by J. L. Murray
"Oh," I said.
"So this broad, she was Slobodian’s girlfriend, huh?" said Gage. "How’d she go from that to politician?"
"She always wanted a career," said Naz. "Sasha, he could never stop thinking about your mother, Niki. He talked about her all the time, and Norah, she would stick out her lip and want to leave. They were no good for each other, but they stayed together for a while. She finally asked him to help her. We had a lot of pull back then with all the money, connections, you know. So Sasha, he fixed it so she could be mayor. Paid a lot of people off, padded her background. Then, poof. She’s a councilwoman. Few years more, she is mayor. Just like that. Your father gave her money whenever she asked. But then, she started talking crackdowns."
"For the Abnormals," I said.
"Yeah. The Registry," said Naz. He shook his head. "It was like she punched him. He was so angry. She wouldn’t talk to him. Then she had him arrested. Later, Norah even testified against him. Nobody knew about them together. "
"Why didn’t he say something?" I said.
"It was all done before it started," said Naz. "Sasha wanted to go out with some dignity. He said he’d be back to set things right. This must be what he meant."
There was a noise from the bedroom like the crunch of broken glass. We looked at each other.
"Bobby," I said softly. "You said a half hour right?"
"Yep."
"How long has it been?"
"Not long enough."
I bounded from the kitchen, grabbing my guns from the sideboard on my way, holding the Beretta in my left hand and my Marokov in my right. I stopped at the entrance to the bedroom and saw an impossible sight. Hugh Perry, the guy that was lying on a slab in the morgue minus a vital organ, was backing away from Delaney, a red and glistening lump in his hand. Delaney was dead, or would be when she unfroze. She had a hole in her chest right where her heart should have been. There was a coating of red that looked like blood over the organ in Perry’s hand, but it wasn’t dripping or moving like a liquid should. This may have been because of Gage’s conjuring. She hadn’t ‘unstopped’ yet before she was killed. The other figures in the room were still frozen like creepy mannequins. Delaney was still frozen with that amused smile on her face. The expression made it even more horrifying.
There was movement by the window and another figure rose up from where it had been crouching. There was an acrid odor in the air and I realized the person had been vomiting. I knew who it was before he turned around.
"Sasha," I said. "I’ve been looking for you."
He turned. He straightened up. "Nikita," he said. He looked past me. "Nazar. How interesting to see you here."
"That’s the most interesting thing in this room?" gasped Gage, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.
"Sasha," said Naz, stepping past me. "What are you doing, my friend?"
"Just," my father said, then hunched, his shoulders panting. The pseudo-Perry smiled in an amused sort of way. He caught his breath, standing up again. "Just cleaning up a few loose ends," he said.
"What is this person doing here?" Naz said.
I turned to Gage. He looked oddly pale. "Freeze them," I whispered.
"What?" he said.
"What you did to everyone else, do that to them."
"Sis, I don’t know. I’m not--" Gage was interrupted by a splashing noise. I turned to see that he was bent over and was vomiting all over the floor.
"Jesus," I said. "Great." What was it about men? A little blood and they all lost their lunch. At least he had managed to turn rather than puke all over my boots. I liked these boots.
I had the Beretta in my left hand, and the Makarov in my right. Naz was still talking to Sasha. They had switched to their native Russian, and I was having a hard time understanding. Sasha was just looking at his friend morosely, glancing every once in a while at the figure that looked like Perry, but which I knew was Abaddon.
"Enough," I said. Perry smiled at me unpleasantly, like he was thoroughly enjoying the show. I stepped forward and gestured with the Makarov at Sasha. "Call it off," I said.
"Nikita, I’m sorry," he said, looking thoroughly dejected. He was thinner than he had been a few days ago. He had changed out of the orange prison clothes, and was wearing some Levi’s and a blue button-up, but they fit him badly. They hung off of him, his body too thin to fill them out. He licked his dry lips nervously. "I can’t. I ordered this. It can’t be retracted."
"Don’t give me that shit," I said. "Call it off. Send the demon back."
