by R. D. Brady
They took another lap around the courtyard before Laney gestured to one of the picnic benches. The staff sometimes ate lunch out here. It was a nice spot: the building surrounded them on four sides and towered four stories above them, but the courtyard was large enough for a few benches, and well-manicured flowers and bushes lined the area.
Laney and Cain sat on opposite sides of one of the tables. Cain folded his hands on the tabletop. “What do you want to know?”
“Do you know who is committing the murders?”
“The actual person, no. But I can tell you why they’re committing them.”
“Okay.”
“A long time ago, there was a culture that revered the world; they believed in the purity of the world, the goodness. But sometimes members strayed from the path. This group didn’t believe in punishing the offender, however. Instead, they performed a purification ritual. The individual would lie on a stone altar and be bathed to wash away the evils of this world—their greed, self-interest, and self-indulgences. When completed, they were considered purified and were returned to their community with open arms.”
There were similarities, but that sounded awfully peaceful compared to the recent murders. “The cases I’m looking into are a bit more violent than that,” Laney said.
Cain nodded. “I’m sure they are. But your murders started with this other culture. The culture expanded across the globe, sending emissaries throughout the Americas and into Asia and Africa. Eventually, the original culture was swallowed by the sea, but its traditions were then combined with the native cultures that had received their emissaries. The ritual you are now seeing dates back to before the Aztecs.”
“The human sacrifice rituals of the Olmecs.”
“Yes.”
“But why the drowning? The burning of the heart?”
“Those are modifications, if you will, of the purification ceremony.”
“Has this happened before?”
“Yes. Which is why you need to stop it. If the ceremony is being conducted, it is because the purveyors of the art believe the world has tilted toward wickedness. The purification ritual is their attempt to right the scales—to bring the world back to goodness. And there are more of these rituals than you think.”
“More?”
“Clark said you think they are happening around twice a month. That is not the case. Those are only the ones they are letting you know about. They want you to be aware of their activities.”
“But why?”
“To get you to help them.”
Whatever she had expected Cain to say, it was not this. “Help them?” Laney pictured Sheila. “They want us to help them kill innocent people?”
“You—the rest of the world. They want you to turn from wickedness. In their mind, their victims are not innocent. They are the ones responsible for the downfall of the world.”
Laney stared at him, trying to determine how much she could reveal. But really, who was he going to tell? “They’re going after people who have had dealings with the Fallen—wives, husbands, mothers, fathers, friends.”
Cain nodded. “Yes—in their eyes the Fallen are the personification of evil. They believe the victims are enabling the Fallen to continue their work, or worse, to bring more evil into the world.”
Laney blanched, picturing the children from the Chandler School. None of the children were evil. Each was just a child whose experiences in this life would push them to one side or the other—just like with any other child.
“But you are wrong,” Cain said, breaking into Laney’s thoughts. “It’s not just the associates of the Fallen they are going after. They are going after the Fallen themselves as well.”
Laney looked at him in surprise. “The Fallen?”
Cain nodded. “I can guarantee it.”
Laney glanced over her shoulder toward the doors. Did Matt know about that as well?
She shook her head. Cain’s earlier words came back to her. Eventually, the original culture was swallowed by the sea, but its traditions were then combined with the native cultures that had received their emissaries. “Yet again, Atlantis rears its ugly head.”
Cain frowned. “Atlantis? What do you mean?”
Laney looked at him in confusion. “You said that the ritual came from the first civilization that spread across the world before they were swallowed by the sea.”
“Yes. But that’s not Atlantis.”
Laney stared at him. Atlantis was the earliest theorized civilization, and of course it was swallowed by the sea. “Then what civilization are you talking about?”
“Atlantis was an early civilization, but it wasn’t the earliest. It was an outgrowth of another civilization that predated it by thousands of years.”
Laney thought for a moment. “According to Plato, Atlantis was created by Poseidon, a series of artificial islands.”
Cain waved her on.
“And Poseidon must have come from somewhere, prior to Atlantis.”
“Exactly.”
“So what was the name of this previous civilization?”
Cain smiled. “Oh, they were more than just a previous civilization. They were the motherland of all civilizations, the first true civilization on the planet: Lemuria. But you probably know it by a different name.”
“Mu,” Laney said softly. Another legendary civilization that’s cloaked in mystery.
She had heard of Mu, of course, but she wasn’t as familiar with it as she was with Atlantis. Mu was believed to have stretched across the Pacific. But she had thought that it was a contemporary of Atlantis, or possibly even came after. She had never heard of it as the precursor. “You think someone is borrowing ancient rituals from Lemuria?”
Cain shook his head, his dark eyes intense. “I believe it is the descendants of Mu themselves who are committing these acts.”
CHAPTER 27
Baltimore, Maryland
Lou stepped back from the computer in Danny’s office. “Okay, I need a break.”
She had looked for everything she could find on leopards, but they all suggested they were solitary creatures. They met up for mating, but otherwise didn’t socialize—except that oddly, when not hunting, they seemed to get along with antelopes. Still, none of the sites could explain why Cleo seemed to crave companionship.
