Gary’s voice trembled. “H-how did you get out of the pit?” he asked. “No one gets out without a Primitive. Those aren’t the rules—”
“I make my own rules,” I said, jamming the barrel into his eye. “I should kill you right now. Maya would be dead because of you.”
Maya lunged at him. “You tried to kill me, you dick.” She spit and hissed hellfire, trying to claw at him. I held her back. Gary may have been an idiot, but he was a useful idiot.
“Not now,” I said. “Later.”
“Take his head, Ivy,” she snarled. “I want his goddamn head.”
I leaned into him. “Tell Munsher I’m going to take down Redmann. I’ll do what he wasn’t man enough to do. Say those exact words.”
I turned away as Maya clocked him in the eye. “Watch your back, prick face.”
It was a solid hit. Too bad his advanced healing factor would heal a black eye.
I turned to Jada. “Let’s go.”
She reached in a cabinet and grabbed an electric lantern. When we got down to the basement, the slimy ethereal tentacles were all over us. With every step in the dark, the movement of other-dimensional flesh rubbed against us, in and out of existence.
It was like being felt up by a fifty-foot blind octopus with grabby hands.
Jada went to the shelves and opened the secret passageway. “These take us to the tunnels underneath the bunker,” she said. “They go under the entire Island.”
“I’ve been here before,” I said. “Where is Redmann’s bodyguard? The big one, Shadrach?”
“It usually follows Mr. Redmann,” she said, leading us down the tunnel. “But it remains dormant until he calls for it.”
At the end of the hall, we took a right. In front of us was a large iron door that obviously secured something important on the other side.
She punched in the code and the door clicked open. Lucky for me, I glanced over her shoulder and memorized the code.
We walked onto an elevated catwalk overlooking a huge factory filled with people working on modern computers. Monitors covered walls showing waveforms and statistics and projections, all constantly moving and shifting.
Several of the screens looked like heart monitors, synchronizing in and out of harmony with each other. Conversations with scientists in lab coats filled the room, along with other wild chatter from lab techs and grunts.
The whole scene was a madhouse, like a chaotic Wall Street floor of dark science.
But it was definitely science, not magic. While magic is technically just science of supernatural and cosmic energies, I breathed a sigh of relief. It could have been worse. It could have been a team of witches and warlocks casting spells over a human sacrifice. Magic was always unpredictable. And dealing with magic users was a bitch.
I leaned on the railing to get a better look. “What are they doing?”
Jada said, “Preparing for tonight. For the blood moon.”
Augie looked like he was about to shit himself. “This is end-of-the-world stuff, dude.”
Maya shivered. “I definitely don’t want to stay here after all.”
Jada moved further down the catwalk. “Follow me.” We eventually entered a large laboratory. It was decked out with creepy shit galore—
Round glass containers filled with green liquid and floating body parts.
Tables covered with organs that didn’t look entirely human.
And the memory of the stench was enough to keep you awake for days.
It was like Dr. Frankenstein’s laboratory. I glanced around but didn’t see Frankenstein’s monster, Shadrach. If we encountered it here, we were screwed. A couple of blades and a Beretta weren’t enough to kill that thing. If Jada was playing us, I’d cut off her goddamn head.
The lab had a glass containment room just like at Munsher’s place, only three times as large.
Computers and monitors lined one side of the lab, but this room looked like an observation deck to the glassed-in containment area. Dark stains covered the walls and floor, even though it was scrubbed down. Some stains don’t come out.
Though he acted like a devoutly religious man, I was betting that whatever Redmann did in that glass room wasn’t very holy.
A door opened from the other side. I instantly reached for the Beretta. But it wasn’t Shadrach. Or even Redmann.
It was Zac.
He dropped the bag of Doritos and stared at me with wide eyes. “Are-are you another illusion?”
“We’re no illusion, Zac. We’re here to get you the hell out.”
“How do I know it’s really you?” he asked. “The Presence could be trying to fool me again. He’s been trying all fricken day and I admit, he almost got me with the Felicia Day lookalike. So I’m not falling for that crap again.”
