A child’s mind is easier to manipulate and control. To the angel, the parents weren’t worth the trouble. The father here probably fought the influence but went mad in the process and his soul fled his body the quickest way possible.”

“That’s horrible. What of the mother?”

I looked at Seris, wanting her to take the credit.

“The mother’s soul was incinerated probably as soon as she laid eyes on the angel. What you saw was the physical effect, but there is no life within that woman. She is merely a husk now, a ward for the angel so that they know who approaches. There is no soul trapped in there.” The Knight finished her investigation and placed the blanket back over the father’s body.

“With the Infernal, with demons and devils, I know what happens to the dead. I know their soul is given passage to an afterlife and that someday they may live again. No matter how gruesome the attack or the condition of the corpse. I know that there may be hope for their souls to rest. I would have never thought the Divine could commit such atrocities. This I—” she stopped before she could finish, shaking her head.
I paused and thought about what she said, and it reminded me of a line I read in the Hill Codex once.

“They shine so bright, you often forget they’re holding a sword.”