Council of Peacocks

by M Joseph Murphy

  “Let’s not get into that. Loooooong story. Whatever my reasons are, I’ve made it my personal mission for the last few centuries to be a thorn in the side of the Council. For a very long time I was able to do it in anonymity. I’d prevent a kidnapping here, reverse the damage done to the gene structure of a kid there. Then they found me out. That’s when the Council started using the Edimmu. They’d come into contact with the Edimmu during their time with the Yezidi. You see, as far as the Yezidi are concerned, the Edimmu are angelic heralds from God. The Council just sees them as hired muscle. Whatever the truth is, I don’t know. Maybe they are angels of a sort. All I know is that they’ve been on this planet at least as long as humans and they are very, very different from the Orpheans. I just find it hard to believe an angel would hire himself out to the highest bidder.”

  “Wisdom….” Josh hesitated. “That creature down there, that thing, it was my father, wasn’t it? The demon one. How do you know him?”

  “A tedious story, really, but it all boils down to a poker game.”

  “A poker game?”

  “That’s what I said, isn’t it? He’s got this sort of vendetta against me because he lost his wife in a poker game.”

  “You won my mother in a poker game!”

  “Well I doubt very much she’s your mother. This was several thousand years ago and Ehpslab – that’s his name, by the way – he’s not exactly the most monogamous of demons. I’m sure your demon mother was someone else altogether.”

  “I think I’m going to be sick.”

  The air above grew darker, as if something had drifted in front of the sun. Josh looked up, but there were no clouds, nor any sun for that matter. “Did you do that?”

  Wisdom shook his head and slowly rose to his feet. “I only have a little control of things here. This is your dream, after all. Shall we make one more stop before I let you get some sleep?”

  Josh stood as well. He walked as Wisdom created another red door out of thin air.

  “Back in the Axeinus,” Josh began, “you said you thought you knew what was going on. Why do you think the Edimmu and the Orpheans are working together?”

  Wisdom took several deep breaths and stared off into the distance. “That factory we saw is new. As long as I’ve known them, the Orpheans have been unorganized. Somehow they’ve managed to capture a powerful god and build an advanced manufacturing plant in a plane of existence without physicality. Maybe I’m getting too old for this. How could I not have seen this coming? No matter. The crux of it is, they are preparing for war. That factory was constructing an armory – body armor and weapons infused with the blood of a deity. The Edimmu, being solid as they are, must have helped them construct the factory. Something much bigger than I suspected is going on here. For that, I think we need to ask your father. The human one.”

  The door swung open even as Josh’s jaw dropped. On the other side of the door was the kitchen back in his home in Ottawa. The walls and cupboards were painted a light yellow with a trim of white daisies. An apple pie sat on the counter and Josh knew instantly what he was seeing. As he followed Wisdom through the door, the kitchen began to fill with people.

  “This is Thanksgiving,” he said.

  The people moved slightly faster than they should have. They were also incredibly silent, but they were clearly his family. There was Uncle Perry sipping his third martini, flirting with Cousin Rob’s girlfriend. Josh’s grandparents were helping his mother set the table while Jan did her best to look interested in whatever Uncle Kyle was saying. Seeing Jan, even if it was only a dream, brought a tear to his eye.

  “Do you think you could have picked a busier memory to pop into?” Wisdom stepped out of the way of Aunt Janet, who was carrying a tray of crystal glasses out to the dining room.

  “Don’t look at me.” Josh waved back at Jan, who had motioned for him to save her. “I don’t know how this thing works. You’re the one with the magic doors and everything.”

  “Well, can you make them go away now?”

  Jan started walking over to Josh, her face brightly lit with an eager smile.

  “How do I do that, Wisdom?”

  Wisdom reluctantly accepted a glass of wine from a man Josh couldn’t place. “Christ. Just remember what your kitchen was like after all these people went home.”

  Jan was inches away from him when she faded away. Her absence hit him like a stone. Like fog dissipating, all the people disappeared. It was dark in the kitchen now, and the apple pie was gone.

