Chapter Thirty Six
The Celt god's were walking behind Morrighan through a forest. Their eye's were watching the skies above them. Gabriel looked up seeing a tangled mess of branches and tree's. They had been walking for hours and Gabriel assumed they were heading towards Mount Olympus to the Greek Kingdom.
Though he was not sure since no words had been spoken since Morrighan gave her orders to the other gods. It seemed as though they had lost Apollyon's legion. Gabriel had not seen any demons since the one Morrighan had killed in the field. The god's would not stop even for a moment to rest and Gabriel could no longer keep up with their pace.
Leaning up against a tree Gabriel slid down it to the ground. His legs were jelly and could not keep him upright any longer. He watched as the Celt god's and what was left of their warriors vanished from his view. There was no point in him trying to keep pace with the gods. The pendant would bring him within range anytime he wanted to use it.
Looking up he could see that the tops of the tree's where he was had been seared. Like a fireball had just grazed the tops leaving the forest below untouched. Mother nature and the universe was just as much of a kingdom as any other. Their warriors are the undeniable laws of physics and what happens when the gods try to bend them.
The god's and man messed with her so much that she finally hit her breaking point. As if she was an untamed animal who would fight against anyone who tried to capture her power and beauty. It's something mankind already knew but the gods didn't like their power being questioned by even physics.
The ground had crispy leaves that had fallen from the tops. Seeing them just made Gabriel's head hurt. Reality had become insanity and he did not even know where he was. Was he really in a trunk, in visioning what was around him. When he slept in this vision, were the dreams just a new line of reality or insanity.
Thoughts about what was real and what was not ran through his head as he tried to fall asleep. He had this same struggle with reality in the past but now it was getting harder and harder to believe in what he saw. It was as if he read an unrealistic story but then had to accept it as the truth. Because he was now living in the unreal story and the author went insane.
Like a tangled web of dreams, lies, visions, and feelings. Maybe it was all Apollyon's plan and he had become the author. Even though Gabriel sometimes felt free of him, he still felt like one of his snares lay ahead every corner. Giving up the struggle with reality, Gabriel let himself fall back asleep and accepting anything as reality was as if going to sleep in a dream.
It wasn't long before Gabriel found himself in complete darkness. He knew it was another dream and looked around for the creature. Yet he was no where to be found and Gabriel could feel the effects of exhaustion even though he knew he was dreaming. Things had not become so distorted until he started using the pendant. It seemed like another gift from a god was just a curse.
Pages flew around in front of him, they were lit up. Though nothing else was and they almost glowed and they blew around. Gabriel could not even see himself, nothing but the pages. At first he just watched them and waited. The pages jumped out at him but he did not reach out for them. They had writings on them, but he made no attempts to read what they said.
The pages tempted him to reach out and read them but Gabriel did not. All he wanted was sleep and to be left alone from his thoughts, or dreams. Except there was no escaping them and the pages blew around faster and faster. Their light flashing in front of him. They were spinning so fast that the pages themselves disappeared and they were now just words floating around.
Words started to slow down in front of him. Gabriel tried to close his eyes but they glowed so bright that they were etched even on his eyelids. So with his eyes open or closed the words were still there right in front of him. It was even more annoying than Jack and all of his jumbling of words. Always out of context though they had a deeper meaning, they did not need to be thrown in his face.
“Go away!” Gabriel yelled into the darkness. The words just danced around in front of him.
“You don't see the writing?” The creature from his dreams said.
“I see it, but go bother Jack with you words! Not me!” Gabriel said swinging at the words in frustration.
“What if I told you that it is not Jack who is crazy and possessed. But it is you, maybe you are the author of his madness?” The creature said.
“That's not true..” Gabriel said.
“What if you were only hearing him say those things? It was us speaking to you, and he was not really speaking.” A different voice said.
“You are just trying to confuse me...” Gabriel said.
“No....We want you to see what you are.” The creature said.
