|
Modern Day Devils - Chapter 26
By Snake - Mark
Romeo and Denis soared over the once quaint town, their eyes observing nothing more than complete destruction. Their search for any signs of life had so far been a failure for the only signs of life they had come across were the inhuman beings bent on destroying mankind.
“I think if anything had survived, we would know by now.” Denis slowed his pace down to be at the side of Romeo.
“I think you’re right. The only thing I can get a sense of right now is our enemies.” Romeo responded, his head shaking in disappointment.
“What do you think we should do?”
“I say give the town one last fly over, then we’ll search on foot.” Romeo suggested, though in the back of the mind he questioned as to why Mark wanted them to search only his home town for survivors.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Devil pushed through the remainder of his minions as he moved towards the gateway to the mortal plain. His left hand was clenched into a fist, the claws that ended his fingers pressing into the skin of his palm. In his right hand, he held a tight grip around the handle of his sword.
The sword’s handle was formed to fit his hands perfectly, grooves having been made into the hard, leather bound wood in the exact spots his fingers would rest on. The handle was only an inch longer than it needed to be; the blade started two inches above where the Devil’s thumb rested. The metal of the sword was hard steel, forged within the fiery depths of hell by the evil one himself. From the base of the blade, the sword was perfectly straight up to just below the tip, where it split off into two separate ends. Both edges of the sword were sharpened to the point where even the finest man-made armor would not withstand a blow. The sword was crafted in the image of Satan; sharp, deadly, and without mercy.
When Satan reached his portal to the mortal realm, he turned to the one guarding the gate, Cerberus, and flared off a row of human teeth, sharpened to match the effectiveness of the blade.
“Make sure everything we have ends up with those hybrids. I want them laid to waste before we worry about the rest of our problems.” As Satan spoke to the large three headed demon dog, he had to lift his head to have his eyes meet those of the three heads. “When all is cleared out of here, you may join us.”
Cerberus let out a howl, the middle of its three heads lifting up towards the black abyss that made up hell’s sky. The remaining two heads slowly lifted up to match the middle and shot out two streams of multicolored light, both streaming up into the nothingness.
Satan watched in enjoyment as the two beams of light dissipated from Cerberus’ mouth. His eyes flickered across the empty sky as a bright flash of light erupted over the gigantic beast that stood before him. The light was strong directly over Cerberus, but it faded off quickly in the remainder of the sky.
“Remember, when it is all clear, you may join.” The Devil spread his demonic wings and pushed off of his legs. His head was lifted up to the light as he pushed himself up through the air, closer and closer to the gate before he finally entered it, leaving hell behind and entering the mortal plains of Earth.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Denis and Romeo trekked through Rocky Point slowly, weapons held at their sides, their eyes scanning the open roads. Their second fly over had brought them to find no survivors, and so they continued on foot, their minds searching for any sign of hidden life.
“I still don’t feel anything, Denis.” Romeo stated, trying to break that silence that caused him to grow uneasy.
Denis paused and stopped in his place, his head lifting to the sky. “I do.”
Romeo looked around frantically, as if to expect something to jump out at him. “Where; and why can’t I feel it?”
“You’re focusing more on the war than on finding anyone.” Denis explained to Romeo. “Think about finding the survivors, and your heart and soul will tell you where to find them.”
Romeo’s eyebrow rose. “Well, can you feel where they are?”
“Only a general direction; basically you just… look around till the feeling grows stronger, and that’s where you go.” Denis turned in his spot, his head looking all around the area around him. He had hoped to see some sign of life, but found only the remnants of destroyed shops.
Romeo closed his eyes and took in a deep breath as he tried to clear his mind of the war and focus more on the task he was given. As his mind started to become clear of any thoughts, the black void was immediately replaced by the image of several people gathered around a set of flashlights. The people seemed to be talking with each other, and there didn’t seem to be a worried look in the room. The picture seemed to grow clearer; the group of people was made up of one man, one woman, and three teenagers, and the room itself was lined with several stocked shelves and a rickety old staircase.
Romeo smiled to himself as his eyes snapped open. “Denis, I saw something.”
Denis looked over to Romeo a bit confused. “You had your eyes closed. Not quite sure how you could see anything.”
“No, I mean I envisioned a group of survivors stuck in what looked to be a wine cellar.”
“Anybody can see a vision of something, man. It doesn’t mean it is real.” Denis sighed and turned once more in his spot to where he was looking straight into a cleared out liquor store. “Then again, I have been wrong before.”
“You want to check it out?” Romeo shrugged and gestured towards the store.
“Yeah.” Denis paused. “That’s where I’m getting the strongest feeling.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Satan pulled himself up from out of the concrete ground, his muscular arms tensing as he put his entire weight against the earth. When he was out of the hole, he lifted his nose to the sky and took in a deep breath.
“I haven’t been here in forever.” He smiled to himself and looked around at his environment.
The Devil was standing in a small parking lot where only one car was present. Behind him stood a large building built of brown brick; and to his right was a small marquee that was topped with a sign that read “Rocky Point High School”. Satan did a complete 360° turn without moving from his spot.
