Hellhound

Chapter Two

Gunner





I sat there and felt at my chest, unable to believe that my heart was actually beating and then I shifted on the bed as Gunner stepped forward from the shadows and looked me over. He reached out and touched my face, turning it from side to side and then grabbed my wrist and felt my heartbeat, checking it against an elaborate looking watch on his wrist. I narrowed my eyes and jerked my wrist back from him as he grinned and tapped his watch.

“Slow and steady.” He said as I pushed myself back against the headboard. He sat down and tapped my leg under the sheet and my eyes followed his hand and then rose again to stare into his eyes.

“Slow and steady?” I repeated as I looked around the room. The sun was coming into the window and this room was not like the one I had in Hell. I watched a bird fly up to the window and peck at the glass; it then stared me down and made a noise before it fluttered off like some f*cked up children’s story.

“Your heartbeat, it started up again. It stopped when you died, but when you passed the trial it started up again.”

“Trial?”

“Lucifer.” he said.

“Oh shit.” I muttered as he stood up and walked to the window, he pushed the curtain even further back as he let the sun hit his skin. I watched as his muscles flexed in his arm and enjoyed the view. I mean I don’t know what woman would not. Gunner is hot, not normal hot but movie hot. He turned back and I cleared my throat as I rubbed the side of neck, hoping he did not catch me staring like some horny teenager.

“Each Hellhound has to pass the trial with him, to actually become a true Hellhound, the ones who do not become demons.”

“Demons?”

“Like the ones playing games with your ex back there.”

“So they had the chance to become like us?”

“Yes, but they failed miserably, Lucifer was able to draw the poison into himself from their hatred and lack of remorse. I knew you would make it Halo, I could tell from the moment I touched you.”

My mind filled with the memory of how he looked as he held me close to his chest in my apartment. The compassion on his face was what had touched me, his ability to transform from a beast to what he is now. He was obviously capable of mercy, which must have been the redeeming factor for all of us and to ask for forgiveness.

“Thank you.” I said quietly as he walked back to the bed and sat down on the edge of it. The light started to fill the room even more and for the first time I could actually see all of him clearly. His hair was shaggy, but cut jagged above his eyes, blue in color and his arms were muscular as was the rest of him. He had hair on his face, but it was not out of control and wooly, it was half trimmed closer to his skin on both sides of his cheeks, reminding me of an animal, but not one I was fearful of. His eyes were beautiful, but filled with history. A history I could not even imagine seeing that he lived during the time of Caesar. I so wanted to know everything about how he became a Hellhound and before I could ask he stood up and held his hand out to me.

“You are welcome, we need to train.”

I took his hand, it was firm against mine, filling me a sense of safety I had never known before, let alone from a man. I stood up and looked down to see that I was still in my vinyl dress. I grinned and looked back up at him.

“Interesting choice of clothing.” He said to me and I shook my head.

“All I had to choose from was Vinyl everything, this covered more of me than anything else did.”

“Well, you had what you imagined.”

“Wait what?” I said to him as he walked towards the door. He stopped, turned back and looked me over.

“Everything in your trial was what you imagined it to be.”

“No.”

“Yes.”

“I am not a per…” I stopped myself as he grinned at me. I decided to switch gears.

“So was that Hell?” I asked him.

“Oh yes, very much so, but the room and your clothing were all from your mind. It is what you imagined it to be.”

I looked down at the dress and laughed.

“I cannot believe I thought I needed to wear this.”

“Well, was it something that was from your past and made you feel independent?”


I hesitated and then nodded. I mean when I went through my Goth phase I felt most at home, most like myself as I hung out with people who accepted me for exactly who I was. I guess you could say I was happy then, more so than any other time in my life. I touched the dress and then looked up at him.

“I think I like this, I like it a lot.”

“Okay then. Come with me.” he opened the door up and I could hear it all, the yelling and the clanking of metal. I stepped out into the hallway and Gunner started to walk along with me in tow. We reached the end and then he opened a door up to expose a huge atrium, I looked up first to see the glass dome high overhead and then heard the yelling again and looked at a man and women who were fighting. Gunner called out to them and they stopped and turned to stare at us. I stood up straight as the girl eyed me closely and then walked towards us. She looked hardened with battle, almost muscular to a certain degree. She then spoke and the accent was a bit strange to me.

“She is tiny.” She said as she looked me over with distain. Gunner smiled and then crossed his arms on his chest.

“Since when did size matter with you Finna?”

She laughed, a deep bellowing laugh like a man and so did her sparring partner who stepped up next to her and slammed his staff into the ground. It echoed in the room.

