Arianna Rose: The Gates of Hell (Part 5) (12 page)

“Nice cheap shot,” she matched his tone and said. “And here I thought we could be friends.”

“Friends, what a joke!  Fuck your friendship.  I have enough friends!” he shouted belligerently.  He took two steps toward her, fists clenched tightly at his sides then turned abruptly.  “Screw this shit.  You’re not worth it!” he screamed and saliva spewed her way.  “I’m outta here.”  And with his words, he disappeared from sight. 

Arianna was left standing alone in the middle of the empty bar, speechless and frozen in place.  The only movement she felt was the hot tears that began to rain down her cheeks.  She was unsure of how things had gotten so out of control so fast, and she wasn’t sure why the situation had transpired as it had.  All she was certain of was that things between her and Dane would never be the same again. 

Chapter
9

After feeling a strong pull to a location that promised to be another portal to Gehenna, Darius sifted, along with Baal, Naberius and Lilith.  Transcending time and space, he felt immediate heat that engulfed him in an explosion of mixing colors.  Shades of red and gold melded into one another, and greens and vibrant blues fused in a kaleidoscope of blinding colors.  He felt as if a great magnet, more powerful than any made by man, drew him toward it.  Every cell in his body lunged in its direction, racing headlong toward his destiny.  He would open every portal and free the inhabitants of the underworld.  And he would lead the crusade against humanity.  All he needed to do was open one portal at a time. 

When
the dazzling colors blurred and earth materialized beneath his feet, he found himself standing beneath girders the color of rust, a stout building directly in front of him.  The small sign in front stated the building was an Episcopal church. 

Darius snickered aloud, the humor of the portal locations growing with every destination he reached.  As if finding one beneath an Argentinian
monastery hadn’t been enough to give him a healthy tickle of irony, learning that this next one awaited him on the sacred grounds of a church was enough to send him into a satirical laughing fit. 

But he withheld his outburst for the time being.  Something was missing. 
His eyes immediately scanned the surrounding area, seeking a bell tower, the landmark he’d seen in his vision.  But he did not see one.  All that was before him was a gray and misty stretch of land marked by ancient oaks, their limbs twisted by age and stress, loomed like spectral beings, their gnarled and curled out roots rising from the ground like monstrous limbs.  The sharp tang of brine on the breeze gave him an inkling that water was nearby. 

He turned his body around and faced the opposite direction.  He saw more trees, grass and concrete pathways that wound around a cross with a circle at the intersection of the horizontal and vertical planes that formed it
, and the shoreline.  A bell tower, as was seen in his vision, was nowhere to be found.

“No bell tower,” he growled under his breath. 

“My lord?” Lilith turned to him, one delicate brow quirked quizzically.  The fabric of her gown gapped and revealed a generous mound of velvety skin the color of milk and the faintest hint of deep pink flesh at its center.

Momentarily distracted by the need twisting low in his gut, he envisioned her standing before him nude, her pale skin glowing ethereally in the predawn light
, her taut buds at the center of each breast inviting him like beacons.

As if she’d heard the
carnal thoughts firing in his brain, Lilith ran a hand down the center of her chest and parted her plump pink lips seductively.  “A bell tower?” she purred.

His thought
s snapped back to his mission.  “Yes, in my vision there was a bell tower,” he replied, frustration spiking his words.

Lilith turned and looked all around her, but did not dare question him.  Baal and Naberius followed suit, searching for the missing marker. 

“I saw it.  It’s near,” he said authoritatively.  “Let’s spread out and find it,” Darius ordered.  “A whole bell tower doesn’t just disappear.”

Darius walked away from the
beach view and made his way along a stone pathway that took him behind the church.  Woods lay beyond it.  He wandered for several minutes, listening to the soft shuffle of nighttime predators settling in for their daytime rest.  All the while, his thoughts centered on the bell tower.  His visions had never been wrong.  Each time his instincts called him to a new point, a portal was there, its allure attracting him. 

