The Trilogy of the Void: The Complete Boxed Set

by Peter Meredith

  "What are you going to do if Amy has used the sword instead of a spell, huh?"

  Will jumped. Everyone jumped. While their attention had been on Lisa, Talitha had come slipping up the aisle, silent on her still bear feet. Will turned and a wave of goose bumps broke out all over. She was right behind him. Her hand came down on his broad shoulder and gripped the trapezious muscle that sloped off his neck. It was a hard grip that brought with it a sense of vulnerability; she could kill him if she wished.

  Her warm brown eyes were in a state of flux and her smile was simultaneously knowing and confused. She knew she could kill him as well, only it appeared that she didn't know if she wanted to or not. This ambiguity, coupled with his clear defenselessness sent a shiver down Will's back and it broadened her smile. However, the confusion in her eyes deepened and she walked her odd smile further up the plane, exposing her back to her brother and the four men. They had fallen silent at the sudden appearance of his sister and each had tensed. The unit had been briefed on Talitha. And in an effort to instill in them a proper respect for her abilities, Will had shown them the bodies of the four thugs she had killed. Seeing them piled like a slop of human spaghetti caused some eyes to widen.

  Talitha went a little further and stood staring down at her sister-in-law. "I don't know whether to be sad for her or happy." She looked back at her brother shaking her head. "Lisa gets to sleep through all of this. It almost doesn't seem fair. We take all the risks and if we prevail against Amy, then she gets to wake up all perky, like a pregnant Rip Van Winkle. But if we fail...we die horribly and she sleeps right through it."

  Beneath the thrum of the jets, there was a silence in the cabin at this.

  "I'm not kidding," she continued when no one spoke up. "I don't know what I'm supposed to be feeling right now. What about you guys? Is there a consensus concerning this?"

  Father Vogel looked up at her from where he had been kneeling. "Talitha, you don't have to feel one way or the other. I feel a little of both."

  Will nodded at this, but Talitha frowned, the corners of her full lips edging far down. "That's silly...and wishy-washy and stupid. Shouldn't you have to pick one? Sad or happy...it's only two choices. It should be just like yes or no? White or black? Is it better like this or like this?" Behind her eyes, thunderstorms began to swirl. Will fought to remain calm; a small jet, six miles in the air was no place for a battle. She continued growing louder, practically screaming. "These aren't tough choices you know. Either you're happy for her or sad. It's just stupid thinking you can be both. You can't be happily-sad or sadly-happy. Damn it! What the hell's wrong with you people?"

  She was in a bizarre rage and tramped back down the aisle knocking into the men with sharp aggressiveness, looking for one of them to react.

  "Maybe I should go talk to her," Vogel suggested in the middle of the embarrassed silence that had followed Talitha's tirade.

  "You'll keep your ass down at that end of the plane, if you know what's good for you," the girl yelled. Will gave the priest a little shrug and started to get up. "You too, Will. I don't need your ugly face making me sick, thank you. If you're going to send anyone, send that hunky dude with the blue eyes instead."

  Everyone looked at Zeke, who didn't budge. "Should I go?" he asked Will in a whisper.

  "No..." Will started.

  "Yes!"

  "No, stay here," Will insisted, putting his hand on Zeke's arm. Talitha had been standing with her hands squarely on her slim hips, but at this, she flopped into her seat and looked out the window with a sulking air.

  After a moment, Abe spoke quietly, "Your sister brought up a good point about the sword. What do we do if the demon has come through already? I mean it'll be different than with the spell, right? From what you say, the spell opens a gate and it only looks like the demon will be there, but if she's used the sword that means it'll actually be there, correct? And if so, then what?"

  The question wasn't hypothetical. After his father had stabbed the sword into the gate, thinking he was actually attacking the demon, the sword had a nasty feel to it. Yet that was nothing compared to how it felt after Will had used it to kill Henny Harris. It had grown far colder and there was a voracious sucking feeling to it now. In Will's opinion, it wouldn't take too many more deaths to create an opening in it large enough for something to come through. And who knows what would happen then.

