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Written by Jaap Boekestein
The demons came by car. The black stretch limousine drove up the gravel driveway of The Last House and stopped exactly in front of the steps leading to the porch and the front door.
The two suited doormen hurried down, but stopped in their tracks when the six guards emerged from the car: humanoid, seven feet tall, long leather coats, pitch black shades. Tattooed faces, their horns and spines reinforced with dark metal and glowing jewels. These were warriors, renowned and feared in all realms.
Miss Pearl didn't stop. In her yellow satin blouse, fringed suede miniskirt and go-go boots, she continued downwards. She winked and smiled at the guards and she was at the bottom of the stairs right at the moment one of the guards opened the door of the limo and the Demon Lord emerged.
“Lord Orias, we're honored by your presence.” Miss Pearl bowed deeply.
The Marquis of Hell wore a white suite, white shoes, white tie and a face Michelangelo could have sculpted when he portrayed Zeus. He ignored the whore madam and only said with a distant, jaded voice: “The girl.”
Miss Pearl nodded. “I have her ready for you, Lord Orias. She is a rare gem. She is inside, everything is as you specified.”
No reply. Instead two of the demons went into The Last House and only after one of them re-emerged, the Lord climbed the stairs, surrounded by his bodyguards and with Miss Pearl in his wake.
In the middle of the hallway the young naked woman knelt on the polished wooden floor. She was in her early twenties and had a somewhat gangly body with long limbs and little breasts. Big eyes, long lashes, a thin nose and a broad mouth with thin lips. Her straight auburn hair reached halfway down her back. She tried to look serene, but from her quickened breath and subtle shivering is was clear nerves -if not raw fear- raged inside her.
“Her name is Aurora,” Miss Pearl said. “She is still pure, my Lord.”
Marquis Orias walked up to the girl. His face was friendly and he gently touched the face of the girl. “Aurora, how fitting.”
He put out his hand to help her up and the girl Aurora -after a quick glance at Miss Pearl who nodded encouraging- she accepted it.
She was tall, but he was taller. Her nose reached up to his chin and she had to look up.
The Demon Lord smiled. “Aurora, my name is Orias. Tell me, are you here by your own free will?”
Again Aurora wanted to glance at Miss Pearl, but his cat quick gesture stopped her. “Please look at me, Aurora.”
Her big eyes, brown and innocent, looked into his, blue and ancient.
“Yes,” she said. “I mean, yes, my Lord. I am here by my own free will.”
The Demon Lord shook his head, just a fraction. Not that he didn't believe her, but to correct her. “Please call me Orias, there is no need for formalities between us. And Aurora, do you understand what we are going to do together?”
This time Aurora didn't attempt to look at the madam. Instead she swallowed and with the slightest trace of a shiver in her voice: “Yes, my... Yes, Orias.”
“Don't be scared. There is no need to be scared,” the demon said. “This is what you were born for.”
He made a gesture and one of the guards stepped forward holding a little walnut case. The warrior demon opened the case and revealed a dark metal collar resting on a bed of red velvet.
Orias took the collar and in the blink of an eye he stood behind Aurora.
“Shh, eyes forward,” he said, lifting her long auburn hair with one hand. In the other he held the black collar. The thing seemed to live somehow, lazily wriggling in Orias' hand. It was a band of black metal, with six bone white claws embedded on the inside.
Aurora looked forward, at the living thing. Snake's fangs, full of poison, ran through her mind.
“It won't hurt,” he promised her. “With this collar you belong to me. And when you ever betray me, it will kill you. Do you understand, Aurora?”
“Yes,” she whispered. Her throat was dry.
His lips where at her ear. Like a warm breeze, like silk, like a lingering sensual dream. “And do you want this, Aurora. To be mine, forever and ever?”
Her breath was deep and slow, her nipples -those little rosebuds- were hardening. Blood throbbed hot in her veins.
“Yes.” It was a whisper of a whisper.
The collar closed around her throat, smooth, without pressure, locking itself in place.
Like the maw of a beast, with his fangs resting against her jugular.
“You are mine,” Orias, Demon Lord and Marquis of Hell said.
***
THEY NOW BOTH WERE naked, except for her collar, of course.
This was the best room in The Last House, prepared according Orias' very specific instructions. Ready for his pleasure.
