by Bo Luellen
Hyde stood up, “Truth, then!”
The room in the Study went dark, as the fire around the hearth vanished. The pitch-black burst into a menagerie of pinholes of light, as Henry was suddenly floating in deep space. The celestial bodies that surrounded him swirled in colors and patterns he had never dreamed of. He was inhabiting Hyde’s body again and soaring on the cosmic winds with his salt-and-pepper wings, traveling beyond the speed of light, streaking past the majesty of Orion’s belt and soaking in the vibrant colors of the universe.
Henry marveled, “Is this how you travel to different galaxies?”
Hyde’s voice filled his mind saying, “With the right spells, your wings can do so much more.”
His eyes were caught in the infinite beauty of the void, “This is astonishing, Hyde!”
The voice of the Demon seemed to come from all around, “This is the galaxy in which you reside in. Our kind is responsible for executing God’s will and keeping certain alien species from entering His domain. In your world, we are called Angels, but we go by many titles. In my beginning, Miniel and I both served in the Order of Virtue together, fulfilling God’s promise to purge any meddling by our race into human affairs. You see, after Lucifer led one-third of the Lord’s Angels into revolt, we found ourselves busy indeed. We traveled the cosmic winds, visiting distant worlds and purifying them of the ones polluted by the Morningstar.”
Henry felt himself descend into the atmosphere of an inhabited world as Hyde continued, “On one such mission, we were on a distant world called Uvis III.”
He interrupted, “We?”
Materializing beside him was the beautiful form of a female angel clad in silver chain mail. Miniel had long blonde hair that flowed back and licked her ankles as she flew next to him. At her side was a magnificent looking mace that was laced with silver and bathed in Enochian runes. The celestial woman looked at him and gave a smile that seemed to be made of the purest beauty he had ever seen or encountered.
The Demon continued, “Yes, Miniel and I were partners. During our visit, we happened upon a Demon inhabiting one of the planet’s spiritual leaders. We gave inspiration to the local priests to discover the possession and performed an exorcism. When the Fallen Angel was banished from its Vessel, I saw it was Tabris, my former teacher and mentor. Tabris had trained thousands of our kind dating back to the beginning of our existence. He was one of the first generations of Angels that God created and bred for war. He was more than a teacher, he was my friend. Before my entrance into the Order, I fought in many battles for the Alpha and Omega alongside Tabris. He was a proud Angel, something not as discouraged as one would think. When Lucifer rebelled, Tabris fell with him. His reasons were his own, and he never asked me to betray my Order. During that war, I had the blood of my kin on my wings, but thankfully not his.
Now seeing him on Uvis III, the angel I had known looked like a husk of his former glory. Withered and darkened from the lack of divine grace, he had turned into a twisted amalgamation of himself. Unlike the other Demons, he never replenished himself from the nectar of human souls, nor enjoyed the blood and flesh of humans. Tabris had starved himself to the point of annihilation.
While I stayed my hand out of respect for my mentor, Miniel charged in and struck him with her mace. The blow was vicious and collapsed his chest inward. My old friend didn’t have the strength to defend himself and seemed to almost welcome the end. As the last of his life eked out of his frail body, I knelt beside him and gave him comfort. In those final moments, he whispered in my ear and asked for a favor. The angel had sired an offspring on that planet before the rebellion in Heaven. Upon the child’s birth, Tabris vowed to protect and raise his Nephilim son. The forbidden son had become a great chief among Uvis III, and, just like I have done with you, Tabris taught him the wisdom and magic of our race. I vowed to see to it that his son would live out his life, unharmed by the Order of Virtue. That act enraged Miniel as she was appalled by my compassion.”
The vision showed Hyde and Miniel quarreling over Tabris’s lifeless body, “She had plans for us, and my vow to my friend would bring us to ruin from the Almighty. Miniel demanded that I go to this Nephilim and destroy him personally as an act of fidelity. It was then I discovered I hated taking orders and hated what our kind had become. We argued, then we fought.”
He trailed off, and Henry offered, “I’m sorry to hear that. What happened?”
