The unhappy person resents it when you try to cheer him up, because that means he has to stop dwelling on himself and start paying attention to the universe. Unhappiness is the ultimate form of self-indulgence. When you're unhappy, you get to pay a lot of attention to yourself. You get to take yourself oh so very seriously. -Tom Robbins, Jitterbug Perfume

We arrived at my house and headed inside to find Michael waiting with enough Chinese food to feed a village in the Himalayas.

"I brought company," I announced, pecking him on the lips, and wrapping him in a hug. I could have contentedly stayed in his arms forever if not for the little cannonball that crashed into my legs.

I stooped down and squeezed my youngest son. "I missed you, Mr. Stinky."

He squirmed out of my embrace. "Daddy gived me cookies for lunch," he announced puffing his chest out with pride.

"Traitor," Michael accused, tousling Ike's hair. "Go get your brother. Tell him it's time to eat real food."

"Donny!" he yelled, loud enough for the neighbors to hear, and raced out of the room.

Michael extended a hand to Freyja. "It's nice to see you again."

"Thank you. It's nice to be here. You have a lovely family."

"I couldn't agree more," he said, grabbing my hand and giving it a quick kiss. "How'd it go out there?" He asked me.

I shrugged. "It was," I paused. What was it? Informative? Interesting? I settle on, "sort of depressing. I felt better once Freyja showed up."

I asked her a question that had been brewing in my mind since the last time I'd seen her. "Are you always exerting some kind of happy magic, or is it something you're intentional about?"

"I make it a point to always be intentional, but a gift is part of one's being. In some moments it's highlighted more than others, but it's always there."

Donovan strutted into the room with his ear buds stuffed into his ears, bobbing his head like a skinny chicken in a desperate attempt to look cool.

Michael thwaped him on the back of the head. "Women aren't impressed by smug jerks. They like men who listen to them."

Donny slumped in a chair, flushing deep crimson.

I busied myself washing my hands so he wouldn't see the amusement on my face.

We were all seated at the table and enjoying the high sodium feast when my son found his voice and asked Freyja a question. "You're not like us, are you?"

My head snapped up. Michael froze, his fork halfway to his mouth and a frown creasing his brow.

Freyja sipped her beer. "We're all unique, Donovan. The One who made us has boundless creativity."

He leaned forward on his elbows, searching her face. "Yeah, but, you're... like... not from around here."

"I actually live very close by," she told him, and his expression changed to the dark sulkiness that had become far too common.

"Donny," I started, hoping to draw him back into the light before he became totally lost to his mood. "Freyja is a big reader, too. I'd bet she'd love to hear about the book you found last week at that thrift shop."

"May I be excused?" Donovan asked Michael.

Michael said he could, and we all watched him go.

"I'm sorry," I apologized to Freyja.

She smiled. "Don't be sorry. He's an intuitive boy with strong emotions. That's hard to deal with at his age, but it's the makings of a wonderful man, given time."

"He seems so grumpy all the time," I fretted.

"Weren't you, at his age?"

"Yeah, I suppose I was," I admitted, leaving out the fact that that was what concerned me.

Michael asked Ike if he wanted to watch a movie before bed, and he rocketed off toward the living room. "We still don't really understand much about all this," he said to Freyja.

She finished chewing, and took another long drink before answering. "I suspect tonight will answer a lot of questions."

"Tonight--when an angel takes my wife to a place humans don't normally go?"

"Your wife has been called to be an integral part of the history of the world. Such callings are never comfortable--not for the ones who receive them, or those who love them. But you must keep faith. She wouldn't have been asked to do this if she wasn't up to the task, and she has far more support than you know."

"I'm still scared. A little. Completely." I confessed with a self-conscious laugh.

"Faith is lethal to fear. When fear senses impending doom, it redoubles its efforts at domination. But faith will win if you cling to it."

Neither Michael nor I knew what to say to that.

It was late when the angel arrived. Freyja had said her goodbyes. The boys had been tucked in. Michael and I had spoken less than usual, but his touch was constant. He was holding my hand, brushing my hair from my shoulder, or finding other reasons to reach out to me again and again.

