The whole group laughed again. Still unseen, Seth was disgusted by the entire conversation. This whole group of Mortuis had no right to be part of Atumra. None of them truly appreciated the heritage of being a Walking Dead. He wanted to kill Rahul right now in front of them just to show them how vulnerable he was.
He wouldn’t, of course. Letting them listen to Rahul talk about how great it was to be alive again would be more beneficial to the Body’s plan. The Atumra were now able to offer something that no other Mortui organization could, and he had no doubt members of those organizations would be falling all over themselves to change alliances. Hadn’t it already started with just the rumors that they were working on possession? This could only help the cause.
AfterLife was a main target. AfterLife had good people in high places: doctors, politicians, and many others who would be beneficial to the Atumra. Offering the opportunity at a second life after they’d served the Atumra would be the best incentive for bringing these Mortuis to their side. Seth scoffed. AfterLife indoctrinated its members with a lot of nonsense about the sanctity of antemort life.
Seth despised AfterLife, yet at the same time he admired the strength of the organization. Structurally they were a strong community of Mortuis, always supporting one another. They worked in pairs and kept in continual communication with their nearest headquarters. They encouraged personal improvement through education and training, which in turn improved the organization. But they were soft. They wanted to live with antemorts in a way that improved the life of the living, and he hated them for it. They may have been born alive, but Mortuis were much superior to antemorts; genetics proved it. To look at a living being as an equal instead of as an energy source was implying that antemorts were actually superior and Mortuis were an anomaly.
More laughter floated out of the room and Seth decided it was time to join in the festivities. “So here is the man of the hour,” Seth said as he walked into the sitting area. The small group parted, allowing him access to Rahul. “How does it feel to be living again?” He stood behind Rahul and placed his hands on his shoulders.
“It is an amazing feeling, sir, and I am grateful to you and the Body for allowing me to be the first to receive such a great reward for service.”
“It is my pleasure.” Seth looked at the rest of the group gathered in the area. “Let’s hear it for Rahul and the success of our possession process. May we all be worthy to earn what Rahul has received.”
The group cheered.
“Rahul, I want to give you one more thing,” Seth said once the room was quiet. “I’ve reserved a room for you at the Drake Hotel, and I’ve even arranged for you to have a female guest.” Seth smiled lasciviously, and the group cheered again.
Deciding he’d had as much as he could stand of the revelry, Seth asked Doc if they could review his report. They left the group and went to Doc’s office. The report was, as Doc had promised, thorough and complete.
“I want you to do one more thing for me if you would,” Seth said after scanning the process. “Your services will be needed downstairs.”
“Absolutely sir,” Doc said, “Does it have to do with the possession process?”
“No, this is something different. Meet me in the catacombs.” Seth returned to the group of Mortuis gathered around Rahul. “Blake, I need you for a few minutes.”
Blake stood up and followed Seth to the catacombs. The building had three underground floors where the Atumra performed the rebirths of new Mortuis – a process they had stolen from AfterLife – as well as some of their training, and now the possession process.
Once the elevator started its descent, Seth turned to Blake. “Where is your partner?”
“I don’t know,” Blake said with an expressionless face. “She left shortly after we conducted the possession last night. She likes to walk along Lake Michigan and the park to feed.”
“You should always know where your fellow soldier is.” Seth paused. Blake didn’t say anything but gave a slight nod. Seth continued, “We can discuss this with Jezebel when she gets back. I want you to tell me what happened with one of the recruits you were assigned. His name is Wesley Lohmann.”
The elevator came to a stop and the doors opened. Seth motioned for Blake to exit the elevator first and followed after him through the doors. Blake remained quiet as Seth resumed the lead and led them down the hallway to the possession room where Doc was leaning against the large stainless steel table used to restrain antemorts. Once inside the room Seth turned to Blake and waited for his response.
