by Laurèn Lee
As the song progressed, their laughing slowed down and they did a simple box step to try and avoid stepping on each other’s toes.
Charlotte gazed into Adriel’s eyes. She felt the familiar ache return and the warmth of his body against hers reminded her once again, how strangely safe she felt in his arms.
The song finished and Adriel leaned in toward Charlotte, eyes blazing, and kissed her passionately on the lips. The entire bar erupted into applause, everyone except Cyndy.
20
Present
Charlotte pulled away and glared at Adriel with unspeakable confusion. He returned her gaze with a lustful stare.
Charlotte turned on her heels and rushed out of the bar before she could bear witness to the disappointed groans of the Hairy Dog’s patrons.
She sprinted down the dirt road with desperation. She needed to get away from Adriel, as far away as possible. What was wrong with her? Liam, her fiancé, was lying in a hospital bed, in a coma, and she was off swapping spit with a crazed killer demon? Even though the kiss felt right, she knew it was incredibly wrong. She’d betrayed Liam and she felt sick to her stomach.
“Charlotte, wait!” Adriel called after her. His pleas became louder and louder as he gained remarkable distance upon Charlotte, despite her head start.
He caught up and grabbed her shoulders to slow her down.
“Get your hands off of me,” Charlotte warned.
“Charlotte, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for that to happen.”
“Oh no? So you didn’t bring me to a bar to get drunk? You didn’t try and seduce me while we were dancing? You didn’t take advantage of me while I was absolutely vulnerable?”
“I really am sorry. Are you okay?” Adriel asked, carefully.
“Does it look like I’m freaking okay?” Charlotte screeched into the night causing dozens of birds to fly away.
“I promise it won’t happen again. It will be strictly business from here on out. Plus, you’re a sloppy kisser when you’re drunk,” Adriel added lightly.
Charlotte raised her fist, but Adriel caught it in mid-air.
“You son of a bitch,” she gasped.
“Come back inside, have a water and sober up,” Adriel offered.
“I am not going anywhere with you! I would rather walk home than spend another minute with you in my sight.”
“Too bad,” Adriel said and hoisted Charlotte over his shoulder. She kicked and screamed the entire way back to bar like a toddler having a fit. It seemed despite her having no soul and no emotions, whenever she was around Adriel and/or drinking, a little part of “old Charlotte” returned.
“Put me down this instant, Adriel! I am not going back there and I’m not going to play nice with your trashy ex!”
“Well, speak of the devil,” came a sharp voice.
Cyndy was outside smoking a cigarette, Adriel had successfully hauled Charlotte back to the bar.
“What the hell?,” Charlotte whispered right before Adriel set her back on the ground.
“This one’s got a mouth on her, Addy. You sure you can handle her?” Cyndy asked with raised eyebrows.
“I think I can manage, thanks. Hey, how about a water?”
“I’m fine,” Charlotte grumbled.
“See? She’s fine,” Cyndy said.
The tension grew as Cyndy stared at Charlotte, Charlotte stared at Adriel and Adriel had no idea how to handle the situation.
“All right,” he said breaking the silence, “Maybe we should go, Charlotte?”
“Yes, please,” Charlotte agreed.
Cyndy quickly gave Adriel a kiss on the cheek and went back inside the bar. Adriel grasped Charlotte’s hand and flew them both back to Buffalo, away from the Gates of Hell.
21
Present
Once again, they landed in the condo’s living room. Still horrified at her indiscretion, Charlotte tore her coat off and threw it behind her, breaking a lamp in the process.
“I really am sorry, Charlotte,” Adriel said.
“Can we not do this? Seriously, just go back to being an uppity asshole from Hell and leave me alone.”
Adriel’s head hung low and Charlotte glanced at him. She never realized a demon could act, well, so human.
Pushing away any thoughts involving forgiving him, Charlotte turned her back on the demon and went into the bathroom to prepare a shower. She hastily locked the door once inside.
While Charlotte showered, Adriel looked at all of the framed photos in the living room once again. He picked up one frame in particular; a photo of Charlotte and Liam next to a colossal Ferris wheel. Adriel opened the back of the frame and pulled out the picture. He swiftly ripped it in half, and put the half containing a smiling Charlotte in his back pocket.
…
The next morning, Charlotte woke up without anyone hovering over her. Relieved she was alone, she also realized she had a dreamless sleep. No Adriel. Nothing. She silently thanked Mr. Sandman; she had needed a night away from the demon.
However, the pent-up aggression and angst inside her left her restless, and she needed some kind of outlet for a release. Charlotte glanced around her room, hoping the answer would jump out at her, and it did as she noticed her Nike sneakers in the corner; she would go running.
She scarfed down a muffin, chugged an espresso and popped a Tylenol right before lacing up her cotton-candy neon running shoes.
She stepped outside and began to sprint away from the condo, ignoring the brisk air as her feet hit the pavement with maximum velocity. After a mile or two, her adrenaline rush climaxed as she crossed the Canalside boardwalk near the hockey arena.
Charlotte noticed families and couples out and about, pointing and admiring the boats daring to make a voyage across the choppy Lake Erie. She began to wonder what her life would be like if she had never met Liam in the first place.
