Devil's Den

by Jeff Altabef

  “Let me guess. He said his name was Father Paul.”

  “He told me to call him Paulie.”

  I’ve done some difficult things in my life, but leaving Kate in that apartment was one of the hardest.

  December 14th, 2041, 12:47 AM

  I sit alone in a dark room, my trusty knife in hand. I’ve carved a half-dozen scars into my forearm over the past few years. Lines I’ve written into my arm when I needed to check my blood to see if I’ve turned into a demon. I don’t need to do that anymore. I’m in control of my own fate and I’ve made a promise. I won’t become a demon and succumb to the dark side and the terrible power it brings.

  I’m on a different path. I keep expecting to find Father Paul waiting for me somewhere. Now, I look over my shoulder for demons and angels. I’m sure I’ll see Father Paul again soon. He’s not done with me.

  Caesar appears next to me, a rare smile on his face. “This is the end of the line for us, Cupcake. You don’t need me anymore.”

  “Why not?”

  “My job is done. You’ve made your decision. You don’t need me to fight that demon who was lurking inside of you. You’ve done it yourself.”

  “You were protecting me?”

  “Someone had to. You’re as dumb as a stump. One of the worst trainees I’ve ever had the displeasure to work with. I—”

  “That’s enough.”

  Caesar winks and fades from sight.

  Mary did one last favor for me. I sent her my mother’s tablet and she hacked into it. I know who Trevor is. He’s the governor, and he’s not going to get away with what he’s done. He’s hurt thousands of people, hundreds of girls. He hurt my daughter, and I won’t excuse it. Father Paul said God needed warriors on his side. I guess I fit the bill.

  The door to the bedroom opens, and the governor walks in. He flips the light switch, and I’m standing before him, my knife fluttering before his eyes. I wonder if his blood will be black like tar.

  I can feel the Fates cut his string with their scissors of death. At my heart, I’m a people pleaser. I had better check the time.

  But... don’t stop here. Please keep reading for more, including our Bonus Content—not just one, but two Special Sneak Previews of Jeff Altabef’s other books:

  RED DEATH

  and

  FRACTURE POINT

  Danger lurks outside Eden’s sturdy walls, in the land of the Soulless—a medieval world filled with witches, warrior kingdoms, and magic.

  Please enjoy the Special 2-Chapter Sneak Preview we offer below, or....

  ~~~

  GRAB THE FULL KINDLE EBOOKS TODAY!

  RED DEATH Series at Amazon

  ~~~

  Please keep reading for....

