The Symphony of Death

by Matthew Newson

  “There will be no mention of that name this time.” He turned to Tiffany. “And if you want to keep your tongue in your head, you won’t utter his name either.”

  I laid there for a moment, winded and dazed from the impact from the wall and the floor. I rolled over onto all fours and fought through my blurred vision to see Lucifer holding Tiffany around her waist in front of him with his face next to hers. She struggled against his grip as he held her close to him.

  “Let me go!”

  “Oh, you’re a feisty one. I can see why you like her.”

  I groaned. “Please, please don’t hurt her.”

  Lucifer took a deep breath as he ran his nose up and down the side of her face. “I wish I could do that for you, Alec, I really do. But you see, you and your friend have crossed me for the last time. The Man Wrapped in Darkness has covered the uranium with his darkness, leaving the reactor completely useless. So, here’s the deal, if you want to have your lovely bride-to-be back in one piece, you will tell him to remove that darkness tonight.”

  With his free hand, Lucifer held a knife to the other side of Tiffany’s face.

  When she saw the blade she stopped struggling, and tears ran down her cheeks as the fear took hold of her. “Alec, please help me. Please help me.”

  Lucifer looked Tiffany up and down. “You know, Alec, carving this pretty little thing to pieces seems like such a waste. Now that I think about it, I might make her one of my brides.”

  Tiffany began to cry hysterically. “Alec, please make him stop!”

  Lucifer whispered in her ear loud enough for me to hear. “I’m sorry, but it is his fault you’re in this mess in the first place. However, he can help you, but the question is, will he?”

  Paul burst into the room hunched over and stood between me and Lucifer with his sword drawn. It was covered in black viscus liquid. He tossed a severed demon’s head at Lucifer’s feet. “That’s what’s left of the army you sent after me.”

  Lucifer scoffed at the gesture, and Tiffany let out a high-pitched yelp in panic as the scene intensified in the room. Paul was my brother and I knew he would never hurt me, but in this moment even I was terrified by the sight of him. His face was covered in the black liquid as well, and he was slightly hunched over as he deeply inhaled and exhaled. I knew he had been in an intense battle.

  “And there’s the hero of the hour,” Lucifer said.

  “Let her go,” Paul shouted.

  “Paul is that you?” Tiffany cried. “Please help me!”

  Tiffany ceased resisting as Lucifer lightly pressed the tip of the knife against Tiffany’s throat. “You see, my dear, Paul isn’t who he claims to be. Now, because of him and your boy-toy on the floor over there, you have been thrust into this drama. To be fair, they tried so hard to keep you out of this, but as always, they put the ones they love directly in my crosshairs.”

  “That’s enough, Lucifer!” Paul shouted.

  “Oh, I’m just getting started.” His forked tongue slid out of his mouth and brushed the side of Tiffany’s face.

  “It’s funny for me to be the one to air the truth of the situation. Your friend Paul is really The Man Wrapped in Darkness. One of the most feared champions of Heaven itself. Do you see that black liquid on his face there?”

  “Yes,” Tiffany said.

  “That’s not oil, but it’s the blood of my demons. You can see the head of one he severed on the floor in front of you. Go ahead and take a look. Look at it!”

  Lucifer then forced her to look down on it as she cried and tried her best to look away.

  Lucifer then averted his attention back to Paul. “I assume you have dispatched all the forces I brought to destroy you, but that doesn’t matter. I mainly brought them here to distract you, so I could have a brief moment with the love birds before you could interrupt. I will be very clear with what I want you to do, Man Wrapped in Darkness. All I want you to do is remove your darkness from my reactor, and I’ll give Alec back his blushing bride-to-be.”

  “Alec, what’s he talking about?” Tiffany asked through her sobs.

  My body still groaned in pain as I tried to stand, but my muscles resisted my efforts and I stayed on the floor in pain. “Don’t listen to him, Tiffany, it’s going to be okay.”

