by Julie Morgan
The top of the cage is opened and Lisa looks up. She screams as the hellhounds continue to mangle her body. A black sludge seeps into the cage and the hellhounds yelp, backing away. Lisa panics as the sludge seeps closer to her, then screams when it begins to cover her body, making its way towards her head. She screams, then drowns in the sludge as it invades her mouth and throat.
Suddenly, her arms are pulled so hard in two different directions that she feels like they will detach from her body. Her wrists are strapped down to something hard. She feels her body being pulled into an upright position, like she’s hanging on a cross. She opens her eyes and her body begins to jolt and bounce as ropes begin pulling her higher into the air. “STOP!” she screams out. “Please!” She hears the hellhounds snarl as they grab the flesh on her legs, ripping it from her body. She screams out in pain.
There are sounds of heavy feet moving across the grounds. Her body jolts from the heavy steps. Screaming in pain as the hellhounds chew on her flesh, her legs kick at their heads. The footsteps move closer and the hellhounds whimper and move away from her. She watches them flee and more fear erupts inside of her. Lisa hangs helpless, having nowhere to hide. Pain pulsates through her body, the heat burning at her skin and eyes.
Squeezing her eyes closed in an attempt to wake up from whatever nightmare she has put herself in, pain continues to radiate through her. As something strikes against her arms, she screams out and opens her eyes. Looking around through the blood-infused haze, she realizes she’s been shoved over an open pit. Looking down, thousands upon thousands of people are inside this pit, all trying to escape. One by one, they stop fighting each other and their gazes lift up to look upon her, her blood dripping onto the ground.
Thud.
The people in the pit sneer as they look up at her. As if on cue, they start trying to climb from the pit, their gazes set on Lisa. Realizing what’s about to happen, she screams out as she tries to fight her restraints.
Thud.
Hands begin to crest over the top of the pit as people attempt to pull themselves up. Other hands pull them back down; people trying to climb over people, just to fall back into the pit.
Thud.
Lisa looks over as a beast begins to come into view. Her breath escapes her lungs as she takes in his size.
Thud.
All sound begins to die down as he approaches. He’s as tall, if not taller, than the Empire State Building. His skin is a red tone with black ash smeared across his bare chest. His muscles ripple as he walks towards her.
Thud.
His irises are completely blackened and his snout exhales smoke; the head of a bull and the body of a man, the creature’s horns extend from his head and curl up to a sharp point; black leathered wings extend out from his shoulder blades; his mouth opens and he emits a loud, blood-curdling scream; fire shoots from his lips.
Thud.
He makes his way towards the pit. The demons guarding it back away, cowering in fear. Looking down at the souls inside, smoke emits from his snout and floats down over their bodies. Screams and cries of agony reach a new height and he reaches in, running his hand along their battered bodies. Grabbing as many as he can, he squeezes his palm as if he raw meat were between his fingers. He brings his hand towards his mouth and Lisa screams, closing her eyes.
Thud.
As the beast makes his way closer to her, fear erupts through her. Her heart is racing to the point of explosion. The fear of the execution just before it takes place is a constant in her body now. Her chest heaves as she cries. The beast rises in front of her. She screams as she sees his snout is covered with blackened mucus. His teeth are rotted and his fangs are exposed as his lips pull back in a snarl. He exhales, blows smoke from his nostrils, and everything goes black.
Panic setting in, she strains her eyes in hopes to see again. She screams out as fear consumes her. A piercing pain stabs through her stomach, and claws slash over and over again through her body. She cries out into the darkness. She’s not able to see what will happen next, the moment leading up to the next assault. She knows it’s coming; she can hear it, she can sense it, she can feel its hot breath fan across her mutilated body. She wants to shut down, pass out, and do something. Is she dead? Did Samuel kill her? She must be dead. She’s in Hell.
Chapter 10
Waking up in bed, Alex looks around and takes a deep breath. Grasping his chest from the pain inside it, he sits up. Looking around his bedroom, everything is as it was the night before…his clothes lay across his chair, the bed cover still turned down.
“Lisa…” Her name is a whisper from his lips and he jumps out of bed.
