Dark Rider

"Uh huh,” he nodded his head as he lifted his hand and snapped his fingers. “Time to meet up with the big guy, he can give better advice, he’s always been a people person.”

“What?” Kassie looked at him frantically, grabbing his arm and squeezing it tightly, trying to get his attention. “I’m not ready for my level to be up! I want to live a little bit longer!”

“You’re not going to die, Kassandra. I’m taking you to God so you can—“he paused as he looked over her shoulder. “Strange, I didn’t think I left that unguarded.” His gaze focused on the solid metal door placed in the middle of the large white room, it was twenty feet high at the least and a mile long it seemed, he looked as if he had seen it millions of times but she stared at it in shock, for the fact how gigantic is was and how it just appeared out of no where. “I could have sworn Jed was watching—oh hell.”

“You use that pun a lot don’t you?” she questioned until she spotted the seriousness in his voice. “What’s oh hell? Diablo, what’s oh hell when you’re standing in front of a very big door which is…cracked open.”

She frowned as he walked closer and groaned lowly, staring at it in fury, “Some of the demons escaped again, the last time that happened the damn world turned into a stampede of fires, murder and problems that I got fussed out for!”

“You still talk to God I’m assuming, since you get fussed out by someone higher than you and because you wanted me to meet him, why’s that?” she didn’t seem fazed as he stared at her blank faced before shutting the large door.

“Since falling from the heaven’s with my powers still intact, having a hold on such evil in the world since Pandora seemed so dang curious—“ he paused and grunted as he leaned against the door. “God put me at the task of punishment, soul snatching, demon finding since I started working with less evil in the world—tough job but someone’s got to do it. I might not get back in heaven because I disobeyed him, but I can still earn his honor, a little at a time. But if he finds out I lost the demons again, I’m so punished.”

“Oh,” Kassie stared at the door a few more times before crossing her arms, placing her legs apart slightly to hold her stance. “What are you going to do now?”

He merely rolled his eyes with a groan and pushed off the door, he grabbed Kassie’s forearm and suddenly the room changed again and instead of the white walls and empty spaces around, it was the small bedroom where Rider sat in the corner, picking his fingernails with a large switchblade knife and A.J. laid in bed sleeping soundly, snoring quietly as result. “Rider,” Diablo, she decided to call him, called out as he walked the remaining steps to reach Rider and handed Kassie off to him, like a child. “Watch her, the everto have gotten out.”

Rider’s legs went rigid and he bounced up like a board being stepped on and stood in front of Diablo. “The everto have gotten out? How is that? I thought it was being guarded when you left.”

“Excuse me,” Kassie interrupted and pushed in between them both with a wondrous look on her face. “What is an everto? And I thought the demons got out, not whatever everto is.”

“Means demons,” Rider just shrugged at the look Diablo gave him while gesturing to Kassie with his thumb hooking to the side, Rider chuckled lowly as Kassie huffed and sat down in Rider’s seat before he had stood up and watched from there. “I have to go speak with God about a plan to get them back. I want you to watch A.J. and Kassie until she has made her decision on where she wants to go. Okay?”

“Yeah, have fun,” Rider urged him away before he turned around and sat down beside Kassie in a chair that popped out of no where. “Where do you want to go, pumpkin pie?”

“Don’t call me pumpkin pie,” Kassie grumbled under her breath as she looked up at the ceiling which looked close to the sky, every little star seemed to twinkle as she set her blue eyed gaze upon them. “I wouldn’t mind staying in the illusions you make, they are perfect but—that would mean keeping you and frankly that doesn’t sound like much fun.”

“Ow, rip my heart out why don’t you?” Rider laughed as he laid his legs out straight, crossing them over each other while his arms folded under his head. “I understand though, I’ve been called many things and annoying is one of them. I’ll tell you right now, I can find you somewhere perfect if you tell me something.”

Kassie thought about it for a moment before nodding her head to the deal, she agreed as long as where he would take her and A.J. was nice and didn’t cause any harm or confusion. “Tell me where we’d be going first and I’ll tell you what you want to know.”

