Authors: Jennifer Ensley
“I only
wish
that were the case,” he mumbled.
“But I thought you said—”
“Pooh, the red stone… or the clear one, or whatever. It holds the needed fuel. It’s empty.”
“Fuel? What
kind
of fuel? You mean… petrol?”
“No.” He sighed and carded his fingers back through his sandy blond hair. “Not petrol. The gas you seek is a much more difficult one to come by.”
“Oh yeah? Well, where do I find it?”
“Flowing through the dark veins of a demented, fallen creature.”
“Umm… Huh?”
“That’s what the dagger was for. The previous Witness used the Extractor to
cut
the beast.”
I looked down at my newly accessorized nail. “So… how am I to—”
“Apparently, you are to simply stroll up to him and jab him with your thumbnail.”
“And he will let me do that?”
“Oh, he will
love
it. Ugh!”
Drella jumped up, kicking the coffee table in front of us, sending our cups and saucers skidding across the floor.
“Hey, Babe.” I stood, reaching out to lightly touch his trembling back. “What’s wrong?”
“He’ll be like
this
,” Drella said through gritted teeth as he spun back to face me. “He will be
this
close, looking into your eyes. You will nearly have to stand within his embrace to extract his blood.”
“Wha— Will he kill me? Will I have to fight him?”
“Have to fight him
off
, perhaps.”
“What are you—”
“Pooh, you will have to stick your thumbnail into him…” He wrapped my fingers around his wrist as he spoke, placing my shiny new
tool
over his blue pulsing vein there. “…extract a drop of blood, then touch it to the now-clear stone on your pendant.”
“But… will this creature fight me? Or will he freely give me his blood?”
“Nothing is free. Not with him. He will demand
something
of you in return.”
“You don’t mean…” I reflexively covered my breasts. “I don’t have to…”
Drella furrowed his brow. “What? No. Oh god… Hell no! No. He can’t demand
sex
of you. You’re still living. If such a thing were possible, don’t you think I would have already—” His face flushed red. “I mean… don’t you— Don’t you think we would have— Ugh… Pooh, if it were possible for me to make love to you, we
still
wouldn’t be finished.” He pulled me into a gentle embrace. “No. You won’t have to worry about him demanding
that
, but he will definitely require something very personal in exchange.”
“Whatever it is, I’ll only have to go through it the once, right? If he cannot bed me or steal my soul.” I quickly looked up into Drella’s lovely eyes. “He can’t steal my soul, can he?”
He smiled. “No, Pooh. He can’t steal your soul.”
“Then I’ll make our strange meeting as quick as possible and be on my way.”
“You don’t understand. It won’t just be the
one
time. When the fuel runs out, you’ll have to get it refilled.”
“…What?”
“Comparing it to petrol was a good way of explaining it. Just like in a car, after you go so far, you run out of gas.”
“How far can I go?”
“Who knows. It will be like trial-and-error to start with. You can step into the Nether and then back out anywhere on this globe, yeah. But the distance from where you started to where you’re going,
that
determines how much fuel you will use. Say for instance you went from here to London—not a big deal. But from here back to Bhutan—who knows.”
“I see. So… I’ll have to become rather familiar with this
petrol
creature
I’ve yet to meet.”
“Yes. I’m afraid so.”
“Are you going to take me to him?”
“The first time, yes.”
“When?”
“Give me a bit more time, Pooh. I want to hold you for a few more days.”
“Will you get in trouble—neglecting your duties this long?”
“Yes, but it’s not the first time.” He held me tighter, burying his nose into my hair. “And it won’t be the last.”
I inhaled deeply and smiled, relished the feel of his warmth, his touch, his scent. I cuddled into him, relaxing wholly against his firm chest.
“Tell me a little bit about this petrol creature,” I barely whispered.
“He is a dragon, a devil—one once tasked with watching over mankind. He failed miserably in that duty.”
“Watching over mankind? A watcher?” I pulled back slightly. “Drella, do you mean to tell me I have to draw blood from a… Grigori? Seriously?”
“Yes, and not just any Grigori, no. Azazel himself is your needed supplier.”
“Azazel? No…”
“You know of him?”
“
Of
him? Yes. I have read the ancient scrolls, but… I don’t think I ever actually believed he was real.”
“Oh, he’s real alright. Those
things
you have only been reading about up until now, they’re
all
real.”
“…Real? …All?”
“Oh, Pooh, you turned them into fairytales, didn’t you?”
