THE DEVIL’S DUE 2

Feature Writer: RockStarGod

Feature Title: THE DEVIL’S DUE 2

Published: 30.11.2022

Story Codes: Erotic Horror

Synopsis: Sam strikes a deal and exacts some revenge

Author’s Notes: As promised, this chapter is a bit hotter with graphic sexual depictions. It also has a pretty rough fight that some may find disturbing. Sorry if it makes you cringe a little. As always, comments are always welcome as long as they’re constructive. Abuse and general stupidity will be deleted without consideration. Enjoy!

The Devil’s Due 2

“Would you like a drink, Sam?” the Veronica-creature asked its stunned guest across from it at the alabaster table. In front of Sam, both his favorite IPA and a tumbler half full of single-malt scotch over ice appeared out of nowhere. A glass of white wine materialized in front of the vision that had taken the form of his estranged wife and the unholy vixen took a large slake from the goblet. Sam looked at both alcoholic beverages at his setting then opted for the harder of the two and took a sip.

“I know what you like, Sam,” the demonic beauty said with a wry smile. “After all, we were married for thirteen years.”

Sam took another sip of the scotch then smiled back at his host. “May as well enjoy it, right? I mean, My God, if I’m going to hallucinate before I die then it should be a happy vision. Although I’m not sure why you would be in my last thoughts after what happened.”

“You still don’t get it, do you, Sam?” the red-haired apparition said as it leaned in closer across the table. “You were dying out there in that desert. Three broken ribs, one had punctured your left lung and blood was filling it. You had a concussion, and you were heavily drugged for almost three days. I sent Phineas out there to save you. God was nowhere to be found.” The Veronica-creature rose from its stone chair and walked around the table and sat in Sam’s lap. “Tell me, Sam, if this is a hallucination, and you truly hate me after the events of the past few days, then would your mind allow me to do this?”

The creature moved its face to Sam’s and grabbed the back of his head. It planted its lips to his then kissed him deeply, snaking its tongue into his mouth to intertwine with his own. Sam tasted the wine on its lips and felt the familiarity of his wife’s affection. It broke the display of affection then peered its green eyes into Sam’s deep brown orbs.

“This is reality, Sam,” the sexy demon spoke as its hand wandered down to Sam’s crotch to feel his growing arousal. It then moved its hand up to his face and gave his left cheek a light slap. “So, let’s get on the same page, shall we?” it said with a stern look as it climbed off Sam’s lap and returned to its seat on the other side of the marble-like table.

Sam reached for his scotch and took another long draught before replying. “OK, I’ll play along, Ronnie. You made yourself quite clear with your intentions and actions a few days ago. What more do you want from me? My permission? My subservience?”

“I think you know by now that it wasn’t me in your house when that all went down, Sam.” it replied knowingly. “But I did witness it all. As Phineas told you earlier, we’ve been watching you for some time now. You’ve had it rough for most of your life, and this was one more kick to the midsection, literally, that you did not deserve, don’t you agree?”

Sam had never been much for feeling sorry for himself no matter what his situation, but he contemplated the creature that appeared to him as his cheating wife’s words as he formulated his reply.

“Yeah, I guess things weren’t especially great growing up,” he responded, swirling the frozen cubes in his amber-filled tumbler while recalling his less-than-ideal upbringing and his recent mental breakdown that led to current events, “but things got better as I got older.”

“Did they?” Veronica-creature asked. “You were a good football player, Sam. Why is it that no college recruited you or even offered you to walk-on? Why haven’t you received a promotion or even a raise at your job in over three years? And do you really know how long your wife has been sleeping around on you? It’s longer than she let on, Sam.”

“She… You… whoever you and she are, told me that it had been a year with Erickson,” Sam staggeringly stated. “Are you telling me that they… you were…”

“Longer than that,” the demon interjected, “and before that with others. Remember her trips out of town to ‘visit family’? All the overnight shopping excursions with her friends? Lies and excuses to throw you off so that she could meet her lover du jour, mon ami.”

Sam felt the nausea rise in his gut once more and he hung his head and hyperventilated in hopes of keeping his recent meal down. “Thank God we never had children,” he said wiping the flop sweat from his brow.

“She’s been pregnant five times since you two married,” it announced matter-of-factly.