Blake shook his head, but his expression was guarded. “I’m not sure. He was mostly being recruited by Jezebel. As the report stated, she got a job at the same company and worked with him for several months. She said he was falling for her and she would be ready to end his antemort status at any time. Next thing we knew, he had overdosed and was picked up by AfterLife.”
“Why didn’t Jezebel stay in constant contact with him?” Seth’s tone told Blake he had every right to be nervous. Punishment for poor performance was something Seth not only believed in, but enjoyed. He made sure his soldiers always knew who was in charge. If the Atumra of Chicago didn’t perform up to the Body’s expectations, Seth would have to answer for it and he had no intention of showing weakness to the Body.
Blake looked back and forth between Doc and Seth. “I was under the impression she was in constant contact with him, sir. I would have intervened if I’d thought otherwise.”
“Blake,” Seth said, stepping closer to the soldier, “do you understand what we are trying to do here? Do you understand what you are lucky enough to be part of?”
“Yes sir. We are working to reestablish Mortuis as the superior inhabitants of this planet. It is an honor to be part of the Atumra.”
“You are correct, it is an honor. Yet, you don’t seem to be displaying as much passion for what we are doing as I expect from my soldiers.” Seth took another step closer to Blake and placed his hand on the side of Blake’s face. Blake lowered his eyes toward the floor. “Look at me Blake.” His voice was calm.
Blake raised his eyes to meet Seth’s. Seth knew he could soul-sync with Blake if he wanted to kill him; he had executed many of his soldiers that way. Death while in sync caused the soul to sever from the body. However, today that was not his intention. Blake wasn’t the only one to be punished for this incident, he knew, but right now he needed to make an example of someone.
“The Atumra is not only trying to reestablish Mortui dominance, we also have the obligation to ensure our candidates are not picked up by other groups of Mortuis. They will only reach their full potential with our organization. AfterLife is the worst of all the factions of Mortui society. They do not allow their members to understand the true nature of their heritage. Do you understand, Blake?”
Blake nodded. His expression was firm. Seth knew he was bracing for whatever punishment Seth had planned for him. Seth continued, his hand still on the side of Blake’s face. “I need every member of our order to be aware of the threat other organizations pose. They may be small, but they are threats nonetheless. It is a disservice to any Mortui when we allow that person to be recruited by others.”
Seth stood there for a minute. The room was silent. Then he took the thumb of the hand he had on Blake’s face and dug it into his left eye. The eyeball popped out into Seth’s hand; gore and rebirth fluid oozed from the socket. Blake stood there, his good eye still fixed on Seth. Seth knew Blake couldn’t feel the physical pain from the extraction of the eye, but the signal he was sending was clear. It would be harder to feed with one eye, and with only one good eye, Blake was more vulnerable.
Seth pulled his thumb out of the eye socket, leaving a hole. “I expect you to be a little more observant of your fellow soldier’s actions in the future. If not, your other eye will be mine as well.” He tightened his fist, destroying the eye, as the contents oozed from between his fingers. He grabbed a towel from a nearby table and wiped away the remains.
<
br /> Blake did not attempt to cover the gruesome hole that remained in place of his eye. He just stood there. Seth recognized Blake’s attempt at bravery, and felt a slight flicker of admiration. Blake might still prove useful after all. Seth turned to Doc who had witnessed the entire event. “Make him an artificial one would you? He’ll need it to keep an eye on Jezebel.”
Chapter 14
The stairs creaked under their feet as they scaled the weathered wooden steps leading to their new apartment. Located on the second floor of an old yellow house near the small town’s downtown area, Emily said the location was great because of its close proximity to the nearby university. The apartment itself was extremely small, and only qualified as a two-bedroom dwelling because of the small closet-sized space above an addition on the lower level.
They stood in the living room of the tiny space and assessed what was to be their new home for an extended period of time. The landlord had made small attempts to spruce up the place by adding a fresh coat of off-white paint to the wallpapered walls. The underlying floral pattern was still partially visible through the thin latex covering. The ceilings were low, and the faucet dripped in the tiny kitchen off the main living area.
