Demonic

by Karl Morgan

  “I couldn’t agree more,” Maggie said. They all turned to see her sitting up in bed. Her face was still swollen and only one of her eyes could open.

  “How do you mean, child?” Dom asked.

  Faith walked back into the room and handed out coffee to Bill, Mary, and Dom. “Maggie would you like a cup?”

  Maggie smiled and continued, “No thanks, I’m okay. My brother has never been a good man, but he could never have been responsible for many of the things that have happened. Something changed in him when the enforcers arrived. I think he has been controlled by one of them like the two guys you were just talking about. Gaius is wicked smart, but some stuff he did is just crazy.”

  “Like the Place of Desolation?” Faith asked.

  “Yeah, exactly like that. I know it doesn’t look like it now, but I know he loves me, so why did he do this?” she replied while pointing to her face.

  “What’s your point, dear?” Dom begged.

  “He also had this plan to kill all the other versions of himself,” she began and then pointed to Bill, “like him, for example. His plan was to get them all together and send an army of enforcers to kill them.”

  “Yeah, I know,” Bill interjected. “I’ve been to that planet; in fact, I think your brother did that deliberately. Why was that a mistake?”

  She smirked and said, “Well, I think it’s pretty obvious that none of us are regular people, am I right? That means all those others are not human either. Gaius gathered an army of angels in one place! If you guys could figure out how to get together again, you’d break the construction and end his reign. That’s pretty dumb, right?”

  Bill, Faith and Mary stared at her with their mouths open. Dom chuckled and replied, “You know, I think she’s right.”

  The battle with the enforcers had raged through the day and into the night. The few thousand monsters left alive fled when they realized the hopelessness of their situation. Dom Emmanuel created a massive grave and had the Bills cast the dead enforcers inside and covered it with dirt. Now Dom, One, and Seventeen sat on a stone bench in the small park. The remaining Bills had gone inside to get some rest. Sandi had found some locals to help with cleaning up the blood which covered most of the nearby surfaces. Dom sighed and said, “Well, that was unpleasant. I never was much of the vengeful type, but I suppose it was the only way.”

  One replied, “Grandfather, thank you for being here. I think if we had been alone, we never would have understood our true abilities and most of us would have likely died. And I especially wanted to thank you for keeping my daughter alive.”

  “We are a family and as such we must all help each other,” Dom noted.

  Seventeen said, “Dom, I can’t understand how those things could be so driven to attack even when they know there is no possibility of success. All creatures have an instinct for self-preservation. Well, at least all except those things.”

  “Yes, I noticed that as well. Clearly those beasts are not natural. Most likely, the same force that created this illusion also created them to be his enforcers. When the battle was first joined, I fully expected them to flee once they realized it was hopeless, but obviously they did not.”

  Sandi walked over to the bench and stood before them. “Dom, I just wanted to tell you that a group of us searched the area and there was no sign of any Bills who were not here before you arrived.”

  Dom sighed and looked down. “Well, I certainly hope he is still alive. Without that man, I’d still be Moloch’s prisoner.”

  “The monsters must have taken him,” One guessed.

  “Or at least sent him somewhere,” Seventeen added.

  “What the heck is that?” Sandi asked, pointing behind the men on the bench. They turned their heads to see a door standing by itself twenty feet behind them. It opened and another Bill walked through and closed the door behind him. As soon as he removed his hand from the doorknob, the door vanished.

  The new Bill walked over to the bench and stood next to Sandi. “How did it go here, Dom? It would seem that Moloch did not want me here to help you.”

  Dom replied, “You know, it’s impossible to tell you men apart. Are you the Bill who came here with me?” He nodded. “Thank goodness you are okay. What happened?”

  “Another of Moloch’s mistakes,” Bill replied. “He tried to lock me away in a secret prison cell in another reality, but frankly, I’m getting tired of these silly games. I’ve just met with another version of you and we have a plan.”

  “Let me guess,” Seventeen interjected. “You’re going to go to the real universe and rescue Dom and his brother to end this charade?”

