End of Days

by J. F. Penn

  Lilith waited, breathing in the night air, letting her mind reach out into the world of reptilian awareness.

  In the moments before she injected, she always questioned her motives. There was a great tradition of mithridatism and her purest reason was surely pragmatic. As a scientist, she worked with snakes and inoculating herself against a possible bite was practical. She had survived once, but that didn't guarantee she would make it through next time. The little death of each tiny shot was protecting her future.

  But she knew it was more than that now.

  She no longer denied her addiction, but how else was she to rip through the veil to the other side of perception? How else could she tear the world from her eyes and see clearly? This physical realm was just one part of the whole and the venom pierced it.

  In the beginning, the serpent tempted Eve with fruit from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. This was her temptation even now, for when she took the venom, she saw beyond reality.

  She put on the tourniquet, tightened it and quickly injected herself, dropping the needle. It clanged in the tray. Sam let out a sharp intake of breath behind her and moved forward to help. Lilith put out a hand to motion him away.

  She shut her eyes, wanting to feel every second of the rush.

  The burn was hot, stinging, right on the fulcrum of pleasure and pain. The venom shot through her, spreading like fire through her veins. Everywhere it touched became as molten gold. Her blood sang. She was on fire as the heat curled through her belly, down to her sex.

  Lilith began to undulate on the cushions, her hips writhing as she felt the serpent rise within her, taking control of her body. She lay back on the cushions and looked up at the stars, her mind expanding into the night sky above.

  Then she felt His touch upon her.

  The Serpent of Serpents called her name with a deep longing. She tilted her head to hear Him better as He told her of what she must do. His sibilant hiss vibrated inside her skull as she flew out of her body into the stars. Her breath was forced from her chest as the air rushed past.

  Then she was diving back down towards an ocean, drawn forwards by a mysterious force.

  She plunged down into the waves, cold seeping into her skin as she felt herself inhabit the body of a sea snake. She was drawn down into the violence of the deep, passing creatures that preyed on the unsuspecting. As the water darkened, she saw bioluminescence, winking lights of anglerfish and dragonfish predators.

  A five-foot-long frilled shark buzzed past, baring its rows of razor-sharp, three-pronged teeth. A living fossil, the eel-like shark was rarely seen. Lilith shivered as it passed and she continued down into the abyssal zone.

  Deeper still, a dumbo octopus swam past, its ear-like fins swiveling towards her. Part of Lilith's conscious mind logged how deep she was. This creature was considered an extremophile, one of those that lived at extreme depths of over 10,000 feet below the sea.

  A plume of what looked like smoke caught her eye as it erupted only meters away. A black smoker, a hydrothermal vent spewing out superheated water.

  Near it, she saw something rectangular. It looked manmade in this alien environment and she felt a jolt of recognition.

  Then something flashed from the dark.

  Lilith saw a long snout like a rhino's horn and rows of nail-like teeth. A goblin shark. The creature rushed towards her, teeth bared, and she pulled out of the trance, panting and sweating.

  She was suddenly back in her body, back in the lodge, back in the air above the canyon. She shivered uncontrollably as she gulped air into her lungs. Lilith hugged her arms around herself, trying to warm her skin after the experience of submersion.

  Sam knelt next to her and pulled her close. "It's OK. You're back now." He rocked her back and forth and rubbed her arms until her shivering subsided. He helped her to drink a little water as she recovered.

  "How long was I out?" she whispered.

  Sam glanced at his watch. "Nearly two hours. I was worried."

  Lilith turned to him, saw the concern in his eyes. "You needn't have been. I heard His voice. He led me to the depths. He's ready to emerge."

  "Where?"

  "Deep in the ocean. I recognized some of the species, so we should be able to triangulate the position using the museum images as a starting point. I need to check."

  Sam handed her his tablet computer. Lilith searched Google for the marine creatures she had seen.

  "Definitely the Pacific." She paused, then tapped away on the screen again. She felt certainty settle within her and then smiled. She opened the Maps application, turning it so Sam could see.

