Devil in Disguise

CHAPTER- 1 : the Murder of Maxim Ivanov

I was late for work. I hate being late for work. Wow, you must be thinking. Such a punctual lad. Well, I have no urge to be punctual. But my boss urges me to be punctual. If not, well, I would be punished. Now, you may be wondering who is afraid of a little punishment.What could my boss do at worst? Well, if you call having to chastise yourself a ' little ' punishment, please, I would be glad to give up my job. Who is my boss? What is his buisness? Well, my boss, my father,  is Maxim Ivanov . But you may know him better as the preacher of Turukhansk glade mission church.
His business? Well, he is suppose to talk about the Bible, retell Christ's preachings. But what he does do is infuse people's mind with fear of God.
Around some 15 years ago, my father claims that he went on a road trip with me to the countryside. He claims that on this trip, he had an encounter with Satan and Satan told him about how Russia was doomed and and everything from the outbreak of diseases like aids and flu to natural calamities like earthquakes and floods and droughts and war were all the signs of his victory over god. Of course, I was there and can assure that none of this ever happened. This was just a tale that he had cooked up to gather followers who pay him a membership charge of 5000 Rouble a month. He was well off, and , as much as I hated him, I was a part of his franchise. He had seven partners across the world in different countries, who helped him conjure a monthly income of  89,000,000,000 Rouble. And no government knew of their existence. They called themselves the sons of Satan, and they were the richest men in the world who no one knew of. I somehow reached work, but I was not the only one late. As it appeared, father was not in his cabin either. But he had left a note for me on the table, saying that I should reach the tunguska
crash site as soon as possible. So I drove seven kilometres south of the office.A storm was brewing in the distance .I found dad with a new guy. He was wearing a sons of Satan pendant, so I guessed he must either be a follower or a new recruit. But dad didn't normally bring followers to the birthplace  of the idea that had brought his organisation to life. Yes, this was where we had come for the road trip  where he took
" Satan's interview" ,as he would call it. So I guessed this must be a new recruit. ." Welcome, Ivan. Meet D' yavol Karkarof, our newest recruit. He is smart, punctual, strong and good looking. In short, everything that you aren't."
That's my dad. Harsh. He pretends to care for the whole world, but not even pretend for me. But I didn't mind. Its  better to listen to harsh words than to have to beat yourself with a flail. "Good evening to you too, father. And to you too, Mr. Karkarof.It appears that my father is intending upon replacing me with you.".I smiled and shook his had. It was unnaturally warm.There was something strange about this one. I would have pinpointed it if I were given more time, but my father cut through my stream of thought. "Well, D'yavol, everyone who joins must display an act of submission. Just so that I know that yoy know who's boss.And today I have just the one in mind. You see, Ivan , D'yavol has applied for the post of my personal assistant ,  post that you are currently at. So, D'yavol, the task that you must perform is killivan."    " I'm sorry dad" I said. " I must have misinterpreted you because it sounded like you asked  D'yavol here to kill me." " You heard perfectly, dear boy. Its nothing personal. Just that I was a bit bored of you and if you were to somehow, unfortunately, die.... there would be a vacancy for your position and then Karkarof here could get the post he applied for. You see, after the second world war, our forefathers moved here in search of employment. We are originally from Roswell, America. That's why you are more comfortable with English than Russian. So, I thought that since our origins lie in a UFO crash site, it's only fitting that you die at a UFO crash site." I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I didn't expect even my father to show such cruelty. Telling lies about God and Satan was one thing, but killing your own son in cold blood was a whole other dimension of cruelty. This was madness. It was savage . It was exactly the sort of thing my father would do. After all, this was not the first time he had killed someone. He had murdered my own mother. And of course, it won't the first time someone had gone missing here. Dozens of people disappeared from this same spot every year. And then there was the storm. It was no longer in the distance, but it was here already. He couldn't have planned it with any finer."Well?"said father,"do it. Throw him in the river." D'yavol began walking towards me. He was easily 6 feet tall and had a wrestler's built. He grabbed  me by the waist and hoisted me on his shoulders, father walking next to him. Time began to flow in slow motion. In all my life I had pictured dying as an old, wrinkled man, after living a long life. Now, as it was about to happen, I felt like crying. My life's worst memories flowed through me: my mother's funeral, being chastised for comming late to the office, that road trip, 15yrs ago. I felt sad, hollow , like a failure, I felt....hot? Was it just me or was I growing warmer? Then I looked down and saw my exectutioner's hands. They were red hot. Not just his hands. Everything from his face to feet, had turned red hot. The storm was getting nearer. A raindrop fell on forehead. It sizzled and evaporated. He dropped me to the ground and picked my father up. Now that I was off him, I noticed that he had all of a sudden grown taller, more muscular. "KARKAROF! PUT ME DOWN!" Barked my father. " With pleasure" he replied. My heart was racing. I was dropping cold sweats. My breathing got heavy, as I saw what he did next. I will not sugarcoat it: he held my murderer by his legs, as if holding a tennis  racquet, and smacked him so hard into the ground that his skull burst open. I did not know whether to be exalted or horrified. I gulped down  the lump that had formed in my throat. As he was walking away, I asked him" Who...Who are you?"He turned back to face me and replied" I thought your father introduced us. I am D'yavol Karkarof. But you may know me better as Satan."

He disappeared, with the storm.