by Aiden James
Based on Dr. Oscar Mensch’s journals and other notes from his previous life as Dr. Viktor Seiverlich, each mist contained the essence of one of the Blood Star’s deities, the Children of Elohim. Now that the brothers stood before the actual structure of the Blood Star, the journals’ descriptions and other information became much more poignant. They silently mouthed the names of each deity, staring in awe at the shrine.
The mist straight ahead of them, Mithra’s essence, carried much of the blackness found in the enormous onyx gemstone hovering before it. Moving counter clockwise, the next mist was more transparent. It belonged to Di-Guan, whose fire opal gemstone shimmered magnificently above this deity’s spire like a brilliant sunset, similar to the massive disk that recently passed over the sedans on their way here.
The next essence bore a purplish tint, and would be considered the top of the star if Ricardo De Gallies’ assertions and the diagrams found in Dr. Seiverlich’s journals proved accurate. A rich amethyst gemstone sparkled as it floated above this spire, which belonged to the Hebrew god Jehovah. The gemstone’s shimmering magnificence made it easy for Jack to imagine why the ancient Israeli priests chose to adorn their ceremonial robes with this stone.
The mist pulsing fervently above the reservoir at the end of the very next spire carried a heavy golden tint, surely suiting the most prodigious Egyptian goddess, Sekhnet. Like the imperialistic ambitions of the ancient Egyptians who avidly worshipped the goddess, her essence seemed to extend into the giant twirling topaz crystal above her spire.
But the most brilliant of all the gems was the next one, belonging to the African goddess Nyame. Her gemstone, more faceted than any of the others, was a diamond to end all other diamonds, shimmering as an unearthly prism. Even from the distance where the group stood, the stone appeared as clear and flawless as the tinier diamonds that adorned the world’s finest jewelry pieces. Sparkling rays flowed through the enormous jewel, partially obscuring the goddess’s clear and soft vapor that hovered in the air behind it.
When Jack allowed his eyes to move on to the next spire and misty column looming above its reservoir, a deep chill seized his heart.
Talusha…the meanest fucker of them all!
The enormous sapphire shimmering above the star especially affected him, unleashing a storm of memories from when this entity sought to obliterate his family’s existence long ago. He drew the attention of Jeremy as well as Stu Johnson when he shuddered.
After Jeremy nudged him, Jack turned his attention to the second to last spire of the shrine, belonging to Shiva. This deity’s rich luminance radiating through its beautiful crimson ruby melted away his loathing from a moment before. He recalled Shiva’s spire held the Blood Star’s bottom position, according to Dr. Mensch’s journals.
The last spire in the star belonged to Bochicha, and after the ordeals they recently endured with this deity’s emissaries, it was hard for Jack to picture such a malevolent being having such a warm and mellow gemstone represent it. Even its green-tinted essence appeared gentle and inviting as the giant emerald slowly rotated above the spire.
All of this an incredible spectacle, there was more. In the center of the star sat a large platform of gleaming white marble covered with carvings similar to the basement floor’s mosaic. The platform stood above the spires, and all of them connected to a network of funnels in the platform’s base.
Above this stage and in the very center of the Blood Star floated the Cristal Del Sol, only no longer the beach ball sized object Jack and Jeremy played carelessly with less than forty-eight hours earlier. Its diameter had increased tenfold to nearly twenty feet in diameter. The crystal sphere’s color now a radiant mixture of luminescent gold, red and orange hues, it spun upon an invisible axis above the platform. Iridescent plasma streams flowed out continuously to the Blood Star’s farthest perimeter.
The agents’ faces were filled with childlike wonder. But for Jack and Jeremy, their attention was drawn instead to a large marble altar in the middle of the platform, directly below the Cristal Del Sol. The details faint from where they stood, it appeared a light-haired figure lay securely strapped onto the altar. Whether alive or dead, undoubtedly it was their grandfather, Marshall Edwards.
