by Karl Morgan
“Should we go investigate?” Faith asked.
He looked around the area suspiciously. “No, it’s a bad idea if we both go. We might get trapped inside. You stay here and I’ll go.”
“I can go if you want me to. You can stay here.”
“Faith, if those things come back, I think you’d be better at keeping them at bay with that sword of light. Besides, I’m the one destined to be here. My family might be down there, or maybe this is a safe way into the city. I promise to come back before you know it, okay?”
Bill climbed down the ladder and stood in the tunnel, which was lit by lights about every twenty feet in each direction. To his left, the tunnel seemed to go on a long way, eventually dropping out of sight at a set of steps. To the right, the tunnel ended in twenty feet, with a single metal door. He guessed the way to his left led to the city. On the wall next to the ladder was a large switch. He assumed it would keep the lights on if the door over his head was closed. He flipped the switch, and nothing happened. Satisfied, he headed right to see what was on the other side of the door. Feelings of sadness arose in his mind and became worse with each step. After a few feet, he began to sob, not knowing why or what had saddened him. He thought about Faith and wondered if she was all right. He turned back and hurried to the ladder again. He had climbed halfway up when he realized that his sadness had disappeared. “Faith, is everything okay?”
She looked at him through the doorway and said, “Yeah, everything’s fine here. Are you all right?”
“I’m fine. It’s just that I started to feel very strange a minute ago, but it went away. Let me check some more.” She smiled down at him as he climbed back to the tunnel floor. He smiled and waved and then he headed back toward the metal door again. The feeling of sadness filled his mind again, but he pushed it back. As he reached the door, it struck him that the sadness was coming from the other side. There was a small sliding panel on the door, and he pushed it aside to look inside. A horrible stench poured out of the opening and Bill gagged, and then threw up. “Oh my God!” he mumbled and threw up a second time.
“Bill, what’s wrong?” Faith shouted from the open door.
“It’s okay, Faith. There’s this door blocking the tunnel in this direction. I opened a panel and a disgusting smell came out at me. It’s like death, decay, rot, and disease all rolled together as one.”
“Don’t open that door, Bill!”
“I have to, Faith. Someone is suffering in there. I’ll call you if I need your help.” He pulled on the door handle, but it wouldn’t budge. “Shit!” He summoned all of his strength and pulled again, but it wouldn’t open. He leaned his back against the door and wondered what to do next. As he stood there, a beautiful image crossed his mind. He was just a baby, being held by the most loving woman he could ever imagine. She was caressing his cheeks and whispering sweet things to him. He was swaddled, and felt totally loved and protected. The sound of a weak cough erased the vision and he turned to look through the opening in the door. It was very dark, the opening providing the only light. “Hello!” he shouted. “Is someone in there?” There was another weak cough and the sound of sobbing. He pulled on the door again but it wouldn’t budge.
“Stay away,” a voice in the darkness whispered.
“I’m coming, don’t worry!” he screamed as he pulled on the door again, his anger rising in his belly and pushing up to his head. He grunted as he pulled on the door.
“Save yourself,” the voice replied.
He could feel his body changing and he was glad for what he was about to become. As the demon, he ripped the door from its hinges and tossed it aside. He screamed in anger, his red eyes illuminating the dungeon. It was more horrible than he could have imagined. An old man was chained to the far wall, covered in a mass of venomous spiders. Their movements reminded him of the nest of enforcers. There were cells on both sides of the center chamber. Most held skeletons. Two contained half-eaten bodies and hundreds of rats, still chewing on the dead flesh. The cell to his right held the crying woman who was mere bones and skin. She was perched on the top bunk while dozens more rats tried to climb up the bedframe to her. His anger took over. He ripped the bars from her cell and began stomping on rats and tossing others out of the cell. The frail woman looked terrified by his appearance and tried to cover herself with a thin blanket. Bill heard a loud hissing sound and turned to see the other rats coming from the cells and forming a growling mass that was moving toward him. He was about to jump on them when he felt something rising in his throat. He opened his mouth and a wall of fire shot out at the rats. They screamed in agony as their bodies burst into flames. He shot fire again and the room became deadly quiet, now filled with the smell of burning flesh.
