Ferdie and The Seven: Book three: Fractals

by Larry Buenafe

  Then, all around, stepping up to fill the spaces between the demons, were people with… guns. When they had finished lining up, it appeared that there were more than a hundred; again, people of all shapes and sizes, some looking like traditional hunter types, some possibly survivalists, even a few police officers in the mix. All with guns, and all pointed at us.

  I immediately brought the force field back up, and shouted, “Guns? You outnumber us five to one, and you brought a hundred people with guns? You really are scared, aren’t you? And how about you, Lucky? Yeah, I know your name. Surprised, huh? Oh, and what happened to your arm? Listen, I don’t need any time to think about your offer. I heard a song once, and it had this line that I really like, and it applies right now. I will die with both of my hands untied. Now I have a counter-proposal for you. Hear me out, I think you should really consider this. I will kill you, but I will let all of your people go free. Even the unlucky Lucky, standing next to you. That’s a totally good deal, and I bet all of your people agree. See, look at their faces, they are into this offer. Go ahead, I’ll wait.”

  After a moment, his laughter boomed out like a jet engine. “You see, I told you, Lucky, this is why I want him with us. Hutzpah, moxie, gall, call it what you will, I call it entertainment. He’s funny, much funnier than you. Ahh, well, I’m disappointed that we can’t bridge this chasm between us, Ferdie; it’s the biggest disappointment of my life. Oh, by the way, I have one last surprise for you.”

  I felt a sharp blow to the back of my head, but just for a second, and then everything went black.

  Chapter Thirty Three

  “You idiots! All this time, hiding in plain sight. The longest of long cons… and now, I have The Great Ferdie at my mercy! No, stay back, don’t try anything or I’ll break his neck. On second thought, go ahead, try something, I dare you. Come on!”

  “Hang on, nobody is doing anything. Let’s talk. What happened to your accent?”

  “I was good, wasn’t I? Had everybody completely fooled.”

  I was groggy, but I had recovered my consciousness, and I heard everything being said. I kept my eyes closed and pretended to be out cold. He was holding me up by the neck, and he could break it at any moment. He doesn’t know… play it cool, think… careful, don’t tip him off…

  “‘Oh, ya, mon, I’m from Jamaica!’ I’m from New Jersey! I was amazing; it was an academy award level performance. I have been working on this con since… well, since Ling was born. Oh, yes, Ms. Ling, of course Mr. Ferdie. Feh. It’s time for this con to be over, and time for me to collect my reward!”

  Arnie inched closer, and Rafael didn’t see it. “So, is Rafael your real name?”

  He guffawed, and it was nearly as loud as The Master. “Try Ralph. But it’s all the same, because you and the rest of your pathetic crew will be dead and gone shortly.”

  “Wait… you’ve been reporting to The Master all this time? Ferdie checked you; he would have seen some evidence if you were.”

  “Ha! That’s because I wasn’t reporting to The Master! We went with a little less supernatural method. Technology, to be exact. You idiots kept assuming that the connection must be mind to mind, when it was transmitter to receiver. He couldn’t detect it in me because it wasn’t me! Oh, this is the greatest moment of my life!”

  Through my eyelashes I saw The Master; his arms were crossed, and a satisfied expression filled his vague face. Lucky was laughing with abandon, practically dancing a jig. Denise was barely under control. She was ready to jump out of her skin, to tear Rafael, or Ralph, limb from limb, but she couldn’t move due to his death grip on my throat. Aunt Martha and Ling were crying, helpless to do anything, and Pasquale and Terry stood, transfixed.

  What can you use? There must be something… his grip is starting to tighten… I’ll be choking soon… wait, I can contact Ling directly… I’ll get her to create a diversion…

  Suddenly Ling’s tears ceased and her eyes appeared unfocused; a second later, she glanced over at the row of people atop the rim of the depression. A small man with a huge handgun suddenly lurched forward a few inches, then turned, raised his gun, and fired, shooting the demon standing next to him right in the ear. The other nearby demons attacked, ravaging the small man, and Ralph’s attention was diverted just for a second, his grip loosening slightly. I was about to try to slip free, when the most unexpected thing in the history of unexpected things happened.

