The glowing light from the front wall faded as they sipped wine. Cody’s stomach was tied in knots with anticipation of the fourth dinner companion.
He glanced at his watch. The sun had set, maybe the Fallen Angel wasn’t coming after all, and they could relax. The dining room darkened, replacing the glow with pale pools of light beaming on the tables from the ceiling mixed with strange floating disks from the disco ball. Their discussion ended, as though on cue, allowing the soft music to have control of the room.
The hair on the back of Cody’s neck rose, warning him of impending danger. Cody wanted to scream, but he held the impulse at bay. His pulse quickened. The color of Jen’s face disappeared, leaving her pasty. Tyler giggled, he was the only one enjoying the bombardment of electricity surging on the surface of his skin. In unison, they inhaled. The door opened, which only Tyler had a clear view.
Blue light filled the room. Cody knew without looking behind him the entity entering the restaurant caused the illumination. He’d become accustomed to the beams of green from Hector and was no longer unnerved by it. Now, he wanted her to show herself without the human costume to break a crack in his psyche, blinding him so he wouldn’t have to view the demon’s attributes. No longer able to hold back the desire, Cody twisted in the booth to see over the top of its back.
He had stopped a step away from the door, allowing it to close, looking to each of them. Jen pushed farther into the corner of the booth, trying to hide from his gaze. Tyler restrained himself from jumping up to greet him and wrap his arms around the man. It didn’t matter how many times he’d met with him, the feeling never changed.
Cody was surprised by the man’s appearance, as he’d pictured a weather-torn creature with dark eyes, sallow skin, gnarled hands, and hunched back carrying the weight of his torments.
But he was the man of his dream. The one who had taken him in his arms and had given him the world, the night he had received the tattoo. He hadn’t paid attention to the dream, thinking it a fantasy. But here the man stood. The ink in his flesh tingled, not uncomfortably, but the way a lover’s fingers slid across the back of a hand to weave with the other’s fingers.
Tyler popped from the booth. Cody followed, but with less exuberance. He approached, his feet making no sound on the floor. The brilliant blue beams washed over Tyler, then stayed on Cody, pooling around him. Cody felt comfort and acceptance in the attention. He wanted to make him proud. Give him everything he asked. His mind flashed again to the dream.
“Belphegor.” Cody extended his hand to him. “We meet at last.”
Tyler groaned and shuddered. Cody didn’t pay attention to him; he couldn’t take his gaze from the magnificent man standing in front of him. He wanted to know this man and knew all the men he’d known before and met in the future had no way to compare to his splendor. There was a tenderness in the way he looked at Cody.
“You aren’t bewildered by my full name,” the Fallen Angel said, taking Cody’s hand, sending a heavenly sensation through him. “I think it is the best news I’ve received in millennia.” He puckishly glanced at Tyler and Jen. Tyler had finished his orgasm. “Go clean up,” he said to Tyler, who turned on his heel, disappearing through the door to the left of the dancefloor, which Cody hadn’t noticed before. Jen cowered in the corner, and he asked her, “Are you feeling well?”
She sat up, glancing around the room as though she didn’t know where she was. Gaining composure, she brightened with a bubbly grin, and she said, “I dropped my napkin on the floor.” She dangled it above her plate.
“Let go of his hand, Cody,” Hector said, standing at his side.
“Aren’t you a sight,” Belphegor said to her, still gripping Cody’s hand. “I thought you’d be more…” He shook his head. “Oh well, it doesn’t matter how you appear. It’s for his benefit after all.” She stared defiantly at him. “You do know you’re outmatched, don’t you?”
“Come on, Cody. Let’s go.” She ignored Belphegor, trying to break Cody free.
“He has no idea you’re here. So why don’t you go away?” She glared at him. He laughed at her furrowed brow and narrowed lips. “Tonight, we dine.”
“Leave them alone.”
