The Gates: An Apocalyptic Novel (25 page)

David tried to smile, but only a grimace appeared
on his face. Standing in front of Andras, he was even surer that something was
odd about the man. Maybe Mitchell would find the answers that proved his
suspicions were well founded.

David reached out to take one of the mugs, but as
he did so, Andras thrust out his own arm. Their hands collided, and the mug
bounced up into the air. It flew over Mitchell’s shoulder and landed right on top
of Mina’s laptop. There was no fire, or even sparks. The laptop’s screen simply
flickered for two seconds, then went dark.

Mitchell leapt up. “Damn it! You clumsy idiot.”

Andras covered his mouth in horror. “I’m so sorry.
I… It was an accident.”

David looked down at Mina’s laptop and groaned.
“Is it okay? Can you fix it, Mitchell?”

Mitchell picked the laptop up and winced as it
drained steaming hot tea from its vents. “It’s gone to digital heaven.”

“Then the black box recording is lost, too?”

Mitchell shook his head. “No, I can still get it
from the network. It’ll just take me a bit longer. Give us an hour.”

David caught a flash of concern present itself on
Andras’s face at the mention of the black box. Perhaps he hadn’t counted on
that.

David turned to face him. “Did you do that on
purpose, Andras?”

“Do what?”

“Ruin Mina’s computer.”

“What? No, of course not. It was an accident. My
nerves are fried. I’m jittery.”

“No,” said David. “You’re the least jittery person
in this office. If it was you who deleted the website, just come clean about it
now. You might be able to help us get it back online.”

“I swear, I did nothing. Mina was on my back about
the same thing.”

“Mina’s dead,” David said it so that only Andras
heard it. He also added a hint of aggression to his tone. He wanted Andras to know
that he was on to him.

Andras took a step back as if the shock of Mina’s
death had dealt him a physical blow. It could easily have been a reaction he’d
rehearsed. “What do you mean she’s dead? I just saw her an hour ago.”

David nodded. “In fact, you were the last person
to see her alive. Strange how bad things keep happening around you.”

Andras looked confused, but it was as if a mask
fell. He leaned in close to David and spoke in a growl. “I don’t know why you
have it in for me, David, but I suggest you back off. I would hate for you to
have an accident too.”

“Are you suggesting you had something to do with
Mina’s death?”

Andras stepped back and put on a bright smile as
he pulled back and dropped into a practiced, defensive face. “Of course not. I had
nothing to do with it.”

It was then that David noticed the ragged scratch
mark on Andras’s neck, right below his ear. The small incision looked exactly
like the kind of wound a woman’s fingernail would cause.

“We’ll talk again later, Andras. I have some
things to attend to.”

Andras moved, but made sure to bump into David and
shunt him out the way. “Go do some reporting, David, while you still can.”

David glared at the man’s back as he walked away
and spoke only to himself. “Oh, I plan on it, you son-of-a-bitch. I’ll find the
truth. I always do.”

When Rick opened his eyes,
all he saw was red. He tried speaking, but his jaw seemed to open and close in
strange ways. He was cold, could feel nothing at all but the chill on his skin.

“Hold on, Rick. I haven’t finished with you yet.”

Rick tried to move, but managed only to shift his
legs from side to side.

“Hold your horses!”

Something clicked. Rick felt pressure inside his
skull, and he was able to move his jaw again. He screamed. “Help me!”

“I
am
helping you, pal. Just stop wriggling
like a worm.”

The red drained from Rick’s vision, and the world returned.
Daniel hunched over him, staring.

“D-Daniel?”

“Yeah. Sorry for running out on you all, but me
and the black haired gent have some history. I was hoping to get the jump on
him, but by the time I got around back, things had already taken a turn for the
worse.”

Rick blinked, took in a deep breath that felt
divine in his lungs. “I… was hurt?”

“You were dead, pal, but no worries. I brought you
back.”

Rick shot up into a sitting position and looked
down at himself. Blood covered him.

He fingered his skull and felt it move.

“Give it a few moments to set,” said Daniel. “Your
head was cracked wide open.”

Rick glanced around. He was sitting in the middle
of the road, right next to his brother’s wrecked Range Rover. All the demons had
gone, except for the corpses they had left behind.

“I-I… I don’t understand.”

“Khallutush stamped your head into pulp. I wasn’t
sure I could mend you.”

“Khala…Khala?”

“Khallutush. The black haired demon. He used to be
a—”

“A prince,” Rick finished for him. “He told me.
Right before he… You really brought me back to life? That’s impossible.”

Daniel chuckled, but the sound was phlegmy, as if
he was ill. “You should know by now, Rick, the rules have changed. Demons and
angels walk the earth.”

“Who are you, Daniel?”

Daniel moved into a cross-legged position, where
he propped his elbow on his knees. He looked sick as he spoke, like he was
going to throw up. “My name is Daniel, The Watcher.”

Rick frowned. “Huh?”

“Thought that might confuse you. Don’t you people
read your bibles anymore? I am Daniel, one of the twenty Watchers fallen from
Heaven.”

