Demon Gate: Beyond the 9th Circle: The Rapture Was Just The Beginning.

by Heath, Joel

  courtyard, yet Spencer could sense something

  extremely powerful, and it was close. Spencer

  spied a door on the far side of the courtyard,

  getting to it would only be difficult because of

  the guards that encircled the room. A plan very

  quickly formed in his mind.

  Spencer punched a random person in the

  back of the head and ducked into another part of

  the crowd, and disappeared while the guards

  checked on the riot that was developing. Spencer gradually made his way across

  the crowded courtyard were several guards had

  just abandoned their post to check on the fight

  that Spencer started, Spencer slipped inside the

  door where he found his sword and Jessie’s book.

  Spencer grabbed both items and then peeked out

  into the courtyard to find Vince and Jessie were

  up on a stage at the other end of the courtyard,

  three people were already being transmogrified

  into hideous demons, and they were about to start

  on Jessie. Spencer had maybe a minute.

  The wraithlike guard stepped up to Jessie

  while she struggled to get free. The guard held a

  bead in front of her. The courtyard fell dead

  silent.

  Then the courtyard filled with light

  causing every guard to flee leaving Jessie and

  Vince on stage with three people on stage

  suffering the worst fate imaginable, being forced to serve an evil master. The courtyard erupted into chaos as Spencer made his way up to the

  stage.

  One of people latched on to Vince.

  “Please, kill me,” The man pled.

  Spencer arrived and granted the request, though

  wishing there was another way, the other two

  would-be demons were also dispatched. Spencer handed the book to Jessie. “Come on the exit is around here

  somewhere.” Spencer said.

  Spencer, Vince and Jessie headed out of the

  courtyard into the main building.

  Spencer started noticing exit signs; one

  such sign pointed the way to the exit, as Spencer

  rounded one final corner a single guard blocked

  the path.

  “Beyond us is my master, and suffering

  beyond your comprehension.” The guard hissed.

  “If you desire to pass me, then you must banish

  me to the pit.

  Spencer lunged forward and slashed at the

  guard, and he vanished as though he were dust

  being blown away by a strong gust of wind. “We finally have the ninth circle of hell

  behind us.” Spencer said.

  The exit was a revolving door; Jessie went

  through first, then Vince and then Spencer. As they passed beyond the revolving

  door, each quickly found the others were

  nowhere to be seen, panic started to set in and

  consciousness slowly slipped away.

  Chapter 11 – Nightmare, A Peaceful Respite

  Jessie began to stir. She was still groggy as she came to; she vaguely heard a strange thumping noise. The noise was very close and repeated every few seconds. Her eyes snapped open and she found she was in a very small, enclosed space. It was like a cell and no more the seven feet long and three feet wide. The top of the space was within a couple inches of her head. There was a small window in front of her face measuring seven inches by ten inches, and it allowed in the only light source.

  Something splattered on the window as Jessie caught the sound of the ‘thud’ again. To her horror, she realized it was dirt.

  “What the hell is going on out there?” Jessie asked as she tried to push the container open, but it was locked; another ‘thud’ sound and a shovel full of dirt hit the window, most slid off, but some accumulated.

  “LET ME OUT OF HERE!” Jessie screamed as she realized someone was burying her alive, panic set in and she started slamming her fists against the tiny window, somehow she would get out, she had to.

  Another shovel full of dirt hit the window finally blocking out the light, and then another and another, Jessie kept hitting the window trying to break free of the coffin that would contain her for all eternity.

  “SOMEONE PLEASE, HELP ME!” Jessie screamed.

  Jessie bolted up in bed, finally awake. She wore a bright orange jump suit.

  “What?” Jessie asked. “What’s going on?”

  Jessie’s cell door buzzed before a guard opened it.

  “Time to go Monroe, your lawyer is here.” The guard said.

  “What am I doing here?” Jessie asked. The guard scoffed.

