The Gates: An Apocalyptic Novel (26 page)

Khallutush approached.

Rick threw a punch, but Khallutush caught his hand
and squeezed. “Worthless maggot. You will be forgotten before your body even
cools.”

Rick moaned as the bones in his hand creaked in
the demon’s vice-like grip. He beat at Khallutush’s chest with his free hand,
but it was like punching brick. Every second the pressure increased. Khallutush
seemed to savour the agony on Rick’s face.

Rick screamed.

“Yes,” Khallutush purred, “Beg. Beg for mercy. Beg
to be forgotten.”

Rick bit down on his tongue as the tiny bones in
his hand snapped like twigs. The pain was so unbearable that he would do
anything to make it stop. It took everything he had not to give in. “I’m a
one-hit wonder. I’ll never be forgotten.”

Khallutush snarled, and clamped his fist closed, crushing
Rick’s hand flat and breaking every tiny bone. He screamed so hard that
something in his throat ripped. He coughed, spluttered, and vomited.

Khallutush let him collapse to the floor and stood
over him. “Time to die, and stay dead, worm.” He lifted his huge foot over
Rick’s skull. “You have the honour of dying at the foot of a prince twice.”

Rick clutched his hand and moaned on the floor,
waiting for death—welcoming it.

“Didn’t anybody tell you?” came a voice from
across the room. “Your kingdom fell to ruin a long time ago. You’re a prince of
nothing.”

Still perched on one leg, Khallutush glanced back
over his shoulder and seemed confused.

Rick craned his neck and saw Daniel standing in
the entrance. The wounded angel held the severed head of a demon under his arm,
like a basketball.

“Daniel the Watcher?” Khallutush snarled. “You
should be burning in Hell.”

“I’m on vacation.” Daniel bowled the severed head
into the air, and it ignited. When it struck Khallutush, it engulfed him like a
human torch. His thick arms flailed as he spun on the spot and screamed
defiance. “You will all burn!”

Daniel raised an eyebrow. “Says the one who’s on
fire.”

Khallutush flailed across the kitchen, flaming
hands reached out towards Daniel, but he slowed down half way and slumped to
his knees. He kept his focus on Daniel the entire time, his wicked eyes shining
through the flames. “He will never forgive you, Daniel.”

Then the ancient prince collapsed onto his front
and died.

Rick clambered to his feet, clutching his mangled
hand against his chest and trying not to black out from the pain. He stared at Daniel
in amazement. The angel still looked at death’s door, sweating profusely, but
he’d killed the demons in the living room and had turned one of their severed
heads into a blazing cannonball. He was anything but meek.

Rick bent down and righted one of the kitchen’s fallen
stools. He dragged himself on top of it and looked at Daniel. “I thought you didn’t
have a lot of power left?”

Daniel placed his hand down on the side counter
and tried to catch his breath. When he did, he said, “I have a couple of
parlour tricks when needed. I dealt with the rest of the demons in the house.
If you get that gate closed, I think we’ll be safe for now.”

“Maddy had my keys, but I think I have a spare set
somewhere. I’ll go find them.”

“Great,” said Daniel. “You go do that while I pass
out.”

Rick opened his mouth to speak, but was
interrupted as Daniel collapsed face first on the floor, right next to Khallutush.

David stood watching at the
edge of the room. He watched little Alice hard at work, doing whatever the
adults gave her to do, so that she didn’t have to face the anguish inside her
head. No child should face what she had. Her brother had been far too young to
die a hero.

Carol was a hero too. The tireless old bird
hobbled about on her cane, shouting orders like a drill sergeant, keeping everybody
on task. She was there to keep them all motivated and unafraid, but she had nobody
doing the same for her. It was her toughness alone that kept everyone going.

Mina might have been the biggest hero of all. She
had faced danger at every turn, but had never shied away from doing the right
thing. She had been unwilling to turn away from any person in need, but nobody
had been there for her when she’d needed it. In David’s line of work, he rarely
met ‘good’ people, but Mina had certainly qualified. Since Oxford Street, he
had cared only about getting the story and furthering his career. With all the
death he had seen, he realised how vain and petty his life had been. It all
seemed like such a waste. Mina’s death highlighted how fragile life was, and
how easily it could slip away. It made no sense that her death had affected him
so much, but it had. He couldn’t get the image of her swinging body out his
head.

It filled him with rage.

Mina hadn’t killed herself, he was certain of it.
She’d been murdered. Andras had a scratch mark on his neck, and he had been the
last person to see Mina alive. That was evidence and a connection to the
victim. The only thing left to prove was motive. David intended to do that
right now.

He went on over to where Mitchell was tapping away
at his keyboard and leaned over the man’s shoulder and whispered, “Please tell
me you have the black box data for Mina’s computer.”

Mitchell started at the sudden voice in his ear,
but he recovered and nodded. “Just finished compiling it. You want me to open
it?”

“Yes.”

Mitchell zipped around with the mouse and opened a
couple of folders. He double-clicked a text file, and the contents popped up on
screen.

“What am I looking at?” asked David, as he
examined the crowded mess on screen.