  Will shrugged. "I don't know what we do. Run away maybe?"

  The men were silent on this suggestion and each looked to be considering their own ideas of what would happen. Will checked his watch; they were landing in two hours. Sidling up to Father Vogel, he squatted down and asked in a hushed voice, "What do you think? What do we do if the demon is actually there? Not just the opening to the Void, but the real thing?"

  Vogel sent his fading grey eyes into Will's blue ones and stared. "We don't run from it that's for certain. We fight it. That's what these men are here for. That's what I'm here for."

  With an effort, Will stopped himself from rolling his eyes; the priest had no clue what he was talking about. Will had seen the thing down in the Void and just recalling the horrendous sight gave him the chills. "With what? What do we have that can fight the demon?" Fear tended to make him snappish.

  "With courage. With faith in the Lord..." Will's loud groan interrupted the priest. Vogel didn't get upset however. "These are the tools that God has given us, Will. They'll be enough. You of all people should know this. You have been given gifts from the Lord and..."

  "Gifts? You call what I have a gift? What about Tal? Is she gifted too? How bout Lisa? Is her eternal sleep some sort of gift as well?" Will made to get up, but the smaller man grabbed his left hand, not knowing that Will's fingers had been recently dislocated. Immediate pain shot up Will's arm and he grimaced. The priest seemed not to notice.

  "Yes. Clearly you don't understand the gifts that..."

  Angrily, Will jumped in. "You can't mean my visions. It's you who doesn't understand; that was part of the gypsy's curse..."

  "No, I don't mean that either," the priest replied in the most calm attitude. Will was thoroughly perplexed and Vogel smiled. "The Lord has spoken through you. Remember what you told the bishop and me? You told us what occurred when you were in the Void. In order to deny Ba'al Zubel the body of your sister, the power of the Word of the Lord came from your lips. These lips right here." Vogel touched Will on the lips and he was too stunned to react and actually blushed. "And the lord has given you the power to cast out demons. Last night you cast out Ba'al Fie-ere from your sister with nothing but simple words. And then there's your dreams that you take from Talitha."

  "That's no gift. That's pure and literal torture."

  Vogel shook his head. "Really? I would think it was a wondrous blessing...for your sister. You don't see these things as blessing, but I do. It can't be any more obvious to me that God has blessed your sister by having you as her brother." Will made to argue this but no words came from his open mouth and Vogel went on, "And you can't deny that the Lord has touched you personally."

  Will had to suddenly blink back tears. "But I don't want this. I want to be normal and live a normal life."

  "That's your choice. All along you've had the option to walk away. To pass the cup from your lips. And you still can. When we land in Phoenix, the pilot will take you anywhere you want. You just have to ask."

  Will closed his eyes and breathed out heavily. That would never happen. He was burdened by too much responsibility. Who would find a way to cure Lisa, or save Katie and his parents? And who else but him could control Talitha? Certainly not the priest, nor the soldiers, despite their training. And who among them could challenge the demon?

  "You know I can't walk away from this."

  "Yes and neither can we." Vogel indicated the other men and Will was surprised and quite embarrassed to see that the four men had been listening in on their conversation. He didn't like the looks they were giving him. They reminded him too much of the look that F
ather John Santos had worn minutes before he had died in Will's place. Like he was special or extraordinary. At the moment, he felt far from that. He felt tired and had a headache.

  Abe spoke up, "Since we aren't going to run, it only leaves one choice; fight. We just need to know how. Will your visions tell us?"

  "No. Amy...the witch, has discovered a way to block them."

  Vogel spoke up with some excitement, "She used an odd looking necklace to keep him from seeing what was going on back at the house in Bangor. It had leaves and little metal dangling things hanging from it, so if you see someone with anything that looks like that, you should...uh...you know."

  "We'll take care of him," Abe filled in the blank in a nice manner. "What about your sister? She was supposedly stuck in hell for all that time. I bet she knows how to deal with a demon."

