by Jeff Altabef
“What if I don’t want to?”
“Of course you want to. I can see the flames in your eyes. You must feel the power surging through your body. You don’t have to repress who you are. Lucifer loves you for it. He will glorify you for your strength. Besides, you’ve practically turned already. You feel how good it is! That power, that sense of being alive! You can’t turn back now.”
I clench my hands into fists. She’s right. I do feel alive, and it feels damn good. If I turn to her, I can live my life the way I’m hardwired. Free to let my inner demon hunt. Free to hurt and punish those I want. Isn’t that what I’m made for?
She chuckles. “I have good news and bad news for you, Stevie.”
“You know how I hate when you do that.”
“The bad news is that God will never take you in. You’ve committed too many sins. You’re not pure enough for him. The good news is that Lucifer will welcome you, and his side is so much more fun. You will launch both of us to the highest levels. We will help rule over mankind. Mother and son together. We can bring humankind back to its true nature. The strong should rule over the weak. Not the wealthy. Us!”
She speaks with such certainty, such authority, that it all sounds reasonable. I see why she succumbed to it. We can be important. The current system leads to such pain. Wouldn’t a new system be better? One based upon strength. How could it be worse?
She grins. “You can have Kate and Megan and whoever else you want. Lucifer can be a generous master. He knows how to reward his followers.”
I glance at Kate and Megan. Megan still aims the gun at her mother.
“We are the same,” my mother’s voice turns into a throaty whisper. “Join us and free yourself.”
The world crashes around me, as if I’m in the center of an earthquake and skyscrapers fall everywhere and shakes the ground. Am I like my mother? Should I join her, and be free to be myself, stop fighting the demon inside? I can do it. One word, but I’ll never be able to go back. Lucifer will claim me as his own. Once I have that power, I’ll never give it up.
I’m moving toward my mother, each inch drawing me closer to her world. I stop and think of Buck. I used to be like him. I used to fight for those who couldn’t. Can I turn my back on people like him?
I’ve been doing this all wrong from the beginning. I’ve been looking to others to find out who I am. I came to Philadelphia to find my mother, hoping she’d have the answer. I even looked to Kate and Father Paul, wanting them to tell me what I should do, who I should be. In an odd way, my mother and Raven helped me realize the truth. No one else can decide for me. They want me to turn to the Devil, which means I haven’t turned yet. I still have a choice. Free will even. It’s up to me. The Fates haven’t woven that part of my tapestry yet.
I can still be saved. It’s not what I’ve done that defines me. It’s what’s in my heart, and what I will do next that matters. I can still do good. It’ll be a harder path, less likely of success, the odds lower, but harder doesn’t mean worse.
I’m not my mother’s son. I stand taller and release my fists.
“Let Kate go, and I won’t hurt you.”
My mother nods. “You still need persuading. You need a demonstration. You’ve always been stubborn. Now you’ll see Lucifer’s strength. You’ll see that any other path is foolish.”
She turns and shouts to Megan, “Spring, shoot that demon!”
Fuck, I didn’t expect that.
Ivy’s command pulls Megan to action. She aims for the demon’s chest, but before she pulls the trigger, Petal jumps in front of the creature, her voice pleading.
“Don’t do it. It’s not really a demon. It is your mom!”
Megan squints, and the image of the demon flickers. For a moment, it looks like her mom. The moment lasts a second and disappears, the demon returning, smoke rising from the horns on its head. “Get out of the way. I have to kill it.”
Petal steps toward her. “Your name is Megan Smith. What’s my name?”
“Petal.”
Petal’s eyes mist over, and they plead with Megan. “What’s my real name? Please Megan, you promised not to forget it. Remember.”
Ivy calls from the other room, her voice fused with the authority of God. “Spring, honey, we don’t have all day. Kill that demon or you’ll never go in a chapel again. You’ll never talk to God again or feel his presence. He demands loyalty, and that demon has to die.”