  “You don’t remember?” the guard asked, and then motioned for Jessie to move.

  The guard escorted Jessie out of the cellblock; she realized that four other guards were in formation behind her, they each carried an M-16 assault rifle.

  “Why am I here?” Jessie asked.

  “Be quiet.” The guard demanded.

  Walking into the visitor area where Jessie was seated in front of a triple layer Plexiglas window, beyond the window was a man in a lavish looking suit that probably cost thousands of dollars just to clean.

  Jessie picked up the phone as the guards stepped back to a safe distance.

  “You’re my lawyer?” Jessie asked. The man nodded.

  “That’s right, Ms. Monroe.” The lawyer confirmed.

  “You mind telling me what the hell I’m doing in here?” Jessie demanded.

  The lawyer almost laughed.

  “This is where all criminals are sent.” The lawyer smirked.

  “What was I accused of?” Jessie asked. The lawyer deflected the question.

  “I hear you’ve been making quite a quandary in regard to the events of last week, I’m sure you don’t need to be reminded.” The lawyer said as he buried his smug nose into some paper work.

  “Actually, I do.” Jessie stated.

  The lawyer briefly looked up from the papers he had.

  “Moving on,” the lawyer said. Jessie’s rage started to build, but she put on a smile.

  “I asked you a question.” Jessie reminded, but the lawyer continued to evade the question and the answer, which he refused to give up. Jessie leapt to her feet and slammed both fists onto the Plexiglas.

  WHY AM I HERE?” Jessie demanded as four guards arrived to restrain her.

  The lawyer smirked.

  “We’ll talk later; you may be going into solitary confinement.” The lawyer warned, and then glanced at the guard in charge. “Let the warden know I want to speak with Ms. Monroe when she’s released from solitary. If there’s time.”

  The guard nodded then the lawyer left.

  “If there’s time?” Jessie asked as she was dragged away from the window.

  The guards escorted Jessie to solitary confinement and locked her in.

  What did my lawyer mean ‘if there’s time? Jessie wondered, tension was building. “Am I being released?” Jessie shook her head, though she didn’t want to think about it there was only one possible meaning for the lawyer’s statement.

  Jessie sat up in the dreary cell for six hours dreading what she knew was coming until a guard opened a slat in the door.

  “Are you comfortable in there?” the guard asked.

  Jessie stayed quiet, choosing not to dignify the question with a response of any kind.

  The slat closed and the cell remained quiet for more than twelve hours.

  Finally, the door opened, this time eight guards stood outside the door.

  “Ms. Monroe, the Warden called, she wants to see you.” The lead guard declared.

  “Is she going to tell me what got me locked up in this hell hole?” Jessie asked.

  “Maybe, but why, you know what you did?” the guard said with a laugh.

  Jessie
wanted to smack the smile off the guards face, but now was not the time, she allowed the guards to escort her to the warden.

  Entering the warden’s office, she was chained to a restraining rail so she and the warden could talk in private.

  Once the guards had left, the warden took a seat.

  “Ms. Monroe, I asked you here so we could talk privately about why you’re here.” The warden began.

  “Just what I wanted to talk about…” Jessie began but the warden rudely interrupted.

  “So, are you ready to tell me the truth?” the warden asked.

  “Actually I wanted to know what crime warranted me being locked up here.” Jessie explained.

  “Let’s not be coy, Ms. Monroe, you--”

  This time it was Jessie’s turn to interrupt.

  “I have no memory of any crime or anything else prior to waking up in my cell and my lawyer needing to talk to me less than twenty four hours ago, nobody will tell me a damn thing, and I just want some straight forward answers.” Jessie ranted.

  The warden made a sour expression.

  “Let’s be frank, Ms. Monroe.” The warden began, “you’re on death row for your crime and unless you tell me something, your execution will go forward at first light.”

  Jessie could hardly breathe; the revelation was like a kick to the stomach.

  “Death row?” Jessie confirmed, “There must be some mistake.”