“It’s just code. Let me scroll down… Here—the last
few actions before the website went dark. Someone definitely deleted the whole
thing.”

“How?”

“They deleted all the files off the local server,
and then uploaded through Mina’s FTP manager. They basically uploaded a blank
slate to the website. That’s why there’s nothing but a white screen—there’s no
data to fetch.”

“You have a backup?”

Mitchell nodded. “Yeah, I can access the revisions
on the server and roll things back. Should be easy enough.”

David was relieved and let it show, but there were
still other questions he wanted answered. “Anything to tell you who deleted
everything?”

“Yes, it was Mina.”

David frowned. “She wouldn’t have.”

“You’re probably right, but it was her logged in
at the time.”

David folded his arms for a moment and thought it
through. “She was updating the website when she was last sitting down. Do you
have that data?”

“It’s here—4.57PM. I saw her sitting there myself.
She got up a little after five. According to this… the data was deleted at 5.06PM.
It was right after Mina left the office to take a phone call. I know who deleted
the files.”

David already knew the answer as well. “Andras.”

Mitchell nodded. “Yeah, he stayed at Mina’s desk
for at least ten minutes after she left. It could only have been him.”

“Then I have what I need. I suspected Andras was
the one behind the sabotage.”

“Sabotage? You don’t think it was an accident
then?”

“No, I do not.”

“David, what exactly is going on here? Where’s
Mina?”

“She’s dead, Mitchell. I strongly suspect that Andras
killed her, right after he deleted the website.”

Mitchell shook his head and looked bewildered.
“Mina’s dead? Man, why would Andras do anything like this? It makes no sense.”

“Murder rarely makes sense, Mitchell, but I’m
certain it was him. Mina had a broken fingernail, and Andras has a scratch on
his neck. She tried to fight him off.”

Mitchell flopped back in his chair and put his
head in his hands, seemingly close to tears. “God, David. We’re fighting for
our lives here, and there’re still monsters like him running around. I still
don’t understand why he would do it.”

“Me neither, but now I have everything I need to
demand an answer.”

Mitchell nodded. “I’m right behind you. Where is
he now? Andras?”

David looked around. He had assumed Andras would
be somewhere nearby, but he wasn’t.
Damn it
. Had he realised David was
on to him and scarpered? He couldn’t be allowed to get away.

David took a few steps, then grabbed Corporal Martin
as the soldier went to walk by. “Hey, Martin. Where’s Andras?”

“I haven’t seen him, but listen to this. I just spoke
to a colleague based out of Camp Bastion. They’ve been monitoring areas of the
Middle East with satellite surveillance and they—”

“Not now, Martin. I need to find Andras.”

The soldier shrugged. “Fine. I was only going to
tell you that someone closed a gate in Syria, but if you need to rush off, then
by all means…”

David gawped at the corporal. “Somebody’s closed
one of the gates? Really?”

Martin grinned. “I promise you. The MOD satellite only
gave a bunch of still images, but there’s evidence of a firefight, and the gate
is gone. Looks like somebody fought back, and won.”

David slapped him on the arm. “Hooray for mankind.
We will not let those bastards walk all over us.”

“Hell no, we won’t. They’re going to wish they
never stepped foot in our territory.”

David felt the smile trickle from his face as he regretted
Mina not being there to share the good news. “Andras. Where did you see him
last?”

Martin shrugged. “He headed out to get some fresh
air, I think.”

David looked towards the exit and growled.

“You okay, David?”

He didn’t reply. He marched across the office,
shoving Big Jimmy out of his way in the centre of the room. Then he barged
through the exit and went out into the waiting room. It was empty, but
something in David’s bones told him he was heading in the right direction.
Andras was out here, somewhere; he knew it.

He took the stairs downward and detected the tang
of blood in the air. Despite her being dead, David wanted to check on Mina. He
headed to the accountant’s office where he had placed her, and the smell of
blood got even stronger. It made no sense because Mina had not been wounded.
Whether it was paranoia, or a subconscious eye for detail, David noticed the
furniture in the office had moved. The reception desk had been piled high with
stacks of paperwork, but some of those piles now lay on the floor. It could
have been a breeze, but it was hot and still. He could already feel the sweat
on his back just from taking the stairs down.

A shuffling sound came from one of the smaller offices.
It was too dark to see in through the room’s windows, and horizontal blinds
broke up any would-be shadows, but he knew somebody was inside. David
considered shouting out, but reconsidered. He was here to find that bastard,
Andras, so he didn’t want to give himself away.

The shuffling stopped, replaced by a faint
whispering. The words made no sense, a jumble of consonants and few vowels. David
kept low and crept towards the door to the office. He placed his ear against
the wood and tried to listen.

A man inside was chanting—“
Grlaw grlaw, hmdar veri
vesta. Larix van doth.
”

It was Andras, David was sure, but what language
was he speaking? He knew a little Latin from his university days, but it wasn’t
that. He knew German from a brief spell as a war correspondent, but it wasn’t
that either. It was gibberish—the guttural snaps of an angry dog.

Andras was insane.

The thought of getting his hand on Mina’s murderer
was too much to resist. David barged through the door.

