The air felt frigid as they stepped onto the Moscow Airport tarmac. The large coats they hand bundled up in, courtesy of Angel, offered some protection against the icy air. She had made sure they traveled in style while keeping them stylish.
Madeleine had gotten a sleek green dress that hugged her body tightly with its velvet fabric and offered extra warmth. On top of that she wore a large brown suede coat that went to just above her knees and had bushy fur adorning the upper and lower rim.
Dee was back in black leather, a long leather coat that had been designed by some Italian person she couldn’t remember the name of. Underneath the coat she wore a deep red dress that was diagonally cut at the bottom.
The fashion seemed unnecessary to them and Dee had been against the changes until Angel reminded them both how fickle the Vampires could be. They were all about appearances. The reason for taking the jetliner was a different story.
Madeleine and Dee hadn’t had the energy left to teleport around on a whim like that. So they’d take a jet that Angel had lent them. Angel’s very own private X-33 supersonic jetliner, the X-33 had once been considered the next in line for commercial travel and even space travel—but it was replaced by cheaper and more efficient means. Angel had invested her money in purchasing one for herself, as had other large organizations.
The plane was capable of mach thirteen flight, next to teleportation it was the fastest way to Moscow.
Dee stepped out in front of Madeleine and pulled her sunglass up onto the top of her head in disbelief of how the people reacted. The Moscow airport workers seemed to be in awe of the plane or maybe it was of them. Whatever it had been, the workers froze just staring.
The limousine that Angel had called ahead to make sure would be there for them was sitting a few yards from the plane. The two of them made their way to the car where a driver silhouetted against the Moscow skyline waited next to the door.
“I can’t believe Angel just gave us these beautiful clothes,” Madeleine said.
“The bitch is rich as Hell, what do you expect,” Dee said.
“You really dislike her, huh?”
“Don’t get me started, Maddie,” she paused and stared at Madeleine, “If Brian could see you now he’d jump your bones for sure.”
Madeleine sped up to catch up to her, “Do you have to be so nasty all of the time?”
“That guy was into you—and let’s face it, we look hotter now than we did three and a half hours ago,” Dee said. “He would have needed a cold shower if you’d walked in that club like this.”
“There’s something seriously wrong with you, but just to indulge your sick little mind, let’s stand in front of that big—jet thing and take a photo,” Madeleine said as she dug her phone out of her coat and ran over to the limo driver, “Sir, could you snap this photo for us?”
He nodded and took the phone as they got posed in front of the X-33; Dee dipped her hands into her pockets and gazed up as the first little bits of snow fell. Madeleine reached back into her curls, just behind her ear and pulled her fingers part of the way through. In that moment he snapped the picture.
“You look like the models,” the man said with a thick Russian accent.
Madeleine smiled as she retrieved her camera, “Thank you.”
Dee followed her over to the car as the snow increased in intensity some. The driver went back around as they got in and the door was shut. As Madeleine checked the picture in her phone Dee asked, “Are you going to send it to him?”
“That was the plan, right?”
“Don’t send it like that,” she said as the car was started, “Write something snazzy on there to catch his eye.”
“Something like what?” asked Madeleine.
Dee snatched the phone away, “Let me see that,” she plucked the stylus out of the side of the phone and started to poke around and write. After a moment she held the phone up, “See there!”
The message read, “From Russia with love.”
Before Madeleine could protest she sent it.
“Hey, what the Hell did you send it for?” asked Madeleine.
“Because you need to lighten up and take a chance once in a while, he’ll love it.”
“No, he’ll wonder why I’m in Russia more than likely,” Madeleine said, “I’m not doing this with you, so just don’t start.”
Dee turned away and leaned down on her hand, “Sorry for trying to help you out,” her tone was dripping with sarcasm, “I just thought that with your only choices for a date having ever been a different combination of fingers you’d welcome the chance to reel in a man for once.”
Madeleine narrowed her eyes, “We can’t all be as slutty as you.”
Dee folded her arm indignantly and scrunched up her face, “Nice to see what you really think.”
There was a short pause, Madeleine glanced over at Dee. She reached over slowly and touched her arm, “Hey look…”
“Stop it,” Dee said as she nudged her off.
Glaring down at her lap Madeleine fumbled with her phone. She opened the phone and moved through the menu back to the picture that Dee had just sent to Brian. A smile spread across her face and she opened the picture into a text and sent the picture off to Brandon.
She shut the phone, “Do you think Brandon would like to see you in this picture?” she asked.
Dee looked over wide eyed and suddenly ran her hand back through her hair in a fit of nervousness, “Maybe…I don’t know.”
“I just sent it to him,” Madeleine said finally.
In a rush Dee lunged across the seat towards Madeleine, “Oh my God! You didn’t!” she screamed excited, “You have to tell me if he replies!”
Madeleine giggled lightly pushed her back in a playful manner, “Alright, I will—just don’t crush me with your boobs!”
Monday, May 12, 2008
Wednesday, May 07, 2008
Heaven Forbid: Rebellion
There was no sign of Dee and with each passing second Madeleine grew increasingly nervous. Brian held her close now, they swayed in time to the music and the light in the room seemed dim now.
Something made her step in a little closer to him, his hands pulled closer around her hips. Brian smiled down at her, “You seem to be getting more comfortable,” he said.
“I guess you could say that,” she let out a nervous giggle.
He ran the back of his hand down the side of her face, “I can’t believe someone as pretty as you is this nervous.”
“I work a lot,” she said, “there’s a lot of us and the hours are long but the awards are spread kind of thin.”
“Not used to the attention?” he asked.
“I’m more used to getting overlooked,” she said.
“Well tonight I think all eyes are on you,” Brian replied.
Madeleine let the contents of her lungs escape and laid her head down against Brian’s chest. She closed her eyes and for the first time since they’d started dancing she wasn’t tense. Madeleine hadn’t considered herself human for a while now. But for the first time in her life she felt wanted.
“Brian,” she started as she let her hand flatten against his chest, “Thank…”
He shook his head, “Stop right there.” They continued to dance and he brought his face close to hers and she fought back and forth in her head with the issue of pulling away or not.
Madeleine’s eyes fell closed it seemed on instinct and their lips met. Her mind raced through everything that could be wrong with this situation. But with the lengthening warm sensation on her lips the thoughts melted into nothingness and even the mission faded from her mind.
Now she threw her arms up around his neck and pulled back some, a hungry look in her eyes. Maybe it was the Patron acting on its own. But as he started to suck on her neck she twisted her head off to the side and let him.
Her hands poised in his curly hair and her chin resting on his shoulder she felt her body tingle slightly. Despite the pleasure, something told her to open her eyes.
When her sight returned she found Dee standing in front of her with a huge smile plastered on her pale face and Angel next to her in all her fashion-model style glory. Now Madeleine sighed hard, “Brian—we need to stop.”
He rose off her neck, “Was I too forward?”
“Not at all,” she said, “My friends are begging me to go.”
Brian nodded, “That’s understandable,” he said, “Can I see your phone?”
She dug down into her pocket and handed it to him, he pulled his phone out too and started the Bluetooth contact information sharing feature. She accepted it and sent hers in return, “When do you go back to Houston?”
“Tomorrow,” Brian told her, “To tell the truth I should be headed back too.”
Madeleine kissed him on the cheek, “Before I go you need to meet my friends,” she pulled him by the hand to turn around.
It was as if he knew this was them, “Nice to meet you both, ladies.”
“This is Angel and Dee,” Madeleine said, “Meet Brian.”
Angel smiled wryly, “Well hello there Brian,” said Angel, “Looks like our little Madeleine here lucked out on the dance partner draw tonight.”
He just smiled, “I know you’ve got to go Madeleine, but I’ll call you tomorrow.”
Madeleine smiled, “I’ll answer.”
He nodded to Angel and Dee and hugged Madeleine before walking off and out of the club. Almost the second he was out of earshot Dee ran up “Oh my God Madeleine—you could have so got some.”
“Jesus, must you be so crude?” asked Madeleine.
“I’m not being crude—I mean you can’t tell me that you danced with him all that time and you didn’t at least feel his…” Dee said but was cut off.
“Stop right there!” Madeleine fought to keep herself under control.
Angel pushed in between them, extending her arms out to move them apart, “Ladies…let’s not forget that if you start fighting in my club I’ll bring you both down a peg.”
It was the truth, Dee’s powers had been useless here, but for some reason Angel’s still worked.
Dee glared at her, “How come your powers still worked?”
Angel stepped out from between them, “Despite all your powers, Seraphim—you’re no God, there are limitations and even things that can stop you all together.”
Madeleine caught hold of Angel’s shoulder and she was popped in the fingers with an electric shock, “Ouch, why did you…”
“Up to my office if you want to continue this,” Angel said, “We can’t discuss these matters down here in the club.”
Dee and Madeleine nodded to each other as Angel started off through the crowds of people. The lights began to strobe as they walked and everything appeared as if it were a flipbook. They moved between the crowds of dancing people, getting bumped at basically every turn.
They made their way up to a staircase that was roped off on the side of the club. Another burly bouncer stood guard there. He waved them past as they followed Angel up the black metal staircase. The banister clanked and rocked as Dee tapped her hand on it lightly.
The door at the top of the stairs was set right into a wall with no hallway or floor around it. It opened into the club office. Angel’s office. It was a reflection of her. The décor so lavish and fancy with a padded deep maroon carpet. The curtains, the desk, all the furniture was designer.
Angel sauntered over to her desk and hopped up onto the desk crossing her slender legs over each other. With her hands pressed down into her lap she smirked wide with her gray eyes narrowed, “In here we can speak freely of course,” she dragged her hand back through her blonde waves.
Madeleine approached a slender table lined with pictures of Angel posed with celebrities, she stared down at them, “Looks like you’ve added some.”
“Yeah, that’s nice kiddo,” Angel said, “But that’s not what we’re here for.”
Dee plucked her cigarettes out from between her breasts and flipped the top of the box pulling out a slender stick and sticking it in between her lips. She placed the tip of her finger against the business end of the cigarette.
“Dammit,” she hissed, “I don’t have a lighter and my powers…”
“I got it,” Angel aimed her index finger at the cigarette and zapped the tip with a bolt of electricity until it lit.
Dee took a long drag and then exhaled.
“You’re welcome, doll.” Angel said.
“I’m sure that Dee told you why we were here already?” asked Madeleine.
“She didn’t really have to—I could have guessed that sooner or later someone would do this,” Angel said.
“Do what?” Madeleine walked back to the center of the room now.
“Go after the power of the Great Old Ones,” Angel said.
“It would seem these Old Ones are old news,” Madeleine said putting her hand against her chin. “How come it is I’ve never heard them uttered up in the Palaces?”
“Maybe no one likes to talk about their past failures?” Angel said, “Lets face it mistakes can blemish any record.”
“God doesn’t make mistakes,” Dee said in a puff of smoke.
Angel’s smirk increased in intensity, “Hm, that may be so,” she said, “But that doesn’t change the fact that we’re all in danger.”
“But what is this danger?” asked Dee, “What’s doing this?”
Angel started to pick at her nails, “If I had to guess I would say its probably Charon…”
“Charon?” Madeleine seemed confused.
Angel hopped down off her desk and heaved a sigh, “You Nephilim…it must be hard to have not lived all the Millennia we full bloods have.”
Dee slammed her hand down on the back of a chair, “It must be hard knowing God put you out of Heaven because you’re full of yourself.”
“How many times do I have to tell you, he didn’t put me out—he told me stop being so selfish or leave so I chose the latter,” she said.
Madeleine pressed her hand to her forehead, “Charon…who is he?”
Angel strolled up the room running her hands down the sides of her dress as she moved to a small table with bottles of wine and scotch lining it, “He’s a half-breed, like you—but immensely powerful, cunning and with a vengeful lust for power.”
“Power for what?” Dee asked.
“He’s got a hatred for God and Lucifer alike—I think that either of them could have easily told you who was behind all of this,” Angel said. Madeleine and Dee stared on in confusion, “What? They’re keeping you in the dark once again? Well that doesn’t surprise me.”
“We didn’t realize that it was any one person,” said Madeleine.
“The demon attacks, the bad weather, the constant wars—when Hell sneezes the whole world catches a cold, Honey,” Angel said, “The warning signs are there, Charon is trying to raise a rebellion in Hell.”
Dee gasped her hands together behind her back, “Correct me if I’m wrong,” she started, “But isn’t that how Hell came to be in the first place?”
Angel nodded, “Yeah, the exact same way.”
“So why isn’t Charon afraid he’ll just cause them to make some kind of crazy second Hell?” asked Madeleine.
“Now that I haven’t figured out yet,” Angel said, “There isn’t really anything Satan can do besides fight.”
“He doesn’t have the power to create a dimension of that magnitude,” Dee said.
Angel let out a short sigh, “Look I can’t be bothered to try and plot out what’s going to happen next for the both of you,” she pushed her hair back, “If you want my help with all of this you’re going to need to give me time and you’re also going to have to take a little trip.”
“We don’t have time for your pompous games, Angel,” Madeleine said.
The expression on Angel’s face was completely serious, “No game, I just happen to know where Amandah ran off to,” she paced across the room, “Amandah has been doing heavy work with the Council lately because there’s been something big going on—recently a small team of the American Council left bound for Moscow.”
“There’s been trouble in the Vampire Council lately?” asked Madeleine.
“It would seem there’s been a lot,” said Angel, “Although they’re so secretive that even I don’t know what kind of trouble they’re in.”
“Maybe we’ll be able to offer some help,” Dee said.
“The Vampires don’t like others meddling in their affairs,” Angel said.
Dee sighed, “You told me something about a Priest earlier, for the Great Old Ones.”
“All I could give you is a name, and right now you don’t need a name—you need a location,” Angel said, “And right now only Amandah can give you that.”
“What will you be doing?” asked Dee.
“Working my end of things,” Angel said, “I can’t just stand by let an Apocalypse happen on my watch,” she paused. “But if you’re going to go to the Council you’re going to need a wardrobe change.”
“What?” Madeleine seemed shocked.
“Come with me,” Angel gestured.
Something made her step in a little closer to him, his hands pulled closer around her hips. Brian smiled down at her, “You seem to be getting more comfortable,” he said.
“I guess you could say that,” she let out a nervous giggle.
He ran the back of his hand down the side of her face, “I can’t believe someone as pretty as you is this nervous.”
“I work a lot,” she said, “there’s a lot of us and the hours are long but the awards are spread kind of thin.”
“Not used to the attention?” he asked.
“I’m more used to getting overlooked,” she said.
“Well tonight I think all eyes are on you,” Brian replied.
Madeleine let the contents of her lungs escape and laid her head down against Brian’s chest. She closed her eyes and for the first time since they’d started dancing she wasn’t tense. Madeleine hadn’t considered herself human for a while now. But for the first time in her life she felt wanted.
“Brian,” she started as she let her hand flatten against his chest, “Thank…”
He shook his head, “Stop right there.” They continued to dance and he brought his face close to hers and she fought back and forth in her head with the issue of pulling away or not.
Madeleine’s eyes fell closed it seemed on instinct and their lips met. Her mind raced through everything that could be wrong with this situation. But with the lengthening warm sensation on her lips the thoughts melted into nothingness and even the mission faded from her mind.
Now she threw her arms up around his neck and pulled back some, a hungry look in her eyes. Maybe it was the Patron acting on its own. But as he started to suck on her neck she twisted her head off to the side and let him.
