CHAPTER 6: WILDERNESS REALM

The dust storms raged in this parched desert land. There was neither Night or Day in this realm. It was a realm where no angels of the Emperor would even visit. The place reeked of the smell of rotting flesh. The ground was cracked with absolutely no moisture, though lightning and thunder were almost constant. Dead, thorny trees were scattered across the endless landscape. Wails rose up from numerous demons lying under the trees, bleeding out their filthy issues from deadly wounds of swords and other angelic weapons they had been attacked with. Most were slashed beyond recognition during battles in the sky realm and the earth realm against the angels of the Emperor. There were cries of agony and cries of defeat. The hollering never stopped.

Lucifer made this realm for the demons who lost battles to escape momentarily to heal themselves. They would stay in this realm till their mortal wounds were healed and then return to tempt humankind again or attempt another battle.

Cupid and his demons were thrown onto the hard, rocky ground. They had just fallen out of the earth and into the Wilderness Realm through sorcery. They groaned in pain. As Cupid was rolling about in agony, he heard a voice.

"You too?"

When Cupid looked up, he saw General Fear. He was also wounded but looking better than he did after the last battle. He had made a remarkable recovery with the help of Lucifer's magic arts.

Lucifer's agents had come in with occultic healing for the demons in the Wilderness Realm—witchcraft potions that had to be drunk to make their bodies accept the treatments; magic charms and beads placed on their bodies for healing; essential oils of malice, fits of rage, jealousy, selfish ambition, greed, envy, and lust; needles filled with chemical combinations of drugs that would be lethal to humans, prepared in the darkest secret chambers of hell—these drugs would enhance demons like steroids would a human body. They would also hear the slander and unclean, hurtful words of humans to each other and watch them abuse one another in videos that were played on screens as an aid to their healing.The blasphemies against any member of the trinity was the most powerful drug .

General Fear, Osiris, Anubis, Spirit Sickness, General Faux Religion, and General Deception had been in the Wilderness Realm for many weeks on end. They all had deadly wounds from the battle and were still getting healed.

General Fear looked at Cupid and said, "Looks like you got beaten badly. Who did this?"

Cupid snarled, "How dare you tell me I got beaten badly! I know you were beaten badly by the Blue primus hosts as well because I was told about it!" Cupid glanced at the demons lying around him.

"Why are you always so defensive, Cupid? I just asked because I saw you were looking bad," General Fear answered.

Cupid was a very proud demon. He had easily brought down the most powerful kings, queens, leaders, and even the greatest of saints. He was held in high respect by Lucifer and the demons in hell. Cupid was disappointed because he wanted to bring the painter Lloyd to hell that morning. "I almost got him. I almost got that painter until Raid stepped in and stopped me," said a disgusted Cupid .

"Raid got involved in this?" General Fear asked. "How is that even possible? He is Jay's guardian, not Lloyd's."

"That's because Jay got involved in Lloyd's life, and he helped him receive salvation in the end." Cupid said the word "salvation" while making quotation marks with this index and middle fingers. "These angels will assist each other to get people to the One Above. You know how they are," Cupid said as he rolled his eyes.

General Fear started to say, "Prince Luuuc..."

" Hey Cupid!"

General Temptation had just hobbled up to them with a crutch and a bandage tied around his temple, and Cupid quickly turned his head away to look at General Temptation. He reached out and shook hands with a very weak Cupid. They were old friends, but at this point, Cupid didn't want to speak anymore.

Seeing that he had been cut off rudely, General Fear cleared his throat and announced loudly to regain control of the conversation, "Prince Lucifer will send us more pain balms and medicines when Eavesdropper comes in to take an account."

All of a sudden, the portal opened and Eavesdropper came in with a few demon agents. He flew around, taking notes on the casualties.

A little later, Eavesdropper and the others returned with more healing supplies, only to find that Cupid had passed out.

"Wake him up," Eavesdropper spat. "I can't wait for him to come around to get this report."

