The Symphony of Death Read online

“That’s none of your concern now, is it? But I must be taking my leave now. Addio, gentlemen. I’ll kill you next time.” The two of them and the device disappeared.

  “What are you doing, Paul? You let them get away!”

  Paul turned to me with a scowl on his face. “I couldn’t risk them getting to you. Remember, part of the reason why I’m here is to protect you. Besides, I was testing to see if Lucifer knew about the vision the Lord showed me, and it appears he does not.”

  “What are we going to do? He got away with a piece of the machine.”

  “I know, but he needs more than that to make it whole, and besides, we know where all the pieces are, and he doesn’t. But we also know he’s going to Italy to look for the next piece.”

  “How do you know that?”

  “He said goodbye to us in Italian. He’s going to Italy next. Lucifer’s vain, and he likes to talk. By not attacking him at that moment, I got him to confirm the vision I saw and know his next move. He must have seen it before you were able to delete it from the database. That also explains how he knew you had done that. I’m sorry, but you may be a little late for your engagement celebration. We are going to Italy.”

  Chapter Six

  Death

  Undisclosed Location

  THE LIGHTS FLASHED and I found myself in the middle of an old town that appeared to be completely abandoned and forgotten by the outside world. All the old shops and storefronts were boarded up, and the painted signs had been bleached and faded over the years by the elements. We must have been in the old town square given how open the area was, and how the old-looking stores were positioned around the spot. Besides all of that, the town was surrounded by trees and covered in wild grass and weeds. Lucifer stood in front of me with the large engine we had successfully stolen right out from under The Man Wrapped in Darkness and his human companion. It might be easier than I had originally thought.

  “Where did you bring us?” I asked. “Not that I’m complaining, I find it to be rather cozy.”

  “You needn’t worry about that detail, for the time being at least. It’s not that I don’t trust you my friend, it’s just for this plan to work I have to keep things close to the vest. I can’t risk The One finding out any aspect of what we’re up to. You know his penchant for disrupting my plans, and this one... This one has the ability to bring me...”

  Lucifer trailed off as he stared at the large black engine. He had gotten lost in thought again, so I decided to take a closer look at the thing, and upon my inspection it looked like a heavily modified jet engine. I wanted to know more about the plan other than that the engines will launch my favored method of death around the world. I knew if we didn’t get it right, Lucifer would be made to suffer by The One, and I couldn’t allow that to happen.

  I spoke up. “Bring you what exactly?”

  Lucifer turned and faced me, enraged with fire in his eyes, fangs bared, and forked tongue. “Retribution on The One for everything,” he yelled. “Kicking me and my brethren out of Heaven for wanting our rightful seat at the table. Let us not forget when he humiliated you and me on the third day by stealing his son right out from the palm of our hands. He has embarrassed me at every turn, and it’s time for me to take back what is mine!”

  I backed away and knelt down. “Forgive me, Lucifer, it wasn’t my intention to question you or upset you in any way.”

  Lucifer immediately relaxed, and his snake-like features returned back to his beautified state. “You’re fine, Death. Please get up. I know you mean no harm in the things you say. I didn’t mean to take out my frustrations on you. You are the only true follower of mine, and I can never thank you for your undying devotion to my cause, no pun intended. There is a lot riding on this plan, and our ability to get all the parts to the device. Do not take it personally, but I’m going to keep everything on a need-to-know basis. Besides, the only way you’ll be able to access this site is by me bringing you in and out of this location.”

  “I trust you, Lucifer, and I completely understand your need for extreme caution. If you don’t mind me asking though, do you know where the rest of the pieces of the machine are?”

  “Well, I was able to see that one part is in Italy, but currently I do not know where the remaining pieces are yet”

  “Then what are we going to do?” I asked.

  Lucifer smiled as his face lit up in joy. “Don’t worry yourself about that for, as always, I have a plan to acquire the remaining components. Those two fools will lead us right to them.”

  “Why would they do that?”

  “Because they are predictable. They know that sooner or later I will find the pieces, so they will go on in their futile attempts to destroy them. As soon as they do, I will know. I have my Watchers in place, keeping an eye on their every move, safely hidden in the spirit realm. Whenever they go for a piece of the machine, we’ll know. Then we will be able to intercept them in just a few brief moments.”

  “That’s quite the plan, but I would be remiss if I didn’t remind you that Paul is The Man Wrapped in Darkness. He has the ability to use The One’s portal system to traverse around Earth, and on top of that he can see your Watchers, even when they’re hiding.”

  Lucifer chuckled. “Yes, I know, and that is why I will offer up a sacrifice to lure him into a false sense of security.”

  “How are you going to do that? He’s not going to take any kind of offering from you. I saw the way he looked at you. He’s coming for you, and he’s not going to be as careless as he was in The Arena. He’s filled with a righteous anger from The One, and he has you in his crosshairs.”

  “Please, let him try. He’s never faced one as manipulating and cunning as myself, and fighting with him is the least of my concerns. Right now, I have two Watchers spying on him and Alec, but I ordered one to stay in close proximity to Paul in order for him to be found.”