Rick’s expression remained blank, but a bout of
hysterical laughter wasn’t far off. What was he listening to?

Daniel tutted when he saw no understanding on
Rick’s face. “I’m an angel, you numpty. One of the Fallen who fought beside
Lucifer in the Heavenly Wars. I fell from grace with two hundred of my brothers
after God’s faithful prevailed—Michael and Gabriel and all them good eggs. You
must have heard of them?”

Rick nodded.

“Well, it was all a long time ago now. A really, really
long time ago.”

Rick tried to follow along. “So you… fought
against God?”

Daniel nodded. “I was young, stupid. Lucifer swept
me along in his mad adventures before I even knew what was happening. One minute
all was well, the next I’m fighting a war against my own brothers. Lucifer lost,
and we all fell, lost our wings and ended up in Abysseus.”

Rick shuffled backwards, moving away on his butt.
“You’re… You’re one of
them
?”

Daniel sighed. “I came through the gates, yeah. Of
course I did—nobody would voluntarily stay in Hell, would they? I saw the seals
break, and I scarpered. Doesn’t mean I want anything to do with all this. I’m
not one of them.”

“What are they?”

“You already know that, Rick. They’re just people.
Or at least they
were
. They’re the sinners sent to Hell throughout all
of human history and even from times before. Some of them had only been in Hell
a single second when the seals broke, but others, like Khallutush, have burned in
Hell for millennia. The very worst beasts don’t even understand the concept of
time anymore; their suffering has been so long. The Fallen have suffered since
Abysseus first came into being—our pain was used to forge its walls at the dawn
of history.”

“Why are the demons here?” Rick couldn’t believe
he was asking the question. “What do they want?”

“A new home,” said Daniel. “Somewhere a little
less fire-and-brimstony. At least, that’s what most of them want. The Fallen,
though, they want to force God’s hand and finish what they started. Lucifer and
the Red Lord want to see Heaven crumble. The Fallen lead their armies and
intend to scourge humanity from the face of the earth and finally put an end to
God’s finest creation. If God does not act, his work will be undone, his
existence undermined. If humanity doesn’t fight back, He will have no choice
but to intervene, and then he’ll be vulnerable.”

“So this is a war on God?”

Daniel nodded “And all He created. The Red Lord
would rather see everything burn, than suffer in Hell one moment longer.”

Rick actually believed what he was hearing—after
all he had seen and done, how could he not?—and wanted to learn more. “Who is the
Red Lord?”

“I don’t know,” Daniel admitted. “Few in Hell have
ever seen him, but he pulls Lucifer’s strings—always has. He might even have
been the one who convinced Lucifer to start the war in Heaven in the first
place. He-” Daniel broke off and started coughing and heaving. It went on for
almost a minute. Once he caught his breath, he brought the back of his hand
away from his mouth and saw blood.

Rick grabbed him by the shoulders and steadied
him. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. It just took a lot to bring you back.”

“Why did you?”

He shrugged. “Dunno, really. Suppose I must like
you. We need to go.”

“Go where?”

“To get a little payback. Khallutush went after
your brother and the others. They took off in your car, but I don’t know what
happened to them after that. They might have gone back to your gaff.”

“They’d be better off making for the coast.”

“And they probably will have, but we need to get
off the street. I need to rest.”

“Okay, then we’ll head back to mine.” Rick got up
to his feet and helped Daniel to his. The self-proclaimed Fallen Angel had gone
ghostly white, and his nose dripped with blood.

“Daniel, are you sure you’re okay? You look bad.”

“I’ll be fine. You’re the one who just had his
skull crushed. Come on.”

They started down the road, allowing Daniel to
take slow steps. There were more dead demons lying around the bend, crushed and
broken, most likely, by the 19inch wheels of his imported Mustang.

“I hope they got away okay,” said Rick.

“Even your brother?”

“Yes, even him. Daniel, if you’re an angel, where
are the others? I mean, the good ones, from Heaven.”

“Huh, been wondering that myself. The Fallen are
all here—over two hundred in total. They all lost their wings when they fell,
cut off from Heaven and God’s divine spirit. They’re driven by nothing now,
except madness and anger. Lucifer had indoctrinated them long before they fell,
and over the millennia, he has got them slavering for a new war, a War of Chaos
and Ending. They want to wipe every living thing off the face of this planet,
and then laugh in God’s face. They will show no mercy, for none was afforded to
them. So, yeah, the Heavenly angels could do with making an appearance right
around now.”

Rick felt sick in his stomach, but he kept probing
for answers, even though each one he got made him more desperate. “Why aren’t
you like the other Fallen, Daniel? Where are your wings? Why are you…
human?
”

“Because this isn’t my body. When I opposed
Lucifer’s grand plans for a new war, he threw me into the lowliest pit in Hell.
But nothing ever dies in Hell—my body still smoulders there now. When the seals
broke, I projected my soul upon another.”

“You said demons couldn’t possess people because
of iron in their blood.”

