Until The Break Of Dawn

Before even a bland, uncarbonated drop of Grey Goose could be swallowed into abyss, darkness devoured him entirely. Engulfed in this chasm like state, the boy’s ability to move as much as his fingertips had swiftly been seized. The bursting of his aorta, the stretching and shredding of his pulmonary veins, the rattling and plucking of his lungs, the wrecking of his rib cage, however, plunged him into an ocean of torment.

“Like a lazy ocean hugs the shore~. Hold me close~. Sway me more~..” a muffled voice was heard harmonizing to a distorted series of vibrations. After some time, rays of light gradually flooded the vision of the debilitated victim. Enough for him to barely catch sight of a blurry figure twirling on one leg and its arms extended.

“It’s... hot…” the boy croaked. 

“Denzel! How you doing?! How ya’ feeling?!” the blurry figure perked up as his fingers moved to twist the radio’s metal stem. “WOOOOOO! That right there is the perfect volume for a chat,” he smiled delightedly as a result of the silver piece’s refusal to cooperate. “Hey, can you see me clearly now?” the stranger questioned as he crouched down against dimpled beer cans and waved his hands in front of the barely conscious boy’s eyes. “ How long you plan on lying sprawled out on the floor like that, man? That heart attack couldn’t have been bad.. Just imagine the amount of pain you would’ve gon’ through if you drank that nasty ass vodka,” the odd man chuckled.  

Beads of sweat poured down Denzel’s forehead forming a pool sweat on the boy’s backside. “It’s... hot,” he finally repeated in a barely audible groan. 

“Isn’t that fantastic?!” the trespasser spoke excitedly with outstretched arms. “Balmy weather in late October? In Cleveland? Who could’ve imagined!” 

Denzel’s blurred pupils crossed towards the passionate invader. “ Who-”

“Oh yes, finally! It’s time for introductions. Don’t bother telling me about yo’self ‘cause I already know all about you! I’m called Raza. I’m here to make sure yo’ ass don’t end up dead!” he chanted in delight while slapping his palm to his chest. “Well... more like dead-dead.”

Denzel’s eyes shaked profusely as he tried to focus on the obscure figure crouched down above him.

“I gotta story for ya’ but I gotta be quick. With the way things are going, we don’t have a lot of time.” Raza chirped as he gathered a lump of stained, wrinkled garments and folded them onto their cleanest section. He then cleared various dimpled beer cans and set down the repurposed cushion on which he sat cross legged next to the incapicitated boy. “If you ain't gon’ sit up yo’self, what I’m ‘bout to tell you is gon’ make you spring up!” Raza breathed in, put his hands together in a prayer motion to which he pointed at Denzel. “You are dead. Right now, we’re stuck in the world between Earth and the Afterlife. Um what’s next? Oh, right. That ‘heart attack’ you went through? It didn’t just come outta nowhere. It was more of a… jailbreak by terrorists... I guess.” 

The disconnecting of Denzel’s lips, the scrunching up of his nose in conjunction with the furrowing of his eyebrows was all Raza needed to see further details were needed.

“Ok, how about this. Think of it like... you just gave birth. But through your heart,” Raza tried to elaborate. “No? That didn’t work either? Well, then how’s this for ya’? The reason why you collapsed was because your heart was used as a point of entry by a group of demons calling themselves The Demon 5.” Raza tried again. 

Denzel’s eyelids squeezed together while his ears attempted to make sense of what he just heard.

“Yeah. My thoughts exactly. I heard them while they were still brainstorming up a few names. I’m… so disappointed they chose that one. If they spent more time on a title I’m positive they would’ve come up with a better name. But, then again, they chose to try to come up with one at the last minute. If you plan to be a terrorist group, you gotta’ have a fitting name! Not just one you slap on at the last second so that you don’t mess up your schedule! The Demon 5? They just sound like the undercover metal rock version of the Jackson 5.”

“Who are y-”

 “Sorry, I’m getting ahead of myself. Anyways, they had conjured up this ‘brilliant’ plan because they were so gung ho about making their debut release, specifically, on October 31. Them fools probably chose today because they thought that demons and Halloween go together nicely. 

Denzel’s tense and twisted expression made permanent real estate on his face as sweat found refuge in the trenches.. 

“Yeah.. Their name’s not all that scary but them dudes sure are. Allow me to offer you a few words of advice: If I were you, I’d pick myself off this dirty floor as soon as possible. I don’t want them boys getting any ideas. Thinking I’m easy prey or somethin’”. 

“Why would… they think... that?” the words quietly escaped from Denzel’s mouth.

“Because you’re the one they have a bone to pick with the most.” 

“Me..?” Denzel breathed out. 

“Cause you the one responsible for creating them. Boy, did you not see that nasty hole in your chest? A crater like that didn’t raise any ideas? Look at it! A basketball could fit in there! With the way they bursted right through you, you could even be the hoop in the game.”