My father shook his head. "I tried," he said, his voice cracking. "It nearly killed me. I am dying anyway. I should have told you. This was my last big act. Something to be remembered by." His voice cracked. "I can’t control him, Nikita," he whispered, as if Abaddon wasn’t in the room with us. "The connection is there, but he does not do as he’s told." Sasha looked fearfully at Abaddon, who seemed not to even care Sasha was in the room. The demon was looking right at me with his fat Perry-face. I got a chill up my back, making me shiver.
"Sasha," said Naz, his voice quiet. "What happens to the demon when you die?" The whole summoning-a-demon-from-Hell thing didn’t seem to be fazing him much. Probably because he’d spent so much time with Sasha that he was used to it.
Sasha was quiet for a moment. Abaddon kept staring at me, and I was finding it hard to look away. I felt like if I didn’t watch him closely he’d take a bite out of me. "Then the connection is broken," said my father. "The creature will be free from me."
"What does that mean?" I said.
My father looked at me. "It means he will be free in the world," he said. "And God help you all."
Gage rejoined us, wiping his mouth again. He started to mutter something, but doubled over before he’d even started. "Sorry, sis," he groaned. "I’m not strong enough right now. The Casting won’t work."
I looked at Abaddon, who hadn’t looked away. It helped that he was cloaked in the skin of a guy I thought of as pure evil. Hugh Perry, who ruined my life, taken everything I had, and then tried to take more. I may not have been able to do what I knew I had to do if not for that face. I pulled the trigger. Then I pulled it again, and again, until I heard the empty click that signaled the clip was empty. The demon hadn’t seemed to notice he’d been shot, so I emptied the Beretta into him too. No change. I stared at him.
The demon didn’t fall over. He didn’t even flinch. But Perry’s face dissolved and the figure seemed to rise up, growing from the short, squat Perry to a height just below the ceiling. His skin darkened to a dusky color somewhere in between red and black. His face flattened and his teeth grew, sharp and shining white in the warm light of the bedroom. His horns sprouted magnificently from his hairless, ridged head. His eyes were small and completely black. The clothes that he had appeared to be wearing-- a white shirt with Perry’s usual sweat-stains under the arms and some faded khakis-- also evaporated, seeming to melt into nothing. The demon glowered at me, his lip curling in a snarl. He took one lumbering step forward, the floor shaking from the force of him. Naz backed up, bumping into me. He uttered a curse under his breath.
"Niki," said Gage. "I think we should get out of here."
I looked at Eli. He was twitching now, the spell starting to wear off. I looked at my father, his eyes full of fear. "No," I said. "I can’t leave Eli."
The demon paused, holding perfectly still, and I had the strangest sensation. As if there was something in my head. My ears filled with whispers, as if a crowd was murmuring all around me, but I couldn’t make out the words. I shook my head, trying to shake off the feeling. There was a pressure in my skull, like I was on a plane taking off. I felt as though I couldn’t breathe, as if I were choking on something. Then just as the panic rose in my chest, the feeling dissipated, and I was left feeling slightly weak, but the whispering had gone, as had the pressure and the feeling of choking. I staggered. The demon smiled.
"What was that?" I said. "What did you just do?"
"Leave
her alone," my father wheezed. Something was happening to him. He was heaving, his breath rattling in his chest. Abaddon chuckled, an eerie, bone-chilling sound like the sound of metal on metal, grating against my nerves.
Naz was still backing away, pushing his body past me and the still-heaving Gage who had grabbed the side of the wall for support. Something was going on with him besides mere nausea, but there was no time to think on that right now. I couldn’t worry about Gage.
"What are you doing to Sasha?" I said, my voice shrill. I knew that my guns wouldn’t work on Abaddon even if they were loaded. But old habits die hard, and I raised the guns, aiming them at the demon’s face. "Let him go," I demanded.
