The Symphony of Death

by Matthew Newson

  I was close now as I approached the secret door but couldn’t remember the particular way to open it. Another moment wasted was another memory that might be permanently erased from my mind. I kicked the door down, and I charged into the room. As the door crashed to the floor, I had unknowingly sealed my fate.

  “What am I looking for again? The violin. Where’s the violin? It has to be here somewhere, no one else knows about this room.”

  I turned and faced the door on the floor, and I had a sinking feeling in the pit of my spirit. I picked up the door and I saw the shattered pieces of the girl’s violin broken beyond all repair. I dropped the door and stared at the statue of the girl. Her violin was the only one that, when I played it, clothed my bones with flesh and brought order to my chaotic mind.

  The voice in my head rushed back even louder this time as it mocked me.

  Ha. Ha. Ha. Ha. I told you long ago you would never be able to escape me.

  I looked up at the statue I made of the girl, and I knew the way to not lose myself was to keep looking at her. I raised my bony hand and held it to the right side of her face one last time as I tried to focus on the night we met.

  I’m coming for you, and I’m almost there.

  That night had changed my life and given a beauty and art to my work. That very encounter had given a refined quality to my life’s work, and my own existence. Now, as the last images of her and the wonderful music she had inspired me to create faded from my mind, I felt as if I were being reset back to my, to my, to my...

  I’m here!

  That voice terrorized me and it was the last thing I heard as I closed my eyes.

  When I opened them again, everything inside me felt different. I didn’t recognize the room I was in or the statue of what looked like a young girl in front of me, or why my right hand was placed on the side of her face. As I stared at the visage, it seemed to strike a chord somewhere deep inside of me, but then it was extinguished as quickly as it had come, only to be replaced by my hatred for the disgusting vile beings known as humans. I grabbed the face of the statue and crushed it to pieces in my hand. I then kicked over the statue of the girl, and it shattered to chunks when it hit the floor. I looked around the room to try and figure out where I was, and most importantly, who I was.

  Who was I? And what was that desire to see everything that had breath die in the most horrible ways possible? I charged out of the room and down the hallway, and out into the larger one with what looked like musical instruments all over the walls.

  “Where am I? What’s my name?”

  I’m in the room with you. Find me and you’ll be whole again.

  What was that, and more importantly who would live like that? I found the dark stone walls to be comforting, but all the trappings of that place disgusted me. I hated all the instruments, and papers of songs all neatly put in their place. All of it sickened me as I looked around for anything familiar, or to see what that voice wanted me to find. Then I saw a black armoire across the room. Something about it seemed familiar, and it beckoned me to come.

  Open the armoire and take back who you are meant to be.

  The longer I stared at the long black doors, the more they seemed to pulsate with intention and purpose, telling me all the answers I sought would be found on the other side of those doors. As I ambled toward them, the pull became stronger and ravenous. I sensed that whatever was on the other side would answer all the questions I had in an instant.

  I opened the doors, and what I saw was a magnificent sight to behold. A long, black, hooded cloak. My black cloak, and a curved blade attached to a pole. I couldn’t remember the name as I looked upon it, but that weapon possessed more enchantment than all the instruments that hung upon the walls behind me. I grabbed the cloak and put it on and took up the blade in my hands, and I instantly knew it was my scythe. The very weapon I had forged just for me long ago, and as I draped the hood over my head, I knew who I was.

  “I am Death.”

  I spun around and viewed all instruments with total and utter contempt. I hated them and everything they stood for, and I began to break them against the stone walls.

  I smashed the row of violins against the floor.

  “I am not a composer. I am Death!”

  I balled up the trumpets, tubas, and other brass instruments in my hands like tin foil and threw them across the room.

  “I won’t waste anymore of my time with these musical instruments for I already have the greatest one ever made.”

  Then I destroyed all the instruments and paintings on the walls. All of them bore witness to my former deceived state when I was fooled into admiring what I thought man could do other than suffer at my hands, and suffer they would. I picked up my scythe and flew out of the main chamber and stood at the cliff’s edge of my domain. My gaze pierced through all the filth of the Second Heaven, and I looked to Earth to find new targets and brooded over what I saw.

  I witnessed countless people going about their lives, and my contempt for those creatures grew within me. How long had I been in that weakened state? I had left all life on Earth severely unchecked, and it had now grown to astronomical proportions, but I was back now. I was determined to never be deceived into pursuing something that I was not, and that included any of Lucifer’s idiotic plans. Ending life on a massive scale wasn’t something to be issued quickly and effortlessly by something as ridiculous as a machine. It was something that took time and effort to be accomplished, and the process had to be respected. This allowed me to savor every life I personally took. I had been away from Earth in my true form for far too long, and the time had come for me to be properly honored by mankind once again. Then I saw the perfect target. It was a large hospital in a crowded city that teemed with individuals. There were the ones who were there for treatment, their family members, and the doctors themselves all who needed to be relieved of their lives.

  “What a great place to begin.”

