Authors: J.H. Carnathan
Suddenly, a noise above sends the reapers’ attention upwards. I look up to see Raphael’s frozen dead body falling out of a 55th floor window. All the reapers swarm upwards toward it, leaving the bush unattended.
I
run out of the bush and glance at my watch, which reads 14:01. Lying next to me is my scythe I thought I had lost. I pick it up and keep running, making my way back to the park.
I look out to see the whole park has been frozen over. Everything is covered in snow. The cold wind brushes up against my cheeks as I continue to run to the now frozen oak tree.
Once there, I try to look for the tail end of the igniter. I dig my hands into the high rising snow, searching where Stephanie last dropped it. I hear a loud sound coming from the business building. I turn to witness the whole building is caving in on itself.
I dig faster, knowing soon the reapers will catch on to my heat signature. I brush the snow away to where I was digging and find the wire sticking out. I grip it in my hand and follow it till I get to the tail end. I take out the matchbook but realize the wind is too strong to strike a match. I look at the frozen oak tree and see the opening to get to the door is iced over inside its frozen hollow shell.
I raise the scythe high, bringing it down on the icy layer around the door. It splits down the ice, making it seem as fragile as paper. I drop the sharp weapon, take the igniter, and run inside the tree. Once there, I force my back up against the outside to block the wind from getting in. I open the matchbook, finding three matchsticks left.
I strike the first stick and it’s a dud. I strike the next one and it’s another dud. Anger overcomes me as I now have only one matchstick left. I close my eyes and pray for this last one to spark. I bring the matchstick out of the box. Instead of igniting it on the box, I should try something different, I think.
I look up at the door, gazing at the war between heaven and hell. I place the tip of the matchstick and graze it along an angel’s wing from the door portrait. I hold my igniter wire up getting it in position. A flame sparks out the tip. I light the piece of wire which is layered around the tree. “My demons live here no more.”
15 Minutes
I run out of the tree, sprinting as far as I can away from it. Suddenly, I hear a huge explosion behind me. I turn to see the tree falling to its side, as if it were almost human. The flames shoot high, as the night instantly turns into day. I watch the tree burn for a couple of seconds, then begin running again, knowing the fire will soon bring many unwanted guests my way.
I make my way inside the lighthouse restaurant. I run up the stairs and find it swarming with reapers. The atmosphere in the room instantly feels like it has dropped to minus 100 degrees, almost as if my body landed on the lunar surface of the moon at night.
I breathe out cold air, my body shivers, and the first phase of frostbite comes over me all at once. I lose control of my now frigid body. I have trained my body for this moment, I keep telling myself. I will my strength to fight off the frostbite from reaching phase 2. I gain back control, fueling the heat to my soul with thoughts of Madi, Anna, my family, and the determination to overcome anything that stands in my righteous path.
Once my senses are in order, I look back at the crowded room of dark hoods. They all seem to be floating back into the kitchen. If I had to bet, my gambit has got himself trapped. I walk back down, contemplating what the right move should be.
I was correct to think that something like this was going to happen. I’m glad I thought to collect a couple of gallons of reaper H2O and stored it in the maintenance room above the restaurant. I just need to hook it to the sprinkler system and turn it on, I conclude. That should take care of the reaper situation, at least for a little while, that is.
First I need to camouflage myself. I concentrate, making my body transfigure into that of a reaper. I look into one of the mirrors hanging up at the hostess stand. I see the mirroring trick worked, looking at my now dark cloak and skeletal resemblance. I walk up the stairs, trying my best to blend in with other hooded dark cloaks in the room.
I head outside to the balcony, up the stairs, and into the lantern room. I run to the maintenance room, opening the door up and looking down at the 500 gallon tank filled with grade A, straight out of a hundred dead reapers, H2O. I plug in the hose from the tank into the water system of the restaurant. It’s gonna take a few minutes to pressurize, I realize.
