by Tom Mohan
“What about you, Grandfather? What about your humanity?”
Caleb chuckled. “I ceased to be human long ago, Johnny.”
As Caleb spoke those words, the floating cocoon began to hum and vibrate. Its color changed from bright blue to sickly gray, then faded to black, casting the cavern into darkness, only a few light crystals still providing illumination. The air in the cavern grow heavy, pressing in on Burke’s eardrums. He didn’t have to be a genius to know this new change in the atmosphere of the room originated from the spot where Sara had disappeared. The pressure continued to grow until he was forced to cover his ears in an attempt to keep it out of his head.
“Well, Johnny,” Caleb said, “I think it’s time to meet Eve.”
Burke’s eyes bulged almost out of their sockets as the pressure in the air continued to grow. The room itself was silent, waiting expectantly for the next great piece of the puzzle to fall into place. It didn’t take long. The space where the glowing cocoon had once been had gone dark, so dark it seemed to pull the cavern’s light into it. Burke recalled the black holes that astronomers talked about and thought this probably fit the description. Except that with a black hole, the gravity within pulled things in, like a voracious mouth in space. Here, he was awaiting the thing that was about to be born out of the black mass.
As he stared, a massive bolt of lightning formed out of thin air and struck the hovering mass. The sonic concussion that followed slammed into Burke, sending him hard against the wall. He willed himself to remain conscious, and somehow managed. His broken arm had gone numb, which was probably for the best since it was useless anyway.
He ignored the pain as he sat up and tried to focus his gaze back on the object in the center of the room. The mass had grown to twice its original size so that its bottom rested on the floor of the cavern. Flashes of multicolored light burst from it. He blinked his eyes in an attempt to clear his vision. Something moved inside the cocoon. Something human shaped. Something alive.
“Sara?” Burke whispered, praying to the God he had come to rely on that she was all right. But it was not Sara who emerged from the cocoon.
Eve stepped from the ragged shell, lightning splintering in all directions off her body. Her head hung, black hair draping her face like a protective cover. Her shoulders, wider than those of the girl who had entered, heaved as she sucked in deep breaths of air. Slowly, Eve’s arms lifted from her sides, fingers splayed open, bursts of power shooting from each one. As dark red and blue lights flashed from within her body, Burke could see Eve writhing, the spirits that created her darting in their dance of rage.
Burke felt himself pushing hard against the wall behind him, certain he would bolt if he were able. Whatever stood before him was not his daughter but some monster from hell.
Love her.
The words burned in his mind like lava. Love that? How could such a thing even be asked of him?
Love her.
Again the voice, not severe, not even stern. Burke forced himself to gaze at the form before him. She still had not raised her head, hadn’t looked at him, though he could feel her hatred. The air pulsed with it. He took a deep breath and forced himself to see this terrible being as his daughter. Somewhere in all that anger, she lived and needed her father—just as he needed his father. The voice tugged at his heart, cracking the vault of fear and self-loathing in which it had for so long been encased.
As I have loved her.
Yes, Lord. Tears streamed down Burke’s face. I can do that.
Then Eve’s head rose, and her flaming eyes fell on him. Burke almost lost his tenuous grip on courage. If his daughter was in there, surely she was lost to him. Eve’s left hand came up, and a bolt of black energy launched from it. Almost without thought, Burke’s own power surrounded him in a protective shell. Again, her power shot toward him, and again he blocked it. The explosions were like nothing Burke had ever encountered. Icy cold surrounded him with each burst, numbing his body while crushing him against the immovable stone behind. He knew he had to move, or—mystical shield or no—he would not survive much longer.
Burke staggered to his feet, head spinning. He waited for the next burst to knock him down again, but it didn’t come. Instead, he felt pressure wrap around him. Eve’s blazing eyes locked with his. The pressure built as she forced her will into his mind. Burke’s hands flew to either side of his head, trying to hold it together as her godlike mind invaded his own. Darkness and fury swirled within him, and Burke knew if he didn’t do something, this thing would kill him. His own anger rose up, challenging that which violated him with such passion. He felt power rise up as well, righteous power that would smite such a foul creature. The pressure in his mind lessened. Something else changed as well. He thought he sensed…fear? Could it be that this hell-spawn feared him? No, not him, the power that flowed through him. It feared God.
Burke swallowed his anger and let the power fade. “I won’t fight you.” His voice was little more than a hoarse whisper, but he had no doubt that the dark being heard.
“Then you will die,” Eve replied. Her voice sounded like it came from a garbled Host all speaking at once. He found nothing to sustain his belief that Sara still existed within Eve, but he held tight to it anyway.
“So be it.”
“You would die anyway,” she said, and Burke thought he detected a hint of amusement. “Your god is no match for us.”
“You are already defeated.”
UNIMAGINABLE POWER FLOODED Sara’s every cell. No, not Sara, Eve. Sara was no more than a distant memory to this new being. She was aware of only one thing now—hate. Hate for the puny human she now faced, hate for the demonic forces she so willingly served, but most of all, hate for the God who had made her life miserable. A part of her knew this hate was more than hers alone. She was aware of the multitude of murdered spirits that had formed to bring her into being. The tiny spark that was still Sara Burke cringed at the malevolence that demanded vengeance, but Eve embraced all of it, taking in the hatred and making it her own.
