by David Gallie
It was still closed.
Hesitantly, I reached out and pulled at the handle, expecting it be either stuck shut or locked just like the door to the classroom. I was pleasantly surprised when it began to slide open without any real effort on my behalf.
Strangely enough, the drawer was empty, but on the bottom of it, someone had crudely drawn a strange symbol which looked like a bull encased in a circle. It had been done in red and I was certain that it something other than paint.
Pertilius could see the bewilderment on my face and moved close enough to look inside the drawer. When he saw the symbol he quietly took a few steps back.
‘That is the sign of being bound to the devil. It’s the same symbol that is burned onto the scroll containing your binding agreement with him.’ He spoke as if I should have already known all of this and I actually felt a little dumb that I was an agent of Satan who had no real clue about the working of the underworld.
However, I now had more questions than answers. Setting aside the mysterious seventh child, I found it hard to believe that a deal with the devil was actually written down.
‘So, he actually has a written contract dictating the terms of our deal?’ I had to ask and I’m certain Pertilius must have been expecting the question.
‘Any deal Satan makes must be written down and sealed as a record in the Hall of Damnation. There has only ever been one instance when he struck a deal with a knight back in the 15th century but had not taken the time to complete and store the contract.’ Pertilius seemed like an unending source of information, it was just a shame I had to prise it out of him.
‘What happened?’ I asked, curiously.
‘Gabriel and his brothers descended from heaven promising to wage war on our lord until he was dethroned because they believed he had tricked a good soul into doing his work.’
‘I’m assuming the war never happened because he’s still hounding my ass.’ I said with a wry smile, secretly hoping I’d get a chuckle from the big monk but it never came.
‘On the eve of what would have been a devastating war, the knight in question raped and murdered a chamber maid, which ensured he was destined for hell no matter what. This was enough to force the angel’s to ascend back to their heavenly domain, but from that point onwards our master started keeping records of all his deals and should any record go missing he could face the wrath of the angel’s once more.’
Silence fell on the room once again as he allowed me time to assimilate the story he had just told me. I glanced back down at the strange, crudely drawn symbol painted in blood inside the drawer.
‘Why would that sign be here instead of on the contract?’ I felt I was starting to push the boundaries of my friendship with the holy man from hell, but he was really the only one I knew who was inclined to give me truthful answers.
‘It’s further proof to the angels of where and when the deal was struck.’
‘Basically, he was covering his ass?’ I said in my usual blunt way.
‘You could say that, yes. Other than the resurrection of the original sinner himself, our lords only other great fear is Gabriel descending to his kingdom.’ It was as the word sinner passed his lips that I suddenly remembered the gold chain in my pocket. I quickly pulled it out and handed it over to him.
‘I got this back for you.’ I said, dropping the gold chain with the ornate heart into his waiting palm.
Although I could see no face beyond his hood, I knew if I could see one it would be wearing a thoughtful expression.
‘So it found its way to you after all.’ He said eventually, still holding it in his open palm like he did not want to touch it any longer than hr had to.
‘Only because the boss man, our lord as you like to call him, really wanted it.’ I said fighting the temptation to snatch it back from him, but I knew that would be a truly bad idea.
‘Yes, he would. Do you know what it is, Samuel?’ It was his turn to pose a question and once again I felt like a dummy.
‘Well it's obviously some sort of sacred artefact, but beyond that, all I know is that Satan was desperate to get it back. Yet, strangely enough, he picked one of the fake gold chains I found along with it instead of that.’
I watched as Pertilius rolled the heart shaped piece of gold back and forth in his palm, not wanting to touch it but somehow drawn to it at the same time.
‘Our master is the successor to the original sinner, Beelzebub. In his ascent to the throne, he took no time to learn of the artefacts left behind that could harm him should they fall into the wrong hands. All he knows is that he must get them back and stored away safely so that nothing can threaten his crown. Plus, he has no reason to believe that you would be foolish enough to try and trick him.’
I was almost certain that there was a hint of glee in his voice, like a small child playing a prank on his parents. I glanced back down at the photo in my hand, taking in each of the seven smiling faces and with no clue who the missing seventh child was.
‘I always thought Beelzebub was just one of many names he used which basically all pointed to the same being.’ I said, not taking my eyes from the picture. I felt certain there was something I was missing but it was just too minute of a detail for me to see right away.
‘No, Beelzebub was the original creator of Hell. He was the one responsible for creating the seven levels and all the beings which ruled over them. Right now our time is limited and the lack of my presence at the monastery will be noticed soon, so I can’t give you the complete history.’
I turned my attention back to the heart shaped pendant in his hand. He could see my questioning gaze even if I couldn’t see his, but I was starting to feel a bit nervy myself. I felt certain that Satan was going to pay us a visit if we continued hanging out with each other.
‘So what is the big deal about the pendant? I know the chain its self is meaningless.’
‘It is the sinners’ heart or Beelzebub’s heart as it’s known here in the human world.’ He held out the artefact for me to take and after past experience, I wasn’t expecting a pleasant sensation as I reached out to take it.