  The warden shook her head. It was clear that the warden was like everybody else, she was only hearing what she wanted to hear, and she seemed to want Jessie to be found guilty, regardless.

  “What am I supposed to say, you want me to confess to a crime that I can’t even

  remember.” Jessie spat.

  “If you don’t give me anything then I can’t give you a stay of execution.” The warden warned.

  It suddenly occurred to Jessie that something was not right; she couldn’t tell what is was that was off, but it was something and that she had to act.

  “I’d like to go back to my cell now.” Jessie said.

  The warden exhaled a defeated breath before she switched on her intercom.

  “Take the prisoner back to her cell.” The warden paused as the guards entered the room.

  “Your execution will be tomorrow at six o’clock in the morning.” The warden advised.

  Jessie was then unlocked, Jessie made her moved slamming her fist into the guard and using him as a battering ram as she made for the door, reaching for the guards weapon she pulled it free and shot two guards that stood in her way. Twisting to the side, she then shot the guard that served as her human shield and ran for the door only to find twenty more guards barring her path. Raising her weapon she found it was out of ammunition.

  “Take her.” One of the guards said and Jessie was taken into custody and escorted out of the warden’s office, as she left she looked back at the warden to see her smile wickedly. Jessie was escorted back to her cell; the warden’s smile really bothered her.

  Jessie couldn’t fall asleep, the image of the smug grin on the warden’s face was

  everywhere, in her sleep, on the cell wall and every inmate between Jessie’s cell and the warden’s office.

  It was close to six am when Jessie was alerted by another guard outside her cell, the door buzzed and the cell door opened.

  “It’s time, Monroe.” The guard said as he stood outside the open cell door.

  Jessie stood from her bed and walked out into the corridor the area was brimming with guards, armed to the teeth.

  Jessie was escorted out of the cellblock to a gas chamber. Inside there was a table that Jessie would be strapped to before lethal gas would be released into the chamber. As the table fell into focus Jessie started to feel sick to her stomach and her whole body turned clammy.

  “Do not worry, my daughter.” A priest declared. Jessie glanced at the priest, and for a second he looked familiar, almost like a man she knew from a long forgotten dream.

  “Vince.” Jessie gasped, she had no idea why, the name just popped from her lips. A crack appeared in the wall, bright light shone from within the crack, only Jessie managed to notice it, the guards were oblivious.

  “Into the gas chamber, Monroe.” One of the guards said, pointing a gun at Jessie. Jessie walked by and into the gas chamber; she was directed to the table where she saw a pair of handguns with ivory grips. Jessie took stock of how many guards there were, she counted no less than twenty guards.

  Jessie grabbed for the guns and then the guards took notice.

  “SHE’S ARMED!” one of the guards shouted.

  Jessie began firing at the guards, one by one the guards began to drop, until all twenty had fallen. It was another minute before the warden entered.

  “Why am I here?” Jessie demanded, enunciating each word, both weapons pointed at her captor.

  The warden said nothing, so Jessie fired a single shot right at the warden’s face, the warden smiled as the bullet vanished in a puff of smoke.

  “You’re remarkably resilient, Jessie Monroe.”

  Jessie fired again and again, each round fired had the same result, finally one gun clicked, the clip was empty, Jessie tossed it aside and checked the her last clip, there was a single bullet.

  More guards started arriving, not just a couple dozen, but hundreds of guards began to fill the room.

  Jessie replaced the clip, and racked the round into the chamber.

  “If I am going to die,” Jessie began as she pointed the gun at herself, “It will be under MY control.”

  The warden reached her hand outward as if to stop Jessie.

  “NO!” the warden shouted, “Not this way!”

  Jessie pulled the trigger.

  Jessie snapped awake to find herself in a small room, probably twenty feet across, lying on a bed. In the center of the room was a small table with several beads on it; smooth black beads with a hole on either side.

