Monsters and Invisible Men (Lost Souls Book 1)

by Amy Barrett

  The bonus was that she hated them. Every one of them deserved what was coming their way. She circled the place with gasoline. She splashed it up the walls and through the windows. The wolves were inside. She could hear them debating where Nick could be. Most of them were sure that he was solving their demon problem. Abyzou fed her resentment on the sure voices that said he was going to save them all.

  The voices faded in and out of earshot but Abyzou knew what they were deciding to do.

  Nothing.

  They would wait for Nick to save them as they always had. Their words made her want to send them to hell, but she didn’t have the motivation to try. Abyzou came around the front of the building again. She tossed the container, now void. The trail of gasoline was like the snake eating its own tail. The snake’s stray skin ended at Abyzou’s feet. She would have liked to have hesitated. That would have made her seem like a good person. She looked at the building. Inside were the shells of the wolves that had come back from hell. Abyzou had thought them disgusting before. Now, they were worse because they had put the shackles of responsibility on Nick.

  “I swear I can smell something,” a young voice said. From around the side of the building a boy emerged. He was in his late teens and had a mop of blonde curls and bright blue eyes. He sniffed the air and crouched to examine the gas on the pavement. He stuck his fingers in it and brought it up to his nose.

  “Josh! Come on!” someone yelled.

  Josh looked over his shoulder to reply. “Just a minute. I think something….” He trailed off as he turned and saw Abyzou. The colour drained from his face and his eyes went wide. Abyzou stared into those eyes. She wanted him to feel her hatred and rage.

  He watched her for a long second before springing to his feet and running for the door. “Guys! The demon! She’s here!”

  She struck the match and it illuminated her face in the early morning. Her eyes were shadowed, and she stared into the flame and imagined the wolves within. Dropping the match, she watched the flames race up the line of gas and set Josh on fire as he put his hand on the door. He screeched and hollered, throwing himself on the ground. The fire spread rapidly up the building and Abyzou walked away. People came from nearby when the blaze grew, asking if anyone was stuck inside. The morning sun rose on hell engulfing the building and massive clouds of smoke almost blocked it out. Abyzou knew that the wolves would not try to help themselves. They were waiting for the saviour after all.

  ***

  Mephistopheles sneered down at Ivan with endless black eyes. The rest of his features blurred together in Ivan’s dazed state. The world was inside a washing machine wherever Ivan looked. He saw Zerachiel running towards him and tried his best to stand and help. When he fell, he noticed a pipe at Mephistopheles’s feet. It rolled away across the pavement.

  “You hit me with a bloody pipe.” Ivan pulled his feet under himself and fell again. “That is not nice mate.”

  Zerachiel reached them and drew his sword. It screeched out of the sheath and caught the sun rays, tossing them about. His knuckles were white and his fingers red, clasped around the handle of his weapon.

  Mephistopheles whipped his chains off his waist and unsheathed his knife. Ivan had managed to stand and was stumbling around behind the demon. If he could get a grip on reality he may be able to help.

  Zerachiel’s blade sliced the air in half and came for Mephistopheles’s left shoulder. The demon slithered his body sideways and struck out with his knife. Zerachiel hopped back and started to watch Mephistopheles with his sword raised. Ivan staggered to the side and tried to focus on them. Maybe if he paid enough attention to the demon he could predict what he might do next. All he needed now was for the world to stop spinning.

  Ivan managed to stand without wobbling. Like a baby learning to walk, he started to shuffle towards Zerachiel when Mephistopheles thrusted the demon knife into the top of his arm. This hurt more than anything Ivan had felt before and he screamed. It felt like something was burrowing into him with razor claws.

  Zerachiel growled and lunged without hesitation.

  Mephistopheles drew out the knife and swung it round. He cut into the skin on Zerachiel’s cheek and drove his knife up into the bottom of his eye. There was a lot of blood. Mephistopheles went in for the killing blow, aiming for the angel’s chest. He brought his arm down from over his head. Zerachiel dodged at the last second and struck out with his foot. It cracked into the demon’s shin and Mephistopheles staggered to one side, dropping his hells chains to grasp his leg.