A shiver runs through Megan’s body. She needs the chapel. She can’t imagine living without it. The demon says something, but she can’t hear it. Her finger tightens on the trigger, but Petal won’t get out of her way.
Megan focuses on her friend again, remembering the feel of her lips, the touch of her fingertips, the grace in her smile.
She recalls her first vision and how strange it was that God looked like Petal. And then she remembers. “Your name is Felicity Sanders and I’m Megan Smith. I want to explore space.”
“Yes, you do,” says Petal, relief in her voice. “And one day you will.”
The gun shakes in Megan’s hands, she blinks, and the demon transforms into her mother. Ivy’s lying to her. She’s been lying all along. That voice in her head isn’t God, it’s Ivy spewing venom.
Megan turns and points the gun at Ivy. “I have good and bad news for you. I’m going to start with the bad.”
She pulls the trigger, but nothing happens.
I glare at my mother.
“What? Did you really think I was going to hand that girl a loaded gun? I know what you’re thinking, that I’m helpless, but you’re wrong.” She presses the screen on her tablet.
Megan screams. Petal has fallen to her knees, clutching the necklace, which has tightened to the point of choking her.
“Mother, stop it. The girl has done nothing wrong.”
“Her life is in my hands.” My mother backs away from me. “Here’s the situation, Stevie. I control all the pendants from this tablet. All of them—966 Angels across the globe. One touch from me and they all die. Each pendant has an explosive built into it. It will get messy. If I die, they all die. It’s a failsafe I’ve built into the system. My heart stops beating, and so do theirs. It’s controlled from my pendant.” She lifts her necklace to show me her charm. “Don’t do anything stupid.”
I lift my hands over my head. “Give me the tablet, and you can go.”
“Go? This is my place. A dozen Reapers will be here in a few minutes, plus my guards. You’re surrounded. You have no way out.”
Helicopter blades thump over the building, and I grin. “That’s Homeland. The tables have turned, Mother.”
“But I did away with the traitor.” My mother’s face turns red. “I sent a message to Homeland about the other farm.”
“Yes, a tragic mistake. Buck was really the traitor, that’s the bad news. Oh, and I guess there’s more bad news. He told them the truth.”
The fire in my mother’s eyes burns even hotter than before. She swipes the tablet and places it on top of the stainless tube before her. “I’ve started a countdown sequence. You have five minutes. You’ll have to hack my password and disable it. If you don’t, Megan and all the Angels will die. Their heads will explode, and that’s on you.”
“What’s the password?”
“You’ll have to hack it.”
“How?”
“That’s up to you.” She hesitates before she runs off. “I offered you everything. It’s a shame you couldn’t see it.”
She runs and she’s gone, into the maze.
I grab the tablet. The countdown clock reads four minutes and forty seconds, and it’s running.
I bring the tablet to Kate, Megan, and Felicity. Kate and Megan are crying, and Felicity’s sitting with tears trickling down her face. The chain chokes her neck, but there’s just enough room for her to suck in air.
Gabriel and Tina barrel to us. They’re wearing Homeland Kevlar vests and helmets. Gabriel swings the M18 in an aggressive loop before he lowers th
e weapon.
Tina crashes in on Megan and Kate’s hug.
“What’s the situation?” asks Gabriel. “Any hostiles about?”
“I don’t think so.”
“Why that look on your face then?” asks Gabriel.
I speak loudly so everyone hears me. “We have a problem. My crazy mother has rigged the pendants that all the Angels wear to explode when this countdown reaches zero. We have three minutes and twenty seconds left. If I can’t come up with the password by then, they will all die.”
“Why don’t we rip them off?” Kate reaches for Megan’s chain, but the girl pushes her hand away.
“You can’t break the chain! If the connection is broken, the explosive will detonate.”
“What a total bitch,” says Tina. “Where is she? We’ll ring the password out of that whackjob.”
“She took off. I couldn’t waste time chasing after her.”
3 minutes left.
