Hallowed Ground

by David Niall Wilson

  "No sense wasting good ammunition, girl," he said. He turned to the woman. "It's been a few years, Lilith, though not so long as our last separation. It looks as though time has treated you well enough."

  Lilith inclined her head. Creed stared first at one, and then the other of them.

  "What the hell?" he said, trying to follow the twists and turns of the last few minutes.

  "Very apt," the man said, turning to him and actually tipping his hat. "Very close to the mark, young man. Most perceptive. Now, don’t take this the wrong way, but shouldn't you be dead?"

  Creed glanced down. His shirt was soaked with blood. He knew he'd been bitten at least a half dozen times by the snakes. His chest burned like wild fire. Despite all of that, he felt surprisingly strong. He glanced up, and was about to speak, when something shot up through him – something bright and cool, terrifying and powerful. He felt it rise from deep inside, lancing up through him as though it would shatter his skull, burst free, and slice into the sky beyond.

  Creed staggered, a long, broken wail escaping from his lips. The rush of energy drove through him again, tearing him apart from the inside – or trying. This time he reached out – with his mind – and tried to force the thing out of his head. It was all he could do to focus on the gun in his left hand. He gripped the butt until his knuckles blanched white. It felt as though the bones would splinter and the flesh split, but whatever had gotten inside of him gave up the fight, though it did not depart. Then it spoke with Creed's voice.

  "I am forsaken."

  Creed realized half a beat too late that the thought had voiced itself, and it was not his own.

  A third voice spoke up, taking advantage of Creed's moment of confusion.

  "Elizabeth?" it said.

  Creed clamped his mouth shut.

  "Oh my," Lilith said. She began to laugh, and the sound of that laughter was like water rushing down a mountainside, or the breeze through soft green grass. It was as though the Earth itself had laughed, and that moment of unfettered joy eased Creed's struggle in some strange way. The inner turmoil lessened, then grew stronger, just for a moment, and then – while he was distracted, Lilith stepped forward and touched his arm.

  Creed screamed. It was only the slightest of contacts, but it dropped him to his knees. He hit the dirt and gripped the sides of his head. He collapsed face first into the dust and writhed in agony. Things inside blended and knitted, lashed and bound and though he fought it with every ounce of will remaining to him, it was a useless struggle.

  "Most unexpected," the man said, looking down at Creed.

  Creed grew still, and then raised his head. He pressed his hands into the ground and rose shakily. He turned to Lilith.

  "What have you done?" he said.

  The voice, and the words were his, and yet they were not. He knew things he could not have known. He knew who she was. He knew who the girl was. He knew who he was – all the things and creatures he had become. His voice was sad and melancholy and beautiful as spun gold.

  "I have made you whole," she said.

  ‡‡‡

  "Well now, isn’t this interesting." The tall man stepped forward and Creed turned to meet his gaze.

  "I had just finished telling the moon lady here it had been a long time since we’d talked … but you? It is beyond an age. Almost beyond time itself. Well, well, well."

  "I have nothing to say to you," Creed said. "You gave up that right."

  "Did I? And when might that have been?" the dark man asked smoothly, "The fall? I mean, are you telling me that since I have lost grace, that I am no longer worthy of your notice, brother mine? Am I so low as to be beneath even your words? Let me see…what is it about this that bothers me? Oh yes," he snapped his fingers as though hitting upon a revelation that had been avoiding him, "I know. You are here. Now what does that mean, eh? I wonder. I would hazard that your fall could well be a match for my own, realm to realm, except of course that when I was banished, we were legion. You, Remliel, appear to have been singled out. You must have made someone angry, old friend."

  "We were never friends."

  "Yes we were. They call me Balthazar on this plane, but you know my name. You’ve spoken it in light and love. Whatever brought you here, whether you are fallen, simply corrupted by that puny flesh bag that’s holding you, or by the bit of my stolen property that got swallowed in the bargain, it seems you have mastered the first lesson of humanity: how to lie."

