Ascended to Heaven

by Amy Starr

  He watched in shock as their four captors fell to the ground, writhing and screaming in pain as if someone had thrown a vat of boiling oil onto them

  Hudson gazed over at Poppy. The psychic was no longer standing beside him, at least he did not think it was her. It couldn’t have been her. What he saw in her place was a glowing figure with long white hair that seemed to shimmer supernaturally. It glanced over at him with pure white eyes that made his breath catch in his throat.

  He could see his own face reflected in its huge eyes, but he was not looking at himself. He was looking at a hulking beast with bulging muscles. A demon. In fact, it was one of the most terrifying demons he had even seen.

  Hud’s mind was spinning with rage, but he felt as though he was being held back on a leash. If it was not for the invisible constraints, he would have launched himself at the tortured humans and destroyed them with his bare hands. What was possibly holding him back?

  He glanced at not-Poppy. Was it her doing that was causing his restraint?

  In front of them, Emma-Lee began to shimmer under a bright blue light. Her body rose from the ground and glowed a deep and unnatural colour.

  After what felt like an eternity, the auras surrounding the large room died down and everything returned to normal. Emma-Lee sunk back to the ground motionlessly.

  Hudson let out a pained groan and held his head. It was pulsating in a way that he had never experienced before. It was like a cluster headache, but somehow worse. Once it had died down, he looked about. Hud saw that the demon worshippers were gone. In their place were piles of ash and dust.

  Stumbling forward, Hudson raced towards his sister. She was lying sprawled on the floor, covered in her own blood. He brushed his hand over her pale cheek. She did not respond to his touch and he felt tears form in his eyes. After everything they had been through and he had let her die so easily.

  “Emma-Lee?” He murmured.

  He ran his hand over her neck and found that the cut was gone. Blinking, he felt her neck. The wound was completely sealed up and all that was left was a thin scar underneath the clots of red sticky blood. His sister’s eyes snapped open and she sat up, gasping for air.

  “Hud?” She whimpered, tears forming in her eyes when she saw her brother. “I…I think I nearly died.”

  Hudson pulled his sister in close and hugged her tightly. Pulling away, he saw something in Emma-Lee’s hands. It was a small perfume bottle that a strange glow to it. He took the bottle and studied it, although he did not need to look at it for too long to realise what it was. “Is this…”

  Emma-Lee nodded her head. “It’s Asmodeus. At least, his resting place.”

  He heard Poppy sit beside them. Turning his head, he saw the psychic had blood running from her nostril.

  “Poppy, are you okay?”

  “No, I feel like crap.” She muttered. “What the hell happened?”

  “You both…changed.” Emma-Lee said in a soft voice, her eyes flicking between them. “You turned into monsters and you destroyed them. I-I think. I was all so blurry.”

  They all sat in silence for a long time. Hudson still could not completely comprehend what had happened. He made a mental note to ask Sugrat what all of that meant as he carefully placed the perfume bottle into his bag. He went over and picked the Demotome up from where it lay in the ashes of the demon worshipper, apparently unscathed from the entire ordeal.

  “Let’s get the hell out of here.” Poppy grunted under her breath, standing up and groaning in pain as she stretched out her freed wings.

  With the help of Poppy’s newfound wings, the trio travelled down at the bottom of the tower. Emma-Lee’s eyes stayed focused on the psychic’s wings, even as they reached the ground safely.

  “Poppy, how did you get those?” Emma-Lee murmured, poking the feathers of one of her wings with the tip of her finger. In response, the wing flinched back.

  The psychic explained how she had read the runes on the inside of the tower and how the wings had just strangely appeared after that. Emma-Lee went over to the runes and looked over them, a small frown on her face as she glanced from one rune to another.

  “I don’t recognize these.”

  “Neither did I.” Hud added, giving Poppy a concerned look.

  “It is angelic text.”

  Hudson whipped his head around. The huge glowing humanoid from the front of the tower was standing in front of them, its hand out in a show of defencelessness. Quickly, he grabbed his earmuffs and put them on Emma-Lee’s head. His sister began to protest but when she saw him begin to space out, she realised what was happening and gave him her own set. Thankfully, he was still in mentally there long enough to put them on.