Aurora bent forward over the sturdy leather bench, her arms help up high by the chains reaching all the way to the hooks in the ceiling, her legs spread wide by the chains connected to the rings in the floor. She wore her hair up in a bun, leaving her back exposed. She was open, vulnerable, ready to receive his will. The girl shivered and had her eyes closed. The collar at her throat felt like a noose that could be pulled tight any moment. Yes, she had come at her own free will, but she was scared. More scared then she had ever been before. How could she not be?
But that fear was strengthened by something else. Excitement? Yes. Yes! Oh, absolutely. But that was not all.
Belonging. She was born to do this, this was her destiny. And he had chosen her, this Lord of Hell, this master of the universe. She was nothing, a moat of dust, a piece of garbage discarded off by an indifferent universe. A crazy mother, a dozen foster families, hungry and homeless until Miss Pearl took her in. But he chose her. From all the things he could do, he wanted to spend time with her. She belonged to him, she wanted to be here. No matter what this demon would do to her: beat her, rape her, kill her, he had chosen her. Nothing could change that. She was his, if only for a second, a minute, an hour or a night. She was his and that was the only thing that really mattered.
Aurora shivered, from fear and joy.
If Orias smelled her fear or other feelings, he did not comment on it. The body he wore was as beautiful as his face: smooth skin, broad shoulders, muscled arms and legs. His member was big and already half stiff. He was a Demon Lord, he was perfect.
He stepped forward, their bodies where touching. Her sweet virgin buttocks against the warm massive shape of his cock.
She rocked in her chains. She had never felt a cock. But she had fantasized about it.
He chuckled, a surprisingly human sound. With his half erect member he grinded a little against her ass.
Instinctively she bowed forward, offering herself.
Oh, she was wet. That was so easy to smell.
For one moment his cock stiffened and he wanted to take her, there and then. He fought the urge. Not yet, not yet! More refined and foul pleasures were ahead.
Little slut. He slapped her ass, not too hard.
Again, she rocked in her chains.
He put his hands on her shoulders, his thumbs pressing tenderly against her neck, just above the collar. He had warm, strong hands.
“Relax,” said the demon. “Breathe deep, and let the air come out slowly.”
Aurora tried to follow his advice and used a breathing exercise she’d once learned to master anxiety, but she knew it wasn’t working. She was simply too tense.
I can't, I'm not worthy. I will disappoint him and he will leave me. And Miss Pearl will kick me out and. And... And...
As if his hands wanted to distract her, they started moving. One palm slid slowly but firmly over her shoulder blades. The fingers of the other hand traced a long S over her entire back to her buttocks.
Aurora shivered.
“Am I displeasing you?” she asked. Why is he so tender? “I am not experienced, my Lord.”
“Sssh, no.” Behind her, Orias’ voice was whispering, mesmerizing. “Don’t move.”
His hands were dancing over her skin. Fast as meteors, lithe as figure skaters. Where his flesh touched hers, they tingled.
Slowly she relaxed. It wasn't what she had expected -feared, longed for- but it wasn't bad. Not bad at all.
New movements, new patterns. Fingers, nails, palms, knuckles. Sometimes as hard as hail stones, sometimes as gentle as dragonfly wings. A rising glow inundated Aurora’s body.
Okay, this is not bad at all... She was breathing in the rhythm that he coaxed from her torso.
The movements slowed down, intensified. It felt like his hands no longer moved over her back, but under her skin. Sparks of delight sprung from his finger tips and shot into her body.
Aurora had squeezed her eyes shut; she was grinding her teeth to stop herself screaming. Her hands were fist, her nails digging into her own flesh. Okay, okay, okay, okay, okay...
Lightning was running over her spine, her pelvis was shaking, her flesh was steaming. And still he continued. They were no longer hands, no longer fingers. They were merciless provokers of relentless, primal bliss. Heaven and Hell had opened simultaneously. It was almost unbearable, but utterly indispensable. It was total surrender.
Deep, animal moans were leaving Aurora’s throat.
“Hold on, now it comes,” she heard him say.
What? There was more to come?
It arrived like a ground swell, overwhelming, rampant. With a protracted outcry, Aurora drowned in a series of orgasms under the hands of her Demon Lord.
Orias let his hands rest. The woman’s back was open from her neck to her buttocks. The vertebral column and rib cage were sticking out dirty and grey, embracing the sluggishly pumping lungs. Layer by layer, skin, dermis, muscles, flesh, were visible.
The girl moaned quietly in ecstasy, deeply entranced, but Orias didn’t hear it. He only had eyes for the two white bulges just below her shoulder blades. Two muscle knots, tendons, white feathers that looked like down.
