Two

  From this point on my memories are crystal clear, with the fuzzy memories of my old life feeling more like a dream than reality. The first thing I can tell you is that it did hurt, more than anything I had ever felt before, but only for a few seconds. After that, I can’t tell you what happened to my body back on Earth. Unlike popular belief, we don’t sit around in the clouds, looking down and watching the living. We can’t. The connection is gone. We have no more idea what’s happening there than you do about what’s happening here. But wait, you say. How am I telling you about all this? Well, that’s another story that will have to wait for another time. This one needs to be told first. Trust me. So let’s get back to it.

  The pain was gone, I noticed. What little medical knowledge I had - gained mostly from watching Grey’s Anatomy - told me that was most definitely not a good thing. I was lying on the ground, which was to be expected considering I had just been hit square in the chest by a 20-foot-tall tree. I groaned even though I felt no pain. It was a bit of a test, really, just to see if I could. The groan worked, which was good, so I progressed to the next step and tried moving a few limbs. First, my fingers, which wiggled as they were supposed to, and then my arms, which I used to bring my fingers to my face and rub my temples. All of that went without a hitch, so I decided to open my eyes, half expecting to discover that I had been ripped in half by the tree and was currently lying in a pool of my own guts, moving on reflex alone. I wasn’t. Well, I may very well have been. Like I said, I have no idea what happened to my physical body. But we’re getting sidetracked again.

  I was lying flat on my back, so the first thing I noticed was the sky. A brilliant light shone straight down on me. I thought it was the sun at first, but it was quickly fading and I soon realized that the real sun was sitting at a different angle from this light. As the mysterious light faded completely I propped myself up on my elbows and looked around. My body seemed to be completely intact and my clothes were all fine, without so much as a rip or a bit of mud or sawdust on them. In fact, they were cleaner than they had ever been since the day I bought them. I was also lying in the middle of a grassy green field, my chainsaw and the tree that hit me were nowhere in sight. The closest trees were at least a hundred yards away. That was my first clue that I was no longer on Earth. We had been logging somewhere in the Klamath mountains of northern California, and while grassy fields weren’t unheard of out there, they looked a LOT different than this one.

  I carefully stood up, just in case something was broken after all and the act of moving around finally made my body remember that it had just been subjected to severe trauma. The air was fresh and clean, with a warm, grassy scent to it. The sky was brilliant blue, with only a few fluffy and perfectly white clouds hanging in it. Birds sang and insects buzzed. The sun was warm and bright, but not hot, and I realized it wasn’t making me squint, even though I was the kind of guy who normally used sunglasses even on cloudy days. Everything about the world seemed to be in perfect focus, and the colors were far more stark and brilliant than what I was used to. It was at this point that I began to suspect that maybe that tree had killed me after all and I was now in heaven, or something similar. It certainly didn’t feel like the other place. I really hoped I was wrong about that. Turned out I was - on a few of the points, at least.

  “Well,” I said to the empty field. “This sucks.” The birds ignored me and kept right on singing. “What am I supposed to do now?” I grumbled. I was as confused as… well, that other place, and it was making me irritable. In all the movies there was usually some sort of beautiful angel that appeared to explain things to the recently deceased soul. At that point, I would have been happy if some ugly little goblin popped up beside me, as long as it could tell me what was happening.

  No goblin appeared, but I did notice a growing dark spot up in the sky. I only noticed it because it contrasted so dramatically with the perfectly white clouds. I stared at the spot, not needing to squint even though it was coming from the same direction as the sun, and tried to figure out what it was. As I stared, my subconscious mind warned me that the world had gone silent. My attention dropped from the dark point in the sky and I focused on my surroundings. The birds had stopped singing, the buzzing insects had grown quiet, and not so much as a gentle breeze stirred the air. It was as if the entire world was holding its breath. A chill ran up my spine as a sort of chittering, laughing, screeching noise reached my ears. It came from the same direction as the dark spot and instantly told me that whatever was up there in the sky, I did not want to meet it. So I did what any rational person would do in such a situation - I turned and ran like the devil himself was on my tail. That wasn’t too far from the truth.

  Running and sports had never been my thing. I was more of a first-person-shooter kind of guy. But I did work hard tromping about in the woods for upwards of eighty hours a week at times, so I was not out of shape by any definition of the word. I covered half the distance between where I had started and the edge of the field before risking a peek over my shoulder, expecting to see the spot growing larger but still a long way off. Instead of having grown only a little larger, however, the spot had now gotten so close that I could clearly make out what it was. It was not just a single spot, but several. They were what I could only describe as demons. Dark-skinned creatures flying on batlike, leathery wings with hideous faces containing short snouts and bulging eyes that were far too large for their heads. What little clothing they wore was ragged and tattered. They were flapping their wings furiously, reaching towards me with long, taloned fingers, screeching loudly and getting closer at an alarming rate. Panic and adrenaline mixed together inside me and I kicked it into high gear, hoping that if I could just make it to the edge of the woods I would find safety.

