Chapter 2: Houses of the Unholy

 

Higher Hell: The Second Coming

Chapter 2: Houses of the Unholy

I swooped down into a dark, deserted alley not far from the Trash Bin and landed lightly back in the World of the Living.

No screams.

No crashing cars.

Nothing like the last time I arrived here.

It actually felt good to be here this time.

I morphed into my Human form and slipped on my Reservoir Dogs shades as I stepped out onto the sidewalk.

A young guy in a faded hooded sweatshirt was leaning against the building.

“Got a light, man?” he asked, holding up a cigarette.

Oh, what the hell.

“Sure.”

I reached in my pocket and pulled out my handful of fire.

He gawked at me for a second, his eyes flitting disbelievingly between my face and the flames flickering away in my outstretched palm.

The kid slowly put the cigarette to his lips and lit it.

“Uh…Thanks.”

“No problem.”

I stowed the fire back in my pocket and headed for the Trash Bin, leaving the kid scratching his head.

Heh heh.

I’m gonna enjoy being in the Human World this time.

Just wish I didn’t have the image of Gabby’s Mom stuck in my head, eating away at me.

I don’t want to keep the fact that I spoke with her mother from Gabby. She’s want to know that. But I don’t want to upset her by telling her about it either.

I hate this ‘ethical dilemma’ shit.

I turned the corner and saw the familiar storefront where Gabby worked.

All the depressing thoughts of Mrs. Bianco left me and I had to smile.

The past few months in Hell were all gonna be worth it for this.

I walked in and took a deep breath, inhaling the welcoming smell of the place. A mix of old leather guitar cases, musty record covers, and the little incense sticks sold on a rack by the counter.

There was nobody there.

Not Gabby. Not anybody.

Damn! I hope she still works here.

The big ass black and silver electric guitar with the grinning f-holes I used to play was still there, leaning on a stand next to an amp.

Well, well, well. That oughta get somebody’s attention. Hopefully, it won’t be some new employee.

I picked up the guitar, plugged it in, and switched on the amp. It crackled and hummed a bit as I grabbed a pick lying nearby.

I strummed out a crunching, punkish rhythm like the stuff I’d listened to with Gabby. After only a few seconds I heard the stockroom door open over a squall of feedback.

“Interesting style. Don’t quit your day job though.”

“Heh heh. I don’t plan on it.”

I turned in time to see Gabby drop a box of used CD’s with a thud as her mouth fell open.

“Cas!” she squealed.

She ran to me and practically jumped into my arms.

“I can’t believe it’s really you! It’s been so long, I was starting to think the Devil wasn’t gonna let you come back!”

She released her arms from around my neck and stood back, laughing with excitement.

I smiled.

“Nothing in Hell was gonna keep me from seeing my favorite Human.”

Gabby giggled and gave me another quick hug.

“So every thing’s back to normal down there? No more problems?”

“Oh, yeah. Same old, same old. How’ve you been? You all right? I know things were pretty fucked up when I left.”

“It’s been…interesting.”

“I’ll bet. What’s been going on? You find a new apartment?”

“Actually, I bought a house.” she said proudly.

“A house? Where’d you get the cash for that? Last time I was here, you could barely pay the rent on your old place.”

“Well, it all started when the media got the news that my Dad was dead.”

Her smile faded at the mention of her father’s death. I’m sure the memory of that night still haunted her.

Nobody should have to witness those kinds of horrors.

“It was a huge story, of course. It was all over the TV and the papers. He was one of the biggest crime bosses around, so they just ate it up. The police suspected another big time criminal guy, but of course, they couldn’t prove anything.”

“They didn’t find out about you being his daughter, did they?”

“No. Luckily. They found bloody footprints going up to the roof, but no fingerprints to lead them to me. Do demons even have fingerprints?”

“Nah. Not like Human ones anyway.”

“Hm. Anyway, the whole thing ended up a big mystery. Tracks that came to a dead end on the roof, a big pile of ashes with no sign of a fire, not to mention the fact that the body had been…you know, eaten by something they couldn’t identify.”

Gabby shuddered and wrapped her arms around herself. I could tell by her eyes she was reliving that awful sight. Scirlin tearing into her father like a lion on it’s prey.

“So where’s your new house come into it?” I asked, trying to get her mind off the attack.

She shook her head slightly and her eyes came back to the present.

“Oh, yeah. A few weeks later, a guy showed up here with an envelope full of money for me. My Dad had hidden it away with instructions for it to be delivered to me if anything happened to him. I couldn’t believe it! It was more money than I’d ever seen! The guy said there was supposed to be a lot more, bank accounts and stuff, but they’d all been either snatched up by his “business associates” or frozen by the police. I didn’t care though. What I got was more than enough to get me a place and all the stuff to replace what I’d lost in the fire.”

“I’m glad you’ve been doing all right. I was worried about you. Being around me put you through a lot of shit. I’m sorry.”

Gabby grinned and squeezed my hand.

“Don’t be. I’m glad I got to know you. And besides, you saved my life. Scirlin would’ve killed me too if you hadn’t been around to stop him.”

“Yeah, I guess so.”

