by James, Aiden
“What do we do now?!” Amy cried. “Oh my God—here they come!”
In the fading moonlight, the demons’ hideousness became clearly defined. Their deep ebony skin was translucent, with a putrid pink substance pulsing like blood between powerful muscles. Their eyes morphed from green to red, and their wide mouths were filled with long razor-like teeth. All were at least ten feet in height, and several feet wide, with bat-like wings.
Beyond ugly and, unfortunately, immortal as the Lord’s angels. Once angels themselves long ago, they fell from grace when The Children of Elohim were cast off the earth. But that’s a story for another day.
Did I mention they have an insatiable craving for human flesh? The Essenes in Bolivia told us last year they had witnessed men devoured whole by these merciless creatures.
Despite such endearing qualities, I briefly considered making a dash on my own to reach the car and bring it back to pick everyone else up. But any escape was futile. Besides, Roderick had the keys to the Mercedes, last I checked.
I gathered Beatrice and Amy close to me, pushing them behind my legs while I prepared to fight to the death—certainly a quicker one compared to what Krontos had in mind. Roderick tried to do the same thing for Alistair and Cedric, but he couldn’t stand, crying out in agony when he attempted to balance himself without anyone’s help.
Oddly, the demons’ notorious screeches had been silent until then. But as if making up for lost time, their eerie and physically painful calls filled the air above.
“I guess it’s meal time, and we’re it,” lamented Cedric. “I don’t suppose you’ve got a trusty old spell you can throw on ‘em, Roderick?”
“I wish I did have something,” said Roderick, sadly. “I have nothing. I have….”
We all heard what drew Roderick’s gaze back to the castle, and it quieted the demons’ cries. The menacing horde turned their gazes toward the castle as well, toward one of the spires atop the structure. A large human being stood at the edge of the sloping roof, wearing a dark green trench coat and carrying what looked like a cache of military-grade weapons strapped to his back.
The figure laughed, and though it started out sounding diabolical it became almost jolly in timbre.
“Well, hello, William Barrow! Have you missed me?”
Normally, this would be where something relatively clever flowed out of my mouth. But after dealing with a steady emotional assault over the past few months, from ominous roses to Holocaust tragedies to finally besting the sorcerer who aided two of my deaths and prepared to deliver another, all I could do was shake my head in response.
Not to mention Viktor Kaslow’s release from Bochicha’s version of hell, and the fact I could almost see his smirk from where we were gathered below his present perch. Knowing his penchant for wickedness that rivaled Krontos, my night couldn’t get much worse.
“Oh, William, William….”
The Russian sounded compassionate… almost. Whatever ability had allowed me to find my family a short while earlier also made it possible to clearly see the diabolical wheels turning inside this evil brute’s head. I would’ve given most anything to not see what lurked in Kaslow’s wicked heart and the schemes planned for me and my family.
An immortal unmatched by any that Roderick or I had ever encountered during our two-millennium stay on Earth, I expected him to jump down and join us. Instead, he preferred to climb down the walls, using the dormant vines and gutters to reach the ground in a matter of seconds. He stood to face us, and we all huddled closer to one another.
The Tree of Life’s crystal buried in his chest pulsed unnaturally, as always. Up close, the blonde Russian’s enormous ripped muscles and chiseled features looked more unreal than the last time we squared off in Bolivia. His intense steel blue eyes were colder than the air around us. Rocket launchers and the miniature version of an FGR peered out from the weapon sack on his back. Like a comic book super villain. The biggest differences from the last time we faced off were a number of long shark-bite scars along his face, neck, and arms—as if he had fallen into predatory Amazon waters—and the presence of his newfound army.
“If only you knew what it took to win them over,” he said, coolly, motioning to the demons hovering nearby. Like most immortals I’ve known, he carried the ability to see inside my head. I almost smiled at the irony that I could finally read his thoughts, too. “They tried to eat me first, William, and I owe all of that to you. Can you even begin to imagine the fun things I’ve been planning for our reunion? Hmmm?”