  Bill looked surprised they had arrived at the same conclusion. “Yes, but with a small change. All of the versions of me must step into that reality at the same moment. The other Dom believes that if we do that, in the instant that we are passing through the door, we will all join together. Then the true version of Bill will have the strength to stop Moloch.”

  “You better cool your jets, 307,” One noted. “Do you remember that about half of the Bills sent here are gone? I don’t know if they are dead or alive. Also, we don’t know how many more membranes are in the construction. There could be millions more.”

  “There aren’t any other options. Do you want to exist in this nightmare forever?”

  “Of course not, but if we fail, all is lost. We’ll be sacrificing everyone to eternal enslavement.”

  “That circular argument won’t get us anywhere. The solution to eternal enslavement can’t be staying enslaved. Besides, it seems that Moloch used a large part of his enforcer army to attack here and now. He must believe we are sufficient to the task or he would have just left us here to die,” Bill explained.

  Seventeen stood next to Bill and put his arm around his shoulders, saying, “307 is right. It doesn’t make sense that he would attack us here if he felt we were not a threat. We killed a lot of those horrible things and so now is the time to attack. We need to strike before he can replenish his army. But 307, how exactly are all of us going to go through the door at the same time?” Bill started to say something, but changed his mind and dropped his head.

  Dom stood up and replied, “Leave that to me. Bill, you will need to create the doorway to reality, but once one side exists in this false world, I bet I can stretch it out.”

  “What are we waiting for then?” One shouted.

  Chapter 18

  Gaius Claudius Caesar sat on the golden throne with his head down and eyes closed. Everyone had failed him. His sister had been rescued from the hidden dungeon. Even though Julius and Asmodeus had done everything they could, he could not accept their failure. To make matters worse, they had fled before they could find their way onto fresh crosses in the Place of Desolation. When he had sent his other brothers to look for the traitors, they too had disappeared. His capital city was in flames. Most of the gronk and grays had fled for their home worlds. The remnants of his army tried desperately to control the passages from the outer to inner city. It would only be a matter of time before he would find himself crucified. He could not believe his own shortsightedness. Gaius knew he could kill all the feeble humans now attacking him outside the dome, but then he would be the ruler and sole inhabitant of a dead planet. He remembered when his sister would tell him how intelligent he was. What had happened to his mind? “Son, it’s okay,” a voice said. He looked up to see Lucifer standing ten feet in front of him. Dom Emmanuel was standing another twenty feet back, leaning on the throne room doors. “None of this is your fault, my boy.”

  Gaius stood, drew his sword, and began to approach his father, who only smiled back at him. “I am prepared to die, Father, are you?”

  Lou frowned and shook his head. “Let’s try to relax, son. I just came here to talk.” Gaius raised his sword and charged. Lou pushed out with his arms and Gaius flew backwards and slammed into the wall and slid down to the floor. There was a spot of blood on the marble wall where his head had struck. “I’m not here
to fight you, son. I’m here to save you.” Gaius looked blearily at him and passed out.

  Gaius woke up in his bed. Lou was sitting next to him and Dom was sitting on a nearby chair. “Please just kill me now, Father. Clearly I do not have the strength or will to fight either of you.”

  “It’s not you,” Dom noted.

  Gaius raised his head slightly and said, “With all due respect, Uncle, go screw yourself!” Dom clucked his tongue and shook his head. “Father, do whatever you want and then leave me alone. I would prefer to have the humans crucify me than listen to either of you.”

  Dom smiled slightly and said, “Lou, your son has chosen death, just as you presumed.”

  “And not a moment too soon,” Lou replied as a long dagger with a wavy blade materialized in his hand. He swung down with the blade and drove it to the hilt into his son’s chest.

  Gaius began to quiver and foam at the mouth as blood poured out of the wound. He gasped for breath and blood poured out of his mouth. His arms and legs moved frantically, but he could not move the rest of his body. Suddenly, Lou pulled out the blade with a white enforcer impaled upon it. Gaius’ eyes opened very wide at the incredible sight. The enforcer was twitching and squirming on the blade, and then fell silent. Lou dropped the blade and beast to the floor.

