by N. P. Martin
I stared at Abigor for a long time, wanting so hard to believe that he was just lying, but it didn’t seem that way. Even when I looked at Frank and Eva, their faces said it all.
"Perhaps you need proof," Abigor said as he took several steps toward me. "Then we can get on with things." He stood with his arms held to his sides. "Come at me."
Rage began to boil in me as I held the sword out, gripping it tight.
"Don’t, Leia," Eva said. "He’s messing with your head."
"Come at me, Leia!" Abigor bellowed, his eyes now glowing. "Kill me! It’s what you came here to do, isn’t it? Now do it!"
As my rage suddenly boiled over, a scream of fury came from my mouth as I charged toward him while he just stood there waiting. When I reached him, I didn’t hesitate. I plunged the sword into his waiting chest, shocked at how easy it was to do so. The lack of resistance meant I ran right into him as the blade went deeper. Our eyes locked as I held onto the sword a moment longer, before letting go and stepping back.
Abigor stared down at the sword in his chest for a moment, then looked up at me and smiled. "Do you believe me now, Leia?"
I could only stare in disbelief as Abigor pulled the sword out of his chest, blood splatting all over the floor as he did so.
My head began to shake. "No…"
Everything was for nothing. Trading my soul, going to Hell, getting the sword.
All for nothing.
Behind me, I heard footsteps as Frank and Eva approached, probably to pull me back from Abigor, only Abigor put one bloody hand out and stopped them both in their tracks. When he make a downward motion with his hand, I turned around to see Frank and Eva on their knees as they stared at me. Their faces and bodies were unmoving, just as they were when we summoned Abigor at the cabin.
I tried to control my sense of defeat as I turned around to look at the demon again. "Why?" I asked him. "And where is my brother? I know he’s here."
"We’ll get to Josh in a moment," Abigor said as he tossed the Demon Blade—or whatever the hell it was really called—onto the floor with a clang. "I’ll answer your earlier question first. You asked me why, and my answer is because I could, Leia. It was also a rather entertaining way to get you to come here. I could have just kidnapped you, of course, but where is the fun in that?" He laughed to himself, like the whole thing was one big joke to him. "Also, the retrieval of the sword was a test of sorts."
"A test?" I shook my head in disgust as I struggled to control my anger. "What for, to see if I’m worthy to be one of your goons?"
He shook his head. "Not exactly, although Mullin does work for me, so technically, your soul is mine now, which means you will be under my command soon enough anyway, whether you like it or not."
Jesus, can things get any worse?
"The real reason I sent you to Hell to get the sword," he continued, "was to test the purity of your heart. Only someone with a pure heart could’ve broken through that force field to get the sword, which is how I set it up by the way. As it happens, I am in need of someone who is pure of heart. I’m in need of you, Leia."
I was sick of his games, and neither did I care why he supposedly needed me. "Where is Josh?"
Abigor clicked his fingers, and Josh suddenly appeared beside him. Straight away, I could tell there was something different about my brother. All the arrogance had gone from his face, replaced by fear as he stood motionless beside his master.
"Josh!"
"I’m sorry, Leia," Josh said as he looked at me sadly. "He brainwashed me, he—"
He stopped talking when Abigor punched him hard in the stomach, sending Josh to his knees as he struggled to breathe.
"Leave him alone!"
"I will," Abigor said. "Once you do something for me."
I shook my head, then looked at Josh, who seemed to be crying now. "Do what?"
"Well," Abigor said. "I’ve no doubt you and your little Watcher friends have worked out what I’m doing here. I’m breaking the sacred seals that keep the Hell Gate in this city closed, and I’m down to the last one. Guess what it entails."
I looked across at the angel, who still stood impassively looking forward. I also noticed he was standing in a magic circle, probably a trap of some sort. "Does it have anything to do with him?"
Abigor smiled. "Yes, it has everything to do with him. You see, Leia, I need you to kill him for me."
I shook my head as I stared at him. "What?"
"Am I not speaking loud enough for you? I said I want you to kill him, thus breaking the final seal. Only the pure of heart may handle the Angel Blade he has on him."