  My legs were burning by the time I reached the edge of the woods and for a brief moment I let myself hope that I would actually make it, but those hopes were dashed as one of the demons landed right in front of me. I couldn’t stop in time and ran right into it. It was about a head shorter than I was and was very skinny, with almost no visible muscle, but I still bounced off of it like I had hit a brick wall. I landed flat on my back and the thing started laughing, a hideous, high-pitched sound that sent chills down my back and turned my stomach.

  “We got it!” cried another one as it landed behind me, its voice just as high-pitched as the one that I had run into. Five more landed in a circle around me, cutting off any hope I had of escape, not that there had been any chance of that happening anyway.

  “You should have let it run some more,” snarled yet another one. “I like it when they run.”

  “And risk letting the others get it first?,” said the one I had bounced off of. It seemed to be the leader. “Play with your own toys, but don’t risk the Master’s.”

  “What’s the harm in having a little fun? There’s only one other strong ‘nough to worry us, and I ain’t seen no sign ‘o her yet. I say let the soul run. It’ll be its last chance, and their fear is so delicious.” The creature licked its lips as it watched me with hungry eyes, giving me a good look at its needle-sharp teeth.

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  “And I say you’re a fool. You know what Lord Nergal will do to us if we lose another one? I’d rather die than get banished. Earth’s so cold, and it’s crawling with angels. Unbound angels. You fancy facing off with one ‘o them? We got a good gig goin’ here and I ain’t risking it just ‘cause you like playing ‘round. Now grab the soul and let’s get going.” The demon peered up at the sky for a few moments. “B’sides. I know that cursed angel saw the light. She always does. I wanna be well clear ‘o here ‘fore it arrives.” Before I could move a muscle, two of the demon creatures sprang forward and grabbed me, their claws digging into my shoulders. Surprisingly, it didn’t hurt nearly as much as I thought it would. I felt the pressure of their grasp, but not the pain of the claws. They had called me a soul, and their references to angels and Earth confirmed some of my suspicions from earlier. It seemed I really was dead after all. Those thoughts entered my head, but immediately flew out again as the demons flapped their wings and began carrying me off. I had far more pressing matters to worry about.

  My stomach lurched as we lifted into the air. Heights had never bothered me much, and I frequently had to climb up a tree and limb it before cutting it down. This was very, very, different from that, though. I tried not to vomit as I watched the ground drop away, my feet dangling freely, knowing that the only thing holding me up were these demon’s claws. We quickly left the clearing behind as the demons headed back in the direction they had come from. After several minutes one of the creatures at the back of the pack let out an alarmed squawk. The leader turned its head to look back. “What is it?” it demanded irritably. Its demeanor changed a moment later as it focused on something behind us. It let out a string of curses, some of which I had never even heard, and that’s saying something, considering where I worked. “She’s found us,” it hissed. “I hoped we’d get closer to the city first.” I twisted around, trying to get a look at what they were talking about. It was awkward, caught in between two demons that were bouncing up and down with each flap of their wings, but I caught a glimpse of something shining nearly as bright as the sun itself. I couldn’t make out any more detail than that, but I did notice it was catching up to us at an alarming rate. “Slow her down,” the lead demon barked at the two in the back.

  “Are you crazy?” one of them shot back. “She’ll tear us to pieces.”

  “And what will Lord Nergal do to you if you let her get the soul? Better to die fighting than to return a coward and a failure. Now get back there and stall her. We’ll be at the border soon. After that, it’s smooth sailing.”

  “For you,” the other demon at the back said. “We’ll be dust.”

  “And I’ll be sure to tell Lord Nergal that you died bravely instead of the cowardly scum you really are. Now which death you want? Hers?” It pointed a twisted claw in the direction of what by this point I had inferred was an angel. “Or the Master’s? I can tell you right now which one will be quick and merciful.”