Tenderly he took the wings and unfolded them. The wings, still wet and fragile, grew and grew, unfolding layer after layer. In a dozen heartbeats the wings were completely unfolded, reaching all the way to the ceiling. They slowly moved, drying like the wings of a freshly emerged butterfly. Blood was flowing through veins for the first time, feathers grew bigger and whiter with every second.
The Marquis of Hell watched the process with tears in his eyes. The whore madam hadn't lied, this girl was a nephilim, half human, half angel. A rare gem.
And she pure, so pure.
Moments stretched into minutes. The Demon Lord put back the muscles and flesh and skin of the girl's back, leaving no trace at all. But her wing, her glorious, majestic, heavenly wings remained.
He bowed over her, blowing in her left ear.
She woke with a shock, her eyes suddenly wide open.
Understanding flooded her mind, what she was, her lineage, her heritage. Instinctively she flapped with her wings.
The chains around her wrists and ankles prevented her escape.
“Aurora,” he growled.
She looked back, the face of a human, the wings of an angel. Nephilim.
She wasn't the only one who had changed.
The real body of Orias, Marquis of Hell, was so much more beautiful than the semi-human guise he had worn. His skin was a deep blood red, coved with a network of black veins. Spikes grew out of his arms and shoulders, his fangs were sharp as daggers. Clawed hands, clawed feet. His penis a huge throbbing pole.
“You are mine, Aurora. You chose to be mine.”
His voice was terrible.
Aurora let her head hang. His words were like lashes of a whip, like the touch of the branding iron on her flesh.
She was his, she had agreed, had wanted to be his.
But only now that she was part angel she really understood how cruel a demon, any demon, was. And he was a Lord of demons, his cruelty and depravity knew no bounds.
She still wanted to be his.
She wanted it with whole her heart.
“Use me, beast.” Aurora said. “Use me like you want to.”
With a shout of anger -who was she to tell him what he could and couldn't do!- he entered her from behind. His big demon cock went inside her wet pussy like a flaming sword.
Hot lust and pain exploded inside her, she shouted, fought her chains, flapped with her wings.
One of his hands grabbed her shoulder, wrestling to stay up and in her. Even caught in chains she was bucking like a wild horse.
She cursed him, his dick was a glowing steel bar, a chainsaw, a pole full of needles grinding inside her.
He fucked her. The Demon Lord fucked her.
She beat him with her wings, turned her head and bit his hand.
Now he cursed her, but he didn't let go. Neither the hand nor his dick. He fucked her, harder, stronger.
With his free hand he reached out, caught her wing. His claw closed around one of her pure white feathers and he pulled.
The shock of the pain of losing her feather ran like a slow lighting through her body, mixing with the sweet, sweet pain in her cunt.
Aurora rolled with her eyes, foamed at the mouth.
Orias grunted. He threw back his head and opened his mouth, revealing row after row of needle teeth.
Fucking, fucking, fucking her he swallowed the bloodstained feather.
And he pulled out another one to swallow.
And another one, and another one.
Fighting, fucking, the Demon Lord and the half angel roared and cried, whipping each other up in an ever growing frenzy.
***
HE WAS STILL IN HER, on top of her.
They were laying on the bench. In the end the hooks in the ceiling had given way. The chains were on the floor, limp.
Like his cock, like his body. And hers.
Her wings were ravaged. Only tendons and black blood remained.
Aurora was asleep, a happy smile on her face.
She belonged.
Blinking and with some difficulty, Orias rose, pulling himself lose from the body of the nephilim. His dick slithered out, completely spent.
The girl moaned, but remained asleep, completely exhausted.
The Demon Lord changed back in his semi-human form. No one ever saw his real form, unless Orias respected them enough to kill them personally, a rare privilege.
He looked at Aurora. What was he to do with her? Killing her was easy. One word and the collar would take care of that, or he could just rip her heart out or kill her in hundred other ways.
He should, he really should. It had been a long, long time since he had allowed himself to let go like this.
Fucking angel, fucking sweet angel.
She was a weakness. He could not afford that. He was a Marquis of Hell, a Demon Lord, member of the Inner Circle. A thousand competitors were working on his downfall, trying to find even the slightest opening into his defenses.
But it had been so good.
I must kill her.
But why am I a Lord if I can't enjoy things? If my enemies dictate what I should and shouldn't do?
The Demon Lord hesitated, claws growing and retracting again from his hand.
Aurora snored and her nose moved a little. It was strangely disarming.
He caught himself smiling.