“What?!” Sam exclaimed, eyes wide. “Five times?! She… she told me she couldn’t get pregnant. I saw… I saw the test results from her doctor…”

“A forgery, a ruse,” the hellish being explained. “She was sleeping with her gynecologist too. Right there in the office. There’s some closed-circuit video footage if you want to see it. He actually knocked her up once right there in the stirrups. Erickson once, another guy one time also, on one of her nights away.”

“That’s only three,” Sam countered, visibly shaken.

“You fathered her twice, Sam,” it revealed. “She aborted both, along with the other three. She’s actually pregnant now from one of Erickson’s associates that she partied with last weekend, but she doesn’t know it yet. She’ll get rid of that one too.”

“Why are you telling me all this?!” Sam asked. “What can you possibly hope to gain?”

“Why, your trust, of course,” it answered with another evil smile.

“And why should I trust you?” Sam replied with another question. “You’re the devil, aren’t you? Isn’t your nature to lie to get what you want?”

The Veronica-creature slammed its clenched fist to the alabaster surface in front of it, causing an almost deafening thud throughout the cavernous room and an orange glow that emanated from the impact. “Because I’m the only one in your life that has told you the truth, Sam!” it shouted, the echo resonating throughout the vastness of the enclosure. “All your life you’ve been fed lies and deception and dealt with the pain and heartache that comes from both. Isn’t it nice to hear the truth for once, no matter how devastating it may be and from who it may be coming from?!”

Tears began to fall from Sam’s eyes as he realized the demonic form’s honesty. He felt a hand on his shoulder and, for the first time since the conversation with the being that took the image of his infidelitous wife began, Sam remembered that Phineas was still in the room.

“The truth,” the demon’s servant said, “can be painful. As painful as the lies you’ve been told all your life, Sam. But you know what they say about the truth, right? The truth shall set you free.”

“Phineas is absolutely right, Sam,” the Veronica-creature added, complementing its faithful worker. It reached across the table and took Sam’s hand in its own. “He is a wise being and he, also, has been completely honest with you. About everything. Now, as painful as it may be, it’s time for you to see and hear some more truth. Are you ready?”

Sam said nothing, only nodded slightly as he wiped away more stinging tears from his eyes. The demon-in-charge pointed to its left and an image appeared on the smooth rock wall. The image revealed was of a room that contained two people. The room was his own living room in his home he had shared with his wife, where he had rooted for and been continuously disappointed by his favorite football team, the Detroit Lions, and where he had stepped out of the front door three days prior and stepped into the living nightmare current. The two people were instantly recognized by Sam Bailey: the two were his attacker, John Erickson, and his wife of thirteen years, the real Veronica Bailey.

++++++++++

“I said, is he dead, Johnny?!” Veronica Bailey repeated her question to her lover who was sitting on Sam’s couch and drinking one of his hazy IPAs.

“If he isn’t by now, then he will be soon,” John Erickson answered. “Nothing’s gonna live long where I put him. And nothing will be left to identify either.”

“Jesus H., Johnny!” Veronica cried as she threw up her hands. The motion caused her short silk robe to rise on her hips and Erickson got a good look at what was, or was not, underneath. “I didn’t want you to kill him! Just rough him up and scare him so he’d leave us alone. I still need his income, y’know. And with no remains to identify, I won’t be able to collect on the policy I took out on him. Damn, you’re really dumb sometimes!”

Erickson took another swig of beer and stared at Veronica before replying. “So, you sell the house and live off that for a year until you can have him declared legally dead. Just move in with me. I told you I’d take care of everything.”

Veronica stared at the large man sitting on her couch drinking her presumed-dead husband’s beer. She knew better than to believe anything Erickson said. He was both a serial womanizer and a conniving bastard. He was angling for something, but Veronica had no idea what that might be just yet. Veronica had some money in the joint account she shared with Sam and would also have access to his retirement funds once he was declared dead, but those combined were a pittance compared to what Johnny was worth.

It wasn’t sex either, she pondered. Veronica had given herself to Johnny the first night they met over three years ago, not the one year she had told Sam before she left the previous weekend. She had told her husband that she was visiting her sick sister in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula town of Saint Ignace. Although Veronica did not lie to Sam about where she was going, she was not truthful about who she was going to see and what she was going to do. Veronica spent four days gambling at the local Native American casino and flirting with every available and unavailable man that caught her eye.

