“There are a lot of reasons. Think about it, Tabitha. Your parents could have had me thrown in jail, but they didn’t. Instead, they chose to keep you secret. If they had pressed charges, I would have been in jail and couldn’t have come near you or Drake anyway. Your parents could have raised you right and prevented all of this. If they hadn’t sent you to that horrible situation in Kentucky, they could have prepared you not to break the seals. If they had been loving parents to Drake instead of cursing him into a cat, Drake might not have even wanted to try to trick you into starting the apocalypse. You seem to be under the impression I raped your mother to start this. It didn’t happen that way. I got drunk at one of their parties and made a serious mistake. I was the one who made a horrible mistake. Your parents were the ones who wronged both you and Drake.”
Maybe some of my new superpowers weren’t totally useless. I couldn’t just get into Drake’s mind and the Horsemen. Maybe being a weapon wasn’t lame. I could read Mattan’s mind too, and he didn’t even know. Mattan was lying straight to my face, and I could already tell he’d fed Drake this story. Drake seemed to believe it and didn’t question it because he tried to defend Mattan to me.
“Mattan has been a real father to me since I sensed he was my father the first time he was back in the house. Elliot never liked me. Our mother made my sweaters and gave me my baths, but she never played with me after she stuck me in the cat. I was like a nuisance for both of them. Mattan is showing me what real family is like and I want my twin back. Everyone Elliot and Levana wronged can be together again and heal. We have a destiny. Elliot and Levana tried to stop it, but we are meant to rule the new heaven and earth. It’s been written.”
Now was the time for epic speeches and a little blowing to hell. Mattan was lying, and Drake was delusional.
“Mattan, you’re lying to me, and you lied to Drake too,” I said softly.
“Young lady, perhaps you don’t know what it’s like to have a real father, but you can’t just accuse me of lying. You will respect me.”
I threw back my head and just laughed like I was totally insane. Mattan was just as delusional as Drake. I didn’t respect anyone until they earned it. It got me into a lot of trouble in school, but it wasn’t getting me in trouble now.
“Calm yourself, Tabitha!” Mattan snapped. “I’m your father, and Drake wants to be a family again. You’re ruining everything!”
“Oh, Papa Dearest, you have no idea what you released when you raped my mother, do you?” I purred. I was going to play with Mattan a little. The nerve. Coming to my house, lying to me, then demanding my respect just because he was my sperm donor?
The Horsemen warned me. I should have listened. Mattan came armed. He moved fast. He grabbed Lizzie and had a gun pointed to her head before I could send him to hell. Drake was yelling at Mattan about hurting his queen. Mattan was looking at both of us with this frightening, deathly calm.
“Lizzie means nothing to me and is just going to cause problems. Lizzie means everything to you. So, let’s play a little game, Tabitha. You tell me what you’re really up to and Lizzie will live as Drake’s plaything. You can continue to disrespect me, and I’ll just put a bullet in her pretty head and force you to open the seals.”
A flaming arrow flew across the yard and knocked the gun from Mattan’s hands. My Horsemen promised me they would keep Lizzie safe and they were certainly keeping that promise. Lizzie whirled to face Mattan. Her eyes were glowing this eerie blue.
“You did not just hold a gun to my head and threaten to give me to your son. Did you research the witnesses at all, shit head?”
Lizzie blew this stream of fire out her mouth that would have rivaled any movie dragon. It didn’t kill Mattan, but it looked like it hurt like hell. I could smell burning flesh and hear the sounds of his screams. No one had trained me on the breath of God because if I used it, I’d blow people to hell.
I had no idea what I was doing. I blew in Mattan’s general direction. If someone were just watching our crazy dinner party, it would look like Mattan caught fire and I was trying to blow him out like a candle because I was a total idiot. I felt something stirring inside me. I just pursed my lips and blew, but what came out of me was this swirling white light. It came out like a shotgun blast, and when it hit Mattan, he just disappeared.
