by N. P. Martin
And Max, of course.
He was laughing inside me like he’d just played some supremely funny practical joke on me. "Did you enjoy the show, Creed?" he asked.
"Fuck you!" I snarled as I fought to get my bearings again.
"Creed!" Leona said as she held my arm. "Are you all right?"
I nodded. "I’m fine."
"I take it your demon is back?" she said.
"You better believe it, baby," Max said, sounding like he was on a high after his latest killing spree.
"Listen," I said to Leona. "I should go now. I don’t trust this asshole around you."
"And rightly so," Max said. "Hmm, the things I could do to that sweet—"
"Don’t even fucking think about it!" I shouted aloud, startling Leona. "I’ll slit my own throat before I let you—"
"What, Creed?" Max said.
"You know what," I said, silently this time. "Leona is out of bounds, you hear me?"
"I think you are forgetting who is in charge here, Creed. Do I need to show you again?"
"No. Just please keep her out of this."
"Humans and their silly feelings for each other. Fine. I’ll do my best."
Knowing that was as much of a promise as I was going to get from him, I dropped the matter and went to Leona so I could kiss her goodbye. "I’m not sure how long I’ll be gone for," I told her. "Hopefully not too long. I’ll call you."
"Don’t worry about me," she said, looking at me like I was a complete basket case, which is how I felt. "I have a case to work on anyway."
"A case?"
"Don’t look so surprised. A woman came here while you were…away. She wants help with something that has taken up residence in her basement. Something small and demon-like apparently."
"A Yattering," I said straight away. "Not all that dangerous, but the little bastards can cause trouble if they want to. Mostly they just like a place to hideout while they cause mischief. They’ve driven many people insane."
"I already figured it was a Yattering."
I smiled. "Of course you did. That’s why we’re partners. Just be careful. How are you going to handle it? I usually—"
"I’m going to kill it."
"Oh, right. Sure. That’ll work, I guess."
Max laughed. "I’m liking her more all the time."
"All right," I said ignoring Max. "I’m going to go now." I kissed her one more time, much to the disgust of Max. "I love you."
Leona smiled. "I love you too, Creed."
My heart warmed when she said it. "See? We’re getting better at this whole boyfriend-girlfriend thing. Next we’ll be going on dates and camping trips and—"
She punched me on the shoulder, slightly embarrassed now. "Get out of here."
I smiled once more before teleporting out of the Sanctum.
Outside in the street, I phoned Ray and briefly explained my situation to him, telling him I needed to go to Ireland so I could use his access portal to Babylon. He sounded busy, whatever he was doing, and merely told me that was fine, and that there would be a private jet waiting for me at the airport. Then he hung up without giving me any lectures, or lamenting me for being in deep shit once again. I frowned at the phone in my hand for a moment after Ray had hung up, wondering if my old uncle was okay. I guess I’d see when I got to Ireland.
Which I wasn’t looking forward to, by the way. It had been many years since I last set foot in Ireland, for obvious reasons. Too much bad shit had happened there, and I never saw the point in going there just to relive a load of painful memories.
"You’ve been reliving them ever since anyway," Max said in my head.
"I’d appreciate it if you wouldn’t invade my mind like that," I said as I walked to the Cadillac parked just down the street. The airport was too far away to teleport, so I decided I would drive there. I fancied the drive anyway, thinking it might clear my head a little.
"Em, duh." Max sounded like me doing an impression of a teenager, which I found disturbing. "I’ve possessed you, you know. I can do whatever I want with you."
"Fine, whatever." Christ, now I was doing the stupid voice.
As I was about to get into the car, I sensed movement not far behind me. When I looked over my shoulder, I saw nothing. Not at first anyway. Not until a shape materialized out of the darkness.
A wolf shape.
Blaze stood there staring at me, his yellow eyes full of mistrust. We stared at each other for what seemed a long time, and then Blaze finally turned away, becoming invisible again as he did.
