by Tom Mohan
“You still don’t get it? Do I really have to spell it all out for you? They…are…dead. You do understand that, don’t you? But only they can bring Eve out of her pretty blue shell. That’s why they’re here. That’s their sole purpose. The problem is, death cannot bring life. It’s the other way around. The only way they can bring Eve back is through a living soul, and guess whose soul they have chosen?”
Sara looked at the blue glowing object, noticing for the first time how much it looked like a cocoon. Her eyes widened as the pieces fell together. “Eve isn’t a person, is she? Not really? She’s some kind of mass intelligence.”
“Ah, now you’re starting to see. The only way for you to bring Eve back is to become her yourself. But Eve requires your whole self. Are you willing to make such a sacrifice, little Sara? Are you willing to do that for this puny world of yours?”
Sara was silent for a long moment. “Or I could just kill you,” she said.
Manasseh feigned horror and then laughed. “Oh yes, you could do that, I suppose. It might even work, though many have tried, including your parents. Many have tried and all have failed. Do you really think a girl can fair any better?”
No, Sara wanted to say, I don’t think I can. She liked the alternative even less, though. When she had come to bring Eve back, she had thought the legend to be a godlike person—possibly even a spirit—but she never expected to surrender her own soul in the process. That was asking too much.
What if Manasseh was lying? Everything he was saying could be designed to get her to do something rash. If she had to give up her own life to bring back Eve and save the world from annihilation, why tell her?
Sara took a deep breath of the thick air, then another as she forced herself to relax. Her mind settled into its center as she sought the power that had come to her at the death of her mother. She had not been aware of it since using it to escape the Horde, but it was still there. Not as strong as before, but there, and it fed off the glowing light of the cocoon. Had the power been Eve all along?
Movement from Manasseh drew Sara’s attention. He reached behind him and pulled a long sword from a sheath on his back. The dark god’s power radiated from him. Sara shuddered at the thought. How could she ever hope to defeat such a being on her own?
Manasseh lunged, his sword slicing the air. Sara leapt back, narrowly avoiding being sliced in half. She concentrated on bringing the power to her dagger, using the blade as a conduit. She felt heat flush though her body and center on the dagger. It flashed with blue light, the same hue that wrapped the cocoon. Sara felt reluctant strength flood her. She lashed out at Manasseh, her blade slicing the air with such speed that her opponent stumbled back, barely catching the edge of the blade with his own.
Release me!
The words seared Sara’s mind, as though some massive hand had grabbed her brain and squeezed. Around her, the souls danced, and the putrid odor of death grew so strong she nearly gagged. She staggered, fighting to maintain concentration. Panic hit her as she realized she had lost sight of Manasseh. A sharp pain stabbed her left arm. Anger replaced fear as she relaxed her will and let her body move as it had been trained. Her dagger lashed out, parrying defensively while offensively seeking holes in her opponent’s defenses. Just like in the arena of the Keep.
Release me! Now!
Again Sara staggered under the overwhelming force of the mind that crashed into hers. The power that had given her so much strength faltered as the being in the cocoon demanded release. Without that power, she knew she stood no chance, and it was becoming clear that Eve did not intend to let Sara win without first freeing her.
The light dimmed, casting the cavern in deep shadow. She sensed more than saw Manasseh slip around behind her. Relying on instinct, she ducked, spun, and sank her dagger to the hilt. She heard a gasp of pain and felt warm liquid splash over her knife hand. She’d done it! She’d cut Manasseh and felt certain it was a killing blow. She jerked the blade from her opponent and sank it in again. The body on the other end jerked, then fell to the floor. She stood over her foe, gasping for breath as all trace of Eve’s power left her.
For a moment, the cavern was silent, then the spirits of the dead resumed their terrifying cry. The cocoon’s light pulsed low before brightening, until it was as it had been when the battle started. Sara looked down at the still form at her feet. She had actually done it. She had killed Manasseh. The body lay facedown. She hooked her foot beneath it, and with what little strength she had left, rolled it over.