“Well what am I?” Gabriel said.
“You don't see it yet?” The creature said.
“No I don't, I see I am dreaming and want to sleep.” Gabriel said.
“Denial is the first stage, we will help you through the rest just read.” Another voice said. Gabriel was tired of their games and read the words. They were just a jumbled mess of words that could not be placed in any structure that made sense. The words moved around in front of him but still they made no sense.
“Here let me show you.” A voice said and a man stepped out from the darkness. Gabriel had seen the man at the suicidal writers society. He was the one who walked in unsure if he was a member or not. Organizing the words, the man stopped and then stepped back into the darkness again.
So many lives lost in these streets.
Stories of kids who never grew up buried under the sidewalks.
They walk over them every day but we still see them playing in the streetlights.
We try to forget and say they are just mirages of memory.
We heard the gunshots shatter dreams.
The cries of the ambulance echoing in our hearts.
Spread their ashes on the curb hoping its the last.
Still the urn is never empty for those who survive, we're the undertakers of the streets.
“What does this have to do with anything?” Gabriel said confused after reading the words.
“You are the one trying to figure out the context of dreams.” The creature said as another man stepped out from the shadows and began moving the words around.
“Will you be our chairman?” The man said as he moved the words around.
“What? I am no writer, and I don't want anything to do with your society.” Gabriel said looking away from the man. The man had finished organizing words and walked away. They were glowing even brighter, like an intense neon light.
“They advised me to just write. I would have said just find your deepest insecurity’s and express them in a way that leaves you the most vulnerable.” Is what was written in the darkness. Gabriel read it but it only added more to his confusion.
“Why do they want me to be their chairman?” Gabriel said looking at the creature.
“Their old chairman is possessed with a new master. You lead Jack right to Apollyon and so now they want you Gabriel.” The creature said pointing at a woman who stepped out from the shadows. The words changed from a golden color to a bright pink. But the woman simply swiped them away with her hand. They vanished like smoke in the wind as her hand swept by. The woman began to write with her finger tips and the words looked like glow sticks moving very fast.
“She was a bird born in a blizzard, a scarecrow to love, with an overdose of intelligence and depression.” The woman finished writing and then shouted the words.
“She was a bird born in a blizzard, a scarecrow to love, with an overdose of intelligence and depression!” The woman moved away and the words vanished with her.
“This is all just a dream, the society is not real!” Gabriel shouted as the woman vanished.
“No? Did we not come for you before you ever met Jack?” The creature said.
“No!” Gabriel said.
“You do not remember the dreams? When we came for you???
? The creature said.
“I have had many dreams....Nightmares ever since I put on this pendant!” Gabriel said.
“Hmmm so you doubt that we exist?” The creature said.
“You exist only in nightmares creature!” Gabriel shouted.
“We just want someone to hear us again!” The creature yelled as another man came out from the shadows. He was in a tuxedo but the sleeves were cut off. The man held out his arms so Gabriel could see. He had marks from needles all over his arms. In the front pocket of the tuxedo was a spoon and needle sticking out. On the arm with torn sleeves was a rubber tube tied tightly to expose veins. The tube just dangled down from his arm.
“Look what is under the sleeves of fame Gabriel. This is what they have done to me!” The man said as liquid oozed out from the marks on his arms.
“Before you judge me for the needle tracks of my past. Know this is not blood of a fiend, but blood of a condemned youth, and forgiving future.” The man said.
“My faith is a corpse, though if you try digging it up you will find nothing but ashes and dust.” Another man said stepping out from the shadows.
“Everyone GO AWAY!” Gabriel shouted and the men stood their staring at him.
“I don't care about any of this. There is much more important shit going on right now. I don't have time to deal with your fucked up society. You all had your chance at life, but this is my time now!” Gabriel said as he got up and started chasing the creature through the darkness. Running as fast as he could, Gabriel still could not catch the creature. Members of the society began to appear all along the sides of Gabriel as he ran past them. Gabriel was having difficulties running and looked down and saw he was running on a train track.