He felt the pull now.  But it had chilled somewhat. 

In the distance, a red ranch came into view.  Old and worn looking, paint peeled from some spots and the front porch of the clapboard house sagged.  Darius was no architect, but he guessed it had likely been built at least a century ago.  Surely, the house had stayed within one family.  Rural farmhouses often did.  Ridiculous mortals thought doing so would somehow preserve their existence, immortalize them.  Pathetic!  Regardless, someone in that house knew where the bell tower was.  He could feel it. 

Seeing the house and simultaneously drawing multiple conclusions at once, Darius called upon Lilith, Naberius and Baal, summoning them telepathically.  They would go to the house and find
if its inhabitants knew of the bell tower. 

His three trusted minions appeared at his side.  Baal grunted loudly then proceeded to crack his thick neck, turning it from one side to the next. 
“Want to hurt,” Baal’s deep, husky voice thundered as he raised his head and stood to his full height.  His ruby eyes flared with the fire of damnation and a long string of saliva dangled from his massive jaw. 

“And hurt you shall,” Darius assured him.  “But not before I get some information.”

Baal snorted and scraped a foot against the leaf-littered ground.  He began panting.  Beside him, Naberius chuckled and his belly jiggled like a bowl of Jello.  The sound was anything but merry.  In fact, it was a malignant noise that oozed venom and malice.  Lilith simply remained impassive.  Her eyes, glacial tunnels, were unreadable.  Together, they teleported to the ranch in the distance.

Creaks and groans sounded beneath their feet as they approached the front door.  Lilith reached for the doorbell, but Darius stopped her.   “Oh Lilith,” he said and raked his eyes over her generous curves.  “There’s no need for such
banalities.”  She dropped her hands to her thighs and watched as he kicked the front door. 

Wood exploded, splintering in every direction before revealing a couple seated on the couch in their living room.  The male jumped to his feet,
and the female emitted a shrill scream before doing just as the man beside her had done.

“Good morning, folks,” Darius boomed.  He enjoyed the rich sound of his voice as it bounced off the low ceiling and filled the small room.  Flashing them a white, even-toothed smile, he stepped over the shattered door and entered. 

“W-who the hell are you and what do you want?” the man demanded in a voice that quivered. 

“Please don’t hurt us.  We have children,” the female pleaded, as if the presence of offspring mattered in the least to him.  But her pleas died on her lips when her gaze left Darius and fell upon Baal.  She briefly muttered something about God then began screaming, a piercing awful sound.

Darius, amused by her shock and paralyzing fear, looked over his shoulder at Baal.  “Oh Baal, you are a hit with the ladies, aren’t you,” he joked then threw his head back and laughed.  Baal snorted and Naberius chuckled.  Even Lilith’s mouth turned up at the corners ever so slightly. 

But the clatter of footstep
s interrupted their entertainment, and finally silenced the woman’s wail. 

“Freeze, asshole
s, or we’ll blow your heads off!” A young man shouted. He appeared to be no more that eighteen mortal years. Beside him, a homely girl with hair the color of chocolate milk stood, her entire body trembling.  Both brandished shotguns. 

How typical of humans
, he thought.  They clung to guns as infants clung to security blankets, as if either were capable of saving them.  It was no wonder they fell with such ease.  With each life he ended, he found the comparison evermore like a warm knife cutting through butter, he naturally being the warm knife. 

He allowed the young man and his unattractive counterpart their moment in the sun, allowed them the false sense of security associated with his stillness.  Little did they know, his stillness compared to the motionlessness of a snake readied to strike.  But neither the young man and woman nor the older man and woman thought that way.  They never did. 
It made the moment he struck all the more enjoyable. 

With that in mind, he gave the psychic order to Naberius to act. 

Naberius waved one hand and the guns were ripped from both the young man and young woman’s hands.  They careened through the air, out of reach, and out of sight.