  Gaius wiped the blood from his mouth and noticed his chest wound had disappeared. He sat up and Lou hugged him. “What happened here, Father?”

  Lou smiled at him and said, “It’s over for now, Gaius. But I need you to help some friends so this nightmare can end.

  “Father, why did you call me by that name? Have you forgotten that my name is Bill?” Lou smiled and hugged him again.

  “Son, you were infested by that monster sent by your brother, Moloch. My blade has made it impossible for another to join with you, so hopefully, you are safe.”

  “Who are these friends you want me to help?” Lou stood and took Gaius by the hand to help him stand. Meanwhile, Dom had stood up as well and walked over to the small door, and stood there smiling. “Uncle, what’s going on?”

  Dom pulled open the door. Instead of the throne room, there was a large circle formed by one very wide and circular doorway, where more than one hundred copies of Bill were standing shoulder to shoulder. Other than the circle of Bills in the other doorway, everything else was black. Looking downward, there seemed to be a dark whirlpool spinning. Dom kept one hand on the doorknob and put the other on Gaius’ shoulder. “Nephew, I know you don’t know what’s going on since you were under the control of the beast. These other versions of you know though.”

  “Other versions of me?” Gaius gasped.

  Dom replied, “Yes, we believe if all of you step into this abyss together, you will become the true Bill and be able to stop Moloch and end this construction.”

  Gaius noticed the doorway closest to them and saw another Dom Emmanuel standing there. “What? Now there are two of you as well? Someone tell me what’s going on?”

  Bill stood next to the other Dom and replied, “Only as the complete version of us can we hope to defeat Moloch. Otherwise, we are condemning ourselves to enslavement.”

  “So, you’re saying if all of us step through, only one of us will survive? I’m not willing to die for these strangers!” Gaius exclaimed. Lou winked at Bill and the others all put one foot out to take the step into the abyss. “No, no, no, I am not prepared to die for this!”

  Lou shoved Gaius forward and he began to lose balance, trying desperately to reach out for something to grasp. The other Bills stepped into the void just as Gaius lost his footing and fell. The doors were slammed shut.

  Gaius was screaming and gasping for anything to hold, but there was nothing but the howling of wind passing his ears. The men fell into the swirling eddy of black clouds and began to spin faster and faster. When he forced his eyes open, he thought he could see the other Bills nearby but it was too dark to be certain. There was nothing else he could do now, so he closed his eyes to pray for a quick death.

  Kyle hit the water in a perfect dive, barely disturbing the surface. He swam back toward the surface of the pool. When he broke the surface, he could hear sparse applause. He swam over to the edge and ascended the ladder. Ten feet away, Ron and Steve sat clapping for him. As he walked through the dense crowd at the Bellagio pool, he could feel the hungry eyes of the women nearby and the jealousy of their boyfriends and husbands. He took his towel from the back of his chair and dried off and then sat with his friends, who immediately raised their glasses in a toast. He picked up his own glass of whisky and toasted with them. “It’s a perfect day, guys.”

  “Kyle, you know you could have any woman here,” Ron noted, “and probably about half the guys.” They all laughed. “It’s too bad Steve and I are a little long in the tooth.”

  “Come on guys, you know what women really like?” he cajoled.

  “Money!” they replied.

  “And you guys are the kings in that arena. I’m just here to reel them in for you two playboys,” Kyle laughed.

  “And you’d better remember that, Kyle,” Steve noted. “I don’t want you stealing all the pretty ones for yourself.”

  A stunning blonde walked up to the table and dropped her hotel room key into Kyle’s glass, pulled out the chair between him and Steve and sat down. “What’s happening, stud?” She leaned into him and kissed him passionately, running her hands over his chest and arms. When she moved back, Ron and Steve sat with their eyes bugged out and mouths open.