Rolly raised one eyelid from his position on the couch. “Some of us were already enjoying a break.”
Lou rolled her eyes. “So sorry, Your Majesty.”
Rolly gave an imperious wave with his hand. “You are forgiven this time. Next time I may not be so lenient.”
Lou ignored him and looked at Danny and Zach, who’d shown up just a few minutes earlier. “You guys want to go see Cleo?”
Zach nodded and nudged Danny. “Earth to Danny. Break time.”
Danny looked up slowly, his eyes taking a moment to focus. “Huh? What?”
Lou laughed, grabbed his arm, and pulled him out of his chair. “Come on, Einstein. Fresh air.”
Together, they headed for the large courtyard at the back of the school—after first stopping by the kitchen for some bacon. The cook always prepared three pounds of it for Cleo’s afternoon snack.
Danny’s black shepherd mix, Moxy, scampered ahead as the door to the courtyard came into view. She jumped around, her excitement contagious.
Lou smiled as Rolly pushed open the door. “Go get her.”
Moxy sprinted across the lawn. Cleo, who had been sprawled out lazily in the sun, jumped to attention. Cleo and Moxy raced each other up and down the length of Cleo’s enclosure.
Lou shook her head. “I still don’t get how those two ended up being such good friends.”
Danny walked to the gate and unlocked it. Cleo slunk through the door, stopping only long enough to rub her head against Danny’s chest before running for Moxy. Moxy leaped at Cleo, who obligingly rolled onto her back, trying to swipe at Moxy with her giant paws.
Lou watched in amazement. Even with Cleo’s immense size, she
never hurt Moxy, never even accidentally. Her control was incredible.
Zach stood next to Rolly. “How did she get so big?”
“Amar the horrible added growth hormone to her littermates when she was in utero,” Rolly said. Amar Patel was a Fallen who had contracted with some lab to create a litter of Javan leopards. Cleo was the only one of the litter still alive.
“Laney said some of the other guys in her litter were even bigger,” Lou said.
Zach shook his head. “I can’t imagine that.”
“What I can’t figure out is where her intelligence comes from,” Lou said. “I mean, the growth hormones wouldn’t have done that, would they?”
“Uh, actually I think that’s because Amar had them mix his blood in with the mixture,” Danny said.
“Seriously?” Zach asked.
Danny nodded. “I keep hoping I’ll find the formula they used.”
“Why?” Lou asked.
“Because I don’t want anyone else to use it. Can you imagine if someone else figured out how to make a super predator like Cleo? I mean, Cleo’s great, but that’s only because Laney got to her first and then introduced the rest of us to her. Could you imagine what would happen if Laney hadn’t? If Cleo had managed to escape?”
Lou swallowed. She’d seen Cleo in action and had been really happy that the cat had been on their side. If she hadn’t been, there would have been nothing Lou could have done to stop Cleo.
“But all her littermates were killed by Amar, right?” Rolly asked.
After a quick glance to make sure Cleo was still playing with Moxy, Danny lowered his voice and said, “Yeah. Apparently he liked to hunt them down and kill them.”
“Seriously, that guy gets scummier and scummier each time I hear about him,” Rolly muttered.
Lou caught that pensive look on Danny’s face that meant he was wrestling with a problem. Danny’s gaze turned to where Moxy and Cleo were playing. His look grew even more despondent. Lou frowned, looking between Cleo and Danny. What is he thinking?
Later, they were headed back inside when Zach glanced at his watch. “Oh, man, we’ve got to get going, Rolly.”
“Where are you guys going?” Lou asked.
Rolly rolled his eyes. “We’ve got a group project for history. As if school isn’t tough enough without forcing us to work with one another.”
Lou smiled. “Somehow I think you’ll struggle through.”
Rolly put his hand to his chest. “It’s true—I am very resilient. It’s just one of my many amazing qualities.”
Zach shook his head and yanked on Rolly’s sleeve, pulling him down the hallway. “Okay, amazing one. Let’s go.”
Lou laughed as she watched them go.
She turned back to see Danny looking lost in thought and frowning once again. She walked up to him. “Okay, what’s going on?”
“What?”
“You’ve got that ‘I’m thinking of something earth-shattering’ look on your face.”
“Nothing. It’s just work.”
“Really, it doesn’t have anything to do with Cleo?”
“Sh,” Danny said as two kids from Lou’s math class passed by.
“What?”
Danny pulled her into an empty classroom.
“Okay, what the hell is going on?” Lou asked.
“I think I found something about Cleo. Well, sort of.”
“Okay, what?”
Danny just looked away.
“Come on, if it’s about Cleo, I want to know. I have a right to know.”
Danny hesitated and finally shook his head. “Cleo was never supposed to be as big as she is. And you’ve seen her. She’s gotten bigger since you first met her. She’s still growing.”
Lou nodded, knowing Cleo had gotten at least a few inches taller. “Yeah, but she’s what, three? That’s still—”
“No. In the wild, leopards are ready to have cubs at age two. She should be done growing.”
“So why is she still growing then?”
“I don’t know. In humans, unusual growth rates are often the result of a tumor in the pituitary gland.”
