“The portable nuclear reactor for sure isn’t here.”
“How do you know?”
“Because the reactor itself is still pretty big even though it’s considered to be portable. So, it’s probably still at the—”
“Don’t say it out loud. You don’t know how many Watchers could be here listening. I saw Death in the vision walk out of that chamber and celebrate with Lucifer on their victory. This machine can give Lucifer the ability to bring about the end of the world outside of God’s mandated time.”
I walked back to Paul where he stood by the wall we passed through. “What are we supposed to do with this thing.”
He looked intently at it. “We have to destroy it.”
“I most certainly hope not.”
The hair on the back of my neck stood up as I felt the pure evil presence that had entered the room. I turned to see the source of the voice, but I already knew to whom it belonged. Death and Lucifer, in his long white robe and golden-blond hair, stepped out from behind the chamber. He must have transported there like Paul and I had right after I walked back to the front of the chamber. I immediately thanked God Lucifer didn’t show up at the same time I was behind it.
“So, The One has told on us, but that just tells me he’s scared. As well as he should be. There’s no stopping me this time,” Lucifer said.
Paul immediately stood in between me and our foes. “Yes, he showed me what your planning, and I will stop you.”
“Oh Paul, can I call you, Paul? Or do you prefer to go by The Man Wrapped in Darkness even though all of Hell knows who you are now?”
“I don’t care what you call me, because in a moment I’m going to snap yours and the wanna-be maestro’s neck over there. I can’t tell who dresses more ridiculous out of the two of you. Lucifer, you’re still clearly ripping off Jesus’s look after all these years. Death, you do know dressing like Beethoven doesn’t make you like him.”
Death spoke up. “You know I was there the day your family died, and their deaths were a beautiful work of art that I—”
Paul yelled out and slung his right arm to which send a myriad of spikes made of his darkness at Death.
Death wasn’t able to react fast enough to Pauls’ speed. The spikes hit him in the chest and sent him flying backward across the room and tacked him to the wall. Death was driven into the surface with a loud thud, and he appeared to be knocked unconscious.
Lucifer spun around to see the damage Paul inflicted upon Death, as Paul shouted at me. “Get down and hide somewhere until this is over.”
Then, he was in front of Lucifer in the blink of an eye, and buried his fist in Lucifer’s face just as he turned back toward Paul. There was a large crate to my left, and I immediately ducked behind it and watched the battle break loose before me.
Paul landed an impressive right hook that rocked Lucifer for a moment, then the two transported all around the room and delivered blow after blow to the other. Paul landed a hard-upper cut, and then they popped up on the other side of the room. Lucifer landed a kick to Paul’s stomach and drove him down into the ground. Lucifer followed up with a knife he tried to drive into Paul’s chest, but as Lucifer raced toward the ground, Paul disappeared and popped up behind him. He grabbed Lucifer by the back of his head and smashed his face into the ground.
As Paul battled Lucifer, I realized a part of me was scared of him now. I didn’t know if he had always been like that when he functioned as The Man Wrapped in Darkness, or if the rage and intensity came out of the turmoil from the battle with his brother. Whatever it was, I prayed he would become the same old Paul I knew before.
Then I remembered Death, and I looked over to where he was on the wall only to see he wasn’t there any longer. I looked around for him, and then I saw him enter into the chamber. It fired to life. I watched through the glass door as Death raised his arms and released a green smoke which began to fill the chamber.
“Paul! Death is in the chamber!” I yelled out.
Paul made a spike from his darkness and drove it through Lucifer and staked him into the ground. Lucifer yelled out in pain as Paul ran over to me. “No!”
“What is he doing?”
“He’s releasing the plague virus.”
“But he doesn’t have all the parts to the machine yet,” I said.
“I don’t think it matters. He can’t kill all life on the planet, but he can kill everyone in the building. Come on, we have to warn them.”
I heard a loud venting sound as we ran. The green smoke that contained the plague started to flow out of the four opened ducts.”