  CHAPTER 1 – Aaliss

  ~~~

  Aaliss nearly growled, her mood foul. Weary from a long day, she wanted nothing more than to crawl into bed, stuff her head under a pillow, and fall blissfully asleep. Instead, she found a note perched on top of her bed like a bad omen. She sighed and carefully unfolded the paper and read her young brother’s precise handwriting.

  He wanted her to come to his lab, and although he phrased it like a request, he was really summoning her.

  For a long moment she stared at her bed, tempted to slip under the sheets, but she really had no choice. Wilky would wait for her all night and the next day until she came for him, and she didn’t want him sleeping at the lab again.

  She trekked across the Compound to his lab and stood before him.

  Wilky crossed his arms against his thin chest. He was a good-looking boy with bright blue eyes, the family’s jet-black hair, strong features, and a thin muscular frame. “We’re starving them.”

  Aaliss glanced behind her brother and into the holding pen. Three Guests her age, two girls and one boy, sat slumped with their backs against the wall.

  They do look gaunt.

  Somehow the unwanted thought bullied its way into her mind before she could prevent it. Wilky had a way of doing that—making her see the world differently, the way he saw it—and now, when she looked at the captives, she saw only skin and bones and desperation.

  She waved at the Guests in what she hoped would be a dismissive gesture, but she failed miserably and felt a little foolish. “They’re Soulless, Wilky. The devil has claimed them. We’re not supposed to worry about the Soulless.”

  Her words sounded hollow even to her, and a chill swept down her spine. She had begun to doubt Eden’s most fundamental teachings, which scared her. Once doubt crept in, where would it lead?

  Wilky stayed silent and intensified his glare until his eyes carved straight through her chest and into her soul. He might be thirteen, but he had the eyes of someone much older and wiser, someone who knew truths he should never have known.

  Time ticked on, the two locked in a silent tug of war Aaliss knew she would never win. Born stubborn, Wilky would stay, arms crossed and eyes glaring, for as long as it took for her to cave in.

  A fire three years ago had claimed their parents, and she had been responsible for him ever since. Sometimes she wanted to strangle him, but he was her brother, and she loved him, and the two had forged a team of sorts. Piers, their oldest brother, completed the group, but he was... well, he was Piers, and that made him more of an honorary member of the team than a full-fledged participant.

  They do look hungry.

  She sighed. “Okay, I’ll find Piers and see if he can rustle up some food. But you know I’ll get into real trouble if a Priest catches me sneaking into the Parsonage.”

  Wilky shot her a sideways glance and a small smirk.

  They both knew she was too highly trained, too skilled to get caught.

  “This can’t wait until tomorrow?” she asked.

  He shook his head.

  She groaned as she left the lab, retraced her steps through the Labyrinth, slipped her way to the stone circular staircase that led to the Parsonage, and cringed when she saw a full moon through a narrow window. She didn’t believe in superstitions as much as other people she knew, but a full moon portrayed an ominous sign. She didn’t scare easily, but the devil used the moon to create mischief, and a full moon meant danger.

  No one else traveled the staircase at this time of night, so she crept up the steps unseen until she reached the top landing and a locked door. Unlike the other doors into the tower, which were made of wood, a heavy steel door protected the Parsonage where the Priests lived. A red light glowed by the handle, with a keypad to its side.

  She approached warily and peered through a small window. The full moon reflected back at her as if spying on her, waiting for her to be discovered. She had no excuse to visit the Parsonage this late, and if the High Priest caught her, she would get in trouble. If he suspected dark motives, her punishment would be severe. Still, she had come this far and could not disappoint Wilky. She said she’d go, and she kept her promises.

  She pressed six on the keypad three times, and held her breath as the light turned from red to green. The combination for the lock changed daily, but a glitch in the system allowed three sixes to work every time.

  Wilky had told her the secret.

  She had no idea how he had discovered it. She assumed he must have overheard someone talking about it, but when she asked him, he would not say.

  “I must be crazy,” she muttered to herself, and exhaled as she edged the door open just far enough to peek down the hallway.

  Flickering candlelight danced through the corridor, casting shadows that looked like living creatures, as misshapen and dangerous as those that lived in the Zone—the heavily wooded buffer area between Eden and the Soulless.

  Aaliss patrolled in the Zone. As a Guardian, part of her job was to make sure the Soulless never learned of Eden’s existence. In that darkness, she was one of the dangers for the unwary. Not so here in the Parsonage. Priests ruled in Eden.

