by Adam Moon
Melanie ran to him and started to roughly inspect his body for bullet wounds.
"Where did he hit you?"
Jessie pointed at his own face but there were no marks, let alone a fatal gaping bullet wound.
She said, "I don't understand."
"I can't tell you everything Melanie but just know that I'm more than just a weird little boy and it'll take more than a silly little gun to kill me."
She shook her head, trying to make sense of what he was saying.
He continued, "Promise me you won't breath a word of this to Luke."
"What's to say? He wouldn't believe me anyway."
"He would. He knows something's coming. If you told him, he'd worry."
Melanie had a sort of epiphany. Well, it had been a lingering suspicion but she'd managed to squash it whenever it had come to her in the past. She asked, "Is Luke Jack or is he Lucifer?"
"I think you know."
That was all she needed to hear. She said, "Alright then, get your shit, we're getting the fuck out of here."
Jessie shook his head sadly. "We can't go. Jack is back and he's coming for us."
"What? My Jack? He's coming for us? If fake Jack is Lucifer that means my Jack is in hell. How did he escape?"
"I can't give you many answers and for that I'm truly sorry. You'll see."
"Ugh. What the hell has my life become?"
He answered, "What it was always meant to be."
She stared at the boy. "Ok then, what the fuck are you?"
He looked down and whispered, "When you find out, I don't think you'll love me anymore."
That softened her and she said, "I'll always love you, no matter what you tell me."
He said, "It won't be long before everything is clear."
She shook her head, had one last look around, and shut the door behind her as she left the room. It was all too much to take in. Her disgust had been replaced with a newer, more awful kind of disgust. She wanted nothing more than to escape this mess, but she was stuck here; chained by her devotion to those she held dear. But those she held dear were hiding things from her; important things.
She had one objective now: Get as drunk as possible, as quickly as she could. Who cared that it was the middle of the day?
She grabbed a bottle of vodka and the jug of orange juice from the fridge. She brought it all back to the living room and filled her empty coffee cup with the mix.
She slammed it back and waited for the alcohol to slow down her fevered thoughts.
She hoped Jessie was telling the truth and not just coming up with imaginary scenarios. She hoped Luke was Lucifer. She hoped the real Jack was coming for her.
It scared her to imagine what might happen, but anything was better than this so called life she'd fashioned for herself.
Running From the Cops
Shelly noticed it first: The distinct sound of helicopter rotors.
Jack was asleep in the passenger seat despite the fact that he'd told her he never sleeps.
She said, "Wake up dude."
Jack mumbled something incoherent and jolted awake. "What the fuck is that noise?"
Just then a siren erupted and strobe lights shone behind them. Shelly could only guess that maybe the golf course owner or the bartender had seen a bunch of scary monsters kill one of their customers and they reported it to the authorities.
Jack said, "We can't fight them because we'll kill them all, and I don't think we can outrun a chopper. Our best bet is for you to drop us all off and we'll scatter. Hopefully the chopper will be more interested in us than it is in you. You drive back to the house, and try not to lead them to us."
"Why don't you just kill them?"
"Are you kidding me? I'm not evil. Those people are innocent. I expected more from you."
"I know. I don't know what I was thinking."
"Ok then, slow down after you take that right up ahead." Jack looked in the back seat. "Everyone get out when she stops. Meet back at the house."
Shelly slowed down and as one, all the doors burst open and all the creatures scattered.
Jack said, "Good luck," and then he took off running.
It was odd seeing a beast so powerful and evil looking, fleeing.
Shelly floored it. The chopper seemed to veer away from her but that fucking squad car was still right on her ass. She'd never been in a high speed chase before, but compared to the things she'd been through these last few days, it was par for the course.
Regroup
Jack was the last to get back to the house. It turned out that the cops didn't care as much for catching a pig or a hyena as they did for capturing a devil monster. But he was fast and agile and after a long zigzagging trek, he'd managed to lose them.
Surprisingly, he wasn't out of breath in the least. He actually felt exhilarated.
His minions swore they hadn't slaughtered any cops as they made their escape. He was glad for that. He'd been spotted, but that wasn't nearly as bad as getting caught. If God was paying attention, he would have missed what happened because it had remained inconsequential.
He made sure the werewolf was extra vigilant in its rounds. He even let the Goatraffe out of the shed just in case they had to make a run for it on a moments notice. He regretted that right away. The thing spat on him and told him to fuck off. He hit it in the solar plexus but it just spat on him again and kept saying fuck off until he slammed the back door on the asshole.
He didn't think it was much of an ally but it had helped him out once before so maybe it would come in handy again.
All were present except for Shelly. Had they caught her? If they had, would she give them up or lie for them?
Dick eyes suggested they move on just in case she spilled the beans but Jack had to give her more time. He trusted her almost as much as he trusted the spider.
Jailbird
Shelly had been caught.
It turned out she sucked at high speed chases. She'd tried to take a corner too quickly and when she hit the curb her passenger side tire exploded and the car ground to a screeching halt with sparks flying and men yelling over loudspeakers for her to get the fuck out and get on the ground.