  Wisdom walked over to the table and set the wine glass down. He snapped his fingers and the lights came on.

  “That’s better. Now, let’s go find your father.” Wisdom walked up the stairs to the second floor.

  “Wait a minute.” Josh tried to run after him, but he could not make his legs work properly. He moved very slowly, followed by a sudden burst of movement up the steps that almost sent him flying into Wisdom. “What does my father have to do with this? You can’t think he knows anything about those demons, can you?”

  Wisdom turned around as soon as he got to the top of the stairs. “Of course he knows about the demons, Josh. That’s his job. The group he works with, Candleworks, their sole function is the study of nonhumans, like the Orpheans, and the search for ways to fight them.”

  “I thought you said there was no way to fight them.”

  “Are you going to hold me accountable for everything I say? Well, in that case I’ll have to make sure I say less. There are ways to fight them, if you can find the right energy fields through magic or advanced science – half a dozen of one, six of the other – but it’s not what your father knows about the Orpheans I’m most interested in. It’s what he knows about the Council. Which door is their bedroom?”

  Josh pointed at the first door on the right. “But, that’s… I mean, it’s just not possible.”

  Wisdom stopped, his hand on the doorknob, and spoke over his shoulder. “You say that a lot, you know. After the things you’ve seen recently I would think you would have a better appreciation of exactly what is possible.”

  “Point taken. It’s just, my father couldn’t keep that kind of stuff from me. From us. Hey, I have an idea. You said I have another father, right? A demon. He has to be the father those Edimmu knew. That makes sense, doesn’t it?”

  “Yesterday I’d have agreed one hundred percent. Ten minutes into your head and I knew differently. Those Edimmu knew you. They have interacted with you in the presence of your father. It’s highly improbable they were talking about a non-material creature like Ehpslab. Like I said, things are getting very clear to me. I have a few questions for old Richard Wilkinson.”

  With that, he pushed the door open.

  Josh looked in on his parents in bed. His mother was fast asleep, dressed in a flannel nightdress. Josh wanted to rush over and cover her so that Wisdom could not see the way her breasts rose and fell with each breath, but he fought the urge. It was not real, after all. This was just a dream. His father sat propped up in bed reading a thick white book by the small pool of light coming from the lamp on the night table. He wore the wire-framed glasses he had needed for reading since his last birthday. Richard Wilkinson did not look up as they walked into the room.

  “Go ahead, Josh.” Wisdom waved his hand forward.

  “What?”

  “You’ll have to say something to your father or he’s not going to see us. Once you get it going, I can take over.”

  “You’re not going to hurt him, are you?”

  Wisdom rolled his eyes. “Again, not real, remember? That is not really your father, just your memory of your father.”

  “Then how can he…?”

  “Smart question. How can he provide information that you don’t know if he’s just a figment of your imagination? Don’t know. Maybe he won’t. Who can say what information you have tucked away in your head? Let’s just think of him as a focal point to get the information we need and take it from there. Come on, ask away. I don’t hav
e all night, you know.”

  Josh looked back and forth from Wisdom to his father several times. Then, with a shrug, he took two steps toward the bed. “Dad? Hey Dad, can you see me?”

  Richard Wilkinson looked up from his book. “Of course I can see you, son. What’s the matter? Can’t sleep? I told you not to have that last piece of pie. You just can’t handle the sweets.” When he started speaking, his voice was very faint, but as the words continued, they grew steadily louder until they reached a normal volume. There was still a strange quality to them, though, an echo as if his voice was reverberating around a very large room.

  “It’s not that, Dad.” Josh looked back at Wisdom. “It’s kind of serious. I need to know about the Council, Dad. The Council of Peacocks.”

  Richard put the book down and took off his reading glasses. “Maybe I should be the one asking what you know about the Council of Peacocks, Josh. Who have you been talking to?”

  Josh looked over at Wisdom. His father still had not reacted to him. Somehow, Wisdom was invisible. “I talked with a man named Wisdom. More importantly, I talked with these things called Edimmu. Sometimes they look like humans with wings, but they’re really more like lizard people. And they say they know you. I mean, I know they know you. That’s how they know me. The only thing is I don’t know how you know them. I don’t know why they respect you, like you’re their boss or…Oh.”