  Kyle stood and pulled her to her feet and started to lead her away. He looked back and said, “Just this one, okay?” The two older men gave him a thumbs-up. They continued into the hotel and over to a set of elevators. Kyle pushed the floor button and when the doors closed, he began to kiss her passionately. When he stopped for a breath, he asked, “What’s your name, beautiful?”

  “Maggie,” she replied, “and my dad tells me I’m a princess.”

  A troubled look of recognition crossed his face and then dissipated. He moved to embrace her again as the elevator doors opened. He held her hand as they walked down the corridor. He slid his key card into the slot and pushed the door open to let her pass. Kyle put the do-not-disturb card in the slot and closed the door behind him. She was standing by the bed as he approached from behind and put his arms around her. “How about some champagne?”

  She turned and put her arms around him and kissed him again. “Maybe later,” she cooed. Then she pushed him down on the bed and climbed on top, straddling his hips. She began to gyrate on top of him and started to moan. He closed his eyes and gasped for breath.

  “Maggie, there’s no need to hurry. We have all the time in the world,” he argued. He opened his eyes to see her holding a dagger with a wavy blade in her right hand. Her eyes glowed red. Before he could react, she plunged the blade into his chest. The pain was excruciating and he was unable to move a muscle. She pulled out the blade and he could see there was an odd creature impaled upon it. Just before he passed out, he saw hundreds more of those horrible beasts burst into the room. They jumped on her and began to rip her limb from limb. Her red blood sprayed over him and she screamed in pain just as he passed out.

  Bill opened his eyes. He remembered Mary straddling him and plunging the blade into his chest. He felt his body, but there was no sign of an injury. He sat up slowly and looked around. He appeared to be on top of a low mountain. The city of Las Vegas, Nevada sat in ruins a few miles away in the desert. A massive flock of birds circled over the city. He looked overhead and the sun appeared to be near zenith, so he had some time to find Dom and Lou, even though he did not know if all the other Bills had joined with him or if this was just another construction. He morphed into a winged demon and took to the air.

  As he flew toward the city, he wondered why he had become another man named Kyle and whether Steve and Ron were actually Dom and Lou. Even from this distance it was obvious what he had experienced was an illusion. Most of the city was destroyed, most li
kely by a nuclear blast. After he had flown down the mountainside and began to cross the desert between him and the city, it became increasingly clear that the birds were in fact winged enforcers. “How can there be so many?” he asked out loud.

  A tiny voice in his mind said, “This is the battle we’ve been waiting for, brother.”

  “Mary, is that you?”

  “Of course it’s me, Bill. I will never leave you.”

  “But I just saw you murdered by enforcers?”

  “That was Maggie. She is just one element of me, just as Gaius Claudius Caesar is just a piece of you. You and the others have joined and become the spirit you were born to be. And I am counting on you to help me, our father, our uncle and the rest be restored by your hand.”

  Bill was now much closer to the city and could resolve at least fifty million flying enforcers over the city. The buildings that seemed like ruins overrun by dunes of sand were now skeletons of skyscrapers covered by uncounted billions of enforcers. “Mary, there are too many of them. This is impossible.”

  “Bill, stop whining!” Maggie’s voice shouted in his ear. “Brother, you were emperor of the universe and now you act like a little child afraid of his shadow.”

  The millions of flying enforcers suddenly stopped circling the city and headed toward him. Even from this distance, he could hear their growling. “What am I supposed to do against an army, sister?”

  He could feel Mary’s kiss on his cheek and instinctively turned to see her, but he was alone in the sky. “Brother, you are a child of God. You were chosen above all others to restore the universe and the power is in your hands. You have nothing to fear. You are the ultimate power and the ultimate good in all of creation. Those meager mutants cannot harm you.”

  “It’s too much, Mary,” Bill complained. “How am I to defeat such an army?”

  “Brother, have faith,” she replied. “I am here with Dom and Lou now, and they are with you in spirit. You are the Archangel William, the only force in all of creation who can restore God to his rightful place. I have faith in you. Our father has faith in you. And God had chosen you.”