Lister Crowe

by Matthew Kenny

  “Of course you did.” Donovan said as he started forward at a leisurely pace, his pistol held at his side. “Your sister told you. I already dealt with her.”

  “You could never deal with her. She is greater than either of us.” Alton started forward as well. Donovan’s statement did not have the effect he had hoped it would. “You know what is in the other room don’t you?” Alton changed the subject.

  “I have a good idea.” the two were closing the distance slowly but inexorably.

  “It is the end of your world and the beginning of ours…” Alton held his hands up and looked around the room as though the walls did not exist. “and here you are, come to settle a score.” his gaze fell on Donovan once again, his tone condescending.

  “Your monster is being taken care of.” Donovan lied.

  “Oh you’re right, he is a monster.” the flash of anger was immediate and all consuming. “and I am so glad he is gone. There is nothing anyone can do, not Magda, not your compatriots and not you.” the anger was gone as quick as it had been born.

  “He didn’t look so tough.” Donovan was now trying to goad him but Alton would not be baited.

  “Well then why don’t you go face him.” he had regained his cordial tone. “Aren’t you supposed to be saving the world? That’s what the Temple does right?”

  “Screw the world. Screw the Temple. ” Donovan spat. “I am here for you.”

  “What would Magda say?” Alton laughed.

  “I don’t care. It’s time you and I finished this.” Donovan raised his pistol and pointed at Alton’s forehead.

  “Are you going to shoot me in cold blood Donovan? Not like you at all and I should know.” he mocked tapping his temple.

  Donovan smiled, not at the humor of the situation but at the thought of tearing Alton’s throat out with his bare hands. He had been waiting for this moment for so long and now that it was here his skin felt electric. He tossed the gun to the side with a flick of his wrist not taking his eyes from his sworn enemy.

  “No Alton. I am not going to shoot you. I want to make you suffer.”

  Alton rushed Donovan and threw a punch he was easily able to dodge. They changed sides of the hallway and began sizing each other up.

  “You really think Magda’s sigil is enough to banish me from your mind?” Alton made a couple head fakes Donovan reacted to. Then he came at him again fists flying in a flurry faster than Donovan had remembered.

  Eventually one of the blows landed directly on Donovan’s sternum, sending him stumbling back. Donovan cursed his clumsy ham handed nature as he landed hard on his tailbone.

  Alton was upon him immediately kicking into his face and upper torso. A few of the blows landed and Donovan could feel blood coming from a laceration on his cheek. He kicked his right leg out and caught Alton’s foot as he was trying to land another, sending him face first to the floor.

  Alton was not able to get his hands up in time to slow his fall and his nose crunched as it impacted the white tile. The sight of it was the most beautiful thing Donovan had ever seen but he could not take time to enjoy it. He scrambled back a couple feet and stood, pressing the attacking while he could.

  He landed a kick to Alton’s temple and felt no small amount of satisfaction from doing what he had dreamed of for these past five years. He intended to deliver another but Alton spun on the ground trying to sweep his legs from under him. Donovan had expected such a move and hopped back without grace but kept his balance.

  The two had some distance between them and Alton began to rise slowly his eyes fixed on Donovan. His once thin, perfect nose was broken and turned at a strange angle on his face. Thick red blood covered his upper lip, mouth and chin. Through the gore he smiled.

  “You are not my equal. You never have been and never will be.” Donovan sensed something in his voice; It was fear and a smile found it’s way onto his own face.

  Alton came rushing forward looking as though he were going to attempt to tackle him. Donovan readied himself but the impact did not come. Alton sidestepped, came around under his arm and ended up behind him.

  As Donovan was turning he felt a blow land to his kidney and the entire area exploded in pain. Then a kick to the back of his knee sent him falling backward onto the ground hard. His head bounced from the tile and knocked the wind from him. He did not have time to feel the pain or register what had happened. As he was rolling away a foot came down on his arm, numbing it.

  He was going to roll away again but decided to try the unexpected. He rolled toward Alton instead effectively taking his legs out from under him. The two of them were on the floor Alton on his face, Donovan still rolling like a big round log.

  He got to the wall and sat up against it. He put his hand down to steady himself and his pistol was there as if it had come to him of it’s own accord. He looked down at it shocked. He fumbled with it for a moment and leveled it at Alton who had stood and was stalking in his direction.

  “I thought we have been through this. You are not going to shoot me. You are too weak.” Alton scoffed.

  “Fuck you already.” Donovan said and pulled the trigger. The shot rang through the hall. A hole appeared in Alton’s right cheek and his hand went up to it. A wide eyed look of shock expelled the self confidence which had been so evident. Donovan pulled the trigger again opening Alton’s third eye in an instant and for good. He stood wobbling for a moment. Then he crumpled unceremoniously to the hard tile in a heap, not to rise again.

  Promptly Donovan vomited up the beef stick and chips he had eaten in the car. He knew he had a concussion and was sure he would feel it in the morning… if there was one.

