by Lanie Olson
“Sorry, Dev. I was getting sick of that damn thing talking,” he remarked, tossing its head to the side. “I also heard everything,” he added quietly.
“Drac’s are supposed to tell the truth in exchange for a soul. I … Hadrian what do I do?” I asked him sadly.
“What your heart tells you to do, Dev. No matter what you think you want to do, follow your heart,” he replied.
He put a hand on my shoulder and looked into my eyes. I valued him more than he knew and I was overjoyed that he was still alive somewhat. I also knew that I wasn’t going to be able to decide what to do until the moment presented itself.
“Let’s end this, my friend,” I said, walking past him down the rest of the stairs. “Stay close to me and if it at any point you feel yourself in danger, leave. Understood?”
“Got it.”
We finally reached the bottom of the Steps of Despair and much to my dismay, the heavy iron gates were sealed shut.
There’s no way in.
“I can break it down, I think,” Hadrian said looking up the length of the doors.
“No. It wouldn’t serve us well to destroy the doors of the Beast in the Lake. Alaric is strong; he’ll destroy Stratus for us and he’ll find a way out. I’ll let the demons know on the way out of the Below that they must descend for their master. You and I need to get to the Between my friend. It’s time to put an end to this once and for all.”
Thirty-One
I had never been to the Between.
None of us had.
It served us no purpose as angels, devils, demons, or any of the sort to be in the Between.
When Hadrian and I arrived we exchanged a glance.
It was almost as if we were wondering if were in the right place.
It was like a page out of the history books.
Back when humans lived together in harmony and relative peace. There were roads that lead every which way; straight, forward, up, down, and around to put you back where you started almost immediately. Houses lined the streets; all were one story buildings, dark blue, with sloped white roofs. Each home had a small front yard with three rose bushes, a white picket fence, and a mechanical dog in front.
There were other “official” buildings as well. Libraries, political buildings, and a recreational park, though I couldn’t figure out what any of this would be needed for.
“We have to get to the Nineteenth Quarter,” I whispered to Hadrian uneasily.
“The sooner, the better. This is creepier than anything we saw in the Seven Rooms,” he whispered back, looking around.
We walked closely through the streets trying to figure out which road would lead us up and not back down.
This is going to be tricky. If we don’t get this right we’ll be stuck in the Between for eternity.
Suddenly a loud gong went off at the top of the library and all of the doors on all of the houses opened.
Hadrian and I froze in place as a man in a dark blue business suit and a woman in a bright pink dress came out of each door on a mechanical slide of some sort. The man reached down for the newspaper and his wife kissed him on his cheek as he got in his car and left for … I don’t really know honestly.
“It’s happening at all of the houses, Dev,” Hadrian said quietly. “Let’s get the hell out of here.”
“Yeah,” I agreed grimly.
Up seems like a good way to go.
I took the first step on the road that would turn into a climb eventually as it led straight up. Hadrian followed and when we started to reach the incline, he climbed up passed me.
“Get on my back. I’m still strong enough to carry us both up and I’ll use whatever speed I have left to get us out of here,” he said down to me.
Nodding, I reached up and gripped his shoulders, perching on his back, as he dug into the pavement with his fists, pulling us quickly up the road.
It seemed to go on forever, since we looped a few times, but we made it out of the welcome section of the Between.
I hopped off Hadrian’s back as we walked through the next quarter.
“Just keep your eyes forward and hopefully we’ll be there soon,” I said to him as we passed small children, sitting in their funeral clothes, playing with their disembodied souls.
Obviously their lives had been robbed from them very early on now they had to sit in the Between. I didn’t find it fair, but being an Elder Devil, I almost immediately lost interest in caring as well.
“UGH!”
Hadrian and I both looked up at the shout we heard and saw Dorian falling back toward us at the speed of the Fallen.
“I’ve got him,” Hadrian shouted as he ran forward to stop his fall.
They hit the ground together so hard, that the streets turned into an oceanic wave for a moment, bouncing the children up and down who squealed happily along with their souls.
“Thanks,” he grunted as he rolled off Hadrian.
“Anytime,” Hadrian replied, as he got to his feet and pulled pavement fragments out of his arms.
“What happened?” I asked as I approached them.
“Lucy happened,” Dorian replied letting out his breath in a huff. “She isn’t too happy being chained and surrounded. I don’t know what’s gotten into her lately.”
Hadrian and I looked at each other, “Take us to her,” I said to Dorian.
He nodded and told us each to grip one of his arms. Dorian may have been one of the strongest beings I’d seen but so was Hadrian, so he had a bit of trouble getting us through the rest of the quarters. Eventually, we reached the Nineteenth Quarter which was a simple place.
The “ground” was a thick carpet of clouds and there were few buildings of any kind. There was one lone tree that was enormous and sat in the center of it all.
“Is that … ?” I asked Dorian.
“Yeah. It is. Whatever you do, do not touch or eat the fruit from it okay?”
I nodded.
“Follow me. We’ve got her chained to the base of it,” he said as he took a deep breath.
What do I do? I’m so lost.
