The Trilogy of the Void: The Complete Boxed Set

by Peter Meredith

  The men around her, were on all fours or knelt in varying stages of sickness and the mess on the floor beneath them was enough for Will's stomach to threaten him again and he turned away looking into the room. What he saw there was worse; his stomach's issues went forgotten as his mind struggled to come to terms with the sight.

  A single light bulb on a chain hung from the ceiling, even as he envisioned it. It was old and dim, but still shed enough light for him to see the grisly details his premonition had missed. He hadn't seen that the walls were covered in uncouth satanic symbols, drawn undoubtedly in blood; they were now a dark black with reddish-brown edging. From the shelving that ran along the walls, long strips of flesh or meat hung, and beneath each, puddles of dark fluid collected. Upon the mattress, which was stained with enough blood to have turned it black, a body reclined, its skin had been peeled away, and the bones of it stuck out unnaturally as if someone had rummaged through the corpse in search of something.

  Finally and worst of all, a man like a king on a bloody throne sat on the crate in the very center of the room. If ever there was a king of blood, this was it. He seemed covered in it from head to toe, layered, with fresh red blood glistening over the blackened dried mess below it.

  The only part of the man not covered, were his eyes. These shone out of the ruin of his face, burning with insane joyful malevolence at the sight of the men vomiting in the corridor. They were blue and strikingly so compared to the red black of his skin.

  Those blue eyes now locked on Will's and with a private smile that sent flakes of dried blood raining from the corners of his mouth, he showed Will something.

  It was a bone, heavy with meat and wet with blood. He held it up for Will's enjoyment before biting into, tearing at the meat and chewing with gusto.

  Will's eyes bugged and his legs began to tremble as the strength to stand drained away. Will tried to run from the sight, but succeeded only into knocking into Sean Shay, who also stared, eyes bulging. Will looked for a way around the fat man, but he took up the entire doorway.

  The king on his throne of blood spoke then and the sound of his voice sent ice running through Will's veins, "Come in Will Jern."

  Chapter 14

  The Demon's Disciple

  "Don't leave Will Jern, you only just got here." The man's voice was ripping up his own vocal cords and Will felt the empathetic need to swallow, but the sight of him chewing the meat wouldn't allow it and Will could only grimace as if in pain.

  "How…how do you know my name?" he asked, tearing his eyes from the man and looking instead at the cement floor where a constellation of dried blood drops, were sprayed about haphazardly.

  "Ba'al has a long memory for those that would defy him."

  Will's mind shot back eight years, to that brief moment when he had stood upon the gleaming path denying Ba'al. But the memory must have been of another person. The man on the bridge had been strong, standing upright in defiance, while here in the room Will was weak and clutched at the blood-strewn walls to keep from falling over. The man on the bridge had looked death in the face without wavering and his hands were steady, while Will's shook uncontrollably and he couldn't bear to even look up.

  "Who is…is that?" Will pointed to the mattress behind the man.

  "That is a very special friend. I don't know his name if that's what you're asking, not that it matters." Ba'al looked down fondly at the ravaged remains of the corpse and calmly tossed his bone into it.

  Will jumped as he did so.

  A hand, heavy and fat had come down on his shoulder. "Go," Sean nudged him in the back and Will lacked the strength to resist him and was pushed further into the room. He still couldn't look directly at the man possessed by Ba'al, but he watched him with his peripheral vision until he heard the horrible voice speaking to Jim and only then could Will look at the gore-covered man.

  "Jim Anderson, welcome back, you were missed. At least the tasty, tasty nun missed you." Jim's face was equal parts fear, anger, nausea, and shock. It looked as if the muscles of his face couldn't decide on which emotion to accompany and thus they twitched in an odd, somewhat random order, as he walked to stand next to Will.

  Will could sympathize, his own twitch had progressed to the point that his right eye was nearly useless, opening and closing with such rapidity that he was forced to squeeze it shut. His face now looked like it had frozen in the middle of an exaggerated wink.