I turned to make sure Drake hadn’t run. I’d never get him back in my sights if he saw what I could do. I grinned when Drake looked like he was going to shit himself with Gideon’s flaming sword at his neck.
“Tabby, please. Mattan lied to me too. I had no idea he would try to hurt Lizzie when he knows I love her. I can’t help how I was born, Tabby. Help me.”
I walked over to Drake. I could sense the real truth from him. “Your power is deception, Drake. You would have sensed Mattan was lying to you. You chose to believe his story because it fits your agenda. I know about the Incels and the man you’re trying to get to be your prophet. You knew Mattan wasn’t telling you the full truth about raping our mother. You can blame our parents all you want, but they were young and scared. You chose to follow Mattan when Mattan was the one who made you what you are. Mattan did all this to force the apocalypse, and it’s not time yet. You followed him because you wanted to and you like the idea of ruling Heaven and Earth. Your power may be deception, but I’ve picked up a few superpowers of my own.”
“What did you do to Mattan, Tabby? You’re ruining everything!” Drake said, stamping his foot like a child. “Call off your Horseman and bring Mattan back. I was hoping we could do this as a family without me having to force you to break seals again.”
I got right up in Drake’s pasty face. “Maybe you don’t realize the power dynamic here, twin. The Horseman of War has a flaming sword at your neck, and you aren’t getting anything you want.”
“The Horsemen can’t kill me. There’s only one thing that can kill me. You won’t stop me, Tabitha. I’ll eventually get my army. I’ll come back. You’ll open the seals and Lizzie will be mine.”
I laughed. Maybe my new superpowers weren’t totally lame. I was having fun with this. “The one thing that can kill you just sent Mattan to a special hell of the Horseman of Justice’s making. When Mattan decided to force the apocalypse, I was made a weapon of Heaven. Guess who has the power to kill you, Drake?”
There was no fear in Drake’s eyes. He no longer looked like some sad little pervert. He looked like sheer evil that didn’t care he had a flaming sword at his neck, and I could kill him. He hardly moved, but suddenly, he just wasn’t there anymore. What the fuck was this? I went to step forward, and I felt myself being yanked off balance. If that fucker could turn invisible and all I got was super breath, I was going to be upset.
I felt myself falling. Was Drake sending me to hell? Maybe not. I landed on a rug, and all the air was knocked out my lungs. Drake was on me in seconds. His knees were pressed on my chest, and I could hardly breathe. He had one hand around my throat and the other covering my mouth and nose. I could breathe, but barely.
“How appropriate that this happens here and now. Look around you. This was my nursery before our mother cursed me. I brought you to right before she stuck me in that cat. Mattan thought I could do this, but I didn’t think it was needed. I hoped you’d feel sorry for me for what our mother did to me. You’re just a bitch like her.
“I don’t need you. I can kill you now and change history. I just have to destroy Levana’s little hex book and plant a few delusions in her head that we are a totally happy family. I’ll never end up in that cat, and when I get older, I’ll eventually meet Mattan. You’ll be on my side then. You’ll break the seals like we need and it won’t come to this.
“I’ll find my two-year-old self and whisper in his ear what Levana had planned for us. I’m not going to kill her now, but when I’m old enough, I will. I don’t want her giving you any ideas. Think you can kill me? Think again, Tabby. I’m the Antichrist, and I’m destined to win. I’m tired of your shit, and now it’s time for you to d
ie.”
My weapon was my breath, and now Drake had taken away all ability to breathe. I was starting to see spots, and I couldn’t force him off my chest. I saw something, someone through the haze of ever-expanding black dots in my vision. Was it an angel come to save me? Drake collapsed on top of me in a heap, and I could finally breathe again.
I shoved him off me and tried to see who stopped him. I was looking at my very shocked mother.
“Tabitha?” she asked with wide, tearful eyes. “So, our fears are true. Has the apocalypse started?”
Then, it hit me—why everything had happened to me. Why they had someone watch me, but never came and got me. Why Drake ended up in the cat, it all had to happen this way to get us to this point, and I was here for a reason. Drake had no idea what he was doing bringing me back here and what events he was setting in motion. He’d always blamed our mother when he should have been blaming me. It was like that sci-fi show I loved. This had happened before.