Her hands poised in his curly hair and her chin resting on his shoulder she felt her body tingle slightly. Despite the pleasure, something told her to open her eyes.
When her sight returned she found Dee standing in front of her with a huge smile plastered on her pale face and Angel next to her in all her fashion-model style glory. Now Madeleine sighed hard, “Brian—we need to stop.”
He rose off her neck, “Was I too forward?”
“Not at all,” she said, “My friends are begging me to go.”
Brian nodded, “That’s understandable,” he said, “Can I see your phone?”
She dug down into her pocket and handed it to him, he pulled his phone out too and started the Bluetooth contact information sharing feature. She accepted it and sent hers in return, “When do you go back to Houston?”
“Tomorrow,” Brian told her, “To tell the truth I should be headed back too.”
Madeleine kissed him on the cheek, “Before I go you need to meet my friends,” she pulled him by the hand to turn around.
It was as if he knew this was them, “Nice to meet you both, ladies.”
“This is Angel and Dee,” Madeleine said, “Meet Brian.”
Angel smiled wryly, “Well hello there Brian,” said Angel, “Looks like our little Madeleine here lucked out on the dance partner draw tonight.”
He just smiled, “I know you’ve got to go Madeleine, but I’ll call you tomorrow.”
Madeleine smiled, “I’ll answer.”
He nodded to Angel and Dee and hugged Madeleine before walking off and out of the club. Almost the second he was out of earshot Dee ran up “Oh my God Madeleine—you could have so got some.”
“Jesus, must you be so crude?” asked Madeleine.
“I’m not being crude—I mean you can’t tell me that you danced with him all that time and you didn’t at least feel his…” Dee said but was cut off.
“Stop right there!” Madeleine fought to keep herself under control.
Angel pushed in between them, extending her arms out to move them apart, “Ladies…let’s not forget that if you start fighting in my club I’ll bring you both down a peg.”
It was the truth, Dee’s powers had been useless here, but for some reason Angel’s still worked.
Dee glared at her, “How come your powers still worked?”
Angel stepped out from between them, “Despite all your powers, Seraphim—you’re no God, there are limitations and even things that can stop you all together.”
Madeleine caught hold of Angel’s shoulder and she was popped in the fingers with an electric shock, “Ouch, why did you…”
“Up to my office if you want to continue this,” Angel said, “We can’t discuss these matters down here in the club.”
Dee and Madeleine nodded to each other as Angel started off through the crowds of people. The lights began to strobe as they walked and everything appeared as if it were a flipbook. They moved between the crowds of dancing people, getting bumped at basically every turn.
They made their way up to a staircase that was roped off on the side of the club. Another burly bouncer stood guard there. He waved them past as they followed Angel up the black metal staircase. The banister clanked and rocked as Dee tapped her hand on it lightly.
The door at the top of the stairs was set right into a wall with no hallway or floor around it. It opened into the club office. Angel’s office. It was a reflection of her. The décor so lavish and fancy with a padded deep maroon carpet. The curtains, the desk, all the furniture was designer.
Angel sauntered over to her desk and hopped up onto the desk crossing her slender legs over each other. With her hands pressed down into her lap she smirked wide with her gray eyes narrowed, “In here we can speak freely of course,” she dragged her hand back through her blonde waves.
Madeleine approached a slender table lined with pictures of Angel posed with celebrities, she stared down at them, “Looks like you’ve added some.”
“Yeah, that’s nice kiddo,” Angel said, “But that’s not what we’re here for.”
Dee plucked her cigarettes out from between her breasts and flipped the top of the box pulling out a slender stick and sticking it in between her lips. She placed the tip of her finger against the business end of the cigarette.
“Dammit,” she hissed, “I don’t have a lighter and my powers…”
“I got it,” Angel aimed her index finger at the cigarette and zapped the tip with a bolt of electricity until it lit.
Dee took a long drag and then exhaled.
“You’re welcome, doll.” Angel said.
“I’m sure that Dee told you why we were here already?” asked Madeleine.
“She didn’t really have to—I could have guessed that sooner or later someone would do this,” Angel said.
“Do what?” Madeleine walked back to the center of the room now.
“Go after the power of the Great Old Ones,” Angel said.
“It would seem these Old Ones are old news,” Madeleine said putting her hand against her chin. “How come it is I’ve never heard them uttered up in the Palaces?”
“Maybe no one likes to talk about their past failures?” Angel said, “Lets face it mistakes can blemish any record.”
“God doesn’t make mistakes,” Dee said in a puff of smoke.
Angel’s smirk increased in intensity, “Hm, that may be so,” she said, “But that doesn’t change the fact that we’re all in danger.”
“But what is this danger?” asked Dee, “What’s doing this?”
Angel started to pick at her nails, “If I had to guess I would say its probably Charon…”
“Charon?” Madeleine seemed confused.
Angel hopped down off her desk and heaved a sigh, “You Nephilim…it must be hard to have not lived all the Millennia we full bloods have.”
Dee slammed her hand down on the back of a chair, “It must be hard knowing God put you out of Heaven because you’re full of yourself.”
“How many times do I have to tell you, he didn’t put me out—he told me stop being so selfish or leave so I chose the latter,” she said.
Madeleine pressed her hand to her forehead, “Charon…who is he?”
Angel strolled up the room running her hands down the sides of her dress as she moved to a small table with bottles of wine and scotch lining it, “He’s a half-breed, like you—but immensely powerful, cunning and with a vengeful lust for power.”
“Power for what?” Dee asked.
“He’s got a hatred for God and Lucifer alike—I think that either of them could have easily told you who was behind all of this,” Angel said. Madeleine and Dee stared on in confusion, “What? They’re keeping you in the dark once again? Well that doesn’t surprise me.”
“We didn’t realize that it was any one person,” said Madeleine.
“The demon attacks, the bad weather, the constant wars—when Hell sneezes the whole world catches a cold, Honey,” Angel said, “The warning signs are there, Charon is trying to raise a rebellion in Hell.”
Dee gasped her hands together behind her back, “Correct me if I’m wrong,” she started, “But isn’t that how Hell came to be in the first place?”
Angel nodded, “Yeah, the exact same way.”
“So why isn’t Charon afraid he’ll just cause them to make some kind of crazy second Hell?” asked Madeleine.
“Now that I haven’t figured out yet,” Angel said, “There isn’t really anything Satan can do besides fight.”
“He doesn’t have the power to create a dimension of that magnitude,” Dee said.
Angel let out a short sigh, “Look I can’t be bothered to try and plot out what’s going to happen next for the both of you,” she pushed her hair back, “If you want my help with all of this you’re going to need to give me time and you’re also going to have to take a little trip.”
“We don’t have time for your pompous games, Angel,” Madeleine said.
The expression on Angel’s face was completely serious, “No game, I just happen to know where Amandah ran off to,” she paced across the room, “Amandah has been doing heavy work with the Council lately because there’s been something big going on—recently a small team of the American Council left bound for Moscow.”
“There’s been trouble in the Vampire Council lately?” asked Madeleine.
“It would seem there’s been a lot,” said Angel, “Although they’re so secretive that even I don’t know what kind of trouble they’re in.”
“Maybe we’ll be able to offer some help,” Dee said.
“The Vampires don’t like others meddling in their affairs,” Angel said.
Dee sighed, “You told me something about a Priest earlier, for the Great Old Ones.”
“All I could give you is a name, and right now you don’t need a name—you need a location,” Angel said, “And right now only Amandah can give you that.”
“What will you be doing?” asked Dee.
“Working my end of things,” Angel said, “I can’t just stand by let an Apocalypse happen on my watch,” she paused. “But if you’re going to go to the Council you’re going to need a wardrobe change.”
“What?” Madeleine seemed shocked.
“Come with me,” Angel gestured.
Tuesday, May 06, 2008
Heaven Forbid: Angel
Dee pushed her way through the thick crowds of people making her way onto a polished wooden floor where tables were laid out. She nodded her head to the music as she moved across the floor. With her arms out at her sides, she turned and dodged around people. The alcohol smell was stronger in some places and people’s hands with drinks would be in her face suddenly.
She moved on and kept her eyes wandering the room looking for Angel. She searched around the room for a tall blonde girl. But there was a lot of them and some of them were facing away so it didn’t work.
Dee sighed, “Dammit,” she cursed under her breath.
Then she had an idea. She could always use her powers to see any person in the room with Angelic amounts of spiritual energy. But that would turn her eyes all the way black and might get her noticed.
A hand caressed the front of her stomach and then moved around the side of her body. She glanced over to see a dark haired man with steely blue eyes standing with his hand running down her stomach.
In an instant she backed into the wall and flattened out. He followed close behind her keeping his hand against her the whole time, “How would you like a dance?” he asked.
Dee stammered nervously, “I really don’t think I should.”
“One dance,” he started, “Its all I ask.”
Her glanced shot from side to side for signs of Madeleine, “I guess one dance is okay…”
He pulled her off the wall carefully, “Anthony,” he said in a matter of a fact tone.
“I’m Dee.”
“Alright Dee, there’s one rule in this dance,” he led her through the crowd speaking back to her over the increasingly high volume of the music, “You’ve got to dance like you’re in love.”
The comment struck Dee as odd and in her mind something told her to stop while she could. But those overactive hormones wouldn’t let her. Her little precocious kinky mind wouldn’t let her stop entertaining the deviant thoughts that crept into her head.
She’d done it earlier with Brandon and now they were coming back. Usually Madeleine would step in and shoot her some comment right about now, but all that remained now was the soft smell of perfume and sweat, the hint of cigarette smoke and liquor and something else.
“I’ll try to follow the rule,” she said as their feet touched the lit tiles of the dance floor.
His slender fingers curled around the side of her stomach. His thumb made slow circles just under her breast and he pressed his body into hers. She fought back the urge to shudder as her heart beat wildly now; faster than the beat of the song, faster than the heart pressed near hers.
“Christ,” she muttered in a tone he couldn’t have heard.
His other hand encircled hers and then she reluctantly locked fingers with him. Suddenly her mind thought of how she needed to hurry, how the world was in danger and she was messing around and how this was so awkward. She thought of Brandon.
Then as they turned together, her locked in his grip with his hips moved against hers, she spotted Madeleine across the room with the large man from earlier. He towered over her and was gazing down into her eyes, then he swept her hair back from her face.
Madeleine having fun was a comfort to her.
Her attention turned back to the boy in front of her, his dark suit crumpled against and his face growing closer and closer to hers as the song stormed on. It seemed like time slowed as he got closer to her, she prayed he didn’t try to kiss her.
His face passed on the side of hers and he whispered to her as the first song came to an end, “Turn around,” he said slowly.
Dee just whined unsure of herself, “Okay.”
He pulled her close dancing behind her with his head down over her shoulder. He smiled slightly, “You’re a good dancer, Dee…”
“I took lessons for years,” she confessed, “it’s kind of why I’m so flexible.”
“That’s good to know,” he said with a chuckle.
Right then she realized that wasn’t the best thing to say. His hands crept down the front of her shirt and then over the rise of her skirt. With his hands forcing the fabric down against her legs he whispered in her ear, “I’ve got a little rented VIP room for the night.”
“That’s cool,” Dee said.
He took her by the hand and pulled her away from the floor and off to the side down the stairs. There was a set of stairs that led down off to the side of the staircase and up under the dance floor where there was a hall with doors on either side.
Dee pushed her hair back from her face, “I’m not sure about this.”
He pulled her by the arm, “Trust me,” he opened the door with his other hand they stepped into a small room with a bar off to one side and a long couch with speakers on either side of it.
Slowly Dee stepped into the middle of the room, “I’m sorry about this Anthony,” she started, “I can’t do what you’re expecting me to do.”
In a flash he grabbed her and was upon her and in that instant she noticed his strength wasn’t normal. He pressed her back onto the couch and got over her. His leg was forced between hers and she couldn’t quite kick him. Mentally she called for her scythe, for Apples, for anyone.
But there was nothing.
He pinned her wrists above her head with one hand and ripped her shirt open with the other, “Come on doll.”
Her strength was severely limited too, she fought to get him off but her powers seemed sapped. She couldn’t blow or summon fire. And as she fought it seemed more hopeless. In a last ditch effort she popped her arms out with a quick jerk and slammed her head full force into his nose.
Anthony flipped back off the couch and fell to the floor. Luckily for her the pain tolerance that she had didn’t go down and neither did her flexibility. She got to her feet straightening her arms out and pushing her skirt down. Her legs were rubbed red from the fabric of his pants.
“Fucking ass hole,” she shouted, “I should kill you.”
He sprung back to his feet and slammed her back into the couch, her hands pinned behind her this time and her legs apart where so that he couldn’t be kicked. His mouth went down on her neck and there was a sharp pain. The pain turned into a burning sensation and then she knew what was happening.
She worked her hand down into the back of her skirt and got her fingers around a slick metal object that had been tucked against her leg. It took her a moment to get the object into the right position but as she got it pressed into her bare back she slipped her finger through the guard that protected the trigger and fired.
The bullet ripped through her back and into the chest of stomach of the man, he jolted slightly and the brought his face back up by hers, “You’ll have to do better than that,” his lips stained with her blood. Now she had a clear view of the fangs.
But Vampires usually didn’t give her this much trouble.
The door to the room opened sharply and a leggy blonde walked in and grabbed the man off of her. There was a loud electric pop and Anthony flew back into the wall hitting a picture and causing it to fall down.
His body was covered in arcing streams of electricity. The blonde was easily recognizable now, she pulled Dee to her feet. “Good to see you, Angel,” Dee said.
“What are you doing down here Death?” asked Angel, her gray eyes stern now.
“Looking for you,” Dee answered.
Angel rolled her eyes, “Fine lot you got yourself into, and how long did you plan to check out the VIP room that’s only ten by twenty before you realized I wasn’t here…”
“Sorry.”
The blonde walked over to the Vampire crumpled on the ground, “Boy I should really tear into your shit, bitch,” she pulled him up against the wall by the neck, “What have I told you fuckers about using my club as an all you can eat buffet?”
“Sorry Miss Saint John.”
“Bet your ass you are,” Angel said, “I could dust you right here, you know.”
“I know,” he answered in a frightened voice.
“Be glad I’m feeling charitable—but you know the kind of shit I could get into if the Council found out what you’d done here…” she dropped him to the floor, “Now get out of.”
He scampered from the room like a roach from the light, shutting the door behind him. Angel turned back to Dee, her long blue sparkly gown caught the light in an awkward fashion, “Your powers won’t work here, am I right?”
“Yeah, how did you know?”
“Because I built the club so that Angels and Demons lose most of their abilities upon entry,” Angel said, “Some sort of mystic mumbo jumbo…” Angel ran her hand back through her hair.
“Madeleine and I need your help,” she said.
“Now what would make me want to leave my nice cushy life and help the likes of you,” Angel said, “I could possibly get dirty or mess up my hair…or any number of other things that are unbecoming of a business woman.”
Angel was the definition of fashion, starting at her Donatella Versace dress right down to her Manolo Blahniks. She was perfect in every way—on the outside.
“This won’t be anything that even requires you to go outside of your normal realm of things,” Dee said as she buttoned her shirt back up the bullet wound had already started to heal, “We just need some information on a person and some artifacts.”
Angel’s eyebrows spiked in interest, “Darling, did you say artifacts?”
“Very valuable ones that Michael and Lucifer created long ago,” Dee walked over to the bar and opened a bottle of vodka pouring it into a napkin, she wiped the blood from the side of her neck.