Unlike the sharp, electric sensation I got when I took possession of the last artefact, this one caused a nice comforting warmth to engulf my body as the gold bubbled and melted into the palm of my hands. I noticed the sacred symbols now tattooed on my wrists and forehead glow brightly as the ancient magic was absorbed into my body.
‘What does it do?’ I asked, enjoying the warmth probably a little more than I should have.
‘It will prevent any demon from the lower world being able to detect your true motivation. Essentially you could lie to the face of our lord and get away with it. However, it won’t stop them from being suspicious of you, so once again use it wisely.’
The warmth was slowly dissipating and I could feel the cold air of the abandoned building beginning to push its way back under my skin.
‘Can these symbols be seen by anyone other than me, because Satan didn’t seem to notice the one’s on my forehead earlier?’ It was a silly question that had just occurred to me.
‘No. No one and no devil can see your markings, but…’ The hesitation in his voice was back once again and I could feel his guard coming back along with it. ‘…Once you have the last of the artefacts in your possession those markings will become visible and you will have no option but to stand before Satan.’
I nodded my head upon receiving the answer I had already suspected. My mind swam with countless thoughts and questions, and trying to pick out something coherent just wasn’t working.
‘Thank you, once again. I’m sure I’ll owe you debt when all is said and done.’
‘I must go now Samuel. I suggest you get some rest. You will be unable to think straight given your energy levels.’
I opened my mouth to ask one more question but before I could he was gone in that familiar puff of black smoke, and once again I was alone in the small classroom, staring blankly at the remains of what must have been a m
assacre of innocent children.
The strange and cryptic symbol seemed to demand my attention from the bottom of the drawer. If everything Pertilius had told me was even half true, then it seemed Lisa had been the victim of Satan’s deal making process just like me.
Suddenly feeling tired, I slammed the drawer closed and stuffed the photograph into the inside pocket of my jacket. I was certain that there was a detail in it I just wasn’t seeing, but until I got some rest and looked at it with a set of fresh eyes the odds were good that I wouldn’t be able to find it.
I felt nothing but exhausted by the time I made my way back out of the once busy school. I didn’t bother to look back as I exited the way I had gone in. Something inside me told me it was best to just keep walking and put as much distance between myself and the building as possible.
Just to add a sense of urgency to that sensation was the sound of distant sirens. Someone had found Slicks’ and made the call. I had no idea how long I had been inside the school, but it didn’t feel like it had been any longer than an hour, which was exceptionally quick for the body to be discovered.
After walking another two blocks further north, I turned on to Eisenberg Avenue and hailed a passing cab. Normally after a hit, I would take my own car so many blocks back home before parking up and then walking the rest of the distance. The idea being that the cops would have to work much harder to connect the car to my apartment since that wasn’t where it was registered to.
In this case, though my car was still parked in the alley near the bar where I had found Slick touting his stolen goods. I was going to have to go back for it at some point, but right now a taxi cab seemed like the quickest and safest way to get back home. I just needed to get some sleep.
The high-pitched beeping of the alarm clock woke me with a start. I was drenched all over with sweat and the pounding in my temples and tightness in my jaw told me I had been grinding my teeth again.
Slapping the top of the clock I swung my legs out of bed and sat on the edge. The red digits told me it was six in the morning and I had been asleep for the last three hours.
Not much, but it was better than the occasional hour here and there I had managed to grab while working for my new boss. The taxi had dropped me off a block away from my apartment building just as I had instructed.
The downside was that the short walk in the cold night air had actually made me feel a bit more awake and by the time I closed the door on the outside world my mind was already starting to rev up once again.
I studied the photograph I had taken from the classroom in St Helens. I remembered every smile, every rose coloured cheek and every set of blue eyes including Lisa’s. It was her I studied the most. My heart and my body ached for her presence. Her soft touch and the heavenly scent that emanated from her skin.
Some or her story was starting to make a little bit more sense now as I had discovered thanks to Pertilius that she herself had made a deal with the devil.
It explained why she was in purgatory without the daily fear of a Grimoyle ripping her innards out with its teeth, but it also left more that I needed to find out.
Why did she make the deal in the first place? That was the big question on my mind.
Was it possible that she was the one responsible for the deaths of six children and possibly a seventh? I found it incredibly hard to believe that such a caring and gentle soul would even dream of smacking a child never mind taking the life of six.
Yet I knew in my heart that it actually made perfect sense if that was the reason why she made her deal with the eternal trickster. Although I couldn’t see she would have to offer Satan in return for getting away with murder.
Maybe she agreed to be his wife? Chimed the voice in the back of my mind as I lit a cigarette and rubbed at my stinging eyes.
The thought of her being touched by him in any way left a stinging sensation deep in my heart that I had not felt since the day she was taken from me. What hurts the most was that he might be correct.
