Devils' Lullaby
Let's Play Hangman
Standing alone at a cross section on a darkened street, don't know which way to go. If I turn left, I will be going back to a seemingly empty house where no one cares. But to the right is Death himself, come to take me away should I choose to go with him.
Which way do I go?
Do I want to go back to being bullied at school and invisible at home? Or do I listen to the sweet words of comfort coming from Death’s lullaby? Conflicted I stand there and scream. I scream until I feel my lungs almost collapse. Falling to my knees on the cold, wet pavement I begin to weep.
“Which way do I go?!” I scream into the crowed street, knowing people can hear me they just choose to ignore the broken girl with scars on her wrist. Frustrated with being ignored I scream again. This time someone does stop they turn and look at me. I stare back at the boy with piercing green eyes, dressed differently than the others making him stand out, and scream –
“Please help me! I don’t wanna live anymore! I need help!”
The boy smiles and starts running in the opposite direction of me.
“Wait!” I try to call after him but it’s too late, he’s already disappeared into the crowd of people. Feeling defeated and alone I fall once more and tears prickle my eyes.
I suddenly feel a cold, boney arms encircle my body in an almost comforting way. With my teary eyes I look into Death’s lifeless ones.
“Now child, you see? Nobody wants you around. Not even those of your own kind. I know of a way to make all your pain go away.” The chilling voice of Death speaks in my ear.
“R- Really? How?”
“Yes child. All you must do is take my hand and I will make all the hurt go away”
I look down at his old boney hand and back up at his face. “You’re the only one who can help?” I ask tenderly.
“That’s right, you were even rejected by someone who was just like you. Pity I couldn’t get to him before they did.”
“Who’s they”
“Curiosity killed the cat, my dear. Now shall we be on our way?”
He holds his out for me to take again. Slowly, almost shyly I lift my hand ready to place it in his.
“Wait!” I hear a male voice call. I look over to see the same boy from before. “Don’t do it! You’re not alone in the way you are feeling right now! We’ve all been where you are now.”
“What do you know?! And who is this we you are talking about?” I ask slightly angry at him.
“’Cause I was like you once. I used to feel alone, used, angry. I used to think the way you do now, that Death is the only way to stop the hurt. But it’s not, there is another way. As for the we, take a look around at all those suffering souls that were just like yours once.” He answers me, a smile tugging at the corners of his lips.
“Who’s they?” I question taking a step towards the boy and out of Deaths embrace to which he hisses at the boy.
“’They’ are the saviors, the ones who pick us up when we fall. The ones who know how we feel and decided to try and do something about it. They are the angels that have fallen from heaven to help us. They are our superheroes!”
“You mean like cape wearing fake heroes?” I ask wrinkling my nose at the thought.
The boy smiles and shakes his head “No, these are REAL heroes. They have tattoos and piercings instead of capes and Scream what they feel instead of using cheap words. They are the real heroes of our world.” As he says this a bunch of people looking just like he described come walking out of the shadowy mist. Tattoos, piercings and wings of all shapes, sizes and conditions.
Suddenly music starts to play and all I can hear is melodic screams coming from their direction. I fall into a trance listening to it. I am snapped out of it by a bunch of people surrounding me. These must be the ones the boy was talking about. They are different from the heroes. Dressed differently with tattoos and things but something is different.
3 people come out of the crowd as I study it. Two boys and a girl walk up to me. As they come closer I can make out their looks. Black or colored hair with eye color ranging from gray to dark brown. They wear converse, skinny jeans, band tees and many wristbands. The boys stop a few feet in front of me but the girl continues forward. She stares at my slit wrists as she walks closer. Self – conscious I hide then behind my back.
She breaks her stare as she stops in front of me. Lifting her wristbands she shows me her hidden secret. I gasp as I gaze upon her scars. The girl smiles slightly and says “You’re not alone. We’ve all been through it. Even our saviors. At some point we all did it. Some of us were too far gone to save in life but they found their way home in death. Will you join us in life or in death? Will you join this broken family?” she asks.
I can hear people from the crowd say “Will you?”, “Please join us”, and “You’re not alone in the fight against death!”. I look around at all the different faces of the ones saved and the saviors. I can hear the music get louder as it reaches its climax. The heroes smile at me, holding out a hand for me to take.
Suddenly the boy from earlier appears right in front of me and offers a hand to me. “Come home with your family Nikki” I take a step closer to home and take his hand smiling, looking into his green eyes. He smiles and pulls me into the crowd. I can hear the music much more clearly over here. Now as a bright light flashes before my eyes I can feel something changing. The light recedes and I look at myself. I have changed. I am wearing a criss cross top with the words ‘The only Death I listen to is Death Core’ that stops just before my navel, Skinny jeans and green converse. You can also see my tattoos and my piercings have been placed in again (Snake Bites, multiple ear, and eyebrow) and a black beanie is placed upon my head.