I looked up at him then, still reeling from his unimaginable news. “Fairytales? Of… Of course I turned them into fairytales, Drella. How can a normal person just go about their life truly believing these terrifying creatures yet live? They are from the past, are they not? Same as Nero and Nebuchadnezzar and Ramses the Great—ancient history, the lot of them. It’s all well and good—reading about the past while sitting in the comforting here and now. It’s a whole other thing altogether to have to walk through it as reality. I’ll be bloody lucky if I don’t go mad in the process. Angels and demons and creatures of the abyss—jeez, Drell. I couldn’t be
more
disturbed if you had told me Vlad the Impaler was just elected President of the United States.”
“Pffts…” He bit his lip, then hurriedly covered his mouth. “Pffts…” But his laugh burst forth through his fingers. “Hah! That’s the funniest thing I think I’ve ever heard.”
“Why are you laughing? I’m serious!”
“Oh, I
know
you are. That just makes it even funnier.” He inhaled noisily, trying to regain his composure. “Whew… I feel better now.”
“Better? How’s that?”
“I feared you had turned these beings into magical fairytale creatures—all filled with good and love, flying about through the clouds with a song on their lips.”
“What? How could I ever think something like
that
?”
“Because, people mostly equate Angels as being gloriously benevolent creatures.”
“Not
me
. I mean, I don’t
think
I do. Well… not for the most part, anyway. How can I? I’ve yet to find a book or scroll or manuscript that doesn’t scare the life right outta me. Every single story associated with celestial beings of any kind, good
or
bad, all have something along the lines of…
And when Daniel
—or whomever—
saw the Angel, he passed-out or collapsed or fell to his knees trembling, no longer able to stand on his own.
I mean, think about it. Grown men throughout all time, even the ones who had God actually
speaking
to them, they all lost complete physical control by merely glancing at an Angel. How terrifying
are
these things? Whether a creature means me good or ill, if the mere sight of them causes me to pass-out…”
I visibly shuddered.
“That’s all true, yes, but there are many different kinds of Angels. Most of which, you will never see in their
true
form. Take comfort in that.”
“So says the man who has walked among them for the last twenty something years.” I balled his shirt up in my fists, pleading with him. “Drella, please… stay with me. I can’t do this on my own.”
He placed his hands over mine. “Sure you can, Pooh. If it weren’t so, you wouldn’t have been chosen.”
“But—”
“There are
thousands
of Witnesses upon the Earth. As we speak. Right here and now. Only
you
were chosen for this task. If you were incapable of handling such a thing, one of the others would have been picked.”
I was at a loss. I couldn’t argue with his reasoning, but I didn’t necessarily agree with it, either.
“Don’t worry. I may not be able to always stay at your side, but our paths will cross more often than you yet realize.”
That
made me smile.
“Jeez, Ladybug. I love you too much. I hope the hardest thing I ever have to do is take you to Azazel. If anything
more
than that is asked of me, I’m not entirely certain I can comply.”
“I’m glad it’s you and not me.”
“What are you talking about, Pooh?”
“All I’m saying is… if I had to hand you over to another woman, I don’t care what the reason… I’d refuse.”
He tightened his embrace. I could hear his smile in his words.
“Thank you, Ladybug. You have no idea how good that felt.”
“And every word was true. I love you too much, too, Drell… always.”
Chapter
3
The air was stale. That eerie, quiet, stagnant kind of stale. Air like that makes my breath catch, makes me crave a cold glass of pure water.
“This is as far as I can go, Pooh.”
“Wait. What?”
“Yeah. There are
rules
about places like this.”
“Rules?” I looked toward the descending corridor at the thick, waiting darkness. “What’s down there?”
He chuckled. “What do you mean, what’s down there? Azazel. That’s why we’re here, remember?”
“Wait…
just
Azazel? I mean, there aren’t any guards or anything like that?”
“Azazel is bound. No guards are necessary.”
“But… why do the torches stop
here
?”
“This is the line. If I
tried
to go further down, my body simply wouldn’t.”
“But mine
will
?”
“You’re wearing the keys and you have the knife. Well, thumbnail. Only
you
will be allowed to enter.”
“Without a torch? Are you mad? I’m not traipsing down there in all that darkness. Not by myself. I bet there’s spiders and snakes and…” I shuddered. “…those skinky little blue lizard things. Ugh! Not happening, Babe. I’m out.” I held my hands up. “Call me a chicken or a baby or whatever you want. I’m not feeling my way through the dark to find
anything
, much less some celestial freak from the past. And the first time I walk through a big old spider web—don’t even play like there ain’t a gazillion of them down there—I’ll have a heart attack and die.”
“Calm down, Pooh. Trust me. It’s better this way.”
