Jack's Back ((Ascension: Book 2)) (5 page)

Waking Nightmare

Shelly awoke slowly, languorously. Her head hurt like a son of a bitch. What had happened? Had she been raped and left for dead? Was she already dead?

When the memories came flooding back, she wished that was all that had happened to her. She could deal with that
because it fit in with her newfound version of reality.

Instead, she was in a room with Satan and his minions and they looked fucking pissed. She hoped they'd make it quick, but she knew deep down that they'd draw out the tortures for as long as possible.

How had she gotten to this point in her life? What had she done to deserve any of this?

If she had a gun right then, she'd have put it under her chin and pulled the trigger.
But then, don't suicides go to hell? Would she be playing right into their hands?

None of this made a lick of sense.

Satan spoke to her and the windows of the house they were in rattled, and the floorboards quaked as the very air reverberated ferociously all around.

His voice made tears stream from her eyes, and her breath seized in her throat.

Its voice was guttural and deep and vicious, but the words were almost kind. Almost.

She was right in the middle of trying to decipher what it had said to her when she saw what it had on its head.

It had a huge spider on its blood-smeared head, in place of the cowboy hat it had on the last time she'd seen it.

The spider had a dick
. The spider had a dick. The spider had a human dick.

That was the tipping point for her
. She passed out.

Interrupted Message

"Speak," Lucifer demanded, barely able to conceal his disgust.

The Karl Marx ant hesitated, which made Lucifer's blood froth.

"Speak now," he bellowed.

The ant said in its high faluten accent, "Something is afoot you should know about sir. I came to you as soon as I could."

"Get to it."

"You're in danger."

Just then Lucifer heard a rustling sound from behind the ant. He peered over its shoulder and he was shocked to see Jessie standing there wearing nothing but his pajama pants. He looked so small and frail
behind the bulk of the immense ant creature.

Lucifer thought, ah shit, the cats out of the bag now.

But he could lie to the boy. His lies were convincing. He could trick the child into disbelieving his own eyes if he had enough time alone with him.

But then Jessie did something unexpected. He pointed at Karl Mark and said in a quiet, measured voice, "
Stop it."

Lucifer did a double-take.

The ant stared at the ground for a long time, its lip quivering.

Jessie dropped his arm to his side and stood rooted to the spot, glaring at the ant.

The ant looked into Lucifer's eyes. It seemed like it wanted to say more but it was afraid to.

Then
it turned back to Jessie, gave the boy a curt nod, and then vanished in a brilliant flash of light that made Lucifer wince.

Before Lucifer could process what had just happened, Jessie was already headed back inside the house.

Dealing With the Devil

Shelly bolted for the door. It was an instinctive reaction that had saved her ass plenty
of times lately. She threw it open, took a step forward, and screamed at the top of her lungs. There was a werewolf blocking the exit and it was snarling at her.

She fell to the floor and the werewolf advanced
, its gigantic head low to the ground.

Then Satan loomed over her, reached a hand out and ruffled the werewolf's black fur.

The beast sat down and panted, its thick, bushy tail wagged excitedly.

Satan tipped a bottle of whiskey back and took a long pull straight from the
bottle. Then he held it out for her to take. She took it from him because she was afraid of what might happen if she told him to get fucked. He stared at her until she tipped it back too.

It was awful, but mostly because of the stench that came from his lips touching the bottle seconds before. It gave the drink a charred meat flavor. She pretended it was yummy and handed it back.

Satan's index finger brushed against her hand as he took it and it sent a shiver down her spine. The skin he'd touched turned red and started to itch. She fought the urge to scratch it in front of him.

He nodded toward the doorway so she picked herself off of the floor and turned around, heading back into the living room.
She wasn't one for taking orders but what else could she do?

Satan followed her
in and closed the door on the now placated werewolf door guard.

He waved his taloned hand towards the only sofa so she took a seat
and waited for the tortures to begin.

For some reason s
he was starting to get the feeling he wasn't going to kill her, but she couldn't trust her diagnosis of the situation. Maybe he was just toying with her.

It didn't matter. She wasn't about to escape any time soon; these guys were no angels, they were demons and they had her dead to rights. Her fate was in their hands.

Satan started by saying, "My name is Jack."

She said, "Do you mean like Gentleman Jack?"

"Huh."

"You know, the Devil."

"No, it's just Jack. Jack Mayberry. I was human once. I'm no devil. I might be a demon, but I can't remember."

"What do you want with me?" She was astounded by her own boldness but sometimes she got that way when she was cornered or afraid. It was her default attitude when shit went tits up.

Jack said, "I need you to help me find Lucifer."

Shelly pointed to her left and said, "He's over there," and then when he looked in that direction she took off running for the kitchen.

He reached out and grabbed her around the midsection before she made it.

He didn't say a word
and she didn't struggle once she felt his power.

He forcefully placed her back on the sofa, gave her a stern look, which was serious since he already looked evil, and then he sat Indian style on the floor in front of her.
He was so tall that his eyes were level with hers.

For the first time she noticed that his eyes were green. That surprised the hell out of her because it humanized him just a little bit.
Maybe he was telling the truth. Maybe did used to be a man.