A happenstance occurred when John Erickson, on a “business trip” from Detroit, walked through the door and slapped five thousand dollars on the roulette table and promptly tripled his money when the marble landed on his number. Veronica sidled up to Erickson and sparks flew between the two immediately. The new duo drank and gambled and hung on to each other with public displays of affection until the two could wait no more then stumbled to Veronica’s room to consummate their new inebriated kinship.

Although Erickson was not a native of Gravel City, he promptly set up temporary residence at a local hotel until he could set up permanent living quarters not far from the home that Veronica shared with Sam. A purchased business degree and large inheritance, both from his wealthy father, allowed John Erickson to acquire a packaging factory in Gravel City’s downtown district. He had set his sights on building both his empire and notching marks on his bedpost. But mostly, he wanted to seduce Veronica again, and he did not care that she had a husband at home.

Now, sitting triumphantly in Bailey’s living room swilling cold craft beer out of Sam’s refrigerator, he had, in effect, proposed to take care of Veronica. He had no intention of spending his life with her or even continuing any sort of committed relationship with the ungrieving widow. But she was a sexy redhead, and he wanted his fill of her before she either tired of him or he found something else to occupy his sexual desires.

Veronica broke the staring contest by untying her robe and letting it fall open, exposing her taut body, firm C cup breasts and waxed pubic region. “You’d better take care of me, bub. There are a thousand other men out there dying to get to this,” she told Erickson as she slid her hands down the sides of her exposed breasts and curvy hips.

Johnny stood from the couch and set his half-empty bottle of brew on the side table. “Oh, believe it, sweets. I’m gonna take good care of you like I always do,” he lied then began to unzip his jeans, his engorged manhood straining in its denim enclosure.

Veronica let the loose robe fall from her shoulders and drop to the floor, revealing the rest of her naked form to the hulking adulterer. She stepped barefoot to Johnny and helped him complete the downward progress of his brass zipper. She tugged at his jeans and pulled both pants and underwear down over his hips and buttocks to rest around his ankles.

Veronica looked at Erickson’s hard cock for a quick second. It wasn’t any longer than Sam’s and just a hairsbreadth thicker. Sam was a good lover, that was not Veronica’s issue with her husband. Johnny was different and that was what she craved. Johnny’s was not the first strange dick she’d had during her marriage, and it wouldn’t be the only one she’d have during her “mourning” period. She smirked at that thought then took Erickson’s length into her mouth and back of her throat.

“Mmmmmmm…” escaped Erickson’s lips as Veronica worked his rigid shaft in and out of her warm maw, swirling her wet tongue around his purple head and down to his base where her nose met and smelled his musky patch of curls above his genitals. The motion nearly set Johnny over the edge, and he had to extract himself from Veronica’s oral ministrations so that he could get to the prize he so desperately wanted.

Erickson took Veronica by both hands and stood her from the floor. He spun her around and bent her over, the palms of her hands placed flat on the coffee table in front of them. With her heels off her feet, Johnny shadowed Veronica by at least three-quarters of a foot, just the way he liked it. Height, power, and dominance. Erickson whipped off his shirt and stepped from his bunched pants on the hardwood floor. He grabbed Veronica’s right leg and hooked it into the crook of his arm as he lined himself up to take her. Balancing his lover on one foot, he swiftly plunged himself to the hilt inside her.

Veronica gasped as Johnny entered her, her inside walls instinctively clamping down on his thickness. He could feel her inner folds convulsing and contracting, and he pondered inwardly at how lucky both Sam Bailey and he were to have been and still be fucking such a great piece. He continued to plow between her slick velvet until he felt the rise in his scrotum and the pleasure begin to radiate from his groin outward to encompass his entire body.

Erickson thought about pulling out and blasting his cum on her firm backside, but in the end, he stayed inside her and unloaded, worrying not about impregnating her. She wouldn’t be the first or the last woman that he had bred, and he cared not one iota for any progeny he spawned. He stood rigid as he unleashed his torrent deep in Veronica’s womb, unknowing and uncaring that she had already been fertilized by his associate’s seed the weekend prior when they took turns with her.

