Hellbound Second Advent

by Decoyar Brown

  He had his head down. “He was really a part of me?”

  “Yes. It took you a long time to figure that out. Even when the prisoners and your guardian told you to be careful—warned you of the three challenges—you ignored them. Full of pride and do not ask for help. He had all of your powers and some you haven’t discovered yet. But you still didn’t learn anything, did you? With your stubbornness, making foolish choices. You will be trapped here forever, cleaning the pits of hell.”

  “You are right. I am a failure. I ran away from my responsibilities. I betrayed the Creator and my brothers. I stood back and watched thousands being slaughtered, and I did nothing.” He fell to his knees and began to weep.

  Lillith smiled, stooped down, and rested a hand on his back. “Aw, you poor thing. Don’t get all mushy on me now. Besides, you have to stay strong. Your other purpose is almost at hand.”

  Peter raised his head and wiped the tears from his eyes. “What do you mean?”

  “Oh, Gabilon didn’t tell you? We have a special interest in you, sweetie. You have been chosen for something far greater than coming here to get the boy.”

  He stood up. “What?”

  “You have been chosen for something very important. You should be flattered.”

  The Demon Slayer looked away from her and sighed. “I guess this was all a trap to lure me here? Lure me here to be a pawn in your plans?”

  Lillith snickered and rested a hand on his shoulder. “Sort of. We did need the boy, but we knew you would be the only one foolish enough to come for him.” She walked to the edge of the cliff. “You could’ve been free if you had passed all three challenges. We would’ve allowed you to leave.”

  “What are you talking about? I only had one. I only fought my shadow self.”

  Lillith chuckled and said, “I just gave you the other two.” She looked over her shoulder and smiled.

  He thought about it for a moment and whispered, “Face myself, my greatest desire, and my greatest fear.” He gasped. “Oh no.”

  “Oh yes.” She giggled. “You passed your greatest desire when I offered you a chance to be with your family, but I made a mistake. I should’ve read your mind a bit more while you slept to learn more of your desires. I would’ve created the perfect family for you. When you admitted to failure, being a coward, and being responsible for thousands of lives, you lost.” Her laugh echoed for miles.

  Suddenly, two large demons flew up from below the cliff and landed beside Peter. They had bison heads and fangs from a saber-toothed tiger. They grabbed him by his arms and shoulders.

  “Lucifer will be pleased when he learns of your capture. Let’s take him to the towers,” Lillith skipped playfully like an excited child.

  Peter struggled, but they were too strong.

  Lillith mapped out a rectangular shape in the air. The area began to grow dark, and swirling clouds began to form before her. Lightning, wind, and clouds filled the sky. An iron doorframe, ten stories tall, dropped down before them. The clouds began to blacken, and red ones formed inside the doorframe.

  Peter asked, “You are the one responsible for opening the Hellgates, aren’t you?”

  Lillith looked back at him and said, “Yes. How clever of you to figure that out. What gave me away?”

  He kept struggling to get free. “When my brother opened the portal here, I saw the same clouds.”

  “Do you mean Gedulah? Gedulah was the one who sent you here? I knew he could close the Hellgates, but I did not know he knew how to open them.”

  “There are a lot of things you don’t know about us angels.”

  Lillith snickered and said, “Enough. Let’s take him to the ninth circle. The child may already begin to read the text of the first fallen.

  The queen of Sheol walked through the Hellgate while Peter and his two overseers followed. They pulled Peter by the arms, and his legs dragged on the ground. The gate closed behind them.

  The two large demons dropped Peter on his face behind Lillith. She smiled and ordered the two to leave. Lillith walked away from him, and Peter’s eyes followed her.

  He tried to stand, but his legs were too weak. He felt vulnerable without his weapons. Since Lillith had taken away the amulet, Peter could not recover fast enough. He sat on his knees and looked around. A lake of blood washed down a bank with a waterfall below. The dark blood stained the rocks, and the sand was black and grimy. Large craters spat lava in the air like an angry dragon breathing fire. Large towers, four stories tall, were built with a pool of melted, glowing rocks. The sky was red and had black clouds. Armies of flying demons cycled around as if they were waiting for something to happen. Torches made out of skulls lit up the area around the towers. Demon dogs chewed on body parts from humans and demons. They growled at Peter when they saw that their eyes had met.

