Rising: The Second Death Prequel

by Brian Rella

  Arraziel’s red eyes narrowed. He picked up Steve by his neck and held him in the air. Grabbing Steve’s waist with his other hand, Arraziel twisted Steve slowly. Jessie heard vertebrae cracking in Steve’s back. Muffled shrieks came from his throat. Arraziel dropped him and Steve passed out before he hit the floor; broken, but not dead, as instructed. Arraziel moved to Jessie’s side.

  Jessie felt a newfound confidence. She was no longer the weak, skinny girl whose almost-stepsister had bullied her and beaten her in her own home. She commanded a powerful demon to do her bidding and was drunk with power. Her mind and sense of morality had been warped by her abusers. In her current state she no longer felt compassion, kindness, or remorse. She was infected by a thirst for revenge, and it coursed through her, blackening her soul. As Marie and Karen burst into the room, Jessie had no objection to unleashing her vengeance upon them.

  “Dad!” Marie cried and went to floor next to her father, seeming not to notice the demon standing at Jessie’s side.

  “Grab her, Arraziel,” Jessie commanded.

  Arraziel’s fur rippled as he snatched her from the floor in his enormous clawed hand. He held her in the air while she squirmed and screamed.

  Jessie smirked at her mother. Karen’s jaw had gone slack and her eyes wide. She seemed unable to move, she was so terrified. “Her, too,” Jessie said, motioning to Karen. Arraziel’s eyes gleamed as he reached for her and took her in his other hand.

  Jessie scowled, walking slowly around her demon to face the three of them. Marie was screaming like a banshee. Karen looked sober for the first time in a long time. She whimpered, struggling to breathe in the demon’s grasp.

  “Shut up, bitch!” Jessie shouted, and slapped Marie across the face. “Another word and I will end you.” She glanced at her mother with a sinister look. Both women went quiet. Jessie locked eyes with Marie.

  “What to do with you, hmm?” she said. “So many possibilities for you. So many choices.” Jessie tapped her chin with her finger. “It must have been hard for you, Marie, growing up with that for a father,” she said, pointing to Steve, who was barely breathing on the floor. “I might have sympathized. I might have cared, if you weren’t such a disparaging bitch to me!” She punched Marie hard in the face. Marie’s head jerked back and blood trickled from her nose.

  “Go ahead.” Marie’s voice sounded like the bleat of a goat. “Kill me, then.”

  Jessie snickered and raised an eyebrow. “Oh no, little piggy. Death is too good for you. You’ll spend the rest of your days suffering, like you made me suffer. You treated me like an animal! Now you will know what that felt like for the rest of your life. You will feel what I’ve felt every day since you and your asshole father came into my life. Arraziel, turn this one into a big…FAT…PIG!”

  Arraziel dropped Marie to the floor and placed his hand on her head. His hand glowed red and Marie froze, her eyes rolling back. Strange noises came from inside her body and she started to change physically. Her hair fell out. Her ears moved to the top of her head. Her nose and mouth formed a snout. Her arms and legs shortened. Her hands and feet became hooves. Her pink, round back burst through her clothes and a little tail fell from her backside.

  “Nooooooooo…” she cried, her words trailing off into a squeal. Her transformation complete, she ran out of the room on all fours, squealing. Jessie stared, deadpan, watching her go.

  “Your turn, mommy,” Jessie said, detached, facing her mother. She had no love for her mother as their eyes met. Hatred burned in her chest for the woman who had birthed her and had kept her in this miserable and abusive home.

  “Jessie, please,” Karen begged. “What has happened to you? What is this?” She quivered with fear, barely able to pronounce the words.

  Dawn peeked through the curtains, casting a ghostly light on the room. Jessie walked to the window and pulled back the curtain. Marie—the pig—ran into the woods across the street. Jessie chuckled and turned back to her mother.

  “Did you know?” she asked. “Did you know what she was doing to me? Did you know what you were forcing me to live with? I want to know, mother. Tell me.”

  “W…what do you mean?” her mother stammered.

  “Mmmm. So you didn’t know? What Marie used to do to me? What Steve was going to do to me?” she asked.

