by Carlos King
“What’s the matter, angel?” one of the demons asked. “You don’t look happy to see us.”
Alex redirects his focus back to the eight encircling demons. Slowly spinning in place, Alex takes time to stare at each of their hideous faces.
“I think you’re right, William. To be honest, he looks a little worried,” a demon standing behind him added.
“Can you blame him, Eric?” another voice asked. “He must know by now that he’s not leaving this farm alive.”
The entities begin to laugh eerily, somewhat frightening. Keeping his guard on high, Alex continues to spin around, maintaining a visual on the demons, while simultaneously preparing to engage whichever demon attacks first. He’s doing a good job hiding his anxieties from the demons, but he can’t hide them from himself. Alex is more scared now than he’s ever been. The odds were heavily stacked against him back at the Harris’ house when it was just four against one. With the odds more than doubled against him now, there’s no way he can envision a positive outcome.
Sensing something over his head, Alex looks up. Out of nowhere, he spots the ninth demon, who has hurdled over the other demons just to get to him. It all happens so fast, Alex doesn’t have enough time to react and he’s taken to the ground once again.
Postured on top of Alex is Zavior. Zavior grabs Alex by his sweatshirt, pulling his head closer to his own. Zavior’s face expresses pure hatred. He stares into Alex’s dazed eyes with a chilling intensity. Drool oozes from Zavior’s mouth and on to Alex’s sweater.
“I told you I’d find you!” Zavior taunted, which is followed by a violent punch to Alex’s face. “That was for my brother!” Zavior punches Alex again. “And that’s for whacking me with a bench, you son-of-a-bitch!”
Zavior dismounts Alex. “And this one is just because I hate you!” Zavior kicks Alex in his side, forcing him to slide several yards away.
“Take him,” Zavior told the other demons.
Alex is lifted up by two demons, one holding each of his arms. He can barely keep his head up, let along stand, but the demons show him no sympathy. His current condition only serves to entice the demons.
Zavior goes on to tell Alex, “Do you realize that because of you, my brother is being tortured in the most sadistic manner possible?”
Alex brings himself together enough to respond, “Good. I hope he feels the same kind of pain he forced all those innocent people to go through.”
Zavior grows infuriated and whishes over to Alex. “Do you want to repeat that, angel?” Zavior asked in an intimidating tone, his eyes glowing red.
Still dazed, Alex looks at Zavior and smiles. “Yeah. I said I hope your punk ass brother burns for the rest of eternity.” Alex proceeds to laugh in Zavior’s face.
Zavior erupts into another violent streak. He lands a combination of ferocious punches on Alex’s chin. After landing three rapid punches to Alex’s face, Zavior lands five more in Alex’s stomach. Signs of abuse are developing on Alex’s face.
Zavior pulls Alex’s limp head up by grabbing a handful of his hair. “What’s the matter, angel? No more trash talking?” Zavior throws another punch to the side of Alex’s head. “Let him fall,” Zavior told the two demons holding him up.
The instant they release Alex’s arms he drops to the ground. The two demons that just released Alex begin to brutally stomp on him, forcing him to curl into a fetal position. The aggressive attack goes on for nearly a minute before ending. Alex tries to crawl away.
The demons line up alongside one another, creating a narrow passage way that Alex is about to inadvertently crawl through. As soon as Alex crawls into the path he finds himself being violently kicked and stomped.
Alex takes so much punishment he falls out flat just as he reaches the halfway point of the sadistic line. And even though Alex is lying helpless on the ground, the eight violent beings carry on with their unrelenting assault.
Zavior shows his dominance over the other eight demons by pushing them away from Alex. The demons growl and take defensive stances to show their disapproval of Zavior’s interference. Zavior refuses to back down and releases a growl of his own that intimidates the other demons, making them think twice about challenging his authority.
“He’s mine!” Zavior told them.
Once all of the other demons are at bay, Zavior snatches Alex off of the ground and holds him in the air by the collars of his blood-stained sweatshirt. Holding Alex in a position where both of his shoes are off the ground, Zavior says, “Before I kill you, you’re going to tell me where the girl is! Now where is she?!”
