by Richard Hein
Yet, it had called me Twinkles. What if that had happened? Or what about the other parts of Lauren? When possessed, you swapped bits of personality with the creature, just like magic swapped bits of reality around. Did that mean that the displaced parts of Lauren were out there somewhere and that had crawled into my mind?
I shook my head, trying to clear the dull ache that had sprang up behind my eyes. No. No, it had to be a trick. A demon in my head could read my mind. It would know what Lauren had called me because it was a memory of mine. I growled wordlessly, anger at the invasion into my most private thoughts. My fingers curled into trembling fists.
My left hand snapped up, fingers splaying wide. I ripped aside the dam holding back my will, my anger, and focused it. The air in front of my outstretched palm wavered and swam like a mirage above a road on a hot summer day.
“Time to burn, asshole,” I snarled, and exchanged a bit of our universe for another. I’d nearly vaporized an Archangel with such magic once before, and, while fast, this thing wasn’t in the same weight class as Michael. White light kindled at the tips of my finger, so bright that even as I crushed my eyes closed a bar of purple ghosted across my sight, an afterimage of nauseating strength. Super-heated plasma shot across the intervening space, the heart of a star burning in another dimension suddenly dumping forth into our reality. I sawed my hand back and forth, eyes still closed, and let the magic die. I slumped to a knee with a gasp, a bone-deep weariness blanketing me. I knelt there panting and let my eyes flutter open, squinting at the harsh ache in them.
I’d carved a furrow a dozen feet wide through the asphalt, cleaving two faded parking lines in twain. The edges bubbled, wisps of smoke curling up from where the tar oozed down into the cut I’d opened. Chest heaving, I glanced around, and saw no sign of my attacker.
Behind!
Lauren screamed, and I flung myself sideways, careful to not toss myself toward the seared, bubbling asphalt. Something tugged at my hip and white pain knocked on my senses, demanding to be let in. I landed awkward, twisting into a heap. I could feel wetness spreading from the hit.
With one shaking hand I pushed up and spotted the thing standing a half-dozen yards from me, razor-fingers splayed wide, two of them blood stained.
“I think I need that blood,” I muttered, staggering to my feet. “I had dibs on it first.”
Do you think you could do something a little easier to control? Lauren snapped.
Hey now. You always hear about people using fire or lightning. Ice maybe. That’s all so Dungeons and Dragons. Heart of a star, accept no substitutes.
You didn’t even hit. What’s the point of fifteen million degrees Celsius if you can’t hit anything? You’ve got infinite realities, Samuel. Infinite. Think outside the box. A little creativity maybe?
Think I could summon a giant anvil over its head? Looney Tunes style? I thought back.
The creature before me flexed its legs once more, sunlight glimmering on its scales. The light in its eyes burned bright as I regarded it.
“Fine,” I said. “You want out of the box? Here’s way out of the fucking box.”
The creature charged, but this time I was ready. My mind called out to another universe, displacing air as it left our reality for another. Blackness kindled there, an inky void of nothingness. The vast emptiness of space in another universe. The creature leapt. At this distance, I could almost make out each individual scale as razor fingers plunged for my soft flesh.
The creature slowed as if the thickness of the atmosphere in front of it had increased a hundredfold. A vicious wind howled up, whipping at my winter coat and dragging my hair forward. I staggered forward a step under the onslaught, dragged toward the hole to the vacuum of space in another dimension. The demon’s eyes went wide as it spun backward, tumbling like a crumpled piece of paper in the wind. My ears popped as the air ripped away around me, pressing in on that hovering hole between our reality and another.
I was wrenched from my feet, once again striking the ground hard. My ribs reminded me I’d already abused them a few times at this point, and I groaned as I rolled. Behind me I heard glass shatter as the difference in air pressure inside Daniel’s car and the world outside grew drastically different. Broken glass whipped past me as I was dragged toward that yawning, dark maw. The creature hammered claws into the parking lot, but the nothingness beyond called, and a heartbeat later it tumbled out of our universe.
