Above us the rolling black clouds broke, and a downpour flooded the road. I grabbed my wand, summoned what strength I had left, and unleashed Molecular Zero on the slick road. Ice formed instantly and our pursuers began to fishtail and crash. I slumped back down next to Mushiro, feeling like a half a dozen Quaaludes had just taken effect. I couldn’t move. I could barely think. The sounds of the world became muffled, but the gunfire ceased.
When I came to, we were still rocketing down the freeway. I must have only been out for a few minutes, because the Cain hadn’t caught back up with us yet. Mushi was still out cold. I carefully sheathed his sword and opened the hatch, and then handed him down to Killroy and asked for an assault rifle.
Turning back to the road behind us, I found the Cain had regrouped and were closing the distance again. Killroy closed the hatch and shuffled next to me on his belly. He carried an old Barret 50 cal. and, wasting no time with small talk, took aim at our pursuers. The rifle cracked like thunder and one of the bikers went down hard.
I opened fire in short bursts, and Killroy’s rifle boomed again. One of the jeeps turned so sharply that it flipped sideways and started rolling down the road, taking out two Cain on a quad racer.
Dozens of jeeps and bikes still remained. How many we had taken out, I could only guess, but there were simply too many of them, and our efforts had bought us only minutes.
When they finally caught up, Killroy started no-scoping as I resorted to spray and pray. Soon I was out of ammo. Sparks flew as bullets ricocheted off the truck, and we were forced to take cover. Jeeps and trucks zoomed by on both sides, and Lopez began ramming them. The truck slammed into something hard and we slid across the top, hitting the front rail. Another hit slowed us considerably as the tires were blown out. Soon we stopped altogether.
“I got nothing left, Father.”
“Listen!”
I listened but heard only the whooping of the circling Cain and the revving of many engines.
Killroy’s com chattered quietly and he told me BM would be here in five minutes.
“You on the roof, raise your hands and stand slowly!” a voice called out.
Killroy nodded and we stood with our arms raised. I expected to be gunned down on the spot, but no one fired.
“Climb down nice and easy.”
The speaker was a Cain with a wide, oblong smear of blood about his mouth. His black eyes stared up at us…a demon. The man he’d possessed looked to be in his forties, with unruly salt and pepper hair. He wore flowing black robes with long tatters of cloth that blew in a nonexistent wind.
Killroy and I reluctantly complied and climbed down off the truck. Several Cain grabbed ahold of us and forced us to kneel beside the road, next to Lopez.
“Open it up!” the demon ordered.
The back door of the truck was opened and Melody stood there bravely. I blinked and looked closer. Mushiro, Dude, and the others were behind her, up near the cab, but the children were nowhere to be found.
The demon laughed. “Very clever, witch. But I see through your illusions.”
Melody’s eyes shifted between the demon and the other Cain, but she didn’t let up on her spell. I strived to see through it, knowing that they were there, but still couldn’t.
The demon sneered at Killroy. “There are no Cain children in the truck. You left them at the church, did you? How merciless. But come now, Father, what is it you really do with the children of the Cain? Where are you keeping the others?”
Others?
When Killroy didn’t respond, the demon sighed, as if bored, and strolled toward us.
“I will only ask once more, my friend. Then you will die.”
Father Killroy began reciting what I knew to be an exorcism prayer, and the demon became furious. His face contorted and he pulled back a clawed hand.
“Wait!” I screamed. The demon turned to me with black eyes. “You didn’t technically ask him again—you can’t kill him yet.”
He backhanded me and I spun around, falling on my face.
“Where are the children of the Cain kept?” he asked Father Killroy again.
I rolled on my left side and watched from the road. Killroy still had not acknowledged the question. The demon laid a hand upon his head and the father began to scream. Far in the distance, engines sounded—the Boston Militia had finally arrived. The demon cocked his head, listening, and turned back to Killroy with greater intensity. The father dropped to his knees, fighting the demon’s influence.
“He doesn’t know anything!” I yelled, over Killroy’s screaming.
