“Are you sure about this?” Han asked Cipher. “What if he’s right? What if all we’re doing is facilitating a coup?”
“Don’t listen to that demon’s bullshit, Han,” Cipher replied in disgust. “He’d say anything to keep us from killing God.”
“He was right though. There’s no reason for us to think any of this will matter. How do we know Satan’s not just using us?”
“We don’t. We just have to have faith,” Cipher replied.
Those words were all Han needed to hear. The word “faith” struck at him like a cattle prod, and he reacted on instinct, kicking the weapon out of Cipher’s hand and knocking the warhead away from Natalie and off the altar, all in the same, smooth motion. “I’m not in the faith business.”
20
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Cipher seethed as he held his wrist in pain where Han’s boot had made contact.
“I’m sorry, Cipher, but I refuse to put faith in anything anymore. I’m tired of being a pawn and I’m sick of being used. I’m sure as hell not going to be used by one of these fuckers—not even Satan, just so she can perpetrate a power grab. I’m done being a patsy.”
“Han, you motherfucking idiot! This is the only chance we’ve got and they’re forming a police car parking lot right outside those doors as we speak. We don’t have time for you to fuck around!” Cipher shouted angrily.
“I’m not fucking around. I don’t believe in anything anymore. Belief is nothing. It means you don’t know something…you just want it to be true. And I’m not going to act ever again unless I know what the result is going to be...period!”
“Put down the gun, Han,” Cipher said, barely unclenching his teeth.
“Why?” Han replied, a small smile creeping across his face. “You think you can take me?”
“Put it down,” Cipher repeated.
Han nodded. “You know I’ll take you apart, right? I have a second-degree black belt in jujitsu. You have nothing.”
“We’ll see,” Cipher responded.
Han dropped his gun, and Cipher charged at him. Han tried to kick him, but Cipher blocked it as he barreled into his foe and took him to the ground. Han tried to grab Cipher’s arm and put him into an armlock, but Cipher simply used his extra body weight to push Han to the ground before he unloaded his rage into Han’s face and torso.
“How’s that for nothing?” Cipher yelled. “Nothing kinda stings, don’t it?”
“Get off me, asshole!”
“Enough!” the phantom shouted, pulling Cipher off Han and tossing him over the altar so he landed on the opposite side on his back with a thud. “We don’t have time for this. If you’re going to set off the bomb, you need to do it now!”
“Why do you care so much all the sudden?” Han asked as he wiped blood from his split lip onto his sleeve. “I thought you were just in this for the movie rights!”
“That’s where you’re wrong,” the phantom said. Then, his image melted away, giving way to the female form of a stunning, inhumanly beautiful woman in a red dress. “I’m in as deep as you are,” said Satan.
21
“Satan?” Han whispered as he looked up at the most phenomenal woman that he’d ever seen.
“That’s right,” she replied. “I’m sorry we don’t have more time for formal greetings and pleasantries, but if you’re going to set that bomb off and kill God, you need to do it now. The police outside are already planning an assault on the cathedral. They know you have the warhead.”
“How do you know that?” Cipher asked as he slowly stood to his feet, stretching his back out slowly to test it after having landed on it squarely.
“I can hear their radios. Ghosts and electronics, remember?” she replied.
“You’re a ghost? I thought you were supposed to be a fallen angel?” Natalie asked.
“I am,” she answered, “and I’ve fallen here. There was no room for me in Heaven any longer. I refused to serve God there, so the only place left for me is here, as a phantom.”
“Then why didn’t you just appear to us?” Han demanded. “Why all the bullshit with the radios and the demonic possessions?”
“For obvious reasons, it was best if you didn’t know where or what I was. God’s been looking for me, and He’s a little pissed, as you can imagine.”
“Why are you trying to kill God? What’s in it for you?” Natalie asked.
Satan turned to Natalie and narrowed her eyes. “The same thing that is in it for all of you. I don’t want to have a master.”
