“What’s the point of even trying anymore? They’re too wrapped up in their lives—their status—to notice anything about me.” Of course, she knew that she could get their attention if she really wanted to. All she would have to do is say or do something that might even potentially damage their reputations.
She knew first-hand, though, how brutal that could prove to be. Back during her parents’ social climb, the year before moving into their new house, she had made the mistake of bringing home a few cigarettes that a friend had given to her at school. Her mom wasn’t at all horrified about the harm that they could cause to her body. No. It was all, “What do you think would happen if any of your dad’s or my friends heard about this?”
“Yeah… Loads of concern for me.”
She took a deep breath, stood back up, and walked to the nightstand at the right side of her bed where the phone lay.
“Tina? Still there?”
“Yep! What did they say?”
“I’m afraid I can’t make it. My parents are going out in a few minutes, and no one seems to have the time to help me get over there.”
“I can try my dad or… Hold on a sec.”
She listened as Tina told Colleen the situation. Then Colleen said something that she couldn’t quite make out.
“Colleen just asked me to try my sister, Kate. She’s just at her friend Bobbie’s, so I can call…”
“It’s okay, Tina. I’m just not very convenient to anyone today. I’m just gonna…”
“It’s not a problem, Elizabeth, I’m sure. She’s not that far from where you are.”
“Thanks, but really, right now I’m not wanting to be around anybody. Hope you and Colleen enjoy the movie.”
Elizabeth heard Tina let out a sigh of resignation. “Okay. I’m sorry, Elizabeth. I really do wish you could come.”
“Yeah, well… Life sucks, then you die.”
Silence.
“Great. Now what is she thinking?” Elizabeth stretched the phone cord until she could look at herself again in the dresser mirror. “Life sucks…then…”
“Umm…”
“Tina, have a good night. Thanks for asking.”
“I think Kyle likes you,” Tina blurted out.
That completely caught Elizabeth off guard.
Brent, as well. Did not see that coming! Good job, Tina!
Elizabeth came back with the only thing she could formulate. “What?”
Brent tagged into Tina’s thoughts. “…I said the right thing. God, I just need her to have hope! Please!”
“Well…at lunch. I mean, he kept trying to look like he wasn’t looking at you.”
Elizabeth found the same word useful again. “What?”
“I can just tell. Now Colleen just told me that she agrees. He was trying to make it not look like he was interested.”
Elizabeth’s heart was beating fast now. Her fingertips were tingling from the nervous excitement being generated. “Is it true? Could he really like me?” “Okay… Umm… If he likes me, then why would he try to make it look like he’s not interested in me?”
There was a pause on the other end of the line while Tina seemed to consider the question. “I don’t know. Some guys are shy. Or maybe he’s scared you won’t like him back. That could be it? Right? Colleen’s nodding her head. So, we both think so.”
“Kyle really does like me?” The very thought was both scary and exciting!
“And he did ask,” Tina continued, “if it was okay to stop by and say hi at lunch on Monday.”
Elizabeth thought in that moment that the safest thing to do—for her own emotional safety—was to play the whole thing down. Just in case. “Yeah, well, he could just as easily want to spend time with either one of you two.”
“Elizabeth,” said Tina softly, kindness and sincerity emanating from her voice, “I’m sure it’s you that he came over to see. Not us. A little bit jealous about that.”
Another emotion perplexed Elizabeth in that moment: Tina’s jealousy. “There is nothing in my life to be jealous about,” she thought. “How can anybody be jealous over damaged goods?” One singular concern about the whole situation came to the forefront of her mind. She whispered it through the phone. “I’m pregnant.”
How Brent wanted to put an arm around Elizabeth at that moment. The demon, Garian, and he watched as she once again sat down on the end of her bed. Insecurity came over her like a cloak. Subconsciously, she wrapped her right arm around her stomach in an attempt to give herself both some protection and comfort.
Tina said, “I know. I really wish I knew what to do, but I don’t. All I know to do is be your friend. And Colleen, too. We love you.”
Brent listened hard, hoping to hear a mental U-turn take place in Elizabeth.
“I need your love, Tina,” Elizabeth quietly reflected. “No one else loves me.” “Thank you,” she said quietly, then, “I’m scared.”
“We know. And we’re praying.”
No mental objection arose with those words. Elizabeth could tell that they weren’t a religious slam. “Maybe they really are praying,” she considered. “Thank you.”
It got quiet on both sides of the phone for a few moments, then Tina broke the silence. “I know it’s frustrating to you when I bring up things that you think are religious, but you don’t have anything to worry about with me or Colleen. Okay? It’s only because we care. There’s a need in us to share God’s love with you.”
Part of Elizabeth almost let Tina keep talking, but she just couldn’t take in the well-intentioned words about God. Not yet, anyway. “Listen, I want to believe that some of the things you say are true. But I’m not able to. It’s not a cut against you two. I know you’re sincere, but…” A momentary pause, then she continued. “I need to go. I’ve got things to think through. And right now, I don’t want to hear any of that…umm…anything about God. Okay?”
