by A. R. Crebs
Walten gagged, trying to keep his eyes from darting to the horrifying sights surrounding him.
“Where…where are the others?” Walten asked, holding a hand over his mouth.
Sapphire laughed. It was a piercing sound. “Why, they are part of the centerpiece! Rather lovely, I think. I finally found a use for those useless pieces of meat.”
Walten glimpsed the gory chandeliers and fleshy debris on the tabletop. She had killed them all, slaughtered them like animals. Oh no, far worse than animals. They appeared to have been torn to pieces and blended up. Walten gagged, trying to walk toward the door.
He felt the tall, mysterious woman place her hands on his shoulders, steadying him.
“What’s wrong, boss? Do you not like the new decorations? We worked so hard on them,” she said in a mockingly sad tone.
“Let…let me go,” Walten stammered.
“You’re not going anywhere,” Sapphire stated coolly.
The CEO’s eyes darted back to the child. Clicking his thumb against his silver ring on his finger, Walten put in a distress call to Feyette and his team. He had no idea where Feyette was, but he needed his personal bodyguard right now.
“Wh-what do you want from me?” Walten asked.
“What do I want from you? Are you seriously asking me that question?” Sapphire was annoyed. “You have yet to withhold your part of the bargain, Mr. Walten. Why are President Clarke and his soldiers still running about?”
“I, I have tried my best. I’ve done everything I could! It’s that Sorcēarian! He’s gotten in the way of all my plans!” Walten explained.
Sapphire rolled her eyes. “I hate excuses, Walten. You couldn’t even kill Clarke when he was lying in a hospital. You couldn’t retrieve my body yourself. You couldn’t destroy any of the other militaries. Instead, you allowed Elixis to be destroyed by your own people. That set my plans back by weeks. I could already have the world by now if it weren’t for that little misunderstanding.”
“What, what about Euclid? He failed on his part, too, and so did your demons!” Walten growled, his anger growing. “I’ve funded your entire war; I’ve given you all the tools you’ve needed, and yet you’ve done nothing for me!”
Sapphire stood from her chair, her body flashing to the edge of the table directly in front of Walten, her eyes black as night. The CEO jumped back, running into the door behind him. Sapphire stared at him, her dark aura making him feel physically ill. Red stained her white shoes.
“You have used me for your fame and fortune; you wanted your never-ending life of riches.” The girl’s tone was flat and dark like the day Walten had first met the black shadow that crept from the cavernous hole within the mines beneath Fountains. The voice creaked like metal as she spoke, her blonde hair blowing wildly about her face. “You didn’t hold up your part of the bargain. I’ve given you more than enough chances.”
Walten froze under her stare. “You…you promised us salvation. You said that God would bring his sight upon us once again if you were released. You said that once you started the war, He would return and cleanse the world and bring all of us to salvation.”
A quaking laugh roared from deep within Sapphire. “As if He would come back to this miserable planet! When will you humans realize that He left you long ago? You’re a disease. He doesn’t want you. He never wanted you.”
Walten’s mouth opened and closed, trying to form words. Tears stung his eyes. “But…but you said He would come back for us. The plan was for you to merge the realms and allow your demons passage onto this plane. You said that God would come back for us. You said that you wanted a second chance. You were going to strike a deal with Him. You said you wanted salvation; you wanted forgiveness.”
Sapphire’s demeanor remained menacing, squeals and screams flooding from her form in a musical shriek. Walten cringed at the sound.
“Why should I give up what I want to go back to that place? He’s had more than enough time to come to this world. He’s not here. He’s not been here for lifetimes. You’ve been forsaken. The precious, weak humans have been forsaken. Now, I’m taking back what is rightfully mine. I’m taking back my planet. This will be my home. This will become the home of the damned, and your race will be our cattle,” a deep voice resonated from within the child.
Walten’s lower lip trembled as he felt dozens of hands upon him. “I only wanted salvation,” he whimpered.
“I AM YOUR SAVIOR. DON'T WORRY, WALTEN. THERE'S A SPECIAL PLACE IN HELL FOR YOU,” the voice rang out.
