When Albert opened his eyes again, he saw that nothing had changed. The angel still stood there in his living room, looking annoyed.

"Are you quite through?" Jacob snapped, "We haven't got time for this."

"You can't be serious about my fighting this demon."

"I'm dead serious."

"Please don't say dead. Look Jacob, get real. I'm pushing fifty, out of shape, and balding. I'm a high school teacher and a coward. There's got to be somebody better at this than me!"

"Thousands... tens of thousands. However, it's not a matter of choice. We have a very strict set of rules. You conquered, and I use the term lightly, our champion, so you take his place. It's as simple as that."

"Suppose I won't do it?" Albert asked hopefully.

"Not a wise decision, after all, our boss is not to be ignored," Jacob looked skyward.

"Yeah, I forgot," Albert said realizing sadly that even prayer was useless, and then a thought struck him. "Look, Jacob, I mean God is all powerful. Why doesn't he just zap this demon back to hell?"

"First off, we call God the Wellspring. Secondly, as your 'woke' humans would say, Wellspring's preferred pronoun is 'it'. That having been said, to answer your question, the Wellspring does not leave its realm, it tries not to interfere, and while it is an agent of good, it is more of a referee than an active participant," Jacob commented, "but the whole principle of good versus evil is that good will triumph fairly most of the time or die valiantly. It's the martyr thing. Look, Albert, I'm an angel, not a theologian. I'm just here to fill you in and try to help you as best I can."

"I really don't think I can do this, Jacob."

"You really haven't got that much choice. The demon has your scent and knows you have the sword. It'll be coming for you whether you accept my help or not."

Albert's jaw dropped, "It's coming for me?"

"Yep, now are you ready for my help or what?"

Albert swallowed, scratched his shoulders furiously and answered, "I guess I have no choice."

"Good, first about battling demons in general. I've got good news and bad news which do you want to hear first?"

"Jacob, do we have to play these games?"

"Yes, darn it, allow me my little indulgences."

"Yeah, yeah, OK, what's the bad news?" Albert asked, rolling his eyes.

"Well, let's see," Jacob said fingering his chin, "demons are relentless, merciless, savage and impervious to pain and injury by almost any means."

"Great, that really bolsters my confidence..., and the good news?"

"The sword in your garage is one of those things which can kill him." Jacob seemed to be running through some things silently in his mind. After a short while he concluded, "Actually, technically, it's the only thing that can really kill him. He has a few other weaknesses though."

"How come I can blow an angel away with a shotgun and for a demon I gotta' use a damn sword I can barely lift over my head?"

"Like I said, Albert, angels occupy human forms so they are pretty much susceptible to the same things humans are. If the angel's body dies, the soul returns to the Empyrean Realm for recycling, just like it does for humans. In the Infernal Realm, souls are used as a power source, they are used up.

"Demons have no soul in any form. They are created by incorporating all sorts of disgusting crap into their corporeal hosts. It takes longer for them to get new bodies, but the bodies are a lot more formidable.

"Basically, if we were cars, angels would be '50 T-birds, classic and fast, and demons would be '62 Continentals, big and strong. You might want the T-bird, but not in a demolition derby."

"Yeah, great, and I'm a lousy Mini Cooper," Albert said dejectedly.

"Very good, Albert. Humor under stress. I like that. Anyway, back to the subject at hand. Basically, there are all kinds of demons, big ones, little ones, strong ones, weak ones, important ones, anonymous ones, etc."

Jacob looked up. "Good news or bad news, Albert?"

"Bad news again, I suppose. Your demon is, Wellspring forgive me, a motherfucker, one of the terrors of Hell. It has no name, it is called 'The Ravager'. Real bad medicine, as I've heard you humans say. Quite possibly the worst of all demons. It's pissed off, too. It was trapped here, not killed mind you, but trapped. I don't really know how. It's present form is quite unpleasant and by the looks of what it's done to your people, it's a big, mean, efficient one. Stop scratching your back, it'll bleed."

"Oh thanks, Jacob. My back's gonna' bleed. I'm about to get eaten by 'Jaws' from Hell, and you're worried about my back, shit. OK, what's the good news?"

"None, really," Jacob said slightly embarrassed, "The Ravager's as bad as they come. You can take comfort that if you die doing Wellspring's work, you'll be blessed, though I must admit you've led a pretty sin-free life already."

"Not that I haven't tried," Albert grinned weakly, "Jacob? How long before it finds me?"

Jacob looked genuinely sorry. He found himself liking this meek teacher. "Sometime in the next few days, I would guess. Did I mention demons are mostly active at night? Not exclusively though, it depends on how pissed it is."

"Shit," Albert said, "so what do I do?"

"Basically, you take the sword and plunge it into its heart."

"That's all you've got to tell me, that's the only hint?!" Albert screamed.

"Sorry, I'm an accountant, remember?"
Jacob, realizing he hadn't been much help, felt embarrassed. "I guess that's it. I'll be going now."

"Wait! How do I contact you if I have any questions?" Albert asked frantically.

"You don't really. I'm not sure what else I can answer."

Albert got angry. "That is not acceptable! You come down here and lay all this heavy crap on me and then just slink out like someone who's accidentally run over my cat. No, that is not acceptable! I may have some other questions, my mind isn't working straight right now. So you tell me how I can contact you if I have to. You tell me right now!"

Jacob smiled despite himself, "I suppose that's fair." He thought for a moment, "I'll give you my contact number."

Alberts jaw dropped, "Contact number? You're an angel, don't you have a talisman or something?"

"Albert, you have got to watch less TV. Phones are very efficient, and mine gets a signal anywhere. It's miraculous really." Jacob snickered. "I give you my word I will answer if you call and help if I can."

"I suppose that will have to do."