Death's Door

The Dark One

As we entered, I realized I needed to go to the bathroom.

"Hey Devon, I'm gonna use the ladies room," I said.

I walked into the bathroom, only to slam into someone. A young woman was washing her hands. She was about to greet me when she said,

"Oh dear lord darling! Your covered in mud! Here," she LICKED her finger and started RUBBING my face!

I seriously felt like a baby as she started smearing the one splotch of mud all over my darn face, IN FRONT OF EVERYONE.

"There, she said, sounding very proud, "Done."

I looked at myself in the mirror, I would definitely be needing some TLC.

"Thanks Miss," I paused.

"Bertha Janice O' FizzleBerry."

"Yes, yes," I said. It fit her perfectly.

"Tootsie-Wootsie Tootles!"

Wow. That lady was a kook.

I stared at myself in the mirror. Yeesh. I started braiding my hair when,

"Kansas! Almost done?!"

I splashed some water on my face and shot outside.

"Yes?"

"Ok, your fine. I thought you fell down the toilet," Devon said.

He winked at me.

I blushed.

We sat down and a waiter came to take our order. I got a cinnamon crunch latte and whipped cream with a raspberry dark chocolate muffin. Devon got a dark roast coffee with a scone.

We ate quietly until Devon said,

"Your wings, they're definitely bigger. We'll need to start flight training soon."

I responded,

"That sounds awesome! But, you said before we WEREN'T in heaven, then where are we?"

"Well, your in Celesta, heaven, as mortals call it," he replied.

"Ok, so I can't die?" I asked.

"Yes. Sort of. You are taken to earth to be reborn as a different person. That's how humans can repopulate,"
he said.

"Now, let's talk about animal hearts. You have a special form that you can shift into," he got up.

I shot up and said,

"I have an animal form?! Awe-"

There was a rumble, the lights went black.

I could hear everyone scream, but the loudest was Miss O' FizzleBerry.

"WWWWWWAAAAAAAaaaaaAAAAAaaaaAAAAAAh WAH!"

Something purplish-blackish-red whipped past me.

In an instant blood was splattered everywhere.

Everyone went quiet.

Then Devon pulled out a diamond sword and slashed at the beast.

It was a giant tiger with bear paws and eagle wings. It had snake fangs.

A drop of venom slipped from it's mouth and fell on the floor. A bit of the floor dissolved.

I stepped back.

Devon was slashing and slashing at the thing but only opened it's back slightly.

He finally dropped his sword.

"No! Don't give up!" I screamed.

But he wasn't.

He dropped on all fours and he started to sprout fur. His teeth became sharper and he became bigger. His hands were paws and his ears shifted to the top of his head.

He was a giant grizzly bear.

He started to slash at the thing and aimed for it's throat.

I closed my eyes as he ripped the throat out.

I heard a thump.

I opened my eyes.

Devon was there, now in human form.

"There's a lot more you need to know before we can play with 'special powers'," he said, breathing heavily.

I grabbed onto him and we took off.

-------

"First of all, that was a Morsee, one of the Dark One's minions," Devon explained.

"Who's the Dark One?" I asked as I shifted uncomfortably in my overstuffed armchair.

"He is the being that you mortals call, Devil, and he lives in a place, Darketh, which mortals call hell," he explained.

We were chatting for a while and I started to feel closer to Devon. The first time we ever met he was a guy of few words. Now he was breaking out of his shell and having friendly conversations with me.

"Hey, your wings look bigger. It usually takes a day for wings to grow. We'll start flying tomorrow," Devon said.

I put a big smile on my face,

"That sounds amazing!" I yelled.

"Hey Devon, I heard there was someone new," an unfamiliar voice said.

A guy around my age flew through the window.

"Ugh, Zane what do you want?" Devon groaned.

"I was just here to greet the newbie, ask about the Morsee attack, and tell you it's time to go," Zane said.

"But really, we have to go, or Commander Jess will bitch about it for days and give us extra sprints," Zane said once again.

"Ok. Bye Kansas!" Devon said.

"Bye!" I said.

-------

*Devon's Prospective*

"Sssssssssssooooooooooo... do you like that Kansas girl, she's pretty hot," Zane blurted, breaking the silence.

"The Morsee was giant, you should have seen it," I said.

"Oh, you totally like her!" Zane sang.

"No..." I said.

"Well if I were you, I would go for her," Zane replied.

"We've only known each other for a day!" I shouted.

"And besides, we're going two miles an hour so we better get our butts over to the training grounds if you don't want overtime to finish triple pull-ups," I explained.

It was quiet for the rest of the flight.