Four days had passed since I watched the video of my father, and I hadn’t been into the office since Paul’s death. I’d passed the timeframe I’d given Rachel, and needed to be sure she had followed my orders.
Still, I couldn’t concentrate on business in light of my dad’s warning, and I kept looking over my shoulder for a pointy-tailed, pitchfork-wielding devil. I knew I needed to do something, but I didn’t know where to start. A good first step would be to go into the office.
I didn’t know who would be watching, but I knew I needed to keep up appearances until I could come up with some sort of a plan. I decided to go into work the next morning. I showered, shaved off four-day-old stubble, and forced down some food, which I’d had very little of lately. I put on a fresh shirt, a clean suit and tie, and had James meet me at the front door.
I packed my briefcase with my laptop, various reports, study materials, and the red and black leather notebook, which I now made sure I took everywhere I went. I even took it into the bathroom when I showered. The thought of someone finding out the truth of my family legacy before I could try and fix it terrified me. I took one last look in the mirror by the front door and practiced smiling so no one would pick up on how disturbed I felt. I took one last deep breath and stepped out the front door. I greeted James with a smile and took my seat in the back of the car and started reading the headlines on my tablet like I always did on my way to the office.
When I walked into the building, several people greeted me with a smile and numerous good morning, sirs, and I couldn’t help but think how many were genuine and how many were agents of the devil, watching for me to slip up. As I walked into my office, my assistant, Joanne, stopped me.
“Sir, your first meeting is with a gentleman named Lou. He’s waiting for you in your office.”
My quick pace ground to a halt.
“I didn’t approve any meeting, and you just let him into my office?”
She looked visibly shaken by my reaction. “I’m sorry, sir, but I couldn’t get a hold of you, and he is very persistent and persuasive. He has been coming up here for the last four days wanting to meet with you, and he just walked into your office a few minutes ago. I’ll call security. I’m so sorry.”
“What does he want?”
Her face turned red, and I could see the moisture build in her eyes.
“It’s okay. I’ll take care of it. Put the phone down. Don’t worry.”
I opened the door, and saw a man seated in a chair in front of my desk. He had on a black suit, and his hair looked like spun gold. He turned and locked eyes with me as I walked into the room. A twisted smile spread across his face.
“Hello there, Alec, it is so nice to finally meet you. It’s time you and I had a little talk.”
The door immediately shut behind me and locked on its own. I shuddered at the sound of those words. Those were the same words the Man Wrapped in Darkness said to me on the night he showed up at my home. It had to be him.
“Come in, young man, and have a seat. I just need a few minutes of your time.” He stood. “Where are my manners? My name is Lou. Well, my full first name is Lucifer, but let us dispense with formalities. Shall we?”
He stuck out his hand for me to shake.
This was it. The meeting my father told me would come. The devil had come to see me, or was he really The Man Wrapped in Darkness? I wasn’t sure what to do, but I cautiously walked toward my desk, never taking my eye off of him. I stood behind it and shook his hand.
“What can I do for you Mr. Lucifer?”
“Please. Just Lucifer. Like I said, there is no need for formalities between us. After all, we are like family, you and me. I knew your father, grandfather, and the other Williamses before him.”
“You’re... You’re him, aren’t you?”
“I’m who?”
“The Man Wrapped in Darkness. You were in my home the other night.”
“I have been in your home many times, but I have not been there in months. I am not this man you speak of, but he is one of my agents.”
“The Man works for you?”
He let out a sigh and rolled his eyes before he redirected his gaze back to me. “It certainly would appear that way, but do try to keep up, Alec. I am a very busy man as well. I know you have watched the video your father left you. That is why I’m here to ensure you will not disturb the natural order of things.”
My mind went back to the video where my father said every family member’s soul belonged to Lucifer, and then my mind raced to his name. My mother had told me about an angel with that name. Lucifer had been a great high angel before he fell.
“I know who you are.”
“I already told you I am not the Man Wrapped in Darkness.”
“No, you’re the devil. You’re Satan. Aren’t you?”
Lucifer stood with the proudest of smiles upon his face, and let out a quiet, yet triumphant laugh to himself. He centered his tie and faced me. “Although it does me well to hear that name, I prefer Lucifer.” He glared at me with the coldest of looks in his eyes. “I am the one who saved this company you now run, so mind your place. I remember the day very well. Frederick cried out to a higher power to save him, and I did just that. I delivered him and prospered the works of his hands. His soul belongs to me now, and not just his, but all of the Williams family.”
“My soul doesn’t belong to you.”
“Oh, but it does, my young friend. You signed it over to me, and very publicly in fact. The day you signed the contract transferring the company into your name, you did so at the cost of your soul. What’s the matter? Didn’t anyone tell you to read the fine print?”
That couldn’t be right. My thoughts whirled like a top, and my heart raced in my chest. He had to be lying. He had to be making it up to get me to continue on with his wishes, but then it hit me like a subtle wave. He wasn’t trying to scare me. I had signed my soul over to him. I was damned, and nothing and no one could change that now. I had to do something. I had forfeited my life, but maybe I could still do something to stop the evils of my family. “I know of all the evil and terrible things you are using my company to do, and I will find a way to stop it.”
