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All four of us are stopped in front of a rectangular object. It's an old chalkboard with newspaper clippings taped to the front. Strings of yarn connect them together. It's the markings of a madman, someone who was clearly searching for something of extreme importance.
A map is sprawled out and nailed to a table. It is carefully marked with points, but it's hard to understand the map legend. The first thing I see is that there are five points that make a diamond around the financial district of the city. One of those diamonds is where I used to work.
There is so much more.
Numbers scratched in blood. 666. The mark of the beast.
One of the papers taped to the chalk board says:
"You shall mount on it four rows of stones; the first row shall be a row of ruby, topaz and emerald..."
"What's it mean?" I ask.
Ash shakes his head. "Four angels, four stones?"
"You mean we have to find the stones before we find the angels?" Loki asks.
There's so much we have yet to find. I grab the torch and hold it up to the board, examining closer.
I see something I wish I had never seen. It's so alarming that I actually stumble back.
It's a picture of Lucifer.
And Ash...
They are smiling together. Arms around each other like best friends.
On the back of the photograph, someone has written: "My Shadow."
I gasp and turn. Ash's face looks ruined.
"What in the hell?" Loki mutters.
He tries to speak, but the words barely escape his throat. "What... is... this?" he asks.
Loki clenches his teeth. "You tell us. That's you in the picture, right?"
Ash shakes his head. I believe he has no idea how or why the picture exists, but the fact is that it does exist.
With tears hovering in his eyes, he mutters, "No, no, no. This makes no sense. I'm not his friend. It must be a doctored photograph."
Loki forces his hands around his neck and shoves him against the wall. "Who the fuck are you?"
"You know who I am," Ash yells.
Loki's hands tighten. "Don't make me kill you, you son of a bitch. How do you know him?"
"I... don't... know..." he chokes.
I throw my hands around Loki's wrists and try to pull him off. "Stop it! We can't fight. We need to stick together."
Loki loosens his grip, ultimately dropping Ash onto the floor. He turns to me and points. "We are all relying on this man's words. He says he has visions, but do we know where they come from?"
"I am not evil," Ash says, over and over again.
I look at him with concerned eyes, and I don't know what to say.
"Raven, I'm not. You have to believe me," he pleads.