She’d probably have moved to a bigger city and worked as an investigating reporter instead of a features writer at a magazine. She’d most likely be living with Tori and be wholly dedicated to her work, desperate to crack open a new story every chance she got.
Instead, she was here, still in Buffalo and stuck in the wildest predicament of her life. She was dancing with the Devil, almost literally, and had no way to escape. Soon, she’d be forced to actually murder not one, but three men. And Adriel still hadn’t told her the plan of how it was going to go down.
Thinking of Adriel brought back the memories of the night before. What began as an innocent, playful dance, ended up leading them both down a path of wild temptation. She still felt angry and slightly taken advantage of, but the memory of Adriel’s lips against hers softened any anger she still harbored. She couldn’t help but wonder why she let it happen. Why did she even dance with him? Could she blame the alcohol? Or, was something more happening between them? Confusion tore through her.
Finally out of juice, Charlotte decided to take a break from her run and rest in one of the complementary wooden lounge chairs provided on the boardwalk. She sat down, leaned back and absorbed the comforting sun upon her face.
As she relaxed, an image popped into Charlotte’s head. She saw a frenzied woman, probably around her age. She was bloodied, bruised and beaten to a pulp. She saw the girl, on her knees begging for the torture to stop.
Despite her pleas, four men were laughing like hyenas. The harder the girl cried, the more they roared with laughter.
“Okay, sweetheart. Time to show us the goodies,” one man said.
“Yeah, let’s see what cha got under that dress of yours,” another shouted.
Charlotte tried to focus in on the scene, hoping to discover the identities of the men. It was difficult to make out their faces, but she did notice they were all wearing freshly laundered suits with shoes polished to perfection.
“Please no, stop! I’ll do anything!” the young girl howled out as one of the men began viciously dragging her.
“Take off her dress,” another grumbled, rubbing his hands
together menacingly.
Charlotte saw the girl’s face, tears were streaming down her cheeks as her eyes filled with pure terror. She knew this face, she’d seen it before, but where? And then it clicked, this was the girl from the news, the girl who was found murdered behind the casino.
After her realization of the victim’s identity, the fourth and final man stepped out of the shadows and began to rip the girl’s dress off. The fourth and final man looked familiar too, it was Liam.
22
Present
Charlotte snapped out of her trance and sat straight up in the wooden chair. Beads of sweat poured off her. What the hell had just happened? Did she fall asleep and have a terrible nightmare? Or worse, did she somehow see into the past and witness the exact event leading up to the waitress’s death?
Charlotte felt her pulse and tried to take a deep breath to calm down and evaluate what had just happened. She remembered watching movies as a little girl when a psychic has a vision and can see into the future. She would go into a trancelike state just as Charlotte had done. But, Charlotte had presumably seen into the past, not the future. It had felt so real, though. Trying to analyze what had just occurred, something clicked within Charlotte. She realized now, why Adriel had asked her to focus on these men, they were guilty of a horrible crime. It had to be the reason!
She bolted out of the chair and began sprinting away from the Boardwalk. She ran as fast as she possibly could, but not toward home. She ran to the casino. Faster than she could have ever imagined, Charlotte reached the massive building in record time.
The front of the casino looked normal, business as usual, but she noticed closer to the parking lot, near the staff’s entrance, there were remnants of a small vigil. She cautiously walked toward the area and saw pictures of the young waitress, letters, candles and even a few stuffed animals.
Charlotte felt a melancholy heartbreak wash over her. People had been mourning the death of the waitress. She was loved and now she was gone.
Charlotte heard a door slam, startling her.
“You can’t be over here, miss,” a young, Hispanic casino worker advised.
“I’m sorry, I’m just, just looking.”
The worker nodded his head in understanding.
“Did you know her?” Charlotte asked.
“I’d seen her around from time to time. She was beautiful. Most of the guys workin’ here always tried to hit on her,” he smiled.
“She was very beautiful,” Charlotte agreed.
“I hope whoever did this to her is brought to justice. Such a terrible shame. Well, have a good day, Ma’am,” the worker said and retreated inside the building.
Charlotte remembered the casino had also been the scene of the crime. She wasn’t exactly sure where the girl was murdered in relation to where she stood now, but she knew it was close. She could feel it in her bones. It was one thing to be near a demon, but to be in the close vicinity of something entirely more evil felt completely different.
She hoped wherever Jessica was now, in Heaven she supposed, that she was happy and free. Charlotte looked up into the sky, half hoping to see the Pearly Gates within the clouds.
She needed to talk to Adriel and she needed him now. Charlotte gathered whatever energy she had left and ran home.
…
Once inside the condo, Charlotte paced around the kitchen. Now that she had gotten over the shock of virtually witnessing a murder, another fact crept back into her thoughts; Liam had been involved.
Charlotte remembered the dinner when she brought up the news story. Liam had acted strangely and oddly aggressive, but at the time, she cast it aside. Now, she knew why he was so uncomfortable. Bastard. None of it made sense and yet, all of it made sense. She thought back to the night he went to the casino, how he couldn’t put off the meeting. Charlotte felt sick to her stomach realizing while she was having wine and waiting for Liam to come home, he was raping and murdering an innocent girl. Charlotte rushed to the bathroom and got sick. She needed to talk to Adriel, and she needed to talk to him now.