Hyde looked up with tears coming down his perfect face, “I found the son of Tabris before Miniel. I told him of his father’s death and attempted to hide him away. True to his bloodline, he refused and demanded to face his enemy. Standing on the same mountaintop where he earned the right to lead the people of Uvis III, the only son of Tabris met his end in combat with Miniel. After that, I went into hiding, and she started her descent into madness.”
Henry felt sincerity from Hyde, “Edward Tallman. That is why you helped him and hid his sister-in-law and nephew. They were innocents caught in a war. Just like Tabris’s son.”
The alien planet melted away and was replaced by a new one. Henry found himself standing on a dry and cracked desert landscape. In the distance were two magnificent pink mountains with snowy peaks. The wind was hot on his face, and the breeze smelled like salt. He was once again inside the body of Hyde and sharing a memory of the past. He was completely nude with only an odd pair of leather shoes.
The Demon’s voice resonated in his mind, “I didn’t bring up Tabris to elicit your pathetic sympathy or to invoke your pitiful attempts to dissect my past! I wanted you to recognize his importance as a mentor. Since you never truly learned how to be a man, this will be a hard lesson indeed.”
Hyde’s voice sharpened to a razor’s edge, “Our kind was created for many things, and war is one of them. This planet is called Hetoo Prime. It is used for several things, combat training being one of them. This memory is from my first meeting with Tabris, just after my creation. He will instruct you in the various divine martial arts, the weapons of our people, and in angelic battle tactics. This is your last lesson, my child. Once this is complete, I will move us into the final moments of our transformation process. Listen well to Tabris, and don’t ever back talk him. It would be a shame to see you die so close to the end of our journey together.”
On the horizon came a light purer than the twin red suns that burned in the sky. From its center, Henry could see an Angel dressed in golden armor, carrying a spear and shield. As the being soared overhead, he could feel the massive wings buffeting the hot wind against his face. Slowly, the 8-foot giant celestial landed gracefully a few feet away. The angel’s skin was bronze and had sharp facial features just like his own. The creature’s shield was covered in Enochian symbols and decorated with ivory. The hot wind flowed over his white cape that was pinned to his shoulders and waistline. His gold armor had an odd glow to it and did not give off a reflection. The auric helmet Tabris wore covered the top half of his face and was shaped like the head of an eagle. The spear he held was made of white wood, and the metal tip of the weapon was continually vibrating with energy. On the celestial’s belt was a long sword, sheathed in a jeweled scabbard. The hilt of the blade was pure white with etched Enochian symbols decorating a vertical line.
Henry gasped, This is what Tabris looked like before his fall? He’s a mountain!
As the massive being landed and roared, “My name is Tabris, the First Sword of His Forces in the Milky Way. God has seen something special in you and commanded that I teach you personally. It is your privilege to be under my wing. For you to survive my training is not my responsibility, but I will show tolerance if you give me devotion. Now, I have shown you my divine truth of self, and it’s time for me to learn who you are!”
Henry buckled under the realization that he was in another life and death scenario from Hyde’s past. The massive Tabris dropped his weapons and launched an attack at him. Before Henry could respond, the enormous fist of his teacher slammed into his face with blinding speed,
breaking several bones in his jaw.
Chapter 6: David I
Muskogee, Oklahoma – Monday, November 5th, 2018 – 8:23 p.m. CST
The images from David Keller’s laptop reflected off his reading glasses as he dangled one hand down to pet Charlie. The “Hunt for the Truth” YouTube live stream was broadcasting coverage of a shootout between police and the Crimson Brotherhood at the St. John’s Medical Center. The sounds of shots popped in his earbuds as police exchanged gunfire with the cult, who had taken up a defensive position at the front door.
Quincy Hunt’s voice overlay the video, “The assault on the hospital started 30 minutes ago. A group of well-armed men and women wearing black tactical gear and sporting Crimson Brotherhood armbands stormed the front door. According to witnesses, the hospital security and police that were assigned to guard Henry Jekyll have been gunned down. The speculation at this time by the members of the police department is this is an attempt to free the cult ringleader, Henry Jekyll.”
David looked down at the injured dog, “Yeah, we’re not convinced he is their leader, are we boy?”