Smiling I look to the still nameless boy and thank him. He smiles back and opens his mouth to speak but before he can a white hot hand grabs my hand and pulls me out of the crowd. Looking up I see the angry face of death.
“NO! You are mine child and I will not lose you like I did so many others!” he grips my arm tighter.
Determined not to show my pain I glare at him “Fuck you!” I bite out though the searing pain.
“Hah! You think they care? You’re wrong! They care about no one but themselves. They will throw you away just like everyone else. But not me, no child I would never do that to you.”I
My glare falters just a tiny bit at his words. His grin turns into something more evil as he gazes upon my broken face.
“That’s not true!” I hear from the crowd. “He’s just trying to trick you into doing something I know you don’t want to do!”
“But-“
“NO, no buts. You must not believe him, he is deceitful! I should know, I was foolish enough to have trusted him once.” A man with dark hair and eyes emerges from the crowd with a determined look on his face. “My name is Mitch Lucker and I am dead because of Him!” the man shouts pointing to Death. “I helped hundreds of kids with their lives with my music and because of him I can no longer do that! He took me away from my fans and my family!”
“How can you do that? Deceive people and taking them away from their families? From the ones who need them?”
“Because it’s fun!”
“You are a vile creature that should have never existed! You should take your own advice and go die!” I yell glaring at him with everything I had.
Death must have seen something in my eyes because he released me and took a small step back. A white hot pain shot up though my back causing me to fall to my knees and cry out in pain. Even through the pain I can feel something extending from my back. As the pain slowly recedes I hear cheers coming from every direction. A hand comes into my line of vision and I follow the hand to an arm which is attached to the body of Mitch Lucker.
A smile plays on my lips as I accept his help up. Once on my feel he pulls my into a hug. The emotions are too much and I start to cry. Letting go he wipes away my tears, “there is no need to cry Nikki. You are fine, you have a family. And you have earned your wings!” Mitch says smiling down at me. A song I am not familiar with starts to play.
youtube.com/watch?v=VuGzJVKtW6g
“Welcome to the family Nikki!” everyone courses together.
Everything starts to fade and I freak out.
“What’s happening?! Somebody help!”
“Its ok Nikki, we’ll be there when you wake up” the boy spoke up standing next to the girl and two other boys.
“But I don’t want all this to be just a dream!” I scream hoping he’ll understand. But he just smiles and wave’s goodbye as everything turns black.
The next time I wake up I am in a white room with many tubes attached to me. A nurse walks in and is in shock at seeing me awake (or so I guess) and runs out the room screaming for a doctor. They both burst into the room with four other people. As the doctor asks me questions I stare at the four others. They all give me a smile and motion for me to keep quite. I nod my head in conformation.
I am brought back to reality by the doctor asking what the last thing I remember is.
“I remember taking a walk in the rain. That’s about it”.
“That’s to be expected. You were in the rain for quite a while in only your jeans and top. You have a mild case of hyperthermia and blood loss which led you to pass out on the street.”
“When can I get out of here?” “In about a day or so. We want to keep you a little longer for safety purposes.” Someone clears their throat. “hm? Oh yes I will leave you to catch up with your family”. The doctor and nurse leave closing the door behind then. I turn to the group waiting for an explanation.
“First let me say, everything that happened? It was real” Green eyes start off
“Then how come doctor who didn’t say anything about my wings?”
“Only other fallen angels can see then” the girl explains.
“Oh. Who are you guys anyway?” I ask slightly embarrassed for not asking earlier.
Smiling the girl steps up first “Haley Shadow, age 16, fallen angel since 2008”
Green eyes steps up next “James Ream, 17 fallen angel since 2007”
“Shane/Shawn Gray, 17, fallen angel since 2009” the final two say in unison.
I look at the Gray boys slightly confused. “Their twins” Haley says giggling.
“Nikki Wzientek, 16 fallen angel since today!” they got a chuckle out of that one.
“So what do you want to do when you get out of here?” James asks
“Do you guys play any instruments?” I ask a little shyly
.”I play Guitar” Haley says
“Drums, Guitar, Violin and piano” the twins say.
“Bass” James replies.
“Why do you ask?” Shane asks cocking his head to the side like a lost puppy
“Yes why do you?” Shawn says copying his brothers’ movements.
“Cause I wanna start a band!” I say excitedly. “After all I have always loved to scream/sing!” I say smiling.
