Demon Gate: Beyond the 9th Circle: The Rapture Was Just The Beginning.

by Heath, Joel

  “There actually are a small handful of demons in my park.” The man said then extended his hand. “My name is Richard.” the main said, still very pleasantly. But Spencer wasn’t willing to trust him. Something was off here.

  Spencer took Richard’s hand, it felt warm, no, that wasn’t the word. It felt odd, almost like evil. But he was human. Wasn’t he?

  “I take it you want us to go kill them?” Spencer guessed.

  “Kill? No, I have reason to believe they can be reasoned with.” Richard assured the group gathered around Spencer.

  Spencer didn’t like the idea of trying to reason with a lethal demon, and something didn’t sit right with Spencer about Richard. It seemed like he was a lion trying to convince a gazelle to get into his mouth.

  “I know, I’ve reasoned with several, at fifteen hundred yards.” Spencer retorted holding up his sniper rifle.

  Spencer heard a voice, either in his mind or carried on the wind.

  “There are souls in danger here, lives at stake. Save them, if you can.”

  It sounded like Michael.

  “You don’t need your weapons.” Richard emphatically disagreed.

  Spencer heard a voice, either in his mind or carried on the wind.

  “There are souls in danger here, lives at stake. Save them, if you can.”

  It sounded like Michael.

  “If it’s all the same to you, I’ll keep them.” Spencer retorted, “How do I get into the park?” Spencer asked.

  “The main entrance is that way.” Richard said pointing to the southeast.

  Spencer turned the focus to the other people Richard was talking with inside.

  “Are you having a meeting in there?” Spencer asked.

  “Yes, they were about to go make contact.” Richard verified .

  “They’re going to ‘make contact’?” Spencer asked dubiously.

  Richard nodded.

  “That’s right.” Richard confirmed.

  “You’ve got to be kidding me.” Spencer said. before reaching for the door.

  “What are you doing?” Richard asked.

  “Save some lives if I can.” Spencer said as he pulled the door open. Inside there were two sets of stairs. One was straight ahead and went down; the other was to the left and went up three steps. At the top four people stood.

  “Hello?” The first asked, he had short hair, almost a crew cut. “My name is Tony.” He said.

  “I’m Spencer.” Spencer said.

  “This is Terry, Kortney and Sean.” Tony introduced.

  Terry had a goofy face and dark spiked hair, Kortney was a short chubby woman, who wore sunglasses despite the lack of light, and Sean had spiked hair like Terry, but it was also short and dark to match his skin tone. Each wore lavish and expensive looking outfits and an arrogant look to their faces and persona to match.

  “You guys are going to make contact with the demons?” Spencer asked.

  Tony nodded.

  “Richard, the park owner, wanted us to divide to cover more area.” Terry replied.

  “That’s the stupidest idea I have ever heard.” Spencer said then pointed in the general direction of the park. “Those things won’t let you get a word in before they KILL you, brutally and with extreme prejudice!”

  “You’re just being paranoid.” Tony chastised.

  “Am I?” Spencer defended. “How many of these demons have you seen?”

  There was no reply for several seconds. None had seen a demon, nor have they been privy to the information that Spencer felt was common knowledge.

  “Not one.” Spencer guessed.

  Again, there was no reply, neither was anybody able to look Spencer in the eye, they were convinced that Spencer was paranoid.

  Spencer smirked. “You guys are

  unbelievable.” Spencer began, “I faced off against five of the nastiest damn things just this morning in Las Vegas. I left Salt Lake before half the city was vaporized, and barely made it out of Bountiful before half of it was wiped off the map. Those damn things will rip your head off without a second thought, but if you really believe Richard that much, then go ‘reason’ with the damn demons. When you’re all being

  dismembered I might be there to say ‘I told you so’.”

  Spencer reached for a pair of radios that were sitting on the counter before leaving to meet up with Jessie and the perimeter guard.

  “How many survivors are there?” Jessie asked.

  “Five, four are like lambs going to the slaughter, the other one. I don’t trust him.” Spencer admitted. “They’re going to need help.”

