Between Heaven and Hell

by Jeff Kirvin

  “No idea,” Daniel said. “We don’t know how highly placed Birchmere is in their organization. This could just be a weekly status report. On the other hand, he lives pretty well by human standards, very well compared to Rockport, so maybe his involvement means this is a major gathering. We’ll find out tonight.”

  “In any case, I want you to be extra careful to stay out of sight,” Susan said.

  Daniel grinned roguishly. “Yes, ma’am.”

  “And quiet,” she continued, ignoring Daniel’s levity. “We don’t know how well these things can hear, but if their senses are anything like their strength or toughness—”

  “All right, Susan, we get it,” Daniel said.

  “Just be careful,” Susan said as she turned away from Daniel and started preparing the gear. “Jeff and I will be in the van.”

  Susan didn’t know if Daniel fully realized what they were doing. She’d always thought of herself as a strong, independent woman, but after that night in the motel those things scared her, truly frightened her to the bone. She’d done this style of investigation at college, even embarrassed one corrupt professor into retirement, but she had never spied on immortal monsters with the political connections to ruin someone’s life. She knew Daniel was so positive and upbeat because he was active and useful again, but she hoped that didn’t overshadow his caution.

  “Hey, buck up, Susan,” Daniel said. “Everything will be fine.”

  She tried very hard to believe him.

  They arrived at the warehouse early that afternoon. Susan and Jeff set up a block and a half away while Daniel waited on the roof, camera at the ready. They had escape routes and rendezvous prepared, as well as contingency plans should something go wrong. Susan excelled at that sort of planning, and Jeff’s military experience was also a plus. By five o’clock, when the first of the demons’ cars approached the building, they were ready and began to film.

  They just weren’t quite prepared for what they would see.

  The Meeting

  The first of them arrived singly and in pairs. They parked their cars on side streets and walked casually to the warehouse. The first one to reach the building unlocked the door and they all filed in. Daniel had already opened the skylight slightly, and he could hear them quite clearly, even if he didn’t understand a word they said. They were speaking a language Daniel had never heard. It sounded a little like Latin, but it was harsher, more guttural.

  Since he couldn’t decipher what they were saying, Daniel panned around the warehouse. It was square, about a hundred feet on a side. It was clean and well kept, with several large wooden packing crates stacked against the wall opposite the door. Just to the right of the door was a large forklift and a stack of wooden palettes. Most of the warehouse floor was empty, however, and it was there that people stood and talked as more of their number filed in.

  Most of them were dressed in suits, but a few were clad only in jeans and T-shirts. All the races of humanity were represented, and they also varied greatly in height and build. After watching a few dozen of them enter and mill about, Daniel finally saw one he recognized.

  “English, please!” Birchmere shouted as he stormed into the warehouse.

  Most of them bowed their heads to him in deference and several of them muttered, “Yes, Zagam.”

  “Lord Beelzebub will be here any minute,” Birchmere (Zagam?) continued. “Would you have him hear you speaking the ancient tongue and not that of your assigned location? You all know the penalty for speaking the ancient tongue.”

  Most of them were cowed at this, but a few of them glared at Birchmere in open defiance. Nevertheless, they spoke English from that point on.

  “Zagam!” one of them called out, striding confidently up to Birchmere. “Why has this meeting been called? What’s so important to drag Lord Beelzebub all the way here?” Several others expressed their interest in Birchmere’s answer.

  Birchmere stood up a little straighter, obviously trying to look every bit the authority figure the others took him to be. “I have not been in contact personally with Lord Beelzebub, but the impression I got was that Satan himself was displeased with something.”

  “Indeed,” rang out a deep baritone voice from the entrance.

  Daniel panned over and found the source of the voice, the largest man he had ever seen. The man stood nearly seven feet tall, an expensive Italian suit draping his muscular frame in black. His head was bald, the lack of hair throwing the rough crags of his face into sharp relief. The white of his shirt stood out against his deep olive Mediterranean complexion. The instant he entered the warehouse, all the others, Zagam included, dropped to one knee and bowed their heads to him.

