Chapter 3 – Visitors
I left the Holiday Inn soon after nightfall. In my pocket was a bloody face towel. An establishment like the Holiday Inn would not hesitate to call the police so I had to remove it from the premises. Besides, I think I wanted a memento from today’s escapade.
I let myself into my apartment. The blinds were all closed and the lights were all off. It was exactly the way I had left it a couple of days ago. I turned on my TV and powered up my computer.
The TV was showing a newscast of a ghastly quadruple murder that had happened the night before. The victims had not yet been identified because they had literally been torn apart and the body fragments were all intermingled. The police were having a difficult time sorting out what part belonged to which body. So far, the only speculation was that the deed had been done by some perverse cult faction.
I gave a snort of derision at that speculation. My jobs always seemed to be blamed on some sort of obscure satanic cult. As usual, I do all the work and He gets all the credit.
My computer beeped at an incoming email. I opened the email and read a short congratulatory message from my most recent employer.
Great job A. But did it have to be so gruesome?
I snorted and typed a quick reply back.
You asked for an example to be made. I made it.
There were no other emails. Not too many people knew my email address. Besides, I changed it after every job. That reminded me that I had one more little detail to take care of before I could chalk up last night’s work as another job completed. I resolved to change my email address first thing in the morning.
A dark lump in the corner of my living room caught my attention. It had not been there before. When it had appeared, I had no idea. As casually as possible, I glanced directly at the lump and could make out some familiar colors. It looked suspiciously like the long coat I had been wearing the night before. I looked harder and saw several dark red smudges on the coat. Yup, definitely the coat that I thought I had left behind at the grubby motel I stayed in last night.
What was it doing here? More importantly, how did it get here?
I suspected that my questions would soon be answered and tried not to sigh. He’d always liked to try to startle me and he had never truly succeeded. Still, that didn’t stop him from trying whenever he could. He was also a bit of a show off.
The darkness in the far corner of the room became darker. It condensed into a dark, almost inky black form. Like a dark shadowy blob, the dark form moved slowly away from the corner and into the center of the room. There, it slowly took the form of a monster from a child’s nightmare. The beast was over seven feet tall, even though it was hunching its shoulders forward. Giant bat-like wings extended from its back and a long snake-like tail whipped from side to side. The face was hideous. It was vaguely man-like, with thick bushy eyebrows, elfin ears, a bulbous nose and a fang filled mouth.
Oh brother. I barely managed not to roll my eyes.
“I saw the results of your handiwork from last night,” said the beast with a guttural voice.
I ignored him.
“You have not lost your touch, even after all these years.”
Again I ignored him. I knew that if I responded, he would probably make himself comfortable and chat the night away.
“Still trying to ignore me eh? After all that I did for you in the past!” His tone was as indignant as his guttural voice would allow.
That almost got a rise out of me though. What a jack ass!
“My Master wanted to thank you for the four souls you sent His way. They were somewhat torn and tattered but he recognized your delicate touch right away.”
I said nothing to betray my surprise. Usually, my jobs were clean kills, much too quick and painless to catch unwanted attention. I waited. I had a feeling I knew what was coming next.
“He wanted me to extend an invitation.” The beast smiled as I turned to look at him. He had finally gotten a reaction out of me.
“Invitation?” I asked.
“He wants you to join us. The offer is quite generous.”
I arched an eyebrow and looked the beast in his eyes. “How generous?”
The beast looked uncomfortable, almost as if he were biting his tongue. I waited several more seconds before I looked away. That had the effect of loosening his monstrous tongue. “You will have the same rank as me,” he said hastily.
I looked back at him in surprise. It was indeed a generous offer. However, I was not in the least tempted. “Go away Sam.”
The beast laughed with an explosive grunt. “I knew you didn’t have the balls! You’ve lived on the edge too long. My Master took me out of the darkness and made all my dreams come true. He can do the same for you.”
I shook my head, “All your dreams except for one, Sam. You can never go back.”
The beast opened his dark maw and roared. A short jet of flame issued from his mouth. It seemed as if I had touched a nerve!
“I’ll never go back! Why should I when I have everything I’ve ever wanted? Power, prestige and women by the thousands! What do you have? A ratty apartment, street hookers when your urge is too great to ignore, and the occasional bored wife in cheesy trumped up motels!”
“What I have, is what I choose to have Sam. That is something you have never quite understood. Free will means more than choosing what commands to obey.” I looked back to my computer screen, pretending to find something interesting. The beast regarded me and I knew I had to give him a definitive answer. “Tell your Master that the answer is no. I needed no help from him to climb out of the darkness. I didn’t need him then, and I don’t need him now. Now be gone!”
The beast started to fade away. However, it was just like Sam to always have to have the last word. “Have it your way Az. The next battle is almost upon us. Already the battle lines are being drawn. The Nephilim are choosing sides. Sooner or later, you will have to too.” Just before the beast completely disappeared, he said, “Lilith was asking about you. If you had joined us, you and she could have given it a go, just for old time’s sakes!” He laughed long and hard as he vanished.
I blew out the air that I had been holding in my lungs. He got to me, and he knew it with that last parting shot. Just the mention of Lilith was enough to make my knees quaver. The first woman of Eden had never quite lost her touch to manipulate the coarser sex. It was almost enough to make me want to reconsider my decision - almost.