  “I agree.” Jessie said, then grew silent as Tony, Terry, Kortney and Sean walked by.

  “Do you still think we’re in danger?” Sean asked.

  “You have no idea what you’re getting yourself into.” Spencer commented.

  Spencer looked back and noticed Richard was gone. Then realized he had not seen Michael since Bountiful.

  “Are you alright?” Gretchen asked.

  “There’s something about that guy, but I can’t put my finger on it.” Spencer said.

  “Come on.” Gretchen said. Spencer handed Gretchen one of the radios.

  Spencer, Jessie, Vince, Gretchen, Rodney and Halley walked up to the park and onto the main midway. At the north end of the park they saw a Ferris wheel and a tall ride painted white that stood over two hundred feet tall.

  “Gretchen, can you and Jessie get to the top of that thing and cover us?” Spencer asked.

  Jessie swapped her M-249 for Spencer’s grizzly and then directed Halley and Rodney to assist and lead the way to the tall ride.

  “Let’s go bag us some demons.” Spencer said.

  Spencer and Vince tailed Tony at a distance of twenty feet or so until they came to a sort of interactive fountain.

  Tony lifted a radio to his face and pressed the talk button.

  “Where did you say they were?” Tony asked.

  The voice of Richard squawked back.

  “There are two or three demons southeast of the Falling Star.” Richard replied.

  Tony lowered the radio and proceeded east.

  A shriek sounded and Spencer looked up to see a demon swoop down and latch onto a confused Tony. The demon lighted on top of a building on the north side of the midway, still holding Tony.

  Tony was babbling incoherently as the demon held him fast by the throat allowing him to stare his death in the face. Spencer and Vince started firing at the demon figuring that Tony was already dead but they had to try and least they would get some quick justice for Tony. The demon closed his hand tighter and tighter until Tony fell silent and blood started leaking out of his ears, mouth, eyes and nose. Then the demon forcefully removed Tony’s head. The demon held the lifeless body and head for a split second before throwing the severed head to the ground, and continued removing limbs; finally the torso was released to fall to the ground.

  Spencer and Vince continued firing but the demon leapt from the roof and charged amid the gunfire, and then mowed through unscathed forcing Spencer and Vince to jump out of the way.

  “His queen must be around here

  somewhere.” Spencer guessed.

  “What do you want me to do about it?” Vince snapped.

  “Run like hell!” Spencer shouted. Spencer and Vince got to their feet as the demon bounded off a neighboring building before turning back to attack.

  Spencer and Vince made it fifty feet before they came to a wide concrete staircase leading up to an indoor spook ride called Transylvania Express. They were left with little choice but to head into the ride and hope the demon was unable to follow.

  Inside the main loading area there were three doors: one to the left at the far end of the loading area, one to the immediate right and one by the door on the left. It slid open allowing Spencer and Vince to slip in and close the door. The demon was forced to land and proceed in on foot, it shrieked in frustration.

  Inside Spencer and Vince found a trap d
oor and dropped down a level. To the right was a tunnel that looked like it might have rotated and it lead right back to the demon. The only way they could go was to the left which lead through a sort of crypt; of course it was all staging for the show.

  After the crypt there was a large stone skull over a small pond that reeked from moss, mold and more than a week’s worth of mildew. Trying to ignore the pungent aroma, they pushed past to a mine. On the wall were several faces that stuck out from a fake cave in. Pushing further, they came to another trap door that took them to a hallway. A thick double door stood at their left.

  There was the exit! Pushing the door open they ducked through, cautiously looking all around. They had lost their pursuer, at least for now.

  That’s when they found him. He had been dead for several days, decomposition had long since set in, but it was him without a doubt.

  Richard, the park owner, was pinned to the wall outside the door by several knives, each one looked to be at least eight inches long and was inserted at the shoulder. A final knife pierced his heart.

  With few precious seconds before the demon found them and killed them, they could not help but ask a single crucial question.

  “If this is Richard, then who sent us out here?”

