Thieves' Race

by Isaac Padgett

  I looked at him hard and shook my head, "And how do you know which side of the war you will be on? How do you know that we aren't handing him our lives with this weapon?"

  He shook his head in return, tears in his eyes, "I don't. I don't know anything except that I will be worse than dead if I don't do this for him. And you will be too, Jack. I'm sorry to bring you into this... If I had known... Oh, what I would have done differently."

  He laid down and was quiet. I saw his body shake for a moment before that too settled. I drifted in and out of sleep, wondering what this weapon was and how it would affect the world. I found myself wondering about Nick and Olivia, thinking of how they were doing and if they were still fighting.

  "Those two would be nice right about now. So...nice..."

  Blackness.

  ???

  "It is almost done, Master. The time has almost come to pass, and they have reached the manor. Or they will before the next day has passed. It will soon be time to rise up and destroy everything standing in our way to power." A man who walked in shadows spoke to a man hidden in a circle of flame.

  "Good...good. Our rise shall be soon, as soon as this job is completed. Stand ready, my friend. We shall soon have all that we deserve."

  "Yes, master," The man nodded and watched as the flames winked out, "Soon, we will be powerful. Soon, we will have all."

  He looked around at the scorched ground and smiled, dazzling white amidst a sea of black clouds, "Soon."

  He vanished without a trace, leaving just a small ring of charred black grass to show that anyone had ever been there.

  Jack

  The edge of the property that Elroy had spoken of was overgrown. Vines covered what I assumed used to be a fence but was now nothing more than a few planks of wood leaning against each other more than standing on their own.

  "Are you sure this is the place? It looks to be...I don't know, pretty run down. Not the kind of place that would have some all-powerful weapon. What stopped your buyer from coming and grabbing it himself?"

  Elroy looked at the fence line with a furrowed brow, "I'm not sure. He made it seem as if it would be difficult to come in and get. But being here... I'm sure this is the right place; I double-checked before leaving. And I followed the instructions to the dot."

  I shrugged and stepped forward, going to sweep some vines off the fence post. However, at the slightest touch of my hand, the whole thing came crumbling down, sending clouds of dirt and dust into the air.

  Elroy fell back, choking and coughing, waving a hand in front of his face, "What in the blazes did you go and do that for?"

  "Oh shut up, I didn't do it on purpose. I was just trying to look at the wood, see how old it is. Pretty dang old, though. Probably older than you or I, in fact. And those vines have probably been growing longer than we've been alive as well. Curious."

  "Whatever. I'm sure this is the place. Let's get in there and find the damned thing so we can get out of here. It's giving me the creeps, and I hate getting goosebumps."

  I couldn't argue with him. The place was rather spooky, and not just because of the fence. The trees seemed to move on their own, even in the absence of wind. The grass swayed, branches parted, and all without one puff from the skies.

  The place didn't seem dead, but a strange kind of empty. The type of empty no one has ever really witnessed. Usually, you could feel others, people, or bugs, or noises. But aside from Elroy and I, it felt as if the space we were in had absolutely no one, nothing, in it.

  The walk to the manor itself seemed to take so much longer because of this. Every second stretched out into what seemed like minutes, and Time itself seemed to slow.

  "Do you know where to look, or do we have to search the whole house?" I whispered to Elroy, though not sure why I felt the need to.

  He started to shake his head and then spoke, "It's supposed to be hanging on a wall somewhere. I'm not sure if it's on the first or second floor, though, and it can be in any of the rooms, really. But it should be on a wall, with a silver-ish wrapping around it. If you find it first, I must warn you. Whatever you do, don't open it. I was told that if opened, death would be the best thing we could wish for."

  "You were told this by the same people who wouldn't tell you what it was or why they wanted it? How can we, you, be sure how much to believe of what they tell us?" I grumbled, snaking a glance back over my shoulder as he pushed open the door and stepped inside, "Careful, Elroy. I think we're being watched."

  He glanced back at me and then behind me, "It's probably just some animals or something. Quit slacking and get moving. You search the ground floor, and I'll get the second. Call out if you find anything."

  He started to walk away, and I called out to him, "And what if we find other valuables, aside from the bow? Did your bosses say anything about us lining our own pockets from this place?"

  He looked back at me, and for the first time in a long time, I saw a smile grace his face, "No, they did not. You find anything you fancy and can carry it out of here, feel free. I know I'll be doing the same!"

  I watched him climb the steps up to the second floor before looking around with a sigh. A manor this big would have many rooms in it, and it would take a while to search through them all.

  "Might as well get started, I guess," I murmured to myself and walked into the first room. It had musty furniture that seemed to be just as decayed as the fence had been. The dust had built up so much that just walking sent up clouds of the stuff.

  "Damn, you'd think whoever owned this joint would take care to clean up. Though I guess, maybe no one owns it anymore. No one lives here, that's for sure."