  Ivan had his hand over the wound on his arm. Blood squeezed through his fingers. The pain was still there but he was distracted by Zerachiel. Watching his best friend fight for his life was making Ivan’s stomach do flips.

  The angel rose from his slightly bent kicking stance. He had his head turned to the left to look through the right eye which remained. This meant that Ivan got a full view of the damage. Blood leaked out of the hole in Zerachiel’s face. The eyeball remained in the socket but was blurry behind the mass of blood. It was split in half and rapidly disappearing into the flow.

  Zerachiel shook his head about and locked his teeth together. A single tear fell from his remaining eye.

  Ivan made to go and help him. He stumbled a step. Zerachiel raised his hand towards him, telling him to stop where he was. Mephistopheles had risen from his injury. The demon’s shin bone snapped back into place with a loud click.

  The angel had taken his chance and put his body firmly between Ivan and Mephistopheles. Ivan could barely get a clear look at the demon.

  Drops of rain sprinkled onto Ivan’s face. He didn’t notice the feeling of them as he watched Zerachiel lunge for the demon again. This time, the angel’s wing burst out from his clothes and became a shield for half of his body. From the other side, Zerachiel raised the sword. Blood from the wound on his face leaked over his pale skin.

  The demon yanked the chains from where they rested on the ground. They hissed up into the air and the demon’s true face bled through. Discoloured skin stretched across his sharp features and he bared his crooked teeth.

  “Come on!” Mephistopheles roared, spraying spittle into the air. “Come on.”

  Zerachiel and Mephistopheles hit like a car crash. The angel’s sword embedded into the demon’s side. Mephistopheles screeched like metal under strain. His knife was knocked from his hand and clattered across the ground. He whipped the chains into Zerachiel’s back. They snapped at the wound where his other wing had been torn from. Zerachiel’s cry was like panicked tires losing their grip.

  Both creatures veered to the side and swayed towards the ground. They didn’t fall. Mephistopheles held the angel up and snapped at his face like a dog. Zerachiel pushed him off and flew back a step or two. His sword came out of the demon’s middle with a squelching sound while the chains sizzled over the skin of Zerachiel’s back.

  Ivan was stepping around the brawl, avoiding the catapulted bodies. Some people had gathered. The strangeness of the fight was not lost on them and they lifted out their phones to film it. Ivan waved at them.

  “Hey! Run away!” No one listened. They whispered among themselves.

  “Get lost or die! You halfwits.” Ivan tried shouting but they ignored him.

  At the same time Zerachiel cast a glance in Ivan’s direction to see what was wrong.

  Mephistopheles laughed. “All of this for a human and a tool.”

  Zerachiel rushed the demon. Mephistopheles was forced to reverse untill he hit against a car, running out of space. Zerachiel flattened against him. The demon’s hand which held the chains was crushed between the angel’s body and the car. It was squeezed like a mouse in a trap.

  Zerachiel leaned into the demon’s wretched face. “You will regret hurting my friend. Do you know why we have ended up here?” Ivan felt sick seeing his friend so close to the monster.

  Mephistopheles spat into Zerachiel’s face. The spit rolled down and dropped off Zerachiel’s golden eye lashes. Zerachiel s
hook his head to try and remove it. “We are here because that tool is more alive than either of us. He is going to stay that way.”

  Zerachiel pulled his arm back to plunge the sword into Mephistopheles. Sweat ran down off his forehead and into the wound on his eye. His breath caught and his arm shook. He ground his teeth together. Ivan’s mouth went dry and he held his breath. He knew Zerachiel must be in a lot of pain with the wound on his face and his back, but he prayed that he could hold on.

  Zerachiel swayed back onto his heels and scrunched his damaged eye shut. The brief release of pressure was all that Mephistopheles needed. He headbutted Zerachiel in the nose. The angel stumbled. He tried to move forward again and regain his advantage. The demon flicked the chains up and they blazed a trail into Zerachiel’s chest. The stench of burning flesh made Ivan’s eyes water. Zerachiel fell onto his knees, his bones cracking against the pavement. Mephistopheles tore the angel blade from Zerachiel’s hand and tossed it away. It clattered onto the pavement. Zerachiel moved to follow it but the demon lashed out with his chains and wrapped them around Zerachiel’s body like a python. The chains burnt into the angel’s skin. Ivan watched as his friend’s body bent to the side and his eyes struggled to stay open. The vibrant blue dimmed with each second.