A guttural growl slipped from his throat as he shot the last of his offering then let himself fall limp from her depths. He walked away in silence, retreating to the bathroom to clean himself then redress and perhaps fish another of Bailey’s beer bottles from the back of the fridge. Veronica, both feet on the floor again, stayed in her bent-over position until she knew Johnny was secluded in the lavatory. She, too, slipped silently into the kitchen, a wad of paper towel between her legs to sop up the sticky mess Johnny had given her. Tears fell from her eyes. She didn’t want Sam dead. Not really, anyway…

++++++++++

“Do I really need to see any more of this?” Sam asked the other beings occupying the room, although he could not tear his eyes from the vision being cast onto the wall. He was neither enraged nor aroused by the sight of his wife being defiled by her lover, merely stunned by the display itself. The action concluded, the vision he had been witnessing ceased as quickly as it appeared, and Sam turned back to the demon that sat across the alabaster setting.

Phineas stood at his superior’s side, a silent stalwart officer in its army. The creature that had taken the form of Sam’s wife, however, had changed while the images played on the wall. Before, it had appeared to him as the very duplicate of Veronica. Now, the phantasm was a statuesque blonde, buxom and slender in a skin-tight blue leather dress that plunged both at the neckline and back revealing ample cleavage and a hint of curvaceous backside. Deep blue eyes, nearly unnatural, stared back at Sam as he marveled and feared the beauty before him.

“I thought you had seen enough of your wife’s face for one day,” the former Veronica-creature said with a genuine smile. “Was I correct?”

“Yes, you were,” Sam answered. He had seen the form that Phineas’ boss had taken before but the “when and where” escaped him. “Is this your true self I’m seeing?” he asked.

“I have many manifestations, Sam Bailey,” the striking blonde responded, “but you chose this one.”

“I chose this?” Sam queried.

“Yes, Sam,” it replied as it stood from its stone chair and ambled to where Sam still sat. “This is your idea of the perfect woman. Tall, sexy, and…” it continued as it slipped its arms through the holes of the skintight gown and let it fall from itself, unshyly showing its nude form to both Sam and Phineas, “uninhibited. This is what you desire, Sam Bailey. And I can give her to you. And much more.”

Sam looked from the unclothed beauty to Phineas with a questioning look. “Matters of the flesh no longer concern me, Sam,” the white tuxedo-clad demon confessed. “Women, clothed or unclothed, don’t excite me. My arousal comes from things more… intangible.”

“Oh, he can get it up,” the naked blonde revealed of its servant. “And if I asked him to, he would remove that suit, show us that big cock he has hidden, and fuck me ten times better than that loser Erickson did your wife. It really is a magnificent sight, Sam.”

“I’m good, thanks,” Sam said, truly not wanting to see what the blonde devil had described. Phineas said nothing, only tipped his bowler and smiled.

“Of course, Sam,” it responded. “Because I know you would rather do it yourself.” It once more sat in Sam’s lap, this time spreading its legs, straddling Sam on the chair and showing its pink inviting opening. “I would consider it an affirmation of our new agreement if you would.”

Sam felt no hands on the waistband of his black trousers but saw the button slip from its hole and the zipper slide down slowly. His cock began to swell and ached to be freed from the tuxedo pants he had been gifted by Phineas for the meeting. He grew harder and thicker than he had thought possible and slid the pants and boxer briefs he wore down his hips to free himself before he burst through the material.

He spied his growing member less than a whisper from the demon’s bare mons and was agog at his transformation. On a good day, his manhood was six and a half inches. The thing now between his legs was exceeding the eight-inch mark and nearly as thick as the beer bottle that still stood on the table in front of him. His skin stretched and strained, and he wondered if he might split in two at his new engorgement.

“Take me, Sam,” the naked creature on his lap whispered in his ear then licked his lobe, sending another shockwave of pleasure through his body. “Take me and I’ll give you the power to make things right again. To have all you desire.” Its voice dropped an octave as it repeated its earlier demand, “Take me, Sam…”

“Tell me your name…” Sam demanded as he lined his straining pole to penetrate the scintillating creature. “Tell me and I’ll do it…”

“What do you want it to be, Sam?” it asked in a husky voice as it undulated its pelvis on to Sam’s rigid shaft, teasing its dribbling wetness on to Sam’s bare legs.

“No, tell me your real name…” he countered, lifting the blonde from his lap and hovering its slick pussy over his erection, the head perilously close to its pulsating clitoris.

