Death of a Fallen, page 24
Panic slipped into her thoughts, as she remembered Griffin told them specifically to focus on their breathing. This had to be death. Was she dead? She tried to reach up for the eye mask only to find that she was unable to lift her arms. She tried to call out for Riley, hoping that he would grab her hand and talk her through the breathing. Why can’t I move? Why can’t I move! Maggie tried to scream.
Griffin had said something before that didn’t bother her at the time, since her only goal was to get some decent sleep. But now his words haunted her as she replayed them in her head. “Be ready to encounter things that will seem very real to you. Your past, or something that you have never come to terms with, will surface.”
Why hadn’t I asked how to make this stop if it became too much? Maggie thought. Please, someone help me! she once more tried to scream.
“Mary Allison Gregory, why didn’t you try harder to help me?” a voice said, bringing more fear with it.
Maggie knew the voice. It was the voice of her mother. She had cried so many times after her mother had passed, begging to be able to see her or hear her voice again. Now those tears were replaced with the desperate hope that she wouldn’t have to see her mother ever again. Please don’t come to me, Maggie begged. Let me wake. God, please hear me and let me just wake from this nightmare.
“Maaarrry, ohhh Maaarrry,” it was her mother’s voice, taunting her. “When I was sick, you didn’t want to come see me. Even after they put my hospital bed in my room just down the hallway from yours. I called for you when I wasn’t coughing so violently that I pissed and shit myself.”
You aren’t real, go away, just go away, Maggie pleaded. I want to wake up now. Griffin, I want to wake up now!
“Why did you never at least look in on me? I just wanted to see your face one last time to let you know that I still thought of you as Mommy’s little girl!”
Maggie tried to scream, begging for God to rescue her.
“Oh, I am so sorry, daughter of mine. God isn’t heard down here. I called his name when I passed from your world until, finally, someone told me of my ignorance. Then they bit into my shoulder and pulled away a large chunk of my fatty, diseased meat! You see, Mary, we are all food down here. Not just for the other damned, or even the flames of Hell. Oh no, it’s the worms that never stop with their ferocious feeding. They are what drive us all insane. You feel them crawling under your skin as you scratch and slap at them violently. Let me show you the spot that I can’t scratch at enough!”
Her mother’s face appeared in front of her. It looked just as it had when she was a child. She was beautiful, with her large hazel eyes, long brown hair that fell to her shoulders, and smile lines that deepened from all the laughter that was shared in their home. Her mother then turned her face to the side and screamed, “Right here!” She revealed a rotten, gooey cheek that she began scratching until her fingers broke through.
The last thing Maggie heard as she escaped back into consciousness was her mother saying, “One day, not long from now, I will share one final meal with you!”
Riley once again heard the warning from earlier telling him to be careful. Why am I so blind that I do the same things over and over? he thought. I am a fool. Jonathan tells me to always be prepared and I do the complete opposite.
He hoped Griffin would wake him but knew it was a foolish thought. The hands that had restrained him earlier were now gone. He considered reaching for the eye mask, but what would be the point? He had been told to be careful. Now he would just wait for it to end.
“Wake up!” a voice yelled, striking him on the side of the face. A cold floor seemed to be his new resting place. His tongue located the metallic taste of iron in his mouth. Giving his head a shake to clear his thoughts, Riley hoped it was Griffin who had hit him to bring him back around. But that was wishful thinking.
“Wake, or I will give you a kick so hard that your insides will burst like water balloons!”
Riley opened his eyes to see the Devil dressed in a white suite, standing directly in front of him. Riley pushed himself up off the floor and spat out a wad of blood in defiance. He looked around and saw amidst the dark he was surrounded by the shapes of four black beasts that looked like some rare breed of dog. They were easily over two hundred pounds with cold red eyes locked on him.
“Yes, these are my hounds. Adorable, aren’t they?”
Riley’s fear amplified at the way their lifeless eyes bore into him.
“Would you like to pet one of my babies? They really are quite friendly, I assure you.”
One of the hounds standing closest to Riley now bared its teeth. Its mouth looked like a shark’s, with row after row of sharp fangs. Dark red blood drooled from the hound’s mouth onto the floor next to Riley.
“Pardon their manners, they just finished feeding. How about we take a seat? I don’t want these little rascals feeling intimidated.”
The one standing next to the Devil barked so loudly that Riley put both hands to his ears, trying to muffle the sound.
“Calm yourself, my beauty.” He rubbed the hound behind its ears, not taking his eyes from Riley’s. “I don’t know what gets into them sometimes. It’s almost as if they have a mind of their own. You’d better sit. I don’t know what they will do if they feel threatened.”
Riley quickly did as he was told since there was no point in resisting. He was stuck here until something pulled him out of this nightmare.
“That is what I truly love about you. You will do whatever is asked. I have come to think of you as a puppet. Pull the strings this way and away you go, pull them another way and, once again, you follow without a care in the world.”
Looking back at his adversary, Riley knew he could do nothing but let him have his fun.
“So, I’m guessing you are wondering why you have been brought to me?”
“No, I actually figured that much out for myself,” Riley replied with an edge to his voice. “I now know Griffin is one of your own.”
