Synthea was at home, lounging on a sofa and stroking her new pet kitten. She wore a black caftan and was sipping a potion Keith had convinced her to drink from a black goblet. Suddenly the three demons appeared in front of her. Synthea's kitten hissed in fright and zoomed out of the room. The witch quickly stood up when she saw the condition they were in.
"What happened?" She demanded.
"We got the book, mistress." The demon that Peter had splashed hissed.
"Give it to me." Synthea said, snatching the book from his claws.
Quickly, she ripped off the paper to reveal a black leather-bound book with a dragon inside a pentacle on the front. Other unholy symbols embossed on the front cover too. Synthea clutched the book to her chest.
"Finally." She breathed, "At long last." She looked at the demons. "You three have done well, I will tell Lord Satan of your work." She looked more closely at the demon that Peter had splashed.
"What happened to your face?"
"The human Peter splashed it with holy water." The demon hissed, "It burns!"
Synthea waved a hand in front of the demon's face. She winced a little, then backed away.
"I took some of the pain away." The witch said, "He must've used water from a sacred well. Lord Satan can do more for you."
"Thank you." The demon said.
"You're welcome, now go. There's much work I have to do." Synthea replied.
The three demons vanished in another puff of smoke.
"Keith, come here!" The witch called.
The wizard walked into the room and immediately spotted the book in Synthea's hands.
"Oh you got it!" He exclaimed happily.
Keith rubbed his hands together and a pair of purple leather gloves appeared on them. Gently, he took the book from Synthea and opened up the front cover. The wizard looked at the black dragon symbol on the first page and gave a low whistle.
"Oh my...the book from the legendary wizard himself." Keith said in awe.
"It's real, not a fake?" Synthea asked.
"This is quite real, my dear." Keith replied, gently turning to another page. "I can feel its energy flowing though my hands."
Synthea looked at the letting on the pages. "It's in Chinese. Can you translate it?"
"Of course." Keith replied, slightly annoyed, "It will take some time, but if the spell you want is in here, I'll find it."
"You mean the spell may not be in there?" Synthea asked in shock, "This might all have been for nothing?"
Keith let out a short laugh. "Hardly, Syn." He said, "If it does turn out that the spell you want isn't in this book, I'm sure there's still plenty of spells in here to cause trouble for those pathetic mortals."
He continued to gently leaf through the pages.
"However," Keith went on, "The resurrection spell you want has only been known by a very few people throughout human history. The Black Dragon was very well read in the art of spell-casting, but even he may not of known how to bring the dead back to life."
Synthea let out a deep breath. "That is a chance I'll take. Translate that book, and if you find that spell, let me know what you need and I'll get it for you." She balled her hands into fists.
"I will bring my sister Jynger back from the dead." She snarled. "Whatever it takes."
+++++
"...Then Elizabeth brought me back here." Peter said, finishing his tale.
After the fight, the angel had brought Peter back to the pad. After depositing him there, Elizabeth had gone to get Darlene and brought her back as well. Now, Elizabeth and Darlene sat on a couch on either side of Peter, holding his hands as he slowly told the story of his encounter with the demons. Mike, Micky and Davy were hovering close by, occasionally looking around nervously at the ceiling.
"I'm so glad you're ok, Peter." Darlene told him, gripping his hand tighter.
"Me too." Peter replied, "It's a good thing you had asked Elizabeth for the holy water."
"And that Elizabeth sensed you were in trouble and came after you." Micky added.
"But who is this `Black Dragon' fella?" Mike asked, "Some sort of sorcerer?"
"It seems that way, Mike." Elizabeth said, "And Peter had his spell book."
"But what was it doing in a book shop in the first place?" Peter asked.
"Yes, that is a very good question, Peter." Elizabeth replied.
"First a priest dies mysteriously, now this." Davy mused, "I wonder if the two are connected."
"A priest died?" Elizabeth asked.
"Yeah...you didn't know?" Davy replied.
"No, I was away." Elizabeth said, "When did this happen?"
"Last week." Davy replied, "He was found dead at the docks...his name was..." Davy thought for a moment, "Fr. John Vincent, OSM."
"OSM." The angel repeated quietly, looking at the floor.
"What does OSM mean, Elizabeth?" Peter asked.
"Order of Saint Michael." Elizabeth replied. "Father Vincent was a member of the religious order that has Saint Michael the Archangel as its patron." The angel let out a sigh. "It looks like I have a few places to visit."
"Elizabeth...Darlene...I was wondering if you two could spend the night here." Peter said, looking hopefully at the angel and his girlfriend.
"We'll be glad to, Peter." Elizabeth said.