  "There. The Mariana Trench, the deepest part of the ocean."

  Sam nodded, and she saw no doubt in his eyes.

  "Ready yourself," he said, pulling out his phone. "We'll leave as soon as we can."

  Berlin, Germany.

  As first light dawned, Morgan and Jake found a park and hunkered down behind a closed coffee shop. Jake video-called Marietti while Morgan sent the picture of the bricks to the Director and Martin.

  "We were interrupted," Jake said when they connected. "Another group arrived, men with guns. We couldn't stop them, but we got a picture of an unusual inscription. Morgan's sending it over now."

  "I'll get Martin working on it." Marietti frowned. "Did you see this other group?"

  "One of the men looked like he'd had a stroke," Morgan said. "He also had a snake tattoo winding around his neck with green and red scales."

  "We'll search the criminal databases for him." Then Marietti frowned, recalling a memory. "I knew of a man with a similar tattoo once, but the scales were green and yellow." The Director shook his head with regret. "He was one of us once, but terrorists took him in Africa while on a mission, tortured him under the influence of hallucinogenic drugs. After he stumbled out of the desert and made it back, he was a broken man and resigned from ARKANE. He calls himself Samael, although back when we worked together, he had another name."

  "Samael means Venom or Poison of God," Morgan said. "An archangel from Talmudic scripture, a seducer and a destroyer, considered both good and evil." She paused. "Also known as the Angel of Death."

  "Indeed," Marietti said. "In the Kabbalah, Samael was said to be the serpent who tempted Eve, who seduced her and fathered Cain. He then became the consort of Lilith, Adam's first wife, and had demon children with her."

  "Happy families indeed," Jake said.

  "Wait a minute," Marietti said. "I'm going to get Martin in on the call."

  Martin came on the line, his shock of blonde hair standing up in clumps. He had a tendency to pull it as he thought. And he did a lot of thinking.

  "I've checked this second inscription from the gate against the database. I'm still checking the locational data, but it's brought back something else I can't understand."

  Morgan heard confusion in his voice, which was strange because Martin had designed the ARKANE database, hacking into the world's most secret archives to cross-reference across cultures, religions, languages, and even time. There was little he couldn't find out.

  "There's only one other example of this image I can find. An unusual destination indeed."

  6

  Western Pacific Ocean, above the Mariana Trench.

  A bank of cloud formed a dark curtain on the horizon, turning the ocean to ink.

  "We have to turn back," the captain said. He gestured at the weather report. It showed a gigantic storm approaching from the northeast. "It's too dangerous. We can't deploy the ROV in this. We're heading back."

  Sam turned and nodded to one of his bodyguards. The man pulled a cell phone from his pocket, thumbed a few buttons and then turned the screen. The captain paled at the sight.

  "No," he whispered.

  "Your wife and son will be fine as long as you help us find what we're looking for," Sam said. "They haven't been hurt … so far. If you help us, you'll be able to retire on the cash bonus. But turn back now, and my men will gut your family like the
fish you ate last night."

  The captain nodded slowly. "Then we have to hurry. I need the coordinates."

  "Start preparing for a dive," Sam said. "I'll get what you need."

  Lilith sat at the very top of the boat, above the captain's deck. There was a private viewing area up here with reinforced glass that gave a 360-degree view of the ocean. As the research vessel rolled with the gigantic waves, the room dipped towards the water, swaying back and forth. She had sat here for the whole trip so far, hearing the hiss of the Great Serpent in the sound of the waves. They were getting closer, she could feel it.

  She remained in a state of trance, a light edge of intoxication but Sam carefully monitored her dose. If she could just get hold of the vial …

  As a scientist, Lilith understood that venom blocked the acetylcholine receptors in the brain to produce an altered state of consciousness. But the mechanism for how it worked no longer concerned her. It was a drug, pure and simple, and she craved the insight it brought her. Each time the venom entered her bloodstream, she was catapulted into another realm, her senses heightened to exquisite perception.