More than these dark spirits fed her. Lurking in the shadows of the cavern were the half-human demon lord and his lackey. She could sense the smug satisfaction of Agibus and the pleasure of his human side, Caleb. Her own hatred of the human serial killer welled up, only to be quenched by her terror of him. She knew she should be strong enough to annihilate the demon lord, but he held some form of power over her that her limited understanding could not fathom. It was of no consequence. Her only thought now was to kill the human man and open the portal to the world of the humans.
The thought of opening the portal flooded Eve’s dark mind with the anxious roars of the Bene Ha’ Elohim as they pounded at the walls of their prison. Their unquenchable bloodlust fed Eve’s own, and the dark force of her power surged.
LIGHTNING FLASHED FROM Eve’s body. Without warning, both of her hands shot forward, launching twin missiles of cold darkness. This time no shield protected him as the terrible cold sank deep into Burke’s soul. He fell to his knees and gasped as deepest despair flooded him, only the tiniest spark of hope remaining.
“I love you.” The effort to speak those words drained what little strength he had, but even as he spoke them, Burke felt the spark of hope grow just a bit stronger. Another burst of frozen hopelessness slammed into him, and he knew death was only moments away. He didn’t care. Let it come. “I…love…you.”
Burke felt a sense of release as the words spilled from his lips. The selfishness in his heart melted, and he knew he truly loved this girl that had once been his daughter. “Kill me if you must,” he said. “But I die for you, not because of you.” Burke’s gaze never left the flaming orbs of his daughter’s eyes. Was it hesitation he saw there? The pressure in the room lessened, as did the flashing bolts of power through her body. Her head tilted, as though she were examining some new discovery.
“I love you, too.”
Burke spun his head toward the familiar voice. The little girl stood alone to
one side, still wearing nothing but the dirty potato sack. She had never looked so young and innocent. “Red, what are you doing?”
The girl did not so much as glance at him. She held her tiny hand out to the dark spirit of Eve. “You are loved more than you know.” The little girl smiled, and the sun seemed to rise in the darkness of the cavern.
Then the darkness exploded in Eve’s rage.
FURY RAGED AS Eve gazed at the awful being that masqueraded as a human child. How dare it show its face? How dare it present its worthless carcass in the moment of her victory? Didn’t the enemy know its weak-willed subjects had no power here? To come into her world and speak of something as horrendous as love was beyond insane. She heard laughter from Agibus, but it sounded forced, uncertain. The Bene Ha’ Elohim, however, were as furious as she. Their raw emotion fed her like a connection to the sun. Power beyond her control exploded, lashing out in all directions. She heard a yelp from Agibus and felt his presence vanish. No matter, she had little need of the likes of him. After all, he had created her for just this task.
Eve’s scream rent the heavens as the full force of her dark will slammed into the child-being. The spirit world trembled at her fury, but the walls of the veil held. She would destroy this God-loving intruder, then spill the blood that would rend the veil.
Eve stood tall and magnificent amid the storm. Even the vast minds of the Bene Ha’ Elohim cringed from her. As her power flowed hot, she channeled the cold rage of the souls that had given themselves that she might live. Amid the rage, she felt something else. Life. Yes, this was what it really meant to be alive—to hate, to rage, to have no other purpose than to serve oneself. That was life. And Eve was alive right now.
“Are you about finished?”
“RED? WHAT ARE you doing?” Burke could barely hear his own voice in the storm of Eve’s rage. The little girl’s impertinent question appeared to catch Eve off-guard. No sooner had the girl spoken than the fury of the attack began to abate, then die all together until Eve stood before them, blazing eyes studying first Red then Burke. Without warning, Eve strode forward and backhanded the little girl with enough force to topple a redwood. Red flew backward, striking the wall with crushing force.
Burke scrambled to his feet, all pain and weariness forgotten. “Leave her alone,” he yelled as he took a step toward the thing that had once been his daughter.
Eve turned toward him and smiled, sharp, wolf-like teeth barred. “Or what, little man? What could you ever do to me?”
Good question, Burke thought. “Sara, listen to me. I’m your father. I’ve come to take you home.”
“Sara no longer exists, idiot. She’s as dead as the rest of your family. You failed her just as all the men of your line have failed.”
Burke felt his resolve melt.
“Don’t listen to her.” Red stood a few paces away. Something about her looked wrong, like Eve’s blow had done damage hidden just below the surface.
Burke turned back to Eve. “I don’t believe you. Sara is still in there, somewhere, and I love her. Do you hear me, Sara? I love you more than life itself.”
Eve laughed. “You’re about to get the chance to make good on that, human. Your life is precisely what I demand.”
“You’ll have to take mine first.” Red stepped in front of Burke, her tiny body doing little to shield him.
“Gladly,” Eve almost purred.
Burke was growing impatient. This was his fight. Win or lose, he was ready to get on with it. “Get out of the way, Red.”
The little girl looked up at him, one eyebrow raised. “Oh? You think you can do this yourself?”