She knew that was the end of the line so she jumped out and tried to take off running but that fucking cop shot her from behind with his tazer. The pain had been excruciating. She would have preferred to have been shot through with a bullet.
She rubbed the wounds left behind from the electrodes while she waited in the interrogation room for the cops to come in and give her the third degree.
She decided she would tell them everything that had happened to her over the past month except where Jack was hiding out. They weren't going to believe her no matter what she told them so she might as well just tell the truth.
She couldn't wait to see the looks on their faces.
She wondered if her jail cell would deter angels from trying to molest her. She wondered if the cops could do anything to stop them if they decided to come for her.
She wished she was back with Jack. He was the ugliest, scariest protector the world had ever seen, but she missed him dearly.
Drastic Measures
Lucifer was starting to feel the pressure. Jessie was acting truly weird all of a sudden. Melanie was starting to piece things together, he could tell. A military unit had assaulted him and his family. He need to ramp things up.
As it stood, his members numbered in the thousands; he needed millions to attract the attentions of his fellow angels.
Or he could take a short cut, as risky as that may be.
He said, "Fuck it," to himself. He logged onto the computer at church and searched for Shelly Collins, a name he'd made sure to memorize since it was a name whispered by God to all of the angels to be the mother of the next messiah. God hadn't spoken to anyone in two thousand years, so to say it was a special treat would be an understatement of biblical proportions.
He got a couple of meager hits for Shelly. She had a social media presence
but she hadn't logged on to any of her accounts in over a month to post status updates or chat or whatever the hell it was kids did on those sites.
He saw an article with her featured prominently. The article was about angels and it did not paint them in a favorable light.
Then he saw a fresh police report (one of his followers was a cop and despite it being against the law, had been coerced into giving Lucifer access to their databases. Lucifer was glad he'd had such foresight now). Shelly had been arrested for a bizarre attack that had left one man dead at a nearby golf course. She was being held in Kenosha but no bond was posted so either she was being denied bail or she hadn't yet gotten to that point. That was fine.
He'd pay her a visit, and he didn't need bail money to spring her.
Footsies
Jack nudged Dick-eyes out of the way with his hoof. The thing wouldn't shut the fuck up. It kept insisting, in its own language of clicks and jitters, that they needed to clear out of the house.
Finally Jack got angry and stamped his hoof down on the floor. The entire house rattled and Dick-eyes took off for the kitchen.
Jack's hoof ached from it. He sat down and crossed his leg to get a better look at the damage he'd done to himself.
The hoof had cracked in several places. Jack pried at the cracks and they widened. It didn't hurt but he was nervous about what he'd discover if he peeled the entire hoof off. He did it anyway if only because a broken hoof is a useless hoof. He tore and pried and when half of it lay in chunks on the floor, he saw something that he'd sort of expected to see; a human foot was hidden beneath the hoof. He eagerly tore the rest of it off and then marveled at his new foot. It was pale and moist and it stunk of month old socks but it was human and it looked at least as strong as the hoof that had housed it.
He crossed his other leg and worked at that hoof now.
Within twenty minutes he was standing on wobbly legs, testing out his new feet. They were a little tender but they were toughening up by the minute.
He found some nail clippers in the bathroom and went to work on the mangled, distorted toe nails (deformed from being stuck inside the hoof).
When he was done, he felt like a dip-shit. He'd wasted a lot of precious time on the feet. He'd used them as a distraction from reality. Dick-eyes was right, the longer they waited for Shelly, the more likely it would be that they'd be discovered.
Dick-eyes came into the living room slowly, probably still afraid Jack was mad at him.
Jack smiled and said, "Let's get moving, huh?"
Dick-eyes looked at Jack's new feet and scurried over to inspect them.
Then he scurried back into the kitchen. He returned with a soapy washcloth and dropped it on Jack's bare foot.
Jack got the hint. "You don't smell so good either buddy." Then he said, "Get everyone ready to move out. We need a new house to hide out in. Also, if the cops did get Shelly, we need to find a safe way to break her out of jail."
The spider gave him its grim look but Jack just waved it off. The thing had an agenda and it clearly hated to deviate from it.
Jailbreak
Shelly heard muffled gunfire.
So this was it then. The angels were coming and Jack and his minions weren't around to help her this time.
How many angels were going to gang rape her?
So much for the police motto: To protect and to serve. These idiots were about to be run through in no time.
Or, she hoped, it was Jack taking on the entire Kenosha County police department to break her out, like the hero her imagination had elevated him to.
A cop came rushing into the holding area. He was panting, looking about frantically for an escape route.
He said, "He won't die. He just keeps coming."
"Who."
"Some dark haired guy."
So it wasn't Jack. It was just a rape-happy angel.
Shelly said, "Just let him in here. He's coming for me. The sooner you guys get out of his way, the less likely he'll be to kill you to get to me."
The cop looked at her like she had ten heads. He said, "Shut the hell up girl. You have no idea what's going on out there."