  “Give her to Alec now, and I’ll remove my darkness from the uranium. If you hurt her, I promise you now I will remove your head just like I did to the one at your feet when this is all over. Just imagine how the demons will respect you after their great ruler has his head removed.”

  Lucifer released a loud booming laugh that rocked the room. “Oh, I’m so scared, but the next time we meet in battle I plan on being the only one to walk away from that fight. As for your first demand, how stupid do you think I am? I’m the one who came up with that line, and once I give Tiffany up, I lose all leverage over the situation. I don’t think I’ll be turning her over to you at this time.”

  Paul growled. “What else do you want then?”

  Lucifer pointed his knife at Paul and me. “You and Alec are to come—alone—to where the machine is. You are to personally remove the darkness yourself. Then, and only then will I release the girl. If you tell The One where I’m located or if you show up with any of his angels, I will not hesitate in slitting her throat.”

  “How do I know you won’t kill her as soon as I take my darkness back?”

  “You don’t, but I want you and your friend on the floor to have a front row seat for the end of the world, seeing how you have tried so hard to stop it. But what you failed to realize is that I was always going to bring about the end of existence. This has been my destiny since the day I was born, no matter how hard you try to stop what was always meant to be.”

  “We’ll come,” I said. “Just tell us where you want us to go!”

  “Where is the machine?” Paul asked.

  “The place where this dance between you and I all began. I think it’s fitting for that place to be where you and everything on this miserable planet will all end.”

  “Where’s that?”

  “Where you died.” A portal opened and pulled him and Tiffany into it.

  I fought through the pain and forced myself to my feet. “What did you do? You let him take her!”

  “Alec, calm down.”

  I began to cry as I thought about what Lucifer might do to her. “You said we were safe. You said Lucifer would come for you and only you.”

  Paul grabbed me and steadied me on my feet. “He won’t hurt her. He knows if he does I won’t remove my darkness from the reactor and that I’ll do much worse than that to him. We still have time to save her. We will go to where he’s at, and I will rip him apart for what he’s done here tonight and to you and to my family.”

  I tried my best to compose myself. “Where did he take her?”

  His expression was stern. “The same place your company started. It’s the same place where I died.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “There’s a long-forgotten part of Williams Point where the town was first founded nestled deep in the woods several miles away from here.”

  “Are you talking about the old town square? My dad said it was pretty much a ghost town. I doubt there’s anything there, if it even still exists. I bet it’s rotted away by now.”

  “If Lucifer is using it, then it must still be around in some shape or form. When that part of the town was populated it went by the name of Paradise. Come on, we have a lot to do.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  Paul Luca,

  The Man Wrapped in Darkness

  Williams Point, New York

  The Forgotten Town of Paradise

  THE SUN HAD GONE DOWN as I transported Alec and I to just outside of what was left of the town of Paradise. We surveyed the area first, before we approached. I needed to make sure we weren’t walking into a bigger trap then I expected. As I looked back on Williams Point from the wooded hilltop we stood upon, I saw how it lined up with the vis
ion God had given me. I should have known all along that was the place where the machine was being hidden, but I never walked around Williams Point because my job was to protect Alec. I certainly never visited what was left of Paradise, and I did my best to never look in its direction. I didn’t want to be reminded of what had happened there all those years ago, but I’d have to put all of that to the side. The past was locked in the annals of time, and I couldn’t change it. Lucifer undoubtedly chose that place to use it as a mental and emotional attack against me and to distract me and ensure his victory. I was determined to not let his games have any effect on me.

  I used my spiritual senses to see if any demon waited to ambush us in the mass of the thick trees, but there was no one. The forest was so thick up there it was virtually impossible for anyone to see what was going on in the thriving town below.

  “Come on, Alec, stay behind me and keep your eyes open. We walk from this point on.”

  The darkness was thick as mud as we made our way, but it wasn’t the trees that blocked the moon’s light. With each step toward our destination, the darkness became heavier, until it felt tangible due to the forces of Hell who waited for our arrival. With my sword drawn I calmly stepped toward our fate. Alec and I would either save Tiffany and the entire world, or we would fail and allow Lucifer to bring about The End outside of God’s time. Either way it played out, we were God’s last line of defense for that hour.