“This is my fight. You even said so.”
“I said only your love for your daughter could stop this madness. I never said you would do it alone. That’s your own human ego.”
Burke’s retort was cut short by the now-familiar pressure building in the cavern. Eve stood motionless, hands held at arm’s length before her. Between her palms, blue bursts of light spun, creating an ever-growing circle. The light surrounded a sphere of pure darkness that drew his gaze hypnotically. The ball pulled at Red. First her long auburn curls rose from her tiny shoulders. Then her hair and burlap dress began tugging toward the silent, unmoving Eve. Only the spiraling ball of blue light moved, continuing to grow.
Burke reached out to take hold of the little girl, but before he could grasp her, she slipped out of his reach, pulled toward the blackness. “Red!”
“Love her, John Burke. Love her with all you’ve got. Love her with the love of God.” Then the girl he had known as Red stretched and blurred before disappearing into the vast darkness that was Eve.
The girl hovered in muffled darkness. She thought of herself as hovering because she had no sense of anything around her. Every now and then something almost like feeling would invade her space, but she shrugged it off. She knew she was a girl, that she was human, though why she would be anything other than human she had no idea. Past and future meant nothing to her, nor did the present. She simply was.
Another impression cast over her mind. Anger? She thought it might have been, but why would she be angry? The idea that the anger might not be her own flitted across her awareness before fading into the void in which everything else disappeared. Again she drifted.
Gradually something changed, if change was possible in this place. She had no frame of reference for the change. None of her senses, if she still possessed them, registered anything amiss. She considered turning and looking behind her, but the thought passed into the void.
The sense of change grew stronger, and with it something else. Hope? She waited for this, like all things, to pass into the void. Instead of fading, the feeling grew, and with it came something else. A dot appeared in the darkness, tiny and infinitely far away. As she watched, the dot grew into a light, shining in the darkness of the void. As the light grew brighter, the hope swelled within her. The light moved closer and closer, neither wavering nor flickering, until it began to take on a human shape. To her surprise, it took the form of a small, curly-haired girl wearing a potato sack for a dress.
“Hello, Sara,” the little girl said. “It’s nice to finally meet you.”
“No!”
Burke’s heart tore as he reached out for the little girl, but she was gone, another casualty of this evil world. Righteous fury flooded him as his hands clenched into tight fists. He looked upon the smug face of Eve and wanted nothing more than to pummel it, to crush the very life from her.
Eve smiled, a grotesque image on her dark, demonic features. “You grieve for her?” She did not wait for him to answer. “Human weakness. You are all pathetic.”
Burke struggled to call the power that had saved him before, but he felt only weariness. His body was so battered it was a wonder he was still standing. Didn’t God care? Wasn’t this moment what this whole nightmare had been about, victory over Eve? His anger grew, and blood pounded in his veins. He tossed his head back in frustration.
“Where are you?” he yelled as loud as his hoarse voice would allow.
“Your god can’t help you.” Eve’s voice fell to a harsh whisper. In two long strides, she crossed the distance between them and wrapped one hand around his neck. “Your god doesn’t even exist.” She squeezed and lifted him from the ground. Burke felt his feet kick out at the air. He didn’t have the strength to do much else. Flashes of colored light dotted his vision as Eve’s monstrous grip cut off not only his breath but blood flow to his brain.
Love her with the love of God.
Red’s final words brought a strangled sob to Burke’s nearly crushed throat. At that moment, something inside him gave way. All the anger, pain, and despair of the last four years faded.
Love her like God loves you.
He had denied it for so long. Fought any mention of God or religion, and especially of that kind of love, but right now, in this place, Burke’s heart swelled with love until it broke. He forced his bulging eyes to look into hers. “I
love you.”
The fingers clenched tighter, and Burke felt himself slipping away.
SARA BLINKED AT the little girl. “Do I know you?”
The girl laughed. “No, but I assure you, you will.”
“Where am I?”
“That’s a long story, one we don’t have time for right now, I’m afraid.”
Sara studied the tiny face. “You don’t talk like a little girl.”
“Funny, your father said the same thing.”
“You know my father?” Sara’s breath caught in her throat. Though she barely remembered the man, the idea of him stirred strong feelings in her.
“Bossy? Pessimistic? Demanding, but all-in-all not a bad guy? Yeah, I know him.” The girl placed a tiny hand in Sara’s. Sara’s awareness shook at the touch as the vastness of the universe opened to her. Then the feeling vanished, leaving a profound loss in its wake. “Sorry about that,” the girl said. “Your human mind would probably turn to tapioca pudding from too much of that.”
“Tapioca pudding? You are a strange little girl. What’s your name?”
The girl paused, as though thinking. “You can call me Red. I’ve grown kind of fond of that name.”
“Okay, Red. Now are you going to tell me where we are and what’s going on?”
Again, the girl smiled. “Well, Sara, we’re in your soul. And we’re about to save your father’s life.”
“My father’s in danger?”
The girl nodded. “He fights for his life even as we speak.”
“Then we have to help him. What’s hurting him?”
“You are, Sara. You’re killing him.”
Sara stared at the girl. “Me? How can I be killing him?”