by Roy Bright
As the second chorus ends and the song drops down into its middle section, Judas erupts, responding to the wound inflicted by Charlotte. He spins in a clockwise direction and extends his wings to their fullest, using them as fan-blades and attempting to slice into her.
She reacts with almost no time to spare and leaps into the air, backward somersaulting in a move that ignores the artificial world’s physical laws, bending them to her own will. She leaps into a lone tree, about ten feet from him and 15 feet from the ground, piercing the trunk with her swords and using them to hold her up. She laughs at him, “Cheater!”
He completes his spinning wing-blade move, retracting them, “Do you think demons will show you any quarter? They will use any tactic they deem necessary to end your life. Remember, child, Lucifer no longer wishes to capture you, his orders are to execute on sight, so pay attention to your surroundings. Hey, come down from the tree, there’s a good girl.”
“Make me,” she says, puffing away a few loose strands of hair that have worked their way out of her ponytail and in front of her face, obscuring her vision.
The middle section of the song is almost over and it prepares to burst into the final dramatic chorus.
He grins, wide and wicked, and then sprints toward the tree.
***
They stare at the warring father and daughter, mouths agape, speechless, attempting to make sense of what they have just witnessed, as Mr Hope grew a pair of wings out of his back and Charlotte leapt through the air, covering an impossible distance and height, to land in the branches of the tree. None of them speak, instead transfixed on the unbelievable scene as they hear the faintest of words from the exchange between them.
Turning toward the girls, Danny says, “What does he mean, ‘demons won’t give her any quarter?’”
They say nothing, continuing to stare at the spectacle, the same puzzled expressions etched across each of their faces.
He shakes his head, “What the hell is going on here?” He is already on his feet and advancing on them as he watches Mr Hope race toward the tree that Charlotte is perched in.
With devastating speed and power, he swings a sword at the trunk of the tree.
It explodes into splinters, and Charlotte leaps from the branches, somersaulting mid-air, and landing behind him.
He swings his right sword around to engage her and she meets it with her right and then counters with her left.
They exchange strikes, blades sparking, each attempting to work an opening in which to pierce or slice with their deadly weapons.
Judas advances upon her and throws in swing upon swing with unrelenting force, his speed increasing with each blow.
She pivots, bends, and ducks to avoid being struck by any of his challenges and when the opportunity arises she counters with savage attacks of her own, causing him to shift his position and readdress his own moves.
The fight is poetic, beautiful; death itself, waiting to perform its perfect duty, to claim another soul. As the speed of battle intensifies, so does the clash of metal on metal, filling the early evening air with their dangerous melody. Neither notices Danny sprinting toward them.
Judas concentrates on focusing Charlotte’s attacks, sensing she is close to breaking him. “Yes! That’s it. Strike me, cut me down,” he says, while trying to parry her relentless forward momentum. “Focus yourself, be better than me, faster. Anticipate every move that I will make and be there before me with an attack of your own.”
Her breathing heavy, her mind racing to keep up with her fight instinct, she hears his words and attempts to lose herself in them, to be them, to make her do what they say. At the height of concentration, she feels that a huge breakthrough in her skill is almost at hand.
The intensity of the fight reaches fever pitch, the music driving them forward and pounding at them. They are a whirlwind, a force of insurmountable nature, untamable, unstoppable.
He urges her on, “Do it, break through, kill me, defeat me. DO IT!”
She has peaked, at one with her ability, at one with her skill and instinct. She is going to do it, she will beat him.
She becomes aware of another presence, another person in her peripheral vision. Time slows and her concentration drops, only by a small margin, but enough to break her from the perfect trance in which she had existed a few seconds earlier.
Judas erupts with fury, “NO! Do not break your concentration; do not let anything distract you from your goal. CHARLOTTE! CONCENTRATE!”
It is too late; the brief lapse has been her undoing. Judas strikes at her, burying his right sword into her stomach up to its hilt. It bursts out of her back and with it a large fountain of blood arcs from her body.
