"Master, are we near success?" a golden- haired being asked his Lord. His Master responded thunderously, "Everything is in place. Tell Rahab to move on with the final phase of our plan. The sinner must be used to kill the maiden. If everything works out, Earth shall be ours soon. And neither Hell nor Heaven will stand in our way."
The servant hesitated, a questioning look on his face. Finally, he spoke up. "My Lord, what happens if we are found out before this works out?" His master looked at him with contempt. "We were careful in planning this, unlike the fool, Lucifer. None know of our plans, save those who need to know. No one can stop us. At least, they won't be able to in a few hours, when Rahab possesses the gang member." The servant still had one last question for his Lord. "But Master, what if he does not seek our help? There is always a chance he won't choose us." The Master turned around, and hit his servant in the head. "You imbecile! Of course he will choose us; he has read extensively of our power, he knows we are the ones to turn to. Do not ever question my plans again, understood?" The servant looked to the ground, a look of seething hatred in his face. "Yes Master, I understand." And with that, the master and the servant returned to watching the final stage of their plan begin.
†
"Dude, where's Christine?" asked a tall, dark skinned person. His scrawny, pale friend responded, "She's sick." The first pushed back his long black hair, sat down, and said, "Again? Man, she is always sick. I hope it's not too bad." His friend looked up, flipped his black hair out of his face, and said, "It isn't serious, just a slight fever, and she was throwing up a little. She should be alright tomorrow. Dude, Lewis, I wrote this new song I want you to check out… the only problem is, I left it at my house. Can you come by later?" Lewis responded, "Dorian, I've been waiting for you to write a new one. We need a couple more before we can record our CD." Dorian smiled and looked up at an odd cloud formation. "Yeah, the CD does sound like it could be a lot of fun. Turns out quite a few people are willing to sell our CD's. Only one place says they won't sell unless they get some of the money, but everywhere else I asked says they'll do it for free." Now it was Lewis who smiled. "That's awesome. Thanks for getting all these places." Dorian responded, "Don't thank me; it was all Christine's idea." At that moment, a warning bell rang. Dorian sighed, and said, "Looks like we got to get to class. Meet me by the library after school." Lewis put on his backpack, said alright, and walked off. As Dorian was walking to class, a gangster wearing a blue bandana bumped into him. He turned around, looked at Dorian fiercely, and said, "Watch where you're going bitch!" Dorian fought the urge to punch the idiot in the face. So Dorian walked away, laughing at the stupid look on the student's face. When he looked back again, He saw a vicious smile contort the face of the student, and what seemed to be a smoldering red glow in the eyes of the person. When he looked closer, the student was gone. Unnerved, Dorian continued on to his last class of the day.
†
"Holy shit, this is a badass song! I'm gonna get to work on it right away!" Dorian looked once more at the lyrics to his song. "Glad you like it. Took me about two and a half hours to write… mostly cuz I was watching TV while trying to write it." At that moment, Lewis' phone rang. "Hello?... um, I'm at Dorian's… alright, be there in a couple minutes." Lewis hung up the phone and told Dorian, "Sorry man, but I have to go." Dorian looked slightly disappointed. "That's alright. See you tomorrow then." With that, Lewis left Dorian's house, and started walking back to his mom's car. Dorian stepped outside, and looked around. He loved the abundance of life. He then walked down to a hammock, laid down, and fell asleep.
†
Several hours later, Dorian awoke to the heavy metal riffs of Pantera as his cell rang. Wiping the sleep from his eyes, Dorian answered the phone. "Hello?" A mellifluous voice answered, "Hey Baby." Dorian sat up, and said, "Hey, how are you feeling?"
"A little better, still nauseous, but my fever's gone."
"That's good… still cant hang out today, can you?"
"Nope, grounded for missing school."
"That sucks… what about tomorrow? We can go see a movie with Lewis and his new girlfriend."
"That sounds nice." Dorian continued talking to Christine for half an hour. Finally, Christine said, "Well, I have to go, and you should do your homework. Talk to you later, bye!" Dorian smiled and said, "Alright, love you, bye!" Christine laughed a little, "Love you too baby, bye!" And so they were done talking, and Dorian went straight to work finishing an essay.