“When this train wreck checks in at the station, just play me some sweet music and know I was not the only engineer of sins.” A man said standing on the side of Gabriel in an old train station. Everything went dark again and then a red rose was glowing on the ground in front of Gabriel. It's thorns had droplets of blood on them.
“My red rose left me saying somewhere in your darkness you will find a new flower to destroy.” A man's voice said as the red rose slowly died. From the dried up flakes of the rose came a new flower. It sprung up with a brilliant color of purple and the head of the flower bent down towards the ground.
“Nightshade came and went with my last sprout of humanity.” The man said as the nightshade died and crumbled to the ground. A white rose came up and caught Gabriel's eyes. In the foreground a massive full moon came up behind the rose.
“So I wept in the moonlight when I saw white pedals shinning. Untouched by the darkness all around her, my white rose came. Saying somewhere in our light we will find the seed to plant eternal love.” The man said as the moon shrunk down into a small seed under the white rose.
“My red rose left me saying somewhere in your darkness you will find a new flower to destroy. Nightshade came and went with my last sprout of humanity. So I wept in the moonlight when I saw white pedals shinning. Untouched by the darkness all around her, my white rose came. Saying somewhere in our light we will find the seed to plant eternal love.” A woman's voice said as everything went black once more.
“Boom, boom, boom.” Gabriel woke up from his dream and was in the forest again.
“Crack, crack, crack.” Gabriel could hear the sounds of gunshots all around him. Though looking around Gabriel could see no one. Even after waiting for a little while he could still hear the gun shots but could not figure out where they could be coming from. The shots got closer and closer but as Gabriel walked around the forest he could find no one. It was as though the shots came from another dimension and that is when Gabriel decided to go back to the trunk in the city.
“Frigga Midgards calling!” Gabriel yelled holding the pendant. Now he was back in the trunk but the inside of the car was completely burnt. The seat that once helped seal him in was now just a metal frame.
“Crack, crack.” Gabriel heard in a quick burst. The city sounded like a battle ground and as Gabriel crawled out from the trunk he could see the scorched earth. Though many areas had not been burnt, maybe because the demons did not have time. Or it was almost impossible to burn a city to the ground one match at a time.
Most of the flammable buildings and wooded area's were burnt but much of the city remained. Gabriel could tell that the fighting had to be close and he used his ears to guide him. The shots sounded like they were coming from a forest area on the other side of the school. Shots continued to fill the air and Gabriel looked around for demons to see if it was safe to move.
Gabriel did not think there would even be any signs of humanity left. But the gunshots were a clear sign that somewhere someone was left and they were fighting. It could not just be one person either since each shot had a different sound and location. It reminded Gabriel of the sounds in the holes in Vietnam.
Looking around Gabriel could see no demons, so he cautiously walked along the side of the school. He was not sure where the shots were coming from but he walked towards the sounds. After walking past burnt homes Gabriel found a main street. Stores and gas stations lined the street all of them were burnt. Some were just ruins and others slightly scared.
The shots were getting louder and louder as Gabriel walked. Hiding behind a burnt bank, Gabriel watched a pack of demons running in the direction of the shots. Then more came running behind them, they were reinforcing the demons that were being shot. Once the last pack ran by Gabriel followed behind them.
Gabriel ran out in the open no longer scared of the demons. This was a chance to become a part of humanity once again and he was going to take it. Looking inside a car Gabriel saw a metal baseball bat in the back seat. The car and everything was burnt and only metal remained. Gabriel tried to open the door but the metal was warped from the heat. Reaching through the broken window Gabriel grabbed the bat.
Running once again, Gabriel found where the shots were coming from. It was a large grocery store with people lining the windows. Gabriel watched from behind the safety of a brick building. The people were shooting down the waves of demons coming in from around the city. The demons did not even have a chance to get close enough to attack. The demon's numbers seemed weak with all of them attacking over sea's. The packs came in five or six at a time and were quickly dispatched.
