Prince of Hell Page 9

  Waving my hand, I dismissed him. "It's too late for that. I've brought back two of them. Besides, I like Bael. Sorry, I know I shouldn't, but he has a point. Humanity has sprung out of control. Hell, I knew this when I was human...or whatever the hell I was. I don't have any desire to bring an apocalypse on the world, and neither do my brothers, or Bael, for that matter. I hear you, Marcus, and I know we'll probably have to take different sides, but I hope not. I won't fight you. Maybe you'll have to trust me? Like you did before?"

  Scanning the room, his jaw clenched. He said nothing at first and avoided eye contact. Taking a deep breath, he explained, "I trust you as you are now, today. But this power is dark, chaotic, addictive, and you have no idea how this will affect you. I do. So, yes, I trust you, now. Now you are Anthony. Later, when you are in your full power, you will be Asmodeus, Prince of Lust, demonic, carnal, hedonistic. You will become so embroiled in this..." His voice trailed off, lost in some memory.

  “Anthony, the very fact that you think you can bring Rachel back when Rachel left you for Damian...and now you're obsessed to bring her back. If that wasn't bad enough on its own, but the fact that you want to raise her from the dead. Guilt is a powerful force, but I would've thought you'd have learned from last time. Necromancy is dangerous. Look what happened with Mabel! And you want to pursue this path. But what worries me even more in all of this is the fact that you think you'll be Ok. You're not in control of this. You really need to get a grip. I'm afraid for you, brother. I'm afraid I'm going to be put into a situation where I'm going to have to take your head, and yet you're forcing my hand. I need you to stop and look at what you're doing. What you’re really afraid of is being alone for all eternity and I understand that. I get it. That's why we have such a close brotherhood. No one could face eternity on their own without losing their mind. But I urge you, I beg you, to stop this path. Now I won't say anything to anyone for the moment, but it's only a matter of time.

  Please reconsider what you're doing, and asking me not to tell the Council, not to tell your friends – Acacias, Aaron — then you know deep down it is wrong. We could help you. I will honour your promise but next time I won't,” Marcus locked my gaze. When he saw no reaction, he looked at the ground.

  I didn’t want to fight with my friend. I wouldn’t. Not now, not later. That was something I felt deep inside. I couldn’t speak for him, and I wasn’t about to give up this power. For the first time since killing Orion and getting back, I had a semblance of interest. Not hope, exactly, but a reason to live, perhaps. An adventure, excitement, and I wasn’t about to give that up for an eternity of biting human necks and feasting on their blood when I could have the keys to the kingdom. I mean, would you?

  There was little point in staying here now. Marcus had prejudged the situation. The Council sounded like a group of bureaucrats, though I knew most of them. Always someone or something somewhere wanting to control others, telling you how to live. I’d always been a free thinker and look how well I’ve done! Still, maybe it was time to cut cords, as it were. Though, these immortals would always have a special place in my heart. Sensing this or reading my thoughts, Marcus got up sighing heavily, and took his empty bottle into the kitchen.

  I got up. He extended his arms, and he hugged me. “Take care dear friend, don’t go too dark or I’ll have to take your head. Keep in touch!”

  “I will. You, too. Let me know what’s happening. If I feel myself slipping, I’ll ask for your help.”

  And, so, there it was. We had to part ways.

  I cleaned up my apartment, then wandered over to Nathaniel’s home. It would never be mine because he was coming back.

  Demon’s Wrath

  After searching through his hundreds of books, I finally found some on Bael, the Princes of Hell, and immortal necromancy, as it was a vampire and demon I wanted to resurrect.

  Packing a bag, I drove to Bael’s house. His brows furrowed as he answered the door. “Blimey, I didn’t expect you for a few days. Missed me, did you?” he chuckled.

  “I saw Marcus. I couldn’t see the others,” I mused dropping my bag in the elaborate hallway. “So, how’s Andy?”

  Smirking, he said, “Fine. He’s already changed and almost ready to go out with you. You were right. He was angry, vicious, even.” Raising his voice, he added, “He bit me. Before he turned, that is, but astonishingly, luckily enough, since then he’s been remarkably calm. Grown into his new power, your timing is perfect actually. As his maker, he’s been asking for you.”

