The Fall

Lights out

The darkness clung to the air like ash, shrouding the gates in front of  him. He could hear the silence roaring in his ears, as he took another tentative step forward. Through the grey, insipid light he could make out the outline of a man, almost as if he were guarding the entrance. The man had a dusty black suit on, a coifed hat drawn across his features. He was crouched on the ground humming a sordid tune, fisting the obsidian dust in his hands then releasing it through his fingers as if he were amused by the powers of gravity.

''Hello?'' The boy called out, not wanting to advance. His stomach contracted with fear, like butterflies gone rogue were infesting in it. He took another step and heard the man's murmuring.

''Where is everybody?'' he asked him. This time his head shot up, and a pair of amber eyes seared his. He stood up, his fingers darting for another handful of the dust. The boy's finger's curled around the gun that was clinging to his waist.

''You know what this is?'' the man smiled at him, making the boy's heart thump erratically in his chest. He shook his head fearfully, stealing another look around to find that they were alone.

''This is sin'' he let it slip through his fingers, the corners of his lips turning up ''I can imagine what you're thinking. Now what's a bad thing like that doing on hallowed ground?'' he cocked his head.

''This isn't right...Where is everybody, where are the angels...Where is God?'' He shouted. His words echoed across the abandoned wasteland.

''God is...'' he paused and looked up again ''gone''.

He waited a beat, the weight of those words sinking into him.

''What do you mean he's gone? He can't be, he sent the angels!'' The boys voice rose  again with panic this time.

''No he didn't, hell sent the angels'' he said, walking towards him wiping his hands of sin.

''What? Then who sent-''

''- the demons? No idea'' he murmured, as if contemplating.

''What now?'' The boy turned, a thousand questions, words, filling his head.

''Be productive. You still have a job don't you, demon hunter?'' He spun, watching a coy smile light up his features.

''How did you know that?'' The boy murmured, narrowing his eyes at him.

'' Oh we know all about you and your all kind. Well your schedules about to get real busy, real fast'' he grinned.

''Why don't you show your true face demon?'' The boy reached for the cross around his neck.

''Weren't you listening? That's not going to work anymore. He's gone. Holy water, crosses, the bible...you might as well scrap all those ideas. It's just water now, it's just a book. Things are changing'' he hissed.

'' Your forgetting that I still have the word of God, demon. Hallowed ground is not somewhere where you want to put up a tent'' He strode forward watching a brow mar his perfect features. Whipping the gun from his waist, The boy squeezed the trigger, watching him dissipate into an explosion of crimson.

He stood there panting, and realised that he could hear the silence.

''Fuck''