He wasn’t kidding. Everything from cannibalizing me, slowly, and then chopping up my kin and friends to be fed as treats to the demonic army he now controlled.
He laughed more boisterously and stepped toward us, eyeing me angrily. This wasn’t going to be pretty.
“On second thought, I think I’ll feed you all to my new friends whole, starting with the troublesome Amy Golden Eagle first!”
He reached for Amy, grasping her arm and yanking her toward him like a rag doll before any of us could react. Alistair launched himself at Kaslow, and found himself in a strangle hold next to his beloved. My heart sunk at the prospects they would both be dead in the next few minutes. I had to think of something fast, and yet, I had nothing to bargain with…. Or, did I?
“Kaslow, are you content for Krontos Lazarevic to be the most powerful man the world has ever known?”
He looked at me with brows furrowed, and I could see new wheels turning in his head. The Tree of Life’s permanent tonic in his system had completely rewired his mind to where he was so much more than a cunning KGB officer. I had no doubt he could now hold his own with any mathematician or astrophysicist on the planet. But the primitive need for conquest overrode all else.
“You mean the burning torch upstairs—that Krontos?”
My kid was turning blue. I had less than a minute to work a miracle.
“Yes.”
He chuckled meanly.
“Humor me for just a moment,” I said, with my son’s life ebbing away by the second. “He is that way because my coins that once were part of the Silver Trinity of Death caused it to happen. The man who inspired and dictated the rise of the Third Reich is now my bitch!”
Time was just about out. But I couldn’t panic. I couldn’t even send a prayer for mercy on behalf of my boy.
I saw the flicker in Kaslow’s eye.
“Release my son now, and I’ll hand them over to you,” I said, keeping my tone as steady as I could, ready to die inside at the moment Alistair expired. “If you don’t release him, I swear to God I will take these coins with me and you’ll never rule the world!”
Did I mention this is Viktor’s ultimate goal these days? It was in fact what he wanted when he pursued me to South America a year ago. I hoped I hadn’t misread him, as what else would his presence in Hungary mean? Why take the one coin that would give Krontos such a reign, unless he wanted it for himself?
It made sense. But not necessarily perfect sense. Not if Viktor didn’t bite, and I lost my only beloved son in the process.
Afraid to hold this fiend in my gaze, I did so anyway. He smirked and dropped Alistair. Beatrice ran to our boy while he struggled to breathe. He reached up to grab Amy, the love of his life, drawing a snicker from Kaslow, who pulled her out of Alistair’s reach.
“She needs to be a part of the deal, too, since my son’s happiness is what will ensure his survival. And, his survival is what will get you the coins,” I said. “It’s as simple as that.”
“Things are never that simple, William!” he shot back.
But to my surprise, he dropped Amy to the ground. She landed hard, and Alistair scurried to her side, tenderly cradling her shaking body in his arms. Beatrice joined them in sobbing like babies. My aching heart broke, and I hated Kaslow more than ever.
“Hand me the coins,” he said gruffly.
He reached out his large paw, and I knew then if the coins brought a different reaction than the one that happened to K
rontos, my family and friends would be murdered horribly before me. Or, if the sorcerer’s spell no longer affected the coins, our fate could be even worse. But, to resist further meant testing this supreme miscreant’s patience to the point he would kill first and face regret later.
I pulled out the coins from my pockets. I purposely blocked out the mental image of the Dragon Coin in my wallet. After all, why give this fiend four coins to work with when three was bad enough? Before Kaslow moved to take them from my hands, I was already leaving the present day reality for the moment I have relived more than I care to calculate. I knew it would be very bad again… reliving more of the terrifying torture and crucifixion moments from Jesus Christ’s perspective.
But before my spirit was lifted away, I saw the look of surprise and horror on Kaslow’s face. Something was happening to him, and whatever it was he didn’t like it. Didn’t care for it one bit.
