by P. K. Tyler
When he opened his eyes, his purpose solidified before him. His connection with Zeph was like a beacon calling him ashore. He could actually see the aura Asmodeus used to grip the minds of the bodies he controlled. It was focused at the bases of their skulls, like giant ticks with long tails, they half-burrowed into their human hosts, these ethereal, black slugs hung from their puppets' heads.
And amongst all the chaos, all the black and red of evil shrouding this space, his connection with Zeph beckoned to him. He, amidst a tumultuous sea of demonic power lurking within the crowd around him, reminded Nik what he fought for.
The guy at Nik's feet groaned and his eyes cleared as the world seemed to come back into focus. Nik could still see the tendrils of evil. He marveled at the sight for just an instant. Then the guy shook his head, that dull look returning to his eyes, and grabbed at Nik's legs.
Nik brought his knee up, snapping they guy's head back, then kicked him across the face. When the guy landed face-down, Nik focused instantly on the words he knew so well, visualized himself saying them, performing the rite of exorcism. In that instant, he flung holy water on the evil tentacle on the back of the guy's head.
Immediately it began to boil and hiss, dissipating into a mist and then disappearing altogether. He wouldn't even need the dust bombs for these semi-possessions. He moved quickly through the crowd, dodging clean souls and taking down infected hosts.
Nearby, he heard Jacek performing exorcism rites. A zombified woman jumped into his path, and Vai stepped up behind her, her face a mask of perfect calm.
Like looking in a mirror.
She flicked her fingers at the woman's neck and a sprinkling of red dust burst from her hand. Vai and Nik watched the woman freeze momentarily, jerk a few times and then relax. Intelligence returned to her eyes just before she blinked rapidly then sank to the floor.
"What happened? Where am I?"
They both ignored her.
Vai said, "Jacek, then Zeph." Her voice shot through him, truth and oneness combined, as if they were one person and her words had been spoken in his head.
Nik nodded. They wove around confused and disoriented people milling about the dance floor, only encountering three more zombified clubbers causing chaos before they found Jacek.
Oddly enough, he had pinned a man down and was wiping the shimmering red blade across the back of his neck.
Nik's otherworldly effect faded in that moment, and he felt more like himself and less like... whatever that had been. "The fuck are you doing?"
Jacek turned a somber gaze toward Nik. "I saw when the Christening came over you. When you attacked, you went for the back of the neck every time. I can't do what you two can, but with this blade of Christ," he glanced at Vai and raised the blade she'd given him, "I can do this." He gestured at the now clean neck of a squirming clubber.
"Huh."
Vai remained in some sort of trance. The Christening? Nik made a mental note to ask about that later.
"We need to get to Zeph. Now."
The three of them looked around to get their bearings. The room that held Zeph, a so far undefeatable demon, and the anti-Christ was on the other side of the club. But just as before, when Nik had 'zoned out,' the pull toward Zeph was a yearning he could see. He didn't know how else to explain it, only that he knew where Zeph was without having to look, could sense him and picture him exactly in his mind.
They made their way across the dance floor, weaving through stumbling partiers finally coming around enough to know shit had gone south and it was time to leave. The closer they came to the room, the better he could see Zeph on the other side. The curtains remained closed, but he saw Zeph nonetheless. He saw the same drawn curtains and dark walls as everyone else, but his Sin Eater senses saw beyond the veil of the physical, into the realm where angels and demons resided.
Two dark and ominous auras nearly obscured the brilliance shining from Zeph. Beside Nik, Vai's aura pulsed a soft, light blue like the color of the sky. Jacek had an aura as well, but similar to the people in the club. They were all varying hues of yellow and orange while Jacek's was like a fiery sunset, streaked through with pinks and purples. Jacek was the sunrise against Vai's dawn sky.
Nik glanced at his hands as he reached for the curtain, surprised to find his own aura, if he had one, was invisible to him.
A fist shot out from between the curtains and caught Nik right in the sternum.
