Jubal Stone comes face-to-face with the murderous Archangel!
Looking back at early drafts of the novel, I came across some scenes that would have changed the order of events had they not been removed during the editing process. Below is one such scene, which would have been Jubal Stone's first face-to-face confrontation with the Archangel Immanuel.
Deleted Scene: Jubal's first face-to-face meeting with the Archangel Immanuel
Mondragon Compound White Mountains, New Hampshire
Woods surrounded the grounds of the estate. There were houses in the distance, and the small town of Newmarket, with people going about their lives doing everyday things while Jubal and Coleman pursued a fallen angel about to destroy the peace between the United States of America and Hell.
Jubal looked down upon the grounds just outside the house. There were bodies lying dead out back, twisted and broken bodies. This creature was supposed to have been cooperative and docile. The mission was all screwed up. Nothing was what it seemed to be.
Jubal led the soldiers toward the estate. Using hand signals, he directed one team to surround the building. The other team went inside, with Jubal behind the two point men.
The team spread out inside the huge atrium. There were rooms on either side and a staircase and elevator directly ahead. Behind the staircase was a lobby with a single door leading deeper inside the estate. Jubal directed his men with hand signals. One of the guards took up a position at the door, and another at the elevator. The soldiers went from room-to-room, clearing each as they did.
Jubal saw a glint of light, a reflection of some kind, on the second floor. He waved two soldiers to join him at the stairway. The three men stealthily made their way upstairs, Jubal in the middle. At the top of the stairs, Jubal directed the point man to go right and the man behind him to remain at the stairs. Jubal silently made his way down the left side of the hallway.
As he walked he got a call from 'Tree' with the team outside.
“Shadow, this is Tree,” he said, using their call signs.
“Go ahead, Tree,” Jubal said sub-vocally.
“Tango is visible on second floor roof terrace,” Tree said. “We have a clear shot.”
“Wait for my go-signal, or until you hear a shot.”
Jubal entered the Consul-General's Office. Immanuel was plainly visible on the roof terrace, his back to Jubal. He eased his grip on his Bushmaster ACR 3 and glanced around the room. A man lay dead atop the desk. The computer was destroyed – burned – and file folders and papers littered the floor. Jubal stepped through a broken sliding glass picture window and onto the terrace.
He stealthily closed the distance between himself and Immanuel. He could just see the men below, assault rifles aimed at the fallen angel. Jubal made a 'stand-by' gesture and continued forward.
The creature stood near the railing, gazing out into the sky. He seemed oblivious to Jubal's presence, but Jubal knew he wasn't. This was going to be very tricky. None of his training or experience had ever prepared him for something like this. He leveled his assault rifle at this nightmare, ready to cut loose.
I had dreams of this world. It is not as I imagined.
Immanuel's voice thundered inside Jubal's head. He could feel the voice as if it was speaking from inside him. Telepathy? He had no idea how the fallen angel was communicating with him.
“I'm Diplomatic Security Service Agent Jubal Stone. I'm here to escort you.”
Your world. It is both more advanced and more savage than I had expected. You have not prepared it well.
“Prepared it? For what?”
Immanuel turned to face him.
To relinquish it to the true ruler of the Earth. Satan.
Immanuel cocked his head to one side, studying the Bushmaster. Jubal lowered it but kept it ready for quick action. He was struggling between following his orders and turning this murderous monster into Swiss cheese. Would his gun work against this thing?
“Earth belongs to the human race,” Jubal said. “Why do you say Satan is its true ruler?”
It has always been so.
“I am here to help you,” Jubal said. “To take you where you belong.”
Immanuel opened his arms.
To the sanctuary of my enemies.
Immanuel's thoughts were softer, but still felt harsh and threatening.
“You have no enemies here.”
Immanuel studied him a moment, then turned and walked to the edge of the roof. He gazed down at the soldiers aiming rifles at him.
Violence begets violence.
“There doesn't need to be any more violence. I can take you where you want to go,” Jubal said.
Immanuel stopped and turned again to face him.
Humans are duplicitous creatures.
Immanuel stepped onto the railing and leaped into the sky. The bandages on his damaged wings breaking free and floating to the ground. His flight was slow and haphazard, like a drunk staggering away from a bar. The soldiers below aimed their weapons.
“Stand down!” Jubal said.
Immanuel rose and fell on the wind, his injuries making flight difficult. He looked back over his shoulder, nodded his approval and flew away slowly, rising and falling, constantly making corrections to test the strength of his wings.
Jubal ran back to the doorway and climbed the patio trellis to the roof of the estate. He had trouble gaining purchase on the roofing tiles, which were icy and slick. He crabbed his way across the roof on all fours until he reached the attic skylight. Immanuel was getting away.
Jubal raised his rifle and looked through the scope. The Bushmaster was guaranteed accurate up to a third of a mile, but his orders did not include harming this monster, this 'exile' in any way, even though he had just seen Immanuel kill indiscriminately with his own eyes.
Jubal didn't want Tree or any of his men to do it. This was his responsibility. His and Coleman's. A hit from this distance would be the wildest stroke of luck, and it probably wouldn't stop him. He inhaled and began to squeeze the trigger.
Immanuel was gone.
Jubal eased off the trigger and lowered the rifle.
To read the novel which Kirkus Reviews calls “A powerhouse first volume in a supernatural-thriller series,” just click here: https://www.amazon.com/Last-Angel-Fall-Jubal-Stone-ebook/dp/B07TYZXLV2
About
Brian
G. Walsh is the author of The Last Angel To Fall, volume one
of the Jubal Stone Series of urban fantasy novels.
Walsh is
also the author of No Place For Mercy: An Eclectic Anthology,
a collection of short stories readers have compared to the writing of
Stephen King, Edgar Allan Poe, Ernest Hemingway, John Steinbeck, Rod
Serling and others.
Comments
Post a Comment