“Welcome home,” Emily said, moving her few bags into the bigger room.
“Why do you get the nicer room?” Wes inspected the couch that was included in the apartment’s furnishings, and deciding it would be safe to sit on, plopped down.
“I’m the girl and your older sister, that’s why.”
“I’m telling you Emily, the longer I’m dead, the less I care about being nice to girls.”
“Now, Wes, just because you’re dead doesn’t mean chivalry should be dead as well.” Emily made her way from the bedroom and began looking around the rest of the apartment. “This place is going to be perfect,” she said, emerging from the bathroom and finding a place next to Wes on the couch.
“Perfect for a couple of convicts in hiding maybe,” Wes said in a sarcastic tone.
“What’s not to like about it? It’s cozy.” Emily scooted closer to Wes on the couch and leaned her head onto his shoulder. “Besides, you get to be here with your big sister, Emily. You can’t ask for much more than that, can ya?”
“I think that makes it worse.” Wes pushed Emily’s head off his shoulder and she tilted the opposite way until she was lying sideways on the couch. They both laughed.
Emily jumped up off the couch and turned toward Wes with her hands outstretched to grab his. “Let’s go meet our landlord.”
Holding Wes’s hand, Emily ushered him back down the weathered steps to the yellow house’s front door and tapped on it with her fist. A minute passed as the two waited. Then a man, an older gentleman, came to answer Emily’s knock. Opening the door the man paused to look at his visitors, saw Emily, and immediately began laughing and hugging her.
“Ah, Emily, it’s so good to see you! I was so excited when Oscar told me you would be coming to Charleston for training.”
“It’s good to see you, too.” Emily hugged the man back. “This is Wes, but you know we’re going by Karla and Carter while we’re here.”
“Yes, yes of course,” the man said, then stepped back from the door. “Please come in and we’ll have some tea.”
Emily and Wes stepped into the house, and after he closed the door they followed him toward the rear of the house. “Wes, it’s good to have you join us,” the man said as they entered the kitchen. He shook Wes’s hand and then motioned for Emily and Wes to sit at a small table under a window that looked out on the backyard. “Have a seat and we can talk while I get the tea ready.”
“How have things been for you here, Ken?” Emily asked.
“So good, Emily, so good. Carol’s at work, or you would have caught her too. She has a project she’s working on that’s taking a great deal of her time.”
Ken was an older man with white hair. He looked Japanese but spoke with only a slight accent.
“Wes,” Emily said, “Ken and Carol, who I’ll have to introduce you to later, are professors at the university here. Ken teaches geology and Carol is in the English department. Ken’s only been with AfterLife for a few years, but he’s been a Mortui for much longer than that. Carol too.”
After placing the kettle on the stove, Ken joined them at the table. “So Mr. Wes, how are you getting along?”
“It’s been an adventure so far, but Emily’s been great.”
“Isn’t she?” Ken stood up as quickly as he sat down and began moving about the kitchen again. “I’ll tell you what, Mr. Wes, you’re going to like AfterLife. I don’t know how I managed for so long without it.”
Emily adjusted herself on her chair and crossed her legs. “Have you heard about the shift in focus from the Ancestors?”
“Oh, a bit, yes.” The kettle began to boil and Ken took it off the stove and poured its contents into three cups he had prepared. “Oscar filled me in a little when he called this morning. Carol and I are going to the Hub this weekend to get caught up on our new assignments.”
“It’s an interesting turn of events, that’s for sure,” Emily said, staring at a far-off point only she could see. “Anyway….” She shook her head to break the daze she was in.
Ken brought Emily and Wes their cups of tea and then sat down with his own. “You’ll have to let me know if you like it, Mr. Wes. It’s a tea of my own creation.”
