This is an ongoing story. If it’s your first time reading the novel I suggest you start from Episode 1. If this episode is not where you last left off, then please check the Table of contents of all episodes released so far and find the last episode you read, and continue from there.

Kingdom of the Red Rose
(Episode 10 of 62)
Chapter Four: Suspended Until Further Notice
(Part 2 of 3)

Griffin saw a man standing in a dead-end alleyway. 

“Choose,” Griffin screamed at the man.

A bullet was slowly moving towards the man, when suddenly Griffin found himself in a new scenery. One that belonged to a recent memory of his.

“Be careful of the choices given to you, young ones,” Griffin said to a group of souls as they headed towards their new life. An exciting journey full of possibilities laid out before them.

The dream transitioned just as abruptly as before, and Griffin found himself looking at the bullet heading his way. He was now the man standing in the alley, but he could not move. He was not in control. He could only observe.

“Someday, young Grim Reaper, you will try to find the answer to the question that is forever burning at the back of your mind, consuming you,” said the Grim Reaper looking at Griffin, the man.

Although the Grim Reaper looked exactly like Griffin, the voice was not his. This Grim Reaper was holding his scythe up high, eyes burning yellow with hatred under the black hood, looking directly at Griffin.

“Why. You asked why,” the Grim Reaper continued.

Griffin finally recognized the voice and horror drowned him. It was Lucifer. 

“I want to be like that red rose,” a soothing female voice said.

The emotions that overwhelmed Griffin took physical forms and reshaped the environment around the man. Sadness rose in the form of a sharp cliff, defying the river of horror that tried to drown Griffin. The man, out of whose eyes Griffin was observing everything, was lifted to safety.

“Nathaniel, love, it’s getting cold. I think it’s time we went back home,” the same female voice continued.

Dark, raging, storm clouds filled the night sky. Thunder and lightning illuminated the cliff, forming shadows all around the man.

Griffin knew the female voice well. Emma, his scythe, but where was she?

A woman appeared in front of the man. The woman was wearing a blue dress. “Nathaniel darling?” her hand extended outwards, waiting for him to take hold of hers.

The man lifted his arms and reached out when the cliff started to crumble. Huge chunks of stone fell into the river below and the man took a step forward. Before he could touch the woman’s hand the cliff gave into the river’s fierce current and was swept away. The man started falling, but the fall lasted longer than expected. Everything twisted and swirled, distorting into nothingness.

Griffin eventually hit solid ground. He stood up and the scenery around him formed back into existence. He was back in that dead-end alley where it all started, with the bullet slowly heading for him. The woman was now next to him on her knees. Her hands were over her head, trying to shield herself from something unknown yet terrifying.

The Grim Reaper with Griffin’s looks and Lucifer’s voice was also there. He lowered his scythe and the bullet started to move towards the man once again. The woman jumped in front of the man and hugged him. Griffin looked at her smiling face, at her fog covered eyes, and felt a strong connection with her. She loved him. The bullet reached maximum velocity and whistled as it travelled through the air. It buried into the woman’s back and she released a terrible screech of pain.

“No, Emma, no,”  the man dragged his voice as much as he could.

But as the man screamed, something yanked Griffin backwards and out of the man. He was now someone else observing this scene. Griffin saw endless tears streaming down Emma’s face as she  hugged the man. He reached out, trying to grab her, but whatever pulled him back had dragged him out of range. The man hugged Emma’s bloody corpse tightly in his arms, fell to his knees and began weeping, sobbing his heart out.

All the crying eventually stopped. All noises died out except for the sound of drops falling in liquid. It was as if someone placed a bucket of water under a dripping tap.

 “Your insolence. Your arrogance. The darkness of your soul. You would have made an excellent Arch Demon. I should have refused the deal,” the Grim Reaper said as he moved closer to Griffin, making sure he didn’t block Griffin’s view of the couple.

