It all started as a normal night at the Ninth Circle Bar in downtown Manhattan. As rain began to fall, the bar lit up within the city streets attracting many different tourists and citizens. Within the bar laid a black and red interior with red tables and black chairs. There was a burning hot fireplace, and you could hear many faint screams in the distance. One of the bar’s regulars was a customer by the name of Damien, and he had just come in for his nightly get away.

NIGHT 1

Damien strolled into the bar wearing his black trench coat and hat, and he proceeded to make his way to the bar counter. Damien was a tall, slender man with short black hair, and he wore red contact lens. Damien took a seat at the bar counter, and the bartender began to walk over to him.

“What will it be this time Damien?” said the bartender

“I’ll take the usual, a shot of Aftershock.” Damien said with a long pause

The bartender flashed a sinister grin at Damien.

“Coming right up!” He said.

Damien began to survey the bar. He watched as a couple argued over their divorce terms, two lesbians kissing each other on top of one of the dining tables, and he watched as a young boy, who was not even past the age of seven, get passed drinks and narcotics pills by three older gentlemen.

“Here is your Aftershock Damien.” the bartender said as he slid the drink towards Damien.

Damien took the shot and threw it back without hesitation. He paused for a second as the burning sensation moved from the back of his neck down to his stomach. Damien began to motion to the bartender again.

“Can I get six more shots of Aftershock over here?!” Damien said as he gave the bartender the empty shot glass

“Coming right up,” the bartender said as he prepared the drinks.

Damien began to pull a small bag of cocaine out of his pocket and pour a line of it on the bar counter. Damien put his face on the counter, and started to snort the cocaine with his right nostril. Damien’s nerves began to shake slightly and his mood became elevated. The cocaine began to penetrate his bloodstream and he felt a sudden boost of energy.

“Here is your six shots Damien.” the bartender said as he flashed another smile at Damien.

Damien began to chug each shot one by one, and as he pushed each drink down his system, he became more and more distant from reality. Damien tried to find his surroundings, but as he looked around everything was blurred out. Damien turned back towards the counter, and he pulled another bag of cocaine out of his pocket. He poured a line on the counter and began to snort up the substance with ease. Damien felt another boost of energy, and prepared to leave the bar.

“How much do I owe you for the drinks?” Damien asked the bartender as he slurred his words

“You don’t owe me anything Damien; you’re like a son to me, it’s on the house.” the bartender said

Damien gave the bartender a quick nod and he proceeded to leave the bar. The night sky made the weather feel very bleak, and the city streets were mostly dim because the street lights were out. Damien began to stumble as he tried to walk the two blocks down to his home. Damien’s body became more numb with each step he took throughout the frigid cold air. As Damien reached the front door of his apartment, he poured the last gram of cocaine into his hand and he began to snort it through both nostrils. Damien’s nerves began to move out of control again, and the sclera in both of his eyes changed to bloodshot red. Damien unlocked the door to his apartment and flopped down on his couch.

“Damien, is that you?” a sweet voice said in the distance.

Damien’s wife Madonna stepped out from the bathroom in one of her white robes. Madonna was an eloquent woman who could lighten up a dark room with her beauty. She had long brown hair, hazel eyes, and her brown skin was so pure and soft that she was considered by many as a vessel of grandeur.

“I don’t like to see you like this Damien. You have to stop this.” Madonna said as she went over to comfort Damien.

“I’m fine Madonna.” Damien said as he scowled at her

“You’re killing yourself with those drugs and liquor Damien.”

“The drugs and liquor that I take are for me! You don’t tell me what to do!”

“I am just concerned for you Damien. You are my husband. Come on, say a prayer with me.”

Madonna grabbed both of Damien’s hands. Damien’s hands were cold as ice, but they were given warmth by Madonna’s touch.

“Lord please grant me the serenity. To accept the th-“

Damien snatched away.

“I don’t need your damn prayer Madonna. None of those prayers will be answered anyway.” Damien said with force.