  I held up my arm and stopped Alec in his tracks behind me as we stood at the edge of a clearing. We were greeted by skinny, fifteen-feet-tall demons dressed in black robes who stood shoulder-to-shoulder with their hands clasped together in prayer as they all quietly chanted in unison to themselves.

  “Who are those guys, Paul?”

  “They’re powerful demons Lucifer uses to cast protection spells around an area he wants guarded, and he has them completely wrapped around the old town square. If I had to guess, I bet that’s why no one ever comes up here, and why no one has ever tried to expand the town back to this spot or build houses around this area.”

  Then the demon who stood directly in front of me stepped forward and lifted its head as he stared directly at us. I couldn’t see his face, but his eyes glowed a light blue and when he opened his mouth, I saw his tongue was made of fire. “Welcome Alec and Man Wrapped in Darkness,” the giant being said. “Our dark lord has been awaiting your arrival.”

  He lowered his head and stepped aside for us to pass as he slipped back to pray in unison with the others. Alec and I quickly passed by the demons. It didn’t take long to see where we needed to go. Off in the distance we could see the silhouette of The Life Giver in the faint light of burning torches that surrounded the machine.

  As I got closer, I recognized the remains of the buildings I once knew from long ago. They now barely stood like rotted-out corpses that had been exposed to the elements for too long. There was the general store I frequented for groceries with my wife, Faith, and our two boys. I remembered how they always wanted a piece of candy before we left, and next to it was the old post office. The roof had caved in, and it hung open like a gaping wound that begged to be closed. I remembered how the postmaster stamped my boys’ hands each time we went in there. Those truly had been the happiest days of my life. As I reminisced, I heard the sound of a violin, and I came back to reality.

  I had to stay focused. I wasn’t there for a stroll down memory lane, and I couldn’t afford to let myself be distracted again by things of the past that were dead and gone. Instead, I’d use the memories from that place to inflict pain upon the one who had taken everything from me. After he had suffered the way I had suffered, I’d send him back to Hell in disgrace for all the spirit realm to see.

  As we walked through the tall grass, Alec spoke up. “Is that Death playing the violin again?”

  “I’m sure it is.” I pulled Alec to my side so he could hear what I had to tell him. “Listen to me very carefully. When the fighting starts, I want you to get Tiffany and take cover somewhere and wait until I tell you to come out. I don’t want Lucifer to get a hold of you two and use you as a leveraging tool against me.”

  “No way,” Alec protested. “I’m helping you take these guys down. Your life isn’t the only one they messed with. Lucifer killed my mother and turned my father into a monster, or did you forget that? I’m not in a coma this time, so I’m not sitting this one out.”

  I knew he was determined to help, and nothing I could say would deter him. “Fine. Pray and ask the Lord what he wants you to do, but in the meantime, do as I said, please.”

  Alec nodded and we proceeded forward to find David with his blackened crown on his head, working at the portable workstation. Death serenaded Lucifer with his violin, as Tiffany stood with a gag in her mouth and her hands bound by rope—and tethered to Lucifer.

  Tiffany’s makeup was a mess of black streaks from her tears, and I could tell she had cried some since she had been taken. Lucifer would suffer more then I originally planned if he had hurt her. They stood in front of The Life Giver, and I marveled for a moment at how large and complex the machine looked when it was all put together.

  Lucifer stood with his sword on his hip to show he was ready for a fight, and with his eyes closed, he waved his hands in the air as if he was conducting a group of musicians. With his eyes still firmly closed, he tugged hard on the rope and pulled Tiffany in close to him. She let out a muffled cry as she tried to pull away.

  “I was wondering when you two were going to show up, and I’m glad for your fiancée’s sake that you didn’t take any longer. I was about to kill her out of boredom, and I must say she has a fighter’s heart. One that I will rip out of her chest if she continues to resist.”