"I think I have a pretty good grasp of the situation."
There was a loud crash outside the door the cop had just come through. He jumped in the air and then he took off through another exit, leaving Shelly unattended.
She had a silly thought: Why not get undressed right now and lay down on the little cot? She was going to be raped and there was nothing she could do about that but she could make it easier on herself.
Before she went through with it, it was too late. The door opened and a man casually walked through. His eyes darted straight to her.
Shelly's breath caught in her throat.
The man was stunning in ways her brain could barely comprehend.
He wasn't much older than her, had a good physique and handsome features, but it was his eyes that made her crumble. There was so much beauty and hope and love and despair that she thought she might cry tears of joy and hope just staring into them.
But when he grabbed her cell door and tore it out of its mounting, she knew it wasn't really a man. It was an angel, but one unlike the others.
And right then she knew who she was dealing with. This was Lucifer. Lucifer was about to rape her. Under different circumstances (like if she didn't know he was Lucifer) he might not have had to rape her. She might have given herself to this beautiful creature freely.
But if he wanted rape, he didn't act like it. He grabbed her gently by the hand without saying a word, and led her from the jail cell. For some odd reason she obeyed and quietly followed his lead.
A cop took a shot at them the second they left the holding cell area. Lucifer was too quick though, and acted like a meat shield for her. Bullets zinged right off of him as he walked toward the exit.
Another cop took a pot shot from over the top of a desk. It zipped past Shelly's neck and that seemed to infuriate Lucifer. He growled and took two steps towards the shooter but he must have had second thoughts about killing the guy because he quickly resumed his escape.
Even though Shelly knew this did not bode well for her, there was something to admire about the fallen angel. He was strong and purposeful. He seemed to value her life, but then why was that? And he had restraint; he could have killed that cop but he rose above it and let it go.
A tiny part of Shelly's shell shocked brain was hoping Jack would show up like a knight in shining armor and save her, but the more rational part knew that Jack and all of his hell beasts wouldn't stand a snowballs chance in hell against this guy.
Lucifer Steals Jack's Girl...Again
Jack's feet were far better equipped to handle the accelerator and brake than his hooves had been. He was driving barefoot only because he didn't have any shoes, but that was ok, he liked it better that way.
He idled to a stop outside the police station. He figured if push came to shove he could just march right in there, let the bullets bounce off his hide, rip the cell door open and carry Shelly to safety. That was assuming this was the right place. Maybe they were holding her somewhere else, in another nearby jail. Maybe the cops hadn't got to her and she was still out there driving around, trying to lose them. But if she'd been caught, it would have probably been in or around Kenosha.
He figured he'd hang out, see what was up, and decide from there.
His thoughts turned to stone when he saw the fucker. It was Lucifer nonchalantly waltzing right out the front door with Shelly in tow, being led by the hand like a child.
Jack's horns erupted from his forehead and sent a searing pain that made him scream out in agony. The scream shattered the windows of the car and caused the werewolf to howl.
Lucifer had Jack's body and face and mannerisms but he exuded that peculiar glow that only Jack and others who'd seen hell first hand could detect.
Jack's feet started to curl up and harden as he gripped the steering wheel in a fit of fury. The pain was int
ense as his newly released feet crusted over and became hooves once more. The tail he'd ripped off like an old scab grew like a worm wriggling out of the mud during a rainstorm. His skin hardened and he saw it redden. His claws grew out before his eyes.
It was the pain that stopped him from reacting. Every fiber of his being screamed out for him to rush Lucifer and destroy him, or die trying. But the pain immobilized him.
He watched through the foggy windshield as Lucifer poured gasoline over his own head and then lit himself on fire.
Woohoo!, Jack thought, but Lucifer wasn't committing suicide, he was molting.
His human body peeled off in thick chunks of char and ash and the real Lucifer emerged before his eyes.
Jack had to admit to himself, the creature was magnificent and formidable. When every last flickering flame died down Lucifer grabbed a shell-shocked Shelly in a bear hug and took off into the sky with his immense, leathery black wings.
At the last moment, he looked into the car and acknowledged its occupants. The look of arrogance was obvious as he sneered at them and then winked their way, right before he disappeared into the sky.
Jack said fuck and he shook the steering wheel with impotent rage.
He smacked the spider off the passenger seat and through gritted teeth said, "Why did you bother undemonizing me if it could all be undone in seconds?"
Dick-eyes said nothing.
Jack looked at the abandoned gas can outside the police station and said, "Can I do that? Can I shed my form with fire?"
Dick-eyes told him he could not.
It seemed Lucifer had him beat at every turn. He was bigger, stronger, smarter, knew all the tricks, and yet Jack still wanted to take him on. He ached for the opportunity, and he'd just let it slip through his fingers. Where the fuck was Lucifer taking Shelly? Was he really going to rape her as the prophecy foretold or were his plans more grandiose?
Why was Jack still sitting in the car with a back seat full of monsters while cops poured through the doors with guns in their hands and indignant, fearful anger painted across their expressions?