“You mean the Talismans of the Great Old Ones?” Angel laughed.
“What’s so funny?” Dee asked.
“The majority of them are in Hell, and the ones that aren’t are hidden in the most trivial of objects at times,” Angel said, “Finding them all is nearly impossible…unless someone found the Priest…”
“What Priest?”
“The Priest of the Old Ones,” Angel explained.
Dee’s eyes were wide, “What can you tell me about him?”
“Not much, I didn’t help hunt him down—I had an appearance to keep up even back then,” Angel said.
“Of course,” Dee started, “Who can I talk to?”
“The one they left out—Amandah,” Angel said.
“We know her, but we need your help finding her,” Dee said.
“Why didn’t you say so, Death?” Angel said, “But first we need to get you into some style—you can’t be seen with me looking like that.”
“So you’ll help us?” Dee asked.
“In more than one way, hopefully,” Angel said.
She moved on and kept her eyes wandering the room looking for Angel. She searched around the room for a tall blonde girl. But there was a lot of them and some of them were facing away so it didn’t work.
Dee sighed, “Dammit,” she cursed under her breath.
Then she had an idea. She could always use her powers to see any person in the room with Angelic amounts of spiritual energy. But that would turn her eyes all the way black and might get her noticed.
A hand caressed the front of her stomach and then moved around the side of her body. She glanced over to see a dark haired man with steely blue eyes standing with his hand running down her stomach.
In an instant she backed into the wall and flattened out. He followed close behind her keeping his hand against her the whole time, “How would you like a dance?” he asked.
Dee stammered nervously, “I really don’t think I should.”
“One dance,” he started, “Its all I ask.”
Her glanced shot from side to side for signs of Madeleine, “I guess one dance is okay…”
He pulled her off the wall carefully, “Anthony,” he said in a matter of a fact tone.
“I’m Dee.”
“Alright Dee, there’s one rule in this dance,” he led her through the crowd speaking back to her over the increasingly high volume of the music, “You’ve got to dance like you’re in love.”
The comment struck Dee as odd and in her mind something told her to stop while she could. But those overactive hormones wouldn’t let her. Her little precocious kinky mind wouldn’t let her stop entertaining the deviant thoughts that crept into her head.
She’d done it earlier with Brandon and now they were coming back. Usually Madeleine would step in and shoot her some comment right about now, but all that remained now was the soft smell of perfume and sweat, the hint of cigarette smoke and liquor and something else.
“I’ll try to follow the rule,” she said as their feet touched the lit tiles of the dance floor.
His slender fingers curled around the side of her stomach. His thumb made slow circles just under her breast and he pressed his body into hers. She fought back the urge to shudder as her heart beat wildly now; faster than the beat of the song, faster than the heart pressed near hers.
“Christ,” she muttered in a tone he couldn’t have heard.
His other hand encircled hers and then she reluctantly locked fingers with him. Suddenly her mind thought of how she needed to hurry, how the world was in danger and she was messing around and how this was so awkward. She thought of Brandon.
Then as they turned together, her locked in his grip with his hips moved against hers, she spotted Madeleine across the room with the large man from earlier. He towered over her and was gazing down into her eyes, then he swept her hair back from her face.
Madeleine having fun was a comfort to her.
Her attention turned back to the boy in front of her, his dark suit crumpled against and his face growing closer and closer to hers as the song stormed on. It seemed like time slowed as he got closer to her, she prayed he didn’t try to kiss her.
His face passed on the side of hers and he whispered to her as the first song came to an end, “Turn around,” he said slowly.
Dee just whined unsure of herself, “Okay.”
He pulled her close dancing behind her with his head down over her shoulder. He smiled slightly, “You’re a good dancer, Dee…”
“I took lessons for years,” she confessed, “it’s kind of why I’m so flexible.”
“That’s good to know,” he said with a chuckle.
Right then she realized that wasn’t the best thing to say. His hands crept down the front of her shirt and then over the rise of her skirt. With his hands forcing the fabric down against her legs he whispered in her ear, “I’ve got a little rented VIP room for the night.”
“That’s cool,” Dee said.
He took her by the hand and pulled her away from the floor and off to the side down the stairs. There was a set of stairs that led down off to the side of the staircase and up under the dance floor where there was a hall with doors on either side.
Dee pushed her hair back from her face, “I’m not sure about this.”
He pulled her by the arm, “Trust me,” he opened the door with his other hand they stepped into a small room with a bar off to one side and a long couch with speakers on either side of it.
Slowly Dee stepped into the middle of the room, “I’m sorry about this Anthony,” she started, “I can’t do what you’re expecting me to do.”
In a flash he grabbed her and was upon her and in that instant she noticed his strength wasn’t normal. He pressed her back onto the couch and got over her. His leg was forced between hers and she couldn’t quite kick him. Mentally she called for her scythe, for Apples, for anyone.
But there was nothing.
He pinned her wrists above her head with one hand and ripped her shirt open with the other, “Come on doll.”
Her strength was severely limited too, she fought to get him off but her powers seemed sapped. She couldn’t blow or summon fire. And as she fought it seemed more hopeless. In a last ditch effort she popped her arms out with a quick jerk and slammed her head full force into his nose.
Anthony flipped back off the couch and fell to the floor. Luckily for her the pain tolerance that she had didn’t go down and neither did her flexibility. She got to her feet straightening her arms out and pushing her skirt down. Her legs were rubbed red from the fabric of his pants.
“Fucking ass hole,” she shouted, “I should kill you.”
He sprung back to his feet and slammed her back into the couch, her hands pinned behind her this time and her legs apart where so that he couldn’t be kicked. His mouth went down on her neck and there was a sharp pain. The pain turned into a burning sensation and then she knew what was happening.
She worked her hand down into the back of her skirt and got her fingers around a slick metal object that had been tucked against her leg. It took her a moment to get the object into the right position but as she got it pressed into her bare back she slipped her finger through the guard that protected the trigger and fired.
The bullet ripped through her back and into the chest of stomach of the man, he jolted slightly and the brought his face back up by hers, “You’ll have to do better than that,” his lips stained with her blood. Now she had a clear view of the fangs.
But Vampires usually didn’t give her this much trouble.
The door to the room opened sharply and a leggy blonde walked in and grabbed the man off of her. There was a loud electric pop and Anthony flew back into the wall hitting a picture and causing it to fall down.
His body was covered in arcing streams of electricity. The blonde was easily recognizable now, she pulled Dee to her feet. “Good to see you, Angel,” Dee said.
“What are you doing down here Death?” asked Angel, her gray eyes stern now.
“Looking for you,” Dee answered.
Angel rolled her eyes, “Fine lot you got yourself into, and how long did you plan to check out the VIP room that’s only ten by twenty before you realized I wasn’t here…”
“Sorry.”
The blonde walked over to the Vampire crumpled on the ground, “Boy I should really tear into your shit, bitch,” she pulled him up against the wall by the neck, “What have I told you fuckers about using my club as an all you can eat buffet?”
“Sorry Miss Saint John.”
“Bet your ass you are,” Angel said, “I could dust you right here, you know.”
“I know,” he answered in a frightened voice.
“Be glad I’m feeling charitable—but you know the kind of shit I could get into if the Council found out what you’d done here…” she dropped him to the floor, “Now get out of.”
He scampered from the room like a roach from the light, shutting the door behind him. Angel turned back to Dee, her long blue sparkly gown caught the light in an awkward fashion, “Your powers won’t work here, am I right?”
“Yeah, how did you know?”
“Because I built the club so that Angels and Demons lose most of their abilities upon entry,” Angel said, “Some sort of mystic mumbo jumbo…” Angel ran her hand back through her hair.
“Madeleine and I need your help,” she said.
“Now what would make me want to leave my nice cushy life and help the likes of you,” Angel said, “I could possibly get dirty or mess up my hair…or any number of other things that are unbecoming of a business woman.”
Angel was the definition of fashion, starting at her Donatella Versace dress right down to her Manolo Blahniks. She was perfect in every way—on the outside.
“This won’t be anything that even requires you to go outside of your normal realm of things,” Dee said as she buttoned her shirt back up the bullet wound had already started to heal, “We just need some information on a person and some artifacts.”
Angel’s eyebrows spiked in interest, “Darling, did you say artifacts?”
“Very valuable ones that Michael and Lucifer created long ago,” Dee walked over to the bar and opened a bottle of vodka pouring it into a napkin, she wiped the blood from the side of her neck.
“You mean the Talismans of the Great Old Ones?” Angel laughed.
“What’s so funny?” Dee asked.
“The majority of them are in Hell, and the ones that aren’t are hidden in the most trivial of objects at times,” Angel said, “Finding them all is nearly impossible…unless someone found the Priest…”
“What Priest?”
“The Priest of the Old Ones,” Angel explained.
Dee’s eyes were wide, “What can you tell me about him?”
“Not much, I didn’t help hunt him down—I had an appearance to keep up even back then,” Angel said.
“Of course,” Dee started, “Who can I talk to?”
“The one they left out—Amandah,” Angel said.
“We know her, but we need your help finding her,” Dee said.
“Why didn’t you say so, Death?” Angel said, “But first we need to get you into some style—you can’t be seen with me looking like that.”
“So you’ll help us?” Dee asked.
“In more than one way, hopefully,” Angel said.
Saturday, May 03, 2008
Heaven Forbid: Club
Dee and Madeleine exploited most of their contacts trying to get a location on Amandah. But the Immortal proved to be challenging to find. They knew already that Brandon wouldn’t have known anything about what they needed. It had become abundantly clear that they were down to their last option.
Angel Augustus Saint John owned a nightclub off the Las Vegas strip for the tragically trendy. It was kind of a ruse for what she really had her hands in. Angel was a treasure hunter; except she dealt in artifacts, relics, and information. They’d asked for her help in the past only to have to deal with her less than stellar attitude. Still they were desperate enough to try her again.
The line outside of the club had been wrapped around the corner. The chilly Vegas night seemed a little much for the scandalously dressed parishioners. Thin women wrapped their waists with coats and sweaters, trying to stave off the night air from their bare legs. Men waited in fishnet shirts and mesh praying for the wind not to move or gust.
Madeleine’s arms were folded as the two of them waited near the front of the line. She’d spend the better part of the day lecturing Dee for her earlier behavior. “We’ve all got fears Dee, but you don’t have to be a wimp about it,” she said. Dee’s back was turned the whole time. “You think I would have done that?”
With a sigh Dee turned back, “I don’t know,” she paused in an abrupt fashion. “Did you happen to catch that guy in the clown outfit.”
Madeleine darted across in front of another person in the line and got behind Dee. The other person was visibly angry as Madeleine turned back to Dee, “Keep him away from me,” her words were garbled together.
“Way to face your fears,” Dee said.
Madeleine backed away from Dee some, “Just hilarious, Dear.”
“Jeez, if you’re going to ride my ass hard at least have the common decency to give my hair a tug or at least a tap on the bum…” Dee’s reply was laden with sarcasm.
After a few moments Madeleine glanced down at her dress, “Do you think they’ll let us in this place?”
“Why wouldn’t they?” asked Dee.
Madeleine glanced around, “You don’t have ID although your gigantic rack might work in our favor.”
Dee pressed her breasts up and together, “Do you really think notice these?”
Madeleine stared in disbelief, “Notice? How could they not notice? They’re larger than the bloody Royal Navy!”
“They’re not that big,” Dee glared down at her chest, “But maybe if I poke them out someone will notice.”
“Someone has to notice,” Madeleine said, “Because with how I’m dressed we’ll not get in.”
“It’s not that bad—we just need to slut it up some,” Dee said.
Without asking Dee dropped to her knees and grabbed the bottom of Madeleine’s skirt. She reached up under her shirt sleeve with her other hand and plucked out a miniature flat throwing knife. In one clean cut she slit down the side of the dress. She took the bottom up to mid-thigh level.
“What the Hell?” Madeleine jumped back as Dee finished.
“I’m going to bring out a little more of your best assets here,” Dee said.
“You could have asked first,” Madeleine said as she frayed her skirt out to examine it.
Dee sighed, “You need to lighten up, I did you a service there.” Dee took a long look at her friend’s dress, letting her eyes flowing up the length of the skirt, “Your dress was all down past your knees and stuff.”
Madeleine shook her head, “You’re so bad,” she said, “It’s going to catch up to you.”
With a roll of her eyes Dee turned back, “Look, we’re almost at the front of the line.” She pointed to the three girls and one guy ahead of them who were speaking with the bouncer.
The girls looked as if they must have been using fake identification to get in. One of them didn’t appear to be over the age of fifteen. She was little and blonde with a white top that had a low cut neckline. Her badly applied caked on makeup clearly ended before her clothes began.
The bouncer waved the group through and waited as Dee and Madeleine approached the front of the line. Madeleine clammed up, straighten her arms down at her sides. Dee glanced back at her and when she noticed her friend’s slight grimace. In a moment of hasty thinking, Dee reached back and grabbed Madeleine around the waist and pulled her close.
Madeleine glared over at her and as Dee stepped up to the bouncer, all the while making sure to push her chest out the way Madeleine had mentioned. She smirked seductively, to the best of her ability, “Could you see if you could work us in, maybe.” She ran her hand down the side of her neck and then down over her chest. Her white oxford was unbuttoned until about the halfway point.
The bouncer stared down at her body and then over at Madeleine, “You and your girlfriend.” He gestured for them to go into the club.
Dee pulled Madeleine through the small rope gateway and they walked down into short stairwell that led down into the basement club. As they took the steps the music from the club grew louder and more discernable.
Madeleine pulled away from Dee, “I don’t know about this, we could get in a lot of trouble in a place like this. Not to mention that we’re technically here illegally—what do you think God would do if he knew we were going to enter a miniature version of Sodom and Gomorrah to entreat someone that he utterly doesn’t trust to help us on a mission of the utmost importance…”
“You’re rambling again, Madeleine,” Dee said, “Calm the fuck down, I’ve got this.”
They made their way into the club and were instantly bathed in soft purple light that filled the place. The music was loud and the bass vibrated deep in their chests as they made their way past the bar, Madeleine looked all around, “The forgot to mark our hands?”
“Because we’re fucking hot,” Dee smiled over at her and then pointed at a pair of guys standing a little ways up next to a table. The one guy was tall and dark skinned with a muscular body and arms that were probably almost as wide as Madeleine. He was pointing at Madeleine and then talking to his friend.
The friend was a slender white guy with blonde hair and a smile plastered on his face, he waited as he was whispered to and then turned back to respond. Madeleine sighed, “What do you suppose they’re saying?”
“Not sure,” Dee said, “I was going to ask you which one you wanted but I think one of them already picked you.”
Madeleine pushed ahead, “Come on, we’ve got work to do,” her voice wavered.
Dee latched on to Madeleine’s arm and pulled her towards the dance floor. The club was dark and the air smelt of stale liquor and cheap perfume. The dance floor was raised up above the rest of the club on a plateau out past the bar and surrounded by tables on all sides. In the middle of the large floor was the DJ booth and a cage with a girl dancing in it.
The two of them had never come into this club during its business hours, so it was kind of hard for them to fathom a place they’d only seen when it was empty during the day with all the normal lights on being like this.
“Where are you taking me?” Madeleine asked.
“We have got to dance at least once,” Dee said, “We’ve snuck into our first club!”
Madeleine shook her head, “Will you quiet down before you get us arrested!”
“We can teleport out of the squad car or the jail…what the Hell does it matter?” asked Dee.
