End in the Beginning (The God Tools Book 3)

by Gary Williams

  CHAPTER 55

  Laval was outraged this stupid bitch had rushed her. She lifted herself to her knees with great effort, leaned over, and slammed her fist into Fawn’s face once, then twice. The woman’s head slumped onto the ground where she lay still.

  Laval turned to see the bizarre looking woman, and locked eyes with her. “Are you ready to die?” Laval snarled. Rising, she ignored the pain in her thigh.

  The freak of a woman charged her. Even with a bad leg, Laval sidestepped the woman, sending a fist into the back of her skull as she ran past her. The woman fell into the doorway, folding to the floor like a ragdoll and crying out in pain.

  Laval was drawn toward the large square of smoke on the wall. She had made it. She would pass through, kill everyone on the other side, including Nash and Rassle, and achieve immortality by living in the Garden of Eden.

  Laval reached her hand toward the mist. Her fingers jabbed the wall. Surprised, she moved her hand around, feeling more of the solid wall behind the thin layer of blue smoke. “What in the hell?”

  “This is an exit, not an entrance,” a voice behind her said. “You can’t get into Eden from here.”

  Laval wheeled around to see Fawn standing in the doorway holding Laval’s gun.

  “Then I’ll wait here and kill anyone who comes through,” Laval growled.

  “No, you won’t.” Fawn held the gun up and aimed at Laval’s head.

  “Go ahead and shoot me,” Laval snorted. “The clip is spent. I heard the dead click when you fired on me from the hole. I know it, and you know it.” Laval watched Fawn’s confident expression falter. She loved to see an opponent fold, especially one as inept as this one. “As a matter of fact, mademoiselle,” Laval continued, “I think I’ll remove this dagger from the wall and cut out your heart.”

  ****

  A smoky panel developed in the room on the wall above Abel’s grave. Curt was elated to see that Bar had been successful. The journey was nearly over.

  To their surprise, they heard voices passing through the mist.

  “Do you hear that?” Scott said.

  Curt nodded. “One is Fawn, but I don’t hear Bar. The other voice sounds French.”

  ****

  Fawn kept the gun trained on Laval even though both women knew it was unloaded. Fawn began to shake. She could feel her cheek swelling and had a raging headache from Laval’s blows to her face.

  “Fawn, is that you? What’s going on?” a disembodied voice asked from somewhere beyond the mist.

  Dr. Curt Lohan. From Eden.

  “Curt, throw the Tools through. Now!” Fawn dropped the gun and grabbed Lilibeth, dragging her toward the doorway. Lilibeth was coherent enough to help push with her feet. They reached the tunnel, and Fawn stared at up Laval.

  Laval spun and grabbed Cain’s dagger still impaled in the image on the wall. She was about to extract it when a tremendous burst of energy emerged from the smoky opening and sent Laval hurling back toward the doorway. Fawn and Lilibeth ducked behind the wall just as Laval’s head struck the top of the rocky arch, flipping her body in midair. The crack of her skull on the stone was like the sound of a firecracker. Laval landed several dozen feet down the corridor, in flames. She twitched once as the fire died out.

  Fawn walked up to her. Laval’s charred body lay in a pile of ashes.

  Fawn returned to the room. “Curt, you can come through now. It’s safe.”

  ****

  As Father N had instructed, Scott and Curt had thrown the Fish, Staff of Moses, and Sword of Michael through the portal at the same time. They had heard a concussive report as the Tools disappeared into the wall.

  Curt was relieved to know that Fawn was okay, but he was curious about Bar’s fate. “Is Agent Bar okay?”

  “She will be.”

  That was a relief. “We’re sending the children through first,” Curt said. “Time to go,” Curt instructed Tina and Cody. Before they left, Curt gave each one a hug, which Scott found curious. Then, with hands clasped and Tina leading the way, each child stepped into the smoke and vanished.

  “I’ve got them!” Fawn yelled back.

  Scott turned to Curt. “Okay, this can’t wait. I was watching from the top of that rock pile at the entrance to these tunnels when you were battling Cain. I saw you grab the Serpent’s tail to turn it back into the Staff, but nothing happened, and you had to call Tina over to do it. Why didn’t it work for you?”

