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| The Quiet Before the Call |
As Baylor City reels from rising flames and viral whispers, Obadiah stays silent — but Heaven does not. Gabriel is sent not to confront, but to remind. While Alexander stirs with dark purpose and Laric feels the weight of secrets, the skies above prepare to intervene. Scroll down to enter Episode 20: The Quiet Before the Call »
Episode 20 | The Quiet Before the Call | Earth & Heaven
The house on Winter Street had been empty for decades, but as Antioch crossed the threshold, the floorboards shivered like they remembered him.
Charlotte followed, black boots silent on the dust-caked wood. The air was thick with mildew, but beneath it, she could smell potential — rot ripe for rebirth.
"Charming," she said, brushing cobwebs from the chandelier. "All it needs is blood-colored drapes and a pit to nowhere."
Antioch smirked, trailing a finger along the wall. Where he touched, the wallpaper darkened. “I already have my Reapers working on it.”
He turned to her. “This is home now. For us. For what’s coming.”
Charlotte circled the room, hands behind her back like an art curator. “I still don’t understand what anyone sees in Baylor City.”
Antioch looked toward the window. Children passed by in school uniforms, unaware.
“Because underneath this charming little city it’s heart is cracked,” he said. “Not broken… just enough to let something in.”
Charlotte raised an eyebrow. “And you’re the something?”
“Yes.” His voice cooled. “I’m just the one who knows how to use what’s already here.”
She gave a small nod. “And the boy?”
“He thinks he’s just mad at the world,” Antioch said. “But with the pendant? He’ll become something much more useful—rage with a mission.”
Charlotte tossed an apple into the air, eyes gleaming. “Why not let me kill him?”
Antioch’s smile barely twitched. “Because death is too generous. I want him hollowed first — emptied, not ended.”
She grinned, satisfied. “Still poetic after all these centuries.”
He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “Can’t you feel it? The weak. The bitter. The ignored. The ones who want to hit back — they’re all here, in Baylor City.”
Charlotte tossed the apple into the air and caught it. “Then Baylor City is going to get what’s coming to it.”
Antioch didn’t answer. His eyes had fixed on the shadows creeping across the walls — shifting now into patterns of ash and wings.
Outside, the wind picked up, and the front gate creaked shut on its own.
She tilted her head. “And Obadiah?”
A pause.
Antioch stood at the window, watching the street below. “He already knows I’m here,” he said. “That meeting in the park wasn’t coincidence — it was the first move. I wanted him to see me. To feel the weight of what’s coming. Because while he chases echoes through time, we’ll be planting our roots here. Quietly. Permanently.”
She crossed the room and picked up the apple from the mantle. “So what now?”
“They’ll send him back,” Antioch said. “When they realize what’s missing — where it came from — they’ll ask him to retrieve the other piece.”
“From King Manasseh?”
He nodded slowly. “That timeline’s fragile. One wrong move and it fractures. He’ll be vulnerable there.”
Charlotte gave a slow smile. “And you’ve arranged for that, haven’t you?”
Antioch didn’t answer directly. “Let’s just say not everyone loyal to the King wears white.”
She twirled the apple in her hand. “So while he’s hunting the past…”
“We reshape the present,” Antioch finished. “Baylor bends. Or Baylor breaks.”
She moved toward the kitchen, pausing in the doorway. “And if he returns with the second piece?”
Antioch turned from the window, his eyes dim with flame. “We have to play this out discreetly.”
Charlotte perked up. “What do you mean my Lord?”
“We’ll blend in,” he said, smirking. “Let them take us in. Smile. Pretend. Then corrupt everything.”
Charlotte caught on to what he meant. “But at the same time collecting more and more dark souls.I love it,” she purred. “The way you make cruelty sound like prophecy.”
Antioch nodded. “Go back to the school, Alexander was just the beginning.”
She tilted her head. “Teachers and students?”
He smile. “Both. I want you and Bolofar to become teachers.”
Charlotte’s eyes widened.”My Lord I know nothing about being a teacher.” She frowned. “I hate kids.”
“That is exactly why you should become one.” Antioch said. “While Obadiah out of the way, we plan our next move. “Get going. Time is of the essence.”
“What about you?” Charlotte said.