  "Who is that hiding behind you Sean? Well, it's the saint. Saint John and look, Father Alba dressed for the Easter Bunny." From the side Will could see the villain grin at each in turn, but none could stand to look at the demon for more than a second, before turning their eyes away in fear.

  All that is, except for Talitha. She stood beaming in the general direction of Ba'al, and she seemed altogether unfazed by the horror that surrounded her.

  The voice slipped into a harsh lechery, "Now here is a treat, Talitha Jern, still so beautiful."

  She ignored him and inclined her head toward her left. "Will, if you please?" For a moment, he stared at her clueless to what she wanted and it sent her eyebrows sliding together in annoyance.

  "Oh yeah…uh, the subject is sitting cross-legged on…" He described the scene leaving nothing out of his description of the man or the room. Talitha's face, other than a look of deepening concentration remained solidly placid, but Will, who knew his sister, both aspects of her, could see there was a ripple of trepidation creasing the edges of her calm façade.

  Finally, when he was done, Talitha spoke to the blood covered man, "This room, with its symbols and blood and gore…are you thinking this will frighten me?"

  "I know what frightens you, and it's not a room. Teeth have always frightened you and of course glass as well… Auraghnash," he paused staring closely at Talitha, who remained absolutely still, perhaps too still. "Auraghnash sends his love."

  Her jaw tightened visibly, but she rallied, "Ba'al is now the messenger of Auraghnash? Things have changed in the void since I've been gone, and for the better."

  "Amusing. Still I don't recall you laughing when we were together in the pits at Rek."

  Talitha paled, which sent a shock of fear through Will's heart. He had thought her afraid of nothing and the knowledge that she could be afraid, even in the smallest way of this man, made his own fear double. He was not alone in this, the priests glanced into each other's faces with eyes that had grown huge, and Sean Shay was slowly edging into Father John as if for protection.

  Talitha, whose tan had now completely faded, spoke angrily but without looking full into the man's face, "I know you're a fraud. I know it. Somehow you are."

  Ba'al turned his ice blue eyes on Will then. Will tried to look away, but Ba'al had him, holding him with the ferocious intensity of his gaze and Will could do nothing but step back into the wall, as Ba'al spoke with a mouth that trickled blood from the corners.

  "When she first came into the void, I was there waiting on her and I took her down into Rek." He smiled at the memory and for a moment his eyes were off Will, who quickly looked away, down again at the floor. When Ba'al started again, Will could feel the words coming at him, but he dared not look back up.

  "Oh, her screams were so lively. They had such strength! I can recall each of them, however my favorite was your first. Do you remember? You tried to be strong and defiant! Tell your friends what made you scream."

  It was a command, but Talitha refused it, shaking her head. This only made Ba'al grin. "You aren't embarrassed are you? We were betrothed that night and…"

  "You are not Ba'al!" She quivered in fury, her hands clenched.

  "Then how did I know that? How do I know that your brother pissed his pants the night he took you from me?"

  Will's eyes went wide and shot to the man's face in shocked surprise. What Ba'al had said was true, but Will had told no one, not even Lisa.

  Ba'al had paused but now went on, "And Father Alba, how do I know the fact, that you cried like a baby and couldn't stop vomiti
ng when you burned the body of my beloved witch? Or how do I know that Saint John the Hypocrite isn't so saintly after all?"

  Father John's mouth became unhinged and fell open, which only made Ba'al laugh his grating cruel laugh. It sounded like, hreah, hreah, hreah. "You like that dark meat, don't you? What was Mrs. Johnson doing on her knees last week? Worshipping you or servicing you?"

  Father John with his mouth still open and his eyes bugging shook his head in amateurish denial. He looked as though he were about to say something, but Talitha spoke then in a monotone voice.

  "You're a fraud, I know it."

  "Can you not look past this skin I wear? I expected more from you. And!" he thundered the word at her. "And I expect my path. Father Alba, tell me you brought more than this damaged girl."