  A loud crash erupted from inside forcing Spencer and Vince to flee though a large wooden gate. They had to find any of the others that ‘Richard’ sent to find the demons, they were in serious trouble.

  It didn’t take long. Kortney was seen running for the front entrance of the park, blood flowed from a cut on her head and she was hysterical.

  Spencer and Vince ran to catch up with her. “Kortney, happened?” Vince asked.

  “SEAN,” she screamed. “HE’S DEAD.” Spencer backhanded Kortney. He had never struck a woman, but this was not the time to be chivalrous. Her frantic movements and loud voice could bring the demons down on them, she had to get it together and quick.

  “Calm down or we’re all dead.” Spencer begged, then looked back and saw the demon had found them, but it was trapped in a gate and corral used to line up riders. However, it wouldn’t be held for long. It started to rip and shake the bars.

  “Come on, we have to get out of here.” Spencer said then ran for a door labeledGuest Services. Pulling the door open they headed for a conference room and barricaded themselves in with a large conference table.

  “Alright, what happened?” Spencer demanded.

  “We found one of the demons, I know Richard told us to go alone, but we thought two was better than one. They went for his jugular, and he bled out…they killed him the moment they saw him.” Kortney cried. “After he bled to death they picked him up and tore his arms and head off.”

  Kortney looked at Spencer.

  “Are you going to say ‘I told you so’?”

  “I will if we get out of this alive.”

  “Does Terry have a radio too?” Vince asked, but Kortney was too busy sobbing and trying not to freak out so Vince grabbed the radio that Spencer grabbed from the office off the park.

  Vince pressed the talk button, “Terry, Terry are you there? Sean and Tony are both dead. We saved Kortney. We’re pulling out of the park, we were all fooled by that guy. I’ll explain later. Terry … answer me,” Vince ordered.

  “Did Richard give the okay to leave?” the radio replied.

  “Just get your ass to Guest Services or I will find you and kick it here myself.” Vince snapped.

  “Fine, but you better have a damn…” Terry stopped.

  “Terry?” Vince said.

  “Terry!”

  “Shut the hell up, I found one.” Terry announced, clearly annoyed, then there were a few moments of silence. “I’m going to make contact.”

  “No, you idiot, get the hell out of there, repeat get out!” Vince demanded

  There was one final transmission from Terry, broken by intermittent static.

  “My arm, he tore off my…” The cries for help continued for another few seconds, the screams of a man meeting a very gruesome end and then eternal silence.

  “DAMMIT!” Spencer shouted. “Alright, we’re going to get Gretchen, Jessie and her team and we’re getting the hell out here.” Spencer said.

  “What about the demons?” Kortney asked.

  “We could give them something to think about.” Spencer said hefting the small case of explosives. “But to do any real damage we’ll have to use most of this.” Vince acknowledged.

  "There’s a huge propane tank on the Train Ride.” Kortney announced.

  Instantly a plan formed in Spencer and Vince’s mind, and it was identical.

  “Huge? How huge are we talking about?” Kortney pointed at the conference table.

  “That big,” Kortney replied.

  “Can you show us?” Spencer asked.

  Reluctantly Kortney nodded. Spencer reached for his radio. “Gretchen, three of four have been killed, there is only one left. We’re pulling out, but first we have to make some noise to make a run for it less risky.” Spencer said.

  “We’ll cover you,” Gretchen assured. Spencer and Vince took the opportunity to reload their weapons before escorting Kortney out of the conference room and then out onto the main midway, flanking her on each side.

  “It’s south of here,” Kortney directed and she walked toward the location where Tony was decapitated, and then headed south past a Merry Go Round that must have been more than a hundred years old. Beyond the Merry Go Round, there was a stage and behind that was a train station.

  “The train is over here,” Kortney directed. Pointing to a crudely constructed tunnel made of cement. On the far end there was a door that stood about four feet high. Kortney drew some keys and unlocked the door before Spencer and Vince turned to guard the door.

  “Spencer, I’ll guard the door, you two head in and get ready to blow this thing,” Vince directed.

