In a small corner at the back of the third floor Seraph found the room the old man had described. Inside were rows and rows of shelves stacked high with boxes of documents, photographs and recordings, all labeled according to the project’s names. Rather than limit his search to his own history, he began to scan everything much like he’d done in the library before. He walked down each isle, taking in the information. The idea of even half of what their projects were focused on made Seraph shiver. There were two kinds of people who wanted to rule the world: the kind who seeks a utopia and the kind who wants to be worshiped. The People ranked with the latter.

As expected, Seraph’s personal files were labeled under The God Child. They detailed every experiment they had made him perform. When his father stood in, they ran Seraph through exercises like what Erick done during his training. When they could prevent Seraph’s father from attending, their experiments became torturous. The machine muted all of Seraph’s senses so he never heard the screams from the people he performed live dissections on, keeping them alive with the same powers that tore them apart. He never saw the looks of terror and pain on their faces.

Seraph pulled a blue, unlabeled tape from the box. It stood out among the other, clearly labeled, black tapes and it hadn’t been scanned with everything else. Upon closer inspection it was lightly shielded to prevent anyone from casually reading it like that. With a bit of concentration, Seraph read the tape with his mind.

A short man with glasses appeared.

“Hello,” He spoke quickly and quietly as if he expected to be discovered any minute. When he had settled himself into a chair he continued, “Seraph, you’re the only one able to watch this tape. Though, I’m dead regardless.” He took several short breaths to steady himself. “First things first Seraph, it was I who left the Bible and the note when we left you. I was helping your father before you…before he was killed.”

Thumping outside his barricaded door interrupted him. He lunged forward and said, “The last half of this tape will show you the real atrocities you were forced to do.” The video went to static.

When the video came back Seraph saw his father sitting at a table in an enclosed room with the woman and little girl that Seraph had seen himself kill in the memory Erick had showed unearthed. The door opened and another man walked into the room.

“We’ve come, Samuel. Now what do you want?” Seraph’s father asked, rising from his chair.

Samuel took a seat opposite the family and pulled out a large envelope.

“Your son.” Samuel said after he removed several pieces of paper from the envelope.

Seraph’s father leaned back in his chair and looked at the woman. The girl climbed up into her mothers lap.

“Never.” Seraph’s mother said while she coddled her younger child.

“I will never give my son up to you people!” Seraph’s father stated, but this only caused Samuel to laugh.

“’You people’? Only a few months ago you were my equal. Has so much changed?” Samuel pulled out a pen and began signing the papers.

“What you are doing with my child is wrong.” Seraph’s father argued. “The others are only going through exercises, but my son is being forced to hurt people, even kill them in some instances.”

Seraph’s father turned to his wife and opened his mouth to speak again when three more men entered the room.

“We were afraid that might be your answer.” Samuel said and put away the papers he had set out. “Take those two, leave him.” He said while gesturing to Seraph’s mother and sister.

“What?” Seraph’s father asked as two of the men grabbed the other two and began leading them out. “What are you doing?”

He tried to block the door. A small burst of energy shot him in the back and knocked him out of the way. More men entered and carried him out.

More static on the tape. When it returned, everyone waited in the room with the stasis machine. Seraph, as young child of maybe eight years old, stood in front of the inactive stasis machine. They propped Seraph’s unconscious father against the wall and tried to revive him. Seraph’s mother and sister stood below near the bottom of the sloped floor. Seraph had seen this before, in the memory Erick showed him.

“All right, boy,” Samuel spoke through the microphone. “You know all of those exercises we’ve been having you do recently, the ones with those other people?”

Seraph watched his younger self nod.

“Who do you belong to?!” His father shouted out as he came aware of his surroundings.

A man smacked him across the face with the butt of his gun and made him remain quiet. Seraph, as a child, started to go to him but changed his mind after a few steps and returned to his position.

“This is for your loyalty.” Samuel lowered his voice so that only Seraph’s father would hear. “You may begin.” He said through the speakers once more.

For a few moments the young Seraph stood baffled. He waved to his mother and sister, but still made no definite movement.

“We’re not going to use the machine today, we just want to see if you can do it on your own.” Samuel’s wicked smile tortured Seraph’s father and he struggled to break free of the men holding him.