He said, "
I'm going to use you as bait to lure out Lucifer. Angels want to rape you and they know you on sight. Lucifer was an angel. That is all I want with you. If you try to escape, knowing now that my intentions aren't nefarious, I'll take it personally."

"So I'm your prisoner?"

"If that's the way you want to see it, there's nothing I can say or do to change your mind. I'd like to think you'd want to help me destroy Lucifer."

"I really don't care."

"Lucifer stole my life and trapped me in hell. He has my family. I need your help. Will you help me willingly or do I need to keep an eye on you?"

She heard the low growl of the werewolf from the other side of the door and took it as a not so subtle warning.

"I'll help you if you keep the other angels away from me."

Suddenly, she was seeing clearly. This was a decent compromise considering she had no other options.

"Thank you Shelly. I appreciate it." He stood up and held out his hand.

Sh
e shook it and her hand was fully enveloped in his huge fist. It stung and itched immediately.

He let go and said, "We'll start out tomorrow. I'm pleased to have you on board. Let me introduce you to my team."

He let out a nearly subsonic, throaty growl. She assumed there'd be dogs barking for miles around and car alarms going off in Denver. Her hair shifted in the barely detectable breeze created by his vocal rumble.

Then bizarre monsters started to come through the doors
, one at a time.

He put a hand gently on her shoulder to quell her flight reflex.

The monsters lined up like soldiers and Jack introduced them in order.

Once he'd introduced them all around, he said, "This is Shelly. Angels want to plant their seed in her to make a sort of messiah. Say hello Shelly."

Shelly waved meekly and then Jack dismissed the monsters.

Some were so horrifying her memory refused to process what her eyes had seen so she could only vaguely recall details
even moments afterwards. Others were simple like the pig and the hyena.

Jack said, "I'm sorry if this all seems surreal to you. You'll get used to it. Trust me, a person can get used to anything."

Shelly said, "I know. A month ago I was a regular twenty one year old college student with a normal mundane life. Now I'm the future mother of the messiah, angels are trying to force themselves upon me, and the devil is using me to lure out Lucifer."

Jack said, "I'm sorry you see me as a devil. I was a regular guy only a year ago. I had a job and a girlfriend and a son. Then I made a bad decision and it turned me into this."

"What happened?"

"I told you. Lucifer tricked me."

"How so?"

"You ask too many questions."

"Did he lie to you?"

"He convinced me into seeing things from his point of view. He tricked me into releasing him from hell. And as thanks, he made me take his place while he assumed my identity. There, that's the whole story.
Sorry if I come off as gruff talking about it but I harbor just a little resentment towards the guy."

"I understand. I didn't have a say in what happened to me either. No one asked me if I wanted a kid. No one asked if I wanted to have sex with an angel. I get it dude."

"Ok then. Good pep talk. Don't worry. We'll set this shit straight soon enough. Get some sleep."

It was a command and not a mere suggestion so Shelly nodded and shut up.

Jack said, "I hope you decide to stay the night. The help can get feisty."

It was a barely veiled threat that Shelly took seriously. The last thing she wanted was to see that werewolf, or any of the creatures for that matter, up close and personal.

Jack walked from the room. Then he came back with a blanket and a pillow. As he left again he said threateningly, "I never sleep, Shelly."

In a way, she was glad for that. The angels predominantly came for her at night. They'd be in for a big fucking surprise this time.

Like Father Like Son?

Lucifer walked into Jessie's room and quietly closed the door behind him.

He didn't know what had happened or how to broach the subject without giving too much away but he had to know what Jessie was up to.

The boy acted defiant. He didn't look from the TV screen until Lucifer turned it off with the remote.

"We have some things to discuss son."

Jessie looked into his eyes with a steady gaze, unnaturally calm and collected for an eleven year old boy.

Lucifer said,
"What happened out there today? That creature was about to tell me something important but you stopped it. Why?"

Jessie shrugged.

"You will tell me boy."

Jessie
stared right at him rebelliously and said, "You think you can make me talk but you can't. I'm tougher than you think I am."

Lucifer knew he could make the child talk, but he didn't know why Jessie was keeping secrets from him in the first place.

Jessie stared at his hands and seemed to change his tune. "I'm sorry dad. I don't know why I say the things I do. Sometimes I dream that you're really the devil and that my real dad is trapped in hell forever. I know it's a dream but it feels so real. I know it's fake though."

Lucifer
was shocked that the boy had such keen insight, but at least Jessie had doubts about it. Lucifer could stoke those doubts in time and the boy would come to trust him implicitly. It was Lucifer's fault; he should have been paying more attention to the boy.

He asked, "So why did you make those creatures appear? Why did you make the ant thing disappear?"

Jessie said, "I didn't mean to make the creatures, and I thought the ant monster was going to try and hurt you. I just wanted it to stop. I didn't make it disappear. I don't control them like that."

Lucifer was confused now. Was the kid lying? He couldn't tell anymore. That was odd because he could always sniff out deceit.

He'd have to keep a closer eye on his family affairs from now on. His plans were starting to bear fruit and he'd hate for them to be ruined because he'd taken his eye off of his phony family.

As he left the room he said, "Don't tell Melanie about any of this."

"I know dad."