He became enraged and rushed toward me before I could blink. He grabbed me by my suit jacket and threw me across the room like a rag doll, knocking the wind out of me as I slammed into the wall.
I tried to call out for help, but my ribcage was locked as my lungs screamed for air.
Lucifer looked to be made of pure rage and hate as he stalked to where I laid on the floor.
“Trying to call for help won’t do you any good. I have seen to it no one will hear you.”
Lucifer picked me back up and slapped me across the face so hard I thought my jaw shattered like glass. He threw me across the room again. My body broke the drywall as I smashed into it.
“You dare threaten me, you worm? I can destroy you with ease. You’re nothing but a weak and pathetic excuse for a man. In my eyes you're already dead.”
Lightning bolts of pain shot throughout my body as I fell back to the floor. I wanted it to stop. My vision blurred to nothing and back again as Lucifer stood over me and smiled. He tilted his head as he stared down at me. “But maybe, just maybe, you could be more. Yes, I’m sure of it. You just need to see what you can become when you serve the god of this world.”
Then everything went black.
I SNAPPED AWAKE IN a place that wasn’t my office. Everything about the place seemed different and foreign to my senses. Even the air I breathed seemed amiss. When I looked around, I found myself sitting at the head of a grand table filled with all kinds of gourmet foods, beautiful women, and various technological devices I knew were ahead of my time.
“All this can be yours.”
I looked over and saw Lucifer sitting next to me, savoring a glass of what appeared to be wine, but smelled of blood.
“Where am I?”
Lucifer gulped down half the glass and smiled. “You are a
t my personal dining hall as my highly favored guest. I realized something during our conversation in your office, and it is something I have known for a while about the human race. Every man has a price, and I simply need to find yours. Do you see all that is before you?”
I didn’t want to touch anything, but the things before me seemed to be silently calling out for me to partake. I lifted up my hand without immediate realization, but then my mother came to mind. Everything she had told me about God, Jesus, and the devil was right. I lowered my hand.
“Yes, I do.”
“Good. All this can be yours if you will do as I say like so many of your family members before you.”
I picked up on Lucifer’s fatherly tone. I felt the temptation to accept his offer. The chance to be with all of the beautiful women at the table would be enough to make any man succumb. If it were any other day, I probably would have, but something was different. I felt a strength I’d never known before. It filled me and bolstered my inner resolve. I was compelled to resist his offer.
As I looked on all of what Lucifer was willing to give me, the contents of the red and black leather book came to my mind. As I looked at the gorgeous women, I knew if I said yes to Lucifer’s offer, I could have anyone of them or all of them. Then I remembered vast amounts of money made from human trafficking, and I began to think about how many of these women were victims of that horrific system. The desire for everything simply slipped away as fast as it had appeared.
I knew I would never be satisfied with anything from that table, because it would only bring me a lifetime of guilt and shame. I looked down to try and escape the temptation. “I’m sorry, but there is nothing at your table I want.”
Lucifer winced at the sound of my words and tried his best to mask his irritation and displeasure. “Very well, every man has his price, and I will find yours.”
Lucifer placed his left hand on my shoulder and waved his right hand. A sudden whirlwind filled the room. The table and everything appeared to blow away like grains of sand caught in a powerful storm. It all kept spinning faster and faster. It looked like we were standing in the vortex of a tornado, and the only thing that kept me from being blown away was Lucifer’s hand on my shoulder. Small pieces of debris started to scratch my skin and sting my eyes. Lucifer smiled. He was enjoying the moment, unfazed by the elements of destruction that surrounded us. I closed my eyes and covered my face. I wanted it to stop.
It sounded like a rushing freight train was on the verge of barreling down on me. It churned faster, and it was becoming harder to breathe, and with the little air my lungs had left I found my voice. “Stop!”
Suddenly, things went quiet, and the wind became perfectly still. I lowered my arms from my face, and carefully opened my eyes as I realized the roaring tempest had abated. I found myself standing next to Lucifer on the top of a very tall mountain. I hated heights, and that’s why I always kept the window shutter closed when I flew.
The air was crisp and refreshing and almost seemed to help me stand. I looked at the sunset and thought how jealous the artists of the world would be of me as I gazed upon the most serene sunset I had ever seen. For a moment, I forgot all my problems and pain, and for the first time in my life, I was at peace. Then Lucifer spoke, snapping me out of my euphoria, and back into the reality of the danger, I faced.
“I know you hate being this high up. Your fear of heights has often kept you from traveling and seeing the world. I remember a time when your friends wanted you to travel with them after your graduation, but you made up a lie of why you couldn’t go.”
“How do you know that?”
“I already told you, I know everything about you. I also know how foolish you felt, and how hard you kicked yourself for being paralyzed by fear. You have missed out on so much, but what if I gave you the ability to survive falling off the top of this mountain?”
“You can’t be serious. A fall from this height would kill anyone. No one could survive hitting the ground at even half this distance.”
