Until We Meet Again

by S. E. Campbell

  But then she remembered Thema and Adanna's pale faces and knew that she could not take the coward's way out. She would go in there and stop this, no matter what.

  "You've got to help us," the Demon said. "Please. I didn't think it would be this bad. I thought I knew what evil was. Until I saw the thing."

  Eden shivered. "I'm trying to stop this. I need to get in that building."

  The Demon sighed. "I know you do. There's a back way. I'll show you how to get to it."

  "Aren't they going to know you helped me?" she asked.

  "I'm going to run," the Demon said. "Then again, after this, so will everybody else."

  Eden glanced at the door again. Fear filled her tenfold. I could leave now. I could get out of here and never look back. But as she stared at the door, she realized something. Leaving was what her mom would do, and she knew how bad that could be.

  Eden moved toward the Demon and frowned at him. "Show me the back door. I'm going inside, and I'm going to stop this."

  The man nodded, grabbed her arm, and began to pull her toward the back.

  Chapter Nineteen

  "This is as far as I dare take you," the Demon said. "If I get caught down here, then I'll be gone before they even finish that blasted ceremony."

  Eden stood in some sort of storeroom. A set of wooden stairs led to a floor that had a small square door like an attic's. She heard the sound of squeaking above as feet moved, and her fingers clenched with nervousness. I don't have any choice but to go up there. I don't. She gritted her teeth.

  "Where does it open up?" Eden asked, picturing herself appearing right between Satan's legs.

  "It opens between some pews," the Demon said. "If you open it quietly…"

  "Thank you," Eden said. Thanks for showing me where I'm likely going to be slaughtered.

  When she stepped forward, the Demon caught her arm and tightened his grip. She gazed at him, eyes widening. Was he going to stop her now?

  "Be careful up there," the Demon said. "You may be our only hope."

  His words echoed in her ears. Only hope. She wasn't the sort of person that should be anyone's only hope. There was so much pressure on her shoulders she felt the need to fall to the ground and wail.

  "Before you go, can you answer me one thing?" Eden asked.

  "I guess…" His eyes darted toward the door.

  "How did you let it get this far?" she asked. "You knew it was going to happen, but you decided to not follow through now?"

  "We were all promised things." The Demon frowned. "It just wasn't until I saw that man I knew what a mistake I had made. I can only pray that it's not too late."

  Wringing her hands, Eden spun again, and she heard the Demon leave. As she approached the door above her, her thoughts yelled in her head, Don't go in there, Eden. Don't go. This will be the end. Then the other side of her said, You have to go up there. Thema and Adanna are your friends, and they're counting on you to save them. And your mom. If the world is consumed by darkness, do you honestly think that you'll be able to see her again?

  Though half of her fought to leave with so much strength it was crippling, Eden approached the door and went up the wooden stairs. She placed pressure against the top of the door and heard it squeak. She half expected a soldier, maybe that evil auburn haired man, to run over and slit her throat right then and there.

  But nobody came.

  She pulled herself through the open door and onto her thin stomach, and then rolled under the pews. She glanced around and knew exactly where she was. And it was horrible.

  This was the exact replica of the underground cavern she had just escaped from. The walls had the same images the cavern doors had — the dark shapes devouring children. The ceiling was still the most awful part. She saw the dark, five-headed monster on the ceiling and felt as if her cells were crying out in fear. There was even a blood red pedestal in the middle of the room. Choking, she pressed her hand over her mouth to silence her own lament.

  Not again. I didn't want to be in this awful place ever again.

  "Donovan, sir, all preparations are ready," somebody said.

  She had been so scared of the murals she had forgotten about what she was in here to do. Rolling onto her stomach, she smelled the awful stench of rotting flesh and blood. She saw the horrified expressions on the faces of the four men that remained inside a tarp-like object.

  Suddenly, something caused all four men to cripple and fall to the ground, and she felt her chest begin to vibrate, hard. She glanced down, horrified, and peered at her own chest. The necklace that had been burning with fire now flickered on and off, on and off.