  “Come now, Gevurah,” Lillith said. “Our destination is this way.”

  Peter slowly stood up. His muscles and joints were sore. He wobbled toward her. His feet sank in the loose dirt.

  “Pick up the pace, sir.” She mocked him. “I don’t have all day.”

  “I’m walking as fast as I can. I’m only human, you know. Plus, you took my amulet.”

  “You mean this?” Lillith opened her palm, and the Amulet of Kismet appeared in her palm. “This thing can make you walk faster?”

  Peter nodded.

  “Well, here. Catch.” She threw it at him.

  Peter was startled. He dashed forward to catch the amulet and almost fell. He could not believe she would be generous enough to give it back to him. When he saw that it was about to fall short, he dove to catch it. The amulet disappeared when he came in contact with it. He fell and cracked a few of his ribs.

  Lillith laughed. “How foolish. Do you really think I would give the amulet back to you—the source of your powers? How naive do you think I am?” She turned away from him.

  Peter slowly got up and held the right side of his rib cage as he limped toward Lillith.

  When they got to a darker area, Lillith disappeared. He wished he had his heightened senses. Peter felt for a wall or something to lean against. He felt a cold metal surface with hard grooves and carvings on it.

  Lights from the skull-shaped torches came on suddenly. When he saw what he was touching, Peter backed away from the object and marveled at its size. It stretched up at least two miles. He could not see where it ended; it disappeared in the sky. The spiral tower was braided with dark, twisted metal thorns. It had a dark energy, and he did not get a comfortable feeling from it. It resembled the Tower of Babel, but it was much thinner.

  “What do you think?” Lillith walked into the light with her hands crossed over her bosom.

  “Puranium? This is Puranium, isn’t it?—the same object used for Demeeker’s weapon and the antibiosis armor. This thing may be indestructible.”

  “My, how clever you are. Now I see why you are so wealthy on earth. You have wisdom, Gevurah. You figure things out very fast.”

  “Enough with the flattery, Lillith. What is this large object? It seems different from the others.”

  “This is it.” Lillith stood beside it. “This is the tower. This object has been causing all the trouble. The people who died in New York the other day. The tsunami in Sumatra, the flood in New Orleans, and the Java earthquake. All those events were for this one purpose. All those souls helped make this all possible. And now we have the final installment. The words from the First’s Qur’an read by the boy will levitate it toward earth. The grand finale is the Entre Ciel et Terre.”

  Peter looked at the tower and sighed.

  “Everything is falling into place,” Lillith said. “Let me tell you a secret. After the tower rises, the key to enter heaven is through the goons of the nine lords.”

  Peter frowned and asked, “What are you talking about?”

  Lillith walked closer. “At the bottom of the tower, there are eighteen chambers. The henchmen will be placed inside—”

  Crouzer walked toward t
hem and said, “That’s enough, Lillith. Gevurah already knows too much.” He held the book of Enoch under one arm and Randy in the other.

  “Gabilon?” Peter said.

  “It’s good seeing you again, Gevurah. You don’t look so good. You look like you’ve been through hell … literally.” Crouzer snickered.

  “Was that supposed to be funny?” Peter limped over to Crouzer and the boy.

  Crouzer looked down at the boy. “Randy, I would like you to meet Gevurah. On earth, he’s known as Peter the Demon Slayer. He’s a friend of your mom as well.”

  Randy looked at Peter and wiped the tears from his cheeks. “I know who he is, I’ve met him before. Mommy talks about him a lot.”

  Peter said, “The boy is scared, Gabilon. Let me take him to his mother.”

  “Nonsense, Randy has been a brave boy. He kept his cool the entire time he was visiting. Isn’t that right, Randy?”

  Randy nodded.

  “I promised him he will be free to return home to his mother after he finishes reading the verses from the book.”

  “We both know you don’t keep your promises, Gabilon. The boy is smart enough to know you won’t let him leave after he does what you ask.”

