The Pentagram Child: Part 2 (Afterlife Saga Book 5)

by Stephanie Hudson

  “I’m no cowboy, I’m a lawman,” and then carried on walking.

  “Holy shit.” I whispered in awe of the guy. One I was definitely sticking with like Winnie stuck in the Poo!

  “Hey wait up!” I shouted as I ran to catch up with my new protector.

  “So who sent you?” I asked looking up at yet another tall man making me think I should start asking people to buy me high heeled shoes this Christmas...! Did they do converse high tops with heels I wondered? Well if there was one person on this planet that would know it would have been Pip that was for sure!

  “The Big Bug.” He answered…or at least I think he did!

  “Sorry?” I asked shaking my head.

  “Why? You ain’t no Corncracker.” He said confusing me further.

  “Ok, so now I am lost…” He smiled at me, scratched his beard and ran his finger and thumb down either side of his thick moustache that reminded me of handle bars on a motorbike.

  “You said sorry but you don’t strike me down as stupid like some buck tooth farmer that could eat corn through a picket fence.”

  “Uhh…O…kay…well thanks, I guess.” I said left utterly confused now and wondering if he was complimenting me on my teeth.

  “Good, now let’s vamoose.” I wanted to ask what he meant but seeing as he’d said it before I just put two and two together and was surprised I didn’t get 66 reasons to be confused. I started to follow him and tried to take in everything about his appearance. He wore massive heavy leather boots with wicked looking spurs attached in deadly spikes. They were very detailed with scenes of a skeleton riding a motorbike drinking whiskey and it reminded me of the comic Ghost rider.

  I was happy to report his beige trousers were void of tasselled chaps but instead had the manlier gun holster strapped to his thigh along with a long thin sabre hanging down. The other side held his bigger gun that fit snuggly in the holster that attached to his thick gun belt, one that was decorated with rows and rows of bullets.

  “Look in your fill sugar, old Bill doesn’t mind.” He said looking sideways and catching me eyeing him up. Obviously he was taking my interest in him the wrong way.

  “I am just trying to way up why you’re helping me?” I said honestly.

  “Usually I would say I owe a demon a debt.”

  “So that’s not the case this time?” I asked making him smirk. He had a handsome face that although a little weathered, it just added to his charm. He had little laughter lines in the corners of his eyes which reminded me of Draven sometimes. His eyes were kind and thoughtful, which dangerously drew you into trusting him. His hair looked a little wild with some curls tighter and perfectly formed as opposed to the ones that were more of an unruly wave.

  His nose looked to have been broken at some point but didn’t by any means detract from his handsome features. One of which was a dimple that became a creased line half way up his cheek and only made its appearance when he smiled. It was the type of mark that I could imagine a lover caressing after affectionately making him laugh. I don’t really know where that thought came from but it was so strong I blushed.

  “No, although I do owe him my soul.” I almost missed his answer when getting lost in my thoughts.

  “You owe a man your soul?” I asked horrified.

  “You’re a bit of a biddy little lady ain’t ya?” He said and again there was that dimple.

  “I don’t know what Biddy means.” I said and he laughed before saying,

  “Probably a good thing seeing as it would just make you more biddy.” He sniggered and turned a corner. I frowned at his back and huffed hating not knowing what a stupid biddy was.

  “So, are more of them going to be after us?” I said letting the biddy comment go after deciding this was a far more important question that needed answering. I could only hope of course that I would understand the answer.

  “I would think so, but don’t worry little lady, I got plenty more bad plums for ‘em for when they do.” Uh, I wanted to tell him that I don’t think rotten fruit was going to cut it until I realised he meant bullets when I noticed him patting his gun belt.

  “Are we going back to the Janus Gate?” I asked trying to keep up with his long legged stride. He was about the same height as Draven but it became obvious that Draven took my shorter legs into account when we were walking together. Now though, I was practically jogging next to Bill just trying to keep up.

  “Yeah, that’s what I’m fixin’ on doing but I reckon we need to get a wiggle on.” He said and I hid my smile at hearing the way he spoke. It was almost as bad as trying to understand Pip and I would have said, if she wasn’t blissfully married to Adam, then this guy would have been the perfect second for her.

  “Okey dokey” I said sounding like an idiot, one he looked at like he couldn’t understood a word I said, which was just laughable considering who I was speaking to.

  “You have all your saddle bags in the right place?”

  “Eh, yeah thanks.” He nodded and I rolled my eyes as soon as he turned his back and started walking again.

  We continued on pretty much down the same path that Aurora had led me down but for some reason we seemed to get to our destination a lot quicker than before. I put this down more to despising the company in Aurora than the fact that I had to practically run to keep up with Daddy Wild West long legs here!

  “Oh thank God.” I said out loud and received a disapproving frown from Bill.

  “Now I’ve gone and taken a cotton to ya, so don’t you going spoiling that purely purdy self of yours by cussing little lady.”

  “Uh…come again?” I asked wondering what on earth purdy was.

  “No cussing and taking the Lord’s name in vain.” He elaborated and I snorted in disbelief. This was a demon I was speaking to …right?

  “You’re serious?”

