The Hunting Party - A Thousand Suns Sequel

Chapter Ten- Drawbar

Mike pulled the car up into the driveway. The rain hadn't died down and lightning was flashing now. The guys were inside, waiting for the two to come back. They needed to discuss what they were going to do about all this. They knew they need to somehow get into Heaven and stop this war, but sadly, that was easier said then done and they couldn't just walk in there.

Mike and Chester got out of the car and walked inside. "We're home!" Mike announced to the guys, turning on the light in the dining room. There was no answer from any of the guys, but Mike didn't really question it since they were about to go into the living room any way.

Him and Chester walked into the room and saw that the lights were off and nothing else was on. The guys weren't there either. This confused the two men since a few minutes ago, Brad texted them asking where they were and said that they were in the living room waiting. "Maybe they got bored and are upstairs snooping around in our room." Mike said, trying to believe that was a possibility as much as he hoped Chester believed it.

They walked upstairs, into their bedroom only to find that their window was shattered and their friends were dead. Each man's corpse was in a different position. Brad was on the bed with his limbs twisted out of place and his guts still spilling out of his stomach. Joe was hanging from the ceiling fan with a blade going through his neck and blood dripping onto the floor. Dave had his skull smashed in with by the metal rack for the closet and his chest was cut opened, his heart laid on top of his forehead. Rob was laying on the floor with pieces of glass stuck all over his body and his eyes ripped out of his head.

Chester was frozen in place and Mike looked like he wanted to vomit. The Angel walked up to the window and looked down at the ground. Black feathers were on the ground. Demons were here.

Mike was crying now, still trying not to throw up all over the floor. "Wh-who did this?" His voice was shaky and weak. He felt like his life force was being drained from him.

Chester turned to look at the husband and walked up to him. "Demons. They must've came here looking for you and when they found the guys instead, they killed them."

Mike was about to faint and fall to the floor, but Chester caught him. He dragged him outside the room, shutting the door behind them. He held the young man close to him and said, "We need to do something now before they decide to come back."

"What can we do though?" Mike cried, holding onto Chester loosely. "I know you're an Angel and everything but we can't just go up there and kill off all the Demons. And Billie's still dead right?"

"Yeah, he is... but at the same time you forgot who I am."

Mike felt a laugh come out from his mouth and he pulled away from Chester. "I didn't. You're my husband. My Angel. The one who want to be with for the rest of my life..."

"I'm Chester Bennington, and you know what I have?"

"You have a lot of things, Chazy."

"But there's one specific thing I have that'll help us defeat off the Demons with no problem."

"What? Your Defyers? Those things don't work to their full power unless you have that snake ven..." Mike trailed off and his eyes widened. He stepped away from Chester completely and said, "You don't have that... Right?"

Chester smiled and let his eyes glow an unnatural green and his round pupils become slits. He smiled and showed four pointed teeth. Two on top and two on the bottom. "I'm sssorry I didn't tell you ssooner."

Mike was absolutely speechless now. His Angel still had a dark part of their past stuck inside him. He wasn't completely normal... Well, okay, Chester's a literal Angel, that's out of the ordinary right there. The snake venom was still trapped inside him though. He had to live with that forever now. Thank God I haven't told him to make anyone pay. Mike thought to himself.

"It'sss fine, Mike. It comesss in handy sssometimess. The "s"sss ssstuff doesss get aggravating though." He admitted.

"I'm sorry." Mike told him. "That's my fault. I did that to you and now you have to suffer with it."

"Don't apologize, Mike. Thissss issn't really the time to be thinking about all that anyway."

"I know, but it still hurts." Mike told him. All that stuff that had happened in two thousand ten with the Defyers and murder still hurt him. He never wanted all of that to happen the way it did, and it still affected them in the present. Chester had died and turned into an Angel, Mike's murder sprees apparently made it to where his sin could take him over if he wasn't careful and all of his friends are now dead because Demons are after him. It's hard not to think about it when things that are  happening now would probably never have happened if he just let go of what happened to Chester instead of trying to fix it.

"Jusssst forget about it. At leasssst long enough for usss to get up to Heaven and wipe out all the Demonssss there. Okay? We need to focusss on that."

Mike nodded in response and let Chester grab his hand and pull him forward.

They ran out downstairs and out of the house afterwards. They got into the car,  yesterday run the driver's seat and Mike beside him on the passenger side.

"I have a few questions before we leave." Mike said after he put his seat belt on. Chester looked over at him, waiting to hear it. "One, why weren't they able to get it out."

"They tried, but they had to destroy the Defyersss in order for that to happen, and Billie wasss sscared that if they did that it would have bad ssside effectssss on me."

"Okay. What are we gonna do about the guys?"

"When we get back from Heaven, we'll bury them. Their soulssss sshould be up there by now."

"They're going to Heaven?"

Chester nodded with a smile, then it disappeared. "You're the only one out of all of ussss who issn't going there sssadly."

At least the guys made it. Mike thought to himself, happy that what happened didn't keep his friend's from being happy in the afterlife.

"Last question. How do you still have the snake venom inside you? The tattoos on you chest are gone."

Chester scratched his head and coughed a bit. Mike raised his eyebrow at this and Chester said, "Well, I actually sssstill have them..."

Mike felt his heart stop. "But you told me you only have the flames, and I never saw the snakes on your chest."

"I hid them." Chester told him. He pulled his shirt collar down to where Mike could see that the tattoos were actually still there. "They've been here the whole time."

He lied about all his tattoos being gone.

"I'm ssssorry."

Mike didn't say anything. Chester had lied to him and he didn't apologize like a maniac afterwards. Sure, he just said that he was sorry, but when he had talked about it that night and explained why his tattoos were gone instead of his flames, he hadn't apologized for lying about every single one being gone or mention that he still had another set of tattoos on him.

Well, I didn't ask him if he had any other tattoos other than the flames... So, he technically didn't lie.

Then why did he say 'I'm sorry'?

Chester started the car up after they sat in silence for a few minutes. "We need to get to Heaven quickly. I have my Defyerssss hidden outsside of Heaven'ss gate ssssomewhere. Once I get them, we're gonna go into Heaven then you're gonna sssay the command. Can you do that, Michael?"

Mike nodded his head. He knew what the words were, even after all this time. He vowed he'd never say them again, but this is to save Heaven and get rid of the Demons. He'll be using the command for good instead of bad. Maybe he could redeem himself from this.

Or maybe I'll make things worse.

He didn't have a choice now. Chester had already pulled out of the driveway and started driving away. This was it. They were going to Heaven.