  “Jessie,” she sniveled. “Whatever happened, whatever was done, I had no idea. I can make it better, baby. I promise. I can make it better…”

  Jessie walked slowly to her mother and stood in front of her.

  “No, Mom,” she said, emotionless. “No, you can’t. Marie beat me, all too often. And Steve, the man you were going to marry, the man who was going to live with us, was going to rape me. And you let them, mother. You let them. Your own daughter. Your own flesh and blood. You could have had any man you wanted, mother. And you chose a bully and a rapist, and let them hurt me.”

  Her mother sobbed. “I’m sorry, Jessie. I…I had no idea… I’m…so sorry! My baby! Please forgive me…”

  Jessie dropped her eyes to the floor, pausing. She searched her mind and heart for a place that still held love and compassion for her mother, but found none. She glanced up. “It’s too late for that, mother. Sorry can’t heal the wounds you’ve caused. You might be pretty on the outside, but you are ugly and deformed on the inside. You don’t have it in you to make it better. I tried, Mom. I tried to help you. I took care of you. I tried to let you heal after Dad died. I thought if I could help you through Dad’s death, then it would be all right. I thought you were still good inside, and that you just needed to find yourself again.

  “But you’re not good, Mom. You’re evil and ugly. Let me show you how I see you, Mother. Let me show you how you really are. Arraziel, my mother is too pretty. Fix that.”

  “Nooooo! Please! Jessie…” Karen screamed.

  Arraziel lifted Karen higher, so that she was eye level with the demon. He blew a plume of fire from his mouth, scorching her face. She shrieked as her skin crackled. Arraziel put his glowing hand on top of her head, pulling his thumb and index finger together. Karen’s hair caught fire and Arraziel pulled a horn from her skull. Then the demon took his finger and pushed one of her eyes high onto her forehead. Arraziel dropped her to the floor and took her arms in both of his hands. When he let go, her arms were bent awkwardly, her hands claw-like. She wailed in agony as Arraziel stomped one of her legs to a bloody mush under his hoof. He stood back as she moaned, and looked to Jessie. Jessie nodded in approval.

  “There,” Jessie said, emotionless. “Now you and Steve are perfect for each other.”

  She looked to the demon and decided she was finished with him for now. “Arraziel, you may return to your world.”

  Arraziel moved toward Jessie and Jessie’s confidence crumbled as the demon bent low and gazed into her eyes. His eyes gleamed and she felt a pull, a drawing out from within. He’s taking something from me. Jessie gasped as she felt the change inside and heard a ripping sound. Then the demon released her and vanished back into the shadows.

  Jessie steadied herself on her dresser as she tried to understand what had just happened. Her body felt strange as her hand met the edge of the dresser. The sun was up and light streamed in through her shades, illuminating the room. She caught her breath, turned to leave, and glimpsed herself in the mirror. The person staring back at her was not a fourteen-year-old girl, but a woman, possibly in her twenties. She had grown taller, her body had filled out, and her clothes had ripped and were hanging off of her.

  Jessie touched her face and watched as the woman in the mirror touched hers. She screamed and ran from her room to the bathroom. She flicked on the light and stared in the mirror. The same woman stared back at her. Somehow she had aged several years.

  Her mother and Steve moaned on the floor of her room. She slammed the door on them, blocking out the noise—it only annoyed her. She went into her mother’s room and sat at her make-up table, staring at her new appearance.

  Her cheekb
ones were more pronounced; her hair, fuller and longer. She had her mother’s lips and—she looked at her chest—she had her mother’s curves as well. Jessie no longer looked like the awkward adolescent she had been yesterday. She was a woman on the outside, but on the inside she was frightened of what had just happened to her and of what she had done.

  “Oh God,” she said to the woman in the mirror. “What did I do? What have I become?”

