Reluctantly, I moved to sit in the other chair, slipping my backpack off my shoulders and setting it on the floor beside me. I reached for the glass, sniffed it, detecting a berry scent, then sipped a tiny bit. It tasted like grapes or cranberries, but not quite either. Thirsty, I drank a little more and eyed the assortment of fruits on the tray. Belphegor reached across, chose a blood red orb, and chopped it in half with a knife to reveal a milky white interior with little balls of edible pulp which he used a spoon to eat. I didn’t feel adventurous enough to try any.
“So, you eat like a mortal,” I observed. “I thought immortals didn’t require food.”
“Require it? No, I do not. However, I enjoy it. Why should I not indulge myself in sampling delicious food? Try some yourself.” He took another spoonful of the bead-like pulp.
Seeing an opportunity, I channeled my hatred for this deceiving bastard and brought my hand up into an energy blast that sent Belphegor and his chair tumbling into the back wall about six feet away. Immediately, I sprang to my feet and rushed for Janna’s cage to undo the latch holding the door shut.
Gripping the slider knob, I tried to slip it free, but it wouldn’t budge. I heard the groans and grumbles as Belphegor freed himself from the upturned chair and I knew I didn’t have much time. I needed to get her out so she could escape to the light. I didn’t even know if she could reach it directly from here, but it was the best shot I had.
I threw all my strength into moving the lock, shoving as hard as I could while Janna cried out to me.
“Stop, Gilly. You can’t budge it. It’s spelled shut.”
I had time for one last try and used a pinpoint blast on the lock that struck it, then ricocheted back and just missed hitting me. A moment later, I felt myself rising in the air as Belphegor used his power to lift me half-way to the high ceiling of the hall.
“Now, that was a poor way to repay my hospitality,” he said in a calm voice. His hand was raised in the air, his power holding me aloft as I squirmed to break free of his hold.
With a whip of his hand, he yanked me like a balloon on a string as he sent me flying the entire length of the hall, the connection breaking as soon as he’d completed the motion. I crashed into one of the obsidian pillars and crumpled against it in pain.
He stalked toward me where I tried to crawl to my knees, pushing against the pillar. My left side hurt, maybe a cracked rib or two there, and undoubtedly, a few new bruises on my complaining body. He yanked a chair over and sat almost on top of me.
“Let’s talk a bargain now, Gillian Foster. You wish your friend’s soul to be freed to progress to the next plane. I am willing to grant that if you agree to remain here, body and soul for eternity, in her place. I feel that with time and proper training you can be very useful to me.”
“Are you kidding?” I blurted out, ignoring the chill of horror that assaulted my spine. “Do you think I want to be part of anything you might have planned?”
“Be reasonable,” he replied calmly. “You are my captive already. I am offering you eternal life as my companion and one of my guard. I quite enjoy your spunk, and I can put it to good use. If you do this, then I will allow your friend to go. Otherwise, there are other options for her soul.”
I tensed, my jaw tightening with my fury. He wanted to blackmail me to be his consort. It took every ounce of control I had not to spit in his face then and there. “I need to think,” I managed to mutter. “I want to talk to Janna. Privately.”
He raised an eyebrow in amusement, then shrugging, he said, “Certainly.”
Pulling me to my feet, he led me back to Janna’s cage, flicked his fingers, and the door opened. Then he shoved me into the thing with her and locked it again.
Not what I’d expected, but he was granting my request. Eyes narrowed, I glared at his back as he laughed all the way to the end of the hall and out the door.
“Damn him,” I growled.
“The spirit of that one doesn’t match his beauty,” Janna said. Her voice sounded tired, defeated.
“That was the angel I knew as Zac,” I said in a dull voice. “He’s really this monster. He targeted me all along. Just not the way any of us expected.”
“You can’t do it,” Janna said.
I raised an eyebrow at her in question.
“Swap your life for my soul. You can’t do it.” Her eyes filled with tears.