  A crack in the sky seemed to open, and through it fell an immense object; it appeared twenty feet or so above Ralph’s head but he didn’t see it, as he was distracted by the calamity on the rim. It fell at terminal speed, and it seemed to be the size of an elephant; it landed directly on his head, and I managed to scoot away before it squashed me as well. Ralph was literally engulfed by it, and suddenly it became clear that a demon had been lurking in the in-between, and now was doing its best to smother Ralph to keep him from igniting. Everyone stood in motionless shock; even The Others looked on with their mouths hanging open. Then, I realized something that I would have thought impossible. I saw the head of the demon; long, blond hair, the features stretched to their limit, but instantly recognizable.

  Ariel! How… what… oh my God! I threw up the strongest force field I could muster, as it was safe to assume that The Master and the rest of his crew, their plan foiled, would attack within moments.

  Ariel is a demon! No wonder we couldn’t find her… she’s been hiding out in the in-between this whole time! Ralph was struggling with all his might, but his movements were starting to slow; he appeared to be near suffocation. I glanced at The Master, but interestingly, he seemed to be enjoying the whole debacle.

  “Help her! Don’t let Ralph escape, hold him in until he’s done,” I shouted to Arnie and Denise. They rushed over, one on each side of the immensely swollen Ariel, helping her keep Ralph contained until it was all over. Soon Ralph collapsed, and Ariel let him tumble to the ground; in a couple of seconds she was at her normal size. I grabbed her and hugged her as hard as I could, crying, “I didn’t know… how is it possible? One of The Seven and a demon in the same family?”

  “I was so scared; I knew they would kill me if they caught me so I just kept moving… all this time. I’m sorry, Fordie, I didn’t want to take the chance, but I saw what he was going to do to you, and… I had to stop him, that’s all. Oh, Fordie, I’m sorry, I’m sorry…”

  “So… did you know? Did you always know I was one of…”

  Before I could finish, The Master’s booming voice rang out: “Ahem. Sorry to interrupt this touching reunion, but we have some business to complete. Who would have guessed, who would have thought, two supernaturals in the same family. I don’t believe that has ever happened before. Lucky? Has this ever occurred?”

  His thin, reedy voice resonated nearly as piercingly as The Master’s. “Not to my knowledge. Certainly, though, it is within the realm of possibility. Look at you, for example. You are definitely out of the ordinary; in a very real way, you are the two of them combined.”

  “Ah, yes, right you are. Ferdie, before we conclude this nasty business, would you like to know how I was able to assemble these troops, and how I am able to control thousands at once, how I am able to do some shape shifting that is much more refined than a demon, how I was able to enter your dreams? Of course you would, and I am not a man to disappoint. Your powers are rare, unprecedented really, but I am one of a kind. I am half member of The Seven and half demon. True, this means I am locked out of certain abilities, but others are greatly amplified. Isn’t that true, my friends?”

  All around, the people on the edge of the depression roared their approval, and I got the strong feeling that they weren’t doing it because they wanted to, but because they didn’t have any choice.

  “Alright, that’s enough. I know you have projected your barrier, or, what do you call it? A force field? A bit juvenile, Ferdie, but I’ll allow it. It may be invisible to the others but I can see it. Now we will see just how strong it is.�
�

  Suddenly, all the guns, more than a hundred, were leveled on us. Angels are tough, and so are demons, but they can be killed by enough bullets, and the rest of us… it would only take one. From all directions, the bullets rained down. Oh, I can feel every one… I won’t be able to maintain this for long… if I pass out, the force field will remain, at least until I’m dead… oh, that hurts… come on, any time now…