  I wasn’t so sure. He sounded like a loaded gun, but I didn’t fear him.

  As normal, a huge fire blazed in the hearth in the living room. As I walked in, Jack and Andy were sat there, slouched back. Jack got up.

  “Anthony! Glad you’re back. Bael said you’d be gone a few days?”

  “You Ok?” I looked at him, then Andy. Walking to the sideboard, I poured a whisky.

  Handing one to Bael, Andy answered me, “No. I am not all right. I have a burning, a thirst. Bael is able to calm me, but it is...” His eyes scanned the room frantically.

  “Andy, it is as you fear, but you don’t have to take life to exist, and...and this is a bonus. If you only take from the evil, those innocent souls you care about will sleep safer at night.”

  His face relaxed a little.

  “I told him that. I don’t think he believed me,” Jack’s words spewed out.

  I saw the narrowed eyes that Andy gave Jack.

  “Andy, it usually takes much longer to transform. Had I known, I would have returned sooner. Jack is trying to help. Come. Let’s do this now. You’ll feel better, trust me.”

  “I don’t think I’ll ever feel better about this,” Andy hissed.

  I was taken aback. Bael was right. There was spite there, for sure, and not surprisingly. If I said it’s a big life change, that’s putting it mildly.

  “Come, then. You, too, Jack!”

  I could smell the blood on Jack, and his face was still slightly flushed. He’d fed on his own somewhere. I wasn’t asking him out of courtesy, it was a lesson in obedience. I needed to keep them on a tight reign.

  I thought I’d take Andy to the outskirts of Bristol, joined by Bael, of course. I didn’t want to risk running into my friends in Bath. Obviously, Marcus had sensed a change in me. They would, too, for sure, and with the added presence of Bael, Jack, and Andy, at this point, I was keen to lay low.

  Trying to feign a neutral mood, I avoided eye contact. The truth was, Marcus had stung me. Tension gripped my body, the slightest movements of the others almost causing me to jump, startled, as my mind replayed his conversation over and over again. How he had implored me, convinced of my demise. I almost felt nauseous but I knew why. Because he was right. Guilt and love were my driving forces. Perhaps she would never return the love to me, but I needed to try and give Rachel her life back, and Nathaniel. He had lived over two-hundred years, but after meeting me, he had been brutally tortured to death only a matter of years later, and for some of those years, I had treated him badly. I would redeem myself, and the lives of my friends, and Marcus would see that whoever I had been in the past, I was different now because of the experiences I had lived through. The things I’d done, the knowledge I have now, I didn’t have before I was human or vampire, and neither did my brothers. We had all faced hardship, loss whereas before when we were the Princes of Hell, maybe arrogant and conceited, but because we had lived as mortals we had grown, emotionally. Gained life experience. Maybe we could all redeem ourselves now that we had lived with mortality, adversity, pain...

  Raising his eyebrows in concern, Bael spoke quietly, “You ok?”

  I nodded, and much to his amusement, I insisted we drive, so we took his car. A Bentley, no less. There was no way we could all fit in a Lotus.

  North of Clifton, near the prison, I’d heard that violent sexual crime was rife. Keen to teach Andy a valuable lesson — one that sustained me for a long time — I took him there. Criminals that are evil b
ut without drugs. The cleaner the blood, the better it is. I’d never realised this much until the older vampires had explained to me the difference in blood purity that affected them. Some of them lived for hundreds of years and had been quite ill on modern blood.

  My expectation was that Andy would realise this new-found vigilante lifestyle could give him purpose, as it had me eliminating some of the guiltI'd held bound up inside.

  His face was strained, clenched jaw, wide eyes. I knew it was hunger driving him inside, and the fact that he could feel the unease in the air. Softly, I spoke to him, touching his arm to reassure him, "This gift I've given you could be seen as a curse or a blessing. With Bael's power, you won't have to undergo the change as harshly I did. There are things you can still do, which, believe me, are a blessing. Like, eat food. But also, how I managed it once...I'd got a hold of it...was to lurk in the places where the evil crept, waiting to feed on those they would hurt, abuse or kill. Now, that's a double-edged sword, I won't lie, because taking the blood of the corrupt, you will feel their emotions, see their wrongdoings. It can be overwhelming, but...after taking their blood, you can mesmerise them, change their psychology, their minds, so they harm none in the future."