  “As serious as squatting on your Spurs.” He said and just his face alone answered my question.

  “Alrighty then.” I said making him tip the rim of his hat at me again before praising me,

  “Good girl”.

  I was left standing there looking a bit bewildered by the guy. I mean I know that not all demons are bad guys as I have learnt many times before this day but God fearing demon folk that don’t like swearing? The mind just boggles.

  “What the Sam Hill!” Bill shouted from across the Temple, causing something I once again had no clue to what it meant echo around the room.

  “What is it?” I asked climbing over one of the giant fingers that looked like a tree log. I almost got stuck with me straddling it in between my legs and my mind flooded with so many rude jokes I had to bite my lip. This was to stop from obviously upsetting the gentleman cowboy, lawman steampunk dude but also to stop from breaking the cardinal geeky sin and that was when someone starts snorting at their own jokes.

  “The gate, it’s gone…it’s…why that Cultus dung eating…”

  “…Bitch?” I said finishing it off for him so that he didn’t have to be the one cussing as he called it. He didn’t agree but I took his growl as one aimed at Aurora and not me.

  “So what do we do now?” I asked like one of those annoying sidekicks that ended up being more of a hindrance than any help. However even knowing this I still couldn’t help from asking the irritating question, the poor guy.

  “Hell fire and horse feathers!” He said ignoring my ‘Uh?’ and continuing on,

  “First thing is to get out of this Shindig little lady.” He reached out his gloved hand for me to take as he helped me over the rest of the broken limbs on the floor.

  A short time later and I had seriously hit my limit of playing the lamb and following blindly behind people I either didn’t like or didn’t know. Wild Bill Hickok had been quiet for most of the endless walk through Tartarus and for the most part we came across no one. I did notice though that when we arrived at some doors, Bill stopped me so he could listen to what I gathered was whether or not the coast was clear. There had only been one incident wh
ere Bill had to take care of, and when I mean take care of I actually mean spear through the chest with his sword.

  The creature he dispatched looked like a guard of some kind as he was clearly wearing a uniform, one that hid his face from view. I had to admit I was glad if some of the creatures in the prison cell I was locked in with were to go by.

  I nearly asked at one point if all cowboys had swords as he was the first I knew of. Ok, so my Wild West trivia was lacking at best but really, a sword? Unless he was at some point part of the Cavalry, speaking of which it would have been nice to see Tartarus stormed by the Afterlife crew but I guess I couldn’t complain considering I was still alive thanks to Wyatt Earp here.

  As we walked I started to notice even more about him and that included the poker hand he had attached to his hat.

  “Are you any good?” I asked nodding to his hat that held a pair of black aces and a pair of black eights that looked slightly blood stained. He smiled down at me as he held open a door for me that led into a massive spiral staircase which was half covered by the biggest looking thorns I had ever seen!

  “The dead man’s hand.” He said and my frown was all he needed before he continued.

  “That’s what it’s known as, the dead man’s hand, on account of the fact that I died holding that hand.” I almost tripped up on my step and tumbled down the neck breaking fall.

  “You died playing poker?!” I shouted in my shock. I mean it was true, I didn’t know the guy but still hearing how someone died from that living breathing person’s mouth was a shocker for anyone.

  “I did and when I was winning too that dang boot-licker but look at me I could yarn the hours away, you be careful of the soulweed little Miss.” He said pulling me a step further away from the deadly looking thorns that looked like spears desperate to feel blood at their tips. I took his advice and started to concentrate on my footing in this giant tunnel going straight down. Being in this place I didn’t think we could actually get any further down but here we were and from the looks of things, we were heading deeper into the pit that was Hell.

  “I thought we were trying to get out of here?” I had to say after stewing on the silent questions I had for too long.

  “We surely are but there is only…wait.” He said breaking off what he started saying when a shadow fell over us and we both looked up at the same time.

  “Well Butter my Butt and call me Biscuit. That’s a lot of bad plums I’m gonna need.”

  “I really need to learn how to fire a gun” I said after Bill’s comment about needing bullets and his response had me laughing in the face of danger,

  “Well darlin you’re in luck, because here comes your target practice!”

  “You’re darn straight!” I said making sure not to swear but taking one of his guns from him and trying to act confident with it. Because there above us was a swarm of Harpies by the hundreds…

  And they were pissed!

  Chapter 64 –

  Spinning Under Control.

  You could have dropped a double decker bus down the centre of the staircase and it wouldn’t even have touched the sides. Which meant it was unfortunately big enough for Harpies by the hundreds to come flying at us from above. Wild Bill held his guns up ready and I did the same but he looked like he was having second thoughts. He looked to the centre of the staircase with one raised eyebrow like he was calculating his next move.

  I couldn’t believe how calm he seemed in the face of such danger and it helped settle my own nerves. There was just something that drew you in around Bill that made you trust him and his judgement…well that was until he grabbed me around the waist, pulled me close and said,

  “Trust me Little Bean.” The endearing nickname made me nod but my eyes widened as he walked us backwards to the edge of the stairs, closer to the immense drop. I found myself now with two dangers to whip my head between and now I was the one calculating which was going to be worse…Falling to my death or being torn apart by ugly bat women!