“Start typing, dipshit,” says Tina.
“Thanks.”
I don’t know what to use, so I eliminate the obvious possibilities: my name, my father’s name, The Farm, the town we’re in, Otherworldly Experiences, and Lucifer.
Kate’s holding on to Megan and Felicity in a death grip. She should back off in case I can’t figure out the password, but she won’t.
Felicity wheezes something I can’t hear.
Megan calls out, “Felicity says the password is seven.”
I type in seven and it doesn’t work. It’s too simple. I shake my head at the others.
1 minute 55 seconds left.
I close my eyes. Father Paul said I needed faith, so I pray. I pray that God will deliver me, and that in return, I’ll dedicate my life to do His will. Father Paul said I knew everything I needed. Somewhere in my thick skull, I must know the answer, if only it will come to me.
My mother is a complete narcissist. She believes the world revolves around her. What password would she use?
I fall deeper into a meditative state. I’m standing outside my old apartment building. The old-timer is talking to me. His eyes burn with a blue light. I hadn’t noticed that the first time we met. The first time I thought his gaze just meant he wanted to live, but there was more to it. The light reminds me of the light in Father Paul’s eyes.
Forty seconds left.
What story did he tell me? I reach back, picture his thin, haggard face, and remember the awful smell. Smells bring back memories better than anything else. I see his lips move and then the words spill out. He told me a tale about the Seventh Street Stabber. A person who terrorized my old apartment, stabbing people to death. He thought the murderer had to be a male, but a female demon would work — my mother.
Felicity thought the password was seven. What if she only had part of it?
Fifteen seconds left.
I type “Seventh Street Stabber” press enter and hold my breath.
The tablet vibrates, and the clock stops—4 seconds.
Kate releases Megan and Felicity. Gabriel laughs, and Tina slaps him on the back.
I’ve made a bargain I’ll have to keep, but it’s worth it.
I fold the tablet, put it into my pocket, and an alarm blares.
Red lights swirl.
What now?
Gabriel points to the corners of the warehouse space. “Explosives. The place is wired to go. We’ve got to get out of here.”
He grabs Tina and pushes her toward the door. Kate, Megan, and Felicity follow him.
It’s the best way out, the shortest route to safety. I freeze. Buck’s alive, and he’s the other way. I can’t leave him. He risked his life for us.
I take off in the other direction, and blood surges through me. I’m back in that enhanced state, senses popping, strength ripping through me.
I shoulder my way through the door and into the cathedral. Buck’s on his knees, and he can’t stand. I reach him at a full run, grab him with one arm, and sling him over my shoulder while still running forward. An explosion rips through the warehouse portion of the building. The floor rocks. I sprint for the glass doors. A second explosion, under the cross, follows the first. It’s all meant to be simultaneous, but the half-second delay is all I need.
I crash straight through the glass doors, shards raining everywhere. Another explosion. And then another.
Two steps later, the shaking ground topples me into the mud. I face plant and Buck falls forward. All I can do is cover my head.
Another explosion detonates. Shrapnel flies past me. A chunk of the oak cross skewers the ground an inch from my head, but nothing hits me. I crawl to Buck, who’s safe and alive.
The cathedral and the warehouse are gone—twisted metal, burning. Everything inside is toast. A chopper beats in the air, and I wave. Gabriel and the others are on board. Tina flips me the bird.
Something buzzes in my pocket. I pull out my mother’s tablet. There’s a message for me.
It’s strange how Megan has six toes on her right foot. Isn’t that a genetic condition?
December 12th, 2041, 8:45 PM
Five days have passed since we saved Megan and blew up the cathedral in the process. Gabriel, with the support of President-elect Charles Sheppard, assembled a massive Homeland team that descended upon both farms like a plague of locusts. As part of the team, Sheppard sent some of the best hackers in the government. They found a redundant computer system at the larger farm, successfully hacked in, and released the chains that held all the pendants. The Angels are free from that threat at least.
