CODEX Part 3: Between Heaven and Hell
As Good As Dead

"Something is wrong,"

Eneizar raised an eyebrow and stared at Ezekiel. The human suddenly got off the couch and looked up; that was a weird direction to turn to.

"Something is very wrong. I can feel it." The human continued.

"You know, Zek, sometimes nothing happens. You humans have this amazing way of believing something is real when it actually happens in your head. Amazing," he said before he stuffed his face with pizza. Eneizar liked that much more than flesh, it was tasty and 100% clean.

Ezekiel shook his head and frowned.

"No. This is different. Why don't you feel it?"

Eneizar glanced at the human before he sighed and got up.

"Fine. What is-" He stopped when he felt a sensation as if someone punched him in the gut.

Eneizar turned towards Zoe's room where they locked and sealed Jasper. The seal was being taken care of and Eneizar was sure it was coming from Hell.

In a blink of an eye, Iaosur and Eneizar rushed in front of the door, blocking it with their bare hands. Ezekiel was sure that whatever he was feeling wasn't coming from that room but somewhere else; it wasn’t evil even if it hurt.

His breathing intensified as the pressure became heavier; if the world would ever fall on his shoulders, he would probably feel the same. Ezekiel touched his chest and closed his eyes, feeling like he was having a heart attack.

"The human is dying~" Gakhas announced, his eyes watching the human without the slightest intention to help.

Eneizar glanced at them over his shoulder and glared at Gakhas but couldn't say anything because the energy inside the room was pushing through the walls.

Eneizar and Iaosur were strong demons but Jasper had help straight from Hell. With one sudden wave, he pushed the door open and the two demons got thrown into the wall. Ezekiel opened one eye to see what was going on.

"Guess who's back?!" Jasper's voice was different.

The inheritor grabbed Eneizar by the neck and threw him out the window. Next, he grabbed Iaosur's face and burnt it.

"Leave them!" Ezekiel was in no position to interfere but he couldn't keep his mouth shut.

Jasper tilted his head and threw Iaosur aside, turning next to Ezekiel.

"I wouldn't be so talkative in your place, human."

Jasper took one step towards him but Gakhas moved in front of Ezekiel, acting like a shield.

"And the chivalry appears. The sloth demon," the possessed inheritor scoffed and started to laugh. He was offending Gakhas' kind but that wasn't what mattered at the moment.

Gakhas narrowed his eyes at the inheritor, clenching his fists in case he had to fight.

"You have no idea what you are doing. You let yourself fall in the hands of Lucifer." Hissed the short demon but he only received a pout.

"Now, now, why do you think I fell? It felt more like reuniting with my father!" The pout became a sadistic smile as he walked closer, "Let's reunite you with your master, Gakhas!" The smile cracked and in one swift movement, Jasper clasped his hands over Gakhas' ears.

The demon heard a high pitched sound before he got thrown to Hell as Jasper's eyes moved to Ezekiel. The helpless human was in pain already so it wouldn't matter if he would add more.

He grabbed the human by the collar of his shirt and pulled him up.

"What to do with you, friend?" Jasper hissed.

"Nothing. Let him down." Eneizar was still standing, that face of his pissing Jasper off; he wanted nothing else but to hit it again and again.

"Now, now, traitor. You should go crawl under a rock and pray to die."

Eneizar glared at the inheritor and bit the inside of his cheek, growing impatient and angry.

“How can a demon care? How stupid can he be to give in and be charmed by a girl?” Jasper continued, not waiting for an answer to his questions, “Oh, right. Because of love,” Eneizar’s eyes hardened while Jasper’s brightened with malice, “And it’s such a pity, isn’t it? She doesn’t love you!” The inheritor started to laugh loudly.

Eneizar sighed and licked his lips.

"Are you done?”

The inheritor didn’t look possessed anymore but the energy was radiating off him with incredible power.

“If you are, you might want to look behind,” the vanity demon continued.

Jasper’s head rose and instantly turned. He had no time to react because Mark’s eyes became black and he grabbed the inheritor by his forehead. They watched as the young human was squirming and kicking Mark but the host was completely absorbed by Leviathan.

The envy prince pushed the inheritor back in Zoe’s room and sealed it. This time, he used some powerful demonic spell and left the door open. He turned to Eneizar and noticed the human behind him.

Leviathan frowned and walked closer.

“The Leftovers are out,” he announced.