  The word seemed to wake Talitha up and she held up her hand to Father Alba, snapping her fingers sharply. "Damaged?" she asked, challenging Ba'al.

  "Do you prefer malformed? You're not quite human, not quite demon, something pathetically in between, but I can fix that you know. I have that power."

  "What power?" Talitha shrunk with the whispered words, while Ba'al grew. He smiled his awful smile and looked more than ever like a king holding sway over a bloody court.

  "Ihgse xythm ey jsuit…" The demon spoke in his hell language and the hair rose on the nape of Will's neck. He realized that coming here had been a horrible idea and he glanced at the door, wondering if he could get past his sister. The look showed that Father Alba was having second thoughts as well; he had retreated into the corridor and was barely visible.

  "I don't have it," Talitha said looking down and backing up slightly.

  The demon glowered, his anger palpable, and Talitha took a second step back, and it was then that Will knew another one of them would die. The knowledge came like a shot out of the blue and following it was a wave of adrenaline coursing throughout his whole being, making his skin feel alive, tingling.

  In the next second, however it went dead, numb.

  There would be a third death. The knowledge simply popped into his head and there was no taking it back.

  Will didn't bother hoping he would live. That he could avoid dying seemed highly unlikely and he sank into a warm haze of apathy, watching the demon's anger grow to frightening proportions as it began yelling at Talitha in his hell language.

  However the yelling seemed to have an odd effect on Talitha, she no longer looked as though in the least fearful, instead a fire of hate burned behind her eyes.

  Ba'al must have seen this as well and he quite abruptly changed tactics, becoming conciliatory, "You don't have the sword, but you can get it, right? Ba'al can be very generous when the mood strikes him."

  From Will's point of view Ba'al should have remained angry, because Talitha now became mocking, "No, you are miserly and cruel and a liar. And not a very good liar either. You were never planning on giving back any of those boys you took, were you?"

  "You do know me well, Talitha. Those children are mine to do with as I please. Why should I give them up?"

  She shrugged as if she couldn't think of a reason, "I don't know. I wouldn't give them up." She gave a little wave of her hand dismissing the topic of the missing children. "In what way would you be so generous, Ba'al? The sword is worth far more than a handful of children…what are you offering?"

  "I know what you crave above all else." His eyes glittered with secret knowledge. "You want a name. I can name you."

  She drew in a sharp little breath, her eyes growing large at the prospect and for what felt like a significant portion of eternity, the two of them faced each other in heavy silence.

  Will knew nothing of what they were talking about, but the fact that his sister was even considering trading the sword, burned through his apathy.

  "What does he mean, name you?" Will asked, his voice shrill now that he had found emotion again.

  They both ignored him and after exchanging a worried look with Father Alba, who had poked his head back in the door, Will said with more conviction, "Talitha! Tell me about this naming business."

  Still they ignored him and minutes passed in heavy silence before the possessed man spoke, breaking the spell, "It's good that you're considering this."

  Talitha let a smile slip across her face, a mysterious one and where a few minutes before she had backed up, now she advanced on Ba'al. "What would you name me?"

  "Hesda Arad Olad'fa," the man said this in the rasping tearing language of his and Talitha cocked an eyebrow at it.

  "Keeper of the Bridge of Blood…very cool." She moved even closer and stood just in front of him as he sat high on his tall crate, her shoulders even with his knees.

  "Yes it is, very cool. What do you think?"

  Talitha put both of her hands on the man's thighs and ran them up his legs before answering, "I have a better name, one that is more fitting, Ba'al Fie-ere…Denier of Ba'al."

  The man's blood dripping smile transformed in an instant to look of hate and this was followed a split second later by a comical look of pained surprise. Talitha had shot her hand out striking the man square in the gut and even before all the air had shot out of him, she grabbed him and threw him bodily to the floor.