  A thump sounded from above me, followed by a string of muffled curses. I had to grin as I pictured the scene upstairs. Elroy had obviously run into something. This room didn't seem to have the weapon; the walls were bare of everything but cobwebs.

  "I really hope he isn't wrong about this. If we search this whole house, only to find it isn't here or isn't on a wall, I'm going to break something. And in this house, it wouldn't even be that hard."

  I stubbed my toe on the chair of a stool and watched it fall, shattering into splinters, "Oops. I guess I have to hope we don't find it now. Damn stool. Damned house."

  "Actually, it's quite the opposite of a damned house." A voice, smooth and cool, sounded from behind me. I whirled around, a knife practically materializing in my hand, but saw no one. There weren't even another set of footprints in the dust, "What in the hells is going on here?" I wondered aloud, "What did I get myself into?"

  Now that I had heard a voice, it seemed like there was whispering coming from all around me. It was a low buzz in my ears, heard but not understood, though I could tell by the patterns that it was actual speech.

  As I delved deeper into the rooms, the whispers grew louder. I had forgotten all about searching for the weapon and was wholly focused on discovering the source of the voices.

  The droning buzz grew louder and louder, but no clearer no matter how close to the source I got. It was at the point where I was covering my ears to block it out while I searched.

  Each room I passed got darker and darker, the heat leaching from my body and my breath exploding out of me in clouds visible to my eye. I rushed forward, so sure that I was about to find out who was making all the noise when I tripped on something. My head crashed into a chair, and everything went black for a moment.

  I woke, laying on my back with one hand held against my head. I felt no blood, but my head was pounding, "If I gave myself a concussion, I will never forgive myself."

  The buzzing was gone, and as I got to my feet, I noticed that I was back in the room I started in. Not only that, but the only exit was the entrance I had come from, "Where did....what?"

  A ragged scream from above brought me sprinting out of the strange room and up the stairs as fast as possible. Following the sound of whimpering, I found Elroy on the ground, clutching his hand.

  "The damned thing burned the skin right off
my hand! I can't even move my fingers! Jack, what the Hell is this thing?"

  Above him on the wall was what looked like a rod wrapped in silver-gray cloth. Hands trembling, I reached out and slowly lifted it off the hooks holding it up. As soon as the contact was gone, said hooks crumbled into dust.

  "Watch out, you'll get b-" He started to stand up, trying to stop me, "Or....not? Why did it burn me and not you?" He looked a little offended, so I rushed to appease him.

  "Maybe there was some...I don't know, something magic on it or something. And you used up its charge or something."

  I held it out to him, and he tentatively reached out to grasp it. After a few seconds of not getting burned, he nodded and let go. "That's gotta be what happened. Now, let's get out of here. This place has been giving me the creeps since we got here. Blasted magic, this whole thing reeks of it."

  We found our way back outside, where the night was already falling, "Elroy...what time did we go into the house?"

  "Around noon, why?" He asked and then looked up at the sky, "Wait, we didn't spend that long searching...did we?"

  I shook my head and winced as the trees nearby bent over as if they were reaching for us. "Elroy. You understand that we have to know what this is, right?"

  He stepped back, hands raised, "No way am I opening that. Have to deliver it, unopened, to a man who should be waiting for me off the property."

  I shrugged, and as he started to turn away, slipped the cloth up and off the item. He spun around, diving to try to stop me, but didn't make it in time.

  I held a silver, unstrung recurve bow like the one I had had with me in Purgatory. A quiver of arrows was attached to the side, and it was bursting, "Oh shit. Elroy, we can't allow-"

  A voice from the shadows interrupted me, and a man stepped out of them, "Well, I guess you can't trust a thief to do a demon's job, can you? I told you not to let it be opened, boy. I guess I get to kill you after all. Though I'll be honest for once in my life and tell you I was going to anyways."

  Elroy fell to the ground, whimpering and moaning, a pitiful sight. I braced myself and turned to look at the man in the shadows.

  Aether

  We came to a line of fence posts that were crumpled in a heap. Victoria stopped and crouched down, one finger touching the ground beyond the fence line.

  "Thank my lord; it's still here. I was worried it might have been gone by now." Victoria sighed and stood back up, looking out across the manor's yard.

  I was beside her, though she seemed to have forgotten that, "What's still here, Victoria? What haven't you told me about all this? You're not here for Jack, are you? Have you been lying to me this whole time? Why?"

  Victoria looked over at me, "Of course not!!! I am here for Jack. But I'm pretty sure an old acquaintance of mine is here for him too. That's the main reason I came along, to keep that...man from getting his hands on Jack. Elroy actually tipped me to the possibility of this happening."

  She stepped back and motioned me forward. I almost didn't want to take that step; I no longer trusted anything Victoria was saying. But I knew that Jack was in there and needed me; I could just feel it.

