In the middle of the small clearing, bathing in the light of the full moon, Alexander stood waiting. Seemingly perfectly relaxed as if he was taking a short stroll. The first five hunters of the group of Satanists came into the clearing with two hunting dogs on leashes. They looked surprised to see a young man in black combat gear instead of their prey in his underwear. A rough-looking bald guy with a tattoo on his face seemed to be the ringleader. He looked at Alexander for a moment and then released the dogs. Behind the balaclava, the young man smiled. The dogs came sprinting toward him, but he didn't move an inch. Just before they would reach him, he let his eyes glow red with the fire of Hell and growled:
"Sit!"
The two hounds began to whimper and instantly sat down extremely submissively at his feet. Alexander put a hand on their heads to reassure them, to let them know that he would not harm them. He heard:
"What the hell is this?"
He looked up, and only then did the bald one see the fire burning in his eyes. The man immediately pulled away deadpan, and his courage left him. This was something he never expected. The whole Satanic edge of his little group was just some sort of pay act. Nothing real. An excuse to indulge in drugs and booze and sex of all kinds. Never in his wildest dreams did he expect to be confronted with a being that must have come from Hell itself. As if out of nowhere, a few more figures were pushed into the clearing. And before the five that were already there realized it, their weapons were gone. Now the leader did not understand what was happening at all. The only thing he could think of was that this was bad news, for him. They had no more weapons; the dogs seemed to only have attention for the being with the burning eyes, and now 5 more human-looking figures came into sight. He could feel that these five were not humans, and fear started to set in. Two attractive women dressed entirely in leather that left very little to the imagination and three men who looked extremely fit looked at them with contempt after they had more or less thrown the remaining members of his hunting party into the clearing. When everyone seemed to be gathered, Alexander spoke:
"I see we are complete. Well, let me begin by introducing ourselves. You call yourselves Satanists, so I assume you must be quite pleased with our arrival."
He pointed to the two women and the three men:
"May I introduce you, these are Belios, Bearus, and Arad, my loyal generals. The dark-haired woman is Mazikeen of the Lilem, my father's right hand, and the blonde is her sister Celine, my right hand. Yours truly is Alexander Marcus Morningstar. You know, Morningstar, as in the title of the Devil you guys apparently love to worship so much. I am the Antichrist, the crown prince of Hell, and these people are demons. Does anyone have any questions?"
A small, petite, rather unhealthy-looking man of about forty squealed:
"What, what's happening? This is not how it's supposed to go. This is not the game..."
Alex bridged the distance between him and the tiny man in no time, grabbed him by the throat, and lifted him off the ground:
"What game do you think is being played here, asshole? You guys think it's fun to pass yourselves off as Satanists. Have some fun with so-called ceremonies where you take a bunch of drugs and alcohol and then force yourselves on girls and boys. It was funny, right, to lure younger people to your little group? People who were curious about the occult. But you had nothing to offer them except a corny little show. That too became a bit tedious after a while, not enough excitement. And now you have taken it a step further..."
He threw the man to the ground and stepped toward the leader. This one seemed to be a lot smarter than his so-called minions and had figured out what was happening. Alexander looked sternly into his eyes, and the bald one could not tear his gaze away from the Hellfire in those eyes. He saw what fate awaited him and his companions in Hell and moaned:
"Why? Surely this is what the Devil must want? Surely the Devil wants humans to be away from God; surely he wants us to do all these things: sex, violence, and drugs? This must please him..."
Alexander gave the man a slap in the face with the flat of his hand. The bald man's lips burst open, and blood spurted out. A punch to the man's abdomen made him bend forward, after which he began to vomit. Alex said in a frosty manner:
"Don't you dare talk about my father. Not now and not ever again! You have no idea what my father wants! You use myths and legends. But you are not really interested in those myths. You do not believe Heaven and Hell, Angels or the Devil are real. All you are interested in is what you can get through your silly stuff and so-called devil worship. You want to dominate others; you want others to submit completely to all your perverse desires. Not to worship the Devil but just for your own pleasure. My father hates figures like you. I do so too, but I am different from Lucifer! My father would not want to waste a second on you or waste a thought on you. I, on the other hand, am glad that figures like you exist. You see, I am quite frustrated with how things are going in Heaven and Hell, things move far too slowly for my liking. And I get even more frustrated when I look at humanity and what madness and despicable things you people are capable of. Therefore, I am grateful for the occasional appearance of individuals like you on my radar. You guys are a very cheap and very enjoyable form of therapy. It saves me hours on the couch of a therapist. Having assholes like you allows me to vent from time to time, and then I can quietly continue working on my plans for the future."