“Where are you, Mr. Laurence?” Satan snarled as he made his way out of the parking lot and down the short road that seemed to lead him to civilization.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Heaven had grown hectic since the demon army had entered the mortal plain. At the first sign of the gate’s opening, God had issued an order that his army be sent down to slaughter the hell beasts before they had the chance to do any damage to his wanted homeland.
God had watched over the promised land as his holy army descended from the sky, ready to immediately engage the enemy. Now that the war had begun, he sat in his throne without a worry, the archangel’s he had entrusted with his army surrounding him.
“My lord, it seems that the gate to hell has opened once again.” The Archangel Gabriel brought to the attention of God. Gabriel’s voice had an echo behind it, giving it a menacing tone.
God lifted a finger into the air, as if to silence anyone else from talking. He arched his neck back and stared up into the blankness of the sky of heaven. After a moments silence, he slowly lowered his head back down to eye up his archangels.
“It… is time for you all to go.” God spoke, his voice booming throughout heaven.
“Why is our presence needed in the promised land, my lord? I thought we were to stay up here and protect the throne.” A voice came from below God’s towering throne. The soft voice belonged to the archangel Raphael.
“He has entered the mortal realm.” God, though normally would grow impatient when his orders were questioned, answered the archangel in a mild tone.
Michael’s blank eyes drew wide at the thought of the Devil wreaking his hellish havoc in the promised land. “We will go, my lord. We will vanquish the evil that is corrupting our lands.”
God let out a long, drawn out sigh before nodding his head towards the commanding archangel. “The war is in your hands now, Michael.”
The archangel Michael nodded and held his sword out in front of him and got down onto one knee, the rest of the archangel’s following his movements. “At your command, my lord.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Denis held his handguns out in front of him as he entered the rundown liquor shop, shards of glass crunching underneath the weight of his body. Romeo entered behind him, his hands empty of any weaponry. As the two moved through the small liquor store, their eyes scanned the alcohol splattered area in search of a door or staircase.
“You could get drunk just by inhaling.” Romeo commented as he took in a deep breath of air.
“I don’t know about this. This place looks like it’s been trashed.” Denis bent his elbows and held the guns closer to him as he turned the corner of a display case.
“Let’s just search the rest of the…” Romeo cut himself short as he came to the end of the display case that Denis had just rounded. “Hey, I think I found something.”
Denis stopped in his tracks and turned back. Romeo had his hand raised and his index finger pointed towards the far wall. Denis went to follow Romeo’s finger, but found a display to be blocking his view; joining Romeo at his side, Denis looked to the far wall and found it to be covered by a wooden case.
“Yeah? Those things are all over this store.” Denis scratched his forehead with the barrel of one of his pistols.
“But there aren’t any against the walls; and anyway, look at the fourth shelf down.” Romeo lowered his hand and started to approach the case slowly, signaling Denis to follow.
Denis’ eyes leveled with the fourth shelf from the top and a smile grew immediately across his lips. Sticking out from the wall through the empty shelf was a small, round metallic object. “You’ve got one set of eyes, man.”
“I guess we were all given different traits.” Romeo laughed to himself as he moved to one side of the case.
Denis nodded quickly and moved to the same side with Romeo, placing his guns on a shelf and resting his palms against the side of the wooden case. “On three.”
Romeo rested his hands above Denis’ and nodded in acknowledgement. “Three.”
Denis laughed quietly as the two pushed on the tall case and slid it away from the door. The doorknob caught onto the wood of a moment, but with a slight push away from the wall, the case moved without a problem. When the hidden door was completely covered, the two stopped pushed.
“If there are people down there, how could they have blocked the door off?” Romeo looked confused as he eyed up the door, looking for any type of opening that could have given someone access to move the case.
When Denis turned away from the case, his eyes closed briefly and a soft sigh escaped his lips. “That’s how.” He nodded towards the corner of the room where lay a bloodied human corpse, decapitated and mangled.
Romeo followed Denis’ stare and gasped at the sight. “At least he went out a hero.”
“Well, let’s not let his heroism go to waste.” Denis spoke softly as he wrapped his fingers around the doorknob and turned it slowly, one handgun leading the way.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As Denis and Romeo moved down the stairwell that was just behind the door, the wooden stairs creaked under their weight. At the first creak, the two swore they heard mumbling rise up from the dark room that lay below them.
Wanting not to scare whoever was in hiding in the liquor store basement, Denis loosened his grip around his handguns and kept walking as they vanished from sight. Still moving as slowly and as quietly as he could, Denis reached the last step, where he stopped and, pressed his back against the wall surrounding the stairs, and slowly peeked his head around the corner. As his eyes adjusted to the complete darkness, he was greeted to the sight of a wine bottle soaring towards his head.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When Romeo heard the shatter of glass and saw Denis stumble off the stairs and into the room, he drew his daggers and came down the stairs quickly. Romeo jumped from the third step and landed on the hard floor, his knees bending as he landed. As he straightened himself up to a full stance, he turned swiftly to face the black room. He stood silently for a second, Denis on the ground in front of him rubbing his forehead and squinting his eyes, before the light of a flashlight broke the room’s darkness.
