by David Paul
“How much will this actually protect me?” David asked.
“The pendant is not powerful enough to completely protect you from an adroit demon’s influence, but it is definitely better than confronting Devin without it.”
“That is comforting,” the brooding vampire jested.
David puts on the chain, and the clasp locks itself in place with fluid mechanical precision. It’s massing was somewhat life-like as if bio-metallic fingers combined and clenched together seamlessly. Bound to its new owner, the odd piece adapted to David’s natural frequency at which his energy resonates. The necklace works like a cosmic tuning fork that keeps the wearer in total tune with his center self. Both know that the Devil’s song will be an out of tune, symphony masterpiece. When he pulls David’s strings, humankind will be on the brink of disaster.
Capello isn’t a fool. He knows that this next confrontation could go either way. Even if David resists the first temptations, they will try to the bitter end. There are roughly two years between now and the prophesied war. Many opportunities will arise in the upcoming months. Just one mistake, a slight chink in the armor, and the powers of darkness could possibly crack into David’s mind.
Even Capello’s magic is not strong enough to see farther beyond to know the outcome of the final struggle. This war is between God and Satan, and they are playing on the grandest of playing fields. Some things are left up to mystery. Some things require faith. Everyone needs to have this faith. David needs to renew his faith and realize that he can still make a difference. Even the cursed can find redemption when they make selfless sacrifices. If he ever wanted a shot at redemption, here is his chance. David will be at the epicenter of the most important battle in history.
“My son, you will be alright.” Capello pats the vampire on the back in a friendly gesture.
“That’s easy for you to say,” David said. The vampire sighs.
“No matter what you say or do,” Capello said, “you will confront Devin again, and your actions from that point on will have major consequence.”
“I’ll be ready, Capello.” David is truly not afraid of meeting Devin again. In the vampire’s eyes, whether he wins or loses will not change his curse, and that upsets him. Maybe, David is wrong about everything, and there truly is a shot at redemption as Capello suggested in the past. This is what the vampire struggled with.
David needs to be confident to save the world. With almost 800 years of misery under his belt, David does not know of what true happiness is or can be. His existence has been marred with brutal events and a seemingly endless pain. In his mind, it is very hard to look at the bright side. On the other side of the coin, David really does not have too much of a choice in all of this, and he is aware of that. The prophecy has sparked his curiosity, and a part of him really wants to know more about his son Devin.
David cracks open another bottle of aged wine for the two of them to enjoy. The two old friends share a long conversation into the latter hours of the evening. Neither of them spoke more of prophecies or duties. Even though the two shared an interesting and enjoyable evening of conversation, there was an unspoken tension or seriousness because of the ominous events that loom ahead. The old vampire and wise fortuneteller drowned their concerns in potent, yet delicious red wine. Eventually, the two run out of night, and daytime is beckoning. Capello thanks David for being such a gracious host and wishes him luck.
“I will talk to you soon, my son,” Capello said.
Capello is leaving, and David’s pet, Damien, comes to inspect the sound of the opening door. Capello pets him, and the large dog appears to enjoy the attention with a wagging tail. Capello leaves the mansion, Damien returns to his spot in the living room with the ladies, and David retires to his bedroom just before sunrise.
David is unable to rest immediately because his mind is working overtime thinking about everything that he had learned this evening. The intelligent vampire recalls being captive in Regina’s castle and watching Katerina’s flesh rip open while conceiving Devin. Thousands of thoughts seem to flutter through his mind as he processes everything. David’s emotions are ranging from guilt to rage, and he is struggling with maintaining his composure.
The new magical necklace is helping David to center himself. His tired mind needs a rest from thought. The vampire lets go of all his thoughts and emotions and falls into a healthy slumber. At first, David was resting peacefully, and then he began to dream wildly.
