There was, however, one thing very wrong with this Jerusalem—it was deserted. Seeing the ancient city devoid of people was eerie. Jerusalem was a beacon of humanity, a place people gravitated towards endlessly, so to see it lying abandoned like this was all wrong. Jerusalem had never been empty. It had never been abandoned.
“Where do we go?” asked Jake. “This place is huge.”
“Over there.” Lucas pointed. “We’re heading to the main marketplace. I have a feeling that’s where we’ll find Judas.
The city was still deserted when they made it to the marketplace, but now a haze had descended upon them—a fine mist making it hard to see. The cobbled walkways glistened with moisture, but they were not slippery. It was all an illusion.
Jake had a mournful smile on his face as he took in the sights. He seemed to be thinking of something happy, but that happy memory contained sadness. “Me and Chloe used to lie in our bunk beds when we were little and talk about all the places we would visit when we were older. She always wanted to go to Disney World, and I always wanted to go to Australia to see the kangaroos.” He shook his head and huffed. “She would be so angry that the first time I’ve been outside of England is a make-believe version of Jerusalem.”
“Have you never even been to Spain?” Shaun asked incredulously. “I had you pegged for the Magaluf type.”
Jake shrugged and seemed embarrassed. “I always spend my money the moment it hits my pocket. Tough to get away when you have a drug habit. Besides, who the hell would go with me?”
“Who were the two you attacked me with last night?” asked Lucas. He was still feeling weak, but he was now able to walk on his own at least.
“Just a couple of lads who buy gear from my Uncle. I told them I would sort them out if they helped me give you a kicking.”
Lucas rolled his eyes. “What fine gentlemen.”
“No, they’re total scumbags. If I get a second chance after this, I’ll get as far away from them as I can.”
Shaun looked at Jake for a moment, then nodded thoughtfully. “You know what, kid. We get out of this, and I’ll take that trip to Australia with you. Who knows how much time I have left with my dicky heart. Might as well start enjoying myself while I can.”
Simon gave Shaun a playful tap on the arm. “You got some secret savings stashed away I don’t know about?”
He shrugged. “I can do the backpacking thing. I don’t eat a lot, and I’ve slept in worse places than Australia!”
“I suppose you have. Okay, lads. I’m in. We get out of this alive and the three of us will trek to the land down under.” Simon looked at Lucas. “How about you, Lucas?”
Lucas chuckled. “What? Me go to Australia? No, thanks, I had enough heat in Hell. Plus, they have that whole thing about barbecues. What is so great about burnt food covered in mosquitoes? The beer tastes like gnat’s piss too.”
“What’s got into you?” Jake frowned.
Lucas leaned up against a wooden cart full of fox pelts. “Sorry, fellas. Old Lucas is just feeling a mite under the weather. It’s got him worried.”
Shaun looked worried. “You don’t think we can take down Judas?”
“I don’t know. That scorpion really did a number on me. Not sure how many matches I have left to strike. I’m about to find out, either way.”
The others frowned at him, so he pointed to the passage he had spotted between two rows of buildings. “That’s where Judas will be waiting for me. There’s some steps leading up to a terrace. We met there before. I need to go alone.”
Simon obviously thought it was a bad idea, and his beard bristled in disagreement. “Alone? Why would we make it easy for him? We should all rush him and beat the little rat to a pulp.”
“While I love a pugnacious fella like yourself, Simon, it’s the wrong move. We go up there looking for a fight then that’s all we’ll get. If I go up alone, perhaps I can end this thing without more misery. I still have some power, but I’m weak. Maybe I’ll pull something out of the bag without things getting nasty. I do my best thinking on my feet anyway, so let me try and end this by myself before we press the big red button.”
“Are you sure?” asked Jake. “This isn’t just your fight anymore, man. That son of a bitch killed Max and Annie, and Gheorgie. And he took Vetta.”
Lucas patted the lad on the shoulder and smiled. “You’re really not quite the arse you started out as, Jake—and I have a soft spot for bad boys gone good, almost as much as good girls gone bad—but I know what I’m doing. If I’m not back in five minutes, wait another five. If I’m not back after that, start drinking. Another five and you might actually have to do something.”