With a howl, I collapsed my will, letting the portal close. The wind died a second or two later, and I lay there panting.
“Try hard vacuum,” I panted.
You opened a hole to space? Lauren asked. I’m kind of impressed.
I laughed, rolling onto my back. God it felt so good to just lie there. “I wanted to do a black hole, but I figured the whole planet would pop. You wanted creativity?” I held up a hand toward the sky and wiggled it.
“Box,” I said. I pantomimed throwing something far, far away. “Outside the fucking box. The box is like six counties away at this point.”
Something cast a shadow across my face, a figure standing above me. I squinted.
“I’m sorry, Samuel,” Daniel whispered. He was trying and failing to hold back the sadness from his features. A trembling hand pulled his handgun from the holster on his thigh and leveled it at my face.
“I can explain,” I shouted frantically, just in time to see him squeeze the trigger.
Chapter 10
I had a moment to reflect on just how imposing a .45 leveled at my eyes was. I vowed to never again be on the receiving end of such a thing and realized that likely I wouldn’t, all things considered. Time crawled as my body dumped adrenaline in my veins. I could see the lines on Daniel’s skin twitch as he pulled the trigger, could see the individual lines of thread in his stupid vest.
The hammer slapped forward. Frantic, I pushed out with my mind and my will. I felt Lauren’s panic and the wrecking ball of the demon’s will joining my own. Our combined power slapped at the firearm as it fired. A horrendous, piercing whine filled my ears, clawing at my brain. My eyes squeezed closed.
I wondered what it would feel like to have a bullet redecorate the inside of my skull.
“Holy crap.”
That was Kate. If I could hear her, it meant I still had a head and brain. I let my eyes drift back open.
Daniel was standing over me, shocked. His gaze focused on his outstretched hand where he was clutching a bouquet made from scintillating amethyst. Six delicate crystal flowers pointed down at me.
No sign of the gun. That was a plus.
“Okay, now hold up,” I said, scrambling back on my palms and kicking a few feet of clearance from Daniel. “I know every single time anyone ever says ‘this isn’t what it looks like’ it is, but…” I swallowed. “This isn’t what it looks like, Danny.”
Daniel’s fingers twitched open. The blossoms spun to the ground, beautiful as the cold morning sun refracted off their intricate surfaces. They shattered on the asphalt.
“I told you,” he said. His voice was sad. Depressed. Devoid of all the rage I’d expected to hear. His hand drifted to his hip, and Daniel yanked free his collapsible baton. A flick of his wrist and it snapped to full length.
Ah, hell.
“No one is that lucky,” he said, glancing up at Kate. She stood a few paces back, her face stony and impassive. Despite how close we’d worked together for the last half year I couldn’t read anything in her features. Her eyes traveled back and forth from the shattered bouquet to me and back again.
“Five times, Samuel,” Daniel said, advancing on me. I took a moment to push up to my knees and unsteadily to my feet. Damn but I felt dizzy. Working that much magic in a short period had me feeling like I’d just jogged. Not far or anything; just a light jog. I never said I was in shape.
“Five?” Kate asked, her head drifting to regard Daniel. A frown, a slight hesitation there.
“He said he used magic to… to kill Lauren,” Daniel said, loom
ing over me. “Then Michael. Whatever dug that, uh, ditch beside you. The black hole trick.” Daniel swallowed. “My gun. That’s five times, Samuel. No one gets lucky five times. You’re possessed and everything I had worried about is true.”
“Well, the odds of…” I said.
Daniel stormed the last two feet, surging forward like a tsunami ready to sweep me away. The sadness flickered and died, replaced by anger. Ah. There it was.
“Go ahead, Samuel,” he growled. “Tell me how you’re not possessed. Justify your use of magic. How you’ve broken and shattered the rules that keep us from falling to the darkness.” He sucked in a breath and gave a slow, sad shake of his head. “Tell me how you didn’t deliberately let angels into Sanctuary and murder everyone we’ve ever worked with.
