by J. M. Parry
“So I don't know anything. What do you want with me now?” Kait asked. “You wanted to talk, but once you found out I didn't have any answers, you just started yelling at me. Where do we go from here?”
Christa stopped pacing. She took a deep breath and tried to calm herself. “I am sorry,” she said. “It is just that you revived a long-dead hope in my heart. Much like you, I want to know the truth. I want to know what I am, and why I was chosen for this role. I let myself forget that while I may have this one question, you have two hundred years worth of questions for me.”
“So, that's how long we've been alive?”
“That is how long we have been immortal,” Christa corrected her. “It happened in the year 1803, in the Russian city of Kurgan. I assume the same is true for you, though it is remarkable that it has taken us so long to find you.”
Kait met Christa's stare. “Maybe I didn't want to be found,” she replied.
“Why are you so hostile?”
“I don't know what you want with me! I don't have the answers you're looking for! But...” As Kait considered her own questions, she began to understand the heart of the matter. She knew why Mayor Levin was so desperate to keep her unconscious. “I think I'm starting to figure it out.”
Christa was quick to own up to the truth. “There are three of us who fight for freedom: Silvi, Thomas, and myself. There are three of them: Pastor Eve, Mayor Levin, and Grant L'Enfant. They fight for the oppression of everyone--”
“They probably see it differently.”
“Of course they do. They believe they are creating order.”
“And you resist that order. How long has this been going on?”
“How long do you think? Since we all met. Since battle lines were drawn. Over a hundred years.”
“In St. Louis?”
Christa laughed. “No, of course not,” she said. “Eventually, the people would notice that we don't age. We have fought the same battle over the heart of half a dozen cities. Soon, it will be time to move on. One of us will make the first move and begin a new life in a new city. He or she will gather followers, begin forming a center of power. And the rest of us will follow. The balance will be maintained. It always has been.”
“Until now.”
“You can tip the balance of power, Kait Selias.”
Kait was silent. She didn't want to tip the balance of power. She didn't know enough about the situation hold that responsibility. These six people, the self-styled Gospels, had been fighting this battle for over a hundred years. She couldn't be expected to decide between the two sides after only half a day, no matter how much she currently hated Mayor Levin.
“I have to think about this,” Kait said. “I can't just...choose. That wouldn't be right.”
Christa tightened her jaw. Kait could tell that she was trying to hide her frustration. She wasn't doing a very good job of it. “I see,” Christa replied. “Even after everything that happened today, you're not willing to fight against the city government.”
“I... I don't know,” Kait replied. Her mind was filled with all sorts of confusion. She didn't know how she fit in this strange world. And as much as she hated Mayor Levin, she couldn't shake the feeling that Christa Xander wasn't much better.
Taking a deep breath Krista walked over to her desk. She opened the top drawer and reached inside. “I wish I could just let you go,” she said. “But you have to understand what I am thinking. If you make the wrong choice, everything I have worked the last two hundred years to accomplish will disappear.”
Kait stood up. She wanted to leave. She wanted to go back to her hotel room but she suspected it wouldn't be that simple. “So, what are you going to do?”
Christa looked up at Kait and narrowed her dark eyes. “God has made me his Gospel of Pandemonium, and I will do whatever it takes to spread his word.” She pulled a tablet computer out of her desk. “Join me or face the consequences.”
Tapping the power button, Christa slid the tablet across the desk. Kait picked it up. It flickered to life. The screen displayed a camera feed from outside One Metropolitan Square. Police cars surrounded the building. Cops were stationed around the vehicles. They crouched behind their vehicles and hid behind open doors, guns drawn.
One man stood away from cover, near the back of the blockade. He was tall and he wore a long, tan coat. He had a shock of brown hair. Even from the distant camera feed, Kait could see that there was something odd about his face. The upper left side of his face was swollen. His left eye was pale and ghostly.
“That's Grant L'Enfant, isn't it?” Kait asked, pointing at the eerie figure.
