Don't Threaten Me With a Good Time

Kenneth sits in Jake’s apartment. The phone in his hand sits idle with the taller demon’s name hung at the top and the last message sent at the bottom. He doesn’t know what to say to Jake. It’s been days. That stubborn son of a bitch got on his nerves, but at this point, he’s over it. Whatever Jake has done, Kenneth knows it’ll be a mess to clean up or the start of something big. He couldn’t push his best friend away for long, no matter what may come.
He takes the phone with two hands, preparing to type a message. The word ‘sorry’ sits in the text box for a good minute. Before he clicks send, there’s a knock at the door. Kenneth immediately thinks it’s Jake, so he prepares a small apology speech in his head. When he opens the door, it’s the demon from last time that escorted him and his best friend to hell.
Kenneth sighs, “What?”
The demon says, “Cloud has requested an urgent meeting.”
“Think I’m gonna wait for Jake. He’d probably want to see both of us.”
“I believe it’s about Jake.”
Kenneth tilts his head in confusion, “Okay.”
The demon gives Kenny a nod before both of them head out.
As Kenneth walks down the long stretch of hallway, he goes back to wondering what kind of shit Jake got himself into. When Cloud is in view and makes eye contact with the black eyed demon, he stands.
“Harris, I have bad news.”
Kenneth swallows hard, “What is it, sir?” He slows down his steps as he arrives a few feet in front of Cloud.
“Sinclair is dead.”
The words manifest as a heavy ache in the black eyed demon’s chest. He can’t respond.
Cloud continues, “He managed to inject Urie. Patrick got a hold of him and killed him at some point soon after. Now, too much time has passed. The atmosphere hasn’t changed. Something must have gone wrong.”
There’s defeat in the red eyed demon’s eyes. He continues, trying to radiate that passionate anger that always trembled inside him, “Take one of the vials from the apothecary. You will get a sample of Brendon’s blood and bring it back to me immediately.”
“Yes, sir.” Kenneth replies, heading to the apothecary. What if Brendon was set back in his transformation? What if it killed him? The amount of scenarios were endless. If he didn’t ponder that, he would go back to thinking about Jake. That dumb son of a bitch got himself killed.
As Kenneth manifests back in the apartment, he hears the phone ring. The caller I.D. said it was Zack. He picks up.
“What’s up?”
“Bad news… really bad.” Zack says in a low tone.
“What happened?” Kenny questions.
“Sarah… she’s dead.”
“Oh my god.” Kenneth says, not in response to her death, but why she died. It could have factored into Brendon’s injection. The events were so close together, it’s couldn’t have been a coincidence.
The conversation between Zack and Kenneth lasts a few more moments. Funeral plans and memorial services are brought up. This makes Kenneth question if there was even a good time to retrieve Brendon’s blood. He didn’t want to take the trip to hell just to tell Cloud that there had to be time for a mourning period. As much as the black eyed demon’s apathetic tendencies prevailed, this scenario is significant. Subtle blood drainage was something Kenneth was never taught, so he has to make the compromise. He wants to observe what’s to come before blowing his cover.
Kenneth arrives at the funeral. He watches Brendon throughout this time, noticing the broken shell of a man. Nothing glowed in his eyes. Kenneth gives his condolences. A simple pat on the shoulder could have turned into a moment of blood drainage. Impatience starts to arise in the demon, because it seems as though the answer is painfully obvious. There couldn’t have been anything demonic left in the musician’s soul.
The service continues and he glances at the closed casket. Sarah… her life taken by Brendon as far as the reports went. The one person so close in the musician’s grasp only to get killed after being injected by something to bring his demonic self completely to the surface. What remained was a tear filled man. Nothing factored together…nothing made sense. She was just a random human after all.
Kenneth doesn’t go to the memorial service, instead he comes across Jake’s car behind the abandoned lot of the entrance to hell. Why he didn’t see it earlier before he entered would be something that would bother him for the next eternity.
Kenneth lounges on the couch with the empty vial in his hand. Brendon couldn’t have been preoccupied now since it was a day after the memorial service. He takes out his phone and calls the musician.
“Hello.” Brendon says, still in the same dreary voice.
“Hey Brendon. Would it be fine if I stopped by for a while? I know being alone can sometimes help heal wounds, but company can do the trick just as well.” The black eyed demon isn’t great with words, but he hopes that it’s convincing.
“People tell me that. Sure, why not.” Brendon says.
“Great. I’ll be over in a bit.” Kenny finishes.
Kenneth gets to Brendon’s door, trying to contemplate more words of sympathy to toss towards the musician. He rings the bell, and Brendon is quick to answer. The musician shows Kenneth in as they both sit down on the couch in the livingroom.