The air rushed out of his lungs as he flew backward, landing hard on his back. He struggled to take in a breath, and when it finally came, he gasped deeply. Spots flickered behind his eyes as he fought for oxygen.
The whoosh of a large pair of wings sounded once, then Belial landed on top of him with a heavy thud. He dropped down to straddle Nik, one knee to either side of him, and leaned close, pressing Nik's shoulders to the floor with the talons at the top of his wings.
Nik struggled, but Belial had him firmly pinned and with seemingly very little effort.
Chapter Five
The curtains hung open after Belial leaped from the room, pouncing on Nik.
Zeph watched, stunned by the sudden motion and terrified. He didn’t want to be, he needed to be strong for Nik, for Adel. But the moment Belial laid his hands on him, he felt a fear like nothing he’d ever known. He’d known the fear of looking into the eyes of true evil. Black pits of nothing, no soul, no redemption.
Zeph had witnessed plenty of terrible things, from humans and demons alike, but nothing compared to the chill of Belial’s gaze. The son of Lucifer walked this earth with nothing but the fire of Hell in his heart.
Outside, Belial punched Nik across the face again and again as he straddled his hips, his sharp talons digging into Nik’s struggling flesh. Zeph could see the blood splatter from Nik’s mouth and nose as his head slammed back against the concrete floor.
“Stop!” Zeph screamed, rushing forward to come to the aid of the man he loved, but Adel stepped in front of him, stopping him dead in his tracks.
“You’ll choose him over me again, brother?” Adel’s face was a mockery of sincerity.
“Adel...”
“It’s always been this way,” she interrupted him, pulling the curtains closed so he couldn’t see the continued attacks on Nik.
He prayed Vai and Jacek would step in and help Nik. He prayed it would be enough. This was the moment he had asked for, had been his plan all along. This was his last chance to save Adel.
“It’s always been him over me. You choosing your own selfish desires over your sister. Over your family.”
“I never chose him over you.”
“Yes, you did. The moment you left me alone with our father. You knew what he would do to me and you let it happen.”
“If I’d stayed, he would have killed me.”
“Not if you’d let Nik go.” Adel sneered and pointed a finger at him. “But that never even occurred to you, did it? It never occurred to you to just do what Father asked, to admit you were wrong, and agree to stop seeing Nik. If you’d only done that...”
“I couldn’t lie.”
“Why not?” she screamed, her voice a barely contained wail. “Why couldn’t you do that much for me? Am I not worth one simple lie?”
“It’s not about you, Adel.”
“Of course not,” her face contorted, her eyes turning from green to black until that darkness overtook the whites of her eyes.
Asmodeus.
“It was never about her. That’s why you failed her, Priest.” The demon within his sister said.
“Get out of my sister!” His fists balled at his side shook with contained rage. Zeph needed a target, something to lash out at, but he couldn't hit his sister. He needed a way to hurt the demon without hurting her.
The dust.
Asmodeus laughed, pulling Adel's mouth open wide so her white teeth shone in the dim light of the private room. “Don’t you get it? There’s nothing you can do to get rid of me. Adel and I are wedded together, darkness and light co
mbined into one pure form, like nothing the world has seen before. Together we ushered Belial into this world and we will rule by his side as his bride. We are more powerful than you and your Sin Eater can imagine.”
Outside, Zeph heard Nik’s scream and his head snapped toward the sound. In all the years he’d watched Nik fight or patched him back together, he’d never heard that sound before, and his blood ran cold.
“There,” Asmodeus continued, “what you just did, turning your attention to that man no matter what else is happening. Even as I stand before you, wearing your sister like a meat suit, there’s nothing more important to you than Nikolai Grekh.”
“It’s not true.” Zeph turned to Adel. He took a tentative step closer to her, hoping to reach through the veil of Asmodeus’ control. “I can’t help that I turn when I hear someone I love in pain. I’m turning to you now, Adel. I know you’re in pain and I know you blame me for it. Maybe you're right. Maybe I was too stubborn with Dad and I should have stayed so I could shield you. I don’t know anymore. But if I could do it again, I would go back and I would stay, or I would take you with me. I would find a way to keep him from hurting you, even if I had to kill him myself.”
