The Destroyer

"Hey man, you'll never believe who I did last night."

Landon Cullen cringed as he heard Nick Carter, number one school pretty boy, gloat to the rest of the football team.

"Man, you're always doing someone." One of the players said.

"Or something." Another added.

They all laughed. Landon pushed his way to his locker, attempting to ignore the others. He was hoping they wouldn't notice him this time. Being slammed into a locker didn't seem like a good idea to him for today. He'd probably lose his illusion and expose his true self.

"Ally Melvin." Nick grinned, turning to stare at the surprised looks of his friends. Landon resisted the urge to glance in the opposite direction.

"Dude, no way! That girl's a total Jesus freak."

"Yeah, doesn't she have some purity ring or some shit like that?"

"Not anymore." The linebacker smirked.

Landon's jaw clenched. He was having trouble keeping his cool while opening his locker. He wanted to slam the door into some of the guys as they high fived and fist pumped Nick. He wanted to throw his few books at all of their heads and stab them each in the eyes with his pencils. His teeth throbbed to tear apart each of their throats.

There was no way in hell that Ally Melvin, his best friend, would've done anything with Nick. She couldn't stand the linebacker being in the same room as her. There was just no way that the girl he'd known in this life, his love, would do anything with that ass wipe. It just wasn't possible.

Landon quivered as he closed the small door and weaved through the crowd of boys. Glancing of over someone's shoulder, he noticed the shaking form of a blonde running around the corner into the next hallway. Ally.

"Hey, Cullen! Tell your girl I'd love to see her again sometime!"

Landon lifted the one finger salute behind him as he chased the girl around the corner. He'd kill each and every one of those jackass football players, slow and painfully, after he made sure Ally was okay. If Nick had dared to lay a hand on her, without her consent, there'd be hell to pay.

"Ally!" He called out to her, gently grabbing her elbow to stop her running.

She choked back a sob when she heard his deep bass voice. Landon wasn't supposed to find out. Hell, nobody was supposed to find out, not even her. The GHB in her drink just happened to have worn off about fifteen minutes before it was supposed to. Ally wouldn't have even known her attacker if she hadn't slipped the blind fold off her eyes as Nick was leaving. She couldn't even figure out what had just happened until she realized her pile of clothes on the floor and her aching crotch.

"Leave me alone, Landon. Just leave me alone." She whispered, trying to pry his fingers off her arm.

"I'm leaving until I know you're okay."

"I'm fine, Landon. I just want to be left alone."

Landon sighed, his voice quiet and broken, "You're crying."

"It happens sometimes." Ally looked at her feet.

Landon lifted her chin with two fingers to look at him. His heart broke as mascara stained tears ran down her face. Her normal hazel eyes were red and puffy, while a purple bruise she'd vainly tried to hide with cover-up sat plain as day on the side of her forehead. How anyone could hurt someone like Ally infuriated him. He held her five foot five inch frame as close as he could to his over six feet build.

"I didn't know." Ally mumbled into Landon's chest after a while. "I was only there because Melanie wanted me to go with her. I sipped from a water bottle I brought from my house."

She started crying, her breaths becoming shorter and closer together. "The next thing I knew I couldn't see. I couldn't move. But I hurt. It hurt so much. I... I thought it would never end."

Landon shushed her as he rubbed her back. "Shh... You're okay now. I've got you. I'm here."

He kept mumbling sweet nothings in her ear, attempting to calm her down. He'd never been so torn in his life. He wanted to murder Nick, climb into bed and cry for Ally, and take away all her pain at the same. He was angry and heartbroken all at the same time, yet he had to hide it all at the moment. His best friend needed him right now.

"He'll never so much as lay eyes on you again." Landon kissed the top of her head, holding her even tighter, if that were possible.

"I promise."

*****

Landon stared at the town house before him, his face void of any emotion. Teenage couples making out littered the lawn, people could be seen dancing through the windows, and loud Hip-Hop music could be heard from down the street. The boy tried not to sneer at the empty water bottles scattered all over the grass. It had taken him over three hours to calm Ally down, all because of some powder slipped into hers.

Landon scanned the lawn for his target, his fingers filing through one of the pockets in his cargo pants. Pulling out a baggie of crushed prescription medicine, he balled it in his fist so it wouldn't be visible and made his way over to the linebacker. Nick was too preoccupied with his new girl to notice Landon pour the powdered pills into his glass of hard liquor and leave to sit on the front porch.

He smirked as he watched the athlete down the rest of contents in his red plastic cup. It didn't take long for Nick's moves to get sloppy and anger the red head beside him. She slapped his checks as he passed out on her chest. Disgusted, the girl shoved him off and stormed into the house.

Perfect, Landon thought as he dragged Nick into the wood surrounding the house. Anyone who could have noticed was too drunk, too high, or too distracted to stop him or even realize what he was doing. Halfway to his destination, Landon stooped to drag Nick by the shoulders instead of his feet since his head was bouncing off of all the forest's rocks or trees. Can't have him die to early.

Nick started to come too as Landon was finishing duct taping him to a thick tree. He made sure to cut off any of the clothing his fingers might have touched. He would burn them later, along with the rest of the evidence. He smiled at his handy work. The football player's feet were taped together, his legs taped to the tree just above his knees, and Landon pulled his arms behind his back, in a reverse hug towards the tree, and taped them together and to the tree. He'd even blind folded Nick just to scare him a little more. He loved to succumb to his demon desires.

