Mystery's Choice (Vengeance Of The Fallen Book 1) (34 page)

THE

ASCENSION

An Old, Old Friend

I journeyed deep into the darkness of my soul, and found an old, old friend.

There he sat upon his horse, whose mane was like a ghost.

He told me he missed me, that we were too long apart.

I told him I tried a life without him, out there in the light.

He shook his head and chuckled.

He motioned toward the light and said it was not for me.

The light belongs to the living and the free.

My world was of the darkness and now that I was home, we’d ride the misty moors of Hell and see what we could see.

I mounted my horse and turned one last time to look at life.

Then I let him comfort me.

22

Sam tried to figure out what that noise was, he had buried his head under the covers when the neighbor’s had started their third fight of the night. Since then it had been blissfully quiet. Now something was making a loud, shrill racket, like a telephone. Sam sighed when he realized the noise was the telephone. He untangled himself from his cocoon and answered it.

“Hello?”  Sam managed.

“Sam, this is Lily.” She paused. “You better get over here.”

“What is it?”  Sam didn’t want to know. He wanted to put his head back under the covers and never come out.

“We found more victims.”  Her voice was shaky.

“Victims?”

“Yes, victims. There are ten dead girls lined up here in the park.”  She was crying. “They were all no more than sixteen or seventeen years old. They apparently all died in the last 24 hours.”

“I’ll be right there.”  He hung up.

As Sam drove up he could see a line of coroner’s vans and the M.E.’s sedan. Five black and whites were lined up in front of an area blocked off by police tape and illuminated by huge spotlights. Several officers were fighting the media trying to keep them back.

He walked to the top of the hill and Lilith met him there. Her eyes were huge with tears and she was shaking slightly. He hugged her. She pulled away and offered him some mentholated cream to put under his nose. He began to refuse, but the stench hit his nose and for the first time in fourteen years he almost threw up at a crime scene. He took the cream and smeared it liberally under his nose. He looked down and saw something, which would fuel sweaty nightmares for the rest of his life.

The coroner’s assistants had lined ten body bags up in a row. They now stood with their backs to them clutching their bellies and retching. Sam let his gaze focus on the contents of the bags. He gasped. Ten young girls lay in the bags in different states of mutilation. Animals had gotten to some of the corpses, gnawing at their flesh with their sharp teeth. Sam felt anger surge through him as he noticed ten blotchy faces with the same sickeningly sweet smiles and the sign of the Beast painted on them. More than anything he wanted this bastard stopped.

Lilith looked at the man she was beginning to have feelings for and she could feel the grief and anger rolling off of him in waves. She looked down at Cain’s work. She knew Roodmas was the biggest of the Dark Holidays, but did he have to celebrate with so much carnage?  She shook her head for what she could not change and went to Sam.

Mystery never knew she could possibly feel like this. She felt loved. Every day her powers grew stronger and she learned more. And soon… very soon she would deliver the child, which would someday rule the world.

Her parents doted on her and the servants made sure her every need was answered. In the six months since Roodmas night, she’d grown to love everyone back. She believed evil consisted of varying viewpoints. Her grandfather, family, and people were the good guys. God and his mealy-mouthed minions were the bad guys. All her family wanted was to be left alone, but since the false god wanted war, they’d give him war. And soon, her child would make them all bow before him. Master would be pleased. And eventually, Mystery knew in her heart, eventually Ryan would come to understand and he could come to live with her at the aerie; her father had already said yes.

With a languid stretch Mystery rose from the milk bath she had been lounging in since lunch. If she were honest with herself she’d admit she was bored. She put on a cloak and ran downstairs for afternoon prayers. Afterwards, she would ask her Mom if there was something she could do to help.

Ryan walked into his small apartment and tried to ignore the ugly red and gold-checkered sofa and matching chair. He hung his coat on the hook on the back of the door and went into the kitchen to heat a frozen dinner. Once he put it in the microwave, he went into his bedroom and got into sweats, leaving his torso and his feet bare. He looked down at the sweats and remembered the last time he had seen Mystery she had put these on while they ate cold pizza.

He buried the ache back in the corner of his heart where he kept it and went to enjoy his over-nuked dinner. The phone rang as he was sitting down to watch a game show and eat. After staring at it for a few moments, he picked it up.

“Hi, Felicity.”  He took a bite of his food and grimaced at the taste, he pushed it away. “No, I haven’t seen, felt, or dreamt anything about her.”

“Hello, Ryan. She isn’t why I called. Cain and the gang celebrated big time for Roodmas. The mayor has given us back the task force. Sam, his new partner Lilith, me, and my new partner Freddie will make up the task force, along with Dr. Shoemaker.”

“And I care about that because...?”

“You care because you know a task force is just going to get itself killed. We need to step things up somehow.”

“I’ll keep trying to reach Mystery, other than that I don’t know what to do.” Ryan sighed. “I’m sorry, Felicity. I just miss her so much. I can’t eat or sleep; all I do is think about her. I wonder if she’s safe, if they treat her well, if she remembers us at all.”

“You have to eat and sleep, Ryan. Mankind needs you. I need you. But most importantly, even though she may not realize it, Mystery needs you.”

“I know.”

“Why don’t you come over, I will feed you real food and you can spend the night in a room which is charmed, so you will have to sleep.”

Ryan smiled when he heard the feline agreement come over the phone. “See Luna agrees with me. Come join us. I will expect you in half an hour.”

Ryan stared at the now silent phone, shook his head and went to put on some more respectable clothes and pack a bag for the night.

