by Mac Flynn
I saw a glisten of a lighted match as Roland lit it and tossed the match onto the belly of the overturned vehicle. The gas tank caught fire and the car exploded in a brilliant flash of red flames. I jumped out of my car and watched the vehicle burn. Roland walked up to me and half-turned to face the carnage.
"They will not be bothering us any longer," he commented.
My mouth dropped open and I waved my hand at the car. "Yeah, but did you really have to turn them into roasted marshmallows?"
"Yes. From what you told me they were spawns of the Devil and only fire purifies his creations," he explained.
I dropped my arm and frowned. "So we're not going to be tried for murder?"
"Only in a court of the Devil's making," he assured me. "But we must be going. The Devil must suspect where we are headed and sent them to try to cut us off. That assures us this Finnegan has the spell to break curses."
Roland moved towards the car, but one of his legs faltered and he collapsed to the ground. He caught himself on his hands, but bent over like he needed to worship the porcelain goddess.
"Roland!" I yelled.
I sprang forward and grabbed his arm. The light from the fire let me see the sweat the rolled down his pale forehead. His mouth was set in a thin line and he bit his lower lip so hard that blood dribbled down his chin.
"You're not okay, are you?" I asked him.
"Each time I use my strength I die a little more," he informed me.
"Then lean on me and let's get hobbling to Flat-Nose for your instant cure," I told him.
CHAPTER 8
I hauled Roland into my car and, like Jesus, took the wheel. Roland sat beside me with his soul box clutched in his shaking hands. Sweat glistened on his face as he labored to breath.
"You'd better stay with me," I warned him.
He managed a small smile. "I have no plans on leaving you."
"Then you'd better not surprise me with a permanent vacation," I insisted.
Finnegan's house wasn't too far down the road. The headlights on my car caught the low, shabby house fifty yards in front of us. The house sat at the end of Ray Road, so there was a wide spot in the road for a turnaround. I aimed the car for a nice parking spot in front of the house, but a sudden earthquake changed my plans. A crack formed in the ground ten feet in front of us and a wall of flame burst from the ground and shot twenty feet into the air.
I spun the wheel to avoid us being swallowed in the flames. The car fish-tailed and slid to a stop with the passenger side aimed even with the wall of fire and one foot from the crack. The flames were sucked back into the crack and everything was as it was before.
Well, except for the creepy man in black who stood on the other side of the crack and fifteen feet from us. He wore a black suit with matching shoes, and in one hand was a black cane. The man wore his black hair long and tied behind him in a tail. One look at him made my heart beat like an eighties rock band on drugs. A little redundant, but you get the point. Every part of me down to my soul knew this guy was trouble. Especially my soul.
The man faced the ground, but he raised his eyes and smiled at Roland and me. His teeth were as white as his suit was black, and his eyes glowed red like the coals of his domain.
"Good evening," he greeted us.
Roland turned to me and shoved his soul box into my hands. At that moment the red mist was winning over the blue mist and the emblem on the side of the box glowed bright-red.
"Hold this and stay in the car," he ordered me.
"Oh hell no. I know trouble when I see it, and that man's trouble," I argued.
"He is not a man, and that's why you must remain in here," he insisted.
My eyes widened as Roland confirmed what I feared. "Then that's-"
"Roland, Misty, I would rather not wait all night to speak with you both," the Devil called to us.
"You must stay in here," Roland repeated.
"And let you face the Devil alone? Hell no. We're both going," I told him. I tried to open my door, but Roland grabbed my hand and clasped it in both of his. I turned to him and he caught my eyes.
"Misty, so long as you hold my soul nothing will happen to me," he told me.
"But-"
"Nothing will happen to me so long as you hold my soul," he insisted. "You are my protection. My cross. The Devil has no power to take my soul so long as you hold it."
"But what's going to keep him from me?" I pointed out.
Roland leaned towards me and cupped one of my cheeks in his cool, clammy hand. He studied my face and smiled. "Love will find a way," he whispered.
"Come, come, don't be shy," the Devil called to us.
Roland pulled away and slipped out before I could catch a hold of his sleeve.
"Roland!" I yelled as he walked away from the car and towards the Devil. "Roland, get back here!" He kept walking.
"Oh, hell no is this going to happen now," I muttered as I kicked open my door and jumped out.
Roland paused and turned back to me as I ran up to him. "Go back to the-"
Another earthquake hit the area. I heard a groan and glanced back in time to see the ground beneath my car lift up. My car was raised twenty feet into the air. The vehicle was now too high to drive and too low to fly.
A low chuckle came from the man in black, and we returned our attention to him. His red eyes glanced between us and his smile widened.
"I wish to speak to both of you," the Devil informed us.
Roland stepped in front of me and held out his arm. "Your business is only with me," he protested.
The Devil shook his head. "On he contrary. The lovely young woman is quite involved."
"Speaking of involved, I thought you were supposed to butt out of the business of mortals," I spoke up.
He gave a slow nod to the box in my hands. "That soul concerns me, and with you as the keeper you also concern me."
"Then you'd better get concerned because I'm not handing it over," I told him.