I looked across at the angel, whose eyes were now on me as he seemed to be waiting on my response. "No, I’m not doing it."
"I thought you would say that, which is why I brought your brother along."
Abigor stepped behind Josh, who was still on his knees. I watched in horror as Abigor took hold of Josh’s chin and twisted my brother’s head to the side.
"Wait!" I shouted, going forward. "Don’t!"
"I’ll let him live," Abigor said. "I’ll even let you have him, but only if you do as I ask and kill that insufferably pious being over there."
I stared at Josh as the tears continued to run down his cheeks. It wasn’t like Josh to be crying, which triggered my suspicion. What if the two of them are playing me, I thought, just to get me to kill the angel? Why is Josh suddenly not a demon anymore?
"You’re lying."
"Am I?" Abigor said as he twisted Josh’s head further around. "Would you like to test me?"
Shit. Even if they were both playing me, I wouldn’t put it past Abigor to kill Josh anyway, just to prove his point, and then force me to kill the angel afterward. There was also the fact that once I killed the angel, Abigor would be free to open the Hell Gate, and we would all be dead anyway, or at least under the thumb of Abigor and whatever evil he unleashed.
But the fact was, I didn’t want to be responsible for my brother’s death. I just couldn’t stand there and watch Abigor snap Josh’s neck right in front of me.
I looked back at Frank and Eva, who stared back at me motionless. No doubt they were screaming internally for me not to do what Abigor said, which was fair enough, but it wasn’t they who would have to watch their brother die—it was me. Clearly, Abigor had won anyway. There would be no stopping him or his heinous plan to unleash Hell on Earth. No matter what I did, the world was going to end. The best I could do was save my brother, which is what I set out to do in the first place, after all.
"Okay. I’ll do it. But let my brother go."
Abigor kept a hold of Josh. "I will, once you kill the angel."
"Don’t do it, Leia!" Josh shouted suddenly. "He’s going to kill me anyway!"
Abigor twisted Josh’s neck another inch, causing Josh to cry out in pain. "I’m not sure how much more pressure his neck will take before it snaps. Sometimes, I don’t know my own strength in this world."
I held a hand out. "Don’t hurt him, please! I’m doing as you asked."
With heavy footsteps, I walked to where the angel stood inside the trap. His blue eyes looked into mine as I stood in front of him, and I was surprised when he smiled at me. "It is all right," he said.
I shook my head. "But I’m about to kill you."
"There is a reason for all things, even my death."
"Yes," Abigor shouted over. "My reason."
The angel held my gaze, his eyes strangely peaceful as they somehow put me at ease. He then reached inside his jacket and took out a long silver dagger with a corkscrewed blade, that glowed brightly as his grace ran through it. "Take it," he said, holding it out.
Stepping forward to the edge of the angel trap, I took the blade from him, which felt much lighter than I expected. There was hardly any weight in it at all, yet the steel was dense and hard. Immediately, I felt my own grace flow into the blade, illuminating it slightly. "I’m sorry," I said as I held the tip of the blade to his chest. "I really don’t want to do thi
s, but…" I trailed off, realizing that no matter what I said, it didn’t matter.
The angel smiled like he knew something I didn’t. "You are simply following your path."
I frowned slightly, and was about to ask him what he meant, when he suddenly grabbed my arm with both hands and pulled the blade into himself, grimacing as it went in. Shocked, I pulled the blade out and stood back, just as the angel appeared to explode in a brilliant flash of light that I had to shield my eyes against.
When I next looked, there was nothing left in front of me but empty space, and for whatever reason, this caused a rage to ignite in me, a rage that I directed at Abigor when I suddenly raised the angel blade in my hand, intending to throw at him, to kill him with it. But as soon as I went to throw the blade it disintegrated, leaving me holding nothing but air and minuscule shards of its otherworldly metal.
Abigor chuckled at my misfortune. "A little failsafe that ensures the blade doesn’t end up in anyone else’s hands. I should be thankful, eh?" He laughed this time, a sound I had to close my eyes against for fear that would drive me insane.
