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Birds of Pray	By : Kittenmommy Category: M through R > Prophecy, The Views: 2168 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own The Prophecy movie series, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 4
- 5
- 6
“Birds
of Pray”

Chapter
5

“Lunch
with Lucifer”

When
Katherine came out of her bedroom the next morning, she smelled
coffee… coffee and something burning.

“Now
what?” she muttered under her breath as she walked down the
steps. That had better not be brimstone I smell –

“Good
morning, Katherine,” Gabriel said when she walked into the
kitchen.

“Good
morning,” she replied warily. She saw that both he and
his clothing were now completely dry, and that he had a souvenir from
the previous night: a blackened right eye that was already fading.
“How’s your eye this morning?”

“Better,”
he said with a short nod. “Thanks for asking.”

She
glanced around at her kitchen. “Well. You two did a
great job. I can’t even tell that you had a knock down,
drag out fight with Lucifer in here.” She rubbed her
eyes. “And that’s a sentence I never thought
I’d hear myself say.”

“I
made coffee,” he announced, holding out a saucepan filled with
brown liquid. “And some eggs… but… they
didn’t turn out so good,” he apologized, directing her
attention to the stove.

There
was a skillet there, its bottom crusted with some unidentifiable
black charcoal substance that may or may not have once been eggs.
She would just have to take his word for it.

“Thank
you, Gabriel,” she said, taking two coffee mugs down from the
cupboard. “Don’t worry about the eggs… it’s
the thought that counts.”

She
sat at the table and he poured out the coffee. She picked up a
spoon and stirred it, frowning.

“I
didn’t think I had any instant coffee,” she said.
“Where did you find this?”

”Instant
coffee?” he asked, puzzled. “What’s that?”

She
took a sip and got a mouthful of coffee grounds. The look on
her face must have alerted him that something wasn’t right.

“Aaaaah,
I screwed up, didn’t I?” he asked.

She
forced herself to swallow. “It’s OK… we can
strain it.” She stood and rummaged in a drawer for a tea
strainer. “See? We’ll just pour it through
here and it’ll be fine.”

She
was correct; after being poured through the strainer, the coffee was
as good as if it had been brewed correctly.

They
finished their coffee, and Katherine looked at her watch. “Oh
gosh, I have to go.” She glanced at the skillet on the
stove. “Just leave that,” she said, unable to
imagine what kind of attempts Gabriel might make to clean it.
“I’ll take care of it later.”

He
followed her to the front door. As she was about to walk out,
he put his hand on the back of her head, bent close and licked her
cheek from jawbone to temple in one long wet slurp.

”Ewwww!”
she protested, twisting away from his grasp. “What the
hell did you do that for?” she demanded, wiping her face with
her hand. “That’s disgusting!”

“Hell
is exactly why I did it,” he told her gravely.
“You’re mine now. Lucifer won’t touch you…
can’t touch you.”

Her
hand froze on her cheek. Suddenly, being licked by Gabriel
didn’t seem quite so bad – in fact, if it protected her
from Lucifer, she was all for it. She let her hand drop to her
side.

“OK,”
she agreed. “I’ll be home this afternoon. Try
not to burn the house down while I’m gone.”

He
looked wounded. “Of course not, Katherine.”

As
she drove away, she thought about what he’d said: You’re
mine now. She wasn’t sure what that implied, but she
figured if it kept Lucifer away, she couldn’t complain.

*****

A
big surprise greeted Katherine when she arrived at school.

She
dropped by the main office to check her mailbox and was stopped by
Mrs. Higgins, the school secretary, who gave her a puzzled look.
“I didn’t expect to see you here today… you’re
supposed to be on paid sabbatical.”

“Paid
sabbatical?” she repeated, dumbfounded.

“Yes,
it was just approved yesterday afternoon… oh, you didn’t
hear, did you?”