“Or what? What will you and the others do?” He motioned around the room, brightness erupting in the room. His mouth relaxed with neither frown nor smile as he paused, giving the impression he expected an answer, which she had no intention of giving, he continued, “The age-old-question. Oh, I know. How many angels can dance on the head of a needle?” He smirked. “Yes, I see the thousands of you around, always, everywhere. Why? I wonder, does one soul need so many?” His smile faded into a sad frown. “Too bad Watchers don’t have any real power. We could have such a magnificent battle.”
Tyler returned from the bathroom, smelling of soap, and said gregariously, “What’d I miss?”
“Nothing,” Cody said, releasing Belphegor’s hand. “Just waiting on you.”
Tyler started to sit where he had before next to Jen, but Belphegor stopped him, saying, “Why don’t you sit next to me so you can ogle your lovely girlfriend?”
“Really!?” Tyler shouted. Without giving him time to change his mind, he slid in the booth where Cody had been sitting.
He then motioned for Cody to sit next to Jen as he lowered himself next to Tyler who squealed with excitement, being allowed to sit so close. Cody glanced at his brother’s pleased smile.
“I’m delighted,” Belphegor began once they were settled. His gaze returned to Jen for only a moment. Her crooked smirk and half-closed, glassy eyes made her look intoxicated. He turned his head to Tyler, who looked like a lovesick schoolgirl. He was intrigued with the way Cody was unaffected by his presence, one of the ways he was special. “Ecstatic, in fact, since you have no trouble using my name. Others.” His finger waggled between Tyler and Jen. “Don’t have the same strength of character.”
“Maybe, it’s because I can see through your bullshi…” Cody paused, remembering he didn’t like cuss words and wanted to be respectful. Why he cared, Cody wasn’t sure. “The thing I don’t understand, is why us?” He glanced at Tyler.
“All in due time.” Coyness filling his tone and expression, but saw Cody wasn’t impressed; the scowl still embraced his face. He had been elated when they had shaken hands, but the afterglow had diminished, unlike others who kept it for days. But he knew what he needed to do. “Tonight, we eat and get to know each other. Tomorrow, we’ll discuss the particulars.”
Eli entered, carrying a tray with salads. The ink in his arm tingled beneath the white, chef’s coat, and the talisman pressed against his chest warmed in Belphegor’s presence. He maintained a face with no expression, especially when he looked at Jen. Her fixed stare never moved from the man in the blue suit. She hadn’t noticed he had leaned over the table, placing a plate in front of her.
Growing up on a ranch thirteen miles to the west, he had come to town to attend school. His father wanted no part of Shoshoni; he said it was a vile place, holding people against their will.
As a child, Eli didn’t know what he meant, and when he questioned him, no further details were given. As he grew older, he had observed the teachers, his classmates, and people he had encountered in town, but saw nothing wrong. To him everything was normal, but still, his father didn’t want to come into town, though he did, begrudgingly, to watch him play football.
Before he died, he had shared everything he had known with Eli. He shook his head, wishing what his father had told him had been a fairytale, and returned to the kitchen with bile pushing its way from his stomach.
Once the salad had been devoured, except by Belphegor who had picked at the medley of greens and chopped vegetables, Eli returned to retrieve the plates. Jen glanced at him, but her eyes didn’t focus. He made a quick smile, causing his mustache to bounce; he hoped she saw. As he reached for the plate in front of Belphegor, he made the movement again. Instantly, her expression cleared, and she giggled. The Fallen Angel
glared at her. It seemed that his expression caught her as funny, too, as she giggled.
Tyler looked at her, a smirk cracking his love-struck expression, and then he broke into laughter. Delight filled Cody seeing his brother being a goof. Hector had to have behind the outburst, and he was glad for her interference as the tension was becoming unbearable. Belphegor’s hand wrapped around Eli’s wrist as he lifted the plate, pulling it back toward the table. His glare shot cold light at the chef.
“You will have no interaction with my guests,” he hissed at Eli. “Understood?”
“Yessir.” He snarled at him.
