King of Hell

by Melody Rose

  “Odd timing,” I muttered, looking around.

  “Yeah, about that.” Gabriel looked around, his voice subdued. “This was supposed to happen yesterday. You know, before…”

  Oops.

  “Oh,” I replied, “Yeah, I guess that puts a damper on things.”

  An awkward silence resumed as we walked back through into the front foyer and up the stairs, turning to the right this time. I noticed on this side of the halls, the decor was a bit more lavish. Small white pedestals lined the wide hall, each containing a white vase holding half a dozen white roses. At the end of the hall, before it turned to the left, was a massive oil painting, done in the lightest pastel colors. I didn’t pay it much mind, but as we got closer, I recognized it. It was a portrait of Michael.

  “He hung up a painting of himself?” I asked, astonished that someone could be so full of themselves.

  “Oh, yeah,” Gabriel replied with raised eyebrows and a sideways glance back at me. “You know Michael, he always had to let you know who he was.”

  I chuckled. “That’s certainly dancing around the whole false idol thing, isn’t it?”

  Gabriel laughed, too. “We called him out on it, but he insisted it was okay since he wasn’t worshipping it. I did notice he always took it down when Dad came rolling through. Always thought it was suspicious myself.”

  Doorways lined both sides of the long hallway, all in white. Each door had a white plaque on it, with the names glowing through it. I saw no numbers and no clear system of organization, but Gabriel knew where to go. We came upon a door with George Hernandez’s name on it, and with a quick nod from Gabriel, I knocked twice and opened the door.

  When we walked through the doorway, we were back outside. The sky was as perfect as it was out on the front lawn, and in front of me sat a long row of shooting benches. A man was sitting at one of them with several rifles set up before him. He was loading up the magazines and prepping his station.

  “George,” Gabriel called, and the man looked up from his work. He looked from Gabriel to me and back and then stood up and approached us.

  “Gabriel,” he called in greeting as he approached. He looked at me, an uncertain look on his face.

  “Lucifer,” I introduced myself with a nod.

  I saw the flare of recognition in his eyes, but he simply nodded.

  “Well, now that you’re all introduced, I’ll hand the floor over to my boy Luci over here,” Gabriel announced as he slapped me on the back.

  I looked over at him with narrowed eyes. “Thanks, Gabe,” I responded, before turning back to George.

  Gabriel chuckled and let himself out, shaking his head as he went.

  “George, you have a daughter,” I stated matter-of-factly.

  He narrowed his eyes at me with suspicion. “Why do you ask?”

  “She’d like to meet you,” I replied.

  George’s eyes widened. “What happened? Where is she?” He sounded on the verge of panic.

  “Relax,” I said calmly, my palms up to face him. “Your daughter is alive and well and healthy.” George visibly relaxed then, so I continued. “She shot me, you know? I’m lucky she happened to miss the major organs, or I wouldn’t be standing here right now.”

  George raised his eyebrows at the news and then wordlessly accepted it as if he understood. He looked down at the ground, deep in thought.

  “She got them, too,” he mumbled to himself. “I was wondering when it would get filtered out of our bloodline. She seemed like a pretty normal kid while I was alive. I figured all the powers had gotten watered-down by her generation. Can she do anything else?” George looked back up at me then.

  “Not that we know of,” I responded, shoving my hands into my pants pockets. “I wouldn’t know where to begin testing it, though.”

  We stood there in silence for a moment as George absorbed all of the information.

  “Like I said before, she wants to meet you,” I repeated. “I told her I would try to make that happen if you’re up for it.”

  “Yes!” George’s face lit up. “Yes, please, I would love nothing more than to be able to spend some time with her.”

  I smiled. “I’m glad. I’ll set something up with Gabe, and we will make it happen.” I turned to walk out the door when I heard his question behind me.

  “Why?”

  I turned back to face him. “Why, what?”