“How do we know you won’t just take over when He’s gone?” Han asked, suspiciously.
“The bomb won’t just kill God. It will also destroy what you think of as Heaven,” Satan revealed.
“You mean it will destroy the entire dimension?” Natalie asked, shocked.
“No,” Satan answered, keeping an even but urgent tone as she explained. “God, Jesus, the angels, and all the creatures who inhabit that dimension have discovered that souls are a source of energy. It’s like a drug to them, and they’ve been addicted for thousands of years. Your species is something like carp. You can’t do anything to defend yourselves, so the gods have become bloated, disgusting parasites. They exist only to consume. However, once you set off that weapon, you’ll destroy the gods, and no other gods will dare assume their positions for fear of suffering the same consequences.”
“So we won’t be a safe food source anymore,” Natalie said, understanding.
“That’s right,” Satan replied. “I’ve been trying to kill God for thousands of years in my quest for freedom. I want the same thing as you. When those creatures are dead, the souls they’ve consumed will be free, as will all of the lost souls trapped here on Earth, along with those of the people who are still alive.”
“You’re just spouting bullshit. Nothing but words,” Han harshly interjected. “We still have to have faith that you’re not lying to us.”
“You’re right,” Satan replied. “In the thousands of years I’ve lived, I have learned patience. If He doesn’t die today, we’ll kill Him in the future. Time is meaningless to me. I won’t force you to set off the device. I’ll only offer my help, just as I’ve always done.”
There was a long silence.
“You better start chaining those stages together, Natalie,” Cipher said.
“Okay,” she replied, nodding as she began working on the warhead once again.
“Why, Cipher?” Han asked, his shoulders slumped with the exhaustion of a lifetime of looking for an answer.
Cipher took a long moment to think of the right words. “Like I told you, Han, sometimes belief can come in handy, but it’s more than that. We can’t live without belief. We have to have faith, but it has to be faith in ourselves.”
These wise words caught Han off guard; he’d all but given up, but now, suddenly, his eyes filled with more life than he’d had since that day at Repulse Bay when he’d first leapt into the waves.
“I believe that if we kill God,” Cipher continued, “nothing that will take His place can possibly be any worse. I believe we have to take control of our own lives, and I believe I am sick and tired of being afraid of that motherfucker.”
Han nodded in agreement. “Okay, okay. Then let’s try this,” Han said.
“Just in time,” Satan interjected. “If I were you two, I’d duck immediately.”
Cipher and Han exchanged looks of surprise before they both realized that, considering the supernatural source, it was advice that should be heeded. Just as they dived to get behind the concrete altar, teargas grenades smashed through the majestic stained-glass windows that adorned both sides of the cathedral, followed seconds later by bursts of machinegun fire.
22
“Mommy!” shouted the little phantom boy as he pulled Natalie down behind the altar, just in time to save her from being cut to shreds by the bullets that were showering the inside of the cathedral. The bullets were incendiary, lighting the walls and carpet on fire.
Satan calmly strolled to the altar and lifted the warhead off the top, placing it on Natalie’s lap as she sat with her back against the concrete artifice. “I think you’d better keep working.”
Natalie nodded and continued the process of chaining stages together.
Meanwhile, Han and Cipher were also huddled behind the altar on either side of Natalie and the phantom boy.
“You see, Cipher?” Satan began, “I told you not all ghosts are bad.”
“I believe you,” Cipher replied.
“However, now that God knows you’re here and knows you have the weapon, He’ll pull out all the stops,” Satan foretold. “You’re all going to have to face your ghosts.”
“Can’t you stop them?” Han shouted over the gunfire and smashing glass.
“I’m just a phantom, like they are,” Satan replied. “I’m far more experienced, but they outnumber me, and I can’t be two places at once.”
“We’ve got other problems too!” Cipher shouted. “Han! Look!”
Police in SWAT gear began climbing in through the windows as tear gas and smoke clouded the interior of the cathedral; it was becoming increasingly difficult to see.