The grip on his wrist released, and Eli escaped to the kitchen with the plates. The high spirits of his guests made him uncomfortable. His control over them waned. He stood from his seat and wandered to the small dance floor. The mirror ball froze, the light music ended as did their laughter.
Tyler gawked at Cody and pulled the corners of his mouth down in a grotesque frown. Unease surrounded them as Belphegor stood there. Eli peered into the dining room, ready to serve the main course of rustic steaks, potato au gratin, and asparagus stocks, seeing his prank to make Jen laugh had gone sour.
Belphegor glared in his direction. This man was a nuisance as his father had been. But he could wait until morning. Tyler and Jen were easy enough to ensnare again. And Cody, there was no need, the link was already there. His smile returned, and he strolled back to the booth, joining the trio. A quick, flick of his finger to Jen returned her glazed condition. Then to Tyler and the enraptured smile came back to him.
“Why do you have to resort to cheap parlor tricks?” Cody asked after the man had sat again. “Tyler will do what you want. And Jen seems the same.”
He sipped his wine as though he hadn’t heard Cody, then laughed in his throat, before saying, “Old habits. I’m not used to people doing without a nudge.” He drank more wine. “What about you?”
“I don’t know why I’m here, except to get them out.”
“Your Watcher has put some horrid things in your head about me. And the research you did.” Eli approached with dinner. No one at the table paid him attention as he laid the plates before them, then slink off to the kitchen. “Tomorrow, you will understand. Like I said before, tonight is about getting to know each other. Let’s not let anything impede our first supper.”
Cody didn’t understand why Belphegor kept putting him off. He wanted to know why he was there. The reason for the tattoo on his arm. The haunting, the failed possession attempt. All of it. Did the Fallen Angel think that discussing it tomorrow made any difference?
Chapter Twenty-Three
And thou shalt have a paddle upon thy weapon; and it shall be, when thou wilt ease thyself abroad, thou shalt dig therewith, and shalt turn back and cover that which cometh from thee.
Deuteronomy 23:13, KJV
Before they’d finished eating, Belphegor laid his napkin over the uneaten food on his plate, and with a meek smile, said, “This has been a wonderful gathering.” He didn’t take his focus from Cody. “I hate to cut it short. However, I have other engagements. Enjoy the rest of your evening.”
Tyler furrowed his brow as the man stood. Without allowing any protests he knew were about to spout from Tyler, he turned, leaving them in silence. The door swung closed behind him and the night.
Once again, melodies broke free from the speakers, and the mirror ball spun on its axis. Their mood changed to what it had been before the man in the blue suit laid his hand on the door; lively, and energetic. Eli sighed with relief in the kitchen.
“Isn’t he great!?” Tyler blurted.
“Yeah, sure,” Cody said coolly. “Just great.”
They invited Eli to join them after he finished cleaning. He declined, not wanting to intrude on their reunion, however much he wanted to stay to get to know Cody better, he had other things demanding his attention.
Tyler promised to lock the front door when they left, and Eli disappeared into the kitchen. He briskly sloughed the food into the bin, rinsed the dishes and put them in the dishwasher. Glancing around the small kitchen, he made sure everything was in place, and no burners still burned, but secretly wished for the block would burn to the ground.
The door locked behind him as he stepped out into the chilly, spring night. Tendrils of steam rose from him like an octopus. Leaving his car, he walked around to the front of the building, scanning the gloomy street; the streetlight at the end of the block didn’t provide much light where he stood, and the parking lot light didn’t protrude past the side of the building. His boots clomped across the street to the safety of the broken sidewalk edging into the empty lot.
Music twanged from the bar, inviting him to a night of fun with the woman he heard laughing. Eli wasn’t sure what he intended to accomplish, but he had the feeling the night wasn’t going to offer him a good time.
Unlike his typical planning, tonight he played it by ear and hoped he hadn’t missed the opportunity to learn about the demon’s adventures, and possibly the rituals in his honor.