She gurgled an anguished cry and stumbled back. Forcing her fist between her teeth, she bit down, cutting off the scream before she released it. The pale, dead face of Ryan Hunter stared up at her.
Burke allowed an invisible pull to lead him through the maze of corridors. He didn’t bother with stealth or caution—the time for that had passed. He only cared about finding Sara. With each passing second he became more and more certain she was here and needed him to save her. He had let his family down once and had no intention of doing it again. From time to time he thought he heard the sounds of someone traveling the same path, whether in front or behind he didn’t know. Sound did strange things in these halls. Whatever it was, it kept its distance.
The power that had suffused him in the cell faded to a dim memory, as did the voice that had spoken to him. He didn’t doubt that the voice had been real, nor the identity of the speaker. God had spoken to him and given him the power of his light to reveal truth, but that presence was gone now. He only hoped the power would be there if he needed it again.
He turned down another passage that was, in most ways, identical to all the others, including its abundance of spiderwebs. There seemed to be no particular reason for this, and it struck him that he had not seen a single spider in this strange place. Lots of webbing but no spiders, almost like a movie set.
He stopped and stood still. What if it was some weird sort of set? When he had freed Raquel and Tiny, he had made a hole in the wall that led out to the real world. Maybe none of this was even real.
Burke’s shoulders slumped. The dragon had not been a movie prop. Of that he was certain—just as he was certain Martinez was really dead. Burke set the thoughts aside and continued down the dim corridor. Real or not, death was here and open for business.
Burke caught a glimpse of movement. The silk strands that hung from walls and ceiling moved ever so slightly. He paused again, holding his breath, but still they moved, and he thought he felt a light breeze on his sweat-dampened face. Hoping he might be coming to the end of the maze, Burke continued forward, hands waving before him to clear the way. An eerie sound and the putrid odor of rotting flesh drifted down the passage. He increased his pace, his desire to find his daughter erasing all thoughts of his own safety.
The sound that drew him grew to a wail as Burke stumbled out of the passage and into a cavern-like room. In the center of the room, a large object hovered above the floor, throbbing in the blue-tinged light. Shadows, shaped vaguely like humans, swarmed around the object, darting and diving among themselves in a macabre dance of chaotic frenzy. The dim form of someone sitting on the floor just beyond and to the right of the floating object drew his attention. He advanced cautiously, but if the person saw him, they gave no indication of it. He continued forward until he saw two people, one lying on the floor and the other kneeling over them. As he approached, the kneeling figure looked up, and he froze in place, his heart hammering against his chest.
“Sara?”
SARA’S BODY SHOOK with sobs as she cradled Ryan’s head in her lap. Tears streamed down her face as she stroked his face. How could this have happened? How could I have done such a thing? Self-loathing flooded her as accusation after accusation wrapped around her guilt-stained mind. How could she have killed Ryan? Where had he even come from? Questions that could never be answered stabbed at her soul like daggers. Somehow Manasseh had tricked her, fooled her into killing Ryan. Anger flared in her heart.
Again she felt power
building within her, tethering her to the cocoon that contained the spirit of Eve. The feeling both called her and repulsed her. This was what she had come for, she was certain of that, yet the idea of giving up her soul to an entity beyond her understanding filled her with a dark dread. The whole thing felt horribly wrong.
A figure approached, then halted when he saw her.
“Sara?”
Something in her snapped at the sight of Manasseh standing there, gloating at her. Her power swelled as rage and fury jerked her to her feet. Her hands clenched into fists, all physical pain forgotten. The evil that stood before her now had stolen everything from her—her parents, her friends, her life, and now the boy she had hoped one day to love. Around her, the swarming shadows became even more frenzied, their wails reaching a painful crescendo. She no longer noticed. Her entire being was immersed in the hate she held for her enemy. Nothing mattered now except destroying him. Her own safety, her very life, meant nothing if Manasseh and all he represented continued to exist. She didn’t just want him dead—she wanted him obliterated.