Ripping through the air, he appears inside her condo. The stench of sulfur fills his nose and his hand covers his mouth. His wings extend out as he takes a few steps forward. Demon residue drips from her couch and the front door, the black sludge is smeared across the floor and hallway. Alex closes his eyes as reality sinks in…Samuel has claimed her soul; he has failed. Opening his eyes, pain and anger rip through him. Storming down the hall towards her bedroom, the door opens and Alex’s eyes widen.
Jumping back a step, he whispers, “Lisa?”
He takes a better look at who’s in front of him, the corner of her lips a sneer. “I can be, if that’s what you’d like, Selaphiel.” His hands grasp Lilith’s shoulders, pushing her hard against the wall. She sneers and the white of her eyes bleed black as she glares at him.
Her hands press against Alex’s chest and she shoves him, forcing him off her. “It’s too late, Selaphiel! She’s gone!”
“Lilith.” Alex takes a deep breath. Wanting to gag from her smell, he exhales and moves in close to her face. Seeing Lisa’s soulless body before him darkens his heart. “You shall not have her body for long.” Pushing her aside, he heads back towards the living room.
Closing his eyes, he hears Lilith coming up behind him. “What makes you think she didn’t want it?” Lilith crosses her arms over her chest as she leans against the wall. “She begged him to fuck her!”
Alex flinches at her words. His head lowers as his wings expand out. “And you really feel she had a choice?” His head turns back to look at Lilith. The sneer on her lips was all he needed to answer his question. As he looks up, the ceiling of the condo rapidly pulls away, and the early morning sun illuminates the room. Bending his knees, Alex takes off as the ceiling closed itself again, leaving Lilith inside.
Flying across the sky, pain takes hold of Alex’s heart. He’s lost her, his Lisa. He’s lost his reason for living. Pain rips through him and he begins to tumble from the sky, yelling out as his hands grip his chest and the pain radiates harder through him. Without warning, he hits against the earth and rolls a few times, debris and grass exploding from his impact, landing face down. His hands move out to his sides and his palms press down on the earth. He begins to sob into the grass, all the will inside of him to be an angel is gone. In this moment, he knows what he has to do. In this moment, he chooses his fate. He chooses to become a Fallen. Sitting up, he looks up to the Heavens. “Forgive me.” Closing his eyes, he drops his head. He knows that he must find Lisa, no matter the cost. “I am in love with her.” The sun begins to cloud over and thunder rumbles. Shadows appear over the landscape and the sounds of nature cease. Lightning strikes and two demons appear in front of him. He looks up to see the demons Samyaza and Balam, Samyaza standing taller as anger crosses his features.
Stepping towards Alex, Samyaza reaches for his head, grabbing a fistful of hair and yanking his head back. The stench that pours out of his mouth causes Alex to gag. His naturally light skin is darkened from the tar-like substance that demons carry on their bodies. His skin is scaly like a snake. Upon looking closer, Alex can see the scales changing in color from white to gray to black. The wings on his back are a dark, sludge-like green. Alex grits his teeth in pain from Samyaza’s touch.
“So, you chose your fate willingly?” Samyaza chuckles.
Balam steps forward. Hi
s dark skin is smooth like silk, but hard as glass. He moves his hand up to grasp his chin lightly, rubbing the black goatee. His thin build and long legs give him a bird-like appearance. Walking around Alex, he comes up behind him, making eye contact with Samyaza. “You choose this, for a woman?”
Balam grins, stepping right behind Alex. His long talon-shaped claws wrap around each of Alex’s wings. Alex struggles against him and Samyaza jerks his head back further. Pressing his foot into Alex’s back, Balam grips tightly around the muscle. Alex closes his eyes and a single tear streaks down his cheek. Balam pulls and the flesh rips away. Alex screams out in pain as Samyaza keeps a hold of his head. The dead appendages fall to the ground, seeping blood into the grass. Alex cries out, his voice carrying across the open field. Samyaza shoves him to the ground.
“Selaphiel, you should have let fate take its course,” Balam tells him. “She signed her soul away years ago. He was ready to collect on what was his.”
