The Azrael (Book 4): Tricon

by Gagnon, Jesse

  “Let’s go see what that sign says.” Giselle jogged over to it. They both cut and peeled away the vines to reveal the sign beneath.

  “Damn it.”

  “We passed it?” Toko asked.

  “Like six miles ago. I don’t know how I missed it. There’s a dirt road that takes us there.”

  “A little more exercise than usual but I’m sure our bodies can handle it.” He smiled.

  “Sorry Toko.”

  Giselle ran towards the cabin once more with a keen eye out for the dirt road. After forty minutes, they reached it. It was hidden by heavy brush and would have been easy to miss if you weren’t actively searching for it.

  “Found it Toko. Damn it. If we missed it, there’s no way Jason found it.” She reflected aloud.

  “Don’t think that way Miss Giselle.”

  “it’s hard not to. We’re so close to the answer.”

  They travelled along the road and saw the large grouping of boulders to the east. The road had several trees down covering a good portion of it. She decided to follow east along the boulders. That led to the lake to the north. Eventually, after travelling along the lake, the dirt road opened up again. The cabin could be seen deep into the woods.

  “Are you sure this is the place?” Toko examined it with a squint.

  “It’s in bad shape but this is the place.” Giselle smiled when she remembered good memories with her brother.

  The aroma of death lingered in the air along with the hint of Azrael. The front door was overgrown with vegetation so Giselle led Toko around the back. They hopped over a rotten fence that had been hidden by wild bushes. The sounds of chains clanking alarmed Toko.

  “Wait a minute. There’s something behind the house.”

  “I know. I can smell them.”

  She had her pistol out and aimed it in front of her. As she rounded the corner, the smell of a decayed wild boar carcass drew a swarm of flies while a few Azrael chained to a riding mower fought over a hindquarter of the boar. She lowered her pistol and holstered it.

  “Look at these poor bastards.” Giselle scowled at the state of them.

  “Not a bad plan. Not the most humane form of security but it probably kept other Azrael away along with any looters.” Toko speculated.

  A large pool of blood and pieces of torn off flesh decorated the back porch. It smelled and appeared somewhat fresh. Bloody footprints led inside.

  “Don’t look like the Azrael watchdogs worked.” Giselle said. She removed her pistol again and pointed it at the door. “Inside, let’s check it out.” She urged.

  “Coming.” Toko responded.

  The house was filthy and reeked of whiskey. It reminded Giselle of bad memories at the cabin. Footsteps above alarmed them bringing them into a more defensive posture.

  “Upstairs.” Giselle whispered.

  “Remember the last house? Watch out for traps.”

  “I’ll keep an eye out.” Giselle agreed.

  They cautiously moved through the downstairs and located the stairs near the kitchen. Giselle quickly scanned the refrigerator and cabinets for food and was surprised to find it fully stocked.

  “Toko! Food, lots of food.” Giselle beamed. The unusual expression of happiness on her face was a gift to Toko.

  “That’s great Miss Giselle.” He whispered back with both thumbs up.

  They both continued their pursuit of the unknown visitor upstairs. Bloody footprints were faded but still noticeable on each step. The stink of Azrael greeted them midway up the stairs.

  “Oh, that reeks. It’s so thick too.” Giselle advised.

  “That’s pretty rotten.”

  “Smells like someone took a shit and then ate it, shit it out again, ate it once more, and then vomited it up.” Giselle’s detail caused Toko to choke down chunks that attempted to come back up.

  In the furthest room, Jason’s old room, a figure sat on a heavily soiled mattress. Its hands were caked in blood and they were on its face covering it. Its elbows were on its knees and it looked like it was crying. Most of its clothes were torn off and it wore only one shoe. Giselle removed the safety and kept her aim on the creature on the bed. She spoke.

  “Hey! What the fuck’s wrong with you?” She asked impolitely.

  It dropped its hands and raised its face towards Giselle. It was Jason, an Azrael version of him. His eyes were gray and he had tears escaping them.

  “Jason! Jason, it’s me Giselle.” She spoke and wondered what the fuck happened there.