Later that night, Dorian called Christine to talk for a little and to finally say goodnight. His house had terrible service, so he had to go outside. Once there, he began walking, not paying attention to where he was going. When he finally said goodnight to Christine, Dorian noticed he was in front of a decrepit church near a dark forest. Interested, Dorian went inside. Instead of the holy decorum he expected, he saw ruins and gloom. Many years ago, this place must have been amazing. Dorian looked around, and noticed that all the windows were shattered, except one above the altar. This one depicted a being with its hands spread, yellow eyes blazing on a dark face. It seemed to have a multitude of red and black crystal horns growing like hair from its head. Its large, tattered red wings were spread, and Dorian saw that it had black wing bones. It wore black armor, and one hand was clawed in silver. Parts were obscured, but below the figure Dorian saw Latin writing that spelled out "Xaos incorporatus." Dorian knew only scattered Latin, but he knew enough to realize the words said, "Chaos Embodied." A faint chill crept down Dorian's spine, and he fled from the church, a nameless fear deep in his soul.
†
The next day was a Saturday, and Dorian had the luxury of sleeping in. At about 12: 15, Dorian finally decided to get up. He had a late breakfast, and then called Christine to say good morning. He arranged to meet her at the mall at 2:00. After that, Dorian called Lewis. "Hey Lewis, I'm meeting Christine at the mall at 2:00. You want to meet up around 6:00?" Lewis yawned, an indication that he too slept in. when he finished, he said, "Sounds good. Hey, what movie should we see? Cuz I was kinda thinking we should watch The Devil's asylum. It looked good." Dorian sighed into the phone. "It does sound good, if we weren't brining our girlfriends. I was thinking something more along the lines of The Water Horse. Christine did say she wanted to see that. Plus, I want to see it too, it looks good." Lewis thought for a moment. "Hey, now that I think about it, Angela did say she wanted to see that movie. Alright, meet you at around 6:00 then." With that, Lewis hung up the phone, and Dorian went to shower and shave. When he was finished, he drove his car over to the mall. The car was a gift for his seventeenth birthday. It was a slightly beaten up BMW, but it worked great. As soon as he stepped inside, he saw Christine waiting by the line to get into the movies. Christine was three months older than Dorian, and she also had a nice car. Her parents didn't buy it though; they were cheap and rather selfish. No, her car was a gift from Dorian, Lewis, and some other friends who chipped in allowances and paychecks to help her out. Dorian walked over to Christine. "Hey," Christine said, "What do you feel like doing?" Dorian looked around for a minute. "How about we go steal some junk? That's always entertaining, and after that, if you're hungry, we can get something to eat." Christine responded, "That sounds good. Hey, don't get caught, or I'll castrate you." Dorian faked a look of sheer panic. "Don't worry; with that kind of incentive, I'll never get caught." Christine sighed. "You have to learn that you really aren't all that funny." Dorian looked down. "Oh yeah, I forget sometimes." Christine shook her head, smiled, grabbed Dorian's arm, and headed toward Hot Topic. Several hours later, and with over $100 worth of stolen stuff, Dorian and Christine were sitting inside a Starbucks, drinking their favorite coffees, since neither of them was really hungry. Dorian reached into his pocket and said, "Hey, I got you something I think you'll like. He pulled out a shot glass and gave it too Christine. She smiled, and read what was on the glass. "Two drinks away from girl- on- girl action. Nice." She smiled and put it away in her purse. Several minutes later, Lewis walked in with his girlfriend, Angela. They sat down, and Lewis went to get coffee for him and Angela. They sat around and talked, and when they finished with their coffee, Dorian and Lewis went to buy tickets for themselves and their girlfriends. Dorian waved over at them, and they all went up to the movie theatre.