Alexander again took his place in the absolute center of the clearing. He called out:
"Wodan, here..."
The big black Hellhound appeared from among the trees and walked toward his master. The two hounds at Alexander's feet began to whimper again as Wodan came near them. The black beast only huffed. The Antichrist said:
"Very well, you wanted to play. You wanted to hunt an innocent and then kill him. Let's see how much fun that game really is. All of you strip now completely!"
The group of hunters stood there indecisively for a moment, and after a few seconds, Alexander sighed and said:
"Ladies, would you give these morons some encouragement, please? They seem a bit shy without a good amount of booze and drugs..."
Mazikeen licked her lips. Out of nowhere, a leather whip appeared in her hand, and she let it lash out. The bald leader of the gang got the whip across his face, and the leather left an open wound that immediately began to bleed. When Celine also had a whip brought out, the little group didn't know how quickly to undress. Celine looked at the naked men one by one. Where Maze excelled as a torturer in hell through brute force, Celine was more sophisticated. She preferred to use words to break someone. She therefore said with a thick smile:
"No wonder they have to violate others; no girl or boy with an ounce of sense wants to be with something like that anyway. Not only do they look like weirdos, but they are also dirty, they stink, and they are clearly products of too much inbreeding. And look at what shabby tools they have."
Maze pretended to watch with interest and said:
"I have to agree with you, sister; there's not much to do with that, let alone think that one could get some pleasure out of those."
Bearus, a dark man who looked much like a professional football player at the peak of his powers, growled as he grabbed the bald leader by his neck:
"Look at that, it's always the same. The ones with the biggest traps always have the smallest dick..."
Alex smiled behind the balaclava and spoke:
"All right, this is how we're going to play it. You know the area, so you know where to flee towards your cars. If you can reach your car, you are free. You get a five-minute head start, and then Wodan will come after you, then these ladies and gentlemen, and lastly me. If we grab you before you reach the cars, you will go to Hell after we rip your soul out of your body in a damn painful way. Especially with Wodan, it hurts. You have to forgive him; he doesn't have thumbs, so he is a little more brutal and clumsier. Well, I don't want to see those dried-up worms you call a dick anymore before I start puking; start running. Good luck..."
However, the group remained standing, not understanding what was going on. Alexander screamed:
"GO!"
And Maze's whip struck again; this time, the leather left a deep cut on the bald leader's back. The group took off running. Alexander looked at the two hounds, smiled, and spoke in a warm voice:
"I know just the place where you will be welcome and will be able to enjoy your lives. But remember, you are there to protect the innocent, not harm or hunt for pleasure!"
With a snap of his fingers, the dogs vanished, accompanied by a note attached to their collars, and headed towards the farm of a family he had previously met. He knew the two dogs would be lovingly cared for there, especially by the two children. He looked Wodan in the eyes:
"Go grab some, but leave some for us, yes..."
The black beast growled and licked his lips, then disappeared into the deep forest with lightning speed. He looked at the rest of his demons:
"Let's go have some fun..."
That was the signal to get started. In the hour that followed, they hunted down every member of the group of Satanists. Through the silent forest, the screams of one of them echoed from time to time as he fell into the hands of Alexander, Wodan, or one of the others. Their souls were torn from their bodies in an extremely painful, bloody manner. This act was akin to a blood sport. The bald one was last, and it was done so on purpose. Celine dragged the naked man back to the clearing. The corpses of the rest of his group had also been brought back, and these lay in a grotesque heap.
The bald one was on the verge of panic and crying. When he caught sight of the corpses of his companions, he began to beg for his life. Alexander stood before him, looked him sternly in the eyes, and asked:
"Why should I grant you mercy? Let me tell you a story; maybe you will recognize something in it. Once upon a time, there was a girl about sixteen years old. She was having a bit of a hard time in life. Was not really accepted by her peers, was somewhat depressed, and closed in on herself. Like many boys and girls, she was going through what man calls a goth phase. She dressed in black, used black makeup, and read a lot online about witches, demons, and the Devil. Nothing fancy, nothing profound. Until one day she stumbled upon a bulletin board on the web. A group of Satanists was looking for new members to initiate them and show them the way to Satan. The girl was drawn by sheer curiosity. She wanted to experience something exciting. She indeed ended up with a group of evil people, but it was the kind of group that neither God nor the Devil wanted anything to do with. The little group got her drunk and gave her drugs during a mock session."