“Why can’t you go through the bars?” I asked.
“He’s put a blocking spell on it. I can’t get through them.”
“If I can break us out, can you go through the cage door?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know.”
Janna might not be a physical being anymore, but her soul still soared with everything she was. To leave her here would be torture for her, and I couldn’t do that. I had to get us out of here or take the deal.
I urged her back and positioned myself back as far as I could, then tried an open-handed blast at the door. I slid a little to the right, hoping it wouldn’t rebound. It didn’t. But it also did nothing to break the door open. I moved closer to examine the lock and saw that nothing indicated the blast had done any damage to it or the bars. Whatever the spell on it was, it was powerful enough to block my paltry skill.
Disappointed, I sat back and forced a sad smile for Janna. “It looks like I’ll have to take the deal. At least, I’ll have a chance to escape, and you’ll be free to go to the light and safety.”
“You can’t make a deal with the devil,” she hissed.
“He’s not the devil,” I insisted. “Just another fallen angel.”
“It doesn’t matter if he is or isn’t. If you make a deal with him and renege on it, you’ve broken a pact, and that can send you to the real devil.”
“Superstitious nonsense,” I mumbled. At least, I used to think that. Now, I wasn’t so sure. I wasn’t even sure if my power came from the Creator or from this alleged former angel. Admitting the existence of one seemed to validate the reality of the other. My soul may be already damned.
“If I don’t take the swap, Belphegor might kill us both, destroying both our souls.”
“I’d rather that than to continue as a captive not knowing what will come next,” Janna admitted in a frightened voice.
“Oblivion was what I was expecting at the end,” I said. “I never thought there would be anything after death.”
“I didn’t think it would be like this,” Janna admitted. “I guess I should have listened to you then we wouldn’t be in this mess.”
“No, Janna, don’t blame yourself. I brought us to this.”
We sat in silence for a minute or two, then I started to hum a tune that I knew Gavin liked. It was a long shot, but maybe I could reach him from here. I closed my eyes letting my spirit free. I felt constrained as if something held me back, and I guessed it was the spell that held Janna captive. Still, I tried to reach with my mind.
In the darkness behind my closed eyes, I gradually heard the steady rhythm of breathing and a heartbeat. Maybe my own, but it sounded different. “Gavin,” I whispered. “Are you here?”
“Hey, chica,” I heard his voice in my mind. “What’s up?”
I explained the predicament I was in with Janna and asked if he knew any way to break the spell.
“Let me try to come to you,” he said and paused as he tried to pull himself across. He grunted a few times, then said, “I can’t do it. Too difficult. It’s not like the cemetery.”
“That’s all right. Do know how to break the spell?”
“You could try an unlock,” he said, his voice sounding weak.
“Tell me.”
Then he muttered some words I couldn’t understand. Not only were they in another language, but he wasn’t projecting as strongly. I got about half of them phonetically, struggling to commit them to memory. I asked him to repeat them, but he faded out mid-way through it.
I almost cried at the loss of the connection with him. So close to maybe finding a way out. I pondere
d over the words, trying to find a rhythm that linked them to sound right. I spoke them aloud as I hoped they would have an effect on the lock. Nothing. I tried three more times with the same result. All it sounded like was gibberish, and I couldn’t get it out right.
Admitting defeat, I reminisced a bit with Janna. We exchanged a few happy memories for the next few minutes in an attempt to cheer ourselves, then we both fell silent.
“No matter what happens, I love you, and I am glad we were sisters of the heart,” Janna said in a soft voice.
“Me, too,” I answered, not able to add to that. “I love you, too.”
Not long after that, Belphegor returned, a big smile lighting his face. So beautiful to be so evil.
“Have you decided?” he asked.
“I’m still considering it. What would you expect of me?” I glimpsed the horrified look on Janna’s face.