  Don't, Eden thought, as if it would respond. Please. You're all I have.

  Then she heard it for the first time. The terrible demonic yells that cut through her eardrums and caused her to curl up and struggle. She felt her chest vibrate again and knew the necklace was trying to help her, but the pain, the burning fire in her ears, reminded her it was failing. Satan's power was too great against a single frail necklace.

  Hurts so bad… She tried with all of her might to keep silent, to not shriek. Her eyes rolled around in her head as she tried to fight.

  Then the sound was gone again.

  The tarp moved and Donovan bowed at its base, a grin on his lips. The awful sound Satan had made did not affect him, not like the others.

  “My Lord.”

  And then he ripped the tarp away, leaving Eden trembling and wanting so desperately to shout out "no!" It took all of her self-control to keep silent. She clutched her eyes shut, too scared to look into the pew slot again, for a putrid odor more foul than anything she had ever smelled before filled the room.

  Even before she peered up, the cage vibrated with one thing — death. The smell of rotting corpses and festering flesh increased tenfold. She couldn't have smelled more of it if had she stood in a battlefield full of body parts, flies buzzing around the decaying remains. Eden shivered.

  She finally peered over the pew side again and could no longer hold back, but her cry went unnoticed by the Demons. She saw Satan, the monster from the ceiling painting, but this time he was real. The most disgusting, evil, and rancid thing she had ever seen and ever would see. Urine, blood, and death was only a part of what made the thing so revolting.

  Satan was moving, all five heads staring out in different directions — the rotting corpse, the snake, the hand, the Demon head, and the beautiful woman head. His movements were constant as he shifted his wings. The only thing keeping Satan from emerging right now was the carriage door.

  Eden clamped her hand over her mouth and dove farther under the pew. Even when she placed her hands over her ears, she could still hear its movements.

  Satan hissed, making everyone yell except Eden and Donovan. The necklace burned on her chest, glowing so bright she couldn't imagine why it hadn't caught their attention by now. It shone through her clothes and emitted a bright, sparkling light throughout the room.

  Donovan said excitedly, “Finally, we're about to begin.”

  Clasping his hands in pleasure, Donovan glanced at Satan and then opened the gate from his carriage. Satan stepped down and entered the room fully for the first time.

  Eden saw one soldier — the oldest — unsheathe his sword, and he threw himself at Satan. Unfortunately, Satan's rotten hand reached up and grabbed the soldier by the throat. The man wailed and wailed even at a single touch of Satan, his eyes rolling around like two miniature balls.

  Make it stop, she thought over the man's agonized yells. Oh please, just make it stop. How am I supposed to stop this?

  Satan held the man up by the neck as he struggled and screamed. A blackened hole opened up in the ceiling, sucking and pulling until his spirit disappeared into it.

  Donovan cackled as he peered up. “My Lord, should I check the others for traitors? Perhaps somebody else would like to try an attack.”

  Satan's corpse head, the most frightening with its dying skin and chunks of face missing, stare
d into the room with clenched teeth. The head hissed something Eden could not hear, but she was well aware of the way his tongue moved over cold blue lips.

  "Check all the doors before we begin," Donovan said, turning and pacing back and forth.

  The remaining men exchanged glances and began to walk toward the doors. One of them placed his hands against the frame and shook it, and then he glanced back toward the front at Satan. The other two tested the lock and then also gazed back to the front.

  Donovan scowled, waved them over, and the threesome returned to him. He then moved back toward Satan and waited. A moment later, Satan said something to him.

  "My Lord," he said, and then whirled around and bent over.

  He picked up a smaller version of the same chest that had originally held the Blood Stone in the cave. It was red and dark. Eden leaned in closer, looking at it in a mixture of horror and awe. This will be my chance to rush at them and stop this, but I want to see what the stone can do first. She tried hard not to replay the horrifying last moments of the Demon with the sword who had attempted to stop the ceremony, just like she was trying to do now.