One of the imps accompanying Eavesdropper gave Cupid a strong chemical injection of an agonized lover's heart break tears mixed with equal proportion of Lsd and a mild sprinkle of marijuana all of which he found somewhere on earth. Eavesdropper had some demons quickly attend Cupid after cursing and mocking his sleeping body while others laughed as he slipped behind a tree.

Cupid woke up again. As he sat up, he found that the top of his head was bound in a bandage, he had several stiches on his face and body , and he was wearing a neck brace.

General Temptation and General Fear were still sitting nearby.

"Cupid, what exactly happened before you came here? Tell me," General Temptation asked.

Cupid slowly moved backwards to sit against a tree to prop himself and reminisced out loud to General Temptation, "Lloyd is a prodigy painter with the call of the One Above, but of course we couldn't allow him to know that. He was older for his class. He flunked a few classes because I got him into all sorts of relationships with girls.I made him like a male whore. He's a guy that most girls would look at, so this time I got him hooked on a girl called Niah. She had a great courtship with our whore Spirit Jezebel. Niah made us all very happy. She had had several boyfriends, one after another as she met them in school or outside her school. So I drew Niah's attention to Lloyd. With a little passing of time, I got them to sit in the back of the class and talk for hours and got them a bit physical. They were doing well, and at the same time, I got her to bully him and make him feel miserable.

"We made sure he was not noticed or appreciated in Logwood High until he made drawings of some of our family members. That's when he got a lot of appreciation from some students. Some members of ours had gotten the seniors to bully and beat him up because he was trying to be non-submissive and wouldn't take no for an answer.

"Even at his home, our demons got his parents to thrash him up and say mean things to him. I even got his mum to do that because his grades were falling faster than rain showers on earth. I got him to fail all the tests and then got the teachers to harass him. One of the teachers even tore his art book. We loved the way he wailed that day! When he got home, we got him to cut himself and try to take his life by drinking stuff, but his parents came in and saved him. I slapped the demon in charge who didn't help him lock the door. This demon was actually so stupid that this situation happened some three times on separate days , and Lloyd got saved just because he forgot to lock his door!" Cupid was angry.

"Who was that demon?" General Temptation asked.

"Spirit Amnesia! We beat him senseless and sent him to hell, where my sources say he was locked up and tortured for a full one hundred days. Anyway, leave that fool."

Cupid continued, "All this happened two years ago. When Lloyd and Niah were getting close, we decided to cause a situation. We got Niah to be transferred to another school, so Lloyd would only see her on the bus. One day, she told him that she was moving on and that he was really worthless. We rejoiced in the way Lloyd broke down on the bus. We got the seniors to rag on him at the same time. Then a few days later, we were getting him to make good his decision to kill himself, and this time, I made sure he would go up to the school terrace to do the deed.

"On that morning, everything was going as planned. We got him to school early after working on the plan inside his mind the whole night before. We even robbed him of his sleep with the help of captain Amnesia and just before he walked up the floors right to the top, we had made sure the workers had left the fat, long plank behind. It was jutting out of the barricade like a diving board. I got him to walk on the plank right to the end and sit there. Just as he got walking, I sensed a presence of light."

"Oh no! What was it?" General Temptation asked.

General Fear drew closer to hear.

Cupid continued, "Jay had entered the building. A few demons came up and alerted me, and to my horror, I came to know that he was coming up the steps to the terrace. He never comes to Logwood High on time, and on top of that, why was he going up there? I knew he was always followed by the Sky Patrol, so I summoned the demons nearby to be ready with knives, spears, and ropes. I knew this was about to get ugly, and I was not going to let him destroy my work.

"Now guys, I had just recovered from a broken chin in an ugly fight some weeks ago. I had been resting, but just about a week ago, I was trying to get back on the horse, so that's also a reason that contributed to the loss."

"So what happened next?" General Fear asked.

