Sitting on the Ceiling

Chapter 3: Introducing our savior

Chapter 3: Introducing our savior


“Wow. Demons. I didn't know they existed.”
“Very hateful creatures. You'd be above them though. A Gatekeeper probably. You'd like that. Watch who enters the Gates of Hell, make sure they are dead. Kill any who aren't. Torture those who try to escape. Best thing about torturing others down there is that they don't die and they don't heal. When the pain is there, it's there for a long time. You would be a good Gatekeeper. You do alot of it already.”
“I don't know if that was a compliment or an insult but I like it. Thanks.”
He laughed a bit and deffered us back to his bedchamber. We got there and it was in pieces. His coffin was smashed, window broken, all items stuffed in a brew of disgusting something, any furniture was torn apart and his dresser smashed to the ground. It wasn’t like there was anything in it, but the metaphor still went. It was rude. He looked around and said, “Wow, your friend really doesn't like competition does he?”
“No. I'm sorry—”
“No, no, no. It's not your fault he did it. He was just a little, exactly how you described him. It's okay, I'll find something.”
“No, stay in mine. You can stay in my bedchamber. It's nice. Come on, I'll show you.”
“Don't you think that's a little, personal? With you I mean.”
“No! God no! I don't sleep so it doesn't matter.”
“Alright.”
He deffered into my bedchamber. I showed him everything.
“These three stones are moveable, that wall is an illusion and actually leads to a completely different room, and there is a door on the other side. Oh, here, let me fix this.”
I moved the three stones out of the ground and pulled out the dead body. Opening the door, I dropped it over the side. It bounced off a few things before finally nailing someone on the ground. I heard the thud even from the near mile I was away from them. Then somebody screamed my name. I slammed my door shut and locked it as fast as I could. Ferdel looked at me strangely but I pointed to the window, which contained an angry Vladmer looking through it. I whispered in Ferdel's ear so Vladmer could not hear it, “That's Vladmer. You don't mind if I shoot him do you?”
“Sure. I'd like to see that.”
As if some kind of sense ticked off in my brain, Vladmer’s head popped into view from the only clear window around. There was a smear of blood on his face as if a bloody corpse had just landed on top of him. He pounded on the door until I let him in. He slammed the door behind him viciously. I went to my drawer to go find my gun while he yelled at me.
“Your stupid playmate landed on me!” he shouted.
“Yeah,” I said dividedly.
“And who’s this? You’re next meal?”
“Yeah,” I said, just as dull.
“Your such a…such a girl!”
“Yeah.”
“STOP SAYING YEAH!”
“Er, yes,” I mumbled, confused as to why I could not find what I was looking for. I checked the next drawer.
“Answer me! Acknowledge me!”
“Ah, here it is! Almost thought I lost it!” I cried gleefully.
I aimed the gun at his head and pulled the trigger. It clicked, but did nothing. I shook it and tried again. Still nothing. I threw it back in the drawer and cussed myself out. Vladmer was enraged beyond a human’s point of understanding. This was the second time I threatened his life today.
“Dammit. It’s empty,” I said tonelessly.
Vladmer walked towards me but Ferdel stopped him.
“No, hey, its okay. Let’s see what the big man is gonna do to me,” I said.
“No, it’s not that. He has my…it doesn’t matter. I need it,” he said.
He tried to fight him, but Vladmer was not obliged to cooperate. Ferdel spit on his shoulder, but what came out was a green acid-looking mixture. I stared hard at it. It burnt a hole in Vladmer’s shoulder, which bled profusely. He gasped and went still, as if unable to move. Ferdel took something from Vladmer’s pocket before healing his shoulder back up with a wave of his hand.
I tossed my gun across the room and listened to it skid across the ground. The sound caused Vladmer to regain his state of mind, as I had planned. He went on with his aggressive stride towards me, putting himself only inches from my face before powerfully knocking the drawer shut and pushing me down on the bed.
I let myself fall limp, spreading my arms out wide, not acknowledging his presence as he climbed atop me and threatened to hit me. Unable to hit me he kept his stance, still overly infuriated with me. I looked at him, pushing my hips up into his groin and smiling.
“Why can’t I do this?” he asked me, only asking me because he himself was unable to answer the question.
“Cause I’m a slut baby, take me for a ride! I’ll give you a special discount! My life for your orgasm! Hahahahaha!” I chuckled.
“Eww, your gross,” he said distastefully.
He got off and stood before me as if to decide where to go. He could surprise me and attack, or he couldn’t. He couldn’t ever physically fight me for such a lame reason. I was not helping his concerns, sticking my hands down my pants and moving my body around, uttering dirty words about what my goals were for him. I had forgotten about Ferdel momentarily.
“Aww, come on! You know you want it! Take it,” I urged.
“Something is really wrong with your head,” he said.
He walked off.
I sat up so my arms supported me upright. I was spacing out in mild thought before saying, “You know you really shouldn't go about thrashing people's rooms up like that. And by the way it didn't work.”
“What? I didn't touch his—”
“He's staying with me now.”
“WHAT?”
“It didn't work. You really should find someone to take your feelings out on if you aren't going to use me.”
“What do you mean?”
“Don't act like you don't know. Ferdel, um, he can tell you. He knows about you already. Better than I do. He knows me better than I do. You really shouldn't be so angry. It was your fault. Stupid.”
“Hey!”
“Stuuupiddd!”
“Tess, I, you tried to kill me again you know.”
“And you would have been tossed out of the door again too.”
“Are you even trying to forget anymore?”
“I'm trying to be you if you don't mind!”
“Well it's not working.”
“Fine. SLUT! WHORE! BITCH! MANHATER! THERE, HAVE I SAID ENOUGH? DOES IT REMIND YOU OF ANYONE? GET THE HELL OUT OF MY BEDCHAMBER BEFORE I EAT YOU!”
He left slowly at first, as if to make me feel sorry for yelling at him. But I was on his neck real quick. He flew off, leaving behind a large fraction of his neck. I kicked the door shut and threw myself down on a couch, spitting out whatever I had taken. Ferdel took a seat opposite me and said, “You do have some problems that aren't him. Did you notice?”