“What are we gonna be called?” = Haley
“How ‘bout ‘Let’s Play Hangman’?” – James
“Awesome!” – All but James
Even through all of this happiness I can still feel the pull of death and hear a faint whispering of the Deathly Lullaby.
Which way do I go?
Do I want to go back to being bullied at school and invisible at home? Or do I listen to the sweet words of comfort coming from Death’s lullaby? Conflicted I stand there and scream. I scream until I feel my lungs almost collapse. Falling to my knees on the cold, wet pavement I begin to weep.
“Which way do I go?!” I scream into the crowed street, knowing people can hear me they just choose to ignore the broken girl with scars on her wrist. Frustrated with being ignored I scream again. This time someone does stop they turn and look at me. I stare back at the boy with piercing green eyes, dressed differently than the others making him stand out, and scream –
“Please help me! I don’t wanna live anymore! I need help!”
The boy smiles and starts running in the opposite direction of me.
“Wait!” I try to call after him but it’s too late, he’s already disappeared into the crowd of people. Feeling defeated and alone I fall once more and tears prickle my eyes.
I suddenly feel a cold, boney arms encircle my body in an almost comforting way. With my teary eyes I look into Death’s lifeless ones.
“Now child, you see? Nobody wants you around. Not even those of your own kind. I know of a way to make all your pain go away.” The chilling voice of Death speaks in my ear.
“R- Really? How?”
“Yes child. All you must do is take my hand and I will make all the hurt go away”
I look down at his old boney hand and back up at his face. “You’re the only one who can help?” I ask tenderly.
“That’s right, you were even rejected by someone who was just like you. Pity I couldn’t get to him before they did.”
“Who’s they”
“Curiosity killed the cat, my dear. Now shall we be on our way?”
He holds his out for me to take again. Slowly, almost shyly I lift my hand ready to place it in his.
“Wait!” I hear a male voice call. I look over to see the same boy from before. “Don’t do it! You’re not alone in the way you are feeling right now! We’ve all been where you are now.”
“What do you know?! And who is this we you are talking about?” I ask slightly angry at him.
“’Cause I was like you once. I used to feel alone, used, angry. I used to think the way you do now, that Death is the only way to stop the hurt. But it’s not, there is another way. As for the we, take a look around at all those suffering souls that were just like yours once.” He answers me, a smile tugging at the corners of his lips.
“Who’s they?” I question taking a step towards the boy and out of Deaths embrace to which he hisses at the boy.
“’They’ are the saviors, the ones who pick us up when we fall. The ones who know how we feel and decided to try and do something about it. They are the angels that have fallen from heaven to help us. They are our superheroes!”
“You mean like cape wearing fake heroes?” I ask wrinkling my nose at the thought.
The boy smiles and shakes his head “No, these are REAL heroes. They have tattoos and piercings instead of capes and Scream what they feel instead of using cheap words. They are the real heroes of our world.” As he says this a bunch of people looking just like he described come walking out of the shadowy mist. Tattoos, piercings and wings of all shapes, sizes and conditions.
Suddenly music starts to play and all I can hear is melodic screams coming from their direction. I fall into a trance listening to it. I am snapped out of it by a bunch of people surrounding me. These must be the ones the boy was talking about. They are different from the heroes. Dressed differently with tattoos and things but something is different.
3 people come out of the crowd as I study it. Two boys and a girl walk up to me. As they come closer I can make out their looks. Black or colored hair with eye color ranging from gray to dark brown. They wear converse, skinny jeans, band tees and many wristbands. The boys stop a few feet in front of me but the girl continues forward. She stares at my slit wrists as she walks closer. Self – conscious I hide then behind my back.
She breaks her stare as she stops in front of me. Lifting her wristbands she shows me her hidden secret. I gasp as I gaze upon her scars. The girl smiles slightly and says “You’re not alone. We’ve all been through it. Even our saviors. At some point we all did it. Some of us were too far gone to save in life but they found their way home in death. Will you join us in life or in death? Will you join this broken family?” she asks.
I can hear people from the crowd say “Will you?”, “Please join us”, and “You’re not alone in the fight against death!”. I look around at all the different faces of the ones saved and the saviors. I can hear the music get louder as it reaches its climax. The heroes smile at me, holding out a hand for me to take.
Suddenly the boy from earlier appears right in front of me and offers a hand to me. “Come home with your family Nikki” I take a step closer to home and take his hand smiling, looking into his green eyes. He smiles and pulls me into the crowd. I can hear the music much more clearly over here. Now as a bright light flashes before my eyes I can feel something changing. The light recedes and I look at myself. I have changed. I am wearing a criss cross top with the words ‘The only Death I listen to is Death Core’ that stops just before my navel, Skinny jeans and green converse. You can also see my tattoos and my piercings have been placed in again (Snake Bites, multiple ear, and eyebrow) and a black beanie is placed upon my head.
