Dark Rider

“So I’m guessing D was to busy freaking out that he forgot to mention what was behind the great big metal door, no, it wasn’t hell like most think,” he nodded to her and she shrugged because she did to think it was hell, stupidly of course but then again she was only human and things like that aren’t something humans see everyday while their still alive. “It’s called the abyss, it’s the nearest thing to hell as you can get. Any souls that are hopeless to help, to bad to be saved or just plain evil that has no good whatsoever in them, they go there. It’s what many say looks like a large black hole at the bottom of the ocean, you can never see the end but you can never get back out the way you came, so your swallowed whole.”

“If it’s in the ocean, why is the big mile long metal dooring the beginning?” Kassie asked in confusion as she sat down beside Rider’s seat, he took his seat back, at peace that she wasn’t shouting at him anymore.

“I never said it was the beginning,” he smiled wickedly as he leaned his arms over the tablecloth that resembled a starfish. “The door is the end; you can’t see the end but its there. The most wicked of souls are the smartest there, they can find it because they have eternity to search it. Some of the souls band together and search in packs, little gangs. Morons, even in death doomed to roam in a black hole for eternity they still have clicks,” he grumbled lowly for a few seconds before getting back on track. “If the door is ever opened, they can sneak out. And for the third time since the flood of the earth, D has somehow gotten guards that are dumb as a box of rocks to guard it while he goes and visits earth, and more souls got out.”

“I thought it was demons?” Kassie was becoming more confused as he went on, but somehow it made sense, she just needed the details to be completely clued in.

“Demons are souls that are completely evil, no they aren’t big black and brown furry or slimy beings that have red eyes,” he laughed quietly as he leaned back slightly. “They are what their bodies looked like; souls remember themselves as what they last seen before they were taken to heaven or back for another round or the abyss. So, no, no slimy monsters, just creepy old men and women in gowns and tuxes.”

“Oh,” she understood now, she hadn’t before because the devil left out a few details and his helper friend had explained it. “So what’s this have to do with me and A.J.?”

Sighing heavily while rocking back in his chair impatiently, Rider thought of how to break it to her easily of something that’s impossible to believe. When he couldn’t think of anything to say to soften the blow, he figured saying it straight out would have a positive affect. “I’m just going to come out and tell you, your dad was put into the abyss five years ago and the last time the souls got out he was one of them.”

If the house would have blown away that very moment, she wouldn’t have even noticed because her vision began to blot little black dots around the edges and that faint buzzing noise of the digital clock slowly began to fade, and darkness began to swallow her whole. “Rider what did you do?” A.J. shouted as he walked in, spotted Rider leaning over Kassie who was passed out on the ground.

“Hey A.J. how have you been?” Rider smiled as he held up Kassie’s face and waved his hand in front of her nose. “Your cousin has a weak shock tendency doesn’t she, kid?”

“A little bit,” A.J. murmured as he sat down the grocery bags on the counter, placed the left over money in Kassie’s purse and then walked over to Kassie. “What did you tell her? She doesn’t pass out unless she’s really stressed.”

“Well,” Rider stood up and sat back down in his seat while he watched A.J. try to wake up sleeping beauty. “Like I told her, hopefully you won’t be like her and pass out, your uncle was sent to the abyss, which is a soul’s version of hell but it’s a black hole in the middle of the ocean, he was placed in it and he escaped.”

“I thought you told her that he was sent back to restart his level, but instead you killed him and put him in hell?” A.J. asked as he placed with great difficulty, Kassie in her chair. With a large sigh he sat in the extra chair across from Rider. “Great, figures he’d even escape hell.”

“Well, we were going to let him return and redo his level but after a deep investigation on D’s part, he found he was shattered, like some souls can be fixed if broken but when you’re shattered. It’s like taking a mirror that has millions of pieces and putting each piece where it belongs. It can happen sometimes, but who wants to waste years trying to fix something that may not even be fixable in the end?” Rider explained as he swung his leg back and forth, it was up on the arm of the chair, he was sitting sideways talking to A.J. and every now and then he would look over to see if Kassie was awake yet. “Do you understand?”

“I’m not seven anymore, Rider. I understand things a lot better,” A.J. explained as he grabbed Kassie’s plate of eggs and began to eat from it. “You can eat those.”

Rider smiled as he watched A.J. point to the eggs he had already been eating, he grabbed a fork and dug in himself before he started to speak again. “Why do you still sleep with Kassie, if I can ask?”