She is a weakness.
He stopped smiling.
***
BRUTE, ONE OF THE DOORMEN, came to warn Miss Pearl that the Demon Lord had finished.
Relieved, she rose from her chair and killed the television. She had been waiting half the night: with Lord Orias present, the house was closed to other customers and none of the demon guards had been interested in her girls or boys.
Marquis Orias was already downstairs in the hallway with his bodyguards.
There was no Aurora.
He killed her. In spite of that realization Miss Pearl smiled. One didn't frown at a Demon Lord. One smiled and bowed, and hoped to survive.
“I hope you've had a pleasant time, Lord Orias. Is there anything I can do for you?”
The Demon Lord made a gesture and one of his guards stepped forward with several golden coins in his massive hand: Krugerrands.
“The girl upstairs. Take care of her. I don't want her touched by anyone, she is exclusively mine. The feathers on her wings will grow back in a month or two. Make sure she is ready by then.”
Miss Pearl bowed. “Certainly, my Lord.”
Marquis Orias had already turned around and was leaving.
The bodyguard pushed the coins in Miss Pearl's hands before following his master.
At the feet of the steps outside, just before entering, Lord Orias turned around one more time. He looked at the window of the room where he had spent the night.
I can always kill her later, if need be.
He got in the car with his bodyguards, on his way to Hell.
***
“MY LIEGE,” MISS PEARL bowed for the second Demon Lord that night. But this was her true Lord, her secret Lord: Gamigin, also a Marquis of Hell, but not a member of the Inner Circle.
Gamigin showed as his usual self: a small bald man with a coffee cream skin and yellow cat's eyes. Tonight he wore a black and white tuxedo. He sat in Miss Pearl's office chair and sipped from the champagne of her personal stash. He had put on one of her jazz albums, Open Sesame by Freddie Hubbard.
“I see Orias liked your little angel girl.”
“Yes, my liege. He says he will be back in a few month's time.”
Gamigin nodded slowly. “With his guards.” He gestured she could refill his glass and poor a drink herself. Of course she obeyed.
“Yes, my liege. They are very fearsome and dedicated.” Miss Pearl didn't say anything else, but Gamigin knew his servant well enough to hear the unspoken words: “I tried, but I cannot help with that.”
“Of course there are ways around them. There are always ways with enough preparation. Knowing where and when your opponent will be, is winning half the battle.”
“Certainly, my liege.”
Miss Pearl looked at her Lord. “Do you want to use the services of the House, my liege? The girls and boys had nothing to do all night...”
“Why not? I'm in good mood. Let's celebrate!”
The Demon Lord raised his glass. “To future victories.”
“To future victories, my liege.”
Sipping her champagne, Miss Pearl looked at her liege. One didn't frown at a Demon Lord. One smiled and bowed, and hoped to survive. And hoped for future victories.
A Comet Cometh
By R.L. Chambers.
Astorias had been on earth for the better part of two-hundred years, he had learnt to blend in perfectly, not like he ever had trouble with that, being able to change your image at a click of the fingers made that all too easy. He laughed at the people who stood on street corners preaching about the horrors of Hell, and the eternal torment that waited them should they sin and not be forgiven.
"If only you knew," he would chuckle to himself as he walked by. At one point he would stand there and debate them, telling them the truths which awaited them once their pitiful existence on earth was over. He had grown bored over the years of the repetitive arguments, they never changed, and they never listened.
Astorias had been sent to earth to tempt people into a life of sin, a deal for a soul was good, but a soul full of naturally occurred sin was worth its weight in gold to Lucifer. Astorias pulled out a cigarette from his pocket, sparked it up, and was taking a long drag, as he watched the busy city people go about their business, a grin on his face. He was thinking about all the sin that was being built up just by the morning rush hour traffic, he looked at the golden Rolex on his wrist, counting down the seconds as the hand moved around, edging closer to the twelve mark. The hand hit twelve and Astorias clicked his fingers, the devilish grin on his face growing wider as the people from their cars started to yell out.
"What the fuck?" One driver yelled, he was screaming at his iPhone which had just lost all signal, and Internet connection.
"What a joke!" Another yelled. Astorias even saw one driver throw their phone out a car window.
"This will rack up those sins," he said, as he finished his cigarette, and flicked it to the ground. He knew that alot of these people would get to where they're going, and take their frustration out on the next person they see, causing misery, and pushing to the sin of their choice. It was a pretty sweet gig, he had the freedom and power to do as he pleased, and as long as those sins were piling up, Lucifer left him to his own devices.