The blue light flared around her, and this time she allowed it to draw her in.
BURKE STOOD FROZEN as Sara looked up at him. She had grown into a young woman since he had last seen her, but he could never mistake his own daughter. She looked so much like her mother. He wanted to run to her, wrap his arms around her and take her away from this terrible place. Something in her look stopped him. At first, her face showed confusion, but that was replaced by a mask of hate that froze his blood. She stood, his little girl who was no longer so little. Four years had changed her.
She looked ready to say something, but then a blue-tinted aura flowed over her. She turned away from him and started toward the object.
“Sara, please…wait.”
She paused and looked at him, hate and fury in her eyes, though her face had become an emotionless mask. Almost casually, she swung one arm at him, and a bolt of light shot from her hand. Burke had no time to react before the light slammed into him, sending him crashing into the wall. His injured arm smacked into the wall, and he felt it break. Agony screamed up the arm, sending bursts of color across his dazed vision.
The howls of the swarming shadows ceased so abruptly that Burke thought he might have gone deaf. The shadows themselves settled into a less violent mass, waiting expectantly for something. As if on cue, the ghostly shapes released a frenzied scream that Burke felt to his bones. They encircled the glowing object before converging on it as one and following Sara inside.
Burke remained on the ground, sweat dripping in his eyes, his breath ragged. He kept telling himself to get up, go to her, don’t lose her again, but his body refused to obey him. Every bit of strength had been drained from him, leaving only an empty shell of a man behind.
“She hates you, you know.”
Burke managed to lift his head. A dark figure stepped from the shadows, human in shape but not at all human. “She’s hated you for as long as she can remember. And now she’s going to kill you.”
The voice was calm, beautiful even, in a way Burke could not describe. A sense of awe washed over him, and knew he was in the presence of something much greater than even the dragon.
“What have you done to her?” Burke whispered.
The figure laughed. “Why, I’ve done nothing to her. She knows the truth now, that’s all. And the truth has set her free.”
Burke knew those words, words that Jesus had spoken in the Bible. He remembered Martinez teaching on them. The thought of Martinez brought wrathful strength to Burke’s exhausted body. “You know nothing of truth. You spout lies and death.”
Burke blinked, and the figure was standing inches from his face. He had to strain his neck to look up at where the face would be, if there were a face to be seen. “I am the truth,” the figure spat. “I am the lord of all that has meaning. Nothing in this world exists except by my leave, and all that I allow to exist trembles at my every command.” The demon allowed the full venom of its hatred to surface as it spoke. Then it calmed. “What you think has no meaning, human. You are merely a tool to serve my purpose. That’s all your family has ever been. You have been so easy to manipulate, doing everything just as planned.” It paused, and Burke felt its smug delight. “I said your daughter hates you, and she does. At the same time, you have always been her greatest love, her daddy. As revolting as that is, that strength of love is exactly what I require to open the portal that will free us from this prison and allow us to reign supreme over the earth, as was intended from the beginning. Your child will kill you and set us free.”
Burke forced himself to his knees, anger toward the demon and fear for his daughter lighting a flame of strength in him. “You aren’t as powerful as you think you are,” Burke growled. “Sara would never kill me, no matter what lies you’ve fed her. She’s not a murderer.”
The towering figure laughed down at him. “Maybe your darling little Sara wouldn’t, human, but Eve would. And Eve is most certainly not what Sara thinks she is. Your little darling is about to get a very big surprise.”
RAW POWER FLOODED Sara’s veins like scorching lava as she passed into the glow of the cocoon. She felt like she might fly apart in pieces, but the dazzling light wrapped itself around her and held her together. Eve is here somewhere, Sara thought, waiting for me to awaken her, to give her my soul that she may live. Sara knew she should be scared, but she was alone now, and fear had no meaning. Everything she had loved and lived for was gone, and now only Eve mattered. If Sara had to sacrifice herself to make that happen, so be it. At least her existence would have meaning.