Darius clapped his hands loudly.  “Okay, now everyone shut their mouths, especially you,” he said and pointed to the older woman.  “If you want to live, you will be quiet.”

“How did you do that?” the teenage male asked, his eyes glazed from shock.

“Was I somehow unclear?” Darius
asked as he turned and looked among Naberius, Lilith and Baal.  “I could have sworn I told them to shut their mouths!” he screamed and trained a deadly gaze on them.

The young man’s mo
uth snapped shut and any moans or whimpers coming from the four of them fell silent. 

“Terrific, I have your attention,” he smiled cruelly.  “I have a question
, and as soon as it’s answered, I’ll be on my way.  I need to know whether this town has a bell tower.”  He aimed lethal eyes on the older male.  “Well?” he prompted. 

“W-We used to, but the Hurricane a couple
of years ago took it out,” the older man answered.

“Took it out?” Darius asked disdainfully. 

“Yes, sir.  The storm destroyed it,” the man nodded nervously.  His weathered, rumpled face was guileless.  Nauseating. 

“Do you know where it used to be, the exact spot?” Darius asked and used the same voice one would use when speaking to a young child. 

“Of course,” the man answered without hesitation.  “I’ve lived here all my life.  But why do you want to know about the bell tower?”

Darius ignored the man’s question.  He refused to lower himself and answer a lesser species. 
“You will take me to precisely where it sat before the storm,” he commanded. 

The man’s features hardened, and the lines that creased his forehead and mouth deepened.  “Listen
, Mister, I don’t know what you want from me or why you’re so interested in the bell tower, but I’m not going anywhere with you, you understand me,” he said, his voice oddly filled with courage. 

Darius tipped his head to one side, examining the stocky man dressed in
a plaid shirt and blue jeans, and wondering how he’d mustered the courage,
the audacity
, to refuse him.  He pressed his lips together tightly, a small frown pulling the corners of his mouth downward.  His nostrils flared and heat snapped down his spine, turning his blood to molten lava.  He then shook his head and flicked his wrist.  At his movement, the younger man levitated and flew through the air, across the room, stopping only when his body crashed into the far wall. 

The sound of snapping bones, quick breaths and the muf
fled noises of wet gurgling signified the boy’s death.  Instinctively, Darius looked to Lilith for a reaction.  He didn’t know why, but felt compelled to steal a glance her way. 

Chaos had erupted around him, screams and cries, a cacophony of misery whirling like a twister.  But his eyes were locked on Lilith.  She took a step forward, toward the carnage on the wall, her crimson gown trailing along the carpeting like a sea of blood.  A swift smile played on her rosy lips.  But the expression fled quickly, replaced by an unnatural calm.  She was the eye of a hurricane, merely an illusion of peaceful tranquility.  Her reputation divulged as much. 

“No! What have you done?” the older female, presumably the boy’s mother, screeched. 

Ramrod straight posture did not waver when
Lilith directed bitter eyes on the woman.  Outwardly, she was majestic to behold but he could feel rage like a living entity undulating beneath her perfect porcelain skin.  Her eyes flashed with annoyance, antipathy gleaming in them, as she floated toward her.

“Sh
h,” she said and placed a long slender finger on the woman’s lips.  Then a shock like a burst of flames ran down her arm ending at her hand.  Fire trailed from her fingertips streaming in a thin jet until it coiled on the floor shaped like a glowing whip. 

The woman sniveled and whined.  Lilith allowed the tip of the whip to lick at her bare legs, flames dancing up to the middle of her thigh
s.  The woman quivered with fear and horror, suppressing grunts and cries of agony as the heat of Lilith’s whip seared her flesh. 

“Your heart is a pounding melody of terror,” Lilith said softly, her voice honeyed. 
“It is music to my ears.”  She closed her eyes as if savoring the sweetest scent.  When they snapped open, she extinguished her fiery whip and glided away from the woman, rejoining Darius, Baal and Naberius.