“What? That he thinks I should feel sorry for his sorry a—”
“No. That you started off wanting to let it go and ended up taking half of his neck.”
“And next time I'll knock his head off.”
“No. What's really bothering you?”
“I barely know you man!”
“Exactly. I can leave and you can forget about me in an hour if that's what you want. Or, you can tell me and I'll tell you some stuff.”
“It's obvious what's wrong, isn't it?”
“No. You keep it so buried inside that you can barely find it.”
“Oh good, discussion closed.”
“Doesn't mean you don't know what it is.”
“Alright. I've lost just about everyone I care about. My friends, my other friends, fighting, its all gone. Torment has faded just because I'm the queen. I don't lose fights anymore, Vladmer can't even hit me, and he can hit anything and not care. I miss G.D kinda. He was the only one who didn't secretly fear me. Where is he?”
“Hell.”
“Obviously. I should have known. That's my problem. I want to fight, to kill. Like I came into this game.”
“Fighting Vladmer in a cold war isn't going to fix it. Fighting will though. So why don't I make Vladmer come back and you start over? Then you can fight beside him.”
“Fight what?”
“Anything. You two can go into a nightclub and fight there. Security gets pretty hard to fight there. Or a concert. Anything. If you have a big enough crowd that isn’t about to allow being fucked with and you’re not using your powers you’ve got a good battle. It will get you publicity but if you don’t go down you won’t be revealed. So, a fight to the finish. And it teaches you trust with him. Something you two obviously need. You can’t take them alone,” he suggested.
I looked at him.
“I hate Vladmer. He thinks ill of me and I hate people who think ill of me. They’re threats,” I said in a low tone.
“Wonder why he is fed up with you then,” he said.
“Because he made the mistake of calling me a slut.”
“You’ve certainly got your priorities straight. I am a Fighting demon, a warrior, and I know from experience that having somebody closer to you than you are to yourself will help you eventually. You have to trust somebody and its obvious he trusts you.”
“You don’t look that strong.”
“That’s because I’m not. I mean, I am, but not like the physical side of Hell. I work mind powers. Like the Dark Arts and that sort. They work just like physical force. They’re just as hard.”
“Ah.”
He sighed and stood up.
“What?” I asked.
“I’m not obliged to sit in silence and do nothing. You can fix your problem or sit and pout.”
“I’m not pouting!”
“Well it’s so hard for you, you know, to deal with life yourself. It’s inevitable that your going to be called a few names with the lifetime you can sustain.”
“I’m sorry?”
“Don’t be a cry baby.”
I was shocked.
“Fine. I’ll fight with him. Fuck, I’ll fight him.”
“You don’t need to fight him.”
“Whatever.”
Next thing I knew it was a new scene. Sitting beside me, Vladmer and some chick sat making out. I screamed bloody murder until Ferdel fixed it.
“So that's what you do all day. Well happy times over jerk!”
“Tesela!” Ferdel reproached.
“Fine…Say something!” I snapped at Vladmer.
“What's going on?” Vladmer asked obediently.
“We're gonna eat you!” I teased.
He was automatically on the other side of the couch.
“No. We're not gonna eat you. Not us of, ow! Fine! Sorry!” I spat rather foully as Ferdel stabbed me with a complete, mental body ache.
“Sorry? You’re apologizing?”
“For biting yer neck off,” I gasped and fought Ferdel’s power off.
“Anything else?”
He liked this.
“No you sadistic bastard!” I kicked him but immediately regretted it and put my hands over my head.
Vladmer had no clue what Ferdel was doing.
“You’re acting really weird...”
“AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!” I flew out of my seat and tackled Ferdel, knocking the couch onto its back and beating him while drinking from him. He wasn't strong at all. The only catch was he intensified my mental pains. Vladmer pulled me off him as he normally would and sat on me. I couldn't move and eventually gave up panting.
“Now what was that Tess?” he asked.
“Ferdel, I will kill you if you ever try to force me to do something again,” I breathed, still smashed underneath Vladmer's weight.
He was sitting on my back like a couch.
“No you won't. You can't. Vladmer's sitting on you.”
“Oh how I wish you knew. I would hunt you down and hang you from the outer walls as a Halloween decoration for the witches right after I ripped your pit from your body and beat you with it.”
He fell silent.
“What is going on?” Vladmer demanded.
“I'm from Hell Vladmer. There is nothing I can't do,” Ferdel said.
There was a silence.
“That could cause many problems,” Vladmer finally said.
“Yes it could!” I yelled.
“And you made her apologize?”
“No. She did that. We wanted to know if you wanted to fight.”
“What?”
He was alarmed now.
“Fight a mob or something,” I corrected.
“You want to fight a mob!?!”
“I want to kill a mob. I want to beat and murder every whore on every corner of this god-forsaken city. I want to be burned at stake only for the humans and witches alike to realize I cannot die ordinarily. I want to suffer ten trillion years chained to a wall until I rot into it and piece of shit! Hahahahaha, yes, a nothing like what we’ve done to G.D. We’ve stooped to his level, fighting like stupid school bitches. I am a slut, so what? It doesn’t matter. I’m a damn good one too. I—”
“Tesela, I’m sorry I called you a slut. I didn’t mean to. You want to fight something, fight me,” Vladmer said.
I couldn’t breathe. I think he thought I was impressed by his offer.
“I can’t breathe, get up,” I gasped.
“Oh! Sorry!” he apologized, standing up.
“I’ll make you two a deal. If you can hold my three friends down for three seconds I’ll give you guys some powers. Well, a power basis. A color. My friends are probably a little stronger than you so consider it wisely. They’re Hell’s physical warriors. There is more, but these three are meaner. Are you interested?” Ferdel asked.
“Bring it on. What do you say Vladmer?” I asked.
“Three?”
“Yup,” Ferdel and I cheered.
“Three. What about four? We could take more. Or, I could at least,” he grinned.
“For a moment I thought you had changed for the worst of us all,” I laughed.
