**Author's Note: Ok. It took forever. I know it took forever, and I'm sorry. But maybe this means I'm back, and that I'll be writing again, consistently. Well anyway, enjoy. I'll start working on the revisions of the earlier chapters before long…I hope.
Chapter 12
Elisa sat up with a start, gasping for air and relishing it's taste, and writhing in agony as its icy fingers pierced the raw inside of her throat, stinging it like a billion bees. She would've screamed if she could have, but as it was her vocal cords were so stiff they wouldn't even function. She sat in silent agony, forcing her self to breathe so that she wouldn't suffocate, but cringing in pain with every life sustaining breath. She went on like this for a few moments, until a glass of water, or at least some other clear fluid, was placed on the table before her. She greedily accepted it, gulping the cool but bitter fluid down as fast as she could, soothing her throat by a large measure. When she was finished, she looked over her shoulder at her mysterious benefactor, and was immediately frozen in place by an inexplicable terror, not even budging as the now empty glass crashed loudly into the floor and shattered into a thousand pieces.
The man, the one with the colorless eyes, the one from before she lost consciousness, was standing over her shoulder.
She sat, rigid and afraid for a moment, not even caring who or what the man was, knowing only that he felt wrong, and that recent events dictated that anything that felt wrong was probably just that. The man stood, staring into her eyes, holding them with his fixed, cold, colorless stare. Slowly he extended a hand and closed her mouth, his face splitting into an all-knowing smile.
"Close your mouth dear, it's rude to gape at people." He patted her on the head almost paternally. Her stare followed him as he worked his way around the small table and sat down across from her. He was clothed in a plain black suit, much like what a corporate executive or some other businessman would wear. He straightened the lapels as he sat and then reached across the table to offer his hand to Elisa.
"Pleased to meet you Elisa, won't you guess my name?" He said with a wicked smile.
***
Gabriel woke slowly, almost painfully. His body seemed to slowly materialize, because he couldn't feel his legs or arms at all. His arms and legs slowly came back to him, though they were accompanied with an intense, hellish pain. He sat up slowly, his body creaking with each inch, until he sat upright with a groan. He surveyed his body with a frown, noting all the little, and a few big, lumps, bruises, and cuts. His gun was nowhere to be found, as was the ammunition and backpack. His left pant's leg was torn and shredded into almost nothing just below the knee. His left leg was battered black and blue from his knee all the way to where his boot covered it. He massaged it gingerly, testing for a broken bone. When he was sure it wasn't going to hurt him any further, he stood.
It was an effort in willpower.
After several attempts he finally stood, unarmed and vulnerable, and looked around at his new surroundings. He seemed to be back in the real world. He pondered for a moment at how it was possible that he could fall into oblivion in the limbo realm and end up in the real world. His confusion was only compounded by the fact that he knew absolutely nothing about the part of the real world he'd been so unceremoniously left at.
"Well, I wonder where I'm at." he said aloud in an irritated tone. He was in a small courtyard lined on all sides by red brick walls. There was a small hedge on the edges of a cobblestone path leading to a tall, rather decrepit looking set of double doors. This scene was mirrored on the opposite end of the courtyard, where an almost identical set of doors stood. On either side of the courtyard there were well tended, at some point at least, flowerbeds. During the interminable time the world, or at least the city around them, had undergone it's horrible transformation into a ghost town the flowerbeds had fallen into disarray and the wilted skeletons were all that remained of what might've been very pretty orchids, roses, or some other kind of flower. He weighed his options.
Door number one, he thought quietly to himself. Or door number two?
He paced the courtyard for a few minutes, trying to find some clue as to where he was. He was so deep in thought that he didn't even notice the lone figure standing before door number one until the figure cleared it's throat, startling Gabriel and pulling him out of his contemplative trance. He immediately assumed a defensive posture, raising his empty hands and placing his weight on his uninjured right leg. The figure, a man dressed in priest's garb, shook his head and smiled bitterly.
"You would strike a man of the cloth Gabriel?" he asked sarcastically, "how unbecoming of a warrior of God."
"It'd serve you right for sneaking up on a soldier of God." He smiled in spite of himself, and approached the priestly man with a laugh. "Tyler, you're a sight for sore eyes, how've you been?" He said as he reached out to clap the man on the shoulder.
His smile faded as his hand passed completely through Tyler's body.
"Not too good Gabriel, as you can tell." He replied grimly, his gaze dropping as his cold blue eyes brimmed with tears.
"What happened to you Tyler?" Gabriel asked in confusion.
Tyler sighed, "I died Gabriel."
"At the church, was it the demon?"
"No, God intervened then, He took me from that place. He sent a shadow of myself to you in the alley. He then sent me to save Elisa from the beast when she returned to her home. I didn't survive that encounter. Luckily, the girl did." He recounted the tale of the candles, the gas, and the fiery explosions, the pain. When he finished speaking he resigned himself to a sullen silence, staring at Gabriel's feet. A long silence lurked between them.
"All of that, just to save one girl?" Gabriel said incredulously.
Tyler's eyes shot up, piercing Gabriel's. "Don't trivialize my death Gabriel, that girl holds just as much significance in this as you do. Without her all is lost."
"Well then, where the hell is she?"
***
The suited man's hand lingered in the dead air between himself and Elisa.