“I want to hear your excuses. I want to know what that… that thing in your head is whispering to you.” His eyes met mine, fiery and unflinching. Nothing at all like the uneasy kid I’d known once.
Daniel had grown up, and in that moment I hated him for it. For being right, for being the adult and facing the problem head on.
“I want to hear it all,” he said. His fingers curled around the baton, hand shaking with the fury of it. “I want to know just how far you’ve fallen.”
For a shaky moment I wanted to just admit it all — get it off my chest and let them decide my fate. I was tired, mentally and physically, and I’d lost almost everything I’d ever cared about over the years.
Except I knew full well that the two of them couldn’t exorcise Lauren from me. That meant the alternative was Doctor Daniel writing a prescription for my death, and I wasn’t ready to embrace that level of nihilism yet.
230 grains of lead, applied to the skull. Repeat as necessary. If symptoms persist, consult a mortician.
I had to think fast. Sure, I could displace his baton out of this universe like I’d done with the gun, but I was sure using more magic in this situation was about the worst thing possible.
My hands lifted as I tried to not make any sudden moves that might invite a beating. I didn’t want Daniel to bludgeon me to death, so the truth was right out. I needed something believable to buy me enough time to figure all this crap out.
“Sanctuary,” I said. “When Christina died and I became Chancellor, Sanctuary bonded me. It’s not as catatonic as we were led to believe. The Entity is… well, kinda tied to me. Like it was to Christina, and every Chancellor before her for the last century and a half.”
Kate crossed her arms and stared at me. “Sanctuary? Seriously?”
“Cross my heart and…” I coughed. “Well it’s the truth. It’s not a possession. It’s more of a symbiotic thing. Except Sanctuary is kind of annoying.”
“Sounds like you two make quite a pair.”
“You expect me to believe this?” Daniel said with a glower. He still had his baton raised, ready to crack open my skull and find the nougat goodness within. “You’re now telling me Christina was possessed?”
“Not at all,” I said hastily. Moving slowly, I pointed at the warehouse behind them. “Like I said, it’s not a full possession. I can prove it if we head in there.”
“So you can kill us?” Daniel said. “Not happening, Samuel.”
“Well, if we’re so sure he’s gone dark side on us, there’s nothing to stop him from snapping his fingers and summoning winged monkeys to throw us onto some sharp rocks,” Kate said.
I grimaced. “Winged monkeys? I have dignity, you know. I’d kill you with a classy movie.”
Kate gave me a faint smile, just the barest hint of amusement. “You’re not helping your case.”
I threw up my hands. “Come on. It’s me. If I was a super-villain, I’d be cackling and throwing around lightning at this point. Sanctuary is living part-time in my head, just like it lived in Christina’s, and it’s part of putting on the Big Boy Pants and running the OFC. That gives me a modicum of protection from other Entities moving in. We go inside, I’ll have it prove itself, and everything is happy.”
“Uh, how do you prove that the Entity is a good one and not just a demon in your head? It’s going to tell us it’s nice?”
My hands fell. “Well, shit. That’s…” I scrubbed at the back of my neck with a frown. “Okay, that’s a good point. I’m not sure how I’m going to prove it. I’m not compromised, though, and I’ll try my damnedest to show you that.”
Daniel and Kate regarded me in silence for a few thunderous beats of my heart. They turned and shared a glance.
“Fine,” Daniel said at last. He lowered his baton but kept it in hand, gesturing toward the open door and the portal to another universe that lay beyond.
“That’s not what I expected you to say,” Kate said.
Daniel shrugged. “Make no mistake — I’m certain he’s possessed and that he will try to do anything to keep me from executing him on the spot. I’m not taking him into Sanctuary to let him plead his case. I’m bringing him there because it’s appropriate to end his existence in the place where the OFC bled and died for his mistakes.”
“Uh,” I drawled, “that’s not a lot of incentive to go with you.”
Daniel regarded me with a sneer. It looked so alien on his young face, one that had always been full of a kind of innocence. “If you don’t, we’ll start this right here. I don’t know if I can finish you before I go down, but I’d try.”