Whatever he wanted from Lisa, I was certain that it had to be something personal. Something that gave him good enough reason to at least protect her from the most brutal aspects of life in hell.
Before I could get a chance to stop them, tears were rolling down my cheeks. The whole situation seemed so frustratingly surreal, yet I knew first hand that it was anything but a projection of an overworked imagination.
It was real and no matter how hard I tried to swallow the pain of my loss I had to deal with the fact that my beautiful wife could be the sexual plaything of the darkest of souls.
Wiping my tears away using my forearm, I picked up the photograph once again. This time, I wasn’t really looking for anything. I just needed something other than my bedroom floor to stare at.
And that’s when it finally clicked.
I had been looking for the obvious, like razor sharp fangs of a demon posing as a smiling child, or the hilt of a knife in Lisa’s clasped hands. What I had failed to notice was the symbolism.
Pertilius had mentioned the creation of the seven levels of hell, and that particular number seemed to have great significance in the underworld. Almost as if it was a sacred number.
I scanned the faces of each child in the picture once again. One of those kids shouldn’t be there, but they all looked so natural and as real as any photograph could possibly exert. Then I spotted something I could not believe I had missed. Standing to the right of Lisa was a black haired boy. He was smiling, but it wasn’t the smile of happiness or a smile that said he was enjoying the moment for what it was. No behind it there was venom and hatred.
It wasn’t the smile that made him stand out, though. It was his eyes. They were deepest and clearest blue eyes I had ever seen on any child, and I had never seen anyone with black hair have those colour of eyes to start with. As far as I understood it was biologically impossible.
Then I noticed something even worse. Far worse than I could have imagined, and this time I felt my heart sink all the way to the pit of my stomach and it would have kept going had there been room to continue.
When I looked at the boys eyes I noticed that they were exactly the same colour and brightness as Lisa’s. In fact, I would have gone as far as to say that they were identical in every respect. And as I continued to look, it got a whole lot worse. The boy had a small smattering of freckles across the bridge of his nose which spread outwards onto to his cheeks. The formation and pattern of the freckles were identical to Lisa’s.
I sat in stunned silence for a moment. My cigarette smouldering between my lips as I absently puffed on it, trying to take in the realization of what I was looking at.
She had a son. Came the voice in my head. She had his son!
I shook my head, trying to bring back some sort of calmness to my mind, but it wasn’t working this time. The voice was right and it all made much more sense now.
‘This is insane.’ I said aloud to what I thought was an empty room.
‘I’m sorry Samuel.’ Came Pertilius’s voice from behind me.
‘Two visits in one day? What’s the special occasion?’ I sounded more sarcastic than I had intended to, but I was at a point now where I was ready for a fight.
‘My brothers suggested that I should pay you a visit.’ He said and I could detect no sarcasm in his voice.
‘You better watch out, or your lord will think you are trying to be my guardian angel.’ Tears came streaming back without warning.
‘I see you have found a piece of your puzzle.’
‘This isn’t a puzzle!’ I shouted throwing the photograph across the room where it floated to the floor beneath the window. ‘This is a fucking nightmare come true.’
Silence befell the room as I sat there on the edge of the bed sobbing. The only problem is now I wasn’t sure what made me feel the worst. Not having Lisa or knowing that he had sunk his dirty slimy hooks into her.
‘Did you know he had a soon?’ I asked trying to get myself together.
‘I
t’s our lords’ sixth millennia at the throne. It is usually about this time when he would create an heir before ascending.’ The monk was calm and I knew he was picking his words carefully once again.
Then a thought suddenly occurred to me. It seemed so brilliantly obvious.
‘You’re paying me these little visits to make sure I don’t get in the way of his son taking the throne aren’t you?’
‘Actually, Samuel, me and my brothers are seeking the opposite. In essence, we’re trying to help you to stop that from happening, but we have to do it in such a way that it doesn’t bring down the wrath of our lord. Our magic is very strong, but it’s not enough to stop him from punishing us.’
The frustration welling up inside of me was becoming unbearable. Every question I found an answer to seemed to lead to more questions and more confusion.
‘You need to try and help me understand what the fuck is going on because none of this is making any sense!’
I could feel Pertilius move closer. It was a strange sensation because I could feel his aura gently pushing against my back like it was shoving me out of the way, or perhaps making sure I was kept at a safe enough distance.
‘Our lord in his current incarnation has lost his way. Just like the evil souls he commands you to punish, he revels in the delights of the earthly plane. Over the last nine decades, he has become more accustomed to the joys of human flesh and less interested in his duties as master of the underworld.’
He gave me a moment to take that in before carrying on with his explanation.
‘The heir to the throne, his son, will share pretty much all of the characteristics of his creator so it’s to no one’s benefit that either one of them wields the power required to rule over the kingdom.’
This was probably the first time that I actually paid attention to the big monk as he spoke, and I couldn’t help but notice that his fingers would move absently like they were counting the amount of words he was speaking. I thought it strange that such a powerful being from the darkness of hell would have what was basically a nervous twitch.