“Okay,” said Tina softly. “Well, then…I guess…goodnight, Elizabeth. Call one of us if you want to talk.”
“Yeah. Okay.” There was an awkward silence before she finally said, “Well, bye.”
Elizabeth barely heard Tina say goodbye before she pushed the disconnect button on the phone.
For the next several minutes, Brent followed Elizabeth around the house as she walked aimlessly, governed by an ever-shifting assortment of feelings. Self-loathing, hatred toward Jason, the hope of Kyle’s continued attention, and the love of her two friends. Her only friends.
“What about Kyle? Is he worth the chance of getting hurt again? He’s seventeen years old! He’s only a kid, too! What’s he going to do with a pregnant girl?”
Brent watched her with growing concern, trying to gauge where her emotions would lead her—away from or toward the precipice of suicide.
After about fifteen minutes of wander-pacing, Elizabeth sat down on the couch in the living room. So pristine. Everything clean and in its place. Devoid of warmth and, except for the few pictures on the mantle, very impersonal.
Elizabeth had eventually come to understand that the house had been decorated by her mom to impress guests, not to feel like a home. It was a gallery for people to walk through and to coo over.
It was impressive to everyone but her.
Brent was beginning to see that Elizabeth’s thoughts were taking a turn for the worse. He was about to send himself to Tina’s house to stir up some badly needed prayer, when Elizabeth got up and began to walk back upstairs. So, to the top of the landing he moved.
She reentered her bedroom and closed the door again. And again, she sat on the end of her bed and stared at herself in the mirror.
“You look pathetic,” she thought to herself. “What a waste. You seriously think you’re worth something to these people? Everyone is just playing lip service to you.”
Brent took a look toward the demon of death. He saw an intensity in its face that wasn’t there at the time he had followed Elizabeth downstairs.
It’s formulating a strategy, he realized
. I need to do the same.
The dark spirit, without warning, leaned its head back and shouted toward the ceiling. The words came out as string of guttural noises that could hardly be considered a language. But Brent could tell that something was being said to someone. He looked to Garian whose right hand went for the hilt of the sword at his waist.
The angel’s face grew pensive, eyes looking warily around the room, waiting for something to happen.
Something did.
Through the ceiling, another demon descended, dropping down slowly to stand before the spirit of death. This demon was no impish creature. It was every bit as large as the death demon, and the two seemed to acknowledge each other with curt nods.
Brent grew nervous, not knowing what to expect with this one. However, he was getting a good look at the back of the thing. Its wings were very bat-like and were spread about a quarter of the way open. Thin, membranous, leathery-looking skin filled the area between what, on a bat, would have been long, spiny fingers. But, as the demon had arms and hands that roughly resembled those of humans—or angels—Brent figured that the ‘fingers’ in their construction must actually be bony extensions from the frames of the wings.
Unlike a bat, though, the almost-brown skin of this demonic spirit did not have any hair. Its V-shaped torso communicated strength as it tapered down to a thin waist. Its legs were muscular and came down to feet that looked every bit like something that Brent had seen on depictions of dinosaurs. From the angle that he had, it appeared to have three—maybe four—toes that ended in long, thick curved nails.
Different from that of the demon of suicide, this demon had a short tail, stunted and immobile. Its head was narrow and somewhat tall atop a thick neck. When the demon finished its short and indiscernible conversation with the other spirit, it turned around to face Garian and Brent—who took a couple of cautious steps closer to the angel.
Brent couldn’t understand why Elizabeth’s guardian released his grip on his sword. Garian just stood emotionless, staring at the unwelcome visitor.
The demon’s head was shaped a little bit like a triangular door stop. Its forehead slanted down to a snout while both sides of its face angled inward to a mouth that resembled that of a lizard. Having initially seen the creature only from the back had done its physique an injustice. It was lean and extraordinarily muscular.
Throughout his life, Brent had seen people wear skin-tight clothes that complimented their athletic builds, but in this case, it was more like skin-tight skin. Skin pulled so taut that he could actually see the creature’s musculature.
It’s like it has zero percent body fat, thought Brent.
Brent looked to Garian again. The angel’s only movement was to cross its arms. It appeared that the guardian was letting the creature know that he was not at all impressed.
I sure hope that means this demon is weaker than it looks.
The demon took a step forward toward Brent, scrutinizing him.
It spoke, its voice calm and soothing—completely anomalous to its appearance. “So many things you could be doing, son of dirt. Yet you stand here while others in this world also struggle for their earthly existence. Why is that?”
Brent didn’t allow this spirit to intimidate him as others had. “My assignment is this girl.” He nodded his head her direction without breaking eye contact with the demon.
“And what of Jason? Hmm? Is he a lost cause to you now?”
“He is not my concern.”
“What a horrible thing to say about another of your kind. Is he not as deserving of your attention?”
Brent thought that through for a moment, but knew that this spirit wasn’t concerned about the boy at all. What’s this thing’s game? What’s it trying to accomplish?
When Brent refused to answer, it took a different approach with another question. “What of your precious grandmother? Surely you are not satisfied that her painful end fulfilled some greater purpose.”
Brent began to tense up.