Eventually, I turned and looked at him. "I’ve done what you asked, now let my brother go."
"Gladly," Abigor said, smiling as he released his grip on Josh’s neck.
As Josh stood up, I went to walk toward him, but stopped suddenly when I looked into his face and saw that his eyes had gone completely black. I shook my head. "No…"
Josh started laughing as Abigor stood next to him, an almost fatherly hand on Josh’s shoulder. "Oh, Sis," he said. "You didn’t really think I wanted you to save me, did you?"
I stood staring, unable to speak as a horrible numbness worked its way through my body, and the next thing I knew, I was on my knees as tears started to stream down my cheeks.
"Well done, Leia," Abigor said. "You get an A star for that."
They both laughed then, as if the whole thing was hilarious, then they teleported away, their laughter still ringing in my ears.
Not far away, I sensed Frank and Eva, now free from Abigor’s telepathic grip as they stood staring at me.
I couldn’t even look at them.
37
"What the fuck just happened?" Frank said to no one in particular as he and Eva stood just a few feet away from me.
"Abigor won," I said dejectedly, still on my knees. "That’s what happened."
"Yeah, I know that, but…fuck it, I’m just going to say it—you didn’t have to kill the fucking angel, Leia."
"Frank…" Eva started to say, but I cut her off.
"It’s okay, Eva. Frank is right."
"You might as well have handed him the keys to the fucking Hell Gate!" Frank shouted.
"Fuck you, Frank!" I jumped to my feet to confront him. "I thought he was going to kill Josh, what did you want me to do?"
Frank shook his head as if I didn’t understand. "It’s one person against the rest of the world. Don’t you fucking get that?"
"Of course I fucking get it!" I screamed back. "But Abigor would’ve made me kill the angel anyway, after he had killed my brother just to prove a fucking point! I wasn’t going to watch my brother die in front of me, and then watch him slowly do to you what he did to Letty and Patrick."
"Well," Frank said, his face contorted with anger. "Now you have to watch the rest of the fucking world die instead!"
His words cut like a knife as I stood quivering with emotion I didn’t know what to do with, except scream it at him. "Fuck you, Frank!"
Eva stepped in between us at that point, just as I felt my grace rise to the surface on a sea of anger and despair. "Enough!" she said sharply. "Back off the two of you!"
Frank and I glared at each other for another moment, then he shook his head and walked away, heading toward his rifle lying on the floor a distance away.
I stood with my hands on my hips, and sighed heavily as I tried to hold back my tears. "I fucked up, Eva."
"No," Eva said firmly as she held both my arms. "You didn’t, you were just in an impossible situation. Even Frank knows Abigor would’ve made you kill the angel somehow. He’s just angry at the situation, he’ll calm down soon enough."
I sighed and looked into her eyes. "I really thought it was him, I thought it was Josh—the real Josh. How fucking stupid am I?"
Eva laid one hand on my cheek. "You aren’t, this is just a lot of pressure for someone who hasn’t been in the game long. Speaking of which…"
"What?" I said as her face hardened slightly.
"Well, it’s like this, Leia," she said. "I can’t condone the things you did to get us here."
"I know and I’m—
"Let me finish please."
I nodded and she carried on.
"You found out about the Demon Blade and you didn’t even think to consult us on it. Instead, you went off half-cocked, summoned a demon in a risky fashion, and then gave said demon your bloody soul! And the whole time I’m at the cabin trying to heal the person you purport to be in love with, and yet you go and leave him! Jesus, Leia…" Eva shook her head as she tried to contain her own anger and frustration. "If we ever get out this mess, you and I need to sit down and have a long talk about what it means to be a Watcher, and what it means to work as part of a team."
I stood there, shamed, not knowing what to say except, "I’m sorry," knowing that words wouldn’t change anything.
"It’s okay," Frank said, having walked back over, his voice calmer now. "Christ, you’re just a kid at the end of the day, trying to deal with shit that would drive most other people mad. But Eva’s right, though, a long talk is due if we ever survive this."