Genovene stood in front of him, approaching the platform’s edge with a golden staff in her left hand. Dressed in a sheer golden gown, her lustrous white hair was braided again, only this time in an array of jeweled beads. Her sapphire eyes flashed alluringly, and when Jack looked over at the other males standing along side him and Jeremy, he was fairly certain they could’ve walked away and scarcely been noticed. Even the lone female agent, Laura Van Dussen, seemed unable to remove her gaze from Genovene once she noticed her presence.
“I knew I could count on you to come, Jack!” she shouted from the platform, her voice easily reaching them. “You’re just in time for the christening of the most important development in your world...EVER!!”
She laughed and her mirth spread quickly throughout the basement, echoing shrilly against the marble walls.
“You do remember our little talk about this christening, don’t you Jackie boy??” she asked, giggling in girlish excitement. “Well, you did exactly as I warned you not to do! Now it’s time for a helpful donation from Grandpa, our first donor in the blood drive set to begin shortly! Come on up and watch him die, boys!!”
Jack looked over at Jeremy, and knew he seriously considered accepting her request since it would bring them closer to their grandfather and the infinitesimal chance they had of rescuing him. Before either one took a step toward the Estella De la Sangre, Agent Johnson blocked their path.
“Not so fast, either of you!” he said. “Lou, you stay here and make sure they don’t go anywhere, while Laura, Jim and I go visit this nut case!”
“No, Stu! To go up there without first calling in some serious backup will be fucking suicide!!” warned Agent Van Dussen, her velvety voice filled with trepidation.
“There’s no ‘fucking’ time left for that, goddamn it!!” he roared, turning on her and moving up into her face. “You will follow my orders, Laura, and you will come with me NOW!!”
He glared at her until she blinked, and then agreed to do as he ordered. Turning his attention next to Agent White, where his young protégé immediately told him he would do his bidding no matter what he asked, despite the obvious terror in his face.
Agent Johnson moved toward Mithra’s essence with Agents Van Dussen and White on either side of him. Laura looked back at Lou Anderson, who moved up behind Jack and Jeremy to keep them from trying to escape. She mouthed ‘goodbye’ as tears streamed down her face, and it seemed perhaps their relationship went beyond working for the agency.
Stu Johnson stepped brazenly through Mithra’s essence, where a chillingly deep groan erupted from the misty essence. It grew even darker, pulsing like a fervent, angry, heart. Undeterred, the agent soon emerged just beyond the reservoir, and began climbing the spire toward the Blood Star’s platform.
Lying prostrate on either side of Mithra’s spire, his direct reports trembled in terror from the ominous rumble that so clearly indicated the deity’s displeasure. He stopped and turned around once he realized this.
“If you don’t get both of your asses up here immediately, I’ll personally see to it that your once-promising careers are over as of today!! Get up off the goddamned floor NOW-W-W!!!”
Laura and James staggered back onto their feet and tentatively approached where he stood on Mithra’s spire. Just as they reached him, Genovene addressed them all.
“You have offended my uncle and the rest of our family with your presence in this sacred place!” she scolded, her voice traveling easily to where they now huddled. “I have no other personal issue with any of you...yet! If you turn around and flee from this place and never look back, you can keep your pitiful, meaningless lives! But if you persist in being so foolish…then you shall die this day!”
Agents Van Dussen and White both pleaded with Agent J
ohnson to get down from the spire and leave with them. Instead, he pushed away their hands as they tried to restrain him and ran toward Genovene.
“We’re with the FBI, lady!!”
By the time Stu Johnson drew close enough to more quietly order her to raise her hands slowly above her head, Genovene seemed completely incensed. Her smile disdainful, she did as requested, raising her hands above her head and pushing out her chest to further accentuate her ample bosom plainly visible through her gown. Her arms fully extended above her head, she screamed an incantation and brought her arms back down to her side, slamming the golden staff’s tip onto the marble platform’s smooth surface.
A massive rumble shook the basement, throwing everyone to the ground. Agent Johnson clung desperately to Mithra’s spire. Suddenly, the floor beneath the Blood Star crumbled, except where the platform and the eight reservoirs sat. Huge mosaic pieces fell into a huge fiery chasm, along with Laura Van Dussen and James White, who shrieked in horror to their deaths. The rising flames licked the spires, and then subsided, leaving a near-perfect circular hole beneath the shrine.