  I know I'm not going to make it out of this building.

  She shook her head, trying to fight down the paralyzing fear that filled her, and peered forward as Donovan opened the small chest. On a bed of black silk was a single crimson stone.

  Eden could understand the allure of the stone now. It glimmered though there was no light, but it carried an air of coldness with it too — and pain. It smelled like blood, even across the room. She wanted to hide it so it would never be seen again.

  Donovan grabbed the stone, and a grin crossed his face.

  “My Lord, I see it," Donovan said. "The glorious visions you have entranced me with!”

  Donovan's eyes became white and his pupils disappeared. Reaching forward, Satan took the stone from him and hissed, momentarily blinding Eden with unrelenting and extraordinary pain. She threw back her head and tried hard not to yell. She knew then the stone was too strong for even her necklace to fight.

  Donovan's eyes then returned to normal. The grin on his face was excited and entranced. “My Lord, what do we—”

  Reaching forward, Satan grabbed Donovan by the face and tossed him to the floor at his side. Satan then reached forward and seized one of the three remaining soldiers and forced the stone into his grip. The Demon glanced at the stone in horror, and then he threw his head back and began to writhe and shriek again.

  "Make it stop," the man said. "Please. I don't want to see anymore. So evil…"

  Donovan, still on the floor, began to laugh hysterically.

  Satan hissed, removed the stone from the Demon's hands, and then tightened his fist on the Demon's neck. The Demon's eyes widened in horror seconds before a black hole appeared on the ceiling and he disappeared from the room. The other two Demon soldiers backed up against the wall, weeping.

  As Donovan struggled to his feet, Satan stepped forward on a clawed foot, and as Eden watched, she realized as powerful as he was, he was also slow. She straightened up, knowing any second now she was going to have to move to stop him, and laid eyes on the dark black, bloodied pedestal Satan moved to place the Blood Stone on. And she knew then his will would be done the moment the stone was placed there.

  Before Eden could talk herself out of her next actions, she pulled herself from the pew and stood in the middle of the hallway.

  "I won't let you do this," Eden said. "Stop."

  All eyes turned toward her. She saw Donovan's mouth drop open, and she saw Satan begin to speak via his central shriveled head.

  "You heard him," Donovan yelled. "Grab the girl. Grab her."

  Eden felt time slow down as the two men leapt toward her. When she glanced over their shoulders, she saw Satan did not intend to stop because she was there. He inserted the stone into the pedestal, and she screamed, "No!" and withdrew the sword Aaron had given her moments before the two Demons grabbed her.

  The next things happened so fast Eden could barely digest them. When the two Demons reached her, both were thrown backward by an unseen force, hit the wall, and then reincarnated into a vortex in the ceiling. The Blood Stone glowed red and almost appeared wet with blood, but then it flickered and died. She stood there, alone and confused, looking at the Blood Stone.

  Then she peered down. The Blood Stone released sickening black spirals of energy like dark smoke, and her necklace glowed with light, fighting the darkness. Her necklace was what was going to save the world. Not her. She was not alone, after all.

  All of Satan's heads twisted in her direction, and he seized Donovan around his neck and held him upward. Eden's mouth dropped because she realized one thing — after Donovan, she was next.

  "I'm so sorry, Lord," Donovan said. "I didn't know that the woman was here."

  Satan once again said something she could not hear, and then he threw Donovan against the wall. Though he did not get up, he did not reincarnate. Eden realized Satan still needed him.

  The five heads turned and stared at her all at once, and even though she could not hear Satan's words, she saw him say, "You," and felt the urge to run. She gripped her necklace.

  "I can't do this alone," she said. "Please."

  Satan took a step toward her. I have to stay out of his reach and get the Blood Stone from the podium. When she whirled to race around the room, she saw Satan waited for her. Directly behind her. So he wasn't slow, after all.