Astorias got onto his car, a sleek new Aston Martin, and tuned the radio to Planet Rock, where Highway To Hell had just started to play. He started to drum on the steering wheel to the beat, when the radio started to crackle and hiss.
"What the fuck?" Astorias questioned.
"THERE YOU ARE, YOU PUSS FILLED, MAGGOT INFESTED, WASTE OF PUTRID FLESH!" A deep booming voice came over the radio.
"And hello to you too, Lucy," Astorias said laced with sarcasm. He knew that Lucifer was the be all and end all of his existence, but couldn't help winding the ruler of Hell up.
"LISTEN YOU WRETCHED FUCKING SHIT BAG!" Lucifer boomed through the speaker, "WE ARE ALMOST READY TO UNLEASH THE FOUR HORSEMEN!"
Astorias turned a pale white. "Are you sure, Lucifer? I mean you remember what happened with Damien," He didn't want the horsemen to be released, he knew that would start the end of the world, and whichever side would win, he would loose, he had grown to like his place on earth, the sin master, he liked to think of himself as.
"YES I REMEMBER," Lucifer started.
Astorias cut him off, "speaking of Damien, why a jackal? Who goes to themselves, you know I'm going to fuck an animal today, and picks a jackal?"
"THAT IS ENOUGH YOU MORONIC BAG OF DEMON JIZZ!" Lucifer always sounded pissed off, but this sounded pissed as pissed could be.
"Sorry, what I mean is timing is everything here, are you sure it's time?" Astorias asked.
"YOU QUESTION MY JUDGEMENT! FAITH IS AT AN ALL TIME LOW, AND MORE PEOPLE ARE SINNING THAN EVER!"
"Alright, when?"
"WHEN THE NEXT COMET PASSES BETWEEN THE EARTH AND THE SUN, THE RIVERS SHALL TURN RED WITH THE BLOOD OF THE DAMNED, AND HEAVEN SHALL FALL!" The radio crackled and Stairway To Heaven started to play through the speakers.
"Fuck!" Astorias said as he slammed his hands into the steering wheel. He pulled out his smart phone, and asked it for any known comets that were passing by the earth anytime soon, there was one result, and it was going to pass in two weeks.
He ran his hand through his short brown hair, he didn't want his comfortable existence to come to an end, he was a trickster, not a warrior, and that's how he wanted it to stay.
Astorias drove to the biggest bridge in the city, parked the car, and went to sit on the edge, his legs dangling above the busy road below. He sparked up a cigarette, and started to think of ways to stop the impending war, he took to social media, Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, any and all social media outlets and logged into to his various accounts, he started to spread the word about the end of the world, but nearly all the responses he received wad calling him a nut job, and telling him he was full of shit.
"Fuck this, I need a drink," the sun had set, and the moon was high in the nights sky, he got into his car, and drove to one of his favourite nightclubs.
The night club was busy, from wall to wall with drunk clubbers, you couldn't just stand there without making contact with at least three people. Astorias was stood by the bar, pint in one hand, and looking into the dance floor, wishing that he didn't know of what was coming, and that ignorance really did seem like bliss.
A young woman walked by him, she had shoulder length curly brown hair, and the hazel eyes that Astorias loved, he looked her up and down, taking in her slender body, that was covered by a pair on tight white jeans, and a low cut white shirt, which showed just enough cleavage to entice the breast lovers in the club, she walked by and Astorias checked out his favourite part of a woman, their ass, which almost made his jaw drop, with how perfect it was.
"Damn girl, you have the ass of an angel," Astorias said as she carried on walking.
"You aren't wrong there," she said as she turned and looked Astorias up and down. His short brown hair, steel gray eyes, and athletic body, had him confident that she liked what she could see.
She smiled at him and walked closer to him, and he shot her an award winning smile, "We should hook up?" He said looking into her eyes.
"That's straight to the point, isn't it," she said as she smiled back at him.
"Well, if you knew what I did, then you wouldn't waste time either," he said as he clicked his fingers at the bartender, who passed him a glass of white wine.
"And what would that be?" She said as she took the glass from him, and took a sip.
"That the start of the end, will happen on the next passing of a comet, and that's in two weeks," Astorias said, then took a drink of his beer, looking into the beautiful woman's eyes, trying to gauge her reaction.
"You certainly have my interest," she smiled, and held out her hand, "Ariandel."