“Come to me, little man!” said Genovene, her voice softer and tone amused.
Agent Johnson trembled, clinging to the spire. He looked up at her and said ‘no’, as if suddenly realizing the full scope of his foolhardiness.
“Oh, Stuart!” she chided, shaking her head. “You’re no longer in any danger. In fact, we might even throw in a little bonus for you—maybe send you off to some exotic place, like Tahiti or Cancun as a very wealthy man! How about it, hon’?”
She smiled seductively, arching her shoulders just enough to draw his eyes back to her bosom.
“Come up here…please!”
He gingerly stood up and climbed the rest of the spire’s length until he stood before Genovene. She extended her hand to assist him in stepping onto the platform, which he grabbed and held tightly, glancing fearfully toward the fiery chasm below. She pulled him close, nearly a foot taller than he, and made it damn near impossible to not stare at her chest.
His smile sheepish, he began to apologize for his inability to control his sexual fixation. Like a young schoolboy enamored with his voluptuous teacher, he looked up longingly into her eyes. But then he frowned and reached for his gun again. Before he could use it, she subdued him. Genovene’s once soft and supple grip turned into an iron clamp that crushed the bones in his wrist. He screamed in agony, and as his pistol fell harmlessly on the marble platform, she spun him around to where he faced Mithra.
“This is for you, Uncle!” she cried out to the darkest of the Blood Star’s mists.
Agent Stuart Johnson had time for one more scream before Genovene tore his head off from his shoulders and turned his convulsing body upside down. His blood poured out upon Mithra’s spire. She shook his corpse up and down with the ease of someone trying to get the last few servings from a ketchup bottle. The body drained, she discarded the head and corpse into the fiery pit without splashing a single crimson drop on her negligible attire.
Stu Johnson’s blood flowed down the long length of Mithra’s spire until it finally trickled down into the reservoir. As soon as it reached the marble basin, an iridescent face in exquisite rapture appeared within the misty column, and a moan of pleasure resonated throughout the entire room.
Jeremy, Jack, and the now badly frightened Louis Anderson had just stood back up after being thrown to the ground by the quake brought on by Genovene’s ire, and they watched this latest spectacle in horror. Once Mithra finished expressing his immense pleasure with Genovene’s gift, she turned her attention to them.
“Who’s next?” she asked gleefully. “Malacai and Sheka're, please bring them here now!”
Seemingly out of nowhere, Genovene’s brothers appeared before them. Jack recognized Malacai but had never encountered Sheka’re. Both extremely tall and powerfully built, they bore similar features to their sister, such as the same flowing white hair and luminous blue eyes. Their torsos heavily stained with blood, they smiled mischievously. Before Agent Anderson could react, Sheka're disarmed him and pulled him up as he leaped into the air and flew over to where Genovene waited. Malacai grabbed Jack and Jeremy and carried them over to the platform in the same manner.
“Now this is so much better, where we can all visit face to face. Don’t you agree?”
Genovene smiled naughtily as she sized up Jeremy. She then sauntered over to Agent Anderson. Trembling in obvious terror, he lost control of his bladder.
“Oh-h-h, is this not so good for you, Louie?” she asked him. “We can make this easier for you, hon’. Would you like for me to do that?”
“Please don’t hurt me!” he begged her.
Weeping, he collapsed on the platform. Sheka're picked him back up, forcing him to face her. She placed her arms gently around his shoulders and led him over to the spire belonging to her father, Talusha. Once there, she turned him to face Jack and Jeremy.
“Say goodbye to your buddies, Louie!”
She tore his head from his body before his frightened mind could register what she just said. As with Stu Johnson, she turned his body over effortlessly. His blood poured onto Talusha’s spire until the corpse was empty. She then cast Louis Anderson’s body and head into the fiery pit below while she awaited Talusha’s response.