I sighed. “Okay, Daniel. You win. Let’s go inside.”
Daniel waved me on with the baton. I gave Kate a lingering glance, hoping for some solidarity. She merely watched as I walked on by. Fine. If that’s the way this would play out, so be it. I hopped the furrow I’d dug with my bit of sun magic and wandered into the warehouse. Without waiting for the others, I yanked open the back door and stepped out of the universe.
We passed buildings that had the look of twisted, melted versions of those that would have existed in Victorian-era London. Misshapen and twisted, it looked more like a pathway of nightmare fuel than ye old merry England. Empty windows watched like black eyes. I’d never gotten over how creepy the whole thing was, a couple dozen shattered buildings devoid of life keeping watch of the way in and out.
Above danced a myriad of purple crystals, tumbling through a night sky like beautiful satellites. Their hum filled me with a growing sense of dread this time, rather than wonder. If I didn’t come up with a good way to plead my case, they’d dance and twirl above my grave.
Sanctuary appeared between steps, leaning against the gnarled fountain in the center of the little pocket universe, tall and gaunt and mildly amused in its dark suit. Arms crossed, it watched as I trudged forward. I scowled at it.
“You can show yourself to them at any point,” I growled to Sanctuary. “If you don’t, you’re going to be looking for a new head of this place very, very shortly.”
Sanctuary nodded toward Daniel. “I already know who is next in line. It’s based on seniority, you know; time since joining your soul with my will.”
“Shut up,” Daniel said. “Talking to whatever is living inside your head is, uh, damning at this point. You’re proving my point.”
I ignored him. “Daniel hasn’t even been a full Seneschal for half a year,” I said to Sanctuary. “You’re going to put him in charge?”
“Who said anything about Daniel?” Sanctuary said with a smirk.
My steps faltered. “Wait. What?”
“Samuel,” Kate pleaded. “Seriously. Now is the wrong time to talk to Harvey.”
I waved an annoyed hand at her. My thoughts raced. What did that mean? We all had gone through a binding when we joined the OFC. Guests could get a minor binding, allowing them access, but those of us that had joined up fully said some mumbo-jumbo words and found our lives inexplicably bound to Sanctuary. The only way to sever the tie was death.
I’d always wondered if some others had survived, out in the world when the mantle of responsibility had fallen on my shoulders. When months passed and no one else returned, I figured that was it.
The enormity of what Sanctuary had just said almost beat out my imminent death.
Christina had called everyone back to deal with the issues that had arisen from Michael’s involvement in Kate’s case back then, and when I’d gotten to Sanctuary most everyone had been dead. Only a few stragglers had survived, and Michael had killed those. Christina had put up a valiant fight, but in the end…
My eyes widened.
“Daniel,” I blurted, “wait. Remember when we fought Michael here by the fountain? Christina encased the damned archangel in crystal, right?”
Daniel frowned. “I… well…”
“That was Sanctuary! She was tapping into the Entity that controlled this place, reshaping its pocket reality.” I grinned. “Like this.”
With a little effort of will, I focused my thoughts. I hadn’t tried this before, but given that Christina had done it, I was reasonably sure I could. It wasn’t like I had anything to lose here. I was dead if I couldn’t convince them.
Crystal. Beautiful, life-saving crystal. Beside me, Sanctuary rolled its eyes and waved an annoyed hand.
Amethyst sprouted from the ground around Daniel and Kate’s legs, growing upward and encasing the lower half of their bodies in a second. Kate swore, trying to wrench herself free. Daniel, to his credit, immediately hammered away at it with his baton.
“God, Samuel,” he snarled, “you’re just digging yourself deeper.”
“Okay, this is enough,” I snapped. I pointed a finger at Sanctuary. “Show yourself to them. Now. I don’t care what rules or regulations you think you’re following, but if the whole Chancellor thing means anything, we’re all going to have a nice, civilized conversation between adults and extra-dimensional demon-things here or by all that is holy I’m going to fucking tear this place down around you.”
“Like a child throwing a tantrum,” Sanctuary said with a shake of its head.