Paul looked horrified.
“Death must have turned it on before he entered the chamber,” I said. “There must be some kind of propulsion system in the ducts that pushes the smoke through to the engines.” The smoke started to flow toward us. “Paul, what are we going to do?”
“We don’t have time to warn the workers,” Paul said as he used his darkness and formed a cocoon around the chamber, Lucifer, and the smoke that Death released from it. “My darkness is neutralizing the plague.”
“Thank you, gentlemen, for helping us test the machine,” Lucifer yelled from inside Paul’s darkness. “But we must be taking our leave now.”
Then one of Lucifer’s Watchers appeared in front of me with a knife in his hand, ready to stab me as Paul turned around and punched his fist straight through its chest. That caused him to lose focus and the cocoon of his darkness departed from around Lucifer and the device.
As soon as his darkness was gone Lucifer, death, and the chamber disappeared.
Paul immediately surrounded us in his darkness, and when he removed it, we were back in my office at the company headquarters in New York.
Paul stared at the ground and looked like a broken man. “Forgive me, Alec, I can sense in the spirit that Lucifer and Death got away with the chamber. I can’t tell where they’ve taken it though, but at least no one died.” Paul took a seat and shifted his appearance back to that of a normal man.
“It’s okay Paul, they still don’t have the other three engines, or the portable reactor yet, but how did they know where we were? I mean, you transported us halfway across the world in the blink of an eye.”
“We must assume we are being surveyed by Lucifer’s Watchers at all times. One showed up right at the end there to attack you, and I think the only reason he showed himself was to get me to let Lucifer and Death go. Those guys typically just kill those they are after, and never show themselves unless they want to be seen. From now on we must be very careful, and don’t tell Tiffany any of this. This isn’t her fight, nor do you need to put her in harm’s way.”
“Agreed. What are we going to do?”
“I don’t think Lucifer knows where to find the other pieces yet, but it’s only a matter of time until he does. We also need to find out where he’s hiding and assembling the device.”
“Do you remember anything from the vision God gave you that could give us any clues?” I asked.
“No, I didn’t recognize the city I was in, but it seemed so familiar to me. Like I’d been there before.”
“Can you ask Jesus to tell you?”
“That’s a great idea. I was just thinking the same thing. It’s time I pay him a visit. Go have dinner with Tiffany, but remember Alec, do not tell her where the other pieces of the machine are. In fact, don’t ever mention the machine, or anything that happened today.”
“You got it. I won’t say a word.”
A solemn expression filled Paul’s face. “And one more thing. Don’t tell her who I really am. You two are already in enough danger as it is. Don’t worry, while I’m gone, there are angels stationed to watch over you two.”
Then Paul vanished from right before my eyes.
Chapter Eight
Death
Undisclosed Location
AS I PULLED MYSELF back together, I willed my molecules to reshape themselves back into my human state. As my body reformed, I was fil
led with joy to find out how many lives I had taken in that infernal warehouse. I felt much like a child on Christmas morning in sheer anticipation of the surprise I’d receive as I opened the door of the chamber and stepped out. But much like a child who opens clothes instead of their long-desired toy, I too was sorely disappointed by what I discovered. I was not surrounded by the bodies of the lives I had claimed, but by old buildings and overgrown trees and plants. I wasn’t in the middle of the shattered lives, but I was back in the old ghost town that was special to Lucifer. I couldn’t hide my foul mood, nor had I cared to. Lucifer stood facing away from me with his hands behind his back as he stared off in the distance. Maybe I had been successful in my efforts and had ended the lives of Paul and Alec at the very least.
I called out to Lucifer to get his attention. “Please, tell me my efforts were not in vain before you transported us here. Please tell me I was able to end someone’s miserable existence.”
Lucifer was quiet for a moment, and he didn’t even turn his head to acknowledge me as he spoke. “I’m sorry my dear friend, but everyone in that warehouse still lives.”