She looks at him, wide-eyed, and a single tear drops from her eye.
Danny is almost upon them and he screams with fury, “NO! What have you done?”
Judas holds Charlotte in his left arm as she drops to the ground. He then holds up a hand and time stands still. The birds stop, motionless in the sky, trees remain at the apex of their bend from the wind, the music ceases and a raging Danny stands frozen, statuesque, his facial expression locked in a mixture of anger, fear, and sorrow.
Judas looks into Charlotte’s stunned face and shakes his head. “Goddamn free will. It gets you in the end. He ruined a perfectly good fight. Oh, and I told you to keep your concentration up, did I not? You almost had me there.”
She blinks at him and coughs, blood leaking from her mouth.
He slowly retracts his sword from her body and eases her to the ground.
She brushes the same annoying locks of hair out of her eyes. “Oh my days!” she says, stunned. “That hurt so bad.”
He laughs. “Doesn’t it just? Imagine over 2000 years of it. And don’t get me started on the pain of fire.”
He throws up his hands as a magician would while performing a trick and the swords disappear. He then holds out his right hand and helps her to her feet.
“Thanks, dad… I think.” She turns to Danny, walks over to him and waves a hand in front of his face. “Does he even know he’s like this?” she says, looking back at Judas. “Is he aware of us, of anything?”
“The show’s on pause, honey, nothing more,” he says, walking over to her.
She looks toward the tree line where he must have come from and spies the forms of Chanelle and Amy, rictus-like expressions of shock and horror on their faces, with Amy’s hands pressed against each of her cheeks, caught in mid-scream.
“I’m really gonna miss those guys,” she says as she walks toward Judas.
He raises his hand once more and Danny, Chanelle, and Amy disappear. In the process, the birds begin to sing once more and the gentle breeze resumes its attack on the trees. “I don’t like it too quiet,” he says, smiling at her.
She smiles back, “No, I guess you have had enough of being quiet in your lifetime, old man.” She giggles.
“Hey! Enough of the old man schtick, you young whippersnapper.” He laughs back and then points to the ground.
The swords she had been using have been replaced by the Katanas of Destiny. Judas’ powerful weapons that he has wielded for over a century and dispatched countless demons with, the steel re-forged with the spear tip that had pierced Christ’s side, giving them immense holy power over all demonic creatures.
“They are yours now.” He says, smiling. “You passed.”
She looks at him, her eyes wide, glee dancing within them. She reaches down and takes hold of the sacred weapons. “Are you serious? You’re giving me your swords?” She says, looking them over with fresh admiration, knowing that they now belong to her.
“Yeah. I am giving them to you. You earned them.”
She frowns and looks at him. “But, what are you gonna use?”
He wraps his arms around her, smiles, and draws her close. “Don’t you worry about that, baby-girl, I got it covered. We angels have access to the finest gear, you know!” He winks at her. “I am really proud of you. You did
so well and believe me, you were really close to making a breakthrough.” He kisses her forehead. “You weren't going to win, but you made a slight breakthrough,” he chuckles.
She remonstrates with him, smiling and slapping his shoulder. “Yeah, whatever old man.”
Keeping his arm around her shoulders, he turns and walks her away from the field, ambling toward the house. They remain silent, enjoying the final moments of peace and tranquility in their artificial world.
After a few steps, she looks up at him. “It’s time isn’t it?”
Without turning to face her, he nods, “Yeah honey. It’s time.”
Eight
Judas stares into his cup, swirling the last remnants of coffee around, and then gulps it down, placing the mug on the breakfast table. He taps his fingers against the surface, waiting for an important visitor. Pursing his lips together, he glances around. He is going to miss this place and its rustic, cabin-style kitchen. This was the sort of home that he would have wanted, had things been different in the real world, before he died, or at least if he hadn’t betrayed the Son of God, but then he would never have had the chance to know the modern world. The corner of his mouth twitches and he smiles a little, laughing to himself through his nose. Always a facet or two to your logic, Judas old boy, he tells himself.