I relished it. His touch kept me centered in our home and our lives as that which was other buzzed and hummed all around me.

One hissing voice was relentless.

You can't do this, mortal. You presume too much. You are an ignorant fool. You think you can wage war on the scale of the beings of the realms? Walk away, human. It's your only hope.

It was a relief when the visitor finally knocked on the door, just like any human would.

It was Michael who let him in. The angel gave him a small, respectful bow and Michael inclined his head in polite response. "You've pretty well tossed our lives upside down," Michael told him. It didn't seem like a rude accusation coming from him, more like a request for a reason.

"I am sorry if it seems so. The entire world is on the verge of extraordinary change. It just came sooner to this family than to everyone else," the visitor replied.

Michael scratched at his beard. "I hear you're planning to take my wife somewhere humans don't aren't welcome. Her friend says her kind don't go there, either. I'd be lying if I said I was comfortable with this. It seems to me that you aren't always entirely aware of her mortality, but I'd like to keep her around, whole and healthy, for quite a while longer."

The angel studied my eyes for a moment and then answered my husband. "I will keep her safe tonight."

Michael seemed on the verge of saying more to him, and then spoke to me, instead. "You don't have to do this," he said.

I hugged him, and stood for a moment with my head pressed against his strong shoulder. "I think I do. I need to keep moving forward with whatever this is. Now that it's in motion, stopping would make me crazy. I have to choose faith."

He squeezed me a little too tight, and kissed me. "Come home quickly, then."

Together, the angel and I walked out of the house.

We drove under a crystal bright, star-filled sky to a large house in the country. Except for the size, it was an unremarkable pale green farmhouse built in a style that a child would draw--a rectangle with a triangle set on top. It sat in front of a forest, at the end of a long, twisting dirt road.

We parked in the front yard, a space devoid of all but the toughest grass and weeds. I shut the engine off and stared straight ahead. "Please explain what we're doing here," I said. My fear was sinking deep roots into the pit of my belly. I needed some point of reference from which to operate. The weirdness of being in this place with this creature was overwhelming.

"The beings of legend have always created their own spaces. For millennia they have dwelt in the shadows, but always among humans. They need the humans, and find it unpleasant to be too far away. Some of them have the ability to render a place vague. Unnoticeable. It is not that humans are unable to see these buildings, but most of them will choose not to. There is an energy in these places that does not resonate with their known world and so they will not accept it. This is such a place. The beings of legend come here to socialize and to feed. There are strict rules, for now, created to protect their secrecy. I am bending them to the fullest by bringing you here, but they will not move against a being fully of the realms. Not yet."

The place was crawling with the beings of legend. Literally crawling. They scaled the walls like stylish spiders, and perched along the edge of the roof with their feet hanging down. They spilled out of the door, and stood in the drive where they danced and laughed with abandon. A couple in the front yard kissed passionately. The man had the woman pinned. With her back against a tree and both arms and one leg wrapped around him, they appeared to be one button away from intercourse. He moved his kisses down her neck, and she clung all the tighter, head thrown back in passion. When he pulled back to look at her I could see the blood running down her neck. Vampires.

Two young guys in leather jackets stood on the sagging front porch, posturing for a group of girls standing on the lawn. The girls were cheering and egging them on. Suddenly, one of the men looked up to the sky loosed a chilling howl in the direction of the moon. The other seemed to shimmer out of focus for a moment, his form wrenching itself into that of an enormous grey beast, with teeth and claws designed to bring quick and bloody death. It leapt at the girls, missing them by less than a foot. After running a few steps he paused, as though to see if any of the others would join him. One of the girls shrugged, dropped her purse and changed into a smaller creature. The two of them raced right past the car. Werewolves.

They'd been present in the vision I'd been given, but seeing them was different. This was much more tactile.

"Do you hear them?" He asked me.

