Melanie and Charles circled the crowded ballroom in their final dance prior to leaving for their honeymoon in the Poconos, totally unaware of the activity that was going on around them.

Many toasts had been given and Reggie, the best man, had kept up a constant uproar of clinking glasses and smashing the crystal goblets on the floor, laughing hilariously at the dismayed looks the servers gave each other as they sent for someone to clean up the debris, mumbling, "Someone is certainly going to pay for all of this mess!"

The dance ended and Melanie and Charley stood in the center of the ballroom, the crystal chandelier revolved,dancing a myriad of colored lights re- flecting the lovely gold of Melanie's hair. The wedding guests circled them, with the bridesmaids clamoring for 'just one more dance with that handsome Charley", depositing their dollar bills in his cumberbund. The ever-eager Reggie sent the server to Charley with a tray of champagn, one more toast, old Buddy, one more toast!"

Melanie pushed the server away, "No more please, enough is enough! Come on Charley, let's say goodby and be on our way".

Charley however grabbed the goblet from the tray, downed the sparkling beverage with one gulp, tossed the goblet to the floor, where it hit with a resounding crash.

He ignored the bridesmaids' clamoring and grabbed his bride around her slender waist as the music started again, now playing the real last waltz, with Melanie's lovely gown flowing gracefully to the sound of that beautifull Straus Waltz.

Suddenly he slumped to the floor, "Whoops! guess that last toast was a dinger! Shorry, Mellie!" He looked at her with a drunken, puzzled expression, "wha' happened?"

Melanie's mother, Rachel, had been observing all of this from her table, completely disapproving of so much drunkenness and rowdyness and also wondering how they would pay for all of that broken crystal. She pulled her rosary out of its velvet bag and started to pray, asking for the angels, Jesus, Mary and Joseph, to guard over this couple and the wedding guests.

Mayonne, Melanie's guardian angel, had also observed what was going on and quite aware of the demonic activity. He saw the demons in the rafters, plotting their mischief, but they had not seen him and he was careful that they would not. He whispered in Melanie's ear, "Get him up, give him some black coffee. We are here to help. Don't fear. Just get him up!"

Melanie shook her head at the whispereds thoughts. Did she really hear a voice telling her to get Charley up and give him coffee? "must be hearing things. I can't pick up that big galoot! He's over six feet tall ... and heavy!"

However, with adrenalin flowing and the help of others, he was soon on his feet drinking the coffee the server handed him. There was a lot of ribald laughter as the guests speculated about his ability to perform his marital functions.

Mayonne summoned his fellow angels to assist Melanie and to fight the demons that buzzing all over the ballroom stirring up as much trouble as they could. The couple finally got away from the crowd, into their traveling clothes and were soon driving Charley's new "Lexus", the "Just Married" signs, with the traditional old shoes trailing, had been fastened to the bumper.

Although Charley was still quite drunk, he insisted on driving, quite unaware of the presence of Melcor, the sub-demon that was ordered to stay with the couple with purpose of distracting them to the point of wrecking the car and being killed.

Melcor perched on the steering wheel and goaded Charley to drive faster and faster as they sped down the highway.

Melanie screamed for Charley to slow down, but thrilled with
his new bride and the new car, he accelerated and was soon driving well over 100 miles an hour. "Slow Down, Charley", she screamed, "slow down, you're going to get us killed!"

Melcor whispered to Charley, "That's what you're going to do. Hit that ditch, and soon it will be all over. You'll roll down that hill and the car will burst into flames! heh, heh, do it! DO IT!"

Tormented by the voice, Charley shook his head, " No, no, can't kill, wha' are you saying?"

Melcor persisted and suddenly Charley turned and struck Melanie in the face, "Open the damn door and jump out. I've got to kill you!. Something keeps saying, kill!"

Melanie grabbed the wheel, "Charley. Stop! Oh, Father God, what's happening to my Charley? Please, God, Help! In Jesus' name, help!"

Ishman had delayed Mayone at the reception by challenging him, taunting, "Charles John belongs to us and to him, the Master of the Universe! Remember! He asked for power and riches. See? He's ours. Give up!" He lunged at Mayone with his firey sword, thrusting here and there, but unable to overpower so mighty an angel. "Someone must be praying for that idiot Charley. Don't know why? He isn't worth a nickel in hell!"

He thrust his sword once again at Mayone, but with the help of Uria and Dirkson, he was soon vanquished and in his defeat, he flew back into the rafters and settled down waiting for Melcor to return.

Melanie's cries finally reached Mayone, and soon he was at her side. "Melanie, tell Charley that God loves him. Tell him that a demon has hold of him. Tell him to tell the demon to go in the name of Jesus Christ. Tell him! Tell him!" The whispered voice echoed in the distance as Mayonne, summoned by another Angel of the Lord, was gone.

In the meantime, Charley slowed the car, stopped by the side of the road, looked at Melanie, "Wha' happened? I thought I"....he struggled for memory, "what happened? Why did we stop? Where are we?" He tried to shake off the dizziness. "Wow, that last glass of champagne was ...wow! I must really have gotten drunk!"

Melanie shaken by what she had just gone through, replied in a quavery voice, "Charley, I love you and you know God does too, so we won't go into what happened. It was a real nightmare, but we're all right . Start the car. We still have a long drive ahead of us."

Ishman, battle weary finally found Melcor near the parked car and gave him a well-deserved scolding and warning of his coming punishment. "You know where you are headed for, don't you? He doesn't like failures. He'll send you to the farthest place in the Universe if we don't win this battle for Charles John and Melanie. I didn't realize Mayone was so tough. Where did he get all of that help? He sure had a lot of them and they seemed to be staying with them. Might as well give this up for now and get back to that party. Lots of work there yet. We'll get them another time".

Melcor straightened his elegent apparel, found several torn places in his and blood streaming down his side, "I'll need patching up before I can fight again!"

"You won't DIE..REMEMBER? You're not human. Now stop whining. We have to get back. They need our help." The two demons flew back to join their allies at the ballroom and soon forgot about the bridal couple as they joined the embattled demons. There was soo much disorder, the law enforcement officers had been called and the very inebriated guests were hauled away.

The demons flew back to the rafters, hee-hawing at the confusion and destruction they had caused, but they didn't Melanie's mother, surrounded by angels, praying.

Charles John Anderson took his new wife in his arms, kissed her very tenderly, "I swear that I'll never touch a drop of that stuff again. I don't know what happened. I never get drunk. Here, move over. You're my designated driver!"

Melanie wiped away her tears as she changed places with her husband, "Thank you, God, thank you,
Jesus, thank you, Angel!" She turned the key in the ignition, looked out at the darkened road ahead and saw tiny sparkling lights dancing to and fro in front of them, seeming to lead the way. Astonished by this unusual display and the wonderful sense of security she felt, she once again thanked God for His love and her mother who was always there for her with her prayers.

Glancing at her now sleeping husband, "Someday, Charley, you'll know how much God loves us both and what a wonderful future we have!" Then, concentrated on the long drive ahead and their honeymoon in the Poconos. .