Eneizar tensed. He heard about the leftover demons and angels but never thought that the day would come when he would have to face them.

“I have a favor to ask, Eneizar,” Leviathan continued.

The vanity demon was already preparing himself for the worst.

“You want me to track them?” he asked.

“No. I want you to go look for a rogue demon. He goes by the name of Roy and runs an antique shop in London. Tell him that it’s time for him to pay up his freedom.”

Eneizar nodded and left right away. On the other side, Leviathan’s attention turned to Ezekiel. The demon kicked him lightly and the human rolled on his back.

Mark’s eyes turned blue, like water, and looked at the ceiling.

“Who would have known?” He mumbled before he left his host.

While Zoe was having sleep paralysis granted to the white creature, Jasper and Ezekiel were being summoned by different people but with the same purpose.

The next day, Zoe woke up in a good mood. Terry left early in the morning which let her all the time and space in the world to get pretty.

It was for the first time in a while when she could look in the mirror and only see her reflection. After a refreshing time in the bathtub, she dressed in the same clothes she came in –because she wasn’t planning to stay over the night, in the first place- and curled her hair. She looked brand new and happy.

Zoe met Robin and Carley in front of Starbucks and from there, they went shopping. Those few hours with the girls were probably the nicest hours she had. It was fun and thankfully, they went in places her mother didn't like. That was the worst thing that could have happened at the moment; meeting her mother.

“So, Zoe, you didn’t really tell us anything about your life!” Carley started. She was looking at the clothes and inspecting the fabric; it seemed that nothing was really on her taste.

Robin, on the other side, already grabbed a few shirts.

“There’s nothing to say, really. I live a boring life.”

That was really far from the truth and someone scoffed in the background.

“You must have someone, though. I saw the way you were looking at Jacob,” Zoe’s eyes widened which only taunted Carley to continue, “Believe me, those were friendship eyes. You definitely have someone really important in your life.”

Robin chuckled and leaned closer to Zoe.

“She got you there. The way you used to look at him was intense, careful, like you were trying to remember every detail of his face. But now, you were comfortable and natural; like friends are.”

Zoe was in a tight spot. She glanced from one girl to the other and gulped; they were too perceptive to ignore.

“It’s complicated,” Zoe admitted.

Carley scoffed and rolled her eyes.

“It’s always complicated. Relationships are complicated in general. You never know when it’s too much and when it’s alright. You never completely understand each other and fully love each other but you have to try and this continuous cycle of wrongs and goods are what makes a relationship worth the risks.”

The commander was blown away; even Robin was surprised by Carley’s explanation.

But did Mehrdir deserve a true chance at her heart? He’s been playing with her from the moment he found out she was the commander.

“But what if he’s going to break my heart?” Zoe asked bluntly.

Carley shrugged, “It happens but at least you won’t have any regrets and you will be able to move on without asking yourself what if?”

That explanation was making Zoe’s head hurt.

“What’s his name?” Robin asked when the silence became too heavy.

“Mehrdir.”

Carley smirked and nudged Zoe towards Victoria’s Secret store.

“Maybe this Mehrdir needs some taunting~”

Zoe gulped and fidgeted as Robin and Carley smiled at each other and pushed the victim into the lingerie store.

It took fifteen minutes for Zoe to get accustomed with how a girl should properly arouse her boyfriend. Of course, she blushed a lot and even the cashier started to laugh. Carley was strangely good at men and what they were into; maybe it was her age and experience or maybe she just read too many magazines. Anyway, thanks to her, Zoe got a set of two sexy lingerie; one was red lace and the other was yellow satin. Truthfully, it looked like Lucifer’s and Beelzebub’s eyes. When that thought surfaced, she shook it away quickly; she couldn’t believe where her mind was wandering.

Next they met the guys and went for dinner. The restaurant was nice and had a family feel to it; maybe because the dead parents were haunting it and it seemed that a lot of ghosts liked to come and watch other people eat. Or maybe it was the low rate of familiars and fairies.

While they were drinking, they started to talk about different things. The subject of the haunted high school came back and they started to talk about demons.

“I will never use an Ouija board again in my life!” Richard was scared for life. One experience with the supernatural was enough for him.

On the other side, Carley wasn’t very happy with the outcome.

“I think it was lame. I’m not even sure if a ghost was there or our hands moved unconsciously.”

Zoe raised an eyebrow and glanced at Jacob.