He envisioned a horned infant with a red complexion in an odd crib or bassinet of sorts. Sheer black fabric adorned the child’s bedding. Dark and unnaturally cold was the room that the child was in. The horned infant was crying incessantly, and a faceless woman, who may have been the mother, tended to the child. The mother figure held the infant in her arms and stared lovingly into its black beady, lifeless eyes. She walked across the room to a corner and sat down with the child in hand.
This dark mother nursed the demon child while sitting in a decrepit rocking chair made possibly of bone. A long forked tongue latched onto her buxom as she attempted to breast-feed the child. The child was drinking blood from her breast instead of milk, and the blood was spilling down its small face. Every time the mother figure took her breast away, the child would cry loudly. The demon baby had a voracious appetite for the blood coming from her nipple, and it clamped down hard on her nipple with tiny razor-like teeth, drawing more blood.
Her face began to flash in a strobe-like fashion, alternating with Katerina’s face and a skull. This kept on for a few moments while the child ingested blood happily. The infant grew in size to that of a three or four year old, and then attacked the mother figure by biting a piece of her throat. The mother fell helpless to an earthen ground, yet still remained alive.
The horned child devoured the mother a piece at a time while she was still alive. The mother never screamed once, but she moaned in a sexual fashion as she was devoured. Sympathy for the Devil by the Rolling Stones was the eerie soundtrack playing while all of this transpired. David wakes up from this bizarre dream after the Sun had just set moments before. Fiona is not lying next to him, and he is concerned briefly, but he hears Fiona conversing with Emily downstairs. He quickly gets dressed and proceeds downstairs to greet them.
Fiona had been entertaining Emily all day, and the dank smell of marijuana smoke was noticeable even upstairs. Apparently, Emily brought a substantial amount of the substance with her. The vampire came downstairs to find that Fiona had made nachos, and the two women were stoned again. Damien sat obediently in the kitchen watching guard over the ladies and waiting for tasty handouts. The large dog greets David by licking him profusely.
“How is everybody doing?” David asked. Fiona and Emily simply giggle at the question. “I’ll take that as everyone is doing fine.”
“Hey, I like the bling around your neck!” Fiona said.
“That is pretty hot,” Emily added.
“Bling?” David asked. The vampire knows what the word means, but he is being sarcastic with the girls. David hasn’t fed in quite some time and the urge to imbibe fresh blood is growing.
“I have some work to do,” David said. “Please stay here at the mansion while I am gone. I’m sure that neither of you will need for anything.”
“We’ll be alright.” Fiona said. Emily nodded. “I like her. She is funny. See you soon, babe.” She gives David a passionate kiss goodbye.
“I’ll be back later this evening,” David said. The vampire smiled at the two females and headed into the attached garage.
Moments later, David is speeding out of his estate. The vampire has the strangest urge that seems to be pulling him towards the woods of Foster. Foster is one of the more wooded areas in the state where there is undisturbed acreage. He lights up a cigarette and drives were his gut brings him. After a good thirty-minute haul into Foster, David is drawn down a dark dirt path that seems to lead to nowhere.
After about two miles in, the path ends at a wooded and secluded cul-de
-sac. The vampire gets out of the car, and he feels an unknown presence. An inexplicable force seems to pull him into the dense forest. David just focuses on what he feels inside himself and lets that take him where it may. The forest reminds David of his trek through the Black Forest, but the woods are not magical or as dense. The mossy smells of un-tampered forest are pleasant to the vampire, as well as the quietness. The dark forest has a quiet tranquility about it, and the vampire feels strangely at ease.
A small distance away, there is a fawn in the clearing drinking from a small stream at the outskirts. David walks right up on a deer and touches its fur coat before it runs off frightened. He cracks a small playful smile as if brought back to a tender childhood moment. It is a feeling of déjà-vu, David has walked up to a deer several times in his past.