  I quickly descended to Earth and into the hospital I spied on from my perch, and I kept myself safely concealed in the spirit realm. I never needed to step out of that realm again, because I was a unique being in the fact that I could affect the natural realm from the spirit. When I arrived at the hospital, I first entered a room of an elderly man in front of his family while the doctor told them he would make a full recovery. I immediately pulled the life from him, and as he flatlined, the doctor and family panicked. Their cries of pain filled me with joy as I stepped into the next room and ended a woman’s life who was only alive due to machines. I caused them to fail, and as I reached into her chest and heart, the machines continued to show a heartbeat. Thus, I secured her life from the land of the living without a single doctor or nurse rushing in to steal her life from me as they tried to revive her. I hoped they wouldn’t notice until her corpse smelled.

  As I proceeded down the hall, I searched for a victim that would make a clear statement to The One and his angels that I was back and better than before. In the distance I heard the joyous sounds of a newborn baby. I arrived at the room and stood in the doorway and watched as a mother held her newborn child in her arms. Oh yes, this was going to be good, and as I slowly stalked toward them to savor the moment. I would pull the life of that helpless infant right before her eyes and watch as the sorrow completely crushed her life.

  As I reached out my bony hand toward the child to claim its life, something grabbed me and tossed me from not only the room but completely out of the hospital. I landed hard and with such force that my skull cracked as I skidded across the ground. I jumped to my feet as my skull fused back together, and glared at the one who laid his hands upon me with a fiery intensity. He had long white hair and metallic blue armor which bore the insignia of The One. Apparently, The One had sent one of his angels to stop me on that lovely night, but I had faced angels before. He’d fall like all the others who dared to interfere in my work.

  “How dare you touch me,” I barked at the angelic being before me.

  “Y
ou should have stayed in your cave, and I’ll do whatever I want to do to you, Death. You’re not going to lay a hand on that baby, or anyone else here tonight,” the angel replied in a cutting tone.

  “So, you know who I am.”

  “Of course I know who you are. All of Heaven knows you, and I see you’ve gone back to your original form and attire. What’s the matter, you no longer fancy yourself some kind of conductor anymore?”

  “Those days are over, and you’ll pay for those remarks. But, I’m glad to hear all of Heaven knows me, because they should. So, tell me, what is your name? Not that it really matters, I just want to know the name of the angel I’m going to send back to The One in pieces.”

  “You don’t remember me, do you?” the angel asked.

  “If you were relevant I would, but seeing that you’re not, I don’t.”

  “Wow. The Lord must have really done a number on your mind, Death. You and I have been battling one another since you came into existence when Adam and Eve fell in the Garden. Think hard, Death, you know my name.”

  As I looked upon the angel in front of me and focused my mind, images of past battles flashed in my head of intense combat between me and this heavenly being. Then, in that moment, I knew who he was.

  “Dawn.”

  “So, you do remember me after all. Tell me, do you remember what I and the others like me are sent to do to you?” Dawn asked sarcastically.

  “Yes. You and the other angels like you were made to keep me in check.”

  “That’s correct. Again, I must say it’s good to see you back in your original form. You weren’t fooling anyone when you walked around dressed like a human playing that awful music of yours. Like I said earlier your work here is done tonight.”

  I held up my scythe and smiled. I needed a good fight, and after I killed the angel, fear of me would spread through the angelic ranks once again. I also could continue my work in the hospital.

  “You’re right about one thing, Dawn, those awful days are behind me now. I am Death, and I will not be denied from fulfilling my purpose any longer. If you won’t get out of my way, I’ll just have to go through you and any of your friends that show up.”

  I charged toward Dawn and tossed the long edge of my cloak in his face as I slung my scythe which crashed against his broad sword.

  “Don’t you have any new tricks?” Dawn shouted as he forced me back with his sword.

  Enraged, I charged forward and swung my scythe in a varied combination of low and high swings as his sword met my blade with each time. Our blades locked together at one point and as he tried to pull me in close, I landed a hard, right hook to the side of his head. I spun free and delivered a cut across his back that pierced his armor. Dawn yelled out in pain to make a quick recovery from the attack.

  “You won’t get another chance to do that,” Dawn grunted.

  “It appears your time has come. I’ll add your name to the long list of spirit beings I have destroyed. Don’t feel so bad, you’re just one of many to fall by my scythe.”

  As I swooped in for the kill, Dawn’s massive wings sprung from his back and ran me clean through. The pain was like nothing I had experienced before, and it was seconded only to the humiliation from being completely helpless in the moment. When I finally was able to take in enough air, I screamed out in agony as Dawn raised me high off the ground.

  “Like I was saying, Death, you need to get some new moves, and you won’t be killing any more people in that hospital today. Even as we speak the two you did kill have been revived, so you have lost twice tonight. Why don’t you take a moment and let that sink in,” Dawn said as he jolted me up and down with his wings and caused my pain to go from severe to excruciating.

  “You can’t stop me! I am Death, and unless The One returns, I have the right to do what I was made to do.”

  “That may be true, but your work is done for tonight.” Then Dawn withdrew his wings and caught me in the air as I fell. He brought me down hard across his leg and snapped my back in two and then he broke my neck with his powerful grip. He tossed me to the ground in a broken pile of bones. I had sustained too much damage, and I needed to retreat back to my domain to recover.