  She focused on her destination and ignored the shadow creatures, willing them away. You are not real. With
no one in sight, she slipped into the hallway and glided toward the fourth door on the left.

  A tall, thin Priest knelt at a small wooden altar in the small chamber. Two years older than Aaliss, the handsome nineteen-year-old wore the robe of the newly initiated Priests. He had many of the same features as Wilky—chiseled chin, short straight black hair, and bright blue eyes—but that revealed only part of her brother’s story.

  The fire that took their parents had severely damaged the other half of Piers’s face, the side not visible from the doorway. Half his body had been badly burned, leaving him disfigured and suffering with weakness and pain in his left leg and arm.

  Relieved to find him alone, she entered the small prayer room and silently closed the door behind her. As the smallest and plainest chamber in the Parsonage, it had just enough space for the small altar, a chair, and perhaps four people standing close together. Although simple and small, it was Piers’s favorite place to pray. She’d known she would find him here, as he always prayed before he went to sleep.

  He knelt on alternating black and white marble tiles. All the floors in the Parsonage were made from the same tiles—white for truth and purity, and black for lies and evil. Just like the Priests’ robes—the initiates wore black with white sashes, and the fully-ordained Priests wore white robes with black sashes. Only black and white existed in Eden—gray and the doubts that accompanied it had no place here.

  She crept toward him, shadow-quiet, a sly smile creasing her lips. She could move like a ghost when necessary.

  His lips moved as he concentrated intently on his prayers. He knelt at the altar, his back rod straight with his head bowed piously.

  When she had snuck close to him, she poked him on the shoulder.

  He leaped forward with a start and let loose a soft shriek.

  She forgot about the moon and the shadow creatures, and laughed freely while he scowled at her. It felt good to laugh; she so rarely laughed anymore.

  “Are y-you crazy?” he stammered as he straightened his black robe. “You almost sent me to the next world!”

  “You’re always so easy to startle.” Her smile faded as she studied her brother’s face and lifted her hand to touch him. “You have a bruise on your cheek.”

  He looked away before she reached him. “What are you doing here? You could get into real trouble.”

  She balled her hands into tight fists. “Did he do that to you?”

  “I spilled the Sacred Drink yesterday. I was careless. My leg gave out, so I had to be taught a lesson. The Book of Jacob tells us it is a sin to waste food.”

  “But it was an accident. He has no right to hurt you. Doesn’t the Book also tell us to be kind to our fellow Edenites, always, especially those who are hurt? ‘Care for your brothers and sisters, always, for in this world you are each others’ keepers against the Soulless ones.’” She narrowed her eyes. “I’d like to teach him a lesson about following the ways of the Book.”

  Piers turned and gently wrapped his arms around her shoulders. “It’s okay, Ally. It doesn’t hurt, and I spilled the Sacred Drink. Besides, he is the High Priest. The Creator speaks through him. Sometimes he must be severe to teach the proper lessons. There’s a plan, and the Creator has given us the High Priest to explain it to the rest of us. These mysteries are hard to understand, but we must accept them.”

  She softened in his grip and spoke false words. “You know what’s best.” She still wanted to teach the High Priest a lesson, maybe punch him in that round face and feel her knuckles crush his flat nose, but she told her brother what he wanted to hear. Life was hard enough for Piers without adding to his burdens.

  He smiled with the only side of his face that could, but it made her feel better.

  When he released her, he stepped backward and frowned. “Your hair looks long.”

  Guilt ripped through her. As a daughter of Eden, she knew the consequences of bending the rules—shame and humiliation if caught by a Priest.

  She smoothed her black hair. “Hair grows. I’ve been gone for two weeks!”

  “Your hair is almost touching your shoulders. You know the Word. Vanity is a sin. You should cut it before anyone notices.”

  “Yes, Father, if you say so.” She bowed her head.

  He failed to take the bait and renew one of their old arguments. Instead, he asked, “So, why did you risk coming here? I planned to see you and Wilkiford tomorrow.”

  She frowned. “It’s our Guests in Wilky’s lab. He’s upset. He says we’re starving them, and I think he’s right. They’re thin, Piers, and they have a wild look in their eyes. It’s not right to treat them that way.”

  He raked his hand through his hair and started pacing, limping slightly, his left boot swooshing quietly against the marble floor. “Do you care about how the rancher treats the cattle or the farmer the chickens?”