  She heard Sam's footsteps on the stair and her heart beat faster in anticipation. She wanted his touch on her skin, but she craved the venom high even more.

  "It's time." He entered the cabin, bracing himself with the handrails against the roll of the boat.

  "I'm ready," she said.

  He prepared the dose, triple what she had taken before. Lilith knew it was a risk, but she snatched it from him, injecting herself and then lying back with a sigh as her mind took flight.

  Lilith's eyelids flickered and it seemed to Sam that the woman behind the green eyes disappeared. She swayed, her head tipping back as the venom took hold. She shuddered, first gently, then with violent convulsions that turned into writhing.

  Had he given her too much this time?

  Sam put more cushions around her to contain her movements. Moments later, she began to calm.

  Then her mouth opened and she hissed, a low sound that vibrated through Sam's chest.

  "Ssssouthwest," she whispered. "See the signs."

  Sam wanted more, something that might help further. But Lilith's body sagged and she collapsed unconscious. That was all he was going to get from her right now. But it was enough to get them started.

  Sam brushed Lilith's hair back from her face. Her skin was smoother somehow, with the pearlescent look … of scales, perhaps. He pushed away his guilt at what Lilith was becoming and left her prone on the cushions. He would come back up later to see if she was alright. He only hoped she would survive the dose. After all, he would need her again soon. He would not risk his own life, even to channel the Great Serpent.

  Back down in the captain's cabin, the rain hammered on the windows, a staccato beat above the throb of the engine. Sam watched as the crew launched the small Remote Operated Vehicle with a splash into the white-capped waves.

  "The little one's fastest," the captain said coldly. "If we find anything, we'll send down the Big Boy to bring it up. Ted here'll be your guide to the deep." He turned his back on Sam, pointedly ignoring him.

  Ted, the ROV pilot, sat close to the screen. He used a joystick and manual controls to drive the ROV through the water as it submerged.

  "The water is almost as cold as ice further down," he said, "but then there are hydrothermal vents that shoot out superheated water close to 700 degrees Fahrenheit. The black smokers belch minerals from the core of the earth, but the water can't boil because of the water pressure down there, over 155 times that of the surface. There are creatures living in that hell, thriving on the extremities of what we thought possible."

  "Like what?" Sam asked, as he scanned the screen for anything that could be considered a sign. What the hell did Lilith's words even mean?

  "Like these awesome giant amoebas, xenophyophores, the size of a man's fist. There's millions of them, like the zombie horde." Ted's enthusiasm bubbled over. "There's an underwater volcano too, with a full-on lake of molten sulfur. It's such a cool place."

  "There may be even more than you know about down here," Sam said quietly.

  Minutes passed into hours and Ted fell silent as the ROV camera saw nothing in the water column except the occasional deep-water prawn and jellyfish.

  The darkness of the storm encroached and the captain finally snapped. "We have to get back. How long do you want to watch the emptiness go by?"

  Sam whipped around, a snarl on his face. "As long as it takes, old man. Think of your precious family and wait, or I will take their eyes for your impudence."

  "Oh, my. Look at this." Ted's voice was tinged with awe. "I've never seen anything like it."

  Sam turned back to see the screen filled with writhing sea snakes of all colors, dancing in the water, undulating together. Their heads all faced towards the deep.

  "This is more than weird," Ted said. "They shouldn't even be around here. They're solitary creatures but this is like a swarm. Oh man, this is so cool."

  "Follow them down," Sam said.

  Ted pushed the joystick forward and the ROV dived amongst the writhing snakes, moving faster into the deep. There were thousands of them, tiny ones that darted in front of the camera and huge, thick, long ones that slowly headed deeper.

  "Holy crap," Ted said as he watched the fathometer reading. "I've never taken her down this far."

  "Keep going."

  Minutes later, they reached a seamount covered in writhing serpents, the dying snakes convulsing on top of the already dead, a sacrifice to the deep.

  "What are they doing? What's attracted them here?" Ted wondered aloud.

  "Take the ROV closer," Sam said. "There's something on top."

