“Did you feel that?” I asked, feeling something brush past my leg. Billy must’ve have felt it, too, because almost immediately he tightened his grip and wouldn’t let go. “C’mon, boy, we’ve got to find a way out of this place.”
I only had my Zippo to light the way through the intersecting passageways. I ran my hand along the rocky wall, covered in the same dark and grimy material that we were shuffling through. All of these tunnels looked identical and I had no idea if we were traveling in the right direction, or if we had turned completely around.
I had little doubt that the townsfolk had already managed to get around the crude blockade in pursuit. Still, I couldn’t hear them, either we were far ahead of them, or lost in the labyrinth.
“Hold up, boy,” I said. “I feel something.”
I traced the outline of a board nailed to the wall. I wiped the grime away. “I think it’s a map of some sort,” I said, “Perhaps we’ll find an exit somewhere on here.”
It was indeed directions, with markings, for homes, the tavern and even the boarded up church—every structure in the town seemed to be connected to the tunnels. The one thing that didn’t seem to be accounted for was what we needed most, a way out of this mess.
“We’re going to have to settle on the saloon,” I said. “I don’t know how much I can trust the bartender, but he’s not one of them… I know that much.”
“That means we’re going to have to go straight for three intersections, and then a left,” I continued. “It’s right across from the abandoned church. Can you remember that? Well, if we get off course you just speak up and tell me.”
A smile grew on Billy’s face, but he still didn’t speak. I could tell that he was thankful for the rescue, then, he once again held on for dear life as something scurried past our feet.
“C’mon, boy,” I said. “Let’s not stay here any longer than we have to.”
It couldn’t have been any more than a hundred yards to freedom, but a hundred yards had never seemed so far away. We passed the next intersection and a dimly lit fire seemed to be burning in the distance. I paused and looked back; everything was hazy and filled with smoke from torches.
“Billy,” I said, “I need you to keep going and stay ahead of me. We’ve got trouble.”
I could see several of the townsfolk emerging from the smog, brandishing the same peasant weapons and grim demeanor as before. I hurried our pace until we reached the next intersection, and saw the same. They were closing in on us.
“The boy belongs to us!” Sheriff Madsen bellowed from somewhere, his voice echoing throughout and impossible to locate. “And now, reaper, you belong to us, as well!”
I pushed Billy harder; he almost stumbled so I grabbed him and ran. We made a left at the next intersection which was dark and empty, now a comforting sight which hopefully leads to the tavern and out of this town.
“Come out, come out, wherever you are,” the Sheriff sang mockingly. “I never did get to settle that little score of ours.”
I gave him no response. That’s what he was hoping for; saying anything at all would reveal me.
“Oh, don’t be like that!” he hollered. “You an’ I… we’ve got some catchin’ up to do.”
I could see the villagers closing behind us. What did stick in my craw was that I was fleeing for my life. I’d faced down battalions before and never once thought about fleeing, but a couple dozen townsfolk with pitchforks and I was heading for the hills.
“Come ‘ere!” shouted a woman. “The master’s heard all about you, child.”
The scraggly-looking woman lunged for Billy, but I caught her by the hair and planted her face first in the dirt. I ordered Billy to run and once he’d managed to get far enough ahead, I let the woman go and continued on after him.
“I can hear you,” the Sheriff said.
“Don’t listen to him, boy,” I whispered, “He’s just trying to rattle us… we’ve only got a little ways to go and then Betsy will take us far away from this place. Mark my words, little man; we’ll see the night sky again. I’m not going to let this be the last place either of us sees.”
I could hear the townspeople much closer than before. I didn’t want to admit it to myself, but the boy was slowing me down, and a bloodless getaway was becoming less likely by the second.
“We’re gonna getcha!” the Sheriff howled. “You’re dead, reaper! I’ll fry you up an’ eat you for supper!”
“Go, boy!” I shouted, not bothering to conceal myself any longer. “Run for your damned life!”
