An Unholy Redemption chapter 4

CHAPTER 4

As the hospital door behind him shut, Lucifer pondered his situation. I have no

money or food. I am a stranger to all and all I have is these clothes I stand in and

this coat draped over my arm.

For the first time in his existence he felt alone. Looking up at the scorching sun, he

remembered the time when he was lying on the rock with the sun above him in the

desert just before the great battle. It was then that he had glorious wings with the

ability to fly, he could command generals and vast armies, and was feared by many.

Now the sun just warmed up his weak corporeal flesh and there was nothing he could

do about it.

 

“You look lost, friend, and that’s a nasty bump you have on your head.” His thoughts

were disturbed by a frail scruffy-looking old man. His clothes were torn and dirty and

he stood there staring at Lucifer with great curiosity and intensity.

“You could say that I am a very long way from home and for the record I’m not yours

or anybody’s friend.”

“Where is home then?”

“Just somewhere out of town.”

He had given up on the idea of trying to explain to people who he was and where

he came from. “Christopher is the name.”

The man weakly held out his hand for a handshake. Lucifer looked down and

noticed the dirty red fingerless gloves he was wearing. He then looked up at the man

again who was extending his arm further. If he wants me to take hold of that he can

think again, mortal flesh is disgusting enough and dirty mortal flesh just intolerable.

Feeling intimidated by Lucifer’s icy stare, Christopher withdrew his hand and wiped

it on his trouser leg.

“I’m not one much for saying hello or greetings either. If you won’t say hello, will you

please indulge an old man’s wishes and let me buy you something to eat and drink?

I know a little café not too far from here and you look a little pale. Maybe it’s all that hospital food you’ve been force fed in there.” Lucifer decided to follow this old man. He had no other leads and this man might have local knowledge which would be beneficial and he didn’t know why but somehow it felt right. As he sat opposite this old man in the café, he smiled at the irony of his situation. The Lord of Darkness was not only being looked after by a mortal, but also by a weak old mortal. Can my humiliation get any worse?

“What are you going to have? I’m afraid I can only afford two coffees as well as a few biscuits, is that okay?”

“Yes I guess so. Can I ask you something, why are you helping me? You don’t even know me.”

“Well, there’s not much love and light in the world these days. Two much killing and blood

spilling. I think a little bit of friendship helps dispel some of the darkness covering the world at the moment. Besides, I had a vision which showed me of a great work I had to do.”

“What vision are you talking about?”

“After the night of a bright shooting star falling from the sky, I was to go to a place of healing, where I would receive a gift from a stranger who was lost.” As Christopher was explaining himself, Lucifer noticed that the old man could not take his eyes off the long coat which he’d got from the charity department in the hospital. “Nice isn’t it?” Lucifer interrupted Christopher’s transfixed gaze. “It was given to me in that hospital, some charity thing.”

“Yes, it’s very nice, but what do you want with a heavy black coat especially on a hot day like today?”

“I like it. Besides it was free, given by some gullible charity person called Simon. It said so on the label. He wanted to comfort someone in a time of need.”

“Hello chaps, what would you like to order?”

They both turned to see a waitress standing beside them, pen and pad poised to record their

order. Christopher ordered two large coffees and some biscuits.

“You do have the money to pay for these don’t you?” She was looking at them suspiciously.

“We’re not a charity, you know.”

“Just get us the damn order, woman.” Christopher slammed the money down on the table and

then smiled at the waitress. Lucifer looked curiously at the man. “Now if you don’t mind, me and my friend here are trying to have a sensible conversation.” The waitress lifted her eyebrows and slowly walked off to place their order. “Service in this place is terrible,” Christopher said. “I don’t come here that much but at least it is cheap. Now where were we? Oh yes, the coat. You say it was donated by someone called Simon to comfort someone in despair? Oh well, perhaps it’s symbolic of the world which is now in a time of great need. I can’t understand why there is so much killing, violence and hatred among humanity. It’s got worse since General Silas’ power and popularity among his people has grown along with his nuclear capabilities. Mark my words, the end is on its way and we are all going to be blown to pieces.” Lucifer watched as the old man started to laugh, showing his black rotting teeth behind his white and yellow stained beard. Lucifer cringed at the black teeth and bad breath in front of him. “Maybe that coat will protect you from the nuclear fallout when we are all dead. Are you sure you want it still?”

 

Lucifer noticed the man staring at it again, which made him pull the coat more closely onto his lap. “Of course I do, I believe it will be of great use in the hard times ahead.”