A second demon carrying a battle axe rushed into the dungeon and looked around. He turned to Bill and asked, “Just what in the heck do you think you’re doing?” Bill was dumbstruck. The creature before him looked just like him and he wondered if this was the Bill Watson from this universe. “Answer me!”
Bill glanced at the woman and noticed she was looking up toward the center of the room. He followed her gaze and saw several silver swords lying on brackets attached to the ceiling. “I’m taking this woman with me!”
“What? Whose side are you on, anyway?” the other demon replied as he readied his axe for a fight. “Get out of that cell, brother. We can work this out.”
Bill walked slowly out of the cell, keeping his eye on the other demon’s eyes. “I am not your brother.”
“Good, that makes this a lot easier,” the other smiled and then rushed him, swinging his axe. Bill ran up the wall, across the ceiling and grabbed one of the swords and dropped to ground as the demon turned and swiped at his head. Bill rolled over to avoid the blade which sparked when it struck the stone floor. Bill thrust the sword, striking the demon in the throat. He shoved the blade up through the top of the demon’s head. It fell backwards to the ground dead, and immediately faded away. Bill sat cross-legged on the floor, gasping for breath and allowing his anger to subside.
As he sat panting, he felt the woman’s hand on his shoulder. “Thank you, demon.” She walked over to the sword and struggled to pick it up. She turned back to him and said, “You know, it’s impossible for a demon to hold one of these. How did you do that?” She turned and walked over to the spider-covered man on the wall. She held the blade in front of her and it began to glow. Soon, the entire dungeon was flooded with light. The spiders fell dead to the floor, revealing the old man who was in terrible condition. The woman dropped the sword and fell to her knees. “I’m sorry, Father, that’s all the strength I have.” She looked back at Bill and her eyes bugged out to see him as a normal human again. “Who or what are you?” she gasped.
“The enforcers are starting to come back,” Faith shouted as she rushed into the chamber. She froze in place seeing the horrors of the place. She looked at the chained man and fell to her knees sobbing uncontrollably.
Bill turned to look at the old man. Even though he was emaciated and covered with spider bites, his face was all too familiar. It was Dom Emmanuel. The sudden realization of what had happened overwhelmed him and he blinked several times, and then crawled over to the female prisoner. He looked at her and asked, “Are you my mother?” She looked at him quizzically and shook her head. “Are you Prudence?” He pointed to Faith and said, “Is that your sister?”
After Mary arrived at the emperor’s compound in the center of the domed section of the city, her forearms were tattooed with the sign of the imperial household. She was told to shower and then sprayed with a disinfectant and provided with a gray uniform. Then she was turned over to the sous chef in one of kitchens that provided food to the emperor, his family and guests. A special state dinner was being held that evening, and all five kitchens were buzzing with activity. More than a thousand nobles from around the realm were due to begin a five-day conclave where the emperor would provide his directions for the coming year. Cassie was assigned to th
e same kitchen and was furiously washing pots and pans as more were delivered to her almost continually. Mary sat on a stool peeling a mountain of what appeared to be potatoes. The sous chef was a handsome young man with blonde hair, blue eyes and an almost alabaster skin tone. He stood a few feet away, chopping the peeled vegetables and putting them into pots of boiling water. “You’re doing a good job, Mary,” he noted. “You are no stranger to the kitchen I suppose.”
She replied without looking up at him, “Yes, Chef Carl. I used to help both my mother and grandmother around the holidays.”
He looked surprised and said, “Holidays? You mean there is more than one in your village?”
Mary glanced up at him and smiled, “Yes, we have several throughout the year. There is just one holiday here? That’s odd.”