Christa nodded. “The chief of police himself. The government knows you're here, and they're willing to start a war.”
“They're just going to attack the building?”
“It's happened before.”
“And people die?”
“It is unavoidable.”
As if on cue, Kait noticed movement on the corner of the screen, inside the building. There were people mobilizing to fight the police if they decided to storm One Metropolitan Square. Some of them were well dressed, in flashy suits and well groomed. But others wore jeans and t-shirts, sweat pants and St. Louis Cardinals jerseys. They were disorganized, but they all had something in common: these men and women were members of the Obshina. They were organized crime—gangsters led by their boss and Gospel Thomas Kemp.
Kait stared at the battle lines as they formed up on either side of the building. She could hardly believe what she was seeing. All of these people—Obshina and police alike—were ready to give their lives for their Gospels. “Why do they follow you?” she asked.
Christa looked at Kait in disbelief. “You do not even understand that? You are more dangerous than I believed.”
“I guess you have to tell me.”
Picking up the tablet computer, Christa sat on the desk across from Kait. “The Gospels are not just immortal, we have another...power. We speak with the vox dei, the Voice of God.”
“...and?”
“When we speak, mortals listen. They are compelled to follow us. We can manipulate them. Guide them. And if we must, we can use them to whatever end we desire.”
Kait leaned over. She felt like she was going to be sick. Her stomach lurched and threatened to betray her as she realized what she'd done.
This was why everyone was so eager to help her. The Gospels were capable of mind control. They could bend the will of regular men and women, forcing them to obey their wishes.
It was why Paul Gordon pulled her out of anesthesia and risked his job to free her from Mayor Levin. It was why Spencer Smith took her money, but dutifully returned it. It was why he betrayed his wife to succumb to her desire. Ultimately, it was the reason he was dead.
“But I never spoke,” Kait said. “I don't think I asked anyone for help...” She couldn't remember what she said to Spencer before her fall, but she'd never explicitly ordered him to assist her today.
“You don't have to,” Christa explained. “They want to follow us. God is dead and they want something to believe in. We give them meaning and they believe in us.”
“No... No, it can't be...”
Christa tried to comfort her. She placed her hand on Kait's shoulder. “This is why you have to choose, Miss Selias. You must have an ideology. You must have a gospel to spread. Otherwise... You are dangerous. You will lead the world astray.”
Kait shook her head. “No!” she shouted. “I don't want to lead anyone. I can't lead anyone. I don't remember anything.”
“You're too late.”
Christa forced the tablet computer towards Kait. There was a new figure on the camera feed. It was a young man that Kait instantly recognized: Paul Gordon. He was there, at One Metropolitan Square.”
“No...”
“He followed you. He came for you. Whether you like it or not, he believes in you.”
For now, Paul was standing behind the lines of cops surrounding the building
. But, ever so slowly he dared to approach. It wouldn't be long before he worked up the courage to break through and then...
“Join us, and we will protect him.”
“What?”
Christa pulled the tablet away so Kait could no longer watch Paul's approach. “Mayor Levin killed your friend Mr. Smith because Mayor Levin kills anyone who discovers our immortality. He is afraid of the chaos that would follow from our discovery. I am not. While I would never reveal myself... I am very curious what would happen.”
“You're curious?” Kait asked, incredulous.
“It would be chaos. We would finally have to stand up for ourselves against them. So yes, I'm curious.” Christa sighed. “But none of that matters right now. Your friend down there won't tell anyone about us. There's no reason for anyone to kill him, but Mayor Levin doesn't care for reason. If you decide to support us, we'll make sure he makes it out of this alive.”
This didn't comfort Kait. It just made her angrier. “Chaos? Order? I don't even know the choice I'm making!”
“Yes you do. Freedom or domination. Life or death, for your poor friend.”
“This... This is extortion,” Kait said. “You're such a hypocrite, giving me this fucked up false choice.”