  She wasted not a second before pouncing on him, but shocked them all when instead of attacking the man, she tore at his clothes, searching.

  "Uh, Talitha?" Will asked hesitantly.

  She ignored him and after a moment, she stepped back away from the man, her eyes roving blindly around in worry. To Will she looked as if she had just realized she had miscalculated, badly. The man, in the mean time, had found his breath and despite his labored breathing, he was making his way to his feet, his face wreathed in a frightful anger.

  Talitha sensed it somehow and took a step back, running into the blood-stained crate. This sparked a new idea and turning, she heaved hard on the lid of it, straining for a few seconds before it came open, the wood screaming, or so it seemed.

  This was the source of the horrid smell. What came from it then was far worse than anything they had yet experienced and it dropped Will to his knees retching and gagging. The others were in the same plight except for Sean Shay who had passed out all together, falling over as though he had been pole-axed.

  Talitha in the mean time had somehow ignored the smell and was half-in and half-out of the crate rummaging through it, blindly fishing about the contents before pulling her upper body out. In her hands she held a small sheaf of yellowing paper.

  "No!" the possessed man roared sending a chill wash over Will, but Talitha was now fearless of the demon and swatted him backhand across the face, a casual smack for her, but the man reeled from it.

  Unbelievably she sniffed at the paper and Will begged her, "Please shut that…the crate. Shut it." This she did, displaying an act of humanity that was unlike her. The smell diminished immediately and a moment later Will was able to rise, sweating and coughing.

  Relaxed now, Talitha strolled over holding out the papers. "Can you read any of this?"

  Will took the papers; they were scrawled with odd letters and a maze of diagrams. Turning them over in his hands a few times he said, "Mostly no. It's in a language I've never seen, but there are some notes on the edging in English. It says something about diagram placement, but it's got yellow brown stains…maybe coffee and I can't read it very well in this light. Do you know what this is?"

  Ignoring the question, she turned back to Ba'al. "Coffee? You'd drink coffee around this?" She seemed outraged at the idea and after taking the papers from Will's hand, she advanced on the man, turning her head slowly in different directions. "So, what will Ba'al do to you when he gets a hold of your soul?" she asked conversationally.

  "Do not mar those papers! I am a servant of Ba'al and it's your soul you should be worried about." Will watched and heard but there was no comprehension on his part.

  "Trust me, I do worry about my soul." Talitha raised an eyebrow and tore the sheets in half.

  It
was as if a light switch had been thrown within Will—something had changed. Something about the room and the man and thankfully even the smell, seemed less than it was, dampened or even diminished. The blood and the body and the symbols were still all about them, but now they lacked the power of fear that had saturated the room.

  Even Sean Shay must have noted it, because he immediately started groaning and then struggled to stand.

  "No..." the possessed man said, his voice now tired and strained as well as suddenly human. He wilted before Talitha and that was no wonder. She seemed to have grown and there was an exultant smile on her beautifully evil face.

  "Yes!" she cried jubilant, holding the torn sheet up over her head in triumph beaming around the room as if expecting the men to applaud her, however Will's mind, like a tree bending under too much snow felt near the breaking point, and he was lost as to what was going on.

  "Talitha…" he started, but she held up her hand.

  "Hold that thought," she tilted her head slightly, pivoted on her left foot and with a speed Will didn't think possible, she tilted her body and kicked the man in the face with a snapping round house. He dropped in an instant and lay moaning, clutching the side of his face, while Talitha stood, demonstrating an amazing balance with her right foot still in the air.

  She moved in reverse, with purposeful slow motion, bringing her leg back down with the grace of a dancer. "Wow, I feel good. Did you see that kick, Will? Unerring!"

  "Yeah, that was great, Tal, but why? Why'd you do that? We may never get those kids back now."

  "Kids? I hope I'm there when your brain finally turns on," she said this sweetly and Will felt his face get hot. "He just told us that he never planned to give those kids back. Weren't you paying attention?"