Homeland shut down all the Otherworldly Experience shops. They’re still searching for the mastermind behind the enterprise, but they haven’t found him. The only name that keeps coming up is Trevor, an obvious alias. Even Buck has no idea who Trevor is. He’d been searching for his identity before we blew the top off the operation.
Homeland renamed the farms the “Devil’s Den,” and is treating the entire situation as a giant sex-slave ring. I understand why. That’s certainly part of the story, the easiest part to understand, but it’s not the whole thing. My mother was using these Angels to further her desires and push us toward the End of Days. She had more in store for these girls than sex for profit, but I can’t explain my suspicions to anyone. Not even Gabriel. I don’t have any proof that demons or angels exist, whether fallen or not. Who would believe me? At times, I doubt myself.
We might never know exactly what my mother and this Trevor had planned, but Gabriel uncovered a list of all the sold girls and Homeland is trying to retrieve them. Some might be hard to get because they’re overseas, but they’ll try. Gabriel is still a little sore about my drugging him. It’ll take time for him to forgive me, but he’s doing good here, and that takes a lot of the sting out of the situation. Eventually, he’ll stop growling at me. I’d like to keep him as a friend. I don’t have that many.
Buck survived, even though his throat was badly damaged. He can talk now, but he’ll never sound the same. He’s been instrumental in helping Gabriel and Homeland clean up the mess. At least he’ll live with the knowledge that he helped bring a stop to The Farm and the evil happening there. He knows where many of the bodies are buried, quite literally. Gabriel and I watched as they uncovered two mass graves. At least one hundred souls buried in them.
I’ve seen my share of evil in the world. Hell, I’ve participated in more than my share, but that shook me. Bones and decomposing bodies tossed inside in a heap as if worthless. As if they never counted. I can’t unsee it now, but I wish I could.
Kate and I are alone in her apartment, sitting on the couch in her living room.
“How was the zoo?” she asks me.
“Amazing. I’m not sure who had the best time.”
“Probably Eddie,” she grins.
“I’m sure you’re right, but Megan and Felicity enjoyed the day, and they could barely pull Denise away from the gorillas.”
“What about you?”
“One of the top five days in my life. Megan
is remarkable. I know she has work to do to overcome what my mother put her through in those chapels, but she’ll make it.”
“Yes, she will.” Kate touches my hand. “So why the sad face?”
“I know Megan is my daughter. I saw the six toes on her right foot. That’s not a coincidence.”
“Don’t be cross. I made up that story about Ethan so many years ago. I think I actually started to believe it. And when I saw you, I couldn’t just dump the fact that Megan was your daughter on you. Not when she was missing. It was too much and—”
I kiss her on the lips, deep, and it’s wonderful.
When we pull apart, Kate says, “You’re not angry with me?”
“How can I be angry with you? Megan is a miracle. I have a daughter and she’s just like you. I couldn’t be happier.”
Kate touches my face and our lips meld together. It’s the second-best kiss in my life, behind only that first one in Kissing Park.
“Why do you look sad then?” Kate asks.
“I can’t stay. You won’t be safe with me here. My mother will come looking for me and not just her.” I explain to Kate the story of my mother and father, and this Great Struggle, which is about to happen between angels and demons.
Kate stands and soaks it in. “You believe it?”
“All of it. I’m not sure what I’m supposed to do next, but once it’s over, I’ll come back.” I stand and take Kate’s hand. My heart is shattering into endless pieces, but we can’t be together just yet. “I want a life with you and Megan. I just need you to be safe. Once this is settled, we can see how we fit together again.”
Kate nods. “Normally I’d have a hard time believing you, but a priest found me in the hospital today. He told me a strange story about a Nephilim. That’s what he said the guy was, half human and half angel. I didn’t want to believe it, but his eyes shined this blue color and he was convincing. He said this Nephilim was a good person, really. Maybe he’d done some bad things, but his heart was good and might prove to be important in events to come.”