“Dee,” Madeleine sighed.
Before she could properly react the large black guy stepped in and touched her on the side of her arm, “Excuse me Miss, would you like a drink?”
Madeleine turned to face him, her green eyes went wide and she just stared combing her fingers through her hair. Dee leaned forward, “Talk to him, I’ll try and see if I can find Angel.”
As Dee walked away Madeleine shot her a dark glance and then turned back to the gentlemen in front of her. He was smiling at her out of the side of his mouth and he added to his original offer, “Any drink you want…”
Without a second thought Madeleine said, “Patron and Sprite.”
The guy took her hand lightly and pulled her away slowly, “My name is Brian, by the way.”
“I’m called Madeleine,” she had to speak up over the music.
“So you’re British?” he gave a delighted smile, “What brings you to the states?”
Madeleine searched around for Dee as she spoke, “I go to college in another city…but came to Vegas on business more or less, you?”
“I was born in the States,” he said with a chuckle as he leaned down on the bar.
“Sorry, I’m not good at this,” Madeleine said.
“Don’t get out much?” Brian glanced back over his shoulder to see if the bartender was done yet.
“I work a lot, I really just got drug out here by my friend,” Madeleine said.
“Yeah, my friend won a contest and he begged me to come to Vegas with him,” he said.
“Where are you from originally?” she asked.
“I live in a little town out on the coast of Texas, Lake Jackson—I’m studying to be a Marine Biologist out there,” he said.
Madeleine laughed slightly, “Small world, I live in Houston.”
Brian chuckled at her reply, “Wow, kind of crazy,” he turned back to the bartender, “Cherry Vodka Sour and the lady will have a Patron and Sprite.”
Madeleine stepped closer to the bar and put her fingertips up on the countertop, “I haven’t had a drink in a pretty long time.”
His smile spread wide and he was quiet for a moment. Over the boom of the music glasses clanked together behind the bar as the bartender rushed back and forth. Brian watched for a moment and then dropped a five dollar tip into the tip jar on the bar-top.
The drinks were placed in front of them and Madeleine picked hers up drinking from it in a hurry. She finished half of the glass before stopping.
“Slow down there,” Brian laughed.
“Sorry, I’m just kind of—thirsty,” Madeleine said.
He caressed the side of her bare arm, “Relax a little, you’re kind of wound up.”
Madeleine sipped her drink now, “I must look so stupid!”
“You look fine,” Brian started, “You know you’ve got really pretty eyes.”
Madeleine finished the drink and placed it on the counter, putting the napkin she’d had wrapped around it down in the glass, “Look,” she started, “I know this place pretty well…and the owner. I imagine you’ve only come here for one thing?”
“I came here to dance with a beautiful girl—and I think I just found one,” he took her by the hand.
“Shit,” Madeleine hissed under her breath.
Brian stopped, “What’s the matter?”
“It’s nothing, but you want to try that dance, because I have to warn you—I don’t actually dance,” Madeleine said.
“It’s okay, you’re a woman,” he said as they walked, “women don’t have to dance well, they just have to look good.”
As Madeleine laughed she glanced up to see if she could find Dee, she was even more nervous now. She’d been left alone without a safety net or plan for escape. When she thought about it this was one of the few situations she wasn’t ready for. Men.
Angel Augustus Saint John owned a nightclub off the Las Vegas strip for the tragically trendy. It was kind of a ruse for what she really had her hands in. Angel was a treasure hunter; except she dealt in artifacts, relics, and information. They’d asked for her help in the past only to have to deal with her less than stellar attitude. Still they were desperate enough to try her again.
The line outside of the club had been wrapped around the corner. The chilly Vegas night seemed a little much for the scandalously dressed parishioners. Thin women wrapped their waists with coats and sweaters, trying to stave off the night air from their bare legs. Men waited in fishnet shirts and mesh praying for the wind not to move or gust.
Madeleine’s arms were folded as the two of them waited near the front of the line. She’d spend the better part of the day lecturing Dee for her earlier behavior. “We’ve all got fears Dee, but you don’t have to be a wimp about it,” she said. Dee’s back was turned the whole time. “You think I would have done that?”
With a sigh Dee turned back, “I don’t know,” she paused in an abrupt fashion. “Did you happen to catch that guy in the clown outfit.”
Madeleine darted across in front of another person in the line and got behind Dee. The other person was visibly angry as Madeleine turned back to Dee, “Keep him away from me,” her words were garbled together.
“Way to face your fears,” Dee said.
Madeleine backed away from Dee some, “Just hilarious, Dear.”
“Jeez, if you’re going to ride my ass hard at least have the common decency to give my hair a tug or at least a tap on the bum…” Dee’s reply was laden with sarcasm.
After a few moments Madeleine glanced down at her dress, “Do you think they’ll let us in this place?”
“Why wouldn’t they?” asked Dee.
Madeleine glanced around, “You don’t have ID although your gigantic rack might work in our favor.”
Dee pressed her breasts up and together, “Do you really think notice these?”
Madeleine stared in disbelief, “Notice? How could they not notice? They’re larger than the bloody Royal Navy!”
“They’re not that big,” Dee glared down at her chest, “But maybe if I poke them out someone will notice.”
“Someone has to notice,” Madeleine said, “Because with how I’m dressed we’ll not get in.”
“It’s not that bad—we just need to slut it up some,” Dee said.
Without asking Dee dropped to her knees and grabbed the bottom of Madeleine’s skirt. She reached up under her shirt sleeve with her other hand and plucked out a miniature flat throwing knife. In one clean cut she slit down the side of the dress. She took the bottom up to mid-thigh level.
“What the Hell?” Madeleine jumped back as Dee finished.
“I’m going to bring out a little more of your best assets here,” Dee said.
“You could have asked first,” Madeleine said as she frayed her skirt out to examine it.
Dee sighed, “You need to lighten up, I did you a service there.” Dee took a long look at her friend’s dress, letting her eyes flowing up the length of the skirt, “Your dress was all down past your knees and stuff.”
Madeleine shook her head, “You’re so bad,” she said, “It’s going to catch up to you.”
With a roll of her eyes Dee turned back, “Look, we’re almost at the front of the line.” She pointed to the three girls and one guy ahead of them who were speaking with the bouncer.
The girls looked as if they must have been using fake identification to get in. One of them didn’t appear to be over the age of fifteen. She was little and blonde with a white top that had a low cut neckline. Her badly applied caked on makeup clearly ended before her clothes began.
The bouncer waved the group through and waited as Dee and Madeleine approached the front of the line. Madeleine clammed up, straighten her arms down at her sides. Dee glanced back at her and when she noticed her friend’s slight grimace. In a moment of hasty thinking, Dee reached back and grabbed Madeleine around the waist and pulled her close.
Madeleine glared over at her and as Dee stepped up to the bouncer, all the while making sure to push her chest out the way Madeleine had mentioned. She smirked seductively, to the best of her ability, “Could you see if you could work us in, maybe.” She ran her hand down the side of her neck and then down over her chest. Her white oxford was unbuttoned until about the halfway point.
The bouncer stared down at her body and then over at Madeleine, “You and your girlfriend.” He gestured for them to go into the club.
Dee pulled Madeleine through the small rope gateway and they walked down into short stairwell that led down into the basement club. As they took the steps the music from the club grew louder and more discernable.
Madeleine pulled away from Dee, “I don’t know about this, we could get in a lot of trouble in a place like this. Not to mention that we’re technically here illegally—what do you think God would do if he knew we were going to enter a miniature version of Sodom and Gomorrah to entreat someone that he utterly doesn’t trust to help us on a mission of the utmost importance…”
“You’re rambling again, Madeleine,” Dee said, “Calm the fuck down, I’ve got this.”
They made their way into the club and were instantly bathed in soft purple light that filled the place. The music was loud and the bass vibrated deep in their chests as they made their way past the bar, Madeleine looked all around, “The forgot to mark our hands?”
“Because we’re fucking hot,” Dee smiled over at her and then pointed at a pair of guys standing a little ways up next to a table. The one guy was tall and dark skinned with a muscular body and arms that were probably almost as wide as Madeleine. He was pointing at Madeleine and then talking to his friend.
The friend was a slender white guy with blonde hair and a smile plastered on his face, he waited as he was whispered to and then turned back to respond. Madeleine sighed, “What do you suppose they’re saying?”
“Not sure,” Dee said, “I was going to ask you which one you wanted but I think one of them already picked you.”
Madeleine pushed ahead, “Come on, we’ve got work to do,” her voice wavered.
Dee latched on to Madeleine’s arm and pulled her towards the dance floor. The club was dark and the air smelt of stale liquor and cheap perfume. The dance floor was raised up above the rest of the club on a plateau out past the bar and surrounded by tables on all sides. In the middle of the large floor was the DJ booth and a cage with a girl dancing in it.
The two of them had never come into this club during its business hours, so it was kind of hard for them to fathom a place they’d only seen when it was empty during the day with all the normal lights on being like this.
“Where are you taking me?” Madeleine asked.
“We have got to dance at least once,” Dee said, “We’ve snuck into our first club!”
Madeleine shook her head, “Will you quiet down before you get us arrested!”
“We can teleport out of the squad car or the jail…what the Hell does it matter?” asked Dee.
“Dee,” Madeleine sighed.
Before she could properly react the large black guy stepped in and touched her on the side of her arm, “Excuse me Miss, would you like a drink?”
Madeleine turned to face him, her green eyes went wide and she just stared combing her fingers through her hair. Dee leaned forward, “Talk to him, I’ll try and see if I can find Angel.”
As Dee walked away Madeleine shot her a dark glance and then turned back to the gentlemen in front of her. He was smiling at her out of the side of his mouth and he added to his original offer, “Any drink you want…”
Without a second thought Madeleine said, “Patron and Sprite.”
The guy took her hand lightly and pulled her away slowly, “My name is Brian, by the way.”
“I’m called Madeleine,” she had to speak up over the music.
“So you’re British?” he gave a delighted smile, “What brings you to the states?”
Madeleine searched around for Dee as she spoke, “I go to college in another city…but came to Vegas on business more or less, you?”
“I was born in the States,” he said with a chuckle as he leaned down on the bar.
“Sorry, I’m not good at this,” Madeleine said.
“Don’t get out much?” Brian glanced back over his shoulder to see if the bartender was done yet.
“I work a lot, I really just got drug out here by my friend,” Madeleine said.
“Yeah, my friend won a contest and he begged me to come to Vegas with him,” he said.
“Where are you from originally?” she asked.
“I live in a little town out on the coast of Texas, Lake Jackson—I’m studying to be a Marine Biologist out there,” he said.
Madeleine laughed slightly, “Small world, I live in Houston.”
Brian chuckled at her reply, “Wow, kind of crazy,” he turned back to the bartender, “Cherry Vodka Sour and the lady will have a Patron and Sprite.”
Madeleine stepped closer to the bar and put her fingertips up on the countertop, “I haven’t had a drink in a pretty long time.”
His smile spread wide and he was quiet for a moment. Over the boom of the music glasses clanked together behind the bar as the bartender rushed back and forth. Brian watched for a moment and then dropped a five dollar tip into the tip jar on the bar-top.
The drinks were placed in front of them and Madeleine picked hers up drinking from it in a hurry. She finished half of the glass before stopping.
“Slow down there,” Brian laughed.
“Sorry, I’m just kind of—thirsty,” Madeleine said.
He caressed the side of her bare arm, “Relax a little, you’re kind of wound up.”
Madeleine sipped her drink now, “I must look so stupid!”
“You look fine,” Brian started, “You know you’ve got really pretty eyes.”
Madeleine finished the drink and placed it on the counter, putting the napkin she’d had wrapped around it down in the glass, “Look,” she started, “I know this place pretty well…and the owner. I imagine you’ve only come here for one thing?”
“I came here to dance with a beautiful girl—and I think I just found one,” he took her by the hand.
“Shit,” Madeleine hissed under her breath.
Brian stopped, “What’s the matter?”
“It’s nothing, but you want to try that dance, because I have to warn you—I don’t actually dance,” Madeleine said.
“It’s okay, you’re a woman,” he said as they walked, “women don’t have to dance well, they just have to look good.”
As Madeleine laughed she glanced up to see if she could find Dee, she was even more nervous now. She’d been left alone without a safety net or plan for escape. When she thought about it this was one of the few situations she wasn’t ready for. Men.
Thursday, May 01, 2008
Heaven Forbid: Instance
A vast vacuous darkness as far as the eye could see. That was all there was. Dee led the way with her scythe held down at her side. Her head searched the entire space for any signs of life, movement or anything.
Nothing lay there except a void. She sighed and continued to walk. From behind her she could hear the footsteps of the others as they followed her. The three of them were walking in a skewed line. It seemed that in this place, the only thing that existed was them.
Madeleine was walking with her phone out, “Of course there’s no signal here,” she muttered, “and whatever we’re walking on isn’t dirt because my powers won’t work.”
“I’m guessing that we can’t teleport, either,” Dee said. “I’m even willing to bet I couldn’t send my scythe away if I wanted.”
Brandon remained silent, holding his gun down at his side. Madeleine slipped her phone back into the pocket of her small white sweater. She moved closer to Brandon and reached around the side of his duster to pull out a long silvery saber, “Mind sharing a weapon friend?”
He glanced at her and shook his head.
Dee glanced back, her voice shaking as she said, “Brandon,” she started, “You need to stick close to me—its not safe here.”
“I’ve been to one of these places before,” Brandon said. Dee stared at him in shock now, “Back when I trained with the Order, we were made to fight a demon in this type of environment as a final exam. At the seminary we called these Instances.”
“Fancy name,” Madeleine said, “I just prefer to say we’re in a little part of Hell.”
There drought of speech and Dee turned back towards them, “Wait, what part of Hell?” she asked.
Madeleine sighed, “Hell’s rather large and I’ve not traveled around most of it.”
Brandon shook his head, “There’s no use arguing about it, we can’t even see to identify what’s around us.”
Dee peered off into the distance, past Brandon and Madeleine as if she were staring through the darkness itself, “There’s something back there—“
Her two companions glanced back. Up in the sky there were large red dots in a row, glowing like lights. Madeleine stepped back closer to Dee, “Something’s not right about this.”
The air was shaken with a thunderous screech. Each member of the group brandished their weapon as the darkness seemed to give way to a giant dark form. Parts of the void itself seemed to move and came alive in a monstrous arachnid shape.
Dee lowered her weapon and widened her stance, “Aw man,” she edged back placing a curled hand on her bottom lip. “It had to be a giant spider.”
The huge red orbs were the eyes of the creature. It lurched forward through the darkness emitting a gurgling sound. Its movements were sluggish and smooth, but the creature itself was of a massive size.
Brandon moved back some bringing his gun up and firing at the creature. He fired six times towards the thing’s face and the creature howled.
Dee called out, “You think that’s going to hurt it?”
“They’re blessed silver—it felt something did you see the reaction,” Brandon said.
Madeleine sighed, “This sword’s going to be useless,” she jammed the weapon into the ground. The monster was nearing them, its pincher like jaws wide feeding into the hole of its mouth. “Good thing I carry these,” Madeleine reached into the top of her dress and pulled out a pair of grenades.
“I thought your boobs looked funny,” Dee said as she stared in amazement.
“Ladies!” Brandon shouted as threw his fedora to the ground in the between all of them. A large circle with Hebrew characters appeared on the ground closing them in. The demonic spider fired a huge glob of green gunk at them.
