I changed out of my gown and into a pair of ratty sweatpants and a T-shirt. Walking by my desk to hang up my dress, the bright pink top of my laptop caught my eye. Picking it up, I quietly—I didn’t want to wake Benjamin—turned it on, opening the internet browser. I did a search for the news station’s call letters, KHOU. I stared at the screen for a beat. My heart raced and my insides twisted in knots. I couldn’t believe we finally had a break… We finally had a place to start looking.
KHOU: Channel eleven… Houston.
My hand shook when I reached for the phone. My fingers trembled so violently that I had to redial the phone number twice. The phone rang five times before her voice, thick from sleep, answered.
“Mrs. Roberts? I think Chay’s in Houston.”
28
Abaddon’s End
Monday morning, I walked outside on my way to school when I saw them. Two red bodies stood in the drive, getting soaked by the spring rain. I thought about ignoring them. Then I had the thought of trying to run them down—smashed garden gnomes came to mind. But curiosity got the better of me, and I decided I wanted to know what they had to say more than I wanted to run them over.
“What?” I walked down the driveway, trying to keep my umbrella from blowing away.
Friendly looked at me with wide eyes. He looked scared. “Shh,” he hissed, his finger to his lips. “He’s coming for you, Milayna. You need to leave.”
I rolled my eyes. “Who’s coming? Abaddon?”
“Shh!”
“C’mon, this is getting old. Either come up with a new routine or quit bothering me. I’ve had enough of the both of you. Now go before I run you down with my car.”
“You’ll be sorry.” Scarface laughed just as two puffs of smoke appeared, carrying them back to Hell where they belonged.
Later that night, Benjamin looked outside and whimpered.
“What’s wrong, frog freckle?” I went to him and wrapped him in my arms.
“They’re back.”
I looked out the window. My heart dropped into my stomach. A line of teens stood in the street in front of our house. Nine total, five Evils and four demi-demons. I pulled the drapes closed.
“They’re just acting tough, Ben. There’s nothing to be scared of.” I wiped my sweaty palms on my sweatpants.
I almost believed myself. Then I started having a vision… and I knew there was plenty to be scared of.
I saw a large hole in our backyard. A glowing light shone from the bottom. Gray arms reached out. I could hear screaming and moaning—smell the burning flesh and rot. The angel demons flew in the night sky overhead, cackling like they had the night I faced Azazel. A man walked toward me. I’d never seen him before, but I knew it was Abaddon by the way the demons and hobgoblins cowered as he passed. The Demon of Destruction who everyone was scared of getting on his bad side.
The vision ended with the man, Abaddon, walking toward me. I didn’t see what happened next. I was pretty sure I didn’t want to.
***
It was midnight when my cell phone rang. I grabbed it quickly before it woke Benjamin.
“Hello.”
“Milayna, wake up. The demi-demons are walking toward your house. I’ll call Drew and Jen.”
I jumped up and reached for my shoes.
“Hello, Milayna.”
I slowly turned and stared at the man standing in my bedroom. He was short, no more than five-foot-five, the same height as I was. His graying hair hung in ringlets, falling past his shoulders. He was dressed like any ordinary person would be—in jeans and button-down shirt. In any other circumstance, he would have looked normal, benign even. But standing in my bedroom in the middle of the night was not a normal circumstance, and he wasn’t a normal man. I didn’t need to ask who he was, and I knew screaming wouldn’t do any good.
“Abaddon.”
“That’s right,” he said with a small smile.
With lightning speed, he grabbed me by the hair before I had time to react, flinging me across the room. I hit the wall with a dull thud before sliding to the floor. I saw Benjamin stir. He rolled over, pulling his Spiderman blanket up to his chin and gripping his teddy closer to him. I tried not to cry out. I didn’t want to wake him.
It’s better that he find me missing in the morning and wonder where I’ve gone than see me thrown into Hell’s pit.
Abaddon wrapped his hand around my neck, lifting me off the floor. My feet kicked, trying to find anything to brace themselves against.
“Listen to me and this will go a lot easier on everyone involved. Do as I say and I’ll spare your parents and brother unnecessary pain. I’ll make things easy for them. For you however,” he shrugged one shoulder, “I’m afraid that ship sailed some time ago. I’ve been looking forward to tonight, and I intend to make it worth my wait.”