The End Has Come and Gone

by Mark Tufo

  "Which he would have deserved,” I threw in for good measure.

  "Which he would have deserved,” Talisker echoed. “He stood so rigid, I thought Easter must have stopped his heart. He looked like a plank of wood, and then he arched over backwards so that his face was pointing straight up into the sky. I damn near shit a brick when Donny uttered just one word and it was a question. “God?” And as I stand here and tell you today, blood began to fall like tears from Donny's eyes. His brother Les started screaming that Easter had poisoned his brother and that he was gonna kill everyone here and then rape their rotting bodies. Donny heard none of it as fat globs of blood began to pool on the ground. Besides Les' ranting, the rest of the room was quiet. Oh, we were all standing and watching, and I've got to think that everybody was as scared as I was. Donny then stood straight back up and slumped back into his chair. Les asked him if he was alright. How Donny saw anything I don’t know, his eyes were burnt. Where there should have been his blue irises were now just red burned husks. And no, it wasn't blood covering them up. The entire eye was the color of a cinnamon ball like you used to get in the gumball machines. ‘I've seen God,’ Donny told his brothers, ‘and he isn’t the loving and forgiving kind, he's a vengeful and demanding God.' I think Les and Lyle were now beginning to see the errors of their ways. Lyle started running. He didn’t get too far with leg irons on and all. It was the same thing when Easter touched Lyle's head. Within a minute he was next to Donny, they were completely subdued. Donny was crying normal tears this time and Lyle just kept mumbling how sorry he was. Les was going nuts, swearing that Easter had better not lay his poisoned hands anywhere upon him. Then he did something that even Easter wasn't prepared for. Les began to say the Lord's Prayer in reverse. That courtroom darkened and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. Easter might have faltered for half a heartbeat, but he recovered and slammed the heel of his hand into Les' head. The room immediately flooded with a light a hundred times brighter than I think we should be able to see and not go blind. It was like a super bright flashbulb, it was that quick. Les broke his back, he was flung so violently backward. He lay on the ground as he gazed upon his maker. He did not cry or beg for forgiveness. He seemed to want to go to the one upon whose allegiance he had sworn. We hung them that day.”

  I didn't know what to say, how do you dispute what the man witnessed?

  "There's some canned goods up in the far corner,” a much more morose Talisker told us as he motioned for us to go through the door before he shut and locked it.

  "Do you buy it Mike?" Gary asked as he rummaged around in the box until he found something that sounded good to his palate, a can of Mandarin oranges, “I mean, you’re the cynic and all.”

  "Well, he believes it, that's for sure,” Travis said in a subdued voice.

  "Mass hallucination?" Gary asked.

  "I hate that term, that's a Government term if I ever heard one. They invented that to cover up any number of eyewitness accounts of something they didn’t want people to see,” I said. “I'm more inclined to believe in Les' theory.”

  "Poison?" Travis asked.

  "Really?" Gary asked, so perturbed that he dropped an orange in his lap.

  "It's a possibility for sure, but the event as explained by Talisker seems just as real of a possibility.”

  Gary stopped, his hand mid-way to his mouth with the orange.

  "I've been witness to a lot of events recently Gary that I can’t explain,” I told him bluntly.

  He thought about it for a moment longer and then finished the action of bringing the succulent fruit to his mouth.

  "Either way, I'm not sure where that puts Justin,” I said.

  "Or us.” Gary smacked down another morsel.

  "Any more of those?" Travis asked, heading over to the box.

  "How can you guys eat?" I said as I paced the room.

  "Easy, we're hungry,” Gary answered.

  Travis nodded.

  By the time Talisker came to get us a few hours later, I had polished off two cans of oranges and one of pears. My stomach grumbled from all the fruit, might as well have eaten a three-alarm burrito for all the fireworks that were going off in my plumbing. I was going to make a great impression when I started releasing some of the internal pressure, so to speak.

  We were not led to a classroom, but rather what was once more likely the teacher's lounge which had now been converted into Easter's living abode. I was relieved we weren't on trial, but not quite comfortable. We were still waiting to be judged and by ultimately Easter’s sole authority.

  Justin seemed to have had better accommodations than us. He was sitting on the couch, a half-eaten sandwich and a small bag of chips off to his side on an end table. He even had some comic books on his lap and a blanket wrapped around his legs.

  "Comfortable?" I asked him, relieved to see that he was alright.

  "Not so bad,” he said with a sincere smile. I could still see a sense of nervousness etched in his features, but he was unharmed and that was a good way to be.

  Easter came in through another door that attached to the cafeteria. “Welcome,” he said as he spread his arms. "Please sit. That will be all Talisker, thank you.” Talisker nodded once and walked out. He did not go far, however. I could see his shadow in the frosted windowpane.

  “Ah, Mr. Talbot, I can almost see the wheels spinning in your head. You're wondering if you should overpower me and tie me up, or take me as a hostage until such time that you can safely let me go.”

  He caught me off guard but I recovered quickly. “Well, you pretty much got everything right until the part where we 'safely' let you go, as you put it.”

