“That’s odd. It was probably someone fishing for information. Good job on checking before you gave him any information about the company,” I said.
“You’re welcome, babe. You know after I got off the phone, I did run a search for that machine, and it came back with nothing. I’m sure he was some sort of scammer. I’ll have it added to the company newsletter for everyone to verify people’s credentials before giving out any company information.”
“That sounds great. Just so you know, I did have Paul conduct a thorough inventory of all the databases and physical assets to see if Rachel had taken or sold off anything without my knowledge while I was in the coma. Everything came back fine.”
Tiffany rolled her eyes. “I swear I could go the rest of my life without ever hearing her name again. Wait, your meeting wasn’t today about making that machine, was it?”
I shook my head and considered how I was going to lie to the woman I loved and was going to marry. I only needed to protect her from all of the terribleness my family has caused. “Again, I can’t talk about the meeting. I will say we covered a wide variety of topics, but once it’s done it will ensure a bright and prosperous future for this company for a long time to come. I promise to tell you all about it when everything is settled and done. If the waiter comes by will you order me a chicken parmesan with a side salad, please? I just remembered something I need to tell Paul about the meeting before I forget.”
“Of course, but don’t take too long, we need to talk about venues.”
“You got it, babe. This will only take a minute.”
“Okay, have a good night, Paul.”
“You too, Tiffany.”
We walked out the front and found a spot where no one was around. “This isn’t good, Paul.”
“I beg to differ, Alec.”
“Oh really? Louis called Tiffany, you and I both know that was Lucifer looking for the machine.”
“Yes.”
“He’s going to try and hurt her I know it.”
“Don’t worry about her, the Lord has several angels watching over her. She’ll be fine, but him calling Tiffany tells us that Lucifer doesn’t know where the rest of the machine is, and I have some good news for us. I have permanently blinded all of the Watchers. We still must be careful not to say a word of the locations of the rest of the pieces of the machine, though, just in case one of Lucifer’s demons hear.”
“You blinded all of Lucifer’s Watchers?”
“Yes, they won’t be a problem again, but for now, go back in there and have a lovely dinner with your new fiancée.”
“But what about the rest of the machine?”
“That can wait until the morning. Clear your schedule. Tomorrow we will go get the rest of the pieces.”
Chapter Twelve
Lucifer
Second Heaven
The Watcher’s Citadel
I KNEW SOMETHING WAS amiss when I had summoned my Watchers and none of them appeared before me. The only sight I saw from my throne were my demons as they anxiously milled about and tried their best not to make direct eye contact with me. I sensed they knew something they weren’t sharing, so I asked all who were before me to speak if they knew what was keeping my Watchers in dispose. My anger accelerated when none of them stepped forward to answer my question. But, as I prepared to release my wrath, Death appeared before my throne.
He bowed before me. “My Lord, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but your Watchers are not coming.”
“Please tell me why they feel it is appropriate to disrespect me in this way?”
“They are not absent because of disrespect, but because they have been attacked and blinded by our enemy,” Death said.
Fear filled my being as I listened to Death. “How did you come to know this?”
Death rose to his feet. “I was in my domain waiting for you to summon me with news of the location for the next piece of the machine when I heard a myriad of cries of pain. I went out and carefully followed the sound, and not too far from my home, I came to the Watchers Citadel.”
“Did you go in and help them?”
“I couldn’t.”
“Why not?”
“Because The Man Wrapped in Darkness had it completely surrounded by his darkness, and no one could go in or out. I tried several times to enter, but I was always blocked. The last time I tried I was thrown down hard into a valley of solid rock, but I pulled myself back up in time to see The Man Wrapped in Darkness fly away. When I approached the Citadel to see what The Man had done, I immediately had to back away because it reeked of Blood from The One.”
My stomach dropped to the floor. I had to know what happened.
“Show me,” I said as I tried to open a one of my portals to instantly transport Death and I to the Watchers Citadel, but I couldn’t. I tried again, but it seemed like something had blocked me. I tried several more times, and on the last time, the presence of The One broke forth like a wave and smacked me in the face along with moans of pain.
“Chaos, come to me now!” I called out.
Instantly, Chaos charged through Hell and trampled all who had the poor luck of not being able to get out of his way in time. He stopped at the base of my throne, and exhaled fire as I rapidly ran down the stairs and mounted his back. “Chaos, take me to the Watchers Citadel as fast as you can. Death, please stay close by. The Man Wrapped in Darkness may be planning an attack upon our arrival.”
Chaos took off like a rocket as he raced through the corridors of Hell, and out its charred and blackened gates. He busted through the portal that connected Hell to the Second Heaven with such tremendous force I thought he might collapse the tunnel from his sheer strength alone. Once on the other side, he took to the air and ran on the wind like it was solid ground. We passed the various mountainous strongholds with ease, and we rose above even the highest peaks until we saw what I had come for.
At first glance, everything seemed normal, but as we approached, I knew something horrible had happened.
I prepared Chaos to break straight into the Citadel when Death shouted. “Stop, Lucifer!”