  “Rise,” Beelzebub said, and they did. “You are correct, Zagam, Satan is not pleased. Your progress reports have not been inspiring as of late. In fact, the angels are on the cusp of gaining dominance in this, the most powerful and influential of human nations. I would know why.”

  Zagam stepped forward and nervously cleared his throat. “The answers to your question are complex, my Lord—”

  “I’ll tell you why, then!” a voice rang out from the back of the warehouse. Daniel panned over to see the man he knew as Floyd Rockport striding forward.

  “Batarel?” Beelzebub mused.

  “My Lord, pay no attention!” Zagam said, rushing to hold back Batarel. “This rebel knows nothing. He’s already defied reassignment—”

  “I’ve read your report. Let him speak.”

  “My Lord!” Zagam protested, only to be silenced by Beelzebub’s gaze.

  Batarel made his way to the front of the crowd. “We are making a grave mistake, my Lord,” he said. “Listen to yourselves. Progress reports! Schedules! We’ve adopted the humans’ bureaucracy. Instead of taking our rightful place and dominating mankind, we have become them!”

  “That is enough!” Zagam screamed. “You insubordinate cur! You have no idea what it takes to fulfill our destiny. You can’t even follow simple directions!”

  Zagam turned and faced Beelzebub. “My Lord, pay him no mind. His disobedience aside, everything is still going according to schedule. I project—”

  “Enough.” Beelzebub said, quietly, and the room fell completely silent.

  “Batarel’s disobedience is not the problem,” Beelzebub went on. “Indeed, insolent though he may be, Batarel has a point.”

  “My Lord, you can’t be serious—”

  Beelzebub spun and crossed the distance to Zagam in the blink of an eye. “Can’t I?”

  Zagam had no response.

  “This is exactly what Satan was concerned about. That we’re getting soft. That we’ve adopted too many human ways. That some among us,” he looked pointedly at Zagam, “are more interested in maintaining their own little empires than furthering our cause.”

  “Ridiculous!” Zagam exclaimed. “Nothing’s changed—”

  “Precisely,” Beelzebub said. “We are the embodiment of chaos, yet we’ve stopped changing. We are change. Some among us have forgotten that. It’s time you were reminded.” He reached his hand towards Zagam.

  “My Lord! No!”

  Almost too fast for Daniel to see, Beelzebub thrust his hand deep into Zagam’s chest. As Zagam writhed in agony, Beelzebub pulled his hand out, clutching Zagam’s heart. As Zagam collapsed to the floor, Beelzebub threw the heart down on the warehouse floor and crushed it under his foot.

  Daniel continued filming as Zagam slowly started to rise to his knees. He was obviously in tremendous pain, but just as obviously alive.

  Beelzebub turned and faced the other demons. “This meeting is over.” He walked briskly out of the warehouse.

  Daniel had seen enough. He signaled Susan. “Got all that?” he whispered.

  “Yeah,” came a quiet voice.

  “Good. I’m coming in.”

  “Be careful.”

  Daniel packed up his gear and slinked away from the skylight. He walked to the ladder at the edge of the roof and started to climb
down. No sooner did he set foot on the first metal rung than he froze.

  There were two demons walking directly beneath him, talking quietly. Daniel couldn’t make out what they were saying, but they seemed quite agitated. Please don’t look up, Daniel thought as they passed beneath him and turned the corner, out of sight. Once they were gone, he slowly and carefully descended and made his way to the rendezvous point.

  By the time he reached the Winnebago, his nerves were shot. Though he kept looking behind him as he moved, seeing nothing amiss, he couldn’t shake the feeling that he was being followed.

  As he reached the door, it flew open, Susan grabbed him by the jacket and pulled him inside. “Go!” she shouted at Jeff. The vehicle was already rolling.

  Their mission was a success.