“Thanks for dropping by.” Brendon says, taking his bottle of beer from the coffee table and raising it to his lips.
“No problem, I wanted to make it up to you, missing the memorial service and all.”
Another drink. Slow pause, “Spencer ended up spending the night. He left an hour ago.”
“That’s good.” Kenny nods.
“Yeah.” Brendon weakly smiles.
The silence is awkward. Kenneth just wants to get the job done and leave. He says, “Can I get a drink?”
“Oh, yeah. Sorry for not offering earlier.” Brendon says, getting up off the couch.
Kenneth follows him into the kitchen. While the musician’s back is turned, the black eyed demon takes out the vial, shoving the tip into Brendon’s shoulder. Brendon yelps in pain, slightly hunching over as the blood flows up into the tube. Kenneth removes it and just as Brendon turns around, he manifests in front of the door to hell.
Kenneth stands in front of the red eyed demon, holding out the vial.
“I told you immediately, damn it!” Cloud curses.
He quickly takes it, flipping it upside down to take off the tip. He then sticks his soot dusted index finger inside, pulling out some of the viscous substance. He rubs it between his fingers before touching it to his tongue. Disappointment and anger spill across Cloud’s face as he viciously throws the vial against a wall.
“Human!” Cloud yells, proceeding to clench his fists, “Impossible…”
“Very, sir.” Kenneth responds, fairly shocked at the confirmation of his assumption. The whole purpose of Cloud’s army would now be in shambles.
“How could this happen?” Cloud exclaims, standing from his throne.
“I don’t know…” Kenneth responds earnestly.
“That’s not good enough!” The red eyed demon exclaims, creating a fireball from his palm. He shoves the flamed sphere in Kenneth’s direction, lighting the black eyed demon on fire.
Cloud sits back on his throne, quickly losing all sense of purpose while staring at the pile of dust in front of him. After years of obsessively cultivating members to follow an ancient prophecy… it’s all for not.
~~~
Brendon stares at the empty room around him. His dogs run in, excited by his commotion. He touches his arm, seeing the blood on his fingertips. Kenny was a demon too. He shakes his head in disappointment. There’s no more room to be shocked; no more room to question. Every day has been hell, and his friends could turn on him as much as they want. Nothing else could hurt him anymore. He couldn’t be repaired, even after spilling his guts to Spencer.
He stands in the same spot, letting the blood make a small trail down his arm. Out of all the truths presented to him, the biggest mystery was why Sarah gave up her life. Out of all the people in the world… she should have never been touched. She will haunt him for the rest of his sad life.
He lazily wipes up the blood before putting a bandaid over his wound. The company of his dogs is fairly bothersome as he sends them out in the backyard with some treats. He then slowly walks to his piano; his fingers gently dance over the keys.
“Whether near or far, I am always yours…” He sings.
Suddenly, a white light starts to glow from his front yard. He turns in the direction of the front door as the bright light grows stronger. He has to shut his eyes for a moment. When he opens them, a figure is standing in the room. Huge white wings fill the atmosphere, gusting a cool breeze. Brendon squints, trying to get a better look at the being.
Sarah’s face comes into frame. She’s dressed head to toe in flowing silk.
“Oh my god.” Brendon whispers as tears immediately threaten to leave his eyes.
“Hello Brendon.” Sarah says, with a warm smile spread across her face.
Brendon tries to stand, but only manages to collapse at her feet. All he can do is stare at her with awe. She comes closer, bringing him in. His arms wrap around her, and it’s as though she’s made out of clouds. Completely soft and gentle.
She takes his hands and helps him to his feet. He says, “You’re an angel, h-how?”
Sarah replies, “God chose me to watch over you. I was meant to save you from destroying the world. My life for your humanity.”
“This whole time?” Brendon says, holding her gentle hand.
Sarah’s free hand strokes the side of his face, “I didn’t truly know until you left that day.”
He begins to cry, “I just want you back. Come back to me.”
“One day we’ll see each other again.” She smiles, tears building in her own eyes.
“I love you…” Brendon whispers.
“I love you too.” Sarah replies.
They pull each other in for one more embrace. Her essence grows stronger around him. Powerful yet comforting, passionate yet cool. It’s as though, after all this time, he can breathe again.
“Promise me you’ll keep on living. Find your happiness again. I’ll always be with you.” She says softly in his ear.
His palms remain on her light velvet waist, “I promise.”
Her hands slowly glide through the air and cup his cheeks. She places a cool kiss on his forehead and Brendon melts into the sweet embrace. He shuts his eyes, taking in all of her presence. When he does manage to open his eyes again, the wondrous atmosphere has since dimmed and she’s gone.
He touches the wedding band around his finger before reiterating his words,

“I promise…”