"Heartbreaking," Max said. "The bond of trust between a man and his dog…broken." He laughed like it amused him greatly.
"First of all, Max, he’s not a dog, he’s a wolf," I said. "And second of all, he won’t come near me because you’re here."
"He’s a smart doggy then."
I gritted my teeth for a second as I griped the door handle on the Cadillac, slamming it behind me as I got inside. As soon as I sat down, Evil Creed appeared in the front passenger seat beside me. "Oh, God…really?" I said. "You’re going to sit there for the whole drive?"
Max smiled. "Of course. This feels like a road trip."
"We’re going to the airport."
"Still, it’s a chance for us to chat. To get to know one another."
I couldn’t tell if he was being serious or not. "You have access to my entire mind already, and I have no desire to know you, so…" I shook my head at him and started the car up. "There’s nothing left to say."
Just as I was about to drive off, something massive crashed down onto the hood of the car, causing me to cry out in shock.
Max never flinched. "Well, what do we have here?" he said calmly.
What we had, was a fucking huge werewolf on the hood, staring in at us with glowing yellow eyes. I barely had a chance to react before the beast launched itself at the windshield, smashing one sinewy arm through the glass, and grabbing me by the throat with its huge paw.
"Oh, shit…"
8
The Beast
Fully transformed werewolves are frankly terrifying monsters, with the power and strength to rip a man apart in seconds. Coming face to face with one, as I have many times, is always a frighteningly intense experience. This time was no different.
As I was pulled through the windshield of the car, my head breaking the glass on the way through, I couldn’t help but panic that I was about to be torn apart and eaten by the monstrous werewolf who had me by the throat. The werewolf’s paw was so big it completely wrapped around my neck. One quick jerk is all it would take to snap my neck like a chicken’s.
The werewolf stood up to its full height on the hood of the car, holding me out in front of it like I was nothing but a nuisance to it. It’s reddish-yellow eyes burned fiercely within its massive head, and it opened its mouth to reveal possibly the biggest teeth I have ever seen. Those things could bite my head off with one quick snap, which I thought the creature was going to do as its head came towards me. But it roared instead, its hot breath blasting my face, the noise of it causing my heart to stop for a second as terror ran through me unabated.
But I didn’t even have time to be scared, because the werewolf then turned and threw me into the air like a rag doll. When I came down, I bounced over the road, grunting in pain until I came to a stop next to a parked car. I could only lie there dazed as massive shadows seemed to close in around me.
The rest of the pack.
Great.
As I regained my vision, I made out the shapes of about six more towering werewolves, every one of them roaring down at me. The noise was deafening, and completely overwhelming. Under such an aural assault, the last thing I was thinking about was employing defensive magic. But of course, the werewolves knew that would be the case. Who said werewolves were dumb anyway?
"Well, this was most unexpected," Max said calmly within me. "These things really want to eat you, Creed."
I could barely hear his voice over the noise the werewolves were
making. Not that I wanted to hear it anyway.
A few seconds later, some of those surrounding me stood aside, and the pack leader who had ripped me out of my car came stomping over and picked me up by the lapels, holding me so our faces were level. As I looked into those rage-filled eyes, it didn’t take me long to work out who the werewolf was. "Big Joe," I said. "I know it’s you—"
The werewolf pulled me closer and roared in my face, coating me in hot saliva. I guess it was Big Joe after all. He was here about his cousin, Ace, whose death I had facilitated on live TV. Clearly Big Joe wanted payback, and although I could understand why, there was no way I was going to let the werewolf kill me over the head of his sociopathic sexual sadist of a cousin. Ace got what he deserved in my book, and killing me wasn’t going to bring him back. Not that Big Joe cared about any of that. He just wanted revenge.
Well, there was no way I was going to just roll over for these hairy fucks. It was time to use my trusty Silver Needles Spell. That should slow the bastards down a bit, long enough for me to get the hell out of there anyway.