“It’s me, Zac.” I said, pulling the hammer on the Beretta. “How do I know you’re you? Maybe I should blow a goddamn hole in your face to find out. It would be an improvement.”
“Holy shit. Ivy? It’s really you, isn’t it?” He threw his arms around me in a big hug. “Holy cow, dude. I thought I’d never see you again.”
“Good to see you’re not dead, kid.” After letting him have his moment, I pushed him off. The fact that he was eating Doritos was a clue that he was real. The Presence only copied people, not third party props like a bag of chips. I released the hammer on my gun.
With wet eyes, Maya went in for a hug. “I want to squeeze your guts out.”
In the embrace, Zac glanced at Augie, giving a thumbs up and mouthing the words “She wants me.”
Coming out of the hug, Zac picked up his Doritos bag.
Augie sneered. “Let me get this straight,” he said. “You get kidnapped by Poe, held prisoner by Blackwell, taken to an inter-dimensional pocket universe inside of Chicago, and somehow you still find a bag of Doritos?”
“Doritos and Mountain Dew were my one demand to Redmann,” he said. “I can’t function without them. It’s my secret sauce.”
I nodded at the computer equipment. “What have you been working on here?”
“Blackwell must have known I was a techie,” he said. “He brought me here to work on calibrating Redmann’s system. It’s pretty complex. It blows my mind.”
“What are these calculations on the screens?” I asked.
“Lots of things,” he said, popping a couple Doritos in his mouth. “This one calculates the bioelectromagnetic energy in the atmosphere. That one charts the weak spots in people’s personal energy fields—”
“Personal energy fields?”
“When The Presence comes through into our world, thin spots are created between realities. Spots that break when something comes through—”
“Primitives,” I said. “It shows when the entity breaks through into a person’s soul. And plants a seed.”
“More or less. That’s one of many things it shows.” He comped on a handful of chips. “Before I got here, it was whack. I’ve been able to do some pretty astounding things with it.”
“You sound impressed,” I said. “Are you their prisoner or their ally?”
“Don’t get me wrong,” he said. “What Redmann is doing is flat-out bonkers. But the tech is outstanding.” He turned to me. “So how are we getting out of here?”
“We’re going to walk out the way we came,” I said.
“What about Shadrach? How’d you get past him?”
Maya said, “Jada brought us. We came in the back way. It’s good to have friends in high places.”
My gaze whipped to the door as Redmann waltzed in with the seven-foot-tall Shadrach beast behind him.
Redmann pushed up his round glasses and grinned. “I could not agree more.”
Chapter 26
True Colors
We were trapped in an underground dark science lab when Redmann walked through the door with his beast, Shadrach. With the Beretta in hand, I prepared to fight the beast. I caught Augie’s gaze and nodded. Hopefully, when he grabbed the Demon blade, he would know what to do. Wha
t I wanted him to do. What I would do.
I scowled as the mad scientist entered the room. “What’s going on, Redmann?”
“Evolution, Steven. That’s what’s going on,” he said. “Or should I call you Solomon?”
He knew my real name. I raised the Beretta. The beast behind him stepped between us.
“Yes, Mr. Ivy. I know who you are,” he said. “Master demon hunter. I have reviewed the files featuring the numerous details of your accounts. You can put down your weapon. You have nothing to fear from Shadrach today. Unless you try to harm me. He may look frightening, but he is completely at my command. Shadrach is a real pussycat, I assure you.”
“Yeah,” I said, lowering my weapon. “I’m sure he is.”
The beast grunted as it glared at me with open eye sockets. With the translucent skin, its skull always followed me wherever it went. Without eyes, I couldn’t tell where it was looking. That bothered me to no end.
I scanned the creature from head to toe, looking for a possible weakness. “What is that thing?”