Walten flinched at the sound of Sapphire’s sinister laughter. He couldn’t move, couldn’t speak, and couldn’t do a thing as his body pulled apart in all directions. His eyes were wide, locked onto the sight of the horrible little girl, his view spinning in circles as his head dropped onto the carpet and rolled beneath the table. The sound of his own death echoed in his ears, merging with the sound of Hell flowing from Sapphire’s body. Walten stared at his mangled body parts scattered across the floor, his blood seeping into the carpet and curtains. He was tired and numb, no longer feeling anything for this world. Slowly, everything faded to black.
"The Meeting"
Chapter 10
Aria, Troy, and Aren occupied one of the rooftops of Kovacevic’s military compound, watching the battle between Saray and Feyette’s men. Things were beginning to look bleak. Aria stood while Aren and Troy sat beside one another, their legs dangling over the side. The two men were chatting casually, Aren digging into the hole in Troy’s wrist where the DNAIS was located. The male soldier remained unfazed; his hand involuntarily twitched now and again as Aren poked and prodded the new chip he had embedded into Troy’s skin.
Aria watched the battlefield, her jaw locked tight. One stray bullet from far off in the distance, a sniper round, exploded near her head. A blue burst of light erupted beside the woman, the invisible disrupter field sizzling upon the bullet’s impact. She diverted her attention to the rippling electric wave only for a second before she eyed the battlefield again, her optic camera locking onto her target. The sniper was sitting atop one of Feyette’s two-legged mechs. The machine heaved from side to side as it walked forward, its massive gun turrets blasting against Kovacevic’s mechs. The woman highlighted the form of the sniper’s heat signature and made a call to Kovacevic’s men. Only a moment later did an automated drone speed above the enemy and drop a hefty bomb atop it, obliterating both the man and machine.
“Take that, you bastard,” the woman grumbled.
“Aria,” Troy called out.
She turned to look at her partner. He was leaning back, looking around Aren to catch her green stare.
“Will you quit worrying about them? Kovacevic has it under control,” Troy said, unconsciously scratching the forearm occupying Aren's attention.
“Don’t scratch!” Aren shouted. “I’m almost done.”
Troy muttered a ‘sorry’ as he gazed at his wrist.
“Doesn’t mean I can’t help a little,” Aria grumbled. She turned her attention back to the fight.
Aren reached into his pack, digging through the mess of items inside. After a couple of minutes, he gave an irritated growl. “Gah! I can’t find my capacitors.”
Aria walked up to the pilot, taking a glance at the bag, her hands on her hips. “Want me to go check below? I bet Kovacevic has some lying around.”
“Yeah; the quicker I can get these done, the better. Who knows how long we’ll have before we have to move out,” Aren said, still sifting through his stuff.
“I’ll be right back,” Aria said. She patted the boy on the shoulder and headed for the entry to the building.
“She seems a bit on edge,” Aren mumbled.
Troy shrugged. “That’s Aria. She’s always on edge.”
“I bet that the broadcast was unsettling, though, you know?” Aren directed his eyes to Troy’s only for a moment. “Seeing Dovian kill Camery like that. Even I wasn’t expecting it, and I barely knew the guy.”
Troy�
�s mouth twisted into a frown. “Yeah…I think that unsettled everyone.”
“Were you expecting it?” the pilot asked. He grabbed Troy’s hand, pushing on different pressure points.
“To be honest–Ow–” his hand involuntarily flexed, “I wasn’t expecting it. I mean, Dovian and I had butted heads a little, but even then…I never expected him to do something like that.”
“Do you think he really wanted to? He was with you guys this whole time. Did he do anything at all to make you believe he’d double-cross you like that?” the pilot asked.
Troy was quiet a moment. After giving an agitated sigh, he replied, “No…I did not suspect a thing. Well, I did have moments where I didn’t trust him, but that was mostly because I was, well, kind of jealous of the guy.”
Aren’s eyes bugged. “Jealous?” He smiled.
Troy rolled his eyes. “Yeeeesss,” he drawled.
“Fighting for Aria’s attention, eh?” Aren asked with a little laugh.
Troy scoffed. “Who cares?! That’s not the point. In the end, we thought he was our friend, and he evidently was lying to us the whole time!”