I blew at Drake. The swirling white light hit his knocked-out form. Levana had gotten him with a lamp. The Antichrist wasn’t immune to getting knocked the fuck out by a copper lamp. Now that Drake was gone, I turned to my mother.
“Listen. I don’t know how much time I have here. Things have to happen a certain way now to stop the apocalypse. You have to send me away. Use the orphanage the elders use. No matter what you hear or see, you can never contact me. You have a book. You will have to use dark magic and neutralize Drake.
“If Drake remains human, when he’s old enough, he will find Mattan, and they will find me. They will hurt you and use me. If Drake is put into an animal, it’s going to make him a weak Antichrist. He’ll become bitter and only focused on certain things. We need Drake this way when I come back because it will make him easier to manipulate.”
“Can this be done without sending you away? I could prepare you, and you are such a sweet baby.”
“You won’t be able to keep me a secret any other way. When Mattan finds out about me, he will try to manipulate me. We have to keep Mattan and Drake apart for as long as possible. It’s going to be hard for everyone, but it has to happen this way, or the apocalypse may happen very differently when I’m old enough. And be careful of Drake when you put him into the cat. Be wary of him trying to trip you.”
“The cat? You mean the kitten we got for you to play with? That was meant to be your pet.”
My parents got me a bat-eared, hairless cat as a playmate when I was two? That was new. I could feel myself starting to fall again. Whatever magic Drake had used to get me here was starting to slip, and I was going back to my time. I only had to hope I had said the right thing and when I got back, things weren’t totally changed.
There was one last thing that needed to be said. I yelled it as I felt myself falling. “Whatever you do, don’t put this in any of your videos. Don’t record another video after tonight. Mattan will see.”
Chapter 31
Time travel really should be done in blue police boxes. I saw stars again when I slammed back into the ground in the garden. I heard Lizzie shriek, and then she pounced on me. Zed practically yanked me away from her and had me in this huge bear hug.
“I was searching all of hell for you. What happened? Where did you go?”
“Where is Drake? I see his handprints on your neck, Tabitha. I’ll show him what a flaming sword feels like,” Gideon growled.
“Drake tried to bring me back in time to kill me. How come none of you knew he could do that before I invited him to dinner? He nearly killed me before Levana broke a lamp over his head.”
“Wait, your future self met your mother in the past? Isn’t shit like that supposed to cause the apocalypse on its own?” Lizzie asked.
“No, all of this, Drake being put in the cat and me ending up in Kentucky was because I told her to do it just now. It hit me then. Think about it. Drake would have been much more different and powerful if he grew up human and managed to get in contact with Mattan. It’s because he got stuck in that cat for so long, he turned into a whiney little pervert. Drake intended to kill me and change the past, and I could have, but I just knew things had to be exactly as they were because it made Drake weaker and made me stronger.”
This mass group hug suddenly surrounded me. Gideon was back to playing with my hair.
“Oh, Tabby. So, the only memory you have of your mother now is you telling her to send you away?” Gideon asked.
Did they think I was breakable? I liked the group hug, but I wasn’t looking at this the same way they were. I rubbed my face in Zed’s chest. They didn’t need a sarcastic answer. They needed to know I was okay.
“No. My memory of my mother is her saving my life and us working together to stop Drake. She had no idea. She had been watching us. She helped me by knocking him out, and I helped her by keeping Mattan away. I tried to warn her about Drake and stairs, but I don’t think I could have prevented her death.”
“I’m glad you see it that way, Tabby,” Chase said, rubbing my arms.
Feelings were gross, and I had them all over me. I needed to know this was done and I’d stopped Drake and Mattan. I’d already had one surprise tonight with Drake’s little time travel trick, and I didn’t want another one.
“Zed, you have access to hell. Did it work?” I asked. “Is Mattan in his personal hell and Drake in the Lake of Fire?”
