Death Among Us

by Jack Crosby

  I took her hand. “Then let’s go get our friend back.”

  The cool air of the Lincoln Memorial welcomed us the higher we got. At the top, I let Roxanne follow the path of energy to the back. There hidden in the corner was a section of wall that looked a bit off.

  “Let’s see what happens.” I reached out and gave the section a push. A tile in the floor instantly came to life and moved. Big enough for a person to climb down, this had to be the place. The overwhelming smell of brimstone was the dead give-a-way.

  I climbed down first, followed by Roxanne. The ladder went down maybe fifteen to twenty-feet. At the bottom was a landing platform with a set of stairs to the right. I brought Leviathan out and ignited him. The white glow would act as our guide.

  The steps went on forever. The further we went, the more the smell and the cold air took over. I got the feeling we were walking straight to Hell.

  “Derrick, we are almost there, I can feel it.”

  “You doing okay back there?”

  She placed her hand on my back, “As long as I am with you.”

  We rounded the final corner and the stairs opened into a giant pit. Dead bodies of hundreds of demons littered the ground around the pit, with two figures standing in the middle. One was Darius and the other was much smaller and covered in a cloak.

  Without even turning around, “Welcome Death and the whore! You are just in time for my master’s arrival!”

  “Darius you fool! Do you think I’d let you summon an Arch-Demon in my presence?”

  His laugh filled the area. “You are much too late! As you can see we have already made the necessary sacrifices.”

  We? “Then the two of you have to answer for your crimes! Let it be known that Death will reap your souls!”

  I jumped down into the pit, Leviathan burning a holy energy. Darius snapped his fingers and his war axe made its entrance. The other figure still didn’t say or do anything.

  “Let’s be honest, I was going to kill you anyway. I’m going to make you beg and plead for your life Hell spawn. This is your reward for taking my friend!”

  He planted his axe into the ground. “Your friend? I think you are much mistaken in her thoughts and feelings for you.”

  A knot formed in my stomach. “What did you do to her?”

  “I did nothing.”

  “He’s right Derrick.” The voice came from under the hood. The figure turned around and revealed herself. “It turns out I have a natural talent for certain things.”

  Maggie was looking at me. Gone was the soft expression that I had gotten used to. Her features were hardened and her eyes now had a distinct red tint to them. Not like Roxanne’s, but the touch of brimstone had been placed.

  “Maggie… no this can’t be?”

  She laughed and it sounded much more demonic. “Don’t act like you cared for me for fuck up! It was clear from the start you cared more for the whore demon than you ever would for me!”

  “Is this what this is about?”

  She snuggled up close to Darius, “I have found a much stronger man. He has shown me so much in such a little amount of time.”

  I felt like I was punched in the gut. “When I reap your soul Darius, your demonic control will be broken.”

  “She came to me willingly. Over and over again in fact Death.”

  “ENOUGH!!!” Gone was the mortal voice, replaced by my celestial power. “Darius, servant to Beelzebub, I challenge you to mortal combat! Prepare for your reaping!”

  Chapter 19 – Consequences Suck

  Maggie walked out of the pit and I looked up at Roxanne. She looked confused and afraid at the situation. No worries; that would soon be rectified.

  “Darius, you’ve made a mistake messing with me.”

  Bringing the axe into a ready position, “No Death, it is you that is the fool.”

  Waiting for no one, I charged, bringing Leviathan down with all my strength. The demon general met me with his axe and parried the blow. His strength was incredible.

  Pushing down as hard as I could, “You may be one strong bitch, but that’s nothing compared to a Horseman!”

  Grunting and pushing back, “Maybe if you were War, I would be concerned. You are nothing but a lazy and worthless creature!”

  With one last grunt, he pushed back and sent me flying back. I was shocked that his strength overpowered mine. No matter, I got right back up and charged again.

  Darius brought his axe down at the last moment, causing me to dive out of the way. “Your fighting style has not changed in millennia. Do you think I cannot anticipate your every move?”