He gave the bald one a hard slap on the face. This broke the man's nose and broke off a few teeth. Full of poison, Alexander asked:
"Tell me, what do you think the little group did to that girl?"
The bald one looked at him with large, fear-filled eyes and could not utter a word. The antichrist continued:
"Right, yes, that which can be expected of beasts. You raped her first, pig!"
And again there followed a cracking blow to the bald man's head, causing him to fall backward.
"And when you finished under the cheers of your friends there who are now all in Hell waiting for your arrival, you gave her to the rest who fell all over her like a bunch of starving wild dogs who had just gotten a leftover from their master's table. The girl was damaged to the depths of her soul. Worse yet, she felt guilty. It was her curiosity and her running away from home that had gotten her into this misery. When she finally committed suicide because she could no longer bear the pain, the sorrow, the guilt, and the shame, her soul was so weighted down by her guilt that she was drawn to Hell. You and your wretched friends have sent an innocent soul to Hell. For that reason alone, you yourself deserve Hell. But all the wretched deeds you have committed in your life are enough for me to condemn you to the deepest caverns of Hell. Your stay there in the hands of the vilest demons will last forever; you will be forever hidden from the sight of Heaven and all that is good. For you, nothing more than pain, suffering, being used, and being abused..."
For the first time that night, Alexander drew his sword. It gleamed under the light of the full moon. He made a single stroke with the sword, and the bald one was cut open from just above his bladder to just below his ribs. His intestines fell out of his body. The bald one still tried to stop them and push them back, but it was useless. Blood poured over the hands that held the intestines, and so he slowly bled to death. Once his soul was on its way to Hell, the Antichrist turned to the three men:
"Please make their stay as miserable as possible. Give them to Lilith. Tell her it is a gift, and her most bestial demons can have their way with their souls."
Bearus smiled briefly and replied:
"Lilith will love to see that coming. It will keep her group busy again for a while with this pile of shit."
Alex nodded and said:
"Okay gentlemen, it was my pleasure. I'll see you in Hell tomorrow."
The three nodded to him and disappeared. Celine asked:
"Clean up?"
He thought for a moment and then said:
"No, I'm going to leave a message. I want these to be found along with my message. I want the Vatican to understand that I am here and absolutely pissed off!"
With a snap of his fingers, a pole materialized next to the eleven corpses, bearing a parchment nailed to it. The message he left was in Latin and more or less coded. The right priest in the Vatican would understand it.
"Okay, Maze, Celine, let's go talk to that dummy, and in this case, I don't mean my father."
Again the women giggled. They were already used to Alexander referring to his father as a benign idiot, and they also knew it was affectionately meant by the Antichrist.
He snapped his fingers again, and they appeared together with Wodan in Lucifer's living room. The young man they had saved from death before was sitting on the sofa; he had covered himself with a blanket he had received from Rae Rae. The Angel of Death was munching on popcorn and was immersed in a program on the Devil's big TV. She was either so entrenched with what she was looking at or simply ignored the arrival. The young man was startled when Alexander, Celine, and Maze appeared out of nowhere and seemed to want to crawl away under the blanket. Wodan made his way to the sofa, jumped on it, and stretched lazily. That was the moment Lucifer reappeared. As usual, he was superbly dressed in a three-piece tailored suit, his hair perfectly in place. He was just tucking in his cufflinks, looked at Wodan, and said wearily:
"Does that hairball have to lie on my sofa? May I remind you that this is genuine Italian leather?"
Alexander removed the balaclava as Maze and Celine walked up to the house bar. Mazikeen generously filled four glasses and handed them out. Alex chugged the ice-cold, very expensive vodka in one go and said:
"I don't think Wodan gives a shit about that, Dad; you know he has a mind of his own."
"Bloody hell, it's a hellhound, and I'm the king of Hell. That lice-infected mut is just going to do what I say!"
The Devil again looked at the black hellhound and said gruffly:
"On the ground where you belong, mut!"
The only result his words had was a Hellhound lying down on its back with its paws up, and in that position appeared to follow Rae Rae's program and let its tongue hang out of its mouth. Lucifer looked at Alexander sternly and said:
"Am I correct that YOUR Hellhound is ignoring ME, the King of Hell, and seems to be having fun doing so?"
Alex looked over his shoulder at Wodan and then back into Lucifer's eyes
"Yep, you're absolutely right..."
The Devil grabbed his glass, took a respectable swig, and asked:
"What's going on, Alexander? Who is that guy in his boxers, and what does this meeting of Celestials in my penthouse amount to?"