Astorias took her hand, and kissed the back of it, "Ariandel, that's a beautiful, and unusual name, I'm Astorias," he said as he released her hand.
"You're name isn't exactly common," Ariandel said, she took anther sip of the wine, "would you like to dance?"
"Sure, why not? It isn't going to matter if I look a fool once that comet comes by."
The two spent the rest of the night dancing and drinking, Astorias was amazed at how much wine she could drink and not seem like it was having an effect on her. He had seduced plenty of women during his two years, and knew that it didn't take too many drinks to get them absolutely legless. The night faded away, and they retired to the apartment Astorias rented purely for the reason of taking women back to.
Astorias awoke in the morning, Ariandel was awake, dressed in the clothes from the night before, sat in a chair across from the bed.
"So demon," this caught Astorias off guard, in all his time on earth no one had ever found out he was a spawn of Hell, "tell me what you know of Lucifer's plan," her voice was all business.
"How the fuck did you know? What are you? I know you're no angel," Astorias said as he got out of bed, stark naked, and grabbed a cigarette.
"You're right I'm not," Ariandel said with a grin on her face, "but I am a warrior of heaven, God, knows something is going on, so he sent us down to find any information about the plans. All the perks of an angel, none of the restrictions, now tell me what you know."
He sparked up his cigarette, "fine, Lucy, thinks he has enough sinners in Hell, that once the comet passes between the earth and the sun, the four horsemen will be unleashed and start the apocalypse," he took a hit from the cigarette.
"That sneaky bastard, I must inform God, we need to make a plan," Ariandel said as she stood up from the chair.
"No, what you need to do is help me find away to stop it from happening," he said as he blew a ring of smoke up into the air.
"Demon, you're words deny your nature," Ariandel sounded shocked.
"Stop calling me demon, I have a name, Astorias, and I don't want the end to happen anymore than you, I've grown accustomed to this life on earth, I must say I quite like it, actually," Astorias flicked his cigarette end out of the window, and started to get dressed.
"So what's your plan?" Ariandel said as she watched him dressing, showing that she too had gotten a taste for a human life, lust wasn't something normally felt by heavenly beings, but being around humans had started to rub off on her, she wasn't complaining tho, she wasn't shackled to the same rules that the angels were, so long as there was an impending threat of war from Hell.
"I don't have one, and tried to spread the word over Facebook and shit, but no one believed me," he said as he buttoned up his black silk dress shirt.
"If I tell God, we could try and come up with a plan, don't you think if anyone is going to come up with a plan it'll be God?"
"No, no telling God, not yet, I can't have Lucy finding out I've told a heavenly being of his plans, he'd end my existence, or worse put me through endless torture."
"Fine, you said the comet will pass in two weeks, I'm giving you one, to come up with a convincing plan, otherwise I have to tell God, you do realize for your help, God could make you a heavenly warrior like me," Ariandel said. Astorias contemplated the idea, Ariandel seemed to have it pretty easy, she just had to keep her ear out for any gossip, and was free to do as she pleased, it was an interesting, and possible idea, one the he would keep on the back burner for now.
"I'll think about it, but I'd rather stop this war before it starts," he looked at Ariandel, and was again taken in by her beauty, he couldn't believe that he didn't see what she was, he could tell an angel a mile off, and knew they could see straight through him, but these heavenly warriors, as Ariandel put it, was something new to him.
Two days flew by as Astorias tried to think of ways to stop the apocalypse, but without knowing the actual plan that Lucifer had in mind. He had worn out the carpet in his apartment from pacing back and fourth, and the cigarette ash that had just been flicked onto the floor.
He sparked up another cigarette, and rubbed at his temples, "There's something I'm missing, there has to be."
"Ariandel, I'm sure you can hear me, get your ass here, and help me work out a fucking plan," Astorias yelled out.
Astorias went back to pacing, "can't stop the horsemen, that's for sure. Can't stop everyone on earth dying, what the fuck, there's a way to stop this, I'm sure."
The door swung open, and Ariandel walked through, swinging it shut behind her, and taking the seat she had two days before.
"So can't think of anything," she said, she looked at the carpet and could see the wear in them from the pacing, "you will wear a hole in the floor if you don't stand still for awhile."
"Fuck the floor, if we can't think of something it's hardly going to matter," Astorias lit up another cigarette.
"You said something about a comet, the night we met, could that be something?"
"Other than fancy timing, I don't think so, but I don't know how all this shit goes down, I tempt people to sin, it's what I thought I was doing to you the other night, I'm not apart of the war council," Astorias said taking long hard drags from his cigarette.
