Forty-Four Book Thirteen (44 13)

by Jools Sinclair

  And then it hit me. The eyes. On the beach Samael’s eyes had been black, not blue. I realized now that they looked like Ben’s right before he stabbed himself. Nathaniel had possessed Samael.

  “Don’t worry,” Nathaniel said. “He won’t be troubling you any further. He’s keeping my brother company.”

  Poor Samael. I wondered if the things I had said to him had contributed somehow, if the break in our bond had resulted in a crack, an opening for Nathaniel to exploit and enter.

  I stared off at the water, trying to ignore the sadness in my heart, trying to focus on the things I could control.

  “You’ll want to pay close attention to what’s about to happen,” Nathaniel said after a while. “Our trials were hit and miss at first, but the last eight have all been successful. The serum works, Abby. All it needed was a small correction. Just watch. Watch and marvel at the possibilities.”

  Simon stepped up to the cage.

  “Here’s what’s going to happen,” he said to the photographer. “We’re going to lower you into the water. You will, of course, drown.” The man began to whimper, his eyes bulging. “But don’t worry. After we’re sure that you’re dead, we will inject you with something that will bring you back to life.”

  The photographer screamed again, his heartbreaking shrieks growing hoarse and broken.

  “Try not to fight it,” Gruber said. “There’s really no point.”

  “Switch on the camera,” Simon said. “Place the cage in position.”

  A moment later the small crane suspending the cage began to turn, swinging the metal enclosure out over the water. The man screeched desperately.

  They were going to kill him and for the life of me, or his, I couldn’t think how to stop it. But I had to do something.

  “I don’t understand, Nathaniel,” I said, trying to stall. “If you’re capable of bringing an army of dark spirits back to earth to possess the living, why do you still care about this serum?”

  Nathaniel smiled and held up his hand.

  “Don’t think I don’t know what you’re up to, but I’ll humor you.” He took a step closer. “You see, the spirit world is only half a world. And I want it all. I want dominion over this world, Abby. Once the serum is perfected I will be able to offer every human being eternal life. Not just the damned. And if I’m able to take the curse of death away from mankind, then I am also able to take the curse of God away. He will become irrelevant.”

  “You just described a horror story,” I said.

  “Come, come, Abby. You’re not thinking this through. You’re removing yourself from what it means to be human and dissecting my dream, everyone’s dream, in a laboratory that doesn’t exist. Who wants to die? Who wants their loved ones to die? How did you feel when your mother passed on or the hasty basketball player? What would you have given to bring them back? To have him here in the flesh and not some frail apparition?”

  I didn’t answer him.

  “I see the future of mankind, Abby, and it’s never been so bright. A future without judgment, without fake morality and faith, without the greatest criminal ever known to man. After all, what else would you call the inventor of death? Oh, that’s right. You call him God.

  “All of that nonsense, which has plagued humanity for thousands and thousands of years, will finally fall away and disappear. And when the dust settles, I will emerge, ready to give eternal life to anyone who wants it.”

  “At what price, Nathaniel?”

  “There will only be one commandment this time. And it shall be loyalty.”

  His eyes glowed.

  I shuddered.

  With this serum, Nathaniel would be all-powerful. More powerful than both God and Satan combined.

  “We’re ready, Dr. Mortimer,” Gruber said.

  She studied a large monitor with a split screen showing the inside of the cage along with the man’s vital signs and a large digital clock. I could see that his heart rate was through the roof and was sure that he would probably die from a heart attack if they didn’t lower him soon.

  “On my mark,” she said after Nathaniel gave her the go ahead. The cage began to drop down into the ocean, stopping with the man’s head just above the water. “Now!”

  The man took one last breath and down he went. He held it for almost two minutes according to the stopwatch on the screen, but then he opened his mouth, letting in the water. He began thrashing wildly until I couldn’t bear to look anymore.

  It was horrible.

  “Don’t turn away now,” Phil said, forcing my head back in the direction of the screen. “This is the best part.”

  After what felt like an eternity the movement inside the cage finally stopped, the man’s body floating lifelessly as it swayed in the current, and a long beep came from the monitor and all the lines went flat.

  “No heart activity,” the woman said. “No brain function. Bring him up.”

  The winch started humming and a few minutes later the cage came up, the crane raising it out of the water and onto the deck. The photographer’s body was crumpled at the bottom.

  “Guess who’s next,” Phil whispered in my ear.

  Simon and one of the other men opened the cage and pulled out the body, placing it on a nearby chaise lounge. Gruber went over with a large syringe and hooked it up to a short IV line coming from the dead man’s neck.

  “On my mark,” she repeated as the thick, dark fluid made its way through the tube. “Now.”

  Someone restarted the stopwatch on the monitor while Nathaniel walked around the deck as if he didn’t have a care in the world, as if he was just a casual observer.

  “You’re out of your mind,” I said.

  “Quiet,” Phil said, giving me a push.