Only, when I went to tap into my magic, I couldn’t. It was like something was blocking me from doing so. Even when I tried to teleport, nothing happened.
Then one of Big Joe’s huge paws slammed into my chest and sent me flying back onto the road again. Half conscious from hitting my head on the hard asphalt, I could only lie there and wait for the werewolf to come get me so it could continue beating the shit out of me.
But then several loud bangs roused me out of my daze, and when I sat up I saw Leona on the sidewalk near the Sanctum. She was firing continuously with her two custom Berettas. She had already downed two of the werewolves, though I wasn’t sure if they were dead or not. Maybe, if she was using silver nitrate bullets.
As I watched from the middle of the road, I saw one of the werewolves go bounding up Leona’s blindside. "Leona!" I shouted, but she was too busy firing at the other beasts to hear me.
The werewolf got to within feet of Leona before I saw Blaze come to her rescue. He ran down the steps of the Sanctum and leaped in the air, launching himself at the werewolf about to railroad Leona. Blaze’s body was a mass of flame by this point, and the second he leapt on the werewolf, the beast’s fur immediately ignited and began to stick to its flesh. The werewolf howled in pain, but Blaze didn’t stop until he had torn out the beast’s throat, and its body was a charred, smoldering mess that filled the night air with foul smelling smoke.
Out of the corner of my eye, I sensed something running toward me. When I looked, I panicked when I saw Big Joe bounding toward me on all fours. There was no doubt the werewolf was about to execute a kill stroke. Perhaps decapitate me with one powerful swipe of his massive paw. Desperately, I searched for my magic again, but it wasn’t there.
Then, as if someone had pulled my strings, I found myself jumping to my feet as I stood to meet the incoming werewolf head on. Now I had the by now familiar feeling of being a mere passenger in my own body as Max took over.
When the werewolf came rushing at me, my arm shot out and stopped the huge beast in its tracks, as if the werewolf had run into an invisible wall. For the first time, I felt a new form of power coursing through my body. The dark power of Max, from which he drew a shocking amount of strength. My body did not give an inch as Max held Big Joe up by the throat, holding his head in place to keep his snapping jaws away from my face.
A huge rush of blood lust then took over, and Max went to work.
Using my body, he slammed Big Joe down into the road with so much force the asphalt broke underneath the werewolf’s body. To Max, Big Joe was no more than a bothersome animal that needed to be put down. I felt my knee drop onto Big Joe’s chest, pinning him to the ground. I felt my hands grab a hold of those snapping jaws and begin to pull them apart. Even though I didn’t necessarily want Big Joe dead, there was still something satisfying about prying those huge jaws of his until a loud snap was heard, followed by a howl of pain.
Max didn’t stop there. He kept pulling until the jaws began to extend back over Big Joe’s head, finally ripping his face off, spraying blood everywhere. "There," Max said in my voice. "No more howling at the moon for this beast."
Before Max could even chuckle to himself, the remaining three werewolves moved in to attack. Completely unconcerned by the fact that three massive beasts with teeth and claws were advancing toward him at speed, Max smiled and counter-rushed the werewolf to his left. My body moved at such head-rushing speed that I could barely comprehend what was going on. I felt Max operate my limbs in ways I never knew possible, and all at the same blinding speed. For a few long seconds, my vision was taken up by the towering bodies of the werewolves that became stained with swathes of dark crimson blood, as Max proceeded to rip each of them apart, effortlessly tearing off their limbs and ripping their heads from their shoulders. For me, trapped inside my own body, the rush of all that power and speed and brutal violence, it was at once terrifying and exhilarating, like being on the world’s scariest rollercoaster. You only think you know power until you have experienced what other beings such as demons are capable of. It’s a humbling experience, to say the least.
When Max had finished his flurry of violence, he stood in the middle of the road with blood dripping down his face, looking around at the scattered body parts of the werewolves. "Well, that was fun, eh, Creed?" he said joyfully. "Did you enjoy the ride in there?"