As we approached, I saw her for how small she looked in the chains and I felt my heart breaking. But I had been deceived from the beginning, which in all honesty should be a quality I admired in her, but she made me feel as much love as a devil could and now to know that it was a guise …
“Unchain her,” I said to them.
I saw a small smile cross her lips and her amethyst eyes turned ice blue.
As did mine.
“Deveraux, are you sure?” Dorian asked me uncertainly.
“Now,” I replied in the dual tone of demonic possession.
“You’re going to kill her aren’t you?” Dorian asked quietly.
“Release the angel and step back,” I commanded to him.
“Isaiah?” Dorian asked desperately.
“Do as he says,” he reassured him quietly.
Dorian approached Lucy carefully, while she kept her new evil gaze locked onto mine. With one swift movement, he pulled the chains off her and withdrew back to his family.
Lucy got to her feet slowly and smiled at me. A cold, evil smile. A smile that said aren’t you pathetic to have fallen for this ruse.
But deep inside, I knew better.
“Where’s Lucy?” I asked Keilyn.
The devils and angels all sucked in their breaths in shock. None of them, save for Hadrian, knew that we weren’t facing Lucy.
“There is no Lucy,” she hissed at me. “She never did exist. You’re so pathetic to be in love with something that never existed.”
“You’re lying. The drac told me what you mean to do, but you can’t do it without me or else you would have killed me by now. Give Lucy back to the angels and I’ll do as you wish,” I replied.
Keilyn laughed as I watched her step out from behind the false Lucy. Her body began to shrink down to the size of the small devil child with angelic features, and white blonde curly hair. She looked up at me with mischiev
ous eyes, kicked the corpse aside, and held her hand out.
“I’ll show you where she is. But only you,” she said.
“No way,” Hadrian barked as he came to stand next to me.
“I’ll be fine. See to what I have charged you to do,” I replied to him before I took Keilyn’s hand and followed her away from the group to the edge of the Nineteenth Quarter.
“Look down,” she whispered gleefully.
It took me a moment to understand what she wanted me to see. I saw beyond the Between to the Earth below and saw the Western Province. In the sprawling garden in the back of my semi reconstructed home was a naked figure covering itself with almost completely shredded wings. There was a blindfold around its eyes and it was laying there shaking in fear.
Lucy? I thought, stepping closer to the edge.
At the mere thought of her name she looked up at the Heavens above her.
Deveraux? Oh please, help me. I promise I’ll do anything. I shouldn’t have denied you the pact, I’m sorry. Please help me!
I felt like I had the air knocked out of me. Every kiss, every step I had taken toward an eternity with Lucy … was a lie.
“How?” I asked Keilyn, my voice shaking with rage.
“I used an angel corpse and manipulated it to look like her. Animating the corpse was easy. Giving it thoughts was tricky, but you believed anything I planted in its head,” she replied matter-of-factly.
“But … you can’t be that strong … you’re just a child,” I said looking at her in disbelief.
“Oh I’m much older than you think Deveraux, Elder Devil of the Western Province. Of all of the devils given dominion over the Earth, you were the one I know I’d be able to manipulate the easiest. You’ve always been such a dreamer; craving affection even though you never spoke it. When I saw how you felt about that angel, I knew I would easily be able to put a substitute in her place. It was simple really. The night before you let her out of the cage I had already dragged her out and nailed her wings to the ground in the middle of garden so she wouldn’t be able to escape. I dragged the corpse from a different cell into hers and concentrated to get every last feature right. The only problem was I couldn’t duplicate angelic eyes and that angel had already lost hers when they sunk back into her skull. So, I took Lucy’s,” she said with a smirk.
I closed my eyes tightly and tried to control my rage.
I needed answers.
“So the angel that broke the seals? That was your … reanimated corpse?”
“Yes it was!” she replied clapping happily. “That was part of my plan. See, the Horseman have already destroyed the Thunderbirds and now they wait for ‘Lucy’s’ next command. What should I have them do next? “
I looked down at the broken angel trapped in my garden and wondered if I had ever really loved her at all. All the emotions I felt were for something false; something dead.
I felt myself begin to settle into the true monster within. I heard Keilyn’s laughter next to me as she looked down at Lucy who was still shaking, still afraid, still alone.
“Come on Deveraux! Tell me what I should make them do next!” she asked gleefully.
“Nothing.”
With one swift movement, I punched my fists through the child’s chest and lifted her off the ground.
“Ow!” she yelled as she began to cry and kick her legs.
I felt no pity for her. No remorse for what I had done and no conscience for what I was about to do.
“You don’t belong anywhere but Oblivion,” I hissed to her before I ripped her body in half.
As the two parts of Keilyn fell on either side of me, the world began to shake. All of the worlds; the Above, the Between, and the Below. I didn’t know what I had done in killing her but I wasn’t concerned about it.
I turned and looked at my family who was watching me with proud eyes. I nodded at Hadrian and a look of sadness washed over his face as he nodded. I looked at Isaiah who was standing with his sword drawn.