“I’m known by many names…” it answered as it brushed its sex on Sam’s raging erection in anticipation. “You may know some of them already. But the name I take in this form is Lilith. Now… Fuck me, Sam!”

Sam looked into the royal blue eyes of the creature as he grabbed its hips, “Fuck me, Lilith!” he said as he slammed the unholy being down on his hard cock and pushed his length into its waiting depths. Both Sam and Lilith howled as the coupling began. Lilith raised itself off Sam’s lap then pounded itself back down, taking all of him on every stroke. Sam felt its heat, its fire scorching his hardness. He had never felt such radiation, not even from Veronica who he considered the best sex partner he’d had. The feeling from Lilith, precariously close to painful, was both exquisite and maddening.

Sam picked Lilith up and laid it on the cold alabaster table, his newly acquired length still encased in its vise-like grip. Sam flailed into Lilith with reckless abandon, pulling it to meet him and creating slapping sounds that resonated throughout the cave. Sam was desperate to unload, and he fucked the demon mercilessly. Lilith’s moans joined the sounds of the connecting flesh and echoed loudly. It grabbed Sam’s head and peered once more into his eyes as it spoke.

“Cum in me, Sam…” Lilith said, nose to nose with her new lover. It flicked its tongue across Sam’s lips as he continued his assault on its hot box and Sam swore later that its tongue looked like that of the snake he had seen as he lay dying in the desert. It repeated its passionate plea with an addendum, “Cum in me, Sam and have everything you’ve always wanted… Fortune… Power… Revenge!!”

Sam stopped his thrusts for a split second as the reality of what was happening came back to him. His thought his very soul might be at stake. He was close. One more thrust and there would be no turning back. Could he turn back? Did he want to turn back? In an instant his wants and desires overtook his sense of right and wrong and Sam screamed his reply as he thrust once more into Lilith’s burning sex.

“YEEEESSSSS!!!” his reply boomed throughout the enclosure as his jetting semen erupted into the creature’s womb. Lilith matched Sam’s howl and the two climaxed simultaneously, a union of lust and passion and a signature on their new partnership. Sam, overcome with lust and orgasmic bliss, neither noticed Lilith’s skin change hues from Caucasian-white to blood-red nor felt its long, arrow-tipped tail wrap around his waist, pulling him in deeper to it as he expended his life-creating fluids into its boiling receptacle.

++++++++++

The coupling of man and demon complete, Lilith slid its body up the alabaster table and released Sam’s still pulsing member from its cleft. It laid on the table, running its hands up and down its sensual form in post-coital bliss. Its legs spread wide, not a drop of Sam’s pearly moisture escaped Lilith’s spent opening. It propped itself up on both elbows then looked at Sam with a devil’s grin. “Magnificent,” Lilith said breathlessly. “You don’t know how badly I needed that, Sam. Thank you…”

A singular applause rang through the stone enclosure and Sam realized he had just performed a live pornographic scene for a smiling Phineas. “Well done, Sam. Well done!” the dark man exclaimed as he clapped his hands together.

“Was… was that awkward for you to watch?” Sam asked a bit sheepishly as he gathered his clothing from under the table and attempted to cover himself.

“I have seen it many times before, my boy,” Phineas confessed unashamedly, “and the best part of the show is knowing that the deal is complete and that you will get what you deserve, Sam. And you do deserve so much.”

“Indeed, he does, Phineas,” Lilith agreed. Sam did not notice Lilith remove itself from the table while he and Phineas conversed, nor did he witness it redress. It now sat once more in the chair across from Sam, a glow of satisfaction radiating from its beautiful face.

“Now that we have ‘sealed the deal’, so to speak, Mr. Bailey,” Lilith continued, striking a more formal tone, “it’s time to go over the fine print. I suppose we should have hammered out the details before I let you hammer me, but that quite often kills the mood. I prefer to live in the heat of the moment. Now, since the deal is struck, let’s make clear the terms.”

“Let me guess,” Sam interjected. “You help me get back at those that tried to kill me and in exchange, you get my soul. Am I close on that?”

Lilith laughed at Sam’s cliched description, “Oh, Sam. You’ve seen too many bad TV movies. Yes, it’s true that at one time deals were made to bestow mortals with all manner of things: Riches, supernatural powers and the means to exact vengeance on those who they perceived to have wronged them. And, in the past, we did deal in souls. But these days, Sam, the average person will sell his or her essence for a weekend at Disney World and not have the foresight to ask for extra tickets to Epcot! No, souls are a dime a dozen these days.”