I swiftly make my way down the stairs to the back entrance to the kitchen. I walk in, stunned to find an army of reapers floating aimlessly throughout the whole area. I look over by the meat locker’s steel chamber door, figuring he has locked himself inside. The cold temperature inside must be jamming the reapers’ radar. But depending on how long he has been in there, the thermostat will rise back to normal, leaving him exposed. I need to act fast.
Remember, David, you clocked it in at thirty seconds tops on the last mirroring test trial I conducted. Thirty seconds to get in and out before the reapers pick up my heat signature.
I set my watch, just to be safe. I press start as I quickly make my way through the hoard of reapers. I glide past, swooping in and out of each reaper that gets in my way. Stunned, I look down to see a frozen silver cloche pan on the ground. I also see the hourglass is still intact in its reflection. I can’t break it, I think, or they will find me out. I move past it, knowing the circumstances have gotten a lot worse. I get to the circular window to the steel freezer chamber and peek inside.
20 Minutes
Shocked, I find Michael, Stephanie, and my greedy gambit in there. I wish I could hear what they are saying. I continue to watch as my gambit has dropped the lion pistol and Michael walks over to pick it up. I gaze around the room trying to find where Stephanie hid the lamb pistol that I gave to her. I don’t see it, figuring that she must have hid it before she got caught. I look back to see Michael leaning by her, like a predator to its soon to be prey.
Michael probably wants to know the token, I would assume. That’s the only thing he has yet to figure out. Stephanie will not give it up. He will surely kill her for that reason alone. But I cannot let that happen. Only she knows where it’s at and I am going to need it if this plan is ever going to work.
I look at the time on my watch. Ten seconds till, I think to myself. I quickly walk away from the door as the reapers begin to act differently. The hoods swing back and forth, as if they were searching for something or someone—me.
I make my way out of the kitchen, back down the stairs, and out the front door with one second to spare. I quickly form back to reassess the situation. I can’t take the chance on waiting for the water system to pressurize, knowing that Michael could be doing something unpredictable to Stephanie at any moment. I need to get her to safety first.
I try to get into the mind of what my wrath would do next. He wouldn’t just kill her, that’s too easy. He would want her to suffer. The reapers can’t see lost souls, but their razors can! I quickly take on the idea and transfigure my body to look like one of their demonic hellhounds. Now with all four legs on the ground, I rush back inside, up the stairs, and into the kitchen.
25 Minutes
I need to get his attention. I do my best to make a howl. Seconds pass and Michael’s face appears through the circular window of the steel freezer chamber. He looks down right at me, taking the bait.
I am at 15 seconds and the door still hasn’t open.
What is taking so long?
I think, panicking as the time gets to 21 seconds. Unexpectedly, the steel door cracks and Stephanie flies out. I rush over, sinking my teeth into her jacket. I see her trying not to scream, sliding her body away from any threat around the area. I yank her away swiftly through the platoon of reapers, out the kitchen, to the outside balcony, and release her over the side. She falls to the bottom as I make my way up to the lighthouse tower.
I transfigure back to myself, opening the door to the lantern room. I look all the way down to find Stephanie, lying in the snow, making snow angels. She then yells, “That was fun! Let’s do it again!”
30 Minutes
Without warning, reapers begin pouring down from the balcony towards her. She puts her mask back on and takes off, laughing like a kid in a toy store while she runs. I need to hurry, I think, running back in, just to find a reaper waiting for me outside.
“It’s funny,” I say, “It doesn’t quite feel that cold in here for you to be standing so close.”
The strobe light rotates its way into my eyesight, blinding me for a few seconds. I adjust my focus to find Michael now standing where the reaper use to be, in my presence. He begins to clap, almost chuckling at our apparent situation.
“You can take off that mask. No need to hide your face anymore, David. I think you got it down to the three of us now.”
I watch him stroll around the lantern room as if he were a lion circling his prey. I just stare at him, not succumbing to his demand.