  Tiffany’s eyes went wide when she saw us, but she dared not make a sound, especially after Lucifer’s last comment. He raised his hand and signaled Death to stop.

  “We’re here now. Let Tiffany go,” I said.

  Lucifer strolled over to David with Tiffany in tow. “Absolutely. First you take your darkness off of the uranium, and once the reactor comes online, she’s all yours.”

  I raised my right arm and commanded my darkness to return to me, and it slowly flowed through the air to my arm. The reactor pulsed to life. Lucifer, Death, and David watched with bated breath as it went past them, and I saw the fear in their eyes as they wondered if I would send it after one of them.

  “There. It’s off, now let Tiffany go.”

  “David, is the reactor working, and is The Life Giver now online and ready to be used?” asked Lucifer.

  “Yes, all that’s left is for Death to enter the chamber for your will to be made complete.” David glared at us with a smile on his face.

  Lucifer was thrilled by the news as he let go of the rope and walked to David. “Good. Good. You are now free to go my child.”

  The moment Lucifer turned his back, Tiffany ran as fast as she could to Alec. He held her and repeatedly told her everything would be okay.

  I would see to that personally for Alec and Tiffany.

  Lucifer looked at me and waved his hand dismissively. “I promise I didn’t lay a finger on her. Now, David, are you sure everything is ready?”

  David rolled his eyes as he typed a final command in on the console. “I already told you everything is working fine, and the machine will do exactly as it is supposed to do. All that’s left is for Death to press the green button by the door upon entering the chamber and then fulfill his part.”

  “Good. Good. I’m very pleased to hear that.”

  Lucifer immediately grabbed David by the throat and picked him up off the ground. “Our work here is complete, and I have had enough of you to last a lifetime. I think it’s time for you to go back to the pit I put you in months ago.”

  David kicked his feet widely as he struggled to get out of Lucifer’s iron-clad grip. “But you made me a prince of Hell! I put this machine together for you. How have I failed you?”

  Lucifer laughed in David’s f
ace as a hole to Hell opened beneath his feet.

  “I told you I would never share my kingdom with you or anyone. Your failure was believing me and helping to assemble this machine for me. But then again, if you hadn’t, I would have made you suffer worse then you were until you did what I said. You’re no prince of Hell, for I’m the only true king of the damned—yesterday, today, and forever.”

  David tried to beg, but Lucifer spit in his face and cast him back into Hell as Death stood on and laughed in sheer delight. While Death and Lucifer were distracted, I sent the darkness that had returned to my right arm like a javelin at Death with as much force as I could muster. He never knew what hit him as it pierced his chest and sent him flying as far away as I could throw him.

  “Alec get to safety,” I yelled as I tackled a startled Lucifer and threw him into one of the broken-down buildings. Alec and Tiffany ran somewhere behind me as Lucifer emerged in his fallen state of a snake.

  “You’re going to pay for that,” he hissed.

  I quickly drew my sword as he charged at me in full force. He pulled his sword and clashed with mine so hard that he knocked me off my feet and I landed hard on the ground close to Tiffany and Alec. “Get out of here,” I yelled at them. Within seconds Lucifer’s sword was slicing through the air toward my head. I barely had time to deflect it to the side, as I landed a hard kick to his stomach to push him back so I could get on my feet.

  “I’ll kill you!” Lucifer yelled out. “You’re not going to stop me. Not this time!”

  Lucifer was good with the sword, and I had to be careful as I engaged him because he was such a wild fighter. I had to finish it fast. I couldn’t risk us inadvertently killing Alec and Tiffany as our battle grew increasingly out of control. I saw them out of the corner of my eye as they ran into an old stone building, but Lucifer seized on the moment I was distracted. I barely blocked his attack as I threw up my sword and tried to sidestep the attack. The edge of his blade cut through the armor on my side and into my flesh. I delivered a hard, back-hand strike to his head, but the damage was already done.