Damien got up from the couch and went into the bedroom and slammed the door. Madonna sat on the couch and began to weep.

“Lord please help him.” She whispered to herself.

NIGHT 2

The night sky fell upon the city of Manhattan, and the bone chilling air began to fill the city streets. Damien grabbed his black trench coat and black hat, and he began to make his way down to the bar. The cold air hit Damien like a ton of bricks. It was so cold that a normal person could get frostbite within 10 seconds. Once Damien reached the bar, he walked in and was greeted with the smell of burning ashes, one tourist being tortured by bar employees with the rack, and another tourist being tortured by the use of an iron chair.

“Damien!” the bartender yelled out.

Damien made his way over to the bar counter.

“How are you doing my son?” the bartender asked

“I’m fine, just trying to release myself from this light.” Damien said

“Well, what will it be tonight Damien?”

“The usual.”

The bartender nodded and did his usual sinister grin, and proceeded to make the drinks. Damien pulled three grams of cocaine out of his pocket and poured three lines of cocaine on the counter. Damien consumed each line of cocaine through his right nostril, and began to feel a euphoric sensation within his body.

“Here are your six shots of Aftershock Damien,” the bartender said as he slid the drinks down towards him.

Damien became elated as the drinks were being placed in front of him, and without hesitation, he began to guzzle each down one by one. With each drink that Damien took, his body became more numb as the alcohol traveled through his bloodstream.

“It’s time for you to go home my son” the bartender said as he walked back over to Damien while cleaning a glass pitcher

“I think it is time for me to go.” Damien said as he stumbled to his feet.

“This is on the house right?”

“Of course” the bartender said while giving Damien a thumbs up.

Damien stumbled out of the bar. The freezing weather intensified as the night grew older, and there was no cars on the road. Damien began to make his way home. As Damien began to take one step forward, he felt the alcohol weakening his body, bringing him to one knee. The burning sensation from the Aftershock was taking a toll on him. He felt that his insides were being penetrated by thousands of pins. Damien quickly reached for the cocaine he had in his pocket, and he began to consume one gram.

“That stuff is not good for you” a voice said in the distance.

“Who’s there!?” Damien yelled back.

A slender old man rose from the shadows. The man was bald with a long gray beard, and he wore nothing but rags.

“That substance you are consuming is not good for you” the man continued.

Damien stood to his feet.

“Who are you?” Damien said

“I go by the name of Yahweh, and I have watched you stumble out of that bar on countless nights.”

“You don’t know nothing about me old man! You’re just some old homeless beggar with no sense of purpose in life!”

Yahweh got closer to Damien.

“I know that I was put on this Earth to serve an almighty Lord, and I might wear rags now but I know that God has bigger plans for me!” Yahweh yelled back.

This lit a fire inside Damien. He felt the cocaine moving throughout his bloodstream as his blood vessels began to throb and pulsate. Damien’s anger began to rise and his eyes became bloodshot red. The old man turned and began to walk away from Damien.

“No one walks away from me,” Damien whispered to himself.

Damien found a blount object that was lying on the ground and began to charge at the old man. He struck the old man directly in the back of the head. Yahweh fell to the ground in agony.

“You think you are some type of God. I am God!!” Damien yelled.

Damien proceeded to beat the man with the blount object with an unconscious rage. He made sure to hit every major nerve from the sacral plexus to the brachial plexus. Yahweh tried to scream out for help, but with each blow, he was slowly losing his grip on life. Damien took one final blow to the Yahweh’s head with all his might, and he watched as his blood oozed out of his head and his body lay lifeless. Damien flashed a sinister grin across his face as he admired his work, and started to make his way home. As Damien walked through the front door of his apartment, he began to clean the blount object of the blood from Yahweh and he hid the object inside his couch. He proceeded to make his way to the bedroom, and laid down next to his wife.

“You’re home late.” Madonna said as she tried to cuddle with Damien.

Damien did not say a word as he turned away from her.