Once the agent’s blood reached Talusha’s reservoir, the blue-tinted foggy column shimmered even brighter than before, and the outlines of a hideous face smiled up at them from within the mist.
“We love you, Daddy!!” Genovene called out gleefully to the face.
An ominous groan filled the air, dwarfing the one from Mithra. The image faded back into the mist, and Genovene turned her attention to the brothers. Jack had just verified their bare-chested grandfather was still among the living from where they stood, twenty feet away from the altar upon which he was bound. His head and neck pulled back at an extreme angle that left his throat fully exposed, his mouth was gagged to where he couldn’t speak. Breathing, at least, he hadn’t responded to anything that had taken place atop the platform since their arrival.
“Malacai, please remove their handcuffs.”
Her brother snapped the cuffs from Jack and Jeremy’s wrists as if made of aluminum foil.
“You know, boys, I’ve played this scene out it my mind at least a hundred times since I realized our race’s return to supremacy was at hand,” she said, as she approached them, near the edge of the platform and next to Mithra’s bloodstained spire. She seemed amused by Jack’s deep contempt and Jeremy’s apparent fascination with her physical persona. “In fact, as early as three o’clock this morning, I’ve been asking myself which scenario would be better: Should I let Jeremy do the honors of taking dear old grandpa’s life, or would Jack here be the better choice? Jeremy? Or, Jackie boy??”
She smiled at their horrified expressions and then sauntered away, giggling girlishly again.
“It basically came down to which of you would provide the most excitement, the most intrigue and danger,” she continued.
She smiled slyly over her shoulder, her primary focus on Jeremy and his response to her seductive strut. When she reached the altar where their grandfather lay silent, she reached down and caressed the hair upon his chest and stomach. He flinched, as if repulsed by her touch. Undeterred, she continued her foreplay, eyeing Jack and Jeremy mischievously.
“I’ve decided on you, Jeremy,” she announced. “Come here and I’ll show you how I want it done!”
Jeremy looked over at Jack, intense anger in his eyes. Jack knew, and felt resigned to the fact surely Genovene knew, he would never do the thing she requested. Even so, Jeremy turned his head toward heaven as if offering a prayer for deliverance, and then grimaced in surprise. Jack lifted his eyes toward the basement’s ceiling, several hundred feet above them.
Like the floor that still covered much of the basement, the ceiling was adorned with a jeweled mosaic. In the sparse light afforded due to its height, they discerned
a portrait of a face, one that belonged to an insect-like creature similar to the warriors pictured below and just as hideous as Talusha’s face from a moment ago.
“I see you’ve noticed my grandfather’s image, known as ‘Elohim’ among the nations of your world,” said Genovene, proudly.
“Oh, I can definitely see the family resemblance there,” deadpanned Jeremy.
Genovene gave him a curious look, as if deciding whether to take offense to his comment or not.
“Let’s just say that you and your brothers must’ve got your looks from momma’s side of the family,” he added.
She glared at him.
“So, you think he’s ugly?” she said, anger rising in her tone. “How about I show you how ugly anyone can be, like when your grandpa’s guts are hanging out of his abdomen!”
She extended her fingers above Marshall’s body, her fingernails immediately transformed into razor-sharp talons.
“Don’t do it, please!” he cried, stepping toward the altar, obviously regretting his flippant comments.
“Why not? After all, it’s the fate that awaits him anyway,” she said, moving away from Marshall while she locked Jeremy’s anxious gaze with her own seductive one. She bent down beside the altar and when she stood again, she held a large jewel-encrusted dagger. “This is what you’ll use to end Marshall’s life, and I’ll allow mercy by cutting his throat first. But, should you entertain any wild ideas like trying to save your grandpa’s life, then I’ll see to it that his suffering is extreme before he dies. Do you understand me?”
Jeremy glanced at Jack and then tentatively took the dagger from her. The way he held it told Jack it was extremely light, as if the weight came only from the jeweled handle. He looked down at their beloved grandfather, whose face pointed downward and away from him. Marshall’s eyelashes fluttered.