Gabriel watched and waited for a moment when he could approach the people. It was intimidating seeing them with all their automatic rifles hanging out the window. He knew that he could not wait very long though or the demons would find him hiding next the the building. Gabriel thought about the best way to approach them as he dropped the bat on the ground. He figured it was best to just go out in the open with his hands up.
Slowly Gabriel stepped around the corner with his hands up. As he rounded the corner a pack of demons ran out from a building in front of him. His chance was blown but he had no choice but to run towards the store and hope they accepted him. The demons were brought down just in front of him. Bullets bounced off the asphalt and corpses of demons right in front of Gabriel.
With arms in the air Gabriel felt a burning sensation just above his knee. His leg locked up and he fell face first into the asphalt. His mind processed what was happening and he knew he had been shot. Bullets ripped into his back and he could feel them penetrate through the bones. One ripped into his spine and his body went numb.
Unable to move Gabriel just let his senses take over. Blood soaked his back and pants and the sounds of shots stopped. With his mind racing Gabriel realized that these people were not friendly. They wanted him dead along with the demons and maybe it was for the best. Except Gabriel's curse was slowly taking over.
The wounds healed and all that was left was blood soaked clothing. He thought about his next move trying to stay completely still. His only chance was to get up and run but he had to wait for more demons to distract the shooters. Taking slow and shallow breaths Gabriel waited for his moment to run. Gunshots rang out and signaled
Gabriel's chance to run.
Getting to his feet Gabriel tried to run but was almost instantly shot down. Bullets tore into his chest and once again he was on the ground. Only feet from where he was shot down before. Unable to breath Gabriel struggled for air as his body went into spasms. His mangled body twitched as bullets silenced the spasms. Pain was the only thing Gabriel had left that he could depend on.
Again the wounds healed and his only hope was to escape what was left of humanity. Without waiting Gabriel got up to his feet and was gunned down again. He was not even able to get up from the ground all the way. The shots didn't stop though, they seared flesh and mangled his body. Everything went black and Gabriel was momentary free from his body. It was one of the most peaceful moments in Gabriel's life.
Nothing but darkness, void of emotion or feeling. It wasn't long though and he was back to his body as it healed from the attacks once again. Gabriel turned his head and looked at the people in the windows. They looked down at Gabriel in horror. It was impossible for anyone to take that many shots and survive. The blood loss alone would have killed a small village. Shots were fired again but it was only one to the chest. Not enough to drop Gabriel.
“Hold your fire!” A man shouted and the shots stopped. Gabriel could hear them whispering as he clenched his chest n pain. Turning Gabriel tried walking away but he felt another bullet hit him in the calf and he went down. Again it was just one shot, leaving Gabriel imprisoned in pain.
“Don't move or we will shoot!” A man said, Gabriel laid motionless on the ground. A group of men came out of the store and walked up to Gabriel with guns at the ready. They walked over corpses of demons and came right up to Gabriel. Gabriel's wounds healed but he did not want to be shot again. The pain was just to much to handle over and over again.
“Cuff him.” One of the men said as two others placed shackles over his hands and feet. As soon the men touched his skin, Gabriel went into hell's waiting room. Everything was dark, and then Gabriel could feel cold water rushing past his waste. He was now standing on a large river, and men were wading out in the water in a large line. At the end of the line was a priest who was baptizing the men.
One at a time the priest baptized each man. Turning around Gabriel looked at the line and could see hundreds of men waiting. Men that had already been baptized were being given clothing, and weapons. It looked more like a draft for a war than a religious ceremony. One of the men that had been grabbing Gabriel was dunked under the waters. Everything went black and Gabriel was back in the city. The men pulled Gabriel up off the ground and started leading them over to the store.
“What do you want with me? I came in peace!” Gabriel said struggling to keep up in the chains.
“You are not a human, I don't know what you are but I will let the priest decide what to do with you.” The man said.