“But if she has that, it can be treated, right?”
“Yes, with medication.”
“That’s good. We scan, treat her, problem solved.”
Danny shook his head. “No. Bodies are designed within certain parameters, kind of like with cars or planes. You can’t just add a ton of weight to a car and expect it to handle the way it did at the lighter weight. In animals, the heart is set to pump a certain amount. Cleo’s heart has to pump much harder.”
“So she has a strong heart.”
“In humans, a heart that has to work too hard usually results in a shortened life span.”
Lou felt shock ripple through her. Danny thought Cleo was dying. “But you don’t know that for sure. I mean, we don’t know how Cleo was created.”
“No, we don’t.” He looked Lou in the eyes. “But I really think we need to find out.”
CHAPTER 28
Addison, West Virginia
The descendants of Mu are committing these murders. Laney stared at Cain. “How the hell can the descendants of an ancient civilization, the first civilization, one which must have died out thousands of years ago, be responsible for the current murders?”
“Life is often more complex than we realize.”
Laney stared at him. “Are you kidding? Is this a joke?”
“Laney, with everything you have learned since you accepted your destiny, can you really say this is impossible?” Cain held out his arms. “After all, I was just a literary device to you until a year ago.”
Laney could admit to herself that he was right. In the last two years, she had learned that fallen angels and nephilim walked among us, that her biological father was one of the most powerful angels ever, that her mother was Lilith—who was not the evil witch the Bible made her out to be—and that an ancient library had been hidden away by the followers of Atlantis and was now safely tucked away under the Chandler Group’s watchful eye.
She ran her thumb over the ring of Solomon, which bestowed on her multiple abilities including an ability to control the Fallen, the weather, and animals. “I guess you’re right. But there must be more you can tell me about the descendants of Mu.”
Cain smiled. “I have enjoyed our talk, ring bearer. But I cannot give away everything for free. We will talk again when I have made some arrangements.”
“What do you want?” Laney asked.
“I want to feel the sun on my face and the grass between my toes.” He gestured around. “I want more of this.”
“I’ll make it happen.”
Cain shook his head, his gaze holding hers. “I have no doubt you will. But Clark I do not trust, and you will get nothing more out of me until those things have been arranged.”
Laney studied Cain’s sallow cheeks, which had the beginning of color on them. She wanted to press him, wanted to demand he tell her what he knew. But she knew he would only dig in his heels. Damn you, Clark, she thought. If he hadn’t treated Cain the way he had, maybe they would have been able to get more out of him.
“Besides,” Cain said. “There is no rush. You should have some time. I look forward to our next chat.”
“But—”
Cain shook his head and stood. “I would like some time to enjoy my new accommodations. After all, this information is my only leverage, and I do not trust Clark to keep his word once you have gotten everything you need. I’ve given you enough to get you started, don’t you think?”
Laney stared at him in disbelief. “Right. All we have to do is find the descendants of the world’s first civilization. How hard can it be?”
Cain grinned. “That’s the spirit.”
CHAPTER 29
Taipei City, Taiwan
Maura shook her head as she read over the latest blog for their website at her kitchen table. She was supposed to be looking only for grammatical errors, but she couldn’t help but
be angered once again by the topic—the disappearance of thousands of species of animals from the planet every year.
Her eyes scanned the post, finding her favorite paragraphs.
Each year between one thousand and ten thousand animals species are lost to the world. They will never again grace this planet. At the current rate, it is estimated that between thirty and fifty percent of all animals in existence today will become extinct by 2050.
And what is the reason for this mass extinction? In one word: humans. Human activities have caused the natural extinction rates to balloon to one thousand times the normal level. And while animals are decreasing in number, humans are only increasing. There are now seven billion humans in the world, with an additional eighty million being added annually. But we’re not paying enough attention to the damage we are causing.
We cannot continue to take from the earth and not expect there to be consequences.
She sat back, staring at the words. Did they have enough of a pop? She had placed pictures of the world’s favorite endangered species on the same page: cuddly pandas, beautiful polar bears, and impressive tigers. Other animals that were more critical to the earth’s ecosystem were also becoming endangered, but Save the Spiders didn’t have quite the same impact as Save the Panda.
Her eyes strayed though to the black Java leopard featured prominently at the top of the article. At last report, there were only 250 Javan leopards left, and Maura had no doubt that that number would soon be reduced. After all, it was only in 1990 that Javan tigers had become extinct due to humans pushing their way into the tigers’ territory.
Even the Mother’s own guardians are in danger, Maura thought as she glanced at the picture of the Great Mother above her desk. In the picture, the Mother sat on her throne draped in fabric, a crown on her head. By her sides were her two guardians: one lion and one leopard. They didn’t even respect you, Maura thought, trying to tamp down her anger.
Maura finished reviewing the rest of the piece and made a few quick changes before publishing it. Then she pushed away from the desk, knowing that her words would have little chance of making any difference. She had started the blog years ago, hoping she could help organize people toward change, hoping that she could get people to understand the critical point that mankind was now approaching at an alarming speed.
