by Roy Bright
Abi smirks.
Gary needs more answers. “So, are you saying that tomorrow morning, little Charlotte here will become the next Jesus Christ and what, perform miracles and stuff?”
“No, Gary that is not what I am saying. What I am saying, if you would just listen,” he says tapping his right ear causing Gary to sigh and look away, unimpressed by his sarcasm, “is that when she reaches seven, she will know what it is she is meant to be and what it is she is meant to do. As I am led to believe by the briefest of conversations with one of the powers that be, she will start to lead man out of the darkness when she is a little older, kinda like some, fucked up John Connor thing or something.”
“Who?” Gary asks, the movie reference lost on him.
“Never mind, man,” he says, shaking his head. He pauses and looks into the eyes of each group member, choosing the right words in his mind before he delivers the final, crucial piece of information. “Now, the important bit. If young Charlotte here doesn’t make it to seven years old,” he pauses once again, creating an intense dramatic effect that has Gary and Abi leaning in towards him without realizing it, “then we are well and truly, royally fucked!” He looks at Gary, “No other word will do, Mr. Cop, the swearing stays!”
“Define, fucked,” Abi enquires.
He laughs, “That’s just what I said when the Angel gave me this mission. Well, missy madam, if that little girl dies before the clock strikes on the minute she was born, then there will be no one to save you lot from the big red guy; he will be free to kick everyone’s asses, given that hope and faith will die with the child.”
Charlotte looks shaken, her bottom lip trembles.
He leans towards her and whispers. “He ain’t really red you know and I won’t let him get ya.” He winks at her.
She smiles back. She likes it when he is like this, the gruffness gone along with the bad temper. She can tell that he is a good man. She can also tell he is starting to warm to her. She likes him when he is like this.
“Now, as I said, I don’t have all the facts but my guess is that, in this week only, the big dark guy can’t get near or touch Charlotte.”
“Why not?” Gary says, his head swimming with the overload of fantastical information but feeling compelled to keep digging, to learn as much as possible, it is in his nature.
“Because, Gary, he is sending drones to do his dirty work. If you were about to claim your right to the throne of man for all time and as a pretty decent bad ass, don’t ya think you wouldn’t mind getting your hands dirty on this one a little?”
He nods, “I guess you’re right. So that’s a good thing, yeah?”
“Fuc—,” Judas stops himself from swearing and looks at Charlotte.
Gary feels that he has won a small victory but refrains from smiling.
He corrects himself. “Hell, yeah it’s a good thing. I don’t mind kicking ass with lower or even higher level demons, but I really don’t fancy going up against the big guy. Would you?”
Gary shakes his head. “No. I don’t think I would.”
“So yeah, I don’t think he can get his own hands on Charlotte, not just yet anyway. So that’s why we have his lackeys on our backs.”
“But you can kill them right?” Gary motions to Abi and Charlotte. “We saw you kill them back at the motel.”
The girls nod in agreement.
“To be honest, Gary, we can all kill them. Demons they may be, but whilst they walk the earth, they can die from pretty much anything, well, most of them at least. You put enough damage into them and eventually their form will break down and expire, especially if you are lucky enough to catch them in their human guise. Problem is, very and I mean very, few humans have lasted long enough against them to put in any meaningful amount of damage. You guys lasted longer than I have seen anyone last in years. You should congratulate yourselves and to be honest, Gary, I am mighty grateful for your help protecting the kid.” He nods.
He nods back and smiles.
“You don’t truly kill them though,” he continues, “it’s kinda like, a sin bin penalty or something. They just go back to whatever deepest pit of hell they came from. Seems to be around ten to fifteen years of exile from what I can tell. I’d like to think it also involves a demotion but I can’t quite prove that. One thing I can say for sure though is that if I kill them with one of these bad boys, then they stay down there for the longest time.” He stands and removes one of the katanas from his harness then sits back down.
Charlotte leaves Abi’s lap and moves over to in front of him. She stares at the sword. “You killed them with one swipe of your swords? Are they magical?”
He smiles at her. “As a matter of fact, Charlotte, they are indeed. Do you know your Bible stories?”
Her smile is beaming as she nods, indicating for him to test her.
He smiles. “Well, do you know what one of the Roman Soldiers did to Jesus as he hung on the cross?” His face grows a little sullen as a flicker of a memory glances through his mind, hurting him.
“He pierced his side with a spear?” she replies, half expecting the answer to be incorrect.
He congratulates her on her knowledge of the subject.
This makes her smile in return.
“That’s quite right, sweetie, and when he did the blood of Jesus Christ coated the spearhead and infused it with his spirit, his essence.”
“What does ‘infused’ mean?”
Gary and Abi lower their heads and smile, her innocence warming their hearts.
Judas smiles and laughs a little, also. “Well, sweetie, it means that it became one with the metal of the spear and it made this spear, this metal, an object of massive power. I found out what that power held first-hand when an overconfident demon made the mistake of underestimating me. I kept the spearhead for myself and guarded it well.”
