The Gates

You guys really wanted a sequel/epilogue/companion to the Purgatory so I decided that I might as well give it to you since I'm a little bit excited to do it.

Benny: In other words, he's bored and you guys are lucking out on the benefits since you voted and asked for it a ton. Man, you're desperate for attention, darkshadow.

Not really. I actually shy away from the spotlight but enough about me.

Now, of course, since this is connected to the Purgatory, there will be references to the Purgatory. I'd say at least ten but there'll probably be more.

So let's go on with the story!

On the late evening of March 24th, Peach Creek Cemetery was quiet as the graves, large and small, stood in the hundreds behind a black iron fence on the northern side of the town. In the eerie silence of the suburb as the light blue skyline littered with clouds gave way to purple, pink and eventually a dark black sky, a young boy around the age of 11 stood up in one of the upper rows of the cemetery. He had eggshell-colored skin, a black crew cut and dark brown eyes. He wore a white dress shirt with a knitted grey sweater, knee-length pants and sandals with ankle socks. The boy carried a plank of wood with two eyes and a smile drawn on it with crayon.

The boy said "It sure is nice out, right, Plank?"

Plank, of course gave no response verbally. The boy nodded, though with a calm smile on his face as if nothing could stop or bother him.

The boy replied "Yep but I don't know why we're outside, buddy. It feels a little chilly out here. What's that, Plank? Turn around?"

The boy, Jonny Rogers, slowly turned around to see a large headstone with a small six-inch stone cross at the top. The top of the headstone had a few bunches of flowers and there were also flowers placed at the bottom of the headstone. The headstone said "Jonathan Rogers: Loved Son, Friend, Brother: April 1st, 1912 – March 20th, 1924" on it.

Jonny quietly chuckled as he said "That's funny. My name's on this grave thing, Plank. It must be Madison and some of the other McCurry kids playing tricks on me".

Plank once again gave no response.

Jonny held Plank closer to his ear as he responded with "What's that, Plank? Nah, it must be a trick. Maybe that guy over there knows something about it."

Jonny walked over to a young man who looked to be about 13 or 14. The boy had dark brown hair and hazel eyes and wore a flannel shirt under a green jacket with denim jeans and sneakers. He had a grin on his face as he noticed Jonny.

The boy said "Heya, neighbor! I am Ed, leader of the dark children!"

Jonny replied "Hi, I'm Jonny, nice to meet ya. What is this place?"

Ed responded with "This is the second home of the dark children. It's where we occasionally play, see and wander. We're all around the same age except for Jimmy and Sarah. They're both 11."

Jonny asked "I'm 11 too. What's with these grave things? Are they some sort of trick?"

Ed shook his head and answered "No, they're not. I think they're there to remind us of our fates and to not forget who we are. I sure haven't."

Jonny asked "How many of us are there?"

Ed answered "Seven. No, wait, eight including you. Eleven if you count…the Kankers." before he shuddered.

Jonny said "That's a lot of kids. Where is everybody else?"

Ed answered "They're in the cul-de-sac. One or two might come out now. But I really don't know."

A young boy who looked about 14 suddenly appeared not far from where Jonny and Ed was. The boy had a black sock hat covering his scalp and light brown eyes. He wore a red T-shirt with a jacket, jeans and sneakers. He actually looked nervous and curious at the same time.

The boy asked "Excuse me. Where am I?"

Jonny answered "Heya, pal. I'm Jonny and he's Ed. You're in the second home, as Ed called it."

The boy responded with "I'm Eddward. Nice to meet you, Jonny and Ed." before he stuck out his hand towards Jonny and Ed.

Jonny reluctantly shook Eddward's hand while Ed stared at Eddward's hand for a few seconds and hugged him. Ed soon let go of Eddward and looked down at the ground.

Ed said "Sorry. Force of habit."

Eddward replied "That's fine, Ed. So why are we all in a cemetery?"

Ed responded with "Jonny ended up leaving his home in the cul-de-sac and came here. That's also the case with you. Don't worry, we should be back in the cul-de-sac soon."

Eddward asked "My home? That's where it actually is. I've seen the cul-de-sac itself but rarely ventured outside of it or even in it for that matter. But in all honesty, why are we really here?"

Whatever answer Eddward may have received was interrupted by footsteps. A middle-aged man who appeared to be in his 50's appeared in the row that the boys were in. He had long licorice black hair and bright green eyes and he wore a light blue jumpsuit with the name "Jerry" on the top part of the jumpsuit and a light blue cap. The man was accompanied by a younger man who appeared to be in his 20's or 30's. The younger man had blond-brown hair, blue eyes and he wore the same outfit as his older coworker but with the name "N.L." on his part of the jumpsuit.