  Curt turned away, obviously reluctant to answer.

  Scott got a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach. “What’s going on, Curt?”

  ****

  Lila and Tonya raced through the underbrush, their skin now riddled with scratches and abrasions. Rufus was so far ahead, he was nearly out of sight.

  Male chivalry is dead, Lila thought as absolute terror threatened to overcome her. Tonya continued to sob, but she was at least moving on her own now. Like Lila, she was being driven by sheer survival instinct.

  Somewhere behind, the two Xenosmiluses were trouncing through the bushes and, from the sound of it, quickly gaining ground.

  Lila forced herself to reason. They had to find somewhere to hide. Climbing a tree would be no use. The cats would simply come after them, and as far as she knew, the only land anomaly on Bayard Point was the rise. This would afford them no safe haven.

  To call the situation bleak was an understatement.

  “Goddammit, Rufus, wait for us!” Tonya screamed.

  So much for the saintly vocabulary.

  Rufus had just neared a copse of trees when he stopped. His eyes grew big, and he wheeled around and took off. Just as he was about to enter the thick, wooded terrain, a large object fell on him from a tree. It knocked him to the ground with a crunching thud and covered him completely.

  Rufus got off one muted scream before the powerful teeth of the Xenosmilus ripped into his carotid artery. When the beast drew back, blood stained the fur around its mouth as it tugged on a long strand of human flesh. The Xenosmilus regarded Lila for a moment and then uttered a thunderous roar.

  Tonya fainted on the spot and collapsed to the ground.

  “No, no you can’t, Tonya. Not now!” Lila yelled, kneeling and rolling her over. She slapped the woman hard across the face, and Tonya revived with a start. Lila practically lifted Tonya to her feet. Ahead, the Xenosmilus had torn off Rufus’ head and was gnawing on his skull with a sickening crunch. Lila yanked Tonya to the side, and the two women went flying through the underbrush.

  “This can’t be happening! It just can’t!” Tonya screamed.

  Lila could see the two large cats bounding over the brush, cutting directly toward them. The land suddenly cleared, and Lila and Tonya fell headfirst into a marshy body of water. Lila submerged, but quickly found footing and pushed her head above the surface. Tonya had also surfaced nearby, panting. Her face was caked in mud.

  Lila watched the two giant cats reach the edge of the water and abruptly stop.

  Water, the one place most cats hate, Lila thought with a modicum of solace.

  Her eyes burned, so she swiped a hand across her face. She had a similar mask of mud. “To the middle,” Lila urged Tonya.

  Tonya appeared in shock but silently trailed Lila as the two women sloshed to the middle of the marsh, which was no more than the size of a large living room. Lila was careful as she edged her feet along the bottom of the mud-clogged water, fearful of a drop-off. Fortunately, the depth remained constant, and they soon centered themselves in the bog and out of the reach of the Xenosmiluses.

  The two cats paced back and forth along the shore, anxious for a way to reach their prey but seemingly unwilling to negotiate the water to do so. If they had not been in such a perilous situation, Lila would have found the sight of the creatures fascinating. As it was, she hoped they would eventually get bored and leave.

  “They…they won’t come in after us?” Tonya asked.

  “Most cats hate water; apparently even prehistoric ones.”

 
; “Will they go away?”

  “Eventually, but that may take a while.”

  Behind Tonya, Lila saw a burp of air reach the surface, followed by a boil of water. Tonya jerked once and disappeared below the surface, leaving only a stream of bubbles that trailed away toward the far shore.

  Lila was too terrified to move.

  There was a bulge of water, then a frantic commotion as Tonya’s body was dragged to shore by a long, thick crocodile. It dropped her corpse onto the muddy bank.

  The reptile was huge, over fourteen feet long with a massive girth like no crocodile Lila had ever seen. After depositing Tonya’s body, it returned to the water and sank below the surface…out of sight.

  In horror, Lila watched as air bubbles cut a straight line directly at her. The crocodile was obviously gathering all of its courses before dining began.

  She turned, and frantically struggled through the water toward the shore where the two Xenosmiluses awaited her.

  Now, it was only a matter of choosing which way to die.

