Arch Angelo Ghost Hunter II: 'Sic Infit Bellum'

By E. Oliver Daze

Arch Angelo had natural psychic gifts but was given even more power by Heaven and Hell. But in the first test of his powers during a battle with a demon spirit his lover and mentor Lucy was killed. Now he finds he is responsible for all the girls in the bordello that Lucy operated. He also finds that he is caught up in the war between Heaven and Hell and that it was all leading up to the apocalypse. Fortunately he had rescued his former Marine team mates from the arch enemy Khalid who he defeated. Together with them he transforms the bordello into an impregnable fortress when he discovers scores of mid-eastern invaders hiding in the nearby mountains. He didn't know the reason for their presence but felt an impending sense of doom. A new demonic spirit appears in the scene in the form of ex-detective Blake who was killed when the town Banshee where he lived was buried by a lava flow. Blake had made a deal with the devil to assure 'End-of-Days' success by delivering souls to him before that event arrived. But Blake's first goal was to kill the residents of the compound where Arch and his followers resided particularly June the prostitute who was carrying his baby. He needed a clean reputation when the devil restored him back to life because he had ambitions of being a politician. With his powers Blake creates an army of vicious zombies and attacks the compound. But Arch's victory is short lived when he discovers the reason for the invaders up in the mountains.

• Language: English
• Publisher: E. Oliver Daze
• Release date: Aug 13, 2015
• ISBN: 9781311440242

E. Oliver Daze

I was born of immigrant parents from the Philippines and arrived in Fort Hamilton, New York in 1951. My father was a career soldier and typical of military dependents we move around a lot. The nomadic life appealed to me so after brief stints at college and temporary jobs I joined the military and made a career with the Air Force. So as a military brat and a career military member I had the opportunity to live and work in a number of places here in the states and abroad. After 20-years, I retired in Williamsburg, VA and worked as a database manager with the City of Hampton, VA. I hold a Bachelors degree in Commercial Art from Northwestern University, Natchitoches LA and graduated Summa Cum Laude from ECPI, in Hampton, VA with a degree in Network and Computer Administration. In addition to my career travels, the stories in the many books I've read took me to even more exciting places and allowed me to share in the experiences of the characters written about. I hope to contribute to that legacy of great story telling as a writer.

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Arch Angelo Ghost Hunter II - 'Sic Infit Bellum'

by E. Oliver Daze

Copyright 2015 E. Oliver Daze

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Table of Contents

Prologue

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

About E. Oliver Daze

Other Books by E. Oliver Daze

Connect with E. Oliver Daze

Prologues to other books in the series:

Prologue

My challenge was not to make the men believe in ghosts. It was to make them believe in me. Without that steadfast belief in me I had no assurance they would follow me into the unfamiliar waters of the unknown. Good soldiers follow their leaders come hell or high water. Unless they were willing to put their lives on the line for me and follow orders without question or pause they would be absolutely useless in the fight that lay ahead. They had to believe in me or I could not let them stay. Also because of the risk of enemies using them against me I also would not be able to let them leave. They did not realize the seriousness of their situation.

Chapter One

They were at the office door ringing the buzzer. I was on the roof when I saw them coming as they sped towards us with emergency lights flashing. Our building, a former train station, had a large waiting area with benches. That’s where I had gathered the occupants of the building in preparation for their arrival. Most of the occupants were still in their night clothes and some wrapped in blankets which I’d hope would make our story more convincing.

One story prepared for two of our guests, the now former Police Chief Roger Roark of the now defunct City of Banshee and his deputy, was that they had drove here to warn us about the earthquake. They had tried but could get no one on the phone. Shortly after they arrived they were overcome by the noxious fumes from the volcanic activity and had lost consciousness along with everyone else in the building.

We didn’t have to explain the presence of Grandma and Isabel because I hid them in a secret room below the basement. I had no idea what to do with Isabel who we had rescued along with her grandmother before the town was destroyed but I would have to deal with that a later time. Social Services would certainly have something to say about someone her age living here since after all this was a bordello. Since Grandma and Isabel had lived in Banshee it would probably just be assumed that they perished under the lava bed like everyone else in town. The disappearance of Lucy who was my benefactor and owner of the bordello could also be explained because she was Grandma’s overnight guest at the time. As owner and manager of this building, she was one person they probably would have been looking for.

