"Do not be frightened. I am on your side," I said into my wireless microphone just as a roaring-whoosh sound caught my ears. I looked quickly to the side of the castle and saw the smoke trail of a ground-to-air missile hurtling towards me. I traced it back to one of our own nearby missile launchers, and realized that a Raphaelian had to have infiltrated the security forces.
The large group below me also noticed the missile, and panic exploded. Realizing that debris would fall on people should the missile hit me, I raced up into the sky, luring the weapon away from the masses. At several-thousand feet, I stopped and looked down to see that I was seconds away from impact. Just as it was about to hit, I adjusted and caught the cursed thing in my hands. I didn't know if that would cause it to blow or not, and hovered for an anxious moment waiting for the boom. Thankfully it never came.
The missile burned out its last drop of fuel and I carried it back down to the castle grounds, landing near the offending missile battery. George and several soldiers held a man in custody. I indicated for someone to take the dead missile from me. Two soldiers stepped forward and took it by both ends, barely able to shoulder the weight.
"What do we do with this bloke?" George asked, shaking the arm of the cuffed college-aged man roughly.
"Question him and see if he has direct ties to Samael or is just a cult fanatic. If there are no ties, release him. I have to get back and get the crowd under control."
"But he tried to assassinate you! We can't just release him. You're the president now."
"I have no interest in locking people up because of the insanity my kind has convinced them of. Release him unless he can lead us to Samael. Got to go." I jumped into the air and flew back to the podium.
"Attention. Attention. Please calm down," I said into the microphone. "The situation is under control. We have a suspect in custody and I disarmed the missile." The crowd had thinned considerably, but slowly people stopped and turned back to me. Fear was on many faces.
"I will make this brief," I said. "What happened here today is the kind of madness that is going on throughout the entire world. We need to restore sanity, and to do this, I demand an immediate meeting with the one who calls himself Raphael. Should he refuse, then I will declare war on him and any nations that support him. And let me make it clear, I am much stronger than he is, so choose sides wisely." Satisfied that my words were being relayed in the news worldwide, I turned and started walking back to the castle. Monique was waiting for me, standing on the long red carpet that led to the entrance.
"Quite a display," she said.
"Absolute insanity," I replied.
"I wanted to give you heads up that we have visitors inside waiting for you. Samael is reaching out already it would seem."
"Who are they?"
"The American secretary of state and his entourage, and your dear old friend Karen." I stopped and turned to her.
"It's a trick. You shouldn't have let her in."
"If we turned them away, they would claim that you didn't really want to talk things out."
"True," I conceded. "At least she can lead us to the coward."
"Just to prepare you, she is no longer the woman you knew," Monique warned before taking my hand. Together, we walked into a nightmare.
Chapter 34
Monique and I stepped into the large castle library, with George closing the door behind us. He stood guard just inside the door, armed with a Desert Eagle .50-caliber pistol, trying hard to conceal the nervousness I sensed inside him. His anxiety undoubtedly stemmed from the female creature we once knew of as Karen, strolling around the room as if she owned it.
Karen no longer seemed as enticing and enchanting now that she was in her natural form of Lamashtu. She walked around, investigating this and that, occasionally giving the State Department personnel that had accompanied her curious sideways stares. Those stares appeared to disconcert them, as her eyes were now completely blood red, void of any white whatsoever, with a black inkblot for a pupil in the middle. Her complexion had also become incredibly pale, almost albino-like, matching the snow white of her hair. Harsh crimson lipstick and nail polish that matched her eyes set off a stark and eerie contrast to the sickly white. She appeared every bit the major demon of mythology that she was. I scorned myself for not seeing through her charade earlier.
Karen approached Monique, stared at her sideways and sniffed. "Is this your new bitch?" she asked, turning to me, her voice now deeper and with a guttural quality that made me cringe.
"What do you want?" I replied, ignoring her question, looking hard into her blood-filled eyes without fear.
"I want to know why you're fucking someone with the same last name as you now have? She must be your granddaughter, no?" she said crudely, twisting her head from side to side inches away from my nose. She had grown used to being able to intimidate people with her looks, and failed to realize that I was confident in my ability to slice her head off in the blink of an eye.
"Stop playing games lest I tune your vocal cords with my claws. Why are you here, Karen? Or should I call you Lamashtu, mother of the damned?"
"And should I call you Marduk, slaughterer of my children?" she shot back. No one had used that name since the rise of humanity in Mesopotamia. Her point made, she didn't wait for my answer. "Call me what you will. We all have history, don't we? Speaking of history, where has your dear daughter been hiding? Have you made her your bitch, too?" She smirked, displaying jagged teeth.
With both hands, I shoved her back, letting her know that I didn't find her words amusing. She slammed into a large bookshelf, breaking wood and suffering the indignation of books raining down upon her. I approached, claws raised high, determined to instill some respect in the beast.
"Sir, I heard your speech! Please help us!" the secretary of state exclaimed from a safe distance to my left. I regained my composure and turned to him. "The United States is being ripped in half over this and we are powerless!"