  I was loading up for a snappy, witty comeback when he attacked. All my concentration was on keeping the axe from taking off my head. Darius’s style was heavy handed and lightning quick.

  He pushed me back up against the side of the pit. The dead bodies of the demons scattered around dissolved to ash each time we got near them. The other problem was a portal opening up in the center. Any minute now, Beelzebub would be coming out.

  I had to duck to avoid another axe blow. Unfortunately, that brought my face a lot closer to his foot and he made the most of it. A solid kick to the front of my face shattered my nose. I was in trouble. I tried to form a chain of celestial fire but my power wasn’t responding.

  “Where is the feared power of the Horseman? Where is the celestial fire that I know you can use?” Using the end of the axe, he brought it down on my shoulder and I dropped Leviathan. Weaponless, Darius unloaded on me with punches, beating me into a pulp.

  “I expected so much more! While I honed my craft, you became sloppy and lazy!” Grabbing me by the back of my coat, he tossed me into the middle of the pit.

  He tried to pick up Leviathan, but unless you’re me, all you get is a jolt of energy for your troubles. “No matter, your broken body will be the perfect gift to my Lord.”

  “Yes my love, finish the fucker off! Show him no mercy!”

  Maggie’s voice cut through the air. The hatred that it was laced with cut deep. My eye was swollen shut and I began coughing up blood. Even if I wanted to respond, I couldn’t.

  “Whore, you dare interfere?!”

  I couldn’t see what was happening, but I assumed Roxanne had gotten involved.

  “Yeah I do you giant piece of shit! Are you still scared of me?”

  “You mean nothing to me! It is because of you that I suffered at our Master’s hand!”

  “He’s no longer my master!”

  His laugh was close to me. “Ahh yes, this is your current master. I suppose when he dies, you will come crawling back to Lord Beelzebub? Maybe he has an imp you can pleasure!”

  I reached into my pocket and found a small silver blade. Opening my good eye, I made out the leg of the demon general. I took the blade and slashed it through the back of his leg.

  “AHHHHHHH!!!!”

  His blood chilling scream was awful. He fell to one leg, cursing me. Seeing him so close, I picked myself up as best I could and plunged the dagger into his chest. I missed his heart, but the pain was quite evident.

  I fell back over, beaten and broken. The last thing I felt was a pair of soft yet incredibly strong hands pick me up. As Darius roared in pain and disappointment, I blacked out.

  ****

  “Derrick, are you awake?”

  Pain rushed through my body as I tried to move. “Where am I?”

  “We are outside the city, Khloros found a house for us to hide out in.”

  The voice was Roxanne’s. “Did we fail?”

  Her voice trembled. “Yes, right before we left, the portal opened just for a second. Beelzebub is on Earth.”

  My heart dropped. Even worse than the embarrassment of being beaten within an inch of my life by a demon, an Arch-Demon was now free on Earth. “We need to contact the angels.”

  “Khloros did on our way here. Veronica and Yuri are supposed to be here soon.”

  I closed my eyes again. I guess I fell asleep as soon I was being shaken awa
ke again. “Derrick, Veronica and Yuri are here.”

  Both were in their business suits, blue eyes gazing at me in sorrow. Yuri moved to my level, “Is it true?”

  “Which part? That I got my ass kicked or that an Arch-Demon was summoned to Earth?”

  Sadness filled the blue eyes. “This certainly complicates things. How was Darius able to conduct the spell?”

  “He sacrificed demons… with the help of the human girl he kidnapped.”

  It was Veronica’s turn to be surprised. “A human was able to help him?”

  “I can explain.” We all looked at Roxanne. “I do not mean to betray my master’s secret, but it must be done.”

  She looked at me, waiting for punishment I guess. I just nodded my head for her to continue.

  “You see, when Derrick spared the human Maggie, he connected her aura to his. Darius was able to use that connection to impart some of his energies. She was the perfect conductor to channel the spell through.”

  “I created this?”