“So, if it isn’t my soul you’re after,” Sam pondered aloud, “then what else could you possibly want from me?”

Lilith stood from its seat and began to once more walk towards the other side of the table. Sam hoped, as much as he enjoyed the erotic events earlier, that it wasn’t coming for a second round so soon. His legs still trembled slightly, and he was sure the rest of his flesh would be unwilling.

“We need something more from you, Sam,” it admitted. “As Phineas and I told you before, we’ve been watching you for a long time. You’re smart. Very smart. It’s a gift from… well, somewhere. God, Buddha, the cosmos, one never knows exactly from where the spark comes. But it’s one in a million. In your case, it is even rarer. And that gift should not be squandered, Sam.”

“So, you need my purported intelligence for…?” Sam still had no idea where Lilith was headed with its musings.

“We need someone in a position of power,” it revealed. “Supreme power, Sam. Ultimate power, eventually. Tell me, Mr. Bailey, would you like to be President of the United States?”

Sam laughed nervously at the demon’s absurd notion. “President?! Are you joking? You may be powerful, but I don’t think even you could make that happen. And who would vote for a man whose focus right now is to get revenge on an unfaithful wife and her lover and associates that tried to kill him? That kind of thing usually disqualifies a person from public office.”

“You’re partially right, Sam,’ Lilith confessed. “We can’t just place you in that position. But we have considerable influence in Washington, Moscow, London, Beijing, practically every nation on the U.N. Security Council and more that are up-and-comers. Some that have been in your position, a few that were in the position you were in just a few minutes ago. Quite a few of them have made the same deal you just made, Sam. And they had skeletons in their closet- boneyards of skeletons. Now, many of them rule the world, or at least they think they do.”

“So, you basically rule the world?” Sam asked quizzically.

“A good portion of it right now,” it answered. Spreading its arms wide, Lilith continued, “As big as this world may seem, and as much as we think we have His undivided attention, God has millions of other worlds to look after. And, to put it frankly, he doesn’t fuck around with the free will of his creations. Neither do we. We can’t make someone do what we want, but influence, well, that’s another story. I didn’t make you grab my hips and sink your cock in my hot pussy, Sam. That was your choice. And it’s the choice of humans who they vote for, but our influence is far-reaching and quite effective, you know that now, Sam.”

“Yes,” Sam admitted, “I see how well you influence reaches people. But I have no political experience. Hell, I didn’t even vote in the last election! Even if I was elected to any position, I wouldn’t have the first clue what to do when I got into office.”

“Leave that to us, Mr. Bailey,” Phineas replied to Sam’s apprehension. “You’re a smart guy, Sam. You catch on pretty quickly to most things. The rest, well, we have ‘people’ for that.”

“Phineas is right again, Sam,” Lilith added. “You’d be surprised what we can do with a lump of clay. We did it with the last guy that was elected. But he was just so unlikeable. We underestimated the voter’s passion for such things. But with you…” it smiled a sparkling white gleam, “With you, we have someone the electorate can relate to. No career politicians, no holier-than-thou preachers, no entitled billionaires.”

“I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t intrigued,” Sam declared. “I’m still not sure how it might all come together, but we have other business to attend to first, right?”

“Of course,” Lilith answered. “Vengeance shall be yours, indeed. But for it to truly be your vengeance, it must be by your hand. We can’t do the deed for you, but we can provide you with the means to do it yourself. What would you ultimately like to see happen to your adulterous wife and the men who attacked you?”

Sam did not answer right away. He took a moment to think about what manner of revenge he would exact on his transgressors. “I want them to pay for what they did to me. All of them.”

“There are many ways they can pay for what they did,” it replied. “They could be imprisoned. You could do that on your own. Have them arrested and tried. But there is no guarantee that the charges would stick. It’s really your word against theirs. No, I believe you should think of more… drastic measures.”

“Do you have any ideas?” Sam asked.

“I’m already formulating a plan, Mr. Bailey,” it stated with a hint of joy in its voice. “But now I think it’s time you reclaimed what is yours. Phineas,” it beckoned her faithful servant, “would you be so kind as to accompany Sam back to his home? He could use some rest and I have other matters to attend.”