  When he reached forward and grabbed her neck with his cold, slimy hand, pain shot through her despite her necklace and caused her to throw her head back and scream. He grabbed the cross, tore it off her neck, and stared at it. But it seared his skin and caused one of his fingers to melt. He roared in anger, dropped her on the floor, and she lay on her side, gasping and choking as horror filled her eyes.

  In her mind, smoke filled a village as children raced down the streets, screaming. Black shapes they could not see raced after them, and when the darkness reached them. Eden heard the sound of tearing and the smell of blood. She knew this was what would happen. She knew she had failed.

  A female voice spoke in her ear. "Eden, get up. Get away from him, now."

  Eden threw back her head and screamed as another vision filled her. Heaps of bodies littered the ground as Satan used their corpses to build a throne of dead.

  "Get away," the unknown female urged, and then she felt her eyes clear.

  Though Eden didn't feel she had the energy left to move, she began to climb along the ground, escaping Satan. Every move caused terrible visions to fill her eyes. And darkness. Thick, never ending darkness. How could she even think when it filled her mind?

  As she made it down the line of pews against the wall, she peered up through her bleary, clouded vision and saw Donovan struggle to his feet. Satan stared with loathing at the necklace on the ground, but he did not move to pick it up.

  "That girl is from Him," Satan said. His voice made her shriek and struggle.

  "Shall I get rid of the girl, Lord?" Donovan asked, looking at her and licking his lips.

  "No," Satan said, "I shall get rid of the fly myself. It will give me much pleasure. Just get rid of the necklace."

  Donovan glanced at it, then at him. "Why can't you...?"

  "Do not ask questions," Satan's five heads screamed. "You can easily be replaced."

  The idea of being replaced caused Donovan's eyes to widen, and he walked forward, bent low, and shakily picked up the necklace. He swore as he held it away from him, as if the light was repulsive.

  "Throw it out the door," Satan ordered. "It cannot be destroyed. If God thought that a simple human girl and a necklace could stop me, then He has lost His touch."

  She stared at the Blood Stone on the podium and knew because of Satan's words the moment the necklace left the building the ceremony would be complete. She had to stop Donovan. Had to. Though every time she blinked, she saw scenes so horrible they burned her heart and made her feel like she wanted to dri
ve her head against the ground to chase them away.

  Must… stop… him… Eden thought, cringing as painful images filled her mind.

  When she reached the door, she stood in front of it, staring down both Donovan and Satan, though every part of her begged to lie down, to just give up. She didn't feel strong enough to stand in front of them again, but she knew she had to be because she was the one who had been given the necklace.

  "How sweet," Satan said. "A martyr."

  "Don't do this," Eden said.

  "Throw the necklace outside," Satan said.

  "Give it to me!" Eden yelled.

  Donovan pushed by Eden, knocking her backward, and tossed the necklace through the small opening in the door. The moment the necklace crossed the threshold of the building, Eden saw the podium that held the Blood Stone begin to pour blood from its top like a waterfall of pain and agony, and then black energy shot upward and into the sky, cutting through the roof of the building like it was nothing.

  As Satan's high-pitched, inhuman cackling filled her ears, the power from the Blood Stone hit both her and Donovan, and she was thrown from the building and rolled in the grass. Something soft broke her fall. Something alive. Suddenly, she couldn't hold onto anything anymore. She was gone.

  ****

  Cold. Energy-less. Afraid. That was all she felt. Eden knew that she wasn't being reincarnated because this didn't look like the "other word" as Thema had described it. She was in pressing darkness, and she heard screams all around her. Pained screams.

  "Somebody help me," a voice said.

  A woman lay on the ground, cowering, as a dark shadow stepped above her. He revealed himself as a dark-haired man. It was the one from her dream when she was still alive. The surprisingly average, though sinister, man. For the first time, Eden recognized him for who he was. It was a true Demon, not the human spirits that took their evil name.