  I took the step, and unnoticed, Victoria breathed a sigh of relief. She hesitated but stepped over with me and stood as still as stone. Her eyes darted around, and when nothing happened, she relaxed, "Okay, that's that. Thank you, but I have work to do with your boy toy. Have fun." She walked away, and no matter how fast I tried to walk to catch up with her, she still disappeared.

  "How is this even possible?" I wondered, picking my pace up to a run. I had to get to the manor as fast as possible, Jack was in there somewhere, and now I was afraid Victoria was here to hurt him.

  "Jack, stay safe, just for a little bit longer, please."

  16

  Jack

  The man stepped out of the shadows and seemed relatively normal aside from appearing out of nowhere, "So, why don't you be a good little boy and hand me the bow? No one needs to get hurt today."

  "And what about tomorrow? What do you plan on doing with this bow? Go get another one!" It was already strung, somehow, and I could nock an arrow and fire in two or three seconds. But I had no idea if that would be fast enough.

  The man who claimed to be a demon chuckled, "Oh, yes, I'll just go and get myself another celestial bow. Don't you know anything at all, boy?"

  I remembered with a flash what Nick had told me, "Those weapons, they can kill anything. Angels, demons, people. Some even speculate that they have the ability to kill Satan himself, which is why he wants them so badly....and maybe, he can use them against the one who made them."

  As soon as my fingers began to brush the arrows, the demon snarled, and wings unfurled from his back, "Don't you even think about it. I can move faster than you can shoot, and I'd rather not have to do that today. Too much of a power surge and-"

  A new voice joined the fray, one I knew all too well, "And what, Azereth? Someone will find you and what you're up to?" Victoria was here, somehow, though I finally saw her in a new light. With all of my memories coming back in a flash, I realized who she reminded me of.

  "I knew I recognized you! That first day we met! Olivia!" I stepped forward but stopped when both of them crouched, snarling at both me and each other.

  "I am nothing like my ignorant, foolish sister. She who preens herself and works with your kind, it's disgusting. Our father has been and always will be ashamed of that failure."

  "Your father will be powerless soon enough," Azereth took a step towards me and smiled a crooked little smile, "Master! We've been discovered! A little more juice, if you will?"

  Hounds began to appear from the treeline, materializing in puffs of smoke. Victoria, once a petty thief dressed in rags and now brimming with the power of a daughter of Satan, screamed, "You dare use that power here? You dare use it against me?"

  Azereth smiled at her, "Once I have the bow, we'll see who's daring to do things. I will have what I came for. I deserve it. And lucky for me, I know for certain that your power is limited in your current form. But mine...well, mine isn't!" He faced Victoria and began to change, losing his form as a man and becoming this gargoyle-like creature. Without thought, without hesitating, my body went through the motions it has done a thousand times before, sending an arrow flying through the air to pierce his side.

  Smoke started emitting from his side and mouth as he screamed into the sky, "Master, save me!"

  No one came. He burned from the inside out and curled onto the ground. Now freed from anyone's control, the hounds started advancing on everyone at once, their saliva burning patches of grass. Victoria snarled, nails growing into talons, "I'm not without all my powers, you dead fool. Jack! I'll be taking that bow if you will?"

  I shot two of the nearest hounds in quick succession and then shouldered the bow, heaving Elroy onto his feet and half carrying, half dragging him back towards the manor. There wasn't time to try and take everything out, I had to get to higher ground.

  Victoria was too caught up ripping hounds to be able to follow after, but she called out, "You can't run, Jack! I'll follow you to the ends of the earth!"

  Halfway to the manor, a dark shape hurdled into me. As I lay gasping on the ground, waiting to be devoured, I realized the weight on top of me wasn't a hound at all but a person.

  "Jack? Oh my god, Jack, you have to get out of here. Victoria is some witch or something, and I think she's coming to kill you!" Aether was trying to pull me up while still on top of me, making her efforts futile.

  "Aether? How did you get here? And Victoria is a demon, not a witch, and we need to get on the roof of the manor. The hounds won't get us there, and we'll be able to try to defend ourselves. Like she said, I don't think running is an option, but if I can get a shot at her, we'll be okay. Come on!"

  I hauled her up with me, and together, we carried Elroy to the side of the manor. Staring back at where we came from, I realized the howling and growling were dying out and knew we wouldn't have much time
. Elroy had slowly started to wake up and needed no coaxing at all to get up on the roof.

  "We're dead; we're dead; we're all going to die. The shadow man, he's going to kill us, and then we'll be stuck in Hell forever to be tortured, and it's all my fault. Jack, it's all my fault!" He grabbed me, and I had to push him back to keep my grip on the bow.

  "He won't be doing any of that; I killed him. The one we need to worry about is Victoria; she's still out there." My eyes scanned the edge of the rooftop with an arrow waiting.

  He blubbered on, "She's on his side! Or something! I know she's after the weapon too, and I tried to get her help, but she just laughed and said I didn't know what was going on."