“Because she has nightmares, if I don’t sleep in bed with her she has panic attacks. She needs someone to calm her down, now if I can ask. If your cousin asked you to sleep in bed with her to keep her from going insane every night, would you?” A.J. shot back with the fork still in hand, pointing at Rider.

“I wasn’t taking a wise crack at her, I was honestly curious,” Rider explained as he held his hands out in defense.

“Well keep your curiosity to yourself, if you wouldn’t mind. Kassie is very sensitive about it, we’re all we have left, she has no family except me,” his tone had turned defensive as he turned back to his eggs.

“Duly noted,” Rider nodded his head and went back to his food, shortly after he began to eat with A.J. in silence, a groan come from the unconscious blue eyed, red headed beauty beside him. “Wakey-wakey, eggs and bakey,” he waved his plate in front of her face while chuckling over his ironic ‘Funny’. “You alright there sleeping chick?”

“My dad,” she croaked out as she stared at Rider with wide eyes and her mouth opened slightly. “My dad is—he escaped hell!”

“Something like that,” Rider nodded his head and took another bite from his fork, he smiled and pointed to the plate with his other hand then to A.J. “We both agree, you are very handy with food. Good thing I’m staying with you for a couple months. That stash of money for take out won’t be necessary now.”

“Your not staying with us,” Kassie shot out quickly as she sat up, she had been holding her head as it reeled like a rollercoaster, and for sitting up like she did, so quickly. She paid for it dearly.

“And why not? With daddy dearest out of hell, I’ve been assigned by God himself and D told me to do it or he’d kick my ass, to watch you like a hawk. So, unless you want to upset God, I’d be nice to me because I just might end up saving your butt,” he pointed at Kassie before he looked over at A.J. with one eyebrow raised higher than the other. “You ever been to Disneyland, kid?”

A.J. turned to Kassie with his mouth full, chewing slowly and smiled with thankfully a closed mouth; Kassie only smiled back and shook her head with a laugh. “No I haven’t, do you have a trip in mind?”

“Nope, just my curiosity kicking in again,” Rider giggled like a child as he avoided the salt shaker that A.J. had threw at his forehead. “Hey watch it blue boy, you got salt in my eye.”

“Good boy,” Kassie grumbled as she leaned her forehead on the palm of her hand, her hair like a curtain closing around her face so she could hide from the boys. “Throw pepper at him too, and see how he likes that?”

“You always were mean to me,” Rider smirked proudly as he stared at Kassie’s hair; he then turned to A.J. and whispered loud enough for her to hear. “I always heard that when a girl likes a boy, or opposite, they are mean to one another.”

“What are you, five?” Kassie flung her hair back with her hand she had been leaning against and glared at Rider for his teasing comment. “I do not like you, for one. You annoy me to no end and we haven’t spent an hour together the both times we seen each other and two. Why would I like you, you’re an angel, I’m a human still on earth. You work for the devil!”

“Well I’m going to mock you and say, one, you enjoy me annoying you, I can tell. Just because we haven’t spent time together doesn’t mean you don’t think of me frequently and two, I was human once but now I’m an angel and I do not work for the devil, I work for myself and both God and the Devil send me on missions. I’m a fallen angel, a dark angel because like D. I was a moron and fell from heaven,” he huffed and crossed his arms in offense. “If you want to be stalked by your dad and probably killed, go ahead, I’ll leave if I’m not wanted.”

“Do it,” A.J.’s facial expression towards Kassie was almost parental as he nudged his wrist towards Rider. “Now or I won’t talk to you again.”

Kassie frowned as she watched A.J. for a good minute or two, considering if he really would do that to her just because she wouldn’t apologize, she decided to act dumb and see how far she could get with that, “Do what? Alexander James?”

“Apologize and tell him he’s wanted here to save our asses, Kassandra Katherine,” A.J. shot it back with just as much authority as she had in her words. It stunned Kassie for a moment before she cleared her throat and turned her gaze to Rider, unwanting but willing to do it for the good of A.J. and the need to keep him talking to her.

“Rider,” she started off with a tone in her voice that told him how much she detested telling him this, “You are wanted here, and I am sorry for making it seem like you weren’t. Is that good enough for you, A.J.?”

A.J. looked at Rider who smiled the same way A.J. was before he looked back at Kassie and laughed. “Sounds good to me, Rider can use my bed.”

“No,” Rider smiled as he turned to Kassie and placed his hands out, facing upwards. “I wouldn’t want to steal your bed, A.J. please use your bed, I will stay in Kassie’s room and keep her company. I will make sure no one hurts her as well as you.”