“Evolution, my friend,” Redmann said, coming forward. “You have already passed through the veil so you know this is not a normal place,” he said. “When the lights go out, a great entity crosses over into our world. Not fully, but enough for you to sense him. Because of this, we call him The Presence. He is majesty itself.”
“The entity tried to implant its seed in Maya,” I said. “I am not impressed.”
“Oh, but I am. In you,” he said with a raised eyebrow. “I heard about your skirmish with our Holiness in the catacombs. However did you survive?”
How did he know about that? Did Gary offer up the info? Why would he do that if he was working for Munsher? No, it wasn’t Gary who told him.
I brushed my gaze at Jada. “You saw us come out of that well, didn’t you? You never fought Karen at the bridge. But you broke your own arm to make us think you did.”
Maya twirled toward her. “That’s not true. Jada, tell him that’s not true—”
Jada moved toward Redmann. “I told you, Maya. I’m fiercely loyal. Just not to you.”
Maya clocked her good. “You bitch.” Jada stumbled back as Maya jumped on her. The seven-foot beast wrenched her off Jada and suspended her in the air by her hair.
I buried three bullets in the creature’s eye socket. Through its translucent lavender skin, the bullets were frozen inside its face. One by one, they pushed out. Bouncing on the floor.
KERCHINK. CHINK. KERCHINK.
The wounds in its face stirred and shifted. Eyes squirmed up through the holes. Within seconds, three shifty eyeballs stared at me in disdain.
I pulled the hammer back. “Let her go.”
Redmann gestured to the beast. “Put her down, Shadrach. Gently.” The creature set Maya down.
Three bullets in the face and the beast didn’t even twitch. It was nearly invincible. Whatever it was made of, it didn’t have pain receptors. Which would make killing it infinitely more difficult.
I wished I had a barrel of acid.
My eyes scanned over the beast, head to toe. It may have been inhuman, but it still had an Achilles tendon on its heels. Tendons can be sliced. That’s where I would go next time. Cripple it. While it still wouldn’t feel pain, grounding it would make it a lot easier to deal with.
Redmann held an aura of pride. “Amazing, isn’t he?”
I sneered. “What is it made of, Redmann?”
“Our Evolving God,” he said, putting his hand on the creature’s back. “You should have seen him when I first started,” he said. “He’s come a long way.” He moved to the machine and flipped on a few buttons. It made a humming sound like it was powering up.
“That thing,” I said. “It’s The Presence. Isn’t it?”
“In a rudimentary form, yes.”
“Munsher has a horde of creatures from the entity. He called them Primitives.”
“Indeed. They are primitive. Just like Dickie. He refuses to evolve. He merely wants to weaponize The Presence. But our Lord is not a weapon. He is a god.”
“You don’t want to make this entity into a weapon?”
“Of course not. Munsher is a Neanderthal. With a brain the size of a pea. He can’t grasp what I’m trying to do.”
“And what are you trying to do?” I asked.
He adjusted his silver glasses. “I’m trying to evolve a God,” he said. “I have spent the past twenty years of my life trying to bring forth the entity into our world. He is a holy being from another dimension that is far past our ability to comprehend.”
“It tried to impregnate Maya with its demon brood. And seduce me into doing the same. I would not call it a holy being.”
“It is the nature of life to procreate, is it not? The Primitives it hatches are from the stone age. They are his first stage of evolution. His amoeba in the beginning of life. I have come so much further than that now.”
He strolled to a table in the corner of the room, shaped like a cross with leather straps on the arms. It was a torture device.
My hand gripped the Beretta.
Adjusting the straps on the table, Redmann spoke without turning toward us. “It took man three and a half billion years to evolve from a single cell organism. I have evolved the entity in less than twenty years. When they began the experiments in the forties, he was merely bleeding into our world. He could, for a time, communicate through the minds of the men stationed here. But their minds could not hold the transfer of energy from his world to ours. Their brains could not handle his frequency. It was too much.”
“Their minds broke down,” I said, recalling the old video in the bunker. “Their brains turned to mush. Didn’t they?”
