The Devil's Apprentice by Patrick Stewart (polar express read aloud TXT) 📕

was the first time he’d ever heard Karen curse. “What’s the problem?”

“Just something Jocelyn said…” Karen said softly.

Alex waited with bated breath for Karen to finish. Apparently, she had. She seemed lost in thought. She bit into her bottom lip and stared into space. Alex waved a hand at her. Karen did not notice.

“Bitch is terrified,” the voice said.

“Thanks…” Alex muttered. “Thanks for that. Always appreciate your insight on things.” 

“Karen!” Alex snapped.

 Karen shuddered, then blinked. Their eyes met. “Jocelyn came to see me after we met her at the library. There was one other that could be freed, but they would need the blood of an eighteen-year-old virgin.”

Alex knew this was going to be bad. The blood of an eighteen-year-old virgin. If that was needed in a spell, it had to be for a properly bad demon. Karen’s skin was slowly but surely turning a ghostly white.

“Who uh,” Alex cleared his throat, “Who is it? Which demon are they freeing?”

Karen shook her head. “It’s not a demon. It’s Satan. They’re going to free the devil.”  

Chapter 40

 

 

 

Satan. The original devil. It was a name they had never considered. It made sense now. If Jamie was to free a demon to start a war with the angels, who better to choose than Satan? The first and the original enemy of God. Or, were they friends once?

Alex didn’t come from a religious family. He did know about God and Satan, obviously. You didn’t have to be a devout Christian or Muslim or Jew to know about those two. But he was never sure if Satan and God were enemies, or if they were sort of partners. Like, did God look after heaven, Satan look after hell, and on the weekends, they met for a few drinks and a game of poker?

He supposed that question was answered. God and Satan were enemies. They’d fought wars against each other. They were going to fight another too, if he didn’t stop Satan.

“Does this change anything?” Alex asked.

Karen swallowed. “Now that we know it’s Satan being freed? I think it changes a hell of a lot!” Her voice came out squeaky.

“How though?” Alex persisted. “The demons we thought it could be were all going to challenge Satani right? And then eventually challenge the angels. Now we know its Satan. He’s going to do the same thing. How does that change anything?”

“Because it’s fucking Satan!” Karen spat out.

Alex had never seen her so full of emotions. Most of them being anger… “At least try and understand what I’m saying,” he muttered.

“No, I will not!” Karen hissed. “Because it’s a fucking stupid question. This is fucking Satan! You don’t know anything about Satan, do you?”

Alex shrugged defensively. “I know a little…”

“Yeah?” Karen challenged him. “What do you know about Satan.”

“Don’t answer that question,” the voice said, chuckling. “You’re going to say something incredibly stupid.” 

“Fuck you, man,” Alex muttered. 

“Satan isn’t just another fucking demon, Alex,” Karen said. “He’s the fucking devil. The original. He’s an evil conquering mother fucker. He’s literally eaten other demons in the past. Eaten demons! If he breaks free, you understand how bad that would be, right? How is it different to the other demons? It’s because he’s the fucking devil!”

“Okay… chill out,” Alex muttered. He still didn’t see much difference. Whichever demon escaped, it would lead to a challenge on Satani’s authority, followed by a war with the angels. If Satan was such a badass, why was he losing the first war? Why was Satani able to trap him and lock him away?

“If Satan escapes, it would be the end of us, Alex,” Karen said in a softer tone. “We were created by Satani. Our existence would be an affront to him. We’re living breathing insults to him. He saw us humans as prey and nothing more. Just as souls to burn in his hell. If Satan escapes, there would be no place on this world that we could hide. The war would be worse too. Amongst other things, Satan was known as the Devourer of Souls. He wasn’t content with sitting back and waiting for humans to die before claiming their souls. He’s responsible for some of the worst massacres in history.”

Alex didn’t care much for Satani. Her and her brother Satan could tear each other to bits, for all he cared. But Satan did sound like a nasty piece of work. He imagined this huge demon standing at thirty feet tall, red in colour, enormous horns on his head, fire in his eyes, blades in hand, striding down the town centre followed by his hordes, laughing maniacally as they slaughtered humans.

“Why didn’t Satani just kill him? Why’d she lock him up?” Alex wondered aloud.

“You can’t kill the devil, Alex,” Karen said. “You can hurt him, you can weaken him, you can even chop him up into a hundred little pieces, but you can’t kill him. His body will always recover.”

Alex sighed. “What’s the plan?”

“We have to stop them,” Karen said. “Whatever happens, we can’t let Satan escape.”

Chapter 41

The naked girls didn’t need much persuading to run down the stairs and get the hell away from this place. Chrissy on the other hand was adamant she was going to follow after them. She wasn’t going to run away when her sister’s life was on the line. Alex didn’t get an opportunity to explain the dangers. Karen seemed to think it was a good idea.

At the end of the now empty hall were the steps that led up. Formerly guarded by the demon bouncer, it was now clear. It seemed like the logical place to start. Karen led the way, Chrissy followed right behind her and somehow, Alex ended up at the back.

He had his sword in hand but decided