I had Chief Roark with me when I opened the door. On the other side of the door were the Chiefs from the Elko City Police and Fire Departments along with other officials. I invited them in and they introduced us to representatives from the Regional Hospital emergency Department and Helicopter Air Ambulance Service. I could see a number of paramedics on the platform just outside the door which was still open as well a number of representatives from the various news agencies and wire services. I could hear a helicopter somewhere outside probably in the parking lot with its engines and blades still engaged ready to rush anyone to the hospital in Elko if necessary.

The Elko Police Chief Cabe Conner apparently knew our Chief Rourk and said, Roger everyone ok over here?

As far as I know, Cabe. You might want your medics to check out the folks gathered in the station waiting area whose entrance is at the front of the building. I’ll have my deputy open the door over there. Just have your people go back around the platform and wait out front until he opens the door. He nodded to his deputy who turned and disappeared down the hall. I saw four paramedics on the walkway outside turn and head out towards the front of the building with a number of news people close behind them.

The Fire Department Chief said he and his men were going to do a walk-through of the building and he needed everyone out of the building and wanted them to go across the parking lot after the medics examined them. We all went out on the walkway and walked towards the front of the building. The Fire Department was going to check for structural integrity and potential fire hazards. I was by the door watching the folks go down the stairs at the building’s west end. They headed out across the graveled lot and gathered in a group across from the building. Some of them were still wrapped in blankets. The Fire Chief who was standing next to me turned to shake my hand.

He said, You’re Arch Angelo right?

You know who I am?

He said, Yes I’m Leo Evans a friend of Lucy. She said you were second in charge out here. That you were a good man, and to give you my full support.

I said, Well I can only try to be half the person she was. Will your inspection take long?

He said, Probably not. You know that she had me come out here with her contractors and builders when she was fixing this place up. I know every inch of this place. This building is not as fragile as it may appear for something built on a hillside. The foundation is reinforced by steel beams that go deep into the ground. The contractors that came out here were all related to me one way or another. This place can take up to a 10-magnitude hit on the Richter scale. What we had early this morning was around a four.

I said, What’s happening out in the valley? Anything?

He said, Well, right now the place is crawling with seismological types from all over the country. The University of Nevada Seismological Lab is running things. Some of them may come up here asking questions but right now they’re just poking around with their instruments and taking pictures. Earthquakes happen all the time but this is the first time a whole town was swallowed up by lava. So that’s why this is drawing a ton of interest. Well I best get to work.

I went down to join the rest of the people gathered in front of the building. Standing well off to the side were the two Police Chiefs engaged in conversation. I had every confidence that Chief Rourk only remembered those things that I had planted in his mind. I could see the look of puzzlement and confusion on the faces of the building’s residents as I approached them. As far as they knew they had gone to bed until I rousted them up this morning. They had no idea that the world that they once knew before they slept was now gone forever. I thought, God, Lucy. I’ve inherited your guys. What do I do with them? They were running towards me now with blankets around their shoulders and flip-flops on their bare feet.

I started getting peppered with questions. Arch. Where’s Lucy? The last thing we remembered was we were having an earthquake. Is she still with Isabel and her grandmother? What are all these people doing here? At the moment I didn’t feel like a man with awesome powers. I didn’t know how I was going to help all these people. All I knew was that Lucy would have expected me to. Maybe at an earlier time I wouldn’t have cared as much. But I buried her not more than two hours ago. My hands were still soiled from the grave I had dug for her."

I said, I know you all have a lot of questions. Please be patient. When the firemen leave I want you all to go back into the building and wait in the lobby where you were seated a few minutes ago and wait for me. I think the Elko Police Chief will have something to say as well. I’m going to talk to the Police Chiefs over there now. I glanced over in their direction and saw Chief Rourk motioning for me to come over. My Marine buddies came over to give me a handshake and a hug and I told them I wanted a separate meeting with them tonight.

The Elko Police Chief was a big guy. He was a full head taller than me which made him tower over Chief Rourk. He shook my hand and said, Mr. Angelo, Roger here tells me you are the person in charge of security over here. Is that right? I nodded. Are you aware of what happened in Banshee?

I said, No Chief, I only know when Chief Rourk arrived in the wee hours he said there was an earthquake in the valley. I had just woken up but something in the air was making me woozy. The whole place stunk of Sulfur. The Chief had been worried about the building collapsing since we’re situated on a hill. The way I understand it, they were on their way here when his deputy lost control of the police car in town and damaged it. He called Lucy but found out she was in town at Grandma Beverly’s. The phones up in our building weren’t working. So he and his deputy borrowed Lucy’s car and came up here to warn us and perhaps to evacuate the building. I heard the doorbell buzzing and let them in. Three of us went to wake up the other folks but found them all unconscious. All three of us must have collapsed from the fumes after that.