  Something was eerily familiar about the beads but Jessie could not remember why. Standing up Jessie approached the table and picked up one of the beads to examine it, as she brought the bead close to her face it began expelling a thick cloud of black fog, Jessie dropped the bead and began to hack and cough. Then all of the beads began to expel the same black fog.

  Dropping to her knees, she could feel her stomach and lungs began to tingle, then ache before the aching faded and it felt like her stomach and lungs were on fire.

  Jessie raised her shirt to examine her stomach only to reveal that the skin was turning a pale purple, the skin color change was rapidly accelerating.

  Jessie stumbled over to a mirror on the far side of the room to examine the changes. Her arms and legs were already converted to a hideous demonic figure and the change was creeping up her neck, forcing her to rear her head back. The pain was too much and a painful, horrified scream escaped her lips, the scream quickly changed to a shriek as the change finished taking effect.

  As Jessie looked into the mirror, the last changes were snuffing out who she used to be, and replacing her eyes with a pair of cold yellow eyes. She had become a hive queen, a servant of Lucifer.

  Jessie screamed as she was roused from a terrifying nightmare, waking up she examined herself and found her skin the proper color, her eyes, everything was fine, or was it, a loud gun shot rang out, memories were flooding in, she was trapped in a house, but anything else was lost on her.

  Spencer rushed into the room.

  “Jessie you have to stop Corbin, he’s going to try and leave.” Spencer pled.

  Innately Jessie knew where Corbin was and rushed to the front door where a young man in a stylish, free flowing haircut was being blocked from the door by Gretchen.

  “No, if you leave, then you will die.” Gretchen reminded.

  “We’re dead anyway, maybe I can make it if I run.” Corbin expressed.

  “Like Linda?” Gretchen asked, “She didn’t make it off the front porch.” Gretchen asked.

  “I don’t care, I can’t
die like this.” Corbin said as he pulled Gretchen away from the door, opened it and ran out the door.

  A shot rang out, and Corbin jolted backward, the shot struck him in the head. The force of the gunshot and his forward momentum caused him to do a back flip and land on his face, he lay still, he was dead.

  “CORBIN, YOU IDIOT!” Gretchen screamed, then a second shot came in and struck Gretchen in the heart, killing her.

  For some strange reason, Spencer almost seemed pleased that Corbin and Gretchen had been killed.

  “Spencer, the snipers are pulling back.” Vince said from his spot just inside by a window.

  “They’re probably going to be detonating the bomb soon.” Spencer said.

  Vince moved away from the window toward Jessie.

  “Since we’re about to die, I think I should tell you something, Jessie.” Vince began as he tried to kiss Jessie. “I love…” a bullet ripped through the glass and struck Vince in the back of the head spraying blood on Jessie.

  “VINCE, NO!” Jessie screamed.

  An air raid siren began blaring.

  “We have just under a minute before the bomb goes off.” Spencer said.

  “And then what?” Jessie asked hoping there was a plan to survive; she was trying not to cry.

  But at the same time something was bothering Spencer, something didn’t seem right, and then she figured it out.

  “You’re not Spencer, are you?” Jessie asked.

  “Jessie, we’re about to die and you want to play a stupid game?” Spencer asked.

  Spencer pointed at the door.

  “If we both make a run for it, one of us will make it

  “Tell me who you really are.” Jessie demanded.

  “I don’t have time for this.” Spencer said.

  Jessie headed deeper into the house where three other people waited for their untimely death.

  Brittany, Halley, and Mr. Monroe. Jessie stopped at the sight of her father, as though he were tied to a painful memory, but where was her mother?

  Spencer noticed Jessie’s father and got really angry.

  “What the hell are you doing here?” Spencer seethed.

  “Remember where you really are Jessie, don’t let him deceive you.” Mr. Monroe pled. The air raid sirens grew silent and then a rumbling sound filled the air as a light grew brighter than the sun.

  After a minute, the light faded.