I pulled back on the reigns of Chaos and in that moment, I knew why Death had stopped me. The area still reeked of the stench of The One’s Blood and the presence of The Man Wrapped in Darkness. Death hadn’t embellished his story in the slightest, and not that I thought he would, but I had hoped some element of it was incorrect.
“We will have to proceed with caution from here,” Death said.
I dismounted Chaos and left him outside as I turned to Death. “We go on foot from here. If there are any remnants of The One’s Blood it is imperative, we don’t let any of it touch us. I know I don’t need to remind you, but we must be very careful not to suffer the same fate as they have.”
Death nodded as we stepped onto the balcony and cautiously made our way to the door. We could hear cries of pain getting louder with each step as we approached and opened the door.
The power of The One’s Blood had departed, but not the devastation it had left in its wake. The once beautiful room was ruined beyond all repair. The floors and walls were stained red, and the mangled bodies of all my Watchers laid upon the ground and cried out for someone to help them. I closely inspected a Watcher that was at my feet, and I saw all the eyes that made up his body were burned shut by The Blood of The One. It had been the same for all of the poor spirits. I cursed to myself because it had taken me eons to get them to side with me against The One, and only seconds for him to destroy them all.
One of them sensed I was near. “Lucifer, is that you?”
“Yes, it’s me.”
He began to cry as he reached his hands out to find where I stood. “Please, help me. I can’t see anymore. Please, Lucifer,” and everyone in the room burst out in a cry for help. The sight of the once proud and fierce Watchers, now defenseless and blind, sickened me.
I called out to try and get the room to quiet down. “Shhh. Please everyone, I know you’re suffering,
but I will take care of you all. Now please, Abush, will you raise your hand so I can see where you are?”
A twisted and mangled hand went up, and I proceeded to where Abush sat against the wall. It appeared to me he was about to make a speech before he was attacked.
I looked down upon my old friend, now a mere shadow of his former self. “Abush, tell me how this happened?”
“The Man Wrapped in Darkness showed up and trapped all of us in the room.”
“How did he do that?”
“He... He said he surrounded the place with his darkness, but none of us made it out of the room to test his words.”
That part of Death’s story also checked out. It appeared Paul was stronger than I had known.
“What happened next?”
“First, he grabbed one of us, and his hands melted his armor in the places he touched like his hands were made of fire. He released The Blood of The One all over The Watcher. When all my underlings went to pounce on him, he made The Blood of The One to rain down in the room. It destroyed everyone but me. He saved me for last.”
“The One was here with The Man Wrapped in Darkness? He did all this? But he never does things like this, he always uses others to do his dirty work,” I said.
“No. The Man Wrapped in Darkness did all of this by himself.”
I couldn’t believe my ears. He had to have misremembered due to the trauma. “That’s impossible. There were no angels or other spirit beings with him?”
“I’m positive. He did all of this by himself, and I know this because I watched him do it.”
“But The Man Wrapped in Darkness doesn’t have that ability. He’s never done something like this. He can’t release The Blood of The One. I know this because I have studied the limits of his abilities for years.”
“It’s true! I watched him do this with my own eyes. He made The Blood come out of the palms of his hands, and then he made it flow out on to all of us. Aren’t you listening to me? Even if you don’t believe it doesn’t make what happened less real. Look at me!”
I hadn’t expected The One to give The Man Wrapped in Darkness that kind of power, and I had to know more. Because if it was true, he might be powerful enough now to stop my plan.
“Why did he save you for last, Abush?”
“I panicked when he showed us his face since the entire spirit world knows who he is now, and I said how I knew The One would send him for me one day.”
“So, he did all of this because of the role you played in the death of he and his family?”
Abush coughed hard and had to take a moment to collect himself. If he wasn’t a spirit being, he would be near death. But since he was eternal, he’d suffer in that state forever.
“He told us the reason he came here was because The One sent him to tell us our time was up.”
I didn’t know who I was angered with more. The One, my Watchers for their failure to kill The Man Wrapped in Darkness, or the loss of their abilities from my arsenal.
Abush interrupted my thinking when he cried out. “Lucifer, please help us. We are all in perpetual pain, please make it stop. We have all faithfully served you for generations. Please help us.”
He reached out wildly and grabbed me by my arm. I easily pulled away from his weakened grip and backed away from him so he couldn’t touch me again.
“Abush, have some dignity and self-respect. Stop crying like a child.”
I turned to face the entire assembly of broken bodies. There was nothing I could do to make them whole again. They were all completely useless to me now. Once The One’s Blood touched a demon or one of the fallen, they were forever scarred, and since that group had lost all their utility, there was only one thing left to do.
“Listen up everyone,” I declared. “You have all faithfully served me, but now you all are damaged beyond repair due to your failure in being able to take down one man! Due to your negligence, you are all no longer of use to me and my kingdom. I banish all of you to the Pit of Eternal Suffering!”
Then I commanded a portal I had made to The Pit to open in the center of the room, and it quickly sucked all of the Watchers inside. I laughed as they cursed me and traveled to their new home, but in the end, all who failed me would suffer the same fate.