The waitress came over with their order. “Two coffees and some biscuits, you get extra, cutie, on the house.” The waitress winked at Lucifer as she placed their drinks in front of them. “Will there be anything else?”

“No, we’re fine now, please go away,” Christopher said. The waitress stopped looking at Lucifer, giving Christopher a cold look of disapproval before walking off. Lucifer noticed the old man curiously looking at him stirring his coffee as he added the cream and then the sugar uncertainly in a manner that suggested that he had no clue what he was doing.

“Are you suffering from some amnesia or something? You’ve got a very big bump on your head.”

“Maybe I am suffering from that word you suggested. The bump was courtesy of some mugger who took everything I had.” Lucifer played along with the story. After all, he couldn’t tell his companion that he had the privilege of sitting opposite an ancient, all-powerful angel who in all his existence, had never wanted or needed to eat or drink. He watched and copied everything Christopher was doing and then he put the cup to his lips and drank coffee for the first time. The sugar tasted so sweet, it made his mouth water and he craved even more, adding in total seven teaspoons to his cup. “Steady on, you’ll soon have teeth like mine if you drink that much sugar.” Christopher once again smiled with kind eyes at the curious man in front of him. He thought to himself that this man was like a child learning new things for the very first time. “Did you enjoy that?”

Lucifer was about to answer when his cup fell from his hands, smashing on the table below. A surging pain ran through his head, causing the mark on the back of his head to sting violently.

As he turned his head, trying to avoid the pain, he looked out of the big window of the restaurant towards the sky where he saw a black cloud merging in front of the sun. The cloud grew at a fast rate, causing Lucifer’s heart to beat faster and faster until his mind gave way to a vision. The vision formed into a play enacted in slow motion. He watched as raindrops fell from a darkened sky, falling to the earth and gathering speed until finally coming to a violent stop on the body of a man lying face down in a muddy puddle. Next to this body was Lucifer’s long black coat and a large lifeless tree shadowed the area where he lay. The vision became more lucid as Lucifer saw himself reaching out his hands in order to turn the body over. A bolt of lightning overhead flashed through the sky as Christopher’s face lit up, causing Lucifer to drop his lifeless head in the mud. Blood slowly made its way from the wound still visible on his head like a tiny river until it finally converged into a puddle of perfect circularity. In the dead centre of this puddle was a white card. Lucifer leant forward to pick up the card, but the vision started to fade. The surging pain left Lucifer’s head as he came to from his dream state. As he looked up, Christopher was looking over him with concern and the waitress was holding a glass of water to his lips. “You okay friend?” Christopher said. “We were worried there for a moment, you just collapsed in the chair.”

Clearing his eyes, Lucifer looked outside the window of the café again and there were no dark clouds, just the sun beaming its radiance onto the world. “I still must be feeling the effects of that bump on my head.”

“Do you need to go to hospital again?” the waitress said. “I can drive you, my car is out back.” The waitress was smiling at him again, clearly hoping his answer would be yes.

“No, I’m fine. I just want to get out of here. There is so much for me to do and time is running out. Are you coming?” He looked at Christopher. Lucifer knew he had to have Christopher by his side because the vision symbolised something important and even though this could still be more trickery from God he decided to try and find out more about that card. It was obvious it was of great importance, although to what extent he did not yet know.

“Thank you for asking me to accompany you,” Christopher said. “I don’t have many friends you know and I don’t want to be alone when I …”

Lucifer looked at him curiously, waiting for him to finish his sentence. “When you what?”

“Oh never mind, I am just an old man rambling utter nonsense.”

“Where do you live, Christopher?”

“I don’t have a home as such. I’m what they call homeless, so I spend some of the time sleeping on the streets, but I do have a favourite place to rest my weary head. It’s in a park not too far from here. It’s so quiet there at night away from the traffic, only the company of the stars in the sky to keep me company. Would you like to see it?”

Lucifer’s mind switched back to a memory of the starry night he had won the ancient battle and was sitting on his throne, just before the Most High appeared and wiped out his army imprisoning him. “You look deep in thought, what is your name? I don’t think you have told me yet.” “It’s Luther, but can we please stop with all the questions and especially the romanticising about starry nights. It is making me feel quite sick.”

“Don’t you like beautiful things? I love nature and all the wonderful things God created, but I

suppose we all have different tastes and opinions.”