"You're not even going to try and guess my name?" He said with an ever-widening smile. "I know you've heard it countless times. It's plastered all over the place."
Elisa's face remained devoid of any emotion, her eyes blankly staring at the man sitting before her at the small café table. She knew, or at least could guess, who he was. She wasn't sure though, so she waited for him to make introductions. The man sighed and dropped his hand.
"Fine, if you must be petulant I think I'll just introduce myself."
He stood and shrugged off the vestiges of his human form.
Elisa instinctively shrunk away at the sight that was unfolding before her. Where the man had been standing only seconds before, there now stood the visage of what could only be called an angel. His wings, though tattered and torn, were the color of the purest gold, with strange, rusty crimson streaks. It looked almost as though some great painter had painted those wings, and displeased with the purity of them, doused them with crimson ink. His skin was the finest alabaster, pure and unblemished. His eyes shined with a hazel-gold sheen, intense and filled to the brim with anguish. He seemed to grow before Elisa, until she stood before a titan, a creature of pure glory, his flowing blonde hair danced about as if they had become fiery tongues. In his presence, she was powerless.
"What…what are you?" Elisa finally stammered.
"I am," his voice flowed forth lyrically, like the sweetest music, or like the purest rain, "the faded glory of The Morningstar. My name was sung in the heavens, I was once the second most loved off all His children. You know me as Lucifer, The Adversary, The Beast…I was once the champion of creation, and I was struck down by the petty jealousy of The Almighty. Now…" He trailed off, a single golden tear slowly snaked its way down his perfect face and fell to the ground, and where it fell the ground cracked slightly, and the purest water seemed to bubble up and pool around that spot.
Elisa was entranced by the magnificence of the being, Lucifer himself, which stood before her.
Inwardly Lucifer smiled the most wicked, cruel smile he could.
It's a great thing when plans go this well, he thought, and in his own mind he laughed a long, hard, evil laugh.
***
He watched silently from the rooftop as Gabriel and the priest's ghost conversed in the courtyard. So the priest did die in the explosion, he thought with a grin, I'd hate to know I didn't at least hurt him badly. He stepped to the edge; careful to avoid the dead gaze of the priest until he was sure Gabriel was unarmed. He seethed with anger, anger at being defeated by a mere human priest, being challenged by one of The Master's own children, and anger at the difficulty which he had had in finding Gabriel, a mere man. Suddenly, on a whim, he decided to give into the anger.
He leapt off the roof with a howl, aiming to land just behind Gabriel.
***
Gabriel felt the ground behind him buckle long before he registered the howl or the terrified look on Tyler's ghost's face. He was suddenly a blur of motion, ducking under the fatal swipe of the demon's clawed hand, watching as Tyler disappeared, or was rather dispelled, when the deadly arc reached him. Gabriel immediately leapt clear of the monster and started running, or trying to run, for door number two. An angry howl followed him as he careened into the door, knocking it ajar. He spun quickly and slammed it shut just in time to be knocked back as the demon charged into it shoulder first. The door held though, through some small miracle, and Gabriel rose quickly to his feet and retreated deeper into the dark hallway. His heart sank as he hear the rending of metal, followed quickly by the rage-filled howl of his pursuer somewhere back in the darkness. He pushed himself harder, ignoring the agony that burst through his injured left leg with each step. The howls were getting louder, which meant the demon was drawing closer, which meant Gabriel had to run faster if he wanted to survive. He looked for any exit he could find, hoping to put more distance between him and the howling monstrosity that seemed intent on his death. Finally, his sharp eyes paid off and he ducked through a single door on his right.
He entered into a large room, much like a storage warehouse. The floor was empty though, and about twenty-five feet below where he entered the room at. There was a small catwalk extending to his left ending in a short set of stairs. He rushed toward them, his speed fueled by the sound of the demon tearing through the door behind him. He took the stairs two at a time, his injured leg screaming at him over the loud roar of his demon assailant. He hit the warehouse floor fast, almost tripping, and took off toward the light of the open loading bay shutter. He heard a strange groaning sound that quickly became a screeching and then suddenly stopped.
The twisted remains of the catwalk suddenly blocked off the loading bay door, cutting off Gabriel's only means of escape.
Gabriel spun around just it time to see the demon start his murderous charge forward, his head down and claws forward in an unmistakable killing posture. There was no way possible for Gabriel to dodge the beast this time. He was going to die.
At the last moment possible, a forklift became his savior and salvation.
It happened so quickly that Gabriel didn't even realized it had happened until afterward. The demon was charging toward him one second, and then the next he was against the far wall, impaled on one of a forklift's massive forks. His mind wouldn't process it all, and he stood dumbfounded until the forklift caught fire and exploded into a ball of orange flame. The dying shrieks of the beast filled the large warehouse floor until, like the fire, they died down and were gone. He looked around for the driver, but found no one.
"Looks like even dead men can still have a few tricks up their sleeves, eh?" Tyler's voice filled Gabriel's ears and then disappeared back into the ether.
"Thank you again, my friend." Gabriel said with a laugh as he made his way through the wreckage of the catwalk and back out into the dim, foggy, light of day. He stood for a moment trying to get his bearings when Tyler's voice piped back up again.
"Head west young man!" it said, with a chuckle. Gabriel looked off to the west and saw a hand-made, green sign, with golden lettering.
It read "The Golden Lizard Antique Shoppe. Two miles straight ahead.".