CODEX Part 3: Between Heaven and Hell

Jasper started by running at her, grabbing her waist and pushing her on the ground. He hovered over her quickly and punched her twice before she kicked him in the stomach and pushed him off. Instead of kicking him continuously, she got up and wiped the blood off her nose. Jasper glared at her and scowled before he ran to her again. He kicked and punched without thinking so she could defend herself without trying much. On the other side, she’s already been through enough and she was getting tired faster than him. When he saw her relax for a second, he targeted her chest and kicked her; the hit was pretty strong because she got thrown into the door. Her back was aching and she couldn’t see well or breath well because he hit her lungs.

Jasper didn’t let Zoe regain her breath for one second. As soon as her back hit the door, he ran over and grabbed her neck. No matter how strong she was gripping his arm, he wouldn’t stop. He threw her back into the ring and she fell on her chest. Zoe was trying to get up –she was barely standing on her knees- when Jasper grabbed her hair and forced her to lay down –because he literally got over her- and started to slam her face on the ground. Her nose was already broken and one of her eyes was swollen. She could feel her ears bleeding as well and he was very heavy.

Lucifer made a sign to his inheritor and the boy retreated, leaving Zoe an open door. She got up, eventually, and grabbed her head; i hurt more than getting tortured by demons because the one fighting her was someone innocent.

For the entire fight up to that moment, Zoe only defended herself and let Jasper do whatever he wanted. She wasn’t fighting at all and Lucifer was getting annoyed.

“Fight Zoe!” He growled loudly at some point.

It didn’t affect her at all. She was getting punched over and over again and whenever she was on the ground, Jasper would either kick her or would break a rib or two, maybe even a leg. She was sure the ache in her left leg was all because he stepped over it and while he was standing on her back, he did a wrestling move on her.

Believe it or not, wrestling matches became a good idea and Jasper started to use everything he’s ever seen on TV. He even rushed and jumped on her while driving his elbow on her chest. It hurt really badly and she choked. Next, he pulled her hair in order to hold her head back and leaned her forward before throwing the arm forward down onto her chest. She moaned loudly and for a second, her eyes rolled in the back of her head.

Lucifer watched as Jasper got up victoriously. It was pitiful because she wasn’t even fighting a bit, like a punch here or there. She was taking everything in and it was boring.

The vanity prince raised and walked into the ring. He grabbed her by the collar of her shirt and pinched her in order to wake her up. She glared at him with everything she had but it didn’t matter. Lucifer did something that he wanted to postpone for as long as he could: he grabbed her arm, the one without the endless knot, and pushed hard on her veins. His eyes darkened considerably while hers widened. The pain was stronger than anything she has ever felt before; it felt like her soul was breaking in two and her heart and mind were separating from her body. As Lucifer’s hand was pressing harder, her veins swallowed. It was visible how something new was getting into her veins; like a blood transfusion. Her muscles contracted and she felt like her eyes were going to jump out of the sockets.

Demons were watching in awe as their master was forcefully pushing the serpent on her back. Truthfully, it did feel like something was crawling up her body and it was disgusting. The process stopped when darkness started to spread from the corner of her eyes into her orbs. The white substance became completely black while her orbs became bright yellow. The endless knot was fighting against the serpent but Lucifer was strong and Beelzebub wasn’t there. The darkness of the vanity serpent ate her soul whole and there was not going back.

If she wasn’t a monster before, she was definitely a monster now.

The moment the serpent entered her soul, everyone could feel it. However, the one who got suddenly woken up to reality was Beelzebub. Saying that he was mad was an underestimation; he was ready to go on his own and kill that bastard.

“Mehrdir, tell the others that something came up. We’re going to attack right now.” Beelzebub announced.

“You felt it didn’t you?” Mehrdir asked warily. He took a few steps closer to Beelzebub, in order to see his expression. He gulped when he saw the glare and the evil glint in those yellow eyes.

“That bastard prince dared to fight my sign!” The commander was finally showing his true character, “He placed the serpent on my inheritor! MINE!” Beelzebub shouted. The whole domain shook at his voice.

“Calm down, Zek,”

After Chen called his friend, Ezekiel came running. He couldn’t understand how a demon could vanish when he wasn’t even awake. As soon as he came back, Ezekiel started to shake Iaosur’s body in hope that he would wake up. It didn’t work, of course, and it only made the human more annoyed.

“Ezekiel calm down. Maybe Gakhas took him.” Chen reassured his friend.

“He didn’t. Don’t you understand, Chen?! She’s doing this! We’re nothing but pawns in her plan! She killed those people and used them to taunt us! She’s playing with us and we’re fucking following her lead!” Ezekiel shouted in one breath. He was getting tired of everything; his mental state was probably the worse.

Chen watched with wide eyes as his friend’s face became red and he started to hit Iaosur’s body since the demon couldn’t exactly defend himself.

It took another few hours for Ezekiel to calm down. They leaned against the front wall of her apartment building and thought carefully about their next move.

“The last body is somewhere inside the building.” Chen mumbled, not taking his eyes off the sky. It was getting dark outside and it felt a lot like they were walking towards their demise. “This may be our last day.” Chen continued.

