by Michael Todd
Baal shook his head, standing up from the table. “No, that’s not why I’m smiling. Come with me to the back table. I have something to show you.”
Beelzebub groaned and stood up, kicking the leg of the chair. He slumped next to Baal and looked down. “What could this old scroll possibly do to lighten my spirits right now?”
Baal smiled, running his hand over it. A dark mist radiated from the words he had touched. Beelzebub perked up, seeing that it was one of the eviler remnants out there. “What is this?”
Baal pursed his lips. “We don’t know what it is.”
Beelzebub instantly became more excited; he was definitely impressed. “What do we do with this?”
Baal smirked as Beelzebub picked it up. “We give it to a human.”
Beelzebub looked up from the scroll. “Which human?”
Baal chuckled maniacally. “One who hates Katie as much as we do.”
Suddenly the castle shook and massive rumbling noises filled the air.
Baal froze and Beelzebub whipped around in alarm. “What was that?"
What remained of the DDF team sat in the cold and dark with a few candles scattered around the old mechanic’s shop. One of the three teammates flicked a stone across the floor. “This is the most magical way I could have thought of to spend my fucking Christmas.”
Wilson glanced at him. “We’re working on that. Not everything can go smoothly. I’ve been stuck behind enemy lines in a cold marsh on Christmas before. I was thousands of miles from my family and friends. At least this place is dry.”
He yawned, crossing his legs in front of him and leaning back on his palms. “Besides, I read your file. You don’t have any family.”
The soldier looked up, narrowing his eyes. “Doesn’t mean I want to spend my holiday in some old shop surrounded by mice and oil. I could be sipping a whiskey by a warm fireplace with some snow bunny sucking my dick.”
One of the other guys chuckled. “If she could find it. And I’m not talking because it’s cold outside.”
Wilson put up his hand. “We need to figure out what our next move is. We can’t stay here, and there aren’t a whole lot of places Stateside we can hide out in.”
The first soldier shook his head. “We need to surrender.”
The third soldier nodded. “I agree. We should be surrendering right now. We are supposed to be working for the government, not for ourselves, after all. What we’re doing now makes it seem like we’re nothing more than common criminals.”
The other guys agreed. “If they fucked up and put their faith in someone they shouldn’t have, that’s not our fault. We shouldn’t be blamed for it. We were just doing what we were ordered to do. The government should take full responsibility.”
Wilson snorted. “And when has the government ever taken full responsibility for anything? We’ll either end up with the bag on our shoulders, or they will off us in some freak accident during a training exercise. Personally, I think our chances of survival are much better out here.”
He leaned his head back and rolled it from side to side. “Right now, they’re looking for someone to blame so it doesn’t fall on them. They will put the blame on us. We need to figure out what we can do to get that blame shifted to whoever is responsible and deserves it.”
The soldier scoffed. “You mean Katie? You’re still hellbent on fighting that bitch. It’s obvious she isn’t working for the demons. You’re going to risk all our lives just so you can get revenge?”
Wilson slammed his hand on the floor. “I’m doing what’s best for our country, which is what I’ve been doing for the last two and half decades. You show me a service record like that, and I’ll let you decide what we do next. You want to leave? Go ahead, but you’ll be spending the next eternity of Christmases in a small cell in some hellhole somewhere.”
Suddenly there was a crack, and everyone scooted back against the old metal cabinet. In front of them, a small portal opened. Wilson narrowed his eyes, watching a man about five feet tall with dark sunglasses and a pinstriped suit step into the mechanic’s shop. The portal stayed open behind him, but Wilson couldn’t tell where it led.
The man looked around the room before letting his eyes settle on the group on the floor. Wilson stood up and walked cautiously forward. “Who are you? What do you want here?”
The man motioned for Wilson to get closer. “The World Council wants you to know that they still have your back, secretly of course. Things did not go as planned at the hearing, but they’re positive that they will make this right. It will take time on their end. Until then…”
The man reached out his and placed a scroll in Wilson’s hands. Wilson unraveled it, pulling the flashlight off his belt to read the words. It was all in some other language, one he had never seen before.
Wilson furrowed his brow, tired of the games. “What the hell is this? How is this supposed to get my team and me out of an old rusty mechanic’s shop?”
The man stayed calm and composed, pointing at the scroll. “That is the route of Jormungandr.”
Wilson looked down at the scroll, up at the man, then down again. He let the paper roll up slightly and gritted his teeth. “I’m sorry. I’m from this planet. What the fuck does that even mean? I can’t read this language.”
The man put his hands behind his back. “Katie and Pandora are too powerful for humankind. You’re going to need help. Follow this route to Jormungandr.”
Wilson looked back down at the scroll. “Okay, even if I could read this, who is Jor…whatever, and why would he help me?”
The man put Wilson’s hand on the scroll. Wilson watched as a map began to appear. Dark mist swirled around his fingers. The man let go, but Wilson kept his hand there in amazement. “He has had many names. Sea Serpent. The Great Worm. But more recently, they called him Baylahn the Leviathan.”