“But what about the ghost that had something with me?”

Zoe remembered Gakhas moving the tablet where he wanted to and using their energy to scare them.

“It was probably one of us, moving it randomly,” Carley explained.

Well, that was a good plot and Zoe was happy that her friends were so light hearted but the problem wasn’t that.

“Oh right, Zoe was really weird that night,” the whole table turned to look at her, “What happened? You spaced out and suddenly ran away,” added Carley.

“Yes-well, that- well-“ She had to find a reason but her mind was blank, “I got scared.”

That was stupid. Everyone noticed the lack of fear in her behaviour.

“And I got sick,” Zoe added quickly, “I got a massive headache and I felt like throwing up. I went into the bathroom and afterwards, I went straight home.” Her explanation was full of blank spots but they bought it; or maybe they just decided not to pry into her life, anyway, Zoe was grateful.

“But do you think demons are real? There are so many stories and shows about it. It almost makes me curious.”

Zoe felt like spilling everything she had in her mouth. She didn’t expect Connor to open the subject again.

“I’m curious too. Maybe not enough to try it but if you ever find one, message me a picture. I will high five you virtually.” Richard’s answer made everyone laugh.

“But demons are demons. They’re evil and they kill without remorse, right?” Robin’s statement was accurate.

"Don’t people do that too? I think demons show you the bad side through a good light. They show you the half of the glass that’s full and make you confident. They show you the easy way but they don’t force you to do it. They don’t push you off the cliff; they just get you close enough and wait for you to decide.”

After such a lengthy explanation, it was impossible for the rest of the group not to stare at Zoe curiously.

“Or that’s what I read,” she added at the end.

“You seem to be very good at this, don’t you?” Richard started, “Did this ever appear in your work?”

“As a psychologist, yes. People think they have some sort of connection to demons when they actually just imagine it. It’s their way of pushing their responsibilities and faults on someone else. Usually, demons. Sometimes, even angels.” They laughed when they heard her answer.

Zoe sighed in relief when the subject changed.

While she was looking around, she noticed a man standing alone and drinking coffee. He raised his head and smirked at her, her eyes widening because that smirk was familiar.

When she turned her attention back on her friends, she realized that words were mixing together while their faces started to look different. Robin's neck was bleeding, Jacob's face was half burned, Richard's eyes fell in his drink and the happy couple was half and half. Zoe turned her head quickly to his table but he wasn't there anymore.

She blinked and rubbed her head. Robin frowned and touched her hand softly, Zoe shuddering at the contact. Zoe closed her eyes for a moment but it was enough for her vision to get blurry; she could hear the gongs again. Suddenly, the only image she could see clearly was snow. She furrowed her eyebrows in confusion; it was snowing inside the restaurant.

She gulped when she remembered the nightmare; the blood in her veins froze and she couldn't move her body anymore.

She got up and started to cough, her throat on fire making it hard to breathe properly. She grabbed her neck and started to choke.

"Zoe?! Are you alright? Someone call an ambulance!" Her friends were worried. She just jumped on her feet and started to choke out of nowhere.

Her eyes widened as she fell on her back.

From an outside point of view, Zoe was suffocating and needed a doctor right away but her eyes widened because she saw the white thing behind Robin.

She didn't close her eyes. For the whole ride in the ambulance, Zoe started to move chaotically and got foam around her mouth. The one who accompanied her was Robin, holding her hand tightly hoping her friend would be saved.

“What the-“ Robin felt something sticky and checked it out; Zoe’s hand was bleeding.

They were close to the hospital when the commander’s eyes started to spill tears of blood.

The doctors were shocked. They got a patient who was healthy yet her internal organs were shutting down. They connected her to different machines and resuscitated her three times before she calmed down but they couldn’t close her eyes. It was crazy and creepy.

It was an hour later when she got into shock again and they had to stabilize her.; it worked, but not entirely. They connected her to a machine so that she could stay alive however, her eyes closed. Zoe was as good as dead.

On the other side, Ezekiel could hear nothing but the high pitched noise. It was everywhere and he couldn't even open his eyes. He felt two hands wrap around his head and push on his temples.

"What is going on?!" He screamed in pain. It was worse than anything he felt in his life.

"The angels are interfering." He heard Charlie's voice, "You're hearing them because of Zoe."

Ezekiel screamed louder and fell on his knees. He opened his eyes for a second and saw a pair of wings. That was all before he blacked out.

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