When Alex doesn’t answer Zavior, Zavior removes one of his hands from Alex’s sweater and uses it to punch him in the chest. Alex is launched across the dirt-covered terrain. Upon another hard landing, Alex coughs up blood as a result of the fierce chest shot.
Zavior rushes over to Alex, picking him up once again in the same manner. “Where is she?!” he asked angrily, his face growing more grotesque. The veins in his face and neck are pulsating.
Alex’s refusal to answer sends Zavior into an even bigger fit of rage. His eyes bulge and burn so bright that the heat emitted from them singes both his eyelashes and eyebrows. He delivers another thunderous punch to Alex’s chest, this time sending him through one of the barn’s walls. The damage Alex is taking is reaching critical levels and this is made obvious by the way he’s clutching his ribcage, struggling to breathe.
Despite him barely being able to stay conscious, Alex manages to catch a glimpse of Zavior heading toward the large hole in the barn. Alex soon remembers that the direction Zavior is heading in is the same direction that the tornado shelter is located. With all of the commotion, Alex is all but sure that Jade hasn’t left yet. If Zavior catches wind of her scent there won’t be anything Alex could do to stop the demons from taking her away.
The loud boom from an incoming storm triggers Alex’s adrenaline. A ring of fire flares in his eyes and without a second’s hesitation, he gets up and charges toward Zavior. Alex tackles Zavior, purposely carrying him far away from the shelter.
Alex carries Zavior into the area of grass across from the barn, slamming him down. Alex mounts Zavior and begins hammering away at him with a number of heavy right-hand punches. Zavior is stunned each time Alex’s fist connects. This repeated attack goes on for a short while before Alex hears the other eight demons rushing up behind him.
In one quick motion, Alex stands, picks Zavior up by his leg and arm, and flings him into the incoming group of demons. Zavior plows right through the eight demons, knocking them all to the ground like bowling pins and sending him back towards the farmhouse, where he violently crashes into a tractor.
Alex, who is already beginning to heal from his injuries, keeps the offensive pressure up. He hurriedly goes from one demon to the next—using this window of opportunity to snap as many of their necks as possible to better even the odds.
Alex gets rid of four demons before two others get to their feet. Not wanting to lose control of the situation, Alex instantly engages them. He attacks the two demons by rushing one of them from behind and throwing him further out into the field.
The second demon recoups and goes after Alex. The demon lands the first punch that staggers Alex, but doesn’t do enough damage to have a lasting effect. The demon throws another rapid punch that Alex has anticipated. Alex leans clear of the punch, allowing it to swing pass his eyes. Alex takes advantage of the demon’s vulnerability by delivering a quick kick to the demon’s knee, which causes the demon to fall. Alex gets behind the demon, grips the top of its head and chin and proceeds to twist, breaking the demon’s neck.
Alex lets go and the dead demon and stands up straight. In spite of his vigorous efforts, he finds himself surrounded yet again. The demon he threw in the field has returned. Zavior has regained his composure. And the other two demons he couldn’t get to before have risen.
Alex takes a couple of steps back, putting space between him and the demons as he contemp
lates his next move. The four remaining evils close in on him.
The demons prepare to pounce on Alex concurrently, but are thwarted from doing so when an imposing voice yells out to them.
“LEAVE HIM!”
The four demons set their red eyes in motion, looking around the farmland in search of the mysterious voice. Alex is also curious as to where the voice originated.
“Who said that?!” Zavior authoritatively asked.
When no one responds, Zavior orders the other demons to move in for the kill.
“It’s a trick!” he told the other demons. “Someone’s trying to give him a chance to finish the rest of you off! We’ll deal with them later. Let’s finish him…Now!”
The demons ready themselves to attack. Alex takes a defensive stance. Suddenly, the domineering voice yells out again.
“I SAID, LEAVE HIM!”
Agitated with the deliberate interruption, Zavior belligerently responds, “WHO DARES TO SPEAK OUT AGAINST ME?! SHOW YOURSELF!”
The voice doesn’t respond.
“DON’T MAKE ME DRAG YOU OUT AND EXPOSE YOU FOR THE COWARD YOU ARE!”