Wilson took his hand away quickly and shook his head. He lowered his voice slightly and looked the man up and down. “And who are you?”
The man cracked a small smile. “A friend.”
The man walked to the door of the mechanic’s shop, straight past the portal that snapped shut as he passed. He opened the door and closed it behind him. When he reached the corner, he turned it and put his back to the building, taking off his glasses. His eyes glowed bright red and he waved his hand, stepping through a portal and out of that dimension.
Baal paced the floor with his hands behind his back. Beelzebub stood at the fireplace, tapping his foot and counting the souls that writhed inside of it. The room was silent except for their feet. Beelzebub looked at the mantle and picked up his glass of bourbon, taking a sip.
Baal shook his head. “I don’t know why it’s taking so long.”
Beelzebub looked over him. “You’re sending a stranger to Wilson. Surely you would assume he would have some questions? He is a highly trained mercenary. He wouldn’t just accept some stranger’s gift. I wouldn’t be surprised if he just killed him.”
Baal growled. “That would be ignorant. Damn humans and their cowboy mentality. Shoot first, ask questions later.”
Suddenly, a portal opened, and the man stepped through into Baal’s study. He shook hard, wriggling out of the human skin. It was one of Baal’s servants, having run the errand for Baal.
Baal walked forward nervously. “Did they take it?”
The servant nodded and bowed. “They did.”
Baal clapped his claws together. “Excellent. And did they ask too many questions?”
The servant shook his head. “Just enough to get them hooked.”
He turned to Beelzebub, who raised his glass. “See? The long game, Beelzebub. It always pays to play the long game.”
There was a knock on the door just then. Beelzebub looked at Baal. “Are you expecting anyone?”
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Aut
hor Notes - Michael Anderle
December 20, 2018
THANK YOU for not only reading this story but these Author Notes as well.
(I think I’ve been good with always opening with “thank you.” If not, I need to edit the other Author Notes!)
RANDOM (sometimes) THOUGHTS?
Can angels make mistakes?
(The answer is yes.)
In this story, we show how occasionally, against my personal nature, going the indie outlaw path is not helping the greater good.
I have to admit that I am a born contrarian. Tell me I can’t do it, I’ll try. (Mind you, I’m old enough to know better when people try to push my buttons. But, if someone is speaking from personal opinion and has an opinion that I don’t share, I’ll ‘back the fuck up and and throw down a gauntlet.’
Unless it’s for doing something stupid like “You can’t eat vegetables!”
“You are right. I’ve no room after the donuts and BBQ. Or the chili and chicken-fried steak that I ate too much of just a few years ago.”
Damn, now I want some chicken-fried steak.
With gravy. White gravy, maybe some rice or mashed potatoes and sweet iced tea. Oh goodness, remember sun tea? You would toss in a few family sized tea packets into a big gallon jar and allow the sun to brew the tea? Oh man, I’d drink my weight in that tea right now…
DAMN YOU PANDORA!
(I know she’s involved in this late-night craving somehow.)
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AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS
One of the interesting (at least to me) aspects of my life is the ability to work from anywhere and at any time. In the future, I hope to re-read my own Author Notes and remember my life as a diary entry.
Dec 20th, two hours after returning to Vegas to find my condo has been flooded.
Ok, first time (other than annoyances like the water in the building was shut down) that I’ve personally been hit by stupid shit someone above us did.
The people renovating some condo a couple of floors above us apparently hired the three stooges to install a toilet. The did something (wrong I am assuming) that caused my bathroom to flood. We arrived to step into a water puddle and start looking around. Not only were all of the carpets in the bathroom soaked (which seemed to soak up the excess water from flooding my office, but ruining the rugs) but somehow it blew a breaker and a good portion of my electricity is toast.
I’ve been waiting here for about an hour and a half so far, with the appropriate person supposedly at the other building, taking care of something similar. How the @#@#$@! would two buildings have water leaks messing people up in the same day?
It boggles my mind.
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Ad Aeternitatem,
Michael Anderle
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Books by Michael Todd
PROTECTED BY THE DAMNED
Torn Asunder (1)
Killing Is My Business (2)
And Business Is Good (3)
Sit Down, Shut Up, And Pull The Trigger (4)
Welcome To The Jungle (5)
Metal Up Your Ass (6)
Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap (7)
For Whom The Bell Tolls (8)
WAR OF THE DAMNED
Resurrection Of The Damned (1)
No Quarter (2)
Dark Is The Night (3)
Dim Glows The Horizon (4)
Waking The Leviathan (5)
Subversive Giants (6)
Juntto (7)
Redemption (8)
WAR OF THE ANGLES
A Sacred Pact (1)
Katie’s War (2)
DAMIAN’S CHRONICLES
Crucifix (1)
Renegade (2)
Apostle (3)
Books written as Michael Anderle
For a complete list of books by Michael Anderle, please visit:
www.lmbpn.com/ma-books/
All LMBPN Audiobooks are Available at Audible.com and iTunes
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