I heard Beatrice somewhere above me as I fell into the spiraling light that always takes me back for the most intense episodes of reliving Jesus’ betrayal. She was trying to tell me something. Something about love forever… and then I heard screeches. Or was it screaming?
Whatever it was, I prayed fervently my family and friends would still be there—whole and happy—whenever I returned. And, that this time when I’m face to face with Jesus, He would truly know I mean it when I repent for all the wrong I’ve done.
Especially, in regard to what I’ve done to Him.
Chapter Nineteen
“Well I’ll be damned…. Looks like our sleeping beauty is waking up!”
Cedric chuckled as he said this, and as I opened my eyes I thought perhaps I was dreaming. Dreaming about sitting in the Mercedes SUV’s middle seat, with a smiling Beatrice to my left, and my ornery former CIA pal in the front passenger seat. Cedric peered at me from above the neck rest, holding a slim panatela in his right hand. The passenger window was cracked slightly to allow the smoke to escape.
“I thought you gave those up forever?” I said, my throat feeling parched. “They’ll kill you.”
“Seems like everything these days can kill us,” he said, offering me a generous, impish smile. “Just grease the palms of the FDA, and yesterday’s poison becomes today’s delicacy and poster child for a healthy, long life. But I ain’t planning on dying anytime soon.”
Beatrice laughed, and I realized she had been affectionately stroking my hair for a while. No longer disheveled, she looked refreshed and calm. The love exuding toward me was powerful—something I had always known about her, but I could literally feel it pulsing now. So vibrant and everlasting.
It was indeed a dream!
“No, William… this is quite real,” said Roderick, from the driver’s seat. He seemed almost completely recovered from the injuries sustained at Krontos’ castle. “I must admit I thought you had lost your mind when you offered the coins to Viktor Kaslow. But it worked.”
“It worked a helluva lot better than any of us expected, Pops,” said Alistair, from somewhere behind me. I tried to raise myself to look in his direction, but an unfamiliar lightheadedness prevented me from doing it just yet.
“Welcome back, William,” said Amy, sitting next to Alistair. Her voice sounded as if it came from where Alistair sat. Must be ignoring seatbelt requirements. “We’ve got a lot to tell you.”
“Yes, we do, darling,” said Beatrice, leaning over to kiss me. “You had us very worried.”
Suddenly, I heard voices. Not audible ones, but a litany of silent thoughts. They all came from within the vehicle.
“I would say welcome to the club,” said Roderick, glancing back at me. “But until you learn how to filter other people’s thoughts, you will have bursts of what I like to call ‘psychic episodes’, where you hear nothing but a stream of chatter. Like what you’re hearing at present, correct?”
I nodded, giving my wife a sheepish look in regard to the physically amorous thought I just picked up from her.
“Part of the divine now lives within you, my brother,” continued Roderick. “I say it’s high time you could relate to my malady.” He grinned, and returned his attention to the road.
“Isn’t there a way to make it stop?”
“No. But you can learn to dial in to the most pleasant frequencies, and in time you’ll train yourself to ignore the unwanted ones,” he advised.
He glanced at Cedric, who eyed us both suspiciously. I bet he was over the moon about this development, knowing how much he hated Roderick’s insights into my unspoken thoughts. Now he might never know we’re having a mental conversation, unless Roderick or I announce it.
Roderick nodded. “Yes, won’t that be fun? Anyway, if you ever feel overwhelmed by your new ability, keep in mind most human beings hear a steady ring or hum emanating from inside their heads. If they concentrate for a moment, they can hear it clearly. I guarantee most would tell you they hardly noticed it before.”
“Sounds like bullshit,” said Cedric.
“No, remember? Smells like bullshit,” I corrected him.
“Oh, wow—it’s true. I hear a hum!” Amy sounded excited. “How about you, Ali?”
“I don’t know… I don’t hear anything.”
But he did hear something… just not defined enough to where he was comfortable sharing that information. At least that’s what his thoughts told me.
“Hey, hon’… would you like something to eat?” asked Beatrice. “We’ve got some snacks in the car. Or, we can stop someplace. What’s the next city on the way to Berlin, Roderick?”