David thought back to the night at the Preserve, Mr. Purple was so desperate to plunge that dagger into Henry Jekyll’s chest. That seems like an odd way to treat your figurehead despite what the police want the public to think.
The screen changed, and John Utterson’s face appeared. He was wearing riot gear and had blood splatters on his face. He was busy reloading his clips from the cover provided by a SWAT truck.
Quincy Hunt shoved a microphone in his face, “Detective Utterson, has the Brotherhood freed Henry Jekyll, and what are you doing to keep that from happening?”
While shoving 9 mm bullets into a clip, he responded, “If there was ever any doubt that Henry Jekyll was an evil occultist who quietly led the Crimson Brotherhood from the shadows, that question has been answered. We’ve got five dead cops, one nurse with a headshot, and two civilians down.”
Quincy centered the GoPro camera on Utterson, “Detective, alternate theories had surfaced online stating Henry is a government plant. They suggest the entire Brotherhood was a C.I.A. black ops program designed to cause anarchy. Others say that Jekyll is being held in a comatose state by operatives within the government. They suggest he could identify city officials and cops who are members of the Crimson Brotherhood. This is being seen as a rescue attempt, but couldn’t this be just the opposite? Couldn’t this be an assassination attempt by the Crimson Brotherhood to keep Henry Jekyll silent?”
John pocketed his clips and pushed the camera away, “Get back behind the yellow tape!”
He glanced up at the time, “Oh shit! I better get moving, Charlie.”
David left the dog on his nest of pillows and went into the back bedroom. The big man knocked and then opened the door to his Uncle Enrich’s room. Inside, the elderly German man reclined back in his bed wearing a light blue tracksuit that covered his fish gut-like midsection. His oxygen mask was attached to his face by a rubber band, and the beep from the heart monitor told David his vitals were doing fine. The man’s skin had small blue bruises around his wrinkled arms, and Enrich’s thinning white hair was cut short into a flattop. The smell of ointment and dirty clothes hit David in the face as he marched up to him. His uncle looked up from the old TV that was broadcasting the news and gave his nephew a yellow grin.
David checked the IV and said, “Okay, Onkel Enrich, ich muss ein paar Freunde treffen. Wenn Sie mich brauchen, rufen Sie an? “
The old man pulled his right hand from under his blanket to reveal a pearl-handled Luger pistol and waved it in the air. David smirked, pushed the gun down out of his face, and glanced over to the TV. A news channel was showing one of the middle floors of the hospital was now on fire. The ticker at the bottom of the screen read, “Standoff Escalates! Explosions Rock Hospital!”
He turned to his uncle, “Wenn jemand zur Tür kommt, antworten Sie nicht. Wenn ich zur Tür komme, erschieß mich nicht!”
Enrich laughed and replied, “Geh und hab Spass. Ich werde in Ordnung sein.”
The old man patted his arm and went back to watching TV. David’s uncle had come over from Germany when his mother was pregnant with him. Now he had the same kind of cancer that took his mom. There were certain aspects of the German he had adopted, but David was fully Americanized.
As he left his room, he pulled an old black climbing backpack from the hallway coat rack. He had repurposed it to house his everyday items and his gym equipment. Tonight, it was full of occult books he had checked out of the public library. As he went into his own bedroom for a fresh shirt and his running shoes, David flipped on the light to reveal his walls were covered in old cinema billboards. Every inch of the original wallpaper was hidden behind Predator, Ghostbusters, Goonies, Masters of the Universe, Star Trek, Buckaroo Banzai, Army of Darkness, and many other 80’s and 90’s movie posters. He threw down his pack and put on a fresh shirt that read, “go climb a rock” from Star Trek: The Final Frontier. He picked up his deputy sheriff’s badge and put it on his belt opposite of his holstered 9 mm Glock.
