CODEX Part 3: Between Heaven and Hell

“Down in the valley, valley so low

Hang your head over, hear the wind blow

Hear the wind blow, dear, hear the wind blow

Hang your head over, hear the wind blow”

“What’s going on?”

Chen and Mehrdir were standing close to her door so they could hear her sing for herself. Mehrdir wasn’t sure what was going on since he’d never seen Zoe act like that before.

“Roses love sunshine, violets love dew

Angels in heaven know I love you

Know I love you, dear, know I love you

Angels in heaven, know I love you”

Mehrdir frowned and placed his hand on door, leaning forward so he could hear better.

“Is she seriously talking about angels?” Chen asked.

"Writing this letter, containing three lines

Answer my question, "Will you be mine?"

Mehrdir’s eyes widened and pushed the door open. Zoe was standing in the middle of the bed, her hands wrapped around her knees, swaying back and forth. She was staring ahead but her eyes were white.

"Will you be mine, dear, will you be mine?"

Answer my question, "Will you be mine?"

Chen’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion, turning to Mehrdir for answers but he suddenly disappeared. The human shifted his attention on Zoe and swallowed nervously seeing how she also moved her eyes on him.

Maybe it wouldn’t have been that bad if her eyes wouldn’t have changed to black in the next second, coming like poison from the corner of her eyes and engulfing the whiteness of her eyeball. Chen turned his back to her with the intention of leaving but that proved to be impossible. The door slammed shut and no matter how hard he pushed, it didn't budge.

“Down in the valley, valley so low

Hang your head over, hear the wind blow.”

The sound came closer, meaning she was approaching, ending up right behind him. Chen could feel his pulse getting abnormally fast and his hands started to shake. He looked at her over his shoulder and tried to keep himself calm thinking that she couldn't possibly hurt him since she saved his life once.

That didn’t happen, unfortunately. Zoe grabbed him by the neck and raised him in the air.

“Hear the wind blow, dear, hear the wind blow

Hang your head over, hear the wind blow.”

She finished the lullaby and threw him out the window as if he was a toy.

Ezekiel was watching TV when he got the phone call. Chen was in hospital because he fell from the fifth floor. Ezekiel took the first cab he found to the hospital and met Mark in the lobby.

“Where is he?” Ezekiel was scared shitless.

Chen was one of the few people who got through the evil ride without a scratch and the sole idea that he could fall out the window was inconceivable.

“Zek, the doctor said he fell but we both know that’s impossible.” Mark begun.

The puppy boy could already feel tears dropping uncontrollably down his cheeks.

“So what do you say? That a demon compelled him?” He asked through the sobs.

Mark sighed and glanced at his roommate.

“Zoe did it,” Someone else gave him the bad news.

Ezekiel turned around only to meet Jasper.

“She threw him out the window from her room,” The inheritor continued, “She did it, Zek. She’s been-“

Jasper stopped when he got punched in the face. He couldn’t believe that a lanky boy who didn’t seem to have any testosterone in his body could hit so hard. Ezekiel was ready to give a few more hits when Mark interfered.

“Zoe would never do something like that! Not to Chen! She is the one who saved him!” The puppy human screamed in anger.

Jasper wiped the blood off his lip and chuckled.

“You don’t know how she is now. I do.”

Ezekiel glared at the young inheritor and left the hospital.

“Where is he going?” Luke asked as he walked to help the inheritor.

Jasper sighed and massaged his chin.

“To his master, where else?” Mark’s statement was cold but it was the truth, “She has him wrapped around her little finger.” He continued.

“We’re lucky that Chen’s not dead. His guardian angel must be working overtime ever since he met Zoe.”

Luke’s joke didn’t seem to brighten the conversation. Mark sighed and looked down at his hands aware that the answers were down in Hell.

Mehrdir appeared to a place he knew well and entered the cave of Beelzebub, barging in the nearest room. He found everyone there, not only the gluttony prince.

“You interrupted a meeting. What for?”

Beelzebub was very calm next to the others. Leviathan and Mammon were glaring at him but Belphegor couldn’t care less.

Mehrdir eyed the prince before giving him the bad news.

“She’s getting possessed by vanity demons,”

The mood changed quickly and the room emptied even quicker, Leviathan snarling when he passed the greed demon.

Once they remained alone, Beelzebub’s anger became visible on his face. The atmosphere became really hot and dangerous and Mehrdir swallowed nervously, already feeling Beelzebub's anger.

“How?”

Mehrdir gulped and looked at anything but his master.

“It seems she has dreams. Lucifer appeared in one. Ever since, she became like a puppet and-“

Mehrdir stopped when he got paralyzed, a bee buzzing around his ears before it entered through his nostrils, making its way up towards his forehead.