  “Why would you do something like this for her, and for me, after she shot you?” His brow was furrowed, and his head tilted as if he couldn’t quite put the puzzle pieces together. “I mean, what’s in it for you? I feel like I’m missing something.”

  I paused, looking down at the ground, my hands still in my pockets. I hadn’t anticipated this question, I had simply assumed that he would be overjoyed at the prospect of seeing his daughter that he wouldn’t dig any deeper. I thought about Evelyn and how our relationship had developed over these past few weeks. I thought about our mealtime conversations and our dates. I thought about the dance on the rooftop and the kiss there, then the kiss we shared this morning over breakfast.

  “Oh,” George said as if he’d suddenly figured it out.

  When I looked up, he was studying me. My mouth opened and then closed again. Anything I could think of to say would sound ridiculous.

  “It just kind of happened,” I finally said.

  “Mmhmm.” George’s eyes narrowed slightly. He didn’t say anything more about it, so I decided that I wasn’t going to, either.

  After a beat of awkward silence, I nodded to him and let myself out. Gabriel was waiting in the hall for me, pacing with his hands shoved deep into his pockets.

  “So?” he asked, spinning to face me and freeing his hands. “How’d it go?”

  “It went as well as could be expected.” I laughed, but my attempt to appear casual about the visit seemed like it fell short of genuine. “I told him you would set up the visit.”

  “I’ve got you, brother. Don’t worry, I’ll set it up.” Gabriel gestured for me to follow him, and together, we retraced our steps down to the front foyer and out to the front lawn, toward the Gates.

  “So, I’d recommend you steer clear of here for a while,” Gabriel said as we approached the Gates, “but I will stop by tomorrow to pick your friend up and bring her up here.”

  “Thanks, Gabe,” I said in jest, and then I walked through, listening to the Gates snap shut behind me.

  33

  Evelyn

  The knock at my door the next morning wasn’t Asmodeus’ signature knock, nor was it Lucifer’s two quick ones. I wasn’t expecting anyone, but then again, I’d gone to bed long before Lucifer had returned to Heaven, so maybe something had come up during then and now?

  Unsure what I was getting myself into, I opened my door.

  Before me stood a man who looked like he didn’t own either a hairbrush nor an iron, but somehow, he made it work. His light brown messy hair and his light blue eyes certainly looked warm and friendly, but I had learned not to take anyone at face value down here.

  “Uh, hi? Can I help you?” I asked, unable to keep the snark out of my voice.

  “You must be Evelyn,” he said cheerfully. “I’m Gabriel.” He shoved his hand out to shake mine, but I simply looked at it for a second while I thought back to my church-going days to connect the dots.

  I looked up at him suddenly, still not taking his hand. “Archangel Gabriel? That one?”

  He laughed. “The one and only! I think…”

  I shook his hand at that point, still staring at him.

  “I haven’t had a consistent experience with Archangels, so please forgive me, but why are you here?”

  “Luci hasn’t told you?” Gabriel clarified.

  Luci? I chuckled. That was adorable. I couldn’t imagine Lucifer being okay with that nickname. I’d have to test it out on him next time I saw him.

  “Told me what?” I felt like I was missing something.

  “Well, I’m taking you to Heav
en today. You know, to visit your dad. Luci pulled some strings.” He smiled playfully.

  I couldn’t believe it. I knew that Lucifer said he would see what he could do, but this was an incredibly welcome surprise. I must have been standing there with my jaw hung open for a while, because Gabriel laughed.

  “Are you happy surprised or disappointed surprised?” he asked. “I can’t figure out which.”

  I snapped out of it. “Beyond happy!” I gushed. “I just can’t believe this is happening! This is all I’ve wanted for so long, I can’t believe it’s finally here.”

  “Good!” he exclaimed. “You ready?”

  “Yes!” I shouted with happiness.

  “Okay, then!” Gabriel placed his hand gently on my shoulder, and our surroundings faded away.