A demon living in the town where he went to school was still a hard pill to swallow. People worshipping him made no sense to him at all. He wasn’t the creator. Why worship a lower-grade being? He rubbed his wrist (the ache had dispersed where Belphegor had grabbed him), standing on the corner opposite the hotel. The window nearest the corner reflected the cold light from the streetlight, giving him no indication anyone stood sentinel. The roar of an engine turned his head toward the car approaching him. It sped by, and out of town.
Eli hoped he had gone to the right place; it seemed the most logical location. Crossing the deserted highway, he headed north toward City Park, his boots crunching the gravel of the unpaved street.
One summer, his father had conceded into coming to town for the annual auction and barbeque feast. Eli ran off to play with his friends from school in the small park; half was grass covered with lovely trees and picnic tables, the other half was dirt where the large, public grill sat near the swings.
Along the honeysuckle hedge across from the entrance, a light beamed over the public restrooms. Across from the east gate, the strange house lurked. His friend said it was a church, but Eli had never seen a church like this.
The building was two stories—two square windows on each level stared at him—with light-pink paint tinged gray. A dark-brown door sat between the lower two windows. His mind screamed to hide when he climbed the cottonwood and faced it dead on.
Seeing it unsettled him, though he didn’t know why. Now as he pushed himself against the skeletal remains of the honeysuckle hedge, the strange building forebode something sinister. All but one of its four windows were boarded closed, hiding the evil thriving inside, leaving the top left window exposed to the world; its pitted surface was dark, barely reflecting the light stretching across the park.
The cold air stung his nose and ears. He rubbed his hands to force the chill away for a moment. A cat screaming blocks away, broke the silence of the night, trying to steal his attention. His scrutiny darted toward the cat’s cry, then back to the dark, unhidden window.
He glanced at his watch, wondering how long he’d been standing there—2:57 AM. A light flickering in the far-off space behind the glass caught his eye, then faded from view. Moments later, a second flame followed it, then another—five in all.
Deciding to get closer, he rushed across the street to the side of the building. Carefully, he took the worn path along the side to the back. Muffled voices spoke in unison, but he didn’t understand the words.
He froze at the corner of the building, half-believing what he saw. Four people wearing dark, sack looking garments stood in a semicircle, facing east. The small candle flames bobbed in the breeze. Their chant continued in a language he hadn’t heard since the eighth grade; Latin.
The acolytes in the center moved one step to the right—Eli scanned the yard for Belphegor wondering where he lurked; he shivered, and looked over his shoulder, hoping he wasn’t near him
.
A young woman wearing a dark robe came from the building and walked deliberately through the opening. When she had passed, the acolytes returned to their place in the semicircle, closing the gap. Eli wished he remembered more from Latin class, so he had an idea of what they were saying, but he wasn’t Catholic or a Mason giving no reason to retain it.
The chanting stopped, and the acolytes bent in unison, allowing him to see her for a moment. She sat tall and proud, naked on a tree stump, the robe she wore spread on the ground beneath her feet. The pink of her erect nipples blazed in the centers of alabaster breasts.
Before Eli learned more about her, the center acolyte stood, leaving his candle to stand sentry in his place. He stepped forward, knelt before her, and raised a quart jar over his bowed head. She took the offering from him with a nod. The acolyte backed into his former position, bowing with the others
She stood, saying in a deep voice “Lord of Licentiousness. We offer you this gift, the creation of our bodies. A token of the debt owed to you, the misjudged. You know our minds and our souls. We wish for you to keep them close to you. We praise and honor you.”
Turning to face east with the others, she brought the jar to her mouth, kissed it, then placed it on the stump. She knelt before the wooden altar, hands held at sharp angles toward the sky.
Laying across her robe, she faced the sky. Now speaking in Latin, she raised her arms at her sides. The acolytes straightened, and in a single movement unzipped the fronts of their tunics, allowing them to fall to the ground in pools around their feet. Their pallid skin blazed as hers.
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