The Devil clucked his tongue. "You don't know what you two are asking me to do."
"I won't allow you to hurt her," Roland insisted.
The Devil's red eyes turned to Roland. "I don't want to hurt either of you, but especially you, Roland. You're like a son to me," he commented.
I snorted. "Then he must be adopted."
The Devil dropped his hand onto the top of his cane and smiled. "All my children are adopted, but they all return to me sooner or later. Sooner has come to Roland."
He raised his cane and tapped it against the ground. The soul box in my hand leapt into the air. I gripped its lid and was dragged towards the Devil.
"Misty!" Roland yelled.
Roland jumped towards me, but the Devil tapped his cane against the ground. Roland let out a cry and fell face-first onto the ground. The soul box stopped its flight two feet from the Devil and floated six feet off the ground so I was face-level with the black man himself.
I looked over my shoulder at Roland and watched him raise himself onto his arms. He clutched his chest and grimaced in pain.
"You're one of mine, Roland, and I have enough power over you to keep you from interfering," the Devil warned him.
"But I'm not," I snapped. My fingers slipped on the box, but I readjusted my hold.
The Devil turned his attention to me and frowned. "You were a minor bit of entertainment for me, but now you are quite the nuisance. Release your hold on the box and I can allow you to live."
"Go fish yourself," I quipped.
His eyes narrowed and he poked my stomach with the bottom of his cane. Smoke rose up from my shirt and a sharp stab of white-hot pain swept from the point of contact and over the rest of my body. I winced, but my fingers held. His cane hovered over my stomach and his lips curled back in a snarl.
"You're only making this worse for yourself," he warned me. He stabbed me again. I bit my lip to stifle the yell, and my fingers lost a little of their grip on the box. "Release the box now."
"No," I coughe
d out.
"There is no reason to concern yourself in this matter," he pointed out. "You have nothing to gain."
"You don't understand anything. I'm not doing this for me." I jerked my head over my shoulder in Roland's direction. "I'm doing this for him. So you can keep stabbing me with that cane, but I'm not going to let go." I drove my point home when I tightened my grip on the box.
The Devil snarled at me. "You bring this upon yourself."
He jabbed the cane into my gut, and this time the stick stuck there. The white-hot heat flowed over me like a thousand hot, sharp needles. They pierced me in a thousand different places and wracked my body with more pain than I ever imagined. I writhed and squirmed, but I couldn't escape the cane. I also didn't let a sound escape my lips. I wouldn't give him that pleasure.
My fingers jumped and slipped. I was mentally stubborn, but my body couldn't hold out much longer. The pain convulsed my muscles and I felt myself slipping into unconsciousness.
"Misty!" I heard Roland yell.
I narrowed my eyes and ground my teeth together. There was no way I was going to let this fancy-suited devil take the man I cared about, the man I loved, away from me.
A bright light erupted from my chest. The Devil cried out in anger and shielded his arm over his eyes. He staggered back and the cane fell from my chest. I gasped as the pain was sucked out of me. Then that air was punched out of me as the box dropped from the air and onto the ground. I fell with it and the air was knocked from my lungs on impact.
I raised my head and watched the Devil steady himself five yards from where I lay. I sat up and clutched the box against my chest. The light faded to a dull glow. I reached into my shirt and pulled out Frank's necklace. The light came from the small ornament of flowers.
The Devil lowered his arm a little and glared at me over the top. "You little bitch," he snapped.
I dropped the necklace onto my shirt and grinned. "You. . .would know," I gasped.
"You only delay Roland's death," he warned me.
"I'm willing. . .to take a chance. . .at finding a way. . .to lift the curse," I replied.
"You care for him so much and yet you would have him die?" he challenged me.
The Devil looked past me and beckoned with one hand. I glanced over my shoulder and watched Roland float off the ground and over to us so he hovered beside the Devil and me. Roland looked hideously pale and the hand that held his chest shook.
"If you doubt my word then look at him," the Devil dared me.
The Devil wasn't lying. Roland looked like he had a foot and three-quarters in the grave. I pressed the box closer to me. One of the corners brushed against the necklace. A flash of light lit up the dark night. I looked down and saw something had changed. Was the box. . .?
A smile lit up my face. I grasped the necklace in one hand and wrapped my other arm around the box.
"There's more than one way to skin a cat, and open a cursed box," I commented.
"What are you doing?" the Devil questioned me.
"Just letting a little love into Roland's soul," I replied.
The Devil's eyes widened and he reached out with one hand. "No! Don't-"
I touched the necklace against the box. An explosion of light washed over me. I was wrapped in a warm blanket of soul that had just come out of the dryer of love. The lid of the box sprang open and something brighter than the sun flew out. It arched into the air and arched down into Roland. He snapped his head up and his eyes widened as he was engulfed in a blazing ball of light.
"No!" the Devil screamed.
The light was so intense that I turned my face away and squeezed my eyes shut. The air quivered with heat and the ground trembled with the force of the impact of light and Roland body. The earth-shaking lasted for a few moments before the shaking and light faded. I opened my eyes and risked a glance at Roland.
He lay face-first on the ground. The glow around his body faded into him.