"When Jay came on top of the terrace of Logwood High, all of us felt uneasy, due to the presence of a bright light. I was on guard, so as he was coming up to Lloyd, I came to counter him. I had expected the Sky Patrol to be present, but to my surprise, that's when Raid stepped out. All I remember is a few of Blue primus's angels had landed, and I had also gathered a few demon warriors to my side.Even Sheol was waiting below to embrace his soul into hell.. There was so much prayer in the atmosphere against us, and soon we could hardly focus. The fight went in their favor. I wasn't prepared because I never expected Jay to come there, out of all days, on that day when I was going to murder Lloyd." Cupid broke down. Clenching his fist, he cursed at Blue primus.

"Relax, Cupid. We will get them someday," General Fear said.

Cupid's eyes were blood red with anger. "You all can be sure I will get my trophy. I will break that Jay's spirit —one day, I will—and also get Raid! I will harm him so so bad. I just need my time... just need my time."

Cupid lay down, worn out and in tears from the pain, cussing under his breath.

The demons got up and left Cupid to himself. They limped away, gossiping among themselves.

All this time, Eavesdropper was standing right above them on the tree, taking notes, unknown to all except General Fear. Eavesdropper gathered his notes into a file and gave the finished report to General Fear.

"Thank you, Eaves," General Fear said as he waited for Lucifer to arrive.

From somewhere in the east of the desert, a bolt of lightning flashed and hit the ground. Suddenly, Lucifer was standing in front of them. All the demons, both wounded and recovering, made haste to lie prostrate to respect the tyrant.

Lucifer saw General Fear and the report in his hand. He pulled it out of his hand and started reading. Lucifer sat on a rock, shaking his head. Then he walked up to the wounded demons, looked at each of them, and finally came to Cupid.

Cupid hid his face as Lucifer came nearer and read the report out loud.

"Cupid, not even one suicide from Logwood? How come? You used to be so good. How come you got beaten? Weren't the warrior demons at your disposal? Now I need to wait for weeks to get you healed. It's harder to heal when the angels in Blue primus inflict you. I am going to take your pictures and trophies down in hell till you earn them back. Don't let me catch you losing again. You have disappointed me, Cupid. Next time, you will see a side of me you don't want to see." Lucifer walked away and disappeared into the dust storm.

Cupid lay on his back trembling. He knew what could happen if he were to lose again. The torture of Lucifer and the shame that he would have to endure were absolutely without mercy. But whatever Lucifer would say or do, because Cupid was a mix of mischief and pride, he would still continue serving Lucifer for his own glory and recognition, which he would do anything for.

Several weeks later, the demons were re-teleported to earth, still bearing scars and deformities, and went back to work.

FINAL DAYS BEFORE EXAMS

The school year was almost over, and Jay was preparing for the Central Board Exams. He had just two months before the examination, and he felt the pressure of knowing that this exam would decide which path forward he would be taking. Jay knew he had to pass in order to go on to pre-university, or otherwise he would be stuck at Logwood for another two years.

The family had learned its lesson regarding Jay's final exams and didn't want to take another chance. The only two places he would go every week were Brown Chapel services and the life group. Jay's parents were constantly praying for him at the life group. They were concerned for him and wanted to make sure he would stay calm and ready to take the exam. Knowing that this exam was a big decision maker was a strong motivation for Jay and his family not to miss any of the Brown Chapel services.

Jay was on his books, but he was extra determined to be on his prayer time every day. He would spend an hour a day to pray, which gave him great peace. But he didn't expect that during these times, his friends from school would be calling him all of a sudden, asking for prayer for the exams. Jay was also reading the Primus Script. He was still battling dyslexia and ADHD, but he had overcome much of it and was working hard with his tutors. He was studying for a few hours a day. It wasn't easy, but the promise from the Emperor was that he would make it.

There was also constant assistance from Blue primus for Jay. Fireball was in Jay's room, helping him to work on his most difficult subject, math. He had received several instructions from Blue primus about how to go about Jay's exams.