  The answer resounded in her mind in the deep voice that was not her own. You protected yourself, Jessie. You saved yourself when no one else would save you. And now you have power. The power to not be afraid; to not be a victim. The power to be free…

  Yes. She was free now. Free of the menaces that had invaded her home. Free of the mother who no longer cared for her. Free to do what I want. Free to leave this place forever…

  She glanced back to the mirror, her mind was a tempest as she put her thoughts together. Yes, she was free. She had the power of the demon at her command, but the demon had a heavy price. He had made her old and she did not want to age when she called Arraziel to help her. There must be another way to pay the price the demon demanded.

  A thought bubbled to the surface of her mind and she grinned as the realization came to her. The fright that seized her moments ago evaporated as her now crooked mind made a twisted connection. The old woman at the bookstore…Olga. She can help me fix this, or she will pay…

  Jessie went to the bathroom and showered. She dried her hair and brushed it, parting it on the side like her mother did. She found some clothes in her mother’s closet that fit her and tried on a pair of heels. Standing in front of the full-length mirror, she examined herself from head to toe. She couldn’t help but admire her new looks. She took a step to leave and stumbled. She wasn’t used to wearing heels. Maybe some flats. Jessie changed her shoes and headed for the front door. On her way out she grabbed her mother’s wide-brimmed hat and a pair of large sunglasses. No one would recognize her now. Not even Olga. She didn’t spare another thought about her mother or Steve as she walked out of the front door.

  14

  JESSIE

  October 14, 2015

  Beauchamp, Louisiana

  * * *

  Jessie checked herself in the reflection of the bookshop window one more time, adjusting her hat a little lower before she opened the door. The bell to the bookshop jingled as she opened the door, startling her. She was more nervous than she expected.

  She walked straight down the first aisle to the cash register and could hear some shuffling noises behind the red curtain that separated the back from the rest of the store. She stood at the counter, staring at the strange clock on the wall, waiting for Olga. Olga emerged from the backroom grinning, but looking like she had just woken up.

  “Good morning!” Olga said.

  Jessie hesitated a fraction of a second, trying to guess whether Olga recognized her or not. “Good morning,” she said, as calm as she could.

  “How can I help you this morning?” Olga asked.

  Jessie stared into Olga’s eyes from beneath her glasses, searching them to see if Olga recognized her. She doesn’t. Jessie smiled. “I was wondering,” she said, “do you have any books on black magic?”

  Was that a flash of concern in her face?

  Olga chuckled. “I don’t get many requests for those types of books, miss,” she said. “Was there a particular title you were looking for?”

  Jessie removed her glasses and placed them on the counter. She pulled off her hat, tossed her hair back, and locked eyes with Olga. Still don’t recognize me, do you?

  “There is, actually,” Jessie said. “It’s called Arraziel. Have you heard of it?”

  Jessie watched Olga’s face transform from a question mark, to concern, to recognition in less than a second. Olga muttered something under breath and raised her hands in front of her. A glimmer of blue light danced on her palms and then burst forward at Jessie, knocking her backward. A tingling sensation crossed Jessie’s torso as the light began wrapping around her, rapidly binding her. Her mind raced as her arms disappeared under the crackling blue energy and the bands of light moved towards her head.

  The dark voice in her head spoke to her: You have power, my princess. Release Arraziel upon your attacker!

  Jessie spoke the words to conjure the demon: “Ful’ghgta! Rah’fghla. Sjftar agj’kelft Arraziel!” she said.

  The room darkened as the demon took form. Olga looked terrified and stumbled backward falling to the floor with a grunt.

  “Free me and seize her!” Jessie commanded.

  Arraziel moved like silent lightning. His clawed hand was a glowing red blur as he reached for her and ripped away the electric blue bindings that enwrapped her. Then Arraziel snatched Olga from the ground, lifting her into the air.

  “In the back,” Jessie ordered getting to her feet.

  Arraziel took Olga behind the curtains into the back room while Jessie went to the front of the store. She locked the door, pulled the shades, and stormed back toward the red curtain. A crunch, like electricity, came from the back room. What was that?

  She pulled the curtain back and stepped into the back room. Arraziel had both arms wrapped around Olga. Her face was a twisted grimace of pain, but what caught Jessie’s attention was the blue light glowing from Olga’s palms. Jessie cracked a crooked smile watching the old woman wriggle, struggling to free herself from the demon’s grip. “You won’t be going anywhere,” Jessie sneered. “Break her arms!”