He’d reached Adel and the blackness in her eyes turned to smoke. Tears fell from her lashes as the green iris’ again shone out at him.
“Do you mean that?” she asked, her voice that of his little sister once again.
Zeph nodded, his own tears streaming down his face now that he finally knew what he had to do, what he had to give up. “Come back to me. Fight the demon inside you. I’ll do anything, I’ll stop seeing Nik. I’ll quit the church and we’ll move to the mountains like you always wanted when you were little. You loved the mountains. Remember when we went to Vermont?”
Adel nodded and Zeph stepped close enough to wrap his arms around her.
“I’ll take you there and we’ll sleep with the windows open in the summer and let the cool night air wash over us. I’ll keep you safe. I’ll always keep you safe. I love you, Adel.”
She nodded again and Zeph buried his head in her hair as he reached around his back and pulled one of the red dust bombs from his belt. It'll hurt the demon, but not her. It's the only way to save her.
“I promise, I’ll do anything for you. No matter what,” he whispered before tightly wrapping both arms around her.
“Zeph?” she asked, trying to pull away, but he squeezed her as tight as he could and clenched his fist around the red dust bomb until it ruptured against the side of Adel’s face.
She struggled and screamed, the red dust moving independent of natural air currents and funneling down her throat. Her body shook and Zeph squeezed tighter, clutching his sister’s body against him as his tears fell.
“I promise,” he whispered as she screamed next to his ear, thrashing in his arms.
Black ooze dripped from her ears and nose, the essence of a demon as powerful as Asmodeus liquefying her from within as it tried to escape its imminent death.
“I will do anything to keep you safe, anything.”
Adel’s scream ripped through him and he held her so tight he could feel the thin bones in her shoulders as she tried to wrench away. She twisted and contorted in violent spasms, but still he held on, focusing only on the love he held for his sister.
When her body went limp, Zeph loosened his hold and let her lifeless body pull them both down to the floor. His sobs wracked through him, his shoulders shook and his tears clouded his vision to everything but the sight of his sister, dead in his arms, her eyes burned from their sockets.
Chapter Six
"You are mine now, Sin Eater." Belial punctuated his threat with thrusts of his wings, digging the talons into Nik’s shoulders, tearing through skin and muscle.
Nik screamed and froze, trying not to thrash around and do more damage to his already ragged body. His face felt like someone had hit him with a brick, shit, with an entire brick house, maybe a duplex, and he could taste the blood filling his mouth.
"The fuck are you talking about? I'm a Sin Eater. I'm the good guy."
The demon laughed. "You're nothing. You are but one sheep among many. A powerful ram with horns, unlike the others, with few exceptions, but a sheep nonetheless."
Nik tried to squirm enough to get his knee up into Belial's crotch, but the demon's thighs tightened around his hips, trapping him.
Belial punched Nik in the ribs, a quick jab, and Nik heard a sickening crunch.
The blow left him winded. Nik struggled to draw in another breath.
“You will die by my hand, Nikolai Grekh, but not until I say so. Not until you beg.”
The music in Fubar finally cut off. Screams of the last remaining revelers fleeing the club filled the void left behind. Every sound faded rapidly as Nik fought to remain conscious, shaking his head and blinking rapidly, trying to keep his vision in focus. One eye had swollen so completely he had no hope of seeing out of it, but with the other, he kept his sight on Belial.
“Enough!” Vai screamed, vaulting herself toward Belial.
Without looking up, the beast ripped one talon from Nik’s shoulder, wrenching a painful scream from his lips despite his deflating lungs, and skewered Vai in the stomach against a nearby wall. He held her there, twisting the talon, only glancing away from Nik long enough to send a warning look toward Jacek.
“If you come closer, warrior, I will disembowel her and then where will you be? Even you will not be able to heal her from that.”