Lucifer chuckled. “Oh Alec, with me all things are possible. Just say yes and follow my leading as your father did, and nothing will be able to harm you.”
“Nothing will harm me?”
“That’s right, not even The Man Wrapped in Darkness you were going on about.”
“Wait, I thought you said he works for you?”
“He does, and not even he will be able to hurt you. You could throw yourself right off this high mountain, and I would bear you up so not even your foot would strike against a stone. Just say yes, and nothing will be able to hurt you. I know you have always wanted to feel invincible. I saw the bullying and the hardships you endured in your youth, and you didn’t deserve any of it. I am offering you a way never to feel weak, hopeless, or powerless ever again, my son. All you need to do is say yes.”
Lucifer somehow knew I always wanted to be invulnerable. The verbal and physical abuse I had to tolerate from my dad and other kids I went to school with filled me with an inner rage that never seemed to entirely go away. I hated feeling weak, and the prospect of being powerful and invincible is something I’d always desired.
There it was in front of me, but the resolve I felt before came back. I didn’t know what it was, but I knew it wasn’t right, and everyone had to die sometime. Also, his story didn’t line up. If the Man Wrapped in Darkness worked for him, and he killed my dad and other family members, then how long did I have before he killed me? Whether I accepted his offer or not, he would send The Man for me one day. Maybe if I accepted his offer then he would call off The Man.
Maybe he’d sent The Man to scare me into going along with what he wanted.
Lucifer spoke up and pulled me from my train of thought. “I will have your answer now.”
I wanted more than anything to say yes. To have a chance to finally be out of anyone’s reach who could ever hurt me again would be a dream come true.
But it would stay a dream.
The inner strength, or drive, or whatever it was, welled up again. It was stronger than before, and I couldn’t stop thinking about all the people I read about in the red and black leather book that had been used and abused by my family. All of those people were tormented and kept down by someone stronger, just like I had been as a boy. The strength inside coursed through my veins like electricity.
I looked Lucifer in the eyes. “No.”
I could see the look of shock on his face, and he seemed to be lost in thought as he stood there. I didn’t know if he was going to snap my neck or throw me from the top of the mountain. It didn’t matter. I knew I was doing the right thing.
Then a smile came across Lucifer’s face, and he seemed to be filled with joy as he looked at me. “I can see I have greatly underestimated you. How foolish could I have been to think you of all people could be so easily bought off with childish things? You grew up in wealth and privilege. Everything you wanted you got, and now you are the owner of one of the most powerful companies on the face of the earth. You already have all the money and power you could ever want, but ask yourself this one question, my son. What do all powerful men want?”
“I don’t know what powerful people want.”
“It’s simple. The one thing powerful people want is more power.”
Then Lucifer gently laid his hands on my shoulders and turned me around to view the other side of the mountain.
I beheld a magnificent sight. All of the kingdoms of the world were before me in all their splendor, giving off a brilliant golden glow. Then I felt the pull stronger than ever to take hold of what laid before me.
“Alec, I am the ruler of this world. All you see before you is mine, and I want to give it to you.”
“What?”
“That’s right, my son, you heard me correctly. I want to give it all to you as a gift. All you see before you is yours to do as you please.”
The draw of this temptation was the greatest of all of them combined. It was as if it was about to pull me off the mou
ntain and into the middle of the kingdoms themselves. Could I really control the whole world? If I said yes, I would surely have the power to change the things at my company, and there would be no fines or jail time. I could also set right all the wrongs my family has committed and give back to all the ones who were hurt by them.
That was it. I had finally found a way to fix all of my problems, but then that familiar feeling came rushing back. Strength I’ve never known before filled me faster than it did the last two times, and this time I heard a voice. Remember. Do not be deceived. This is not what it seems.
I remembered the only reason Lucifer brought me there was to get me to continue the evil dealings of my family’s company. It didn’t matter if I said yes. I would have to carry on the horrors and atrocities to keep the power and authority.
The strength surged again. What was it and where was it coming from? I wasn’t afraid of Lucifer anymore, and I wasn’t afraid of The Man Wrapped in Darkness, either. I turned away from the kingdoms to face Lucifer fully.
He stood there smiling with his arms out to embrace me in a hug. “So, it is settled then. Do we have an agreement, my son?”
“No.”
“What? What did you say, my son? I don’t believe I heard you correctly.”
“You heard me. I said no. I don’t want anything you have to offer me, and I don’t want to have anything to do with you, either. My family may have given in to you, but I won’t. I would rather die than make any kind of deal with you.”
Instantly, Lucifer had me by my shirt and held me over the side of the mountain by one hand. His beauty and poise were gone now, replaced with a horrible scarred and disfigured appearance.
The air cracked and popped around us with electricity, and smelled of rotting flesh.
Lucifer’s eyes glowed red, and he bared large fangs that were hidden before. His once beautiful blond hair morphed into long stringy patches of black hair, and his perfect skin became pitted and disfigured. The elegant façade had been pulled back for me to see what really stood before me. Fear began to eat away at the strength and boldness I felt before. My shirt began to tare.
The Man Wrapped in Darkness Page 13