“I have a few servants here. I have a few companions, but they come and go as they will. Most are demons. It’s been a long time since I’ve had a human woman to entertain me. Perhaps even more. But eventually, I would hope to win you over to my side. To be someone I could trust in a place where it is rare.” He actually sounded sincere as he said it.
Was Belphegor lonely? Could I use that?
“I need more time to consider. You’re asking me to betray the whole of humanity so long as you’re bent on gaining a foothold in my world.”
“As if you really think you can stop me,” he said with a smirk. “I already have a foothold in your world. And the next and dozens of other ones. Many souls are twisted, dear girl. I just help them along, and when they reach the foulest level, my associates and I dispose of them.”
“Your associates... Is that what you consider the yiaiwa?” I felt anger that he could dismiss a soul so easily.
“Think of them as garbage collectors.” He winked, then took an appraising look at me then motioned for me to come to the cage door. “Let’s go take a walk, Gillian. I want to show you more of my town.”
I crawled to the door, and he opened it enough for me to pass through as he bent to grab my hand and pull me to my feet. Allowing just enough time for me to get through, Belphegor locked it back to prevent Janna from escaping. She hadn’t even budged from her spot in the back corner of the cage.
I stretched my muscles, glad to be able to move more freely. I noticed my backpack still sat on the floor by the chair. At least, it hadn’t been taken away yet. I itched to have my gun handy even if wasn’t effective against Belphegor. What would stop him?
He wasn’t a spirit here. He felt solid, touchable. I could fling him across the room with my blast, but it didn’t damage him, so he couldn’t be killed with it. Would anything slow him down?
Taking the lead, he gestured for me to accompany him out of the hall. I fell into step with him as we strolled out of the palace. Where I hadn’t seen any guards when we came in, I now noticed four of them at the front of the building, two more that looked like the same species as Gweerak and two others that looked more like big apes, hairy with foreheads that slanted back over oddly human-looking eyes.
“Your guards aren’t from Earth, are they?” I commented.
“No. I told you I have dozens of worlds. Earth is not the only populated planet in the Universe. Souls are deposited on many worlds for a variety of experiences.”
We stepped through the arched gateway and back into the streets of the town. So far as buildings and houses, it looked like any older village in the world except for all the stone being black. The architecture resembled European in the middle ages, clunky-looking.
But the difference remained entirely with the population. They were indifferent to everything around them except Belphegor whom they paid their respect to with nods of their heads. Unlike the yiaiwa, these souls seemed more solid, walking and making their way through the village with a purpose all their own. Rejected souls, Belphegor had called them. Souls that hadn’t been good enough to go on to the next level.
Which means the eaten souls that the yiaiwa took were even worse... or did it? “How do these souls arrive here?” I asked as a thought came to me.
“My soul eaters,” Belphegor answered readily. “These are the souls that are eaten. The black spirit transforms into these docile people. They go through their years in this state, but every five centuries, they get an opportunity to be redeemed.”
“What?” The surprise in my voice made the question shrill.
“This isn’t the human concept of Hell,” Belphegor said with a laugh. “This is my realm. My punishment from the Creator, as you deem the Almighty. I cannot be redeemed, so I am forced to give that opportunity to the lesser creations of the Universe. Eternal Hell, that is Lucifer, my master. Souls that go there find no escape.”
Shocked, I felt my knees go weak. Oblivion was sounding better and better. With a dry mouth, I asked, “And what do the soul destroyers do?”
“Exactly what their name implies. They obliterate the soul entirely so it can never be reborn. Those souls don’t make it to Hell. So, you see, Gillian, we actually have a purpose and a place in the grand scheme. When souls are too flawed, they need to be dealt with, and that is the function of the lower realms.” His voice remained perfectly calm, sounding reasonable like he was explaining how a corporation worked.
This was the Creator’s plan?
Appalled, I turned away from him and shuddered at the prospects. Belphegor, the gatekeeper as Gavin and Orielle had described him, was a powerful demon in his own right. What was I doing here? Where did my soul fit on this scale? Belphegor was also a seducer and associated with the bad sins if I recalled correctly. He’d overstepped his territory, reaching for souls that weren’t his to take.