But, how could she get in contact with him? Adriel had always just shown up, she had never actually requested his presence, she had no need to, until this moment.
“Adriel,” she called out hesitantly, leaving the bathroom and wiping her mouth on her tee shirt. “Adriel!”
Nothing happened.
Just when she was considering calling the police to tell them what she had seen, she heard a faint pop behind her.
“You rang?”
“I never thought I’d be so happy to see you,” Charlotte panted.
“Thank you, thank you,” Adriel said, bowing.
“Shut up and listen.”
“Okay, I’m listening, go on.”
“I was just out for a run —”
“You run?” Adriel snickered.
Charlotte looked at him menacingly and he mimed the action of him zipping his lips.
“As I was saying, I was just out for a run. I needed a break so I sat down,” she huffed. “Next thing I know, I feel myself go into, almost some sort of trance. And then,” Charlotte trailed off. “Adriel, it was awful. I saw a girl from the local news getting beaten and about to be raped! I know eventually she’d been killed too!”
Adriel nodded his head, “Ah yes, the visions. I’m shocked they didn’t start sooner.”
“So, what I saw,” she paused. “It actually happened?”
“I’m afraid so.”
“Let me get this straight. You’ve taken my soul and limited my emotional range to that of anger and annoyance and now I’m having psychic visions?”
“Sounds about right.”
“So it’s true then, even the part about,” she could barely say his name.
Thankfully, Adriel stopped her, seeing the difficulty in her eyes.
“Yes, I’m sorry. He was a part of it, too.”
“So, this is why you need their souls? They committed an evil act and now they’ve got to pay?”
Adriel nodded his head, “For all intents and purposes, yes.”
Charlotte jumped, “Wait a minute. If Liam was involved, does that mean you’re going to kill him too?”
“No, we do not have to kill Liam. I need him alive to use for leverage.”
“Leverage?” Charlotte asked.
“Yes, I still need you to help me carry out this job.”
“At this point, Liam can rot in Hell. I can’t believe I fell for someone so evil!”
“As much as I’d love to see Liam perish, you still need to help me, Charlotte.”
“No, I’m done,” she said, defiantly.
“I still have your soul.”
Shit
“Why didn’t you tell me about this sooner?”
“I had my suspicions Liam had been involved, but I wasn’t sure. I needed to be patient and wait for your visions to begin, confirming what I had believed. I tried to envision the night everything had happened, but I wasn’t strong enough to summon the vision on my own.”
Charlotte nodded, trying to put all of the puzzle pieces together.
“And, I didn’t tell you because I knew you wouldn’t believe me and even if you did, you probably wouldn’t have agreed to my pact and given me your soul. Who would want to save a murdering rapist?”
“I guess it makes sense you didn’t tell me. I definitely wouldn’t have believed you,” Charlotte admitted.
Liam would live, for now. But, what would happen next? She thought back to all the times Liam held her lovingly, the moments he kissed her passionately, and now she knew, he had murdered an innocent girl. The same hands which held her had held another girl’s life in the balance. The same man who loved her murdered another woman. Unless maybe it was all a mistake? Maybe it wasn’t Liam at all and Adriel was tricking her somehow? Maybe there was more to the story.
“Don’t hold your breath,” Adriel warned.
Charlotte looked at him accusingly, “What, you can read my mind now, too?”
>
“Just be careful, Charlotte.”
Charlotte hung her head. Even missing her soul couldn’t prevent her from feeling confused and heartbroken. Although she felt somewhat relieved she didn’t have her soul, because, with her full-range of emotions intact, she’d be a complete train wreck now.
Changing the subject, Charlotte asked, “So, tell me again, what does the Devil want with these evil souls anyways?”
Adriel looked over his shoulder, almost seeming nervous to answer.
“I think,” he whispered, “I think he wants to create an army.”
“An army?”
“Yes, an army to take over the world.”
23
Present
“He wants to what?” barked Charlotte.
“Keep your voice down,” Adriel hissed back.
Charlotte burst out laughing, “What, you think the Devil is in the kitchen and can hear every word we’re saying?”
Adriel charged towards her and covered her mouth with his hand.
“I said, keep your voice down,” he whispered in a threatening tone.
Charlotte pushed him off of her, wanting to avoid any additional physical contact with Adriel.
“Five feet, Adriel, keep five feet away from me at all times.”
Adriel rolled his eyes and sat back down on the sofa with a glass full of bourbon.
“It’s not even 5 o’clock yet. I didn’t know demons could be alcoholics?”
“I like it, and it appears your fiancé has great taste in liquor.”
“Does he really want to take over the world?” Charlotte asked, barely audibly.
Adriel didn’t speak a word but nodded to confirm. Charlotte pondered this revelation and wondered if there was any ounce of truth to it. Could the Devil truly take over the world with an army of evil souls? She shuddered to think about it. She needed a distraction from the notion of an upcoming apocalypse.