Sara felt a probing along the edges of her mind, the cold fingers of someone trying to gain access. At first she pushed it away, doubt clouding her previous confidence. The awareness that attempted to connect with her did not force itself upon her but massaged the fear and doubt into a lesser state of control. She again forced herself to relax, to let whatever needed to happen play out. She stood still in the center of the cocoon. Like a caterpillar wrapped in silk, she was about to become something new, something beautiful.
The invisible awareness continued to probe, and she opened herself to it. Wonders beyond imagining flooded her mind. Knowledge of ancient ways, creation and cataclysm from the beginning of time crashed in upon her until she thought her unworthy mind would explode from it all. She gasped and cried out, but still her awareness widened, the universe and all that it held opening up before her. She spread her arms in wonder and fascination.
The light kept time with her heartbeat. It throbbed within her, flooding her veins with its strength. She opened herself to it, withholding nothing. The pulse grew faster, stronger, and the color of the light darkened. Sara had the distinct impression that some sickness had entered the cocoon. A buzzing sound became a shriek, and Sara felt her fear return as she realized that the shadows of death that had swarmed the outside of the cocoon had found their way inside. The darkness slammed into her like a giant hammer, invading her wide-open mind with a fury that brought her to her knees. Her hands went to her head, struggling to keep it from bursting as wave upon wave of hatred poured into her soul. She wanted to fight it, to stop it from taking control, but she knew it was too late. She had invited Eve into her, and now the cesspool of this place was pouring in, becoming part of her. The evil of ages clouded her mind, obscuring her own awareness, coalescing into something new, a manifestation of pure power and hatred. Sara tilted her head back and screamed. Squeezing her eyes closed, she saw the last vestiges of light behind her lids. She reached out for it, fighting to grasp it, but the darkness swallowed even that, and she plunged into it like the depths of a cold, dark lake.
HIS DAUGHTER’S SCREAMS gave Burke the strength to pull himself to his feet. “What’s happening to her? What are you doing to her?”
“Why I’m not doing anything, my boy,” the figure said, this time in the voice of his grandfather, Caleb Burke. “She’s doing all of this herself. Of course, I may have had a
hand in selecting just what souls she invited to be her Eve.”
Burke’s numb mind could not comprehend what this demon-man was talking about. “What?”
“Come now, my boy. You know who I was, what I did. Your father made no secret that he was the son of a serial killer. Had to confess the sins of the father to clear his conscience and all that. He told you I was dead, I’m sure. That’s what they all thought, eventually. By the time you came along, it was ancient history. Pretty young women, murdered by some madman. Quite the scandal, I assure you. It started innocently enough, an accident, actually, but I had a savior, and he gave me the power to do whatever I wanted whenever I wanted. Those dark souls you saw crying out? Those young women were not the only ones. Not even close. Agibus needed some particular souls for this little project of his—the darkest, vilest of your human race. I got to kill them, and Agibus harvested their souls, storing them here until the day your lovely daughter came to give them all a new home.”
“You’re a monster.”
Caleb laughed. “Monster? Yes, I guess I am at that. However, I am nothing compared to what your little girl is going to come out of there as. Can you imagine? All those evil souls in one body, a body fed by the power of the Bene Ha’ Elohim. Then, all she has to do is kill the one she loves most. That would be you.”
Burke nearly laughed at that. “Well, grandfather, that’s where your plan falls apart. Sara doesn’t love me. She hates me for abandoning her, for getting her mom killed and not coming after her.” Burke pulled himself to his feet, but his shoulders sagged at the confession.
“Oh no, Johnny. That’s where you’re wrong. Dead wrong, we might say. You always held the highest place in her heart. You were too busy to see it, but she loved you more than life itself. She still does, but she’ll kill you anyway, and the portal will open. Then we will follow the Bene Ha’ Elohim into your world, destroy every puny human in it, and reestablish our place as the supreme beings in creation.”