Purgatorium (67 page)

While he sits there gloating, I quickly grab hold of
Raphael
’s tie, push his pistol hand to the side, and stick down my knife into his tie. I quickly run over to his side, kick his chair out from under him, and watch as the tie starts to strangle him like a hangman’s noose.

Raphael can’t seem to breathe as the tie wrapped around him tightens, cutting off his circulation. I bend down to his level and pull him closer to me, making the tie stretch tighter. I grab
Raphael
’s pistol hand and push it back toward his own mouth.
Raphael
struggles but the water running down his system has made him too weak and slow.

I say to him, “Your own pride led to your downfall, not me.” Raphael’s face turns red, looking confused.

I
push the pistol to
Raphael
’s lips and whisper, “Tick tock, Tick Tock, goes the clock.” I pull the trigger.

The bullet shoots right through
Raphael
’s mouth, sending
him
backwards. His head still cocked back,
Raphael
wheezes and begins to transfigure into looking like me, freezing over as he does.
I
take off the mask. As
Raphael
breathes his last breath, a stunned look comes over his transfigured purple demonic face.

I
put my mask back on. I breathe a sigh of relief and take the lead ball out of the lion pistol, place it back in the rag with the other tools, and fold it up. I reach over and snatch the Ten of hearts card from
Raphael
’s pocket. I put both the card and the matchbook in my pockets. I take both flintlock pistols off the table. I look at the hourglass and can tell it’s close to noon.

I reach into my pocket and take out the green marble bag and place one lead ball inside of the lion pistol. When finished, I head out.

I walk through the hallway, trying to put another paper cartridge into the muzzle of the lamb pistol. I struggle with it, seeing that the paper is becoming loose. I spit, lubing it up. I roll it in my hand and drop it down the muzzle; it goes now smoothly in. I take out the rod and ram it all in. I place it behind my back, walking to the elevator doors.

When I reach the two elevators in the hallway, I press the button for the second one to open. After a few seconds, the elevator doors open, revealing Stephanie in a virtuous silk dress. “I look like a hooker,” she says displeased.

“You look lust worthy,” I tell her with a harmless grin. I glance at the carpet inside the elevator, noticing how wet it is. I look up to her, not having to say a word. She understands what she did wrong.

“I accidentally dropped it, okay! It was heavy,” she says, throwing out the empty container into the hallway. “I know he doesn’t wear shoes. I will just have to come up with something.”

“Did you at least pour enough in the other elevator?” I ask, in a panic at hearing the answer.

“Yes, I only dropped it in mine,” she says, fixing her tight dress. “I can’t breathe.”

I give her the lamb pistol. “Hide this in the vent and…”

She cuts me off, “I know! We went over this a million times! I got this! 12 on the dot! I know! Will you go?!”

She presses for the elevator to go down to the lobby. I quickly get out as the doors close behind me.

I
stand for a few seconds in the office hallway as the first elevator doors open in front of me, revealing
Sealtiel
. He stares at my mask around my face.

“You know,” says Sealtiel, “if you didn’t like the face you chose, you could have mirrored another one. No need to hide it away like you are.”

I
remain silent, looking back at
Sealtiel,
who becomes unnerved. “Is it done?” he asks me more seriously.

I
nod, counting up in the back of my mind the time that I have left. 11:50…11:51…11:52

“Are you just going to stand there or are you going to come in?” he asks me, growing suspicious. I continue counting, 11:55…11:56...11:57

“I see you,” he says to me. “I see what you are trying to do.”

I stay calm. 11:58…11:59

“You didn’t do it, did you?” he says flustered.

12:00 on the dot, I think to myself. I get in the elevator and press the button for the lobby. The elevator descends.

“Gluttony, Sloth, and Pride are out. Did you get Lust to meet us in the lobby?” I say to Sealtiel.

“That I did,” he replies. “When these doors open, Bang! Sending Lust back to hell,” he chuckles at the violence. “Those fools. Like we would leave it up to chance!”
Sealtiel
says. “Greed and Envy together, we can do no right.
Raphael
’s pride always seems to obscure his judgment anyway.”

“‘Seemed’, you mean,” I respond.

“Exactly!”
Sealtiel
says, looking at his
watch
.

I
smirk. “Nice watch.”

“
It’s a beautiful thing, isn’t it? Always had my eye on this watch. Maybe because it meant so much to him is the reason why. Or maybe I just wanted it for myself
.”

I look at the watch. “Or maybe, you wanted him to fail.”

Sealtiel laughs at the thought. “Why would I want him to fail? How would that help me in any way, I ask you?”

I look up to him and say, “Because you hate David’s life. You always hated his life. If you even manage to be the lucky winner today, you would find no enjoyment from it.”

I lean in closer to him. “You partnered up with me with the intent of not going up at all, is what I am saying to you. Really, it could be any one of us that goes up, as long as it’s not David. You want him to be a lost soul. And by doing so, gives you the opportunity to travel to different self-made prisons. With soul survivors that have more of a predominant lifestyle choice for you to then hijack. Tell me if I am getting warm?”

Sealtiel claps, “Bravo to you, good sir. You know me too well.”

“I just know how an envious mind thinks,” I tell him.

“Well, everyone gets what they want out of all this, don’t they? You take David’s bleak life and I find me a lesser bleak life in someone else. Win, Win!”

Seconds go by in silence. Still looking straight ahead, I say, “So it will take 20 more weeks to reach 26 miles?”

“What did you say?”