"Little one, put down your toys," the creature said. He didn’t move his lips, but I heard his voice inside my head, dull and throbbing and close. "You can’t hurt me." I looked at his body, trying to focus on his torso, rather than his exposed crotch. There were small marks where the bullets had hit him, but they were closing up fast. I looked at the carpeted floor and realized Abaddon’s body had already expelled the bullets. They lay on the white carpet, smearing dark blood where each one fell.
"Maybe not," I said. "But I can stop you."
Abaddon laughed again. "You are without sin," he said. "Be on your way and leave the rest to me."
The twins were unstopping. Their eyes searched the room like rats, their well-dressed bodies becoming less rigid and falling back onto the bed, their shiny shoes touching the floor at the toes. They still held their insane guns in their hands. Ponytail – I thought he was the one called Otto – twitched his gun hand, a spasm twitching his shoulder.
"I’ve sinned," I said. "I’ve killed people." I was mostly trying to buy time. I didn’t know how it might help, but it was all I had.
"To avoid being killed," throbbed the voice in my head. "You have put sinners in their place, and let go of those you love out of concern for their well-being. Not sin, little one. I will spare you. I find you intriguing. You are like this one," he looked at Sasha, who looked at me helplessly. "So bold, so brave. But you, little one. You are selfless where your father is a selfish man. So many vices. Such a wasted life."
"Why are you doing this?" I said. I lowered my arms, the empty guns pointing uselessly at the floor.
"Don’t you know? Your own father wished it. He commanded me. I have to fulfill my duties to the Summoner." Abaddon smiled. "But when I’m finished, I’m going to clean up."
"Clean up?" I said.
"Your world needs to be cleansed," said the voice. "Purged. You can help me, little one. You can help me rid your world of scum."
"No," I said. I glanced at Eli. He was blinking and moving the index finger of his left hand. His eyes moved towards me, confused. Miklos turned his head toward Abaddon.
"Ah, the lover," said Abaddon. "I will spare him. If that is what you wish. But he has allowed those who abuse their power to continue to abuse it. And half demon, no less. I would brand him a sinner were I not so generous."
"What about sex?" I said. "Isn’t sex a sin?" Blood was starting to ooze from Delaney’s wound. Her eyes started to twitch as she began to unfreeze, then opened wide in shock and pain. They searched the room for me, giving me a questioning look. Jesus, she was still alive.
"Not my area of expertise," said the demon, his lips pursing in distaste. "I deal with the sycophants, the fraudsters, the liars, and the murderers. My pits are filled with those that deserve their fate. They are rotten meat crawling with maggots. There are no excuses where I come from. Only pain."
I looked back at Delaney. She was fading fast. Her eyes went far away, and a shudder shook the bed. Dark blood soaked the bedspread and trickled down the side of the bed, released from the spell Gage had cast. I felt a lump in my stomach, ice cold. I was supposed to help her.
Something caught my eye behind Abaddon. The spirit of Norah Delaney was looking down at her body, her lips pursed. "Oh, that’s just great," she said. "I’m dead. Thanks for all your help, Slobodian." She glared at me. "You were supposed to protect me. This is all your fault."
Abaddon had turned at the sound of her voice. "Shut your mouth," he snarled out loud. "Before I shut it for you." His hands had become fists. He stepped away from her, as if afraid she would touch him.
"You can see her?" I said.
"What is it?" said Gage. He looked pretty rough still, but some color had returned. He was also standing more upright.
"He can see Delaney’s ghost," I whispered. The ghost in question had backed away at the demon’s threat and receded into the wall, disappearing like smoke into the next room.
I’d stalled him this long. If I could just keep him here long enough...then what? Eli would shoot him and get himself killed? Gage would cast some magical spell that would somehow be stronger than a lord of Hell? Otto and Miklos would shoot the shit out of him?
Even as I thought it, Otto moved his arm slowly, letting it rest on the bed. He moved it until his gun was pointed right at Abaddon, who only smiled. His finger curled around the trigger and suddenly a war went off in the little room. Everyone that could move instinctively dropped to the floor. When the noise stopped I looked up. Abaddon had one hand on each of the brothers. They were shaking, twitching uncontrollably, sparks burning small holes in the satin bedspread. After a moment, their eyes were just as flat and dead as Delaney’s.