"Roland!" I yelled.
I dropped the dark, empty box and scrambled to my feet. My feet pounded dirt as I rushed over to him and slid onto my knees by his side. I grabbed his shoulders and rolled him onto his back. His face was as pale as ever, but when I put my hand on his chest I drew back. My fingers felt a distinct thump from inside his chest.
"You bitch," a voice growled.
I whipped my head up and glimpsed the Devil rise to his feet. His black suit was covered in dust and singed at the edges, and his cane was broken in two. He glared at me with a pair of red eyes that glowed in the dark like a night light made to give children a fear of going to the bathroom at night.
I covered Roland's body with mine and glared at him. "You want some more then come and get it."
A sneer slipped onto his lips and he limped towards us. "You have nothing left to protect you, human, and you have touched far more than was good for you."
"I beg to differ," another voice spoke up. Roland climbed up onto his arms and lifted his head. His brilliant blue eyes glared at the Devil. "So long as I live I will not leave her side."
CHAPTER 9
I knocked him upside the head.
"Don't scare me like that!" I scolded him.
He winced and rubbed his head. "It wasn't my intention to fall unconscious."
"Then you could have woken up sooner!" I argued.
Roland sat up, turned to me, and grasped my hands in his own. He smiled and his bright eyes twinkled. "Misty, I'm whole."
I blinked at him. "You're holy?"
He shook his head. "I'm whole."
My eyes widened. "No more box?"
"No more box."
I turned my eyes up to heaven. "Thank God."
"He has nothing to do with this trouble," the Devil spoke up. He held his cane out in front of him and slim black tendrils slithered out of the object and repaired the damage. The same happened to his clothes. His eyes blazed with fury as he struck his fixed cane against the ground. "Whole or not, that soul is still mine by your existence as a vampire."
I stood up and crossed my arms over my chest. "Oh yeah? Says who?"
The Devil opened his mouth, but a bolt of lightning struck the ground between us. We all glanced up. The stars twinkled back at us. I tilted my head to one side.
"God?"
Another bolt of lightning struck the ground, but this time closer to the Devil. The man in black jumped back and snarled. He looked up at the sky and shook his cane.
"His soul is mine! It has been mine for centuries!" he protested.
Another bolt cracked overhead and connected with the Devil's cane. The bolt of electricity threw the Devil back. He rolled and skidded across the ground for five yards before he came to a stop face-down in the dust. The Devil sat up and coughed out the dirt. He glared at Roland and me.
"Very well," he growled. He stood and brushed himself off. "I will revoke my claim, but your troubles aren't finished. A vampire with a soul is a rare thing, and others will learn of it. Then there will be no place on earth or above and below where you will find peace."
The Devil cracked his cane against the ground. The earth beneath him split and a ball of fire flew out of the crack. The flames engulfed the Devil and pulled him and itself back into the depths of the earth. The crack sealed after them.
Then there was silence. I looked around and turned to Roland.
"You think we're alone?" I whispered.
He chuckled and stood. "I find it comforting that God is always with us."
I snorted and smiled. "That's just because you have your soul back." My eyes caught on something on the ground nearby. I bent down and picked up the necklace. The violet emblem was cracked. I looked up at Roland. "You think it still works?" I asked him.
He closed his eyes and shook his head. "No. The strength of your love and the use of it against the Devil's curse has ensured it can never be used again."
I shrugged and pocketed it. "I guess I'll keep it as a memento."
Roland stepped up to me and grasped my hands in hi
s. "I still owe you a meal."
"I'll have to give you a rain-check. My aunt wants us over for Thanksgiving," I told him.
"Both of us?" he wondered.
"Why not? Can't that soul body of yours handle a good turkey?" I asked him.
He smiled. "I'm willing to try."
"So does that mean we can start working on that relationship now?" I teased.
He leaned down and pressed our lips together in a passionate kiss. His body was still cool, but the warmth he evoked in me more than made up for his lack of body temperature.
"What's going on out here?" a voice yelled.
We broke apart and glanced at the house. A bony man of forty stood in the doorway clad only in his boxer shorts. He had a table leg in his hands and a wild look in his eyes. His nose was flat. He spotted us and squinted his eyes.
"What the hell are ya two doing out there? Take yer filth somewhere else!" he snapped.
I glanced at Roland and grinned. "You know, there is that extra box of fish in the back seat," I reminded him.
He smiled. "An excellent idea."
Flat-Nosed Finnegan's eyes widened a few moments later when we came up to his porch with a familiar box in Roland's hands. He stumbled back and shook his head.
"Don't ya dare do nothing with them! Git them things away from here!" he ordered us.
"You heard the man. Don't do nothing with them," I told Roland.
Roland tossed the fish box through a second-floor window. Flat-Nosed Finnegan yelped and flew back inside. In a few moments we saw his silhouette as he batted the fish out of the air. I didn't feel too sorry for Flat-Nosed Finnegan. He had the counter-curse to deal with his trouble, and Ralph had a bit of revenge.
I wound my arms through one of Roland's and turned us towards the car. "Now about that soul. What do you say to testing it out with a nice sunrise?"