Daniel raised an eyebrow. “Says the one who’s on fire.”
Khallutush flailed across the kitchen, flaming hands reached out towards Daniel, but he slowed down half way and slumped to his knees. He kept his focus on Daniel the entire time, his wicked eyes shining through the flames. “He will never forgive you, Daniel.”
Then the ancient prince collapsed onto his front and died.
Rick clambered to his feet, clutching his mangled hand against his chest and trying not to black out from the pain. He stared at Daniel in amazement. The angel still looked at death’s door, sweating profusely, but he’d killed the demons in the living room and had turned one of their severed heads into a blazing cannonball. He was anything but meek.
Rick bent down and righted one of the kitchen’s fallen stools. He dragged himself on top of it and looked at Daniel. “I thought you didn’t have a lot of power left?”
Daniel placed his hand down on the side counter and tried to catch his breath. When he did, he said, “I have a couple of parlour tricks when needed. I dealt with the rest of the demons in the house. If you get that gate closed, I think we’ll be safe for now.”
“Maddy had my keys, but I think I have a spare set somewhere. I’ll go find them.”
“Great,” said Daniel. “You go do that while I pass out.”
Rick opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted as Daniel collapsed face first on the floor, right next to Khallutush.
~DAVID DAVIDS~
Slough, Berkshire
David stood watching at the edge of the room. He watched little Alice hard at work, doing whatever the adults gave her to do, so that she didn’t have to face the anguish inside her head. No child should face what she had. Her brother had been far too young to die a hero.
Carol was a hero too. The tireless old bird hobbled about on her cane, shouting orders like a drill sergeant, keeping everybody on task. She was there to keep them all motivated and unafraid, but she had nobody doing the same for her. It was her toughness alone that kept everyone going.
Mina might have been the biggest hero of all. She had faced danger at every turn, but had never shied away from doing the right thing. She had been unwilling to turn away from any person in need, but nobody had been there for her when she’d needed it. In David’s line of work, he rarely met ‘good’ people, but Mina had certainly qualified. Since Oxford Street, he had cared only about getting the story and furthering his career. With all the death he had seen, he realised how vain and petty his life had been. It all seemed like such a waste. Mina’s death highlighted how fragile life was, and how easily it could slip away. It made no sense that her death had affected him so much, but it had. He couldn’t get the image of her swinging body out his head.
It filled him with rage.
Mina hadn’t killed herself, he was certain of it. She’d been murdered. Andras had a scratch mark on his neck, and he had been the last person to see Mina alive. That was evidence and a connection to the victim. The only thing left to prove was motive. David intended to do that right now.
He went on over to where Mitchell was tapping away at his keyboard and leaned over the man’s shoulder and whispered, “Please tell me you have the black box data for Mina’s computer.”
Mitchell started at the sudden voice in his ear, but he recovered and nodded. “Just finished compiling it. You want me to open it?”
“Yes.”
Mitchell zipped around with the mouse and opened a couple of folders. He double-clicked a text file, and the contents popped up on screen.
“What am I looking at?” asked David, as he examined the crowded mess on screen.
“It’s just code. Let me scroll down… Here—the last few actions before the website went dark. Someone definitely deleted the whole thing.”
“How?”
“They deleted all the files off the local server, and then uploaded through Mina’s FTP manager. They basically uploaded a blank slate to the website. That’s why there’s nothing but a white screen—there’s no data to fetch.”
“You have a backup?”
Mitchell nodded. “Yeah, I can access the revisions on the server and roll things back. Should be easy enough.”
David was relieved and let it show, but there were still other questions he wanted answered. “Anything to tell you who deleted everything?”
“Yes, it was Mina.”
David frowned. “She wouldn’t have.”
“You’re probably right, but it was her logged in at the time.”
David folded his arms for a moment and thought it through. “She was updating the website when she was last sitting down. Do you have that data?”
“It’s here—4.57PM. I saw her sitting there myself. She got up a little after five. According to this… the data was deleted at 5.06PM. It was right after Mina left the office to take a phone call. I know who deleted the files.”
David already knew the answer as well. “Andras.”
Mitchell nodded. “Yeah, he stayed at Mina’s desk for at least ten minutes after she left. It could only have been him.”
“Then I have what I need. I suspected Andras was the one behind the sabotage.”
“Sabotage? You don’t think it was an accident then?”
“No, I do not.”
“David, what exactly is going on here? Where’s Mina?”
“She’s dead, Mitchell. I strongly suspect that Andras killed her, right after he deleted the website.”
Mitchell shook his head and looked bewildered. “Mina’s dead? Man, why would Andras do anything like this? It makes no sense.”
“Murder rarely makes sense, Mitchell, but I’m certain it was him. Mina had a broken fingernail, and Andras has a scratch on his neck. She tried to fight him off.”
Mitchell flopped back in his chair and put his head in his hands, seemingly close to tears. “God, David. We’re fighting for our lives here, and there’re still monsters like him running around. I still don’t understand why he would do it.”
“Me neither, but now I have everything I need to demand an answer.”
Mitchell nodded. “I’m right behind you. Where is he now? Andras?”
