Cataclysm

by Karice Bolton

  I couldn’t wait to get my hands on these demonic beings. They were running away from Athen and I, hollering for help, but dark demons were never a group to put themselves out for another, so we weren’t concerned. Nobody would come for them.

  Athen caught up to me, and I paused briefly, smiling at him as we both set our sight on our evil targets. The excitement level overflowed as I thought about fighting these two with Athen by my side.

  “Let’s teach these guys a lesson!” I yelled, as my body flew on the one closest to me. Tackling him to the forest floor, I flipped him over.

  “You really shouldn’t pick on beings that are smaller than you or helpless,” I preached, pinning his shoulders to the ground.

  Athen flew over me, collapsing on the other escaped demon.

  “Just let us go, man!” The demon Athen tackled, mumbled.

  “I thought we made it clear, that wasn’t going to happen,” I laughed, as the demon threw me off of him, only to have me still hanging on to him, so that we both crashed into the nearest tree.

  “I’m gonna make this painless for you,” Athen said. “I’m going to put you to sleep and when you wake up, you won’t remember any of this.”

  The demon attempted to grab at Athen’s neck, but Athen reciprocated the gesture, and the black mist began seeping into the air as Athen’s fingers slowly released themselves. Athen finished his prey quickly. I began to feel guilty for toying with mine. It probably caused more trouble than it was worth.

  Matilda’s bark came through the forest, which made me realize that we had gotten back who we needed. I didn’t need to prolong this. We were able to end these demons before they went back to tell Lilith and her crew everything. That was a victory.

  Picking the demon back up from the ground, I threw him against the tree, watching his body wrap around the trunk. He slid down the tree, and it took everything I had not to go over and give him one more kick for trying to hurt Matilda, but the mist was already escaping. The job had been done.

  Athen and I walked back underneath the canopy of brilliantly colored maple leaves to greet everyone. The unspoken decision had been made. No more placing Matilda in harm’s way. In fact, as the battles grew closer, we would need to find a place for her to hide.

  Arie cuddled Matilda as tightly as when I left. Matilda finally began to relax enough to let some of her snores out in between her breaths.

  “Never again,” Cyril mumbled.

  “Let’s get off this mountain. We’ve seen enough and owe Matilda a lot,” Athen said, wrapping his arm around me.

  I glanced over at Noah, who gave the demon he destroyed one last kick. I knew I liked him.

  I winked at him, and he smiled back at me, following us down off the mountain.

  We were all anxious to plug in the Go Pro Camera that had been attached to Matilda. Even if it was only for a few short minutes, there was bound to be something on there for us to see.

  “How did they get hold of Matilda?” I asked.

  “There was another boulder up the mountain that we thought might somehow connect to where you were going. We thought it would be interesting to get a perspective from both ends,” Cyril explained.

  “Obviously worth it.” I glared at Cyril.

  “Yeah, I get it.” Cyril agreed.

  We were about to the parking lot when Noah finally broke the silence.

  “I think I’m gonna head out for a while, try to get some more info. After seeing what I did in the tunnels, it makes me think that the more reconnaissance missions I can get going, the more confident I’ll feel. It was ridiculous what they had down there. Before we begin planning the rest of the battles, I think it’s important to see what else we might be dealing with.”

  “Are you sure, man?” Athen asked, patting his shoulder. “You’re always welcome to stay at our place.”

  “Thanks, I appreciate that,” Noah replied. “But I think the quicker I can get out there, the better. I’ll probably gather everything up tonight.”

  We all climbed into the Jeep in silence, as I placed Matilda on my lap and squeezed her like never before. I enjoyed Noah’s company and realized I really didn’t want him to leave. I didn’t like the idea of him being alone, but looking in his eyes told me everything. He’d probably be out of our house by morning.

  Chapter 10

  “Azazel is creating an army with mortals as we speak. They all are. The leaders of all the factions are creating numbers that we’ve never faced before. I know we’d like to think that there aren’t that many willing participants in the mortal world, but it’s not looking like that’s the case. There are a lot of people on the edge, and the dark demons are able to work their magic, promising them eternal youth - living forever, all that garbage. It’s far too tantalizing to ignore, I guess. The demons just forget to tell them the really essential parts like how they’ll be walking around like zombies and losing their families forever.” Cyril no longer tried to hide the anger in his voice.

  “It true,” Arie began. “If our side doesn’t start to figure out how to bring more recruits in, we could possibly lose the battle before it’s even begun.”

  “What are you guys saying? If it’s what I think you are implying, I’m at a loss for words. I can’t even believe you would bring that up!” I looked at Athen for backup and got nothing, so I kept on going.

  “I didn’t think we could do those things and wouldn’t that be defeating the purpose of fighting for the humans in the first place, if we are just taking them over for ourselves?” My fingers were digging into the dining room table, etching my anger into the pine.

  “We may have no choice.” Athen’s voice completely took me by surprise.