The muscles in Denzel’s neck tensed as the paralyzed boy used all his effort to see past his nose.

   “Two decades worth of continuous depressing, angry, negative thoughts gave birth to those demons. You’re lucky only 5 of them got out or else there would be no chance in returning your soul back to your body. And-”   

“I’m not going back.” the immobilized body interjected. “I am done with this life. If what you’re telling me is true, then they should’ve just killed me as soon as they busted out.”

“You don’t mean that. You don’t care at all that you’re dead?”

“I do mean that and I don’t care the least bit.”

“But what about all the people who care about you?”

“What people? Where? Point them out. Nobody’s gonna trip once they’ve found out I died. Sh--! I bet a whole bunch of people gon’ rejoice once they find out I’m finally gone.. If demons really are here, let them just finish me off no-” 

“That’s disappointing to hear.”

“Well, that's what life does to people.”

“You know, man. That right there. That’s what I hate the most about you. You keep acting as if life don’t offer nothing to look forwa-. 

“Who you talking to? You talkin’ to me like that? What you know about me? You don’t know where I’ve been. You don't know what I've gone through. Don’t play with me, dawg. Don’t talk to me ‘bout what ‘hate’ ‘bout me when you don’t kno-”

“I do know you. And I have seen each and every one of your most painful moments. But guess what. I’ve also seen each and every moment that you took for granted. I’ve witnessed every moment that would have blossomed into a wonderful experience if you had just taken the oppor-”

“Really?! Remind me again at least one good thing life has done for me. ‘Cause I’m havin’ trouble remembering. The only thing that keeps poppin’ up in my head is all that unnecessary pain and bulls--- life’s done dropped on my head.”

“That’s what you choose-”

“Bro, I’m warning you. Don’t start with that sh--! I witnessed my mother get punched in the head. Stomped in the stomach everyday by my father. I watched my brother shoot up heroin in the kitchen every damn evening. I was forced to hustle around the neighborhood at 5 years old with my uncle. I’m the reason so many people on my own block got addicted and died from the laced dope I had to sell after my father stepped out on us. So don’t tell me I chose pain. Don’t tell me I chose disappointment. What? You think I welcomed that sh-- with open arms? F--- outta here, bruh. I didn’t choose this life. I-”

“I’m not gon’ argue with you. I agree. Every single one of those memories that you said have been terrible. But those experiences are not exclusive only to you. You’re not the only on-”

“Hey! If I were you, I’d stop talking. You don’t want no smoke with me, bro.”

“Has it ever occurred to you that maybe everything you’ve gone through was meant to prepare you for something greater?”

“Here you go again talking like you some know-it-all therapist!” 

“You’re right. I’m not a therapist. But I am someone who has been in your exact shoes. I am someone who didn’t make the best choices in the human world. I allowed and blamed everything else and everyone else but me for being responsible to my situation . And I got casted down to Hell because of it. Because I didn’t think anyone could or would ever understand my pain, I allowed myself to let my demons win and kill any and all opportunities I had left to try to make something better for myself.”

“What are you going on about?! Didn’t you say we’re in the world between where humans live and the Afterlife?! Obviously, you ain’t still trapped in the underworld! So why don’t you go on ahead and live that amazing life you talkin’ so high and greatly about. Since it’s so f--kin easy to choose what happens to you-”

“I can’t... I don’t have that chance anymore. But you still do! If I could just show you, man. All the things life has available to you, if you could only see, you’d believe me in an instant.”

The tension in Denzel’s tightly clenched palm relaxed a bit.

“I’ve been down there, man. I’m telling you, anything you have ever or will ever experience pales in comparison to what Big Red has in store for you if you let those demons win.”

“But why should I believe you?”

“Don’t you think the deep pain you were in earlier felt too real to be fake? To be a dream? Wouldn’t pain like that have woken you up instantly?

“....”

“I’m trying to warn you, man. I’m trying my best to be helpful. If you still don’t believe me then… tell me. How well can you see now?”

“I can see fine.”

“Can you really? We’re still in your apartment but have you noticed anything else that’s strange?” Denzel sat up and panned his cheap living room. His radio was still sat in the corner of the room. Still missing a few knobs and sporting it’s rusted, exposed metal. Empty beer bottles and cans, heavily littered, surrounded it and the beige walls in desperate need of new paint.

“You’re not going to see much sitting down here. Go ahead and take a look out the window and tell me if you notice anything different.”