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Vita had no control of herself as she watched what had at one time been her body fall upon the creature time and again. Her huge clawed hands ripped and tore at it as it returned the beating in kind though she did not feel the blows. She was trapped within this form, a watcher trapped in an animal.

  When Lister had been flung across the room she had lost control and her demon had taken over. She had felt the white hot rage instantly seize her brain and she did not have a moment to try to deny it. Vita had never wanted anyone to see her demon for it was her secret, the vile truth and her shame.

  She watched from within as her clawed hand ripped a new set of gashes into the creatures chest where she had been raking. She could sense the demon mind though she could not communicate or reason with it. What would she do if she could? plead with it or ask it nicely to stop? Her full demon form may have been her shame but right now it was their savior and Vita knew it was the only hope.

  The creature she fought was still growing steadily as they battled, making a ruin of the room they were in. It’s head no longer held any semblance of humanity and it’s eyes had become bereft of any intelligence as she was sure hers had. She did not know how big this monster would grow and did not want to find out.

  The creature picked her up and threw her across the room and she impacted the wall creating a crater of no small proportion. If the mansion had been made of slightly more inferior materials she was sure she would have ended up out in the yard. Chunks of the ceiling cascaded around her in a plaster and concrete rain though nothing more than a nuisance. She stood and went back at the monster. The battle was sure to continue until one of them was no more.

  She grabbed the beast around the waist and carried it across the room and into the far wall. It roared at the pain and pushed off. The two ended up in the middle of the ballroom as though waiting for music to begin. Crabtree took her legs out from under her and Vita found herself on her back as fists began to impact her face with force enough to nearly dislodge the consciousness which was still her.

  She got he legs in the belly of the creature and kicked it into the air. She was ready when it came crashing down and was upon the creature her horned head coming down into it’s face over and over. Crunching of bone and fountains of blood set to flying as she roared but she did not stop. She knew th
e creature was dead but only after the head had become a smear did the demon stop. The fearsome creature stood and roared in triumph.

  Lister saw the monster was dead and he was able to breathe again. It had been quite an amazing spectacle and something he would never be able to forget. The clashing forces had made a shambles of the once ornate ballroom as their hulking forms were thrown like rag dolls from one end to the other. They had impacted near Lister a few times and each time he thought it was going to be the last as they made a paste of his fragile human form.

  “We won.” Lister said to himself as he sat there, a smile spread across his face, the pain now coming in waves.

  Vita let out a roar and though it hurt his ears Lister was too tired to try to protect against it. He closed his eyes and grimaced as the sound washed over him. It stopped and he kept his eyes closed for a moment enjoying the feeling. When he opened them he wished he hadn’t.

  The demon was staring at him, it’s eyes full of flame and threatening to devour his soul in their depths. It was then Lister knew if Vita were still there she was not the one in control and the thought made his stomach turn.

  “Shit…” Lister stated quietly and as a matter of fact.

  The demon came toward him but Lister did not move for his limbs would not allow it. He did not close his eyes because there was no hiding from it. He did not hold up his hand to cover his face for there was no denying it. He was going to die by the hands of the only person he could ever have counted a true friend. She was his sister from another mister. He chuckled a bit at his silent overused turn of phrase as the beast approached.

  The demon was over him and with a swift move it’s snout was two feet from his face, roaring. The expulsion of air caused his hair to blow back. The smell of it’s breath was of burnt toast with an iron tinge from the blood of it’s own wounds and the damage it had inflicted upon it’s enemy. He closed his eyes for a second, not from terror or fear but because he was preparing himself for the inevitable.

  He opened them again and he saw her there in the demon form. Tears were coming from the eyes of this giant horror which was going to snuff the life from him and though the face was contorted in rage he saw the sadness as well.

  Lister knew then this was what had happened to Merrill. He read the story in her sadness and it tore at his heart. She had turned into this creature and had torn him limb from limb but he had survived. It was a testament to their love for one another for even though she had mauled him he had forgiven her and they had moved past it.

  Now he knew she was watching and witnessing all of this behind the eyes of a monster and was unable to stop. He did not want her to carry his death around with her though he was sure she would. At least in his last moment he could try to quell the pain she was going to bear. Lister smiled at the fearsome monster before him, a peace finding home on his tired face.

  “I forgive you Vita.” he said softly and reached out with his hand and brushed the demon snout. The flesh was hot beneath his hand. In that one moment he felt closer to her than he had to anyone in his entire life. This is a way to die he thought and his smile spread.

  The demon’s face went slack and the corners of the monster’s face turned up in what Lister could only describe as a grin. Her eyes rolled back in her head and she fell over on her side, shaking the entire room as she did so. Chunks of wall from a few of the many damaged areas crashed down onto the tile floor as if in punctuation

  Lister looked at her stunned. Violent spasms began to wrack her body. The inevitability of his demise had been absolute but now, seemingly going to live, he did not know how to feel. He looked up and saw Donovan in the doorway across the ballroom. Relief was evident in his entire body. He slumped his shoulders and started shuffling across the room to where Lister had landed.

