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

by Heath, Joel

  would confirm that he was who he appeared to

  be.

  Spencer readied his weapon, Vince and

  Gretchen summoned their celestial swords in

  case this was Lucifer in disguise; but he just kept

  coming, undeterred by the threat of the celestial

  weapons.

  “Wait!” Spencer said lowering his

  weapon and approaching the man they believed

  to be Michael, as Spencer got to within striking

  distance the man spoke.

  “Spencer, I come with news of the sword

  you gave me.” It was Michael, he drew the

  sword, it looked different. It now looked more

  like a Templar Sword, the golden hilt formed an

  elaborate crucifix with a plum-sized opal in the

  center, the blade was mirror polished platinum. “The sword did not survive the

  purification, and it shattered, but there were

  several large fragments that we were able to use

  to forge a new sword.” Michael turned the sword

  tip down to hand the sword to Spencer.

  “This is the eternity blade, the power in

  this sword is far beyond that of the celestial

  sword and has been entrusted to you. With its

  power you might be able to defeat Satan when

  you face him again.” Michael urged.

  “You want us to face him again?”

  Spencer asked in disbelief. “We don’t even know where to start looking. Where was God when

  Satan attacked?”

  A look of sadness and regret washed over

  Michael as he recounted the story leading up to

  the events in New York six months earlier. “God sends His apologies for the way

  things happened, but their salvation was forfeit

  long ago.” Michael explained his voice betrayed

  grave regret for what had been allowed to

  transpire. “We learned that Satan was planning

  an attack, so we were forced to initiate the great

  rapture to save as many as we could. Satan, was

  also collecting souls, but for a dark and sinister

  purpose, I fear.”

  Spencer confirmed, “We met him in

  Farmington, he said he was recruiting.”

  Michael’s eyes opened wide in shock.

  “How much of his plan did he tell you?”

  Michael asked.

  “He plans to storm the gates of Heaven.”

  Spencer replied.

  “It’s as I feared.” Michael said.

  Spencer hung his head down, he was still

  afraid of what Lucifer may have in store for him,

  but most of all, he was afraid of what was ahead.

  He remained in silence for several seconds before

  Michael broke the silence.

  “For thousands of earth years evil has

  been on the rise, growing ever stronger, many

  civilizations that were blessed with great

  knowledge were destroyed because they chose to serve the great deceiver.” Michael said earning a

  glance from Spencer.

  “So, this has happened before?” Spencer

  guessed.

  Michael shook his head,

  “Not like this. We had to bear witness to

  the wickedness of mankind and the fall of many

  civilizations that would not forsake Lucifer. The

  great leviathan promised protection. He deceived

  them and when the wrath of God was upon them,

  he abandoned them.”

  “How many civilizations did he deceive?”

  Spencer asked

  “Many: the Romans, the Hintu, Atlantis,

  Mu, the Itory, the Mayans, the Olmecs, the

  Lemurians.”

  Spencer raised the sword to look at the

  blade, and in it he saw himself, but his hair was

  graying and a dignified gray beard graced his

  face. At his feet there were thirteen children and

  in front of them were more children, each group

  of children was a newer and newer generation. Soon Spencer was lost in a veritable sea

  of successive generations of children.

  Spencer lowered the sword and crinkled

  his brow in thought.

  “Why does God need us to look for

  Satan?” Spencer finally asked.

  “Darkness surrounds Satan. No single

  light, no matter how brilliant, can dispel all

  darkness. Some shadows will remain.” Michael

  said, his analogy was succinct.

  “I doubt he has given up recruiting you,

  Spencer.” Vince surmised.

  And then it came to him.

  “I think I know where he is.” Spencer

  finally asked.

  Spencer recalled what Lucifer said before he

  vanished.

  “You win this round, Auf Wiedersehen.”

  The devil said, his voice echoing through

  Spencer’s mind.

  “Germany.” Spencer declared.

  “How do you know?” Michael asked. “When we last faced him he fled, but not

  before saying ‘Auf Wiedersehen’.

  “That helps a little, but he could still be

  anywhere in Germany.” Michael commented. “You know, before the world went to hell

  a friend of mine mentioned an interesting story

  that I didn’t find very credible until now.”

  Spencer began. “The story was about a castle that

  Hitler had built back in 1929. It was originally

  called Fortress of Solitude. I remember hearing

  that in 1925 a Nazi soldier found his way into an

  underground vault where the Itory sealed a tome

  containing the darkest of black magic. He used it

  to summon a demon from the lowest circle of

  hell and used it to build a fortress. The demon did

  so against his will, and in retaliation the demon

  summoned a million of the most evil spirits from

  hell to possess the castle; it basically gave the

  castle a consciousness of its own. Eventually

  Hitler went insane.” Spencer recounted.

  “The castle was later renamed The Devil’s

  Castle. To this day nobody knows where it is.”

  Spencer said.

  “I’m willing to bet that is where Lucifer is

  building his strength for his attack.” Michael

  guessed.