"Shut up!" Karen shouted, racing for the man, her weaker-but-still-deadly claws going for his throat. I intervened, grabbing her arm and wrenching it. She screamed and tried to yank away, but I held firm.
"Let him speak!" I commanded.
"Your wife and son are dead!" Karen hissed to the secretary.
"I do this for my country," he said, glancing nervously at the writhing demon I held at bay. "Things have gotten out of control. The man running our government is pure evil."
"Samael?"
"Yes, but only the inner circle knows his true name. Everyone else believes he's Raphael. The Southern states aren't going along with what's happening and are about to declare war on the North. If they do, Samael will unleash the military on our own people!"
"Can't your politicians just issue an order to the military not to follow Samael's orders?" I asked.
"Dozens of senators and representatives have already been killed after speaking out. No one is left who is willing to go against him. My own family is being held hostage. I risk everything by telling you how it really is."
"I wish the president had listened to me earlier," I said. "But Samael was probably dripping venom next to her, already in control." I recalled the president consulting with someone off camera during our brief conversation at the Navy base. I wouldn't be surprised if it was my nemesis.
"Can you help?" he asked.
"I will try. Monique, I need some time alone with Karen, and it could get dicey. Could you take Mr. Secretary and his group to get some food? They will be official guests of France for as long as they like." I refocused on the secretary of state. "Sir, I would suggest that you consider staying until this is through, as Samael will probably kill you when you don't return with my surrender, or his whore here." I gave Karen's arm a good shaking, causing her to wince.
"You're keeping her?" the secretary asked, sounding amazed at my obvious stupidity in his mind.
"Yes, and killing her if she doesn't tell me what I want to know. George, get some handcuffs and wait outsid
e within earshot, but do not open the door until I call for you, no matter what you hear."
"Okay. Be careful." The room quickly emptied, leaving Karen and I to contemplate each other in silence.
"Are we going to fuck now, or are you just going to stare at me?" she finally said.
"Stop it. I'm surprised Samael let you come here."
"I'm a big girl. Someone had to escort these morons and make sure they did what they were told."
"Tell me how Samael turned you into Karen?"
"Oh, I see. You want to fuck Karen instead. Very well." Before my eyes, she transformed into Karen. In Karen's voice she said, "Better?"
"I'm not talking about your shape. I know your kind like to play those games. How did you hide the stench of what you are, which I smell now, from my senses?"
"Don't be so mean, Michael." She pouted as if genuinely hurt, and with her in the guise of Karen, it was almost believable. "If you think that I'm going to spill all the beans just because you are a gorgeous man, you're wrong." I released her arm, leaving a large bruise behind that started healing right away.
"What will it take then?" I asked.
"Well, the head-moron secretary of state was supposed to tell you that Samael demands your surrender or he will launch nuclear weapons in twenty-four hours, effectively destroying France. Your surrender—that is what he wants. What I want is to know what was in that vial he stole from you and gave me a little of to make me forget who I am."
"What?"
"He told me it was the shit that took your memory away. Just a drop of it was how I avoided your senses, but it only lasted a few days at a time. I want more."
"Wait…are you telling me that my last vial didn't blow up in the bank. Samael took it?" I asked.
"You're such a fool. Samael's been watching you ever since he healed from having his head nearly sliced off back in the 1800s. So, tell me what it is and where I can get more of it, and I'll tell you all you want to know about Samael and where to find him."
"Why would you do that?"
"Ha! Just look at me! What a silly question coming from you. I love being a normal woman, just as you enjoy being a normal man. Plus, god games get tiring, don't they? We would have made a great couple, Michael. It's not too late, maybe."
"You haven't lost your touch. There was never a time that we had a chance," I said.
She leaned forward, speaking softly, "I can smell lies, too. I felt your desire. I wonder, did you feel mine?" I didn't respond. "Fine, keep your secret safe. If you want to save the world, tell me where I can get more of that potion."
"I can't get more of it. It was the venom of God."
"Don't fuck with me!" she blurted, and then paused for a moment. "If it's venom, then it was no real god. Whose is it?"
"Ra."
She stood silent, contemplating the ramifications, and then asked, "How do you know this?"
"He told me."
"You've talked to him? Recently?"
"Yes."
"But that's not possible." She took a step back. "He was supposed to be done with. Samael promised." She glanced left and right, as if searching for an escape, and then I realized that she still harbored the fear.
In the beginning, during our creation, Ra distressed about the many deformities that arose from the process. His solution was to destroy those who suffered defects, but the mutated creatures resisted. With the help of Samael, they escaped, falling to Earth and hiding in the shadows—hiding from Ra, who destroyed every defective creation that he came across. For thousands of years demons lived in fear of Ra, to the point that it became part of their damaged DNA. The mere mention of his name would often send them into panic, a tradition carried over to religious exorcisms by humans. He was the cat, and they were the mice. The mouse in the room with me now was desperately clawing at the locked door trying to escape. I had a new weapon in my arsenal.