Rider thought about it for a moment, his eyebrows furrowing into a crease in the middle of his forehead as he searched for the perfect place for Kassie and A.J. to live, when he finally thought of the place he had deep in his mind just for them, he shouted a surprised yelp while punching his arm in the air. “I got it, you could move to either Scotland because it’s rather peaceful or you can move to Florida.”

Kassie scoffed and slapped the back of her hand against the middle of Rider’s stomach, jokingly but it was hard. “That was pathetic man, well Florida isn’t bad but A.J. is scared of sharks.”

“That’s my question, kind of, you act like A.J.’s mother, but you’re his cousin right? Why do you have him, why was he living with you?” Rider asked as he leaned up in his seat quickly and hunched over looking straight into Kassie’s eyes. “You both have the same eyes too.”

“It’s complicated,” Kassie cleared her throat and shrugged her shoulders softly. “No, I’m not his mother if you’re thinking that. Which I know you are, my older aunt’s daughter had a child when she was fifteen and died when she gave birth to the baby. My aunt was her best friend so, when her only daughter died she wanted to be with her, she killed herself the same day after seeing the baby once,” Kassie paused with a heavy sigh as she glanced over at A.J.’s sleeping figure. “My dad is the only relative old enough to care for the baby, I was ten. My mom said she wanted a baby and for two or three years she watched over him, while my dad played daddy like the good actor he is and when I got old enough to baby sit, I was the permanent employee for them. They partied like teenagers or celebs, mom got addicted to alcohol while dad kept her liquored up. So she didn’t know he would hurt me when I didn’t do something right, I’ve been A.J.’s mother since I was thirteen. He’s all I have. I don’t know why we look so much alike, I just know that I like that because it makes me feel like he really is my son.”

Rider sat listening to her speech, quietly while she sat still, thinking over everything she had said. Neither of them talked as they thought, both something similar but so different at the same time. “You’ve never been a teenager have you?” Rider asked as he raised his head and looked out blankly at the wall. “You’ve been the adult the whole time you grew up.”

“Yeah,” Kassie agreed as she looked down at her clasped hands. “I never had a boyfriend, I went on one date when I was sixteen with this boy named James, the senior football star. I stood him up ten minutes into the date because I got a phone call from the hospital saying that A.J. had accidentally fallen down the front steps and broke his arm in two places. I never left him after that, I couldn’t.”

“You’re a brave girl,” Rider complimented as he stood up and held his hand out in a helpful way, he gestured for her to grab it and waited as she hesitantly did and he pulled her from the seat. Both of them stood in spot while staring at each other, in wonder. “Come on, I’ll take you to your new life.”

Kassie nodded her head and followed him over to A.J.’s bed where he asked for permission to pick him up by eye glances with Kassie, when she allowed him to with a nod, he picked up A.J. and held him carefully with A.J.’s head on his shoulder, breathing shallowly and soon it turned into deep breaths. “Where?” was all Kassie questioned as Rider looked down at her.

“It’s a surprise,” he smiled and suddenly the scenery changed from the dim lit bedroom into a bright bedroom filled with white shining in through the large bay window to the left or Kassie, she blinked once and noted that Rider wasn’t there but A.J. was, he was sleeping in the bed she laid with his mouth open, snoring louder than ever before.

“You little snoozer, wake up,” Kassie smiled as she nudged A.J. in the side, his eyes shined as his lids lifted up. He sat up and yawned while stretching his arms out to the side, hitting Kassie in the arm with his balled up right fist. “Ow you hit me.”

“Ha,” he chuckled as he moved the covers off his legs and slipped out of the bed onto the hardwood floors, his black boxers with red hearts covering them a size to large and his white tank top tight to his skin with many stains all over. “Did you dream it again?”

“Every night,” she nodded her head and followed A.J. out of bed, both of them rubbing they’re eyes of sleep as they both stumbled along.

“It’s just a dream, K.K. you have to remember, it happened five years ago. Rider and the Devil haven’t been back,” the near pre-teenage A.J. laughed as he walked into the bathroom while Kassie made her way into the kitchen. As Kassie began to clean up the previous night’s dinner that was left out to spoil and smell, A.J. walked into the kitchen to help in fresh clothes. “Nasty, did you honestly have to order sushi, Kass?”