The three men agreed to take cover behind a small pavilion where Jesus Christ had once preached to the masses. Lucas remembered seeing the man as if it were only yesterday. On that day, he had watched from the terrace and plotted Jesus’s downfall. He had wanted to get God’s attention.
Lucas stepped into the passageway between buildings and moved down the cobbled street. Ahead and to his right, were the steps that would lead up to the terrace. It seemed Judas had a penchant for the past—as most eternal beings did. The more time that went by for an immortal being, the harder it became to remain comfortable with existence.
Even Lucas had found the 21st Century difficult to endure. In ancient times, men had been easy to understand. Their actions were out in the open. Now people lived their lives through technology, their thoughts expressed via code and emoticons—things he could not read instinctively. It was hard for an ancient being to find a place in an ever-evolving world.
Perhaps that was why Judas had chosen this place and time. It was the last time he felt secure, his final days before The Devil had cursed his life away. The last days before he betrayed his friend, Jesus. This whole city stunk of regret and anger.
Lucas started up the stone steps. They, like the marketplace, were moist and covered in haze, but his footing was secure as he ascended, and he soon found himself on that familiar terrace. This time, however, the tables and chairs were unused, and only a single man stood looking down at the city below.
It’s time to finish this, Judas, in the place where it all began.
Judas was standing in the same spot he had been when Lucifer had approached him disguised as a beggar. Now, Lucas didn’t have a disguise, or even any idea of who he was. After thousands of years, he was still lost and confused. Jesus had been right about him.
“I’ve come to make this right, Judas,” Lucas said. “I have to try one last time.”
Judas turned around slowly, a smile upon his face. “I go by Julian these days. Seems we’ve both grown tired of our past selves.”
“Aye, you’re right there. The creature that cursed you died beneath Jesus on the cross. I’m sorry I didn’t repent in time to offer you mercy and compassion. Everything that has befallen you—the evil you have committed—it is all my fault. Put the blame on me, and I shall carry it. Change, and there might still be hope for your eternal soul.”
“Eternity needs an end,” said Judas. He didn’t seem confrontational anymore, just fed up—sad, even. “I have lived two-thousand years—too long for a man. I haven’t felt an ounce of joy since last we met upon this terrace. Seeing you again has finally given me purpose and joy again. I feel something. Where have you been hiding all this time, Satan?”
“I left Hell and vowed never to return. Your spell was pointed at the wrong place. It doesn’t matter, your plans are ruined. There is no point in things getting any uglier. Come back to the light, Julian. It is never too late. Release Vetta and allow us all to leave this place.”
Julian swallowed, and took a long look at the abandoned city below. “Sometimes things begin after they are already too late, and they can never be reset. My entire existence has been a sword hanging over your neck, Satan, and now all that is left is for me to swing.”
“So why haven’t you? What’s stopping you?”
“I’m afraid. Afraid of seei
ng what’s left once I finally take my revenge upon you. For two-thousand years it has been the only thing that has sustained me. Once I kill you, I fear I shall be truly empty.”
“So, don’t kill me.”
“That is not a choice I can make, Satan. The Red Lord’s favour may be beyond my reach, but your death will be enough. Enough for me.” He threw out a hand, almost lazily, and a tangle of thorns erupted and spewed forth. Out of instinct, Lucas phased out of the way and reappeared three feet to the left. The act made Judas’s eyes go wide. “Y-You claimed to be human! What has happened since last we spoke?”
Lucas hadn’t wanted to show his hand, so he played it down. He should have pretended to be completely powerless and lulled Judas into a false sense of security until it was time to strike. That plan was down the shitter now, so he would have to keep on his toes. “Heaven left me with a slim vestige of power. A mistake, perhaps.”
Judas threw another tangle of thorns, and this time Lucas chose only to duck. He tried to make it seem like he was too weak to phase out a second time, and he huffed and panted. Perhaps Judas would get overconfident if he thought all Lucas had were a few tricks and half a battery.