“But now,” Samyaza circles around him, “he gets two for one!” He sneers, looking down at Alex. Grasping his hair again, he yanks Alex's head back. Pulling his arm back, Samyaza’s hand erupts in flame, a fireball rotating in the palm of his hand. Alex looks up at Samyaza and the fire illuminates his eyes. Looking up to the heavens, he says a silent prayer for protection as Samyaza’s hand slams hard against Alex’s chest, the fire absorbing into his body.
Alex falls back, his body violently thrashing. The fire burns inside of him, burning his soul, burning everything angelic. He turns over onto his stomach, his back searing with pain. He screams out and his fingers dig into the earth. Flesh pushes its way out from Alex’s back as thousands of tiny little claws grasp his skin. Pulling its way out of his back, the flesh burns as a fire as black as night ignites across him. Alex screams out in pain as Balam and Samyaza take a step back, watching, grinning.
The flesh pushes out to at least six feet in length. His flesh burns against the new appendages and sears down into a sulfur flame. The hue of the flame is a dark blue onyx before it extinguishes. The smoldering flesh dies out and Alex is left with black leathered wings.
Panting heavily, he presses his palms to the ground and pushes himself up to his knees. His chest and back heave in and out with his breaths. Facing Balam and Samyaza, his face lifts up and he opens his eyes. Black orbs glare at the two demons standing before him.
Samyaza takes a step forward, grasping Alex’s arm to hoist him to his feet. With a sadistic grin, he says, “Welcome home, brother.”
Suddenly, Alex’s hand grabs and squeezes Samyaza’s throat. Samyaza pushes against him as his feet begin lifting off the ground. Alex continues to squeeze until he has lifted Samyaza straight into the air. Pulling him close into his face, Alex’s black onyx orbs glare into Samyaza’s pleading eyes. “Go tell your boss I’m ready.”
With that, Alex throws Samyaza across the field and he lands on his back, skidding across the grass. Balam raises his brows, appearing impressed. He turns away from Alex and rips through the air, leaving black smoke in his wake. Alex looks over to where Samyaza lies on the ground. Samyaza growls at him, then rips through the air, leaving a black mark across the earth in his wake.
Seething, Alex begins walking, leaving blackened footprints with each step. Black leather pants form on his body, as does a black fitted t-shirt. Black leather boots cover his feet. Throwing his arms out, his wings pull into his body, which is now covered by a long black duster. The blackness of his eyes begins to fade as the icy blue irises reappear, save for a black outlining circle.
The earth absorbs the blood of the former angel, blood red roses erupting, covering the ground as far as he can see. Taking a step forward, a hot wind blows and his duster moves against his body. Bending over, he picks one and stands, bringing it to his nose and inhaling the deadly scent. Suddenly, the rose turns to ash in his hand. Letting it fall back to the earth, he looks out over the field and all the flowers begin to wither in a contagion of death.
Closing his eyes, Alex’s body starts to vibrate, then lifts into the air. He hurtled through time and space like a rip current. Hues of red and black surround his body; the bright sunshine of the earth disappears and darkness surrounds him. The colors are changing, encircling him as he travels. The air current thickens and the need for breathing begins to lessen. He stops breathing as the demonic lungs inside him take over. His eyes morph from icy blue-back to black onyx as he flies through Hell.
Landing on the ground, he looks up at his surroundings. The red landscape burns; a serpent flies through the sky and an enormous pit holds souls that scream in pain and torment for eternity. “Lust,” he whispers to himself, turns on his heel, and heads toward where he suspects he will find Lisa.
The caverns emit the foul stench of death, and the walls boil with lava. Screams of souls being endlessly tortured fills the air. Closing his eyes, Alex hones in on his new abilities as a demon to locate Lisa. Picturing her in his mind, images appear of her hanging naked near a pit of lost souls while being tortured by Lucifer.
Opening his eyes, he takes off in a sprint across the land, coming out onto a ledge overlooking a moat of lava. Walking towards the center of it, Alex looks at his surroundings as blood-curdling screams fill the air. Bodies fall through the sky and land in the moat. The ground begins to erupt as a wall pushes out of the floor, blocking Alex from moving any further. The gray wall of stone has three doors inlaid on it.
