Chapter 9: Slut Dogs From Hell

 

Higher Hell

Chapter 9: Slut Dogs From Hell

 

The next day I went to work with Gabby. With the Freaky Guy out there somewhere, I didn’t want to leave her alone for a minute. He might’ve been after me, but I wasn’t going to take the chance of him going after Gabby to get to me.

Gabby worked at a cool little music shop called The Trash Bin. They sold used instruments, CDs, records, band t-shirts, posters, etc. I loved the place as soon as I walked in.

Gabby had pulled out a few CDs for me to listen to as loud as I wanted on a set of headphones. The Jesus and Mary Chain, The Sex Pistols, Bauhaus, The Cramps, Rob Zombie, The Damned, and a handful of others were scattered around me as I sat on the floor letting their sounds rocket around inside my head.

Occasionally, guys would come in to jam on the used guitars, basses, and drum kits.

Now I understood why Gabby wasn’t freaked out by my demonic appearance. The guys filing through the store could’ve passed for demons back in Hell. Just slap some wings or horns on them and they’d fit right in. All tattoos and piercings and fucked up hair cuts. They were pretty cool.

I liked listening to the guys jamming on the equipment.

Some were pretty good.

Most sucked.

But either way, I liked it.

By the middle of the day, I’d started fiddling around on a guitar myself. A big black and silver sucker with f-holes like two demonic grins. I didn’t know what the hell I was doing, but I made some awesome noise with it.

It was then that a guy walked in and made a b-line for the counter where Gabby stood.

“Hey, hey, Gabby! How ya doin’?”

I saw Gabby roll her eyes. The guy didn’t see it. He was too busy staring at other parts of Gabby’s body.

“Hi, Rash.” she said very unenthusiastically.

“Rash?”

Was that this guys name?

He looked at me, a little startled.

“Oh, shit! Sorry, dude. Didn’t see ya there.”

He looked back and forth between me and Gabby a few times, waiting.

Gabby sighed.

“Cas, this is Rash. He’s a regular.”

Rash looked pretty much like all the other guys that had been in and out of the store. Torns jeans, a faded black ‘Austin 3:16′ t-shirt, several tattoos and piercings. He had short blonde hair, but the hair on top of his head was gelled up in a green faux-hawk. I was getting a vibe off Gabby that she didn’t really like this guy.

“Hey! You play, dude?” he asked as he strolled over to me, pointing at the guitar in my hands.

“Nah. I’m just fucking around.”

“Let’s hear some!”

I shrugged.

I started strumming and picking, trying to make sounds like I’d been listening to all morning. The amp roared and screeched and moaned before letting loose a wicked squall of feedback. I could keep a rhythm, but it was hardly a tune.

Rash bobbed his head and tapped a foot to it with a toothy grin.

“Dude! You rock! Really avant garde, man! You gotta cool Sonic Youth kinda thing goin’.”

He suddenly got a wild eyed look and his voice got pleadingly serious.

‘You gotta join my band, dude! I could really use you! What d’ya say?”

Is this guy for real?

I shrugged again.

“Whatever.”

“Cool!” He tried to give me some complicated kind of handshake, but he screwed it up.

“What’d ya say your name was?”

“Call me Cas.”

Rash wandered off to look at some PA equipment. I put the guitar down and went over to Gabby at the counter.

“Heh heh. Guess I’m in his band now.”

Gabby smirked.

“Yeah, right. Rash doesn’t really have a band. He’s always trying to get people to join his band, but it’s all talk.”

She shouted across the room to him.

“Hey, Rash. What’s your band called again?”

He perked up his head from what he was looking at like a puppy that’s heard a new sound.

“Slut Dogs From Hell.”

“Slut Dogs From Hell?” I repeated with a raised eyebrow.

“Yeah! Cool, ain’t it? Ya got your sex with the ‘slut’ part, and ya got your dark, evil shit with the ‘hell’ part, and you can’t go wrong with throwin’ a ‘dog’ in there! It’s perfect, don’t ya think?”

He flashed a toothy grin again and went back to fiddling with the knobs on an amp.

“Is he retarded or something?” I muttered to Gabby.

She had to stifle a giggle.

“No. He’s just stupid. And unfortunately, he’s got a crush on me.”

“Heh heh heh! Lucky you. So, why’s he called Rash? His parents stupid too?”

“His real name’s Charlie. He thinks Rash is a cool, tough, punk kind of name. A lot of the other regulars pick on him about it. They call him Diaper. That’s why he waits to come in when they’re not here.”