“Maybe now you might present half a challenge,” said Judas with a sneer. “Unlike before.”
“Wait!” Lucas put his hand up. “Just wait! Vengeance will not change what you have lived through, Julian. It will not change you! Your fate will be the same unless you choose a different path. Your past does not have to define your future.”
Judas licked his lips and lowered his hands for a moment. “You think I can be forgiven?”
“No, but you can be redeemed.”
“You are my redemption, Satan. You made me kill the son of God. You have ruined lives by the thousands. I do their memories justice by ending you.”
Lucas nodded. “You’re right. Why am I even fighting you? I have an eternity of sin to pay for, and I have evaded justice too long. If killing me will heal you in some way…” he got down on his knees. “Then so be it. I am sorry, Judas. Truly.”
“My name is Julian!” He grabbed Lucas’s skull and began to squeeze, cracking bone and compressing brain matter. Lucas almost welcomed the crushing oblivion, despite being terrified of it. He was beaten, not just physically, but spiritually, and if it had to end now, then that was okay. All that he had been put through since meeting Gladri in that alleyway…
Enough. I just want it to stop. Have I not suffered enough?
His eyes bulged from the pressure. His skull began to cave in. Black smoke billowed from his wounds.
Judas removed his hands and stepped back in shock. “You bleed darkness.”
Lucas was woozy, and he crumpled forwards onto his hands. “All things bleed.”
“You are not human. You… Did you deceive me once more? Did you convince me you were human when you have remained The Devil all along?”
“N-no…” Lucas’s head buzzed. His vision filled with black smoke. Despite his weakness, he could feel his skull re-knitting itself and healing. You couldn’t kill The Devil by crushing his skull it seemed.
“You are not human,” said Judas, the cogs visibly whirring in his head. “Yes, it is true.”
Lucas began to panic, not liking the look in the other man’s eye. “No, I am not. I am—”
Judas struck the words from his mouth, backhanding him across the face. He placed a foot on Lucas’s chest and pinned him to the ground. “I shall have your celestial soul after all, it seems. The Red Lord will change the very fabric of existence with me as his faithful servant. Yes, it shall be glorious. Any last words, Satan?”
“Yes,” said Lucas, struggling with the foot pressing down on his chest. “I forgive you. And so does Jesus.”
Lucas used the last of his strength to send out a message to Heaven that he prayed would get there.
The message read: HELP ME!
Last shot
Jake didn’t like sitting around waiting like this. Thinking had always been his curse, and the more he thought, the more he hated himself. His mind had a talent for conjuring shame and remorse, and it was that talent which had led him to quell such emotions with drugs and alcohol. It was so long now that he couldn’t tell if he had started out that way and took drugs, or if he took drugs and became that way.
All the same, he was sober now—and it hurt! It hurt because his mind recalled things in crystal clarity that he had spent years trying to suppress. The stream of misery began with the sight of his little sister snapping under the wheels of a speeding Volvo. Her eyes somehow locking onto his as her body slid across the gravelly road, leaving bloody streaks behind her. Then his mind reeled off all the innocent people he had intimidated and attacked, for slights as small as bumping into him at the pool table. The tale of misery ended with the attempted rape of a young girl outside a Chinese takeaway.
The memory of what he had done to Vetta was no longer murky. How could he ever make up for that? For everything? If he had never been born, the world would have been a better place. The euphoria of Lucas bringing him back from certain death had worn off, and now he was ready to die—eager even. It was what he deserved. It was what he wanted.
Anything but sitting here thinking.
He had to help Vetta.
Simon and Shaun were sitting on the ground beside Jake, but they didn’t talk, just stared at the ground. That was why Jake was the only one who noticed when there was a shift in the strange haze blanketing the air. The mist seemed to part, to move away—particularly from the raised stone circle in front of them.
“Hey,” he nudged Simon. “Hey guys, look!”
The other two men looked up, then immediately leapt to their feet. The dark cloud above the stone circle began to mold into shape before them.