“Priest?” Gabriel asked.
“Yes, we are Templar's on a crusade against all enemy's of the one true god. Sent by the pope himself to rid the earth of this plague of false gods and demons.” The man said. Gabriel could not believe that they would be so hostile to an unarmed man. They lead Gabriel into the store and sat him down next to a check out line. Some of the people were looting the store while others guarded the windows.
“Stay here with him.” One of the men said to another as he pointed down at Gabriel. The man sat down in front of Gabriel with his gun at the ready.
“I am not going anywhere its ok...” Gabriel said holding his cuffed hand up. The man said nothing and kept his gun up ready to fire. The man had on camouflage and body armor, the only thing he was missing was a helmet. Instead of dog tags he wore a necklace with a cross and his name was written on it. Gabriel tried to read it but it was too far away.
“CRACK CRACK!” Gabriel's ears started ringing as the store erupted in gun fire. The shots were amplified by the walls and Gabriel clenched his eyes shut. Sounds rang out from all around him and his chest was trembling to the shots being fired.
“Reloading!” One of the women shouted out. Gabriel opened his eyes, the man guarding him had a look of horror on his face. The end of his barrel let out a strand of smoke. The gun was shaking in his hands. Looking down at his chest, Gabriel realized he had been shot in the commotion.
“We need help over here!” The man said setting his gun down. The man rushed over to Gabriel and held his hand over Gabriel's chest to stop the blood. As soon as he did Gabriel was jolted back into the river. He watched as the man was baptized, then the darkness came and he was instantly back in the store.
“Its..... Ok...” Gabriel said coughing up blood. He tried clearing his throat but more blood filled his lungs and throat. Gabriel gave up on trying to speak and laid back with his eyes shut. The blood was choking his lung and he stopped breathing.
“Help!! I think I killed him!” The man yelled, but the gunfire masked his cry for help. The blood stopped pouring into Gabriel's chest and the wound was healed. Gabriel took a deep breath just to be sure that his throat was clear of blood.
“Its ok....Look!” Gabriel said pointing at his chest. The man stepped back and picked his gun up again.
“What are you?” The man asked raising his gun to a ready position.
“They are going to break through!” A man yelled as he opened fire out the window. A demon jumped in the window right in front of him. The man who was guarding Gabriel turned his attention to the demon and opened fire. Blood and flesh flew of from the demon and it took three gunmen just to bring him down.
“We need to get out of here before we get over run!” A man said pulling away from the window.
“Lets fall back!” A man shouted as he ran past Gabriel and into the store. Gabriel struggled to get on his feet in the shackles.
“Someone uncuff my feet!” Gabriel yelled as more demon's broke through the line. One of the demons lifted the man up who was guarding Gabriel and spiked him into the floor. The mans neck snapped and his cold dead eyes stared at Gabriel. The other men in the windows were being over ran as well. Gabriel finally got up to his feet and started running away from the demons.
Gabriel could not run at full speed though due to the chains on his feet. With each step forward the chain pulled and dug into his ankles. Gabriel made it to the other end of the store where men and women were running out the back. They were pushing shopping carts full of food and drinks. The man holding the door pointed his gun at Gabriel.
“You are coming with me!” The man said as Gabriel ran out of the store. Gabriel felt the barrel of the gun press up against the back of his head.
“Follow them and you better keep up!” The man said. Gabriel struggled to run down the streets. In front of him a man was trying to push a shopping cart but one of the wheels kept spinning around. Finally the man dumped the cart and started running faster.
“No one shoot or we will scare off the horses!” The man behind Gabriel shouted. Just a few blocks down from the store were horses tied up. Some of them even had makeshift wagons that they were pulling. People were loading them as fast as they could.