“COWARD?!” a voice repeated from the farmhouse.
Alex, Zavior, and the other three demons focus their eyes on the farmhouse and see nothing at first glance, but after a second of staring, they spot a man standing on top of its roof.
The gray skyline makes a perfect backdrop for outlining the demonic powerhouse that went on a rampage in Atlantic City thirty minutes prior.
“DID YOU CALL ME A COWARD, ZAVIOR?”
For the first time, a look of fear takes over Zavior’s grotesquely-altered face. “Zandor…I didn’t know it was you. I couldn’t make out the voice. I apologize for my ignorance.”
“You better,” Zandor growled.
Zandor leaps off the roof and comes to an agile landing on the grounds below. The force in which he lands stirs the dirt and vibrates the ground.
Zavior and the other three demons take their eyes off of Alex and direct their attention to Zandor, their mannerisms very submissive.
Zandor walks by the now docile demons and heads straight for Alex. “So I take it this is the angel that sent half of my hunters back to Hell.”
Zavior eagerly answers, “Yes. He’s the one who’s been harboring the girl.”
“I see.” Zandor maintains a steady course until a gap of mere inches is all that separates him and Alex. Once they’re standing face-to-face, Zandor greets Alex with smile, revealing a mouth full of sharp, yellowish-teeth. “Allow me to formally introduce myself. My name is Zandor. But I’m also your worst nightmare if you don’t tell me where the girl is within the next ten seconds. And before you lie to me, understand that I traced her scent here, so I know she’s on this land somewhere. I’ve traveled a long way to collect her and I’m not in the mood to play hide-and-seek.”
“Okay…” Alex said calmly. “How about a game of catch?!”
Alex places all of his strength behind a rapidly-thrown punch aimed at Zandor’s face. A deafening clap of skin resonates throughout the farmland when Zandor effortlessly catches Alex’s fist. Alex is mystified.
Smiling, Zandor says, “That was almost a good one. I almost didn’t catch it as fast as I wanted to. Tell you what, angel…Try it again.” Zandor releases Alex’s fist and crosses his arms behind his back and tightly closes his red eyes. “Go ahead, angel. Give me your best shot.”
Alex doesn’t think twice about Zandor’s unusual request. He throws another punch, focusing more on speed as opposed to power. Following this method makes his punch faster, but still ineffective. Zandor’s impressive speed is once again demonstrated as he catches Alex’s fist for the second time. The thudding impact of their hands meeting is just as loud as it was before.
Holding on to Alex’s fist, Zandor reopens his eyes. “Come on, Alex. I know you can do better than this.” Zandor lets go of Alex’s fist. “Okay, we’ll try this—I’ll put both of my hands behind my back and close my eyes again. I want you to come at me with everything you’ve got. Don’t just throw one punch. I want you to throw as many as you can, as fast as you can, okay? You ready?”
Alex is baffled, and slightly intimidated. Confused, Alex looks over at Zavior and the other demons. They are all laughing and smiling as they enjoy the mockery being put on by Zandor.
“Come on, Alex,” Zandor said to get Alex’s attention. “You ready?” Zandor crosses his arms behind his back and closes his eyes. “I’m ready whenever you are, Alex.”
Alex hesitates for a second. He doesn’t know if he’s being given a golden-opportunity or just being set up. With his options limited, Alex realizes that there’s no alternative course for him to take. Set up or not, he’s going to take his chances against a much faster Zandor.
Alex throws a series of punches at an amazing rate. His punches are being thrown so fast that his hands literally blur out of sight. Unfortunately, in spite of how fast Alex can move his hands—Zandor seems to be able to move his entire body even faster. With his eyes still shut and his hands still crossed behind his back, Zandor shows tremendous versatility, athleticism, and agility in addition to his superior level of speed.
The assault starts off with Alex backing Zandor up as the slippery demon ducks free of the flurry of punches, but the table turn when Zandor forces Alex to backpedal as he tries to maintain the pressure over the seemingly unhittable target.
After nearly a minute of avoiding Alex’s punches, Zandor decides to put an end to the charade and blindly catches Alex’s fist. Alex is exhausted and completely bamboozled by the demon’s tactical skills.