Death walked up to me with a look of astonishment on his face. “Nicely done, but what are we going to do about finding the rest of the machine?”
“Don’t worry. I have a plan to take care of that minor detail. For I have in my possession the one who oversaw its design and construction.”
Death gave me a puzzled look. “Who are you talking about?”
I couldn’t help but smile as my inner being filled with joy. It was all going to be easier than I had first thought, and I got a second chance to build up that person’s hopes before I crushed them again.
“One who will do anything to please me no matter what, and the best part is, he’s always been in my possession. Now the real question is, what are we going to do with this place?”
“I say we leave it the way it is as a reminder to what will happen to all those who fail you. Your Watchers should have seen this coming a mile away and stopped it before it came to this,” Death said.
“Yes, they should have seen this. After all, they are, or well, they were spirit beings made completely of eyes, but what’s done is done. Come with me, my friend, we still have much to do.”
Chapter Thirteen
Lucifer
Hell
I TOLD DEATH TO GO back to his domain, and I would summon him when I had the location of the next part of the machine. Death gave me a nod and departed as I rode Chaos back down into Hell. I didn’t look forward to speaking with the next individual, and I was sure he’d make me beg him for his help. As soon as I made my request, I’d have to grant him all of his demands. That didn’t matter because as soon as I was finished with him, he’d go right back into the pit I pulled him out of. But after I thought about it... I would put him in a far worse place that would make the hole I pulled him from seem like a resort.
I dropped Chaos off at the stables and decided to go the rest of the way on foot. I passed the lake of fire filled with souls in constant torment, which was so pretty that time of year. Who was I kidding? It was always a glorious sight to behold. I strolled past the cells of the world leaders, celebrities, and those who practiced witchcraft, and I heard their cries for mercy. I stopped for a moment. “If you want mercy, you must worship me.”
Instantly, those wretched souls released shouts of praise that could shake the rafters loose. After I tired of their praise, I commanded fire to fill their cells, and consume their souls for my amusement. What fools they had been for trusting in me while they were on Earth, and they had deceived many others during their lifetime into turning their back on The One. I had claimed a lot of souls because of their work, and now they reaped the just reward for their service.
As I continued on for a time, I finally made it to The Valley of The Pits of Fire. Liquid fire cascaded down the walls and in and out of all the pits. The punishment never ceased for those individuals, for when the liquid fire flowed out of their pit, it still contained burning coals filled with the liquid fire. That increased their pain and my pleasure from their suffering.
I stopped in front of the one that contained the individual I needed to speak with. I reached in and pulled one of the two occupants out and held the blackened skeleton by the vertebrae in their neck. The man kicked and screamed at me as I brought him eye level with me.
“Hello, David Willenski. You’re looking well. How’s your father-daughter reunion going?”
David tried to speak, and for the life of me I couldn’t understand a word he said. It all came out as mumbled and incoherent garbage. The horrors of that place had damaged his mind, which was a common occurrence for one who suffered as severely as he had.
“David, now I’m having a hard time understanding what you’re trying to say my old friend, let me help you.”
&n
bsp; I used my dark abilities to immediately regenerate his body and mind in a flash of brilliant light. For a moment he said nothing as he stood there and admired himself made whole again. I even dressed him in a fine new white robe like my own to butter him up.
When he finally looked up his face twisted in anger as he glared at me.
“You lied to me you son of a—”
“Now David, let’s not resort to foul language. Come now, you’re better than that.”
“No, I’m not, I’m really not, and you’re a liar and a cheat.”
I wanted to rip him apart right there because I never let anyone ever talk to me like that. But I kept my temper in check for the time being, but when I no longer needed him, he’d go back into the pit.
“David, listen to me. Do you not think I would have to put you through the ultimate test in order to know you’re worthy to be a prince in Hell for me?” I tried my best to make that sound loving.
“Spare me. Ever since I came here, I’ve learned you have done this to all who have blindly followed you. I can’t believe I was so stupid to believe anything you ever said. You’re a liar.”
“I’m not lying to you, but talk is cheap. How about I just show you.” I grabbed David’s arm and transported us to my throne where I had a smaller and shorter throne set up for him made of human bones, just like mine. David was surprised as his face went from rage to confusion. He looked at it and then back at me with suspicion.
“David, you have passed the final test, the test of suffering,” I said.
“What are you talking about?”
“Well, in order to be a prince in Hell, you must be able to walk the same path as I had to. First, you dedicated your life to me just like I had done to The One. Second, you faithfully served me for years without fail. Just like I had done with The One when I was in the heavenly realm. Third, as much as it pained me to do this, you had to endure betrayal by the ones you loved—Maxwell and your daughter, Rachel. I, too, was betrayed by The One, and two-thirds of my brothers who turned their backs on me when they knew I was right for questioning the decrees of The One. Finally, you had to suffer like I have suffered. I was cruelly and unjustly cast out from my proper abode to this place. But I wasn’t going to make you suffer for as long as The One made me suffer. That is why he is a cruel and tough taskmaster.”
The Symphony of Death Page 9