  “That’s all right,” Nathaniel said. “No harm done. You’re right, Abby. I am out of my mind. I’m out of my body. I’m out of—”

  The monitor interrupted him, beeping again, the lines on the screen moving once more. In the next moment the drowned man began coughing up water and gasping for air.

  I had seen it with my own eyes and I still couldn’t believe it.

  Nathaniel’s serum actually worked.

  But what did that change? I knew he would never use this drug to benefit humanity, only himself. He still needed to be put down. Now more than ever.

  “You should take a certain amount of pride in this, Abby,” Nathaniel said. “In a way this is your baby as much as it is mine. You were, after all, the first one the serum worked on. Yes, the two of us should very much feel like proud parents at this moment. I know I do.”

  “Of course you do,” I said.

  The photographer was sitting up now, looking around.

  “What happened?” he said in a cracked voice. “The last thing I remember is being in the water. And then… everything went black.”

  “Vitals stable,” the woman said, ignoring him. “Brain activity back to normal. Another success, Dr. Mortimer.”

  She drew a vile of blood from the man’s arm and then motioned with her head to Simon, who came over and helped the photographer to his feet. With one of the others, he took the man to the back of the boat. They then secured two weights around his ankles.

  “Hey, what are those things? Get them off of me.”

  “What are you going to do with him?” I said.

  “He’s served his purpose,” Phil said. “Say cheese.”

  A moment later they pushed the man overboard.

  He screamed and flailed in the water for a few seconds before disappearing under the dark waves like he was never there.

  CHAPTER 42

  Samael prayed for patience and strength. Right now he had neither.

  Abby didn’t have long to live. Nathaniel and his men would see to that.

  And Samael was helpless to do anything about it.

  He dropped to his knees.

  “Dear God, hear my prayer. I ask these things not for me but for Your people. Give me the strength to help the girl so that s
he may stop this evil before it destroys everything in its path. There is much I do not understand, but the time grows short, dear Lord. Show me the way. Your will be done.”

  Samael prayed for a long time and when he finally opened his eyes, having seen all that he had seen, he still found it hard to believe.

  She was standing there.

  She was standing there as if the last sixteen centuries had passed in the blink of an eye. Beautiful as ever, looking as if no more than a day had gone by.

  Rachel.

  He stared up at her, a tear rolling down his cheek.

  “Rachel,” he whispered. “I have prayed for this moment for so long. Can it be? Is it really you?”

  “I have prayed for it as well, my love.”

  She held out her hand, helping him to his feet, and they embraced.

  “I love you, Rachel. I have lived in fear all this time that I would never see you again. When I lost you, I lost my way. I did terrible things. I—”

  “Shhh. It’s all right now, Samael. All is well.”

  He kissed her deeply, his lips trembling, his whole being alive again. They walked down the beach, happy, holding hands, in silence, their love and the singing in their hearts saying all that needed to be said. He wanted to remember this moment always.

  God had sent her to him.

  He had not turned His back on Samael. He smiled at the thought. Gabriel had been right.

  God was merciful and forgiving.

  “I bring a message,” Rachel said after a time, turning to face him.

  “What is it?”

  She pointed out at the ocean.

  “The answer is in the water, Samael.”

  Samael nodded, thinking.

  They continued down the beach for a time, lost in each other, until Rachel spoke the words he knew were coming even before they left her precious mouth.

  “I must go back now, Samael.”

  It cut him to the core, but he vowed to be eternally grateful and to rid his heart of every trace of desire for more. Their reunion, however brief, was enough.

  It was everything.

  “I understand,” Samael said after a long pause, looking deep into her eyes. “You have given me the strength to do what it is I must. With this moment in my heart, knowing you are well, feeling your love, and His, I can endure what lies ahead.”

  “I love you, Samael.”

  He kissed her again and held her tight, never wanting to let go.

  But he did.

  CHAPTER 43

  I still wasn’t sure what I was going to do.

  All I knew was that time was running out.

  “I don’t think we’ll need you, Dr. Gruber, for this next procedure,” Nathaniel said after a while. “Phil and Simon will suffice.”

  “What about the serum?” she asked.

  “No,” Nathaniel said. “We won’t need that either.”

  She nodded and then went below with the others.

  I understood full well what that meant. They would not be bringing me back to life. This was a one-way trip.

  That’s when the panic hit, cold and hot at the same time. There was no escaping it. I was going to die.

  “Like old times, Abby,” Nathaniel said and smiled. “Back to our beginnings. Full circle, as it were. Although, I think you’ll find the water a little warmer this time.”

  Phil steered me toward the cage while Simon went over to operate the crane.

  “You don’t have to do this, Simon,” I called to him, my voice sounding high and thin. “This is not who you are.”

  But even in my desperation, I knew it was a lie. Maybe it wasn’t who he used to be. The man I knew back on that island prison all those years ago, the one who had tried to help me escape, would never have thrown that photographer overboard. But that man was gone.

  He didn’t answer.

  Phil set down the knife when we reached the cage. He opened the door.

  “Wait,” I said. “I just want to look around one last time.”

  I relaxed my muscles, hoping he would interpret it to mean that I had resigned myself to my fate. I made a show of looking around, pretending to sob. I didn’t have to pretend too hard.

