She nodded decisively. “I know. I get it. I'm not in denial here. I'm just trying to get answers.” She knew he was the only one who could give her answers, as mysterious and unpredictable as he was.
After another moment of silence, he continued. “What you’re about to hear is privileged information. That means it never gets repeated to another human. Am I clear?” he looked at her with narrowed eyes, his face set in hard lines in the darkness.
After she nodded again, Shayne cleared his throat and said, “I’m known as an endurer. I'm kind of like a police officer, but I police the really, really bad beings like demons and their minions. I’m just as human as you are, with a few perks. I was sent to get you to a place of safety.” He glanced at her again to see her reaction.
“So who sent you?” she asked, puzzled.
He gave a quick shake of his head. “For now, that’s classified information,” he responded. “I will tell you this, though. There, in Las Vegas, you will be safe. On your own, you wouldn't be. Without protection, eventually they will get you. Demons never stop. Hell has its eyes set on you, Anna. You've been targeted. That won't go away.”
Anna swallowed. Hard. For the thousandth time, she wished she'd never met Jesse, even though she knew it wasn't doing her any good to do so. She realized she couldn't change the past.
“Tell me more about the demons,” Anna forced herself to say. “You're the only person I've met that seems to even believe they are real, much less have knowledge of them.”
“Of course nobody knows about them,” Shayne sighed, as he shook his head in what Anna believed to be disgust. “Not really. It's the biggest cover-up in the history of mankind. Demons are smart. They are tricksters. They have had the run of this world since the beginning of humanity, when Adam and Eve were alive. There are thousands, if not millions of them. Everyday, people encounter them, either in an assumed form or in possession of someone they know. Now Armageddon is starting, and it’s going to get a whole lot worse.”
He drummed his fingers on the steering wheel for a moment, as if he were gathering his thoughts. “In the distant past, Satan would send them to do a few tricks and pretend to be a god. This resulted in masses of populations worshiping a demon. In this day and age, they have taken on other forms. They haven’t gone away. There are no “good” demons. They are the harbinger of every sin and depravity known to men, and some that man could never think of. There are a lot of souls in Hell right now, finding that out.”
Anna felt a shiver of pure fear go through her. Despite his promise to protect her, she really didn't know what the future held. As they sped down the desolate highway, she wondered if each mile was bringing her closer to death. How could any mere mortal like her battle something that powerful and walk away the winner?
Shayne pushed on. “Let me give you some more background info on these beings. There is a spiritual realm all around us that most humans can’t see. It’s the realm angels and demons use to travel when they don’t want to be seen. There, battles are constantly being fought as good versus evil. Demons use this realm to hover over the humans they have an interest in and whisper suggestions in their ears to manipulate them. Although their conscious mind doesn’t register what they are hearing, the subconscious part does. Eventually, this encourages them to sin or open a doorway to let the demons in.”
Anna felt pains shooting through her fingers. She looked down and was startled to realize she was gripping the edge of the seat with both hands. Relaxing her fingers, she prompted him by asking, “So you're saying if we could see into this realm, we’d be too terrified to even function, right?” She hoped he would continue.
“Right,” he affirmed, with a nod of his head. “Hell has already been sentenced, they just haven’t been locked up yet. To them, this world is their playground. They aren't ready for the fun to end. They never will be. And they are going to fight like hell to stay here, no pun intended.”
Anna looked at him as she reflected on his words, and she thought about what his life must have been like. He had seen beings most people didn’t even realize existed. Not only that, he'd battled them countless times. She wondered how he could be as matter of fact about it as he was.
Anna shivered. “Why does He allow this to go on?” she asked curiously, pointing towards the sky.
“He loved humanity enough to give us all free will. But that same free will is what invited evil into the world—into humanity—to start with. If He interferes without an invitation, how is that free will? He does answer the prayers of those who reach out to him, though. It might not be when you wanted or in the way you wanted, but he does answer. No matter what happens, never lose your faith.”
She was a believer. She was glad to know her mother was one, as well. At least she had the comfort of knowing where Iris was. She pondered everything he had told her and asked, “What is Armageddon?”
She could see his face tightening into a grimace and dreaded his answer. “Basically it’s when the doorways to Hell open up and demons move in this world freely. Heaven is going to take its people and then