Perhaps they should have run, but since meeting Lucas—The Devil pretending to be a cheeky Irishman with a soft heart, or some other trippy shit like that—they had been in constant danger. It was starting to feel normal, and there was little point in running in a place built entirely to screw with them. So, whatever was happening, they were ready to just get it over with.
The black cloud continued to take shape, slowly forming into the shape of a man. Then the darkness started to lighten, and the cloud possessed detail. Suddenly, a man stood before them with long brown hair and gentle features. He told them his name was Jesus, and that he was there to pass on a message. Lucas needed their help. They needed to hurry.
As soon as the image had formed, it unformed and returned to black smoke—and then disappeared altogether. The strange haze came back to fill the void it left.
“Was that really Jesus?” Shaun asked, blinking rapidly. “Jesus sodding Christ?”
“Don’t think his middle name was sodding,” said Simon.
“I don’t know what that was,” said Jake, wondering if it was one of Judas’s games, “but I believe Lucas needs our help. Come on, let’s go find him.”
They went to make a move, but Shaun stayed where he was until Simon frowned at him. “What’s wrong?”
“What if we don’t help Lucas,” he said. “If Judas kills him, maybe this will all be over. We’re just caught in the middle of this thing, right?”
Simon actually seemed to think about it, astonishing Jake who assumed Simon was all up for giving Judas a beat down. Despite his reservations though, he didn’t state agreement with Shaun. “Come on, man. We can’t turn our backs on Lucas.”
“Why not?” Shaun became animated, and Jake knew it was because he could sense his argument wasn’t a lost cause. “Lucas is The Devil,” he said. “I think we’re on the wrong team. Even those monsters—the aswangs—are victims of his. Did you see them obey him like faithful dogs? We could just let this whole thing play out. Maybe it’s the only shot we have left.”
Simon looked at Jake and shrugged his beefy shoulder. “Man has a point. We’ve been following Lucas’s lead this whole time, and it’s done nothing but get people killed. Maybe we should have been wo
rking against him this whole time. If this is a good versus evil thing, surely The Devil is the bad guy?”
Jake hated that he saw the logic, but something in his gut told him it was all twisted. Lucas had been trying to protect them. And whether he had screwed it all up or not, intentions mattered. They had promised him their support, and he was relying on them, and Jake had enough of letting people down. He had done it his entire life and couldn’t anymore.
“Look guys, I know I’m a screw up, but I have a feeling about this. Lucas fixed me, not just my wounds, but me. He gave me a chance to be free of all the poison in my past, and that doesn’t sound like something an evil monster would do. I don’t know much about Heaven and Hell, right and wrong, but I know that Lucas fixed me after Judas gutted me. Judas killed our friends, not Lucas, and I think, if we don’t help him now, something really bad will happen.”
Simon looked at Shaun and sighed, as if waiting for a counter-argument, but Jake didn’t give anyone a chance to speak against him. “All of us have had second chances,” he said softly. “None of us are the people we once were. Doesn’t Lucas deserve a chance to change too?”
“Fine,” said Simon, a little irritated, but nodding his head. “We’ve already wasted enough time. Let’s get this done. Jerusalem isn’t as pretty as I would have hoped anyway.”
Jake chuckled. “It kind of stinks too. Lucas headed into that alleyway over there. He mentioned some steps. Let’s go.”
They took off at full-speed in a hurry to help The Devil.
What they hadn’t counted on was the aswangs being back in the game. The hellish creatures were lined up in front of the alleyway, blocking their way to Lucas. Side by side, they seemed like an unholy football team, spindly limbs tapping the ground like studs, swollen skulls like helmets. Their dank black hair hung in front of them like towels.
Jake clutched his sword, checking it was still in his hand and hadn’t evaporated when Lucas had left. Simon strengthened his grip on his axe over his shoulder and jutted out his beard. He really did resemble a Viking like Lucas had said. Shaun, with his tattoos and greying black hair, looked more like an emo vampire. Jake was the kid of the group. They made quite the bunch.
Blood on the Bar (Lucas the Atoner Book 1) Page 18