The sound of drops falling into water began increasing in number until it sounded like heavy rain. Blood poured on the floor, originating from the couple, and flowed towards Griffin. He was on all fours, looking ahead at the dying couple. The blood reached his hands and legs and kept rising, forming a river around Griffin that threatened to drown him. He noticed the river was filled with human souls, their voices echoing as they were pulled past him by the strong current. Some souls spoke in madness, others in twisted pleasure, others in pain and suffering, and some in happiness and joy. But they all screamed or whispered one of two things. Two words. Two names. Nathaniel or Emma. The river of blood reached Griffin's chin and he began struggling to breathe. He tried to stand up, but an unknown force was holding him pinned to the ground.

“Stay down. Do not get up. Accept your destiny. Accept your fate.”

Griffin replied to the unknown voice by howling in rage, refusing to give up. He tried again and again, until he eventually broke free and pulled himself up to his knees.

He saw Archangel Michael holding him down by the right shoulder, “Do not disobey. Stay down.”

“He’s right. You shouldn’t fight this,” Archangel Gabriel appeared on his left and held him down by the shoulder.

The Grim Reaper burst into laughter as he saw the Archangels and it caught Griffin’s attention. He pulled back his black hood and Lucifer’s face was revealed. The body was Griffin’s, the scythe was Emma, but the head was that of the Devil’s apparition. White hot fury began consuming Griffin, and he felt his body temperature rising. He was burning up, causing the blood all around him to boil and bubble until he finally managed to stand on his own two feet.

“Why must you fight?” Michael looked at Griffin in disappointment.

“Some things cannot be changed,” Gabriel had the same look on his face, “You must learn to accept your place and fate.”

“Never!” There was no end to Griffin’s rage. “I was made to persevere, to insist and to keep searching. I will give up only when I am no more. Until then I shall fight. That is how I survive. This is what I am,” Griffin’s monstrous voice surprised even himself.

“Yes, and that is what I love about your kind!” Lucifer replied in delight, forming a wide smile, and rubbing his hands together.

“YOU,” Griffin growled as his body began transforming. He turned into an enormous version of Lucifer’s apparition.

At that moment duality was born within the monster’s body. It was as if two souls occupied the same body. One soul was the monster; consumed by anger and hatred, wanting to slay the Devil. The second soul was Griffin, the observer, who wanted to intervene and stop the monster. There was an unmistaken feeling of fear rising within Griffin. A soul gripping fear of going too far, of crossing lines that must never be crossed. The monster attacked the Devil, grabbing him by the arms and lifting him up high, threatening to tear him limb from limb.

“Do it!” Lucifer screamed, “Do it, you coward.”

The monster lunged forward with its mouth open wide. Its teeth lodged into Lucifer’s shoulders, while simultaneously trying to pull his arms apart. He squeezed his jaw and his teeth clicked together as they cut through Lucifer’s body. The bottom half splashed into the bloody river below and the monster spat the head out into his hand, but the head was not Lucifer’s. It was the woman who had Emma’s voice, the one who’s image he saw earlier that day.

“Griffin, Griffin, Griffin.”

Griffin jumped up and head butted something solid. He instantly felt lightheaded and pulled back his hood, only to find a female face right in front of him, wincing in pain. He screamed and jumped backwards, falling off the marble bench and hitting the ground shoulders first, with his back bent and his legs up over his head, revealing his white bony legs beneath his robe.

“Ouch, that hurt,” Griffin groaned, and giggles filled the depressingly white corridor.

“I’m sorry Griffin, but the Council has requested your presence,” Valentina continued giggling.

The story continues in:
Kingdom of the Red Rose
(Episode 11 of 62)
Chapter Four: Suspended Until Further Notice
(Part 3 of 3)

Click that LIKE button if you've enjoyed this episode and show your support. It really helps me spread the word about my novel and reach more readers.

All comments, feedback, general feelings, notes, or anything else relating to the work are more than welcome. All I ask is that you try and avoid spoilers, so we don’t ruin the story for any future readers.

If you don't want to wait for the next update then you can purchase a digital version of the entire story. The novel is available for sale on Kindle, Apple Books, and the Copper Mouflon online store (visit my website by clicking the logo below) where you can find and buy a digital version of the book.