  The next thing I knew, I was standing on the most comfortable lawn, my feet sinking into the perfectly manicured emerald green grass. We were facing giant, gorgeous ornate gates that were way bigger than any set of gates I had ever seen. The metal curved in every which direction, and they towered over us, with a finish that almost glowed in the sunlight. They weren’t quite silver, it almost looked like they were made of...

  “Whoa.” After a moment, it dawned on me.

  “Are these… the actual Pearly Gates? They’re fucking real?” I started full-on belly laughing. “Who would’ve thought?”

  Gabriel stood back with a smirk on his face and shrugged. “Sometimes you guys have good ideas, what can I say?”

  The Gates slowly swung open to allow us in, and we walked onto a pathway that led up to an impossibly large castle. It was a decent walk up to the front steps of the castle, so as we walked, I looked around. The weather was perfect, the sky was a pristine shade of blue, and I saw a few dogs playing in the distance.

  “Heaven has dogs?” I asked.

  Gabriel looked at me questioningly. “Of course,” he replied. “This is where they all end up.”

  Except for Cerberus, of course.

  The stairs leading up to the front door were ridiculous. There were so many! When we got to the top, the oversized double doors swung open to reveal an opulent foyer with two staircases. Everything was white. It was such a stark contrast to my experiences of the past few weeks. I appreciated the brightness and the sunlight. It was a welcome reprieve.

  After heading up the stairs and down the hallway, I noticed the awful painting of Michael hanging at the end of the hall. It was enormous and incredibly tacky. I burst out in uncontrollable laughter at that point. My laughing echoed down the hall, and Gabriel spun around in surprise. He looked like he wanted to ask me why I was laughing, his mouth moving to form a word, but he could not get the word out.

  “That fucking picture!” I screamed, tears in my eyes. “He’s joking, right?”

  Gabriel started laughing, too. “He was actually very serious about it!”

  This, for some reason, had me laughing even harder, and it took a couple of minutes for me to regain my composure. I was grateful to turn the corner and have that image out of my line of sight.

  Gabriel took me to a door that had my dad’s name on it in glowing letters.

  “You ready?” he asked.

  “Oh, yes,” I gushed, and he knocked on the door before pushing it open.

  Of course, it was an outdoor shooting range. What else would my dad want in his own personal Heaven?

  He was sitting at one of the benches but pivoted in his seat when he heard the door open. Our eyes met, and it felt like time stood still. I felt suddenly seven years old again, and I ran directly into his arms.

  When we pulled away, he had tears in his eyes.

  “Oh, Eve,” he breathed. “Oh, I’ve missed you.” His hands were still on my shoulders, and he had me at arm's length as he spoke.

  “I’ve missed you too, Dad. So much.” I had tears in my eyes again, this time with overwhelming joy to just be in the same place as my father.

  “Come on, let’s sit down,” he said, nodding his head toward the shooting bench. I walked over, noticing the setup looked a bit familiar. I then looked down on the table and saw the initials E.H. carved into the corner, and I knew where I was.

  When my dad was still alive, he would take me to the local shooting range for training. We would go every weekend like clockwork, and he would teach me all the gun safety rules, and we would go over each gun that he owned, discussing the different parts, including what each part did and why it was important. We spent multiple weekends at the range before I was even allowed to hold one of his guns. He had always harped on safety first and drilled it all into my head every week.

  Standing here now, I found it wasn’t the shooting that I remembered. It was the bonding time with my dad. Even if all he did was teach me a few safety rules and have me watch him shoot, I always jumped in the car full of excitement, simply happy to be having one-on-one time with my dad.

  I quickly realized that I wasn’t the only one who felt that way. This man got so much enjoyment out of those weekends that he chose it to be in his version of Heaven. I fought back tears as I took my now-familiar seat. I didn’t want to be anywhere else.

  “So, where did we leave off?” he asked, and I knew exactly what he meant.

  “Well, the last time we were here, you were telling me about trigger discipline.”