  Furrowing his brows, he bit his bottom lip so hard a trickle of blood trailed his chin. "You serious? Surely, you're kidding. I mean you, a damned creature, why the hell would you care?"

  "He doesn't think too highly of us, does he?" Bael chirped in dryly. "Andy, lad, it's like this, and I admit I am only a recent convert. Humans, many supernatural species depend on them. Most — much to my horror — don't feed off them, but then again, there are so many corrupt, wicked, soulless creatures to take from. Even for me, the King. If I were to start praying on many innocents, I'd face an onslaught from the bloody Nephilim, and no doubt the wrath of pagan gods..." he sighed, looking around him at the seemingly normal-looking housing estate.

  "But some of us, even though we have no humanity, or we feel it slipping away, we respect what it is to have it, or at least remember it. I don't want to terrify an innocent man or woman, or a child. Why would I want to do that? That's sick, weak."

  "But you terrified me."

  His voice flat, like speaking to a child, Bael answered, "We've been over this. Your soul was never human. You're a Prince —"

  Andy cut him off, "So you say. You're a devil. Doesn't mean I'll ever believe you." As he finished speaking, he spun around, seeing a group of three men, late teens, hoodies up, scruffy clothes, small eyes, stern lips, walking towards us.

  Here we were dressed like we'd stepped out of the Savoy and were standing next to a Bentley. Curling my lips, my heart pounded against my ribs. This is what I like: hunting. As they got closer, Andy grunted. I knew he could taste it, their malevolence. I stared at them when they were too close. I snarled, watching their faces turn from cocky to fear in an instant. How the righteous fall when they’re in the hands of the immortals...

  Touching his arm again, I whispered to Andy, "Go," and before the word even finished leaving my lips, he was on one of them, his mouth fixed to the man's neck, hoodie pushed back in the blink of an eye.

  Jack grinned at me as the other two ran. I smiled, and we watched them a few seconds longer before catching up so fast, their eyes popping at our speed, mumbling, begging. But begging fell on deaf ears. Turning my catch roughly so I could feast whilst watching Andy, I saw Bael next to him.

  "Good, you've helped some humans today, but for God's sake, don't kill him. Or you'll be whining about that. And stop drinking before his heart stops."

  But he didn't. Dropping my victim to the floor, I rushed over and pulled Andy off the villain. He refused and ended up tearing the man's neck to shreds, blood everywhere. Jack finished. Angrily, I pointed to my human and Jack nodded. He needed to mesmerise him too.

  "What the hell are you doing? You're going to kill yourself!"

  "Screw you. I told you I didn't want this, you evil son of a bitch!" Fire blazed in his eyes as his blood-filled spit sprayed over my face and he pushed me back with such force he sent me flying.

  "Boys!" Bael shouted, his voice resonating around the estate. We were on the edge, and it was nearly dark, but people had heard us none the less. I was aware of doors being opened from the adjacent houses. Jack ran back. The two malcontents were just starting to come around. "Pick up that body. You didn't have to kill him!" I spat back at Andy.

  "You pick him up. I was trying to kill myself. Besides, I have no mercy for what that thing had done. Death is too easy for that."

  "Well, this is a turnaround, isn't it?" Bael grinned. "Now if we can only get you past being a demon. I think you'll make a fine one."

  "Sod off!" was Andy's reply.

  Huffing, I looked at Bael. "Take him!" My head nodded to Andy as I picked up the bloodied human. "Where can I bury this?"

  Shrugging his shoulders, Bael laughed. "Not very quick are you, today? Drop him."

  Nodding, I remembered. I was so used to having to bury bodies. Looking at the man, I snapped my fingers. A fast flame, then nothing but black soot. Andy, who was now in Bael's immense grip, his face filled with wonder. "Yeah, no ideas. If we let you have that power, it won't work on us." Thank God, I thought.

  He didn't struggle in Bael's hands, instinctively knowing it would be futile. "Come on, idiot," Bael chuntered, ushering him into the large car.