He went back to his stove and said, “For us, there is only one holiday, and we don’t even get Emperor’s Day off. They let us have the day after as our holiday.” The Head Chef entered the kitchen with one of the emperor’s aides and they began to inspect the activities. Carl whispered, “Don’t speak unless spoken to, and do not make eye contact with the aide!”
The two men watched each of the workers for a few seconds and then moved onto the next. Mary watched them out of the corner of her eye when they approached Cassie, who kept her head down, totally focused on her dishes. The Head Chef picked up one of the dishes she had just washed and inspected it. “Good work,” he noted and then tossed the dish back into the soapy water and walked away. After another couple of minutes, Mary lost sight of the men and assumed they were watching the other half of the kitchen behind her. She began to get the feeling of being watched, but pushed it aside and peeled even faster. “This is another of our new helpers, Councilor Lucius,” the Head Chef’s voice said from just behind her. “Carl, what is the new girl’s name?”
Carl put down his knife and nodded his head toward the Councilor and replied, “This is Mary, Chef.”
“Mary, please stop what you’re doing and let the Councilor have a look at you.” She was breathing hard now but tried to look calm as she set down her peeler, stood and turned around. She bowed her head and curtsied, but kept her eyes focused on the floor.
“You were quite right, Chef Clement. This is a very pretty young thing,” Lucius said as he stepped closer to her. “How is the quality of her work, Chef Carl?”
Carl bowed his head again and said, “She has only been in the kitchen a couple of hours, but I would say she is adequate.”
“I would concur with my colleague,” Chef Clement agreed.
The councilor put his finger under her chin and said, “Let me see your face, Mary.” She raised her head but kept her eyes down. “Are you afraid to look at me?” he chuckled.
“Lord Councilor, I told her it was improper to make eye contact with her superiors,” Carl interjected.
“Mary, the sous chef is correct, but in this case, I order you to look at me.” She looked up and saw his face. She had expected a gray man like the one in the auction chamber, but this man was human. The very handsome man appeared to be about thirty years old with olive skin and brown eyes. “That’s better.” He removed his hand and then placed both of his hands on her breasts. “Young and firm. The emperor will be pleased with this one.” She felt her anger growing inside but felt helpless to protest. He pressed his lips to hers and ran his hands over her body. After a few seconds, he released her and stepped back, smiling broadly. Then he noticed her eyes were glowing red and began to back away.
Chef Clement grabbed Carl’s knife and held it to Mary’s throat. He turned and asked, “What did she do to you? Shall I slit her throat?”
“No, no, that isn’t necessary,” Lucius replied. “She didn’t do anything. It’s my fault, honestly.” He bowed to Mary and then turned and hurried out of the kitchen.
The head chef set down the knife and said, “All of you get back to work!” He hurried to catch up to the other man.
J.C. did not fare as well. Rather than being taken to the imperial compound, he was put on a bus with forty others and driven out of the city. After an hour, the bus arrived at the gates to a large prison complex. The men were led inside and through several locked gates until they entered a large room and were told to sit and wait. One by one, the men were called out of the room. J.C. was now alone, still waiting to be summoned. He was left there a long time and began to worry. Finally, two guards came in and led him away. As he passed a window, he glanced outside and could see several of the men from the bus pulling weeds in a large vegetable field. The guards stopped at an elevator door. When it opened, the three went inside and began to descend. The field level had been two stories down, but the elevator kept going for more than a minute. When the doors opened, J.C. found himself being pushed into a large dungeon with stone walls and cells lining the walls. A very large guard sat at a table just ahead of him. The guards pushed J.C. down into a chair, saluted the other and walked back to the elevator and left.
“Is your name J.C. Emmanuel?” the guard asked.
“Yes, sir.”
“Well, not anymore. While you are here, your name is Slug. Your name, your former life and the world outside no longer exist for you, Slug.”
“Sir, may I ask why I’m here?”
The guard smiled and replied, “First of all, my name is not Sir. You can call me Kong. Second, we are all here for the same reason, because our emperor wants it that way. Unlike me however, you cannot go home at the end of your shift. This is your home now.”