Leaning over the central counter on her elbows and fiddling with her phone, Charlotte glances toward him and frowns, wondering why he is looking around the kitchen, half-smiling. She presses a button on her handset and it clicks, closing its screen, and then pushes herself away from the counter. She tuts as she bangs her head against one of the various pots and pans dangling from hooks above her. “Every damn time,” she says, reaching up and steadying it, then looks over to the clock on the wall, “Wow, he’s late. That’s not like Gabe.”
Judas looks out into the night through the screen door and takes a deep breath, drawing in the beautiful night’s air wafting into the kitchen as a familiar barrage of cricket chirping drifts in, adding to the slow rhythm of the ticking clock. “Hmm,” he says, standing and walking over to the sink, placing his empty cup in it and then leaning his back against it. “No, it’s not. Something must be going on.”
“Well, should we just go and not bother waiting for him or what?” she says, raising her hands.
“No, sweetie, he said he would need to speak with us before we return, so we should just wait for him. He’ll arrive in due course, I’m sure of it.”
As if triggered by his very statement, a whooshing sound emanates from outside followed by footsteps on the wooden porch. The Archangel Gabriel eases back the screen door and steps into the kitchen. “Good evening, my friends,” he says, bowing slightly, “I am terribly sorry for my lateness and, in turn, the inconvenience, but believe me I had good reason.”
Judas walks over to him and shakes his hand, “Hey Gabe… I’m,” he looks at Charlotte and smiles, correcting his greeting. “We’re intrigued, what reason is this?”
“Well, first off, Judas, it has come to the Council’s attention that you have spent the last three days, or should I say ten years, training young Charlotte here to be a weapon.”
Judas sighs and lowers his gaze. “Look, Gabe—”
“No Judas, you look! Charlotte’s purpose is not to be an improved, younger version of yourself. She is supposed to heal and guide the world out of darkness with enlightenment, not swords. What you have done was not the reason this reality was created, this is not her purpose.”
Judas shakes his head once more and raises his eyes. “Gabe, if you’d—”
“This is not right, Judas, and I am caught up in the middle. They think I sanctioned this and I can’t convince them otherwise. You have put me in a very awkward position.”
He holds up a hand, “Okay, Gabe, enough, just… enough, yeah? This isn’t 33ad anymore, you can’t send her out there to fix this mess with words alone, she will need to be able to protect herself and I won’t allow my daughter to be thrown into that without the means to do so, I just won’t.”
“She is not your daughter, Iscariot, you would be wise to remember that.”
“Don’t you dare,” he says, his tone now one of anger and defiance, “don’t you dare say that. It might have been only three days in real time but in this reality I have cared for that girl every day for the last ten years. I was there for every nightmare, every scraped knee, every achievement, and every failure. If God was so concerned about his child, then why didn’t he come down and do the job himself? He may be her father, but I am her dad, okay, so just… don’t.”
“That is not how it works and you know it. You are her protector, nothing more, so let’s not get above our station, shall we?”
“Er, excuse me,” Charlotte says, moving over to Judas’ side, “I think you’ll find that I get a say in this.”
Gabriel shakes his head, “Charlotte, please, this is a little beyond your comprehe—”
She steps forward, her right index finger raised, “Shut it Gabe, just shut your damn mouth.”
Her action stuns both Judas and Gabriel, and the Archangel stares at her open mouthed.
“Just remember who outranks who here, Gabe, yeah?” she says, her voice dripping with sarcasm, “I am not a child anymore. I get to make my own decisions; I get to do this my way, or you and God, my so-called father can find another savior to rescue the planet. Am I making myself perfectly clear?”
Judas steps forward and places a hand on her shoulder, “Hey, sweetie, let’s dial it down a touch shall we? We are all friends here.”