“That’s pretty cold. I mean, he seemed convincing enough, I guess.”
“Yeah. He was real convincing,” Troy muttered.
The soldier was at a crossroads with his feelings on the subject. In the beginning, he didn’t trust Dovian. He had even suggested that the Sorcēarian was on the other side, but he didn’t actually believe his own accusations. Dovian was their friend. They laughed and joked despite his brooding behavior. Troy had drinks and cigarettes with the man. The two had even shared a hotel room, which they played cards and told dirty jokes all night while the women were asleep down the hall. Dovian was an okay guy–a bit odd–but tolerable. Not to mention, he had saved them countless times. He had healed Troy and had saved Aria’s life when Troy couldn’t. Truthfully, Troy had not expected Dovian to trade sides. Deep down in his gut, however, he still believed that Dovian didn’t want to become a traitor. Surely there was a reason for his behavior.
“Don’t know what to tell you,” Troy began. “There were many times he could have double-crossed us. He could have left us for dead in the Underbelly. Instead, he got us out of there, even foiled Feyette’s plan. It just doesn’t make sense.”
Aren’s face fell. “Yeah…a lot of people died down there.”
Troy watched the pilot, noticing his sudden distress.
“You knew a lot of people in the Underbelly, didn’t you?” the male soldier asked.
Aren nodded slowly. “Originally I had enlisted in the army. I wanted to be in Delta like you and Aria. You guys were heroes!” he exclaimed. His expression quickly lost its cheer. “I went through basic and everything, and then my girlfriend begged me not to go.”
“Girlfriend?!” Troy stuttered. He couldn’t help sounding shocked by the revelation. He quickly corrected himself, Aren feeding him a questionable look. “I, um, you never mentioned having a girlfriend.” He tried to do damage control, but he could tell Aren had caught Troy’s surprise at the announcement of him having a girlfriend.
‘Damn it, Dovian,’ Troy mentally cursed the Sorcēarian for planting the idea in his head that Aren was gay.
“Yeah, girlfriend,” Aren said slowly. “Damn it! You thought I was gay, didn’t you?!”
“I, well…there was a rumor.” Troy scratched the back of his head nervously.
Aren gave an aggravated growl. “That was one time! Jeez! How does everyone know about that?! I totally thought he was a chick!”
Troy’s eyes lit up. “Sounds like you had a run-in with Lola and her she-male posse.”
“I was drunk, going through a rough time, she…he…took advantage of me. I got out of there quick once I realized!” Aren stumbled over his words.
Troy laughed. He was ecstatic there was an actual rumor he could use as cover. “It’s alright. Happens to the best of us.”
“Lola is a scary…woman…man,” Aren murmured.
“That she is!” Troy chuckled. “But what about your girlfriend? Lola didn’t encroach on any of that did she? She knows better than to mess with taken men.”
Aren shook his head. “Was during a time my girlfriend and I had momentarily split. She wasn’t sure about my life choices. Said she didn’t want to be with a guy who could potentially get killed at any minute of the day. In the end, she talked me into being a pilot instead. Sure, it’s just as dangerous, but she felt better knowing I was in the skies instead of on the ground.”
“That’s a smart girl you have there,” Troy said.
“Had…” Aren replied with a quiet scoff. “She was killed during the attack in the Underbelly.”
Troy quickly lowered his head, giving a defeated sigh.
“God! You know how hard I tried to protect her?!” Aren shouted. “I supported her all through school. The kids were so mean to her, and I never understood why. She was beautiful! And she had a personality to match. Girl wouldn’t even hurt a fly. But she was different…had blonde hair and blue eyes. She was even attacked once! Shot even! Why does that happen?” Aren fell silent, gathering his thoughts. “I joined the military because of her. I wanted to make a difference you know? Protect her somehow. And, in the end, I still couldn’t save her. My own company killed her and covered it up with lies! And I wasn’t there with her! I just think, if only I were there….”
“You can’t think like that, man,” Troy said. “Once you start doing that, thinking what if and blaming yourself, you lose not only as a soldier but as a man…as a human being. There are always casualties in war, and there’s nothing you can do about it. You can just do your best at bringing down the bastards that caused the pain in the first place, the evil bastards that try to screw everything up for everybody else. Like Walten.”