  Standing up, I looked at them all as if they were strangers. I couldn’t believe that they were trying to convince me that it was okay to start recruiting humans for our purposes. It felt like the walls were collapsing down on me from every direction. The home I had grown so fond of gave me no comfort. Nothing seemed familiar – our beliefs, the eyes looking back at me, nothing. Were they serious?

  “No choice?” My voice was shaking uncontrollably.

  “It’s nothing we’ve ever had to face before. It might be the only option we have now… our only choice, really.” Arie tried her best to calm me, but failed.

  “We don’t have a choice.” Cyril’s eyes were full of pain, but I wasn’t sure if it was for me or the mortals he was talking about destroying.

  “We always have a choice! I don’t want to turn into a soul sucker like those despicable beings!” I screamed at them all, my gaze ending on Athen. “We always have a choice,” I repeated, shaking my head in utter disbelief. I grabbed my coat off the chair and headed out of the room.

  The candles’ flames in the entry hall dipped and rebounded with the speed that I passed by them on my way to anywhere but where I was.

  “I’ll see you guys later,” I yelled back into the room of strangers, hoping nobody would follow me, not even Athen. That last thought surprised me beyond all others.

  As I closed the door I heard Arie whispering to Athen and the words were loud and clear.

  “We must show her what we’re up against, brother. No matter how hard it is on us all.”

  It was as if I didn’t even know my own family any longer. I was finally coming into my own, with more memories of my past than ever before. The flashes of light and the beautiful images would flood my dreams most every night. There were several things I was certain of from my past. We were always a team; we continually did what was right; and we consistently won. But this time, would we be willing to do anything to win and at what cost?

  Thinking back to the centuries of war we have all witnessed among the mortals, it was hard to place the same values on the mortal and immortal worlds, as they were now colliding.

  Walking down the driveway of our Kingston home made me think back to the first time I arrived here. I was so timid and unsure of myself reentering into this so-called immortal life. Now, my
confidence was growing daily, but my role in the world seemed to be constantly shifting. I was released from a life filled with loneliness and blissful ignorance into a life filled with love and grave consequences.

  The gravel crunched under my feet as I made my way to the road leading into town. I could feel the tiny pinecones fracturing with every step I took, feeling a bit like my heart, as I thought about the choice my family was asking me to make.

  I didn’t know where I was walking to exactly, but I needed a release before I lost my mind in that home. Could Athen and everybody be right? Was there anything in our history that would lead them to think this was the only way, but something I hadn’t yet recaptured in my memories?

  The road I was wandering along seemed endless, as did my mind’s constant stream of thoughts. Seeing a glimpse of the ocean through the trees began to give me the strength I needed. The glistening grey-blue water rippled with the currents of the tide, reminding me how very little time we all have had on earth. The water, I so often admired, had been here longer than I could even understand. Were we meant to mettle in mankind’s fate? Was I truly the reason Azazel wanted to destroy the humans? Did he expect me to want to save the mortals by going over to his side, and then he would trick me and destroy all the mortals regardless?

  I found myself at a dead end, literally. I looked around, and the road had stopped. There was only a thick forest in front of me. The pavement was no longer recognizable with its beautiful canvas of pinecones peppered on top of the grey stone, littering the ground in a wondrous maze. My short walk alone provided me with nothing but questions. Questions only my family could help me answer. It was so strange that I didn’t see the parallels before tonight. Bending down, I grabbed a few of the pinecones for a keepsake. I needed to better appreciate the world surrounding me because I no longer knew how much longer any of us had it for. Feeling the sap slowly melt down my fingertips, I fully understood why my family was contemplating this alternative, but unlike the sap that I could wash off, I wasn’t sure the decisions we might make would so easily be forgiven.

  Turning back around to make the trek back home, Athen suddenly appeared. The beauty of his smile warmed my heart. He always knew when to give me the time I needed, and he sensed when I had enough time by myself to save me from my own thoughts. Clutching me in his arms, I knew the decisions facing us all would, also, change us forever. I wasn’t sure I was ready for that.

  “I love you, my angel,” Athen whispered into my ear. “All the choices are bad ones, but that’s what we’re faced with right now.”

  My face sunk into his wool coat, comforted by his embrace. Taking a deep breath in, I smelled a mixture of the pinecones I picked up and then Athen. The earthy smell from them both was intoxicating.

  “Do you think there will be an end?” I asked. “Regardless of what we choose?”

  “There’ll be an end. We just need to make sure that we’re as large of a part of it as he is. Let’s get going, hun. It’s getting pretty cold,” he said.

  “Is there any way to do it so that they aren’t harmed, for good?” I asked, afraid to hear the answer.

  “The humans? Kind of depends on your definition of harmed, I guess,” he took a deep breath in. “There is another method that hasn’t ever been tried before, but…” His voice trailed off. Flipping me on his back, we sped back to our home. The speed of the ride brought me one step closer to making a decision that could change the landscape of the battle forever.

  Landing on our doorstep, I slithered off of Athen’s back before I even had time to think about what he implied. Arie opened the door and bounded outside hugging me in a tight embrace, full of sorrow and comfort.