Zandor tightens his grip over Alex’s fist, sending an unbearable pain through his arm. Alex yells out in pain.
Zandor reopens his eyes. “Make no mistake about it, angel. Killing you would be as easy to me as stomping a cockroach. You may think you’re hot stuff because you’ve killed a few demons, but you better understand that you’ve been playing in a sandbox. You’ve been fighting creatures whose egos overshadow their underdeveloped talents. I’m the real deal.”
Zandor applies more pressure to Alex’s fist. Alex releases another hurt-filled scream before dropping to his knees.
Zandor turns Alex’s attention over to Zavior and the other demons. “You know they’re just itching to kill you, right? I can save you, angel. Just turn the girl over and I’ll let you walk. What do you say?”
Alex redirects all of his concentration and will power toward concealing the pain. He couldn’t fathom selling Jade out, especially to the likes of a monster like Zandor. Alex curls his lip at Zandor’s offer. Zandor is well aware of what Alex’s reaction means and grows upset.
“You fool!” Zandor said. “I tried to give you an easy way out and you spit it back in my damn face. I took pity on you because I admired your style. It’s not very often I get to meet an angel with such demonic tendencies. I told you before I didn’t have time to waste, and somehow that’s exactly what you made me do.” Zandor turns Alex’s hand loose. “I don’t need you to tell me where she is, Alex. I can find her a lot easier than you know. I only wanted to give you a chance to show some allegiance.”
Alex tucks his damaged hand underneath his other arm. “Show allegiance to who? Hell? That’ll never happen, demon.”
“Don’t tell me…You think you’re still doing Heaven’s work, don’t you?”
“I’m doing what’s right. There’s one person that I’m concerned about. She’s all that matters to me.”
Zandor laughs. “Oh, that’s right. You’re fighting for love. Well, lucky for you, when you cross over to our side you won’t have to worry about that useless emotion anymore.”
Alex rises up to his feet and stares directly into Zandor’s eyes. “You’re not hearing me, demon. I’ll never cross over to your side.”
“I think you’re a little confused, angel. You seem to be under the assumption that you have a choice on whether or not you go to Heaven or Hell. Allow me to fill you in…You don
’t. Your ultimate destination for the afterlife is based on the decisions you make during the course of your life. You may have come back to this planet as an angel, but you’re definitely not leaving as one.”
Alex contemplates Zandor’s words. Although he doesn’t want to admit it, some of his words actually have merit.
“Is it sinking in yet, angel? You’ve been using your abilities for personal gain ever since you got here. You’ve attacked human beings to save your precious Jade. You’ve killed numerous times. It doesn’t matter if they were demons or not—a kill is a kill. You’ve been a deceiver. Remember that little incident with you and Drake?” Zandor asked, using quotation fingers as he said Drake’s name. “You even disobeyed a direct order to return to Heaven.”
Alex stands still and remains silent as Zandor’s words play on his mind. Zandor circles Alex as he reveals all of the key concepts Alex has been ignoring.
“Couldn’t you feel it, Alex?” Zandor asked. “Couldn’t you feel how easy killing was starting to come to you? Hell, you’ve killed more demons in the last two days than any other angel has for the last couple hundred years. That’s quite an extraordinary feat.”
“How do you know so much about me?” Alex asked Zandor.
“How else do you think, Alex? We’ve been watching you from the moment you got here. We always keep our eyes and ears open for promising prospects.”
“I’m no prospect for you,” Alex declared.
Zandor stops circling Alex and walks right up to him. “Do you actually think that with all you’ve done, Heaven is going to open its gates for you again? If you do, you’re even dumber than I thought, angel—whoops…My mistake. I should really stop referring to you as that. Technically, as long as stay alive you’re an angel. But the moment you die, you’ll be taking a trip to the dark side.”
“You’re lying!”
“Am I?” Zandor replies with a devilish grin. Zandor glances at Zavior and the other demons and then turns back to Alex. “Ask yourself this…How do you think they found you?”
“It’s because of Drake. He used his powers last night and they must’ve traced the signal here.”