  And then I made my move.

  I elbowed Phil in the throat and turned, thrusting my knee up into his groin. He went down like a sack of potatoes, grunting and gasping for air. I grabbed the knife and held it out in front of me.

  Simon came toward me cautiously.

  “Put that down, Abby,” he said.

  “Fuck you, Simon.”

  He picked up the wrench.

  We stood there for a moment, facing each other like that, until Phil started to get up.

  “Get in the cage, bitch!” He lunged toward me. “Get in the cage and die.”

  I sidestepped him and Simon saw his opening. He came at me surprisingly fast for someone his weight, but I was faster. I plunged the knife deep into his neck, a look of disbelief washing over his face as the blood spurted out in huge ribbons. He dropped the wrench, grabbing at his wound, trying in vain to stem the flow. A moment later he was down on the deck, a large dark pool growing beneath him.

  He tried to speak but only managed a gurgle.

  Phil stared at him and then let out a primal scream before charging at me again. I faked right but went left, causing him to change direction at the last second and as he did, he stepped in Simon’s blood and slipped.

  I went over to him and started kicking him again and again.

  “Who’s dying now?” I shouted. “Huh?”

  And that’s when Nathaniel grabbed me.

  CHAPTER 44

  I had lost sight of Nathaniel during the fight and now it was too late. He seemed to have superhuman strength, burying his fingers deep into my flesh, and no matter how hard I fought I couldn’t get free. A moment later he threw me in the cage and I heard the door slam shut.

  It was one of the most terrifying sounds I had ever heard in my life.

  I tried the door anyway, rattling the steel bars, but it was locked.

  I was going to die.

  My fear was back, darker than ever. I began screaming on the inside.

  Please, God, no. Don’t let it end like this. No! Noooooo!

  Phil got back on his feet and stumbled over.

  “Do you think you can at least operate the winch?” Nathaniel said to him.

  Phil nodded, shame etched on his face. Soon after, I felt the cage move and then rise up off the deck before it swung out over the water.

  I stared at Nathaniel and as I did a strange calmness suddenly took over.

  He had won, but I wasn’t going to beg. I would leave this world having failed, but knowing I had done my best. He would take my life as he had taken his brother’s and so many others, but he would not take my dignity. At least that. I wasn’t exactly ready to go quietly into that good night. Still, I felt a kind of peace and a sense of completeness.

  “Any last words, Abby?” Nathaniel said.

  I started to say something but then stopped. No, I wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction.

  “Very well,” he said. “Goodbye, Abigail.”

  Phil smiled that creepy smile again and lowered the cage into the water, but then stopped.

  “Maybe I’ll have some fun with your corpse before we feed you to the sharks,” he said.

  And then I thought of something.

  It had worked once before, long ago. I didn’t have any illusions that lightning would strike twice, but at the very least I could get in one final jab.

  “Do you still hear from Emma, Nathaniel?” I said, trying to make it sound like casual conversation.

  He smiled at me but the eyes betrayed his anger. He didn’t answer.

  “No, I didn’t think so. What more is there for her to say anyway? She told you to stop all this long ago. But you didn’t listen. She still—”

  I stopped there and let it hang in the air between us like stale breath, not really knowing where I was goin
g with it. The last time I had seen the ghost of his wife was years ago, on that island, the day before Nathaniel died. I didn’t have a new message from her, but I was hoping he would somehow believe that I did. But even if he did, I didn’t know what the point was or what good it would do me. It wouldn’t get me out of this cage. No matter what story I made up.

  “You’ve gone back to that well one too many times, Abby,” he said. “We both know Emma’s not here. Not this time.”

  “All right.” I ran my hand through my hair like it made no difference to me. “Have it your way.”

  “I will.”

  I took a couple of slow, deep breaths, filling my lungs for the last time.

  And then the cage dropped down, the water reaching my thighs, down, the water reaching my stomach, down, the water reaching my neck, down, down, down…

  The water covering the top of my head.

  How many times can one person die?

  I was about to find out.

  CHAPTER 45

  The water was a little colder here than closer to shore where I used to go swimming. I looked up and saw the bottom of the hull, diffused, diffracted sunlight forming a halo around it. I saw fish darting away from the cage as it dropped from the surface.

  All the running and swimming would help. To a point. But I knew I couldn’t hold out indefinitely.

  I tried not to think about all the things I would miss in this world. There would be plenty of time for that later. Instead I stayed in the moment and slowed down my heartbeat.

  And then I heard something, a splash in the water above.

  Something was swimming down toward the cage.

  Nathaniel.

  He had taken the bait.

  CHAPTER 46

  “All right, what did she say this time, Abby?” Nathaniel was floating in front of the shark cage, communicating through his thoughts. “What message does she have for me?”

  If he had the power to know what I was thinking, he would know that I was lying, so I made my mind a blank, focusing on a point beyond him, meditating. If he wanted to know what Emma had “said,” he would have to bring me back up. It would buy me a few extra minutes.