by N. P. Martin
"This seems too damn easy," I said after a while. "I expected more…resistance."
"You don’t know LeBron," Moira said, the deep scowl on her face signifying her discomfort as we neared the top. "He won’t see you as a threat because he thinks he’s all powerful here, and that no one is a threat to him."
"He hasn’t met me yet."
"Or me," Max chipped in.
"Let me handle LeBron," I told him. "You’ll get what you want soon enough, Max."
"I’d better."
"How far are we from the Draining Chamber?" I asked Moira.
"Not far," she said. "You want to got there now?"
"I do."
Moira sighed. "If LeBron let’s us."
"Fuck LeBron," I said. "I need to see where my family is being held."
"You won’t like it."
I shook my head. "Yeah, I don’t expect to."
Moira wasn’t lying when she said the Draining Chamber was near. After walking down another two tunnels, we emerged into a huge cavernous space. Several feet into the vast chamber, I stopped and stared, first in amazement, and then in disgust as I realized what I was looking at.
Bodies suspended in the air. Thousands of them, stretching back as far as my eyes could see.
"This is it," Moira said quietly, almost like she was in some sacred place. "Welcome to the Draining Chamber."
"My God…"
"Magnificent," Max said.
"Not the word I would fucking use."
"Of course you would be offended by this callous, not to say flagrant, mass abuse of humanity, dead souls or not."
"Forgive me for not being a demonic cunt like you."
"Sticks and stones, Creed…"
"Fuck you."
Max continued to talk, but I wasn’t listening. My full attention was on what was in front of me, at the uniform rows of suspended bodies. Each body was releasing tendrils of soul energy to be collected somewhere high above. As I began to walk forward and past the first few rows of bodies, I saw that each person was suspended without using any external mechanism to hold them up. Somehow, LeBron was using soul energy, or just plain magic, to keep what amounted to thousands of bodies completely suspended and unconscious. The drain on his energy had to be stupendous, which meant LeBron had access to a metric fuckton of it. "I’ve never seen anything like this," I said to myself.
"Every one of them is under a spell," Moira said from just behind me. "Everyone you see here is tripping in some other reality."
I shook my head. "It’s like the fucking Matrix in here."
"Do you think your family is here?" Moira asked. "How will you find them? There are so many people…"
I took out the Soul Finder. "With this."
"No need for your crude gadgets here," a voice suddenly boomed from behind us. "I can locate your family for you."
I spun around with one hand out, ready to unleash a magic blast at whoever was behind us, knowing full well it had to be LeBron. The man standing by the entrance to the chamber was tall, and not gray like everyone else here. This man wore, of all things, a burgundy colored suit made from a shiny material, that gave him the appearance of some hipster gangster. His greased back dark hair only added to the facade, as did the gold tipped cane he was carrying. I was left with the impression that while everyone else here was wallowing in gray misery, LeBron was living in colorful luxury. He stood there with his wolfish grin and sharp blue eyes, arrogantly putting out that he was the king of these lands.
"No one told me Willy Wonka was going to be here," I said, my hand still out and ready to unleash a blast of magic should the need arise, though something told me LeBron wasn’t interested in fighting, at least not yet. His appearance in the Draining Chamber was merely about introducing himself, and probably putting me in my place.
His grin faltered only slightly at my sarcastic remark. "Then welcome to my chocolate factory," he said with more than a trace of an Eastern European accent, spreading his arms wide while walking forward. He then started to laugh like the whole situation was a joke to him.
"This is no fucking chocolate factory," I said. "You’re draining these people. Where is my family?"
LeBron frowned and shook his head as if he didn’t know what I meant. "Your family? You think they are here?"
"I know they are."
"What are their names? I know the names of every soul in here."
I didn’t answer at first. My anger was beginning to boil up again. All I wanted to do was blast LeBron with magic, and then run over and shake some answers out of him before…
"I see your thoughts," Max said quietly. "Violent…bloody. I approve."
"Brenda, Fergus and Roisin McCreedy," I said to LeBron through gritted teeth.
LeBron thought for a second, then he nodded in recognition. "It seems you are right. Your family is here."
I took a few steps toward him. "Release them right now."
A smirk crossed LeBron’s face. "Or what? What will you do? I see you have magic, but your power is no match for mine in this place. There’s nothing you can do that could possibly hurt me."
To test the waters, I sent a blast of high velocity magic towards LeBron, who merely stood with his arms out and allowed the magic blast to hit him on the chest, before absorbing the energy into himself.
"That was about the best I’ve got at the moment," I said to Max.
"Lucky I’m here then," Max said. "He is a living soul, and therefore—"
"Open to possession," I finished. "Go get him, Max!"
Max’s spirit shot out of my body, an invisible force that a second later embedded itself into the body of LeBron. LeBron looked shocked as he reeled back clutching his chest as if he’d been blasted with a shotgun. "What…is this?" he stammered.