“No,” Kassie said at the same time A.J. agreed with Rider, the rage of betrayal from her young cousin showed in her expression as she turned to A.J. with her back slumped forward in defeat. “Are you kidding me? First you make me give up my eggs, and then you make me apologize and now you want him to stay in my room!”

“Calm down Kassie, I won’t touch you,” Rider held his hands up in defense towards her, he laughed quickly and turned to A.J. with his eyebrows raised. “Tell her she can trust me.”

“I can’t even be sure of that myself, dude,” A.J. shrugged his shoulders and turned to Kassie with another shrug to signal it was up to her.

“Thank you, finally!” Kassie shouted as she threw her arms out towards A.J. and then laid them back in her lap. “I’m not sharing my room with anyone but A.J. so Rider you can have A.J.’s bed for the time you’re here okay?”

“Alright,” he gave in with a sigh of defeat, he pushed against the table and slid his chair out on the hardwood and stood with a large yawn, and he stretched out his limbs. “I’m going to go sleep, call me if you need me.”

“Yeah I’ll defiantly be calling you for help,” Kassie’s tone was sarcastic as she rolled her eyes and stood up from her seat also, she gripped the arm of the chair until she had regained her balance. “I’m going to go lay down, A.J. why don’t you go watch TV or something.”

“Sleep well,” A.J. wished her as she walked away down the hallway, which she leaned against until she made it to her bed and fell out on top of the sheets which were ruffled and unmade.

The whole while that Kassie lay on the bed unmoving, she thought so much she couldn’t get her mind slow enough to let her sleep. Everything flew past her in a rush; she couldn’t concentrate on one thing before something else captured her attention. Her father was back as a demon, which was one of the main thoughts that repeated itself like a broken record in her mind. What could she do about that, he would be a soul, a spirit, a ghost. What can a person do to a ghost? It’s not like Ghostbusters, no proton packs could save her from the murderous man. And then there was the other thought, it wasn’t as important as the one about her father, but it didn’t seem to matter as it pushed others aside and laid on her conscious for a while. Rider, he was staying with her and A.J. to protect her and make sure nothing bad happened to them. But she couldn’t help but be hateful and mean to him, it was something unknown to her why, she couldn’t put her finger on it but it was as if she didn’t want to get to know him or like him because he would leave again and she would be alone. That’s when she got it, the last time she had seen him there was a spark of something teenagers and adults on earth would call chemistry. It had freaked her out then and to this day it still did. She figured it was because he was an angel, a dark one at that that worked for the devil, but finding out he worked for both whenever needed it lessened the awkward tension within her, the one that warned her to stay away from the devil worshiper. She grunted at the aggravation that built higher and higher on her nerves, she wanted sleep and yet it wouldn’t come. A few more minutes of laying there and she slowly began to relax, she felt something warm on her shoulders that loosened the tenseness in her neck. It slowly began to make her sleepy, and the relaxed state she had been placed into worked her into the darkness that she couldn’t wait to enter.

Though it had felt like hours had went by, days had in fact and fast at that. Though A.J. had tried his hardest to trick Rider into using his illusions to make their transportation easier, he had failed when Rider explained that the less of his gift he used the less of a trail he left for Kassie’s father to follow them with, so instead of some nice little blink of the eye ride to the states. Kassie was forced through a nearly day plane ride where they had to stop time after time to break for fuel and food and then board again to do it again a few more times before finally they reached their destination. This happened to be New York City, Kassie walked out of the airport looking like a drowned, sleepless, pissed off rat. On the way out of the baggage claim, someone had pushed rolling suitcase out and she tripped over it and went head first into a mop bucket. Though Rider and A.J. found it hysterical and the best thing they ever received in there life to have seen first hand, she found it annoying and rather aggravating. Rider and A.J. realized that talking to her would end in missing body parts, right after the second person to talk to her ended up getting obscenities thrown at them in the Fijian Hindi language of Fiji. Kassie growled to herself, literally as she stood at the curb with her arm held out, trying to hail a cab for the last ten minutes she had been standing there. “Can I help you?” Rider had stood back for those ten minutes quietly, afraid she would go off on him if he spoke to her, but fortunately she only frowned and nodded her head for him to know his help would be appreciated. Rider smiled sadly as he moved to stand beside her, his right arm raised to hail a cab and his left went around Kassie’s shoulder, a bold move but he figured it was worth a shot.