  As they drew closer, the outline of a large rectangular shape could be seen. It was still covered by piles of snakes, but through the gaps between their bodies, Sam could see what looked like stone.

  "Bring it up." The voice from the door was cold and clear.

  Sam turned to see Lilith standing there, her green eyes fixed on the screen, her titian hair loose about her face. The silk dress she wore was moulded to her body and as she walked towards them, it was as if she undulated like the sea serpents in the depths. She exuded sex appeal and Sam felt a tightening in his groin. He wanted her, and he could tell by the way Ted shifted uncomfortably on his seat that he felt the attraction too.

  But there was also something terrifying about her eyes. They were cold as emeralds, the pupils narrowed to almost vertical slits.

  Snake eyes.

  "Do what she says," Sam snapped at the captain.

  The crew hurried to launch the bigger ROV with grabber arms that would attach balloons that could lift even the heaviest of deep-sea discoveries.

  Ted attached the mini ROV to the rectangular object and then piloted the larger vessel down to meet it. He attached balloons to the corners, then manipulated the controls. The balloons began to inflate.

  Slowly, the object lifted from the seamount.

  The dead snakes fell away, revealing the shape of a sarcophagus, a massive stone box covered in encrusting life and the sludge of the deep. As it rose, slime dripped off it to pool in the waters below.

  The captain came to stand close to the screen. "Are you sure we should bring that up here?" he whispered.

  "Yesss, it's time." Lilith fixed her green eyes on the man.

  He gulped and backed away. "I'll ready the deck for cargo."

  The sarcophagus ascended slowly from the deep ocean but, finally, broke the surface by the side of the boat, held up and buffered by the balloons. The waves were high now, the storm almost upon them. The crew battled the driving rain and rolling movement to attach a winch and drag it onto the deck.

  The ancient stone was covered in pelagic sediment, a mustard-yellow viscous ooze composed of shells, animal skeletons and decaying organisms that had sunk down to the bottom of the ocean. It smelled of sulfur and rotten fish and the stink of dead snake carcasses. Sam covered his
face, trying not to gag as he bent to it. He could just make out carvings under the sediment, twisting in the undulating curves of a serpent. He had waited so long for this, but now he was apprehensive. The next steps were unknown.

  Lilith stood grasping the boat's rail in just her thin dress, oblivious to the cold, her eyes fixed on the casket. As powerful waves crashed onto the deck, she walked forward and gently placed her hands on it.

  She bent and laid her head upon it, eyes closed, her left ear pressed to the ancient stone, as she listened for something within. Sam marveled to watch her so transformed, so self-assured in the face of the chaos around them.

  After a minute, she stood upright again, her dress soaked through, revealing her slender frame. The wind whipped her hair about her face, her green eyes a reflection of the dark ocean around them. She was beyond a woman now, Sam realized.

  She was a goddess.

  For a moment, he doubted his purpose. He had thought he could use her to find the power he sought, but now he wondered who was really in control.

  Suddenly she stumbled, her legs wobbly on the rolling deck. He went to her and grasped her arm. Her skin was freezing, goose-bumped from the chill water.

  "It's quiet inside," she whispered in her own voice, her eyes suddenly normal again. "I can't hear him."

  "We need to get the casket back to shore," Sam said. "You can take the venom again then." He led her away from the sarcophagus as the men on deck moved to strap it down for the trip home. "Come, rest now. Sleep, and soon we'll be home."

  Lilith leaned against him and he half-carried her into their cabin, helping her out of her wet clothes and into bed. Her naked body glistened as she turned away to sleep. Behind her neck, just below her hairline, he saw scales. He brushed her hair over them and stroked her forehead.

  "Sleep now," he whispered. She gave a half smile as her breathing shifted into unconsciousness.

  As the captain steered towards home, finally heading out of the storm, Sam went back out on deck. He walked to the sarcophagus and put his ear to the stone. He could hear nothing but the whoosh of the ocean beneath the boat, the slap of the rain on the deck and the engine motor. But there had to be something inside. The prophecy foretold it.