“Have you figured out how you did it yet? How you turned into an angel?”

I groaned.

“Ugh, not you too! That’s all I’ve heard for the last couple months. Constant questions about that.”

“Sorry,” she paused with and expectant look on her face. “So have you?”

I rolled my eyes with a smile.

“No. As I’ve told just about every creature in Hell, I still don’t have any idea how it happened.”

“Oh. Well, I’ve got something else I’ve been wanting to ask you too. About while you were back in Hell.”

She suddenly looked very serious.

“Shoot.”

“I was wondering…If you might’ve heard anything about my Mom.”

Oh, shit.

I was so hoping this wouldn’t come up.

I should tell her the truth. She’d want to know the truth.

But she’s been through so much bad shit lately.

I suddenly remembered the look on her face the time she’d asked how she could be happy in Heaven if she knew her Mom was in Hell.

Then I thought of her mother’s pitiful, blood soaked soul.

“No. Nothing.”

“Oh. I thought maybe…Well, then maybe my Dad was lying about her being bad! Maybe she’s in Heaven after all!”

Her face brightened and she smiled hopefully.

“Yeah. Maybe she is.”

I felt guilty lying to her.

It made me a little sick to my stomach.

But I couldn’t bear telling her the truth.

“Let’s not talk about Hell,” I said. “I don’t know how long I have to hang out with you and I don’t want to waste a minute of it.”

“Satan’s not gonna be calling you back soon, is he?”

“Worse. I got another mission while I’m here. He’s gonna be sending somebody to help me track down some missing demons.” I shrugged. “It sucks, but at least he’s letting me spend some time with you first.”

“Good! ‘Cause you realize what the day after tomorrow is, don’t you?”

“What?”

“Halloween! It’s my favorite day of the year! There’s gonna be a big costume party at La Villa Blue. You can go to it with me!”

“Awesome. And I’ve already got the perfect costume built in.”

Gabby laughed.

So did I.

I’d been waiting months to hear that sound again.

After the store closed, Gabby took me to her new house. It was just a little house in a run down residential neighborhood within walking distance of the Trash Bin.

It wasn’t much to look at from the outside, but inside it was all Gabby.

The walls, curtains and furniture were all deep, dark reds and blacks. She had a black lacquered pine box coffin for a coffee table, and a full anatomy class skeleton stood in a corner wearing a top hat. Framed posters of Nine Inch Nails and Rob Zombie hung on the walls along side posters from Tim Burton and Quentin Tarantino flicks. Wrought iron candle holders with black candles in them stood on all the tabletops, and there were a few ceramic skulls scattered here and there.

This place definitely got the Goth Housekeeping seal of approval.

The best part, for me anyway, was the big black leather recliner she’d bought just for me to use when I visit.

I was relaxing in it as Gabby flipped through channels on the TV.

To my surprise, she stopped on a news channel and focused intently on the man they were showing.

“I was hoping you’d come back while he was in town.”

The TV showed a tall, muscular guy with long wavy blond hair and a prominent chin covered with stubble. He wore a bemused smirk on his face and was being led through a crowd of obviously adoring fans by a handful of serious looking, leery eyed dudes.

“Who is he? Rock star or something?”

“No,” she said, not tearing her eyes away from the guy’s handsome face for a second. “He’s…Well, I guess you could say he’s sort of a holy man.”

A holy man?

This guy?

You gotta be kidding.

“What’s so ‘holy’ about him? He looks like any young dude you’d see on the street.”

“He’s been going around preaching on the streets, gathering crowds. He tells people they shouldn’t bother going to church because the priests, ministers, rabbis and such don’t have a clue about the truth. He’s grown a pretty big following. People come from all over to listen to him. It’s really pissing the churches off.”

“Okay, so he’s got that much right. But what’s it got to do with me being back?”

Gabby finally took her eyes off the television as the picture went back to the news anchors. She gave me an odd look. Like she was admitting to a secret she was embarrassed by.

“They say he does miracles. Real miracles.”

I just stared at her for a second.

That was it.

That was why she had that look.

She believed it. Or at least she wanted to.

“Yeah, right. Just some slick tricks to get people to listen to him. It’s a con.”

“That’s why I’m glad you’re here. I want to go see him preach tomorrow. Both of us. You can see for yourself and tell me if it really is bullshit or not. You’ll be able to recognize a real miracle from a fake.”

I shrugged.

“If you want. But don’t get your hopes up. There’s been a long line of guys who claimed they had powers from God or whatever, and they were all full of shit. I doubt this guy’s any different.” I told her. “You really like this guy, don’t you?”

She raised and eyebrow.

“Between all the stuff I’ve seen and heard from you, and all the stuff I’ve heard about him…I have to admit, I’m almost convinced he could be for real…Plus, he is hot.” she added with a sly grin.

“Heh heh, we’ll see. What’s this so called prophet’s name anyway?”

“Nathaniel.”

So I gotta go listen to some Human preach and do “miracles”, huh?

Not exactly the way I wanted to spend my first full day back in the Human World. Knee deep in holy bullshit.

Good thing I’m wearin’ boots.