“Damien, I only want to help you, I worry about you every day, and I love-“

“Shut up!” Damien interrupted. “I don’t need your help, Madonna. I can take care of myself, just shut up and go to sleep!”

Madonna turned away from Damien.

“I love you,” she whispered to herself as she nodded off to sleep.

NIGHT 3

The sky began to darken and a full moon began to rise on the final night in Manhattan. The frigid air became very brisk, and the temperature outside continued to drop. Damien prepared himself to leave for the bar. Before he made his leave, he went over to the safe where he keeps his cocaine. As he got closer to his safe, he realized that it was already open. He rushed over to look through his safe and he seen that his cocaine stash was gone.

“Madonna!!!” Damien yelled.

There was no answer. Damien realized that Madonna left for work earlier, and would not be back home until later in the evening. Damien became enraged. He grabbed his black trench coat and hat and rushed out of his apartment. Damien rushed through the city streets while the cold wind began to numb his face. Damien burst into the Ninth Circle bar. He watched as the bartender used a syringe to inject a tourist with strychnine. The tourist began to flip out in agonizing pain as the poison began to attack the nerves in her spine and contort her muscles. She was dead within 3 minutes. Damien walked over to the bar counter.

“Damien, my son, I’m so happy to see you” the bartender said with his sinister grin.

Damien took a seat at the counter.

“Why do you seem so down Damien?”

“She is trying to cure me”

“Who is trying to cure you?”

Damien took a long pause.

“Madonna is trying to cleanse my soul and cure me.”

The bartender became enraged.

“No!” He shouted with an animal like growl in his voice.

“She represents all of the bad in your life Damien. She is trying to come between us.”

“She took my cocaine from me and said she is trying to help me.”

“She is not trying to help you Damien, she is trying to separate us, and you can’t let that happen. You have to kill her!”

Damien gave the bartender a confused look.

“But she is my wife I don’t think I should-“

Before Damien could finish his sentence, he is impaled in the chest by the bartender with a large syringe filled with cocaine and methamphetamine. Damien falls out of the bar chair, and tries to recover on one knee. The bartender walks over to Damien.

“You will do as you’re told my son, I know you will make me proud” the bartender whispered in Damien’s ear.

Damien began to writhe in pain on the floor as the substances began to move through his body and blood vessels. Damien felt his anger rising as he struggled to get to his feet. Damien looked around the bar and realized that it was empty. Damien grabbed his hat from off of the bar counter, and began to make his way home. Once Damien left the bar, it began to disintegrate and leave nothing behind but ashes.

As Madonna got off the bus and began to walk home, she felt a cold presence walking up behind her.

“Who’s there?” she said as she turned around.

There was no one present. She began to walk faster.

“I can’t live like this any longer, I have to leave him.” Madonna whispered to herself.

As Madonna approached the apartment building, she seen a large shadowy figure approaching her from the alley. She went to go investigate the figure. As she went to investigate, the shadowy figure jumped over her head, frightening Madonna, and making her stumble to the ground. Madonna tried to gather herself, but she was surrounded by black dogs foaming at the mouth. The dogs began to get closer to her. Madonna struggled to get to her feet. As she stood, she was greeted by a golden jackal that was making her way through the black dogs. The golden jackal had red eyes and had blood coming from her mouth.

“You will perish tonight and your blood will be given to our God as a reward.” the jackal said.

Madonna was too frightened to speak. The dogs began to take their leave behind the jackal. Madonna gathered her things from off the ground, and ran into her apartment building. Madonna rushed through the front door of her apartment to find Damien sitting on the couch.

“Welcome home wife,” Damien said with a sinister grin on his face.

Madonna still too frightened to speak took a seat on the couch next to Damien.

“How was your day?” Damien said.

Madonna looked into Damien’s bloodshot red eyes and stood up.

“Damien I don’t think I can do this anymore.” Madonna said as tears fell from her face.

Damien looked on with a confused look.