I turned to face the villagers with my revolver drawn. I wasn’t going to start blasting them so I fired into the dirt, an act they saw right through and continued to press forward. I turned to follow Billy, now a dozen yards ahead of me.
“Gotcha!” one of the townspeople barked as he appeared from out in front of us and grabbed hold of Billy.
I tried to reach him but he was too far from me and by the time I got there Billy had been passed back to others and lost to me.
“Fuck!” I screamed in frustration. “Billy, where are you? Billy!”
“Lost somethin’, have you?” the Sheriff asked from behind me. I turned to see Sheriff Madsen
.“You lay a hand on his head and it’ll be the last thing you do! When this is all said and done, Sheriff… you’ll be staring up at me while the blood drains from your body.”
The Sheriff howled a sickly laughter; he was reveling in my misery. He was a depraved man and one that had lived well past his expiry date. I should’ve killed him when I had the chance.
“Is that a fact?” he asked. “Because right now you’ve lost the only damn leverage you had.”
I wanted nothing more than to break the Sheriff’s neck but he was right, now I needed him if I wanted to find Billy.
“Billy,” I stammered as I looked for the boy. “I’m so sorry.”
It wasn’t the boy’s fault that I was a failure; he was a victim of my poor planning and bad timing. My shortcomings had cost Billy his freewill. There was nothing I could do for him now.
“Where are you goin’?” the Sheriff asked. “Oh, c’mon now, reaper, we’re just startin’ to have some fun!”
Chapter Fourteen
Duster and a Gun: Reaper
Gregory Blackman
Trust No One
I had only choice left now and it certainly didn’t lie in the Rusty Nail tavern. I ran past the Sheriff bowling him and the townspeople over through the tunnel and into one of the crude basements. I only hoped the boy was still safe, something I knew wasn’t likely the case.
I made my way up another spiral staircase that was situated at the end of the cellar, illuminated by a light from up above.
I climbed into a small closet, the light wasn’t in the room, but shone through a stained-glass pane in the door, two dancing cherubs under a soaring white dove, barely visible through a coating of dirt.
“Whenever there’s a crazy cult on the loose, the first place to check is always a church,” I mumbled to myself.
I emerged from a confessional booth into the chapel, the same grunge covered every inch of the place. It stood two stories tall with a sweeping balcony that ran across the end wall. There were a dozen pews on each side of the aisle, chopped to pieces and barely resembling what they once were. The entire church was boarded up from the outside, it should’ve been as dark as the catacombs I crawled out from but there was a bright light that flooded the room with its glowing aura, coming from the most unlikely source.
Behind the altar and raised from the floor stood an enormous glowing cross with a crucified Jesus. I’d never seen such a statue so I moved closer to investigate the mysterious source of light. As I moved near, I noticed the figure nailed to the cross wasn’t a man, and it was certainly no statue. There was a woman nailed to the cross, barely breathing and not coherent enough to notice my presence.
The woman, a girl, barely in her teens with golden locks that curled down her naked body glistening with
sweat and nails pounded into her flesh, it was a sickening sight.
“Ma’am,” I said, “Can you hear me?”
“I’m afraid she cannot,” a familiar voice said from behind me. “I’ve kept her heavily sedated while I take the blood I need.”
I turned to face Gabriel, his white suit shining like a beacon in the bright light. He walked towards me with a grin stretched across his face.
“I know enough about virgin sacrifices,” I said with my pistol raised and pointed towards the helpless woman. “Kill the offering and the curse usually stops.”
“You’re a very learned man, Horace,” replied Gabriel, “This woman was given to me by another… one that understands the need to reshape our destiny. I hope you are smart enough to know when to back down.”