A worn cottage surrounded by trees and dense overgrown vegetation sits to the east of the cul-de-sac. It is barely visible from the clearing. A shooting star streaks across the sky, and David was able to catch the reflection of it in one of the dirty cottage windows. The vampire casually walks over to the cottage, which seems deserted. A strong musty odor coming from inside the cabin can easily be detected from at least twenty paces. David gets to the door, and an unfamiliar voice invites him inside. Even though the voice is not recognized, the vampire can feel a familiar presence.
“Come inside, nightwalker.” The anonymous voice invited him.
The vampire opens the rotting door with a sickly creaking noise that sends shivers up his spine. David walks on a noisy unstable floor in the darkness. The cottage is empty except for a dark figure sitting in a dirty old armchair with ripped red velvet padding.
“So we finally meet in person, father.” Devin lights up a cigarette with a controlled flame emitted from his pointer finger. The light reveals his face, which is strikingly close to that of his father. His red pupils were glowing from the flame. The vampire is stunned at how much his son looks like him. None of Katerina’s traits made their way onto his countenance, and he is almost the vampire’s reflection, sans the color of his eyes.
“Hello, Devin.”
“Hello, Father.” Devin smiles.
“So after a lifetime of being under the tutelage of Lucifer, and you can light a cigarette with your finger?” David asked. “Pretty impressive…” The remark seems to infuriate Devin, and the velvet-adorned armchair that he is sitting on begins to smolder and then bursts into flames.
“That is mere child’s play,” Devin said. “I think you will be somewhat impressed when I set the whole world afire.”
“My, what lofty goals you have,” David said facetiously.
“I don’t think you fully comprehend the scope of my power, but you will,” Devin said. David puts a cigarette in his mouth, and Devin offers his flaming digit for a light. The vampire declines.
“For centuries Lucifer has made so many claims that have never come to fruition.” David lights his own cigarette. “What makes you think anything different will happen this time around?” David asked.
“Our time has come,” Devin said, “and that is the difference.” The demon prodigy spoke smugly. “The people on Earth have fallen from grace, and they are waiting for an end to their misery. Can’t you see it? No one looks toward heavens for guidance anymore. They look toward Lucifer to give them all of their worldly desires. The shift has been progressing in our favor for centuries. The battle has already been won, and it hasn’t even begun.”
“Your downfall will always be your ignorance,” David said. Lucifer has always tried to upstage the Lord. In reality, he has not ever created one thing or had a large following. Everything in the past that the Devil has done paled in comparison to that of the creator. “Both Lucifer and yourself live under God’s sky and his universe.” David sounds as if he is debating.
“That is all going to change sooner than you think.” Devin smiled.
“Just like when Lucifer was supposed to take over in the War of the Angels and Devils,” David said. “Everyone was supposedly going to bow down to the Dark Prince…and so on and so forth.” The vampire blows cigarette smoke in Devin’s face. “This has been going on for millennia before both of our times, and the Devil has always fallen short. His own sense of inflated self-worth and his God complex have clouded his judgment and made him ignorant.”
Devin continues laughing as if the vampire is speaking absolute nonsense.
The demon doesn’t even grace David with a response.
“He has historically made grandiose claims that have not come true,” the vampire said. “His only power is that of influence, and he tries to persuade the weak into believing falsities and giving into sin. Besides that, he is nothing but a fallen angel who was too selfish to serve his master.”
“Have you looked around lately, Father?” Devin asked. “It is you who is ignorant to think that the world isn’t playing right into the true master’s hands. Money and forbidden lust have driven the world since their introduction into civilized society. The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse have been riding hard for centuries, and slowly, the world has been infected by each of them.”
Now, it is David who is laughing.
The vampire thinks what Devin said was absurd. David shows Devin the same lack of respect, and he doesn’t retort.
“You are going to stand before me and tell me that your precious Lord is still worshiped as ardently as he once was?” Devin asked. Devin grins again. “This world is a better place full of love and joy? Your own lust has begotten you a demon son.”