Ferdel closed his eyes and concentrated. Three men popped up and cornered us in a circle. The fight was on immediately. We sprung to action like squirrels on crack. It seemed impossible at first, when our muscles were cold. But Ferdel shed the light and the motivation.


I had the last one down, stabbing his stone pit, making unfixable holes that he would live with. The other two had left after being beaten. Vladmer and I were overwhelmingly weary. I drank the last one (who happened to be the reason why I had a gaping wound on my head) to his shrieking death.
Ferdel had made a deal saying that if I killed one then he wouldn’t lie ever again to me. I had done as he thought I could not do and so now I was going to be treated with his honesty. Vladmer was just as beat as I but he had fought more, so he had less energy. I danced on the man’s body happily as it faded away.
“You owe us something,” I panted.
“Your right,” Ferdel groaned.
“You aren’t too happy. You thought we would lose, didn’t you?” Vladmer asked.
“Yes. Ah well. What’s the first color that comes to mind when I say ‘fire’,” he said.
“Black,” I said.
“Orange,” Vladmer said, “How the Hell did you get black?”
“I dunno. Black is always in there somewhere.”
Ferdel clapped his hands. A dry feeling came over me. Like I was being thrown into fire and shriveling up into pieces. I couldn’t see Ferdel for a moment. I stayed still. The pain had blinded me, I realized. It was directed to my eyeballs. They felt like they were being squeezed and pulled out of my head at the same time. I almost lost my balance trying to figure out what was going on.
Vladmer’s pain spell seemed to be of less momentum. He was supporting me in no time. When my eyes were not clouded I demanded an excellent explanation from him as to why he had made my head throb impulsively.
“They are your new powers. Black…it means you can use the Shadows and you can use ESP…through your eyes. The only reason it hurt your eyes, I shall explain, is because powers need places to take home to. Vladmer, you didn’t feel anything because you’ve lost your Dark Arts virginity. She hasn’t. You got, um, I think its Fire configuration, all the Lights, and transfiguration. Yeah. Good job to myself, I remembered,” he smiled crazily.
“My Dark Arts virginity? I didn’t know the Dark Arts could fuck you,” I laughed.
He glared at me, smiling sarcastically. I thought carefully about what I said next before I said it. I knew it could lead me astray if I said it wrong. Vladmer would take it the wrong way and automatically assume I was being rude. That was the last thing I needed.
“So Vladmer, are we okay?” I asked.
“Definitely.”
“Anything you don't agree with before I close the case?”
“Well one, but we don't have to talk about it. It's not big enough to cause another...miscommunication.”
“Lets hear it bro.”
“No, its okay.”
“Don't be shy. You said it now you got to admit it.”
“No.”
“Vladmer.”
“Fine. But you aren't going to agree. I just don't like to say it, it sounds different than it means.”
“That's okay.”
“You have a nice body. It's perfect. And you have this really great personality and humor and stuff. I just don't think you should trade yourself in deals,” he said quickly.
“You mean with the men and the witches?”
“I guess.”
He really didn't want to tell me but it was obvious he cared alot and that it could cause a big problem if it wasn't confronted.
“Why do you care?”
“I just think your better than that. I'm not hitting on you or anything, it’s just an opinion.”
I thought about it for a moment.
“Okay,” I agreed.
He looked a little shocked. I'd never agreed with him on anything and usually told him off for trying.
“Does this threaten my life?” he asked.
I laughed.
“No. You’re right. I shouldn't trade sex for loyalty. Thanks for telling me. Anything else?”
But he didn't get a chance to answer, for a man had deffered into the bedchamber excitedly. I recognized him as one of the men I had sent in to the witches. He looked like a witch and if I hadn't expected him sometime that day I probably would have killed him. Ferdel wondered off. He felt that he wasn't fit to hear whatever the man had to say. It sounded like nonsense to me but I kept my mouth shut. The man began hesitantly, still a bit anxious to deliver the news.
“The witches, they don’t suspect a thing. Blackeye, one of ours, we call him John now, but all the same it’s him. He’s been put next to the leader of the community. It isn’t hard to act like this, but I don’t like it. There is some bad news. They’ve discovered a potion that singles out vampires and incantations too. They plan to send people with it, so watch it. And I have to tell you something that not all witches know but you can’t plunge into it just yet. They have been thinking about awaking the Earth ghosts and having them fight in a war. This is just an idea, mind you. A war against the German witches and the German vampires.”
I was speechless. He went on for me.
“We have a plan but we wanted to run it past you. If we kill the leader they will never know about the ideas. If we kill everyone else who went to that meeting and be sneaky about it nobody will ever know.”
“No. You might get caught then they'd know about our plans. There's no chance in Hell and out that the witches could beat us. Especially if we had the demon fighters up here. I bet they'd be sent up here anyway should it come to that. Keep low. You guys are doing a good job. Did anyone die?” I asked.
“Not yet. And another thing. If we watched the witches at their work, we may be able to sabotage their recipe. Replace and erase things. Mess around like that. Is that okay?”
“Yeah. Just be sure you don't get caught.”
“Oh we won't with the promise you made us.”
He grinned and looked me up and down. I felt Vladmer's look that meant this was testing my honesty and care towards him.
“And don't ever forget. Now go, come back soon if there is something I need to know.”
“Yes m' lady.”
He was gone within seconds. Vladmer was pissed. I felt like screaming out my irritation. He made me feel so bad about everything. I could have cried.
“I'm going to go find something to kill myself with,” he said with a fake smile and got up.
“Vladmer, please sit down. I want to tell you something.”
“No. I've heard and seen enough to know.”
“Vladmer!” I managed to choke.
“What, Tess?”
“I'm not a slut or a whore or a prostitute or any other word that rests on your tongue at this very moment. I'm not. I'm a liar. If you knew me well enough you'd know.”
Now he did regret everything. My silence was highly irregular.
“Tess, your not any of those things...”
“Apparently I am. You're screaming it at me right now. It only increases the more you think I manipulate your sympathy. Now, you realize that maybe this isn't the average Tesela, now you jump to conclusions. Of course. I'm always the outcome of all your confusion. I can solve everything right? The Queen of negativity.”
