A few days later, Peter was in his bedroom getting ready to meet Darlene for her birthday dinner.
"Wish her a happy birthday for me, will you Peter?" Davy asked as he watched his friend comb his hair.
"Sure, Davy." Peter replied, as he put the comb down on his dresser and straitened his collar. Then he put the bottle of holy water Elizabeth had given him in his jacket pocket and turned to face Davy.
"How do I look?" Peter asked, holding his arms out from his sides
"Smashing." Davy approved, "Darlene will like it."
"Thanks." Peter replied, putting his arms down and then noticing the book Davy had lying on his bed.
"What book are you reading now?" Peter asked, curious. "I notice you've been reading a lot lately."
Davy held up the book so Peter could read its cover.
"The writings of St. Thomas Aquinas." Peter read, "He was one of the early church fathers, right?"
"Right," Davy agreed, "He wrote a lot of church doctrine. A very holy man."
"Darlene says she sees you a lot at the library." Peter pressed.
"Yeah, just trying to understand our Lord better, that's all, Peter." Davy said gently, putting the book back on the shelf next to his bed.
"Well, I gotta go now, see you later." Peter told his friend.
"Take care, mate." Davy replied.
Peter smiled and left the bedroom, only to have Davy come after him after he had gone only a few steps.
"Peter, you forgot Darlene's gift!" Davy laughed, handing the wrapped book to him.
Mike and Micky, playing cards at the kitchen table, laughed as Peter sighed and took the book.
"Thanks, Davy. See everyone later."
"Bye Peter, be careful out there." Micky said in an old-lady voice.
"You taking the Monkee mobile?" Mike asked Peter.
"No, I think I'll walk." Peter replied, "It's a nice day out and we're not going far."
He gave his friends another wave and left the pad.
As Peter walked past a row of shops, he came across a trio of gray-haired men standing in the doorway of one of the shops. Their clothes were stained and rumpled. One of them called out to him.
"Hey, young man." He said, his voice cracking, "Can you help some world war one vets down on their luck?"
Peter stopped and immediately took pity on the men. He walked over and reached into his pocket for some coins.
"Of course I can help you." He said with a smile.
Suddenly the men rushed Peter, crashing into him and knocking him down. One of the men grabbed the book he had in his hand. The three men started running down the street with the speed of men much younger than they looked.
Peter recovered from his shock, got up, and began to chase after the thieves.
"Stop!" He yelled after them, "Come back with my bible!"
The three men just ran faster, knocking those down who were in their way. At the next intersection, the traffic was against them, but they ran into the street anyway. There was a screech of tires as several cars had to stomp on their brakes and a bus had to swerve to avoid hitting them. The bus went up onto the sidewalk, knocking over a fire hydrant. Peter kept after the men, dodging around the melee the men had caused. He then noticed the men duck into an alley and followed them.
Standing at the back of the dead-end alley, the three men were looking over their prize. They looked up in shock to see Peter standing there.
"You didn't have to steal my bible." Peter said, gasping for breath, "I would've given you the money to buy one."
The three men just gave Peter a nasty laugh. Then, they changed into the three demons Elizabeth had chased away! Peter backed away and made the sign of the cross and fumbled for the holy water bottle in his pocket.
"Stupid mortal." One of the demons hissed. "This is not a bible."
"Then...then what is it?" Peter stammered.
"The book of the Black Dragon." Another demon replied.
"What does it matter to you?" The third demon cut in, "You will not live to tell about it!"
The demon stalked toward Peter. The Monkee tried to move, but found his legs would not respond to his commands to run. Just then two police officers, who had been told by witnesses what had happened, came over to the mouth of the alley.
"Hey, what going on..." One officer started to say, but then saw the demons and froze, along with his partner. The demon hissed at them and they took off screaming.
The distraction was all Peter needed to get moving again. As the demon came closer, Peter grabbed the holy water bottle, ripped off the top and splashed its contents on the hideous being.
The demon shrieked and backed away, rubbing at its face. To Peter's horror, the demon's face began to melt, further disfiguring its horrid features.
"Get him!" The water-soaked demon shouted at his partners.
The other two demons flew at Peter…only to slam into a wall of white light. They flew back in the opposite direction, slamming into the alley's back wall. The wall of white light disappeared to reveal Elizabeth, wearing a white robe and wings, standing in front of Peter.
"You made a big mistake coming back here, foul creatures!" She snapped.
"So did you, angel." One of the demons replied, as he stood back up.
"Never mind, we got what we came for! Let's go!" The demon next to him said.
With that, all three demons disappeared in a foul-smelling puff of black smoke.
Elizabeth turned to a shaking Peter.
"Are you alright?" She asked gently, putting a hand on his shoulder.
"Yeah...but...they stole my bible, but they said it's not a bible..." Peter stuttered.
"Wait, let's go back to the pad, and you can tell me what happened there." The angel replied.
"Is everyone else alright?" Peter asked, "The bus and the cars..."
Elizabeth looked over in the direction of the intersection, then turned back to her friend.
"No one is injured." She said, "There's some damage to a few of the cars, but no one is hurt."
"Okay, let's get out of here." Peter said.
The angel hugged Peter and the two slowly faded from sight.
Chapter 6
Chapter 8
More stories by Lisa
Home