  "I feel that I should almost be intimidated,” Easter said with a jovial laugh. “Perhaps a few months ago I would have believed you.”

  "What changed, Easter?" I asked, truly wanting an answer.

  "I can tell you before the End of Times came I was not a religious man. I had perhaps been in a church a dozen or so times in the last twenty years and those times were either for weddings or funerals. I did not see much sense in worshipping a deity I could neither see nor understand, I guess would be the correct phrasing. An omnipotent being that was threaded through all of our lives absolutely made no sense to me. I understood the comfort others got from His perceived presence, but that was as far as it went. Something happened the night the zombies came. It altered me in ways that I have not come to understand quite yet. That there is a God is no longer of doubt to me, that He is not the kind forgiving God of the King James version I find troubling, but I do not question His will.”

  "So you are merely a vessel? So if my son is not deemed to be 'saved' you will rid him of his life as you will ours?" I asked angrily.

  "You were given the opportunity to leave of your own accord when you found that you were traveling with one that is marked. When you chose not to go, I believed that as free beings you wanted to be with him. Evil can be blinding in its own right.”

  I was livid. “Justin is not evil!" I spat.

  "Sit, Michael,” Easter said calmly. “I know this, but he has evil in him.”

  I could not argue with that. I was well aware of that fact.

  "If the boy were evil, we would not be having this conversation,” he said, his back to me as he poured a cup of tea. “Head still churning with thoughts of escape I see,” he said as he turned back around.

  "Busted,” I told him. “And how do you know my name?”

  "Easily,” he said without hesitation or doubt. “It is stamped on your soul. Shall we begin?"

  "And if what you are doing here should fail, do you think I will idly stand by as you prepare to do harm to my son or the rest of us?" I asked him openly.

  "I am trying to help you,” he said as he walked over to the sink. I watched as he applied a liberal amount of disinfectant soap to his hands before he scrubbed them vigorously and washed off the residue in a small flood of water. “I wouldn't want anything untoward to get on the boy.”

  "So
much for the poison theory,” Travis said.

  "One final time I will ask you Michael,” Easter said.

  "What about my son and my brother?"

  "Their will is theirs to do with as they wish… right now.”

  "Not a chance, Mike,” Gary said.

  Travis had a look of steel set in his eyes. “No, Dad.”

  I turned to Easter. “If Travis leaves this room?"

  "He would be welcome to stay or leave at any time he saw fit,” Easter said as he pulled up a chair next to the couch Justin had been reclining on since the conversation started. “There was a mild sedative in the milk I gave him, whichever way this goes it will not be pleasant for him,” Easter explained as he pulled the blanket up from Justin's legs and covered his chest.

  "Alright, one more scenario,” I stated. Easter waited patiently. “Travis leaves the room, this thing with Justin does not go well. Gary and I fight our way out of here. Maybe we make it, maybe we don't.”

  "Yes, yes Mike, Travis would still be welcome.”

  "Dad, I'd rather take my chances with you,” Travis pleaded.

  "But your leaving is not a chance, Travis. I believe Easter, no matter his inner convictions, to be an honorable man and would do as he said here.”

  "Thank you, I think,” Easter replied mildly.

  "Dad, he's my brother.”

  "And he's my son, as are you. I cannot, I will not put the both of you in harm's way if it can be avoided. If this does not work out, do not do anything. Do you understand me? I can tell you’re listening but the set of your jaw is telling me a different story.”

  "I will do what I can,” Travis promised, but in which direction did the promise lie?

  He shut the door slowly. With one final glance back, he looked at me like I had just told him Santa wasn't real AND that the fat man that played him at the mall had earlier that day also pissed in his cheerios. It was a withering assault; his mother had taught him well.

  "Go!" I yelled through the door when I didn’t hear his footfalls echoing down the hallway. I heard a fairly good attempt at deception steps. “Not bad, now do it for real.”

  "I'm telling Mom,” he muttered.

  "God, please, I hope that you do,” I said in a soft prayer.

  "Didn’t make you to be a believer,” Easter said.

  "When I perceive it to be for my benefit, I'll give him the benefit of the doubt,” I told him.

  "Then you might want to start praying now,” Easter said as he placed both his hands on Justin's chest.

  I did, too. Hypocritical? Sure, but when you're playing Texas Hold'em and all you’re holding is a ten high, what can it hurt?

  Easter looked over at me, fat droplets of sweat beginning to form on his forehead. His mouth became a thin line, almost imperceptible as it got lost in his white beard, as he began to speak: “The evil within this boy will relinquish its right upon his being.”

  "Have you done this before?" I asked Easter. His forearms rippled from the strain he was feeling.

  "This darkness has a strong hold. And I know Talisker told you what I used to do before. I've seen vomit that looked possessed and children that probably had small demons inside them, but I have never before tried to exorcise a demon. I never had much reason to believe in the men of the cloth, although I played one on television.”

  "Seriously!?" I asked.

  "No, boy!" Easter said sternly. "Did your momma drop you on your head? Now stop asking me questions while I'm trying to work.”

  "I think I actually saw her do it on more than one occasion,” Gary said.