  His eyes moved from the floor and slowly looked up at hers. His face became tight and his mouth opened in surprise. He pointed to his eyes and at hers followed by a grunt with a confused look.

  “At least now I’m not the only one in the family with these creepy ass eyes.” She forced a smile.

  Jason pointed to his mouth, formed a fist next to it and opened the hand to gesture talking.

  “Remember Miss Giselle, the awakened ones can only grunt and gesture their words. He’s probably curious how you can talk while having Azrael eyes.” Toko assumed.

  Jason nodded his head.

  “Before we start any of this, you’ve got to wash that ass of yours. Jesus Jason, you smell horrible.” Giselle urged with a hysterical laugh.

  Jason snorted and agreed. Giselle went into the bathroom and attempted to start a bath for him. The pipes squealed and grumbled for several seconds. Eventually, water poured out of the spout a dark brown. After fifteen seconds, it cleared up.

  “Just like old times.” Giselle sighed.

  The water was drawn from the stream that filled the lake nearby. It was brought through a filtering system before entering the house. The water was still disgusting since the filters had not been cleaned in several years. Nevertheless, it was still clean enough to wash up whatever filth that clung to Jason. The tub was about halfway filled and before Giselle could instruct her brother to get in, he hopped in. The water immediately turned dark brown. She located some shampoo and soap from her bag and handed them to Jason. He looked at her confused.

  “I’m not washing you. You’re a grown ass man.” Giselle retorted.

  Jason struggled to scrub his body with the soap and it kept slipping through his fingers.

  “Miss Giselle, Azrael have trouble with fine motor skills. Although, with practice we can retrain that part of the brain. At least that’s what Vlad reported.” Toko instructed.

  “Fine, let’s drain this water first and I’ll draw you up a new bath.”

  Giselle drained the dark water and started a new bath. It quickly turned brown. “This man is filthy.” Giselle admitted.

  “He is an Azrael Miss Giselle. They have no regard to cleanliness.”

  Jason shrugged.

  “Well, you’re disgusting Jason. I can’t believe you let yourself get this bad.” She smiled and punched him in the shoulder. “I’m just fuckin’ with ya Jason. I guess I can start explaining while I wash you up.” She said. Jason smiled.

  After about an hour of a deep cleaning of Jason and several more hours of gestured conversation with him, they both were brought up to speed on things.

  Chapter 24

  David’s Gift to Randall

  A week had past and Karla made a full recovery. Redd, however had lost the will to live and the body failed to fix its broken neck. He died three days after he arrived being carried by Karla. They buried his corpse at the fifty-yard line of a local high school’s overgrown football field. It had been the high school that he attended and where he met Karla.

  Randall had found a charging cord for the tracking device within Vladomir’s bag along with a mobile charging mechanism that used batteries. He had been tracking the Alpha for a few days until suddenly the signal went cold. It froze on the same location and an icon blinked in the top. Touching the icon gave amplifying information about it. Apparently, the device had lost power or had been destroyed. The last known location remained until a new device synchronized to the tracking device. This day was the
day to investigate the location before the Alpha could get too far away. The gadget had a wrist strap and Randall attached it to Harry’s arm.

  They hit the streets after a large breakfast of deer. They found the hefty buck two blocks over drinking water that pooled into a sizeable puddle near the football field. It provided them with an abundance of nutrients for the trip that could lead to a fight. Randall believed in being prepared for anything.

  The group passed by the Paul Simon Job Facility and crossed a small river. An abandoned building appeared to have been through war. The odor of burnt flesh and rotting Azrael corpses lingered in the air despite the soft breeze blowing from the east. A pack of dogs fought over a freshly killed human cadaver, tearing it apart while ferociously displaying their teeth to each other. Most of them had mange and were long detached from domestication. The majority may have been born into this world, the world ruled by the Azrael. As Randall’s group neared the dogs, they fled carrying manageable size chunks of flesh in their jaws towards the trees beyond the railroad tracks. The concentration of foul odors exited the facility from every orifice. A few small herds of Azrael scoured the grounds for humans in hiding. The tracking device indicated the location across the river into a more industrial setting. The building in question was in ruin. The structure had been set ablaze, shot up with military grade automatic weapons and dozens of mangled corpses littered about the neighboring area. Harry entered to investigate and after fifteen minutes, he exited shaking his head. He pointed back inside and gestured Randall to follow.