†
"That was a really good movie," Christine said as they all walked out of the movie theatre. "Yeah, I would like to own it, when it comes out on DVD." Said Angela. Christine smiled fiendishly and said, "Yeah. Dorian, get it for me?" She looked at Dorian and smiled sweetly. Dorian shook his head, smiled, and said, "Of course, anything to make you happy." Christine laughed a little and said, "Good." Lewis started laughing, but Angela gave him a fake slap. "Don't laugh, I want it too. And you can't steal it, since you tried to steal porn from Fry's. That means you have to buy it with your money." Lewis' smile quickly faded. "Alright," he said in a small voice. When they stepped out of the mall, they all heard a loud screech. "Damn! Goddamn idiots don't know how to drive!" yelled Lewis. Dorian was more paranoid. For some reason, he was gripped with unease. As everyone else started walking toward the street, a black car sped towards them. A window opened, and Dorian saw the same person that bumped into him at school, the white gangster, and his eyes were definitely smoldering red. With a gleeful yell, the gangster shot Christine, Angela, and Lewis, but not Dorian. The world seemed to slow down around Dorian. He didn't even notice the black car drive away, and disappear into the darkness. He just ran towards Christine's falling body, and managed to catch her before she hit the ground. All noise went away, and Dorian could only focus on Christine. She was shot through the heart, and Dorian knew there was no hope for her. Christine looked up into Dorian's eyes, her once bright eyes already glazed over. "Dorian? I want you… uh… I want you to... to know that I love you." And then silence. Dorian's sight became blurry, but he didn't yet register that he was weeping. He put a hand to Christine's cheek, shocked to feel that her skin was already becoming cold and pale. Slowly, Dorian's vision kept fading, and all his other senses were fading away as well, until Dorian finally sank into merciful Oblivion.
†
The first thing Dorian noticed when he woke up was the stark white room. He then noticed the beeping of machines, and the curtains, and realized he was in a hospital room. Looking around, he saw Lewis was in a bed nearby. Lewis didn't look too good. He had a breathing tube and several I.V tubes connected to him. Fortunately, his heart monitor registered a constant pulse. Dorian heard someone speak. "Doctor, one of them is awake." A second voice said, "Ah thanks Liz, I'll take a look in a sec." A few moments later, a tall doctor came up to Dorian. Other than the streaks of gray, the doctor looked rather young. "Well, you seem to be very lucky, you didn't get hit." Dorian cut in. What about my friends?" The doctor looked uneasy, grumbled to himself, "I guess this is part of the job," and cleared his throat. He looked at Dorian and said, "Your friend over there is in a stable condition, but he is in a fairly deep coma, and we aren't sure when he will recover, if ever. One of the girls, Angela, is also in a stable condition. However, the one the paramedics found you clutching… she died. I'm very sorry for your loss." The words hit Dorian like a ton of bricks. He had a terrible flashback of that night, Christine bleeding, and dying in his arms. Dorian began crying, and held his head in his hands. The doctor began saying, "if there is anything I can do for you," but Dorian cut him off and shouted, "Leave!" The doctor quietly got up and went to a bed at the other end of the room. Several hours later, the doctor returned and said, "You are free to go. If you'd like, we can call you a taxi." Dorian looked up at the doctor and said, "That would be nice. And, doctor, I want to apologize for earlier. I shouldn't have yelled." The doctor turned around and said, "It's quite alright. I know what it feels like to lose a loved one. Drive safely." With that, the doctor left, and Dorian was escorted out to the waiting taxi by a nurse. The drive to the mall was uneventful, and Dorian went to his car in a daze. He began driving home; not knowing what new horrors awaited him there.