* * *

The school, however, was more interested in competition and was rooting for their students to beat the other schools. Mr. Bell secretly went to every church possible to make sure that no one failed the finals, especially Jay. This was the first time that Mr. Bell was praying. He was a highly successful man in his sixties with three grown children who were married and had children of their own. Mr. Bell did sense a change in the school, but he had a secret—this would be the last year of his office at Logwood, and he planned to move to the United Kingdom to work in another school after this year. He just wanted to make sure he moved out successfully, but the Lloyd incident had left a deep impression in him.

He knew for a fact that Logwood had been very hard on the students, but it was really not in his control, because the management had decided to increase the school's reputation and fame, so as to draw more students. And Mr. Bell, having received an incredible salary, had been doing his job of threatening students and parents alike to make sure the school was on top.

He had a council meeting after the incident of Lloyd's life being saved by Jay. He heard a report that it was the pressure that Logwood High placed on students that made him want to take the extreme step. However, the management had managed to cover up the suicide situation, saying it was a love failure. They never brought up the way students were treated.

But a bell was ringing in Mr. Bell's head. Fame and fortune are not everything. What did these students actually think of him? He was known as a terror or "the executioner." If Mr. Bell would as much as shout, the students would be running to their classes in great fear. Nobody ever dared to rebel against his authority. He was respected for his twenty-five years of experience with Logwood High.

Mr. Bell had a Primus Script in his office. He pulled it off the shelf and read a few chapters.

From his youngest years, he was an ace in his studies, and he was always the topper in his college. In his younger days, he had won every award possible for his educational accomplishments and had won trophies for his school and college. He had many degrees and he never really stopped studying. He had travelled the world before putting his roots down in the Sultanate of Oman for the sake of his wife and children.

His children were the first batch of students to graduate from Logwood under him, and even in their times, he was a mean, strict man. He wanted every student to be the best, even if it meant he had to use corporal punishment. Even his children didn't have a great relationship with him, because he was always focused on education so much that he would not even play with them. When his children finally graduated, they left home to live their own lives, and Mr. Bell only attended their weddings. Mr. Bell was competitive and ready to make more students reach the top, even if it meant that he had to make them unhappy. His desire for perfection had blinded him to the emotions of students. Sometimes he would wonder if he should be kinder to the students at school. But then he would always remember that he could never even love his own children. He had been so focused on making his own children the best academically, but had no emotional relationship with them. He realized he could never go back in time to change his relationship with his children. It hurt him, but he believed that he couldn't change anything now. "How could I love any of these students? This is who I am now," he would tell himself.

* * *

Mr. Bell's attitude seemed to have cascaded onto the students' parents at home. The parents were making sure they had every textbook opened in front of their children and every possible tutor teaching them until they were reciting mathematical formulas in their sleep.

Their children had to find ways to deal with the extra pressure at home—some would take cold showers, and some would listen to instrumental music because it was highly recommended for easing the brain. Others would walk their dogs or lie down for power naps. They were all anxiously waiting for the exams to be over.

All of a sudden, the Brown Chapel services were filled with people because their children were going to face the final exams, and they saw the Emperor as their last resort. There were faithful ones who had been attending all along, but there were some new ones who appeared out of nowhere. Some of those families were even placing big envelopes of money into the offering box in an attempt to bribe the Emperor some men who had been shameless enough to smoke on the church campus had stopped drinking and smoking for that period so that the Emperor would take notice, but in the back of their minds, they were expecting to start again once the results were out. The Blue primus control room was beeping with Prayers .

* * *

The Emperor watched the hearts of the people from Blue primus. He wept at how some thought they could bribe him and fool him to think they loved him, but it was only for their sons and daughters to make it through. Nevertheless, he was willing to help them. He did not want their money. He did not want their false pretenses. His heart was for the students and their parents because of his compassion and goodness.

He dispatched many thousands of angels to schools that were having exams throughout the world. The phone lines in Blue primus were constantly ringing, and the Emperor sent special angels to comfort students who were stressed out. The weaker students were enabled by Blue primus aiding Angels . The Emperor knew of the ones with weak hearts and the pressurized ,that some of the students were even ready to kill themselves lest they fail the exams, so he sent angel armies to make sure none of them would be lost and none of them would fail.