“Yes, their psyche collapsed. What happens to a building if you destroy the foundation?”
“It comes tumbling down,” I said. “But possession doesn’t destroy a mind,” I said. “It corrupts the soul. This entity wasn’t just possessing people, was he?”
“You’re quite astute for a layman,” he said, checking the metal buckles on the table straps. “He wasn’t possessing their minds. He was devouring them.”
I grumbled. My suspicions were right. “The beast was chewing through their consciousness. Eating their souls,” I said, motioning to Augie with my eyes. “That’s how he gets into people’s bodies and implants the Primitives.”
“That is a childish way to view such a majestic process,” he said. “But it’s not entirely inaccurate. An unfortunate side effect of his current state. It is a dilemma, living between two dimensions. Consciousness is how he gets here. He moves through it as easy as we move through water. But when you’re in water, you never have your feet quite on solid ground, do you? And eventually, you must return to land.”
“That’s what you’re doing,” I said, eying the Shadrach beast. “You’re giving him real estate.”
“I am giving him what he needs.” He glared at me. “A ship. A vessel. A glorious vehicle to travel to new lands and conquer the New World.”
“Shadrach isn’t enough for you?”
“He is merely one link in the chain of evolution. Everything has led to tonight.” He flipped some switches on the console. “You came to the Island at a very fortuitous time, Mr. Ivy. Tonight is the super blood moon eclipse. The Earth will align with the moons from both realities, casting us in complete darkness.”
“Why does the eclipse matter?”
He sighed heavily, as if having to provide an explanation was beneath him. “The wavelength of the energy in Earth’s magnetic field is conducive to bringing forth The Presence for good. In a form that is deserving of his majesty. The Enlightening is upon us.”
I observed the Shadrach beast towering in the corner. It just stood there, staring straight ahead. If it was just a single stage of The Presence’s evolution, like Redmann said, it would be the equivalent of Cro-Magnon man.
It was the entity’s unevolved state. But more evolved than the Primitives. Redmann was trying to evol
ve this creature with a body where he could think rationally. Where the brain was developed enough for this creature to properly think and act in our world. He was trying to make it enlightened. He was Dr. Frankenstein, trying to create a proper body for his God.
He was trying to make his own Jesus Christ. His own savior.
If this creature evolved to possess that mental state of clarity, it could go into the world and do anything.
But what was the endgame?
The door crashed open. Several guards barged in carrying a man I didn’t recognize.
“Let me go,” the prisoner said. “You need to release me. I am an officer of the law—”
Redmann grabbed the cop’s jaw. “Not anymore.” He nodded to the lackeys. They took him back to the hall and carried him into the chamber behind the glass. Tossing him in the room, they locked the steel door behind him. The officer banged on the glass wall. His screams were muffled, nearly silent.
Redmann watched him beg and plead for his life. But there was no emotion on Redmann’s face. Not a single ounce of empathy.
He turned to Jada. “Retrieve Gary, won’t you?”
She took off through the door.
“You’re trying to create a body for the beast to possess,” I said. “One that lasts. One that’s self-aware.”
There was a glint of a smile on Redmann’s squirrelly face. “Not possession, like a demon possessing its host. No, this is well beyond that. Do you merely possess your body? No, it belongs to you. It’s a part of you. Because it was made… for you. It’s yours.”
He went on talking, impressed by his haughty thoughts and ideals. “Imagine never knowing anything in your universe because YOU are all there was,” he said. “In our world, The Presence can be fully imagined. The light cannot know the light if the light is all there is. You become merely a concept. An idea. Because there is nothing which you are not.”
Redmann had pride in his voice. “In order to experience itself, the light must experience the dark. He will no longer simply be a presence. He will be an existence. I am giving The Presence a divine gift. I am giving him life itself.”
“You act like that thing is God,” I said. “It’s not a divine entity, Redmann. It is an evil force trapped in another dimension trying to invade our own. It’s a cosmic parasite.”
Faith of a Monster Killer: Killing Forever Book 3 Page 15