  My dad smiled. “Have you practiced since I’ve been gone?”

  “I joined the military,” I said. “Then I got out, and I’m now doing private security.”

  My dad raised his eyebrows, impressed. “That’s a lot of practice.”

  He gestured to the table, and I helped myself to his Daniel Defense, loading it and peering through the sight downrange. It felt familiar to me, as I had one of my own, and I made quick work of my target.

  “I’m impressed, Eve,” he said as he looked me in the eyes. “I’m proud of you. I want you to know that.”

  “Thanks, Dad.” I smiled at him, wishing this weren’t such a momentous occasion, but rather just any random weekend.

  We sat and took turns shooting and reloading for a while in a comfortable silence. It was a perfect afternoon. After a few rounds of practice, my dad turned to face me.

  “So, what’s going on with Lucifer?” he asked, not as casually as he was trying to sound.

  “What do you mean?” I asked. I wasn’t sure I was ready to define or discuss our relationship with anyone at this early stage, let alone with my dead dad. I knew he would disapprove simply because it was Lucifer.

  “You know what I mean,” he said, keeping emotion out of his voice.

  I sighed, unsure of where exactly to start.

  “Well, we certainly met under unusual circumstances,” I said as I loaded up another magazine.

  “So I’ve heard,” Dad replied. “What warranted you needing to discharge your firearm?”

  So, maybe that wasn’t the best place to start.

  “I was working security for a bunch of rich college kids,” I began. “They claimed they were doing a demon summoning. I guess they went a little overboard because the King of Hell showed up. I tried to stop him from entering, but he wouldn’t take no for an answer, and well… I shot him. Apparently, it wasn’t supposed to hurt him.”

  “And you went from shooting the Devil to somehow managing to send him on your errands, huh?” My dad nodded his head, impressed. “Of all the people I would have expected to walk through that door, Lucifer wasn’t one of them.”

  “Yeah, I guess,” I responded, putting the magazine down and turning to face him. “We’ve kind of been on the same mission, trying to figure out what happened, you know? It was a bit strange getting used to being down in Hell, but now that I know the truth about you and about our family, I’d say it was well worth it.” I smiled at him, glad to be able to spend this time with him.

  “Alright,” my dad responded, looking down and reloading. The tone in his voice indicated that he wasn’t very convinced, but he didn’t say anything more about it.

 
After a few more rounds, Gabriel came back in.

  “Hey, you two,” he chirped. “Sorry to break up the party, but I’ve got to get Evelyn downstairs. I have to get back in time for a meeting.”

  “Angels have meetings?” I asked. I learned something new every day.

  “Oh, for sure,” Gabriel replied casually. “Mostly admin stuff, how each section is doing, blah, blah, blah. Nothing ever changes. I usually sneak out after roll call. Unfortunately, now, with Michael gone and me taking over his wing, I won’t be able to pull it off. I’d say pray for me, but then that would reveal my secret!” He snickered. “So… don’t do that.”

  Gabriel walked back toward the door where he stood there waiting for us to say our goodbyes.

  “I never did get my chance to say goodbye before you died,” I told my dad as I stood up and stretched, propping one hand on the table. “I’m glad we got the chance to do that. This is the perfect place.” I looked around at the rows of shooting benches, the green grass downrange, and my initials carved into the wood beneath my fingers. “I’ve missed you.”

  “I’ve missed you too, sweetheart,” my dad said, his voice cracking, tears forming in the corners of his eyes.

  I walked closer and threw my arms around him, squeezing him tight. I felt his arms wrap around me, and we stayed there for a while. When we separated, it felt way too quick.

  “I’ll see you soon, Dad.” I smiled wistfully and turned to meet Gabriel by the door.

  “Not too soon,” Dad said from behind me. “Unless you ask for another favor. Which I encourage you to be smart about!”

  I turned to look back at him and chuckled. “I will, Dad. Love you!”

  “Love you too, Eve,” he said as I followed Gabriel out the door.