Heaven and Hell
Chapter One: The Crucifix
Gabriel stood quietly and walked out without a word, forgetting his shopping bags and his book, made his way through the crowded parking lot to his tiny blue automobile, climbed in and sat back in his seat, his hand clasped over his mouth. He pulled down the visor mirror and stared blankly at his lips as if he expected them to be charred and burnt where Lucifer's had touched them. He took a breath, flipped the visor back up, and turned the key in the ignition.
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"Bless me father, for I have sinned." The boy was very small, only about eleven or twelve. But surely he was old enough to know that there would be no one to confess to this early in the morning? "Father?"
"I don't think there's anyone here, young man," Lucifer said softly.
A tiny head of brown curls peered out from the confessional, "Who are you?"
"I am an angel," Lucy said, sitting down on a pew and beckoning the boy to come sit next to him, "You can confess to me."
The boy threw a look at the confessional, as if he wondered why the "angel" did not lead him there, but did not say anything about it, "I have committed an unforgivable sin of the flesh," the boy said, his eyes lowered as he spoke in a voice that sounded almost recited.
"Go on,"
Suddenly the boy dropped his rehearsed tone and burst into tears, grabbing Lucifer's hand and wringing it desperately, "I let him touch me! He said I'm - I'm a slut and he - hurt me...be - because he said I should - shouldn't..." the rest of the confession was lost in the boy's sobs as he threw himself into Lucifer's arms. As the boy's body came into contact with his own, Lucifer saw a vivid splash of blurred colours, out of which shapes and outlines emerged, the blurred and contorted figures of the human memory. There was another boy, a blond with brilliant blue eyes. He was older, perhaps thirteen. With a bright and mischievous smile, the older showed the younger how to alleviate the "problems" that arise from looking at pretty girls. The memory was even more blurry from that point until a large, moustached man burst into the room. A muffled voice thickly laced with a southern accent filled Lucifer's head. There was a slurred, inaudible exchange between the younger boy and the man, the boy's voice ringing frightenedly from deeper inside Lucifer's mind that the other voice. The picture blurred even more and morphed into what must have been some time later. That gravelly southern voice was shouting out scripture. The words triggered a dull ache at the base of Lucifer's brain, the sting of pain that still resulted from hearing scripture spoken with real meaning. The man must have been a priest. The boy was bent over the foot of his bed, pinned down by the weight of the man who Lucifer assumed must have been a stepfather. There was a vague memory of threatening words and a sharp pain that spread from the young boy's rectum out through his entire abdomen, and the sting of his stepfather's nails in the soft flesh of his forearms and then, nothing. A black out. Lucifer held the sobbing boy and then whispered to him, "You should obey your parents, but he is not your parent. He has violated you. The Lord will avenge your grief. Come with me."
Through his tears the boy asked, "I shouldn't say any 'Hail Mary's?"
"No," Lucifer grinned, lifting the boy into his arms, "Just tell me where your stepfather is."
Man Crucified in Southern Baptist Church
This morning at approximately 7:06 AM, a local Baptist minister was found nailed up to the cross at the entrance to his church. Police officials say that the 42-year-old clergyman had been severely whipped and his head had been circled with barbed wire before being nailed to the 10 foot cross with a nail gun. Five-inch carpentry nails were arranged in groups of five on each of his palms and three rows of six through his feet. Police have not yet identified a suspect, but police department representative Marvin Johnson has said, "We're doing all we can to track down this killer. We've conducted raids on every known cult and otherwise suspicious underground facility and we're collecting information on what other groups with motives for murder might exist."
Gabriel threw down the paper onto the hotel bed in disgust, storming into the bathroom to change into a pair of blue flannel pajamas.
"I'm going to kill him!" the angel mumbled, "I don't know if it's possible, but if it is, I swear I will do it!"
"Thou shalt not kill. Unless, of course, that murder is in the name of the Good Lord above."
Gabriel whirled around to see Lucifer leaning against the doorframe, idly staring at the Angel's half dressed form.
"Lucy!" Gabriel breathed through clenched teeth, "You idiot! What did you think you were doing! Did it occur to you that we could have handled that man!"
"I'm Redeeming myself. Punishing a sinner masquerading as a servant of the Lord. After all, that is an Angel's work. Besides, I got there first."
"You are not an Angel, Lucifer. You've proven that much over the last couple of millennia!"
"I'm ready to repent, to come back to the light of God!"
"I doubt that," Gabriel muttered, buttoning up his pajama top and strutting huffily over to the queen-sized bed. Lucifer followed him, sitting down next to the angel.
"Gabriel, you know I wouldn't be doing this if I didn't have a genuine reason. I never do anything without a reason."
"And your reason is...?"
Lucifer made an exasperated sound, standing suddenly, his fists balled at his sides. He was silent for a moment.
"Lucy?"
"You," he said through gritted teeth.
"Lucy, I --"
"Don't...call me that," he whispered tensely.
"Lucifer," Gabriel continued, "I thought we had put our past behind us. It was so long ago!"
Lucifer whirled around, the light in his eyes filling the room, "Maybe you were able to put it behind you! Maybe you could just go back to Father, repent, and forget it, but I couldn't! I had centuries to think about you! I had centuries to wonder what it would have been like if you could have just put Him behind you, if you hadn't been such a coward! You! You just forgot all about it once you were back in His pretty little kingdom!"
Gabriel was taken aback. He stared at Lucifer for several minutes before responding carefully, "Lucifer, it's not that simple. I didn't forget. I just...I know it won't work and I'm not letting it bother me. I'm sorry if you're hurt, but I can't account for that. It wasn't my decision that broke us apart and you know it."
Lucifer left the room, and the mortal body he had assumed began to sob.