  Both the angels were stunned. Roxanne put her hand on my head. “It is not totally your fault. There would have to be darkness in one’s soul to accept his energy. If there was not, she would have died.”

  “What can we do to stop this?” Yuri looked like he might vomit.

  “We follow through with our plan. We stop the assassination of the President and once he is safe, we do what we must.”

  Veronica had a cold look in her eyes, “You have created this monster Death, and you must be the one to fix this situation.”

  “You want me to kill her?” Veronica looked at Yuri who nodded. “There must be another way?!”

  It was Yuri’s turn to lecture. “This is why the rules are placed into regulation! You broke your own rule and now you wish us to find another way?”

  “They speak the truth Derrick.” Roxanne’s face was steeped in sadness. “I wish there was another way, but as long as the one holding the connection lives, Beelzebub will able to walk the Earth.”

  Chapter 20 – Conquest

  I was depressed. I’d saved someone I really cared about only to condemn her further. Maybe after I got this whole mess cleaned up, I’d go back to the Garden of Eden where I belonged.

  “Derrick, you must not beat yourself up over this!”

  Roxanne had been doing her best to break me out of my slump. She’d tried sex, humor, sex again, yelling, and more sex. Unfortunately, I wasn’t having any of it. Then she slapped me across the face.

  “What the hell was that for?”

  Smiling, “Drastic times call for drastic measures. We can’t change the past, but we can affect the future.”

  “I know, it just makes me sick to think that I have to kill Maggie.”

  She started rubbing my shoulders. Lord Almighty she was good at that. “Worry about one task at a time. We first need to eliminate the Greed demon. Once that is taken care of, then you can worry about Maggie.”

  “I’ll do my best.” I went to get up, but I was still hurting quite a bit. Roxanne pushed me back down.

  “No, you must rest. What do you need and I will go get it.”

  I told her I was hungry and she ran off to the kitchen. I had no idea if there was any food here, but there were bigger concerns. How was it a Pride demon was able to beat the shit out of me so easily? Both my body and, ironically, my pride were broken.

  Roxanne brought me out a sandwich and a soda. As I ate, I listened to her stories of her time on Earth. She’d done a lot since getting here, starring in her own Las Vegas show, running a Bunny Ranch, even getting a few commercial gigs.

  “I do not know if you remember the XXX Car Wash, but I was the girl on the commercial erotically washing the sports car.”

  I did remember that commercial and I was about to tell her all the naughty things I used to do after seeing it when we were interrupted by a knock on the door.

  I sat my sandwich down. “Are we expecting the angels already?”

  “No, when they left, they said it would be two days before their return.”

  The only smell of brimstone came from Roxanne. Whoever this was, they weren’t from downstairs. “I guess we should open the door.”

  Roxanne went over and peered out the window. “I do not recognize the man, but there is a white motorcycle parked out front, beside Khloros.”

  “Oh great,” I sighed, “let him in. If we don’t, I’ll never hear the end of it.”

  As soon as the door opened, a taller man with bright blonde hair walked into the house. He was decked out in blue jeans and a white button down shirt. He wasn’t nearly as muscular as War, but Conquest was no slouch either. He glowing white eyes found me.

  “Brother! You look like Hell man!”

  I went right back to my sandwich. “Conquest, what do I owe the pleasure?”

  He gave a quick once over of Roxanne before joining me on the couch. “I came to see how you were doing. After War told me about his visit, I figured you were in need of a more cheerful face.”

  “I do appreciate the thought, but I’m doing just fine thank you.”

  “If by fine you mean getting your ass handed to you by that brute Darius, then yes you are.”

  The divine were like school children. Gossip spread like wildfire. “I was merely caught off guard. The next time, it’ll be he who looks like shit.”

  “I wish I could believe you brother, but let’s be honest. You have gone soft from your time here.”

  “What do you mean by that?” I was getting pissed.

  “Exactly what I said. You were in a fight with a demon general and you were so arrogant to think you could over power him with Leviathan. What happened to the Death that single handily would end entire civilizations?”