  “I want you to stick to me like a grey back, you got me?”

  “Uh not really. But I will hold on if that’s what you mean.” I said having no clue what a grey back was. He winked at me before he reached my arms up to hook them around his neck…

  Then we fell.

  He had walked us backwards off the edge together and I screamed as we fell down the centre. His long jacket tails flapped up around us and with Bill’s arms extended straight up he fired shot after shot up at the Harpies. I turned my head to try and see what was happening and just saw Harpies dropping like flies and spiralling out of control, crashing into the sides of the staircase. I would have liked to have asked what was going to happen when we hit the bottom but I thought now wasn’t a great time seeing as he needed his wits about him.

  I still couldn’t see the floor and couldn’t express how happy this made me that was until I felt a Harpie get close enough to dig her talons in my leg.

  “AHHH!” I screamed as I felt the tips of claws dig in my flesh and through my jeans.

  “Eat lead Varmint!” Bill said and just as the Harpie raised her head to snarl at him he shot her in the face blowing most of her jaw off. Then a swift kick to the head and she finally let go.

  “Hold on!” Bill shouted and I knew without looking we had reached the end. I closed my eyes and heard the whoosh instead of the last sound I thought to hear which would be our landing on solid ground. Instead the noise I heard was one I could never forget and one I used to dream about whenever I was far from Draven…

  It was the sound of wings.

  I opened my eyes and looked to see two massive copper coloured wings that were incredible. They were made up from what looked like thousands of knitted wire feathers that looked far too delicate to take on the strain of keeping two bodies in the air but that was what they were doing. He had unleashed them at just the right moment to save us from breaking every bone in our bodies from the landing. He brought us upright and I looked up to see Harpies still continuing to travel down at us in a spiral pattern.

  I heard the raining of bullet shells and for both our sakes wished he was one of these new age cowboys that was packing a semi-automatic from the movies that never ran out of bullets!

  “We gotta move!” He said clicking his revolver back and firing at the closest grey bodies that looked to be dive bombing us. I looked all around the round empty space that was mostly covered by the thickest roots of what he called soulweed but managed to spot a door.

  “There’s a door!” I shouted over the sounds of bullets flying hoping his amazing skills at shooting things extended to his ability to hear frantic screaming.

  “GO!” He shouted back and I frowned at his back as he cocked the hammer back with his palm for a quicker fire.

  “I’m not leaving you!” I shouted back and he shot me a look of disbelief over his shoulder.

  “Dang Loco She stock!” He said shaking his head before firing off another two rounds before swapping to his other loaded gun.

  “Run and I will cover you as I follow!” I nodded for no reason as he couldn’t see me anyway but I did as I was told and ran for the door. I winced and covered my head with my arms as one of the Harpies snuck through and came for me. It was just about to reach out but then after a brief look of horror on its snarling face it fell to the ground. As it fell the sight of Bill stood there behind it with a smoking barrel aimed right at us. He nodded to the door and then turned just in time to get one between the eyes. There was no doubt about it the man had skills with a gun that was for sure.

  There was no door handle on the arched door so I pushed it with all the measly strength and I jumped when an arm came from behind me and pushed along with me. I like to think it was our combined strength that made the door open but really who was I kidding, it was all from the demon at my back.

  We almost fell into the room and as I was stumbling forward trying to catch myself Bill was already slamming the door behind me. I turned just as he was fitting a large
plank across the door slotting it into the iron holders to keep it locked. All I could think was to thank any God that was listening for it not being locked before we came through it.

  I leant over putting my hands on my knees to catch my breath not from running but from the massive adrenaline rush I had received through being chased through the air. I was by no means an adrenaline junkie which was funny considering the amount of crazy shit I had no choice but to do!

  “Bloody Supernaturals with wings.” I muttered making Bill laugh, which I had to admit wasn’t a bad sound to be hearing right now. It seemed to relax my shattered nerves and after another deep breath I was back to normal. It was one of those deep belly laughs that he actually needed to throw his head back to let it out.

  I smiled but hid it by pulling up my jeans to check out the cuts on my leg from the now dead Harpie. Thankfully it wasn’t too deep and had already stopped bleeding.

  “So what now, cowboy?” And before he could say it I beat him to it,

  “Sorry, I meant Lawman.” He nodded behind me and I turned from his smirk to find an opening.

  “And do we know what’s through there?” I asked just as the banging started from the other side making me jump.

  “Not sure but I’m reckonin’ there ain’t no Harpies in there.”

  “And how do you know that?” I asked trying not to jump again at the sound of them trying to break the door down.

  “Because every one of those she devils are out there trying to get in here.” Ok so he had a good point and this became emphasized even more when the first cracks started to appear in the door.

  “Ok let’s go!” I shouted.

  “Good choice little Miss.” He agreed and stormed past me grabbing my hand and pulling me through the opening. We jogged on through the dark passageway and I was glad he kept hold of my hand so it was easier for me to keep up when he half pulled me. We were nearly through to the other side when we heard the echo of a door being smashed through. The light at the end was bright enough to give me hope as it lit up the fact we didn’t have much farther to run.