Jerry said "Nico, I'm not hallucinating, am I? There aren't three boys here, are there?"

Nico replied "There are or else I'm going crazy too. Why are they here?"

Jerry responded calmly with "Nico, you've lived here for only half as long as I have. Kids sneak into this place for every damn reason you could think of. Let's just tell them to get lost and go home."

Ed turned around to Jerry and Nico, smiled with a wide grin and said "Morning, sirs! I'm Ed!"

Jerry's beige-colored face seemed to turn pale at that proclamation and he nearly dropped the liquor bottle in his right hand. Nico actually had the same reaction before color slowly returned to his face and his heart began to slow down again.

Jerry asked "Sorry, kid. You said your name was Ed. Ed McKenzie?"

Nico replied "Jerry, didn't that kid die like 50 years ago?"

Jerry replied "60 years, Nico. Kid got stabbed by a few Klan wannabes. He and his little sister died within three days of each other."

Ed's smile slowly faded into a frown and he solemnly nodded.

Nico began to back away and said "No way, man. This isn't real. We drank way too much, Jerry."

Jerry looked down at his liquor bottle and remarked "I don't know about you, kid but my bottle is still more than half full and I don't usually start seeing stuff until it's empty. If this is real, then Satan's playing tricks with us."

Jonny asked "Who's Satan? Some banker or baseball player?"

Nico answered "Just because you're in a cemetery doesn't mean you could joke around like that, kid. Not that it was a good joke to begin with but it's still disrespectful."

Eddward responded with "Excuse me, Mr. Nico but there must be some kind of mistake. My acquaintances and I are just trying to get home."

Nico's eyes widened as he said "Wait a minute. You're Eddward Green. The kid that died in that chemical accident at Peach Creek Junior High. There's a scholarship named after you."

Eddward nervously chuckled and replied "I'm afraid you're mistaken, sir. I'm Eddward Green but as you can certainly see, I'm not deceased and in fact very much alive."

Jerry spat on the ground and said "No, you're dead, Green. I should know. I still remember the day my old pal and I had your funeral. Half of the town was there and there was a bunch of crying people. You got buried not long after. As a matter of fact, your grave is a few down from your buddy's."

Jerry and Nico walked down past Jonny, Ed and Eddward towards a large headstone covered with flowers and the headstone had several cards placed at the bottom along with a stuffed bear.

The headstone had Eddward's picture on it and said "Eddward Peter Green, May 12th, 1984 – June 25th, 1998. Dear son, friend, classmate, nephew and grandson. You will truly be missed".

Eddward's face paled and he stuttered "T-That's i-impossible…"

Jerry said "It's not impossible, kid. You and your friends have been dead as a doorknob for years. Decades, even. I personally don't like seeing dead bodies and unlike Nico here, I don't believe in any zombie apocalypses."

Nico interrupted Jerry when he replied "I don't believe in zombie apocalypses, Jerry. I just believe that maybe spirits exist in people's bodies like in Shintoism."

Jerry said "Nico's a philosophy major at Peach Creek Tech. Can you believe that? Now, back to what I was saying. As far as I know, your bodies are still in the coffins which mean one of two things: I'm drunk and having weird hallucinations which I doubt or you three are here to tempt us into doing something bad which I'm not going to let you do."

Nico asked "What are we going to do, Jerry?"

Jerry squinted his eyes at two people in an adjacent row and said "Forget about what we do with them for now. Who the hell are they?"

The two people were a boy who looked to be about 13 and a girl who was about the same age. The boy had jet black hair and dark brown eyes. He wore a white tunic with long blue pants and black shoes. The girl, had short blond hair and blue eyes. She, on the other hand, wore more modern clothing. She wore a red sweatshirt with a blue varsity jacket over it, acid-washed jeans and a pair of white tennis shoes.

The boy asked "Where are we, Nazz girl of Tampa?"

The girl answered "I don't know, Rolf. Maybe those guys over there know where we are."

Nico said "Is that Nazari Lincoln?"

Jerry nodded and answered "Yep, it definitely is, Nico. Got murdered along with most of her family in the infamous Christmas Eve slay of 1990. Only people that survived were Dewey, Kate and you."

Nico shuddered and replied "Don't remind me. Uncle Dewey and Aunt Kate did enough. We must be dreaming." before he tried to hit himself in the face.