  I tore another bite off my sandwich. “Times have changed. You can’t just whip up some celestial fire and murder millions of people.”

  His eyes lit up. “You can’t conjure the celestial blaze that easily anymore, can you?”

  Pssht, what did he know? “Of course I can. Just a few days ago I summoned a chain and reform it into an orb molten goodness.”

  “You lie to me and to yourself. When you were in trouble in that pit, you tried to summon the power and it failed to answer the call.”

  “Hmpf.” Apparently he knew a lot.

  The smile returned to his face. “Brother, I do not mean to scold you but it is time you remember who you are. You are not a human, you are Death. If you have any hope to survive the coming tribulations, you must regain your old form.”

  “And how the hell do you expect me to do that?!” Irritated, I tried to stand up to walk away, but my ribs burst with pain. Shit, I fell right back down. Conquest just stared at me with sadness in his eyes.

  Roxanne walked over and put her hands on my shoulders. “It will be alright Master. Just rest and continue to listen to your brother.”

  “For once a demon who speaks wisely. I must admit I am surprised by your company, but I do sense a change.”

  I looked at him. “What do you mean by that?”

  “That is a conversation for another time.” He turned back to Roxanne, “Would you like to hear a story?”

  She plopped down right beside me, no regard for my physical pain. “I’d love to! What is it about?”

  “I am sure you are quite familiar with the Aztec warriors, correct?”

  Her eyes got really big. “The natives who tried to reason the demon Quetzalcoatl?”

  “The very same. And you are probably familiar with the fact they were wiped from existence without leaving a trace?”

  “Everyone is familiar with that. Rumors have it that the Horsemen were responsible.”

  Conquest looked at me. I remained silent, just staring at him with annoyance. Waving my hand for him to get it over with, “That is partly true, but only one Horseman was responsible.”

  Her eyes went from him to me and back. “Is it who I think it is?”

  “Yeah it was me, okay?” Congratulations Conques
t, you win.

  “Not only did Death bring an end to those people, but he fought the Bird demon… and won.”

  I’m not going to lie; this was kinda a big deal. That piece of shit Quetzalcoatl convinced the Aztec priests to bring him to Earth by using human sacrifices. For years this went on until they became successful. We were sent in by the Almighty to cleanse the land.

  The look Roxanne gave me was pure ‘I’m in heat’ and I had to start thinking about sad puppy dogs and old ladies before I lost my shit again.

  “It is quite the story, especially if told from someone who was there to witness it.”

  Petting me now, Roxanne wanted more. “The Bird demon was said to be one of the worst creatures to ever come into existence! How is it you were able to defeat him, but had such issues with Darius?”

  “Because Conquest is right. My powers have faded quite a bit since my permanent move to Earth. I no longer can summon the celestial fire at will. I’m nothing but a pathetic shell of myself.”

  Saying it out loud brought in a rush of pain and fear. Truthfully against the minor demons I’d been spending centuries sending back to Hell, I’d gotten arrogant, cocky, and lazy. I’m surprise my ass kicking back to reality hadn’t happened sooner.

  “But fear not brother that is why I am here today. The world needs Death, the Horseman who inspires fear and terror.”

  “How do you plan to accomplish this brother?”

  He smiled that damned irritating smile. “First, let me tell your lady friend here the story of the Fall of the Aztecs and then I shall dive into the semantics of getting you back on your feet.”

  “Fine, but make it quick. This story pisses me off.”

  His white eyes sparkled. “There is only one way to tell the story. War, Famine, and I were sitting on top of a ridge, watching the pale rider gallop across the land…”

  Chapter 21 – The Fall of Quetzalcoatl

  “Death approaches brothers!”

  I could hear War and his loud voice from the valley below. Khloros was galloping as hard as he could, time was of the essence.

  When I reached the bottom of the ridge, I signaled for one to come down. Conquest responded to my call and I waited as the white horse made its way down.