“Hmm, you are right about one thing. It is okay to have a difference of opinion, me and the Most High don’t see eye to eye and the Almighty up there gave up on me a long time ago, so I suppose we will always have a difference of opinion.”

“Did God let you down, or did you turn against God? All I can say is no matter what God has

done to me, I still have faith and through that faith I made lots of good friends in the past.

Unfortunately those friends have deserted me, but I still keep my faith.” Lucifer ignored his question and watched as the old man looked up to the crystal blue sky. He was breathing in the air and smiling whilst closing his eyes, as if he was remembering friends

and lovers from a time in the past. He sighed, opened his eyes and took hold of the pocket of his jacket as a tear rolled down his cheek. “Look at me getting all sentimental. You must think I am an old fool.”

“What makes you so emotional and what are you holding so intensely in that pocket?”

“Not much really. Some things are better just left in the past. Come on, let’s head for the park. It’s getting late and I could do with a lie down. I’m not as young as I used to be.”

As Lucifer followed behind Christopher, trying to avoid the smell emanating from his worn

and torn clothes, he thought about what was in that pocket. All the signs are there, from the time of Christopher introducing himself, the vision of Christopher’s death. He also wondered how he might kill Christopher, assuming it was him, after God had forbidden him from harming anyone, let alone killing someone. Christopher stopped walking and turned to face Lucifer. He had a kind smile on his face. It was as though he was trying to gain Lucifer’s trust and respect. Lucifer felt sick to the stomach. Why would this stranger be showing a complete stranger kindness? He felt sick because Christopher’s smile was causing him to question something in his mind. He had never before tried to understand

kindness. He had always destroyed it out of hate, now he was being forced to think differently. “I don’t think so,” he said quietly under his breath as he looked towards the heavens. “Over there, look. My resting place,” Christopher said. “Wonderful, isn’t it? A comfy bench next to a rubbish bin where the generous people throw away their unwanted food which makes me a nice supper.” Lucifer watched Christopher rummaging through a rubbish bin. Out the corner of his eye, Lucifer noticed something that made his eyes widen. There stood on the other side of the bench the leafless tree which he had seen in his vision. It was a lot bigger in real life but nevertheless it was exactly the same tree, the length of its trunk split in two, leading into branches bare and hanging down like a skeleton’s hand. Christopher had stopped looking for food and had noticed Lucifer staring intently at the tree.

“Weird isn’t it, middle of summer and no leaves? No one knows why it has never grown leaves. Some say the tree witnessed a tragic and sad event a long time ago and vowed to stay in a state of mourning until that wrong had been put right. Only then it would start to live again.”

“Superstitious nonsense. It does look very odd though, maybe it’s just a reminder of death and stands as a warning to anyone who thinks they can ever be happy.”

“The local people also think that this place is very haunted, which is good for me because they all stay away especially at night, enabling me to have a peaceful night’s sleep. Is it me or is it getting colder? Maybe it’s all this talk of haunting and tragedies. Rain is on the way.”

Lucifer looked up, shading his eyes from the sun and noticed a dark cloud gathering in density and shadowing all beneath it. Christopher had begun to wrap his arms around himself, warming his body from the cool chill floating along on an early evening breeze.

“Yes, a lot colder than I’m used to, it looks like there’s a storm on the way. Don’t you have any shelter for yourself, Christopher?”

“No, it’s fine. I’ve slept in colder conditions than this and a little bit of rain won’t kill me. Anyway, hopefully God will be kind and keep the rain away.”

“I wouldn’t hold your breath. The Most High is not in the habit of listening to peoples’ prayers. Besides I can predict weather and it won’t be long before it is raining and -”

Lucifer stopped what he was saying when he noticed that Christopher’s eyes were fixated on

his long black coat again.

“Why do you keep staring at this coat? You were looking curiously at it earlier in the restaurant.”

“I don’t know, it feels so familiar. Like it should mean something to me. You know when you

meet someone for the first time and it feels like you’ve known them for a lifetime or maybe in

another life?”

“No, not really. When I received the coat the message attached to it said for a friend in a time

of need and was signed ‘Simon’. I once knew a Simon and he was an obedient …” Lucifer was just about to say “servant” when he changed his mind and said “follower”.

“Come Luther sit with me for a while. It looks like you have a troubled mind and need to share the burden that‘s lying heavily on you.” Christopher had outstretched his hand to the park bench nearby. “I will sit for a while, but only if we don’t speak about me and my past. There’s nothing there you want to know. Besides, I can’t remember much anyway.”