“Of course, Boss,” Phineas answered. “He’ll be in good hands.”

“I know he will, my friend,” Lilith confirmed. “Now, Mr. Bailey, go and get some sleep. Tomorrow is going to be a big day. The first day of the rest of your life, and the first day of our grand new partnership.”

++++++++++

With another blink of his dusky eyelids, Phineas transported himself and Sam away from the cavern in the desert to a different climate and locale. This setting was much more familiar to Sam: he was standing at the very spot in his driveway at home where he was attacked three days before.

“They’re in there right now,” Phineas said as he turned to face his travelling partner. “Time to set things right, Sammy-boy!”

“Phineas,” Sam began, “I sincerely want to thank you for helping me out there. I’d be dead right now if it weren’t for you. But even though I’m one hundred percent again, I don’t think I can take Erickson. He’s a big guy and I’d hate to be laid up again… or worse.”

“You may not know it, Sam,” Phineas countered, “but you’re more than one hundred percent. You made the deal, now it’s time we hold up our end. Trust me, Sam. You have nothing to worry about with that pig in there.”

Sam looked hard at Phineas’ grin for a quick minute then replied, “OK, you haven’t lied to me yet, as far as I know, and I’m more than a little nervous about all this. But with you backing me up I think we can do this.”

“Oh, I won’t be joining you, Sam.” Phineas told him causing Sam’s jaw to go slack. “But you don’t need me in there. You have the power now, Sam.” Phineas placed his hands on Sam’s shoulders and gave him a slight shake. “Go take care of business!”

Sam returned Phineas’ gesture then repeated his words, “Take care of business…” He gave Phineas’ shoulders one more clap then strode up the stairs to the front door. He gave a look back at Phineas but saw no one staring back from the driveway. Sam’s anxiety came back to the forefront when he realized he was alone again but continued through the main door of the house.

“Honey, I’m home!” Sam shouted jokingly as he entered the house. He heard the commotion in the upstairs bedroom as the inhabitants woke from Sam’s announcement. Sam heard What the fuck?! And Holy Shit! followed by clamoring, the sound of a possible lamp breaking from a fall off a nightstand, and two sets of heavy footsteps running across the second-level floor and down the stairs.

“YOU!” Erickson shouted when he realized it was Sam that had woke the slumbering couple with his boisterous hello.

“Sam!” Veronica cried as she came into the living room behind her nude lover. “Johnny, you… you told me he was…”

“Dead?” Sam asked, finishing his wife’s statement. “Trust me, Ronnie. I should be. But, like always, you’ve underestimated me.”

“How’s that lump on your head I gave you the other day, Bailey” Erickson asked as he took a step closer to Sam. “Need me to freshen it up for you?”

Sam playfully clenched his fist and knocked lightly on his own skull, “Never better, you slimy piece of maggot shit. You’re no better at beating people up than you are at fucking my wife. Now get the hell out of my house.”

Erickson lunged at Sam, intent on finishing the job he’d failed at three days prior. Sam deftly sidestepped the charging bull and Erickson ran headlong into the leather chaise lounge on the other side of the living room. Sam snickered at his attackers lumbering which only caused Erickson’s rage to intensify. He found his feet and made another attempt at tackling the smaller jilted husband. Sam again quickly moved out of harm’s way as Erickson flew past him, with Sam delivering a hard slap to the back of Johnny’s head as he passed. This time, Erickson collided with an object not as giving as the cushy piece of furniture. Erickson’s second pass landed him shoulder-first into the antique iron and maple sewing machine that Veronica had inherited from her grandmother.

Sam’s snicker intensified into a full-blown belly laugh as Erickson separated his right shoulder on the heavy Singer that sat by the far wall. The blow caused Veronica to rock on her heels then plop her backside on the hardwood floor. Her short robe flying open at the impact, Sam could see her nudity as her legs splayed open and revealed her bare sex.

“You son of a bitch,” Erickson gnashed through clenched teeth as he struggled to stand again. His left arm hung low, useless after the injury. Determined, he slowed his pace and started at Sam again, his right hand balled into a massive fist and ready to strike.

For Sam, time slowed to a snail’s pace. Erickson’s first two passes at him looked as creeping as a sloth climbing a tree. He marveled at how easily he avoided the raging adulterer that was intent on destroying him. Sam watched as Erickson, in slow motion, clamored to his feet and saw the fingers on his right hand painstakingly close together into a fist. Plodding steps caused low thunder on the floor as Johnny made his way toward Sam to try to strike a knockout blow.