Abaddon turned to look at Gage, who looked like he was about to have a nervous breakdown, though I suspected it may have been more from the submachine gun fire than the killing. "Don’t worry," Abaddon said. "I won’t indulge myself on their hearts. They would be tough and bitter anyways."
I looked at Sasha. He looked like a ghost. I suspected he was exhausted from trying to control Abaddon for the past few days. There was strain in his face, like he was trying to concentrate on something. His fists were clenched. I thought of what Naz said. About how he left me so I could be raised right. So I could have a normal life away from the killing and torture and black magic. To see him this way, for the first time since I was a girl, I felt something for him. It wasn’t love exactly. Maybe pity, or sympathy, or both. I didn’t agree with any of the paths he had taken in life, but for the first time, I understood them.
"Sasha," I said, even to myself sounding surprised. He looked up at me and took a shuddering breath. "I forgive you."
Sasha stared at me for a moment, his eyes taking in my face. He took a deep, shaky breath, and looked at Abaddon. He narrowed his eyes. "Demon," he said, his voice hoarse. "We leave now."
Abaddon looked at him, irritated. Sasha was saying something, but it was barely audible. What I could hear didn’t sound like words at all. Some kind of spell. I put my hands over my ears, remembering the trickles of blood back at the office building. The demon snarled at my father, his sharp teeth seeming to glow they were so white. My father backed up slowly, then opened his palms toward Abaddon. A fine thread of palest pink came from each hand and circled around the demon’s neck. Abaddon struggled, grabbing at the threads encircling him, sparks being thrown off where he touched them. My father put one leg out of the window and swung the rest of his body over. I saw his face after he dropped and his mouth was still moving. He backed into the front yard and Abaddon followed, the pink string pulling him like a rabid dog. The demon screamed in frustration, the sound causing the entire house to shake. I heard car alarms going off up the street. Where were the cops? Surely someone had called them.
My father was still backing up, pulling the demon so he had to go through the window. He was too big, but seemed to change in size as he went. He became smaller, though didn’t take the form of a human, as he had before.
Sasha stopped at the sidewalk, waiting for Abaddon. They were the same size now, and Abaddon glowered and snarled as he went. But he went all the same. And when Sasha said something to him, the demon put a clawed hand out, twitching as if he were fighting it, which my father took in his own. He looked toward the house.
"I love you, Nikita,"
he said. And then the two were gone.
"Niki," said a voice as I stood at the window, looking where Sasha had been. I turned slowly to see Eli looking at me. He worked his throat, trying to swallow and wincing as he did. "Can you please untie me and tell me what in the hell is going on?"
Chapter Fifteen
"You froze me?" Eli yelled. "What the hell is wrong with you?"
"Not you specifically," said Gage. He was sitting on Delaney’s couch, Eli pacing the room back and forth. I sat on the other end of the couch. Naz disappeared, embarrassed by his own cowardice and grieving the deaths of the twins. He left the bodies.
"Look," said Gage. "It was nothing personal. These Castings, they’re sort of an all-or-nothing type of deal. Either I do one person, or the whole room. And since there were two of them, I did what I had to. I thought Niki was in trouble and I was in a hurry."
"Naz was never going to hurt me, Bobby," I said. "He’s like family."
"He had a gun, he’s a known criminal, and he was alone with you," said Gage. "It’s a logical conclusion. Even I know who he is."
"Well, we all thought Niki was in trouble," admitted Eli, throwing an irritated look at me. "Some family."
"I never meant to hurt anyone," said Gage.
"It wasn’t your fault," I said. "Abaddon would have killed Delaney no matter what. He’s too strong for any of us to fight. Bullets didn’t even hurt him."
"Well, I made it a lot easier for him, didn’t I?" said Gage. He ran a hand over the stubble on his face that was about a day from becoming a full beard. "I might as well have killed her myself."