The demon prince stopped in front of Mehrdir and trailed his finger down his cheek. The greed demon flinched when he felt that same spot ripping apart.

Beelzebub leaned in and touched Mehrdir’s nose with his, “How did he get to her so fast?”

His eyes became an intense orange colour and he growled. Beelzebub's face contorted into an expression of anger and Mehrdir grew more scared by the second.

“They met before,”

Beelzebub’s eyes narrowed even more, looking like they were about to get on fire. He was very mad.

“He’s threatening her with her friends,” He stopped and gulped, “With Ezekiel, more exactly,”

“Then get rid of him,” Beelzebub growled.

Mehrdir’s eyes widened.

“I don’t care about her legacy. She is the important element,” He continued, his eyes moved down to Mehrdir’s lips and touched them with his claws, “She loves you, doesn’t she? She doesn’t need a human,”

“But it’s not the same kind of love. He’s like family. I’m not.”

Beelzebub chuckled darkly.

“Are you lecturing me about love, Mehrdir?”

“No. It was only-“

Mehrdir closed his eyes in pain when he felt a hand plunging right through the middle of his chest. It hurt like hell and the bee was still somewhere in his body. He gasped when it got out through his mouth.

“I’m a patient demon. I know not to cross the limit when the case doesn’t require it but you’re disappointing me, Mehrdir.”

The lower demon choked when his master cut his neck. A few more larvae came out and it made a seriously disgusting sight.

“Don’t test me. I am a demon prince and I decide Zoe's life and death.” He whispered leaning uncomfortably close to his demon.

“But she needs someone far more powerful around,”

Beelzebub licked his lip and retracted his arm, the friction inside Mehrdir’s body hurting him even more.

“Alright then, I’ll send someone.”

Mehrdir winced and fell down, his hands touching his bloody chest to check the damage.

“Who?”

Beelzebub smirked and vanished from the sight. Mehrdir groaned and crawled near the wall. He needed a little break to come back together.

Ezekiel didn’t go to Zoe’s apartment, he didn’t have to. He found her in a near park, smiling and pushing the swing back and forth. She was standing in front of it and it looked like she was having fun until her head snapped to him and he could see the black eyes of a demon. Her smile became crooked and scary but being himself, Ezekiel didn’t back off. Instead, he walked next to her and sat on the other swing.

“Zoe? Are you possessed?” He asked, walking closer warily. She turned her head towards him, almost mechanically, “Zoe,”

Ezekiel reached out to touch her but if he wouldn’t have been fast enough, she would have bitten him. His eyes widened and he started to feel worried and guilty.

“She can’t hear you. I tried a few times but she almost sent me to hell.” Andrew appeared next to the human.

Ezekiel glanced over his shoulder at the ghost. Andy’s expression was heartbreaking.

“You’ve been crying,” The ghost wiped his eyes when Ezekiel mentioned it, “For her?”

“For you too. She lost control of her dark side and the vanity demons are enjoying it a lot. They give her dreams and enter her body through spiritual contact. They’re getting really strong.”

“She can fight them.”

Andy looked pitifully at his former classmate.

“That’s the thing. She doesn’t fight at all! It’s like she gave up.”

Ezekiel shook his head furiously, “She’s not that kind of person and you know it. She’s a fighter.”

Andy sighed and rubbed his forehead.

“She needs someone with immense spiritual energy to get her back on track.”

Ezekiel stared at his best friend and felt like reaching out to her again, comforting her and telling her that everything will be alright. Thinking about that, Ezekiel felt his heart aching.

“Then find that person!” He screamed in anger as he turned to the ghost, “Find it! You’re a ghost right? You’re pure! Find an angel or something!” Andy stared at the human as he started to cry, “Find something,” Ezekiel whimpered, feeling helpless.

A few minutes later, Zoe started to scream and her body started to react violently to whatever was going on inside her. Ezekiel jumped on his feet and wrapped his arms around her, ignoring the danger he was throwing himself in.

“Come on, Zoe. Fight it. Fight it!”

He heard a gasp behind and could already imagine someone watching their weird behaviours. It was midday and they were in a park.

"Don't give up, Zoe. You have me, you'll always have me," He whispered, caressing her hair as she squirmed in his arms, snarling.

Somehow, Ezekiel did manage to calm her down and get her on his back. Somewhere on the way, she fell asleep and he had no choice but to take her home.

She was incredibly light and while he was giving her a piggy back ride, he was involuntarily touching her legs. Except the fact that he could feel her bones poking out through her skin, he could feel scratches on the inside of her thighs.