“I didn’t say it wasn’t possible. The man whose
body I took was in a coma. He was anaemic, and I was able to force my way in. It
was he who spent all that time at the Vatican. I have all his memories, but
don’t know his name. Isn’t that odd? I even talk like him.”

“So, you’re here to help? You want to fight Lucifer?
Why?”

Daniel looked at Rick like he was an idiot. “Lucifer
dragged me along in his first war and got me sent to Hell for all eternity. I’d
say that’s reason enough to hold a grudge.”

They carried on down the road. All was quiet,
everything still. Even the trees were devoid of motion—no breeze rustled their
leaves. The entire stretch of road was dead, and only Rick and Daniel walked
it.

The world had ended.

Rick’s house came into view around the next bend.
The gates were still hanging wide open, but there was no Mustang parked in the
driveway.

He couldn’t help but smile. “The others aren’t
here. They must have made for the coast. Good on them.”

“Shame,” said Daniel. “It would have been nice for
us all to stick together.”

“If you’re an angel, why can’t you just magic us
to wherever they are? You brought me back to life, so why can’t you do
something as simple as that?”

“I lost my wings when I fell. I’m not really an angel
anymore. I have a little residual power, just enough to bring you back, but I
can’t teleport, or shoot fire from my eyes. Lucky for you, neither can any of
my big brothers currently stomping their way around the earth.”

“How do we fight back?”

“By doing what you’ve been doing. I don’t know if
you noticed, Rick, but we just passed about two dozen dead demons. Maddy must
have killed five or six by running them down in your car. They die as easily as
you do. If people realise they can fight back, humanity might have a chance.
Men are animals, but they’ve forgotten. People need to rediscover their claws
before it’s too late.”

“I think it might already be too late.”

Daniel stumbled and almost fell. His nose bled
again, and Rick had to steady him. When he looked into his eyes, the irises had
turned a solid black.

“What’s happening to you, Daniel?”

“The iron in my blood. There’s only a trace amount,
but it’s keeping me from healing. Bringing you back, it… it…”

Daniel’s legs folded, and he fell into Rick’s
arms, shuddering and moaning.

“I’ve got you. I’ve got you.” Rick knelt down and
heaved Daniel up onto his shoulders. He hurried through the gate and staggered
up the driveway. The front door hung open too; he hadn’t closed it when he’d left—he’d
not expected to return. There was something sad about returning home now—an
emptiness of knowing it was no longer a house, but a tomb. It was destined to
deteriorate into a neglected ruin. Still, it was the only thing left that
reminded Rick of what life had been less than a week ago.

Things had changed in the blink of an eye.

Daniel trembled across Rick’s shoulders, having a
mild fit as he hurried inside and went into the living room. He threw the wounded
angel down on the couch, and then he turned to go get water from the kitchen.

“Worm! You live still?”

Rick lurched backwards in fright, colliding with
the glass coffee table in the centre of the room and cracking it. The noise
brought more demons rushing into the room, and he found himself encircled.

The monsters had invaded his home.

“What are you doing in my house?”

Khallutush bared his rotting teeth. “Looking for
things to kill. I get to crush your skull all over again, worm.”

Rick remembered what Daniel had said about
fighting, so he didn’t back away, even though he wanted to. Not intending to
get pinned down, he clambered up onto the couch and launched himself over the
back of it. He collided with a nearby demon and sent it crashing into the wall.
It stumbled to its knees, which gave Rick chance to viciously stomp on its head.
Another demon tried to grab him from behind. He thrust his head backwards and
broke its fragile nose before spinning around and clubbing it in the side of
the head with his fist. It fell down unconscious.

More demons attacked, but Rick kept them at bay
with fists and feet, stomping them whenever he could knock one down. He
eventually found himself face to face with Khallutush, who stood before him,
laughing like a towering hyena.

“Lie down, worm, my foot is ready to reacquaint
itself with your skull.”

“No, thanks.”

Khallutush roared and swung his giant fists at
Rick. Rick ducked and delivered a punch of his own, hitting the festering gut
wound caused by the iron poker. His fist came away caked in foul smelling gore,
but Khallutush bellowed in pain and doubled over.

Rick raced into the kitchen and yanked open a
drawer. He pulled out the biggest knife he could find and—

Khallutush rammed into Rick from behind, knocking
the wind out of his lungs and sending him sprawling across the counter top. He barely
slipped away before Khallutush could hit him with a follow-up blow.

Another demon ran into the kitchen and tried to
leap on Rick while he was off balance. He ducked and buried his knife into its
guts, pulling it free with a sickly pop. Then he dodged behind the kitchen
island and used it as a barrier between him and the monstrous Khallutush.

Khallutush laughed. “You reek of desperation.

“And you reek of ancient dead person.”

“You speak to a prince of Hell.”

“You’re in
my
fucking kitchen.” Rick picked
up a bamboo chopping board from the counter and hurled it at Khallutush. It hit
the demon in the chest and made him grunt, but then he laughed. With impossible
strength, he reached out a giant hand and swept aside the heavy granite-countertop
island. Rick stumbled out of the way before he was crushed, but found himself
cornered at the back of the kitchen with no way to get out.