Ryan enjoyed the food and Felicity was always interesting to talk to. He was actually relaxed and was looking forward to sleep, when he climbed in the huge four-poster bed. He arranged his pillows, said his prayers, and before he knew he was sound asleep.

He awoke sometime later to someone kissing him. He opened his eyes and looked up into the huge green ones of Mystery. She smiled at him. She looked tranquil, well rested, and she was pregnant. She pulled the covers back and climbed into bed with him. She swallowed his shocked cry when she stuck her hands into his sweats and began to work him. Smiling wickedly she slid under the covers and replaced her hands with her mouth. Ryan grabbed the sheets and chewed on his lips to keep from crying out. She pulled back the covers and straddled him. She closed her eyes and spread her arms and the room filled with blinking lights as she began to ride. Mystery kissed him as he came and she followed him. She climbed off him and looked at him, her face serious.

“I won’t come again. I am where I belong. And you can’t let go of the false god. Even though he has taken everything away from you, including me. I don’t understand blind loyalty or blind respect. For the false god has shown you no actions worthy of your loyalty and respect. He has shown you nothing but heartache. And still you follow him. If you can forget him, which I doubt, your son and I will be waiting for you, if you want us, you will know where to come.”

“Who’s child are you carrying?”  Ryan asked, he was afraid of her answer.

“Not yours. I carry my grandfather’s child. I carry the future of the Roodmasi.”  Mystery looked at him as though she were trying to memorize his face. “I will miss you. I will always love you. Goodbye.”  She disappeared as quietly as she had appeared. Ryan still had tears drying on his face as the room charmed him back to sleep. In the morning, he recounted his conversation with Mystery to Felicity.

“She is theirs completely. She will not let them harm us, but she has no intention of helping us destroy them either. We, my friend, are screwed.”  Felicity refilled her cup with jasmine tea her nerves needed soothing.

“She can still love.”

“Cain and Raevanne love her. They are evil, yet they love their child and grandchild. Love won’t save us.”  She sighed and looked at her watch. “I have to leave for work. Stay until you need to work, you are my guest.”  She kissed Ryan on the cheek. “I will consult the glass again and see if I can find any way clear of this mess. Until then Blessed Be.”

“God Bless you, Felicity.”  She smiled and walked out the door, shutting it softly behind her.

Simon Thomas looked around him at the
Hell Hounds
concert and sneered. All the teenagers running around him in their black and leather were just wannabees, they had no idea what it was to serve Satan, to feel the power of the Unholy One flowing through you, to know whenever you wanted to you could reach out and destroy any one of the insignificant mortals around you. They thought putting on Satan Rocks t-shirts and getting inverted pentagram tattoos made you one of Satan’s army. Satan would eat every one of them alive. They were not warriors they were jokes. Not a one of them even realized who the Hell Hounds were, what they stood for in the movement. They just let their sick little minds hear the words of chaos and destruction, never knowing they were offering themselves to Satan as they mouthed the words, aped the group in action and supposed deeds.

If the band actually did any of the things they sung about they would all be in jail. However, their fans left the concerts and acted out the lyrics, thinking their actions made them cool, endeared them to the Master, when all it did was provide the Master with fresh souls without having to left a finger, the idiots did it all to themselves.

Simon knew something important was happening, and the Children of Darkness were restless, but he could not find out what the something was. He felt in his soul the Master would soon need him and growing restless with waiting he decided to seek out others of his kind to see what could be heard in their company. He knew the murders were part of the ultimate plan. He licked his lips and thought of how splendid it would be to be at one of the feasts, to sample the life force of one who had died in sacrifice to the Dark One. He hoped someday he would be deemed worthy to join in the Roodmasi’s number. They were the true power.

As the lights went down and the band prepared to play he forced his way to the front row, letting the pulse of the crowd’s anticipation surge through him. His heart pounded in his ears as the chords coursed through his soul. The blood rage came to him strong and pure, making him feel powerful, invincible. The crowd pushed a teenage boy repeatedly into him. Simon smiled as he reached out and grabbed the boy by the throat, turning him to face him. His pupils dilated as the boy’s sneer turned to a grimace of pain, Simon could smell the fear rolling off him in waves. When he was certain the boy had seen the intent in his eyes he lovingly pressed his head to his chest, embracing him, he could feel the boy relax. Glancing up at the band he snapped the boy’s neck and flung his limp body into the crowd. He laughed as the crowd trampled the boy underfoot.

After the concert Simon walked into the clear cool night, he stretched letting the air fill his lungs. He smirked when he saw the police cars pulling up, the morons would never be able to prove who did it, they wouldn’t even be able to prove it wasn’t an accident. He jerked to a stop and put his battle face on as a blue truck pulled to a stop beside him. Glaring up at the open window, he let his breath out in a whistle when he saw the gorgeous redhead driving it. She motioned for him to get in he did so without hesitation. He rose his arms and yelled triumphantly out the window as he noticed the symbol of the Roodmasi around her slender neck. She smiled as they drove away.

Raevanne was nervous about Cain’s plan to use the maniac to cover their trail. While he was insane and would be believed, he also knew about the Roodmasi. He had in fact sent them message after message about his acts of violence, begging them to ask him into their number. Raevanne thought it was a horrible risk to use someone such as him; he could expose them all. She paced back and forth in the hall outside her husband’s office praying to the Master this wouldn’t be the end of them all.

Cain watched the man prowling back and forth in his office, deciding what would be the best way to use him. Settling back into his desk chair he steepled his hands and cleared his throat.

“Please, Simon,” he gestured to the chair on the other side of the desk, “Have a seat.” He waited until Simon sat. “The Master has need of you.”