Gary becomes excited. “Wait a minute! That, would be the Spear of Destiny then?”
“It would, Gary, you are quite correct.”
His excitement grows. “But that thing was supposed to be buried in Europe or something. I read about it once, the Nazis had it?”
“Gary, those total pricks thought they had a lot of things, but the Holy Lance they did not. In fact, many people over the ages believed they had it, but I can tell you first-hand they didn’t, because I did and in 1535, after a run-in with a particularly nasty demon, I decided to ask a friend to re-forge the swords and to do so with the pure liquefied metal of the spearhead. And, I gotta tell ya, it took some melting down. We needed three holy men chanting peaceful scriptures for nearly three days to get that thing molten. They are something else, I can tell you.”
Gary now looks at the sword with awe.
“Basically, Gary, I have two of the sickest weapons known to man. Razor-sharp and coated with the power of Christ. Slick, badass demon- killing machines. The lower-ranked demons go down easily enough just from just normal body strikes. Cutting a head off one of the higher ranked demons will also dispatch them with ease. I need to work on the more skilled and even higher-level demons a little more but, at the end of the day, they do not like these swords, not one little, bit.” He slices the air with it as he utters the last words. “So, my now world weary friends, you know God exists, so does the Devil and that little girl is the savior of man. Right, now that your lives are pretty much turned upside down, any questions?” He smiles, feeling his last remark was rather comical.
No one speaks. Everyone is trying to comprehend and digest the last ten minutes of information. Gary and Abi both know that Judas was right about one thing, nothing would ever be same from this moment on.
He climbs to his feet and replaces the sword in its sheath and walks over to the trunk of his car.
Gary is having a lot of trouble coming to terms with these revelations. It isn’t just the thought of what is happening with Charlotte that has him feeling dazed and confused. He has his own issues to contend with now and a lot more questions for Judas, in particular regarding
what God’s plan was for his son, Jacob. If this so-called God has a plan for him, he doesn’t much like it. He feels anger welling up inside him. He takes a deep breath and lets the cop take over. The cop was calculating, the cop had reason, the cop was… calm. He would have to deal with the religious connotations of this event later. First and foremost, regardless of his inner feelings, and if what Judas says is true, protecting Charlotte is all three of their responsibilities, for the sake of all humankind. That last thought makes him feel more nauseous than ever.
Judas raises his head out of the trunk and, much to Gary and Abi’s annoyance, asks in a chirpy and optimistic tone whilst smiling, “Who’s hungry?”
Charlotte throws up a hand and smiles wide. “Meee!”
Twenty
As she lay on the ground at the foot of a massive oak tree looking up at its swaying branches moving in a mystical and ancient dance, Charlotte couldn’t help but smile. The last day had been hell for her. She had seen her beloved Sister Marie killed by those horrible demons and had been scared out of her wits more than at any time in her life previous but for once, she now felt safe. Even though Judas was ill tempered and swore a lot, she knew that he was a good man, even with what he had done in the past, although she had nothing more to go on other than her instinct. But this wasn’t the first time she had studied the essence of a person; she had done so on many occasions before. The information about whom they were inside had often presented itself to her as plain as day itself. No matter how much they tried to hide it from others or even themselves, no matter how many barriers they put up, she could still sense where their alignment lay and for her, it was a simple equation; they were either good, bad or as she found most people to be, just in the middle. At first the ‘knowing’ was a burden for her. People simply do not like to be told who they are inside and most people’s reactions are poor to such revelations, even the good ones, as most don’t like to think they can read be quite so easy. So she just learned to keep it to herself, knowing that more often than not, she was right and that a person’s true nature would always reveal itself in the end. That is why she hated being around Father Mallory; he had a very bad aura. He would always smile ever so sweet; would always be kind and considerate to all the children in the orphanage and even more so, to Charlotte herself yet, for all his kindness there was a terrible darkness that hung over his head that she could sense and she didn’t like it at all. She often wondered if Father Mallory knew that he had such an awful alignment or if it was something that was stalking him, waiting. Waiting for him to make one wrong move, one mistake so it could take him and he would be lost forever. However, for this very moment at least, none of that stuff mattered. She was amongst people whom she knew cared about her a great deal and that made her happy.
She sits up and rests her back against the trunk of the oak. She sweeps a loose strand of hair back over her right ear and observes Judas as he takes a fresh combat jacket out of the trunk of the car and checks it up and down; most likely considering whether or not to put it on. It must have been from out of one of the duffel bags she imagines and she smiles again. It is apparent that he has been planning this day for a very long time. A day where he would be able to make use of the things he had kept, would make him feel that it was right to be amongst society once more; a day that would give him purpose. She didn’t understand the exact nature of that purpose but she knew it revolved around her. He was to protect her, to make sure that she came to no harm, but what was he to get from all this? She shook her head. She was doing it again. She was thinking things that seemed too grown-up for her, things that she didn’t feel she should be thinking at age six. It was happening more and more of late and it bugged her. She wasn’t ready to be grown up, she wasn’t ready to do and be all the things that Judas explained that afternoon. She is going to save humanity? She is the light who will lead them from darkness? Lead them to their salvation? Why is this happening to her? She is just a child; it isn’t fair to place the entire burden and survival of man on her shoulders. What if she failed, what if humanity wouldn’t listen? What if? What if? What if?