As it hit the edge of Brandon’s protective circle it fizzled out.
“Eww, what the fuck!” Dee whined.
Madeleine flicked the pins out of the grenades with her thumbs and hurled them up towards the beast’s face. As they detonated the thing roared in pain, its face covered by the power of the blast. The fire spread and lit a small area of the void.
Now the creature had become a walking conflagration. A cascade of fire poured down off its face. Part of the torso was blasted open. In a fit of wrenching pain the spider lunged at them its cries imbued with torment.
Brandon and Madeleine dove out of the way as the thing stumbled towards them. Dee sprung straight up into the colorless void her glorious white wings spreading from her back. They beat against the air as she tried to keep her flight pattern right.
One hand covered her heart and the other held tightly to her trusted scythe. From this high up she could barely see Brandon and Madeleine lying on the ground where they had landed.
“Dee, coward—you’re going to have to stop it!” Madeleine screamed from the ground.
“I can’t—I hate spiders!”
“Stop being a baby!” Madeleine replied.
Dee took a deep breath, the spider didn’t seem to see her or any of the others. The grenade more than likely had blinded it. So that put her at a slight advantage. In the back of her mind though she knew she didn’t want to take on a demon this size head on.
That was when she knew what she was going to use.
“Madeleine, wrap your wings around Brandon!” she yelled.
Madeleine fluffed her wings out, their span stretched out to their length and then she rushed over and enclosed herself and Brandon. Dee tossed her free hand back behind herself as she treaded air. She snapped her fingers and a ball of intimidating looking fire grew and formed up high behind her.
The ball grew to size comparable to that of the monster and then Dee flew up from it letting the ball rain down and smash into the spider’s back. The creature was crushed in a loud screech and its parts were flung out from the blast area.
Here and there debris from its scorched carcass littered the void. Dee fell to the ground on all fours with her winds sagging onto the ground around her. She took hungry deep breaths at the air. She put her forehead flat on the ground, pieces of the creature rained down around her.
Brandon ran to her side and grabbed her around the shoulders, “You did well, Dee.”
The void seemed to lighten now, and then it became transparent. Madeleine was standing over Dee and Brandon looking off into what had been the blackness. Now they were back in Brandon’s living room.
Every sign of the struggle vanished. Brandon’s sword was stuck in the wooden floor of the kitchen. Brandon’s fedora sat on the floor just inside of the door. Madeleine glared down at Dee, “Oh suck it up, Dee, you’re fine.”
Madeleine flipped her bangs out of her hair and started out of the room, “We’re going to need to dig deeper for this information,” she said, “But where we’re going they don’t allow Demon Hunters…”
Nothing lay there except a void. She sighed and continued to walk. From behind her she could hear the footsteps of the others as they followed her. The three of them were walking in a skewed line. It seemed that in this place, the only thing that existed was them.
Madeleine was walking with her phone out, “Of course there’s no signal here,” she muttered, “and whatever we’re walking on isn’t dirt because my powers won’t work.”
“I’m guessing that we can’t teleport, either,” Dee said. “I’m even willing to bet I couldn’t send my scythe away if I wanted.”
Brandon remained silent, holding his gun down at his side. Madeleine slipped her phone back into the pocket of her small white sweater. She moved closer to Brandon and reached around the side of his duster to pull out a long silvery saber, “Mind sharing a weapon friend?”
He glanced at her and shook his head.
Dee glanced back, her voice shaking as she said, “Brandon,” she started, “You need to stick close to me—its not safe here.”
“I’ve been to one of these places before,” Brandon said. Dee stared at him in shock now, “Back when I trained with the Order, we were made to fight a demon in this type of environment as a final exam. At the seminary we called these Instances.”
“Fancy name,” Madeleine said, “I just prefer to say we’re in a little part of Hell.”
There drought of speech and Dee turned back towards them, “Wait, what part of Hell?” she asked.
Madeleine sighed, “Hell’s rather large and I’ve not traveled around most of it.”
Brandon shook his head, “There’s no use arguing about it, we can’t even see to identify what’s around us.”
Dee peered off into the distance, past Brandon and Madeleine as if she were staring through the darkness itself, “There’s something back there—“
Her two companions glanced back. Up in the sky there were large red dots in a row, glowing like lights. Madeleine stepped back closer to Dee, “Something’s not right about this.”
The air was shaken with a thunderous screech. Each member of the group brandished their weapon as the darkness seemed to give way to a giant dark form. Parts of the void itself seemed to move and came alive in a monstrous arachnid shape.
Dee lowered her weapon and widened her stance, “Aw man,” she edged back placing a curled hand on her bottom lip. “It had to be a giant spider.”
The huge red orbs were the eyes of the creature. It lurched forward through the darkness emitting a gurgling sound. Its movements were sluggish and smooth, but the creature itself was of a massive size.
Brandon moved back some bringing his gun up and firing at the creature. He fired six times towards the thing’s face and the creature howled.
Dee called out, “You think that’s going to hurt it?”
“They’re blessed silver—it felt something did you see the reaction,” Brandon said.
Madeleine sighed, “This sword’s going to be useless,” she jammed the weapon into the ground. The monster was nearing them, its pincher like jaws wide feeding into the hole of its mouth. “Good thing I carry these,” Madeleine reached into the top of her dress and pulled out a pair of grenades.
“I thought your boobs looked funny,” Dee said as she stared in amazement.
“Ladies!” Brandon shouted as threw his fedora to the ground in the between all of them. A large circle with Hebrew characters appeared on the ground closing them in. The demonic spider fired a huge glob of green gunk at them.
As it hit the edge of Brandon’s protective circle it fizzled out.
“Eww, what the fuck!” Dee whined.
Madeleine flicked the pins out of the grenades with her thumbs and hurled them up towards the beast’s face. As they detonated the thing roared in pain, its face covered by the power of the blast. The fire spread and lit a small area of the void.
Now the creature had become a walking conflagration. A cascade of fire poured down off its face. Part of the torso was blasted open. In a fit of wrenching pain the spider lunged at them its cries imbued with torment.
Brandon and Madeleine dove out of the way as the thing stumbled towards them. Dee sprung straight up into the colorless void her glorious white wings spreading from her back. They beat against the air as she tried to keep her flight pattern right.
One hand covered her heart and the other held tightly to her trusted scythe. From this high up she could barely see Brandon and Madeleine lying on the ground where they had landed.
“Dee, coward—you’re going to have to stop it!” Madeleine screamed from the ground.
“I can’t—I hate spiders!”
“Stop being a baby!” Madeleine replied.
Dee took a deep breath, the spider didn’t seem to see her or any of the others. The grenade more than likely had blinded it. So that put her at a slight advantage. In the back of her mind though she knew she didn’t want to take on a demon this size head on.
That was when she knew what she was going to use.
“Madeleine, wrap your wings around Brandon!” she yelled.
Madeleine fluffed her wings out, their span stretched out to their length and then she rushed over and enclosed herself and Brandon. Dee tossed her free hand back behind herself as she treaded air. She snapped her fingers and a ball of intimidating looking fire grew and formed up high behind her.
The ball grew to size comparable to that of the monster and then Dee flew up from it letting the ball rain down and smash into the spider’s back. The creature was crushed in a loud screech and its parts were flung out from the blast area.
Here and there debris from its scorched carcass littered the void. Dee fell to the ground on all fours with her winds sagging onto the ground around her. She took hungry deep breaths at the air. She put her forehead flat on the ground, pieces of the creature rained down around her.
Brandon ran to her side and grabbed her around the shoulders, “You did well, Dee.”
The void seemed to lighten now, and then it became transparent. Madeleine was standing over Dee and Brandon looking off into what had been the blackness. Now they were back in Brandon’s living room.
Every sign of the struggle vanished. Brandon’s sword was stuck in the wooden floor of the kitchen. Brandon’s fedora sat on the floor just inside of the door. Madeleine glared down at Dee, “Oh suck it up, Dee, you’re fine.”
Madeleine flipped her bangs out of her hair and started out of the room, “We’re going to need to dig deeper for this information,” she said, “But where we’re going they don’t allow Demon Hunters…”
Friday, April 25, 2008
Heaven Forbid: Caught
Outside of the Church the parishioners crowded against the fount of holy water. Every Sunday was the same; the people would come out into the world with renewed enthusiasm and ready to preach the gospel. That was how it was supposed to go. That was the way things were meant to be.
But things seldom seem to go as they should.
Madeleine knew this as she sifted through the hordes of people; they’re perfume perforating her nose. This wasn’t the way things were supposed to be. The situation they were in now had to be a sign something had gone wrong. Looking through the crowd ahead of her, the whole time just trying to catch a glimpse of the man she was looking for. This was the exit she’d seen him use.
The air was cold and still wet from the fog that had perforated it. Despite the sun’s best efforts it couldn’t break through the thick cloud cover that blanketed Downtown Houston. A line of cars waited at the light as Madeleine reached the edge of the curb.
Across the street she spotted the target. His body was concealed in a long black duster. His long brown hair was tucked into the back of his collar from when he’d put it on.
Madeleine held her cell phone up over her mouth clicked the two-way feature on. Her voice was almost a whisper, “He’s headed your way, Dee.”
Dee giggled manically, “Now’s my chance!”
“Must you be so slutty?” Madeleine’s accent bit off the end of her words, “Its not like you’re going to actually get anywhere with him.”
“Stop distracting me,” Dee stammered into the two-way, “Dee out.”
Across the street Madeleine could see Dee crouched behind a car and peaking around the corner. Today was one of the rare occasions that Dee didn’t go all Goth. Madeleine was proud, maybe her advice had taken root.
Dee’s legs were hardly concealed by the short gray and black plaid skirt. The transparence of the lacey black trim didn’t help matters. Her thick mess of curls were pulled up in a haphazard ponytail. She even had on a white oxford button down. White was not a color commonly seen on Dee. Madeleine was shocked that Dee even owned these clothes.
In an instant Dee bounced to her feet and sprinted up the side walk, Madeleine rushed out across the road after her. The man in the duster had distanced himself. Madeleine jumped the rise of the curb and hit the sidewalk almost bumping into a drunken bum. “Where do you think you’re goin!” the bum shouted.
Dee had stopped next to a tall chain link fence. As Madeleine reached her she threw her arms to her sides and exclaimed, “I can’t climb this shit in heels!”
With her hands on her hips Madeline huffed at her companion, “There’s no reason to go up that, we can just catch up to him,” she took off again.
“But what do we say—“ Dee paused.
Madeleine darted up the sidewalk. Admittedly she wasn’t much for running. Angels weren’t required to do it very often, especially in boots like the ones she had on. She wished she’d been the kind to dress for functionality.
The target turned the corner and Madeleine knew she had to keep him in sight. It was be to lose someone in the city. Even on a Sunday morning the streets were still crowded.
Around the corner she spotted him checking the mailbox of the townhouse. She’d had no idea they were this close to his home, although she’d been there once. She hollered as she got closer, “Father Carlson!”
He froze, his head aimed slightly down and the shadow from his fedora covering his face, “Madeleine, please don’t call me that.”
“Sorry,” she stomped to a stop next to him and let out a sigh, “It’s just that I’ve been chasing after you for a while.”
Madeleine remembered the story that the former Priest had told her about leaving the Church. He’d been a man of the cloth for some time, but not the kind you saw conducting Mass. He’d fought demons for a secret order within the Church. He’d only quit when he lost someone he loved.
Dee rounded the corner screaming as and waving her pale arms above her head, “I’m here…I’m coming!” Before she could reach them, her heel caught at hole in the side walk and she faltered. In a fury of flailing arms and cursing Dee fell face first to the pavement.
“Holy shit, Dee are you okay?” she asked.
She fought to get up, her bottom lip puffed out and her eyes averted from anyone else’s. Brandon stooped down and took her hand, “It looks like you’re cut up a little, should we get those cleaned up?”
Dee knew that she didn’t need to have her wounds taken care of. Even if she was run through with a sword she could heal herself in a matter of minutes. That was granted that she wanted to. But stopping the pain wasn’t worth losing the moment.
She threw her arms around his neck, “Thanks.” Brandon hesitated for a moment and then lifted her clean into the air. With a slight smirk she pulled herself closer to him.
Madeleine rolled her eyes, “Don’t have time for this,” she said in a sing-song voice.
Dee shot her an evil glance and then turned back to Brandon with a smile. He started up the steps with her in his arms, “Can you get the door for me Dee, its unlocked.”
She reached over and turned the knob, pushing it open. He stepped inside with Madeleine following behind him closely. The inside of the townhouse was dark. Brandon ran an inner city orphanage, or at a time he had.
“You’ll have to excuse the lackluster care in here,” Brandon started, “I had to shut the place down.”
Dee focused her violet eyes on him through the darkness, “What do you mean that you shut the place down.”
Madeleine flicked the light on, “So its just you here?”
Brandon nodded, “I was forced to close the place really, at least temporarily.”
“But why?” asked Madeleine.
“Demon attacks are getting more frequent—they’re becoming aggressive and I fear they might target me here,” he replied.
“So you did it to protect the kids,” Dee said, “You’re like the dreamiest man alive.”
He smiled down at her, “Thanks, Dee—I guess.” He moved into the next room which was large and dark with a long ‘L’ shaped couch off to one side. He placed Dee carefully down on the couch and flipped the lamp on, “Let’s get you patched up.”
She folded her arms behind her head and stared up at him, “Thanks for taking care of me,” her cheeks turned a little red. She shifted on the leather couch and there was a soft rubbing sound of her skin on the material.
Madeleine entered the room with her arms folded, when she leaned back on the wall the color brown of her dress almost matched the large wood paneling of the walls. She placed her foot back against the baseboard stabling herself. Brandon left the room to get a first aid kit.
Madeleine sighed walking towards Dee, her anger brought her accent to forefront of her voice, “Who do you think you’re fooling?”
“What are you bitching about now?” asked Dee.
Now Madeleine kept her voice low, “We both know you don’t need someone to ‘a patch you up’, you can heal yourself just fine—“
“Just leave it alone, and its your fault I fell—you ran ahead and left me all alone,” Dee said.
Brandon entered from the other room and Madeleine walked back towards the entrance, “I think I need to go to the restroom,” she left.
Brandon watched as she walked out, “Is something the matter?”
“Yeah we’re just under a lot of pressure.”
He smiled, “That’s always a problem.”
“She gets high strung when she’s worried,” Dee said.
Brandon started to push her skirt up just a little bit, “May I?”
“Yeah,” her voice was imbued with nervousness and her cheeks turned hotter red.
“It looks like you cut your knee pretty bad here,” he said. When Brandon took her leg in his hand and bent it towards him slightly he could tell that she was in ridiculously good shape. There was no fat on her leg, it was all muscle.
Dee wanted to scream out. Her heart thudded hard against her chest. She’d thought of this too often. His touch so gentle it made her shudder slightly. Her hands pressed down into her lap Dee tried to strike up some kind of conversation to take her mind off a man she found irresistible running his hands all over her leg.
“We have to make sure nothing’s broken,” Brandon said.
She spoke up, “Do you like—things—you know how you see something and umm…” her mind went totally blank.
“There doesn’t seem to be anything broken, did you hit your head hard?” he asked.
“No.”
“This is going to burn a little,” he told her as he started to apply some antiseptic to her scrapes.
She winced, “Yeah.”
He finished most of her body and as he was about to put the kit away he leaned over on the end table next to the couch. Right then he noticed that there was a scrape on the side of her face.