“Better? Do you even
remember
who it is you’re talking to, Drell? You gotta make a more convincing case than
that
. Better—as in… Better than having your legs blown off by an IED? Better than zombies eating your guts out while you’re still alive? Better than being chained-up and dropped into a box of giant hissing cockroaches? Better than—”
“Stop, Pooh. Jeez. Better than going down there
with
a light. Oh, and zombies eat brains, not guts.”
I just gave him one of my
looks
. “Are you freaking kidding me right now, Drell?”
“Listen, sometimes it’s best not to actually
see
some things.”
“In what flippin’ universe? Huh? Come on. You
know
how my mind works. My imagination is all twisted up anyway. I promise you now… whatever’s down
there
, can’t even hold a candle to what’s running around up
here
.” I pointed to the side of my head. “If Angel dude had ten heads with snakes crawling out of each eye socket, it will be better than what’ll be playing out in my mind as soon as I enter that darkness down there.”
“Pffts… Pffts…”
“Don’t you dare, Drella.”
“Pffts… Bah ha ha.”
I slapped his shoulder when he started laughing.
“You think you could handle snakes coming out of his eye sockets? Bwah ha ha! You’d piss yourself.”
“I would not!”
“Yeah. So says the girl who literally gags just
looking
at mayonnaise—still in the jar, no less.”
I gagged a little then. “Drella, don’t.” I gagged again. “Don’t even talk about…
it
.”
“It? What it? Mayo?”
I cupped my mouth and gagged,
again
.
He busted out laughing then, bending over double. “You can’t even say the word, and you expect me to believe you could watch snakes crawl out of some dude’s eyes?”
“Shhh… Stop it. What if he can hear you? Don’t wake him up.”
“Wake him up?” He kept laughing through his words. “He’s an Angel, Pooh. I promise, he’s
not
sleeping.”
“That’s it.” I started rummaging through my trusty backpack. “Ah hah!” I jerked out a wad of keys with a tiny flashlight hanging from the keychain.
Drella quit laughing then. “Hey, where’d you get
that
?”
“I pulled it out of my butt. Where’d you think? You just watched me get it out of my bag.”
He tried to look down inside my old leather companion. “What else you got in there, besides Pooh Bear and the butterfly shawl?”
I slammed both hands down atop the closed flap. “None of your business. Lots of stuff. I travel, remember? I ditched the luggage a long time ago. If I need it, it’s in this bag.”
“Everything you need?”
“Well… all the essentials. Everything from clean underwear to my debit card.”
“Wait… what’s this?”
He pulled out a little pink square that was peeking through the open zipper.
“That’s English tea.”
“Tea?
That’s
an essential?”
“It is to me.”
“And this?”
He pulled something white out. I grabbed it.
“Aforementioned underwear. Now stop.” I stuffed everything back in except the tiny flashlight. “You can’t always find decent underwear
or
English tea. I’ve got my passport, different kinds of money, a toothbrush, my pink sandals, a water bottle, Pooh Bear, my shawl. You know… stuff like that.”
“So you buy everything else and just, what… leave it when you go?”
“Pretty much, yeah. I don’t really do the whole
hotel
thing anymore. I prefer to stay in Temples, shelters, people’s homes on occasion. I buy what I need when I get there, then I give it away when I go.”
He snorted. “You give your short little dresses to monks?”
I rolled my eyes. “Yes… and they’re not short. Temples and shelters are the best places to stay. I cook and clean while I’m there—get to know most of the people. That silly little cotton dress I found in an open market for like
three
American dollars, it’s precious enough to a girl living in a shelter that she would cry tears of joy over it. Monks—they
always
know of someone who can use my things, someone who really needs them. I don’t live extravagantly—don’t have the funds for it, really. And I give back every chance I get. It’s no big deal.”
He hugged me then, but didn’t say a word.
“Well, wish me luck.”
He sniffed. “I’ll be waiting right here.”
I switched on the flashlight. It didn’t make much of a dent, but it was better than going in blind.
“Wait, Pooh.”
“Huh?”
“There’s some stuff I forgot to tell you.”
I switched the light back off. “Okay… Like what? Rules?”
“More like… guidelines.”
“I’m listening.”
“Don’t talk to him.”
“Don’t
talk
to him?”
“That’s right. Just get his blood and get back out. Don’t tell him anything about yourself, and don’t ask him any questions.”
“…Okaay. But I thought you said he would probably demand something of me.”
“He can’t
demand
, but I’m all but certain he’ll ask. Try your best to just ignore him, if you can. Oh, and I’m not real sure you can take
that
.” He motioned toward the pink metal cylinder in my hand. “The light may go out, or simply stop you. Kind of like how I’m stopped right now. But I’m not sure. Oh, and don’t leave any of your belongings down there. You hear me?”