“Size always matters.” The man said as she hit him from the side and he stumbled. Gunner laughed and turned to me.

“This is Finna and Ari, they are both Hellhounds, but before that they were Vikings, sometimes I wonder which is more vicious, the Viking or the Hound.”

“Viking!” Finna yelled out as Ari shook his head and stepped up to me. He extended his hand and when I extended mine his grip was harsh and he shook me a bit until I regained my footing. He then looked at my choice in clothing. His was leather, but black and he had a bit of black and brown fur around the collar of his black coat.

“Shiny.” He said as Finna hit him and knocked him aside. She looked me over and then hugged me, picking me up as I tried to breath. She lowered me and I regained my composure as Gunner stepped forward and held his hands up.

“I am happy to say that Halo will be joining in the training, she needs to be brought up to speed so I expect all of you to do your very best to help her.”

Finna walked away as Ari lingered, looking down the length of my body. I raised an eyebrow and placed a hand on my hip as his lip curled into a grin of its own.

“I like your attitude little one.”

“I am not little.” I said as he stepped back and spun his staff in the air, he did a few twists and turns as if he was showing off and Finna rolled her eyes as she stepped up behind him. She reached down and caught his right foot, swinging to the right and flipping him over with the end of her staff. He landed hard on his back as she laughed at him.

“Try thinking like a warrior and not with your cock!” she yelled out and I laughed as Ari did too, everyone but Gunner. He then turned to me.

“Be sure to pay attention to them, your survival depends on it.”

I watched as he walked away, his cryptic message lingering behind him.

I then felt a hand around me and Finna pulled me along with her to the center of the room. I stood there as Ari watched me and then a man stepped up, one I have to say was almost as attractive as Gunner. He seemed to come from out of nowhere. He bowed to me and I watched him as he held his hand out and a sword was placed into it. A sword was presented to me too and I took it as I had no choice.

“Halo, I am Dorin.” his accent dripping in sexy. He must be Romanian, has to be.

“Romanian?” I asked him and he grinned.

“Yes.”

“Don’t tell me, you killed Vlad the Impaler.”

“How did you know?” he asked me and I stepped back with the sword in my hand.

“He is our resident vampire slayer.” Ari said as he laughed and I looked him over, steadying my grip on my weapon.

“Very funny. They seem to think I am an expert in vampires.”

“You kind of are.” I said to him. “I mean Vlad was Dracula.”

“Vlad was not a vampire until he died and then I killed him again.”

“Really?”

“Well, some become demons who come to Hell, I am sure Gunner told you this already.”

“He told me some stuff, I mean I just got here.”

“Well, we all had a choice, we all went through Lucifer’s trial and some become Hellhounds like us, but many fail and become demons, giving into their own evil.”

“So why does Lucifer allow us to exist at all?”

“Oh, it is not up to him little one.” Ari said as he stepped forward.

“How? He rules Hell.”

“Yes, but he does not rule the soul. Freewill, that was a little trick God put in there that makes it impossible for him to just take a soul. Kind of like a failsafe after the fact ‘f*ck you’ his brother did to trip him up.”

“His brother?” I asked and Dorin nodded and spoke up.

“God is not Lucifer’s Father, he is his brother.”

“Wow, so what? This is like some sibling rivalry thing then?”

“You could call it that.” Dorin said as he gripped his sword. “But for now we have to get you ready.”

“Ready for what?”

“Slaying demons of course.” He said and with that he lunged at me.

***

I sat on my new bed as I rubbed my side. I looked down and saw the bruise on it. I assumed when I was sparring that I could not be hurt, but it seems that I can. I heard a tap to my door and I looked up to see Gunner in the doorway with food on a tray. It smelled so good I quickly forgot the bruise and the slight pain that came along with it.

“Hungry?” he asked me and I nodded.

He walked up to me and I smelled the soup in the bowl. Chicken noodle, my favorite. I grinned as if the memory of Mom filled the room. I did love her; she always knew how to make me feel better regardless of what was going on. I guess I could have hated her for what my father did to me, but the truth was he had done far worse to her and when she realized what he was doing to me she left him and took me with her. I always thought of her as my guardian angel and still do, long after she had died from cancer. I eyes became glossy.

“Are you in pain?” he said as he sat down next to me and looked me over.

“No, I was just thinking about my Mom, she did the soup thing.”

“Your Mother is in heaven Halo.”

I then looked up at him. I had never really thought about it after she died as to where she went to. I just knew she was gone for me.