  I glanced up at The Master; he had adopted his bull’s head, his indistinct human face in the middle of the massive shape. His arms were crossed contentedly, a beatific smile in place. Come on, any time now… I’m being killed here…

  I fell to my knees, then down to all fours. Hang on, Ferdie, hang on… Suddenly I felt a pair of hands on my back, then another, and another; I collapsed to my belly and my friends positioned themselves on me, making a barrier, the humans first and Arnie, Denise, and Ariel on top. They are using their bodies as a human shield; they are willing to die to protect me. Then I heard Ling’s voice in my ear: “Ferdie, you give me power, all this time. Now, take from me. Take from me, brother.” She rested her body directly on top of mine; I felt the energy flowing from her to me, sustaining me and reducing the pain I was feeling from the constant hail of projectiles.

  “Ling… I can’t take your power, it will leave you helpless… it might even kill you.”

  She was now breathing rapidly and gasping in pain. “No, don’t stop, I can take it.”

  I was pouring the extra strength into the force field, but I was afraid that some of the higher caliber bullets might soon slip through. Suddenly, the shooting stopped. My friends rolled off of me one by one, and I glanced around to see The Master doing a mock slow clap.

  “I think that may be the most touching thing I have ever seen. Don’t you think so?”

  Lucky nodded his head slowly, a leering smile on his face. “Yes, well, I think playtime is just about over. What say you, Ferdie? Ready to tango?”

  Arnie bent down to whisper in my ear. “Let your shield down, just for a second. A second is all I need. Please, Ferdie. This is my purpose. I told him I would kill him, and I must. I must.”

  Arnie’s eyes were clouded with tears; I knew, we both knew, there was no return from this. “Ok,” I breathed in reply, “but Arnie, make him pay. For me, for Marsh, for you, for all of us. Make him pay.”

  Arnie winked, and I brought the force field down.

  Chapter Thirty Four

  He was gone in a flash, disappearing into the in-between; at the very same instant, he reappeared directly in front of The Master, his hands in the form of hardened stabbing instruments; The Master, in an inexplicably swift reaction, seized Arnie by both biceps, lifting him off the ground; Arnie grunted in pain and surprise; The Master roared, lowering his immense bull horns toward Arnie’s face, swinging his head to and fro.

  No, no, no… what can I do? I have to try it… I mustered up all the strength I possessed, took all the strength that Ling had left, and I went blasting into The Master’s mind. A look of supreme surprise filled his vague face, and he hesitated, momentarily frozen; Arnie saw his opening, and stabbed with all his might into the midsection of his mortal enemy. The Master slid down to his knees, obscuring our view of Lucky; I shouted, “Denise! Get him!” but it was too late. He slid smoothly behind Arnie and stabbed him in the back with a long knife, a deadly smile on his face. At almost the same instant, Denise arrived, grabbed Lucky by the back of his shirt, hoisted him high in the air, and brought him crashing down head first with enough force to kill an elephant.

  Denise swung, punching The Master in the middle of his face, and he recoiled in shock and pain; she pulled Arnie away, tossed him over her shoulder, and sprinted back to the center of the depression. The Master snarled like a wild animal; he clutched the open wound in his stomach and spit out a tooth; he bellowed so boomingly that we all had to cover our ears. “THAT’S ENOUGH! PLAY TIME IS OVER. GET THEM, KILL THEM ALL!”

  Instantly, the thirty one remaining demons spread around the perimeter began ballooning in size, and slowly lumbered down the depression.

  Ok, any time now… come on… And then, finally, it happened.

  The sky went dark, as if we were in the midst of a solar eclipse; everyone stopped to peer up at the Heavens, looking for the source of the shade. Then, directly above us, the tiniest pin-prick of light; it flashed at steady intervals, on, off, on, off. It was impossible to tell how far away it was; it might have been immense, like a star, but very far away, or it might have been miniscule, and within a few feet. In a moment, another appeared, indistinguishable from the first, then another, and another. Within a minute, thousands, millions filled the sky over the depression, looking for all the world like a constellation of stars. As they continued to blink in, I took a moment to peek at The Master; he was hurting, clearly, gasping for air, but his head was turned skyward as well. Soon, all the space over the depression swirled with light. I glanced over to see Ling, Aunt Martha, Pasquale, and Terry attending to Arnie; I rose to my knees, and Denise and Ariel put a hand on each of my shoulders.