  “Don’t sermonize to me, brother!” Heat flushed her face. “These people are human beings. I’ve spent time with them. I’ve gathered some of them. They have no souls, but they’re not livestock.”

  He stopped pacing and let his arms drop to his side. “Yes, but the Creator has stripped away their souls. They’re not like you or me. They are the Soulless. He’s punished them for their wickedness! We risk His wrath if we have anything to do with them. It’s all written in the Book of Jacob. ‘Though the Creator has saved but a few of us for His greater glory and the promise of a new beginning, ever be on your guard.’”

  No one quoted the Book like Piers. His piety had become almost all-consuming since the fire, and Aaliss hated it. Before the fire he was fun, daring, even rebellious. Now he’d wrapped himself up so tightly in the Book that none of the old Piers had room to breathe.

  “I know all about the Book, brother. I listen to the Reflections every night when I’m not on patrol. It’s easier to believe the Soulless are damned here in the Parsonage. You don’t spend time with them, or gather them from the Zone for our experiments.” Tears rushed unbidden to her eyes. “You know how Wilky gets. When he grabs onto something he won’t let go.”

  “I understand. Our Wilky is a special boy.” He sighed. “What do you want from me?”

  “All I need is a loaf of bread. Everyone knows food is plentiful in the Parsonage. The rest of us aren’t so lucky.”

  “It’s important that we Priests have enough energy to care for Eden’s spiritual soul. I don’t....” He paused when he saw the tears in her eyes. “I suppose it’s natural for Wilky, of all people, to become attached to the Soulless. Stay here. Let me see if I can find something in the Pantry.”

  He limped from the room, careful to close the door quietly behind him.

  Left alone, Aaliss studied the two portraits that hung on the wall behind the altar. One depicted Jacob, the original Guardian of Eden, and the other, the High Priest. Both wore identical robes and expressions. She wondered how long it had taken the High Priest to copy the prophet’s confident yet solemn face.

  The weasel would have wanted it just right.

  Both sets of eyes seemed to stare at her, boring into her, questioning her. Unnerved, she slipped to the window. The view from the Parsonage stretched to Eden River and the Zone beyond. The moonlight sparkled off the river, but the Zone crept beyond it like a long black shadow. Her heart raced as her keen eyes searched for the evil the full moon would surely bring.

  She wondered about the world outside of the Zone. The Zone is wild, but what lies beyond it?

  The Priests told stories of the Soulless, describing them as wicked, uncivilized, cannibals even. But how could they know? None of the Soulless she had gathered or killed seemed much different from the Edenites. And no one ventured beyond the Zone. The land of the Soulless was forbidden, a place shrouded in mystery.

  Piers returned carrying a round loaf of bread in a fine but plain linen cloth. “The moon has no power over us. We are Believers. Purity, Faith, and Strength.”

  He understood her better than anyone else, and sometimes she thought he coul
d read her mind. “I know, brother. Purity, Faith, and Strength.”

  Would his opinion change after a night in the Zone under a moonlit sky?

  He triumphantly handed her the bread as if it were a trophy. “This was all I could find.”

  “Thanks. I knew you would help.”

  He held onto the bread for a few seconds before releasing it to her. “I’m going to speak to Wilky tomorrow. This cannot continue. He has to understand the difference between Edenites and the Soulless. It is not good for him to get so....” He seemed to search for the proper word. “...Confused.”

  CHAPTER 2 – Aaliss

  ~~~

  Aaliss watched as Piers shuffled down the hallway and into the flickering candlelight. She’d be happy to leave the Parsonage. She never felt comfortable here. She always got the odd sensation that the Parsonage was more dangerous than the Zone—a silly notion, but it rippled through her now.

  Piers stopped a few paces from the door and gave her the “all clear” signal.

  For a moment the firelight lit his scarred face and the shadows played their games, creating a version of Piers Aaliss didn’t recognize—morphing him into something wicked.

  That’s not my brother. It’s simply the shadows and the full moon up to their tricks.

  She shook her head to clear it, eased her way into the hallway, and headed in the opposite direction from her brother, back toward the circular staircase. She moved swiftly until she noticed light seeping from the cracks in the doorway that led to the corner room, the one closest to the staircase. Someone had left the door open by the slightest amount.

  Her heart hammered against her chest as hushed voices escaped from the other side of the door.

  She glanced back at her brother, who waved her on toward the staircase, yet the door with the light and the voices pulled her. The staircase led back to Wilky and her bed and rest. She wanted to go that way, yet her eyes focused on the sliver of light inviting her to the other door.