  As Randall entered, the charred walls slowly faded into a dirty cream color indicating where the flames stopped. Random pieces of bodies decorated the walls in no real design. On the back wall of the furthest room from the front door, hung a horrifying arrangement. Eight faces, torn from their skulls, were flattened and pinned to the wall by broken shards of small bones. The Alpha was making a statement. All faces were familiar to Randall; they were the other Awakened Azrael that escaped the prison. However, none provided a reaction as dramatic as the last face that was deliberately hung in the corner next to a large bloody handprint. It was Brooke’s face, her sweet innocent face.

  Randall howled in anger. His voice shook the broken glass on the floor. It escaped every opening in the building with terrorizing effect. Veins throbbed in his neck as the sheer strain of his shriek assaulted every eardrum within a mile. He knocked all of the faces off the wall with his right hand and punched the bloody handprint violently until the wall revealed the skeletal remains of the structure. The two-by-fours were split while wires and aluminum cables were torn from their original placement. Bear and Karla came into the room after hearing Randall’s angered shouts. Harry pointed to the faces on the ground. Karla inspected Bear’s eyes and shook her head with disgust. She walked out upset at her failure to stop the Alpha. Bear gestured for Harry to leave with him. He knew that Randall needed a bit of time to work this out in his head.

  Thirty minutes later Randall exited the structure in a stagger. He was mentally and emotionally drained. His mind was on the verge of shutting down and Bear noticed. As the virus seized control over Randall’s body once more, Bear growled and grunted towards him beckoning Randall’s body to submit to his dominance. It had been the only way to keep the herd together as they continued their hunt. Unfortunately, Randall’s body pulled back intensely drawing Karla and Bear to follow him instead. His body howled and grunted drawing in herds of Azrael from miles away. Bear resisted but Karla had submitted. Bear failed to detect that she shut down as well due to her overwhelming guilt and mental struggles that she endured over the past few days. Randall’s body sprinted off towards the west towing Karla and fifteen Azrael along for the ride. Bear and Harry shadowed behind in hopes to regain dominance over the two that had now submitted to the virus’ control.

  A field of roses stretched as far as the eye could see in all directions. A random assortment of small white clouds glided across the sky, like ships over the ocean blue. A figure stood a hundred yards away staring right at Randall. It did not move, however, its long dark hair waved in the breeze, the same breeze that made the roses dance. He waded through the river of red petals towards the figure. As he neared, he noticed that it was a young girl in a Sunday dress. She wore a pink bow in her hair that matched the same pattern on her dress. It was Brooke. She smiled at Randall revealing dimples and bright blue eyes. She was clean of any blemishes and appeared happy.

  “Hello, Randall.” She spoke. It had been the first and only time he had ever heard her speak.

  “Brooke? Is...is that you?” He stammered.

  “Yes, silly it’s me. Well, it’s not my real name. My name is Heather, but I like Brooke.”

  “How, uh, how did you know my name?” He asked knowing that he never spoke it to her.

  “From her.” Brooke turned and gestured towards a woman in the distance. She gazed into the sky as the sun set with her back to Randall. She was roughly fifty yards away to the right. Brooke walked over, grabbed Randall’s hand and led him towards the woman.

  “She’s been waiting a long time to talk to you.” Brooke pulled Randall’s arm. “C’mon.” She urged.

  “Ashlee, is that you?” He asked.

  His wife turned around. Her face lit up from the glow of the sun behind her. She wore the same dress that she wore the day she told him that she was pregnant, the day he found out that he would be a father.

  “Randall, where’ve you been?” Ashlee asked as she moved towards him as if she were floating through the flowers.

  “What are you talking about? I’m an Azrael now, I can’t be with you.”

  “You used to dream of me. We used to share good laughs.” She giggled to herself. “...then you stopped coming back.”

  “I, uh, I became something else. I didn’t have to escape into my dreams anymore. I had been given a second chance at life.” Randall looked down at Brooke. “I had someone to take care of.” He smiled at her and she beamed up at him.