“We’re gonna need those machineguns!” Han shouted to Cipher.
Cipher turned to see the two machineguns Caiaphas had brought with him sitting agonizingly close by, only meters away, but down the steps at the front of the altar. “Satan! Can you get to those?” Cipher shouted as he turned to see that Satan was no longer next to them. He looked around for her and caught sight of her climbing the back wall of the cathedral like an insect. She was chasing Charlie Marlow who had, just as Satan predicted, appeared on the scene, and was sticking to the wall just above the giant crucifix that hung a seven-foot tall effigy of Jesus high above the altar. “Shit!” Cipher cursed to himself. “Han! Cover me!”
Han nodded and rolled to his left, taking aim at the police who were infiltrating the cathedral, repeatedly squeezing the trigger of his handgun.
Cipher rolled to his right and plunged into the smoke and tear gas, grabbing the machine guns and then ducking behind the front row of pews. A waft of smoke and tear gas suddenly blew across his position, and the altar completely disappeared behind it. “Shit,” he cursed as he started to fire with one of the machineguns into the direction where he’d last seen the SWAT team. “I hope I’m hitting something,” he said to himself as his gun let loose a deafening torrent of fire.
More pews began catching fire, and flames licked and crawled up the wall behind the altar, reminiscent of the angels in Heaven. “You’re gonna have to hurry this along, Natalie, or we’re going to burn to death!”
“I’m almost ready!” Natalie shouted in return as her little phantom boy draped himself across her back in an attempt to protect her from the smoke and cinders that were thickening the air.
Han rolled back to his left and could no longer see the SWAT members. He hoped that they’d been repelled, but the smoke made it impossible to see. He peered hard into the blinding smoke, then saw something he’d hoped was impossible.
Katie was back, squeezing out of the Holy Water fountain adjacent to the altar.
“Fuck,” he whispered to himself as he watched his worst nightmare materialize. He turned to look for Satan, seeing her through the smoke and flames as she dealt with Cipher’s father. Han knew then that he’d have to face this alone. “Natalie, things just got a whole lot worse! No matter what happens, keep going!”
Natalie turned to Han, and a look of terror immediately crossed her face as she saw Katie, nearly completely emerged from the Holy Water. She nodded to Han. “Okay!” she said, then turned back to her work, computing the sequence to increase the stages.
Han took a deep breath of the increasingly smoky air, then got to his feet before charging at his dead sister. He unloaded what was left in his gun at her, causing her to dematerialize, then rematerialize several times in a matter of just a few seconds. Eventually, she rematerialized just in time for Han to launch into a lethal sidekick, impacting hard, sending her back into the smoke and flame from which she’d appeared.
This small victory was short-lived, however. Katie rematerialized behind Han and grabbed him in an impossibly powerful chokehold. “So cold, little brother.”
“It’s not my fucking fault!” Han gurgled as he fought for air.
“It is, little brother,” Katie replied as she squeezed the air out of Han.
23
“The bad woman is killing your friend,” the little phantom boy said as he continued to cover Natalie.
Natalie paused. She only needed a few more seconds to finish the sequence, but she couldn’t let Han die. “Son,” Natalie said to the little boy, “can you help Mommy’s friend?”
“I’m afraid of the bad woman!” the phantom child protested as his fingers clutched Natalie’s back.
“Baby, she can’t hurt you, and you have to help Mommy’s friend! You can’t let him die!” The phantom boy remained silently afraid and didn’t move. “My son, I love you. I wouldn’t lie to you. You have nothing to fear from her, but you have to help me.”
The phantom boy smiled and nodded. “I’ll help you, mommy. I’ll help your friend!” He hugged Natalie hard around the shoulders, then leapt away into the smoke in the direction of Han.
Natalie shook her head and sighed in relief as she watched her aborted child disappear into the smoke.
When the boy reached Katie, he leapt on her back and sank his teeth into the back of her head, causing Katie to shriek, then dematerialize.