“You know, they always know what we are thinking when we are down here.” Alex turns quickly, and a female demon is standing next to him. The serpents coming out of her head lash out towards him, forcing him to take a step back. Her snakes are like small daggers. Her teeth are all sharp and jagged, her tongue glides across her bottom lip. Her white skin is a contrast to the darkness of Hell.
“Yeah, I figured that with the wall and doors here,” Alex says as his eyes look her over, never having seen anything like her before.
The female demon steps closer to Alex and her sharp-clawed hand moves over his chest, opening his duster and slicing through his t-shirt. “She’s not worth it. She fucked her way down here. Let them fuck her for eternity.”
“NO!” Alex snarls and his black orbs glow. His black leathered wings erupt from his back. “Leave me!” The female demon hisses at Alex, then turns her back to him, ripping through the air.
Turning back towards the doors, he begins examining them, the wings on his back stretching outwards. The first door portrays the symbol of turning back time. It has three arrows; one pointing up, while the other two point left and right. The bottom of the shape displays two teardrops. This door would allow Alex to turn the clock back in time. There’s a chance he could go back and keep Lisa from ever signing that contract with Samuel, but he knows that it’s not likely.
The second portrays the symbol of Nagas…legs like a snake, the upper chest and arms of a man, and the head of a cobra. The Nagas would allow Alex and Lisa, if he can find her, to become reincarnated on earth. Moving through the door of Nagas, Alex and Lisa would be taken from Hell and become reborn as new souls. He knows that there’s a great possibility they would never find one another again.
The third door contains no image, and Alex can only imagine what it could mean. He whispers, “Hell knows nothing of sacrifice or love.” Picking the third door, he pushes against it and it creaks open to darkness. Taking an unnecessary breath, he steps forward, the door slamming closed behind him. His breath catches in his throat when he hears Lisa’s screams.
Slowly, the light around him begins to brighten. Red hues illuminate the area and screams fill the air. Alex looks around and sees Samuel standing next to Lisa’s body, a sadistic grin on his lips. “I figured you’d have been here a lot sooner. I guess you don’t love her as much as you THINK you do.” Lisa’s head falls to the side, and she takes in the site of Alex. Her eyes widen in astonishment at his black orbs and his black wings. She shakes her head as bloody tears stream down her cheeks.
Lisa screams
out as another spear is slammed into her body. Until the lights came on, she had no idea what was happening to her. Samuel reaches up, grabs hold of the spear, and pulls hard, causing Lisa to scream out. Her blood pools down her body and the hellhounds lap it up, then eat against the flesh of her legs.
“STOP THIS NOW! TAKE ME! LET HER GO!” Alex rushes forward and pushes Samuel out of the way. The hellhounds retreat as Samuel calls to them. Looking up at Lisa, Alex lifts his hands up to her legs, shaking his head.
“What…” Lisa swallows hard as Alex’s hands move up her legs. “What is he talking about?” Lisa’s eyes roam over Alex, taking him all in. He’s still Alex, but different. His eyes are completely black; he has black appendages pushing out of his back in the appearance of wings; his lips part, revealing sharp fangs. “Alex, what did you do?” she whispers.
He hesitates for a moment, and Samuel takes pleasure in jumping right in. “Lisa, my love,” Samuel smirks as he looks at Alex, “Selaphiel here or, as you lovingly call him, Alex, was an angel.” Samuel’s lips form a sneer as he circles him. “After you promised your soul to me, he felt the need to protect you.”
Confused, Lisa looks at Samuel as the pain radiates through her body. Struggling as she continues to hang from the chains, she screams, “I never sold my soul!”
“Oh, but you did.”
Samuel steps closer to Lisa. Looking up at her, he reaches for one of the spears and Alex growls. Samuel suddenly turns and shoves his hands against Alex’s chest, pushing him hard. He’s sent flying and lands on his stomach, hard.
Samuel turns back to face Lisa, grips one of the spears in her gut, and pulls. She screams and he begins to climb up her body until his eyes are level with hers. She can feel her body ripping where his weight is pulling on her. “You easily sold your soul to me to get the better job, the better place to live, the better lifestyle. You made it too easy. Greed, lust, and vanity.” Samuel moves closer to her face and whispers, “You mortals, it doesn't take much to give you exactly what you want. You so easily take what you have for granted.”