“Stop father, their human!” A female voice called from behind the bright light that shined in Romeo’s eyes.
At the sound of the girl’s voice, Romeo sheathed his daggers underneath the belt of his pants, unsure of whether or not it was a good idea to reveal what Denis and he really were.
From the blackness a rather portly shape emerged and blocked out the blinding light. Romeo shook his head, attempting to rid the spots that he now saw.
“Oh thank god. The names Tim Freeleader; please, come on in.” The man took hold of Romeo’s hand and shook it enthusiastically while a female figure tended to Denis.
“I’m sorry about the bottle; we just didn’t want to take any chances.” Romeo overheard the woman speak to Denis as he was led into the dark room.
“Hit the lights, dear.” Tim called out to another person in the dark, and immediately, the room was lit up by a row of rather powerful flashlights.
Romeo looked around the room. One woman stood by the source of light, a girl at least fifteen years of age stood with a flashlight in her hand, a boy about the same age as the girl held two wine bottles in his hand, and another girl knelt against the far wall, several tears streaming down her eyes. The crying girl seemed to be of the same age as Romeo.
“Welcome to our home…” Tim’s voice broke off, awaiting Romeo to state his name.
“Romeo Stantenz.” Romeo nodded to the people around the room.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Denis looked up from his place on the floor, his vision finally coming together. His head pounded, a warm liquid slowly dripping down from the fresh wounds on his forehead. As he tried to shake away the pain, he saw a figure move towards him and kneel down in front of his head, a soft hand gently wiping at the blood on his forehead.
“I’m sorry about the bottle; we just didn’t want to take any chances.” A woman spoke softly as she tended to Denis.
Denis sat up quickly when he immediately remembered why he was in the basement in the first place. “Is this everybody?” Denis spoke hurriedly.
“Everybody?” The woman looked confused before realizing what he had meant. “Yes, this is all of us.”
Standing, Denis stuck his hand out for the woman to grab as she stood as well. “Good, we’re leaving.”
“Leaving? No. We’re staying here. This is the safest place to be.” The woman protested, backing away from Denis.
“Look lady, you don’t know what’s going on out there; we do. You’re best bet is to come with us.”
“I will not take my family out of here. It is safe here, we’ve survived this long!” The woman’s voice rose, which brought the argument to the attention of Mr. Freeleader, who rushed over to the side of the woman.
“Maria, what’s going on?” Tim rubbed his wife’s shoulder gently, his eyes never leaving the stranger that was struck with the wine bottle.
“This boy says we should leave here. He says it is safer with him than down here.” Maria Freeleader, husband to Tim and mother to two out of the three children, spoke in a disgusted tone.
“Sir, you don’t understand. We were sent out to find and pick up and survivors left in the town.” Denis began to explain and then looked beyond the couple to find Romeo kneeling besides the older of the children comforting her. Shaking his head, he continued. “There is a war going on; a war between demons and angels.”
“I told you they were demons!” A voice chimed up from the other side of the room. A boy ran up to Tim and nudged his side.
Tim ignored his son and shook his head. “We don’t care what’s going on; we’re going to stay down here, where it is safe.”
Denis sighed and shook his head. “You have to trust us.”
Before the Freeleader’s were given a chance to refute what Denis was saying, their eldest daughter, Yvonne, approached them. Her tears had stopped and a determined look was in her eyes.
“I think we should trust them.” Yvonne came up from behind her parents, her eyes set directly on Denis.
Maria turned her head to her daughter, a questioning look growing across her face. “Why?”
Yvonne froze for a second and looked behind her to where Romeo was standing. His head was nodding slowly, as if he knew what she had to say. “They’re not human.”
Denis’ eyes grew wide and his jaw dropped. Without getting the Freeleader’s reactions, he moved around them and headed towards Romeo.
“You fucking told them?” Denis stared Romeo in the eyes, anger flaring in his orbs.
“I figured it was the only way to get them to go with us.” Romeo spoke defensively and quietly. “I showed the girl everything. Even gave her a glimpse of my wings.”
“Oh yeah, I’m sure they would really entrust themselves in the hands of two inhuman strangers!” Denis’ voice rose as he moved his hands around frantically, as if he didn’t know what to do with them.
Maria walked over to the two, her head tilted slightly. “If everything my daughter just told me is true, then we’ll go with you.” Her voice quivered slightly. “Everything just seems to fantastical for it to be false; and anyway, with what’s going on outside, it’s hard to not believe something like this.”
“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.” Denis spoke to himself in disbelief that Romeo’s idea had worked.
“See, that worked rath…” Denis’ hand rose up in front of Romeo’s face before he had the chance to finish his statement.
“Don’t even…” Denis turned his attention towards the family, now gathered together as if they were still unsure of their odd rescuers. “Is there anyone else that you know of that may be hiding?”
Tim shook his head. “No, all of our friends,” He stopped and looked down to the ground, “no, there’s nobody.”
“Then we leave now. First things first,” Denis turned back to Romeo, “we need to find them transportation.”
© Copyright 2004 Mark LoProto. All rights reserved.
No part of this work may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission from the author.
1/16/2004 6:29:10 PM
Comment on this fan fiction!
|
|
|