  After checking into a nondescript motel, Daniel, Jeff and Susan reviewed the tape. The recording wasn’t great, and the focus was fuzzy in spots, but the audio was clear and the attack on Zagam by Beelzebub was captured in vivid detail. Daniel and Susan nearly gagged and even Jeff, a combat veteran, looked distinctly uncomfortable. When it was over, Jeff switched off the VCR.

  “Holy shit.”

  “Yeah,” Daniel said, “no foolin’.”

  “So what we have here,” Susan said, her voice coldly clinical, “is a group of immortals posing as demons of biblical literature.”

  “Or they actually are the demons themselves,” Jeff added.

  “That’s impossible,” Susan said. “You’re saying the Beelzebub we saw there was the real Beelzebub?”

  “Why not?” Jeff replied. “We know they’re immortal, they’ve certainly exerted considerable influence over your life, why couldn’t they be the real thing?”

  “Well, they hardly fit the most commonly accepted description,” Susan said. “No fire and brimstone, no great leathery wings or barbed tails.”

  “I have a theory,” Daniel said.

  “Yes?”

  “I think these aren’t so much the creatures of myth, but the real life inspiration of that myth.”

  Jeff and Susan looked blankly at him.

  “Think about it. Thousands of years ago, these things, with their strength, their invulnerability, would have been far more impressive than they are now, and they’re still damned impressive today. I think we saw real demons, the creatures that inspired the myths Milton and Dante wrote about.”

  “If that’s true,” Susan asked, “where are the angels?”

  “Oh, we get around,” came a voice from the doorway.

  Daniel, Jeff and Susan spun to face a tall, handsome middle-aged guy with tousled brown hair, jeans and a battered bomber jacket. He leaned against the doorframe as if he had every right in the world to be there. “I’d introduce myself by my current human identity, but I doubt I’ll have need to use that name much longer. Better you know me by my true name.

  “I am the Archangel Uriel.”

  Uriel

  Instead of waiting for the humans to regain their composure, the angel simply walked into the room and sat down. “My associates have been watching the three of you quite closely, ever since Daniel visited Batarel’s apartment. We’ve seen what you’ve seen, know what you know. I’m about to do something unprecedented in the history of my kind. We have decided the time to keep our ancient secret has passed. You’ve already surmised much of the truth. I’ve been sent to explain the rest.”

  “Why?” Susan asked.

  “Because it’s time. It’s time you know the truth and time for us to step out into the light. And because you’re damn close to figuring it out on your own anyway.”

  “Figuring out what?” Daniel asked.

  “Who and what we really are, of course. None of us can remember how it all began, just as none of you can remember being born. We have existed at least as long as human civilization, over one hundred thousand years, living among you and guiding your way.

  “For ages, we were united in our goal of protecting and guiding mankind. We have a need, you see, to do what’s best for you. We don’t understand it ourselves. This unity was broken roughly five thousand years ago, at the time of the Fall.”

  Daniel’s mind was reeling. “The Fall? As in the biblical Fall?”

  “The real event upon which your myths are based, yes. One of our most powerful and influential was Satan. Over time he began to question our purpose, to think himself better than the humans he served. He eventually gave up even the pretense of helping humans and said our proper place was dominating humanity, our inferiors. So great was his influence that roughly half our number defected to his cause. They decided to prey on humanity, to torture and subjugate you. Thus began a war that continues to today, a war in which you got caught in the middle.”

  “So what are you going to do?” Susan asked.

  “Me?” Uriel replied. “I’ve done what I’m going to do. The question is,” he said as he got up and headed for the door, “what are you going to do?” He left.

  “Wait!” Daniel shouted as he ran after Uriel, but it was no use.

  The angel was gone.

  “So what the hell do we do now?” Daniel asked.

  They had all left the motel room and fanned out, looking for Uriel, but the angel was nowhere to be found. Dejected, they returned to the room and tried to assess what had just happened.

  “This is heavy,” Jeff said. “I mean, if we believe what just happened, that was Uriel, the angel that stood at the gates of Eden with the flaming sword.”

  “If that myth has any basis in truth,” Daniel added.

