Eyes of the Devil

Gerard lay still for several moments. He was unsure if he had broken anything, or if it was even possible for him to do so. He felt a gust of air brush over his skin, past his parted lips, filling him with air. He couldn’t believe he could actually sense it. The faintest pounding began in the center of his chest, bringing a short jet of pain with each beat. He pushed this thought to the back of his mind as he slowly sat up and looked at his surroundings, realizing he was in the middle of a busy city street. Cars zoomed by him on all sides, never even pausing as they approached and passed him. He quickly stood and ran to the sidewalk to avoid being flattened by them.

He felt dizzy the moment he stepped onto the concrete, caught up in a swirling wave of people within seconds. They brushed past him with hardly a glance in his direction. He began to panic. Hadn’t they noticed him? He had run right out of the street; he had run into a few of them, he was certain. It was a crowded city like any other, with barely room to breathe amid the throngs of citizens and toxic air. There was no reason they should be easily walking by someone firmly standing in the middle of the sidewalk.

He started running, not trying to avoid anyone in his path. His panic intensified as he realized no shoulders were colliding with his own, no feet catching the bend at his ankle and bringing him to the ground. The city scenery around him blurred into a mass of gray walls and shined windows, windows he dared not glance at for fear he would see nothing in return. His breathing increased rapidly, and that light thudding in his chest moved just a few beats faster.

He finally came to a halt once he realized he had accomplished nothing. No one could see him. He couldn’t touch them. And as the already-sluggish pulsations of his heart returned to nothing, he understood the sickening truth of it all.

He was dead.

“Hey, calm down.” A black-gloved hand landed heavily on his shoulder and pulled him backwards with astonishing strength. He stumbled a few feet, but he managed to maintain his balance easily enough. He glanced around wildly, trying to see who had spoken to him and taken him away from the crowd, but he found no one nearby in the dark alleyway.

“It’s not good to get so worked up,” the same voice continued, almost as if speaking from the shadows. “You could hurt yourself. Then again…” Gerard turned towards the sound of it, seeing a man leaning casually against one wall of the alley. His black trench coat ended just above his knees and helped him blend into the shadows perfectly, with the collar perfectly following the line of his jaw. Blond bangs were swept to one side of his face, but against such a bleak background, Gerard thought the man’s hair appeared gold. The other thing that caught his attention was a shock of blue amidst the gray, a clear and brilliant color he hadn’t seen since the skies of Heaven- a pair of eyes set off by the black and gray haze of the city.

“That’s never really been your thing, has it?”

“How did you…?” Gerard couldn’t seem to finish his question, still amazed by the man’s appearance.

“I fight for neither side, so I can travel between the Two.” He eyed Gerard carefully for a few moments, then frowned. “You shouldn’t be here. Your soul is…different. Lost.”

“How can you tell?” Gerard asked. The man let out a laugh, something he wouldn’t expect from someone so intimidating.

“Your aura is gray,” he answered. “I wouldn’t expect you to be able to see what I can. But, here, let me show you.” He reached Gerard in one stride and placed a hand on his shoulder, turning him so he could see all the people hurrying along the sidewalk. A shock of electricity ran through Gerard’s body, and suddenly a cloud of blue and red appeared above them, flickering and dancing like the northern lights. His jaw fell open at the sight.

“What are those?” he muttered, eyes still wide.

“Auras,” said the man. “Those with blue auras are going to Heaven, and the red, to Hell. It’s simple.” Gerard turned to face him. Just as he glanced upward in an attempt to see the man’s aura, the feeling of electricity left him and his vision returned to normal. He realized the man had released his shoulder.

“I was wondering…do you know if any of my friends…are still…alive?” he asked suddenly, voice growing softer with each word.

“Things have changed since your passing, Gerard,” the man responded. “You must change as well. Those whom you used to call friends may have become your enemies…and your enemies may turn out to be friends.”

“What are you-”

“Listen to me,” he interrupted. “I cannot explain to you exactly what I mean, or everything would fall apart. But I can tell you this: Trust no one but yourself. Your own instinct is all you can truly rely on.” He flashed half a smile, eyes lighting up the color the sky should have been. “It’s a shame we couldn’t have met while you were alive. Then again…”

He vanished before Gerard’s startled hazel eyes, as if he was never there at all. A whisper of wind flowed past his ear, speaking in the same voice.

“That would have changed everything.”

Gerard simply stood there for several moments, still staring at the space where the man had once been and occasionally glancing back at the horde of people strolling along the sidewalk, half-expecting to see the mysterious cloud of scarlet and sky blue floating above their heads. Instead he only saw the lead-colored clouds signifying rain.

A shiver crawled down his spine, but not because of the chill in the air. He sensed he was being watched. He stood, frozen, as a single black feather floated down in front of his face. He cautiously lifted one hand to catch it, wanting to look at it more carefully, but something abruptly jerked him from his place before he could do so. Sharp talons constricted his shoulders and dragged him off of his feet and into the air. A horrible screeching sound filled his ears; he realized it belonged to whatever had attacked him. He twisted and writhed violently, trying to escape its grasp, but its claws only tightened and dug into his shoulders more. Rhythmic pulses of air pounded against him from above; he looked up and was startled to see a gigantic black bird – a crow, maybe – that was his kidnapper. It suddenly turned its gaze upon him, and his breathing caught in his throat as he realized it had a human-like face as opposed to a beak and beady eyes.

“R-”

It screeched again, drowning out his whimpering voice with earsplitting sound. The bird spiraled downwards but soon righted itself, as if trying to slam him into the ground before it suffered the same fate. Gerard was exhausted from attempting to wriggle free of the bird’s sharp grasp and now simply closed his eyes in fear.

Suddenly the bird stopped and released him from its talons. He knew he was falling almost immediately, but he could feel nothing. His body had gone entirely numb. His eyes lolled open as he tumbled through the air; just as they did, he slammed into a man on the sidewalk, pummeling him into the concrete. He ended up rolling onto one side; his limbs had become completely useless. One eye managed to remain open, its gaze directed at the unfortunate man next to him. Gerard watched as he rolled over in pain, slowly moving to a sitting position and holding one hand to a scrape across his forehead. Wincing in pain, he opened his eyes and instantly gasped.

Gerard felt his mouth going numb and barely managed to spit out one word before he could feel no more.

“Frank?”