A chance to play God: The Devil's way

He was going home.

He couldn’t believe it. He stared up at the beautiful night sky, whose darkness was tinged in a beautiful pattern by the grey clouds that lingered on in the sky. He held his heavy glass of beer, sat on the stairs and just smiled to himself as he thought about his wife and daughter.

He caressed his locket, images of his beautiful wife and daughter flashing in his mind. The last time he had seen his baby girl was five years ago, just before he received a letter from his commander, summoning him to the military base.

It was a special mission that had dragged him away from his wife, one that was only supposed to last a year in a foreign country but had run through five years due to the complications from the terrorists.

No, he couldn’t remember it just like it was yesterday because it wasn’t. He had written countless letters to his wife every day for his first year because he didn’t know which year he was going to die. Luckily, he had left her with the password to a safe where he had stashed money away.

His wife was an intelligent woman and the money was enough to last her and his child a decade, but yet he had worried constantly. Through five years, he worried every single day and longed to have her in his arms again…now he was going back…going back home.

A loud cheer erupted from the bar behind him and Hector smiled. The send-off party for all the soldiers who had partaken in the painstaking mission had men drinking to stupor and dancing with the various whores, but that wasn’t Hector’s kind of party. After the cheers, he headed out to catch a whiff of the fresh night air and ended up staying for an hour.

"They are about to take all the ladies,” A deep, familiar voice said from behind, “Are you just going to sit here and let the others have all the fun?”

Hector didn’t even have to look to know who it was. Aaron Snow, his best friend, had escaped death a hundred and one times over the past five years. The more muscular man sat next to him and they clanged their glasses together.

Hector regarded him, “Why are you out here, Aaron? All the women are inside, why are you here?”

He felt his bone shake as a hard punch to his arm stunned him. Aaron laughed heartily, spilling his beer. Hector glared at him, but Aaron’s contagious laughter forced a smile onto his lips.

"Come on, Hector, the women will always be there,” He said, his voice raspy from the dozens of cigarettes he smoked weekly.

He jerked his thumb towards the bar:

"I have a doll waiting for me already, but you. You’re here looking at the sky and probably seeing your wife’s face in it. You’re the youngest soldier here. Twenty-eight years old and you’re already on special missions. We the older ones, lost our families to this cause, Hector and believe me, I don’t wish the same for you…but you got to fuck when you can. If you’re not fucking, you’re trying not to die. That’s the order of our lives.”

Hector drank his beer, “You know the exciting thing about going back, Aaron?” He asked his best friend who was eleven years older than him.

Aaron grunted.

“I don’t have to wait for her to reply to my messages anymore,” He smiled and looked at the sky again, “I’ll be home tomorrow and I will hear her voice again. I hope you feel the happiness in my heart for even a second, Aaron.”

Aaron chuckled and rose to his feet, patting Hector’s shoulders, “Alright, lover boy, don’t rub it in my face. You don’t see me rubbing my whore’s ass in your face, do you?” He laughed and patted Hector’s shoulder again, “I’ll see you in the morning, Hector.”

"Goodnight, Aaron.”

“Oh, it’s going to be a blissful night full of cream and sweat and moans and…” Aaron kept talking, almost turning it into a song until his voice faded away as he got into the bar.

Keith stroked his locket again, impatiently waiting for the night to fade away.

He felt a warmth seethe into his body as the plane touched down. Stepping down from the plane was another feeling entirely, he was overwhelmed by it. Finally stepping on his home soil and breathing the fresh New York air after dealing with the harsh foreign weather, the strong smell of cigarettes, gun powder, grenades and bombs for years.

Aaron appeared behind him and shook his shoulders. “Hey, we’re having a little get-together later tonight. I don’t imagine you’ll be there, so send my regards to Christine and your little girl. I’ll visit tomorrow, alright?”

Hector nodded and watched Aaron, along with the rest of the military men walk towards the exit. His heart was thumping with excitement as he boarded a cab.

He took a deep breath as he carried his box along with him, onto the cobblestones that divided the beautiful garden in front of his lovely house. He had a huge smile plastered on his face, he couldn’t wait to see the surprise on his wife, Christine’s face when she saw him again, nor could he wait to see his beautiful baby girl.

His only fear was that she wouldn’t recognize him.

He pushed the doorbell and waited for a few seconds, but there was no reply. He pushed it again and after the third time and he didn’t get a response, the smile on his face dropped. He looked at the door handle and noticed that the door was open. Slowly, he pushed the door open and his eyes widened with shock.

His house was in a complete state of disarray. The couches had been turned upside down. Pictures that were once hung on the walls were smashed on the floor now. The television was broken and the dining area lay in a shattered mess. Hector gasped in shock and horror when he felt something drop on his hair.

He looked up and it fell on his forehead. It was a liquid, dripping from the ceiling and falling onto his face. He smelt it…it ran down the bridge of his nose and dropped to the floor. Blood.

As he was about to take another step, his phone rang. He was hesitant at first but still picked up the call. The first thing he heard turned his blood cold instantly.

"Hector! Hector!” Christen screamed. “Hector! Please help me! They have our daughter!”