CENTRAL BOARD EXAMS

Finally, it was time for the Central Board Exams. Jay's prayer time was still steady because it had been a while since he had watched his favorite TV shows, Small Wonder, M*A*S*H, Growing Pains, and Seinfeld. The only thing on his mind was to finish the exams. He knew he had to pass in order to never look back at the math textbook for the rest of his life.

Every day of the exams, there was a different subject, but the exams moved slowly as they were given several days as breaks between the subjects.

Jay wrote down whatever he could remember on his exams. He took a few breaks, but he kept writing. In his mind, he could hear the advice his parents and teachers had given him: "Attempt every question, even if you don't know how to solve it." He recognized it as the Emperor's words through their voices, so he attempted every single question.

As Jay was working on his exams, he suddenly remembered a cartoon version of the story, "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow." He chuckled to himself when he thought of Ichabod Crane, the schoolmaster, and how he got chased by the headless horseman. He remembered how Brom tells Ichabod Crane, "Once you cross that bridge, my friend, the ghost is through; his power ends." Jay felt like that voice was the narrator for his life at present.

Math was the last exam. On that day, Jay felt like he was facing the biggest enemy in the war. He thought of the video game, Mortal Kombat, and in this battle, he was Liu Kang versus Goro. Though he knew he stood no chance against the opponent by himself, this time the Emperor was in the game.

When he entered the examination hall to face math, he imagined himself entering the bar like a cowboy in the wild, Wild West. He was Billy the Kid, and he wanted to finish this feud with math, his childhood enemy, once and for all—killed, buried, and forgotten.

A few minutes after he sat down, he heard Mr. Bell announce, "You may commence."

Jay's mind raced back to the years of the many exams he had attempted and the constant failures. His grades in math had been so bad to the point that even when playing games that involved numbers, would give him a chill down his spine. He looked at the clock and felt like it was set against him. But he decided that this chapter was about to change. He grabbed the pen and began to write down everything he could remember.

Sweat began to build up on his brow and fall on the paper, but he didn't even notice; he was just draining out whatever little he knew. He was happy when he was able to write some of the equations that he remembered being taught by his tutors. He just kept writing things he had learned, even if it had nothing to do with the question. He even made up his own theorems at certain places to fill up the page because this time, he was not going to walk out of the fight. The horns were locked, and now it was either kill or be killed. He took breaks just to sip water, but he kept writing.

Suddenly, the examiner announced that only thirty minutes were left.

Then she broke it down to ten minutes.

Then it was five minutes.

Students began to write at super speed.

Jay was on the last question. He was still writing when all of a sudden, the bell rang loud and clear.

Many students kept writing.

Jay thought he had solved the problem in a simple manner, without taking the longer route, but even if his answer was wrong, at least he had filled his papers.

"Pens down!" Mr. Bell roared.

All pens were put down, except for a lone student who kept scribbling.

Mr. Bell looked at him with his eyes narrowing. "Hey you!"

That was enough for the student to drop the pen, stand up, and put both his hands up, gasping in total surrender and fear. The other students chuckled at the sight.

The exams were finally over. The answer sheets were taken by the invigilators. For the next few hours, students scattered all over Logwood High, talking, laughing, some crying, some making plans for the holidays. Many spent time with their boyfriends or girlfriends for the last time because they would be moving out of Logwood High.

Jay couldn't believe the exam had ended. He went to meet his friends. When they talked about the math exam, he said he didn't want to think about it.

Jay got onto Route Number Seven for the last time. The seniors had organized a party in the bus with the other students, and pastries, pizzas, and burgers had found their way into the bus. Juice and Coke were poured in the moving bus. The music was blaring, and the boys and girls were dancing with excitement, but the bus driver didn't care.

When Jay reached home, he took a cold shower, flopped onto his bed, and fell asleep, exhausted.