“Oh, you’re a silly man,” the Devil mocked. “Griffin isn’t mine, but soon enough he will be. First his wife, now his daughter, and soon him. He isn’t a believer, but soon he will be. One day he will enjoy the fruit of his labors and relish in this afterlife. When he does arrive, there are several of his old platoons from Vietnam who would like to have a word with him.”
“You’re disgusting.” Riley said. But it was pointless to allow his anger to get the best of him. One of the hounds lunged at him.
Riley held up his hands to defend himself.
“Be gone!” the Devil commanded the hounds.
Opening his eyes, Riley saw that he was now alone with the Devil.
“If I didn’t have control of them then this conversation would sadly be over,” said the enemy. “They like to bite at the throat first. Drives me crazy since I have tried to teach them to go for the limbs. It’s not as much fun if you can’t hear the person screaming. I have tried time and time again, yet for some reason they are unteachable. Always the throat. Damn things. But I do enjoy having them around. They will never threaten me and will always offer protection. And it doesn’t hurt to have them around for intimidation purposes.”
You are intimidating enough, Riley thought but let it pass.
Lucifer’s smile broadened. “Thank you, Riley. I know that I am very intimidating. But I still like to show off those babies. Besides, it’s not every day that I have visitors.”
Understanding that his thoughts were not his own, Riley looked around. The room was filled with huge, silver picture frames with a different person inside each one.
“You like my artwork?”
Riley didn’t answer.
“These are displayed throughout my entire house. Literally millions upon millions of them. I created each of them myself. Come with me. I want to show you one I am most fond of.” He stood and walked over to one of the walls. When Riley made no movement, a voice inside his head said, “I will not ask again.” Fearing the hounds could return any moment, Riley stood and walked over to where the Devil stood, making sure not to get too close.
Lucifer noticed the large gap between them and grinned. “No, you are too far away to see the exquisite beauty in the frame.” He yanked Riley by the arm to his side. “This is a mother and daughter. You can see the mother is welcoming the daughter to her final resting place. Look a little bit closer to see the flow of the lines.”
Riley resisted moving any closer.
Lucifer shook his head. “If you do not look closer, I will push your head through the wall.”
Riley stood his ground, not moving, until the back of his head was grabbed and placed just inches from the painting. He could see that the two women were actually moving inside the frame. This can’t be happening.
“Just wait, it gets more interesting, because my art actually comes to life.”
Riley couldn’t help himself from staring more intently at the movements of each woman. When he was able to make out the faces, he leaned in even closer, believing that he could hear sounds coming from inside the frame. The closer he drew near, the more intense the sounds became. A woman was screaming for help. It was Maggie. The other woman resembled her—it must have been her mother. Riley pushed away from the Devil’s grasp, unable to watch any longer.
“What did you do!” Riley finally managed to scream.
“Nothing. What could I do?” Lucifer said with a mocking grin.
“You are—”
“Finish that thought and the hounds will return.”
Filled with rage, Riley stopped himself from continuing, as he trembled, wanting desperately to lash out.
“That’s better. Now, let’s sit once more and I will tell you what I want.”
Reluctantly, Riley did as he was told. He had a feeling he would soon need to make a choice. An awful choice.
A year ago, shortly after he met Jonathan, the Devil had appeared to him and offered him the chance to have his old life back with his wife, Allison. All he had to do was turn Jonathan over. The choice was different now. He now knew that Jonathan was alive and that he was going to have to make the choice of which one tasted Hell, Maggie or Jonathan. There was no other way around it. Trying to reason with the Devil was incomprehensible. Dropping his head to his chest, Riley asked for forgiveness for what he was about to do.
“Riley, you are wiser than the puppet I thought you were,” Lucifer sneered. “Yes, your Jonathan is very much alive and well, thanks to the sacrifice of that fool, Granny. How much longer, though, is up to you. So, which will it be? Your new friend Maggie, or Jonathan?”
Riley’s head pounded as the questions and consequences of his actions began to pile up. Was Lucifer telling him the truth about Granny sacrificing herself to save Jonathan? If so, then why hadn’t Jonathan returned yet? Furthermore, why had he not listened? Jonathan had tried to drill into him over and over about always being prepared. Even God had told him to be careful. And yet here he sat, asking for another chance. One more doover and he would get it right this time.
With eyes still closed, Riley offered up a silent prayer. “God, let this cup pass from my lips. Please show me mercy.” Riley knew that giving up Jonathan to the Devil would be a mortal sin. But giving up an innocent, like Maggie, was also a mortal sin. He couldn’t bear the idea of either of them tasting the fires of Hell. “I can’t offer either of them. So, take me. I will sacrifice myself for them. They don’t need to suffer for my ignorance. I know this is wrong of me to ask, but I am begging you to take me and spare my friends.”
Lucifer gave him a knowing smile, letting Riley in on the secret that he already suspected this request. “No, Riley. That is not an option. If you don’t decide then I will make the decision for you and will take Maggie. Then you can live the rest of your life knowing that she is stuck in a frame on my wall being eaten by her mother.”
“She is a believer!” Riley hissed back in defiance.