“Well if that’s the way you want to play it, then I hope you don’t mind me playing along.” He takes out a King of hearts mask from inside his jacket and fits it snug over his face. “How ironic,” he giggles, putting his hands up to where the portion of the lips are held on the mask. “Just like a deck of cards, the King outranks the Jack.”
I lift my mask up, showing him my true face.
“I must admit, you are a clever one. Though I instantly picked up on who you were after looking at the picture I took of our brother Greed taking on the role of David, in the subway car on his second day. I would have said something that day, but I bit my tongue instead. I wanted to see where you were taking all this and I am glad I did. You did the unthinkable. All the while, I can’t help but to figure out how you found a way to give Greed a conscience. Never in history has a demon felt any kind of remorse and mental pain towards itself. Until now.”
I stand there not saying a word, trying to find a way around him. I look out at the frozen room, the snow pouring in the night sky, the strobe light flickering on and off. No other way in or out except through Michael, and every moment spent here, the time is ticking away.
“I have a question for you,” Michael says. “But before I ask it, I need you to understand where I am getting this from. I figure once you understand, the clearer your answer would be.”
Michael pulls over a chair and wipes off the frost from the seat. He sits, clearing his throat. “Here is a little Demon study 101 for ya. There is a limit in which a demon can control a human. Demon and human interactions are all part of the mind. We demons can only whisper a thought. It is up to the host to actually accept the thought. The more the humans sin, the easier it gets and the more we have control over the host. The demons can then move up to the next level, in which a thought can be turned into an idea. An idea is far more powerful to the human intellect. But that’s the limit. No demon has ever been beyond an idea till now and it wasn’t even a demon that did it. What you really did was flip the system. You found a way for a human to outthink its demon. A demon is made up of sin which makes it prone to believe whatever the mind tells it to do. Simply meaning, demons have a slave mentality. We are more order takers than givers. So you made Greed your gambit card. You made him feel like he was in control in the memories but in reality he wasn’t. You some how secluded yourself in thought and let his take the wheel instead. Very impressive stuff. A trick I have been working hard to mimic from you, might I add. But why go out of the way and do all of this? That is the question I have for you.”
Michael waits in silence, trying to get into my head. I don’t let him. An angry Michael grab’s his chair, smashing it into the strobe light. Only darkness remains with the light of the full moon being the only source with which to see each other now. I see him, talking to himself, trying to calm back down.
Michael sticks his knife out. “To do all this isn’t random. You carefully planned this for a purpose. You first, somehow found a way to block your thoughts so that we couldn’t ever read you. You then trapped Greed in a corner. Getting him into a position where the reapers could erase his memory. You then made us believe that Greed was you. After that you took on the identity of Greed, pitching a plan to us to act like angels so that we could get Greed’s memories back faster. And we bought every word of it. Since you kept your thoughts to yourself, we had no reason to presume that you were ever the real David.”
Michael twists the blade in the air, continuing to think out loud. “You could have just used Greed as a decoy, but it’s something far deeper than that. You wanted him to grow a conscience, with an added bonus of learning how to control his thoughts when outside of this prisoned construct. You could probably go as far as actual real life human brain waves. Which means even if I take your body in the real world, you could very well possibly still be able to send signals to my brain. Controlling my every thought and replacing it with your own. Simply remarkable. Having the same mind and still you find ways to keep me surprised.” He claps, almost as if he was taunting me.
“But that still leaves us with the question of how, why and purpose? And it’s for that very question that haunts me to no end. I must know!”
I look at him and say, “The lion is vicious, but the lamb is pure.”
Michael laughs uncontrollably. “I figured you wouldn’t tell me. Watching me over there as I am slowly slipping into madness over a stupid question.” He gets the rest of his laughter out, mimicking my voice while saying to himself, “The lion is vicious, but the lamb is pure.” He turns to me and back in his own voice says, “What is that, a nursery rhyme?” He giggles out the rest, breathing heavily.