"Thank you." Peter and the other Monkees replied, relieved.
Fortunately, the Monkees didn't have a gig to play that night, so the six of them spent the rest of the evening quietly. Elizabeth stayed close by, calming them and reassuring everyone by her presence. Peter decided to bake Darlene a birthday cake. The others were a little reluctant to try it, but with a little heavenly help, the cake turned out beautifully.
When everyone was watching TV, Peter took Darlene aside and led her into the darkened kitchen.
"I'm so sorry your birthday was ruined because of me." He said sadly.
"It wasn't your fault, Peter." Darlene replied, "As long as you're safe, that's the best birthday present I could have."
Peter leaned toward Darlene for a kiss and she met his lips with her own, wrapping her arms around him.
When it was time for bed, the Monkees went to their bedrooms, while the angel turned two of the couches into beds for herself and Darlene. Elizabeth then changed Darlene's clothes into a nightgown.
After Darlene said her prayers and climbed into bed, she noticed Elizabeth hadn't changed her own clothes.
"Aren't you going to sleep, Elizabeth?" Darlene asked a little nervously.
"Yes, in a little while." The angel replied, "I need to spend some time alone with the Lord. Don't worry, I'll be right here. Elizabeth leaned down and kissed Darlene on the top of her head.
"Goodnight, Darlene. Pleasant dreams."
"Thank you, Elizabeth." Darlene replied with a smile. She closed her eyes and was soon asleep.
The angel waved her hand and the living room went dark. Elizabeth held out her hand and a lit candle appeared in it. She placed the candle on the floor and knelt down before it, then bowed her head in prayer.
After deciding what course of action she should take, Elizabeth blew out the candle, changed into a nightgown and after saying her nighttime prayers went to sleep in her bed.
++++
The next morning, Gwen was preparing Ye Olde Book shoppe for the day. Just a few minutes after opening, she heard the bell attached to the front door ring. The witch looked up to see a young woman with long sandy hair standing near the entrance. The woman was wearing sandals, bellbottoms, love beads and a paisley blouse. A scarf around her head and rose-colored shades completed the outfit. Gwen didn't know what to make of the hippie, but figured she was harmless. What the witch didn't know is that the `hippie' was really Elizabeth in disguise, and was there to check out the store.
"Hello, welcome to Ye Olde Book Shoppe, I'm Gwen, how may I help you?" Gwen asked.
"Peace, sister Gwen." Elizabeth replied, making a peace sign. "I'm looking for some books."
"Well, you've come to the right place." Gwen replied, making a peace sign too.
"I'm looking for some spirituality books." Elizabeth said, taking off her shades, "You know, something about the paranormal world around us."
"Like spirits and ghosts?" Gwen asked.
"That's right." Elizabeth smiled.
"Oh, we have lots of those." Gwen said, "They're this way."
Gwen led Elizabeth over to a case stuffed with books. Elizabeth noted that the bibles were in the back of the store, away from customers' eyes.
"Here we go." Gwen said, "You can see we have a large selection about the spirit world, also books on the occult and even how to do your own spells to contact the spirits."
"Groovy." Elizabeth replied with a fake smile on her lips.
"Are you interested in contacting spirits?" Gwen asked.
"I contact the Holy Spirit everyday." Elizabeth thought to herself, but to Gwen she said, "I might be interested in giving it a try."
"Then I recommend this book." Gwen said, pulling a book from the shelf and handing it to Elizabeth. "This authoress knows her occult."
"Contacting the other realm." Elizabeth read from the cover, "By Synthea Longaberger."
"Want to read it?" Gwen asked, "If you don't like it, you can exchange it for another."
"Sure, why not?" Elizabeth said, "How many is it?"
"How many dollars?" Gwen asked.
"Dollars? No way sister, that's so establishment." Elizabeth replied, "I don't use the currency from this war-loving, hateful anti-democratic state. How many beads do you want?" The angel pulled several strands of love beads out from under her blouse.
"I...um...I mean, we only take money, you know, dollars and cents." Gwen replied.
"This place make no sense." Elizabeth replied, "I thought this shop was more hip than this." She handed the book back to the startled witch.
"Oh well. Peace sister Gwen." Elizabeth said, putting on her shades and giving Gwen the peace sign.
"Yeah, same to you." Gwen replied, returning the peace sign.
Elizabeth smiled and walked out of the bookshop. Gwen simply shook her head and put the book back in its place on the shelf.
The angel walked for several blocks before ducking into an alley. Once there, she made sure she wasn't being watched, then slowly faded from sight.
Chapter 7
Chapter 9
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