“It sounded good at the time,” she grumbled as she picked up the to-go container with her index finger and thumb for good measure and slung it into the wastebasket. “Listen—I heard the other day that there is a hurricane coming in. Take a couple dollars and get us some extra bread, milk and eggs please.”

A.J. frowned as he walked to the opposite side of the kitchen to receive a couple dollars from her purse, it was in Fiji currency called notes, it was different from the United States but they figured it out quickly. A.J. walked back to Kassie and leaned against the counter. “Just bread, milk and eggs? Shouldn’t I get something more—well more?”

“Get whatever you think we need, don’t buy crap though, okay?” Kassie explained as she pulled out the butter and placed it in the pan, A.J. kissed her cheek before he went out the front screen door while Kassie continued cooking. Soon after she was done cooking scrambled eggs for her and A.J. both, she washed the pan in the sink with soap and water and a scrub brush, wiped it off with a dishtowel and then placed it under the sink. When she stood back up, she turned around and screamed bloody murder, not expecting what she seen before her.

“Ow,” Rider sarcastically shouted as he held his hands over his ears, leaning back in Kassie’s dining room table chair. “My ears, you’re paying for hearing aids I’ll need, you know.”

“Your back?” she shrieked as she glanced around, looking for the other one. But Diablo never came out and said, “Tada!” so she turned back to Rider and furrowed her eyebrows while her eyes narrowed accusingly. “Why are you back?”

“Sadly, I was expecting a hug and something along the lines of ‘Oh My Gosh! Rider your back! I missed you so much!’ but I guess that’s too much to ask isn’t it?” he frowned in mock sadness as he scooped up A.J.’s clean fork and dug into his plate of eggs. Rider took a large mouth full before groaning while closing his eyes and swallowing it all after chewing a couple times. “I never knew how well you cooked; I have to visit more often around breakfast.”

Kassie sat down the dishtowel she had used on the pan, on the counter and marched over to the table, grabbing the fork from Rider’s hand; she slammed it down on the table and stared at him. “Why are you here, Rider? I have a right to know if you’re eating my food, at my dining table in my house.”

“You sure have gotten violent over the years, pumpkin pie. I thought Fiji mellowed you out, I guess not. You’re starting to get worry lines and you’re what? Twenty two?” he frowned while he stared at her forehead. Though Kassie knew her forehead was perfectly flat with no worry lines, she raised her hand and felt for any ridges. When she felt none she stared at him just as she had the first time she met him, aggravated. “Still don’t like jokes I see.”

“No, I don’t,” she agreed as she stood domineering over him, willing herself not to sit down and start a little conversation with him, so she cleared her throat to rid the tension building a brick wall between them. “Tell me why your here, I hate repeating myself.”

“Why?” his hand suddenly had a solid black fork in it and he scooped up more cheesy eggs into his mouth and with a mouthful he still spoke plainly. “You already have repeated yourself like, two times.” He held up two fingers and then went back to the plate, staring at it ravenous.

“Rider, your on my last nerve, tell me what your doing here or your ass is getting the boot, now,” she threatened as she slammed her fist on the table again, for some odd reason she felt hostility towards him and she had no idea why. He had helped her, but he had also invaded her dreams for the past five years and she did not like that.

“You really need a humor bone,” he grunted as he stood up and towered over her, though she was tall at five foot nine, he still was larger than her. “Have you gotten shorter or something?”

“No I haven’t gotten shorter,” she sneered as she poked him in the chest with every word she spoke. “Tell me what you’re doing in my house.”

“You got sexy too,” his comment caused her to stop and gawk at him, she couldn’t help but gawk. One minute he’s telling her to get a humor bone, whatever that was and the next he’s saying she got sexy. The man was out of his mind, and she had a mind to tell him that too. But she figured he already knew that, so she just stared. “Okay, why I am here is because—you remember the day we met the second time when you seen the door to the abyss.”

“The what?” Kassie’s eyes widened as she stared at Rider, she thought the large mile long door was hell. But then again, after all those years she never thought, the day he said that she seen the door was the day the Devil himself said there was no hell, just earth with a bunch of evil running amuck on it. “What’s the abyss?”