“You aren't being fair Tess. I can't control what I think.”
“Lie.”
“I can't!”
“You’re lying again.”
“How do you know? Your not even trying to read me.”
“You’re telling me. Why don't you just tell me what makes me so bad?”
“Nothing does. And that's not a lie. We're vampires Tess, we always think this way. You know this.”
“Yeah. I suppose. You can go kill yourself if you want. I might be back in a couple days. Or maybe not. Depends on how I feel.”
And with that, I got up and headed for the door.
“Where are you going?”
“Crazy.”
I shut the door as he watched me, but I flew out of sight very quickly. I was going to roam in the great rainforest that bordered us.

********************

I came back 9 day's later in a much better mood. I had learned my powers and had used them generously to help the trolls have better lives. I'd helped them with anything they hadn't been able to finish. In their care they found my problem and fixed it. Like psychologists, they talked me out of everything I was determined to do when I returned. They fed me what they believed would help, gave me my own home, nurtured me reasonably like the parents I never had. It was a tree house. I loved it. I'd always been a nature person and I'd always dreamed of living in a tree house. Leaving was a slightly emotional thing but I promised to return so they let me off unwillingly.
I knew exactly what I was coming back to. More depression and cold words. Maybe Vladmer had taken my advice and finally let go. Unfortunately he hadn't though, so, whatever. Actually, I saw him waiting for me like a mad man in my bedchamber so I decided not to go in my bedchamber where I saw him pacing. Rather walk around in the other tower and look at things. None of them called to me so I left soon after and caught up with Ferdel. His face was long.
“What's wrong?” I asked.
“I want to kill him. He's riding my nerve like a two year old does a pony. I almost strangled him,” he answered.
His voice was under strain and his eyes were blood shot.
“Sounds like I was missed then.”
“Missed? He's obsessed with apologizing. Do you think she's dead? Will you go look for her again with me? What if the witches got her? What if she killed herself! What if, Vladmer? Damn! That man will lick your face until you accept his apology. I swear he rehearses what he's going to say. I've caught him a few times chanting something. Freak...”
“Oh, I thought he'd be mad. Better get this over with then. See you later.”
“Yeah, hope so.”
I deffered up to my bedchamber where he was whispering to himself. I stood where I was until he noticed. “Ahhh! Eeee, hi...Tesela. I'm, erm, hmmm, hold on...” he said.
“Anything.”
“Okay. I'm sorry about calling you all those names and thinking such ill thoughts about you. About trying to make you keep yourself limited. I guess I was just jealous because, yeah. And I really want to make it up to you somehow. I'm really sorry about it.”
“Stay where you are Vladmer, I've got my warnings. I'm fine. Think what you want of me and for god’s sake eat something. You look like a coke addict. Go on, I'll wait.”
He deffered off and returned a little later more composed.
“Are you ready to tell the truth?” I asked.
“Yeah. I am sorry I called you those names a while back and that I didn't believe you when you tried to tell me you weren't trying to take my sympathy. I don't know where you went but I was really scared I killed you. I'm glad your back.”
“That's right I'm back and I'm not leaving again for a while. Has anything relatively important happened while I was gone?”
“No, not really. The guy, uh, I think he said his name was Blackeye, came to report something.”
“And?”
“He wouldn't tell me. Said it was only meant for you and nobody else. But he did recommend checking the palace for witches again.”
I sighed.
“Okay. Then, will you help me? I need everyone outside.”
“Of course. You seem upset. What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. Let’s just get them outside.”
There was nothing wrong with me at all. I don’t know where he got me being sad from. When we had everyone outside I explained my absence to them and asked them to fly up in the air for me. There was about 50 witches down there. I was upset a little that there was so many. But Vladmer’s light swallowed all of them whole and that made me feel better.
Not even the crowd, who more likely than not wanted to eat the witches, could deny Vladmer his right to satisfaction. The bodies weren’t even left behind. It reminded me of one time when Vladmer was dancing with me and he fell into a man’s gold light. It gave him a surge of energy like he was powered by electricity.
We excused the crowd and returned to my bedchamber. I summoned Blackeye, who would have the answers I was looking for, and waited for him to show up. He did so, smiling at the sight of me. I quickly told him where I was gone to and asked him what it was he wanted to tell me.
He started, “There is no doubt in my mind that there is major cause for a war. They continue to be angered by discovering one out of twenty five spies sent out before being alive and able to report little information about us. We've messed with potions, changed all recipes and spells that had potential of success and we killed all of those who would know the difference. I've done many other things to help us, as well as the others. But they almost depend upon me to do things since I'm just a bit more recognized. They have 2500 right now and trying to persuade more to come. Only Finland has come to their aid so far. I will return when they make anything permanent. Anything else my lady?”
“No. You've done a great job, keep it up,” I said.
“Oh, I will."
He left then.
“I bet you will!” I mocked after him though he was gone.
We heard terrified screams outside. Curiously, we wondered out to see what the uproar was about. We heard an airplane flying overhead between the violent, shaking booms of thunder. Lightening lit up the gray cloudy sky. I didn’t see what the problem was. Thousands of airplanes had flown over us before. It’s not like they saw us. We looked like a rainforest to them, that’s all.
But what was coming out of the airplane was the problem. A red liquid poured in an onslaught like a thundering waterfall down onto the ground. Everyone had pressed themselves flat against the palace wall to protect themselves. Vladmer shut the doors immediately and hovered above the ground as the red potion ran across it. I flew up and started my attack.
I took control of the plane with my powers, forcing it to halt in the air. There was three people in it. I spread my arms wide and looked up to the sky. The plane and everything in it was struck with six bolts of lightening. I opened one eye. The plane was gone. Every trace of it, gone. I gave myself a victory cry.
“Oh yeah! Go Tesela!” I cried, dancing around comically.
That was some tough magic.
I returned to Vladmer’s side, telling everyone to get back into the palace.
“This is getting bad,” he said.