The sound smothered me. I closed my eyes and made a conscious effort to quiet my racing heart. The voices I heard were excited, boisterous, and aroused. The energy of this place was entwined in all the realms that touched it. There was a feeling of festivity here, but underlying it was something far darker. It was barely perceptible, but undoubtedly real. It was a spider in a shadowy corner, waiting for its prey.

This is boring.

I'm tired of this.

How much longer?

Bored.

Lonely.

Hungry.

More. More. More!

I focused on the being next to me. I took in his handsome face and deep green eyes that seemed to hold all the sadness in the world. "I don't even know your name."

"I am Raziel."

"Raziel," I repeated. "And you are a messenger?"

"I am the Keeper of the Knowledge."

"That sounds important," I said. I still held the steering wheel, clenching and unclenching my fingers around it. There was comfort in the solidity of the molded plastic under my hands.

"We are all important. We are created by design." He reached for the door handle. "Are you ready?"

"Not remotely," I replied with total honesty.

He got out and started walking anyway, and I followed him up the drive to the door on trembling legs. A host of eyes turned our way. I made every effort to tune out the voices as we approached. I didn't want to hear anyone thinking about me as a midnight snack.

A bouncer blocked the door. He was as tall as Raziel and just as handsome, though a complete opposite in coloring and bearing. Where Raziel was dark and bulky and exuded warmth, this man was fair and thin. His blue eyes were cold to the point of reptilian.

"Why are you here, angel?" he snarled. "Don't you have a golden throne to polish somewhere?"

"I wish to buy a drink for my companion." Raziel's voice was soft, but unmistakably powerful.

The electricity in the air between them made the hairs on my arms stand on end. I wasn't sure if either was going to speak or move again, but then the bouncer stepped aside to let us through. "Enjoy."

Raziel took my hand. "Thank you."

We entered into a cacophony of noise and movement. My first impression was of the kind of frat party you'd see in a movie from the 1980s. On closer inspection, significant differences were obvious. The patrons were taller, shorter, more beautiful, and more horrible than humans. There were a few humans among them, dazed and not fully aware of their surroundings.

Raziel gripped my hand (to guide me? Or to keep me from bolting?) and led me into a large room with a bar set up in one end of it. A thin, curvy woman with caramel colored skin and the yellow, vertically slit eyes of a cat moved toward us with lithe grace. She avoided Raziel, and spoke to me. "Whaddaya like?"

Now that he had me here, Raziel let go of me and leaned his back against the bar, for all the world looking like he didn't even know there was anyone else there.

"Uhm," I stammered. "Red wine?"

She threw her head back and laughed as though I'd said something hilarious. "Sure thing, lady. Red wine it is. Him?" A jerk of the head indicated Raziel. I glanced up at him, and he shook his head almost imperceptibly.

"I think he's OK for now," I told her.

After she'd put the wine down, shaking her head and chuckling one more time, she walked away and I asked Raziel. "What was that all about?"

"She is far removed from the Light. My presence is difficult for her to bear. Such is true of many in this place."

Now that he mentioned it, I noticed that there was a circle of space around us. That knowledge brought me a smidge of comfort. As I took in the bizarre gathering before me, one being stood out. He met my gaze with sparkling eyes and a slow grin, and I saw the amused surprise as he noticed my companion. This one had no fear of Raziel. He came toward us, his deep laughter preceding him.

"Brother!" he said, jovially. His arms spread wide as if to embrace Raziel, but he stopped just shy of actual physical contact. "Have you come to join the party after all this time? And with such a lovely date at your side?" He swept my hand into his own, and bowed over it like a prince in a fairy tale.

Raziel did not smile. "This is my friend, Simone. She and hers are under my protection. Simone, this is my brother, Ba'al."

Brother? I looked between the two. There was no physical resemblance whatsoever. They weren't even the same race. This new being had the appearance of a Middle Eastern man with bronze skin and thick, curly hair that brushed his collar. Only the eyes seemed similar. And "Ba'al?" The only Ba'al I knew was the god the Jews always got in trouble with in the Old Testament.

"Simone," my companion said, pulling me back to the present moment. He put a friendly arm around my shoulder and leaned in. "It is very loud in here. Can you hear everything?"