  Will had no clue whether Talitha would know and he was just opening his mouth to say exactly that, but Vogel stepped in, "It's too risky a subject. It might bring out her own demon."

  "You mean the one that he," Jake pointed at Will, "supposedly exorcized out of the girl?"

  "Yes, but it's complicated."

  "I'm sure it is, Father." Jake wore an on odd expression. "All the same, the bishop, and you, and this guy here." Jake again pointed at Will. "You all think she's dangerous. Now I don't know anything about exorcisms except what I see in the movies, but if she's still so dangerous why are we bringing her along? Especially if we can't even ask her a few questions? What good is she?"

  "Jake's right. I'll go talk to her," Will said, coming to a quick decision. Judging by the look on his face, Vogel wasn't happy. "Father, please. Don't give me that look. You've tried the hypno-therapy, it didn't work and we're running out of time and options." Will started to go up the aisle and just then Jake tugged at his shirt.

  "Just in case?" He held out a large black pistol. Very much Will was tempted to take the gun, only he didn't think he'd be able to pull the trigger if push came to shove. Not the least reason for this was the fact that they were traveling at six-hundred miles an hour in a relatively small plane. A missed shot could realistically bring it tumbling down out of the sky.

  "No thanks, but if anything happens to me, don't hesitate. Shoot for the abdomen. It'll stop her without killing her." Jake gave him a skeptical look and Will shrugged. "She heals fast."

  "Sure center mass, no problem. Tell me, she do all that to your face?"

  Will had avoided looking into mirrors all day. As an answer, he gave Jake his swollen, lopsided smile and went to the back of the plane. Talitha sat jiggling her legs up and down in a fury of speed.

  "Just go away, Will." She hadn't turned around. "I don't know anything helpful."

  "I didn't think you did." Will came and sat down across from her. It was a dangerous spot since he would have precious little time to react if she went crazy or rather if she went semi-demonic. Only he was tired and part of him just didn't care. "That came out wrong. You know lots. We both know that. It's just I doubt that you know how a demon from the Void would react on this world. The physical world I mean."

  "Yep, I don't know." Talitha kept her face down. "Will? Why do you like me? And don't say it's because I'm your sister." That was exactly what he had been planning on saying. It was the standard answer to a question like that. Her eyes came up and bored into his. "I want you to really think on this. What about me was worth all the pain you've gone through?"

  This was an embarrassing time for his brain to draw a blank, yet that was what happened exactly. Everything he came up with sounded lame in his mind and before he could come up with a good reason, she asked another question which had his mind turning in a different direction.

  "Did I ever tell you how I escaped from the asylum?"

  "Yeah." And he didn't really want to hear it again. He wondered what this had to do with her previous question, which he had still to answer.

  "Then why do you still like me? I wouldn't like me. In fact I don't like me...I don't. I really and truly don't. That's why I'm wondering, why do you bother?"

  She began crying softly. Her eyes were just turning red, her lips were a little puffy, and with her pretty sundress and bare feet, the overall effect was that she looked like a little kid. She looked like the kid he had grown up with. The one that was a pain in the butt and hung around him when he wanted to be alone to smooch his girlfriend. The little kid who always seemed so smart, that it made him feel stupid every time he opened his mouth. The one who got the front seat on every car ride and the better gifts on Christmas. He loved that girl and he couldn't explain why. He just did.

  "I'll tell you why. I was in the first grade and you were in kindergarten, this was back before you and I were in the same class..."

  "You don't have to tell me a story, Will. I can control my thinking now. It's my emotions that are getting the better of me."

  "You asked why I bother and I'm telling you, so hush." She snorted in a most un-lady like manner and wiped the back of her hand across her nose. With this small display, even more she was that little girl. "This isn't a long story, only a memory. I remember coming home from school and you had raked this pile of leaves into a great mound. You were so tiny back then, that the mound was piled higher than your head. You had worked all afternoon on making that pile and then instead of jumping in it like a normal kid, you waited for me to come home and gave me the first crack at it. We had so much fun jumping in the pile and then re-raking it back up. Even to this day, I can still smell those leaves when I think about it."

