Ethan got up and walked towards Chris. He crouched down as he wrapped his arm around him, and started reading his notes. The notes were surprisingly organized, each question written with a distinct color, and underneath each question, the answers were written in forms of small paragraphs.
"What are your key achievements? You won't have to worry about that anymore kid. Why do you think this job is a good fit for you? What a stupid question, you obviously need the money. What are your weaknesses? Duh, social anxiety, although saying that would probably lower your chances at getting the stupid job. God, this is boring, I'm out." Ethan blinked and found himself on the patio, looking over the other houses in the neighborhood. Most of the houses had Gable and Valler roofs, with beautiful gardens surrounding each house. Ethan had a striking urge to lie on the mossy grass, feel the life run through his body, as contradictory as that sounded. He wanted to fly around town and spread chaos. He wanted to feel alive, regardless of the circumstances.
"A beautiful scenery, isn't it?" Ethan was startled but he immediately tried to keep his composure. Next to him, stood a man with glowing olive skin, and silky blonde hair over his shoulders. His nose was small and short, his eyes were glistening in the moonlight, hazel colored with a faint glimpse of crimson, reminding Ethan of maple tree leaves that he used to crush walking back home from work during the fall, however, in this situation, he felt as if his soul was being looking into and crushed by the man's shimmering eyes. His lips were thin, downward, and as shiny as his orbs. He must've used quite a lot of chapstick, Ethan thought to himself. On his back were a pair of white wings that fluttered as a faint wind blew, while he was wearing a white robe, quite similar to a roman toga, Ethan thought.
"Who are you?" Ethan looked at the man, mystified.
"Why, that is no honorable way to greet a guest now, isn't it?" The man asked, with a smile that Ethan deemed sinister.
"I assume you're here to babysit me? I'm holding my own, thank you very much. Also, I presume there is an honorable way to introduce yourself as a compensation for appearing out of nowhere like Casper the friendly ghost." This man seems demented, Ethan thought.
"Lucifer's herd, as ill-mannered as ever. I should have known, after all, you are a creature spawned from hell, I should not have expected any more of you. My name is Gabriel, Ethan." Ethan felt his skin recoiling for the first time. He hadn't felt fear even when Azrael showed up, but there was something about Gabriel that didn't sit right with him.
"You're here to deliver a message." Gabriel looked at Ethan with wide eyes, as if he did not expect him to say those words.
"You are a clever one." Gabriel huffed. "You most definitely spared me the self-introduction."
"Well, I've never skipped Sunday church when I was little. So, what is it this time?"
"This time? Have we met before?" Gabriel raised an eyebrow in bewilderment.
"You're a slow one aren't you? Your buddy Azrael showed up not too long ago, warning me about meddling with people's fate and all."
"Ah, yes. You can only alter one's course of action, lead them to one of their destined fates."
"Fates? Plural?" Ethan questioned, not fathoming what Gabriel has just said.
"Correct. Life is not a one way path. Think of it as a pathway, branching out of which an endless number routes. Each route will lead you somewhere. Depending on your choice, you will end up at the end of one of these routes. That is what life consists of. Endless choices. Each choice will lead you to one of your destined fates. Behold." Gabriel held out his hand a mini hologram-like moving image appeared at his palm. The moving images showed Ethan fast asleep on his bed, and as his alarm starting ringing, he shut off his phone and went back to sleep. The image fast forwarded to Ethan sitting at a nightclub talking to a girl he has never seen before, laughing, bantering, and raising toasts.
"What is this?" Ethan could not wrap his head around what he was seeing.
"One of your fates. A possibility. Have you not woken up and not driven your car that day, your life might've led you to this moment." Gabriel clenched his fist and the image disappeared to mist.
"Impossible. That is impossible." Ethan argued.
"Ethan, I am God's messenger. I hold more wisdom that you might ever know." Gabriel's expression remained dull, with unengaged eyes, as if this was just another typical day of pulling magic tricks on people for him.
"Is this the message you came to deliver? That I might've wound up as a regular human being?" Ethan started growing irritated.
"I do not deliver trivialities. That was just a mere answer to your query. However, this might be one of the rare occurrences where I deliver a message to a minion of Lucifer." Ethan scanned Gabriel's face as in to ensure he had meant what he just said.
"Minion of Lucifer? More like a superior of Lucifer. I think you got the wrong guy here."
"I did not. You are entitled to your own beliefs, Ethan." Gabriel paused for a second, then he stared into Ethan's eyes, as his irises turned crimson.
"He, who shall be reborn
Shall throw the old serpent off the throne
Thereafter light shall conquer the dark
And a new door in the heavens shall unlock"
Ethan stared at Gabriel for a few seconds, perplexed, as if he was just faced with a math equation that he couldn't solve to save his life. "Was that the message you came to deliver? That I was to be eventually conquered by probably one of Gods' archangels?"
"Messages are quite similar to fates. They hold one too many interpretations. However, unlike fates, not all interpretations are truthful." Ethan felt even more confused than he was before.
"How the hell am I supposed to interpret that any other way? Thereafter light shall conquer the dark; if that isn't a prophecy foretelling my downfall, I don't know what is."
"There are many things that are yet to be unraveled, Ethan. You will figure it out just in time. For now, do not dote on the message I have delivered. Focus on your, uh, mission." Gabriel smiled, which Ethan deemed to find scarier than the devil's scowl.
"Is that it? Are all your messages supposed to be this ambiguous?"
"Ambiguous? They are as clear as daylight, Ethan." Gabriel replied in a soft-spoken tone, which, to Ethan, made him sound even creepier.
"Easy to say for you, God's messenger." Ethan argued sarcastically.
"Now, I shall take my leave. May the choice that you make lead you to the right path, Ethan." And just like that, Gabriel disappeared, leaving a cloud of white mist behind him.
"A new door in the heavens shall unlock. What a load of crap. I'm the devil, how does a new door in heaven be any of my concerns? The only thing that made sense was that I shouldn't dote on what he said. Geez, angels are a pain."
Ethan's mind was troubled, and although he has tried to convince himself not to think about Gabriel's message, he couldn't take his mind off of it. By the time, he went back inside, Chris was fast asleep, and Ethan wanted to "focus on his mission" as Mr. Obvious has asked him to. He crawled up to bed next to Chris, and rested his hand on his head, which could've been a sticky situation if he was actually visible to human beings. As he entered Chris' dreamland, Chris was sitting at a desk office, working on a computer, while wearing a fancy designer suit. He hasn't even gone through his interview and he's already dreaming about the job. With a bit of devilish magic, Ethan made His ex-girlfriend, and his former colleague, Jessica and Aaron, appear is his office. Chris was visibly startled, and when he tried to speak, he found out that his mouth was sewn with a needle and a thread, and he couldn't speak up for himself.
YOU ARE READING
Down Goes The Devil
Paranormal"So, have you guessed where you are?" "I'm in hell." *********** Ethan has opened his eyes to find himself in a sinister place, only to find out he was dead and cast into Hell. Standing face to face with the devil himself, he goaded him on until h...