  Creed ignored Balthazar. There was too much inside him, too many thoughts and fears and memories for him to harness them, and too many wills. He turned to the woman with the guns, seeing her, knowing her in ways he hadn’t even a moment before. An overpowering sense of loss and sadness engulfed him. It was someone else’s loss, and then it was his. All of it. And it was such a burden he nearly staggered beneath it. In that moment of earthly epiphany, Remliel learned the single most powerful need, ache, hope he had ever felt: love.

  "Elizabeth," he said, his voice catching on her name. "It’s been…a lifetime.’

  "My name is Mariah," she said. "Elizabeth died. I rose. It was not a pleasant experience."

  Lilith stepped forward and laid her hand on Creed’s shoulder again. This time there was no pain. He turned and met her gaze.

  "I believe," she said, "That our bargain is complete."

  "While ours remains – questionable at best," Balthazar said.

  He reached beneath his jacket and pulled out the cylinder. He cracked the seal and opened the tube. The torn parchment slid out, and he let the empty container drop. It vanished before it hit the ground. Balthazar paid it no heed. He unfurled the parchment, studied it for a moment, and shook his head sadly.

  "I don’t suppose you’d consider honoring the bargain?" he asked, turning to Creed. "I suppose that you are aware?"

  "I am aware of the treacherous bargain," Creed said. "I am aware that you used a man’s love to trick him out of his soul, and that despite using all of your cunning, you failed. Would that be a fair summation of your predicament, old friend?"

  Balthazar’s eyes flashed dangerously.

  Creed found himself grinning. "Tell you what, hoss," he said, and it was impossible to tell who was bargaining, Remliel, Benjamin or Creed himself, "I’ll make you a deal."

  "I’m listening," Balthazar said. He raised an eyebrow.

  Creed turned, bent, and grabbed the Deacon by his shirt. With no noticeable effort he lifted the big man off the ground. Blood poured from the twin gunshot wounds, but there was breath in him still.

  Creed turned, nodded at the Deacon, and smiled.

  "An eye for an eye?" he said softly.

  "A soul for a soul," Balthazar replied. "An interesting notion, my newly fallen friend. But, tell me, what makes you believe his soul is not already mine?"

  Creed met Balthazar’s gaze evenly. "You already know the answer to that," he said. "He had a choice, and when the time came to make it – he called to me. He turned your own power against you."

  "One might argue he turned it against you, as well," Balthazar said.

  "Perhaps, but he called on me for protection. He could have called on you, or any of your minions, but he turned the power back on itself."

  "It’s conceivable, possible, even. But why would you make the offer?" Balthazar asked. "If he called on you to protect him, why would you surrender him?"

  Creed tossed the Deacon at Balthazar’s feet. He crouched and scooped up the leather pouch. He held it in his hand and closed his eyes.

  "Are you praying for them?" Balthazar sneered.

  The thing that had been Provender Creed replied

  "No. They are praying. Every one of them that this liar ‘healed,’ every physical body he warped and every mind he broke, they are all a part of me. I will find my way back to my Lord, and I will carry them with me, but it would not be necessary if it weren’t for this man."

  A sound rose, and they all turned. The men and women of Rookwood lay curled and bent and saggin
g over their seats. Moonshine Brady had fallen forward into one of the tall poles supporting the tent. With the roof torn, the pole leaned dangerously. Creed walked over and lifted the Sheriff upright for just a moment. Brady’s head lolled on his shoulder, and Creed let him go. He fell to the ground, and in that instant, the strange noise grew louder, rising from a sigh to a wail.

  Creed stepped back and pressed his hands to his ears, but nothing could block the sound. He stared as wisps of blue, glowing light drifted up and out of the bodies. They swirled and spun in ever narrowing circles, winding themselves around a silvery hair-width thread of luminescence. That thread disappeared into Creed’s temple, and each time one of the wispy forms freed itself from flesh and sifted into the mix, he threw back his head and screamed.