Smiling I look to the still nameless boy and thank him. He smiles back and opens his mouth to speak but before he can a white hot hand grabs my hand and pulls me out of the crowd. Looking up I see the angry face of death.
“NO! You are mine child and I will not lose you like I did so many others!” he grips my arm tighter.
Determined not to show my pain I glare at him “Fuck you!” I bite out though the searing pain.
“Hah! You think they care? You’re wrong! They care about no one but themselves. They will throw you away just like everyone else. But not me, no child I would never do that to you.”I
My glare falters just a tiny bit at his words. His grin turns into something more evil as he gazes upon my broken face.
“That’s not true!” I hear from the crowd. “He’s just trying to trick you into doing something I know you don’t want to do!”
“But-“
“NO, no buts. You must not believe him, he is deceitful! I should know, I was foolish enough to have trusted him once.” A man with dark hair and eyes emerges from the crowd with a determined look on his face. “My name is Mitch Lucker and I am dead because of Him!” the man shouts pointing to Death. “I helped hundreds of kids with their lives with my music and because of him I can no longer do that! He took me away from my fans and my family!”
“How can you do that? Deceive people and taking them away from their families? From the ones who need them?”
“Because it’s fun!”
“You are a vile creature that should have never existed! You should take your own advice and go die!” I yell glaring at him with everything I had.
Death must have seen something in my eyes because he released me and took a small step back. A white hot pain shot up though my back causing me to fall to my knees and cry out in pain. Even through the pain I can feel something extending from my back. As the pain slowly recedes I hear cheers coming from every direction. A hand comes into my line of vision and I follow the hand to an arm which is attached to the body of Mitch Lucker.
A smile plays on my lips as I accept his help up. Once on my feel he pulls my into a hug. The emotions are too much and I start to cry. Letting go he wipes away my tears, “there is no need to cry Nikki. You are fine, you have a family. And you have earned your wings!” Mitch says smiling down at me. A song I am not familiar with starts to play.
youtube.com/watch?v=VuGzJVKtW6g
“Welcome to the family Nikki!” everyone courses together.
Everything starts to fade and I freak out.
“What’s happening?! Somebody help!”
“Its ok Nikki, we’ll be there when you wake up” the boy spoke up standing next to the girl and two other boys.
“But I don’t want all this to be just a dream!” I scream hoping he’ll understand. But he just smiles and wave’s goodbye as everything turns black.
The next time I wake up I am in a white room with many tubes attached to me. A nurse walks in and is in shock at seeing me awake (or so I guess) and runs out the room screaming for a doctor. They both burst into the room with four other people. As the doctor asks me questions I stare at the four others. They all give me a smile and motion for me to keep quite. I nod my head in conformation.
I am brought back to reality by the doctor asking what the last thing I remember is.
“I remember taking a walk in the rain. That’s about it”.
“That’s to be expected. You were in the rain for quite a while in only your jeans and top. You have a mild case of hyperthermia and blood loss which led you to pass out on the street.”
“When can I get out of here?” “In about a day or so. We want to keep you a little longer for safety purposes.” Someone clears their throat. “hm? Oh yes I will leave you to catch up with your family”. The doctor and nurse leave closing the door behind then. I turn to the group waiting for an explanation.
“First let me say, everything that happened? It was real” Green eyes start off
“Then how come doctor who didn’t say anything about my wings?”
“Only other fallen angels can see then” the girl explains.
“Oh. Who are you guys anyway?” I ask slightly embarrassed for not asking earlier.
Smiling the girl steps up first “Haley Shadow, age 16, fallen angel since 2008”
Green eyes steps up next “James Ream, 17 fallen angel since 2007”
“Shane/Shawn Gray, 17, fallen angel since 2009” the final two say in unison.
I look at the Gray boys slightly confused. “Their twins” Haley says giggling.
“Nikki Wzientek, 16 fallen angel since today!” they got a chuckle out of that one.
“So what do you want to do when you get out of here?” James asks
“Do you guys play any instruments?” I ask a little shyly
.”I play Guitar” Haley says
“Drums, Guitar, Violin and piano” the twins say.
“Bass” James replies.
“Why do you ask?” Shane asks cocking his head to the side like a lost puppy
“Yes why do you?” Shawn says copying his brothers’ movements.
“Cause I wanna start a band!” I say excitedly. “After all I have always loved to scream/sing!” I say smiling.
“What are we gonna be called?” = Haley
“How ‘bout ‘Let’s Play Hangman’?” – James
“Awesome!” – All but James
Even through all of this happiness I can still feel the pull of death and hear a faint whispering of the Deathly Lullaby.