He was referring to the mess on the ground.
“It’ll wash away. What do you say we dance a few rounds, eh? Break the good news in,” I said.
“Dance?”
“Hell yeah, bro! We need to get over our fighting. It’s almost as if we are hiding something from each other.”
“No, that’s not it.”
“Good, then dance.”

We started a party with our bottles of alcohol and our parasite friends. I caught his bright fiery eyes in the glowing purple light. He smiled. His touch was more meaningful tonight. As if he were sober and…loving. It wasn’t that I didn’t like it, it was just different. He didn’t dance too close to me. So he really was trying to be respectfully affectionate.
I giggled and leaned my head back against his shoulder as he whispered his secrets to me. I drank from my bottle of Jack Daniels. He took my bottle and drank from it himself. I turned around and wrapped my arms around his neck. I was hugging him tightly, smelling the sweet smell of a woman’s perfume on his neck. There was a hicky there. I smiled to myself held him tighter.
He hugged me back. It wasn’t as if I had warned him I was going to do that. I looked into his eyes when I was done. I was tempted to kiss him. Just to see what it felt like. I just wanted to know if his love for me was real. Nobody besides Evan had ever loved me. I wanted to know what it felt like. I was ready to learn.
He returned my gaze, smiling gently. I felt his cheek. I felt that I was too drunk to trust myself. The decision I made with him was not the one I wanted. I smiled, looked to the ground, and said, “I’m going to go find Evan. You can go find somebody who can take you,” and walked off slowly. He was a little shocked.
Instead of going to go find Evan like I said I was going to go do I went to go find somebody to enjoy myself with. I went through many men that night but I had finished several bottles of Jack Daniels so it was hard to tell. When I was human I could have never devoured that much alcohol without getting alcohol poisoning. I did find Evan that night, but it was later.
I woke up on the ground of the main hall. Vladmer was with Ferdel and Evan, talking and watching me. They were amazed when I woke up. For some reason, my genital hurt. The answer to my question came forth. They were amazed for only one reason.
“What are you looking at? And why did you leave me on the ground?” I asked.
“You must have been on ecstasy or something because you went through an effen line, man,” Evan said.
“A line? You mean a line, line? Or, like, a row of people standing in unison?”
“A people line. Not literally, but it wasn’t like you had any time to dance. You were so drunk you almost forced me into position.”
“What? Well what’s your score?” I asked.
“All I can remember is yours.”
“Which is?”
“106 and a half.”
“A half? What did I do? Rip it off?”
He shuddered at the thought.
“No, the first one wasn’t a man.”
“WHAT? You let me fuck a girl!” I cried.
“Well, you wanted me to watch,” he said.
“WHAT? AND YOU DID IT?” I shrieked.
“No! You did it in front of everyone and you killed her while she…yeah.”
“And I was naked and everything?”
“No. She was. You weren’t. Vladmer wouldn’t let you.”
“But you let me screw a woman?” I asked Vladmer.
“I wasn’t about to get myself killed because you wanted to fuck a girl,” he said.
I shook my head and gazed down my body. I was wearing smiley face boxers that showed, for my pants were down to my knees. I lifted my hips up off the ground and pulled up my pants. I began to wonder what else happened while I was drunk. For, I saw a few Romanians, Irishmen, and Polish folks. I looked to Ferdel for an explanation.
“You went and recruited more men. That’s what you were trying to please last night. That’s why you did a girl. You got 30,000 happy men. 26,000 terrified women. All the women here claimed to be cursed to your presence. They are scared of you you know.”
“Who cares? They’re women.”
“So are you,” Evan said.
“Yeah? You want to make somethin’ of it?”
“No. I’m just saying.”
I laughed.
“Well I missed one man. No, two. If I’m going to make an army, I’m gonna have to do it right. Ferdel, summon the Dark ghosts. Tell the palace first of course. I’ll be back with one thousand more,” I said.
“Where are you going to?” Vladmer asked.
“Netherlands. Heren couldn’t possibly escape my notice.”

Ten minutes later, I came back with the remaining of Heren’s forces and Heren himself. There were ghosts now. I saw that they had put up black clouds of light before the few windows we had. That was because they were sensitive to direct UV lights. They would burn. I hadn’t thought of that before.
I was wondering what to do. There was a strange air in the room. I tried to ignore it but it was not ignorable. I had a bad idea that I had made the wrong decision. I thought it was just me at first. I was convinced. But the awkward silence between talking told me this wasn’t my own mind playing tricks on me.
“Say, you guys feel that?” I asked.
They all looked at me, and then each other. Ferdel and Evan were the first ones to speak saying, “Yeah,” and catching each other’s eye.
“Kind of like a warning…right?” I continued.
“It feels like one, though I wouldn't know. It's never happened before,” Vladmer said.
“Blackeye would have came back if something wasn't right...right?”
But my question was answered soon enough as he deffered into the room and cried, “It’s war! They want war! Woohoo! They want war!”
“Oh good,” I sighed.
I guess this was a good thing since we had a good chance at winning over the witches but I didn't have reason to celebrate.
“Oh good? This is great! They have no possible way of killing you! It's terrific! I just don't know how they’re going to tell you. Oh yeah, forgot to tell you about the planes. Sorry...”
“No that's okay. We noticed. What are their numbers?”
“65,900 now. Finland sent their full forces.”
“We only have 32,106. They have twice as many as us.”
“Yeah, but they still can't kill you! I'm off now.”
He left me there once again to think for myself. They could kill us. I knew it. It was obvious. Finland was home to very observant people. I ran my fingers through my hair in frustration and attempted a new approach to the situation but it didn't work. We all felt this air. The air that told us something was not going as planned. We went on to speak of this until a half dead voice whispered, “Tesela...” and fell silent again. We turned our heads in the direction of the noise but saw nothing.
It was only about a split second after I'd turned to look when I felt my arm being grabbed, sliced open, and two pill-like objects being forced under my healing skin. I screamed the loudest, most painful scream anyone could imagine as it let out something into my bloodstream and worked its way to my center pit. A blood-curling, agonizing, terrifying scream. The pill itself didn't dissolve. It just put a Good light into me. One that would destroy me in about ten seconds.