  The piano sounded, just for a moment, a short off-key hymn missing two out of every ten notes, and then it died. Creed dropped to his knees. Tears streamed down his cheeks. He turned his eyes to Heaven and watched the beautiful flashing magic of souls following that wispy powerful thread to glory.

  "Do not forsake me, my Lord," he breathed, willing himself to follow. He raised his hands and called out with all his being to God for escape. The blue ghost-lights flickered and rose, and died. He did not follow them. He lowered his head.

  "I believe we’ll call it even," Balthazar said. "For now."

  Creed rose slowly. His gaze was oddly disjointed, seeming to be lowered to the ground, raised to the heavens, and glaring straight ahead at the same time.

  "Come along, my dear," Balthazar said, holding out his hand to Mariah.

  She stood her ground and stared at Creed.

  "I am not in the habit of repeating myself, girl," Balthazar said. His voice was sharp as shards of ice.

  "She stays," Creed said.

  Balthazar turned to him. "I don’t think so. She is mine. I have trained her, and she is mine."

  Lilith stepped up beside Creed.

  "That wasn’t the bargain, and you know it, you old liar," she said softly.

  Balthazar looked at her, his shake of the head barely perceptible. He licked at his parched lips. "It seems," he said after a moment, "that we are at an impasse."

  "Let her go," Creed said.

  Balthazar thought about this for a moment, and then he smiled. He pulled the watch from his pocket as though time was suddenly of the essence. He inclined his head and raised an eyebrow. "For now," he said. "We will meet again, I promise you that, and I make good on my promises, always," he said. "But you knew that. These are interesting times."

  Creed didn’t answer. Lilith only smiled, bowed, and stepped into the shadows.

  Mariah said, "Benjamin?"

  Creed and Mariah met in an embrace that erased the darkness and the others in the ruined tent completely.

  Chapter Thirty-Nine

  Creed might have held her all night, but the sudden deep silence was broken by an unexpected wail. It was filled with hunger, with anger, and yet it sliced the darkness as cleanly as a knife. Mariah pulled back to arms length. She turned, looking around for the source of the cry.

  Colleen stood, very still, the child clutched in her arms. It wailed and waved its tiny fists in the air while she hushed it. Creed glanced around the tent. Balthazar was gone. There was no sign of the woman, Lilith, and even the bodies of her crow men had disappeared. The stench of death was heavy in the air, but it had yet to turn rank. It would, when rot set in. Only the Deacon, lying in a pool of blood, buzzed with the first of the flies.

  "My son," Mariah said. She didn’t move. Couldn’t.

  Colleen clutched the child.

  "He gave him to me," she said. She couldn’t meet Mariah’s gaze. Looking down at her feet she said, "He said it was the child I would never have."

  Smiling softly, Mariah eased free of Creed’s embrace and took a step closer. She looked at the child swaddled in his blanket, his face red with anger and hunger, but nothing more. He struggled feebly. She reached out and ran a finger down the baby’s cheek. Her son was warm and alive, but he didn’t feel like her son anymore. There was no recognition to her touch and he only had eyes for the woman cradling him.

  "What was mine has passed on," Mariah said softly.

  She turned and glanced at Creed, then turned back to Colleen. "He might share my flesh but he’s no son of mine. Look at the way he adores you; you are his mother in every way that matters. Care for him. Feed him and brush his hair, hold him when he cries and when his heart breaks, rock him at night and tell him stories. But do not tell him about his other mother…there is no need for him to know the truth."

  "Here, dear," a voice cut in.

  They all turned. The sisters stood to the side. Lottie held a blown glass bottle. There was a cork in the top – up through the center a glass tube ran, and the end of that tube a soft rubber nipple glistened. It was wet with the milk filling the bottle.

  "The child must eat," Lottie said.

  "He hungers," Attie added.

