Evil - Chapter 41
“That was…contentious,” I said as we flew away from the tower toward the cubicles in the furthest edge of the cavern.
This is a portal fantasy series with mythological roots and action-adventure tendencies. You can search through all my work on my website.
It's not easy being the Antichrist.
Anjelica’s mother never told her that she was a demon. Now, all she wants is her old life back, but that’s not possible for her. Not after what she’s seen.
Anjelica used to be a popular cheerleader with an awesome life, but that was before an evil cult of demons tried to use her blood to open a portal to Hell and start the Apocalypse.
She was rescued from that fate, barely, and because of the imminent threat to her life, her saviors ripped her from Los Angeles and brought her to a safe house in the middle of nowhere.
They said it was for her own good, but she would rather be dead than stuck in boring, old Bronard, Missouri. She was from the big city, so a sleepy, rural life wasn’t for her.
She longed for excitement.
So, when she met a young witch with a mysterious past who promised to show her everything she knew about opening portals and traveling between distant lands, they bonded immediately
I mean, what’s the worst that could happen, right?
It’s not like they would open an intergalactic gateway to another planet and get thrown into a brand, new world with no way to get back to Earth, right?
Join Anjelica in her own solo adventure and find out what happened to her immediately after the events in Magic.
“I’m sorry to make you uncomfortable.”
“It’s okay. I’m a big girl. Are you okay, though?”
“I am an immortal being. It takes a lot to hurt my feelings. I have done my best in my brother’s absence, but I am not equipped to lead this place. That much has been thoroughly communicated to me.”
“Where did he go?” I asked, even though Araphel clearly didn’t want to talk about it.
“A long time ago, my brother, along with three others, stood against the gods with the titan Surt. When Surt was defeated, my brother was banished, leaving the universe in turmoil. I have tried, along with my brethren, to fill his shoes, but we can only do so much. The reapers…they do not answer to me. Souls refuse our commands. Recruitment is in the toilet. It’s been…awful. We soldier on, as we all must, even in the face of terrible challenges.”
There was only one light on in the last tower in the cavern. The building had cracked at the bottom and now leaned against the rock for support. When we landed there, the entire structure felt like it would teeter under the lightest pressure.
“Are you Zekeliot?” Araphel asked a hooded figure scribbling behind a desk.
I was surprised to see that the face under the hood belonged to a young woman with dark amber eyes and full red lips. She pulled back her hood to reveal a thick mane of
red hair, just like my natural color, that fell to her shoulders in thin curls.
“That’s me,” she said with a huff. “Don’t get many visitors back here. How can I help you?”
“Yes,” Araphel said. “You cover Earth 39429, do you not?”
“I do,” she said. “Along with about a thousand others.”
“There is a soul there that waits for judgment. His fate sits on the head of a pin. I’m hoping you can help me notarize form FMJ-2201 so I can intercede on this woman’s behalf to get some answers from him before his fate is finalized.”
“That’s Baron Samedi’s planet. He’s a real peach, and if you can’t tell, that’s sarcasm. He’s the worst. Yeah, as long as it doesn’t get back to me, I’ll authorize your stupid form.” She smirked. “He’s gonna eat you alive.”
Araphel pulled a piece of parchment out of his jacket and pushed it over to her. “I’ve dealt with the baron before. We have an understanding. As long as I bring the proper paperwork, he’s polite enough, assuming you don’t have to barter with him.”
She looked up into Araphel’s eyes. “Well, you’re a guy, so that makes sense. He’s a sexist prick.” She turned to me. “You better be prepared. He’s gonna try to bargain for your soul. It’s one of his favorite pastimes.” She sniffed the air. “Oh yeah, a fresh one like you, oozing with magic. He’ll do anything he can to make sure you never leave the underworld.” She signed the paper and pushed it back. “Good luck to you. I don’t think any of us reapers have been lucky in a long time. Maybe today will be the day, though.”
