Chapter 6
Elisa stood, drenched to the bone, in front of the familiar blue house she had lived in her whole life. She knew the layout of her town, a suburb on the outskirts of a larger city, rather well, and found it easy to get from one point to the other quickly. Now she stood, just staring at her house, with a sudden feeling of uncertainty.
Something isn't right here…but what is it?
She had a bad feeling; a nagging that hadn't left her since she had awoken in the 'twisted' world, as she called it. Now it grew worse, and her home, a place that should feel the most secure of any place imaginable, felt so alien and unreal that she debated whether she should enter it or run in the opposite direction. Once again her curiosity fought her sense of fear, and eventually won.
She approached the garage, and entered through a door beside the metal shutter.
Her mother's car sat in its usual place, and all seemed normal. But the feeling of unease still persisted, even with no visual threat present. She moved through the garage slowly, prepared for anything that could possibly jump out at her or attack her. She opened a door to her kitchen still on her guard for any threat, and glided into her living room, where she froze.
There were crimson stains in the white carpet, in the shape of footprints.
From the shape and size, they appeared to be women's shoes. "Mom!" she called frantically, "are you here, are you hurt?" No answer. She called again, and the dead silence of the house absorbed the sound, no answer. She followed the footprints, through the living room, down the hall, up the stairs, past her own room, and to the door of her parent's room.
She stopped, and stared at the green door.
The path of crimson footprints ended a few feet away from the door; instead the entire carpet was stained red. The door itself had more than one bloody handprint on it, and the knob was slick with it. She no longer cared though; she had to find her mother soon.
She burst through the door, and found her mother, or what was left of her. She fell to her knees unable to stomach what she was seeing. The only recognizable feature left in the pile of gore was a crushed hand, wearing her mother's wedding ring. She cried, long coughing sobs, unable to think of anything but her poor, poor mother, and the pain she must have felt before she died.
When she looked up again, the tiny crucifix her parents kept caught her eye, and she immediately began to pray. For a long while she prayed, every prayer she could ever remember, every one her mother had ever taught her, until she knew no more to pray. Then she crossed herself, and said aloud "Amen."
The walls began to shake, and the crucifix burst into flames.
She stood, and prepared to run, but before she did, she bent and removed the ring from her mother's ravaged remains, slipped it onto her finger, and stood. Just as she did, an arm burst from the wall where the crucifix had hung and grabbed her by the throat. Suddenly she was suspended in the air, and was forced to watch in horror as something large tore its way through the wall. Once it was free, she saw it for what it was…an abomination.
It stood nearly ten feet tall, with long, disproportionate limbs, it had a mane of thorns that started at its fore head and flowed all the way down the length of its back. When she looked upon its face, she saw something familiar, though she couldn't place it immediately. The picture above Mom's bed, She thought, the one of Jesus praying.
What bitter irony, She though, to die in the hands of a demon with the face of The Savior, and as its grip on her throat tightened she had one final thought, what bitter irony indeed.
***
"Are you going to let me down from here or not?" Gabriel asked impatiently. He had been hanging from the cross for more than an hour, and the 'prophet' had yet to tell him anything.
"First; who are you?" The Prophet asked calmly.
"My name's Gabriel, but you knew that already, will you please let me down." The pain had dulled to a low throb, and the old man at least had the decency to pull the pike from his torn abdomen. The only discomfort came from the ache in his shoulders from hanging by his wrists. "I'm really tired of hanging by my wrists…you should try it, its very uncomfortable."
"Silence boy, I know who you are, but who are you? Answer me that and I will let you down from the cross." He grew deathly quiet, and stood at Gabriel's feet, waiting for a proper answer.
"I…don't know who I am. I know some things, I knew the face the Crucifix Demon copied, and I knew that the building where I met Tyler was a church. I knew that this…place…is Hell. Other than that, I don't remember anything. I don't know my real name, where I'm from, or what I'm doing here. I thought maybe you could help." Gabriel's head slumped against his chest, and he had a moment of despair unlike any he had experienced before. The Prophet merely laughed. Gabriel looked up in anger, "how dare you laugh, do you know what I've experienced? I almost died up here on this damned cross, and all you can do is laugh." He roared at the old man, his voice echoing throughout the cavernous chamber. The Prophet's head snapped to attention.
"But you did die on that cross Gabriel. How does it feel to be a dead man? If you insist on spouting angry words in my direction, you shall stay that way; you know not what I am offering you. But, since you answered the first question correctly, I will let you down…dead man." He waved his hand, the restraints snapped, and Gabriel found himself lying on his face. He pushed himself into a sitting position, and huffed angrily.
"What do you mean dead man? How could I be speaking to you if I died?" He looked incredulously at the old man, who responded with a snort.
"You died, it's a simple as that. The rest will be explained in time" He chuckled as Gabriel launched himself to his feet and charged at him, he waved his hand again, and Gabriel was frozen in mid step, his fist inches from the old man's face. "You underestimate me young Gabriel, if you insist on trying to attack me, I will show you what it means for a dead man to die." With a flick of his wrist, Gabriel was thrown into the wall. "Answer me one more question; do you want to live, even if it is only to fight these demons and their master?"