  He watched as Poppy, seemingly unaffected by the angel’s voice, talked to it. After a while, the being floated away, leaving the psychic standing quietly on her own, lost in her own thoughts. She had a disturbed look on her face that unnerved Hudson. What had the angel said to her?

  “Poppy?” Hudson asked, taking his earmuffs off. “What is it?”

  She shook her head. “I…I don’t understand. Apparently only angelic beings can read the text. Mortals aren’t supposed to know this language. It’s incomprehensible to them.”

  “Does that mean you’re an angel?” Emma-Lee said, a sense of awe to her voice.

  Poppy scoffed. “I doubt it. I mean, I’m a psychic but…”

  She glanced at the wings fluttering behind her. “…man, I don’t know anymore. Let’s just send Asmodeus away with the Demotome and deal with this later.”

  Emma-Lee’s eyes lit up. “Oh, right!”

  She pulled a book out of her bag and began to flip through it, using her index finger to find the note she was looking for. “I was making notes before from what you’ve told me and my Grandmother’s diary, which I found tucked away in the library of the fortress. Apparently using the Demotome to send demons away is not secure enough. They just get placed in Holding Gems until a mortal, most likely a demon worshipper, breaks them out.”

  Hudson tilted his head to the side. He recalled that Harkness had mentioned the Holding Gems previously.

  “How are we supposed to keep it locked away?” He asked.

  “Well according to your Grandmother’s notes, we need to seal them in a medium that only a human can create in the mortal world. Demons cannot touch a prison that a mortal has crafted.”

  “That doesn’t give us much information.” Poppy muttered. “Is it a ritual circle? A spell?”

  Emma-Lee shook her head sadly. “I’m sorry, I wasn’t able to find enough research in the short amount of time I had. Maybe Sugrat knows?”

  “Let’s get to the fortress and we can find out.” Hudson said.

  They gazed out of the entrance of the tower and a sudden thought came to them all simultaneously.

  “How are we supposed to get back to the mortal world?” Poppy asked.

  Hudson was not sure how to respond. They had gotten here easily enough, but there was no indication of an escape or an exit. How were they going to get out?

  Chapter Six

  The psychic was practically at her wit’s end. All the angels refused to talk to them, and Poppy was close to starting a fight in order to get some answers.

  “Well, how did both of you get here?” Emma-Lee asked. “I was out cold during all of this, so I honestly have no idea how we all ended up here.”

  “We were transported here by a summoning circle, I think.” Poppy replied, wishing there was a stone around here she could give a nice solid kick to.

  “Do you remember what it looked like?” Hud’s sister asked.

  Poppy described it as best she could, and the teenager’s eyes lit up. She scrawled something down in her notebook before turning it around and showing the psychic. Poppy’s jaw almost fully dropped when she saw the completed circle and all its intricacies, including the runes around it. Everything was perfect, even more perfect than the psychic had remembered it being.

  “How did
you do that?”

  Emma-Lee gave a small shrug of her shoulders.

  “Oh, I remember seeing it when I was being carried through the cave.”

  “No, but like…you remembered all of it.” Poppy said, circling her finger around the picture. “I didn’t even remember parts of this.”

  Emma-Lee’s face flushed in embarrassment. “I have a photographic memory, kind of.”

  Hudson chuckled and nudged his sister with his elbow playfully. “Stop being so modest. She used to be able to memorise the order of a deck of playing cards as a party trick when she was a kid.”

  Emma-Lee let out a shy chuckle and gave a dismissive wave of her hand.

  “Yeah well, it was better when I was younger, and I’m only good at remembering weird patterns and numbers. I can’t memorise whole books or anything.”

  Poppy nodded and clasped her hands together. “That’s perfect. Okay, we just need something to draw on, and something to draw with.”