“Let me show you something, Tabby,” Zed said. He placed his palm on my forehead. I could see what he saw in hell.
Mattan was indeed in the room Zed created, but he hadn’t realized it yet. He was pounding on the walls demanding to be let out. He actually pulled the do you know who I am line. The young blonde hadn’t let herself be seen yet. My little torturer was good at her job. She let Mattan work himself into a rage before she finally came out.
“Welcome to hell, Mattan. Courtesy of your daughter and the Horseman of Justice. We’re going to have so much fun with you here.”
Mattan let out this primal shriek and tried to destroy one of the paintings of me on the wall. It splintered as he broke it on a chair, then totally disappeared from his hands and reappeared on the wall totally intact.
The vision wavered as Zed took his hand off my forehead. “Was that your idea with the paintings?” I asked.
“It was a little detail I thought about at the last minute. After getting taunted enough that he was there because of you, he was going to eventually go for those paintings. I decided the paintings would just come back every time he destroyed one. He’s never getting away from you or your mothers face for the rest of eternity.”
I thought about Drake. This entire time, I felt sorry for him. I thought he ended up the way he was because he had been stuck in a cat for so long. The cat shaped the sad little pervert that preached to Incels and creeped on my best friend, but I saw what Drake could have been like if left unchecked when he was trying to choke me to death.
This entire time, I had been thinking if Drake had just been raised in a loving home, he wouldn’t be doing any of this. The look in his eyes when he was trying to squeeze the life out of me, I knew that was wrong. Drake could have been raised by Levana and Elliot in the most loving of ways. I could have been his loving twin. He still would have sought out Mattan when he sensed the connection, but things would have been much worse than if he hadn’t been stuck in the cat. Drake may have discovered all sorts of awful powers, and he would have had the time to build up his following. I could have adored Drake as his sister, and he would have used and abused me to get what he wanted.
“Is Drake in the Lake of Fire?”
“For now. Lucifer may take mercy on him even though he failed and let him out and give him a better room. Even Lucifer knows this wasn’t supposed to happen yet and take mercy on Drake.”
Lizzie grabbed my arm and started dragging me back to the house. “We need to have a celebration party then you need to have kinky sex with the Horsemen.”
I realized I hadn’t died yet. Drake and Mattan were gon
e, and I wasn’t dead. Maybe it was the whole death vagina thing, and it would happen when we had sex. I didn’t want to die, but I was starting to accept my life had a greater purpose now. Ariel said there were four beasts in the bible. I sent two to hell today, but I knew if this were the right time for the apocalypse, I never would have gotten that close that easily. If I had to do this again, I would need to prepare. If I had to die at twenty-six to do that, I’d at least be with my Horsemen.
Chapter 32
So, apparently, after I led Mattan and Drake to the backyard, my mother’s best friends and my grandparents snuck downstairs to plan an Apocalypse Party. I wasn’t even out there that long, and they’d managed to gather all the elders that helped us and some of my extended family I hadn’t met yet. There was a full spread of food and flowing booze. Where the hell did they get those decorations and manage to put them up in so little time?
One would think my mother’s best friends and my grandparents would throw a rather stuffy party, but I was having a blast. If this was my last night on Earth, this party was a great way to go out. I met so many cousins from my mother’s side of the family and a few from Elliot’s. There were no Adlers at the part, and for that, I was grateful. If I didn’t die, I was thinking of taking my mother’s last name, but I wanted to deny any connection to the Adlers.
The elders weren’t letting Mattan’s crimes go unpunished either. They were digging into the entire Adler family to see if any more plots or crimes were going on we needed to know about.
It was a little surreal seeing so many elders getting drunk and cutting up and I’d just blown air out my mouth and sent two people to hell. I wondered if I’d actually lost it and this had all been a dream when my drunk Oma climbed on the table and wanted to give a toast to me. I totally figured out where I got my drunken behavior from because my Oma seemed to love everything when she was drunk too. I hoped she didn’t break something trying to get off the table.
My Cat is The Antichrist Page 17