“Umm,” the young Seraph said as he raised his arms to create the energy blast, “Hi Mom.”

Seraph’s mother hadn’t seemed to realize the danger she was in until it was too late and let out a single scream, as did Seraph’s little sister before both of them were struck by an energy blast that threw them back against the far wall. They collapsed, bloody and broken, to the floor.

“NOOOOO!” Seraph’s father cried out.

Only then did the child, Seraph, become aware of the reality of what he’d done. He whimpered at first and then cried out.

“Mom! Celestia!”

Their bodies were removed and a clean up crew was already mopping up.

The child Seraph began to really scream and fight, throwing energy blasts everywhere, but at that point in time he wasn’t strong enough to overcome the body armor that the guards wore.

“Subdue him.” Samuel said, motioning while walking over to Seraph’s father. “There you have it. Your son is mine.”

The stasis machine powered up and the beam shot across the room and enveloped Seraph, cutting off his attack and holding him immobile.

Static again.

“He’s here,” someone said.

A ten-year-old version of Seraph stood in front of the machine. The floor slanted down from where he stood and small walkways now wrapped around the circular walls.

“Okay, get into position.” The same voice sounded from a speaker.

“What’s my name?” The ten year old Seraph asked in their minds, looking down at the people before him.

The man who had been speaking into the microphone hesitated before answering.

“Um, okay, Seraph, could you please get into position?”

Three pairs of magnificent wings unfurled out of his back, each set slightly larger than the one before. The first set shone translucent, electric blue. The second pair were completely black and looked like chiseled obsidian. The final were pure white and shone with near blinding luminance. They stretched out in a wingspan of nearly fifteen feet and all six of his wings beat effortlessly to lift him into the air.

Seraph seemed to be in place because the machine hummed and turned on. A yellow beam shot out toward Seraph. Before it struck, he held out his hand and stopped the beam of light. The wings shrank back a bit and were eventually absorbed into his back but he held the stasis field at bay.

“Where is my father?” Seraph asked, straining to keep the field from enveloping him.

The men down below looked at one another and then nodded to a man standing in front of the only door into the room. They lead Seraph’s father into the room, more dragging him than anything else and he had obviously been beaten recently. The younger Seraph didn’t seem to notice the state his father was in, however. A smile grew across Seraph’s face as he lowered his hand and allowed himself to become encased within the yellow beam.

“Very good.” Came the same deep voice from the speaker. “Today,” He continued, “We’re going to test how powerful your energy blast has become. I understand that you have been practicing?”

Seraph nodded slightly in the stasis field.

“Good. Now please allow us to have access to your powers so that we may begin.”

Even as he said these words the Seraph of the present time felt that something was wrong. There were too many guards and everyone was on edge.

“On the count of three then.” The loudspeaker announced.

A large cement block with steel reinforcement was lowered into view. The speaker counted.

“One. You should be losing your vision about now.” He added as the younger Seraph’s eyes turned black.

Small beads of sweat developed on his forehead as they drew more energy from him to create the blast.

“Two. Your hearing should begin to weaken.”

“We need to drain as much as possible.” One of the supervisors told the man in the cockpit. “Once he’s fired the blast and his senses return he’ll realize what’s happened.”

The younger Seraph, by that time, couldn’t hear that piece of dialogue.

Present day Seraph turned to look at his father and his mouth gaped open in shock. They were leading him to stand in front of the cement block that Seraph would blast away in a few moments. He struggled but his hands were bound and they’d gagged his mouth before he could cry out.

“WE’RE ALMOST THERE.” Boomed the voice so that the now nearly deaf Seraph would be able to hear.

The present Seraph looked, panic stricken, for any way to stop what was about to happen even though he knew this was only a recording. He saw, for a brief moment, a shining white orb in either of his younger self’s hands.

“THREE!”

Seraph’s father fought helplessly against his bonds as the two blasts were let go. They shot forward like beams as the young Seraph kept a sustained flow of energy behind them. At the last moment before the energy struck, Seraph’s father broke free from the gag.

“ARE YOU THEIRS OR ARE YOU MINE!” He shouted over the roar of energy.

