When you shot Instancer, the bullets struck something solid. They didn’t pass through him as if he were a ghost. Their impact rocked him. The bullets knocked him back.

Manning paces in frustration.

MANNING

Where does the world end?

BEN-DAVID

What?

MANNING

Instancer said he wanted me with him at “the end.” What does the Bible say? Is there a place—a specific location?

BEN-DAVID

Megiddo.

MANNING

Instancer said “you know where.”

LIBRARIAN

The hill of Megiddo. Armageddon.

MANNING

The archaeological dig. Gehenna. Where is it?

LIBRARIAN

It’s there. It’s the next hill.

BEN-DAVID

That does us no good.

MANNING

It tells us where Instancer will be.

BEN-DAVID

But not when. And not how to stop him.

MANNING

He’ll be there. It’s where he came from. “The end” plays out at the beginning.

Manning crosses to a stack of books.

MANNING

If Instancer can be “conducted” into the world, can he be conducted out?

He points to an etching in one of the texts. The illustration depicts a demonic figure ascending from the inferno, led by a female child.

MANNING

The devil is escorted into this world, right? Then there must be a way to escort him out. That’s the law. You said it, Amos. Those are the ground rules.

BEN-DAVID

This is all myth and legend, Manning. There’s no such thing as “the law.”

MANNING

There’s always a law.

BEN-DAVID

Right.

(sarcastic)

All you have to do is get Instancer to the mouth of hell and kick him back down.

MANNING

He can’t return from there unconducted? That’s the law.

BEN-DAVID

I told you, there is no law!

We’re all getting punchy. The greater library is closed with the flooding and the scorching windstorm. Power keeps going on and off. We’re out of coffee. The battery in my phone is fading . . .

This whole stunt feels like a fool’s errand.

How can we kill the unkillable?

Are we crazy to put Ben-David on a plane to Israel? What if Instancer’s already there? What if Rachel fled to be with him? Will she be an accomplice to the murder of her own brother?

The librarian has begun clearing the books.

Manning slumps, silent, in a chair at the central table.

Ben-David keeps working. He’s reviewing, out loud, all we have gleaned this morning from the ancient texts or have theorized on our own about supernatural beings and their potential vulnerabilities.

I can’t tell if Manning is even listening.

Angels, Ben-David says, appear over and over in the Bible.

Angels can go bad.

They can rebel against God.

Is that Instancer?

Is he HaSatan?

Can anything stop him?

Manning remains slumped in his chair. He hasn’t spoken in minutes.