***
Araphel grabbed a torch from one of the offices, which made the return trip through the caves much easier. Back at the top of the mountain, he grabbed my hand and snapped us away. It was funny, even though it had been hours since breakfast, I still tasted whipped cream on my tongue when we vanished into the ether.
We rematerialized on the edge of another great chasm. While the one on Yrowet was dull and pale, this one was filled with bright oranges and reds lighting up every part of the cave in an overwhelming glaze that mixed painfully with the pained screams and gurgling cries of thousands of humans echoing off every wall. A gust of hot air and the smell of charred flesh stung my nose.
“Oh good,” Araphel said. “We made it without incident. I was worried form FMJ-2201 wouldn’t be enough to grant me access to this plane.”
“Are we...in Hell?” I said.
Araphel narrowed his eyes. “For the sake of argument, I’m going to say yes, though your planet’s concept of the underworld is flawed. Still, there are things here that even a half demon should never have to see.” He took a step toward me. “With your permission, I would like to blindfold you, lest you have nightmares the rest of your natural life.”
“Actually, that sounds nice. Not the nightmare part, the blindfold part. Go for it.”
He snapped his fingers, and a black blindfold appeared. He grabbed it and wrapped it around my eyes. “Would you like earphones as well?”
“Kind of.”
I heard him snap again, and then a pair of earphones covered my ears, and the sounds of the damned fell away. I could still hear them in the muffled silence, but they felt far away. Finally, Araphel grabbed my hand and lifted me into the air.
Even with my ears and eyes covered, I was shaking with fear. It was as if my soul knew we were in an unnatural place. The smell of charred flesh mixed with sweat and blood which drove me to gag, and even the touch of the air felt tinged with suffering.
I felt solid ground under my feet again, and Araphel removed my blindfold to reveal a tall building. It was a dead ringer for the DMV by my house in Los Angeles. He pushed through the door to reveal the familiar sight of a line that snaked back and forth a dozen times before it disappeared through another door.
I pulled off my earphones. “Please tell me we don’t have to stand in that line?”
“Gods no,” Araphel said. “One of the advantages of being one of us is that you have a skip-the-line pass, everywhere.”
He dragged me past the line filled with demons, orcs, zombies, trolls, changelings, gorgons, and every manner of beast I had only ever read about in books. He pushed through a cadre of imps, and another of sidhe, before finally arriving at the desk of a plump satyr sitting behind a sign that read “GODS ONLY.”
The satyr didn’t look up when he spoke. “What can I do for you today?”
“Hello, good friend,” Araphel said, slapping his paper on the counter between them. “I believe you’ll see that everything is in order.”
The satyr took the paper slowly and stared at it. “This is form FMJ-2201.”
“Exactly. Request for an audience with a soul before it is condemned.”
The satyr typed into a primitive version of a computer. Really, it was little more than a stone tablet surrounded by tree bark. “This soul was condemned twenty minutes ago to pit seven. You’ll need form JYR-4120, in triplicate, signed by Baron Samedi, if you wish to see this processed through.”
“Dagnabit,” Araphel grumbled, turning to me. “I’m afraid that while I love it, bureaucracy can sometimes move too slowly. I wish I could do more, but I—”
“Oh no, don’t even start that with me,” I said. “I have been through too much in this dream state to stop now. Do you understand the amount of shit that we’ll be in if King Ulthar succeeds with his plan?”
He held up his hands. “I’m sorry, but there’s nothing I can do without seeing the baron, and frankly…he frightens even me.”
I spun around. “Fine, I’ll do it myself.”
I stormed toward the door until Araphel’s bony hand grabbed me and turned me around. “You don’t want to talk to the baron. Trust me. He will mess with your mind and destroy your soul, and he’ll have fun doing it.”
“Then you talk to him,” I said.
“I—I—”
“That’s what I thought.” I shook myself free. “Thanks for the help, but I’ll take it from here.”
This is a portal fantasy series with mythological roots and action-adventure tendencies. You can search through all my work on my website.