She shrugs his hand off and turns around to face him, “Well, I am sick of this, sick of all the conversation in my presence while you address me in the third person and talk over me, about me. It’s bullshit.”
She lowers her head and sighs, then turns around to Gabriel who sports a sheepish look.
It’s a look that Judas has never seen before and it surprises him a great deal.
“I’m sorry, Gabe, but please understand – I am no longer a child and I do not wish to be treated as such. If I am to succeed in this mission of grave importance, well…” she looks at Judas, “then I believe that complying with Judas’ wishes is the right way to go.”
Gabriel smiles, touches her shoulder, then sits down at the kitchen table, rubbing his forehead. He looks at Judas, “How long has she been this sort of teenager, old friend?”
“Too long,” he says, stifling a grin. “So Gabe, how pissed is the Council at me?”
“They are annoyed, that much is for sure, but that is not why they wish to speak with you.”
“Oh?” he says, turning around and opening a cupboard at head height and retrieving another coffee mug from inside. He shows it to Gabriel and raises his eyebrows.
The Archangel smiles and waves his hand dismissively.
“Suit yourself,” Judas says, then walks over to the percolator and pours himself a fresh cup. He takes a sip and looks at Gabriel. “So, what is it about Gabe?”
Charlotte walks over to the kitchen table and sits down, her interest now piqued.
“You know full well what it’s about Judas. It’s this damn folly of an investigation you are conducting into ‘The Artifact.’”
Charlotte glances between them both. “Artifact? What Artifact? What’s he talking about, dad?”
Judas takes another sip of his coffee, shakes his head, and sighs. “There is a guy with a lot of knowledge and understanding of ancient matters, and he has put me onto something.”
Gabriel leans back in his chair and folds his arms, an unimpressed look on his face.
Charlotte glances at Gabriel and then back at Judas. “Something? What thing? Would someone please tell me what is going on and drop all this cryptic bullshit?”
Judas sighs again and rubs his chin. “Okay, I have friend who has informed me that a powerful object exists, one that could end the horror back on Earth, and bring the time of man back to the forefront. He informs me that, in conjunction with your po
wer, we could end this once and for all; or at least for the longest time known.”
“Well, that’s a good thing, right?” she says, looking back at Gabriel. “Why hasn’t something been done about this already?” She looks at each of them in turn.
Gabriel stands up and strides over to one of the kitchen counters, rubbing his head, “Because it is folly, that’s why – pure madness. And in any case, it is a power that no angel nor demon should or can contain and control. It is pure… folly,” he says, lowering his gaze and shaking his head.
“That’s not what my guy says Gabe,” Judas walks back to the kitchen table. He sits down in the seat Gabriel was just occupying and takes Charlotte’s hands. “If we can find this artifact, sweetie, I know, I just know that you will be able to figure out how to use it and set all of this straight.”
She smiles and cups her hands around his.
Gabriel stares at them for a few seconds. “Judas, what I tell you now, you must never let them know that it came from me, okay?”
Judas looks at Charlotte, intrigued, then back to Gabriel. “Sure thing, Gabe, you have my word.” He releases his hold on Charlotte’s hands, offering the angel his full and undivided attention.
Gabriel stares at him for a few seconds more and then sighs, lowering his head. “The Artifact… it’s not what you think; it is true that it is an object, but it is also… a person.”
They look at him and frown in unison.
Judas laughs a little and raises his eyebrows, “Gabe, seriously man, you gotta stop this being vague bullshit, it’s getting old.”
“Okay,” he says, closing his eyes for a second and holding up a placating hand, “what I mean to say is that it is an object of great power that can also adopt the form of a person.”
“Fuck’s sake, Gabe! Are we gonna do this all night?” He sits back in his chair and throws his arms up.
Charlotte interjects before Judas starts to have a meltdown. “Gabe, what do you mean it is an object and also a person? Is it a weapon of some sort that’s… worn, or something?”