“I do what I have to do,” Christa replied.
Kait glared at her. “So do I.” She pushed past the intimidating woman and towards the door. The elevators down to the lobby weren't far away. She just had to make it...
“Where the hell are you going?” Christa asked as Kait stormed out of the office.
“If it makes you feel better, you can tell yourself that I chose freedom. I just did it my own way. I'm going to save Paul on my own.”
Chapter Six
The elevator ride down to the lobby of One Metropolitan Square felt like the longest thirty seconds of Kait's life. She kept waiting for someone to stop her. It would be fairly trivial for Christa to halt the elevator car, forcing her back into the same awful choice between swearing allegiance to the Fractal CEO and watching Paul die.
To Christa's credit, she did no such thing. She stayed true to the principles she claimed to espouse, and allowed Kait to create her own solution to this dilemma.
With a lurch, the elevator car came to a stop on the first floor. The door slid open, and Kait found herself confronted with at least a dozen armed men. They wore makeshift body armor around their street clothes. No uniforms, no badges, nothing... They were Obshina gang members, the foot soldiers of the organized crime family that dared stand up to Mayor Levin's iron-fisted regime.
Their presence in the lobby of the office building would have seemed odd to Kait if she didn't already know that Obshina was in bed with Fractal Capital. The Obshina were just another arm of the Gospels, and Kait was about to find herself face to face with their leader.
“What the hell are you doing down here?” A voice barked. Kait looked to her side to see the man who addressed her. He was tall—at least a few inches over six feet—with skin the color of smooth dark chocolate. Unlike the Obshina footsoldiers, he didn't wear any armor. Instead, his muscular body was wrapped in a tight gray t-shirt and jeans. Kait could see every sharp edge of his form, and couldn't help but feel intrigued. But she knew who he was.
He was the only person in the foyer without a bulletproof vest. He was the Gospel Thomas Kemp. “I'm going outside. I don't care what your leader says, I'm going to save Paul on my own...without your help.”
Thomas laughed. “Christa Xander is not my leader,” he said. “We merely have a common enemy. He is your enemy, too, and it would be advisable for you to make friends with us, at least for the time being.”
“Maybe I will, maybe I won't,” Kait replied. “But I don't like how anyone is treating me right now.”
“If you go outside, the cops will fire on you. Paul will be caught in the crossfire. The only thing keeping him alive right now is that Police Chief L'Enfant thinks that he may lure you out.”
“And you think the best way to keep him alive is to prostrate myself before you, accept your protection, and let you go get him.”
Thomas shook his head. “I don't want you to prostrate yourself before anyone,” he said. “We have not been properly introduced... My name is Thomas Kemp. I am the boss of the St. Louis Obshina.”
“And you're a Gospel,” Kait replied. “What do you preach?”
“Liberty,” Thomas said.
Kait laughed. “Just like Christa, you're a hypocrite. You claim to be the Gospel of Liberty, but you use the vox dei to command all these people to do your bidding. I know you want to help, but I have to admit... At least the mayor's side is internally consistent.”
Thomas bristled at her words. “You have no idea what you are talking about,” he grunted. “I don't use the vox dei.”
“You... You don't?” Kait had some trouble believing this. She had managed to use the mysterious power of the Gospels without even trying. Paul was compelled to help her even when she was unconscious. Spencer followed her orders to keep her money safe even though he thought she was dead.
“It would go against everything I believe in,” Thomas said.
“You can just...turn it off? How?”
Thomas gritted his teeth. He seemed annoyed by Kait's questions. “It takes practice,” he replied. “It is easy to project your desires onto others. It is difficult to stop. But it is possible.”
For just a moment, Kait felt a certain respect for one of the Gospels. Thomas seemed like a decent person. That was a lot more than she could say for Christa or Mayor Levin.
“Then you must think all of this is horrible,” Kait said. “Christa is forcing me to join her. Isn't that... Don't you want to help me?”