“Deveraux, it was an honor to fight at your side,” he said quietly as he handed it to me.
“And it was my honor to fight at yours,” I replied, fighting off as much as the monster as I could.
“Good-bye my friends.”
I turned around, held the sword to my chest, and jumped over the side of the Between. For the second time in my eternity, I fell.
Thirty-Two
Lucy
I fluttered my wings uncertainly after Isaiah had removed the nails from them. The demon child had driven so many nails through them that I knew I would never be able to use them to fly again.
Dorian sat next to me on the ground and kept a steady hand on my back to help me stay up.
“I can’t believe it’s finally over,” he said shaking his head. “What was that prophecy that you shared with ... um…” he glanced nervously at me.
“It was motivation. It was needed,” he replied in a tired voice.
The blindfold over where my eyes used to be itched, but I was alive and my family was safe. That was all that I wanted and needed.
Except something felt like it was missing …
“Where’s Deveraux?” I asked suddenly.
The silence around me was deafening and suffocating. Did they leave me alone now because I had asked about an Elder Devil?
“Isaiah? Josiah? Dorian?” I asked frantically.
“We’re here,” Josiah said quietly as he came and put a hand on my shoulder. “Deveraux … fell, Lucy.”
“I don’t understand. How could a devil fall twice?” I asked in confusion.
“It’s going to take a long time to explain it. And I’m tired, we all are. We need to get back to the Above and rest. Then as we rebuild, I’ll tell you the story,” Isaiah replied.
“Is he lost?” I asked without moving.
“I’m afraid so.”
I put my hand in Dorian’s and used him to stand myself up. I reached down and pulled his sword from his sheath. Then I felt someone wrap material around me so that I wouldn’t be naked anymore.
“Hey, guys.”
“Lorian?” I asked turning toward the voice.
“Hi, Lucy,” he said softly.
I held out a hand to him. When he took it, I pulled his face close to my lips and whispered into his ear what I wanted.
“Let’s go,” he whispered back and pulling me onto his back.
The angels yelled out in surprise and outrage as the fastest devil in Creation ran with me holding on to him, straight to the Below.
His bravery in what I asked him to do was so strong that I knew he would do anything to reclaim his master and I would do anything to help him.
I was thankful that I couldn’t see at the point when it felt like we were spinning in circles. I couldn’t believe that we were going to end up anywhere either of us wanted to be, but I remembered reading a scroll one time that told me that if I was brave enough and vigilant enough I could get what I wanted.
“Hold on tight, Lucy!” Lorian called back over his shoulder as he picked up speed and barreled through thick doors, causing them to groan and give way under his strength.
We rolled across the ice two or three times, before we got our footing and Lorian pulled me to my feet. Because we weren’t damned to this, the fire wouldn’t be able to burn us and the ice wouldn’t be able to freeze us.
“Take me straight to it, Lorian. Then I want you to leave in case this doesn’t work out,” I instructed him.
“I lost Deveraux; I’m not going to lose you too. If it doesn’t work then we’re both damned to this,” he replied simply, as he took my hand and lead me across the Lake of Ice and Fire.
I heard a terrible roar and the sound of the ice cracking below our feet followed by an intense amount of heat. I cringed at the sound of the damned screaming all around us but reminded myself that I was here for one purpose and I had to stay brave.
“I … see it,” he suddenly said in a frightened whisper.
“Stay here. J
ust tell me if I go straight or what to do,” I said to him.
“Go straight and you’ll end up right in front of it,” he replied in a shaky voice.
“I’ll be quick about this,” I assured him, putting a reassuring hand to the side of his face, before I turned and walked toward the roaring Beast.
When I felt I was sufficiently close enough to barter with it, I gripped my sword tightly and spoke.
“I’ve come for the Elder Devil, Deveraux. It is because of his brave actions that the Below is still in existence.”
“He isn’t here,” one of the bodies that the Beast was chewing on, screamed at me.
“But … he fell. There’s no other place for him to go,” I replied.
“Leave this place! He isn’t here!” another body screeched at me.
I took a deep breath and readied myself to argue with the bodies and the Beast when it made me wonder why it would lie about something so … simple?
I held a hand back to Lorian who came quickly to mount me onto his back as he ran us out of the Below and back to the Western Province.
“Wait! Don’t go to the Western Province. Go to the Above!” I yelled to him at the last moment.
“How Lucy? I can’t run us there and you can’t fly!” he shouted back.
“Lorian, just close your eyes and believe. We can do this, please!”
The wind that picked up around us was weak at first and I knew that even though he was trying to believe that we could do it, only faith would get us to the Above. I closed my eyes and silently asked my fellow angels to lend us their strength. I asked them to grant us admission to the Above and to allow us in like family.
“Fine mess you’ve gotten yourself into isn’t it?” a strong voice stated.
“Michael?” I asked tentatively.
“Yes. And you and your friend are in the Above. In the Ninth Realm, but Lucy your likeness committed atrocities that must be answered for,” he replied gravely.
“Then I will take the full punishment of its transgressions in due time. You know why I’m here,” I responded to him evenly.