Read Demon Gate: Beyond the 9th Circle: The Rapture Was Just The Beginning. for Free Online

a
dreamless sleep filled with strange sounds that
could be anything, an indigenous animal, or
something more sinister. Spencer couldn’t sleep
very well; he had the same problem the night
before. When he did sleep it wasn’t for longer
than half an hour or so, and every time he closed
his eyes he saw an image of a city nestled against
a snowcapped mountain range. Thick, dreary
clouds hovered over the city, and suddenly the
clouds opened up and a brilliant beam of blue
light came out of the sky and struck the ground.
Every structure shattered as though it were made
of the most fragile glass.
The sun was a welcome sight, mainly
because the rag tag group was still alive, or at
least Louis and Lester were okay. Spencer
couldn’t find Gretchen.
“Where’s Gretchen?” Spencer asked.
“She went to the river a half hour ago,
probably went to clean up.” Louis replied,
pointing toward the Styx River.
“I’ll go check on her. We should think
about heading out soon, I’d like to reach Texas
by nightfall.” Spencer said before heading for the
river.
“Sure thing, we’ll be ready to head out
when you two get back.” Louis assured him.
Spencer headed to check on Gretchen. As
he entered the trees he could hear a river, a small
river, or maybe it was a large stream, but he
could certainly hear running water. As he drew
near to the water’s edge he heard the water being
disturbed, as though someone or something was
swimming in it. Looking at the bank he found
some clothing lying on nearby branches.
Investigating, Spencer found the shirt and pants
that Gretchen had been wearing.
“What are you doing?” Gretchen asked,
embarrassed.
Spencer's first impulse was to look away,
but he ignored it. His eyes went to the girl in the
river. Gretchen was in the river with water up to
her neckline and doing her best to cover up. Her
bare skin glistened in the faint sunlight.
“What are you doing here?” Gretchen
repeated as she used her arms to cover herself.
She was trying to bathe and the river offered her
only choice.
“I’m sorry; I just came to let you know
that we’re almost ready to leave. You were gone
long enough that we were starting to get
worried.”
“Well go so I can get out, this isn’t a peep
show.” Gretchen chided.
“Hurry, we have a long way to go.”
Spencer said before he walked back to camp to
find everything packed up and ready to go. Their
new travel companions had just impressed him
with their speed and efficiency.
After five minutes Gretchen came
walking out of the trees. Her wet hair and the
embarrassed look on Spencer’s Guatemalan face
told Louis and Lester all they needed.
“Catch her in the river?” Lester asked
with a laugh and a suggestive raise of his
eyebrows.
“In the car, let’s go.” Spencer said,
shaking off the embarrassment. Spencer got in to
his GTO and started the engine. To his surprise
Gretchen got in too.
“You’re not riding with the redneck
brothers?” Spencer asked and Gretchen
understood what Spencer was talking about.
“It was an accident. You didn’t know I
was…” Gretchen paused trying to word her
question carefully, “in the river…Did you?”
Spencer ignored the question and put his
car in gear. Then he looked into the rearview
mirror at Louis and Lester.
“What’s wrong?” Gretchen asked.
Spencer stayed quiet for a long moment
before he replied. “Nothing, let’s go.”
Spencer put his car in gear and returned to the
road with Louis and Lester following. He got to
I-10 and started working his way west, away
from the rising sun.
With every passing mile, he felt a foreboding
feeling grow like a plague spreading.
Crossing the border into Mississippi he
anticipated a quick transition into Louisiana. As
they neared Shreveport, they saw what looked
like the site of a skirmish. As they passed they
noticed the area was littered with weapons and
bodies. The strange thing was that there were
human bodies and demon bodies. Spencer
decided to stop and investigate.