Purgatorium (63 page)

His high pitched yell gets the reapers attention as they race over to the window that I had come through. He throws me down to the bedroom floor. I roll back up and smash my head onto the side of my bed.

I look through the door leading to the living room and see the reapers flooding through the broken window. I turn back to find Jehudiel with my pistol in his mouth.

“It’s all in your mind.” He dons a smile and a wink before pulling the trigger. As he falls backwards, he breaks through the hourglass and the window.

A sea of reapers swoop in on both sides, simultaneously. Their icy fingers stretch out towards me, their nails extended, inches away from my pupils. Everything suddenly comes to a halt, including the reapers, who merely reach back their arms and float away out through the broken windows.

My whole body suddenly feels as if it’s getting warmer. My brain-freeze has spontaneously passed. The snow outside freezes in midair in the still night sky. I sit there basking in the moment at what I just accomplished. I think about Jehudiel in his final moments. Thinking how he chose death rather than face defeat. Lazy till the bitter end.

The ice from my hair down to my feet begins to melt off me. My right eye vision turns from black, to fuzzy, to clear. My left leg begins to form back again.

Suddenly, I hear someone clapping from the living room. I quickly reach into my jacket pocket, take out my flask, unscrew the cap, and drop it on the ground. It lands on its side, water pouring out of it.

I turn my head to look.
Michael
walks through the doorway into the bedroom, whirling around his blackjack. He appears to be wearing a King of hearts mask over his face. “By the devil, you are a lion, son. How did you feel when that hypothermia kicked in? Felt your heart stop, didn’t ya? Bet that was a rush.”

I
glance over at
the water running slowly across the floor toward
Michael
’s feet.

“Still having a little mental confusion from it, I see?”
Michael
says, snapping his fingers across my face. I see the water has reached Michael’s shoe. “The side effects will soon pass after a couple minutes.”

He looks down at the water, and when he brings his head back up, I am already on top of him. I pin him down, taking his baton out of his hand, and pound him, taking all my frustration and anger out on his face and torso. His
mask flings off his face.

Michael
, now bloodied and bruised, finally manages to kick me off.
I
roll my body over, pick up the pistol, aim it straight, and cock the hammer back. He laughs while looking down at his blood. “What are you going to do now, slick? Shoot me? Go ahead!”

I point the pistol towards his mouth, grinning that I have won.

“Though I don’t know what good this thing is now since you used your last bullet on what’s his name again?” He takes a few minutes. “Barachiel! That’s it! Just like I hoped you would.”

I look up to him, not understanding what he just meant. I pull the trigger and nothing happens. He was right, I think as I hear him laughing at my attempt.

He raves with mad laughter, “He was on your side all along! What’s the word to call what I just did to you? Oh right! Lied! I lied to you! You wanna know why? Because that’s what demons do. We manipulate, deceive, cheat, and lie to get what we want. Going down your current report card, I would say you’re on your way to becoming a demon yourself there, champ. As long as you remember our anthem, Cheaters always cheat and liars always…do what?”

Suddenly, the music starts to softly play. I look at the alarm clock on my nightstand which reads: 42:02. I turn back to Michael, knowing my time has run out. I drop the gun, get down on my knees, and try as hard as I can not to listen. Michael walks over and kneels down to me.

“I guess the reason I am here, talking to you now, is to say good-bye. Thank you for all the hard work you put into today. Now what was that token again? It was your name, wasn’t it? And what was that name of yours?” He takes a few seconds just to toy with me. “Was it Matthew? Mark? Luke? No, I got it, John,” he laughs, smacking me on the back. “I am running out of names over here, maybe you can help me out?”

He knows my name is David. He is just distracting me from clearing my head.

“David you say? No, I already know a guy named David. Try guessing again.” He looks at the clock. “Well, it looks like we ran out of time. But let me leave you with a parting gift. It’s the least I can do, since I am about to take over your life and all.”

He pulls out his Polaroid camera, bends down, and takes a photo of me.
Click
!

I sit there, still confused as the music starts to get louder. I now can hear “The Lights in the Piazza” melody streaming above me. It’s the song that I heard when I first met Madi, I realize. It’s gonna take me back to the coffee shop.

I get into the cannon ball position, trying to focus on not listening.

“You are as gullible as it gets. You know that?” he taunts. The photo comes out and Michael blows on it, waving it back and forth in the air. He goes and picks up the mask off the ground. “I have another confession to make that I have been holding for awhile now.”

Still waiting for the photo to develop,
Michael lays it in my hand. I watch the image
come in to focus. Instead of seeing my face, I see it replaced with a demon’s.

“
You are not David, you never were. You are part of the seven
,” Michael says with glee and distaste as he puts the mask back over his face.The music in the background continues to get louder. Michael is gone as my room starts to break away like puzzle pieces.

I stare out, no thoughts rummaging through my mind, no emotions towards anything, just a feeling of blankness. The music sucks me back in and everything goes black.

I open my eyes and realize that I am back at the coffee shop. I enter and see Madi waiting at the table.

Gaining control of my senses, I think,
Michael is lying to me, trying to trick me into believing him!