Aren nodded. Silently, he pulled on a chain wrapped around his neck. Hidden inside his shirt was a locket. Aren popped open the cover and a holographic image blipped. The girl in the picture had a large, bright smile. She was beautiful. Her blonde curls framed her face. Even her blue eyes seemed to sparkle with life.
“That’s her. I’ll keep fighting for her,” Aren said. “At least…at least you guys were with her in the end.”
Troy gasped, grabbing Aren’s locket, tugging the boy forward. He gaped in awe at the photo, nearly running his face into the image. The young woman was none other than Fiona, Ivory’s sister.
“Holy shit!” Troy yelled.
“Holy shit, what?” Aria asked, walking toward the two men, a small box of capacitors in her hand. She eyed the photo Troy was scrutinizing. Her face quickly fell as she recognized the woman.
“I hadn’t realized until I saw the security feed this afternoon that Ivory was the same Ivory that I once knew.” Aren’s eyes were bloodshot, tears trying to form in the corners. He quickly sniffed, fighting back his emotions.
“The security feed…” Troy groaned. “You saw her….” He didn’t want to say more, but Aren nodded. “I’m sorry, man. If I had known Fiona was your girlfriend…I…we wouldn’t have let you show that video.”
Aria frowned. Now she knew why Aren seemed so upset during the huge reveal of Walten’s plans. They just displayed Fiona’s gruesome death to the whole world.
“No, it’s alright. I knew she was killed. Just wasn’t sure how,” Aren said, the image disappearing back into his locket as he snapped it closed. “And I’m glad we showed the footage. It just strengthens my hate for Walten and that stupid little girl.”
Aria took a seat beside the young man. She placed a hand on his shoulder, giving him a little shake. He fed her a weak smile. “We’ll get ‘em,” she whispered as she handed over the small box.
Aren nodded, and within a couple seconds, he was back to work on Troy’s wrist. Using little tweezers, he placed the tiny capacitor inside the hole in the soldier’s wrist. A moment later, Troy’s DNAIS popped up, recalibrating itself.
“Good as new!” Aren clapped his hands together.
Troy smiled, flicking through his items. “Ah! Even my little black book of numbers is still there!”
Aria scowled at him. She flung her arm across Aren’s lap. “My turn?” she asked.
Aren grabbed her wrist, readjusting his micro-optics and zoomed in on her, trying to locate the pinpoint hole in her skin. “You two are slave drivers…” he grumbled.
“Welcome to Delta,” Aria said with a cheerful smile.
“Welcome to Team Phoenix,” Troy added as he stood up, watching the battlefield from afar.
Aria looked up at the man and then over to Aren, who had an open-mouthed expression. “Since you’ve already faked your death….” She nodded at him, and he gave a stupid grin.
“Cool,” Aren said. That was one more thing to scratch off his bucket list. Never had he imagined he’d be working side by side with Aria and Troy of Bio-Tech Military Corporation and be considered one of their team members.
As Aren plugged away at Aria’s DNAIS, Troy kept watch over the battlefield, keeping track of the numbers. He narrowed his eyes and cocked his head to the side. One of Feyette’s massive shuttles was pulling back, calling in his soldiers. They were retreating.
“Hey! Check it out!” Troy pointed. “Feyette’s pulling out his men!”
Aria watched as the rest of the shuttles pulled back, soldiers scurrying and rushing for escape. Kovacevic’s men didn’t relent. They kept pushing forward, hitting Feyette with the hard stuff. They brought down two of the large vessels; the rotors sputtered with sparks and explosions before the vehicles crashed onto the ground. Troy tallied up the death tolls. Five hundred and sixty-two were killed on Kovacevic’s side, two hundred and eighty-four on Feyette’s. Not too bad. Most of Kovacevic’s military was still standing. His army had lost a lot of drones though.
Within minutes, the booming battlefield was nearly silent, and Feyette’s unit was only a few flying dots on the horizon. A couple of shots would ring out here and there as Kovacevic cleaned up the combat zone, ridding the area of the enemy soldiers. He didn’t bother taking any prisoners. At this point, Aria wasn’t sure if she would have either.