“Damien, I love you very much, but I don’t think I can be married to you much longer. You and I represent two different worlds, and I don’t want to be married to someone who represents evil.”

Damien did not say a word.

“I tried to help you change into something good Damien. I have prayed for you. But all you did was push me away, and I just can’t live like this anymore.”

Madonna went and packed up her things. As Damien sat on the couch, he began to fill his anger rising. The cocaine that he was given began to shift throughout his bloodstream and he began to breathe heavily. Madonna came back into the room where Damien was sitting down.

“I’m leaving Damien.” Madonna said as she turned and made her way to the door.

Those words hit Damien like a gut punch to the stomach. Damien’s blood began to boil and he felt his anger intensify. Damien quickly grabbed the blount object that was hidden in the couch, and he charged at Madonna with uncontrollable rage. He struck Madonna’s gastrocnemius muscle with the object making her fall to the ground instantly. Madonna looked up at Damien with shock.

“Damien what are you doing?!” Madonna screamed out.

Damien looked at Madonna holding her leg with agonizing pain.

“You think you’re just going to leave me to worship some God that does not listen! I have looked your God in the eyes I proved that he is nothing, but a worthless human being just like you. He did not smite me with his almighty lightning. Your God is dead! I am God now!”

Madonna tried to scramble and find something to defend herself, but Damien closed on her fast. He picked her up and threw her up against the wall.

“Damien! God can help you! He will show you everlasting love and pea-”

Damien struck Madonna with the blount object across the face, and she instantly fell back to the ground. Madonna began to spit blood and teeth out of her mouth.

“Damien stop! I can h-”

Damien began to beat Madonna continuously with the blount object. The more that Damien struck Madonna, the more she began to drift into an unconscious state. He struck both of her patella with force breaking them instantly. He began striking her rib cage, and he was able to break one of the bones under the left rib cage. Damien put his foot on Madonna chest as she tried to regain consciousness.

“I forgive you. I love you” Madonna said as she looked up to Damien with tears coming from her eyes.

Damien took one last shot with the blount object towards Madonna’s forehead instantly bursting her supraorbital vein and killing her. Damien looked at Madonna’s lifeless body. He picked her up and held her lifeless body out of the apartment window where a pack of black dogs were waiting. He dropped her body out of the window and watched on as the pack of black dogs dismantled and feasted on Madonna’s body. Damien took a seat down on the couch. He began to fill a sudden urge come across his body. The cocaine started to move through rapidly, and it began to reach Damien’s brain. He began to twitch and feel a sense of depression rising.

“What did I just do??!! My wife Madonna!!” Damien said as light tears began to fall down his face.

Damien fell to both knees.

“AHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!”

Damien began breathing heavily.

“AHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!”

Damien’s blood pressure began to rise and he felt a sense of emptiness. Damien’s thoughts began to overwhelm him, and the pain from the cocaine started to weigh heavily on his body. Damien became delirious, and suddenly seen an angel appear in front of him.

“Can’t you hear my crying voice Damien? The wounds that you gave me were severe. I wanted to love you. I wanted to live just one more day. You showed no remorse in your rage. It was you showing your power. It was you trying to prove that you are superior to God. I wanted to show you the light but you killed me in a blind rage. Your heartless Damien, but I forgive you and I hope that one day you will finally see the light.”

Damien tried to grab the angel, but it disappeared in thin air.

“Madonna!!!!” Damien said as he began to weep.

Damien began to regain consciousness.

“I don’t deserve to live” Damien whispered to himself.

Damien walked to the closest and pulled out a long rope. He began to tie knots in the rope, and make the rope into a noose. Damien tied the end of the rope to something sturdy, and tightening the noose around his neck. Damien stood in the same window that he dropped Madonna out of, and he prepared himself for his fate.

“Here is wisdom, let him that hath understanding, count the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man and his number is 666” Damien whispered to himself.

Damien dropped from the window and tried to gasp for air as everything began to fade to black.