Page 13 of An Unexpected Ascension
My mouth drops open as I stare at the man that’s stolen every thought inside my head for the last hour. He’s here, standing up on the dais in the middle of the Market, holding my neighbor by the collar of his plaid, button down shirt.
He’s a demon...
“That’s Herm—” Will’s hand darts out, covering my mouth before I can finish my question.
He winces. “Sorry. Just don’t say his name. Don’t call attention to yourself.”
I nod, zipping my lips.
The young woman who bumped into me earlier is just a few feet ahead of me. I can hear her whispering to her friend, or perhaps her mother – who’s to say?
“He didn’t finish his penance, poor Marty.”
“Then it’s his own fault.”
The young girl rears her head as if she’s offended.
The man behind me scoffs. I don’t bother turning around to face him, but I hear every word he grumbles.
“Serves him right. Lazy, lazy man. I heard he had three whole years and wasted nearly half of that.”
Finally, I bring my eyes to Marty’s; his blue and paled with age, sitting in a bed of soft, pillowy wrinkles. He can’t be older than fifty though, with hair that’s not yet fully grey. It’s the first time I’ve laid eyes on him and really took him in. The man looks frail as though life had a way of wearing him down right until the very end.
I suddenly feel sorry for him.
As Marty drops to his knees in prayer, Sarah May appears beside me.
“There you are! Did you see? It’s Marty, that’s the man I was telling you about the other day, the one that doesn’t leave his house anymore. I bet it’s because he knew this day was coming.” She shakes her head and crosses her arms.
“What do you meanthis day was coming?” I ask.
Over all the whispers shared between friends and family in the crowd, I can hear Marty begging and pleading with God to grant him just one more chance, another day.
My stomach sinks because I have a feeling I know what Sarah May meant.
The demon threads his hand through Marty’s hair, yanking back.
Gasps burst from the audience and the rest of the noise fades to silence.
“Marty Vincent O’Connel, it’s been 1,098 days since you were assigned your penance and as of today, your time has expired. You did not repent for your sins; therefore, you are no longer welcome in Heaven. Your God no longer accepts you as an angel in his house. You are hereby banished to Hell for all eternity. Any last words?”
“No, please. I’m begging you! You can’t do this. I was so close to finishing my penance!”
“I don’t make the rules. Your God does. Beg him.”
“I-I tried!”
“Yet, he’s not here to save you, is he?”
I watch horrified at the sheer panic in Marty’s terrified gaze as he realizes no one is going to help him.
“What of my wife when she passes? She’ll never find me. She’ll be all alone here in Heaven!” he stammers. “My-my children?”
My neighbor pleads with the demon to sympathize with him, to take pity on him and his family, but the more he cries, the less patience the demon seems to have.
I find myself grabbing hold of Will’s forearm, squeezing as hard as the grip around my heart for a man I barely knew. That little movement seems to catch the demon’s attention, his eyes snapping directly to me.
I want to hide, to shove Will in front of me and use him as a human shield. Whatever flutters that man gave me earlier have turned into a roiling sickness in the pit of my stomach. He scares me, and as I watch this scene unfold further, I begin to hate him.