Jerry shook his head and said "Nah, like I said before, Nico, this is real. Only thing we can do is try to put them out of their misery." as he picked up a small rock from the ground.

Jerry threw the rock at Jonny who muttered in pain. Nico soon followed with a slightly larger rock that barely missed Eddward. The two began to throw rocks, cans and any other items that they could find on the ground. Rolf and Nazz tried to stop them but soon found themselves under attack as well.

Jerry said "These things aren't working well enough, Nico. You took the test for your concealed carry permit."

Nico replied "Yeah, last year with Uncle Dewey. Hang on, Jerry, you're not thinking of…"

Jerry nodded and responded with "I would hate to do it but chances are even if we didn't, somebody else would. Besides, they're all going to Hell, anyway." before he took out a 10mm Glock pistol.

Nico soon followed with a SP 2022 as Eddward and Jonny gulped in fear. They weren't the only ones to show shock, fear and panic at the actions of the duo. The only thing that was stopping Rolf from outright running away was the fact that they would still most likely injure if not kill him anyway.

The two had switched off the safety on their respective weapons and were about to aim and shoot when suddenly, a voice shouted out.

"Stop right there, Jerome Kenneth Garefin and Nicolas Theodore Lincoln!"

Nico almost dropped his gun in shock while Jerry's mouth dropped at the sudden sight in front of them.

Jerry said "What the hell?"

In between the kids and Jerry and Nico was a man who appeared to be in his 20's. The man had sandy blond hair and hazel eyes and wore a white T-shirt with a pair of blue pants with a pair of canvas shoes. That wasn't what was shocking about the man in particular. The shock came from the pair of large, white, angelic wings on the man's back.

The man said "You always did have a little too much faith, Jerome."

Jerry replied "I don't know how on earth you know my name, freak or Nico's but if you don't get out of our way, you're gonna regret it!"

The man said "Jerome, none of this has to happen. The children will be unharmed no matter what you decide to do. So you and Nicolas might as well put your weapons down on the ground."

Jerry shot his pistol at Ed in response. The bullet went straight but then stopped as if it hit a solid wall and fell to the ground. Jerry's eyes went from Ed to the bullet and then to the man.

The man said with conviction in his voice "Leave now, Jerome and Nicolas."

Jerry absent-mindedly nodded and Nico and Jerry turned around and began to walk out of the cemetery.

Jerry asked with a mix of fear and shock entering his voice "W-Who are you?"

The man answered "I am Zachary and I protect these kids from anyone who aims to hurt them like you. Now be gone."

Nico and Jerry continued to walk towards the entrance of the cemetery while the kids looked at them then at Zachary with surprise, amazement and gratitude.

Nazz asked "What was that?"

Zachary answered "That was the power of control, Nazari. A small dog may act like it is a big, tough dog but when it encounters an even bigger dog who is willing to put up a fight, that small dog will back down."

Eddward asked "Although that was an insightful and intriguing answer, I don't believe that was the answer Nazz had in mind. First of all, sir, who really are you and how did you manage to prevent those two from causing us harm?"

Zachary replied "Like I told those two men, Eddward, I am Zachary, son of Lillian and Judas and an angel of the Fifth Order. I've been watching over you and your friends for quite a long time now but I've never seen any of you in the overworld regularly before apart from Edward. As for how I stopped those two men, my protection of you was enough evidence along with my power of control which I inserted into my speech to them."

Nazz asked "Why are you calling this place the overworld?"

Zachary answered "It is called the overworld as it is Earth where you are now. The underworld is where all of you were. Unfortunately, I will have to take you back there now as it is no longer safe to be up here."

Jonny asked "Why?"

Zachary replied "Jonathan, as I'm sure you know; there are people in the world who do not take kindly to the abnormal. Jerome and Nicolas may be powerless now but they will probably contact authorities soon, telling them to come here. Therefore, I will have to return you to the underworld. Don't worry. The flash won't blind you."

Before anyone could ask what he meant, all of them were suddenly engulfed in a white flash for a brief moment. When that moment was over, Zachary and the children were gone. The only evidence of their appearance would be a small gust of wind and a mildly singed bullet casing from Jerry's Glock pistol.

That wraps up the beginning of the Gates. I know you may want to know more about what was going on there but I don't want to spoil the whole thing in one go.

Benny: That sure hasn't stopped you before.

This actually didn't match my original plans for this story. But sometimes things don't go the way you planned and sometimes that's a good thing.

Benny: We'll see if that's true here.

So share your thoughts in the reviews and I should have the second chapter up by May 7th.