Elias

Half an hour later, Elias had received no reply from either Abigail or Harold. With worry eating away at him, he began trudging back to their hotel. The streets seemed even more packed than previous. Only ever glancing up from his phone, Elias muttered his apologies as he pushed past. He was being stupid, he knew as much. Electricity had been out in the hospital, which meant it was likely out in other parts of the city. Elias didn't know when he would be able to charge his phone again. Besides, there was no signal. Trying to connect was only burning through his battery faster.

But what if...

He couldn't fathom an ending to that thought. Dead? Injured? Trapped underneath rubble? Elias didn't know where Kiara had taken Ramiel and Abigail. He had no clue where he ought to start searching. For once in his life, Elias wanted to have a vision.

He got lost somewhere on the way and in the end, it took him two hours to reach the hotel. The building, Elias was relieved to see, looked undamaged save for the two cracked windows on the upper floor.

The hotel's bellboy waved at Elias. "Go around the back, sir."

Elias followed the tiled footpath that ran along the side of the building and found himself in the pool area. Hotel guests milled about, some talking in small groups and some taking videos. The staff, their faces strained, rushed up and down the footpaths.

"Eli!"

He spun around and grinned like a madman as Abigail come up the path behind him. Her face was crimson and clothes filthy, but she looked unharmed. Thank God. Fuck you too, you miserable bastard, but thank you.

"Are you all right?" he said. "What happened?"

Abigail sighed. "How about we sit down? I'm tired, I'm sure so are you."

The pool-side tables were occupied, as were the plastic outdoor tables and chairs set up throughout the rest of the hotel garden. Elias and Abigail settled for an empty patch of grass in the corner, behind the barbecue area.

"Are we in danger?" Elias asked.

"I don't know," Abigail said. "Kiara led us down into a storm drain under the city and then to the tunnel leading to the anchor, but we never saw the anchor itself. They knew we were coming. There was a demon — Shamkarish. When Ramiel saw him, he told me to run and I did. Got as far as the storm drain when Jala caught me. I got lucky, policemen came. A man saw us climbing down the manhole, he must have called them. I don't know what she was going to do to me, but she didn't hang around when she saw the men. I found another ladder up to street level and kept running. Then everything exploded."

"So they caused it?"

"Yeah. I think they set off explosives under the city. We found dynamite in the tunnels and Kiara bragged they had better stuff."

"How much did they have? They obliterated an entire hill."

"Maybe they mixed in some ritual to make the explosion bigger?" Abigail shrugged.

A shiver ran down Elias' back. There were hundreds of people dead in the rubble right now, if not thousands. If this was a proper war, this would be a war crime.

"And Ramiel? Did they kill him?"

"I don't think that was their plan for him," Abigail said. "What about you? Where is Harold?"

Elias recounted his side of the story in as few words as he could manage. Abigail listened, shaking her head in disbelief, but making no comment. Now that she was closer, Elias could make out the heavy bags under her eyes and a bloodstain on her cheek. Her clothes smelled of something dank and unclean. Elias hadn't slept in thirty hours and Abigail would have pulled more than one all-nighter while she worked on Jala's notes. He was amazed she had the energy to keep her eyes open.

"We need to call, Raphael," Elias said. "Let's find somewhere private."

Groaning, they climbed back on their feet, but this turned out to be a good time to move anyway. Three burly hotel workers had taken over the barbecue area. One was prepping the grills, the other two were looking after trays full of meat. The hotel fridges must have lost power and they had to cook as much of the meat as they could before it began to rot.

Elias' gaze lingered on the steaks and the sausages. Though they were still raw, Elias' stomach growled at the sight.

Abigail pulled him away. "Saving the world first, dinner later."

"We're not very good at saving the world, don't you think?" Elias said as they walked down to the same quiet corner of the garden where Elias had done his ritual earlier in the day. "Three anchors are gone. There's a monastery full of dead monks and we'll probably never know exactly how many people died today. Nothing in this affair can be called a success."

Abigail was silent for a long moment

"Isn't that proof we should keep trying?" she responded finally. "This is what the world looks like when demons come to this planet. Imagine what it'd be like if they take over."

"Sure. But why does it have to be us? We're just not in the same league as an angel or a demon."

Elias reached down and pulled Raphael's coin from his sock. Abigail made a face, but Elias ignored her. He clasped his hands together, the coin between his palms and called to Raphael. Please, get me out of this nightmare.

Raphael didn't come. Elias and Abigail waited for nearly an hour before they succumbed to the lure of barbecued meat. They picked up plastic plates and joined the queue that snaked across the garden; none of the guests were eager to go out this evening.

The juicy beef steak and two chicken skewers did bolster Elias' mood a little, but that didn't last. Elias must have tried the coin at least a dozen times and Abigail gave it a go twice also. Nothing.

If the day had been chilly, by the evening the temperature fell close to zero. The hotel management was reluctant to allow anyone inside the hotel until an engineer had assessed the building. The staff handed out blankets and towels for the guests to keep themselves warm, but it wasn't enough. Abigail shivered and Elias began losing feeling in his toes.

"People all over the city have it worse than this," he muttered to himself.

"Wish we could go inside," Abigail said. "If nothing else, I stink."

"They're afraid of aftershocks."

"It wasn't an earthquake though. I know, I know, structural damage is structural damage. Just complaining for the sake of complaining."

Elias rolled his eyes. "You do realise how much shit we are in, don't you? We're stuck on the wrong side of the planet with no way of getting home. If we go to an embassy, and that is if Australia has an embassy here, how will we explain how we got into the country in the first place? We don't even have passports," he sighed. "Fuck it all, I'm going to get some sleep."

"Wait. There's one more thing." Abigail hesitated. "Jala told me about mum and dad."

What small reserves of energy Elias had left, evaporated. "Were you right then?" he said. "She killed them."

"No. She did something to mum, that's true, but it was mum who... you know."

I was right. Elias started to reply, but couldn't form the words.

He let his head fall into his hands and pressed his fingertips into his eyes. Despite his dogged protestations to leave the matter be and to accept the story the police had offered them, at the back of his mind there had always been a hope he had misinterpreted his vision that day.

Abigail scooted over to him and rested her head against Elias' shoulder. "Hey, we've got each other. It's going to be ok."

Elias clenched his teeth, fighting the urge to shove his sister away.