David looked around. He had assumed Andras would be somewhere nearby, but he wasn’t. Damn it. Had he realised David was on to him and scarpered? He couldn’t be allowed to get away.
David took a few steps, then grabbed Corporal Martin as the soldier went to walk by. “Hey, Martin. Where’s Andras?”
“I haven’t seen him, but listen to this. I just spoke to a colleague based out of Camp Bastion. They’ve been monitoring areas of the Middle East with satellite surveillance and they—”
“Not now, Martin. I need to find Andras.”
The soldier shrugged. “Fine. I was only going to tell you that someone closed a gate in Syria, but if you need to rush off, then by all means…”
David gawped at the corporal. “Somebody’s closed one of the gates? Really?”
Martin grinned. “I promise you. The MOD satellite only gave a bunch of still images, but there’s evidence of a firefight, and the gate is gone. Looks like somebody fought back, and won.”
David slapped him on the arm. “Hooray for mankind. We will not let those bastards walk all over us.”
“Hell no, we won’t. They’re going to wish they never stepped foot in our territory.”
David felt the smile trickle from his face as he regretted Mina not being there to share the good news. “Andras. Where did you see him last?”
Martin shrugged. “He headed out to get some fresh air, I think.”
David looked towards the exit and growled.
“You okay, David?”
He didn’t reply. He marched across the office, shoving Big Jimmy out of his way in the centre of the room. Then he barged through the exit and went out into the waiting room. It was empty, but something in David’s bones told him he was heading in the right direction. Andras was out here, somewhere; he knew it.
He to
ok the stairs downward and detected the tang of blood in the air. Despite her being dead, David wanted to check on Mina. He headed to the accountant’s office where he had placed her, and the smell of blood got even stronger. It made no sense because Mina had not been wounded. Whether it was paranoia, or a subconscious eye for detail, David noticed the furniture in the office had moved. The reception desk had been piled high with stacks of paperwork, but some of those piles now lay on the floor. It could have been a breeze, but it was hot and still. He could already feel the sweat on his back just from taking the stairs down.
A shuffling sound came from one of the smaller offices. It was too dark to see in through the room’s windows, and horizontal blinds broke up any would-be shadows, but he knew somebody was inside. David considered shouting out, but reconsidered. He was here to find that bastard, Andras, so he didn’t want to give himself away.
The shuffling stopped, replaced by a faint whispering. The words made no sense, a jumble of consonants and few vowels. David kept low and crept towards the door to the office. He placed his ear against the wood and tried to listen.
A man inside was chanting—“Grlaw grlaw, hmdar veri vesta. Larix van doth.”
It was Andras, David was sure, but what language was he speaking? He knew a little Latin from his university days, but it wasn’t that. He knew German from a brief spell as a war correspondent, but it wasn’t that either. It was gibberish—the guttural snaps of an angry dog.
Andras was insane.
The thought of getting his hand on Mina’s murderer was too much to resist. David barged through the door.
Andras stood half-naked over Mina’s unclothed body. Her hands and feet were removed, placed in each corner of the room, and the brown flesh of her stomach was sliced open to reveal a gaping hole. Congealed blood coated Andras’s bare chest.
“You… you fuckin’ monster!”
Andras saw David, but he didn’t seem to care. He held his bloody hands up in front of him as some kind of grizzly taunt.
David felt weak. His stomach’s meagre contents dredged up, and he vomited. Mina had been his friend and colleague. Now she lay, defiled, on the floor. “Why would you do something so unspeakable?” he demanded once he could get a hold on himself.
Andras’s answer was: “To send a message.”
“A message to whom? Me?”
“Ha! You are insignificant. The message is for my brothers. You may have heard of them; they are currently crushing your world beneath their glorious feet.”
David drew a blank.
Andras grunted. “The Fallen are my brothers, and they will destroy all. The time of man is over.”
“You’re talking about the giants?”
“They are not giants. Men are puny ants.”
“You’re a loon,” said David. “Do you think you’re some kind of demon helping the other side? Fantasy or delusion, I don’t care which. You’re finished.”
Andras laughed. “You don’t get it, do you? This is just a meat suit. Some drug addict I borrowed as he choked to death on his own vomit. You could not bear to look upon the glory of my true form. I am here to see you all burn.”
David glared. “You killed Mina.”
“I will kill millions before I am done.”
“Then why are you hanging around a regional newspaper office?”
“You are one of the few news gatherers left. You have provided me with data from all over the world, highlighting areas that my brothers need to address. I deleted your pathetic website, and I will help delete mankind’s existence.”
“We’re helping people,” said David. “You won’t stop us.”
“Mina thought the same. Such an enthusiastic, brave girl. She might actually have made a difference, but you? No, you are too self-involved to ever be a hero.”
“You will lose. We’ve closed one of your gates.”
“One of thousands. My brothers will defend the others; I have already warned them. You have no chance. Humans are weak and mushy. The Fallen are eternal.”
David looked around the room, saw that, in addition to Mina’s scattered limbs, there was also a series of bloody sigils smudged onto the walls. “Who are the Fallen? How did you send a message to your brothers?”