I was immediately consumed by rage, and for a moment my dark past called out to me to embrace my former ways once again. “What? How is that even possible? There’s no way that room could have contained the virus I released into it. I saw to it myself that the germs permeated the subatomic level to allow them access to any room in that building, no matter how secured.”
“I know you did, and I am very grateful for your efforts,” Lucifer said in a quiet and even tone. “But The Man Wrapped in Darkness interfered.”
I was beyond enraged to hear he had gotten in the way again, but I knew I had to contain my emotions to not anger Lucifer. After The Man Wrapped in Darkness tacked me to the wall with those spikes. I had to use all my strength as I very painfully forced them to pass through my body. I would make The Man Wrapped in Darkness suffer for the pain he caused me. His darkness contained the life of The One. The One’s life was the only thing powerful enough to end my own. Fortunately, I escaped it’s hold on me before it could do any permanent damage. If Lucifer and The Man Wrapped in Darkness hadn’t battled for as long as they did, I might not have been able to get us the chamber.
“How was Paul able to stop us?”
Lucifer turned and faced me directly. “Please, just call him by his true name, The Man Wrapped in Darkness. He wrapped his darkness around the chamber to keep the plague you were releasing contained. Given that no one died in the building, it must have neutralized the virus as well.”
“I knew it. Forgive me, my lord, but the day is not lost to us yet. We have another piece of the machine. And do you know where the other pieces are yet?”
“I don’t know where they are, but I’m sure my Watchers will bring me news of their locations soon enough. However, I learned a few new things I didn’t know before.”
I walked toward Lucifer as I distanced myself from my anger. I focused on the small victory we had received. But the image of my former self clad in a black, hooded robe called to me. I hadn’t heard its call to me in years because I had buried it in the deep recesses of my mind and permanently locked it away. But yet, here it was again. Had The Man Wrapped in Darkness’s attack weakened me enough that it has been freed? I wouldn’t allow myself to return to that state, and I decided it best to stay focused on the task before me. Once Lucifer and I succeeded, I’d never have to worry about my old life ever coming back to haunt me.
“Tell me, what did you learn?” I asked.
“The Man Wrapped in Darkness now has the ability to make harden weapons from his darkness. He has never done that before. The One has made him increasingly lethal since his time in The Arena.”
“Yes, well I experienced that feat firsthand today, and it was extremely painful, I assure you.”
“Yes, so did I, and he will pay for it all in good time, but it’s not his new ability that has me so concerned,” Lucifer replied.
“What is it then?”
“When we showed up, The Man Wrapped in Darkness was going on about how The One had showed him our plan.”
I was filled with dread at those words. I hadn’t heard The Man Wrapped in Darkness say that when we appeared. “This isn’t good,” I said.
“Don’t worry yourself, Death. Just because The One exposed our end game to them doesn’t mean we’ve lost yet.”
“What does it mean then? We have been close before, and The One has interfered and shut us down every time.”
“It means The One is scared, and so he’s unleashed his dog on us. He and I are enemies after all, so naturally he wants to stop us, but this time feels different.”
“How so?” I asked.
“We have two parts of the machine already, and you don’t see any angels running in here or The Man Wrapped in Darkness himself emerging from the shadows to stop us, do you?”
I looked all around, and I even used my heightened spirit senses to see if anything was hiding in the surrounding area, and Lucifer was right. There were no traces of The One’s forces anywhere close to where we were.
“You’re right. There isn’t even a hint of The One’s presence in the air. But we’re still on Earth, how is this possible?” I asked.
“It’s because no one knows where we are, Death. If by chance The One does know, he’s not sharing that information which isn’t like him at all. This leads me to believe that I’ve finally done it.”
“Done what?”
“I’ve created a space that not even The One knows about or can see in to!”
Lucifer was thrilled, and I don’t think I’d ever seen him so happy.