“But
I didn’t apply for – “

“Of
course you didn’t expect it,” the secretary agreed.
“It’s very unusual for the school board to approve a
year’s paid sabbatical. You must have friends in
high places!”

“You
have no idea,” Katherine agreed dryly; she was beginning to
understand what was going on here.

“Rita
Monroe has your class for the rest of the year – you remember
her? She subbed for you when you had the flu last year.”

Katherine
nodded, numb. “I remember.”

Mrs.
Higgins grinned. “So what are you waiting for? Go
home and go back to bed!”

“Yeah,”
Katherine said, picking up her straw tote bag. “OK.
Thanks.”

As
she walked to her car, she looked up at the sky. “Simon…”
She sighed, thinking about the project that Heaven had given her.
“Thank you. Now I have one less thing to worry about!”

*****

On
her way home, Katherine stopped at the pet store. In the bird
section, she paused to watch an enormous white cockatoo flutter its
wings in its cage.

“Can
I help you find something?” She turned to see a young man
standing beside her, wearing the blue smock of an employee and a name
badge identifying him as Stuart.

“Well,
I’m not sure,” she said, not certain how to begin.
“My boyfriend’s allergic to birds…”

“And
you have a bird?”

“Well…
sort of…”

“What
kind of bird is it?”

“Uhhhh…
well… he’s… ah…he’s big,” she
said, gesturing expansively, indicating something man-sized with
giant wings. “Really, really big.”

Stuart
blinked. “That’s big.”

“Yeah,”
she agreed. “He’s a big… um… a big
bird.”

“Well,
that’s bad news for your boyfriend. A big bird will
produce lots of dander… and a lot of bird dust.”

“Bird
dust?”

“When
new feathers grow in, they have a nice hard coating on the sheath.
But as the feather ages, these little particles break off.
That’s bird dust. And the bigger the bird – “

“The
more dust he produces,” Katherine finished.

“Exactly.
And any kind of activity spreads the dust around in the air.
Preening and molting also add to the problem. And then there
are the Powder Down Birds – birds that
have special feathers that turn into a fine dust that helps the bird
stay waterproof.”

“Uh…
I don’t know if he’s one of those.”

“It's
easy to tell. When you stroke his feathers – “

She
held up her hands as if to push that thought away. “We don’t
really have that kind of relationship, you know?”

He
was looking at her oddly. “OK.”

“So,
listen… what can I do about this bird dust stuff?”

“Well…
there’s this,” he said, motioning for her to follow.
He led her down an aisle, selected a bottle from the shelf and handed
it to her.

“Allerpet/b,”
she read aloud. “Even though birds are caged –
” She paused, fighting down giggles at the picture that had
just formed in her mind. “ – they do manage to
scatter allergens that cause allergic reactions into the atmosphere
when they flutter their wings and move about. Allerpet/b
will help most persons who exhibit reactions to birds by reducing the
major cause.” She nodded at the helpful pet store
employee. “This sounds promising.”

“It’s
real easy to use, too,” he pointed out, taking the bottle from
her and reading from its label. “Apply a fine mist of
Allerpet/b lightly onto the feathers, spraying away from the head and
towards the tail.” He stopped, stared at her. “What’s
so funny?” he asked, puzzled.

“Nothing,”
Katherine giggled, putting a hand over her mouth.

“You
only have to use it once a week.” He handed the bottle
back to her. “I hear it works really well.”

“Yeah…
see… the thing is, I’m not sure he’ll go for
this,” she said, trying to imagine how she would convince
Gabriel to submit to being sprayed with this stuff every week.

“Is
he a difficult bird to handle?”

She
snorted. “You have no idea. Maybe I’d
better forget this,” she said regretfully, putting the bottle
back on the shelf.

“You
could try an air purifier,” the young man suggested. “Get
one with a HEPA filter… they screen out a lot of allergens.
And you can also get a HEPA filter for your furnace… that’ll
purify the air in the entire house.”

“Thanks…
maybe I’ll try that.”