What Ezekiel lacked in was luck.

It just happened that on that day especially, Dan had to meet his friends for a drink. He was walking down the street with them, joking and laughing, when a young and slim boy walked past him. Dan blinked and stopped in the middle of the street, looking after the young man who resembled Ezekiel. He could swear he was carrying a familiar girl in a white grown on his back.

“Dan, are you coming or are you just staring after a girl?”

The culprit smiled and brushed his friend’s hand off.

“I thought I saw someone I know,”

Robert rolled his eyes and wrapped an arm around his neck.

“Definitely a girl.” He stated before chuckling to himself, “Maybe it was that girl you’ve been after for a while now. She still didn’t tell you she likes you,”

Dan blushed, making the rest of the guys laugh.

“Are you serious? You’re after a girl who doesn’t like you?” One of his friends, Lee, asked. He couldn’t believe his handsome friend would target such a fussy girl.

“It’s not that. I’m sure she does like me. It’s just really hard to understand what she’s thinking,” He defended her.

Robert rolled his eyes, “She lives with men,”

The rest of the guys stared at Dan in bemusement, their minds wandering to places Dan couldn't accept, especially since he knew Zoe was a very proud woman.

“She’s not like that!” He could already imagine what they were thinking of her, “Ask Hans! He knows her!”

Everyone turned towards the pub they were going to. They were only a few feet from it and Hans was waiting for them at the entrance.

“We will ask him, don’t worry.” Lee was sure to do that. He was really curious who that girl was.

Among the late night snacks and perverted boy talks, Lee remembered what he promised to do.

“So, Hans, I heard you know Dan’s latest crush,”

The youngest man raised an eyebrow and leaned back.

“What crush?” He turned to Dan curiously, “What crush?” He asked again.

“The webtoon artist. What was her name again?” Robert asked his best friend. He genuinely couldn’t remember.

“Zoe,” Dan mumbled, feeling awkward.

Hans’ eyes widened before he started to chuckle to himself.

“Really? You have a crush on her?” That only meant he did know her as well.

“So, tell us. How is this Zoe girl?” Another friend, Calvin, was getting curious too.

“She is-“ Hans stopped and thought of an adequate response. He couldn’t just tell them who she was because that would raise more questions; besides, he was part of that world and he didn’t want to be exposed and killed, “-pretty.”

The answer was not what the guys were waiting for.

“Come on! Tell us something!” The rest agreed with Calvin, “So she’s pretty. What else? You said she works as a webtoon artist!”

“She does. She’s also very rich and has a very strict family. Her personality is a bit off because she didn’t get the chance to spend time with other kids when she was young. Zoe’s complicated and she has a lot to learn about life.”

Everyone stared at him with confused expressions.

“How can you know more about her than Dan?”

Hans chuckled and rubbed his neck.

“Because we had a situation a long time ago.”

Even Dan was surprised by that since he had never heard him talk about her.

“Was it a romantic situation?” Lee asked teasingly.

Hans glanced at Dan from the corner of his eye and smirked.

“No matter what kind of relationship we had, it’s over,” He turned to his friend and smiled, “You should assure yourself that she likes you. She attracts men and makes them depend on her.”

Dan frowned. Now, that was something new.

After he left, Dan couldn’t get out Hans’ words from his head. He sighed and stopped on a bench before he called her but she didn’t respond. Dan sent her a lot of messages for the past days and she never responded; he was worried, more than anything else.

The genuine man decided he really wanted to see her that night; moreover, he was sure someone familiar walked past him carrying a woman on his back, a woman that looked a lot like Zoe. He asked Hans for her address and he gave it to him without second thoughts. Hans also told Dan to take a cross with him, just in case.

Ezekiel was on the ground, next to her bed. Once he got her home, he found out that Jasper left the apartment because he had his own life and couldn’t take care of her forever. He could understand that; moreover, he was the inheritor and he wasn’t safe around Zoe at the moment.

Ezekiel didn’t expect to hear a knock on the door at that hour and definitely didn’t expect Dan on the other side.

“Ezekiel?”

“Dan.”

They were both dumbstruck.

“What are you doing here?”

“Is Zoe home?”

Ezekiel swallowed nervously.

“What if she is? Will you want to come in?” He asked warily and pushed the door so that Dan could only see his face.

“I have to talk to her about something important.”

“Is it about your relationship?” Dan froze which only encouraged Ezekiel to continue, “Yes. It’s very obvious. Everyone around her noticed there is something unclear between you two.”

“Then-“ The older man took a step towards him and Ezekiel closed the door more.