He said, Did you know that the whole town of Banshee was destroyed between 12 a.m. and 6 a.m. this morning? The whole town was buried under a bed of lava.

I said, What about the people in town? Were there any survivors?

As far as we know you folks up here are the only ones left alive.

I said, Look Chief Conner. Do you mind briefing the rest of the folks before you go? I looked back at the building and the Firemen were all coming out. Looks like the fire fighters are done. We could all gather back in the lobby area.

He said, Yes I’ll be happy to do that.

The Fire Chief came over to debrief us. Gentlemen, everything passed inspection. He took me aside and said, Chief Rourk told me Lucy didn’t make it and that just breaks my heart. He handed me a business card. You need me for anything you call me personally. I’m your point man for any contract work you want done out here. I’ve got your back, ok? He gave me a warm handshake and started to turn away.

I said, It’s probably none of my business Chief and you can tell me so if it is but what inspires so much of your loyalty to Lucy?

He said, I’m a divorced guy and had a little kid in the hospital at the time. She was getting worse by the day and her doctors didn’t know why. I was seeing one of Lucy’s girls over here and told her I probably wouldn’t be coming back for a while and told her why. Well, Lucy heard about it and actually had a couple of pediatric specialists from the Gillette clinic in Minnesota of all places to come look at her. They consulted with my daughter’s doctor and they ended up doing what they called a catheter angiography and found a small blood clot in her brain. I think all that was done before was an MRI. Anyway she’s healthy and happy now. Lucy had the bill sent to herself. Need I say any more Mr. Angelo?

I said, No Chief. All you had to say was Lucy saved your daughter’s life. I’m not surprised because that was the way she was. The Fire Chief waved good-bye to the two Police Chiefs and he and his men got in their fire trucks and drove off.

Chief Conner had his men rounded up the Press and gave them a rundown of what happened in our building. He said he was going to have his men posted on the road up here for the next several weeks to keep everyone away including them. So if they had any questions they best had asked them now or call his office later. He didn’t want this thing being sensationalized any more than it already had. He said if the Press was going to take pictures of the former town they would have to do it from the road or from the air. There was going to be a Press tent set up and there would be plenty of earthquake experts there to answer whatever questions they had. He did mention Lucy’s name as being one of the victims. I told him I didn’t want my name mentioned in connection with the building and he honored that. Photographers were trying to take pictures of the girls but they simply put their blankets over their heads. But they were rescued when Chief Conner’s men herded the news crews back into their vehicles saying there was an active investigation going on and he didn’t want the area of investigation to be compromised. The medics and hospital people had already left. After the last of the news mobile units pulled away the Chief had his men encircle the area around the place to turn away cars of curiosity gawkers trying to drive up to the building.

I told my group to head back to the building and we followed close behind them to the lobby area where they were seated before. I told everyone that the two Chiefs were going to talk to them but to hang around afterwards because I needed to talk to them also. I nodded to Chief Conner and as he was walking up. I introduced him as the Chief of Police in Elko and he had something to tell us.

He had a deep gruff voice and spoke in measured tones. Folks I’ve got good news and bad news. The good news is that you all survived the earthquake that we had early this morning. The bad news is that you-all in this room right now are the only ones left alive of the town Banshee. He paused for the outcry and sounds of disbelief that filled the room. The whole town was completely buried under a sea of lava. When you look at the town from the air you can’t see a single structure to indicate that there was ever a town there. Several of the girls were quietly crying now. June who was to marry Detective Blake Hanks was ashen and being comforted by the girls around her. "If anyone in this room needs any kind of assistance whatsoever I want you to call me personally. We have the whole town proper cordon off with physical barriers and police officers from the County will be there awhile. We have a tent down the road where Banshee used to be and we are issuing passes to people and organizations authorized to enter that area. Everyone else needs to stay away to let the investigators and scientists do their jobs. We may come back here to question you guys but that may not be necessary since Chief Rourk pretty much filled us in on what happened up here. So thank you for your cooperation and now here’s Chief Rourk.

Chief Rourk walked up and stood in front of the grief stricken group with