  Crouzer chuckled and looked down at Randy. “Don’t go and scare the boy now. A promise is a promise.” Gabilon knelt before Randy and held his hands. He smiled and rubbed his small hands. “I’m a man of my word.”

  “Enough of the chitchat,” Lillith said. “Everyone is here now. Let’s get this party started.”

  “I’m not going to sit by and watch you do this,” Peter said. “The tower is not going to rise.”

  Crouzer said, “You said that very convincingly. I almost believed you. Look at the shape you are in, Gevurah. You can’t even stand straight.”

  Peter limped over and held his ribs. “The tower is not going to rise today. I’m taking the boy home.”

  Crouzer smiled and looked over at Lillith. “Can you handle this please? I don’t really have time for this.”

  Lillith turn to look behind her.

  One of the demons that had escorted Peter through the Hellgate walked out from behind the tower, flexed his enormous arms, and roared.

  Randy hid behind Crouzer.

  The demon began to flap his wings and shot toward Peter like a rocket.

  Lillith, Crouzer, and Randy backed away.

  Peter shielded his face from the dust and prepared for impact. The demon tackled him, and they rolled in the loose dirt. He sat over Peter, roared again, and landed numerous blows to Peter’s face.

  Randy began to cry.

  When Peter stopped moving, the demon got up and beat on its chest like an ape.

  Peter was out cold when the demon picked him up by his throat. Blood ran from his mouth and nose. Also, his face was black and blue. The demon roared in Peter’s face and cast him to the ground. Peter rolled, tumbled, and jerked.

  Randy began to scream.

  “That takes care of that,” Lillith said. “Shut the brat up, Gabilon. He needs to start reading.”

  Crouzer grabbed Randy by the hand and walked him over toward the tower. He skipped to the verses he wanted the child to read.

  Randy read: Ad-Dhariyat 51:56, Al-Jinn 72:1–2, and Al-A’raf 7:27.

  When Randy was reading the last chapter of Al-Jinn, Crouzer began to laugh.

  Lillith smiled.

  Randy kept reading, and the area began to vibrate. The tower rose from the ground, and everything trembled. The flying demons slowly circled above, watching in awe at the ritual.

  The lost souls watched from their prisons. Though they were watching from the gluttony circle, miles away, they could see the tower slowly rising in the distance.

  “The chosen one failed.” Said one of the souls.

  Unexpectedly, the demon that had trounced Peter was hit in the back with a black energy ball. The demon flew to its face and laid still.

  Randy stopped reading.

  Peter’s hair turned bright orange, his tattoos glowed aqua blue, and his eyes turned white. “I said the tower is not going to rise.” Peter began to walk forward slowly.

  The demon stood up to face Peter.

  Lillith said, “Gevurah still had a little angelic juice left over.”

  Crouzer said, “Indeed. He’s so persistent, isn’t he? Randy, continue reading.”

  Randy continued reading, and the tower slowly rose.

  The demon launched itself toward Peter.

  Chapter 25

  Between Heaven and Hell

  Before the demon could lay a finger on Peter, the shadow man intervened. From the ground, he stood up like a shield and blocked the demon’s tackle. The demon bounced off him and landed a few feet away. It sat up, shook its head, and growled. The shadow man snickered at the demon’s dumbfounded state.

  “Do you remember what you said to me earlier, Lillith?” Peter asked.

  Lillith thought about it. “Not really. What did I say?”

  “You said it was as if he was training me, preparing me. You also said he’s my double. Do you remember saying that?”

  “Yeah, what of it?”

  “Thanks for that knowledge.”

  Crouzer uttered, “No matter. You still can’t win. Here you are a hundred thousand to two. The odds are against you both, Gevurah.”

  Crouzer raised his right hand, and a bright light sparked from it. Instantly, a hundred flying demons descended. They landed before Peter, and the ground shook and cracked under their monstrous feet. They were, blue, big and strong with humanoid bodies. Their arms were muscular enough to crush a human skull with ease. They flapped their large, leather wings in excitement, and their red spider-like eyes glowed. On their foreheads, thirteen-inch horns curled up and back.