  “Why would you do that? You’ll lose one of your prized agents, and even after Paul destroys that Watcher do you really think that will be enough to deceive him into thinking he’s won?”

  “Please, there’s plenty more where that came from. Besides, Paul will think he’s stopped the one spying on him all the while my second agent will be a safe distance away to collect the information we need and quickly bring it to me. I’m sure Paul will kill my Watcher in the moment, but it will only send him back down to Hell and then he’ll get right back to work. You see, Death, I’ve thought of everything.”

  I was impressed with the cunningness of Lucifer, and my faith in his plan grew with his every word.

  “This is going to work so well, and I can’t wait to see the look on the dying faces of all the vile creatures that inhabit this world.”

  “Oh yes, it will truly be a glorious day. At the moment you end all life on this rock, all of Hell will burst forth to take the land. This will be my judgement day for The One and all of his followers, and he will have to give me what I wanted all along from the beginning—my throne lifted above his where it should have always been.”

  “That will be a glorious day indeed, and it will be my pleasure to play a key role in this for you.”

  Lucifer looked at the massive engine, which was about the size of a one-story house, and then at our surroundings. “You know something, Death?”

  “What’s that?”

  “This place is very special to me. There’s a lot of history here, and so it’s fitting for us to assemble this device here to bring about The End. This is where it all started.”

  “What started here? Is this the place of some great victory for you? Or maybe a defeat? Can you tell me why this place is so important to you, or is that something you have to keep to yourself at this time?”

  “No. No. No. This secret is... Well, I will share this bit of it with you. This sight holds a special place in my blackened heart because this place was the beginning of something truly monumental. Right here in the center of what is left of this ghost town is where we will assemble the machine, and where you
will release your gift upon all and fulfill your reason for being. You will finally fill that void in your spirit that you have tried to fill since the moment you entered into the world. You will kill everything and everyone, and then I will remake this world into my image.”

  Lucifer turned and faced me in his sheer intensity, and with a sadistic smile on his glorious face. “And this is the place where it all will end.”

  At that moment, one of Lucifer’s Watchers showed up and knelt before us. “My Lord, Alec and Paul are traveling to Italy to get another piece of the machine.”

  “It appears everything is going according to the plan, and soon we will have the locations of the remaining pieces. Now Death, we’re going to Italy.”

  Chapter Seven

  Alec Williams

  Williams Industries Headquarters

  Williams Point, New York

  “I CAN’T GO TO ITALY. Are you out of your mind, Paul?”

  “I am very much sane. Are you the one that has lost his grasp on reality? Maybe it just slipped your mind that in the two seconds Lucifer and Death just stole the first engine of The Life Giver, and if they get the rest of the parts everyone dies.”

  “Of course, I remember what just happened, but I literally just got engaged. What am I supposed to tell Tiffany?”

  Paul looked fierce in his black uniform, and on the verge of all outrage. “It’s simple, you tell her you and your friend, who is a warrior of Heaven have to go to Italy and save the world from Lucifer and Death himself from ending all life on the planet as we know it. There. That sounds simple enough now doesn’t it?”

  “Oh well when you put it like that it sounds so much worse. Are you serious? You want me to tell her who you really are? I thought I wasn’t supposed to tell anyone."

  “Don’t tell her any of that, I’m messing with you, but we have to leave now.”

  I looked at the floor and all around the room and tried to think of a good reason of why Paul should go without me.

  “You’re the one with superpowers here, and I’ll only slow you down. I told you where all the parts are so you shouldn’t have any problem getting to them and destroying them. As long as Lucifer doesn’t get them, I don’t care what you do with them. Besides, I have an entire company to run.”

  Paul squared off at me and grabbed me by my jacket and lifted me off the ground.

  “What are you doing? Put me down!”

  “Now, you listen to me brother, and you listen good. You sound incredibly selfish right now. The fate of every life in the world is at risk of being snuffed out because of a machine your family and company has made. Whether you like it or not, you and I have been tasked with ending all of the areas that were funding Lucifer’s kingdom.”

  “Which we have done. Put me down. Knock it off, you’re scaring me!”

  “You’re afraid. You don’t know the meaning of the word. Yes, we’ve stopped the funding, but it’s not over yet. Lucifer wants to use a piece of equipment that your company made, Alec. Did you hear me? Your company made the machine, and I have seen firsthand in the vision what this machine can do. So, if you ever want to make it to your wedding day, your role in this isn’t over yet.”

  Paul was right. I had to see it through to the end no matter how hard it might be. I couldn’t go back and pretend like everything was fine when it wasn’t.

  “Okay, just put me down and tell me what we need to do.”

  Paul lowered me to my feet. “We need to go to Italy and destroy that chamber, and after that we need to track down the other pieces and destroy those as well.”

  “Alright, just don’t pick me up like that again. There is still so much about your world I don’t understand yet in spite of all the things I’ve been through.”

  Paul looked away. I couldn’t tell if he felt bad, or something else had gotten his attention.

  “Come on man, you don’t have to ignore me. I just—”

  “Stop,” Paul said as he looked about the room.