“I missed a spot,” he stopped to wipe it and did so very carefully.
Dee sat there looking into his eyes and she sighed, “Maybe if you gave me a little—“ she froze up.
Brandon kissed Dee on the forehead lightly, “Is that better?”
“That’s…that…” Dee’s eyes rolled back in her head and she fell back onto the brown leather couch; fainted.
“Dee, are you alright, wake up!” Brandon lifted her head some.
Madeleine rushed back into the room from somewhere else, “What did you do to her?”
“I kissed her on the forehead and she just fell out!”
“You can’t kiss her,” Madeleine said, “She’s never even been touched by a guy—let alone kissed.” Now she rushed to her friend’s side, “You’re lucky that she didn’t have a heart attack.”
Brandon moved away as Madeleine knelt next to Dee, he writhed his hands together as he paced, “I don’t get it, what’s wrong with her?”
“Haven’t you noticed,” Madeleine said, “Or are you stupid?”
“Noticed what?”
“Nevermind,” Madeleine thought of how mad Dee would be if she mentioned it, even if she thought he should have known it herself. Madeleine held her hand over Dee’s face, her finger tips began to glow brilliant white. The light reflected off the leather of the couch and the picture that hung on the wall.
Dee’s eyes shot open and she pulled herself up from the couch, “What the Hell?” her cheeks were still hot red.
Madeleine smoothed Dee’s hair back from her forehead, “You passed out, are you alright?”
Dee nodded nervously, she lifted her head slightly. The corner of her lip lifted slightly as she smelled something distinct. She sniffed the air hard.
Madeleine raised her head up. She searched the room slowly, smelling the air as she looked around. In a smooth motion she pulled her hair away from her pretty face, her green eyes half closed, “I smell it too.”
“Smell what?” Brandon asked.
“Sulfur,” Dee jumped up from the couch and held her hand out to the side calling the scythe to her side. The weapon appeared in a flash of light and she brought it up behind her back.
Digging his hand deep into his duster Brandon produced a long barreled silver gun with ornate decorations, “Another demon attack.”
Thick black oil oozed from the ceiling and dripped onto the floor right near Madeleine’s foot, “Far worse than a demon attack, this is big trouble.”
The oil bubbled onto the floor, running down the wall slowly and starting to come from all sides all of the walls. Some of the oil ran faster than the others, the wooden floors were starting to seep too. The oil crept up between the floor boards.
Dee hissed, “Fuck,” she shot her gaze to each side of the room, “This was a trap they wanted to get us in the same place.”
Madeleine, Dee, Brandon—they all knew that this wasn’t your run of the mill attack, they were being pulled in—someone had set this up. The townhouse had become a prison and they were being pulled into Hell.
But things seldom seem to go as they should.
Madeleine knew this as she sifted through the hordes of people; they’re perfume perforating her nose. This wasn’t the way things were supposed to be. The situation they were in now had to be a sign something had gone wrong. Looking through the crowd ahead of her, the whole time just trying to catch a glimpse of the man she was looking for. This was the exit she’d seen him use.
The air was cold and still wet from the fog that had perforated it. Despite the sun’s best efforts it couldn’t break through the thick cloud cover that blanketed Downtown Houston. A line of cars waited at the light as Madeleine reached the edge of the curb.
Across the street she spotted the target. His body was concealed in a long black duster. His long brown hair was tucked into the back of his collar from when he’d put it on.
Madeleine held her cell phone up over her mouth clicked the two-way feature on. Her voice was almost a whisper, “He’s headed your way, Dee.”
Dee giggled manically, “Now’s my chance!”
“Must you be so slutty?” Madeleine’s accent bit off the end of her words, “Its not like you’re going to actually get anywhere with him.”
“Stop distracting me,” Dee stammered into the two-way, “Dee out.”
Across the street Madeleine could see Dee crouched behind a car and peaking around the corner. Today was one of the rare occasions that Dee didn’t go all Goth. Madeleine was proud, maybe her advice had taken root.
Dee’s legs were hardly concealed by the short gray and black plaid skirt. The transparence of the lacey black trim didn’t help matters. Her thick mess of curls were pulled up in a haphazard ponytail. She even had on a white oxford button down. White was not a color commonly seen on Dee. Madeleine was shocked that Dee even owned these clothes.
In an instant Dee bounced to her feet and sprinted up the side walk, Madeleine rushed out across the road after her. The man in the duster had distanced himself. Madeleine jumped the rise of the curb and hit the sidewalk almost bumping into a drunken bum. “Where do you think you’re goin!” the bum shouted.
Dee had stopped next to a tall chain link fence. As Madeleine reached her she threw her arms to her sides and exclaimed, “I can’t climb this shit in heels!”
With her hands on her hips Madeline huffed at her companion, “There’s no reason to go up that, we can just catch up to him,” she took off again.
“But what do we say—“ Dee paused.
Madeleine darted up the sidewalk. Admittedly she wasn’t much for running. Angels weren’t required to do it very often, especially in boots like the ones she had on. She wished she’d been the kind to dress for functionality.
The target turned the corner and Madeleine knew she had to keep him in sight. It was be to lose someone in the city. Even on a Sunday morning the streets were still crowded.
Around the corner she spotted him checking the mailbox of the townhouse. She’d had no idea they were this close to his home, although she’d been there once. She hollered as she got closer, “Father Carlson!”
He froze, his head aimed slightly down and the shadow from his fedora covering his face, “Madeleine, please don’t call me that.”
“Sorry,” she stomped to a stop next to him and let out a sigh, “It’s just that I’ve been chasing after you for a while.”
Madeleine remembered the story that the former Priest had told her about leaving the Church. He’d been a man of the cloth for some time, but not the kind you saw conducting Mass. He’d fought demons for a secret order within the Church. He’d only quit when he lost someone he loved.
Dee rounded the corner screaming as and waving her pale arms above her head, “I’m here…I’m coming!” Before she could reach them, her heel caught at hole in the side walk and she faltered. In a fury of flailing arms and cursing Dee fell face first to the pavement.
“Holy shit, Dee are you okay?” she asked.
She fought to get up, her bottom lip puffed out and her eyes averted from anyone else’s. Brandon stooped down and took her hand, “It looks like you’re cut up a little, should we get those cleaned up?”
Dee knew that she didn’t need to have her wounds taken care of. Even if she was run through with a sword she could heal herself in a matter of minutes. That was granted that she wanted to. But stopping the pain wasn’t worth losing the moment.
She threw her arms around his neck, “Thanks.” Brandon hesitated for a moment and then lifted her clean into the air. With a slight smirk she pulled herself closer to him.
Madeleine rolled her eyes, “Don’t have time for this,” she said in a sing-song voice.
Dee shot her an evil glance and then turned back to Brandon with a smile. He started up the steps with her in his arms, “Can you get the door for me Dee, its unlocked.”
She reached over and turned the knob, pushing it open. He stepped inside with Madeleine following behind him closely. The inside of the townhouse was dark. Brandon ran an inner city orphanage, or at a time he had.
“You’ll have to excuse the lackluster care in here,” Brandon started, “I had to shut the place down.”
Dee focused her violet eyes on him through the darkness, “What do you mean that you shut the place down.”
Madeleine flicked the light on, “So its just you here?”
Brandon nodded, “I was forced to close the place really, at least temporarily.”
“But why?” asked Madeleine.
“Demon attacks are getting more frequent—they’re becoming aggressive and I fear they might target me here,” he replied.
“So you did it to protect the kids,” Dee said, “You’re like the dreamiest man alive.”
He smiled down at her, “Thanks, Dee—I guess.” He moved into the next room which was large and dark with a long ‘L’ shaped couch off to one side. He placed Dee carefully down on the couch and flipped the lamp on, “Let’s get you patched up.”
She folded her arms behind her head and stared up at him, “Thanks for taking care of me,” her cheeks turned a little red. She shifted on the leather couch and there was a soft rubbing sound of her skin on the material.
Madeleine entered the room with her arms folded, when she leaned back on the wall the color brown of her dress almost matched the large wood paneling of the walls. She placed her foot back against the baseboard stabling herself. Brandon left the room to get a first aid kit.
Madeleine sighed walking towards Dee, her anger brought her accent to forefront of her voice, “Who do you think you’re fooling?”
“What are you bitching about now?” asked Dee.
Now Madeleine kept her voice low, “We both know you don’t need someone to ‘a patch you up’, you can heal yourself just fine—“
“Just leave it alone, and its your fault I fell—you ran ahead and left me all alone,” Dee said.
Brandon entered from the other room and Madeleine walked back towards the entrance, “I think I need to go to the restroom,” she left.
Brandon watched as she walked out, “Is something the matter?”
“Yeah we’re just under a lot of pressure.”
He smiled, “That’s always a problem.”
“She gets high strung when she’s worried,” Dee said.
Brandon started to push her skirt up just a little bit, “May I?”
“Yeah,” her voice was imbued with nervousness and her cheeks turned hotter red.
“It looks like you cut your knee pretty bad here,” he said. When Brandon took her leg in his hand and bent it towards him slightly he could tell that she was in ridiculously good shape. There was no fat on her leg, it was all muscle.
Dee wanted to scream out. Her heart thudded hard against her chest. She’d thought of this too often. His touch so gentle it made her shudder slightly. Her hands pressed down into her lap Dee tried to strike up some kind of conversation to take her mind off a man she found irresistible running his hands all over her leg.
“We have to make sure nothing’s broken,” Brandon said.
She spoke up, “Do you like—things—you know how you see something and umm…” her mind went totally blank.
“There doesn’t seem to be anything broken, did you hit your head hard?” he asked.
“No.”
“This is going to burn a little,” he told her as he started to apply some antiseptic to her scrapes.
She winced, “Yeah.”
He finished most of her body and as he was about to put the kit away he leaned over on the end table next to the couch. Right then he noticed that there was a scrape on the side of her face.
“I missed a spot,” he stopped to wipe it and did so very carefully.
Dee sat there looking into his eyes and she sighed, “Maybe if you gave me a little—“ she froze up.
Brandon kissed Dee on the forehead lightly, “Is that better?”
“That’s…that…” Dee’s eyes rolled back in her head and she fell back onto the brown leather couch; fainted.
“Dee, are you alright, wake up!” Brandon lifted her head some.
Madeleine rushed back into the room from somewhere else, “What did you do to her?”
“I kissed her on the forehead and she just fell out!”
“You can’t kiss her,” Madeleine said, “She’s never even been touched by a guy—let alone kissed.” Now she rushed to her friend’s side, “You’re lucky that she didn’t have a heart attack.”
Brandon moved away as Madeleine knelt next to Dee, he writhed his hands together as he paced, “I don’t get it, what’s wrong with her?”
“Haven’t you noticed,” Madeleine said, “Or are you stupid?”
“Noticed what?”
“Nevermind,” Madeleine thought of how mad Dee would be if she mentioned it, even if she thought he should have known it herself. Madeleine held her hand over Dee’s face, her finger tips began to glow brilliant white. The light reflected off the leather of the couch and the picture that hung on the wall.
Dee’s eyes shot open and she pulled herself up from the couch, “What the Hell?” her cheeks were still hot red.
Madeleine smoothed Dee’s hair back from her forehead, “You passed out, are you alright?”
Dee nodded nervously, she lifted her head slightly. The corner of her lip lifted slightly as she smelled something distinct. She sniffed the air hard.
Madeleine raised her head up. She searched the room slowly, smelling the air as she looked around. In a smooth motion she pulled her hair away from her pretty face, her green eyes half closed, “I smell it too.”
“Smell what?” Brandon asked.
“Sulfur,” Dee jumped up from the couch and held her hand out to the side calling the scythe to her side. The weapon appeared in a flash of light and she brought it up behind her back.
Digging his hand deep into his duster Brandon produced a long barreled silver gun with ornate decorations, “Another demon attack.”
Thick black oil oozed from the ceiling and dripped onto the floor right near Madeleine’s foot, “Far worse than a demon attack, this is big trouble.”
The oil bubbled onto the floor, running down the wall slowly and starting to come from all sides all of the walls. Some of the oil ran faster than the others, the wooden floors were starting to seep too. The oil crept up between the floor boards.
Dee hissed, “Fuck,” she shot her gaze to each side of the room, “This was a trap they wanted to get us in the same place.”
Madeleine, Dee, Brandon—they all knew that this wasn’t your run of the mill attack, they were being pulled in—someone had set this up. The townhouse had become a prison and they were being pulled into Hell.
Thursday, April 24, 2008
While
Been a while since I did one these, since I started the story; which is getting underway nicely now. I'm do tired though. I worked late last night early this morning and I have to get up in about four and half hours and get to work. Things have been pretty rough besides work. I've had to face some of the questions about myself that I have been avoiding for a while and I am starting to wonder if I need to make some more adjustments to how I do things with myself.
My mind's been kind of on the fritz lately, plagued by things that I can't even begin to sort out now and I'm wondering if I did something--if I am doing something to make matters worse for myself. I can't just stop thinking about them, as much as people say that you can. Its not like that for me. I don't have an easily distracted mind. Most of the time my mind will do anything I need to do while thinking about what I am trying to avoid. Other times I will just be so distracted I can't get things done.
Its like most of the time I can't even talk to people anymore. I hope this passes soon.
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Heaven Forbid - Chapter One: Suspension of Pride
She had only lingered for water a moment when she noticed the boy with the dusty blonde hair staring at her. His freckled face was imbued with awe as he looked up at her. Of course she knew that it wasn’t just her that he was looking at. The majority of Dee’s afternoon had consisted of leading her horse around the park. Anywhere a horse was taken in the middle of the city he attracted unnecessary attention.
She approached the boy wiping her mouth off with the back of her hand as she did. Her lips widened into a smile and she knelt down and started to rummage through her bag, “You wanna feed him?” Her slender pale arm made circles down in the satchel at her side and finally she produced a bright red apple, “He loves these.”
The little boy’s honey colored eyes were locked on her, but he said nothing. His arms hung down at his side and his face void of any expression except astonishment. So much astonishment he was unable to take the fruit.
“Go ahead, he won’t bite,” Dee smiled as she rose up from her squatting position to meet the boy face to face, “And neither do I.” She rubbed the top of his head lightly, “His name is Apples.”
Right then Dee thought of how she must have appeared to a little kid. She wasn’t exactly what one would call normal looking. The lip ring, the small jewel stud in the side of her nose and the countless crosses she wore around her neck couldn’t have been all that easy for the kid to take in. Add into the equation the loads of makeup she wore.
Madeleine waited in impatient silence behind the horse this whole time. She’d been Dee’s friend for some time. It had always been kind of apparent to her that Dee had a knack for getting horribly side tracked when there was something important to do. But she knew she couldn’t tell Dee that.
She’d tried, on more than one occasion, to advice Dee about perhaps dressing more conservatively. There wasn’t exactly a dress code for their line of work, but they were just supposed to blend in. However there wasn’t an incentive for Dee to listen.
The little boy accept the apple. He offered it up to the horse and the horse ate it carefully. The kid giggled at the horse’s mouth touching his hands. Dee shot Madeleine a quick glance to see if she was smiling about this whole ordeal. Of course she was not. As far as she was concerned Dee was wasting time.
From off across the park a woman called out, “Nick!” the boy looked up and his laughter ceased. The sound of his mother’s voice had pulled his attention away from the horse. Almost instantly he jolted across the path and over the grass off towards the hillside in the distance where she waited.
Madeleine sauntered around the horse, “Why did you bring him out?”