  “We are here because you and your pet are freaks.” Mephistopheles tightened the chains with a pull. His eyes flickered with malicious joy. He licked his teeth. “You should have stayed in heaven where…”

  The demon did not get to finish. All the while he had been talking, Ivan had crept towards the angel blade. He crawled behind some cars to avoid being seen. He took the blade in his hand and found it was heavier than he ever imagined. His body trembled as if rustled by the wind. Ivan saw the demon spitting words into Zerachiel’s face. The sound of sirens bounced in the air. The rain patted his cheeks. Every sensation was vivid and alive. The rain and wind were living in their own right, and they tried to hold him back. He trudged on, hauling the sword with him. Ivan came up behind Mephistopheles and lifted the sword. He took a breath. It slithered throughout his body. The pain in his arms dulled. The chilly air brought him to life. Blood raced through the tunnels inside him and every cell ran into his arms were reinforcements were needed. He lifted the blade to shoulder height. The smell of burning flesh invaded him. He didn’t feel sick. He felt sure. He drove the sword into the middle of Mephistopheles’s chest from behind him.

  Mephistopheles turned slowly around. The chain fell from his grip. The fallen section bounced once, then settled on the tarmac. Once the demon was facing him, Ivan saw the blood bubbling up his throat. It rose like lava then erupted over his lips with coughs. Mephistopheles showed his true face. The grey skin cracked and fell. The pieces of it never hit the ground but vanished in the breeze. In their wake was blood vessels and muscles. The jaw muscle clenched and unclenched. The more of the demon which fell apart the more blood leaked out of him. His horns turned to dust and floated away. His eyes were black and melted into the mass of skin and blood running down his face.

  The demon raised a hand that was no more than bone. The grey skin of hell had died away. Ivan didn’t run when the hand came near him. He let the bald digits touch his shoulder. He felt nothing from where they touched, they were too light.

  The middle finger made contact first. It lingered there for a moment, then the top of it fell off. Slowly the demon was dismantled. His jaw broke and started to vanish into nothing before it even hit the ground.

  Ivan watched all of this. The more of Mephistopheles which fell off, the more that Ivan’s bold mood left him. He felt the pain slam back into his arm. He clenched his eyes shut and folded in half. This brought him face to face with the mess on the ground once he opened his eyes again. Bone and blood were mixed into one and the lumpy soup left was seeping into the road. Ivan threw up. Some of his vomit was stirred into the mix, while the rest of it was painted on the front of Mephistopheles’s trousers.

  “Sorry mate.” Ivan rubbed the residue off his mouth. He ran past the demon, no longer needing to look at him. Mephistopheles melted into oblivion while no one watched.

  Ivan slid down beside Zerachiel, who was struggling to stand. The chain was unwilling to let go until its master was truly gone. When it finally fell, Zerachiel’s body was covered in raised and white blisters. His remaining wing was dirty and hung broken and burnt. Some feathers had fallen off.

  “Hey mate, how’s it going?” Ivan pulled the chains from around Zerachiel. They brought strings of flesh with them, stuck to the metal by the heat. Ivan didn’t know where to touch his friend. Everywhere looked like it hurt more than Ivan could imagine.

  “Mate can you get up?” Zerachiel didn’t answer Ivan. His head was hanging, and his breaths dragged themselves through his injured lungs.

  “Please,” Ivan said. Zerachiel moved his hands under himself and with all his might he pushed up. He fell, cutting his arms on the pavement.

  “Right.” Ivan got his arms under Zerachiel and hauled him to his feet. Zerachiel shook his head. His hair was filthy blonde and swayed at the action.

  “Forget it mate.” Ivan kicked Zerachiel’s feet under him. When the angel didn’t move, Ivan used his own feet to shove Zerachiel’s, one step at a time. Zerachiel stumbled but Ivan didn’t let him fall. “You are coming with me. Come on try and walk.”