I try to will my hand up. I raise it to my face and wiggle my fingers, knowing that it’s getting easier for me. I move my legs now and make my way toward Madi, sitting down across from her. She looks at me confused as I try to speak to her but nothing comes out.

“Did you bring it?” she asks me.

She must be talking about the sunflowers, I think. I will my head to shake from side to side.

“Are you alright?” she says with concern.

I try to speak but still nothing comes out. Without warning, whispers enter my thoughts. “Remember me.”

I smack my head, trying to clear the voices out.

“I’m sorry, I thought you were someone else,” she says, packing her things.

Getting carried away, she fumbles her books to the ground. I look down to see the Good Book by my feet. I quickly reach down and grip my fingers around it. Looking back up, I see her standing over me. I hold out the book as she reaches over, her fingers brushing up against mine. We both are holding onto the book as Madi looks at me like she somehow knows me.

“Sorry, I am just freaking out right now. I shouldn’t be here. If he found out I was here, I would get into serious trouble.”

I hold the book tighter as she tries to pull it away.
He who?
I wonder. Madi bends down and whispers in my ear, “Jacob.”

She lets go of the book and runs out of the shop. I place the book on the table and stand up, looking out the window. I think for a second,
Jacob?
He was still in prison when I met Madi. Did she lie to me too?

Whispers enter my head again and they grow louder. “Everyone has lied to us, even the one we loved has lied to us. She has been holding secrets from us all this time.” Anger builds up inside of me. I close my eyes and use my mind to push the bad thoughts out.

I open my eyes to find a King of hearts mask lying on the table in front of me. Confused, I tilt my head up and notice Michael, looking furious, staring straight at me. “Where is the token?! Tell me!”

He walks over to me, holding his blackjack in his right hand. He starts hitting me with it, harder and harder. “Tell me!” he demands, repeatedly. People in the coffee shop try to push him off me.

How can they see him?
I wonder. I thought Sealtiel said that they couldn’t be seen by human eyes. But somehow they see Michael just fine.

He pushes an elderly man who was trying to help me, off of him. My eyes begin to feel fuzzy as I see Michael opening his jacket and showing them his M45 pistol inside his shoulder holster. “This is my big brother, Cain.” He turns the elderly man around.

I watch as Michael now takes out a .44 magnum from behind his back. “And this is my disturbed little brother, Abel. Must I retell the story of Cain and Abel?” He forces the old man down to the ground.

Everyone slowly backs away from him. “Good, everyone has heard of it.”

“Now all of you continue what you were exactly doing before this scene ever happened. I count six of you.”

He rummages through his pockets and throws on the table six bullets. “Each one of these bullets here has your name written on it. If I stand back up and count any number that doesn’t equal to six, I will put down each of you poor souls where you stand. I am wrath incarnated, so do not mess with me! Nod your heads if you feel me!”

They all nod and quietly go back to where they were. Michael thinks out loud to himself, “I am about to lose it. I am this close to losing it. But I can’t have the Valkyrie getting wind of any changes, at least not till I get what I came here for, so let’s just calm it way down.”

Michael sits down in a chair across from me. He sighs loudly and slumps into the seat, relaxing. He brushes the frost off of his jacket and straightens himself up, clearing his throat. Leaning over to me, he looks into my eyes, amazed. “Simply remarkable. You are in there, aren’t you?” He flicks my head as I swat his hand away.

“How is he doing it, I wonder?” Michael says, whispering in my ear.

How did who do what?

He blinks his eyes and adjusts back into his seat.

“Let’s play a game, you and I.” He takes out a deck of cards from his jacket pocket, shuffles, and then deals out five cards to me. “If I win, you tell me what the
real
token is. If you win…”

He pauses, looking at his card hand, then lays them down. All the while I think of what he means by the
real
token.

“I will raise you. If you win, I will not kill poor sweet Anna. I will let her live the rest of her peaceful life in harmony. Also, I will promise to avenge Madi’s death by finding the people responsible. It’s a great deal,” he says, hand to heart, smiling at me.

I look at Michael and think, eat it.

Michael looks at me and frowns. He sighs again. “Fine! If you win I will forfeit the spot to take hold of your body.”

I say nothing. I try to concentrate, thinking about how to get myself out of here. I take the cards to buy more time, or at least I think that’s my accuse.

“There’s the demon in you coming out. Demons love to gamble. Especially if it isn’t a sure bet.”

I sit back down and look at Michael. I am not a demon, I think to him.

“Still don’t believe you’re a demon? How about this, out of bad faith, I will raise you one for good measure.” Michael reaches into his pockets.

“Here is a little show and tell for you.” He pulls out more photos. “The pictures I showed you before were not of Barachiel. Same clothes, not the same guy. It was of you before your reaping.” He sprinkles each picture on top of the pile in the center of us. “If that isn’t enough then these were the ones I took on that unfaithful Sunday we spent together.”

I look in horror at each one lying on the ground. I come to see that my face has once again been replaced by a demon’s on each of them.

“Greed is always in it to win it. Greed is a survivor. I knew who the real you was last Saturday, when I took your picture for the first time on the subway, remember?” He takes out a picture from his vest pocket and brings it down so I can see it. I observe again the demon in my clothing, still not wanting to believe him.