Judas looks over to her, and concern hits him. He watches her wincing and shaking her head, as though battling a silent, internal argument. He zips up the duffle bag and closes the trunk. As he nears her, she places her hands over her ears and begins to cry.
Raising her knees up, she buries her head into them.
He breaks into a trot for the final few steps and then, reaching her, kneels down. “Hey, hey what’s going on, kiddo? What’s happening inside there?” He taps the top of her head. He can hear her crying, the sound muffled by her legs. “Sweetie, are you okay?”
She raises her head. Tiny tears stream down her face. She stares into him.
He feels a wave of emotion sweep its way over him, through him. The child’s innocence is overpowering; her eyes radiate a holiness that pours into his very soul making him feel drunk in its might. This truly is the child of God, he thinks to himself and then, as fast as it had arrived, the feeling is gone and she slumps forward, causing him to holds out his arms to catch her. He pulls her close into him and she sobs. Words fail him and they remain that way for a moment before he pulls her head back up. “Hey, what just happened?”
She shakes her head, “I don’t know. Things like this keep happening.”
“Things like what, sweetie?” He asks, his eyes searching hers.
“In my head, I keep thinking really grown-up stuff and it hurts to think about it but just now, something else happened and it scared me.”
“What scared you? What happened?” He says, adjusting his position and sitting next to her on her left side. He places a hand on her shoulder.
“I just started to think about what you said to me, about being important to everyone and I got scared. How am I supposed to help everyone? I am just a kid. I need looking after to cross the road, how am I supposed to help everyone?”
She is right. In front of him he sees a little girl, but one who talks as if she is in her twenties and realizes that she is going through changes that children her age shouldn’t have to. He sighs. He is starting to regret explaining the situation to her in such a blunt fashion. He meant what he said about it being a terrible burden and immense pressure to lay on a young child’s shoulders and now he realizes that he has helped make the situation worse. He puts his arm around her and pulls her into the right side of his body, leaning them both against the trunk of the tree.
“Charlotte, sometimes in life we have to do things we don’t want to do or think we cannot. Some people don’t get to choose what their lives will be and even though they get dealt a bad hand, they still make great use of the gift of life. Others have all the opportunity in the world and squander it. You are the first one, sweetie and I know you will make great use of this gift. I was wrong to callously burden you with your destiny in the way I did, but this isn’t something you should hurt your little head over.”
She looks up at him. “Really? It will all just go away then?”
He offers a sympathetic smile. “I’m sorry, sweetie, but no, it won’t. You have been chosen for a higher purpose, probably the highest of them all, but this isn’t something that you will have to accomplish overnight nor on your own. You will have to work at it and take it slow. You will have time to be a little girl and enjoy Barbies and... Bucky O’ Hare and stuff.”
She looks at him. “Bucky who?”
He pauses for a second and then shakes his head. “Never mind, kiddo. The point is, you will always be who you are. This thing that has been handed to you is your responsibility and your responsibility only and that being the case, you are entitled to do things your way. Either humanity can be saved or it cannot. Even if you fail to save them, you will not be blamed because these people need to want to be in the first place. So all you can do is try and, well, hopefully, they will be smart and listen. You understand?”
“I guess so,” she smiles.
“That’s a good girl.�
� He cuddles her in a little more and she smiles even wider, cuddling him back.
“Everything’s gonna be okay, Charlotte. I’ll make sure of it.”
They stay that way for a few minutes, in silence. Each contemplating their own thoughts, their own destinies, drawing in on the calming effect of the nature around them.
He has been too hard on the kid, too hard on them all in fact. She had been through a lot in the last day and nothing will ever be the same for her again. She may be humanity’s savior, but at this moment in time she is just a scared six-year-old little girl who wants nothing more than to play with her friends, her dolls and dream about living in a castle as a princess with Prince Charming. He hates himself for the way he handled telling the story; the way in which he revealed Charlotte’s destiny to her. It was wrong to be so blunt. This vulnerable little girl, still dressed in her school clothes with pigtails in her hair, deserved better than that. The mission was as important to him as it was to all humanity but terrifying a child in the process was just plain wrong. He will not treat her that way again.
He shakes his head. He hasn’t felt like this for a very long time, hasn’t felt overwhelming guilt in this proportion for as long as he can remember. A voice inside mocks him, ‘welcome back to the human race, dickhead!’ Still confused by a few of the events of that day, he feels the need to ask a few more questions, to glean more information from her. He sits up a little. “Charlotte, sweetie, I have been meaning to talk to you about what happened in the room back at the motel. You know, when you grabbed my arm and it made me stronger, quicker.”
“I don’t know what happened,” she says, shaking her head. The voice that I get inside my head just told me to grab hold of you and that if I did, I would help you. I don’t know why.”