“We’re coming up on Dresden, and should reach Berlin before dark,” he said. “We took a more direct route to return to Berlin from Budapest, William, after we returned there from Krontos’ castle. We made it to Prague just before lunchtime, but decided to keep driving. We were hoping you would awaken soon.”
I looked out the window next to me. The sun was shining, and melting snow covered both sides of the highway. It looked like early afternoon.
“So, I’ve been out since…. Wait, is it November first or the second?”
“It’s still the first,” said Cedric. “The day after Halloween, and y’all are still as strange as ever.”
His eyes were aglow with playfulness, and he blew a stream of smoke that veered to the small crease at the top of his window.
“The last thing I remember was Kaslow,” I said. “He was taking my coins from me.”
Until that moment, I couldn’t recall anything beyond being pulled down the familiar spiraling path through the centuries, a journey that always brought me back to the most heinous moment in my existence. My betrayal of Jesus Christ.
But beyond my usual arrival points of either Simon Zelotes’ home in Jerusalem or in the crowd gathered around the temple fortress, better known as the Antonia, my mind was a blank slate. Then, suddenly, the events hidden from my awareness began to pour in rapidly. I soon discovered why my mind shut down and tried to bury this particular experience.
I knew the handling of multiple blood coins could bring dire consequences, and I dreaded a deeper plunge into the Lord’s psyche. It felt wrong the first time it happened, as if I were stealing secrets from The Almighty that no man is ever entitled to know. But there I was, experiencing Christ’s physical and emotional torment from His perspective while still human. Fortunately, the first coin event in the relic room ended mercifully before I was forced to share what Jesus endured after receiving His sentence from Pontius Pilate. The brutal second round of beatings and other unspeakable humiliation omitted from the Gospels would soon commence, and they wouldn’t end until Jesus’ crucifixion later in the day.
Some may wonder why I omit the Sanhedrin’s trial from the evening before. It was a worse mockery of justice than the single-man court under Pontius Pilate the following morning. The Sanhedrin event was informal and quick. Caiaphas had already received approval to bring Jesus before Pilate on political charges of insurrection, so the Jewish hierarchy held off on beating Him, worried they migh
t be seen as a bigger threat to the Pax Romana than a nomad mystic claiming to be the long awaited King of the Jews.
I had no idea just how fortunate I was in my initial viewing of this snippet from long ago, a swift experience that left me momentarily defenseless against Krontos. Less than an hour later, when surrendering my coins to Kaslow, I was forced to endure the entire sequence of events.
As an unwilling voyeur, I shared Jesus’ agony and profound sorrow from the moment the temple guards and Roman troops arrived at Simon’s courtyard, and it didn’t end until He was nailed to the cross at Golgotha. The Lord’s anxiety steadily worsened, though His faith never wavered. Faith, as the belief in things unseen, doesn’t mean totally ignoring the present circumstances and attendant emotions. It is courage more than confidence.
The beatings from the Roman soldiers worsened; they seemed to take great pleasure in making it nearly impossible for Jesus to drag the cross through the streets of Jerusalem. Of course, most everyone knows all this and how things turned out. But they might be curious to know how the Romans’ hatred of the Jewish race had a profound affect on Him. I could hear the silent prayers to The Almighty for mercy towards them.
And I saw the future through His eyes. Even then, He knew another nation like Rome would one day rise and share the same opinions of the outward world. This new tyrant would focus on the same efficient ways to kill, and employ extreme cruelty to ensure compliance by the masses they conquered.
Heil Hitler to you, Roma.
If the world knew what I had already known for so long, that it was Caesar’s men and not the Jews who killed Jesus, how would the good folk of Italy be seen today?
“Hon, are you all right?” Beatrice nudged my shoulder gently.
“Huh? Oh, sorry… I was thinking about Kaslow.” It was intended to be a white lie to protect her from worry, but Roderick shot a knowing look through the rearview mirror, subtly shaking his head.