  "I don't remember that. I'm so stupid. I can tell you the name of every man who has served as Vice President of the United States, but I can't remember jumping into a pile of leaves with my brother." Her tears that were a light trickle came in a gush now. "I've wasted my life! Why did I do that? Why? And now..."

  "And now, what?" Will coaxed.

  Talitha only made a growling sound of frustration and got up to pace. "You already know what. I'm going back to the Void, and I don't want to hear it from you. No more why, why, why! Fuckin A! No more why."

  "Fuckin A?" For some reason he found that humorous and began to chuckle. "Since when do you curse, Miss I can control my thinking?"

  "I've explained to you that it's my emotions I can't seem to get a grip on. You should try listening."

  "Have you tried meditating? It worked for you in the Void," he replied reasonably. "It might also help with your thinking. You're not in control like you say. Just a few minutes ago, you were asking hunky Zeke to come down here. Remember? That doesn't sound like the Talitha I know."

  "Yeah well that Talitha is dull. She never had any fun. When was the last time she jumped in a pile of leaves?" Will's brows came down and he began to think back, but Talitha paced up to him and put her hand on his shoulder. "It was a rhetorical question, Will. And yes, I've tried meditating and all I get are new memories. Real special ones too: me killing some guy, me setting a house on fire, me fuc..." she broke off quick.

  Despite an effort to not react, Will felt his eyebrows pop up. "Uh...that's why you should be talking to Father Vogel. The therapy should be able you to help redirect your memories..."

  "No," Talitha interrupted plopping back down in her seat. "I have to deal with the demon in me in my own way. Suppressing or avoiding will only put that off and I don't have much time."

  "Wait. First off, there's no demon in you it's all just neural paths and a personality disorder."

  Talitha shook her head. "Yes, but the end effect is no different. When I become the other Talitha, when I use the neural paths that she created to form her personality, can you tell the difference?" Will's mouth came open uselessly. "By your look, you clearly cannot and no one could. I could go down into the Void and they wouldn't know either. We are the same. Ba'al Fie-ere and I are the same."

  "Have you tried praying on this? You used to pray quite a bit."

  "Praying is for people with hope and what's more, I'm out of time for prayer."

  Wi
ll sighed. "You're being obstinate. First off, prayer gives a person hope. It's not the other way around. And second, there's always time to pray."

  "According to you there isn't. I wasn't in either of your visions. Can you think of any reason I would miss the birth of your baby girl? Because I can only think of one: I'm going to die soon. And why should I pray? God has blessed me already. He gave me you, my own personal savior." She let a small, sly smile creep onto her face and Will felt his cheeks go red.

  "You heard that, huh? What a bunch of malarkey, Father Vogel doesn't know what he's talking about."

  Talitha stared again out of the small square of a window. Beyond the blinking light on the tip of the wing, everything was black. "I don't know, Will. You've been blessed. It's undeniable. But as much as I appreciate all that you've done for me, I can't help to think that I haven't been. I don't see anything that has occurred as a blessing. Yes, you saved me from the Void, but my judgment day has only been put off a while longer."

  "I've told you that God doesn't judge."

  "And you may be correct about God, but what about everyone else? All the angels and saints? What about all of my victims?" Will could see her eyes start to cloud up again, she swiped at them with the back of her hand. "They'll judge. I know it."

  "And I will judge you too, Tal. And I'll tell everyone what a wonderful person you are."

  "No you won't. You have no idea. Of everyone, you'll be the last to do something like that." She gave him a smile that dripped with agony. "But who knows? Maybe I'm wrong. Having witnessed the miracle of you using a word like obstinate, I now think anything is possible." The pain emanating from her was too palpable to even smile at her little joke. "Will, I think I need to be alone for a while. When I said I could control my mental state, I meant that I could control it for a little while. I think we're heading into more trouble than you realize and I need to be able to set my other side loose and then maybe get it back bottled up again."