“Thank you for that.” I said to him and he nodded to me. He stood up and turned to leave and I felt compelled to talk to him after all he done for me so far.

“So, how did you end up here, I mean…as a Hellhound.”

He stopped and then turned back to me, hesitating for a minute and then deciding to speak to me, which I appreciated more than I could express.

“As I said before, I helped kill Caesar.”

“Yeah, I mean. If history was correct, which I have to question now, it was an assassination of Julius Caesar and the result of a conspiracy by many Roman senators who called themselves Liberators. Led by Gaius Cassius Longinus and Marcus Brutus, they stabbed Julius Caesar to death in a location adjacent to the Theatre of Pompey on the Ides of March (March 15), 44 BC. Caesar was the dictator of the Roman Republic at the time, having recently been declared dictator perpetuo by the Senate. This declaration made several senators claim to fear that Caesar wanted to overthrow the Senate in favor of tyranny, yet under the guise of avoiding C?sar's tyranny, the end result is that they established a tyranny of their own, as they never restored The Republic. The ramifications of the assassination led to the Liberators' civil war and, ultimately, to the Principate period of the Roman Empire.” I stopped rambling as my geeky knowledge of Roman history had spilled out of me.


“I am sorry, I studied it. I always thought Rome was so interesting.”

Gunner stood there for a minute and then started to walk out again. I got up and followed him to the door and touched his arm. He stopped and turned back, his face looking softer as if the memory bothered him.

“I mean that is the text book story, but what was the truth?”

He took a slow breath and then looked at me. “You seem to have studied Rome well.”

“I did, in school…college I mean.”

“Well, it is true, all of that. We did decide to end his life from fear of a tyrannical state, but my reasons were much more personal.”

“In what way?” I asked him.

“Caesar was a dictator, a ruthless leader. His rule was long and hard. He had no morality, only a lust for power.”

“Sounds like Rome.”

“Not all Romans were devoid of honor.”

I stepped back and shook my head.

“I did not mean any disrespect to you at all.”

He walked to the window and looked out at the starry sky. I followed him as he started to speak to me.

“At the beginning of 44 BC I was starting to come into my own, politically that is, I had hopes of one day leaving the senate and possibly ruling but as I studied politics more and watched the governing body I seriously started to doubt it’s validity. I started to side with the Liberators, of which were led by my friend Gaius at the time. I wanted to fully immerse myself in the political arena, but as my popularity grew so did the attention that I brought upon myself and to my family. At the time it was just my Father and my sister who had survived the last bought of sickness that Rome had endured. My sister never fully recovered from her illness and spent most days in her room resting, she had regained her physical strength, but her mind was weak. When she finally started to feel some strength returning to her she agreed to attend a party that was arranged by Caesar to celebrate the upcoming elections. She came with me as a favor I asked of her. It was against my better judgment.”

He stopped as I stepped up next to him and saw the moonlight on his face. He truly is a beautiful man, so full of compassion and strength. He glanced at me and I looked away as he continued on.

“During the party I was busy trying my best to impress other members of the senate. This was the first time that I met Caesar in person, I mean I had seen him many times, but to have him step up to me and speak was an honor I did not expect to receive. He did so with all the charm of a snake, only to rival Lucifer himself with his ability to weave his lies.”

His tone darkened as he reached up and placed his hand on the glass that separated us from the outside world.

“The party went late into the night and it was not until the morning that I realized that Tercia, my sister, had been raped and half beaten to death. She would not speak for weeks, but when she finally did she only said one word “Caesar”. It was then that I knew what I must do, not only for my country, but for her.”

“Wait, if Tercia was your sister then that makes you…”

“I am Marcus Juneus Brutus.”

“Oh my God, no way.”

He turned to me and raised an eyebrow.

“What is not to believe?”

“I just thought he was older and…”

“We did not have the life expectancy that humans do now, so we did everything much earlier in life.”

“I just can’t believe it, I mean I can. So what happened to you and to your sister?”

“She took her own life, but with regret. I was killed for my sins against Caesar.”

“I am so sorry.”

“There is nothing to apologize for, this is my story, not yours.”

I paused and then asked him one final question.

“So why me, why was I chosen to become a Hellhound?”

“Because a Hellhound fell in battle and it allowed another to step in. You see Lucifer’s only power is how many of us there can be at any given time, other than that he controls nothing past trials. There can only be 5 like the points on his pentagram”

“So one of you died then allowing for me to take their place?”

He walked to my door and opened it up and then turned back to me and nodded.

“Who?” I asked him.

“My sister.” He said and with that he was gone as my appetite faded and my heart ached for his loss.