  “I’m sorry, sweetie. We never should’ve brought it up like that. We only meant,” she began, but I stopped her.

  “No, I understand. I really didn’t want to hear it though, but as I reached the end of the road down there, I realized there are only so many options. That being said, I want to us to investigate them all,” I said, looking directly at Athen.

  Knowing exactly what I was referring to, he nodded.

  I knew we would be trying that other avenue that nobody had bothered to mention. They just might not know it yet. If the memsors can work for our family, I’d be willing to bet a lot of other oddities might as well, if we have the faith to believe in them.

  Chapter 11

  The scene was more than I could handle. I’d swear I was inside of my nightmares, but I wasn’t. I was wide-awake. I had followed Arie down an alley that had seen better days. Between trash rolling down the cobblestones with the constant breeze, and piles of blankets with living beings huddled underneath, I couldn’t imagine what more depressing thing she had in store for me. We made it to an inconspicuous door that she opened with a heavy scrape. Arie took my hand and led me down to the basement of some sort of club in Seattle.

  What I didn’t know was tonight’s events would change my entire perception of the war we were facing. Seeing the graffiti on the brick walls, as we both attempted to navigate the steep stairs, only secured the fear I had brewing deep inside. I was about to encounter a sight I wouldn’t soon forget.

  The cigarette-covered concrete floors led the way to a room that radiated evil before I even saw a glimpse of what things were going on inside. The walls of the basement were covered in homemade sconces holding the only light in the building. The candles were casting off just enough of a glow that I could make out the images of humans leaning against the wall, or who were collapsed on the floor. I saw mortals who were at their last breaking point. They were already on the edge between this world and the next.

  It was like they were all on some sort of hallucinogenic that I wanted to stay far away from. Their eyes were as hollow as I had seen in any demon, only they were human. I had to remind myself that these, indeed, were still mortal beings.

  Doing my best to make my way through the narrow hallway cluttered with people, I prayed that Arie and I would be able to make it out of whatever dungeon she had led us into.

  As we walked down the corridor leading to the room that glowed, the anxiety began building in my abdomen. The epitome of wicked mortality seemed to be exploding before me and there was nothing I could.

  The stench began to overwhelm all of my senses. A cackle started echoing down the hall, only it wasn’t otherworldly. This was a mortal cackle. What I was about to witness encompassed the evilness that mortals could inflict on each other, regardless of what we do to try to stop it.

  These were the humans who could change the outcome of the battles we were facing. If they became possessed in the numbers that were out there, we might not be able to match their numbers. The driving force behind this scene was ignorance. That was one thing I was certain of.

  I could sense Arie channeling something to me, but I wasn’t sure if I was coherent enough to receive her message. The loud techno music began tunneling itself towards me as I made my way the last several feet. The thumping from the bass of the music vibrated me to my core. The words were unrecognizable, but the beat put everyone in an almost trance-like state

  “You’re going to be okay. You’re strong enough to see this. I wouldn’t subject you to this if it wasn’t crucial to figuring out our strategy.” Arie’s words penetrated what little amount of amiable cortex I had available. The pounding music created an inability to gauge what was going on around me.

  A thick blanket of smoke began rolling out of the room we were about to enter. I could no longer handle this by myself. I clutched onto Arie’s hand as we both entered a realm not in either the mortal or otherworld. Women’s bodies were sprawled out on the ground, convulsing to the beat of the music. There were other women and men dancing over them all, sprinkling them with some sort of clear liquid from ceramic bowls. It felt like a thrown together ritual that didn’t have much of a point, but they took it very seriously. The air continued to be filled with a thick cloud, making it a lot more difficult for me to understand what I was seeing.
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  There was a large concrete table centered in the middle of the room, which had a woman tied down to it. She didn’t look like she was aware of what was going on. I assumed she was as drugged as the rest of them. She was outfitted in the same attire as most of the people surrounding her, all black. There was nothing to call out individualism in any way whatsoever. It was like I was seeing a room full of zombies with their flesh still attached. I was certain they were on pretty heavy drugs, but I had no idea what kind.

  Then it hit me. They were ready to become the dogs that Azazel so enjoyed toting around with him, only they didn’t know it yet.

  “Have they committed, yet, to Azazel?” I channeled to Arie.

  The bodies around me began rhythmically bowing to the floor in dance-like movements. I, under normal circumstances, would have been worried for my own well-being, but these people were so out of it that all they cared about was what was directly in front of them.

  “What is going to happen to her?” I channeled to Arie.

  “She’s the sacrifice. She’ll deliver the one-way entry for all of these fools to follow Azazel,” she told me through our unspoken words.

  “They aren’t going to kill her are they? We can’t let that happen!” I directed at Arie.

  “No, they aren’t doing that, thankfully, but it is probably just as horrid. She’s their best to stand next to whatever demon summoned this event up. Her soul will no longer belong to her.”

  “Are we going to stay here for the entire process?” I needed to know what to prepare myself for.

  “I think we should. We need to see how easy the process is for the demons to gather new followers. So far, judging by everything, it looks far too easy,” she replied.