  Richard folded his hands together on his lap. “What is it you think you know, son? You think that maybe I’m a member of this Council of Peacocks and I’ve hired these Edimmus for some reason?”

  “Dad, please…”

  “No, don’t hold anything back, son. I’m really curious now. What else do you think you know?”

  Wisdom leaned forward and whispered into Josh’s ear. “Ask him about Propates.”

  “Dad,” Josh said after a moment. “I know about Propates. I saw the factory and the demons. I just don’t know why. Tell me what’s going on. What’s the connection between the Orpheans, the Edimmu and this Council of Peacocks?”

  His father lowered his head. A smile crossed his lips unlike any expression Josh had ever seen on his father’s face. The light from the nearby lamp flickered and dimmed, the shadows bled forward, filling the room with animated darkness. It was just like back in Quebec. Suddenly, despite appearances, his father was really not his father anymore.

  From behind Richard’s face came a strange voice. “Wisdom, you should know better than pulling a stunt like this. I should fry the kid’s brain just to teach you a lesson.”

  Wisdom squared his shoulders and squinted his eyes. “Propates, is that you, you little snake?”

  “Careful with the name-calling, Wisdom. My patience is very thin nowadays.” The image of Josh’s father jumped, twisted and changed, as if someone had changed channels on a television. There was a different man in bed with his mother now, a man with shoulder-length black hair and dark, Mediterranean features. His eyes shone neon blue, like a fire was trapped in his skull. “You’re making it very difficult for me to stay civil, you know.”

  “Civil?” Wisdom flicked back his cloak to free his arms, a motion that held such violence in it Josh thought instantly of blood flying from a bullet wound. “If you had any idea what I’ve been through recently, you would realize how incredibly civil I’ve been. I think you’ve forgotten who I am. But then, you seem to also forget who you are.”

  Propates snapped his fingers and the bedroom disappeared. He now stood, legs spread in a defiant stance, dressed in a double-breasted black suit with a neon orange tie. In his hands was a pitchfork, orange flames dancing along the tines. “I know exactly who I am, Wisdom. I’m your son. I am what you made me, just as you’re what your father made you. Despite evidence to the contrary, I believe deep down you are a reasonable man. Let’s call a truce, shall we?”

  Wisdom gave a sort of short cough that sounded like laughter. “That would be a ‘No’. I’ve seen the future. It’s time for me to stop you once and for all. So why don’t you head home, get a good night’s sleep. I’ll see you tomorrow. Oh, and for the record, the pitchfork is a bit much.”

  Wisdom waved his hand before him, like he was wiping frost from a window and...

  ***

  Josh sat up in bed, a scream of shock in his throat. He pressed his knuckles against his forehead. Whatever Wisdom had done, throwing him out of the dream like that, it left him with a killer headache. He sat there rubbing his head for a long time before he was able to lie back down.

  No matter what he did, he couldn’t force himself to go back to sleep.

  ***

  Wisdom came back to his body with a jolt.

  ‘How did he do that?” He wiped sweat from his forehead. “I never taught him how to walk in the Dreaming. When did he get that powerful?”

  Only the sound of Echo’s deep breaths prevented him from flying into a rage. He looked down at her body, saw the peaceful expression on her face and wondered if everything he had done would be enough. Could he stop Propates from killing her?

  He slipped out of the covers and went to this closet. He grabbed the first suit his hands fell on and left the bedroom. Getting dressed in there might wake her. He would get dressed in his office upstairs. Then he would spend a few hours calming down. After that, he was going to shatter every bone in Propates’ body.

  Chapter Thirty-One

  The sun had been up for some time. Josh stayed under the covers, unwilling to move. He found it hard to focus on anything. His joints ached from hours of twisting and tossing in bed. Still, it was warm under the sheets and his room looked cold. Pallid red light filtered in through the tinted windows and the shadows seemed far too solid for his liking. Something was going to happen today, something that would make the horror in the Laurentians pale in comparison. So he stayed in bed for a long time. He knew once he got up, events would start rolling toward an ending.