“I don’t understand, Kong. I thought I was to be a slave.”
The guard stood up and said, “And you are a slave. Your job is to do what the emperor wants, and this is what he wants.” He walked around the table and grabbed J.C.’s arm and pulled him across the floor toward a wall. He pulled him up and locked his arm in a cuff attached to a long chain. Kong took his other arm and did the same. He pulled on the chain and J.C. was lifted off the floor, with his face against the wall. “You’ll get the hang of this,” the guard laughed. He grabbed a whip from a peg on the wall and began flailing away at J.C.’s back. J.C. screamed in pain for several minutes until he passed out.
Freezing water splashed over his face and body, shocking him awake. He quickly sat up, gagging for breath. He was lying on a straw mattress in a corner of a cell. His back felt as if it was on fire. He turned to the bars and saw Kong laughing at him with the bucket in his hand. “It’s about time you woke up, Slug. You have a special visitor, so stand up.” J.C. crawled over to a small wooden chair and used it to help him to his feet. He could not stand straight and his legs felt like lead. He turned slowly to keep from falling while he faced the bars.
Another man was standing next to Kong. J.C.’s mouth hung open when he recognized the man’s face. “Bill?”
Kong grabbed a second bucket of ice water and threw it at him, almost knocking him to the ground. “Do not speak unless you are spoken to!”
The man who looked exactly like Bill Watson was wearing a black uniform. Dozens of medals hung from his chest. “Marcus, that’s fine. This animal does not know our rules and I know you will be able to train him in time. Now please go to the other side of the room so I may speak in private with my new subject.” The guard dropped to one knee and bowed his head. The man touched his shoulder and the guard stood and hurried away. “What was the word you called me?”
“I apologize, milord, but you resemble a friend of mine.”
“And who is this friend? I would love to meet my twin.”
“His name is Bill Watson, milord, and unfortunately, I do not know where he is at this time.”
“Do you know who I am?”
J.C. dropped his head and said, “No, sir.”
He turned back to the guard and motioned for him to return, saying, “Marcus, please explain to my guest who I am.”
Kong rushed over and fell to his knees and began, “All hail, Gaius Claudius Caesar, Emperor of the Universe, Unifier of Dimensions, Supreme Lor
d of Heaven and Hell, God of all life. May you rule and your praises be sung until the end of time!” Soft cheers could be heard from several of the other cells. Kong stood and hurried back to the other side of the room.
J.C. was on his knees with his head down. “How may I serve you, master?”
“Do you know why you are here, Slug?”
“Because that is what you wished, master.”
“That is a politically adroit answer, but not what I was looking for.” The emperor moved his hand over the lock and the tumblers turned. He pulled open the door, walked inside and sat on the small wooden chair. “Why would I spend a large sum of money and then waste it by beating you to death in a dungeon?”
“I don’t know, sire.”
“It would seem we both have a quandary, Slug. I look like a friend of yours, and you look like a man who was a friend of mine long ago. I am told you use your initials as a name. J.C., is that correct?”
“Yes, master.”
“Does the J stand for Joshua by any chance?” J.C. looked up at the emperor and nodded. “Yes, that definitely is a coincidence. If I didn’t know better, I’d swear you are him.”
“Master, I swear on my life that I have never seen you before.”
“Except in the face of your friend, that Watson fellow.” J.C. nodded. The emperor touched J.C. on the shoulder and said, “Don’t be afraid, Slug. You see, the man I knew was crucified, his head was cut off and the two parts were buried far apart in a desert on another planet in another reality.”
“I’m sorry for your loss, master.”
The emperor stood and walked out of the cell, slamming the door closed. “Don’t feel sorry for me, Slug. After all, I am the one who killed him.” He laughed and walked over to the elevator and left.
Chapter 8
Bill and Faith helped the two prisoners out of the dungeon and down the tunnel a hundred feet past the ladder to the surface. “Faith, there is no way we can get them to safety by going to the surface. There are probably hundreds of those hideous creatures up there by now.”