The demon released him and looked at me. Reaching out a hand, he pulled me toward him through the air and caught me by the throat.
“Where are they?” he asked, inches from my face.
I was beginning to black out. Had he not loosened his grip for my answer, I would have. Over his shoulder I saw Mushi peeking over the back of the truck, and I hoped he wouldn’t do anything stupid.
“Back the way we came, in the last town. They’re at the corner of eat shit and die,” I said.
The demon began to chuckle. “I will enjoy wearing you.”
He extended a hand and shot a spell at Lopez. She took in a quick, surprised breath and burst into flames.
I tried to scream, but the demon choked me once again while Lopez fell over and continued to burn. He pulled me in close, like he wanted a kiss, and opened his mouth. Swirling black tendrils emerged and snaked their way toward me. He squeezed my jaw so hard I thought it might shatter, and I couldn’t help but open my mouth.
The engines drew closer.
Killroy began screaming his exorcism prayer as the demon’s mojo started down my throat. Suddenly, a twisted carnival of nightmarish sights left me whimpering. I fought the intrusion, summoning all my strength, and tried to think of a spell—but the images dominated my mind. The demon was taking over. I saw into the depths of the Cain man he had possessed. He’d once been a wizard—the name played at the corner of my mind. On the day of the Culling he had begun to die…and then he drank.
I was slipping.
The demon forced its way into my mind, and as we became one, I saw into his mind as well…and was humbled. His memory was vast, his power untold. I saw the building of the pyramids, the fall of Troy, the world wars—his memories became mine as I melted away.
Let go, Orion. Let me in. Your pain can end now and forever. I will show you power beyond your wildest dreams.
Suddenly it released me and the black tendrils ripped from my body. I felt a pang of sorrow and loss as the connection was disrupted. A part of me wanted it back, and I fell to the ground in a heap.
Through my blurred vision I could barely make out Johnny Mushiro, his sword protruding through the demon’s chest. I realized he must have used his cloaking spell.
“Call off your goons or you’re dead!” he yelled.
The demon said something in a foreign language, and Father Killroy and Mushiro were suddenly thrown back. He glanced down at me, as a slow sneer spread across his face, and said, “I will see you soon, Rezner.”
My vision came and went as I drifted in and out of consciousness. I saw the Cain road warriors load up and peel out. Then Dude was fretting over me. New vehicles showed up from the other direction, some stopping, others zipping past in hot pursuit. Father Killroy was spreading my eyelids open. He seemed gravely worried. I felt sorry for him. I wasn’t worried…I was tired…sleep beckoned me…magnificent dreams awaited.
“Doc, get over here! We can’t let him sleep!”
Killroy slapped my face hard—then again. He was screaming at me now. No sound came to me, but his neck vein bulged and his wide eyes tried to hold mine. I closed my eyes. It was so hard to keep them open. This was much better—ancient rivers sped by, castles and rolling hills. Cities in flame…peasants running in terror…their fearful eyes quickened my heart.
“Rezner!”
Something stabbed me in the heart and I leapt to my feet as if I had be
en hit by lightning. My heart skipped a beat, fluttered like hummingbird wings, and took off like a prize stallion. I came up swinging. A dozen hands grabbed at me but I fought them off. I wanted to run a hundred miles and climb a mountain. A big arm wrapped around my neck, and someone pinned my arms as they brought me to the ground.
“Rezner, relax. Everything is all right. They’re gone,” came Killroy’s soothing voice.
I shook my head, my mind finally clearing. Armed men and women in BM jackets were unloading the children from the truck and securing the area. Melody stood watching me with worry etched across her brow.
“I’m all right. For Christ’s sake, get off me.”
Killroy let go and I leapt to my feet like a crackhead. Dude appeared before me, and his big, stupid smile calmed me instantly. I felt my sore breastbone, saw the big-ass needle in Dr. Doc’s hand, and put two and two together.
Remembering the demon and the road warriors, I turned to the north and peered down the freeway. They were nowhere in sight.