Once he was ready, David sat with Charlie for several minutes, while watching the news coverage and waiting for the Van Helsings to arrive. The Channel 8 news ticker read, “Jekyll Has Escaped.” An entire exterior wall was blown away from the hospital, and pillars of flame were shooting up towards the night sky. In the parking lot, several cars were flipped upside down and on fire from detonated grenades. Two dead officers were lying in several pieces on the wet concrete, and SWAT members were wandering around in a daze. Dozens of armed Christian Crusaders had flooded the area and opened fire on the entrenched Crimson Brotherhood. Within minutes, Brother Dunn’s TCC had ripped apart the cultists’ barricade with shotgun slugs and pushed them back into the hospital.
The TV reporter announced, “... Crusaders have broken through the Brotherhood line and saved the Tulsa Police. Tom, we can confirm that two Brotherhood members are on the ground and presumably shot by Crusaders. We can hear gunfire coming from within the hospital, as the fight continues.”
The studio anchor broken in, “Mark, I’m sorry to cut you off, but I have something being handed to me. It’s confirmed, Henry Jekyll has escaped. I can now report that the police have called for a citywide lockdown. We’re not sure how this was accomplished, as the alleged cult leader was in a coma. Chief of Police Blake Kelly has called for an immediate curfew to be implemented for the city and says martial law options are now on the table.”
The images of the hospital battle zone brought back memories of the night at the Preserve. Those thoughts still held sway in David’s nightmares, as the killing of another human being weighed heavily on his mind. Yet no one single horror held such a high place of terror as his fight with the superwoman in the ski mask. The dark smile that inked out from the mouth opening in her covering still gave him panic attacks. Part of him wanted to think it was a hallucination, but the reality that someone that powerful existed plagued his thoughts.
A car honked just outside his house, and David patted Charlie saying, “Okay, boy, I’ll be back soon. If anyone comes in the front door, go for their nuts first.”
Charlie looked back with his one eye and blinked in confusion. His right leg was fixed in a cast, which allowed him only limited mobility. He helped the dog drag himself out of bed to use the bathroom one last time before leaving. He was an older German Shepherd, and the vet told David the dog would be lucky to heal fully. He gave the K-9 his antibiotics as he got him situated back in bed.
David pulled over a large burlap sack full of fan mail addressed to Charlie, “Here’s some reading material while I’m gone. If you get any letters from lady dogs that include nudes, be strong and don’t call them. Just start a scrapbook.”
As he walked outside his front door, he saw a white 2016 Dodge Grand Caravan minivan waiting outside. His neighborhood was a mixture of Hispanic workers and their families. He knew them all, and most had lived in Muskogee for the majority of thei
r lives. Anything new that showed up was viewed with suspicion, and several of his neighbors were on their porch, peering at the unusual collection of personalities inside the vehicle. The side door slid open, and Thomas Booth hopped out like a jack-in-the-box. He was wearing a new pair of cargo pants and a black t-shirt. His hair was wet, and his beard was trimmed.
Thomas yelled out, “Hurry up, we are late for soccer practice!”
Basten’s voice bellowed from the passenger side, “Shut up, you damn hippie! Do you want to wake the neighborhood?”
David tossed his backpack into the vehicle as Thomas replied, “Four pasty white guys in a van, cruising around back streets at night. Yeah, no one will take any notice of that.”
The side door rolled shut, and Keller greeted everyone in the car politely, then asked, “Where’s Jessup?”
While Nicolaas pulled the van onto the road, the old man replied, “Mr. House has joined the Christian Crusaders and is currently patrolling the streets of Tulsa.”
As the car accelerated down the street, David remarked, “No, shit. Really? Wow. Well, I guess that fits. He was always a very Christian man.”
David noticed Thomas had a thick smell of Old Spice and shampoo as the druid replied, “He was fat. Although, I would have rather had him with us in case we had to run for our lives. Slowest person gets eaten by the bear and all that.”
David sniffed Thomas’s shirt, “You smell less… awful.”
Basten laughed, “Yes. I brought him some new clothes and made him take a bath.”
Thomas had a look of disgust on his face, “I only did it because I’m known for being considerate.”
Twenty minutes later, they stopped at a Mexican restaurant for dinner. David noticed the contrast between the two Van Helsings. The younger man was in peak physical condition, while the elderly gentlemen looked as if he could fall over dead at any moment.