Nick groaned, "What the hell is going on? Why the hell am I tied to a fucking tree? What kinda psycho are you?"

Landon snickered. He was already feeling his canines grow sharper, which meant his normally brown eyes were red by now. He felt hotter than normal and his back burned, signaling his wings were trying to escape the flesh cage of his back. Landon ripped his black long sleeved shirt off, exposing the glowing red outline of wings on his back, before speaking.

"It's Judgment Day, Nick, and I can assure you that you won't be going up above."

The athlete stilled, "Cullen? Is that you, ya freak? Stop this sick game you're playing or I swear-"

"Swear what?" The demon smirked, even though he couldn't see him. "You'll pummel me? You'll steal my homework? Get your so called friends to beat me up?" He tore the bandana from Nick's eyes.

"Look around. Nobody's here. Just me and you. And trust me, your time is limited."

Nick's eyes widened, taking in the sight of Landon. He was getting paler by the minute, and the athlete couldn't remember if his eyes had always been that red, or his teeth that sharp. Whoever Landon thought or what he was scared Nick to death, but he couldn't let the thing know that. He was Nick Carter, and nobody disobeyed him.

"What are you talkin' about Cullen? Stop this sick charade and let me go. Now."

Landon picked up a steak knife from the pile he'd collected earlier. They weren't his first choice, but it was all he'd had on hand. He stalked closer to Nick, circling the tree. "I don't answer to you, Nick. Never have, never will."

He slashed at the boy's side, loving the cry of pain he made. "I don't answer to anybody, not even God, Nick."

Pausing, he placed a finger to his check in thought, "Well, I guess I did, at one point. But that time is almost forgotten now, since it was millions of years before your time."

Nick gasped, feeling the blade pierce his skin over and over again, deeper and deeper each time. Whatever this Cullen kid was on scared the shit out of him, and he feared for his life.

"Come on now, Landon, let’s stop this game. It's now very fun, in fact, I think it's illegal. But if we stop now, I promise I won't tell the cops."

"I think this is very fun," Landon cut tape above his ankles and pulled it off, "It may not be for you, but it won't matter in an hour. You'll be in Sheol, or as you know it, Hell."

He stabbed the knife through his thigh pinning it to the tree. "Now, isn't this fun, Nick? You have a whole eternity to learn that it's fun."

"What are you?" Nick managed to croak. He watched the thing jerk the blade from his leg, making blood project all over his chest. He also watched him lick it from his skin, a disgusted look about his face.

"Your blood is one of the worst I have ever tasted in my existence." Landon pranced around the body stabbing, slashing, and cutting the flesh as he pleased, watching the athlete try to hold in his screams. "Do you want to scream? Let it out because no one will hear you."

He stopped in front of Nick, cockily grinning. "What I am, you say? I am many things, but one of them is most definitely not human." He struck a pose, "I am Abaddon, and before you ask what it is, it is my name, given to me by God himself. It means 'to perish'."

Abaddon continued his slicing spree, "I used to be an angel. But good is not what I am for. I am The Destroyer, and you'll soon see that I can only answer to another fallen angel named Lucifer, or as you may know, Satan."

"Fucking freak," Nick muttered, not succeeding in ignoring his pain. He was surprised he hadn’t passed out yet.

"It's time." Abaddon groaned in satisfaction.

The linebacker watched in horror as the fallen angel kneeled on the ground, chanting in some foreign language. Gusts of wind swirled around the two as the glowing outline of wings extended from Abaddon's back before bursting from the flesh. The slightly tanned, shredded skin disappeared from his back, leaving silky, black feather wings and pasty white skin that seemed to glow behind. If he didn't look sinister enough already, the demon radiated fear and despair.

Abaddon cut off all the tape and removed it from Nick's body, "I've had my fun, now it's time. Either you go the easy or the hard way."

He watched as the athlete tried to flee the scene with multiple gashes all of his body. The boy wouldn't get far, so Abaddon would take his time. Using his palm, he set the rags of clothing on fire, along with the tree and anything else he felt like. He was The Destroyer after all. He had to keep up with appearances.

Show Time

Abaddon flew forward, a sly grin on his face, after hearing the loudest cry of pain Nick had been able to muster. He could see the jock lying behind some bushes, trying to quiet his heavy breathing. He could hear his heart racing in fear.

Silently kneeling on the ground, he crept towards the boy. Leaning into his ear, Abaddon whispered, "Time is up, Nick."

Nick's jaw dropped, but it never got the chance to scream. Abaddon ripped his head from his shoulders with one hand and mouth. Dropping the skull on the ground, he watched Nick's lone sprit burst into flame. He'd be closer and closer to hell with each burn his soul could take.

The fire he'd set earlier had begun to reach the part of the forest they were in. As flames dancing over and around him, Abaddon tore Nick's limbs apart, dropping them on the ground to be consumed by the heat. He took off his cargo pants and the mundane boxers he wore to keep up his human charade and dropped both of them in the flames. He may not answer to God now, but if he happened to reveal his true self, there'd be hell to pay from both Lucifer and God.

Abaddon let the flames lick his skin for a bit before he flew away. Nick would never, ever hurt Ally again. Even if he worked for Satan, the fallen angel would never hurt anyone as innocent as Ally. He may be The Destroyer, but he only destroyed things that were going to Hell anyway.