  Colleen took the odd glass bottle, stared at it for a moment, and the light of comprehension came into her eyes. She tipped it and placed the rubber teat to the baby’s lips. It suckled hungrily. She held the bottle carefully and glanced up at the old women in gratitude.

  "He’s special." Lottie explained

  "Great things one day," Attie agreed, "Important things."

  Chessie said nothing. She stepped closer, reached out a thin, clawed hand, and stroked the child’s cheek. Her ancient face, which seldom showed emotion, was awash with wonder. Her lips moved, but she said nothing.

  Creed turned to Mariah. Tears flowed down her cheeks.

  "I am not Benjamin," he said. "At least, not Benjamin alone. I was … much more. I was Remliel, though now I am Provender Creed."

  "I am not Elizabeth, either," Mariah said. She laid a hand on Creed’s heart. "But we are bound. I knew it the moment I set eyes on you."

  "We could read for you?" Lottie suggested.

  "Chessie could throw the bones," Attie agreed.

  Chessie turned, just for a second, her lips parted.

  Creed shook his head.

  "The bones have a way of building their own roads into the future," he said, "and then urging men to follow them. I did not choose to walk the roads of this Earth, but if I must, I will make my own trail…and choose my own companion."

  He reached out a hand and drew Mariah to him. She didn’t resist.

  "What about me?" Colleen said softly. "What about the child? Where will we go? What will I do?"

  She turned and she scanned the ruined tent. Bodies lay strewn across the floor and the chairs. The night sky was clearly visible through the rent in the canvas overhead. The only sound was the child, suckling on the odd rubber nipple.

  "You have us, child," Lottie replied.

  "You’re not alone," Attie cut in.

  "I reckon we’d like to throw our hats in that ring," a voice cut in.

  Everyone turned. In what had once been the doorway of the tent, Longman, Cy, and several others stood. Longman stepped forward.

  "The tent is ruined," he said, "and we don’t have a healer. Doesn’t mean we can’t move on. Cy here – he has a voice people will listen to, and I’ve never met a man more versed in the scripture. The sisters…they have a purpose no matter where we stop. We’d be pleased if you’d join us."

  Colleen didn’t answer. She stood, and she rocked the child, tears streaming down her cheeks.

  "There are a lot of dead," Creed said.

  "We’ll take care of them," Longman replied. "We will see them on their way."

  "Rookwood was a good town," Creed added.

  "We’ll stay a while," Cy said. "We’ll put things to rights."

  Creed nodded. He turned to Mariah.

  "And what will we do?" he asked.

  Mariah met his gaze, and then she glanced down at her guns, and her knives.

  "I only know two things," she replied. "I know how to kill, and I know that – whoever and whatever you are –
I have always loved you. That has not changed in this new life."

  Creed lowered his eyes, but a smile curled his lips. It was tragic, and bittersweet, but it was a smile nonetheless.

  "There are others," he said. "Men like the Deacon, powers like Balthazar. They live on pain and suffering. They feed on misery and death. If this is to be my life, then perhaps stopping them is my purpose?" It was every bit as much a pledge as it was a question.

  Mariah smiled. There was no humor in the expression, but there was love.

  "The night is still young," she said.

  Creed grinned.

  "That it is. Shall we ride?"

  They came together, walking with their arms wrapped around one another’s shoulders, moving like twin shadows through the doorway of the tent and into the night.

  Those few who remained stared after them. The baby burped, and the Sisters gave a soft chuckle.

  Longman smiled.

  Cy stepped to the door, watching the couple depart. The moon cradled them as they walked toward the horizon, both more than human, both damaged, both saved and forsaken, both fallen and risen again, both more together than they ever could have been alone. Cy spoke in his deep, sonorous voice: "In the beginning, there was the word …"

  "And the word was?" Lottie asked.

  "Remliel," Attie said.

  "Amen," Chessie whispered.

  At that sound, a thousand crows launched from the trees by Deadman’s Gulch. Their cries sounded like a hymn of promise.