  They all searched their bags and Poppy managed to find a few sticks of chalk in her bag that she had nabbed from the Fortress. The psychic a flat surface underneath the mist, and with the assistance of Hud and Emma Lee blowing the mist away, began drawing the circle using the stick of chalk. As she scrawled down the strange runes, she realised that she could read every single one of them.

  “Ah, they’re written in that angelic text!” Poppy exclaimed halfway through recreating the circle.

  Hudson and Emma-Lee perked up from the mist at hearing this.

  “What does it say?” Hud asked.

  Squinting her eyes, Poppy read what she had written in the chalk so far. “Circle unbroken- ah I’m having trouble reading it. Hud?”

  Hudson fanned the mist away and Poppy gave him an appreciative nod.

  “Thanks – circle unbroken, ascend me high. Take my soul to the Heavenly Kingdom from this place below.”

  Emma-Lee let out a concerned murmur. “It’s to teleport us here, not to transport us back to the mortal realm.”

  “Hang on, I think I can change it.”

  Acting as if it was second nature to her, Poppy wiped the chalk runes away and began rewriting them. Hud and Emma-Lee watched on in confusion as Poppy drew lines and circles for each rune perfectly.

  “How are you doing this?” Hudson asked.

  Poppy honestly had no idea. It was like when she was younger, and she got to a point where could play the piano without looking at the keys. Of course, this was different. She had piano lessons that lead to that. It was as if the knowledge of the runes was always there and she was just tapping into it.

  Eventually, she felt herself coming to a stop. When she was done, she leant back and stared at her work. Mist swirled around it, giving the final piece an eerie look. Glancing over the runes, she read the rewritten passage out loud.

  “Circle unbroken, descend me below. Take my soul back from whence it came and return me to my mortal coil.”

  The psychic touched the circle and it began to glow. The light shone up into the sky and Poppy felt a sense of warmth and comfort overwhelm her. “It’s working.” She said, a smile growing on her face.

  Hudson jumped about excitedly and pulled Poppy into his arms. “You’re a genius.” He said, a giddy smile on his face as he kissed her on the cheek

  Poppy rolled her eyes playfully, a faint blush forming on her cheeks as she gently pushed Hud away. “Hey, you should be thanking your sister for remembering it. I was just the writer.”

  Emma-Lee giggled and shrugged her shoulders. “We all did a great job at this. Anyway, we better get going.”

  Holding Hudson’s hand tightly, the psychic stepped onto the portal. A bright light flashed around them and she found herself laying on the floor of the dirty cave. Groaning softly, the psychic sat up and rubbed her eyes. She felt a little ill jumping back into her body so quickly.

  Glancing up, she saw Jezebel staring down at her with a nasty smile. The demon worshipper was holding the perfume bottle in one gloved hand and the Demotome in another.

  “Thanks for getting all of this back to us, I really appreciate it. Are you ready to see our great lord again?”

  Chapter Seven

  Hudson struggled against the ropes that he was tied in. Unlike the other demon worshippers in the tower, these ones had been bright enough to take their bags off them, so he had no way to break through the ropes. On the other side of the cave, Poppy and Emma-Lee were bound tightly with ropes around their wrists and ankles. He wished he could crawl over to them, but it seemed like they had been separated on purpose.

  In the center of the cave, the circle had been wiped away with brooms. It was replaced with another one, one that was written in a text like that Hudson had seen in the Demotome. He was a little frustrated that he could not make sense of it, especially after learning Poppy’s innate skill of reading angelic text. He guessed that reading demonic text was not an innate skill for demon hunters.

  Standing in front of the freshly drawn circle was Jezebel, Douglas and Harris, the blue-eyed man who had killed Hudson what felt like so long ago. The two men were watching their captors to ensure that they did not to escape. Meanwhile, Jezebel was pacing around, an annoyed expression on her face.

  “Where the hell are the others?” Jezebel growled, stomping around the circle as her face grew red. “Why haven’t they come back yet?”

  Hudson was too nervous to say anything. He did not want to put Poppy and Emma-Lee in danger. Thankfully, the girls seemed to have the same idea as he did and they said nothing.