“What the hell just happened?” I asked Killroy. I had a bad case of the jitters due to the adrenaline shot, and shook as though I were freezing.
He put a fatherly hand to my shoulder. “We nearly lost you to the demon.”
Remembering the children he had left behind, I shrugged from his touch and turned to Melody.
“You all right?” she asked.
“I’ll be fine.”
“Son,” said Killroy, “do you remember anything about the demon?”
I wanted to tell him to piss off. How could he act as if we hadn’t just left children to die? But this wasn’t the time. “I remember everything,” I told him.
“Did you learn his name?”
I thought for a moment. “It was…Azazel,” I said.
Chapter 12
Strange Daze
Pastor Bailey and the children were loaded up first and rushed to Boston with a half a dozen armored Hummers. There was no help for Lopez; she was gone. I tried not to look at the sheet that covered her charred body, but as Dr. Doc looked me over, my eyes were continually drawn to it. Dude fussed over me like a mother, and I had to assure him a dozen times that I was all right. He seemed to disagree, feeling my forehead with the back of his hand and stroking my cheeks with pathetic coos.
No words had come from Juggernaut and Anderson. Macklebee and Kronos hadn’t answered any of the radio calls either. We were loaded up shortly and headed out. I took a jeep with Dude and Mushiro, although Killroy invited me to ride with him. I wasn’t in the mood.
I was glad to see Boston’s northern gate open before us and couldn’t wait to get back to my apartment and sleep for a hundred years. The Boston Militia had other plans, however. After I was cleared by the doctors, I was drilled on what had happened at Crystal Lake. They interviewed all of us, even Dude. I told them everything. I wanted to express my outrage that the children of the Cain had been left behind, but held my tongue.
When I left the interrogation room, Killroy was there waiting. “How you doing, Bucko?”
I shoved him. “I’ve got only two words for you, piss off.”
“I know you’re upset, Orion, but listen—”
“Upset? That’s a goddamned understatement. They’re children! How could you go along with this shit? What the hell is wrong with you?”
“It’s not my choice—”
“Keep telling yourself that.”
I blew past him and walked over to Mushiro, who was waiting nearby with his scooter. Dude threw Killroy a scowl and sauntered after me as I climbed on.
Mushi drove to my apartment in silence. The words that needed to be said warranted a more personal atmosphere. When we arrived, Old Ben was waiting on the stoop. For a ghost, he looked pretty worried, but seemed to perk up as we parked. I nodded to him and we entered my apartment, Dude in tow. Once inside, I slumped down on the couch—it had never felt so comfortable.
Ben stood leaning against the wall by the sliding glass door. He glanced from Mushiro to me, waiting to hear what had happened.
“You think Kronos is alive?” Mushi asked from the kitchen.
“I don’t know, man. He and Macklebee took a big hit. Flipped the whole damn tank over.”
He returned to the living room with a couple of beers in hand. I nodded a thanks and drank half of mine. It was warm as piss, but delicious.
“That demon…he was trying to possess you?”
Old Ben perked up.
“Yeah.” I didn’t want to think about it. Mushi must have noticed because he didn’t press it any further. He drank his beer in quick sips, clearly preoccupied with the hundred questions churning in his mind. I finally sighed and gave him a high-browed “What?” look.
“Was it really Azazel, like Book of Enoch Azazel?” he asked.
“I think so. Why? What do you know about him?”
“Rez, didn’t you pay attention in demonology?”
“Not so much. I hate demons.”
Old Ben sat down next to Mushiro and regarded me with disappointment. “We are all born ignorant, but one must work hard to remain stupid,” he quoted.
I offered him a withering look, finished my beer, and walked into the kitchen.
“Need another?” I asked Mushi.
“Sure.”
I popped the tops off two IPAs and stashed the caps in my cupboard. I had a mountain of them in there. Mushi once asked me why I kept them, but I really didn’t know the answer. You never know when a few hundred bottle caps will come in handy.
“What do you know about Azazel?” I asked, sitting back down on the couch.