  “But if nobody knows where it is, then

  how do we expect to find it?” Spencer asked. “The only demons that will know where

  the castle is are the princes.” Michael said. Spencer gazed off into the distance, his

  thought lingered on Gretchen and the vision he

  saw in the eternity blade.

  “Do you know where the prince is?”

  Michael nodded.

  “New York City.”

  ”Find him, defeat and bind him. Most of

  his troops have been recalled to hell, but the

  threat still remains. Use caution. We have to end

  this war before it reaches the gates of heaven or

  all is lost.”

  Spencer strapped the eternity blade to his

  back.

  “Be warned, as soon as we find Satan’s

  earthly fortress, God will launch a preemptive

  strike. Escape if you can, we will give you what

  time we can.”

  Spencer nodded and walked back to the door

  where Vince, Gretchen and Jessie were waiting. “What’s going on?” Jessie asked. “We’re going after your prince.” Jessie smiled.

  The Hummer sped up Hillfield Road

  dodgi
ng a few cars left abandoned when their

  owners were slaughtered. Crossing Antelope

  Drive, the south entrance to Hill Air Force Base

  lay ahead of the band of friends.

  The Hummer burst through the south gate

  shattering a crude barricade that the army built

  the day civilization ended.

  Gretchen took a right onto Eleventh Street

  and headed to the end of the road where a hangar

  stood open, several planes stood ready as though

  the base was in the middle of scrambling

  fighters, six F-22 Raptors stood ready just inside

  the hangar, a C-5 Galaxy waited just off the

  runway.

  “They must have been killed just before

  take-off.” Vince guessed.

  “Garza,” Rodney began “Where are we

  headed?”

  “Newark Air Port.” Spencer replied. “Do we know how to fly?” Halley

  wondered aloud.

  “I do.” Vince declared drawing a gaze

  from everybody gathered in the hangar.

  “I was in the Air Force.”

  Vince stepped forward.

  “Give me time to do the pre-flight.” It was just about noon when the enormous plane

  lifted off the runway and took to the sky. Vince plotted a new course into the

  planes onboard navigation system and they were

  on their way.

  Spencer sat next to Gretchen on the

  passenger deck. Jessie eyed Gretchen, Spencer

  could tell something was on her mind, but now

  was not the time to talk about it.

  Gretchen looked down at her lower

  abdomen as the plane rocketed through the air,

  she was wondering what effect flying would have

  on her unborn child, but saw no alternative and

  pregnant women used to fly all the time, she just

  would just take things easy she promised herself.

  The ground passed beneath them quickly, briefly rising as they crested the majestic Rockies that sliced through the heart of Colorado, and soon they faded into the distance as they blended with the curvature of the earth.

  As the Newark skyline came into view in the distance they realized they would be facing the first line of defense.

  Vince reached for the intercom switch. “Spencer, you might want to come up here.”

  After a minute Spencer appeared in the cockpit.

  “What’s wrong?”

  Vince pointed out the forward window. A small handful of demons stood as a nearly invisible shield, forbidding entry into the city. The first contact was close and would reach them within seconds, they would have to punch through.

  “We’ve got incoming.” Spencer exclaimed.

  ”I can see that.” Vince said paused as the plane penetrated the small flock of demon’s and entered the city. Four demons latched on to the plane and quickly tore a hole in the fuselage.

  In the cockpit the ‘master caution alarm’ and an alarm indicating a loss of cabin pressure sounded.

  “Spencer, we have some stowaways. Careful there was a big one in there. Probably a brute.” Vince directed, his motive was crystal clear. Spencer passed from the cockpit and onto the passenger cabin.

  Spencer hustles in, his tense demeanor put everybody on alert.

  “Gear up, they’ll be here any second.” Spencer grabbed his sword and unsheathed it, Gretchen summoned her weapon of light, Jessie, Rodney and Halley racked various automatic weapons.

  It was eerily quiet as they waited nervously for the demons to appear. A clatter in a crawl space beneath the floor. A scrape in the space above.

  Ten tense seconds later the first demon climbed in through an air duct, shrieking as it attacked, baring it’s claws it went straight for Rodney. Spencer intercepted, turning his weapon on the creature. One attacked from the rear of the cabin, the other striking from the front. Jessie struck as one demon went for Halley. The third shrieked and batted its head around, not sure who was the best target. Everybody converged on the remaining demon. It darted away, trying to reach the safety of it’s hole. A glowing sword stopped the demon’s retreat. It was Gretchen’s sword. Spencer looked around.

  “Where’s the other one?”

  A gaping hole opens up and a brutish demon pulled himself in and grabbed the first person he could, Halley, before retreating. Halley screamed out of terror. The demon wrapped his terrible hand around her head and snaps her neck. Her body is then relinquished to gravity as it is dropped.

  “HALLEY!” Rodney screamed.

  “She’s gone, Rodney!” Jessie consoled, she tried to be sympathetic, but it just couldn’t come across as she intended.

  The demon roared in triumph.

  “Let’s touch down and get across the river before he comes back.”

  Despite the loss of Halley, the remaining survivors found the airport and landed.