"Just my pet demon," I said walking towards him. "He wanted to say hello and—"
LeBron suddenly shoved his chest out forcefully, as if to expel the unwelcome presence inside him, which he did with a shout of effort. "I take your stinking demon, and I spit it right back at you!" he said.
"He…he…shouldn’t be able to do that," Max said, now inside me again. "It’s not possible…"
"He just fucking did," I said.
"Are you quite finished now?" LeBron asked. "Because if you are not, I will simply turn you into a human battery like the rest of the souls you see hanging in here. Like your family…"
I took one step forward as if to go at LeBron again, but I was able to quell my anger this time. He was the one with all the power in this place, so there was no point antagonizing him further if it meant I would end up incapacitated. I would at least wait until I freed my family. "Fine," I said as calmly as I could. "You win. Just let me speak to my family, then you can do what you want with me, I don’t care…"
"With both of you," LeBron said as he looked past me. "I can see you skulking back there, Moira. Come forward."
I turned around to see Moira emerge from behind a suspended body, where she had been hiding since LeBron appeared. She came and stood beside me, but not before giving me a look that said she felt betrayed by me. She was obviously expecting a little more from me in terms of handling LeBron. Clearly she had a lot to learn about playing the long game, something I know quite a bit about. "I knew I shouldn’t have trusted you," she said to me.
"Moira, my darling," LeBron said. "It’s good to see you again. I’ve missed our little…soirees."
Moira grunted. "Is that what you call them? Rape parties more like…"
"Call them whatever you want. As I’ve said to you many times before…normal rules don’t apply here." He smiled. "Thank God!"
Another sick motherfucker, I thought.
"Screw you, LeBron," Moira said. "I’ll destroy myself first before I let you get your hands on me again."
LeBron thrust his hand out, using his power to drag Moira toward him, until the same hand was around her throat. "You were saying?" he said, a note of nastiness in his voice that more than hinted at his capaci
ty for sadism. "You forget I own you, as I do every soul here." He threw me a dark look as well. "Including you now, Mr. McCreedy."
"It’s Creed, actually," I said. "You can own my soul if you like, as long as you release my family first."
"You’re giving me ultimatums now?" He let go of Moira’s throat and pushed her down onto her knees, again using magic.
"Look," I said, trying to sound reasonable. "I’m offering you my services in return for releasing my family. I have skills that might be useful to you."
"What are you doing, Creed?" Max said. "Tell me you are not negotiating with this animal."
"Shut up, Max and let me handle this."
"What makes you think I need anyone?" LeBron said.
"This is a big place. Lots of souls to control. You need people you can trust to help you run it."
LeBron laughed. "And I can trust you, can I?"
"If you release my family."
"You are right, I do need trusted souls, otherwise things can get a little…overwhelming." His eyes narrowed as he stared at me. "I could see you being useful, but then so would your living soul…"
"So that’s it? You just want to drain me like all the rest in here?"
"Maybe, maybe not. The population of this place is about to…blow up very soon." He chuckled as he found that funny for some reason. "I’ll have my hands full then."
"What do you mean, blow up?"
LeBron smiled. "Why don’t you come with me now, and we can perhaps discuss your future here? If you even have one, that is."
"What about my family?" I demanded.
LeBron sighed as if I was becoming a major inconvenience to him. "You can see them later, once I release them."
I stared back at him, wondering if he was telling the truth, then realizing it didn’t matter whether he was or not. It was his show now, and I had no choice but go along with it.
26
Room With A View
LeBron teleported me to his living quarters at the very top of the mountain lair, leaving Moira behind in the Draining Room. Before we left, LeBron looked at Moira and said, "I’ll find you later, my dear. Don’t run away again, will you?"
Moira glared at me as if I had betrayed her in the worst way possible, but for the time being, there wasn’t much I could do except shrug just before I disappeared.
"Make yourself comfortable, Creed," LeBron said when we got to his living quarters, which were not what I expected. It was like he had just teleported us into a room at the Four Seasons. Unlike the rest of his lair, the walls in his living quarters were smooth and painted a deep red, and the room itself contained furniture that would have cost a pretty penny back on Earth. Unbelievably, he also appeared to have a television mounted on the wall that was showing a news channel from Earth.
"So this is what you do with all that soul energy you collect?" I said looking around the huge room.
"Partly, yes. Why live like a rat when you don’t have to?" He was standing by a drinks cabinet, arranging two glasses. "What’s your poison? You look like a whiskey man to me."
"That’ll do."
LeBron smiled. "I knew it. I’m a gin man myself."
"None of us are perfect."
He hesitated in pouring the drinks to throw me a look. "We don’t often get travelers like you coming here, you know. I’m surprised you even made it this far without getting soul-jacked."
"I had help."
"Yes, from Moira. A very capable woman, in more ways than one." He smiled. "She has a problem with authority, though."