“Good
luck.”

She
smiled at him. “Thanks, Stuart – I think I’m
really going to need it!”

*****

Katherine
decided that the best place to look for an air purifier was Sears.
After consulting with several sales associates, she had selected a
filtration system and a special air filter for her furnace, both to
be delivered and installed the next day.

In
order to get back to her car, she had to walk through the mall food
court. She passed close to a Subway, where she smelled the
fresh bread baking. Her stomach growled.

Time
for lunch, she decided, and went up to the counter. She
ordered a six inch turkey sub with extra cheese, a small drink, and a
bag of potato chips. As she was digging in her purse for her
wallet, she heard a familiar voice right next to her.

“It’s
on me,” Lucifer purred, handing the cashier a twenty-dollar
bill. “And get me a foot long meatball sub.”
He held up a finger as if in warning. “And don’t
skimp on the sauce.” He turned back to Katherine and
smiled. “Don’t you just hate it when they
don’t give you enough sauce?”

“Go
away,” she said in an unfriendly voice. She only just
managed not to flinch away as he leaned close and sniffed her,
inhaling deeply.

“Aaaah,
that’s lovely perfume you’re wearing, Katherine.
What’s it called – Eau de Gabriel?”

“That’s
right,” she agreed. “It’s my new favorite.
Now beat it.”

“Here’s
your sub, sir,” the cashier said, handing a wrapped sandwich to
Lucifer. “Your total is – “

“Hang
on, I’m paying,” Katherine said, resuming her
search for her wallet.

“But
I told you, Katherine – lunch is on me.”

“I
don’t want anything from you!” she said
furiously. She found her wallet, extracted her own twenty and
thrust it at the cashier. He looked from Katherine to Lucifer
and back again, not sure what to do.

Lucifer
shrugged. “The lady insists,” he said in an ironic
tone, reclaiming his money and stuffing it in the pocket of his long
black coat. Katherine took her change, picked up her empty cup
and went over to the soda fountain to fill it.

“That
looks like a good table over there,” Lucifer remarked, taking
her chips and their sandwiches and walking off into the food court.

“Hey!”
she protested, hurrying after him. “That’s mine!”

“We’ll
sit here,” Lucifer decided, ignoring her outburst. He put
their food on the table. “We can sit and watch the people
go by. Won’t that be fun, Katherine?”

She
stood over him, glaring. “I am not having lunch with
Satan.”

“Satan’s
here?” Lucifer glanced around, genuinely perplexed.
“Where?”

“Cute.
Now give me my sandwich.”

“Ohhh,”
Lucifer said, comprehension dawning. “You think I’m
Satan.”

“I
don’t know what kind of game you’re playing, but –
“

“I’m
not Satan. I’m Lucifer.”

“And
Who’s on first,” she said scathingly.

“What?”
he asked, puzzled.

“No,
What’s on second!”

“I
really don’t know what you’re talking about. But as
I told you, I’m not Satan. I’m Lucifer.”

“Same
thing!”

“No…
actually it’s not.” He began to unwrap his
sandwich. “Other angels besides me have Fallen,
Katherine.” He took the top off of his sub and inspected
its contents carefully. “I was merely the first.”
Seeming satisfied, he put the top back on and took a bite.

“So
who’s the Devil?” she asked, watching him warily.

He
appeared to consider the question carefully. “Well…
since I’m the one in charge down in the basement, I suppose
that would have to be me.” He slid her sandwich and chips
across the table at her. “Please, Katherine. Sit.
I’m hardly going to attack you and rip out your soul in the
middle of a crowded shopping mall.”

“You
can’t touch me,” she told him. “Gabriel said
so.”

”That’s
right, I can’t. So sit.” He shrugged
elaborately. “Unless you don’t believe he can
protect you, that Heaven can protect you... or would protect
you.” He smiled. “You’re such a tender
little morsel, and it would please me a great deal to see you lose
your faith.”