Gabby and I shared a little chuckle at Rash’s expense, but had to cut it short as he walked up and leaned on the counter.

“Hey, Rash. I hear you have a bit of a crush on Gabby here.” I said with a covert wink at her.

Gabby looked horrified that I would bring that up in front of her.

Rash, on the other hand, looked positively pleased. He gave her a sly look.

“Gabby always seems to be too busy whenever I ask her out. But just you wait! One of these days, when I’m a big time rock star, she’s gonna wanna get a little Rash!” he said with another wink at Gabby.

It was all I could do to keep from laughing at him.

He saw me fighting down a laugh and suddenly got really nervous and embarrassed.

“Oh, shit! You two ain’t…I mean, you and Gabby aren’t, uh, together, are you?”

“No, no. Nothing like that. I’m Gabby’s, um…”

“Cas is my…my brother!” Gabby covered for me.

“Oh! That’s cool. Hey, I gotta get goin, Cas. We gotta get together and jam sometime! Have a band practice!”

“Yeah, sure.” I lied.

And on that day, the Big Guy will be figure skating around his Throne Room!

“See ya, Gabby.” He gave that toothy grin and ogled Gabby’s body one last time before leaving.

“Well, he’s one pathetic little loser, ain’t he?” I said.

“You have no idea.”

I thought for a moment.

“You know, it’s an interesting idea. Me being in a band, I mean. I would like to actually learn to play that thing.” I jerked a thumb over my shoulder at the big black and silver guitar.

Gabby smiled.

“That would be cool. Just not with Rash. You could get your friend, Gamygyn, to play too and call yourselves The Demons.”

The grin fell from my face.

Oh, yeah.

I hadn’t told Gabby yet.

“Gamygyn won’t be joining me in anything. With all the shit with your Dad last night, and the shit with that Freaky Guy following us, I forgot to tell you. Gamygyn’s dead.”

Gabby’s jaw dropped in shock.

“What?! How? When did it happen?”

I really didn’t want to talk about it, but Gabby deserved an explanation.

“I went to wait for him in the alley behind your Dad’s club like he’d asked. But when he showed up…I don’t know how it could’ve happened. He was beat all to hell. His wings were missing.” I sighed with the weight of the memory. “I saw him die and turn to ashes right in front of me.”

“Oh, Cas. I’m so sorry.”

I shrugged. Her consoling voice felt good to me. Reassuring. But I still hated feeling like this.

“He couldn’t tell you anything before…you know?”

“He tried to tell me about your Dad’s deal with the Big Guy, but it was too hard to understand him.”

Gabby looked curious.

“I didn’t think you guys could be killed.”

“If we’re in our Human form, we can be hurt if we don’t change back in time. In our regular bodies, only another being from our World can hurt us.”

“So which happened to Gamygyn?”

“Well, there was another demon gaurding your Dad last night. He said a couple of Human thugs attacked him before he could transform. I think they were a couple of your Dad’s boys. Though he claimed he’d never seen or heard of Gamygyn.”

“Well, you can’t necessarily believe what my father says.”

Gabby looked away with a sort of guilty look in her eyes. I could tell she felt bad that her own father might have been responsible.

Ridiculous.

She had no reason to feel guilty about anything that asshole does.

“What bothers me most,” I said. “Is that nobody’s come from Hell to tell me what to do now. My mission has been changed, but all the other demon could tell me was that I’m supposed to stay in this World and wait. How am I supposed to complete my mission when I don’t know what I’m here for?”

After the store closed for the night, Gabby took me out to dinner at a little all night sushi place she said was her favorite. It wasn’t bad. Not as good as that ‘magically delicious’ shit, but I liked it. We sat there downing little cups of tea and talking about the music she’d shown me, and the music and movies she still wanted to show me, until pretty late. By the time we started walking home it was almost midnight.

The streets were pretty empty in this part of town.

We saw a few cars and people go by, but they became rarer and rarer sights as we walked along.

The quieter it got, the more I started to get that feeling we were being watched again. My senses were all on alert for any sign of that Freaky son of a bitch to show up again.

It wasn’t until we were about halfway home that I thought I noticed something.

I couldn’t tell what it was, but something didn’t seem right.

I listened hard.

Our footsteps echoed off the buildings around us.

Was that it? Just an echo?

I slowed my pace.

Gabby started to get ahead of me. She didn’t seem to notice anything.

I looked hard into the shadows up the street and in the alleys and doorways we passed.

Nothing.

Something still didn’t sound right.