†
As Dorian neared his home, he saw a red glow and black smoke curling high into the air. "Oh no," he said to himself. He sped up. When he got to his home, he saw his worst fears were confirmed. The entire house was burning, so Dorian jumped out and slowly walked up. He saw a car had barricaded the door. Similarly, the windows were all blocked by wood or metal. "Why would someone do all this?" He thought to himself. Then, a chilling thought crept into his mind… While Dorian despised the majority of his family, he loved his little sister. Running to the large front window, he saw a ghastly sight. The charred corpse of his sister, burned while trying to claw her way out of a minute opening in the metal barrier. Dorian looked at her blackened skull, and felt the tears well up once again. Sudden, vicious nausea gripped him, and he began throwing up violently on the ground. Dorian dimly heard sirens approaching, and he suddenly felt himself grabbed by a strong person. Turning around, Dorian saw he was being dragged away from the house by a fireman, and as he looked into the streets, he saw police cars everywhere. It was more than Dorian could stand, and he collapsed yet again. Dark dreams filled his mind. Scattered images of charred corpses, fire, the gangster, red eyes. And then, a corpse- white face with yellow eyes and vampire- like fangs lunged out, shrieking. Dorian snapped back into consciousness, and saw he was in Christine's house. He got out of the guest bed and walked toward the kitchen. He saw Christine's mother sitting in a chair, watching TV. she heard him and turned around. "Oh Dorian, you are finally awake. Good." Dorian walked over and asked, "What am I doing here?" Christine's mother frowned and she said, "When we heard that your house burned down, we told the police you can stay with us for a while. So, while you were knocked out, we brought you here and let you stay in the bed. By the way, I know you probably don't want to hear this right now, but you are invited to Christine's funeral ceremony. It's an open casket affair. Cost us plenty too." A fresh wave of tears came to Dorian's eyes, and he barely managed to strangle out a thank you before he went outside. "That bitch!" thought Dorian. "She doesn't even give a damn that her daughter died!" Dorian stayed out until he could control himself, and then he went back inside. Sitting on the guest bed, his mind in turmoil, Dorian came up with the only logical plan…
†
Dorian attended the funeral, made up an excuse not to go back to Christine's house, and hid quietly. When everyone had left, Dorian snuck back into the room where Christine's body lay. He looked down at his lost love, whispered "nothing is worth struggling for anymore," and then he pulled out a knife. Pulling back his sleeve and gathering his strength, Dorian plunged the knife into his wrist, severing the radial artery. He bit back the urge to shout in pain and pulled the knife out. Switching hands, he plunged it into his other wrist, leaving two gaping wounds. Dorian looked at his wrists, saw the crimson blood flowing out, and felt himself go numb. He cut too deep, and couldn't hold the knife anymore. It fell to the ground with a loud clanging noise. Dorian hugged Christine, crying, growing colder and colder, until darkness consumed him.
†
Dorian awake to a wave of burning agony. He kept his eyes shut tight, only aware of a red glow coming in through his eyelids. As the pain faded away, Dorian stood up, looking around at this bizarre world. He was on what appeared to be a barren island floating in space. Dorian noticed some buildings, but they were in ruins, and a foul wind was blowing through the world. As Dorian looked into the space, he realized with a chill that he could only be in one place. Hell. His final act in the world of the living rushed back to him. Looking down, he saw the gaping wounds, no longer bleeding, but still there. An ominous red and black void was all Dorian saw beyond the island. "Now what do I do? If this is Hell, it isn't that bad, just… boring. I wonder if I should go anywhere? See if I could find people or something," thought Dorian. Suddenly, he saw movement off to his left. When he looked, it had vanished. He almost thought he imagined it when it happened again, this time in front of him. Suddenly, a strange creature crawled out from behind a rock. It was hideous, with a long tail, horns, cloven hands and feet, and large bat wings. Its scales gleamed orange; it had a hooked beak, and was skeletally thin. It looked at Dorian with blood red eyes. It began crawling towards him. Dorian backed away, looking as more of the creatures started appearing everywhere. They were not all the same. Some had more muscle, no wings, hooves, or other such changes. However, no matter what they looked like, they were all approaching Dorian with a hungry look in their eyes. Just as Dorian thought he was finished, a dark, booming voice yelled, "STOP!" Dorian looked up, and the demons all stopped, facing someone who was flying towards them with large, black wings. One of the demons did not heed the command, and it jumped at Dorian, who lifted his arms to protect himself from the claws and fangs. Before the demon got him, a large, flaming sword cut through the air, utterly destroying the creature. When Dorian looked, he saw an amazingly handsome man standing before him. The man had long, stark white hair, red eyes, and wore all black. Black gloves, cloak, boots, everything. He folded his raven wings and sheathed his sword, which Dorian saw was a seven foot long burning claymore. When it was sheathed, the fire went out. The tall being looked at Dorian and said, "Come, the Master is waiting to speak with you." Dorian stood up, looked into the creature's eyes, and asked, "Who are you?" The being let out a small chuckle, and answered, "My name is Sephiroth, and I am one of the ten Devil Lords. Welcome to Hell.
7