Free Cataclysm by Karice Bolton

Noah tried to introduce. “Anyway, what do you have for us?”
    I suddenly wished Athen’s voice was not merely being transmitted over the phone, but rather, that he was here in person to deal with this weirdness I never expected from this guy or any in our world. He was a nice guy, and I’m sure whatever emotions were running through him were based on some stage of mourning or something. However, it wasn’t a scenario that I’d ever expected to be the focus of.
    Spreading out everything Noah had put together for us was mind-boggling. Athen couldn’t see any of it, so it felt almost pointless for him to be on the phone. Noah had attacks all charted out. There were graphs based on the type of attack, with trend lines based on location or quantity of who had been turned. I now understood why he looked like he was constantly chasing something. He’s been chasing Azazel’s movements.
    “Wow!” Arie uttered. “How did you get all of this data?”
    “I’m pretty dialed in. With all of the emails that you’ve been sending out, I’ve been reaching out to those families who, in turn, put me in contact with more families.”
    “So your hair doesn’t always stick straight up like that?” I asked, trying to lighten the mood.
    “No, not generally.” His smile was filled with warmth.
    “You know? The worst part, of this whole thing, is that I know I’ll never get her back. I’ll never get to joke with her, like we just did. It’s tough. I think that’s why I’m channeling everything into this. Once we defeat Azazel, I don’t know what I’ll find to do with my time. The thought wears me out. Anything without her makes me ill.” Every syllable that Noah said was drowning in sorrow.
    Knowing the thoughts that were running through his head, made my stomach twist in knots.
    “This isn’t something that I’m proud of, but I know a little of what you’re feeling. There was a brief time when I thought I wasn’t going to get Athen back, and I actually contemplated the dark side. I thought it would be better to wander around like an idiotic ghoul, than be without him. It took me to a place I never thought I’d go.” I couldn’t believe I told an almost complete stranger this.
    “Really?” Noah’s voice was quiet as he spoke.
    “If you’ve been thinking it, don’t. There’s always hope. You can never give up on hope. Things can change in a blink of an eye. We’ll focus on the here and now. Then we can deal with what will lay ahead for us all after the battles.” I had to swallow so badly, but I thought doing a big gulp after a statement like that would only make me seem like I didn’t believe it either.
    “Dude,” Athen’s voice filled the room. “We’re here for you and most of us remember these horrors ourselves all too intimately. Right now, let’s turn it into the fire we need to bring the dark side down.”
    Hearing Athen’s voice radiate the strength that I was feeling, filled me with such pride.
    “You are as much of an optimist as I am, hun. I knew you had it in you,” I said, laughing. “Now since you can’t see any of this, let me tell you that what Noah has brought us is pure gold.”
    “I’ve got it on this, encrypted, in case it gets lost or into the wrong hands,” he said, holding up a hot pink jump drive. “Thought the pink would throw someone off. You can take it to Athen, so he can check out everything. I have another copy. I just thought it made more of an impact like this.”
    “Boy, does it!” Arie exclaimed.
    Pointing to the maps of the US, I traced my finger along the blue trend line, noticing what a steep incline it had taken in recent weeks.
    “This isn’t comforting. I hope we don’t need something like this for the mortal world too.” I shook my head, wishing I hadn’t spoken those words.
    “I’ve already got one going, actually. It’s following the same pattern. The mortals are falling into the traps as well. I have no idea what Azazel is doing to get