The black shell covering Seraph’s eyes disappeared in time to see his father die. The force of the two blasts decimated the block and sent pieces of it flying in every direction. There was nothing left of his father.

“DAD!” Seraph screamed in both the past and the present.

“Hurry into your places.” Someone shouted. “He’s breaking free!”

Men began to take positions around the room and to charge up their weapons. The stasis field bent and warped as Seraph fought against it.

“You lied . . . to me.” Seraph said out loud as the yellow beam began to flicker.

No one listened to him. They had, it seemed, planned for this outcome and waited for Seraph to escape. White ribbons like electricity coursed through Seraph’s body.

“What’s happening?” He asked. Some of the men below asked the same question.

`The stasis field broke and everything went white. The younger Seraph turned blinding white with his six wings and glowing body.

“Take him down!” Someone yelled from below.

Energy blasts flew in from every direction as men fired blindly into the light. Seraph flew down to search for his father. Nothing but dust and scraps of clothing remained.

“You promised he’d be safe if I did what you wanted!” Seraph screamed.

Men on the circling walkways were jerked from their posts and thrown across the room.

“You lied to me!”

The wall cracked and chunks of reinforced concrete crashed down on the men below.

“You . . . you . . .”

Seraph couldn’t maintain the high level of energy required for the fight and he began to fade. He fell as he faded and the stasis machine followed his decent, preparing to recapture him.

“Get him inside it before it becomes impossible!” Someone was shouting.

The stasis beam fired and Seraph had barely enough time to stop it before it hit him. His wings shrank and he lost all his brightness. Silence engulfed the once clamorous room as the two forces of energy battled.

“Why did you do this?” Seraph asked as he fought on.

No one answered.

“Why did you do this?” He asked again.

Again, no one answered.

Seraph held both hands out to hold the field at bay and a white beam grew out of him pushing the stasis field back.

“Sir,” the controller of the machine called out. “He’s overloading the system.”

Samuel ran over to the control panel and scanned the readings. He considered them briefly.

“Break him.” He said.

The man in the cockpit didn’t move.

“Do it!”

Seraph’s wings blossomed back out and arched back across the room as he flashed to his full brightness once again. The man in the cockpit uncovered a switch and flipped it.

A soft hum broke the silence and red light surged up through the yellow beam and burst through Seraph’s defense. Seraph screamed as his white shell exploded leaving the small boy exposed. His wings caught fire in the red light and one by one they shattered like blown glass. The final wing blew apart and Seraph fell the fifteen feet to the concrete floor below where he lay motionless. Men gathered around the fallen boy, keeping their weapons trained on him.

The video ended and Seraph sat with his back against the wall, staring at the blue tape. A clock ticked away the seconds and minutes and still he sat, paralyzed by shock and anger.

“They all deserve to die,” he said at last.

Erick wouldn’t defend them if he knew about this. He’d see the truth and he’d help destroy them. There was little point in hiding his presence anymore and Seraph blasted his way through the structure until he was back outside and flew back towards the Collins’ home.

“The People don’t deserve to exist,” he muttered to himself. From what he’d learned in their files, the vast majority of the city was populated with The People. “They’ll all pay for their sins.”

The sun hadn’t risen yet when he reached the Collins’ house. A quick search of the house and he knew Erick wasn’t there.

“Who’s there?” Felicity’s frightened voice came from the dark hallway as Seraph walked through their home.

“It’s me, Seraph,” he told her and turned on the light.

He moved to go to her but she backed away as her fear increased.

“What’s wrong?” He asked her.

Felicity stared at her feet and remained silent.

“Erick said, before he left . . .” Felicity’s voice trailed off as she began wringing her hands.

Her eyes wouldn’t focus on any one point as they wandered over the walls and ceiling. Seraph’s curiosity rose.

“What did Erick say?” He asked.

“He said you were a much better person as Nomad then you are as Seraph.” Felicity finally answered.

She stepped forward and now it was Seraph who backed away from her.

“He left you a letter in case you came back.” She walked passed him to the fridge and pulled a small envelope from under a magnet. “Here.” She said, handing it over. “He said you’re not supposed to read it here.” Felicity told him before he could open it.

Felicity still seemed too nervous for his liking.