  "What?" I mouthed, not wanting to disturb Easter.

  "Drop you on your head. I think I saw her do it more than once,” Gary finished.

  "Do… you… mind!" Easter said under some heavy duress.

  Gary and I both pointed to each other like third graders in trouble but at least neither of us spoke this time.

  "Come forth!" Easter shouted, "so that I may see who I cast aside!"

  I was thinking that wasn't such a good idea. Better to just kick her out before she had a chance to realize what was happening.

  "Who dares to tinker with my pet?" came out of Justin's mouth but it was not his voice. I had heard the same arrogant tone once before coming out of Durgan's mouth.

  The locket hung around my neck. The chain stayed relatively body temperature, but the skin where the locket made contact with my chest began to burn from the cold.

  Easter tried to remove his hands from Justin, but in less than the blink of an eye Justin grabbed his forearms in a strength that was being intensified through supernatural means. The room was cool but Easter looked like he was baking under the Sahara sun. Easter pulled for all he was worth to get away. He might as well have been super glued to Justin. Justin was now sitting up and staring intensely at Easter.

  "Charlatan! What kind of two-bit magician are you?" Eliza asked Easter.

  "Let me go, the power of Christ compels you!” Easter shouted.

  "The power of Christ? Your God is a false prophet to whom I will never bow down,” Eliza answered menacingly.

  "Then who do you worship?" Easter asked her. I thought that we all knew the answer to that, but Eliza surprised us once again.

  "Why myself, of course,” she said slyly. Eliza turned Justin's head to scan the rest of the room. “Michael, so good to see you again. I sense that you possess something that belongs to me, although what it is I cannot determine,” she said with a sneer. “Ah, and who is that with you, he bears a family resemblance, a brother perhaps? Is it not good to be reunited with family?" She asked, obviously sticking a dagger in my already broken heart with the loss of Tommy.

  Easter was frozen. A look of sheer terror creased his features. Myself, I was ready to run. Eliza had a way of making me feel like a jack rabbit and she wasn't the sly fox, she was the rabid wolf, so big was the difference in my perception of her.

  Gary seemed the least disturbed by the situation. “So that's Eliza?" he asked me. I could barely nod in reply. “Yeah, she's a mean one,” he said solemnly.

  "You think?" I gritted out.

  "And what of this man, Michael?" Eliza asked as turned back to Easter. “I fear that he means you harm.”

  "And that bothers you somehow?" I asked her incredulously, not believing that we were having such a conversation.

  "That death befalls you is of a main concern of mine. That it is by my own hand and in my own way is of the utmost importance. What good would it be if I did not first destroy everything that was dear to you, and then crush the broken shell of your existence? And do not be flippant with me again, Michael, I can easily turn Justin against himself. Would you like to watch as I make him tear his own eyes out?"

  "Wait Eliza, we will have our confrontation!" I told her, putting my hands up. I hoped she would take heed of my words and not hurt Justin.

  "What of this man!” she spat, shaking Easter's still form. “He calls himself a Holy man, but he is a trickster. His wizardry lies in chemistry and staging.”

  "How has he reached you then?" Gary asked.

  "Michael, I grow weary of this encounter,” Eliza said, ignoring Gary's question. “He will not let you go. I can easily stop his beating heart and be rid of him.”

  "We are prisoners, if you kill him, they will kill us,” I told her.

  "If only the revenge was not going to be so sweet, I could be rid of you now. What do you propose?" Eliza asked.

  This was surreal, I was talking tactics with Eliza. "Can you make him answer questions?" I asked her.

  "All men have a way of answering truthfully when I threaten to rend their genitalia from their body and make them eat it. Only once did I have to completely follow through. He died choking.” She actually let out a small laugh at the remembrance of the event.

  "Easter,” I said. “You need to answer me truthfully, do you understand?" He nodded jerkily. “Eliza is not one for idle threats.” He gulped once. I took that as an affirmation of my words. “Wh
at is really going on here?"

  "God…" he began. Justin/Eliza grabbed Easter's manhood in what I could only imagine was a vise-like grip by the way he reacted. “I was…" he labored to speak. “I am a chemist and … and…" I think Eliza was squeezing harder just for the sheer cruelty of it. “And an electronics hobbyist.”

  "But yet you’re a janitor at a middle school?" Gary asked disbelievingly.

  "I… I… I got burned out.” He vomited from the pain.

  "He lies,” Eliza said coldly. “I would like to crush his reproductive organs now.”

  "Wait,” Easter said, trying to yell but not having enough breath to do so.

  "Eliza, could you please ease up so that he can talk?”

  "I will do so, but for the last time Michael, if he lies again, I will crush what I hold in my hand and you will have to do what you can to honor your promise of our final meeting.”

  "Fair enough,” I told her.

  Easter bent forward slightly as Eliza let up somewhat.

  "This is it Easter, you tell the truth like a man or die as a eunuch,” I cautioned him.

  "I like to be around children,” he said. “I'm disgusted with myself. I've never done anything but I wanted to,” he cried.

  "So you set something up with the Bowdoin brothers,” I said, linking the pieces.