  CHAPTER 56

  Curt began, “I am the Deliverer. The position came with a few caveats. It’s the reason that I was allowed to enter Eden via the water portal.”

  “I don’t understand.” Scott shook his head in confusion.

  Curt seemed to struggle with his words. “Remember when I said that Father N told me human touch will change the Staff into the creature, and a human’s touch grabbing the creature by the tail will revert it back into the Staff?”

  “Yeah, but it didn’t work for you. What are you getting at?”

  Curt started to speak, then hesitated. He fixed Scott squarely in the eyes. “Human touch.”

  Scott felt a burn in the pit of his stomach. He could barely speak, “You aren’t…human?”

  “Scott, I can’t go back.”

  “What the hell do you mean?” Scott reached forward and gripped Curt on the shoulder, refusing to accept the explanation. “You’re human. I can feel you.”

  “I only exist here now. I’ve passed on from Earth.”

  “You’re…you’re…dead?” Scott stammered.

  “Yes.”

  Scott’s mind was jumbled. “There’s got to be a way to—”

  Curt put his hands on Scott’s shoulders. “There’s not. I am supposed to stay here.”

  “And do what?”

  “I have a task before I can move on.”

  “Curt, this is crazy. Just return through the portal.”

  “Watch.” Curt raised his hand and pushed it toward the portal opening. His hand reached the mist but was stopped by the solid wall. “It was my choice, Scott. I made a trade.”

  “A trade? No, I won’t accept it,” Scott said. He took his friend’s hand and tried to ram it through. Curt’s knuckles impacted against the wall.

  “I can feel that, you know.”

  “Then how can you be dead?”

  “I don’t make the rules, Scott.” Curt pointed to the portal. The size of the opening had diminished significantly. What had once been a large square was now half the original size. “Father N told me this portal wouldn’t hold for long. You don’t have much time, Scott. You have to go.”

  “I can’t just leave you here.”

  “Your son is waiting, Scott.” Curt reached into his pocket and fished something out. “Here.” Curt held out his closed hand.

  His emotions were swirling. Reluctantly, Scott extended his hand.

  “Please keep this.” Curt dropped the object in Scott’s hand. It was the arrowhead Curt had found while they were serving detention on the day they met.

  Scott swallowed a lump.

  “This has always reminded me of our friendship,” Curt said, “and all the good times we had, as well as the not-so-good ones, like when you helped me through my divorce.” Curt paused, his voice faltering with emotion. “Scott, I’m so sorry for getting you involved in all this.”

  Scott was speechless. He leaned forward and hugged his friend. The moment was surreal. There were so many things he wanted to say to Curt.

  “Scott, the portal is closing. You’ve got to go. Now.” Curt couldn’t mask the sadness in his voice. “One last thing: find the shack over the water up Six Mile Creek. Take a boat and get there as soon as possible.”

  “Curt…” Scott found his vision had become blurry. He wiped his eyes. “You’ve been the best friend I could ever have asked for.”

  “Scott, please, the opening is getting smaller. Cody is waiting for you. You’ve got to go now.”

  Scott eyed the wall with an aching heart. He drifted back a few steps.

  Curt moved to the side to give him a clear path.

  Scott glanced at Curt one last time. Fighting every urge he had to remain with his friend, Scott raced forward and dove through.

  He was weightless, as if he were freefalling in the vacuum of space. Even so, he made sure to hold on to the arrowhead with a tight grip. His momentum abruptly changed direction, and he was launched upward through total darkness.

  He awoke lying on a cold floor with Cody and Tina huddled over him. A female stood over the children—a tall, suntanned woman with long, brown hair streaked in blonde. He had never seen her before but guessed her identity based on Curt’s information: Fawn Cortez-Roberson. He knew he had returned.

  He opened his hand. He still had the arrowhead.

  A second woman appeared and crouched over him. She was bleeding from a cut on her forehead. “Un-be-credible. Cousin Scotty, you sure do know how to make an appearance,” Lilibeth said.

  Fawn pointed to the wall behind Scott. “The dagger…it’s gone.”

  Scott rose to a sitting position and hugged Cody and Tina. “What’s that horrible smell?”