Michael pushes back up the King of hearts from his upper vest pocket. “We are all David in some way, shape, or form. I am his anger issues. His wrath. And you are every greedy thought he ever had.”

I am confused and even more enraged. I gather up the photos, hoping in my mind that they have been duplicated in some way.

He is just playing me. Michael is cashing it all in, hoping that I would fold. He is buying his bluff.

As I look at each photo, I start to remember the moments in which he had taken them. This can’t be real, I think to myself.

“David never did half the things you did. You picked the lion gun, David always picked the lamb. You went inside the tree early because you didn’t want to wait for the right time like David always did. You never learned to get your voice back like David did. You want to know how? He was able to balance his mind, body, and soul, which gave him the right to be heard. A demon can attain the body and mind but never the soul. That’s due to demons not having souls in the first place! Do you see what I am trying to get at?!”

I can’t move, trying desperately to call his bluff.

“And let’s not forget about your angel, I mean, demon-like speed and abilities. I know you must have felt it running through your system this morning. How else can you explain what you’ve done today? You tapped into your demon side, my boy! You kicked some reaper tail while you were at it! Ever wondered where all that speed and fighting techniques came from? Give you a hint: it wasn’t from all those Kung Fu movies you watched growing up! How about your obsession with green?”

Green? What is he talking about? I don’t have an obsession over a color. He is insane.

“Green is greeds favorite color. It’s the color of huge amounts of wealth. Greeds pure obsession. Needing examples? Sure! How about when you get fascinated by the color of our eyes, your eyes? Like you’re somehow drawn to them. Or how about the marble bag? A bag you just couldn’t take your eyes off. What color was that bag again?”

I hold my temper in, silently, knowing Michael could beat me to a pulp if he wanted too. I look around the shop to find any source of water that I could quickly grab to throw in Michael’s face. At least it would slow him down long enough for me to find a way out. I look at the bathroom door right behind Michael. I smile at the thought of toilet water in Michael’s face. I gaze back at an ill-tempered Michael as he looks back at me, shaking his head at what I just thought.

Michael puts the blackjack on the table and his gun back in his jacket. He looks around at the scared people staring at him. “Out of all the places, why couldn’t David meet Madi at a bar?”

I reach my right hand across the table and quickly take the baton, sliding it over back to me. I hold it steady in my hand, preparing to use it. In a flash, Michael takes it back.

“What do you
not
get about this?!” he yells at me. “What do you think makes you David?! Because you
look
like David?!” Michael hits me with it and heads back to his seat. He takes up his cards, trying desperately to calm himself. “Looks can be imitated, as you well know. We all used to look like David once, remember?!”

I start thinking of ways that assure me that I am the real David. I think about the songs I hear that take me back to my memories of Madi.

“My boy, when those songs start to play, this whole place turns into a one big theatre. Anyone, be it demon or lost soul, can take a seat, listen in, and
watch
the cinematic adventure of David’s crummy past life. But the one thing that we cannot do is participate. That is the limit to our control. Meaning to say, to have the ability to take over David’s thoughts and body. We demons can only choose to sit on the sidelines.”

He spreads his hands out, letting me know that he is as of right now on the sidelines. “But somehow David has let you in. It kills me not knowing how he is doing it. Utterly kills me!”

Michael repeats the words “there is a limit” over and over to himself.

I remember Sealtiel telling me about my past life being like a movie to them. I come to realize that if demons truly do have set limits, then I must be the real David. He is bluffing.

He smacks his head numerous times, then stops. “There is a limit at what a demon can do and cannot do in the real world. This week alone has proved that the limit can be surpassed. I am not bluffing dear boy, I am only exchanging out a card.”

He takes out a card from his hand and replaces it with another in the deck. “You still think that you’re not greed, don’t you?”

I look at him, shaking my head, not giving in to all the things that I have been able to do. I fold two cards and take two more off the pile while thinking about my dreams that I have.

Michael looks at his hand, “Your dreams at night? Nope! They aren’t even dreams at all. They are reminders for David that no matter what kind of great life he has built for himself in this place, he still won’t be able to escape his fate. It’s the ultimate torture. Have a man relive every day, knowing each minute that passes is one more minute closer to his worst nightmare. Every night right at 60
minutes,
we’re all forced to relive that car wreck over and over again. Because you see, we’re all one and the same person. Why do you think I can hear your thoughts? Hell! If you really tried you could be reading mine right now.”

If that’s the case and I am a demon, then why aren’t you mute like I am? Like you say, demons don’t have souls.

Michael places his cards face down, “That’s because I didn’t let a reaper come up and bite me in the butt!” He starts to twitch, almost as if he were trying to fight off the anger from taking over him. He goes and takes out some sort of rock from his pocket.“This is a Diamond stone. Our father loved to sharpen his knife with it. Made him reduce his stress after a long day’s work. Never really knew why till now.”

Michael takes out his knife. He angles the blade with his right hand while holding the Diamond stone with his left. He drags the knife across the stone, sharpening the edge of the blade.