Scowling,
she sat and reached for her food.

“Good
little monkey,” he crooned mockingly.

“Drop
dead,” she told him venomously.

“Not
me,” he said happily, leaning back in his seat to study her as
she unwrapped her sandwich. “Why do you hate me so much,
Katherine?”

“Because
you’re the Devil,” she replied in a tone that suggested
that the answer was obvious.

“All
right,” he agreed. “But have I ever harmed you?
Have I ever harmed or even threatened anyone you care for?”

“No,”
she admitted. “But you’d like nothing better than
to destroy my soul… everyone’s souls. So I think
I’m entitled to at least dislike you.” She took a
bite of her sandwich and opened her chips.

“God
would say that you should love everyone,” Lucifer pointed out,
taking a bite of his own sub.

“I
doubt that applies to you,” she said. “How’s
your sandwich? Did they give you enough sauce?”

“Why
yes they did! Thank you for asking, Katherine.
And,” he grinned knowingly. “Nice attempt at
changing the subject.”

”Well,
we really don’t have a lot to say to each other, Lucifer.
I might sit here and have lunch with you, but I’m not going to
go home with you no matter what. End of discussion. So
you can stop wasting your time. Go try to corrupt someone
else.”

“I’m
not here to corrupt you, or to trick you. I just want what’s
best for you.”

She
snorted. “Yeah, right.”

“Gabriel…
well – as you monkeys might put it – he’s never
been wrapped too tight, even from the very beginning.”

She
nodded, understanding. “OK, so he’s always been a
little nutty. Your point?”

Lucifer
took another bite of his sub, chewed, and swallowed. “Way
back when I was still the most exalted among angels, I told God that
He had to do something about Gabriel, because he was going to snap
and it wasn’t going to be pretty. And do you know what He
told me?”

“No.”
She leaned forward in her chair, fascinated despite herself.
“What did He tell you?”

Lucifer
also leaned forward, glancing around and lowering his voice as though
afraid he might be overheard. “He told me to mind my own
business.”

Katherine
was shocked. “No!”

“Yes!”

”I
don’t believe you!”

“Nevertheless,
it’s true.” He leaned back again, watching her.
“Now why do you suppose He did that? Why didn’t He
do something about Gabriel before it was too late?”

“I
don’t know,” she said heavily. “I don’t
know why He does most of the things He does. But it’s not
for me to know or understand, Lucifer.” She sighed.
“Maybe it’s not for anyone – human or
angel.”

“Have
you forgiven him, Katherine?”

”Who?”
she asked puzzled. “God? For what?”

“Not
God. Gabriel.”

”Oh.”
She thought about it for a moment. “Yeah, I guess I
have. I don’t understand him any better, but I do forgive
him. I think he’s doing the best he can with what God
gave him.”

“Ahhh,”
Lucifer breathed, looking very pleased. “And why did God
create Gabriel like that in the first place? Why didn’t
He make Gabriel perfect? He certainly could have, you know.”

“No
one’s perfect,” Katherine replied automatically.
“Only God.”

“God
is threatened by perfection in anyone else but Himself, you know.
Look what happened to me.”

“Nothing
happened to you,” she said harshly. “You
brought it on yourself. You rebelled against Him. And
besides, you weren’t perfect.”

”I
was close, Katherine. So close.” Lucifer sighed
sadly. “If I hadn’t existed, He would have had to
invent me… for without Darkness, there can be no perfect
Light.”

“Wait
a minute, are you saying – “

“That
He created me so that I could Fall. Yes.”

“He
would never do that!”

“Wouldn’t
he? Think about it, Katherine,” he finished off his sub
and stood. “Think about it,” he said, and walked
away.

She
watched him until the crowd swallowed him up, and then she put her
head in her hands.

“I
hope You know what You’re doing,” she whispered,
realizing as she spoke that it was a strange prayer to make, but at
the moment it was all she had to offer.