“Yeah. But I thought you said he was bound. What’s he gonna do? Riffle through my backpack and skip around in my undies?”
“Pooh, I’m being serious.”
“I know you are and it’s freaking me out a little. I was just starting to feel better about what I gotta do. Don’t lay all this heavy crap on me right after we were just laughing and teasing each other.”
“I know. Sorry. I just worry about you.” He kissed my forehead. “You’ll do fine. And I’ll be right here. Promise.”
I smiled and nodded before turning back to the waiting darkness.
Well crap. Here goes.
*****
It wasn’t that it was really
hard
to breathe—just old air. I kept my vision focused on the little beam of light in front of me. I didn’t scan the walls or look anywhere else. Just where my next step should be taken. It left me totally torch blind, yeah, but I didn’t really
want
to see what creepy crawly things might be running along the walls or—heaven forbid—the ceiling.
The narrow tunnel went down a couple hundred more yards before it opened into a large cavernous room. At least, that’s what it felt like. There was no sound, no wind, no dripping water. Only silence… and darkness.
When the passageway opened up, I looked to my left. Nope, only a wall.
“I guess it’s this way, then.”
My whisper didn’t echo, but it sounded a lot louder than it should have.
Soooo creepy.
The dust-filled light only stretched out about three feet in front of me. I took small, slow steps—didn’t want to fall into a hole or something.
When I heard a tiny movement out ahead of me, I jumped and then froze—unintentionally holding my breath as I slowly scanned the darkness.
Oh my god. Oh my god. Oh my god.
“H-hello?”
Silence was the only answer I received from my pitiful little whimper.
I took two more steps. “H-hello? Azazel? Is that you?”
“Douse your flame.”
“Wha-what?”
“Douse… your flame.”
The voice was tiny, strained, dry.
“Do I have to?”
“…Yes.”
“But… but I’m scared. I’m scared I might fall in a hole or step on a snake.”
He didn’t answer. I took another step.
“Douse the flame.”
I froze. “Please… please don’t make me turn out the light. I won’t hurt you. I promise. Just… let me keep the light on.”
“…No… holes.”
“No
holes
?” I glanced around nervously. The darkness was palpable. “But… please?”
“…No.”
I sighed and closed my eyes as I reluctantly pushed the little black button on the end of my flashlight.
“…Thank… you.”
I immediately started trembling all over. When I opened my eyes and it seemed even darker than when they were closed, panic set in.
“Holy shhh— I can’t do this. I can’t do this. Heaven help me. I can’t do this. I’m turning around. I’m turning— how many steps was it to the tunnel? Fifteen? Seventeen? Oh crap—”
“Shhh…”
I froze again.
No. No. No. No. No.
“…Come.”
“B-but, I
can’t
come. My legs won’t move.”
“Shhh… Now… come.”
I barely scooted my feet, just a little bit. “I can’t. Please don’t make me do this.”
“…Come.”
I put my hands out, reaching desperately into nothingness. But no matter how hard I tried, I simply could not take another step.
Okay, just calm down. Caalllm dooown. Okay… baby steps.
My body refused to obey my terrified thoughts. “There is no darker dark than
this
dark.”
“…Come.”
I slowly bent down until I was on my knees.
What are you going to do, idiot? If I crawl, I can’t use my hands. I’ll bang my head on a rock or something.
“…Come.”
“Give me a second… jeez.”
I took a deep breath, then… started scooting along on my knees—arms fully extended and fingers frantically searching for… anything.
“Where are you?”
“Just… come.”
His voice sounded different this time. It was still coarse and dry, but higher, maybe.
“Are you… are you
laughing
at me? Can you see me?”
“…Closer.”
I may have gone about ten feet on my knees like that before he spoke again.
“More… come.”
He was just a bit to my left, and not too far away. I turned toward his voice.
“Azazel?”
“…Come.”
I sat back on my heels then. I had been desperately fighting the panic and fear, but I just couldn’t hold back my tears any longer.
“Please let me turn the light on. Please?”
“Come.”
“But I
can’t
come. I’m too scared to go back, and I’m too scared to get any closer. I’m just… scared.”
He didn’t speak.
“Ugh!” I wiped at my eyes. “I know I’m being ridiculous. I can’t help it. The dark terrifies me. It always has. I mean, I love the nighttime.” I half chuckled through my streaming tears. “The moon, the stars, the cool wind on my face. But the dark? The dark makes my chest hurt and my skin crawl.”