“Sorry but Zoe is in a very bad shape right now,” Ezekiel leaned back and took a peek at her room. The door was open and he could see her sleeping. He sighed and returned his attention to Dan, “Very, very bad shape. She’s asleep.”

Dan frowned and pushed the door open. He walked past Ezekiel without a problem especially since the difference in strength between them was considerable. One was in shape and the other one was only skinny.

“Wait!”

Dan walked straight into her room and stopped when he reached the edge of her bed.

“What happened to her?” He gasped when he noticed the scratches on her arms and legs. Her hands were bloody and she looked like a total mess, “Who did this to her?”

Ezekiel gulped, "I- Well, you see- Zoe has been through a tough time and-“ He couldn’t find his words. How could he express in words what was going on? “The idea is-“ He stopped when he felt a strong evil presence behind him.

“Zoe’s been stalked for a while. It was insignificant at first but the stalker became jealous and lost his mind.”

Ezekiel licked his lips and agreed silently with the person.

“I’m her therapist,” The man introduced himself with a smile.

His smile didn’t express any kindness to Dan, if anything, he looked like a dangerous person.

“She’s mentally ill at the moment. It would be better if you’d come on another day.”

Dan couldn’t quite believe it but something in his body followed his words. It felt like he was compelled and Dan left with more questions than he had when he arrived.

“Are you-Who are you?” Ezekiel wasn’t sure how to figure out if it was a human or a demon.

One eyebrow raised and it became clear, those orange eyes flickering.

“How did you enter?”

“You left the door open.”

The younger man glanced at the door and felt like slapping himself. He hurried and locked the door before he turned to the demon.

“What are you doing here? And what is this?” Ezekiel asked pointing at the body of this therapist.

"The only way to interfere is to have another pair of eyes on Zoe. Therefore, I stumbled upon a recent death of a therapist who did almost anything for money and now we're here," Beelzebub explained, glancing at his commander. "I will leave a bee in this corpse, which will act as Zoe's bodyguard. If something happens, I will know right away."

As soon as Beelzebub finished his speech, the orange in his eyes disappeared but the body remained. Ezekiel was intrigued so he circled it, curious how it will work without a soul.

“So? Can you speak?” Ezekiel asked leaning closer.

"Don't be foolish Ezekiel, I am still here even if in a very small amount." The body replied although his voice and eyes were human.

"What's your name? Or how should I call you?"

"Charlie. Call it Charlie. Tell them it's a host." He added glaring at the human.

"If this therapist was in trouble and died, won't people notice him if you walk outside?"

"Let's not walk outside then," He said coldly.

Zoe started to scream again, gasping for air and trembling. Ezekiel's eyes widened but Charlie walked inside her room in complete peace. Ezekiel followed him closely but when he wanted to enter, the door closed in front of his face.

Charlie's eyes changed immediately as Beelzebub took complete control over the body.

But Zoe wasn’t aware of the change. She was screaming and crying; at some point, she started to scratch her arms only to ease the pain.

“Can you hear me, Zoe?” His voice was a little higher than usually.

Zoe opened her black eyes and glared at him, snarling as her spine bent forward.

Charlie walked closer and sat on the bed, next to her, “Give me your hand.”

Zoe glanced between his face and hand before she growled like a wild animal.

“Give me your hand, Zoe.”

Beelzebub could see the struggle in her eyes. She wanted to listen to him but something was stopping her. Zoe swallowed and reached her hand towards him, trembling as the demon inside her was fighting back.

That was enough for Beelzebub to hover over her and lean really close to her face.

“Listen here. I don’t care how strong you think you are and I don’t give a shit who is your master. However, I am the one who will torture you in the most gruesome ways, with bugs and faeces,” He growled, Zoe growling and almost hitting Beelzebub in the forehead. He caught her hands above and glared at her before he mumbled something in demon language.

The darkness in her eyes faded away and she regained her consciousness.

“What happened?” She asked, her breathing laboured and whole appearance dishevelled.

He chuckled before he got off her.

“You’ve been weak Zoe. Is that how you want to live your life?”

She frowned. Her eyes moved on her hands and legs and realized she inflicted pain on herself.

“How did this happen?” She was shocked.

“I’d like to know that as well. Was it really the Izmedu or was your desire to act like a demon?” She licked her lips and glanced at him in fear as he continued, “You threw your human friend from the window. How ironic. You saved him before and you almost killed him now,”

Her eyes widened and quickly got out of bed. She was in her white gown and was in need of a shower.

Beelzebub sighed and leaned back on his elbows.

“Don’t let your guard down again or you’re going to get punished as well."

Zoe frowned and nodded obediently.