And I was supposed to stand between him and them? Closing the portal would confine him to his realm for the time being, but I suspected it wouldn’t be forever. And it would only seal the gateway from this dominion to Earth. What about all the other worlds?
With growing horror, I wondered if my purpose was to actually stay with him, by his side, and try to keep control of his lustful desire for more power and more souls.
I stepped away from him and wrapped my arms around myself protectively, wanting to return to my world as soon as possible. I wished this was an ethereal world that I could snap myself away from in an instant. I’d been lured here so easily it that it made me feel ill.
I shuffled a few steps toward the small open market where empty souls went about their usual routine with no purpose. Did they have any awareness of what they once were? I glanced back at Belphegor to see if he was concerned that I wandered away from him, but he gave me a nod and a wave of his hand to say it was okay to explore. He likely sensed the turmoil in me and realized I needed time to think and assimilate all I’d learned.
As I paused at a stall to look at the leathery garments they bartered, one of the creatures came to stand beside me, appearing to study a pair of boots even though they didn’t wear clothing.
“Do not react,” a soft Italian-accented voice said barely loud enough for me to hear. “I am here with Ferko and Bob to help you.”
I caught my breath and nearly screamed. Lucca!
Chapter 34
“HOW? HOW ARE YOU LOOKING like that?” I asked under my breath, trying to look like my only interest was the clothing.
“Orielle cast an illusion spell. These are simpletons, no talking. Is that the demon?” Lucca kept his head down, careful not to face me.
“It is. He has several guards at the palace,” I replied. “Don’t underestimate him.” I hastily told him about the cage and Janna. “I can’t break the spell on it,” I ended as I glanced again at Belphegor who was frowning in my direction. Lucca and I had huddled too long.
“Go now,” I told him.
Without another word, Lucca turned and drifted along to the next stall, pausing there, before continuing on down the row. A few other souls behaved similarly, so I hoped Belphegor hadn’t gotten suspicious.
I set the vest I’d been examining down and returned to his side. He shot a sharp, questioning look at me.
“They do nice work on the clothing,” I said. “I find it curious that they go through the motions of life even if they don’t use any of the product.”
“What else would they do? It brings some sense of life to them, I suppose. I haven’t given it much thought. My servants and guards use the goods, so none of it goes to waste. The food they farm comes to my table for all of us to enjoy.” He paused then asked, “Why was the one standing by you so long?”
I shrugged. “I tried to ask it a question about the boots it was looking at, but it didn’t respond. Still, it continued to stare for a while. Could be it has a memory of something.”
“Very unlikely,” Belphegor said.
We walked a little longer, continuing our tour of the small village and reaching the edge of town where the fields took over. On one side, an orchard with dozens of twisted trees bore different kinds of fruits and I spotted more of the reddish orbs that Belphegor had eaten earlier. Other fields, Belphegor informed me, produced strange-looking vegetables that I hadn’t seen before. A whole world to essentially provide for him and the handful of servants who used them. He had other towns doing the same thing. Did he have under lords overseeing them?
As we walked back, my eyes searched for any sign of Lucca, Bob, or Ferko. I hoped they were hidden well, but I couldn’t tell them apart from the residents. Orielle had created a good illusion spell. As much as I wanted to escape, I banked on them sealing the portal. Orielle and the priest had remained behind, so I assumed that would be their task if none of us came back.
Had they put a deadline on it? Could Lucca and company get back before they sealed it? Please. I didn’t want any others to get caught in this nightmare.
Returning to the hall, Belphegor offered me another drink of the juice we’d had earlier, and I accepted. My eyes roamed to the backpack.
“Take it,” he said. “Nothing you have in that can hurt me, but if it makes you feel more comfortable, by all means, keep it with you.”
A Song of Redemption Page 37