“He needs some exercise,” Dee rubbed the horse so vigorously her big dark mop of curls shook, “Cooped up in the Ethereal stables all day—he must get lonely.”
“I don’t think he’s allowed,” Madeleine concluded, “I don’t see many horses in the Herman Park.”
Dee ran her hand across the top of the horses head softer this time, “But he’s having a great time out here,” Dee said with an induced squeaky tone, “He’s not going to ever want to go back, isn’t that right boy?”
That baby-talk-tone that Dee took was enough to make Madeleine want to vomit; instead she just rolled her eyes. “Do you have to talk to him like that?”
“Aww you’re just jealous that he loves his momma!” Dee continued and exaggerated the voice now.
With her arms folded Madeleine sighed, “Your belittling him, he’s a grown horse!”
“You’re the one being rude,” Dee quipped, “I mean he has a name you know!”
“I’m not going to call the Pale Horse Apples!” Madeleine yelled.
“Well that’s what he likes to eat!” Dee threw her arms to her sides and stomped off from the horse, “Besides I don’t think he’s ever had a name,” she said, “Everything deserves a name.”
“You don’t see Pestilence and War running around with their horses sporting gay names…”
“War’s a tramp and Pestilence is a dick,” Dee said. “And don’t call Apples gay, slut.”
“Bitch…” Madeleine returned fire, “look we’re supposed to be doing a job.”
“Ladies, ladies, ladies; now there’s no reason for us to quarrel,” a man in a white suit made his way towards him. He was combing his hair through his long white blonde tendrils as he moved. Smoke rose off his shoulders and the top of his head yet it was so light that it was barely visible.
Apples reared up slightly and Dee touched the side of his head gently to calm him, “I thought that I smelled sulfur.”
Madeleine stepped against him holding her body close to his. The heat he gave off warmed right through her clothes, she could feel the sweat starting to form. It was akin to being near a fire. She pressed her pistol into his stomach hard.
“Can’t say I expected such a warm welcome from the likes of you,” he said. He tucked his head over her shoulder and his tongue extended out as he talked. It wasn’t a human’s tongue though. It was slimy and long with a split end; like that of a snake, “Put that away, I assure I won’t bite.”
In a flash he was gone, vanished without warning. She blinked as if she expected him to reappear. She felt something warm and wet on the back of her neck and in an instant she knew. She gasped as the wet warmth spread down the side of her neck as if it were wrapping around, “Oh God, he’s got his tongue on my neck.”
Dee stepped in behind him, brandishing her scythe now. She pulled the bladed edge in-between Madeleine and her target, “Make one more move and pop your head off like a cork.”
For an instant his steely blue eyes went wide. A smile spread across his pale lips, “It’s been a long time since I had the pleasure of meeting up with Death personified...”
“It’s been a while since there’s been one,” Madeleine stepped forward and turned to face him as she put her gun away. She checked around the park to make sure no one had noticed the trouble.
As Madeleine got out of his range he pushed Dee’s scythe up over his head, he turned and put his face close to Dee’s, “A female Death?” He smiled wryly, “Been even longer since we had one of those.” He edged around the side of her now with his arms but keeping his face as close to hers as he could. “How about a little kiss.” His forked tongue flicked out at her.
Dee pushed him back and dropped her scythe. Before the weapon could hit the ground it vanished in brilliant flash of light. “That’s a Hell of an offer,” Dee said, “But I think its better we keep this relationship strictly professional.”
Madeleine’s eyes welled up with tears, “I wish I could do that, he wrapped his tongue around my neck.” She was rubbing her hand down the side of her neck where the slimy appendage had touched.
The man in white went over to Apples rubbing him on the side of the head, the horse tensed up and backed away slowly. “You brought the Pale Horse off the Ethereal Plain?”
Dee rushed over and threw her arms around the horse, “Keep your fucking hands off him!”
“Honey,” he started, “I knew this horse back before you or this hunk of rock you call a planet were even part of His divine plan.”
Madeleine seemed to have gathered herself now, “So the rumors are true, you’re stalking the Earth these days, Lucifer?” Madeleine’s brown knee high boots crunched the grass under her feet slightly as she started to circle.
“I don’t remember ever seeing you back when I was fighting the good fight, you’re Nephilim then?” Satan asked.
Dee nodded.
“I sense an aura of intense energy around you,” Satan started. “It’s disgusting that he’d let two half-breeds have such power, the Angel of Death and an Archangel.”
“Can the commentary and tell us why you sent us that message?” Madeleine said.
Satan’s face went blank, his blue eyes now serious, “This is a warning…consider it an omen if you must—the war is coming.”
“We’ve been at war with you since—well the beginning of time,” Dee said.
“This war will make that one look like a school yard fight,” Satan said, “It’s ramifications will spill through Heaven, Earth, Purgatory and have already began in Hell.”
“There’s fighting in Hell?” Madeleine asked.
“Someone’s marched on two of the cities and taken them both, there’s demons joining their ranks by the thousands…the Lake of Fire at Gehenna is under attack as we speak,” he said.
Dee shook her head, “Any idea who’s leading this force?”
“I have one, but you’re not going to believe it.”
“Go ahead,” Madeleine said.
“The Great Old Gods…” Satan replied.
Dee and Madeleine glared at each other confused. Finally Madeleine smoothed her hands down her deep brown dress and asked, “What are these ‘Gods’?”
He sighed, “Do you two read anything in the Angelic Libraries?” there was a short pause. “They’re what predated Humans, God’s original ‘grand creation’, hidden away from the world in sacred objects…they lie dormant in both Hell and Earth.”
“How can a dormant life form lead an army?” asked Dee.
“They’re more Immortal than Human, someone has been releasing them or using their power to help build a force,” Satan concluded.
“How do you know all of this?” asked Madeleine.
“Because Michael and I led the charge to imprison them,” he started, “Most we placed carefully inside of sacred objects but one, who surrendered, we imprisoned in bone and flesh…the first Female—I think you actually know her.”
“I think we would know if we knew someone with that kind of power,” Dee said.
“She was called Lilith once, but these days she prefers the name Amandah—,” Satan paused to let them take it in.
“The Trickster?” asked Dee.
Satan nodded, “But a pendant and a glove that we trapped two of them in are missing from Hell—I’ve dispatched my Elite Guard to find the other objects.”
Dee turned to Apples, “Never a dull moment, eh Apples?”
“I’ve got to head back to my fight,” Satan said, “But I would advise you girls to talk to that Immortal, see if she knows anything.”
“Last I checked you didn’t run anything, Lucifer…” Madeleine said.
“If I, through all my pride have enlisted the help of Angels—you better believe this is something you should be worried about. If Hell falls Purgatory will easily and then Earth after that—then what, you make your stand in Heaven?”
“A drop of blood must never fall inside the Golden Gates!” Dee protested.
“Then I suggest you do as I say.”
She approached the boy wiping her mouth off with the back of her hand as she did. Her lips widened into a smile and she knelt down and started to rummage through her bag, “You wanna feed him?” Her slender pale arm made circles down in the satchel at her side and finally she produced a bright red apple, “He loves these.”
The little boy’s honey colored eyes were locked on her, but he said nothing. His arms hung down at his side and his face void of any expression except astonishment. So much astonishment he was unable to take the fruit.
“Go ahead, he won’t bite,” Dee smiled as she rose up from her squatting position to meet the boy face to face, “And neither do I.” She rubbed the top of his head lightly, “His name is Apples.”
Right then Dee thought of how she must have appeared to a little kid. She wasn’t exactly what one would call normal looking. The lip ring, the small jewel stud in the side of her nose and the countless crosses she wore around her neck couldn’t have been all that easy for the kid to take in. Add into the equation the loads of makeup she wore.
Madeleine waited in impatient silence behind the horse this whole time. She’d been Dee’s friend for some time. It had always been kind of apparent to her that Dee had a knack for getting horribly side tracked when there was something important to do. But she knew she couldn’t tell Dee that.
She’d tried, on more than one occasion, to advice Dee about perhaps dressing more conservatively. There wasn’t exactly a dress code for their line of work, but they were just supposed to blend in. However there wasn’t an incentive for Dee to listen.
The little boy accept the apple. He offered it up to the horse and the horse ate it carefully. The kid giggled at the horse’s mouth touching his hands. Dee shot Madeleine a quick glance to see if she was smiling about this whole ordeal. Of course she was not. As far as she was concerned Dee was wasting time.
From off across the park a woman called out, “Nick!” the boy looked up and his laughter ceased. The sound of his mother’s voice had pulled his attention away from the horse. Almost instantly he jolted across the path and over the grass off towards the hillside in the distance where she waited.
Madeleine sauntered around the horse, “Why did you bring him out?”
“He needs some exercise,” Dee rubbed the horse so vigorously her big dark mop of curls shook, “Cooped up in the Ethereal stables all day—he must get lonely.”
“I don’t think he’s allowed,” Madeleine concluded, “I don’t see many horses in the Herman Park.”
Dee ran her hand across the top of the horses head softer this time, “But he’s having a great time out here,” Dee said with an induced squeaky tone, “He’s not going to ever want to go back, isn’t that right boy?”
That baby-talk-tone that Dee took was enough to make Madeleine want to vomit; instead she just rolled her eyes. “Do you have to talk to him like that?”
“Aww you’re just jealous that he loves his momma!” Dee continued and exaggerated the voice now.
With her arms folded Madeleine sighed, “Your belittling him, he’s a grown horse!”
“You’re the one being rude,” Dee quipped, “I mean he has a name you know!”
“I’m not going to call the Pale Horse Apples!” Madeleine yelled.
“Well that’s what he likes to eat!” Dee threw her arms to her sides and stomped off from the horse, “Besides I don’t think he’s ever had a name,” she said, “Everything deserves a name.”
“You don’t see Pestilence and War running around with their horses sporting gay names…”
“War’s a tramp and Pestilence is a dick,” Dee said. “And don’t call Apples gay, slut.”
“Bitch…” Madeleine returned fire, “look we’re supposed to be doing a job.”
“Ladies, ladies, ladies; now there’s no reason for us to quarrel,” a man in a white suit made his way towards him. He was combing his hair through his long white blonde tendrils as he moved. Smoke rose off his shoulders and the top of his head yet it was so light that it was barely visible.
Apples reared up slightly and Dee touched the side of his head gently to calm him, “I thought that I smelled sulfur.”
Madeleine stepped against him holding her body close to his. The heat he gave off warmed right through her clothes, she could feel the sweat starting to form. It was akin to being near a fire. She pressed her pistol into his stomach hard.
“Can’t say I expected such a warm welcome from the likes of you,” he said. He tucked his head over her shoulder and his tongue extended out as he talked. It wasn’t a human’s tongue though. It was slimy and long with a split end; like that of a snake, “Put that away, I assure I won’t bite.”
In a flash he was gone, vanished without warning. She blinked as if she expected him to reappear. She felt something warm and wet on the back of her neck and in an instant she knew. She gasped as the wet warmth spread down the side of her neck as if it were wrapping around, “Oh God, he’s got his tongue on my neck.”
Dee stepped in behind him, brandishing her scythe now. She pulled the bladed edge in-between Madeleine and her target, “Make one more move and pop your head off like a cork.”
For an instant his steely blue eyes went wide. A smile spread across his pale lips, “It’s been a long time since I had the pleasure of meeting up with Death personified...”
“It’s been a while since there’s been one,” Madeleine stepped forward and turned to face him as she put her gun away. She checked around the park to make sure no one had noticed the trouble.
As Madeleine got out of his range he pushed Dee’s scythe up over his head, he turned and put his face close to Dee’s, “A female Death?” He smiled wryly, “Been even longer since we had one of those.” He edged around the side of her now with his arms but keeping his face as close to hers as he could. “How about a little kiss.” His forked tongue flicked out at her.
Dee pushed him back and dropped her scythe. Before the weapon could hit the ground it vanished in brilliant flash of light. “That’s a Hell of an offer,” Dee said, “But I think its better we keep this relationship strictly professional.”
Madeleine’s eyes welled up with tears, “I wish I could do that, he wrapped his tongue around my neck.” She was rubbing her hand down the side of her neck where the slimy appendage had touched.
The man in white went over to Apples rubbing him on the side of the head, the horse tensed up and backed away slowly. “You brought the Pale Horse off the Ethereal Plain?”
Dee rushed over and threw her arms around the horse, “Keep your fucking hands off him!”
“Honey,” he started, “I knew this horse back before you or this hunk of rock you call a planet were even part of His divine plan.”
Madeleine seemed to have gathered herself now, “So the rumors are true, you’re stalking the Earth these days, Lucifer?” Madeleine’s brown knee high boots crunched the grass under her feet slightly as she started to circle.
“I don’t remember ever seeing you back when I was fighting the good fight, you’re Nephilim then?” Satan asked.
Dee nodded.
“I sense an aura of intense energy around you,” Satan started. “It’s disgusting that he’d let two half-breeds have such power, the Angel of Death and an Archangel.”
“Can the commentary and tell us why you sent us that message?” Madeleine said.
Satan’s face went blank, his blue eyes now serious, “This is a warning…consider it an omen if you must—the war is coming.”
“We’ve been at war with you since—well the beginning of time,” Dee said.
“This war will make that one look like a school yard fight,” Satan said, “It’s ramifications will spill through Heaven, Earth, Purgatory and have already began in Hell.”
“There’s fighting in Hell?” Madeleine asked.
“Someone’s marched on two of the cities and taken them both, there’s demons joining their ranks by the thousands…the Lake of Fire at Gehenna is under attack as we speak,” he said.
Dee shook her head, “Any idea who’s leading this force?”
“I have one, but you’re not going to believe it.”
“Go ahead,” Madeleine said.
“The Great Old Gods…” Satan replied.
Dee and Madeleine glared at each other confused. Finally Madeleine smoothed her hands down her deep brown dress and asked, “What are these ‘Gods’?”
He sighed, “Do you two read anything in the Angelic Libraries?” there was a short pause. “They’re what predated Humans, God’s original ‘grand creation’, hidden away from the world in sacred objects…they lie dormant in both Hell and Earth.”
“How can a dormant life form lead an army?” asked Dee.
“They’re more Immortal than Human, someone has been releasing them or using their power to help build a force,” Satan concluded.
“How do you know all of this?” asked Madeleine.
“Because Michael and I led the charge to imprison them,” he started, “Most we placed carefully inside of sacred objects but one, who surrendered, we imprisoned in bone and flesh…the first Female—I think you actually know her.”
“I think we would know if we knew someone with that kind of power,” Dee said.
“She was called Lilith once, but these days she prefers the name Amandah—,” Satan paused to let them take it in.
“The Trickster?” asked Dee.
Satan nodded, “But a pendant and a glove that we trapped two of them in are missing from Hell—I’ve dispatched my Elite Guard to find the other objects.”
Dee turned to Apples, “Never a dull moment, eh Apples?”
“I’ve got to head back to my fight,” Satan said, “But I would advise you girls to talk to that Immortal, see if she knows anything.”
“Last I checked you didn’t run anything, Lucifer…” Madeleine said.
“If I, through all my pride have enlisted the help of Angels—you better believe this is something you should be worried about. If Hell falls Purgatory will easily and then Earth after that—then what, you make your stand in Heaven?”
“A drop of blood must never fall inside the Golden Gates!” Dee protested.
“Then I suggest you do as I say.”