Everybody looked at me and Ferdel yelled, “HER ARM! GET IT OUT! KILL THEM!” and kicked Vladmer at me. Vladmer didn't know what to do. He landed on top of me as Evan went flying over us and pinned the woman who stood behind me to the ground. I was sobbing rather than screaming now. He looked at the arm I was tearing at, my body was rotting into a green and purple. His work was fast. He used his teeth and ripped them both out, spitting them out to the side. The light stopped and exploded my insides. But evil would always dominate good and Vladmer was giving me some kind of light through my arm. He kept his hand over the wound. It was a pain worse than becoming a vampire. Like sand grinding through your veins and your wrists being stabbed at by a hot cast iron.
It was a few minutes before the pain had completely gone, all of which I told Evan not to kill my predator. She was on the ground terrified as I conferenced with Vladmer on how to kill her. We finally decided we'd inject her with two lights that most decidedly didn't agree with each other. First, he'd give her the light of Karma and I'd give her the shadow of Hades.
Hades was not fond of Karma and more often than not would find some way to make it clear. But the light of Karma would use all her karma against her and the shadow of Hades would do two things. Since she was a witch, shadows in general would put her into a great pain but would force her to become immortal only until the two had done their worst. Also, it would connect her to Hades who was famous for gifting all those who could create this shadow with the entertainment of watching him at his best.
Vladmer was still sitting on my lap as he had landed and this didn't bother me, but his looks did. Well, they didn't bother me, they just aroused my suspicions. When he saw that I had caught him, he blinked it off and got up, walking away. I let my head sit and fix whatever it needed to and tested my ground. I wasn't fine. Not at all. Ferdel caught me as I fell backward, unconscious. I woke again a few minutes later to Ferdel saying, “She should sleep. It'll give her body even more of a better heal.”
“No. If I can't walk I'll crawl,” I said and rolled off the bed onto the ground.
This, too, was hard and though I could not do it in a straight line, I could still get to where I was going. She was pinned to the ground by four stakes through her shoulders and shins. I pounded on one and cursed at her in a dangerously level tone.
“You pretend your still alive, vampire!” she uttered.
“So do you.”
She had no response to this because I pounded on another stake and laughed harshly, my head throbbing.
“Can't wait to see what Satan has in store for you today, witch.”
She screamed as I pulled out my blade and cut her down her middle.
“Shut up! It's hard enough forcing myself to touch you as it is. Vladmer, I believe your first in our deadly concoction.”
“Your absolutely right my dead beauty,” he responded cruelly.
He stepped over her and sunk his hand through her skin. He grinned, giving her his own light and withdrawing slowly to hurt her more. She shook with fear and pain now as I took my turn happily and shoved my hand in her savagely and pulled back soon afterward, smiling at the effect. As expected, the shadow healed her and clashed with the light. We waited for something to happen and sure enough, it did. She could no longer speak it was so bad. She could only make motions with her mouth like a fish.
I figured out what Hades had chosen to do. He had eavesdropped into my inward hopes and burned her from the inside out like he did us vampires, except planned to kill her instead of gift her. I watched as blood spilled from her mouth and her body shook inhumanly. I laughed myself till I was half conscious. I saw Vladmer carrying me to my bed, insisting that I sleep. I was overtaken by his command and did as I was told. I slept, and I had the first dream that ever helped me.
I wasn't in this dream, nor was anything else but one person. One person who just stood in a dark shadow. It was a woman. Not a witch or a human, but a goddess that I recognized as Kali ma. Though she wasn't a vampire it was said that she drank the blood of her victims and danced on their bodies, wore a wardrobe of human organs, and an ancient necklace of them too. She was famous for her sense of death, sexuality, violence and her Hindu counterpart, Yama. She is said to be the Hindu goddess of death and destruction. My Dark Mother, as she told me. No, she didn't have me, she created me. From herself. That was the mystery. That was why I was so different. I was made from Kali ma and delivered from another stupid broad.
She told me everything I wanted to know except the future. The war would indeed escalate to many a problem. People would come. More people were needed. She gave no hint of what would come of this but had made it clear I was capable of much more than what I was doing. She ordered me to use it and told me that when I woke up I was going to be changed into what she believed would lead me farther. I didn't understand why she insisted upon doing this but I wasn't about to argue with her. She directed me to a few other things. Protect the ones I could not do without with my life, keep the army content, never surrender, and don't listen to anyone trying to tell me to keep in focus. That being more like what she had planned me to be would decide between good and evil. I liked what she said because it would never lead me astray.
I woke up a few hours later, sore all over and standing upright in a fighting stance in front of a crowd of witches.
“They can't win...” Kali ma's voice echoed as a last phrase.
Funny thing was that I was still in my bedchamber fighting off a crowd of these witches. I waved my hand over and they vanished back to wherever they came from. I felt much better now and looked around. Vladmer, Ferdel and Evan sat on the couch and talked among themselves quietly, watching me.
“I WILL NOT SLEEP!” I yelled at them.
“I've heard of sleep walking, I've heard of fighting while half asleep, I've never in any of my lives heard of fighting, sleeping, winning, talking to a nobody, and changing so soon. Nor of declaring a solid reply to no question whatsoever,” Ferdel said.
“Shove a sock in it, encyclopedia,” I retorted back and looked at the bodies that lay on the floor.
Opening the door, I kicked them outside angrily.
“What's new?” Vladmer asked.
“I am, in a way. Discovered several neat things in my sleep. Created by Kali ma, she's done something to me she said. Don't know what. Told me of what I was supposed to do.”
“Kali ma? You mean the Goddess?” Vladmer pushed on.
“Yeah.”
But the ground shook. There was a nerve-shattering scream of thousands and a big thump. It sounded as if thousands of people had just dropped dead. I narrowed my eyes. I knew what happened. All the sudden, I shrieked louder than any of those men wanted to hear. I was pissed.