  We got away before any humans spotted us. Instead of going back to his house, Bael did a tour, taking us to some rougher edge of the city.

  Without speaking, we all got out, except Andy who sat there, arms crossed, defiant, his rage like a storm brewing. Tension in my body as I watched, Bael would either kill Andy now or Andy was about to learn a hard lesson. As we waited silently for him to get out, Bael rolled his eyes.

  Pushing his petulant son in front of him, Bael grunted, "Go on."

  The street was run-down. Small Edwardian houses squeezed together, many windows boarded up, trash littering the road and pavements and burnt out cars. Unease shuddered through me like a cold breeze. Frowning, I had a bad feeling inside.

  "I've had some reports about this place, and I was going to wait until I had more of you here, but I think we strike today as my son obviously needs to take his head out of his righteous arse and see the bigger picture."

  Walking up the house's path, the brown lawn must have once had grass but was now soiled with broken household appliances. Bael widened his eyes, nodding to Andy to open the door.

  "It's locked," Andy said brusquely.

  Bael clicked his finger. It opened slightly. "Go on," he whispered.

  With trepidation, Andy stepped inside, freezing as he, and we, heard the noise. Sobbing in the distance, hopelessness, fear...cold shivered through my brothers and me.

  "What is this place?" Andy whispered.

  "Worse than Hell. These people in here are stolen. The men and women who have trafficked them are here." He pointed, "They're through there. Now, will you bleed them, or would you rather rock back to church and pray for their souls?"

  My gut churned, twisted, the smell of despair, of terror filled my lungs. Shabby walls, peeling paint and the worn, dirty wooden floor beneath our feet, my shoes sticky on it. Pulling my hands to my sides, I didn't want to touch anything in here. It was soiled. And you think we're evil!

  Angered by being put into a corner, Andy strutted lightly forwards, followed by Jack, who turned to me.

  I shook my head. "You go. Have fun. Keep an eye on him." I asked, "What do we do with the innocents?"

  "Nothing. I'll have someone tip off the police, they'll sort that," Bael answered.

  "We could've come here earlier. I don't want to know why these people are being trafficked, do I?"

  "No, you don't. There are a lot of traffickers in here, but your brothers can release their anger on them," he said, scratching his nose. "I'm not sending them back in my car. They'll be too bloody."

  "Clever. Very clever. I mean, sending Andy here. Up close
and personal. Now he'll start to see the bigger picture and not feel too sorry for himself," I mumbled.

  "Exactly!"

  Shuffling, shouts, screams from humans, no doubt my brothers ripping the throats out of these doomed humans; righteous indeed. Clatter of furniture, worry started to creep up on me. "Maybe we should..."

  "They're fine. Leave them to it. Besides, it's not your style. You’re more prone to ripping out hearts."

  Flashing a glare at him, he answered, “I meant literally! I heard about it. To be honest, I was impressed.”

  I could sense people upstairs, their terror growing like a wave of heat about to explode. Andy and Jack reappeared, blood-soaked like two ancient warriors leaving the battlefield. Their faces serious, bloody sweat glistening from their foreheads.

  "They're all dead. We could've got here earlier and saved those people upstairs. I can sense their fear, their dread. I can't believe you knew about this and —"

  "Save your speech. To be honest, I didn't know if you'd really care or if only two of you could handle it. Oh, I knew Anthony could, but he's experienced far worse. Come on. Home. We need to prepare to meet Tony, otherwise known as Beelzebub, and he's in Chile."

  "Beelzebub...gluttony?"

  "Ah, yes. Tony does like to indulge. Get ready, boys. Get ready to party like you've never done before. But, first, home, and I insist you all shower and change first. Even you, Anthony, you stink of Nephilim. Marcus been on vacation then?"

  "I forgot to ask," I replied.

  Sex, Drugs, and Blues

  Poor Andy never had a chance. One-minute wrestling with his morals, the next slaughtering humans, and then, whoosh in Bellavista, Santiago, Chile at night, in the heart of the bohemian quarter, music pounding from every direction. As we were immediately in such close proximity to so many humans, I wasn't sure bringing both of them, newly turned, was such a good idea. But Bael, laughing raucously wasn’t concerned and I guessed he'd met this Tony before.