Gabriel thought for a moment, and then answered.
***
The demon brought Elisa close to its face, and howled into her ear. To Elisa, the sound changed from a deafening howl, and became a din of voices. "Bend to my will girl, I have already destroyed the rest, and will gladly destroy you if you don't. You will fail, and you will die." Elisa screamed, unable to form words, unable to think of anything but the stinking breath of the demon as it howled in her face.
"Let her go damn you!" A voice boomed throughout the house. Suddenly Elisa was flying, until she slammed into the wall over her parents' bed. She lay there for a moment, her breath knocked from her body. She lifted her throbbing head from the quilted comforter in time to see a man charge into the room and attack the demon with a blunt weapon.
He had sandy hair, with pale blue eyes. He was tall and wore the standard garb of a priest. He bashed the demon in the head with the blunt object—a baseball bat—and shouldered it into the wall. "Run, damn it, get out of here now!" He turned for a moment to look at her, and was immediately in the demon's grasp. He fought like a madman, beating the beast until it let go, and he screamed at her again. "What are you waiting for, go!" She got to her feet quickly and ran for the door, where she turned to catch one last glimpse of the mysterious priest, and then retreated to the ground floor.
She ran from the base of the stairs, down the hall, and into her living room. There, in front of her favorite chair was her low coffee table, on which a multitude of candles were placed, each alight with a pale flame. She stopped for a moment to admire their beauty, but the sounds of the battle above reminded her of escape, so she continued on to the kitchen. She slammed the kitchen door almost off its hinges, and was immediately aware of the intense smell of natural gas. She ignored it and continued out the door to the sidewalk. Then she turned and waited to see either the mysterious priest or the demon emerge from the front door. She suddenly saw an image of the white candles in her mind, and smelled the overwhelming aroma of natural gas.
"Oh shi—" she squeaked.
The house exploded, throwing her on her back, and then each house down the line exploded, one by one, until Elisa's once peaceful neighborhood was left in ruin. She lay on the ground; covered by burnt debris, until the warm blackness of unconsciousness overtook her.
***
"Have you ever read the Book of Revelations Gabriel?" The Prophet asked solemnly.
"Yes." Gabriel said instinctively. "It says that a day would arrive when God would unleash his final judgment on the earth, and The Beast would be freed from the Pit, and would devour the sinners. The world would be destroyed, and the believers would live on in the kingdom of Heaven."
"Yes, well, often times plans of that magnitude fail in the long run. You see; The Beast would not wait for his time. He has freed himself from the Pit, and now has set forth to devour your world, beginning right here in this very city. If he is not stopped, there will be no earth to judge, and his next target will be the gates of Heaven themselves."
"What does this have to do with me?" Gabriel asked curiously.
"You are the only one who can defeat The Beast." The Prophet replied curtly.
"What! Me? How can I fight Satan?" Gabriel asked incredulously.
"You can't yet, but in time, you will have to." The Prophet continued, "you see Gabriel, you are no mere mortal, you never were, you are a warrior soul, forged by God himself for this specific task, the memories you have had so far, they have all been of war, and battle, correct?" Gabriel nodded in confirmation. "That is because the only thing you have ever know has been war, your eternal soul has been chained to battle since the very beginning. Your task now is simple, to defeat Satan, and cast him back into the Pit, for eternity."
Gabriel stood, dumbfounded, unable to think of any words to express the utter shock, the immense weight, of the implications laid upon him. The Prophet stepped forward, placed his hands on Gabriel's temples, and his field of vision was blacked out. Only the sound of the moving air, and his own breathing remained, as images steamed through his mind, countless births and deaths over thousands of years, countless battles, countless acts of violence, and unspeakable acts committed by wicked men over the lifetime of a planet. It took a moment, but then Gabriel understood what he was seeing.
The prophet was showing him his life.
***
What happened?
Elisa felt the damp air on her face, and opened her eyes slowly. Then her memory returned.
It's gone…all of it.
She pulled herself free of the debris that lay across her legs, while she had lain there for some indeterminable time, and got to her feet shakily. She must not have been out long, because she had a gaping wound on her forearm that still oozed blood. She looked at the scene in front her, feeling as if her heart had been ripped out.
Everything was gone.
Her house, and every house near had been wiped clean from the face of the earth, and nothing remained but charred dirt and debris. She lost her balance and sat silently sobbing. Then she noticed a strange thing.
The rain had stopped.
It had rained for nearly a month, even before she awoke in the nightmare world, and now it seemed as if it had never rained at all, instead there was a thick fog, a fog that hung low to the ground and obscured her vision. She found that, sitting amongst the destruction around her, she would have preferred the rain to the eerie fog any day.
Slowly, stiffly, she stood once more and began walking. She had no idea where she was going though, only that she wanted desperately to find a normal person, so she wouldn't have to face the nightmare alone anymore.