  Standing outside the plane Vince assessed the damage. “She won’t ever fly again, we’ll have to find another plane when we’re done here.”

  “We should get moving.” Spencer urged.

  “Agreed.” Jessie said as she scanned the area for a vehicle and spotted a military jeep. Jessie ran to the jeep, opened the door and tried to start it.

  The jeep started in spite of the fuel having sat in the tank for over six months. “Thank goodness it still has gas.” Jessie said with great relief then got out as Spencer, Vince and Gretchen approached.

  “Your chariot is ready; we shouldn’t have any trouble getting into the city.” Jessie

  announced.

  Spencer jumped into the driver’s seat, this was his turf and he knew it well. Gretchen took shotgun while Vince and Jessie climbed into the back seat, that’s when Rodney’s absence was noticed.

  “Where did Rodney go?” Vince asked. “He was here a minute ago.” Gretchen confirmed unsure.

  Spencer got out of the jeep.

  “RODNEY!” Spencer screamed only to have his shouts echo eternally through the empty airport.

  “He couldn’t have gone far.” Jessie said as she climbed out and searched the farthest reaches of the tarmac only to find nobody, Spencer and Jessie fanned out toward the transport plane and Rodney was gone.

  “Come on.” Spencer said, “We have to go.”

  Spencer smashed through a perimeter fence on the north side of the airport and turned toward an I-95 overpass and proceeded east then turning north and then a quick right to merge onto 1-78 toward Newark bay. The interstate lead to the Holland Tunnel. Water up to the roof of the tunnel threw a wrench into their plans.

  “Dammit!” Spencer said at the sight of the tunnel flooded, several objects were floating in the water. They were bodies; hundreds of them, most were dismembered and were badly decomposed.

  “So, how do we get into the city?” Vince asked.

  “How else?” Gretchen asked, “We find a marina and enter the city by water.”

  Spencer turned around and headed to a nearby side street before heading south and turning east onto 6thStreet and continued to Washington Boulevard and then right into the Newport Marina.

  It took two hours to select and prepare the ship and get underway, leaving the New Jersey shore behind them.

  “What are we going to do when we get into the city?” Gretchen asked.

  “Find a Prince Class demon and make him tell us where Lucifer is hiding.” Spencer said.

  The boat landed at a marina off the West Side highway near 18thStreet.

  “How are we going to find him? It’ll be like searching for a needle in a haystack.” Vince asked.

  “Times Square is a good place to start.” Vince began, “That’s the sight of the first incursion.”

  Most of the streets were over crowded with cars making it unrealistic to hotwire a car, forcing them to walk up the west side Highway to West 42ndStreet. Somewhere between 8thand 9thAvenue a
car alarm went off outside an old church. The alarm was weakened due to low battery power, but it was loud enough to catch Spencer’s attention.

  Immediately Spencer and Vince fanned out to investigate. Spencer drew his blade and Vince summoned his celestial sword.

  Spencer and Vince approached the car as its alarm blared and a small winged demon fled from its hiding place.

  “Get it!” Spencer shouted as the demon fled towards Vince.

  Vince swung and his sword connected with the demon at the shoulder causing it to shriek before disintegrating.

  “Do you think any other demons heard that?” Vince asked.

  “I’m thinking yes.” Spencer said as dozens of demons emerged from every nook and cranny within fifty feet.

  Gretchen summoned her celestial sword and joined Spencer in preparation for the onslaught. Jessie had another idea, “We should fall back.”

  “Where would we go?” Spencer asked, “The city is overrun.”

  “Are you really going to stand and fight?” Jessie demanded.

  “What choice do we have?” Spencer asked as he made ready for the first wave came within striking distance.

  The first swing tore through four demons, causing them to disintegrate, the remaining demons scattered; not a retreat. They were regrouping.

  “After them!” Spencer ordered as he pursued a group of eight demons while the others fled from the light of the celestial swords. Spencer tried to follow but after eliminating three more, the remaining demons fled into the darkness, slipped into the sewer or scaled the sheer face of the surrounding buildings.

  Spencer saw two heading for parking lot further up the street, so he chased after them with reckless abandon.

  “Spencer, come back!” Vince shouted, but it was too late. As soon as Spencer reached the demons near the rear of the parking lot hundreds of demons poured out of every speck of darkness surrounding Spencer; he was trapped— separated from Vince and Gretchen. He wasn’t going to be able to fight his way out of this and Vince and Gretchen could not get to him in time.

  Five small canisters were launched out of a window three floors up; they hit the ground around Spencer. Instantly smoke started pouring out of the canisters. Dozens of demons around the canisters quickly fell over unable to move, they were dead. Demons around the perimeter turned and retreated to the hole from which they came.

  A man emerged from a door by a fire escape that descended by the window where the canisters came from, a thick blonde beard covered his chin, he hadn’t shaved in months, he wore torn and tattered military fatigues, and worn combat boots.

  “Get you asses in here!” the man shouted waving the four of them over, Spencer and Vince moved between the demon horde and the girls motioning them toward the open door.