  “Josette Laval,” Fawn responded.

  ****

  Lila stopped within a few feet of the bank, so close that one of the Xenosmiluses took a swipe at her with a tremendous claw. The beast missed and roared his frustration. She could smell its fur, feel the heat of its breath as it snarled. Lila closed her eyes, waiting for a cruel end to come either from one of the cats reaching her or being dragged under by the large crocodile. The darkness acted as a sedative. She suddenly realized that she was no longer standing in water, yet her clothes were soaking wet. The sounds had changed. There was no more growling and snarling, no more thrashing of water, just the soothing chirp of birds somewhere high overhead.

  Lila opened her eyes. Everything had changed. She was no longer in the bog. She stood in swampy water which barely covered her feet. The Xenosmiluses were gone.

  Lila struggled to process what was going on. Dazed, she began walking. She spotted the steep rise she knew to be on Bayard Point. With some difficulty, she reached it and scaled the incline to the top. Standing on the plateau, she could see the St. Johns River stretching to the left and the dog-leg turn at the point where the water traveled south into the distance. Houses dotted the far side of the river, and the Shands Bridge rose on the horizon to the east.

  She had somehow survived and returned to the present.

  Lila dropped to the ground in exhaustion and placed her head on her arm.

  CHAPTER 57

  As soon as Scott and the others were gone, Curt left the room in the cave. Traversing the lit tunnel, Curt moved with purpose.

  After navigating the rock pile, he soon emerged back into the Garden of Eden. To his surprise, there was a figure on the island: a lithe human form that was decidedly feminine.

  As he approached the waterway, she glared at him. “Who art thou?”

  “A comrade in arms,” Curt said, never slowing. He stepped into the waterway and lifted himself up onto the island.

  The Guard spun a flaming Sword and held it out. “Thou will be cut down.”

  “I was told I would be allowed.”

  The Guard seemed to regard Curt. Then she tipped her head to the side, as if receiving a silent message.

  Curt wondered what she had heard.

  Wordlessly, the Gu
ard stepped aside.

  Curt was curious, “By the way, what happened to the Guard who was killed?”

  “He has ascended, as will thou once thy task is complete.”

  Ahead, the Tree of Life stood in all its grandeur. Where there had been one thin coating of fruit on the ground earlier, now the ground was stacked in layers of fruit. There was no way to know how many, but Curt estimated there were millions. He knew that every fruit represented a human life which had been lost when the Tree of Life had been temporarily severed by Cain.

  He circled the Tree, examining the mass of fruit on the ground. On the far side, one drew his attention. He retrieved it from the ground and stood up. He held the delicate fruit gently in his hand and positioned himself under the Tree where one of the branches hung down. With care, he lifted it to a clump of fruit still residing on the branch. The fruit flew from his hand like a magnet drawn to steel and stuck in the cluster, once again part of the Tree.

  Curt smiled and spoke softly, “Wait where you are. He will arrive.”

  Not far above this cluster of fruit, he noticed a solitary fruit with a dull, white sheen.

  Curt’s eyes watered. He reached up and softly touched the fragile fruit, careful not to pull it from the tree. He used his fingers to slowly wipe away the discoloration, polishing the surface back to its bright red shine.

  A tear streamed down his face as he spoke, “I love you, Sherri. Always know that. Take good care of our child.”

  ****

  Sherri Falco’s eyes flew open. A series of beeps rang out. She was lying in a bed. A nurse rushed into the room and huddled over her.

  “Can you hear me?” the nurse asked with a beaming smile.

  Sherri nodded her head. “Yes, where am I?”

  “The hospital. You’ve just come out of a coma. You’re one lucky lady.”

  Sherri could still hear Curt’s words echoing in her mind.

  She raised her hands to her face and sobbed.

  CHAPTER 58

  Six and a half hours later, after traveling north from Florida City, Scott steered up Six Mile Creek in a rented boat towing a small Jon boat behind it. Where the creek narrowed and the natural detritus became too thick to navigate, Scott stopped and anchored. He transferred to the Jon boat and began paddling up the creek. He navigated a bend and spotted the shack on stilts over the water just as Curt had described.