Surprisingly, it was the web page that my hand had unconsciously browsed to that helped settle my nerves. The little girl, whose site I had visited the night before, smiled from my screen. Her smile seemed so innocent and so full of life. I felt myself becoming lost in her eyes and shook myself like a wet dog to get my senses back. What was happening to me? I am not a pedophile! My little adventure with the nameless woman at the Holiday Inn earlier that afternoon was proof of that, wasn’t it?
I closed down the site and refreshed my email client. There were still no emails. I had hoped for another job to take my mind away from my visitor. His visit had called up too many memories that I had tried so hard to bury away. I turned off my computer and got ready for bed. If what the beast had said was true, then it was possible that I would have another visitor soon.
I didn’t wait. Instead, I fell into a restless sleep that was disturbed by dreams and images of a little girl with long dirty blonde hair and green blue eyes.
***
My next visitor came the next morning. When the sun was high in the sky, its light filtered through the gaps left by my heavy curtains. The light moved as if on its own accord until it touched my face. I groaned and slowly opened my eyes. The light touched my face the way an old friend would. I groaned again because I recognized the touch.
I rubbed the sleep from my eyes and looked up at the sphere of light hanging over my bed. “Good morning to you,” I said grumpily to the light. “Couldn’t you have let me sleep in a little more Mike?”
The sphere emitted a warm chuckle that made me think of church bells. “The early bird catches the worm.”
I scowled and said, “I’m not a bird and I don’t eat worms. I’ve had a busy couple of nights.”
“I know. Your last employer was most distraught over how you handled your last job.”
“Yeah well, that’s too bad for him. Hey, can you tone down the light a bit?”
“I am sorry, I forgot about your aversion to light.”
Funny, the sphere didn’t sound sorry, but the light emitting from it dimmed nevertheless. I finally opened my eyes all the way and glared at the sphere. I wasn’t afraid of light per se. I just didn’t like it much. Heck, any creature that had spent as much time in the dark as me would automatically shy away from a megawatt light bulb hanging over their bed!
“Sheesh, what’s with you show offs? First Sam with his hideous Halloween costume and now you, Mr. Lightbulb.”
The sphere bobbed up and down a bit and its voice was humorous as it said, “Does killing always make you so grumpy?”
“Only when I have to wake up to you!”
“Oh Az, you sound rather frustrated. Did you not vent your frustrations upon that poor woman yesterday?”
“What’re you, some kind of peeking tom? First Sam and now you! Can’t you guys just leave me alone? That woman got what she wanted.”
“I am betting that she got more that what she wanted. You have spoiled her. She will never look at sexual intercourse the same way ever again. Every time she reaches for her husband, it will be you with whom she is having intercourse with in her mind.”
“Yeah well, it’s her problem that she came so freaking hard that she pushed the gag out of her mouth and bit her own tongue. You should’ve seen the damage her freaking nails did to my back!”
A bloody cloth floated into my line of sight, along with the bloody clothes I had worn for my job.
“Az, Az, Az.” The voice sounded like a patronizing father. “You should know better than to leave your blood lying around. Samyaza really was doing you a favor by returning your clothes to you. I will now do a similar favor for you.”
The cloth and the long coat suddenly burst into flames. The fire consumed them entirely and they burnt down into nothing. Obviously, it wasn’t a normal kind of fire.
“Thanks,” I said. “Saved me the trouble. I would have done that later.”
“Would you have?” The voice sounded almost gentle and caring. “You have not touched the light in a long time.”
“So? What of it?” I was beginning to get annoyed now. Why couldn’t they just all leave me alone?
“You know why we cannot.”
“Get outta my head!”
“I am not in your head. You are just too easy to read.”
I glared at the light and said, “You know, you have a funny way of asking for my help, if that is what you’re here for.”
“Actually, I am here to offer you help and protection,” said the light, still with that damnably amused tone.
“I can take care of myself. Why the sudden interest anyway?”
“Your last job was quite spectacular.”
“You said something along those lines already. What of it?”
“Nothing human could have torn those people apart. You got careless Az. Both Heaven and Hell felt the use of celestial powers. Hell’s minions want those powers under their control.”
“So what, now you’re going to offer me protection as long as I join the side of good? Is He going to offer me some sort of equal rank?”
The sphere of light shifted side to side. If possible, its voice sounded somewhat sad. “There is no coming back Az. You know that. However, if you fight for us, fight for Him, He will extend his protection to you.”
Sudden rage filled my entire being. “Forget it! I still remember the last time I fought for you guys. I fought and bled for you, even though I was cast out. What did I get in return? She died anyway. My Rachielle died!”
“The Nephilim were an abomination Azazel. They had to die. The world had to be cleansed.”
“Why? Why were they an abomination? We have free will Michael. We were supposed to be able to do what we wanted.”
“Even with free will, there are rules to be obeyed.”
“For an angel, your Master keeps you chained like a pet dog. Go away Michael. I don’t need your protection or help. I’m sitting this battle out.”
“Very well Azazel,” said Michael sadly. The sphere of light dimmed and shrunk until it was simply a pin prick of light. “Remember, though the Nephilim were abominations and denied entry into Heaven, their souls were immortal. If Rachielle never went to Hell, where did she go?”
When I could no longer feel the archangel’s presence, I curled up into a fetal position and cried my heart out into my bed. Of course I had searched for Rachielle’s soul. I had invaded deep into the heart of Hell and confronted Satan Himself. But Rachielle was not there. It was as if the great Flood had washed away any trace of her.
Heaven has no pity for a fallen angel and no one has fallen as far as me.