  “She’s no longer your concern now. She’s here with me.”

  “Where is here?” Randall gestured to everywhere.

  “The road between your world and the next place.” Ashlee explained.

  “It’s beautiful here. Can’t I stay?”

  “No Randall, it’s fragile here. It can only last for a brief moment in time. This place is for those in the afterlife to communicate to their loved ones who are lost.” Ashlee approached Randall and placed her arms around his neck. She gazed up into his eyes with her own. “You’re not finished. You are the Omega Randy, the end of it all.”

  “I’m doing my best. It’s just...the Alpha and Brooke.” He sighed. Ashlee let go stepping back towards a hazy mist.

  “Don’t worry about me Randall, there’s no time for that. I’m okay now.” Brooke let go of his hand and reached for Ashlee’s hand. A swift breeze blew the roses violently causing the red petals to take flight, as they appeared to float quickly away from him.

  “Don’t leave me.” Randall cried out and jogged towards them. His voice was drowned out by the ferocity of the wind. The sky became dark and the breeze developed into a hurricane. The wail of the gusts was deafening.

  “I love you Randy!” Ashlee shouted.

  “Me too.” Brooke added loudly.

  “I love you!” Randall roared over the intense whine of the wind that assaulted his ears.

  Their bodies blew away like sand as the entire environment bent and warped.

  “Wake up! Gain control Randall. Wake up!” They both hollered through the tornado of rose petals that surrounded Randall.

  The landscape morphed into a blurry haze that gradually took shape. The lingering odor of Azrael and the hint of iron caused him to pause. His body stopped running and so did the horde of about thirty Azrael. The only recognizable face among the crowd was Karla and her face was covered with blood. What happened? Where were the others? As if thinking of them caused them to show up, Bear and Harry pushed through the herd to
wards Randall. He looked down at his hands, his bloody hands. He glanced up into Bear’s eyes with confusion. Bear put both hands on his shoulders and turned him around. The entire herd regarded him with interest. Randall broke the connection to them and waded through causing Karla to sever her connection with the herd as well. A few seconds later, the draw to another Azrael took root and the herd headed towards the south driven by the new Alpha’s desires. All four remained and Karla seemed just as confused as Randall was. After hours of gesturing, Randall and Karla were brought up to speed with their current situation.

  Apparently, Randall had been like that for several days, allowing the virus to seize control. He managed to build a herd and sacked three weakly fortified apartment buildings. Although guided by the virus, his body used clever tactics to overtake each building. Somehow, the bridge that connected control for Randall also connected the virus driven portion of the brain to Randall’s logic comprehension. The bridge had not favored his primal half in times before. What changed that gave the virus access to his ideas and experiences? Would it happen again the next time he slept? Randall worried that the evolution that his Azrael body transformed into would completely take over and leave his mind to wander within the dream world once more. Was it a dream? Ashlee said that it was a place between worlds. It was also a fragile place, held together by powers beyond his comprehension. What he did know was that his role in everything wasn’t finished. He needed to continue his hunt for the Alpha and not for blind vengeance for what it did to Brooke but to stop it from leading this world down a path that would only leave the world into ruin. Randall knew that the humans couldn’t defeat this enemy. It is the job of the Omega to end the Alpha.

  First, he needed to figure out where he was...

  Chapter 25

  Drowning

  Taliah awoke in her bed back at the Veil’s safe house. She was still in the nightgown she wore a few nights ago. Birds outside chirped and the breeze rustled the leaves outside. She sat up and stretched. An uncontrollable yawn followed causing her eyes to shut. When she opened them, a man appeared in her room. He was walking towards her while carrying a roll of duct tape. He stretched out the roll with one hand revealing two feet of sticky tape. She tried to scream but nothing came out. Taliah attempted to get out of the bed but her feet and hands were now tied down. As the man neared, she recognized him. He was the man from the house, that sick rapist that Mario killed when he found her. He placed the tape on her mouth and wrapped it several times around her head. He tore into the tape with his teeth and flattened the torn edge with his hand on her face. He gestured for her to be quiet.