“The marathon equation. The answer is 20 weeks. Rounding to about 3360 hours. A lot can be done in 3360 hours. Enough time spent to think. 20 weeks.”

“You wanna prize or something?”

“I heard you like telling math equations, though that one was a little too easy. Let’s try and make it a little more difficult this time around.”

I press the button for the 30
th
floor.

“What are you…?”
Sealtiel
says, as
I
drop a napkin onto the floor.
Sealtiel
watch
es as the napkin saturates with water. He looks down and lifts his foot up, hearing the suction of the wet floor. He hears a “click” and feels a gun barrel pressed against the back of his head. I turn his head to face the left side of the elevator.

“Are you going to try and shoot me, brother?” asks
Sealtiel.

“Envy shoots at others and wounds itself. I’m not your brother,”
I
say.

“What game are you playing here?” asks Sealtiel.

“An easy game. It’s a math game. If you answer correctly, I won’t shoot you, and whatever you want from me, I will do. Shoot me for all I care. But answer wrongly, and I guarantee you, your envy will multiply as you see me standing over your dead, frozen corpse.”

“And you are wanting me to trust the words coming out of your greedy mouth?”

“It’s either that or I just shoot you. Which sounds better to you?” I force the gun down deeper.

“Okay, it’s your funeral because after this, you’re dead. Looks like Michael just went up to coach!” says Sealtiel.

“We are on the 55th floor,” I say. “Let’s say we ride the elevator down at 10 floors per minute. Let’s say our little racer is on the first floor of the building and rides the elevator up at eight floors per minute. They both got on the elevator at noon. At what time will they be on the same floor?”

“They’ll arrive in three
minutes
!” yells
Sealtiel
.

“Correct,” I reply. “Here you go,” I tell him, dropping the gun to the floor, under his legs.
I look at his
watch as it
reads 13:00, and move to the back of the elevator.

“You are dead. Do you hear me?! Dead!” he continues to yell, turning over to face me. All of a sudden, a shot comes through the wall behind Sealtiel, blows through the back of his head, and exits out his screaming mouth.

I take off my mask. Sealtiel turns towards me, gazing at my face in horror. “I believe that this is mine,” I say, taking the watch off his wrist. His face transfigures into mine as he slumps against the wall. His demonic body turns as green as its eyes. It then freezes over, falls to the floor, and shatters into pieces.
I
reach down and take the Ace of hearts out from
Sealtiel
’s jacket breast pocket. I put back on my mask and pick up the pistol off the wet carpet.

I walk out of the elevators onto the 30
th
floor just as I see my other half coming out the other car. I can’t say anything, I think. He would hear my voice and know I sound just like him.

He points at the pistol I’m holding. Without thought, I toss him the lion flintlock.

Once caught, he looks back at me in confusion. I lift the green marble bag out of my pocket, showing it to him. His eyes are sunken in by its color.

He sees that the elevator doors by his side are about to slide shut. I softly throw the marble bag towards him and make a mad dash. I rush past him, making my way inside the other elevator. I watch him, looking confused at me, as the doors close me in. I press the L button.

That was a close one.

Without getting a chance to think, I breathe out cold air.

They are coming.

I look at what floor I’m on. It reads Level 15. I press the button for Level 14. I need to get out before they freeze box me in. I look down to find Uriel’s ring and the King of diamonds card on the floor. I pick them up and put the ring on my finger. The elevator gets to Level 14 and the doors open. I step out into the hallway, and run.

As I
get halfway down the hall, I hear shrieking and see reapers flying toward me from the other end. There’s a bathroom on the right. I throw the door open, run in, and head straight for the sinks. I open all the faucets completely, causing a brackish sludge to rush out of the taps. I look behind me. The bathroom door and floors are quickly freezing over. The frozen door is slowly opening.

The reaper’s skeletal hand pushes the door open the rest of the way. The accumulating ice makes its way to the running sinks. The sludge freezes into icicles. A second reaper enters, floating up next to the bathroom stalls. It opens them one by one until it gets to the last frozen stall.

Seeing its dark shadow below the stall door,
I
kick open the door, slamming into the reaper, sending it back against the wall over the sinks.
I
jump over to the sink, break off one of the icicles hanging from the faucets, and jab it into the reaper’s skull. The other reaper shrieks.
I
run, throwing myself through the window.

I bullet my body downwards through the falling snow, feeling the cold wind stinging my eyes. I hear the sound of glass shattering from above me. I swivel my head upwards to see the reaper flying out of the bathroom toward me.

Still soaring through the air, I look down and estimate I am 500 feet above ground level. I turn to see the reaper flying to the left side of me. Its cloak rustles through the wind as I begin to take notice of its scythe poking out from under it. I reach out my left hand towards it as the reaper quickly grasps my left arm. I watch my full arm instantly freeze over. The reaper leans his body more in my direction. I reach my frozen left arm back and slingshot it into the reapers face, shattering my arm to pieces.

The reaper appears to be stunned as I turn my body and use my right arm to scoop the scythe out from its belt. Before the reaper knows what has happened, I sling his scythe across its skull. The reaper begins to freeze over. I look down to see I probably only have 100 feet left till I hit the bottom. I quickly take the frozen reaper’s body and put it under me. I brace myself for impact.

The reapers frozen body breaks apart on collision; my body gets thrown off. The scythe flies out of my hand. I hit the ground, rolling all the way into the bushes.

A reaper makes its way to the bush where
I am hiding
. The bush slowly freezes over. Seeing the army of reapers,
I
decide revealing myself would be suicide. Freezing would be preferable. I close my eyes, waiting for my demise.