“If you could have seen her anguish like I did... My, my, it was dreadful. She could not understand why God wasn’t answering her prayers for help. She called out for help over and over. ‘Help! Help me!’”
“Shut up,” commanded Brent, through a clenched set of teeth. Again he looked to Garian. The angel’s gaze had become intense. Anger traced its eyes. Still, he said and did nothing.
Brent’s attention was brought back to the demon as it continued.
“Did you know that she kept calling for someone to come? Her voice got softer and weaker as more and more blood poured out of her. Even I tried to intervene on her behalf. You see, pain is not something that I enjoy, unlike my brother behind me. The Enemy—your God—prevented me, though. Quite sad, I am sure you agree. Yes, I am sure there must have been a really good reason for it all. Though, I must admit that I cannot think of one. Poor thing. What a waste.” The demon clucked its tongue even as it shook its head.
Brent didn’t know what to think. He was speechless.
“Your friend here,” the demon went on, “she, too, is in a desperate place. May I tell you a secret? Spirits of death and I rarely agree on the right approach when it comes to humans. The situation with this girl is no different. Did you know that I was sent here to prevent her death?”
What that thing is saying can’t be true, thought Brent. As his anger began to ebb, he was becoming unsure of what to believe.
“It’s true!” it said, with added exuberance. “Sometimes a life saved is more valuable to us. Now of course, I do not expect you to believe that we want her alive for the same reasons you do. No, no, no,” said the demon with a shake of its head. “The baby that she is carrying…well…that is none of my concern. But the girl…yes, she is more valuable alive.”
Brent found his voice. “You want to use her. You want to have her life benefit your demonic kingdom.”
“Can you fault me for that?” it asked, raising its arms to emphasize the question. “It is, after all, our purpose to make sure that as few humans as possible make it into that other kingdom.”
“You’re making it sound like I should be grateful that you’ve shown up here.”
“And you should be, son of dirt. You should be. You and I have a shared objective: that the girl lives.”
“That’s kind of difficult to believe,” Brent responded, “when that spirit of death is standing there in the corner supervising everything that’s going on.”
“Yes, well… I will have to concede that point.” The demon took another step forward and whispered, “But there is little that I can do about him. He wants the girl dead and, in truth, he outranks me. I cannot tell him to leave. Yet, neither can he tell me to leave, since I am under orders.”
Something sounded inconsistent about the spirit’s logic. Then it came to him. “If Elizabeth’s death isn’t part of the plan, why hasn’t he been ordered away?”
“Ahh, yes. That would seem to be contradictory, would it not? He can come and go as he pleases, but I suspect that he will stay just in case I fail in my attempt to keep her alive.”
Another question rose up in Brent—a question that could reveal a big clue about everything that was being discussed.
“Every demon that I have encountered thus far has a purpose. I know there is no such thing as a demon of life, so you must have a different designation. What is it?”
“Very true!” The demon laughed. “No demons of life! Let us just say that I try to undo what has been done. When things go awry, as they did with the schemes of death and suicide, I am tasked with cleaning up the mess. Setting things straight, as it were.”
The demon looked back at the spirit of death, whose arms were now crossed. It had a look of pure hatred on its face as it glared at its demonic counterpart.
With a shrug the demonic newcomer turned back to Brent. “He will behave. For now, at least. Shall I get started?”
Hoping for more from Garian, Brent turned to him again. “You’re not saying or doin
g anything. Why?”
“You know part of the answer, son of Adam. I am powerless to intervene.”
Prayer. Something I’ve got to get people doing!
“You could still give me some advice. You know…tactical information. You can provide me with that. Right?”
“I will tell you this. Choose your allies carefully.”
Brent didn’t like the response. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
The angel did not answer.
Great. On my own. It’s on me to mess things up or make things right. My decisions. My outcome.
He sighed and turned back to this new demonic ‘helper.’ The thing gave what appeared to be a forced smile. Brent surmised that smiles didn’t come naturally to angels of the fallen realm.
The thing’s attention turned to Elizabeth who was still sitting on the edge of her bed. It walked through the bed and sat down to Elizabeth’s left and extended its right wing around her, as if to shield her from the sight of the demon of death. Immediately it began to speak in its soothing voice. “I do not need to die. I can survive this. I do not need to have the baby. There are still ways to take care of the baby situation.”
Brent felt a chill run through him. He was trying to mentally justify allowing the demon to help the girl. If its arguments were effective, Brent could possibly talk Elizabeth into keeping the baby. After all, first things first. And that first thing was Elizabeth staying alive.
Yet he cringed at every word that the demon spoke. It continued to make an argument for life mixed with death. It filled her mind with a sense of needing to stay alive, while at the same time devaluing life itself.
Something’s wrong. It could work, but…something is way wrong!
He suddenly realized that he wasn’t listening into her thoughts. He had been listening only to the words of the demon.
“If I just…stay alive. Just another day. But why? What’s the point?”
The demon’s words seemed to be having little effect. But why? If this spirit was supposed to convince her…
“Life can be as important as death,” the demon said softly. “So what if life seems pointless.”
Behind the Darkness Page 24