  Dawn stood over me as we were encircled by a group of angels, all who wore the same armor as his.

  “I want you to remember this night. I want you to know what is going to happen to you every time you step out of line and come after The Lord’s redeemed,” Dawn said.

  I chuckled as I began to slowly put myself back together by my power. “Savor this moment with your friends, Dawn, because it will not happen again. I will return and I will make you and all your friends suffer severely, and when I’m done, you all will be begging me to kill you.”

  “I guess will just have to wait and see about that.”

  As the angels stepped toward me, I quickly grabbed my scythe, and transported myself back to my domain. After I recovered, I would return with a vengeance, and I would make Dawn and all his angels pay for the humiliation I suffered that night.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Paul Luca

  Williams Point, New York

  “ALRIGHT BROTHER, HOW do I look?” Alec asked as he put on his tuxedo jacket and straightened his tie.

  “Like a penguin who is about to be skewered alive.”

  “Come on, Paul, stop messing around,” Alec said nervously.

  “Calm down. You look fine. What are you freaking out about? I thought you couldn’t wait to marry Tiffany.”

  “I do want to marry her, but the reality of it all is finally sinking in. This is a major, life-changing event, Paul.”

  “Yeah, tell me about it. You haven’t had too many of those here lately.”

  “Shut up, you know what I mean.”

  “You know, I was nervous the day that Faith and I got married. I remembered putting on my suit and the realization that my life was about to completely change forever, and how I didn’t want to do anything to mess it up or hurt her.”

  Alec began to pace the room, filled with nervous energy. “I’m feeling the same kind of thing right now, and I’m a little worried about Lucifer or another one of his demons attacking her one day because of me. You know, the more we keep purging the company of things Lucifer wants, he’s going to come at us again, and he likes to attack family members of his real target. I mean, first he came after me, then he sent your demon-possessed brother, and the spirit of Death himself after us. Who does he send next after all of that?”

  Alec started breathing rapidly, and he looked like he was on the verge of a full-on panic attack.

  “You can’t worry about that, Alec,” I said.

  “Why not? Lucifer trying to kill me has been my reality for a while now. Who else can say that about their lives?”

  “How about every Christian on Earth? Lucifer wants to kill all of God’s children. It might not be as intense as yours has been. He wants to kill everyone nonetheless. Have you forgotten what we just went through with The Life Giver machine?”

  My last comment stopped Alec dead in his tracks.

  “Of course, I remember, it haunts my dreams at night. I have nightmares of Lucifer coming after me, for some reason or another, and I don’t want it to become hers. I mean I really lucked out that she believes being kidnapped by the devil and seeing you as The Man Wrapped in Darkness was all some crazy dream brought on by something she ate. You know how hard it was for me to keep all of this to myself?”

  “You have to keep it quiet. Jesus told you not to tell her. If you do, you’re going to put her in danger, as well as anyone she tells,” I said.

  “Of course I’m not going to say anything, but I’m just telling you it’s been hard. You’ve been doing this a lot longer than I have, so I’m sure you’re used to it by now.”

  “You’re right, I am used to it, but that doesn’t mean it hasn’t been easy for me. If you only knew how many times, I wanted to tell you who I really was over the years. Would have made things a w
hole lot easier on the both of us, let me tell you. Anyway, look Alec, I get where you’re coming from, I really do. Remember, Jesus said he’s keeping me here with you to keep Lucifer and his demons away. Second, it wasn’t luck that Tiffany thought it was a dream which was all the Lord’s doing. At some point you’re going to have to trust that God will protect you no matter what. He’s hasn’t let you down yet, has he? Remember the night you gave your life to him, you read Psalms 91 over and over again to yourself? You were comforted by the part where it said he would give his angels charge concerning you. That’s exactly what he’s done.”

  “Yes, but since that night I was almost killed by your demon-possessed brother, then by Lucifer, then by one of his Watchers, and then I fully died when Death stabbed me. Is that enough or would you like me to elaborate some more?”

  “Okay, all that seems bad when you remember it all like that.”

  He glared at me, and I wondered how I was going to get him past that—on his wedding day, no less.

  “Seriously,” I said. “All that is terrible, but Jesus saw you through it all, didn’t he? He even brought you back to life because of the awesome sacrifice you made when you laid your life down to save the world. Lucifer had his hooks deep in your company for a long time, and I told you he wouldn’t go down without a fight. Just remember as well that we’ve beaten him three times now. We have ended so much of what he’s put in place, and we will continue to until we have successfully cleansed your company from top to bottom. Now, stop your crying because it’s time for you to get married.”

  Alec stopped and checked himself in the mirror one more time. “Okay, let’s go.”

  “Hey Alec, one more thing before this thing gets started?”

  “Yeah?”

  “I couldn’t help but notice all of the pink roses out there. Whose idea was that? Doesn’t Tiffany remember you’re not too fond of those seeing how they remind you of your mom’s funeral?”

  “Don’t you think it’s a little morbid to be talking about a funeral at a wedding?”