  “What is happening?” Denise murmured, wonder in her voice.

  “Rescue is happening,” I whispered.

  The spots of light began swirling, slowly at first, then faster, faster, until it looked like a gracefully orchestrated, illuminated cyclone. This… this is a fractal pattern, this is what a pure fractal looks like… if I died right here I would feel fulfilled… we did the best we could, we fought the good fight… all of us, we couldn’t have done any more…

  I thought that the undulating waves of radiance were the most amazing thing I had ever seen, in a lifetime full of amazing things. There is no way I could describe it well enough; it was as if all the beauty in the universe was compressed into this little spot in the desert at this moment in time.

  Then, something I had looked forward to even more.

  From behind me, I heard, “Hey, man, pretty cool, huh? Wait ‘til you see what happens next.” I bolted to my feet and spun around, and there he was, Marsh-dog in the flesh. My eyes immediately filled and I tapped my head wildly; I grabbed him in a bear hug, and I could feel his eyes rolling but I didn’t care.

  “It’s about time. I thought we were all going to get killed before you got here.”

  “Yeah, well, the Time Flies like to make an entrance. I tried my best to get them to hustle, but it looks like we got here just in time. We’ll have time to chat it up later. Watch this!”

  In the midst of their high speed swirling, all motion instantly stopped. The Time Flies remained stationary for a moment, then they were gone, and… so were the demons, all the people with guns… and so was The Master.

  Wait… I don’t want to miss this… “I’ll be right back!” I shouted, and faded into the Bad Lineside of the in-between.

  Whoa, this gets worse every time… I feel like I might pass out from that stench… oh, but what a sight… The demons were flying out, one after another, all thirty two of them, screaming for mercy as they sped unalterably to join the bad line; three and a space, three and a space, continuing on forever.

  After all the demons had flown off to join the bad line, it was time for Lucky, a look of utter fury on his face. “You did this to me!” he screamed.

  “No, sorry but you did this to yourself. You and your Master. Even after everything you have done, I would have saved you if it wasn’t for him.”

  Then, he two was yanked out by the inexorable pull of the bad line.

  Finally, up shuffled The Master; he attempted the appearance of bravado, but I could see the fear in his eyes. “You’ve been here before, so you know what you’re getting into, right?”

  The fear was now closer to the surface. “Ferdie, we could have done it. Together we would have ruled all. You see that, don’t you?”

  “Yeah, that’s probably true, but that’s the difference between you and me. I don’t want to rule anyone. Time to go, now.”

  “Wait, no, no… please, there must b
e something you can do.”

  “Yeah, there’s something I could do… but I won’t do it. It’s your time, take it like a man.”

  Huge tears rolled from his eyes, and he was wrenched from his spot, screaming all the way to the bad line.

  Chapter Thirty Five

  I faded back into the desert, and things were looking bad for Arnie. I crowded through the rest of the group to kneel by his side. “Did we get him?” he gasped, followed by a wracking cough.

  “Yeah, we got him. You got him. I’m sorry, Arnie, I couldn’t tell you our plan. I couldn’t tell anyone. I knew someone was still reporting to The Master and I couldn’t take the chance of tipping him off.”

  “That may have been the best reverse-ambush of all time. How did you get the Time Flies to do it?”

  “I didn’t, Marsh did. Guess what? He’s here, in the world. Not a ghost anymore. The Time Flies brought him back, too.”

  His eyes grew wide, and he coughed again. “Where is he?”

  Marsh-dog’s face appeared over my shoulder, and he said, “Hey du… I mean Arnie. You don’t look too good.”