Before I had time to pull the trigger and end the woman’s life, Gabriel sent me hurtling across the room with but a flick of his wrist. I struck hard against the barricaded front door. I was determined to show no weakness and staggered to my feet. Every bone in my body was on fire, a rush of searing pain that shot from one nerve to the next in rapid succession. Still, I stood my ground and refused to flinch as I stared down the angel.
“Don’t be a fool, reaper” he said, “You need me far more than I need you, but if you persist in messing about in my plans, I’m going to have to remove you from this realm.”
“What exactly do I need you for?”
“I know what happened to you, Horace, what happened in those two years that’s gone from your head.”
“You did something to me? I’ll… I’ll…”
“You’ll do what?” the angel asked with a sneer. “Shoot me? We both know that isn’t going to do you any good.”
“Don’t be so blinded by your own ego,” he continued. “Your coming here wasn’t by accident. You were led to this very place, Horace, by creatures that wish to see my work undone.”
“And what work would that be? Turning helpless townspeople into senseless slaves isn’t exactly God’s work.”
“Shortsighted, too,” Gabriel said with a disapproving snort. “My creations don’t kill, rape, pillage, one another, they simply exist to serve the Lord to the best of their ability.”
“And lose their freewill in the process,” I said with my pistol raised once more. “I might not be able to finish you off, but I’ll take your precious offering with me.”
I charged towards Gabriel, my duster billowing behind me as I fired off five shots in the angel’s direction. As expected, he managed to catch all the bullets with his hands, dropping them one by one. As the last bullet hit the floor, I lunged at Gabriel and tried to tackle him to the ground.
“Wrong move,” the angel said as he grabbed me by the throat. “Yet I’m a loving angel… a merciful angel… and I’ll give you one more chance to contemplate the gravity of your situation.”
Gabriel hurled me down the chapel again, the doors cracking as I smashed into them once more. The pain was excruciating, it was a hopeless battle that I waged, one not meant for a mortal such as I. The larger than life angel was invincible, at least to anything I could do to him, but I had to try. I was nothing if not a man of my word, after all.
“This one’s for you, Gabriel.” I said as I slowly rose to my feet. I tried to stabilize myself and I was bleeding profusely, barely able to see as the blood streamed down my face. I knew my end was near.
“Say you were able to kill her… wouldn’t I just find another?” he asked mockingly. “I mean, really now… face it, Horace, you’ve lost this one. Concede now or it’ll be the death of you.”
“We both know that won’t happen.”
“Yes, I believe we do,” the angel began with a hand pressed against the woman’s cheek. “Tell me, why do you think you were left alive by the Abaddon?”
“Some villagers found me, gravely injured and close to death. They saved my life.”
“Oh, that’s right,” the angel said with a laugh. “The villagers and their pitchforks… what demon from the echelons of Hell’s lowest circles wouldn’t be frightened by the sight? Do you really believe that, reaper?”
“I believe it more than your sudden turn from the light.”
“Then I’m sure you believe yourself strong enough to defeat it, as well?” Gabriel asked. “You’re a bigger fool than I thought. A beast born from hellfire is far beyond the vampires and ghouls that you stalk. You’re out of your league, reaper, and the beast’s been toying with you from the beginning.”
“Put the gun down,” he continued. “You’re not going to be shooting anyone; you don’t have it in you, not anymore.”
He was right. I didn’t have it in me to end this right here and now. This woman, whoever she was, hadn’t asked for any of this. I couldn’t bring myself to pull the trigger again.
“Do the other angels know of your plans?” I asked.
“You’d be surprised how little my order knows of this realm,” Gabriel said. “Like I’ve told you before, humans concern them very little.”
“Well then, aren’t we lucky to have you on our side?”
“More than you know,” he replied, brushing off the obvious sarcasm in my words. “In the coming months you’ll be very fortunate to have my assistance… should you choose to accept it. But no one must know of my involvement… though it would appear my enemies have learned much.”
“Who would these enemies be that you keep talking about?”