“Sure.” Wes lifted the cup to his lips. He figured Ken was crazy since he must know they could neither taste nor smell the tea. Sensing the liquid’s hot temperature, he barely sipped from the top of the small cup. Then he felt it. As soon as he swallowed he could feel its effects. It was warm and comforting, and a slight tingling sensation ran down Wes’s limbs that caused his whole body to make one quick jerk. “Wow! What’s in it?”
Ken laughed at Wes’s reaction. “It’s my own blend and is designed to work with the animal spirits they used in your body during the rebirth process. Do you like it?”
“Yes,” Wes said, taking a second sip, “I do.” The sensation diminished the longer he was exposed to the drink, but he continued to enjoy its warmth.
Emily was drinking her tea with her eyes shut and she leaned her head back with a look of enjoyment on her face. After a minute she opened her eyes again. “Ken, I was wondering if you’d be able to work on some soul-syncing techniques with Wes. You’re much better at creating mental environments than I am. Wes could definitely benefit from your experience.”
Ken smiled at the compliment, causing his face to wrinkle along creases that must have resulted from a lifetime of smiling. “You think too highly of me, my dear Emily, but I’m happy to do it for you.”
“Thanks, Ken.” Emily took another sip of her tea.
After the three of them had finished the tea, they moved to the living room and Ken turned on some lights to accommodate the setting sun. Wes was directed to sit on the couch. This room belonged in the yellow house. The furnishings were mismatched, but appeared comfortable in the space. The couch Wes sat on was upholstered in a worn floral fabric that resembled the wallpaper in his upstairs apartment. Ken sat down next to him.
“Alright, Mr. Wes, shall we see what’s in your mind?”
Wes looked at Emily who had claimed for her own a wood and leather armchair next to the couch. After getting a small nod from her, he looked back at Ken. “Okay.”
Ken initiated the sync and Wes found himself walking down the familiar dark corridor of nothingness he had walked down with Emily and the girl from the bar. In the distance, he could see a much younger Ken waiting for him.
“The mind is a powerful place, Mr. Wes,” Ken said as Wes approached, “and in order to ensure you are as strong as you can be, you must become familiar with the power of your mind and embrace it.” Ken took a step toward Wes and placed a hand on his shoulder. “Here is your first lesson. It may it be the most important one you learn.” With his free hand, Ken undercut Wes in the stomach.
The pain wa
s different than the bodily discomfort one felt when punched in the stomach in the physical world. It radiated through him completely. His vision blurred, and he lost his focus on Ken’s face. Wes buckled forward out of instinct to diminish the pain, but the move had no effect on easing the agony. The nothingness swirled around him and he tried to focus his thoughts toward making the pain subside. After a few minutes he straightened up, his vision returned to normal, and the pain dissipated.
“That, Mr. Wes, is how the mind interprets a punch in the gut. Imagine how something like a bullet would feel.”
“How is that even possible?” Knowing this was happening in their minds, Wes wondered how he could feel pain when he wasn’t attached to a living body. Even his dead body wouldn’t have hurt like this.
“Discomfort isn’t sensed only by the body,” the younger version of Ken said in an even tone. “Show me where you go when you sleep, Mr. Wes, and I will try to explain it to you.”
It took Wes a few seconds to focus on his mental creation of the Magic Kingdom with the residual aftereffects of the punch still distracting him. The park appeared around them slowly. Part of it faded out of a fog, other scenery appeared as if someone had slowly lifted the dimmer switch that was lighting it, and the final pieces of the overall environment finally appeared to take the place of the nothing that had surrounded them. They stood on the upper deck of the Liberty Belle Riverboat, which was making its way past the Haunted Mansion to the dock in Liberty Square.
“I like it,” Ken said as he walked around the upper deck of the ship. “Do you have the whole park shaped yet?”
“What I can remember of it. I still have some gaps I need to fill in.” Wes joined Ken, who was looking over the railing to watch the boat dock itself at the pier.
“Phenomenal. Simply phenomenal. You’ve done all this already. Mr. Wes, you have impressed me.” Ken smiled at Wes, his younger face wrinkled just as much as his older one.
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