I came to a stop.

It was still there.

I turned around.

There!

The fucking Freaky Guy again!

All tangled black hair and dirty ragged clothes. His oversized boots clompped awkwardly on the sidewalk.

He was walking towards me.

Come on you son of a bitch! Come and face me this time!

I folded by arms across my chest and waited, annoyed, for him to get close.

This is it. This fucker’s goin’ down.

The Freaky Guy started speeding up, a hungry look on his face.

He broke into a jog, coming at me faster.

I braced myself and prepared to take my demonic form at just the right moment. I’d show him just who he was fucking with! The corner of my mouth curled up in a grin at the thought.

Poor bastard won’t know what hit him.

He was full on running now. He was about to slam right into me.

And I was ready for him.

At the last second, as I was about to change, he dodged around me with agility I hadn’t expected and shoved me from the side with surprising strength for such a skinny guy.

I lost my balance and fell over the curb into the street.

He didn’t even look at me.

In fact, he’d run right past me without stopping or even slowing down, running straight for-

“Gabby!”

She stopped and turned at my shout. Her eyes went wide and her mouth fell open at the sight of the wild haired, dirty freak bearing down on her.

I scrambled to get up. Equal parts fear and anger built in me as I watched the Freaky Guy leap the last few steps and knock Gabby flat on her back on the hard cold concrete.

His speed had worked against him. He hit the ground just beyond where Gabby fell and rolled several feet down the sidewalk.

Gabby had got back unsteadily to her feet by the time the Freaky Guy jumped up and ran back at her. He grabbed Gabby by the shoulders and pinned her against the building.

He was almost trembling with some kind of furious excitement. I heard that weird sniggery cackle come from him.

Gabby was screaming.

“Get away from her!” I bellowed.

Finally on my feet, I charged at the Guy, ready to shoulder block him out of the way.

He moved just enough so that I didn’t knock him down as hard as I’d hoped. He staggered back and fell to one knee. The twisted grin disappeared from his face and he glared at me, his features contorted in that look of pure hatred I’d seen before.

As he stood up, Gabby screamed “Run!”, grabbed me by the hand, and dragged me with her up the street. I held tight to Gabby’s hand as our feet pounded the pavement.

Damn it! I’d wanted to face him, but I wanted to get Gabby to safety too. I hated running away from a Human like this! Like I was actually afraid of him!

But I didn’t need to look back to know he was chasing after us.

At the end of the block, Gabby yelled “This way!”, and I let her pull me to the left down another street.

She knew this city a hell of a lot better than I did. I hoped she had a plan of where she was going.

Uh-oh…

I think I know what she’s thinking!

The spires of the big fucking gray stone church were emerging from the darkness down the street.

She pulled me across the road, still running as hard as she could.

She doesn’t plan on taking me in there does she?

Gabby veered, pulling me along, and bounded up the stone steps.

Oh, yes she does!

Gabby wrenched on the door handle and swung it open.

I froze.

“Get in! Hurry!”

“I- but, I don’t know if I can!”

“Get the fuck in there! We’ll find out if you can!”

She was pushing on me with all her strength, trying to shove me through the doorway.

I took a nervous glance inside, then one behind us.

The Freaky Guy was charging full speed across the street.

“Shit!”

I grabbed Gabby by the arm and we dove through the doorway into the dark church.

I pulled the door shut hard and held it just as the Freaky Guy reached the steps.

The door shuddered as he slammed into it. I heard a strangled cry of rage as he kicked the door, and then I heard that weird sniggery cackle come, muffled, through the wood.

Everything went quiet.

Gabby was leaning against the wall, a hand on her chest, gasping for breath. Sweat covered her face and she was trembling.

I still held on to the door handle. My heart was beating so hard and fast it felt like a rubber ball bouncing around in me.

I’m in a church!

I’m standing in a ‘House of God’!

Oh, shit.

I don’t like this.

I shouldn’t be here!

This is so, so wrong!

What’s going to happen to me?

I was fully ready for the Old Man to come down and destroy me right where I stood.

“Cas!” Gabby whispered.

I was so tense, the soft whisper made me jump.

I let go of the handle and turned.

Somebody was walking up the long church aisle.

I started shaking, sure it was the Old Man or the Big Guy. Excuses started rattling around my head, each sounding more feeble than the last.

The figure drew nearer.

It was a Human!

The Priest!

Momentary relief washed over me like cold sweat, but I was still on edge.

The Priest stopped a few feet away and looked us over for a moment.

“What can I do for you two so late at night?”