“That wasn’t lust,” David said, “because I loved your mother.” He is angry, and there is no more laughter from the vampire. “I was set to marry your mother until she was taken from me. Lucifer is the reason why you have the blood of the goat, the jackal, and the serpent. You are motherless, and I am a monster with a dead soul mate. Ultimately, his mockeries and bastardizations of life have cursed us both.”
“I am not cursed,” Devin said loudly. As the demon raised his voice, small horns above his forehead arose through his reddish skin. “Father, you are not cursed. We are blessed with the mark of the beast, and we are extraordinary beings that do not conform to the same rules by which mortals live by.” David shakes his head in disagreement. “So far, my father is too much of a coward to accept his power.”
“A coward?” David asked. “Your master has always been the biggest coward of them all.”
David feels no love or connection to his own son, Devin. This is odd, even given the strange set circumstances. The vampire cannot believe how Devin is unable to see that he is without a mother because of Lucifer. This infuriates David. In fact, he hates Lucifer even more at this point, which could work either in his favor or against him. If David gives into his hate and anger, that may actually bring him closer to Lucifer and Devin inadvertently. This is a chess game for David’s soul. Each move is made, and the balance of the world awaits the outcome. David is growing very agitated with Devin already.
“Yes,” Devin said, “you are a coward.” He grins. “You should be seated at the right hand of the Beast, yet you deny this. You deny your place in the ranks of Hell, and you run from what you truly are. A real man would own what he really is.” Devin stands from the burning chair in anger.
“I am no longer a man,” David said. “I am now a beast that Lucifer played a hand in creating. I piss on the both of you!”
David can clearly see the rage inside himself as well as within Devin. Devin points to the wall and images appear as if there was a film projector in the room. The visual depicts the Earth, and it shows quick flashing clips of numerous images like a choppy, quick-cut away, edited movie. Brief scenes of drug use, violence, and catastrophic events flicker like they were sending subliminal messages. The film stops on a vision of thousands of dead bodies strewn about a destroyed city. Buildings have been reduced to rubble, and the skyline is smoky and dirty looking. A lone survivor crawls out from under rubble only to be torn apart and consumed by hundreds of crawling
demons.
“This is the Fate of the world,” Devin said. He points his crooked hand at David with his pointer finger and pinky finger raised. “Witness the number of the Beast,” Devin said covered by flames, “for one day you will bow down to the Beast. You are fighting for a lost cause!”
“I welcome death if that is my Fate, Devin.” The vampire is indifferent to the demons words. “I am not afraid to perish. I do not fear consequences in the afterlife if there is an afterlife for me. I will not be in alliance with the dark deceiver or simply give up the struggle. You have misjudged me.”
“Father,” Devin said, “you don’t realize your worth. You and I could control the entire universe!”
David can see the over-ambitiousness in his son. The demon never mentioned anything about Lucifer in that plan. Deep down, Devin has the same complex that Lucifer had against God. The vampire feels that Devin wants the power that Lucifer has. Lucifer would never allow Devin to take his position as the reigning heavyweight champion of chaos and evil. This is an interesting piece of information to the vampire, and David is toying with the idea of exploiting this for the benefit of mankind.
“You and I?” David asked. “What about master Lucifer?” David is purposely pushing Devin’s buttons. “We’d have to split that authority with him as well.”
“We would have free reign to do whatever we pleased.”
“Why would you want to share this power with Lucifer?” David asked. “Do you want to be the Devil’s errand boy?” The vampire is deliberately baiting Devin into either admitting that he wants to dethrone Lucifer or plant the seeds of envy in his mind. In a sense, David is attempting to beat the demon at his own game.
“An errand boy?” Devin asked as if insulted. Devin is becoming increasingly angry. The bare dingy, inside walls of the house catch on fire, and the flames dance their way to the ceiling like a pyromaniac’s waltz. The whole room is now engulfed in flames, but strangely, there is no smoke. “I am no one’s errand boy!” The demon acts as if he were proving a point. “I rule over every demon and minor devil in all of Hell, and I answer to Lucifer himself.”