  Arraziel obeyed and with a snap, Olga screamed as white bone protruded from both of her forearms.

  Olga’s face was a grimace of pain, but she no longer struggled to escape Arraziel’s grasp. Her eyes met Jessie’s. “You don’t know what you’re messing with, bitch! You have no idea!”

  “Tell me,” Jessie said.

  Olga cackled. “Fuck you.”

  “It’s you that’s fucked, lady,” Jessie said.

  “You think your threats scare me? Ha!”

  “You will tell me what I want to know or you will wish you were dead,” Jessie said. “Arraziel, this one is stubborn and I must bend her will. Grab her arm and twist it until she has something to say.”

  Arraziel grasped Olga’s broken left arm in his massive hand. He twisted and bent it, the bone poking further and further through the skin and blood gushing onto the floor. Olga howled in pain as more bones and tendons snapped in her arm. Jessie smirked as her radius wiggled in the air, spraying blood all over the walls.

  “Enough, Arraziel,” she said, and Arraziel stopped. “Now, do you have anything to tell me?”

  Olga looked ashen as she shook her head no.

  “No!” Jessie roared. “Perhaps you need more motivation! Maybe I need to pull it out of your head. Let’s see what’s inside your head!” Jessie narrowed her eyes and nodded at Arraziel.

  Arraziel’s raised his finger to Olga’s forehead. His bicep flexed as his claw-like finger dug under her skin. Jessie could see Arraziel’s finger moving underneath Olga’s curly hair as the demon pushed his finger along her skull, ripping back her scalp, and exposing the white bone. Olga shrieked.

  “Please!” Olga cried. “I’ll tell you! I’ll tell you anything you need to know!” Blood tracked down her face and neck in long trails, splattering on the floor.

  “Tell me, then,” Jessie said. “What is this demon doing to me? How do I stop from aging when I summon him?”

  Jessie saw the dim light of recognition through the gore of Olga’s face. “The book…you…you didn’t finish reading the book,” she said.

  “Tell me!” Jessie said.

  “Because…” Olga was gasping. “Because, when you summon him, he gives you what you command, but exacts a toll. It gives, but it also takes.”

  “What do you mean, it takes?” Jessie asked. “Don’t speak in riddles to me.”

  Olga raised her head weakly. “You stupid child. You are aging because Arraziel sucks your life from you every time you use hi
m to do your will. This is Arraziel’s price.”

  “How do I undo it?” she demanded.

  “There is no way,” Olga hissed. “Each of the Fallen have their own price.”

  “What do you mean, each of Fallen?” Jessie asked.

  “Foolish child. The Fallen will be your end.”

  “Who are the Fallen? What are you talking about? Tell me!”

  Olga grew quiet and raised her head slowly. “Never,” Olga said.

  Jessie’s frustration melted into a sinister smile. She looked at Arraziel. She would find out for herself. And if there were more like Arraziel, she would rule them all.

  She met Arraziel’s gleaming eyes. “Crush her.” Then she turned back to Olga.

  Arraziel’s fingers wrapped around Olga’s waist, and he squeezed. Olga’s eyes bulged, her ribs crackling in his grip. A tight hiss came from her mouth, she grunted, and her body made a muted squish. Arraziel dropped her to the floor. Her body looked like a tube of toothpaste that had been squeezed in the middle.

  “Arraziel, return from where you came.” Jessie braced herself for what she knew was coming. The demon moved toward her, its eyes blazing, and sucked more life from Jessie. Then he evaporated into the shadows of the room. Jessie felt the change within her again. When she had regained her balance, she fled the store.

  15

  OLGA

  October 14, 2015

  Beauchamp, Louisiana

  * * *

  Olga lay on the floor, dying. Two words played over and over in her mind. Last Breath…Last Breath.

  She had to warn Brennan and the Order. This girl had freed one of the Fallen. She had to tell them.

  The spell came to her mind and she fought for a single breath to utter the words, but her chest and sternum were broken. She could not inhale. She could not get enough air in her chest to speak.