"Do you recognize me, Leo?" the man asked in a quiet, intense voice.
"No," Leo grunted. "Who are you?"
"My name is Kristoff, and my father's name was Cyana..." the young man revealed.
"Doesn't ring any bells..." Leo hissed. "What are you doing here?"
Kristoff stepped forward as he reached inside his trenchcoat. "I've been waiting a long time for this, Leo... I used to imagine what this moment would be like, and now, I know. It's beautiful!"
Leo took a step back. He had no weapons, and he had no idea how to get out of the room. "Listen, Kristoff. I think you've got the wrong guy..."
Kristoff grinned as he drew a large black pistol and trained it on Leo. "Do you know what it's like, Leo?"
Leo slowly raised his hands in the air. He had no idea who Kristoff was or why he was there. "I don't know what you're talking about. Put the gun down, and maybe we can figure it out."
Suddenly, Kristoff aimed the gun at Leo's leg and pulled the trigger. With a deafening bang, a large-caliber bullet tore from the barrel and shredded through Leo's right thigh. A jolt of pain shot through his mind as his leg was ripped backward.
"Fuck!" Leo swore as he fell to the ground and clutched at his injured leg. "What the hell are you doing? Who the fuck are you?"
"SHUT THE FUCK UP!" Kristoff roared as he stepped closer and aimed the gun at Leo's face. "Do you know what it's like to grow up without a father? Do you know what it's like to run outside, expecting to see your dad's smiling face, but instead see only his mangled corpse?"
"What the fuck are you talking about?" Leo hissed. "Who are you?"
"You killed my father!" Kristoff screamed. "It was supposed to be a simple raid! All he wanted was a stupid sheep so his family could eat, and you blew him up! Titan doesn't forget, and neither do I, Leo!"
A grim realization slowly dawned on Leo. "The Samari... He was the one who was raiding the Samari flocks... They hired me to stop it..."
Kristoff's face twisted with rage. "Raid the Samari? Give me a fucking break! Those pious assholes stole our land, and they wouldn't even give us food in return!"
Leo wormed away from Kristoff and leaned against the wall. With a quick downward glance, he checked his leg. Crimson blood was spurting from it in a profuse flow, and he could feel his strength ebbing. He needed to get help or he would bleed out in minutes.
With a shove of his mind, Leo closed his eyes. The Void would help him if he could call it. He needed to focus, to center himself, and to find peace...
Suddenly, another deafening crack rang in his ears, and a searing pain ripped through his shoulder. His eyes were forced open by the pain, and when he looked down at his right shoulder, he saw a black, bloody hole.
"I'm sorry!" Leo screamed. "I didn't know! They hired me, and I did the job... I didn't fucking know..."
Kristoff gritted his teeth as he took two steps closer. "Well, now you know... You know why I'm doing this. And soon, you're going to know what it feels like to lose everything. You're going to feel what I had to feel when I was only a little boy..."
Leo's strength was quickly leaving him. He knew he would pass out soon if he didn't stop his bleeding. But, there was no one to help him. The Samari had recommended Doctor Pyke, but Pyke had sold him out. They had set him up...
"How the fuck did you set this up?" Leo grunted. "Did you get to the Samari? Did you get to Pyke?"
Kristoff's face fell into an insane grin. "Pyke plays both sides, and so do I... I learned a long time ago how to play the game, and that's what I'm doing right now. I guess killing my father did some good for me, Leo. It taught me how brutal the game can be. It taught me how clever and cruel you have to be to win it."
"This isn't a game..." Leo whispered as he struggled to keep his eyes open.
Kristoff clenched his teeth. "Yes it is, and I am winning!"
"I'm sorry," Leo whispered as he felt his consciousness ebb. The darkness of death was coming for him, and he could hear its deafening call. "I'm sorry for killing your father... Please..."
Kristoff shook his head with obvious disappointment. "It wasn't just my father, Leo. My mother and my sister were there too. You killed them all with that bomb..You killed my whole family..."
Leo felt immense regret sweep through him. He didn't know the people he had killed for the Samari were a family. The monks had told him they were bandits, murderers, and thugs. He would've never taken the job if he had known.
"I didn't know..." Leo gasped as he blearily gazed at Kristoff. Then, his vision began to go dark. He had lost too much blood. He was going to bleed out any second.
Kristoff bared his teeth, knelt next to Leo, and extracted a large, shiny tube from his trenchcoat. "No! I'm not gonna let you off the hook that easy... Here..."
He angrily twisted the cylinder, causing a needle to spring from one end. Then, with a sudden jab, he stabbed the needle into Leo's neck.
Leo instantly felt his energy rise. He had no idea what was in the tube, but it quickly pulled him back from the edge of death on which he teetered.
Then, Kristoff leaned in and whispered into Leo's ear. "Do you love her?"
"What?" Leo raggedly replied. "Who?"