“I thought you trusted Zoe,” Ezekiel mumbled, his eyes set on the rising moon.

“I do trust her but whoever is inside is not Zoe. Maybe the angel was right and we should kill her.” Chen started yet he laughed at his own idea. “Not that we can succeed,” He added quietly.

“We can. But we need a strong spell to send the demon back to Hell.” Ezekiel chuckled darkly before he continued. “We don’t even know if it’s the demon inside Zoe or another demon. We know nothing, like always.” He whispered the last sentence as his eyes fell on his trembling hands.

“I guess this time we’re really doomed,” Chen sighed and leaned his head back. He couldn’t help but pray; pray that he will get in Heaven not Hell.

Eneizar’s body has been indeed taken, but not by Zoe. Someone else eyed the pack of males from the moment they entered London. His devious eyes followed Chen and waited for the perfect moment to snatch the vanity demon away.

The demon appeared somewhere familiar, in a store in the suburbs of London, where most people wouldn’t enter. He placed the vanity demon on an improvised bed on the floor and took something from his back pocket. It was a small bottle in the shape of a vase. The details covering the glass were marvelous and complicated for human craftsmanship. The demon opened the bottle and left a few drops fall on Eneizar’s arm. He watched as the drops moved on their own towards the sign on his wrist before they followed the traces of the endless knot. The sign glowed and Eneizar woke up with a jolt.

“Slow moves. Deep breathes. I know your heart is beating after a long time but you will get used to it,” The anonymous demon mumbled as he patted Eneizar’s back softly.

On the other side, Eneizar was feeling what life was like after more than a hundred years. He couldn’t even remember when was the last time he heard himself breathe or have blood pulsate through his veins so wildly.

“How did you-“ He couldn’t even speak correctly.

“Special potion made by yours truly,” The demon continued while he stood up. He walked to the cash register and opened the lowest compartment.

Eneizar narrowed his eyes at the demon while still getting used to being alive. He stumbled towards him and asked an obvious question.

“Who are you?” He asked.

Eneizar felt fear crawl his body when the demon’s eyes landed on him. Those eyes had something weird and dark moving from side to side, behind hid orbs. Overall, he didn’t look half bad but something about him was odd.

Truthfully, he was probably a former vanity demon because he had that superior attitude even if he was controling it. He wasn’t very tall but had long legs; his big eyes were normal dark colour except the swirls of darkness moving around his orbs and his face was a bit elongated but he was handsome nonetheless. He looked innocent at a first look, moreover since he was dressed in a grey sweater and his left shoe was black while the right shoe was red. Eneizar wouldn’t have taken him seriously if he didn’t feel the darkness emanate from his body.

“I know you’ve been looking for me, Eneizar. You found me. I am Abigor.” He spoke calmly, completely different than a strong demon from Hell.

“You’re the rogue.” Eneizar whispered, still not believing how freaked out he was. He looked down at his hands and saw the sign continuing to glow.

“One and only. But call me Roy while we are inside the store,” Right as he said that, one customer entered the antique shop, “We wouldn’t want anyone to know they buy magic from a demon, would we?” He asked as he opened the box he took from the compartment.

“What’s that?” Eneizar was getting a firm grasp on his emotions. He couldn’t be kneeled by human emotions; besides, he couldn’t help but feel suicidal for some reason. Maybe he’s always been the kind to die fast and get down in the pit.

“Zoe’s been signed with the serpent,” Roy started. Eneizar’s eyes widened and he almost choked because air got stuck in his chest, “I have informants in every domain, moreover vanity. Lucifer plans to kill the inheritor with Zoe’s hands. You’ve always omitted a detail, Eneizar,”

“What detail?” The now human Eneizar asked with a frown on his pretty face.

“Lucifer liked Zoe from the moment she awakened as the commander. He never planned to kill her, but to make her his inheritor.” Roy stated coldly.

Eneizar’s heart was beating wildly in his chest and he couldn’t think clearly. It was annoying and the whole world was moving too fast for his poor condition. As a demon, Eneizar had a clear head and would be able to distance himself from anything but as a human he was in a continuous state of panic.

Roy stopped fussing with the box and looked at Eneizar closely. Maybe the vanity demon could hide his intentions and thoughts as a demon but as a human, Eneizar was easy to read.

“You love her.” Roy didn’t ask but stated facts. Eneizar’s eyebrows furrowed in deep thought and probably offence, “I can see it from a mile away; you don’t have to pretend like you don’t. You don’t have to excuse yourself for what you feel, Eneizar. You’re not a demon for the time being.”

“How long is this time being?” Even as an easy disposal of a human, Eneizar had an attitude.

“For how long it needs. You’re not fighting Zoe right now, you’re fighting Abaddon.” Eneizar’s eyes widened as Abigor continued, “I heard you two fought a lot while in Lucifer’s hands. You always lost in favor of bloodthirsty Abaddon, didn’t you?” The rogue teased.

“That doesn’t have anything to do with this.” The human said coldly.

“But it does. In your recent condition you can use an exorcism without getting affected,” Suddenly, Roy’s intentions were clear, “Yes. You have to say the exorcism while one of your friends has to be sacrificed.” Roy finished and got back on fussing with what was inside his precious box.

“What?!”