What else did Erick tell you?

“Don’t worry,” he told her when she still didn’t answer, “I’m not going to hurt you.”

Felicity look unconvinced as she got a glass of water. Seraph couldn’t blame her now that he thought about it. She could easily have witnessed his argument with Erick. On further inspection of her mind he knew that she had. He regretted to some extent how he had reacted to Erick, but he should never have kept that information from Seraph.

“Well, Felicity,” Seraph said before it could grow more awkward, “I’d better go.”

He grabbed the doorknob and began to turn.

“You have powers, don’t you?” Felicity asked.

Seraph paused. She’d seen both Erick and Seraph use their powers but she seemed to have another motivation for asking about them.

“Yes.” Seraph answered.

“I saw him flying after you left,” she said. “And he told me his story how he had learned about his powers.” Felicity toed the floor. “Can you show me your powers?”

Seraph stood motionless for a second before answering her, then turned all white, though not too bright, and spread out his wings for her to see.

“How many do you have?” Felicity asked in awe while he turned around for her to see him from different angles.

“How many what?” he asked in her mind since it was easier than speaking out loud while in this form.

She took in a small breath and said, “Wings.”

Seraph turned to look and saw to his amazement that he now had four wings; both in perfect condition. The newer pair reached a bit farther than his first set. He eased himself into the air, in case it didn’t work, and let out a short sigh of relief when his wings held. The old Seraph had been right, he could feel the additional energy now as it pulsed through the wings.

“I have four wings,” he told Felicity, “But I used to have six.”

Before, Seraph could only maintain his white form for only a few seconds unless he had energy to absorb. New reservoirs opened up to him now as the last remnants of the old Seraph fed into him.

“You had six wings?”

He returned to his normal form but kept the wings out so that he could continue flying.

“There were some people, and they hurt me really bad. In fact,” he added as an afterthought, “I’m on my way to stop those people from hurting anyone else.”

Felicity reached out to feel his wings; she didn’t seem to have heard what he said.

“Why is one pair blue and the other black?” She asked.

He extended one of the black wings and let her grab it.

“I’m not sure why. When I had six wings, the other set was pure white.”

Felicity let go of the wing and it resumed its slow, rhythmic beating.

“It’s warm.” Felicity said, referring to the wing.

“Well,” he explained, “They’re made out of energy. Maybe that’s why they’re different colors, too.”

Felicity yawned.

“Looks like you’d better get to bed,” he told her and turned grave. “And I need to go too. Lots to do.”

His abrupt solemnity disturbed Felicity.

“Don’t worry, you just get to bed.”

Felicity nodded and walked back down the hall to her room.

“Bye Seraph,” she said, and then added before closing her door, “I’ll miss you.”

Her door closed and Seraph let himself out. A mile down the road he remembered Erick’s letter. Seraph stopped and hovered a few feet above the ground and opened the letter, it read:

Nomad, or Seraph, whoever you’ve become,

I have left the Collins’ and will not be returning for quite some time. If you wish to travel with me I will leave a small energy signature that I will burn into the road as I go. All that you have to do is touch it with your skin and it will become visible to you. However, if you choose not to come with me, I wish you the best. I am sorry for what happened between us, and for what is still happening in Purge City. I do not by any means wish for the work done there to continue but fighting them I snot the solution. I beg you not to continue on with your vendetta against The People. I know about your family and what The People did to them but the risk is too great for either of us to make a stand against them. If The People should capture either of us, there’s no telling what they could do…

Seraph stopped reading. Erick knew about Seraph’s family, knew what they did there, and still he believe as he did. Seraph was only one of the countless people they’d abused. Everything there had to be stopped. A bolt of lightning shattered the sky. Black clouds domed the once clear sky. Rain poured down and trees bent in the wind. Seraph’s shock at the sudden storm calmed his anger and the storm calmed with it.

Out of curiosity, Seraph focused harder on the clouds above him. Another bolt of lightning streaked across the stormy sky and the wind howled. Purge City loomed in the distance. His wings stretched and flexed. Rain fell hard and sizzled against them. Seraph checked himself over once more and then threw himself forward as fast as his powers could carry him. The storm did its best to keep up.