"The woman... Alice," Kristoff whispered.
Leo felt anger rise in his chest. "No... I love Annabelle..."
Then, Leo gathered his strength and threw his elbow into the side of Kristoff's head. He was still weak, but the blow knocked Kristoff to his knees and gave Leo a split-second advantage.
"Fuck!" Kristoff spat as he whipped his arm around and pointed the pistol at Leo.
But Leo had anticipated the movement and was already in the process of throwing a diving punch at Kristoff's ear. With a burst of effort, he threw himself to his knees and lunged forward.
Unfortunately, Leo was a little too slow, and Kristoff was able to roll back and avoid the punch. Leo felt pure desperation as his punch missed, and he fell flat onto his stomach.
"Ah, you're a fighter, Leo..." Kristoff mused as he climbed back to his feet and trained his weapon on Leo. "That's gonna make this even sweeter."
Leo stared up the barrel of the pistol. He had played the only hand could have, and he had lost.
"I was hoping you wouldn't make this too easy for me," Kristoff hissed as he reached inside his trenchcoat one more time. "It would've made it harder for me to do what I have to do. It would've made it harder for me to hurt your girlfriend."
Leo listened to his words and felt immediate and terrible rage begin to flow through him. "You can kill me, you fuck - god knows I deserve it, but if you hurt Annabelle..."
"Why do you call her Annabelle?" Kristoff asked as he extracted another shiny tube from his coat. "Her I.D. says she's named Alice. Oh well, Alice, Annabelle, who cares? You love her, and so she has to be blown up. It's the only way to make things even between us, Leo. You blew up the people I loved most, and now I have to do the same to you..."
"No!" Leo roared. "She has nothing to do with this! She's innocent!"
Then, Leo felt a profound and monumental force begin to rise within him. Kristoff's threat had opened a door within his mind, and the Void was about to come through it.
"No one is innocent in this life!" Kristoff howled as he twisted the second cylinder. "Not you, not me, and not Annabelle!"
With a roar of his mind, Leo closed his eyes and was instantly surrounded by darkness. He could feel the endless chasm of emptiness that was the Void, and he could hear its deafening roar of silence.
"Don't close your eyes. Don't show fear now..." Kristoff taunted, but Leo could barely hear him.
The Void was all around Leo now, and Annabelle was there. He could feel her, and she was close. He needed to go to her, take her, and get them out. That was all that mattered.
With a shove of his mind, Kristoff's voice was silenced, and Leo pulled himself into the darkness of the Void. There was no wind there, and no time, unless he wanted there to be. He was within the Void now, and there, he was in control.
"Leo?" Annabelle's voice whispered through the Void.
"Yes, I'm here!" Leo called back. "I'm coming to get you!"
"I'm here too..." Annabelle replied. Her voice was louder now, and stronger.
Leo quickly located the source of your voice and flashed over to it. In an instant, he stopped moving through the darkness, and his feet hit solid ground.
"Annabelle!" Leo called into the darkness as he whipped his head around to look for her. "I felt you here. Where are you?"
"I'm here, Leo..." Annabelle's voice called out, just beyond his sight. "I've been waiting for you for so long..."
Then, Leo saw her. She was just a faded, blurry image at first, but she was slowly walking toward him.
"Annabelle! Come on! We have to get out of here!" Leo called.
As she walked closer, she came into focus, and Leo's heart skipped a beat. It was Annabelle, but not as he now knew her. It wasn't Annabelle within Alice's body, but Annabelle as she used to be. She had raven-black hair, piercing violet eyes, and alabaster skin, just like the first time he had ever seen her.
God, she was so beautiful, Leo marveled as he felt tears building in his eyes.
"Annabelle! What happened?" Leo cried. "You look like you again. I don't understand."
Annabelle walked the rest of the distance between them in silence and only replied when she had reached him. "This is how I look... This is how I've always looked and how I always will. What's the matter? Don't you like it? Don't you think I'm beautiful..."
"Yes... You're more beautiful than the stars," Leo replied, his voice breaking with emotion. Then, he reached up and lightly traced her jawline with his finger.
Annabelle closed her eyes and sighed with pleasure as his hand touched her skin, then wrapped her arms around his waist and rested her head against his chest. "I missed you, Leo... Why did you leave me here? It's so cold, so lonely, and you've been gone for so long."
Leo pulled her close. He could feel the loneliness in her voice, and it sent waves of pain through his heart. "I didn't leave you, Annabelle. I love you. I will never leave you..."
"Liar..." Annabelle suddenly hissed as she pulled away from him. "You left me here, and you'll do it again! I know how men are! I know what you're capable of!"
Leo was confused and hurt by her words. "I didn't leave you here. I pulled you out! Don't you remember? You wanted to stay, but I pulled you out anyway!"