  “Slangers, destroy Gevurah!” Crouzer shouted.

  “That should distract him,” Lillith announced. “Little boy, continue reading the scriptures.”

  Randy nodded and tried to stay focused.

  The shadow man laughed and walked forward, brave and bold, while Peter stood behind him. Peter’s eyes glowed white in the darkness. Rage was written all over his face.

  Soon enough, the demons dashed toward them. Some flew, some leaped, and some ran to battle. Large black thorns shot up from underground, striking a few of the demons in their groins, hips, and lower backs. The spikes were thick, long and sharp. The tips came through the other ends of the bodies with organs stuck to them.

  The Slangers swooped down past the shadow man and headed toward Peter

  Peter created a black energy ball that drew in the demons like a magnet. Some screamed and slashed at it with their claws but were unable to break free. The ball grew larger as it levitated and sucked them in, but there were still fifty demons left. Peter had to destroy them and prevent the tower from going to earth. It was slowly rising as everything shook around them.

  Peter wished he had his sword or pistol. Instead, he pulled two large spikes from the ground and jabbed one of the large creatures in the chest and another in the head. Another demon fell on the tip and slid through it with ease. Though it was at his mercy, the demon slashed away at Peter’s face. Peter kicked him off and turned around to impale another. Two more jumped in, but the shadow man called forth a few more thorns to impale them from underground.

  Three Slangers dove at Peter’s doppelgänger, and Peter threw a spike that passed through one and pierced another. The demons tumbled to their doom.

  One of the demons managed to tackle Peter to the ground and held him down. A few others did the same to his shadow. Peter lifted them off with ease, but a few more shot in to aid their comrades. Twenty more dove on Peter and the shadow man.

  “Talk about overkill,” Lillith said.

  “He’ll never survive that. This time he’s finished—for sure,” Crouzer added. “The Slangers are strong foes.”

  The Slangers began to levitate. A blackish-purple energy surrounded him. The demons panicked while they floated and dis
appeared in the dark clouds.

  Peter released his dark energy, and all the demons surrounding him shot away from him.

  One was heading towards Crouzer, and he brushed it away like a breadcrumb.

  “You were saying,” Peter said.

  Crouzer smiled and walked forward. “I’ll handle this.”

  The shadow man leaped at Crouzer.

  Crouzer flipped his hand, and the shadow man exploded and disappeared into thin air.

  Peter picked up one of the thorns and threw it at Crouzer. The fallen angel deflected it with his wrist without much effort. Crouzer thrust out his right hand and roared like an angry tiger.

  Peter felt as if he had been punched in the stomach. The pain caused him to fall to his knees. Peter vomited and held his stomach.

  Crouzer laughed and continued to hold out his hand. He raised his hand and lifted Peter off the ground.

  “What are you … doing to … me?” Peter felt as if his intestines, stomach, and lungs were about to crawl out of his mouth.

  “I’m going to rip your insides out,” Crouzer said.

  Peter suddenly reverted to his human form. His blood boiled, his heart raced, and he felt as if he was going to faint.

  “How does it feel, Gevurah?” Crouzer asked. “How does it feel to die slowly by the hands of your former leader? I don’t know if you knew this, but you were my favorite henchmen, my right-hand man, the one I could count on to handle anything. You shouldn’t have walked away. You will not experience the paradise I had promised you.”

  Lillith smirked.

  “It’s a shame to see us fighting against each other, Gevurah,” Crouzer continued. “All you had to do was accept Demeekur’s invitation. That’s all you had to do. But you wanted to fight against me. You chose to look the other way.”

  Peter held his stomach with one hand and raised the other above his head.

  “What are you trying to do—call on your God for help?” Lillith asked.

  Peter smiled and pointed his hand in Crouzer’s direction. A small light sparkled above Peter and caused them to look up. The gravity ball shot toward Crouzer. Peter made another hand signal with his index and middle fingers, and the ball exploded in front of Crouzer. The fallen angel did not have time to defend himself. All of the dead Slangers that had been vacuumed up flew toward him. Blood, limbs, and demonic organs slapped against Crouzer’s body.