  I was puzzled, and a little freaked out. Paul had never threatened me like that before, which only added to my concern for his wellbeing. “Stop what?”

  “Be quiet. We’re being watched.”

  Suddenly Paul’s right arm shot out to his side, and he grabbed something in the air. He turned and faced it. As he did, a being in all black armor materialized in his hand. The thing was shielded from head to toe, but that didn’t stop Paul as he crushed the metal around its throat with one hand.

  Paul held the thing away from him as its orange eyes lit up through the metal helmet over its face. The being struggled against Paul’s hold, but the more it struggled the tighter Paul squeezed.

  “So, you didn’t think I’d see you hiding there, Watcher. You won’t be telling your boss anything else about what we’re doing today.” Paul snapped its neck with ease. As he held its lifeless body in his hands, it turned to smoke and disappeared.

  “What the heck was that?” I asked.

  “It’s one of Lucifer’s elite spies. They are only referred to as Watchers, and Lucifer is using them to spy on us. This one is dead now, but we don’t have any time to waste. That Watcher is being sent back to Hell, but as soon as it gets there, I’m sure it will tell Lucifer where we’re going. We have to leave now.”

  “How, it will take hours to get there from here on a plane.”

  “I’ll transport us there using one of God’s portals, and then get us back here all before Tiffany or anyone knows we’re gone.”

  I couldn’t think of any more reasons not to go, so I figured it would be best to get it over with as quickly as possible. “Let’s go.”

  Paul grabbed my shoulder, and everything immediately became a mixed blur of colors and light. I closed my eyes as I felt my stomach do a flip, and then as quickly as it started it stopped. I opened my eyes.

  I wasn’t in New York anymore.

  I BENT OVER AND THREW up the lunch I just ate with Tiffany as Paul looked around our new surroundings, completely unaffected by my vomit by his feet. We were in the back corner of a warehouse, and I could hear forklifts and other movement over on the aisles to my right.

  “What the heck was that?” I said.

  “We call them God portals. They transport people and angels around Earth and the spirit realm. Don’t worry, the nausea will pass in a moment.”

  I stood upright, cleaned the vomit from my mouth, and took a few slow deep breaths. “Where are we?”

  “Your warehouse for Sicily, Italy. Come on, we have to find the chamber before Lucifer does.”

  “Paul, you need to change back into your normal clothes. There are going to be workers all throughout the building.”

  “Don’t worry it’ll be fine,” Paul said. “Do you know where the chamber is?”

  “I’ve been here only a few times. There’s a special highly secured area for projects the company has to keep secret due to non-disclosure agreements between us and the customer. If I had to guess, I bet that’s where it will be, but it’s on the other side of the warehouse. If we’re careful and take our time we can make it over there without anyone seeing us. After all that’s the point right, not letting anyone know we were here?”

  “Stop talking. Where is at again?” Paul asked.

  I pointed in the direction, and before I could protest, he grabbed me and instantly transported us to the door. Again, I got sick.

  “Will you stop that, or at least tell me before you’re going to do it? Maybe I can take a moment to prepare myself.”

  “Don’t worry, you’ll be fine. Yes, it’s better if no one knows we were here, seeing how you hadn’t scheduled any travel arrangements, and you were just in New York. If people see you here it will raise too many questions, and we don’t need that right now. Like I said before, that sick feeling will pass momentarily.”

  “Well, I have to use my handprint to enter the room, so there will be a record of at least me being here.”

  “Don’t worry, I’ll take care of that too.” Paul gr
abbed my arm again and walked toward the wall, and we passed through it like it wasn’t even there to the room on the other side.

  “What was that, Paul?”

  He smiled and I could tell he thought it was funny. “You said you didn’t want me to teleport us into the room because it made you sick, so I walked us through the wall instead.”

  “What in the...? How many different superpowers do you have?”

  “Calm down I haven’t done anything that you can’t find someone else doing in the Bible. If you keep freaking out like this, I might have to call down fire from Heaven on you.”

  “You can do that? Have you done it before?”

  “Yes, I can, and I have done it many times before. Also, I’m messing with you, I’m not going to do that to you, but turn around and look. We found the chamber.”

  I turned and saw a large metal chamber with a thick glass door, and a name plate that read The Life Giver. My God, my father was a sick man to have named the machine the way he did. I proceeded to the device to get a closer look. At the top, four large ducts were collapsed and locked in place to keep them compacted until the chamber was ready to be connected to the four engines. As I strolled around it, I saw where the portable reactor connected in the back.

  The chamber itself was ten-feet-wide by ten-feet-tall, and even though it didn’t have the preferred power device it was hooked up to a powerful generator. I assumed the generator was there for testing the chamber because it seemed to be powering only that, and the portable nuclear reactor must be needed to power the machine when it was whole. I was amazed and terrified by the craftsmanship of the chamber. I looked for a log of who had crafted it, but I didn’t see any kind of paperwork nearby. If I had to guess, the ones who built it were long dead.

  I raised my voice so Paul could hear as I came back around to the front of the machine. “Well, I have a bit of good news for us.”

  “What is it?” Paul shouted back.