Monday, April 14, 2008
*blank*
After losing what I thought was a friend over nothing, I'm convinced there are no descent people left in the world. Even after being friends for some years and talking pretty often; someone just dumps you off. Without a word, without any sort of a warning. Someone I had thought was a really good person, someone I thought that I could talk to and trust just up and blocks you and stops answering your calls. I don't know what to say about her, besides I wish I'd never known her. If all she was going to do was sneak out when she thought I wouldn't notice, or just walk out and not care if I noticed. What's the point? Why even be friends at all then?
I don't even want to talk about it anymore, its something that's just going to make me more angry.
Monday, April 07, 2008
Bananaphone?!?...WTF?
This song is so messed up! I mean what the Hell is it? A phone, obviously, but can you eat the damn thing? Or is it just shaped like a banana. Is it home based or mobile...and if it is mobile how much does the plan cost?
And in the song, why the fuck does he call the cat?
"No sir, the White House will not except your bananaphone call."
Saturday, April 05, 2008
Save the Lies for the Liars
I'm starting to dislike pretentious people, those who think that they have to invent a new them to make themselves interesting. The same people who you see trying to hard to look intelligent. I'm getting really tired of being told how I can't be a real writer if I don't do this, or how doing this or that isn't an adult choice to make with ones hobbies or the like.
There's a guy that I work with who I spend a good deal of time around and he is one of these people. The very definition of lame. He made himself a big long list of New Years resolutions and broadcast them all over the place. Most of them were trivial shit. One of them even said that he wanted to take up smoking, who just 'takes up smoking' and choses to do so ahead of time.
He was discussing his writing with me at one point, because he writes too and it just sounded like that same old tired ass stuff you see in movies like Garden State, a depressing and emo romp through life until somehow some quirky girl comes up and without explanation for how she does it, changes things. When I told him about my writing and how I had spent all of the night before writing an action scene. He made some comment about how he used to write stuff like that, but he grew up.
He is quick to judge others on how they dress and the like, but the second someone even points ou that he is out of dress code, he flies off the handle. He is just the kind of person I thought I would be rid of when I got out of high school, but there are apparently more of them.
I Can Be So Cruel
So yeah, maybe this guy's problem isn't funny...but what I said back is...
Him: "I haven't crapped in the past 4 days, and I'm all stopped up. I'm in tremendous pain; I cant remain seated for more than 5 minutes, or else my lower area gets cramped. Throughout the day, I'll get convulsions that feel like someone punched me in the kidneys, and it hurts when I bend over. When I try to go to the bathroom, it's like my body wont let anything come out, despite my will to push through the pain. I took a laxative and it has yet to work. Any suggestions? Thanks."
Me: "There's only one option left...get in there with a butter knife and start yourself like a ketchup bottle."
I'm so cruel sometimes.
Thursday, April 03, 2008
From the Heart of Utah
These are some quotes from a member known as UtahCrip on a forum I visit. They're pretty damn funny.
On Gun Control
"I feel like a real man regardless if I'm strapped. I just happen to always be strapped."
"This country was built on packing heat."
"Fuck out of here. I'll fight a dude but sometimes you just got to clap somebody."
On Relationships
"I told my moms I was going to go blow out some hoes back. All she asked was if I had some jimmy hats. I told her yeah but I hit it raw. Shit, elementary school was some good time."
"You act like it's hard to pick up 13 year old girls and fatties. If I stopped down to your level, I'd get more than 3 broads. Thankfully I like my hoes of age and looking right.
I aint down with that bullshit[monogamy]. I mean how you only going to bang one broad when they is so many good looking bitches out there. You must be crazy, cuz.
[Sexual Fantasies]"Aight peep this. So I'm chilling with the homies. Next thing this dime comes out of no where. We talking fine face, nice tigoles, and phat ass. So she pushes my homies out the way and gives me dome on the spot. Next thing a cop pulls up and get out of his ride. Before he starts hating, she pulls out my glock and shoots the pig. Then I hit it from the bacc. That's some real shit right there. For real something really romantic and shit.
On Learning
"Why aint you learn something more useful in them 10 years. The hood aint checking for sword fights. Seriously, call me the next time you get into a 3 musketeers type swordfight, cuz.
I really don't get that shit. For real people act like they are smarter with a degree. Yet when they graduate, they in debt and having troubles getting a job. Shit I barely graduated high school and I stay getting paid. The streets taught me and I aint have to take no caclulus classes. For current college students, I'm sorry but you getting pimped by education.
We can't all sling roccs and gang bang, yo. Some of us have to stay on the straight and narrow, otherwise there would be massive inflation in the banging and slanging...and then there would be no money in the drug game...But going to college doesn't mean that you can't cheat the system and do gangsta shit, like stealing food from the campus cafe, or bustin' mental-caps in foo's with your knowledge.
I seriously couldn't make this shit up, I had to edit the spelling and stuff like that. But its all his words. You have no idea what kind of pure win this guy is made of.
Monday, March 31, 2008
Happt Rick Roll Day
I've never been much of a fan of April Fool's day, not sure why, but more than likely because I just find it to be a silly 'holiday' at best and I kind of regard it right down there with Halloween. I don't spend my day trying to fool people or any of that because honestly, if you do it on that day, its kind of obvious folks.
That is unless the prank itself is something we can do universally to people and its designated. Like that hitting game people used to play where they would make a shape with their fingers hold it below their waste and try to coax others into looking at it. This mentality is what brings me to the internet equivalent of that.
The Rick Roll hasn't been around too terribly long, but like most things on the internet, it picked up speed and spread like wild fire.
So without further delay, I would like to declare April the first, Rick Roll Day. For those of you who don't understand what a rickroll is, its simple. You try to trick someone into clicking a link to a Rick Astley video, for instance the link is here. But what do I do to trick you? I just send you a link and disguise it.
That's tomorrow for you people, now get on it.
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
Procedure
Is this standard procedure for you? Is this how you treat people who extend their hand and try to talk to you, try to be your friend at the very least. I don't know how some people manage to reach out to others that they don't know. Being open and friendly often seems to end with you being rejected. How do you handle that rejection? What's the right way to do this?
I haven't found my niche for meeting people, new friends or otherwise, it seems that the people I meet lately pass through my life just as soon as they came in. And when I reached out to meet someone, through another person--it ended in my being treated like I was nothing, like I was old news and unwanted. I don't care what anyone says, it hurts being treated like that even by new people.
So here is the thing, I think I might just let this thing go. Toss this to the side and forget about this because more than anything else I don't want to deal with how some others treat those who reach out to them.
Sunday, March 23, 2008
Easter
Today is Easter I know, and there's just something unappealing to me about having to go over to my parent's house and hang out with them. I know this might sound like something trivial, as a matter of a fact it might sound down right stupid.
But things haven't been as good as they should maybe, and like any time that I'm alone I've had too much time to think. I have pretty no idea what to do most of the time, no direction to take and I don't know how to do things that maybe I should have some idea of how to. There is this guy, he's always doing these things like trying to be so adventurous and trying to take up new hobbies and things.
I really dislike him as a person (he's a bit of a playboy) but I wonder if I shouldn't be more like him in the regard of all these little experiments and trying to 'find my self'. Can you really even find yourself?
Sometimes I don't want to do anything, sometimes I just want to sit and think. Sometimes I think that everything is a waste of time and I wonder if I can even find something to do that won't just be another waste of time. There are these times where I know that I hate how people regard me. Its not a matter of caring too much about other people. Its just wondering why they think of you a certain way. How come people feel the need to be so vocal in expressing all your faults? How come people people think its so important you conform to them.
I mean a lot of the time I find it hard to even want to answer people when they ask me for my opinion on something they're discussing. It's not that I am afraid to express my opinion, that's not it at all. Its more of the fact that I don't want to have to argue my point. Regardless of how much I think I am right, at least as far as what's for me. I mean they'll ask what I think about strip clubs or something stupid like that and of course I've never been to one, don't ever want to go or plan on going.
Of course I get the same response that I get when I don't like something and there are other people around arguing it, "Well don't knock it till you try it." It actually makes me angry now when I hear it.
As far as other people that I know, ones who I know better, I hardly get to see most of them. I think that in recent memory the best time I have has been my birthday weekend in San Antonio. I wish I could have something like that at least from time to time. And now I know I need to start making plans again and sticking to them. I said I wanted to get something published, go back to school, none of that's going to get done with out me doing something about it.
Thursday, March 20, 2008
And Dan Brown Says Something's Wrong With the American People
Someone on myspace posted this:
MY NAME IS DAN BROWN. NO, I AM NOT THE AUTHOR, DAN BROWN, WHOM I ADMIRE VERY MUCH. RATHER, I AM JUST A 75 YEAR OLD RETIREE WITH LOTS OF TIME ON MY HANDS WHO LOVES THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA WITH ALL THAT'S WITHIN ME.
I AM NOT A PATRIOT. I HAVE NEVER SERVED IN THE ARMED FORCES OF THIS GREAT NATION, TO MY SORROW, BUT DUE TO CIRCUMSTANCES WHICH YOU DON'T CARE ABOUT. I HAVE NEVER MADE A BIG MARK IN THIS WORLD.
I HOLD DEARLY TO CONSERVATIVE PRINCIPLES. I NORMALLY VOTE REPUBLICAN.
I AM A CHRISTIAN AND AM VERY PROUD OF IT. I AM NOT A COWARD - BUT I AM PETRIFIED.
WE ARE FACING THE REAL POSSIBILITY THAT BARACK OBAMA WILL BE THE NEXT PRESIDENT OF THIS NATION. NO ONE KNOWS ANYTHING ABOUT THIS MAN EXCEPT THAT HE DOES HAVE GREAT CHARISMA. HE HAS NOT AT ANY TIME DURING THIS CAMPAIGN REVEALED WHAT HE STANDS FOR, WHAT HE BELIEVES IN, OTHER THAN OBAMA, NOR WHAT HIS PLANS ARE TO EFFECT CHANGE WHICH HE TALKS ABOUT UNCEASINGLY.
I AM NOT AN INSIDER. I HAVE NO PROOF OF WHAT I BELIEVE, BUT I DO BELIEVE THAT WITH THE RESOURCES I DO NOT HAVE THAT MOST OF THE FOLLOWING COULD BE ESTABLISHED.
I BELIEVE THAT WHEN MICHELLE OBAMA MADE HER INFAMOUS STATEMENT ON TUESDAY OF THIS WEEK THAT FOR THE FIRST TIME IN MY LIFE I AM PROUD OF MY COUNTRY'', SHE PROBABLY MADE THE MOST TRUTHFUL STATEMENT OF THE CAMPAIGN. SHE JUST FAILED TO NAME WHAT HER COUNTRY IS. I BELIEVE THAT IT IS OBVIOUS THAT HER COUNTRY AS WELL AS THAT OF HER HUSBAND IS NOT THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. HER PRIDE IN HER COUNTRY STEMS FROM HER BELIEF THAT THEY ARE ON THE VERGE OF TRANSFORMING THE GREATEST COUNTRY IN THE WORLD TO AN ISLAMIC NATION.
NO, I BELIEVE SHE MADE THE TRUE STATEMENT, AND SHE HAD NEVER BEEN PROUD OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.
IT HAS NEVER BEEN HER COUNTRY! (JM)
WE ALL WERE ASTOUNDED WITH THE AMOUNT OF MONEY WHICH CAME INTO THE OBAMA CAMPAIGN COFFERS EARLY IN THIS YEAR, JUST WHEN IT WAS NEEDED.
I BELIEVE THE SOURCE IS NOT VERY MYSTERIOUS. I BELIEVE THIS MONEY WAS DISTRIBUTED IN AMOUNTS WHICH WOULD NOT RAISE A FLAG TO A GREAT MANY POOR PEOPLE, DISHWASHERS, TAXI DRIVERS, WAITERS, ETC., TO BE DONATED TO THE CAMPAIGN, BY MIDDLE-EASTERN FORCES WHICH ARE VERY ANONYMOUS.
WE HAVE EIGHT MONTHS IN WHICH WE MUST BRING SOME OF THIS TO THE ATTENTION OF THE AMERICAN PEOPLE.
WE CANNOT ALLOW BARACK OBAMA TO BE ELECTED PRESIDENT OF THIS NATION.
IF THIS ARTICLE CAN ACHIEVE THE ATTENTION THAT I HOPE THAT IT WILL, I WOULD EXPECT REPRISALS. WHAT GREATER SERVICE COULD I BE TO MY COUNTRY..
I can't tell you how wrong all of this seems, how much it seems like people just being stupid over something that really doesn't make sense. Half of it seems like conspiracy theory mixed in with some kind of racial and religious hatred. The whole thing if you read it draws a lot of speculation and some of it even seems to be trying to say that Obama is some sort of terrorist spy. The first part of this message actually acts like Obama hasn't announced anything about his campaign, which is untrue.
Secondly, I think that Hilliary supporters, McCain supporters, any of them will admit that Obama's values are not that of an Islamic nation, nor are they that of some radicalist group bent on the destruction of the American way.
Even the idea that Michelle Obama is anything but American (she was born in Chicago IL) is stupid. I am going to have to just go ahead and say that there are plenty of reasons to vote for and against different people in this race. I'm not even saying you should vote for Obama or vote Democratic or vote at all. But if you let these kinds of accusations make your choice for you, then I think something is truly wrong and you probably don't have the intelligence to vote.
Monday, March 17, 2008
Saturday, March 15, 2008
Lately...
So it would seem that I have been kind of absent from the blog scene for a while. I haven't actually written in this thing as much as I promised myself that I would. I would like to say that a lot has happened but it really hasn't. My life's not a very eventful one in truth, lately I have just been going to work, coming home and hanging out here and that's it. Probably the thing keeping me from doing this the most has been writing.
When I think about writing, I just get caught up and I can never pull myself away from what I am doing. Right now I am working on two stories. But one exciting little thing, I have some pictures to post of me and friends in Austin and San Antonio. Hope everyone likes those. Now for a little bit of whats been on my mind lately:
Its become painfully obvious how shallow people are and how much they'll lie to be liked. I wish I could just meet someone who didn't lie so that others like them. It seems like it should be something that is easy and all but its not, people strive to make sure that everyone likes them and they don't understand everyone can't like you. It just doesn't work that way.
At work its more obvious than anywhere else. This girl who's quitting, I can call her Beth; she's always trying to play herself up. She talks about the thing's she's doing not as if she's just talking about what she did, but as if she's saying "hey look what I can do." It's obnoxious. She goes on and on about managing this band and the other day she got really rude with me after I voiced and opinion on something which I don't find funny. She asked did I listen to a radio station here and town and I said not since they fired everyone and changed out the people.
Then she mentioned the morning show on there, which used to have real substance and talk about stuff related to music or just about different interesting things. She talked about how she loved the new show, which every time I hear it is just talking about sex in some form or another. I'm not that kind of person that has to hear about sex all of the time and I didn't make a comment about, I just said I didn't like it.
She flies off the handle asking me if I had ever hung out with him or talked with him (the radio announcer). I just replied that I wouldn't want to. She was pissed for the rest of the day...this is why I am so glad she's quitting.
Tuesday, March 04, 2008
STOP IT!
It's been a little while, I know, since I have written anything that wasn't just a preview for something else, but there's not much going on that I want to talk about. Life's not been at it's happiest and I don't really see much reason to talk about most of that here. One thing will say; I am really sick of campaign commercials. There's really something annoying about hearing them one million times in a single day, and its like the same four commercials. I can't wait until this dies down some, I guess this is just a hint of what we will be dealing with coming late October.
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