Chapter 27: A covenant
Baal stepped into the dark. The air was thick and cold. He felt it right away in his chest, the same pull that always told him when something powerful was near, as only then would his rotten heart beat fast and heavy.
"Look what we have here," he muttered. "No wonder I felt goosebumps. That cunt used me as the medium once again."
He walked forward. The place looked like a palace, or maybe an old castle. High walls of black stone rose on every side. No lights. No windows that he could see. Just darkness that seemed to come from deeper inside.
One of his followers walked ahead of him. A boy with a single small horn on his head. The boy’s lips were sealed shut with dark threads, which Baal had put there himself.
"Hey, hey," Baal called. The boy stopped as Baal came up beside him and looked down. "Ohh, look at you, so much kawaii desu, neh... What was your name again, kid?"
The boy tried to answer, but only muffled sounds came out. "Uuuumhhmm..."
Baal stared at him like he was waiting for real words. "Come on, kid, speak. Don’t you know how to fucking speak, huh? Speak!"
The kid backed away, scared.
"Wait. Oh, I remember. You’re the young prodigy. Our pro school shooter. Sorry. I’m reeeally sorry, kid. I forgot I sewed your winey mouth," he said softly.
"Mmmmnnhhmm..."
Baal patted the boy’s head. "Come on, it’s not my fault, kid. You were crying too much just because I killed your father and found my way inside your delicious mother.
You can’t blame me for that. Now, now. Stop your whiny-ass voice. Do you see that there? Go to that door and open it."
The boy looked at Baal, then at the big castle doors ahead. He wanted to say no, but he didn’t.
He was more afraid of the bald man than of whatever waited at the door. So, with no other choice, he walked forward. Towards the haunting castle, he looked back once while Baal just watched.
"You can do it. I believe in you!" Baal called out.
The boy nodded, his hand reaching the door. His hand stopped an inch from the knob. He stood there for a second, not knowing what would happen next, but he knew what would happen if he didn’t, so he grabbed it and turned.
Click!
Baal smiled wide. "He did it! See, I knew he could do it!" He turned to the others behind him. A few of his men clapped.
"AhhhhhhUUUUMMMM!" Then the boy screamed. The sound was trapped behind the threads, but it still came out loud with agony.
His hand was stuck on the knob and it started to burn. Skin turned red. Flesh melted and ran like wax.
The boy pulled back with all his strength and ran, leaving the melting hand stuck to the metal.
Tears ran down his face as he clutched the stump and kept making those muffled screams.
Baal’s smile dropped, watching the boy come to him, and he looked disappointed. Utterly.
"I had such high hopes for you, kid. You know, I was gonna bring back your mommy and poppy. Especially your mommy..." he said, as he walked over and kicked the boy hard in the stomach.
The boy folded and hit the ground, still holding what was left of his arm.
Baal turned, grabbed one of his men by the collar, and threw him at the door like the man weighed nothing.
The body hit the wood, and the same thing happened. Skin went red. Body melted. Flesh and bone ran down the door and pooled on the stone floor. The smoke came with the smell of burning meat.
"Only the one with the rotten heart can come inside..." a female voice spoke from inside. Clear and cold.
Baal’s face lit up. "Ohh! That’s me! That’s me!" He pointed at himself and looked at his men. "It’s me! It’s me!"
None of them clapped at first, but when Baal’s brown eyes turned red, that was enough indication. The men understood, and they started smiling forcefully, clapping harder and harder in sheer terror of those red eyes.
Clap! Clap! Clap! Clap!
"Yahhoooo! You did it, Mr. Baal!" they shouted.
His eyes went brown again. He raised both hands like a winner. "Thank you, thank you all." He walked toward the door. Behind him the clapping got louder.
He stopped in front of the knob and took a long breath. "Don’t burn me. Don’t burn me. Don’t burn me..."
He grabbed it and turned it quickly.
Click.
His hand stayed fine. He let out a breath of relief and pushed the door open.
"Ohh..."
He stepped inside, and his eyes gradually went wide.
The hall was bigger than it looked from outside. Black stone floors. Tall pillars. At the far end sat a woman.
Her hands were bound behind her back. Her head was pulled back by chains. Red cursed marks covered her face and neck like cracks in glass.
Baal’s rotten heart boiled. Hate rose up fast, knowing who she was, but he forced it down and smiled the way he always did.