  Lister let his head fall back and hit the wall. He was tired and damaged but he was not going to die and in that moment it was enough.

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  Lister was watching her sleep a slumber so sound he did not know if she were ever going to wake. It had been four days since the night they had saved the world.

  His right arm was bent at the elbow and in a cast from his shoulder to knuckles. A sling kept the weight from pulling on his damaged shoulder socket. It had taken some pretty quick thinking when he went to the hospital as to the origin of his broken bones and bruised body but he had not revealed what had truly happened. If he had he was sure they would have locked him up.

  Once they left the mansion it was a long drive back to his apartment and it would have been longer had Vita not returned to her natural form. The idea of a twenty foot tall demon strapped to the roof of a car driving the New Jersey back roads was not something which would go unnoticed.

  All three of them were banged up but Donovan, even with a severe concussion, managed to make the drive though he had to stop a few times to vomit. Lister had to keep his eyes on the road to make sure they did not end up in a ditch or a field but after a time they had made it back in full sunshine, spring having sprung.

  Alton Tremont had found Lister’s hiding spot under his bed and had taken all of his backup files he had diligently made. The cash was still there but everything he needed to quickly restore his software was gone. Luckily the dragon statue, now his most prized possession, was still in the closet wrapped in an old sheet.

  They had not made themselves known to The White Temple and Donovan warned him it was only a matter of time before they realized what had happened.

  “An event of that size won’t go unnoticed.” Donovan had assured him. They agreed it was best for Lister and Vita to go somewhere The Temple would have a hard time finding them.

  Lister had not been back to Scranton, his home, since his mother had died when he was fifteen. The place brought back so many memories, most of them sad but still it was home. The two bedroom country house was the same after the years though the paint had peeled some and the lawn was a jungle.

  Donovan had brought linens for the beds and had gotten the power turned on. He had proved to be a great help and Lister let him know it. He had gotten I.V. fluids and had made sure Lister knew how to take care of Vita before he left. The two never spoke of Donovan’s betrayal and Lister could sense he was not to. If it were the price to pay to keep Vita and himself safe then so be it.

  “Oh good, you’re alive.” Vita croaked. Lister looked up from the notebook on his lap and saw her eyes were open.

  “Yeah, I am alive.” Lister smiled at her and leaned forward.

  “Donovan?” she asked. Her voice was hoarse and cracking due to lack of liquid. Lister put a cup to her lips and she sipped.

  “He’s fine. He had to go and try to explain things to his boss.” Lister put the cup back on the nightstand. She looked like she had sipped nectar of the Gods, eyes closed and a smile on her face. Then she remembered:

  “Did you find your computer?” she asked with urgency evident in her voice. Lister’s expression changed and she knew the answer.

  “No, we didn’t” he answered “but I am rebuilding the system.” Lister added hastily holding up and shaking the notebook he now held.

  Vita looked defeated as she looked off into the shadows in the corner of the room. He could see the disappointment on her face and it wounded him.

  “We are going to find him.” he said firmly.

  “Yeah.”

  “We both have to get better. By the time we are I will have finished and we will go back and we will find him.” he reiterated as a matter of fact.

  “I am worried.” Vita stated with a somber tone.

  “I know. So am I.”

  A silence lazed between the two of them but it was not an uncomfortable one. The birds outside were speaking to one another as Lister and Vita sat. It was not the first time he had thought of Merrill since his return home. Lister had wondered just what it was the old inventor had wanted to tell him about Talcho. It was a conversation he was longing to have. He remembered the horrible insects as
they chased them through the tunnels and if he were in their clutches then his time was short and no doubt terrifying.

  “Lister.” Vita did not look at him.” I am sorry.”

  “You have nothing to be sorry for. I am sorry for losing Merrill. I am sorry for ever building the machine.”

  “I almost killed you.”

  Lister was not sure Vita had known what had happened when she was in her demon form but he suspected.

  “But you didn’t.”

  “I couldn’t control it I…” she did not finish the thought and Lister did not need her to.

  “It’s alright Vita. I forgive you.”

  Vita looked at him then with tears in her eyes. He saw into their fiery depths and felt a feeling he had not known since his mother had passed. She was family now and he would not let anything happen to her. He could tell by the way she was still slumped in the bed she was tired beyond belief and he knew she needed more rest.

  “I am going to make you something to eat then I am going to get back to work.” he stood and walked to the door.

  “Thank you.” she whispered just loud enough for him to hear. He paused at the door.

  “That’s what friends are for.” he said as he left.

  The living room was dim and cool with a morning chill as he passed through. A sofa and a chair furnished the room along with an old television which could have passed for an antique, one of the tube variety big backed and out of date. The pictures on the wall depicted Lister as a boy and some of his mother as she had been. He wondered in his memory at the place beyond this world, the other civilization which called it home and the answers awaiting him. Lister Crowe could not help but wonder what pictures he would hang to denote the oddity which his life had become.