"There's a war council? Don't you know any of them?" Ariandel said eyes widening slightly.
"Yes there is, but not a single one of those motherfuckers would talk to me, in their eyes I'm a lowly pawn in their game of war."
"Give me some time, let me ask someone a little more in the know than you, for a demon, you don't know shit about Hell," Ariandel stood up, and walked out the door, leaving Astorias to drive himself crazy.
Ariandel returned to the apartment, the sun had set and the only light in the room was from the moons glow. Astorias was still pacing, and only stopped once she was in his path, "I have some information."
"Well, what is it?" Astorias said, as he lit another cigarette.
"The passing of the comet, it holds more significance than you know, that's why Lucifer is waiting till then."
"So, we somehow stop the comet, and we stop the apocalypse. How the fuck do we do that?" He took a long drag of his cigarette.
"I don't know, That's beyond my level of reach, even God wouldn't do anything, God will only intervene if it's going to actually strike the earth, and cause mass death."
"Where Bruce Willis when you need him?" Astorias said.
"What are you going on about?" Ariandel asked.
"Bruce Willis, the film Armageddon, Aerosmith, I Don't Want To Miss A Thing?" Astorias said, Ariandel's face looked blank. "Really? Nothing ringing a bell?" Astorias looked astonished.
"I haven't got a clue what you're going on about," she said plainly.
"Fuck, if we get this fixed, me and you are having a date."
"A date with a demon," a grin crept across her face, "if we stop this from happening, then yes, we'll have a date."
"We best not fuck this up then," Astorias said, he wouldn't admit it, but he really wanted to have Ariandel around as much as possible, something about her drew him in.
Astorias and Ariandel spent the next day locked in his apartment thinking of ways to stop the comet, "So neither of us has the power to stop it on are own, NASA and the other space watchers have declared it as none threatening, which rules out pretty much any human intervention, no threat, no issue," Ariandel said, running down the list of notes they had made.
"Welcome to shit-ville, population us," Astorias said, as he pinched the bridge of his nose.
"We need to get into someone's ear," Ariandel said, as she wrote a fresh note.
"What the fuck are you on about?"
"Have you heard the thing about the humans having an angel, and devil on their shoulders?"
"You want us to be those devils and angels?" Astorias asked.
"Yes, but both pushing to the same objective, just with different reasons."
"I like it, it sounds like something that could actually work, so the question is, who?"
"That's what we need to figure out."
A phone started to ring, the title line to, I Wish I Was The President by Dope was being sung. The President rolled over in his bed, "I don't need to wish, I am the president," he grabbed the phone, and put it towards his ear.
"Mr. President, I have an idea that will prove to our enemies we are not to be trifled with," the voice on the other end of the phone said.
"And what would that be?" The President sounded half awake.
"There's a comet passing between the earth and the sun, in about a week, we're going to blow it to hell, and show the we have the power, and capability to do anything."
"Sounds like a plan, let's discuss it further tomorrow," with that the president hung up his phone, and went back to sleep.
"You do a good impersonation of the Secretary of Defense," Ariandel said as she placed a hand in his shoulder.
"Let's hope I do a good one of that dipshit president," Astorias thought most humans were dumb, but had no idea how, James Wallace, managed to get himself into the Whitehouse. He dialed the number and put on a perfect impersonation, the Secretary of Defense falling for It, hook, line, and sinker.
The days leading up to the comet's passing were filled with reports from the world's media, about how the president had lost his mind, and acting recklessly. Astorias, and Ariandel made sure that the president stayed the course, and that the launch would happen. When they were confident enough, they took a step back, and watched as the events unfolded, multiple meetings, press conferences, and a countdown clock that ended an hour before the comet would pass.
"That's going to be cutting it close isn't it?" Astorias asked, with a little worry in his voice.
"I didn't give him a time frame, all I said was to get it done before it passed," Ariandel said.
"Fuck, I hope they get this right, otherwise we're all fucked," Astorias lit a cigarette, and took a long drag, blowing smoke rings into the air.
"They won't miss, James won't let himself or the country look that foolish. Now we just wait."
Astorias sat on a hill, the damp grass beneath him, and a river glistening from the sun's rays. Ariandel had left, wanting to get the message to God as soon as possible should their plan backfire. Astorias waited, he counted down the seconds the the timer ending. It hit zero, and a message popped up, informing him of a delay. The demon started to sweat, he swore he could feel Hell right underneath his feet, and he didn't like it. The comet was almost visible to the naked eye, when the rocket finally launched. Flying through the air, and headed to hit a bullseye. Astorias watched, as the rocket hit it's mark, exploding, and send chunks of it in a million different directions.