I blinked up at him stupidly for a moment and then realized I had intentionally stopped listening when the whole point of being here was to do the opposite. I felt very small and overwhelmed by this place. Adding the additional element of disembodied voices was terrifying. Faith is lethal to fear. I reminded myself that I was at the side of the most powerful being in the room and I put my faith in him, opening my mind to the din around me. It didn't take any kind of sixth sense to figure out that Ba'al was burning with curiosity about our appearance in this place. He wasn't the only one. Where I thought there had been a circle of space there was a crowed forming of the ones in the worlds within the worlds. They buzzed with excitement, like children in a school yard when the heads of two opposing gangs face one another.

"Of course she can hear! She looks able-bodied enough to me!" he said, with a wink that some women would no doubt find unbearably charming. "Simone. It's a pleasure to have you in my club. And I owe you a debt of gratitude for bringing my brother around to see me. It's been far too long."

I forced a smile. "I didn't realize Raziel had family."

He found this funny, too. I was a regular comedian that night, however unintentional my humor.

Ba'al's laughter boomed forth from his chest once more. "Yes! We come from a family of many! You must not know him so well if he has never mentioned us. There was a time when we were all very close but, alas, sometimes choices come between even the dearest of brothers. But now he is here again! Let us get reacquainted!"

Raziel and I followed him into another room that appeared to be a library. The crowd was more sparse here, the noise less devastating. He sat in an opulent armchair and gestured for us to take the small sofa. From his position he could see the whole room and out the door. I realized the scantily clad beings dancing in the room were all human and dancing, not for fun, but as a performance for Ba'al. He paid them no attention at all. "So what brings you here, to my lowly establishment, Mighty One?"

At that moment, in some far corner of the house, a woman shrieked in terror. After a snarl and a howl, the screaming abruptly stopped. Raziel's firm arm around my shoulders held me in a position which prevented me from seeing. Neither his expression nor that of the brother displayed any sign that they'd even noticed. "I am walking to and fro upon the earth," Raziel said.

Ba'al's laughter resonated in my very bones. "Ah! You are a one! And so tell me, then. What have you seen?"

"I have seen a great many with a toe in the sunlight," Raziel said.

"Mmmm. Yes. Well, who can blame them, eh? The sunlight is so warm, after all."

The invisible voices around me tittered and murmured with a general sentiment of, "Yes! And we will have more of it." Beneath that sizzled an undercurrent of indignation.

"They've been content in the shadows for this long," Raziel observed.

"You mistake acceptance of a circumstance for contentment. Perhaps they didn't realize before now that being in the sun was an option."

"But you are quick to enlighten them?" The angel asked.

Ba'al grinned. "Not I! It is another that encourages them. I'm just a humble cog in the great wheel."

"Humility has never been a part of your character."

"Ha!"

I flinched at the tiny burst of lightning that accompanied his exclamation.

"My brother always speaks the truth! I've always had a gift for self-admiration. After all, what's not to admire?" Another of those movie star smiles was flashed in my direction. "Enough of that. Who are you, Simone? I would know everything about the human who's captured my brother's attention after such a time. He does find the most fascinating people to lavish his attentions on. There was one woman--a soldier. He drove her so mad she ended up burned at the stake, still raving about invisible armies. But of course, women never want to talk about other women. Tell me about yourself."

Terror overwhelmed me. I was in so far over my head it was ridiculous, and so I took a tremulous breath and, in that moment, prayed what my grandmother called, 'the prayer that never fails': Be with me, Lord. Thy will be done.

Of their own volition, words began to flow from my mouth. "My name is Simone, and I'm a child of the One who Is, and Was, and Evermore Will Be. I've come here to meet you, and those around you, to ask you to stop your scheming. Not a thought of the heart can pass without your Creator's knowledge and He will not allow you, or any other being to tear apart what He has built without terrible consequence. You must accept that man's station is different from yours but that every being has a place in the realms. You are a creature of power and influence. Stop this madness before it's too late!"