  Susan got up to pace. “So since the dawn of human history there has been this race of immortals living alongside us, guiding us, protecting us—”

  “Preying on us, manipulating us,” Daniel added.

  “We don’t know that,” Susan said.

  “Whether they have or not,” Jeff said, “the demons are the threat. Now that we know what they are, how can we force them into the open?”

  “We’ve got the tape,” Daniel suggested.

  “A good start, but we need more than that,” Susan said. “Video and photographic evidence is too easy to fake these days. We need hard proof. Documentation.”

  Daniel perked up. “I have an idea.”

  “You’re developing a penchant for this sort of thing, aren’t you?” Susan whispered.

  “Shhh.” After stopping to rent a car on Jeff’s credit card, they were again down the street from Zagam’s house. They watched as a spotless gunmetal Mercedes came up the street and pulled into the driveway. Zagam, still clutching and rubbing his chest, got out of the car and walked into the house. Susan watched him with binoculars, and scribbled down the code to his door alarm.

  “Okay, he’s in. Do it,” Daniel said.

  Susan picked up her cellular phone, dialed Zagam’s number and handed the phone to Daniel.

  The demon answered the phone after two rings. “Yes?” he hissed.

  “You put on quite a show tonight, Birchmere,” Daniel said, “or should I call you Zagam? You really put your heart into it.”

  “Who is this?” the demon demanded.

  “My name is Daniel Cho. We’ve never been properly introduced, but I’m the guy Batarel was after.”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Zagam sputtered.

  “Man, Beelzebub was right,” Daniel chided, smiling at Susan. “You don’t catch on very fast to a change in conditions, do you?”

  Zagam made exasperated noises.

  “In case you haven’t caught on yet, I was there tonight, at your little shindig. So was my video camera. The camera loves you, by the way. I got the whole thing, including Beelzebub’s rather inventive discipline, in living color.”

  Daniel’s voice hardened. “You and your kind are finished, Zagam. Once you can’t hide among us any more, we’ll hunt you down and destroy you.

  “My, look at the time. It’s getting late. I have to go now, but I just figured I’d call and let you know that your kind’s free l
unch is officially over.

  “See you soon.” Daniel hung up.

  “Little rough with him, weren’t you?” Susan asked. “He’s had a rough day.”

  “Ah, kids?” Jeff spoke up. “Aren’t you getting a little carried away? You guys already forgotten what we’re up against?”

  Susan and Daniel sobered immediately. Daniel started to answer, but Susan cut him off. “He’s moving,” she said.

  “I’m gone,” Daniel said, and he rushed out the door. Susan watched him run to the rental car, and then turned to watch Zagam back out of his driveway. As the demon drove down the street and out of sight, Daniel followed at a discrete distance. Their taillights faded out and they were gone.

  Turning to Jeff, she picked up one of the walkie-talkies. “Keep an eye out,” she said, then she too left the Winnebago, running across the street to Zagam’s house.

  Warily, Susan edged up to Zagam’s front door. Consulting the number she’d hastily scribbled down minutes before, she keyed in the combination to the home security system and held her breath as she watched the light change from red to green.

  She opened the door and cautiously stepped inside. The house was dark and cavernous. A living room or den was directly ahead of her, filled with bookshelves, and a staircase led up to her left. She climbed the stairs to find another den, lined wall to wall with bookshelves. Adjoining were a kitchen and dining room (empty, like Daniel said) and another short flight of stairs.

  At the top of the stairs was a short hallway with doors on either side. In the second door to the right, Susan found what she was looking for.

  Zagam’s office was what should have been the master bedroom. While one wall held the seemingly requisite bookshelves, the other three housed a massive U-shaped computer and video surveillance console. She sat down and turned the computer on.

  While she waited for it to boot up, she turned on the walkie-talkie. “Susan to Jeff,” she whispered. “You there?”

  “Read you loud and clear, Susan,” Jeff drawled from the speaker.

  “I found the computer room. I’m trying for access now. Let me know the second you see anything.”