  Spencer and Kortney headed in and Spencer caught a glance of the propane tank and whistled.

  “That is one big propane tank,” Spencer said before placing a charge on the white tank and arming it.

  “That’s just the small tank there’s a bigger one on the other side of the lake,” Kortney declared.

  “Bigger?” Spencer asked. “How much bigger?”

  “Twice the size of this one, if you blow this one it will take out the other one. I wouldn’t want to be any closer than the main entrance, and that would be pushing it.” Kortney replied.

  “Wait.” Spencer paused to listen and then looked at Kortney. “Did you hear that?”

  Kortney shook her head.

  Outside Vince waited for Spencer and Kortney to finish. He heard the same noise coming from an old western town that was meant to be kind of a pioneer themed section of the park. The commotion almost sounded like a hiss.

  “Guys? You might want to hurry up in there.” Vince urged.

  Vince heard the hissing sound again but it was now behind him, he turned and felt his heart turn into a jackhammer, rapidly beating in his chest.

  Instantly Vince turned his weapon on a hive queen before his brain even registered what she was. She lunged at him, sword drawn, her mouth hung open in a cruel shriek.

  The hive queen swung her sword and Vince squeezed the trigger and held it on rapid fire, then dodged and resumed firing. Spencer materialized from the train tunnel just in time and joined Vince trying to stave off imminent death. Two targets would only slow her down unless they could stun her.

  “I’m almost out of ammo, Spencer.” Vince shouted. The hive queen smiled wickedly, she understood but there was a twinge of concern in her eyes, she was weak and getting weaker from the constant barrage of bullets and she knew it.

  As Vince’s last round exited the chamber, the hive queen fell over, stunned.

  “Let’s get moving. We don’t have much time before she comes around.” Vince urged.

  “We should finish her off.” Spencer declared as he approached the queen and reached down for her sword. The queen f
linched causing Spencer to jump back in alarm and pause, wondering if it was such a good idea. After a second he bent over just as the hive queen opened her eye and shrieked. Spencer backed away so quick he fell onto his ass as the queen jumped to her feet and called her sword to her hand. She stood above her foes and raised her sword high above her head and swung down. Spencer rolled to the left and the blade barely missed him. The queen pursued swinging her sword.

  The hive queen was swinging so aggressively that Spencer didn’t have an opportunity to get to his feet; he had rolled intoa dead end ally and now had nowhere to go. The queen raised her sword for one final attack.

  The queen had her attention focused on Spencer like a laser so she did not see Vince attack her from behind. He held a sword, a handle of pure ivory, and a blade that reflected light from an unseen source.

  As the hit landed, the queen shrieked in agony before turning to Vince, in his hand was a sword like the one Michael wielded in Salt Lake, gleaming with Heavenly light.

  “Hey!” Vince shouted. “You want to dance?”

  Vince held the sword of light straight out. The queen seemed afraid of the sword, as though her very existence was jeopardized. She made an attempt to flee, but Vince was right in her path, she was also trapped by the dead end and tall buildings on ever side. She shrieked a battle cry before charging Vince, her sword at the ready. Vince and the queen swung their swords and there was an explosion of chaos as light met darkness.

  There was a brief pause as the queen glanced at her sword where it met Vince’s blade. A crack appeared it on the queen’s sword, it spread across her sword as look of sheer panic spread across her pale face. The crack spread allowing the suppressed light to break through, the sword was being purified and converted to a weapon of light, but would it survive the process?

  The queen dropped the sword as though it was hurting her and it shattered into nothing. She tried to flee but the purification effect had already spread to her, it was too late to flee. It took just under twenty seconds for her body to turn to dust; bit by bit she deteriorated until the her remnants were caught a stiff breeze and blew away.

  “It’s time to go, NOW!” Spencer said, Spencer and Vince helped Kortney out of the train tunnel and Spencer quickly reloaded his weapon before they resumed escorting Kortney on their way to rendezvous with Jessie, Gretchen, Rodney and Halley who were perched atop a two hundred foot tall ride.