"Fucking yes!" Astorias yelled out, and pumped his fist in the air, "those motherfuckers actually did it."
The joy quickly left Astorias, when he looked back and could see that the comet had not been destroyed, and was still on course to pass between the earth and the sun.
"You fucking moronic, stupid, idiotic, dumbass, bastards, you've fucking doomed us all," Astorias shouted, he dropped to his knees, and punched the ground. The comet flew by the sun, casting a shadow over half the world, the ground began to rumble, and the river turned red with the blood of the damned, trees burst into flames, and the screams of agony had already begun.
Astorias looked around, and and could see Ariandel running in his direction, he thought he knew what she was going to say.
"Get to a church," she yelled, as she ran faster then he had ever seen anyone run.
"I can't go to a church, I'll burn."
"God, said it'll be alright, he's willing to have you on our..."
Ariandel was cut off by the force of a scythe digging into her back, and protruding through the front of her t-shirt, blood stained the dress, as it seeped from the wound. Her arms went limp and dangled at the side of her body, as she was lifted into the air and tossed to the side like she was nothing.
Astorias looked up the find him self eye to socket with the most infamous of the four horsemen, Death. The skull which was it's head looked devoid of all life and emotion, only a skeletal hand, with a long finger stretched out, pointing towards him. It's jaw opened and the demonic voice came out, "You must see Lucifer."
"I think I'm going to pass. I'm sure I'll be needed up here more," Astorias said as he started to slowly back away. He knew a meeting with Lucifer was not a good thing, and would put it off for as long as possible.
"That wasn't a choice," Death said, it pointed to Astorias with its scythe, and the floor around him began to glow and shake. Astorias tried to move, but his legs wouldn't listen to his commands. The ground collapsed, and he fell, the orange glow of the hell fire growing brighter, the heat intensifying as he fell deeper, and deeper, until he landed on the hard solid ground, his bones cracked from the impact.
"LOOK WHO IT IS EVERY BODY, THE USELESS, WEAK, COWARDLY, FUCKING MAGGOT INFESTED, SHIT STAIN ON MY SHOE," Lucifer boomed, as he pointed towards Astorias, who couldn't get up from the floor, his body still not wanting to obey his orders.
"DID YOU REALLY THINK I WOULD NOT FIND OUT? ARE YOU THAT MUCH OF A FUCKING DUMBASS?"
Astorias still couldn't move, all he could see was Lucifer's goats feet in front of him. He could feel a seeing pain in his head, as Lucifer's massive hand wrapped around his head, and lifted him off the ground, his held felt like it was on fire.
"I didn't do shit," Astorias managed to say, the words sounded like he was in pain.
"A TRUE DEMON, STILL BULLSHITTING EVEN TO ME, I HAVE SEEN IT ALL. DID YOU KNOW THAT IF ONE OF THE FOUR HORSEMEN KILLS YOU, THEY DECIDE PERSONALLY WHERE YOU GO?"
"What's that got to do with anything?"
"ARIANDEL, SHE'S NOW MINE, LIKE IT OR NOT, I WILL FUCK HER LIKE YOU NEVER COULD, WHILE I DROWN HER IN THE BLOOD OF THE DAMNED."
Astorias knew Lucifer's game, he just wanted to get a reaction out of him, for him to get angry, and show he had been compromised. The words hurt, but he kept his mouth shut.
"IF YOUR ARE NOT GOING TO PLAY ALONG, I DON'T NEED A WORTH LESS SPECK OF SHIT," Lucifer started to squeeze his head.
Astorias could feel the pressure grow stronger, and his vision began to blur as they filled with blood, causing blood filled tears to stream down his face. Lucifer dropped him to the ground, and howled loudly, before turning and walking away. Astorias could hear the light steps of the paws, and knew the hell hounds had been summoned. They growled, and started to bite into his flesh, the pain was immense, as they ripped flesh from every part of his body, and the blood drained from his wounds. He knew this would be the end of his existence, and he had finally made peace with it, and gave up fighting, letting his life fade away.
***
BIO
R.L. Chambers is a British freelance writer and poet. He has been obsessed with horror, and the post apocalyptic genre for more than a decade, and started to write in early 2014. He currently resides in Chesterfield, England with his fiancee and their daughter.