Lucifer's Angel; Chapter 5

"I'm so glad you came! Ah, but look, you seem to be one short and already on your way out the door. You know, it's rude to invite me here and then just leave." 1

Sable smirked, one of his violet eye staring down the two boys while his other hid amongst his raven locks. Belial cursed under his breath while he slowly turned around to face the fallen angel, his eyes cold and unwavering. While the tension built between the two, Andel slumped against the doors leading into and out of the church, his legs no longer able to carry the weight of his body any further. It was game over, and now that Sable had arrived, things were totally under his control.2

"Now, now, don't look so upset. You really didn't have much of a choice in the matter anyway, did you? You could have run; driven away and never looked back. But you knew it wouldn't have mattered. I'd find you anyway. You could have stuck a gun in your mouth and pulled the trigger, splattering your mortality all over the walls. But you know you'd only end up sitting right next to me anyway. Wherever you went, - earthly or not - you'd always be sitting right in the palm of my hand. But that's not why you came, and that's not why you tried to get away just now. You came because your own curiosity got the best of you. Your personal interest is what hung you and your friends, and your selfish desire to be the last man standing is what lead you to try and escape, leaving Andel here to be your stand-in martyr."3

As the angel spoke, Belial lowered his head, a single hand massaging his head in an attempt to relieve some of the pressure building up inside. Sable had subtly laid out everything that had happened, enough so that Andel would be suspicious but still ignorant, while Belial himself felt the weight of his every decision all at once. The guilt, even for him, was almost unbearable. But front seat tickets to Armageddon never felt so good.4

"Belial? What does he mean by all this? Inviting him here? Personal interest, selfish desire, what is he talking about? Don't tell me..." Andel's eyes shook as he tried to focus, his mind racing as he watched his colleague cover his face and convulse, almost as if he was breaking under the pressure. Andel's denial couldn't hold on to this image any longer, and finally he saw the truth in it all. 5

Belial wasn't trembling with fear, or breaking down. He was laughing. Wholeheartedly laughing. Suddenly it all made sense; Sable's appearance, Belial's apathy towards the massacre, and his obsession with meeting with Sable once again. 6

"That's right." Andel's mind slowly pulled a single fact from the fog of his mind that allowed everything to make sense. There was one thing he remembered from church as a kid, kept fresh from all those popular vampire stories; malevolent beings cannot cross into a holy place unless invited in. Someone had to have called Sable forth. "Belial... No..." Andel's head swung back, resting against the sealed door as low whines escaped his mouth, borderline sobbing. Belial merely leaned against the opposite door, still struggling to control his laughter.7

"And so, minor character number one finally catches up with the rest of us. Good to have you up to speed, but like all good tragedies, blood must be shed in order for the plot to progress. Belial... You called me here for two reasons; the first was to dispose of the fools who sought refuge in the blind eyes of some man-made God. The second was to carve you in my image. To make you like me. So, show me just how willing you are. Prove you're not some child, posing for the camera." Sable's eye drifted to Andel, letting Belial know what he was to do without saying a single word. Belial removed himself from the door and propped himself against one of the cabinets with one arm, his gaze locking onto Andel as well. Cold, apathetic, hungry.8

And that's when Andel knew it truly was game over.