“He’s a bad mothertrucker, man. The Book of Enoch says he was the leader of the fallen angels. They taught men war and how to make knives and swords. And they impregnated women with giants—the Nephilim—and taught them witchcraft.”
“The Book of Enoch, eh? I’ll have to check it out.”
“I’ll say. If you got Azazel after you, you’re in shit deep.”
“Thanks, Mushi.”
Old Ben began to pace the living room, right hand on chin, left on hip, brow furled in disturbed pondering.
“What is it?” I asked him.
Mushi gave me an apprehensive glance. “You talking to Ben Franklin again?”
“His ghost,” I clarified.
Old Ben waved me off and walked through the wall and outside. He tended to do his thinking in the sun.
“What’d he say?” Johnny asked, between sips of IPA.
“Nothing, but I think this Azazel business is bothering him.”
“Is it?” The look he gave me seemed to say, when you say he, I know you mean you.
I didn’t bother answering him. My head hurt and I was tired, and I wanted nothing more than to sleep.
“I’m tired, Mushi. I’m gonna crash.” I stretched out on the couch and pulled down the blanket draped over the back.
“All right, man.” He got up and brought his bottles to the sink. “I’ll see you at the temple.”
I yawned. “See you there.”
As tired as I was, I still slept fitfully. The demon’s memories became my dreams. He spoke to me in them, and though I was aware I was dreaming, I knew that it was also real.
“I am not your enemy, Orion. I could show you such power. You could rescue your sister—right the wrongs of the Elite.”
We stood upon a desert ridge watching a city burn.
I awoke to a knocking at my door, with no intention of answering it. Dude, however, had a different idea. It was dark outside—the chimp was bored. He scampered to the door and opened it, and I heard Father Killroy talking to him in the vestibule.
Son of a bitch!
I checked my pocket watch—9:27 p.m. A few hours of sleep was better than nothing. I reluctantly stood and brought my bottles to the sink, and grabbed another one as Killroy walked into the living room. I tried to light a candle with a mental cast, but when I raised my hand, the end of my sleeve caught fire instead. I sighed and lit the
wick with my burning shirt before patting it out.
“How you feeling?” Killroy asked. His usual cheerful face made me want to kick his teeth in.
“Like shit. How ’bout you?” I usually avoid cursing around him, but at the moment I couldn’t have cared less about offending him.
His bottom lip covered the top one, and he nodded. “About the same.”
“Any word on the others?” I returned to the couch without offering him a beer.
“None.”
“That’s too bad. They were all such good guys, what with leaving a bunch of helpless kids behind and all.”
“Rezner, listen, son—”
“Maybe they got picked up by Azazel. Even demons can use a few good men.”
“They were all good men.” His façade was slipping slightly.
“They were a bunch of cowards. YOU are a coward.”
“It’s not up to me—”
“Bullshit!”
“Boston Militia and the Wizard Council make these kinds of calls. It’s voted on—”
“Hoo-fucking-ray for democracy. Just because a bunch of morons vote on something stupid doesn’t make it a good idea.”
“Rezner—”
“Let me guess—the law was voted on and enacted because of a threat to our security. Evil men throw morals out the window in the name of peace and security. That kind of shit is what got us here in the first place.”
“There is no easy solution to this dilemma.”
I shot up from the couch and began pacing, trying to steady my breathing. Dude eyed me from behind the counter—he looked scared. I checked myself.
Father Killroy gave me a minute, and I used it to finish my beer.
Old Ben appeared beside the couch. I nearly jumped. “Whatever is begun in anger ends in shame,” he said, matter-of-factly.
“It’s not a good time for Poor Richard’s advice right now, Ben.”
Father Killroy frowned at me. So did Ben.
“Come here, Dude,” I said, opening my arms.
Dude sauntered over to me and climbed up to ride shotgun on my hip.
“Sorry, bro. I didn’t mean to disturb your chi.”
Afterworld (The Orion Rezner Chronicles Book 1) Page 9