  Zerachiel didn’t move. “Ivan.”

  “Walk!” The reapers voice was high. He put all his strength into holding Zerachiel up.

  Zerachiel started to shuffle. His legs could not lift very much and the burns on his body began to bleed slightly.

  Ivan pulled him out onto the street. “That’s it mate you have it, see?”

  They came out to face a road. People were milling around. Someone caught sight of them and pulled out their phone. Every passer-by passed them in wide circles. Some looked concerned but they didn’t dare approach the scene. The street bustled with noise. The air was thick with exhaust fumes and Ivan coughed a few times. They reached the crossing and Zerachiel collapsed on top of Ivan. Ivan lightly slapped his face to keep him awake. “Come on mate. I don’t think we are too far from the hospital.”

  The angel let out a broken laugh.

  “What? What’s so funny?” Ivan glared at the lights, willing them to turn red.

  “You can let go.” Zerachiel’s feathers started to drift off and turn into ash. Tears filled his eyes.

  “I am not letting go mate.” The lights changed, and Ivan pulled Zerachiel onto the road. A bus rounded the corner and came for the crossing. Ivan knew that the lights were red, so he kept going. The bus came to a stop.

  Ivan moved before it. Zerachiel was on the side of him that faced the bus. He was too dazed to flee when the vehicle jerked forward suddenly. The contact was minor for Ivan, who was thrown onto the road with his feet trapped under Zerachiel. It hurt his injured arm and he yelped. The reaper recovered and pulling his feet to himself, he crawled the short distance to Zerachiel. The road had chewed into the burns and they were bleeding. Zerachiel groaned. His wing was all but gone. The remaining dusty feathers were barely visible.

  Ivan knelt over him. “You’re fine. Get up.” Ivan pulled on Zerachiel’s arms. He tried hard to force the angel to stand.

  “Ivan,” Zerachiel whispered. Ivan shook his head so fast that his ears popped.

  “Ivan, please stop.” Zerachiel’s voice was tiny.

  Ivan let go of him and sat on the road. His knees were raised up and his elbows rested on them. Ivan looked at Zerachiel with too much understanding. He knew where this was headed but he couldn’t let himself think about it.

  Zerachiel struggled to breathe. “You know the signs by now.”

  Ivan rubbed his chin. “I do.”

  Zerachiel lay his head by Ivan’s foot. Around them people ran about, some looking for help.

  “I’m sorry.” Zerachiel’s tear fell onto the wet road.

  Ivan choked the first time he tried to reply. He swallowed the foreign
lump in his throat and tried again. “You should be.” His sob broke the sentence. “You’re leaving and I can’t go with you this time.” Ivan rubbed his eyes with the heels of his hands.

  “You’re not a reaper.” Zerachiel was hardly heard now. His voice was disappearing inside him. “Don’t forget that. You are Ivan.”

  “What the hell is that supposed to mean? How am I supposed to use that?” Ivan trembled and started to cry uncontrollably. He looked at his shaking hands and the wet spots on them that wouldn’t stop coming. “Whats wrong with me? My body is so sore. I can’t breathe. My eyes are stinging. Zerachiel whats happening to me? You need to stay and teach me. I don’t know what I am doing.”

  “Neither do I,” Zerachiel said.

  Ivan looked at the ground between his legs. His tears dotted the road then vanished. “But you always know the answers. You keep me sane and what did I give to you?”

  There was no answer to this. The body lay on the road without the soul that made it Zerachiel. His eyes stared at the sky without the twinkle Ivan had come to know. Ivan leant in and shook Zerachiel by the shoulder.

  “Zerachiel?” Ivan shook him again. When he reached for him the third time, his hand passed through him like a ghost.

  “Zerachiel, Zerachiel, Zerachiel.” It was all Ivan could say. He swatted his hand through the angel’s body over and over, but he couldn’t feel the familiar skin.

  Around Ivan silver shapes assembled. One of them moved through the door of the bus and strode to be with the rest. An army of eyes rested on Ivan. He felt the weight of them crushing him and an ache started in his chest.