"Tell me where Samael is hiding," I said, walking towards her.
"Stay away from me!" she shouted, beating on the door hard enough to leave indentations. Her strength was greater than a human's was, but not by much. I reached out and grabbed her by the back of the neck. She let out a banshee's scream and transformed back into her natural state.
"Tell me where Samael is, and I won't bring you to Ra," I said, releasing her with a hard push. She scurried away, and just like a mouse, trapped herself against a wall. Being centrally located in the castle, the library had no windows through which she could flee.
"Michael, please stop!" she pleaded, cowering down low. "This is really going to fuck up our relationship!"
"If Ra gets a hold of you, it will fuck up more than our relationship." I approached her.
"No…I don't want to die."
"Just tell me where Samael is and I will let you go." I reached for her. "Or I can take you to Ra now. He's in the castle," I lied, or at least hoped I was lying. Ra seemed to be wherever he wanted to be.
"Okay! Okay! I'll tell you!" she blurted. I pulled back just a little and waited. "Camp David in Maryland. He's running things from there."
"Excellent. Thank you." I stood up straight. "George!" I heard the door unlock and open.
"You called, master?" George said jokingly, entering the room and looking down at Karen huddled against the wall. "Quite an effect you have on women."
"I try. Cuff her and take her to one of those holding cells in the basement."
"You said you'd let me go!" Karen cried.
"I will…after I'm done with Samael. I wouldn't want you to warn him." George hoisted the demon up by the arm. "And don't try anything stupid," I told her.
"Put your hands behind your back," George said. "She can't break these, can she?" The cuffs locked shut around her wrists.
"No, but be sure you have another man keeping an eye on her while you undo the cuffs. Unlock them through the bars if you can, and have him keep watch over her with that virus rifle we brought back. That should hurt her a lot worse than that cannon you carry around." I indicated the Desert Eagle on his hip.
"Will do. She won't get away this time. I'll have my best man on her, and there's no way she can break those thick-ass medieval cell doors down…is there?" George asked.
"No, she's not that strong. Also, I'll be leaving for America."
"She told you where he is?" I nodded. "I'll get my gear ready."
"It will be risky, especially once they realize you're not the pilot they expected."
"Pilot?"
"I need you to fly the secretary of state back using his plane, which we'll have to commandeer."
"I see. Nice. Won't be the first time I've flown into hostile territory."
"Yeah, but it could be the first time you run into an enemy that can rip your limbs off while feasting on your blood."
"You've got a point there."
"When you're done with her, meet us in the conference room. We have a call to make."
"Who?"
"I'll let you know when you get there," I said, eyeing Karen. He nodded and shoved her ahead, her angry red eyes burning a hole through me as they went out the door. I knew she would try very hard to escape, but as long as we could hold her for at least a night, we would be okay.
Chapter 35
As I walked through the building towards the conference room, strategically placed guards snapped to attention and saluted. I nodded to them, finding the forced respect disconcerting, and wished I were a computer guru again with my biggest worry being a crashed server. Having to deal with abuse from my former boss, Jack, didn't seem like such a bad thing anymore. One's perspective changes everything.
I came upon the conference room door, turned the handle, and entered.
"Whatever he says, don't let him get you flustered," Monique was telling the secretary of state. They sat next to each other at a large, glass-topped conference table.
"Are we ready?" I asked, closing the door behind me.
"I think so," she replied, sounding less confident than I would have liked. "Sa
mael threatened to kill his family if anything goes wrong on this trip. He's really worried."
"Understandable," I said. "Just don't panic on us and hopefully we can get them out safe."
"My son is only seven, and autistic. I can't help but wonder if I made the right decision turning to you for help," he said.
"Your son will live in a much better world thanks to you telling us the truth about what's going on. I promise." I took a seat next to Monique.
"But how are you going to get to him?" the secretary asked. "If any unauthorized plane approaches the coast, they'll shoot it down."
"We'll take yours. I'm sure it's authorized, right?"
"Well, yes, but what about the crew?"
"We're going to replace them with our own."
"Once you land, they'll know it's a charade," he said.
"I'll be leaving the plane near Camp David, before it lands."
"I see," he said quietly.
"You'll continue on, carrying the surrender documents that we'll give you. They should provide a good distraction while I make my way to the compound." The door opened and George entered, quickly taking the seat next to the secretary. "Everything with Karen go okay?" I asked him.
"Peachy," he replied. "After we left you, she turned into a pussycat."
"I'd prefer she were screaming. At least then I'd know she wasn't up to something. Are we ready for the call?" I looked around the room. Monique and the secretary nodded.
"Who are we calling?" George asked.
"Samael," I said.
"Yikes. As long as I don't have to talk, I'm ready."
"You don't. Let the games begin." I punched the speakerphone button and slid the star-shaped phone towards the secretary with a nod. Nervously, he dialed the number of Samael's private cell phone.
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