“I always wanted to run a town.” Antioch said. “Baylor City is a great place to start.”
___
The bell hadn’t rung yet, but the hallway was already humming — conversations half-muttered, lockers banging, sneaker soles squealing against tile.
Jessica Park had her phone out, holding it like it was breaking news.
“This is it. Watch — he walks through the smoke. Just... watch.”
Zanna, Allen, and Joni leaned in as the grainy footage replayed.
Someone had posted it overnight: the Community Center fire, caught from across the street. Flames licking skyward. People screaming in the background.
“Some sophomore posted it last night,” Jessica said. “It’s all over now. It’s been shared thousands of times.”
Allen hovered nearby. Laric stood slightly apart, arms folded, jaw clenched.
The video played: the Community Center swallowed in fire. Screams. Sirens. A shadow in the smoke.
Then — Alexander. Calm. Walking straight out of the blaze.
“He doesn’t even flinch,” Joni whispered. “Like he’s… immune or something.”
“He looks possessed,” Jessica added.
Allen said nothing. He’d watched the clip ten times already. The figure was unmistakable.
Zanna leaned in. “Look at his neck. There’s something glowing.”
Jessica pinched the screen to zoom. “Is that a necklace or charm?”
Laric finally spoke, his voice low and sharp. He knew that necklace had been stolen from the museum.
“It’s not weird if you know the significance of that amulet.”
They all turned, skeptical.
“I saw him,” Laric added. “At the fire. Before the roof caved in. He didn’t move. Just stood there — like the flames knew him.”
Jessica raised an eyebrow. “You said that already.”
Allen looked down. “I saw him too.”
Zanna’s eyes widened. “Wait… you both saw him?”
Allen nodded reluctantly. “It was him. But that doesn’t mean he set the fire.”
“He was the fire,” Laric snapped. “And you saw what happened to that building.”
Jessica glanced back at her phone. “Alexander’s parents were on Channel 5 this morning. His mom was crying. Said she doesn’t even recognize him anymore.”
“They’re right,” Laric murmured.
Joni shifted uncomfortably. “Will you give it a rest?”
Laric’s eyes stayed fixed on the screen.
“Something’s using him. And if we don’t act soon…”
Allen looked away.
The bell rang.
As they scattered, Zanna lingered behind, eyes still on Laric.
She didn’t understand what he meant — not fully.
But something told her… something was wrong.
___
The Watchtower pulsed with quiet tension. No thunder. No judgment. Just the vast, radiant silence of a realm where nothing could be hidden.
Raguel stood before the great constellation window, arms folded behind his back, eyes narrowed toward Earth’s shimmer. Below, Baylor City stirred with spiritual unrest.
"He knows," Raguel said quietly. "And still… he remains silent."
Michael’s wings folded behind him like a shroud. "He may be waiting for confirmation. Or clarity."
"He does not need clarity," Gabriel replied, stepping forward. "The agreement was between him and King Manasseh. He knows it well.”
Raphael’s voice was calm, but firm. "Yet no word."
Raguel turned slowly, light trailing from the edge of his mantle. "He walks the Earth, he’s not above it.”
Michael spoke carefully. "He was not ready to carry Heaven’s burden again. We forced the mantle onto him."
"We reminded him of who he is," Gabriel countered. "There is a difference."
Raguel’s tone cooled. "The Raven pendant is active. The boy has been setting fire all over town. And Obadiah, who once swore never to let that evil rise again, says nothing."
He faced the others fully now.
"This is no longer about whether he is fractured. This is about whether he is faithful."
Michael didn’t flinch. "What do you propose?"
Raguel’s gaze flicked to the gate of descent. "We send a brother. Not to confront — but to remind. He is not his own. He serves the Kingdom still."
A pause. Then Gabriel nodded. "I will go."
Raguel studied him, then gave the faintest nod. "No wrath. No glory. Just presence. Remind him of who still watches."
Raphael added quietly, "He will listen to you.”
Gabriel stepped toward the gate as starlight curved around him. He paused only once — eyes on Earth.
"He still believes," he said. "But belief without alignment is a dangerous thing."
And then he was gone.
The chamber dimmed again, as the stars beyond shifted — no longer watching the world, but watching the watcher.
TO BE CONTINUED…
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