  The demons carrying me slowed down and turned slightly, obviously curious about what was happening. The new angle gave me a much better view and I watched as the two unfortunate creatures at the back contemplated their fates, then turned and flew towards the glowing figure. I could make out a silhouette of its shape by this point and saw that it was flying on large, bird-like wings, the kind you would imagine an angel to have. I couldn’t make out any other distinguishing features, though, and just had to take the demon’s word that it was a woman. The angel slowed its approach as the two demons reached her. The three of them began swirling around, sizing each other up. The demons drew swords – from where I did not know – and the angel drew hers as well. The angel’s sword burst into flame as the demons struck with fury. The angel parried their attacks, sparks flying as their swords collided, and I caught glimpses of a gleaming armored breastplate over her robes. I desperately hoped she would win.

  “What are you waiting for, fools?” the lead demon cried. “Move it!”

  The demons carrying me squawked and turned. The two remaining demons who weren’t carrying me and the lead demon all drew swords from nowhere, surrounding me and my captors as they rushed forward, faster than ever. I tried twisting around to watch the fight, but I was bounced and jostled about so much that I couldn’t see anything. The stalling tactic must have worked because we flew on for several more minutes with no more incidents, though the demons maintained their speed and never let their guard down. Eventually, I noticed a city skyline appearing on the horizon. The demons saw it too and they noticeably relaxed, though their pace did not slacken any. If anything, their speed increased. “We made it,” the lead demon said, relief evident in its scratchy, high-pitched voice. My heart sank. If they were happy, it most likely meant bad news for me. As we drew nearer, the skyline grew and the silhouettes of the city’s buildings became crisper and more defined. It looked just like any other cityscape on Earth. Tall skyscrapers clustered together in the city center, while shorter buildings sprawled out to either side. From what I could tell, the city was massive. Not quite as big as L.A., but close. There didn’t seem to be anything like suburbs around – just the wilderness, and then, suddenly, the city. That made it hard to compare to the cities on Earth, which always had suburban sprawl surrounding them, making them seem larger than the city limits themselves. “The border’s just ahead,” the lead demon said. “Fly, you scum!”

  The demons carrying me flapped their wings even harder than before, pushing us forward. Behind us, one of the demons suddenly cried out. There was a flash of brilliant light and it fell silent. I turned in alarm and saw the angel, dark dust falling slowly around her, flaming sword held low as if she had just finished a stroke. The demon was gone – burned to ash by my guess. The creatures carrying me panicked and tried flying off in different directions without letting go of me first. Now, when they had grabbed me with their sharp claws, I said that hadn’t hurt much, and it was true. This, however, did. Having two powerful beings tugging on you, trying to rip you in half while they panic is not a pleasant feeling. Needless to say, I screamed. The lead demon shouted something that I couldn’t make out, focused as I was on the intense pain I was suffering. The demons settled down and got themselves pointed in the same direction again, easing my suffering greatly. They began flying toward the city again, but the angel flew around and blocked our path, holding her sword out and pointing at us. “Give me the soul,” she demanded. My eyes were blurry from the constant wind and the excruciating pain I had just experienced, so I couldn’t make out her features very well, but something stirred at the sound of her voice. I knew that voice on a primal level I couldn’t explain at that moment.

  “No,” the lead demon said, sounding like a petulant child. “We found it first. It’s ours by the terms of the contract.”

  “Only if you cross the border with it,” the angel replied. “And unless they’ve been redrawn, you’re still in neutral lands.” I blinked my eyes, squeezing hard to try and clear them out so I could see better. The angel’s voice was so familiar and comforting that it hurt my heart. I desperately wanted to see her face. I just knew that if she was able to get me away from these creatures, then everything would be alright after all.

  “Not for long,” the lead demon said, its voice coming from directly behind me now. I felt a sharp pain on each of my shoulders and opened my eyes to see that it had grabbed me with its feet. It shoved away the two demons that had been carrying me. “Get her!” it cried, pointing at the angel. The demons hesitated for a moment, then rushed at the angel, swords held high. The last remaining escort demon joined them, making it a three-against-one contest. The lead demon flew towards the city, abandoning its companions in a mad rush to get to safety. I looked back at the fight, desperately praying that it was going well, and was glad to see my hopes confirmed. She had already dispatched one of her attackers, as evidenced by the black dust swirling about, and was holding the other two at bay. One of the demons swung its sword too wide and the angel took full advantage of the mistake, slicing the creature clean in half with her flaming sword. As it burned away to dust I finally got a good look at her face and my heart cried out in joy. Even surrounded by a supernatural glow, with giant white-feathered wings on her back and a golden halo hovering over her head, it was a face I would never forget.

  My savior was my sister, Nicole.

  End of Chapter Two

  here. It started out as last year's Community Magazine contest, and I had so much fun with it that I just had to keep on going with it.