“The dark ones that stole two years from your life,” Gabriel said. “The Rapture is real, Horace, and it’s coming very soon. But unlike the stories told to children, there’s no one coming to whisk the mortals off this realm. Nothing but death and destruction lies in wait and unless we work together, all your trials will have been for naught.”
The sound of struggling came from the closet I emerged from. “Didn’t think you’d see me again, did ya?” asked Sheriff Madsen as he carried something into the chapel. “Well I knew I’d be seein’ you again, so I thought I’d bring along a little friend.” Wrapped up in his arms was Billy Godwin, covered in grime and struggling to get out.
“Thanks Sheriff, for saving me the trouble of having to find your tired old ass,” I said with my gun drawn. My hand trembled in the air; it had never felt heavier, more alien.
“Children, please,” Gabriel jested. “We’re all on the same side here… working for the same outcome.”
“Keep telling yourself that.” I scoffed.
“Listen to the master, or I’ll put a bullet in you... right between the eyes.” the Sheriff added.
“I don’t often find myself agreeing with the help, but he’s right,” the angel said “Lower your weapon Horace and join us. Fulfill what you were put on this world to do… triumph over Hell itself.”
“And what makes you think I’ll do that?”
“The boy,” Gabriel replied glibly. “You’ll do it to save the boy.”
The way I figured it, I was out of options. I could go down blasting away, drop the Sheriff and end up with me on the floor again, coughing up a lung and bleeding out all over the floorboards while Billy went to an early grave, if he was lucky.
My second choice was to give up and the boy would live. I could continue on with my fight against the forces of Hell, and at the end of the day, that’s all I was ever any good at.
I’d never gone back on my word before, but I’d be lying if I didn’t say these circumstances had me toying with the notion. I wanted so badly to go down fighting, but even though I could scarcely admit it to myself, I just wasn’t able to go through with it. I wasn’t that kind of man anymore.
What other choice did I really have in the matter?
Chapter Fifteen
Duster and a Gun: Reaper
Gregory Blackman
Careful What You Ask
I looked at Gabriel and the Sheriff kneeling beside Billy. I was without hope, both choices led to my damnation, one in the servitude of a master I wanted no part of; and the other with me bleeding out
on the floor and an eternity in the furthest depths of Hell.
Gabriel leaned against the altar, his legs crossed and a smug grin stretched across his face. He was enjoying my suffering, and wanted me to know that my downfall was inescapable, like the virgin nailed to the cross.
He was using these poor people for his own sadistic plan. He was working behind the scenes to turn this town into his sick and depraved breeding ground in order to push back the gates of Hell. I didn’t know what his endgame was, but I knew it was something I wanted no part of.
The Sheriff taunted the young boy. He pawed at Billy’s hair with one of his grubby hands while he danced a stiletto around his belly. He frothed at the mouth, blood mixed with saliva dripping down onto Billy’s tattered clothing, with each exaggerated insult
The young Billy Godwin was a victim of forces far beyond him. I could see in his eyes, an intense and acute sense of fear. He trembled in the Sheriff’s clutches, desperately trying to shake himself free.
“So you need my help?” I asked.
“No, reaper,” Gabriel corrected. “I want your help… if you so choose to give it. Make no mistake… my plans will continue on, with or without your assistance.”
“I’ll never work with that degenerate called a Sheriff.”
“Then don’t,” he replied. “You’ll be a much more suitable right hand than him.”
“Wait a minute,” the Sheriff blabbered with eyes wide open. He shot an alarmed look towards Gabriel, but the angel continued on as if he’d never spoken.
“The Sheriff was a necessary evil,” Gabriel said. “Go ahead… it’s not like I’ll need him any longer.”
“Wait, wait, wait,” the Sheriff stammered. “Now wait just a fucking minute!”
My hand trembled under the weight of my gun, but I trusted in the instincts I’d honed and squeezed the trigger. My aim held true and the bullet passed within an inch of Billy’s face to find its target.
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