"I thought her problem was with being used as a sex slave…"
LeBron said nothing as he left my drink on the table, and carried his own outside to the balcony. I went and grabbed the glass, chugging the whiskey down in one, surprised at how good it tasted. I poured myself another large measure before joining LeBron out on the balcony. From such a high vantage point, you could see right across the desert to the Gray City and beyond, the stone buildings rising ominously out of the mist in the distance.
"Tell me," LeBron said as he stared out. "What do you see?"
I wasn’t in the mood for games, but I knew I would have to play along until I figured out a way escape this place, preferably with my family. "I see a depressing place full of miserable souls who wished they weren’t dead."
LeBron nodded. "Of course you do. You want to know what I see?"
"I’m sure you’re going to tell me."
"I see a vast potential, a place to make a world unlike any other."
"Your world, you mean?"
He nodded. "Indeed."
"And how do you plan on doing that? By draining those who live here of their soul energy?"
"Partly, yes."
"It sounds like you have a grand plan," I said.
"I do."
"Care to share it?"
He turned his head to look at me. "In time, perhaps."
"Okay. Care to share how the hell you’re getting away with all this then? Last time I checked, the Realm of the Dead wasn’t up for grabs. I mean, it’s the Realm of the Dead…"
"You would’ve thought so, wouldn’t you?" he said. "But yet, here we are…"
"Here you are, you mean?"
"Yes, here I am."
"How did you end up here? Your physical body is obviously alive and well somewhere. Why are you here?"
"You are right, my body is safe in a place where no one can find it."
"On Earth?"
"Yes. I don’t mind telling you that. You know why?"
I shook my head. "Because you think I’m never leaving this place?"
"Well, to be frank, that is true. You will never leave this place, but maybe not for the reason you think."
"What does that mean?"
LeBron smiled after sipping from his glass. "Don’t worry. You will find out what that means soon enough…along with everyone else."
"Sounds predictably ominous," Max said.
It always is.
"I can’t wait," I said. "In the meantime, what about my family?"
He turned to me, leaning one elbow on the stone balcony. "Men of magic like you and me are a rare commodity here," he said. "Most of us manage to avoid the afterlife in one way or another."
"Why didn’t you?"
He raised his eyebrows for a second. "Let’s just say I ran into some trouble on Earth. I had to leave in a hurry, and the portal I rushed through happened to lead here."
I nodded. "I get it. This place is so joyful and spiritually fulfilling that you couldn’t bring yourself to leave, right?"
LeBron suppressed a smirk as if he wasn’t sure how to handle my sarcasm. "I saw potential here where others didn’t. I still see it."
"Potential for what? Even greater misery and degradation?"
He stood up straight suddenly, as if incensed by my criticism. "I’ve given the people here a means to escape their misery while they await processing. I’ve also given meaning and purpose to those who have been forced into staying for an extended period."
"By turning everyone into pushers and junkies?"
His blue eyes bored into me. "The man who carries a stinking demon around inside of him is taking the moral high ground with me?" He laughed and shook his head. "Please…"
The truth is, I didn’t much care about what LeBron was doing. I was there for one reason only, to try and save my family. Everything else was just an inconvenience, including LeBron. It only remained to be seen just how big an inconvenience he was actually going to be. "Look, whatever," I said. "I have no interest in getting in your way. I just want my family, that’s all."
LeBron smiled as if he just realized something. "You do understand that you are never getting out of this place, don’t you, Creed? Or has that not dawned on you yet?"
I stared back at him. "You’ve already said. You’re going to try and keep me here?"
"Not try. I will, same as I’ve kept your family here."
I rushed forward suddenly in a burst of anger, my face
only inches from his now. "You’d be making a big mistake trying to keep me here."
"Would I?" LeBron said scowling back. "And how would you stop me, hmm? Only I can harness the soul energy here. I’ve made sure of that. Whatever magic you might have here is not enough to stop me from doing anything, least of all from making sure you remain here, and under my employ." He moved his face closer to mine then. "You don’t get to gatecrash my kingdom, and then leave when you feel like it. I’m in charge here. I’m in charge of you now. I suggest you get used to that."
I breathed hard through my nose as I gritted my teeth in angry frustration. The motherfucker was right. At least for now. So I backed off slightly, knowing I would have to bide my time with him. "How the fuck do you have so much power here anyway?" I asked him. "You really expect me to believe the greater powers in the multiverse are okay with you fucking hijacking the Realm of the Dead? I don’t buy it."
"Believe what you want," LeBron said. "The so called greater powers that you speak of have yet to interfere. When have you ever known the powers that be to step in on anything? They simply don’t care, or they work to a greater plan that none of us can comprehend. Whatever the case, I’m here. So are you. Get used to it."
"You might want to mention the small problem of your weakening body on Earth," Max said. "Going by the constant pain I can feel in you, I don’t think you have much time left before my lingering presence kills you. I’d say a few days at most, if the concept of days even exists in this place, which I don’t think—"