  God only knew what kind of end was waiting for him.

  Eventually he surrendered and threw back the covers. He knew they were no real protection from the things waiting for him. After last night, he realized there really was no place where he was beyond being touched by others. Not even in his dreams.

  He walked to the bathroom, stripped and turned on the shower. He kept the water cold, hoping it would help him shake off the sleepiness under his skin. He stayed under the stream of water for about twenty minutes. Only when his teeth started chattering did he turn off the nozzle and step out. He dried off and wrapped a large white towel around his waist and went to the dressers to decide what to wear.

  On top of one of the dressers was a jewelry box. He opened it and pursed his lips at what he found. There were dozens of gold and silver rings with different types of jeweled settings, at least ten different chains and four different watches. While his family had never lacked for money, they did not have the kind of wealth Jan’s family had. Yet these pieces of jewelry spoke of wealth on a completely different scale. Josh was not the type to steal, but, if he was, he could probably pawn off one of the diamond-rimmed Rolexes and live comfortably for a year or two. There were two of them, one with a platinum wristband; the other had alternating rows of platinum and diamond studs.

  “Is every room here equipped like this?” Just how rich was Wisdom, anyway?

  He decided on a silver Movado watch. Though not a cheap watch, it was the least expensive he could choose. The thought of losing or damaging any of the other watches tied his stomach up in knots.

  He was just slipping the watch on when he noticed a dark blur over his shoulder. He spun, expecting to see shadows and wings. Instead, his eyes focused on Jared. He started to relax, his face breaking into a smile. Then, slowly, the smile died. There was something about the look in the young boy’s eyes, the way he stood. The way he repeatedly clenched and unclenched his fists.

  The way the light slid away from him and shadows pooled around his feet.

  ***

  David stood in front of the vendin
g machine in the lunch room trying to decide between a chocolate bar and a bag of chips when the feeling hit him. He took a deep breath and looked around. The corridor outside the lunchroom was empty. It was still too early for most of the staff to be here. So far the only other sign of life he’d seen was Garnet. She was dressed in a form-fitting emerald-green suit. She smiled at him as she passed by, making a comment about meeting up with Wisdom.

  ‘Something is wrong,’ he thought. He turned his back on the vending machine and went to the doorway. He looked up and down the corridor but there was no sign of anyone. He shook his head and tried to get back to his hunger, but the feeling would not go away. It reminded him of the prom, back when he'd had the sudden impression of Ramona cheating on him in the parking lot. He walked back to the vending machine and decided on a chocolate bar. He bent down to retrieve it when Todd and Jessica rushed into the lunchroom.

  “Where’s the fire?” he asked as he unwrapped the Big Turk.

  “Quiet!” Todd spoke in a whisper. His hair was uncombed and wild, and he was still dressed in a pair of blue silk pajamas. There was a nearly-identical pair in David’s room.

  David started to speak again, but Todd just raised his open hand in the universal signal for ‘Wait’. A moment later a Chinese man in a dark blue suit passed by the doorway. He barely paused to look up at Todd. Jessica, also still dressed in her pajamas, bit her nails and paced back and forth. Todd watched the man disappear from view. Only then did he turn back to David and lower his hand.

  “What the hell’s going on?” David asked.

  Jessica stopped pacing and looked up at him. “Can’t you feel it? God, why do you have to be such a newbie? I wish Amy was here instead of you. I wouldn’t have to explain everything to her.”

  “You know, where I come from they wait till after breakfast before they start insulting people. Why don’t you….?”

  “Quiet! Both of you.” Todd pushed Jessica further into the lunchroom so their voices would not carry so far. “We’re in enough trouble as it is. Last thing we need is for Wisdom to know I’ve been playing psychic detective. See, I woke up this morning and everything just felt, I don’t know, wrong somehow. So I took a quick peek into Wisdom’s mind.”