“God dammit! I knew this was going to happen! I knew it! It would have to be when we really need them that they drop dead! Shit! Why does this always happen to me?” I shrieked angrily.
“What Tesela?” Vladmer asked.
“They’re dead. My immigrants are dead. And all because Satan thinks his demons are better! He told me, you know. He told me he’d do this. And soon we’ll get his stupid demons on our side. I hate Him. I thought I was supposed to be rewarded for my loyalty!”
“They’re dead? They can’t be!” Evan said.
“They are! And life’s just cheesy without them. Cause now we’re gonna lose.”
I wanted to cry. Instead, I shrieked at the ground.
“I HATE YOU!!! I’M GLAD YOUR STUCK DOWN THERE! OH, WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO, EH? KILL ME? GO AHEAD! LET’S SEE WHO ELSE WANTS TO HAVE MY JOB! NOT MANY, ASSHOLE!” I screamed.
I sobbed and fell to my knees. We really were going to lose. Evan ran for me and hugged me, getting on his knees as well. I held him close and cried against his shoulder. He rubbed my back and hoped I would stop. Nobody liked to see me cry because that usually meant there was something really wrong.
I looked at Ferdel. He looked nervous. He knew before I did, I realized. How scandalous? I felt Evan’s hot breath on my shoulder. He was aspiring for my return to composure. I wiped my tears away on his shirt and sniffed. I looked at him.
“Sorry,” I said.
“No, it’s His fault. I’m sorry about the loss,” Evan said.
“We won’t lose,” Ferdel said.
“How do you know? Oh, I forgot. You know everything. Why don’t you just warn me?” I asked.
“I can’t just tell you. It doesn’t work that way. I know because I’ve spent my life studying it. You alone could take out they’re lot. You already know how much they have. I know you do. That’s why you were crying. You know they have 76,000. And you can take it out. Settle down and I’ll tell you how.”

It was simpler than I thought it was. I had to do only one thing. And in fact, I was on my way to do it right now. I was going to go to the center of the witch’s community and unleash The Shadow, which invested in me from my rightful ownership of the palace. I was doing it, at this very moment, just barely making it to the dead center with the help of Blackeye and the other nine I had sent. They fought people off, Derk leading me to the altar that sat in the center.
I jumped on it and flipped everyone off before starting my spell in perfect German. The altar cracked. I jumped enthusiastically, encouraging the Darkness with nonsense gibberish and screaming it like a madman. The witches threw their useless vials at me and the others, fuming with the betrayal. I laughed. They were dying.
You could see it in their faces. Like premature maggots. They were burning. Burning from their insides out. I saved just one witch. One that I would kill ceremoniously for my own crowd. I announced one last thing to piss them off before they died.
“After you are dead, I will get so drunk I will forget about you it won’t be funny. Then I’ll dance and fuck with as many men I can. It will go on for days! And guess what? I won’t ever have to think of you again! Hahahahaha! Fuck you!” I laughed wildly.
The altar exploded and I went flying across the room. The place was going down. It was falling into a crack in the ground. It was being swallowed. I told mine to deffer to the palace. I met them there, cheering and hugging and kissing each other joyously.
“Yes!!! We beat them! We—Heren? What are you doing here?” I asked.
“Satan only killed the unworthy. I suppose you want us to go back, right?”
“Well, no, I made you a promise. I like you. A lot. You have insight. Ask me again after I get to know you a little better.”
“You want to get to know me?”
“Yeah.”
He smiled and looked at my feet.
“Nobody wants to know me anymore. Nobody,” he said, his smile fading.
He deffered away before I could say anything.
“You know, I have a feeling that if I ever tried to do anything with him he’d do something weird. Oh well. Let’s party baby cause I just kicked some serious witch ass! Yeah!”
I raised my hands in the air and did a quick jig.
“That’s two!” I cried.
One, was the plane. I kicked that’s ass. Next was the witch’s. I was overwhelmed now with the excitement. We were going to party hard. For days. Maybe even a week or two. I was going to get so wasted I couldn’t tell the difference between man or woman. Like last time.
I declared my victory to everyone and headed for the cave. It was one full day until I became drunk enough, yet sober, to want some entertainment. Some good entertainment. Or at least, that’s what I said. I had my own, personal reasons for my reaction to the dim orange glow of Vladmer’s eyes through the purple darkness. He was looking around drunkly, staggering as a woman tapped his back politely and introduced herself.
I ran at him and jumped on his back, wrapping my legs around his waist. He cried out in a second-time surprise. I whispered, “I’m always better,” in his ear and bit it gently. He relaxed. I got off his back and turned him to me. The woman, now behind him, stomped off angrily.
“How can you do that?” he asked me.
“Do what?”
My voice was light and easy.
“Be two seconds from dying and party about it.”
“Alot of things contribute to that. One of them is you.”
“For ripping out some of your arm?”
“For saving my life.”
There was something about him thicker than it had been before. I didn't want to venture though.
“Did you want something for it?” I asked him.
“No. I have what I want.”
“And what is that?”
“I want you to live. Simple.”
I grinned and we fell silent for a bit, dancing sensually.
“You like this don't you?” I asked.
“Yes, unfortunately. But it makes sense assuming I'm a male.”
“My assumption is that you’re a new kind of man. One and only.”
“And you are...different. Pleasantly different.”
“I like that.”
He hesitated but said, “Should I go on?”
“Should you?”
I put on a clever voice but it was still telling him I wanted to know.
He sighed and looked out into the darkness, “Where to begin. There is nothing wrong with you. Attractive features, irresistible personality, skill and determination beyond belief…perfect. You’re my lifetime's perfect. As a friend,” he added swiftly, looking at me. I stayed standing upright, facing him, but continued a sway with my hips.
“Friend? I could be more,” I said.
He laughed again as I licked his neck playfully.
“No, no, no.”
“No? But at such a moment it would only make sense, assuming that you are a man.”
I gave him a small kiss on his neck and waited for a reaction.
“What are your intentions?”
“Vladmer, look around. Welcome to the palace of freaks. I'm the head of it. Anything you can think of I can do.”