  “We don’t need them to perform the ceremony.” The blue-eyed man reminded her. “I’m sure our great Prince will be able to find them.”

  Jezebel growled under her breath and placed the perfume bottle in the center of the circle. With one quick movement, she opened the lid of the bottle. Everyone in the room winced, waiting for a horrific demonic presence to escape and make itself known. After a few minutes, everyone began to look around the room. There was not a single sign of a demon anywhere, and Hudson was not sure how to feel about this. Even the Demotome under Jezebel’s arm was barely raising a glow.

  “Where the hell is he?” Douglas muttered.

  He strode over to Hudson and glared daggers at him. “Where the hell is he? What have you…”

  The man was suddenly knocked back by an unseen force. Stumbling, he let out a low moan as he cradled his stomach in his arms and doubled over.

  “Fuck…it hurts…” He groaned.

  He heaved once and then again, approaching his comrades. Instead of assisting him, Hudson watched as Jezebel and the blue-eyed man shuffled back from him, their eyes wide with horror. They turned to face each other, a sense of realisation passing between them.

  “We didn’t give our Prince a sacrifice.” Jezebel hissed through gritted teeth. “Get the branding rod!”

  Harris darted his head around wildly, throwing his hands up in the air.

  “We don’t have one here!”

  Douglas heaved a third time, and this was when the blood came up. It splattered all over the ground, causing his fellow demon worshippers to let out horrified cries of disgust. He fell into the mess, his body spasming as if he were a bug that had been sprayed by pesticide. He let out a few pained moans and he pointed his chest and stomach to the sky and Hud could see something moving around inside his body.

  Hudson could only watch on in horror as the man’s body practically exploded. Blood and gore sprayed around the room, splashing everyone. From within the remains of Douglas, a fleshy creature covered in pulsing blue veins rose and grew out. Flesh and fur were spilling in all directions and took up a good portion of the room. It took a while for Hudson to comprehend it, but once he saw it, he wished he could unsee it.

  Standing before them was a creature that stood on four beast-like limbs with thick black claws that shone in the light of the torchlight. Upon the fat limbs was an elongated furry body that turned into the slim chest of a man. Three heads sat upon its thick neck
covered in rolls of fat. On the left was a head of a horse with red eyes and a foaming mouth. On the other side was a ram with curved horns and a blood encrusted snout. In the center was the face of a fat man with pointed ears and messy matted hair. Upon its human head sat a crown of golden thorns.

  “Who dares awaken me without an offering?” The human head shrieked in a horrid voice. It glared with six eyes around the cave as Jezebel and the blue-eyed man began to bow before him.

  “Oh humble Prince Asmodeus! We bring you gifts of covetousness. You can enjoy them as long as you wish.” Jezebel cried, grovelling on the ground like a lowly creature.

  Both the demon worshippers gestured to Poppy and Emma-Lee who were struggling against their bonds. A disturbing smile grew on Asmodeus’s human face as he staggered over to the terrified women. They began shuffling away from the approaching beast, glancing over at Hudson pleadingly. Hud sat helpless as the demon grew closer to them.

  “Um, Prince Asmodeus!” Jezebel said quickly, gazing up at the hideous demon with pleading eyes. “Before you take your due prize, please tell us. Where is the location of your father, Lord of all that is evil and insidious? We have spent so many years trying to find him and bring him back to us.”

  The demon prince rolled its eyes in the direction of Jezebel, a furious scowl growing on all three of its face. The demon worshipper drew back like a dog frightened of its master. Asmodeus licked its lips before it spoke in a deep and hissing voice.

  “Father has been trapped in the land of mortals for decades. You say you are an avid follower of me and my craft, yet you have not found him. What do you say to that you pathetic mortal?”

  The black-haired woman stumbled in her words as she gave her lord a forced smile.

  “My dearest Prince, we have searched high and low. No book or scroll from those damned demon worshippers has revealed his Mighty’s location to us.”

  Asmodeus let out a loud wheeze and a few snorts from its three heads and it took Hudson a few moments to realise the beast was laughing.