*****

Katherine
unlocked her front door and stepped inside.

“Gabriel?”
she called, really hoping he was there. “Hey, are you
here?” There was no reply. Well, I’m sure
he has stuff to do, she mused. What with being the Left
Hand of God and all…

She
went into the kitchen to make herself a cup of coffee and saw that he
had put the dirty skillet in the sink… and that there was a
can of Pledge furniture polish sitting on the counter near it.
I told him not to try to clean it, she sighed. She
squirted dish soap into the burnt egg-crusted skillet with its new
lemony fresh scent and then filled it water.

When
she finally sat down with her cup of coffee, she decided to call Greg
and fill him in on recent events… aside from her lunch with
the Devil. She wasn’t sure quite how she would explain
that to him without sounding like a lunatic.

“That’s
terrific!” he said when told about her paid sabbatical.
“When the Altman case is over, maybe we’ll go away
together… just the two of us.”

“I’d
love that,” she agreed.

“Maybe
go to a resort… or on a cruise. You decide.”

“Decisions,
decisions,” she said with a laugh. “And God knows I
could use a vacation!” Out of the corner of her eye, she
spotted something fluttering on the floor near the air conditioning
vent. “What’s that?” she asked without
thinking.

“What’s
what?” Greg asked, a smile in his voice. “I can’t
see whatever it is from here, Katie-Kate!”

“I
know,” she replied absently as she went over to inspect it.
“Of all the…” It was an enormous white feather.
“Gabriel,” she murmured as she picked it up.

Greg
must have overheard. “Oh, is he still there?”

“Not
right now,” she said, sitting back down and placing the feather
on the table next to her coffee cup. “But he’ll be
back.”

“If
I didn’t know better, I’d be jealous!” he teased.

Katherine
laughed. “Let me tell you something, Greg. If
Gabriel and I were the last two people left on Earth, the human race
would die out.” Which is literally true, she
reflected, recalling what Gabriel had told her about nephilim.
As Greg laughed along with her, she glanced at the feather and
remembered something. “Oh, hey… I bought an air
purifier today… and a HEPA filter for the furnace and air
conditioner.”

“Why’d
you do that?”

“For
your allergies,” she said, and smiled. “Because I
love you so much.”

“Awwww…
that’s so sweet! But I told you… I’m only
allergic to birds.”

”Yeah,
I know,” she said, picking up the feather and studying it
carefully. “I just think it’s better to have it.
Healthier, probably.”

“Yeah,
you’re probably right. Well, listen – I have to
go. I have a meeting in fifteen minutes, and then a lunch with
the senior partners.”

“Good
luck,” she told him.

“Thanks,
Katie-Kate.”

“Bye…
love you.”

”Me
too.”

She
hung up the phone and continued to study the feather. It was
huge – a good foot long – and obviously not from any
ordinary bird. She brushed it against her cheek; it was so
soft…

Suddenly
she remembered Gabriel rolling around on the floor with Lucifer and
realized that it might not be Gabriel’s feather after all.

With
a shudder, she put it down on the table, picked up her coffee cup and
headed to the living room to check her e-mail.

*****

AUTHOR’S
NOTES: I got my information about feathers, bird dust, and Powder
Down Birds from the Winged Wisdom e-zine at
http://www.birdsnways.com/wisdom/ww1.htm
This site has been enormously helpful to me, as it has all
kinds of information about birds and avian behavior that I’m
sure I’ll be putting to good use in subsequent chapters!

Allerpet/b
is a real product. I’ve never used it, but I have used
Allerpet/c (for cat dander) and found it most effective – I
wouldn’t hesitate to recommend that product to anyone who
suffers from cat allergies and still wants to have a cat or spend
time with one. They also make a product called Allerpet/d for
dog allergies. http://www.allerpet.com/

And
the “Who’s On First?” sketch that Katherine quoted
to Lucifer belongs to the late Abbott and Costello.
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Birds of Pray