“Vai...” Nik moaned, turning to look at the woman he’d come to think of as family. If he was going to die, he wanted to be with her, to know she would survive this. He needed her to take care of Zeph, to make sure that idiot didn’t do something foolish.
Belial lifted his head and sniffed, distracted for just a moment. “It’s beginning, can you smell it? The sulfuric fires of Hell as they rain down into Earth’s atmosphere?” He leaned close down to Nik’s face and licked the blood from his cheek. “Together we’ll usher in the next era, Sin Eater. You will be my gift to my father, and you will be the lamb. Your blood will flow at my hands and unlock the gates of Hell.”
Nik moaned, his consciousness slipping into blackness.
“Not yet, Sin Eater.” Belial pulled away. Black ichor dripped from Belial’s elongating canines. His skin darkened almost to black and the dark aura surrounding him blazed with fire. His jaw opened impossibly wide, revealing jagged teeth, all sharp enough to puncture and tear.
With the tips of his dagger-like fingernails, Belial punctured the flesh covering Nik’s sternum. The demon slowly dragged his nails down his flesh, leaving a burning trail of blood to blossom in their path.
Nik moaned in agony, unable to slip into oblivion thanks to the sharp pain slicing through him.
Belial licked his lips, his eyes went wide. A shudder ripped through him and his nostrils flared.
“This is the blood of the Covenant, which God has commanded you to keep.”
Nik’s eyes grew heavy, his breaths rattled in his chest. He turned his head back to Vai, who struggled against the talon pinning her to the wall. The room grew gray and dark. “Forgive me, Father, for I have failed.”
Belial began a rumbling chant as he carved a symbol into Nik’s bloody flesh. His eyes and skin darkened completely until he was a void of blackness, a creature of no substance or matter. His evil so complete, he embodied a black hole.
Nik’s vision flickered as the fiery agony of Belial’s claw dug into his abdomen as if searching for his spleen. Out of the corner of his vision, he spotted something red and sparkling. I glimmer of the blood of Christ. Was it his own? Was this his final vision before dying? Would he be welcomed into the arms of He who had passed on this blood or would he be condemned to Hell for failing to stop Belial?
His mushy mind spun with pain and regret, but, for a moment, he swore he saw the determined face of Jacek over Belial’s shoulder.
Belial roared and tumbled forward on top of Nik.
&
nbsp; This was how he would die then, beneath the hulking body of the Anti-Christ. Couldn’t have predicted that.
In the distance, he heard Vai’s scream intermingle with the beast’s wailing against his shoulder. He would kill them all, Vai, Jacek, Zeph...
At the thought of his other, Nik struggled open his one working eye. He shoved Belial, trying to dislodge the beast, but couldn’t move him. Over his massive shoulder, he watched as Jacek used the Blade of Christ to sever the talon pinning Vai from Belial’s wing,
She slumped to the ground as Belail launched up, dislodging the other talon from Nik’s shoulder as he stood with a wail. The beast’s eyes were wide as he stared at Jacek.
“You’ve stopped nothing,” he growled as he stood to his full towering height before reaching down with one hand to grasp Nik’s ankle. He beat his bloodied wings and lifted off the ground, dragging Nik behind, his head leaving a trail of blood as it slid over the bodies littering the dance floor.
“No!” Vai screamed, and with a strength she shouldn’t have possessed, pulled herself to standing. She grabbed the red dust bombs attached to her belt and threw them, missing her mark before she collapsed again in pain.
Jacek ran after Belial. The beast would have to use the door like everyone else as there were no windows in Fubar and Nik hoped like hell he wasn’t strong enough to just crash through a concrete wall. The blood from his wounds dripped down from his stomach and chest into his face.
The holy warrior picked up the dust bombs that had missed their mark and hurled them after Belial, the beast slowed, descended to his feet to walk instead of fly, but did not stop moving. In a final effort to stop him from escaping with Nik, Jacek hurled himself through the air with the dagger in his hand and sunk it deep into the demon’s back.