"Liliana... the celestial slayer." He took a few steps closer. "Locked up in a palace like this."
She looked at him. Her voice was flat. "Baal, was it?"
"Indeed. The king of kings. The ruler, no, no. Let’s say the guardian of the seven fucking hells." He bowed low. "At your service."
"I won’t entertain you here. You are the medium here, so only you can free me. Talk, demon. What do you want?"
Baal pressed a hand over his heart like something had hit him. "You know, you were my one crush, back then. I just loved... oh, I loved seeing you rip apart my kind. It feels sooo good. Even the memories could make me cum..."
She said nothing.
"In fact, I feel like jacking off right here. Right on you, if I may..."
The floor under his feet slowly shook. A fierce purple aura spread out from her body, pulling in the air around it.
"You..." she growled. "Dare..."
Her divinity leaked out. The red curses on her skin started to glitch and flicker. Then, just as fast, the shaking stopped. The aura pulled back.
She huffed once. "Can you stop joking, please. Just tell me what you want. Surely the kin.. I mean, the guardian of the seven fucking hells, wants something."
Baal smiled again. "I want him."
"Him?"
"Your golden master."
She stared at him. Then a small smile pulled at her mouth. "Ha..."
The smile got bigger. "Hahaha..."
Then she laughed. Loud. Hard.
"HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!"
The sound filled the whole castle. It rolled out through the open door and into the dark outside. Some of the demons waiting in the trees flinched, and animals in the forest went quiet.
Even a few campers far off turned their heads toward the noise.
Baal’s smile was gone. He stood still and waited. She kept laughing for a full minute before she finally stopped and wiped at her eyes with the side of her face, since her hands were still bound.
"You know what," she said. "Let’s make a deal. Let’s make a covenant, then. You and me."
Baal sneered. "Are you sure? You are a human, and I am a demon. Your soul, I don’t know how many demons are waiting in line for that one old soul."
"You will have the first taste. I guarantee you."
He didn’t hesitate. "Deal!"
"Deal, then."
Baal walked closer until he stood a few paces from her chair. The purple light still flickered around the edges of the room, but weaker now. He could smell the old blood and the curses that held her.
"You laugh a lot for someone locked up this long," he said.
"I laugh when something is funny. Hearing a demon ask for my master is funny."
"Why? He left you here. Bound. Marked. Alone."
"He left me here for a reason. You wouldn’t understand it."
Baal tilted his head. "Try me."
She looked at him for a long time. The red marks on her face pulsed once. "My master does not run from demons. He does not hide from them, either. When the time is right, he will come. Or someone will come in his name. That is enough."
"And yet here you are, offering me a delicious deal."
"Because you are the only one who can open the door from the outside. The curses will not let anyone else through.
Not even other demons. Only the medium. Only the one carrying the rotten heart that was used to seal this place, seal me."
Baal touched his chest again. "Lucky me."
"Not luck. Pure calculation, dear. Someone wanted you here. Someone used you. That is it."
He shrugged. "So you think it’s his plan, then. People who usually use me don’t fare well in the future."
Liliana shifted in the chair. The chains on her wrists clinked. "Your breath, it reeks of sulfur. What do you really want from my master? Power? Revenge? A seat at his table?"
"I want to see him fucking bleed," Baal said. Simple and flat. "I want to watch him fall the same way my kind fell under his blade and yours. I want to take what he took from us, from me."
"You will die."
"Maybe. Or maybe not. Deals change things."
She studied his face. "You talk like a man who already has a plan."
"I always do. Sometimes the plan is just to walk into a dark castle and talk to a woman who used to kill us for fun."
"You lot deserve to die. There wasn’t much to it..."
"..."
The purple aura flared again for a second, then died. Liliana closed her eyes and breathed out slowly. "The deal. Speak the terms."
Baal stepped closer still. He could see the details of the red marks now. They were not just lines. They moved under her skin like living things, with marks of his kingdom.
"You lead me to your master. Or you give me the means to find him. When the time comes, you stand aside. You do not protect him from me."
"And if I refuse after I am free?"
"Even after eons, I survived the holy war, I survived the seven archangels, and I survived your master. I’m sure you don’t want to know the reason why..."
She was quiet for a while.
"So, do we have a deal?"
"Indeed," she said at last.