As slow as Erickson was moving, his words came out in real time. It was a fascinating sight for Sam to see the trudging hulk of a man’s lips move in fast forward mode and he laughed again at the dichotomy. Sam took a quick side glance at Veronica, still seated on the floor, then turned his attention to the menace slowly moving in his direction.

Johnny’s first swing was interminably slow and missed Sam’s nose by six inches. Erickson attempted to surprise Sam with a wild backhand punch and missed the connection by even more distance than the first. Sam saw his opportunity as Erickson temporarily lost his balance and delivered a haymaker to Johnny’s left temple which put the larger man to one knee.

Erickson attempted to shake his head free of the stars that appeared after the blow given to him by Sam. His sight grayed slightly in his left eye, and he was a wounded animal now trying to survive the charge of a healthier beast. Sam saw Johnny’s head sluggishly snap back and forth then went on the offensive. He rained down quick lefts and rights to Erickson’s stunned cranium then set up to deliver the coup de grace. He grabbed Erickson, dazed and bleeding profusely, by his cropped salt and pepper hair and turned his face upward to look him in the eyes.

“I should kill you for what you did to me,” Sam growled as he brought Johnny nose-to-nose. “But that would be too easy. This isn’t the end, you fucking asshole. It’s just the beginning. Remember what happened here tonight because it will happen again tenfold the next time I see you. Now, say good night, Johnny…”

Sam swiftly brought his right knee up and connected with Erickson’s chin. The impact caused Johnny’s jaws to slam together, and Sam heard the sickening crunch and snap of teeth breaking in the beaten Erickson’s mouth. Johnny crumpled over unconscious, pearly whites scattering across the hardwood as his face made contact with the floor. Sam stood over the sleeping giant, victorious against his aggressor.

Back at normal speed, Sam saw Veronica scramble to her feet and race over to the laid-out Erickson. “Johnny!” she screamed as she fell to her knees in front of her comatose lover. Sam stood motionless as Veronica cradled Johnny’s bleeding head in her arms. She looked up at Sam towering over the defeated couple.

“You monster!” she shouted at Sam as tears began to fall from her eyes. She bowed her head and cried into the crown of Erickson’s wounded head.

“I’m not the monster here, Ronnie,” Sam answered softly. “He and his goons did a lot worse to me. I’d be dead now if it wasn’t for the generosity of some new friends. You want to see monsters? You’re holding one now. And if that isn’t enough, then you can take a look in the mirror for one.”

“You… you killed him!” Veronica gasped through heavy sobs.

“He’s not dead,” Sam disputed. “But he will be if he ever crosses my path again. Get him out of here, Ronnie. Either upright or dragged, I don’t care how. Get him out of here or he’ll leave on a stretcher or a body bag. He also owes me for at least three beers.” He took one more look at his wife and her down for the count paramour then walked away into the kitchen to take survey of himself after the row.

++++++++++

Sam turned the kitchen tap to cold and let it run for a moment. His hands were sore and covered in Johnny’s blood after the pummeling he had dealt to Erickson and the icy water provided some needed relief to the ache. After removing Johnny’s blood from his hands, Sam splashed the water on his face to clear the rage from his mind. The cool delivery brought him back and he began to think about what had just occurred. How was I able to beat him?! was the first thought that came to him after the rage subsided. He should have taken me apart!

Phineas’ words echoed through his head as he brought the towel up to dry the water from his damp face. You have the power now, Sam… he remembered the statement just before entering his home. The confrontation, exceedingly slow as it was happening, was a blur as he now went over the events. He had never raised his fists in anger before. Violence was not his way. He had always chosen reasoning or flight when confrontation arose before, but tonight he had chosen the harder path. The way of the fist, and he found that it wasn’t as sickening to him as he once thought.

Sam went to the refrigerator and fished one of his IPAs from the back. Erickson had drunk more than three out of the twelve-pack he had purchased before the football game that preceded his own beating three days prior. Two bottles remained in the frigid icebox- not enough to get him inebriated, but he could cop a quick buzz. Sam sat at the oak dining room table and drained the first beer quickly then popped the top from the final glass bottle and sipped eagerly.