Andras grinned. “Like this.” He dropped to one knee and shoved his bloody hands into the open cavity of Mina’s stomach. A bright light filled the room, and a sudden concussive force threw David against the wall and knocked the wind out of him. A shimmering puddle appeared in the air above Mina’s stomach, and an image projected onto it. David saw one of the giant’s up close—a blond man with crystalline-blue eyes.
Andras kept his hands buried in Mina’s belly as he spoke. “Qemuel, He who was destroyed by God, but has risen, it is I, Andras, The Discordant.”
A booming voice returned. “Brother Andras, what say you?”
“I am compromised and must move on from this place. What would the Red Lord have of me?”
“Take back your form, and join us in battle. Shed your fetid shackles, and rise in your glory. Human vulnerability does not suit you. Make rivers of human blood.”
Andras sighed euphorically. “Yes. Yes, I will bring forth my body and lay waste to all I see. Screams will fill the—”
David tackled Andras to the ground and terminated the conversation. As soon as the demon’s hands left Mina’s body, the portal blinked out of existence. Andras growled as David straddled him. David was no fighter, but he was a man, and he was angry. He pummelled Andras with punch after punch.
Andras was not a man though, and that was clear when he snaked a hand onto David’s face and cooked his flesh.
“Glat glat comna hartis.”
David screamed as his skin blistered and boiled. He could not escape the crushing, searing grip. His vision blurred and blackened.
“Burn, maggot,” Andras growled.
David reached out his hands desperately. His fingers found Andras’s face, and he pointed his thumbs at where he hoped a pair of eyes would be. There was a moment of resistance, followed by a wet squelch as David’s thumbs disappeared inside Andras’s eye sockets.
The demon bellowed.
Andras’s searing hand slipped away from David’s face and went to his own mangled eyes. The burning stopped, and David collapsed backwards onto the floor, trying to cradle his face, but recoiling in agony as his fingertips caused sparks of agony, like white hot pokers. It hurt to blink, and his lips flared with unbearable pain.
Andras rose to his feet at the same time David did. Both men moaned and staggered around in pained confusion.
“I’ll tear out your insides,” Andras spat.
David was in danger of passing out, but he focused on staying upright and readied himself for a fight. “Come and try it, you fucking monster.”
Andras attacked, but it was clumsy and in the wrong direction. He hit against a desk and stumbled.
“You’re blind,” mocked David.
Andras glanced in the direction of his voice, bleeding eyes pierced like grapes. “No matter. I will return to my own body soon and see more clearly than ever.”
David crept to one side, moving around to Andras’s side. “Until then, you’re a blind, little mouse.”
Andras spun around. “I’ll kill you.”
“Then come on. Better yet, why don’t you go get your big giant body, and stomp me into puddles.”
“I will show you pain you cannot imagine.”
David chuckled. “I’m thinking you can’t get back to your true body without doing another one of your nasty spells, but how are you going to manage that with no sight?” He moved around behind Andras. “Am I right?”
Andras spun around, getting frustrated. “I will bathe in your blood!”
“Your brother’s name was Qemuel?”
“Qemuel, The Great and Risen.”
David moved around behind Andras again. “He said you were vulnerable in a human body.”
Andras swiped at the air, but got n
owhere near hitting David. David crept back towards the front of the office. A coat rack stood beside the door. Somebody had left a long golfing umbrella hanging from one of the arms, and David unhooked it carefully.
Andras swiped at the air again, but was still nowhere near. He’d begun to rave and rant like a maniac. “I’ll grind your bones into dust, you maggot. You seek to mock me? I am Andras, Marquis of Hell.”
“And I’m David Davids, reporting to you live.” He used the umbrella’s crooked handle to hook Andras’s ankle and yank the demon off his feet. He hit his head on the desk hard enough to leave him stunned.”
David’s face still flared with agony, but he couldn’t help but grin as he swung the umbrella like a golf club and struck Andras under the chin. The demon moaned and grabbed his face.
“That’s the problem when you inhabit a human body, Andras, dear boy: We’re all so weak and mushy.”
Andras clawed at the air blindly.
David hit him again with the umbrella. “If I kill you, what will happen?”
“You cannot kill what cannot die.”
“You’ll go back to your body, won’t you? If I kill you, I’ll release you. Wouldn’t want to be doing that. Would be a terrible waste of intel. I think you owe us after all the spying you’ve been doing.”
Andras leapt to his feet like a cat and swung for David, almost hitting him this time. “Let’s finish this,” he hissed. “I cannot bear the stench of humanity any longer.”
David swung the umbrella at Andras’s head, but this time, Andras snatched at it and yanked David towards him. When Andras dug out one of his eyeballs, he screamed so hard he almost lost consciousness. In desperation, he forced the umbrella upwards under Andras’s chin, hard enough to bury itself in his neck. It was enough to get the demon to retreat.
David staggered backwards, palming at his ruined eye, which was now an empty socket.
“An eye for an eye.” Andras sniggered over by the door. David choked back his torment and reminded himself what would happen if he gave up. “I took both of your eyes, you son-of-a-bitch, so you’re still the one losing.”
The Gates: An Apocalyptic Novel Page 26