If I could, I would have shook my head and said nothing. As it was, I just said nothing.
Max then looked over to Leona, who was standing on the sidewalk, a look of horror on her face. I doubted her look of horror had anything to do with the gore on the road. It likely had more to do with the fact that she just watched me rip apart three werewolves like they were made of Playdoh. Of course, it wasn’t actually me that did it. It was Max, but I’m sure it didn’t seem like that to Leona.
"What’s wrong, Leona?" Max called over with a smile on his face.
"Stop it!" I said. "Leave her alone!"
Leona shook her head. "I don’t even know who I’m talking to."
"It’s me, it’s Creed," Max said in a soothing tone.
"You bastard," I said.
"That wasn’t you who ripped those werewolves apart," Leona said.
"Oh, but it was, dear," Max said slipping back into his own snide tone. "You see, me and Max are the same now."
Leona stared hard, her guns still in hand. "You’re not Creed," she stated bluntly.
"Good girl," I said within myself, as much to annoy Max as anything.
Max chuckled. "You’re right. Creed doesn’t have the power to do what I just did. The same as he doesn’t have the power to do this."
Max raised his arms, and I felt a massive surge of his power go through my body.
"What the fuck are you doing?" I asked him.
"Wait and see," he replied aloud. He was still staring at Leona as he continued to draw on his power.
"Don’t you fucking hurt her, Max. I swear—"
"Silence!" Max commanded, and I found myself in the position of not being able to form thoughts anymore. The only thing I was capable of now was to experience everything as it was happening, and no more. To Max, I was now unable to communicate and interrupt him.
When he turned away from Leona, his attention went to the body parts of the werewolves scattered all over the road. As I watched, all of the detached limbs and severed heads began to come together like iron filings to a magnet. Arms, legs and heads began to knit into torsos, to form a monster that was far more terrifying to look at, and far bigger, than any of the werewolves were by themselves. This new creature stood upright on six legs, which were attached to a bunch of squashed together torsos. Heads and arms from all seven werewolves were attached, seemingly randomly, all over the grotesque torso, with three heads mounted together on the top to form one giant, misshapen head that roared from three different mouths.
"Isn’t it handsome?" Max said as he presented the
Beast like a proud father.
Leona was already pointing her guns at the Beast. She emptied two full clips into it, and although the Beast roared in what sounded like pain, it didn’t seem that fazed by the bullets.
"It will take more than a few bullets to stop this beast," Max said. Then he turned to the creature. "Go!"
The Beast roared once more, and then went bounding down the street away from us, surprisingly fast considering its twisted form.
Leona’s guns were now pointing at Max.
At me.
Max merely smiled. "Are you really going to shoot me, the love of your life?"
"You’re not the love of my life…demon."
"It’s like I said, Creed and I, we’re one and the same now. You better get used to that, Leona. Oh, and before I disappear, good luck with the Beast. I hear he can get a bit…violent around people. Bye, Leona. See you soon." He blew her kisses. "Love you…"
He chuckled to himself as he teleported away.
9
Home Sweet Home
Max teleported us right to the airport, near a baggage cart that was parked on one of the runways. After a few seconds, I realized that I was back in control of my mind and body again. A huge surge of pent up anger went through me, and I turned around and punched the luggage on top of the cart. "Fuck!" I shouted, attracting the attention of a couple of baggage handlers strolling down the runway toward me. Before the two men caught up, I teleported to the runway where I knew the private jet was waiting. But before I headed towards the waiting plane, I stopped on the runway to talk to Max.
"I’m sensing some anger," Max said in his smug voice that made me want to strangle the cunt.
"What the fuck was that?" I demanded, telepathically of course.
"What was what? Oh, you mean the Beast. Yes, a—"
"I mean with Leona, asshole. You don’t fucking talk to her, you hear me? You don’t even fucking look at her, or I’ll—"