The Chamber of Sins
Chapter 2.3 "Demons"

Robert was peeking at the door, hoping to escape the man’s sight, when Derek’s hand seized the pendant and tugged. The boy had flown in the air for a second and fell on his back with a thud. As he tried to back away, the angel’s strong fingers scratched the skin of his chest, trying to grab his key. Robert struggled under his pressure and took the pendant, intending to give it away. Instead, the pendant glowed under his touch, and it threw Derek in the open. The pendant got hot and ignited in small flames.

With his wings stretched, Derek stabilised in the air and glared at the boy. He couldn’t believe his pendant betrayed him and chose an ordinary earthling instead of him.

The process of transformation is about to be completed. It must have been so painful for him. His flesh won’t be flesh but an impenetrable shield forged by the sacred heavenly flames. We have to learn hell before apprehending immortality, Derek thought. “But now what?”

“I don’t know. Just take it and leave me alone,” the boy begged with his eyes closed, his fists clenched.

The angel came closer and put his hand on the key, but for the second time, he got thrown away. A few feathers swung to the floor. Then, dumbfounded, he touched his watch.

“We have a problem!” he reported. Then turned to the two adolescents and said, “You two don’t leave this house. We need to solve this issue as soon as possible,” he said, pointing at them. Finally, he disappeared from their sight, leaving a myrtle incense behind him.

Robert let his body collapse on the floor, the tiny flames in his chest extinguishing slowly, his eyes questioning the girl standing before him.

“What just happened? Who was that man?”

“I had told you earlier, but you wouldn’t listen. He is the Angel of Death, known as Grim the Reaper, Angel de la Muerte, Death Dealer,” Margo explained.

“Stop! Just-” the boy begged while keeping his head in his palms. Then, determined, he jumped to his feet and locked the door.

“Help me,” Robert said. “Just help me with this thing,” he replied, touching the necklace.

“Okay,” the girl said mercifully and came closer. She patted the pendant gently, and it started glowing immediately, making the boy clench his teeth in fear. She tried to lift the jewel, but it did not move under her touch. It was like someone had glued it on the boy’s skin. And it seemed to like her.

“Take the scissors from the desk,” Robert said, his eyes full of hope.

“I can’t grasp it. I am a ghost, remember?” the girl replied bitterly.

He took the scissors and stung his skin violently. But his skin regenerated in seconds. No matter how many times he tried, he got no scratches.

The air chilled suddenly, and Margo felt uncomfortable. She left Robert’s side and peeped through the balcony window. The view was far from lonely, full of trees partially bloomed, the green around mixed with rainbow shades and a large lake in the distance. Various buildings were spread around the mansion, and the girl noticed something that horrified her.

Two silhouettes without physical shape, blurred at the edges with consuming flames coming out from their orbits, were aimlessly wandering. Margo perceived their power, trying to absorb her with the force of a black hole. Scattered tiny atoms departed her energetic body and aimed at the darkness and emptiness surrounding them. She screamed. Their eyes, empty crates, pointed at her. She sensed the rottenness, obscenity and filth dwelling in them possessing her, shaping her in the broken vessel of their lust, carving in her very essence the future place for madness, terror, fear and despair.

A powerful grasp squished her shoulder and part of her collarbone, bringing her to reality. Unfortunately, she only had time to see Robert’s face as the room darkened.

The hellish creatures were outside the window with their abyss eyes facing the adolescents, their osseous and gruesome features concealed by a shallow, oozing form of something that had been human skin in the past. Their skeletal bodies were a despicable parody of the human shape, a gross joke made by Heavens as a punishment for their corrupted nature.

Margo froze, her eyes focused on the demons. She turned her back to them, trying to erase the horrifying look on her face. Robert’s pendant started glowing.

“De-de-mons. They are demons,” the girl uttered as closing her eyes. A thunder-like sound followed by hellish screams came from outside, and Robert peeked out curiously. A couple of huge spots portrayed two deformed, splashy shapes on the thick glass. Sparkling lights squeezed between the bloody smears, and Derek blew the window off. A sizeable sword flashed in his hand as he stepped inside with his gloomy wings protecting his back. His apparition didn’t last long because the door opened, and a hysterical scream interrupted his entrance.

“What happened?” Amelia asked, throwing herself over Robert’s denuded torso, touching his boiling skin. Her questioning eyes bounced from the boy’s chest to the blown window. “Are you alright, honey?” The woman helped the pale boy to sit on the bed. She wiped his forehead of sweat and checked his pulse. She dialled a number and retreated to the corner of the room, mumbling something.

Ten minutes passed before the ambulance siren echoed in the house. Steps trotted on the stairs, and three people dressed in red and orange jackets burst into the room. Margo watched them, alarmed, while they put tens of suction cups connected to a portable machine on Robert's chest. It was beeping rhythmically while a tall lady was glaring at the thermometer lying a few seconds ago under Robert’s armpit.

Her poker face showed nothing as she bent over some files and took some notes. Then, she called one of her colleagues and gave him a syringe with a clear liquid. The man injected the serum into the boy’s arm. The boy’s body started convulsing while his eyes wide open looking terrified, somewhere in the distance. Margo came closer and took his icy hand in hers. After a while, the convulsions stopped, and the boy only repeated an amalgam of foreign words mechanically.

“Angeli, Angeli eripe me. O Deum meum!” (Translation from Latin - “Save me, Angels. Oh, my God!”)

“It is just a severe cold,” the doctor said, a trace of doubt looming in her shrilly voice. She prescribed a couple of tablets, vitamins and rest, then left.

Somewhere at midnight, Robert hardly opened his eyes and looked around. This is not my room. He thought he recognised the turquoise wallpaper from one of the guest rooms. His eyes stopped on the strange girl from earlier. She was glaring through the large window and jerked when she heard him moaning.

“I am thirsty,” he groaned. Robert peeked at her lips, prepared for the following comments.

Margo came closer and caressed his feverish forehead. He could swear that there were glittering, precious tears in her eyes. Touched, he took her hand in his. The sensation was weird. He experienced little twinkles in his arm like soft electricity played with his blood. Finally, he sketched a smile and fell back to sleep.