Annabelle turned away from him. "You took a part of me with you, Leo, but that isn't me anymore. Now, she is a whole different being, and so am I."
Fear began to rise amidst Leo's confusion. He had no idea what was happening, and he was starting to doubt that the woman before him was actually Annabelle.
"Tell me, do you love her?" Annabelle demanded.
"I love you!" Leo declared. "I love you now, and I always will..."
"Liar!" Annabelle spat as she wheeled around to face him. Her face was now contorted with rage. "You took her with you, but not me! You love her, but not me!"
"I don't understand," Leo cried as he took a step toward her. "Are you Annabelle, or are you not?"
"Maybe I am, or maybe I'm something else now. I don't know." Annabelle whispered, her anger leaving her as quickly as it had come.
"Then, let's go!" Leo insisted. "We have to get out of here. Doctor Pyke set us up, and now a man named Kristoff wants to kill us!"
Leo watched in terror as Annabelle's face became contorted with utter rage once again. "No! You want to save her, and not me! You don't care about me! You don't love me!"
Leo was utterly lost. What had he done? What had the Void just done? Annabelle was talking as if she was different from the woman he knew and loved, and she looked like she used to look. Was she a hallucination caused by the Void? Had a part of Annabelle been left behind there, and that was what he was now talking to?
"I'm sorry," Leo offered as his voice broke with emotion. "I don't know what's happening, but we can figure it out together! The Void is causing this; I'm sure of it! We have to leave so we can figure this out!"
"If you want to leave, then leave..." Annabelle hissed. "I can't go where you want me to go. This is my home now. This is the only place I'm welcome..."
"Please, Annabelle!" Leo begged. "Come with me! I can't leave you here. I have to save you..."
Annabelle bared her teeth and began to speak in a guttural growl. "No! You only want to save her. And I don't want her to have you! She can't have you! I won't let her!"
Then, Leo watched in horror as Annabelle's skin began to change. It slowly lost its porcelain tone and began to shine with a silver sheen. Her face and her hands slowly turned silver, and then, her skin began to squirm and wiggle, as if a million insects were living within her.
"Annabelle..." Leo gasped. "What happened to you? What are you?"
"You left me here for so long, Leo..." Annabelle hissed. "You left me with them, and only them for company. You never returned until now, and now you taunt me with your love. Will I ever be able to forgive you? Perhaps, but I think you deserve a taste of your own medicine now. I believe you need to learn what loneliness feels like. Maybe then you'll understand what you did to me..."
Leo listened to her with shock and terror coursing through his heart. What had the Void done? What had it done to Annabelle?
Then, Annabelle reached forward, and a silver tendril shot from her palm. It struck like a snake and pierced through the front of Leo's skull before he could react. Agony immediately poured into his mind, and he knew he was about to die.
Still, he stared at Annabelle's beautiful face as she tore through him. Leo didn't know how long the hurt would last, but within just seconds, he found himself begging for the sweet release of death.
Then, suddenly, Annabelle was gone, and he was flying through the darkness once again. The pain was gone too, and for that, Leo spoke a million thoughts of thanks within his mind.
He only had a second to consider his relief, however. After only an instant flying though the Void, he felt his feet land on solid grown, and the darkness folded out of existence before him. Like a giant piece of paper, it halved in size, over and over again, until it was gone.
With a profound sense of shocking relief, Leo drew in a deep breath and exhaled, then looked around to see where the Void had deposited him.
As he looked down, he saw there was lush, green grass under his feet. He was still wearing the same grey clothes he had been, and they were still covered in his blood, but his wounds were now gone.
Leo was struck with amazement as he inspected his thigh. It had been torn apart in the moments before, but now, there was no bloody hole and no shredded flesh there. He felt good, too, he suddenly realized. He wasn't tired, and he didn't feel drained.
As Leo surveyed his surroundings, he saw giant trees that stretched from the ground around him. Here and there, bizarre looking, giant insects flew this way and that. In the distance, he saw tall, snow-covered peaks stretching into the heavens above.
Then, he saw the sky, and a massive weight of fear settled gently onto his shoulders. Above him, he didn't see the red and brown swirls of Jupiter, but instead a purple sky and a massive white star. Wherever he was, it was surely an incredible distance from Titan.
As Leo searched the sky, and disbelief begged his mind to break, his eyes fell onto a terrible sight. Near the horizon, another cosmic presence was there in the purple sky. It was a massive ball of darkness. It was so dark that it seemed to suck the light around it out of existence.
The titanic orb of darkness struck Leo at his core as he gazed into it, and he found that he couldn't make himself look away.
For hours, or years, or eons, Leo stared up into the dark orb. And, the longer he looked at it, the more he became sure that eventually, it would come for him.
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Read the conclusion of Goddess of the Void in June, 2020. Available on Amazon and ibooks.
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A C Bonesteel, The Ganymede Legacy
The Ganymede Legacy Page 56