Andras stood half-naked over Mina’s unclothed
body. Her hands and feet were removed, placed in each corner of the room, and
the brown flesh of her stomach was sliced open to reveal a gaping hole. Congealed
blood coated Andras’s bare chest.

“You… you fuckin’ monster!”

Andras saw David, but he didn’t seem to care. He
held his bloody hands up in front of him as some kind of grizzly taunt.

David felt weak. His stomach’s meagre contents dredged
up, and he vomited. Mina had been his friend and colleague. Now she lay,
defiled, on the floor. “Why would you do something so unspeakable?” he demanded
once he could get a hold on himself.

Andras’s answer was: “To send a message.”

“A message to whom? Me?”

“Ha! You are insignificant. The message is for my
brothers. You may have heard of them; they are currently crushing your world
beneath their glorious feet.”

David drew a blank.

Andras grunted. “The Fallen are my brothers, and
they will destroy all. The time of man is over.”

“You’re talking about the giants?”

“They are not giants. Men are puny ants.”

“You’re a loon,” said David. “Do you think you’re
some kind of demon helping the other side? Fantasy or delusion, I don’t care
which. You’re finished.”

Andras laughed. “You don’t get it, do you? This is
just a meat suit. Some drug addict I borrowed as he choked to death on his own
vomit. You could not bear to look upon the glory of my true form. I am here to
see you all burn.”

David glared. “You killed Mina.”

“I will kill millions before I am done.”

“Then why are you hanging around a regional
newspaper office?”

“You are one of the few news gatherers left. You
have provided me with data from all over the world, highlighting areas that my
brothers need to address. I deleted your pathetic website, and I will help delete
mankind’s existence.”

“We’re helping people,” said David. “You won’t
stop us.”

“Mina thought the same. Such an enthusiastic,
brave girl. She might actually have made a difference, but you? No, you are too
self-involved to ever be a hero.”

“You will lose. We’ve closed one of your gates.”

“One of thousands. My brothers will defend the
others; I have already warned them. You have no chance. Humans are weak and
mushy. The Fallen are eternal.”

David looked around the room, saw that, in
addition to Mina’s scattered limbs, there was also a series of bloody sigils
smudged onto the walls. “Who are the Fallen? How did you send a message to your
brothers?”

Andras grinned. “Like this.” He dropped to one
knee and shoved his bloody hands into the open cavity of Mina’s stomach. A
bright light filled the room, and a sudden concussive force threw David against
the wall and knocked the wind out of him. A shimmering puddle appeared in the
air above Mina’s stomach, and an image projected onto it. David saw one of the
giant’s up close—a blond man with crystalline-blue eyes.

Andras kept his hands buried in Mina’s belly as he
spoke. “Qemuel, He who was destroyed by God, but has risen, it is I, Andras,
The Discordant.”

A booming voice returned. “Brother Andras, what
say you?”

“I am compromised and must move on from this
place. What would the Red Lord have of me?”

“Take back your form, and join us in battle. Shed
your fetid shackles, and rise in your glory. Human vulnerability does not suit
you. Make rivers of human blood.”

Andras sighed euphorically. “Yes. Yes, I will
bring forth my body and lay waste to all I see. Screams will fill the—”

David tackled Andras to the ground and terminated
the conversation. As soon as the demon’s hands left Mina’s body, the portal
blinked out of existence. Andras growled as David straddled him. David was no
fighter, but he was a man, and he was angry. He pummelled Andras with punch
after punch.

Andras was not a man though, and that was clear
when he snaked a hand onto David’s face and cooked his flesh.

“Glat glat comna hartis.”

David screamed as his skin blistered and boiled.
He could not escape the crushing, searing grip. His vision blurred and blackened.

“Burn, maggot,” Andras growled.

David reached out his hands desperately. His
fingers found Andras’s face, and he pointed his thumbs at where he hoped a pair
of eyes would be. There was a moment of resistance, followed by a wet squelch
as David’s thumbs disappeared inside Andras’s eye sockets.

The demon bellowed.

Andras’s searing hand slipped away from David’s face
and went to his own mangled eyes. The burning stopped, and David collapsed
backwards onto the floor, trying to cradle his face, but recoiling in agony as
his fingertips caused sparks of agony, like white hot pokers. It hurt to blink,
and his lips flared with unbearable pain.

Andras rose to his feet at the same time David
did. Both men moaned and staggered around in pained confusion.

“I’ll tear out your insides,” Andras spat.

David was in danger of passing out, but he focused
on staying upright and readied himself for a fight. “Come and try it, you
fucking monster.”

Andras attacked, but it was clumsy and in the
wrong direction. He hit against a desk and stumbled.

“You’re blind,” mocked David.

Andras glanced in the direction of his voice, bleeding
eyes pierced like grapes. “No matter. I will return to my own body soon and see
more clearly than ever.”

David crept to one side, moving around to Andras’s
side. “Until then, you’re a blind, little mouse.”

Andras spun around. “I’ll kill you.”

“Then come on. Better yet, why don’t you go get
your big giant body, and stomp me into puddles.”