Han stumbled to the ground and gasped for air, clutching his throat. “I’m getting so sick of this bitch,” he said to himself breathlessly.
“The bad lady wants to kill you,” the phantom boy observed to Han.
“You noticed? Damn, kid. Have you taken the MENSA test yet?” Han replied sarcastically as he got to his feet. “Where is she?” he asked the boy as he stumbled around in the quickly thickening smoke.
The boy’s face suddenly went pale and was stricken with an unholy dread. “Mommy! Mommy!” he screamed as he turned and sprinted to the altar.
“Shit!” Han yelled as he ran after the boy and up the stairs of the altar.
When he was close enough, he saw Katie holding Natalie by the hair, swinging her away from the bomb. She thudded against the wall, slid down, and came to a hard stop on the unforgiving ground.
The phantom boy ran to his mother’s aid.
Katie crouched down near the bomb and picked it up. A sickeningly wide grin painting itself across her blue lips.
“Put it down, bitch!” Han screamed at her, enraged.
Katie looked up at him for a moment, then ignored him and placed the bomb on top of the concrete altar. She raised her fist up, about to smash it, when Han lunged at her with a powerful sidewinder kick and knocked her away.
“That’s right. I’m not afraid of you anymore! And I don’t blame myself for what happened anymore either! I’m sick of living in guilt! And over what? You?” He slipped off his jacket and prepared himself for a fight. “I’m ready for you this time, bitch! Come on!”
Katie smiled, then vanished, only to reappear right next to Han, claw outstretched to slash his face. He blocked her advance and used all his speed and skill to grasp her hair and slam her face down on the altar.
Meanwhile, Charlie Marlow continued to play cat-and-mouse with Satan. “You won’t hurt these people, Charlie. I won’t let you,” Satan said calmly as she continued to block his path down to the altar and the bomb.
“I’m happy to stay up here with you. In all my years, I never saw a woman look so good in a dress! Out of a dress maybe.”
“There’s a reason for that, Charlie. You’re a vile human being. No decent person with a vagina would be caught dead within fifty yards of you.”
Those words enraged Charlie. He snorted hot breath and then smiled l
ethally. “It’s a good thing you’re dead then, isn’t it?”
He vanished, then reappeared behind Satan, his hands on the huge crucifix. He pulled it off the wall and in one motion, swung it around, catching Satan in the abdomen and impaling her against the wall. She dropped her gun, and it rolled to the ground.
“Not so talkative now, are you, lass?” Charlie said to Satan as he closed in on her, pushing his weight into her wound. “You’re dead, so we both know this won’t kill you, but it must hurt like hell.” He smiled and moved in for a kiss. Satan dematerialized, leaving phantom blood stained on the wall as evidence that she had been there at all. “Damn it. I was that close to the kiss to end all.” He remained for a moment longer and extended his tongue so that he could lick the red blood, tasting Satan’s blood. “Yum.”
Charlie surveyed the scene down below from his perch high above. Katie had her situation well in hand, having mounted Han, leveling blow after blow upon his face and chest. Natalie and her phantom boy cowered in the corner and watched. Then his eye caught a glimpse of the real prize, as far as he was concerned: Cipher was a few meters away, ducking behind the pews and firing blindly across the church where he thought the SWAT team was. The joke was on him, as the SWAT had backed off as soon as they’d begun taking fire. Charlie smiled. “Well, Jesus, I know you and I didn’t start off on the best of terms,” Charlie began as he addressed the life-sized effigy that adorned the crucifix in his hands, “but I think we make one hell of a team.” He leapt to the ground, still wielding the crucifix, and began stalking his prey.
Katie had finally beaten Han. He continued to block her relentless attack, but both of his forearms were now broken from the impact of her repeated and inhumanly strong blows to her brother’s chest and face. The only resistance he could offer was to swing the nearly useless appendages in front of him so they could absorb the blows, buying a few extra seconds of life.
The God Killers Page 18