Tears rolled down my cheeks, and I went and hugged him because I didn’t know what else to do. He didn’t respond much at first, but after a moment, his arms tightened around me, and for a brief moment, I felt the way I did when my father used to hug me, which was safe and consoled.
"All right, that’s enough," he said eventually. "You’re getting my best Judas Priest T-shirt wet."
Laughing to myself as I pulled away, I shook my head at him. "I’ll get you a new one that says, 'I survived the apocalypse'."
"Yeah, right. I don’t think anyone will be wearing that T-shirt." Then he thought for a second. "Unless it said, 'I survived the apocalypse, but now I’m in Hell.'"
"'Thanks for asking'."
We both burst out laughing, which to me was a release of tension more than anything else, and also because, you know…funny shit.
"Seriously, you two," Eva said shaking her head. "Talk about gallows humor. You are your mother’s daughter, Leia, I tell you that."
"Shit," Frank said. "If you can’t laugh at the end of the world, when can you?"
"About that," I said.
"What, the end of the world?"
I nodded. "Yeah. All may not be completely lost."
Frank and Eva looked at each other. "What do you mean?" Eva asked.
"Hold on." I went and searched for a moment, until I found what I was looking for. The Demon Blade was still lying where Abigor had thrown it. In his arrogance, he had left it behind. I picked it up and returned to Frank and Eva, who were staring at me like I’d finally cracked under the strain.
"I think we’ve already established that the so-called Demon Blade is useless," Frank said. "What are you doing with it?"
I shook my head as a slight smile appeared on my face. "He didn’t say it was useless, he said it was useless in the wrong hands."
Frank didn’t get it yet, but Eva did. "But, Leia, we aren’t demons. We can’t bring out the sword’s true power."
"And," said Frank, "the only demon we know who could bring out the swords power is too weak to even move."
I nodded. "I know that, but I wasn’t talking about Lucas."
"So who…"
"I know what she is talking about," Eva said looking at me. "She’s talking about one of us demonizing ourselves so we can tap the power of the sword to kill Abigor."
"I’m not talking about us," I s
aid. "I’m talking about me, because of the three of us, it’s me who's already traded away my soul, so what's a bit of demon blood going to do?" I shrugged. "I’m screwed however you look at it, so why not make it two-for-two?"
Frank and Eva looked at each other, neither of them speaking for a long while as they seemed to consider everything. I, on the other hand, had already considered everything seconds after Abigor and Josh had left. I had already made the decision to get demonized, and then to go after Abigor with the Demon Blade, and kill him.
It had to be me. Every ounce of my being said so.
"Well," Frank said eventually. "I haven’t known you that long, Leia, but I know you’re probably as damn stubborn as your mom was, so…" He paused and shook his head. "I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I’ll back your plan, if that’s what you want to do."
Eva sighed as she stared at me. "I’m happy to take your place, you know. You don’t have to do this."
"Yes, I do," I said. "I’m on borrowed time anyway, remember? My immortal soul is no longer immortal…"
Frank made a snorting sound and shook his head in disbelief. "I can’t believe you sold your soul, Leia, and to some fucking scumbag demon who’ll probably—"
"Frank." Eva made a face at him to stop.
"It’s fine, Eva." I shrugged at Frank. "Hey, at least we have the sword, right? Thanks to Abigor’s arrogance in thinking he could play us—"
"Play you, you mean," Frank said.
"Frank!" Eva elbowed him in the ribs.
"What? I was just saying…"
I shook my head as I tutted at him. "Anyway, the point is, Abigor fucked up, and now we have the chance to make him pay for it."
"A very slim chance," Frank said. "I mean, let’s be real here. Even if we successfully demonize you, which by the way, neither Eva nor I have ever done to anyone, because you know…why the hell would we?" He shook his head. "That aside, if we do get the ritual right, what then? You’ll be a fucking demon like your brother. The last thing you’ll want to do is kill the head honcho who you suddenly find you have a deep and meaningful connection to." He held a finger up then. "But, and this is a big but, say you somehow manage to control yourself…you still have to kill one of the most powerful demons there is." He pointed to the sword. "With that fucking woefully inadequate looking thing."