Thomas shook his head. “I can't help you,” he replied. “You can only help yourself. If I were to go and rescue your friend on my own, you'll never learn the responsibility that comes with your power.”
“Yes I will!” Kait objected. “I will totally learn. I've already learned.”
“No you haven't,” Thomas replied. “You are trying to use the vox dei on me right now.” He narrowed his eyes and glared at Kait. “It doesn't work on other Gospels.”
Kait stopped short. She felt a slight, tingling sensation near the center of her forehead—something she didn't fully understand yet—and she knew that he was right. Unconsciously, she was attempting to manipulate him. She was using her power to push him towards helping her.
“I'm sorry...”
Thomas looked her up and down. She felt like his eyes were tracing every inch of her body. It sent a shiver up her spine. Even now, she couldn't deny that he was an attractive man.
“What do you believe in, Miss Selias?”
“I don't know,” Kait replied. “That's the problem. I haven't had time... I've been awake less than twenty-four hours. Everything is so much right now.”
“Our senses are stronger than theirs,” Thomas replied. “I remember when it happened. The lights became brighter. The scents became stronger. The sensations...”
Kait understood what he meant. She could still vividly recall the intensity of the colors when the drugs wore off, and still felt the vibrations of Silvi's motorcycle between her legs. Her senses threatened to overwhelm her in every moment. “It's not so bad, is it?” Kait asked.
“I never said it was,” Thomas replied. “But do not be caught up in such things. We are here for a reason, and our condition is as much of a punishment as it is a reward. I didn't even understand the extent of it until almost three years later, when I was pushed into the ocean and woke up three weeks later on the shore of a land I'd never even visited.”
“You didn't know you were immortal until three years after it happened?” Kait asked. “How did you figure out when it occurred? Christa gave me an exact date and time. How--”
Thomas began to walk towards the doors leading out onto the street. Squinting, Kait, could see Paul standing on the steps. He was staring up at the building, as if he was considering c
oming inside. Kait knew that would be bad. Like Thomas said, he was only being kept alive as bait.
“The man out there—not your friend, but the police chief—was shot in the head on the night it happened. He suffered a terrible injury that, if he was already a Gospel, would have healed within minutes. If he did not become a Gospel within a short time after sustaining the injury, he would have surely died. We were all in the city of Kurgan on that night. Once we all met each other, it was easy to piece together.”
“You think I was there, too?”
“It only makes sense. But... Who knows? Maybe whatever happened that night happened elsewhere as well.”
This was almost too much for Kait. She thought back to the message scrawled on the inside of her passport. Weren't the Gospels supposed to answer her questions? It seemed like they were just as confused as her. They been alive for hundreds of years, and they still didn't know what they were.
“So, what kind of injury was it?” Kait asked. “What happened to Grant L'Enfante?”
“He was shot in the face,” Thomas said bluntly. “When we became... When we were transformed into Gospels, our bodies were preserved. If injured, they will be reformed just how they were on that night. For him, that means he will always have that bullet in his head. Right behind his left eye.”
Kait remembered the video feed from outside the building. She'd seen his ghostly eye, and now shuddered knowing the reason for the deformity. “So, that's what I'm dealing with?”
Thomas chuckled. “If you go out there, they will shoot. They will kill him and incapacitate you. We can't die, but we sure as shit can be knocked out for a few minutes.”
“So what's my other option? Give in to Christa? Pledge my allegiance to Fractal and--”
“Stop using the vox dei. Stop calling to him and hope that he walks away and never thinks of you again.”
Kait glanced through the glass. It was dark enough on the outside that he wouldn't be able to see her from the steps, but she could watch him. “How? How do I do it?”
“You want him to go away, don't you?”
“I...” Paul was now circling around the side of the building, trying to find another way in. The front doors were locked, on order from Christa. He looked so lost. “I'll never see him again. If I let go of him now--”