Lucifer shook his head slowly and smiled at him. Riley felt the world crash once more upon his shoulders.
“I’m curious now, but did she ever say that she believes in a so-called god?”
Riley remembered Maggie talking about a small church and how she had felt welcomed there. However, she never had expressed her beliefs to him.
“I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but she hasn’t converted to your side. It’s unfortunate for the predicament that you find yourself in. I am enjoying every moment of watching you wrestle with this decision.”
Riley began to question why God was allowing this to happen to him. “Why do I have to decide between two fates? Please wake up, please wake up,” he began, whispering over and over. After several minutes passed, Riley opened his eyes, finding that the Devil was still sitting across from him.
“Boo!” Lucifer said, then cackled. “Time’s up! I need your decision. Otherwise, Maggie is mine.”
Riley looked down as tears fell from his face and onto the floor, “God forgive me.” He looked up as Lucifer smiled at him.
“Wake up, my fool, wake up!”
CHAPTER 39
Riley pulled his eye mask off and pitched it onto the floor. Tears rolled down his cheeks, but he made no movement to wipe at them. Next to him, he heard Maggie sobbing, crying out something, but he couldn’t make out the words. He wasn’t sure he wanted to. A coldness enveloped him as he slowly stood, avoiding meeting Griffin or Maggie’s eyes. All he desired was to be alone and to never again invite someone else into his life.
As he moved past Maggie, she reached out, taking his hand in hers. “Riley, what did you see? Please tell me. I am so afraid of what my future holds.”
Locking eyes with her, he pushed her hand from his. Once more he started to pass by her, but she grabbed at him.
“No, Riley, you tell me,” Maggie demanded. “You have to talk to me. Do you have any idea what just happened?”
Riley pulled her to her feet and squeezed both of her shoulders. “Yes, you fool, yes, I know what just happened!” he yelled at her. “I told you not to get involved and you, being the entitled rich girl, wouldn’t listen to reason. I was an idiot for letting you come out here. I should have left you outside that hospital!”
“Riley, stop!” Maggie cried. “What the hell do you think you’re doing? I’m losing my mind and I’m more afraid than I ever have been. Do you not understand how scared I am? And now you think you can just treat me—”
“Shut up, you stupid bitch!” Riley screamed at her. “I told you that a broken finger would be the least of your problems, but you played it off and thought I was kidding, but this isn’t a silly game. When we lose, we don’t go back to board meetings and hash it out like you do up there in your precious ivory tower. In this reality, we bury the dead and thank God that it wasn’t our turn!”
Riley shoved her back down on the couch, glaring at her in disgust. Tears once more broke the surface and poured down his face. “Come morning, I want you out of my house.”
Before Maggie could reply, Riley left the living room and a moment later slammed his bedroom door so hard that the glass in the patio door rattled.
Maggie was in too much shock to cry, wondering what Riley must have seen to cause that much rage. Then a thought came to her as she looked at Griffin, who just sat there innocently with his mouth open.
In a voice not her own, Maggie growled, “What did you do to Riley?”
Griffin’s mouth remained open, clearly stunned by the events unfolding.
“This isn’t my home but if it were, I would throw you out on your crippled ass!” She lunged at him, getting directly into Griffin’s face.
“I—I don’t know what happened,” Griffin clamored.
“You know damn well what you just put us through,” Maggie seethed at him.
Still, he acted confused as Maggie leaned in to one side of his face and whispered, “I just saw death, and it broke me in more ways than I will ever be able to describe. But Riley must have tasted it because when I looked into his eyes everything behind them was gone.” She leaned back, staring directly into Griffin’s confused face. “You disgust me.” She stood upright and spoke evenly, “Tomorrow morning, you will leave at first light. I don’t ever want to see your pathetic face again.” She looked at him, waiting for a response.
“Okay,” he agreed softly.
Minutes passed as Maggie stood looking down at him. Finally, she walked out of the room, flipping off the light as she went.
Legionaries watched as Maggie stormed out of the room, followed by a door slammed closed a moment later. “Good thing you didn’t turn around,” Legionaries whispered after her. “I would have shown you what death really looks like.” Then he chuckled softly to himself. It wasn’t ideal that he had to leave so soon, but this couldn’t have gone better. However, Legionaries was frustrated that he couldn’t control exactly what happened to Maggie or Riley once he put them under his trance. He knew that he would bring Maggie’s mother into the fray. Riley, however, never got to meet the experience he had conjured up for him, which added to his growing frustration, since he wasn’t as powerful as he thought he would be.
A soft prick went off inside his head. It was Lucifer reaching out to him. Keeping his voice low, he answered, “Yes, Master.”
“I don’t give praise, and to be honest I never have,” Lucifer said. “This will be the only time that I do, so relish it.”
Lucifer’s voice was so overly enthused and out of character that Legionaries wondered if he were speaking to someone else. He hadn’t a clue what Lucifer was rambling on about but sat patiently waiting for him to get to the point.
“Riley has just served up the Fallen. He should arrive to your location in no more than a day. When he does, there won’t be a fight. Sorry to disappoint, but you won’t get to test your skills. He will come willingly. Riley offered him up in an exchange.”