“There is no time throw the whole carts in and lets go!” The man shouted. People gathered together and put entire carts full of loot in the wagons. It still wasn’t fast enough though, people were already jumping on horses and whipping the reins of the wagons. The man behind Gabriel pushed him into one of the empty wagons. The wagon vanished and Gabriel fell head first into the river. He struggled in the light current for a moment and then pulled his head out of the water. Again he was back in the line of men being baptized. The man who pushed him was dunked under and things went dark. Suddenly Gabriel was inside the back of the wagon that he had been pushed into.
“GO!” The man shouted to the guy driving the wagon. Their wagon was the last one to leave and the wheels clanged and wobbled on the street. It was one of the bumpiest rides that Gabriel had ever been on. Gabriel looked out the back and could see hundreds of demons running behind them. He scanned the sky to look for the flying demo
ns but there were none.
The man who pushed Gabriel into the wagon was aiming his gun out the back ready to fire. But the demons faded in the distance as the wagon bounced down the street at an almost uncontrollable speed. Horse hooves clanked into the asphalt in a mad dash out of the city. Gabriel laid back and tried to get comfortable. It was no use though, these wagons were not built for comfort.
The city faded in the distance and they were riding down an old highway. They had to weave around broken down and abandoned cars. The man in the back with Gabriel just kept watch out the back as their pace slowed. Horses were now lightly trotting and the wagon was not shaking so violently as it had been.
“Where are we going?” Gabriel asked, but got no reply.
“I said where are we going?” Gabriel said a little louder.
“You are going to see the bishop and then most likely a cage.” The man said without turning away from the back of the wagon.
“Well that's nothing new...” Gabriel said smirking. They rode on in silence for the rest of the day. Although they were not moving very fast, they still had made it a long ways. Gabriel counted as they passed through two small towns. He tried to read the sign's but he could only see the back side of them. Nightfall came fast as they rode into another town.
This town had a wall made of debris and a gate rattled open. Gabriel could smell burning rubber in the air and there was dense smoke in the town. The horses and wagon's came to a halt outside of a brick town center. An uneasy feeling came over Gabriel as his wagon went on past the others. Templar's with guns lined roof tops and they seemed to be on high alert. Another gate opened, this time a chain link gate.
“Try anything and we will shoot!” The man in the wagon with Gabriel said as it came to a halt.
“Lets go.” The man said as he got out of the wagon. Gabriel followed behind him and could see more Templar's with guns waiting for him.
“Move it!” One of the Templar's said just as Gabriel got out of the wagon.
“Alright!” Gabriel shouted in frustration. The Templar's almost pushed him to the ground trying to get him to walk faster. This time when he was touched, things just went dark for a moment. He could feel the water but he didn't go back to the line of baptism. Everything went back to normal and they were taking Gabriel inside of an old city jail. Gabriel looked at the barred windows now covered in towels so no one could see out. Once inside it was very dark, water dripped from the ceiling and the smell of mold and mildew filled the air.
“Should we take him downstairs?” A Templar said stopping.
“The bishop might want him on the next ship out.” The man who was in the wagon with Gabriel said.
“But we are all full upstairs.” A guard said.
“Fuck it put him down there, doubt he will go to the Vatican.” The man from the wagon said. They opened a door and lead Gabriel inside. It was a dark stairwell and Gabriel tried to find each step. Missing a step Gabriel started to fall but the guards held him up. They opened another door downstairs and Gabriel walked inside. Going down a hallway he passed by cells. Inside the cells were women all sitting around naked. They had bruises on their flesh and some had busted up faces. Candle light exposed their horror and abuse.
Some of the women were pregnant and others motionless on the floor. They passed cell after cell and it was all the same. There were a few men who were also down there stripped nude of their clothes. It was clear that downstairs was where they kept sex slaves. It was disgusting what the desires of sick men could conjure. They finally stopped at a cell at the very end, where there was a man inside.
“Get back!” A guard said pointing his gun at the man. The guard opened the door and they threw Gabriel inside. Gabriel tried to stay on his feet but tripped over a blanket and fell to the cement floor. His head smashed into the ground and everything went black.