Denzel’s palms sank into the carpeted floor as he pushed himself upright. Only three steps were needed before the 25 year old stopped in his tracks “Holy sh-- What happened to th-”

“You see. This ain’t normal. You and I both know, at no point in the day, does the sky ever look like that. But, you know where you do see a sky dyed that color? The same place demons and devils reign hierarchy over the lost and corrupted souls. People like you and me. You mentioned the heat before too. The temperature will eventually hit it’s boiling point. And the sky will turn from this vibrant flame pigment to a black darker and scarier than the one you were trapped in. The worse you allow your environment to become the closer you are to entering Hell. The real one. The next thing you know, you’ll be sweating bullets in sweltering heat and standing in front of 90 foot molten gates. Before you know it, a dark, shadowy hand is going to clasp around your whole body, pulling you miles through those gates. Even if you think this is just a dream, take the chance to get your life back and get rid of any possibility of you ever ending up in that sh--hole.. Don’t let your demons drag you down there.”

“Why do you want to help me? Me of all people. Aren’t there better people out there who deserve a second chance more than me?”

“I’m just somebody trying to make the right choice and do right by others. After everything I’ve been through in my life, if I can just prove to one person that dawn will break. There is a tomorrow that is, by far, way better than the terrible days that have passed. A tomorrow where the sun rises and it’s light reaches even the deepest crevice! There’s a tomorrow worth living to see!”

“...Were you shown everything you missed out on when you went to Hell?”

“Man…. I was tormented every possible second I was locked up in that place. I saw things like me becoming the CEO of my own business. Giving back to my community that didn’t breathe success. I saw the gorgeous woman I was supposed to marry. The woman who loved me in my totality. I saw the...um...the beautiful kids we were gon’ have. But I’ll never get to do any of that or meet any of them because I let my demons get the best of me.”

“I’m sorry… to hear that.”

“Please, Denzel. Just trust me. Don’t end up like me. Do something good with your life. Don’t allow it to bring you down.

“Ok. I believe you. I’ll give life another shot.”

“That’s good to hear. You’ll have to prove that you actually do want to live again.”

“Well, who do I gotta prove that too?”

“Yourself. You gotta finally conquer your demons.”

“What does that mean?”

“You have to go to each and every single one of the five and defeat them. The longer we leave those guys alone, the stronger they’ll become before they come after you.”

“See, that’s what I don’t understand. Wouldn’t it be not that good of an idea for them to drag me to Hell since they came from me.”

“We’ll when they capture you, they plan to sever any remaining ties you have to the human world. When your ties are officially broken, you officially die allowing them to become the full fledged demons they were conceived and bred to be.”

“Ok, then, why when they were released they didn’t kill me immediately?”

“I told you these guys were the same ones who came up and decided on the name The Demon Five, right? Can you imagine talking, eating, sleeping next to your demons buddies in the dark for all these years. Just for when you finally see them, their ugly faces scares you. They probably ran off in different directions after something like that. But you’re in luck. They didn’t run off from here too long ago. And also, because you still have ties to the human world, they are still pretty weak for what a demon can amount to. So they most likely headed off to places where they thought they could best build their strength quickly. 

“What does any of that mean?” questioned Denzel

“Now would be a great time to explain who the members of The Demon 5 are. First up, we’ve got The Doctor. He has the ability to deconstruct anything he touches with his hands. He also has the ability to reconstruct it into any way he wishes. Next, we have Oracle he’s able to see into the future, allowing him to predict your attacks.. Then there’s Optic. He can create illusions and bring out his opponent’s greatest fear. But make no mistake, they might be just illusions but they can cause a great deal of damage. Fourth is Glitch who’s able to distort his opponents five senses. And finally, the leader of the group goes by Scythe. His strength is his ability to wield his sword, which he’s very skilled at. If you can avoid that, then you’re pretty much ok.”

“So... you’re telling me these demons...have...superpowers.”

“No. They have demon powers. You have a superpower.” “Sure...what is it then?”

“It’s called a ‘spirit gun’ All you gotta do is stand up straight and find a target you want to hit. Position your fingers like it was a gun itself and you’ll be able blast an attack if you do it right.”

“And pointing my fingers... at the enemy... is supposed to return me.. to my body...”

“Now you’re starting to get it!. So for every demon you defeat, basically conquer, you regain some portion of your human-ness back. You’ll, the sky and heat change because they won't be as extreme. And as a bonus, for every battle you win, you obtain that demon’s power. Afterall, they have been a part of you for a long time. It’ll help you defeat the demons too. This sounds like you’re the hero in a video game, doesn’t it?”

“Yeah…. So who do you suggest I go after first?”

“Honestly, All of them are pretty threatening even in their weakened state. But I think your best bet would be to go after the Doctor first. I think his power will come best in handy against the others. But remember if you lose, it’s a wrap! You don’t have these powers in the afterlife! Especially not in Hell.”

“Don’t worry! I’m used to shooting guns. Just give me some time to adjust to this thing. After all, I don’t want to be rude and keep The Doctor waiting for our first appointment,” Denzel said with overflowing zeal.