“Ten minute stands may not be forgotten so easily between us.”
“What is my worth?”
I stopped any further attack and let him think.
He thought for only a second before slowly drinking from the left side of my neck. It felt good. Not that it hurt but that he was doing it. The pain was worth the feeling. I knew that he was only on my neck but I believed he was doing something more. Admitting something in a hidden language. Love was out of the question, but temptation wasn't. Especially with us. He got into it and held me tightly. I whispered to him in his ecstasy, telling that bloodshed was among my favorite approach to romance.
He told me I was fit to be the Devil, how clever and seductive I could be. Said his brother, wherever he was, would fancy me tremendously. It would be a new world with him around. I believed it. Vladmer's bloodline was very complicated. It was an extreme fall from my great height when he stopped and the landing hurt like Hell but it was well worth it. I wanted more, more of him, whatever he gave me, I wanted it.
He wasn't planning on going any further, just testing the waters he was nearing. But unlucky for him he wasn't bad enough to walk away halfway through. Nor could he resist, like he had admitted. My eyes were bright in excitement. His had not changed. This pushed me farther than I myself had planned to go. My plan, so unorganized, was to embrace him and add a little extra. But being me, it didn't follow through too well.
I didn't do it fast. My movements were kept slow so as not to disrupt the mood. Putting my hands around his neck and playing with his hair, I made for his lips slowly, hesitantly. He had no idea what I was doing. He merely wanted to watch where I was going. I reached them for the first time in my life and licked them teasingly. Before I had completely engaged with him he said, “We seem to be the only freaks around,” before I put my wet tongue against his.
I loved the way he felt against me. The way he embraced me almost thankfully, as I did him. There were eyes on us. The eyes of the stranger that had always looked on me whenever it wanted to. I ignored them. This was too good a moment to be wasted on worrying about who was looking.
We were like this for about a quarter of a minute. I ended it, my head inching slowly away from his lips in its tilted back position. I kept my eyes closed and let everything that had just happened sink in. I was exhilarated. He was too. He held me to his chest. We had been sucking each other’s blood through the mouth at the same time, some of the blood still being on our face.
“I’m sorry Vladmer, I didn’t mean to bring you into my world. I have to go,” I said.
“Don’t play Cinderella Tesela, you don’t have to go. It was only a kiss,” Vladmer said.
“That was one fucked up kiss,” Evan said.
“I’m completely sure of your possibility to become my perfect enemy. Don’t push it Evan,” I said.
“Oooo.”
I gave Vladmer one more longing look for help before turning away. Kali ma, my Mother, was talking to me. She told me of something I was unaware would have ever happened. Especially now. “The war is never over, Tesela. Never. This is only the beginning. You must defeat the world to triumph over Good. More will come angrier than you can handle. You have bigger problems. Problems will come. They are essential for the future, your future, for you are the Key. Take care of yourself wisely.”
I panicked. I was shaking bad. I wanted to not remember this. But Kali, she had done another bad thing to me. She had taken the alcohol from my system. I was almost crying now. I was half running to the door when I ran smack into Heren. I bounced off his chest. He stumbled backward.
“Sorry,” I said quickly, looking down.
“No, that’s okay. Wait, what’s wrong?” he asked.
“Nothing. I just need to go.”
“I want to help you. I know what you’re going through. I’ve done it before myself.”
“I don’t think so.”
“I’ve tried to defeat Good forever. That’s what the War of Below was. And I was at center as concentration for the demons. I was the prize for either side. Now please, I want to help you.”
His voice was comforting.
“I want drugs, that’s my problem. Now go away.”
He deffered me to my bedchamber and lay me down on my bed. He took off his shoes and sat criss cross next to me. I was shocked to find that after he waved his hand over my eyes I saw things. Things like black trees and white fire, stiff horses blowing over in the wind, Jesus crucified, crying loved ones, men being beaten, children being raped, nails being shoved underneath fingernails in a black-and-white vision, all the next ones being black-and-white as well. A boy with freckles crying. I knew this boy. It was Evan.
The last two disturbed me. The first, me as a six-year-old being tied down to a metal table, my uterus was being removed. I was asleep. There were two men. They were laughing, poking at the organ. They hit me and I awoke. The next part of the vision was them hitting me and me waking up. They climbed on top of me and raped me, me thrashing around and screaming in pain.
The second flashed after I had suffered the first one. It was of Heren, hung from the ceiling by chains on his wrists. He was naked, being whipped and beaten. He was a human. But he was in his castle. Why was he mortal in his castle? There were demons beating him. I flinched. The man in the vision, he could see me. He was looking at me.
My eyes opened when he snapped his fingers. I was breathing heavily. I looked at him like he was an idiot. “What are you doing?” I asked horrifically. He swallowed, it’s sound reverberating throughout the silent room. I demanded an answer.
“Now you understand the smallest fraction of life, the only one that can be taught with the satisfaction of truthfully claiming to have seen it. Perhaps you may then understand that things happen precisely as they are supposed to. No later. And no sooner,” he said.
I understood that he was helping me, but why?
“Why do you care what happens to me?”
“Because I care about evil. You, my darling, are far more powerful than I. You don’t know it. But you are. And it is my duty to protect you from those who will hurt you.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean that you will never understand. So now that we’re here, you talk.”
I told him of how the war wasn’t over. He said he knew. I was impressed.
“You seem to know everything,” I complimented.
“Not everything.”
I smiled. He looked up and smiled back. He was playing with his thumbs.
“I could maybe show you something you don’t know,” I said.
“You could?” he asked.
He didn’t know my game. He thought I was going to teach him something.
“Yeah,” I smiled.
I put my arms around his neck and pulled him down to me. He supported himself with his strong arms so he was suspended just above me. He had sailor tattoos. I kissed him once, then again.
“You’re a sailor?” I giggled.
He caught up to me quickly. He drank from the left side of my neck, kissing it at the same time.
“Used to be,” he said, “When I was human.”
“Then sail me,” I encouraged.
I liked him. He could be so knowledgeable yet so intimate.