“What did you do, Lucifer?”
Lucifer’s face shined like the sun as he smiled from ear to ear. “A long time ago one of the fiercest battles between Heaven and Hell took place on this very site. I remember it like it was yesterday. I had my hooks deep in an individual named Frederick Williams.”
“Frederick. I’m aware of his relation to Alec,” I said.
“Yes, well, he was the first Williams to give his life to me, and The One wasn’t happy about that at all. The One continued to send his angels to steal Frederick away. So naturally, in response, I increased my forces until the day came for an all-out war between Heaven and Hell for Frederick’s soul.”
“Why did The One want him so badly?”
“I have no idea, and to tell you the truth, I didn’t care. I never pass an opportunity to ruin The One’s plans.”
“That I understand, but how is it The One can’t see what goes on in this place?”
“I’m getting to that, my friend. On that day, the battle became so intense, because Heaven had poured so many of its forces into the fight to turn the tide. When I saw the massive wave of angels descend from the sky, it became clear to me I was about to lose the fight. So, I used all my power on that day to summon the very fires of Hell itself to flow upon the Earth.”
I was shocked, I didn’t think he could do something of that magnitude without an immediate retaliation from Heaven. I had to know more. “How was that possible?”
“I had to summon every ounce of strength to rip open the barrier between the spirit realm of Hell and the barrier of the physical realm on Earth. The act itself almost killed me, but the reward far outweighed the risks that day. When the fires of Hell flowed through this town it consumed the angels and it devoured everything in its path. I can still hear those angels’ glorious screams for help as they were devoured by the flames, but the fires did so much more that day.”
“What did it do?”
“I was only able to savor the victory for a moment because I don’t remember what happened next. I must have blacked out from the physical exertion, but I came to right at this very spot. For the life of me I don’t know how long I had been unconscious. I was surprised I was still alive, and some angel or demon hadn’t come along and tried to kill me in my weakened state. I was overjoyed to be alive, but soon after that, I notice
d how different the place looked since the fire had flowed through the area. The colors of the buildings, the ground, and even the very atmosphere itself was different. You’ve noticed it, haven’t you, Death?”
“I have, but that doesn’t explain how The One can’t see this place,” I said.
“Patience. I’m getting to that. After I realized I was the only one left from the battle, I saw the silhouettes of angels flying around in the distance calling out to one another as they searched for their fallen comrades. At first, I didn’t understand why they weren’t coming closer to this area before they left. So, after I regained enough strength, I left, but I returned to this spot many times to see if anything had changed. Then the day came when I was being pursued by a group of Archangels near here, so I quickly took refuge as I waited to ambush them upon their arrival. I watched them from this spot as they flew around looking for me and called out to each other and asked how it was impossible for me to simply disappear.”
“How was that possible?”
“I’m not entirely sure, but maybe it was a combination of the fire of Hell mixed with the dead angels that created this place. So much spiritual energy was released that day, and it would be foolish to think something powerful like this wouldn’t have happened.”
“I understand now why you won’t tell anyone about this place. Here we can assemble the machine and use it without any interference from The One,” I said.
“That’s correct, and to further safeguard this place I have set my own seal upon it, and no one can enter it unless I bring them here. So, I keep this place a carefully guarded secret, and I would kill anyone to keep it that way.”
I was impressed, and my faith and belief in the plan coming to pass returned and began to grow by the moment.
“My lord, no one can stop us now, not even The One,” I said.
“Yes, not him or his Man Wrapped in Darkness. Come, let’s assemble the parts we have.”
As we walked, I continued asking questions to ensure nothing would be overlooked. “Since those two deleted the location of the rest of the device from the company database, what are we going to do if your Watchers aren’t successful in finding their locations? We can’t be so naïve to think The Man Wrapped in Darkness isn’t aware he’s being spied upon by you. I doubt he or Alec will breathe a word of the other locations out loud.”
The Symphony of Death Page 6
