Armageddon Darkness

by David Pollitt

  Chapter 12

  Babylon

  “Andre, this is my Uncle Herod. Uncle Herod this is my husband, Andre Montplier." Angelica introduced them in the middle of an electronic chip plant in Baghdad. They greeted each other with warm European hugs, and Angelica glowed with a grand sense of accomplishment. This was her finest hour, and her plans were falling into place so nicely.

  "Andre, may I call you that?" asked Herod.

  "Of course, shall I call you, Uncle?" asked Andre, then hugged him again.

  "Yes, family is family to me. After all, I've known Niece Angelica for over 5,0… Since, she was a baby. She's always been a favorite of mine. And to think, she got me this contract with you Europeans. How wonderful! How absolutely wonderful!"

  Herod towered over Andre, and Andre could see where Angelica got her tall features. He figured that Herod was over seven-foot tall. He looked so handsome and highly professional that he was alluring, magnetic, and Andre had this great sense of wanting to please him even though he just met him.

  "Your excitement is contagious. I'm so glad to have family helping family, don't you think?" asked Andre.

  "Yes, yes, my new friend. Now, let me show you our operation. Oh, Angelica, did you know the Count and Sister Jessica were here yesterday? What a wonderful couple, don't you think?" remarked Herod while watching Angelica closely after his comment. He expected an explosion, more hoped for it, but didn't get it.

  "Yes, Uncle, yes. They're made for each other. Tell me, Uncle. Have you bet on the horses, lately?" she asked while staring directly into his eyes.

  Herod looked mysteriously at her, and then realized what the question was about. "Oh, my dear niece, I stopped that years ago. If I did bet, it would be only on the best and most spirited filly. I would even venture to say the filly that strikes, I mean, comes out of the gate first will always be the winner."

  Angelica got the message and in a millisecond decided what to do. She would be the first to strike, and she'd be the only one standing. By this evening, the Count would be dead.

  The plant tour showed Andre massive robotic machines producing hundreds of thousands of chips per minute. Herod was terribly proud of his small Babylonian kingdom.

  "You see, Andre, here is the main production plant where we box and pack them; and with every box of two thousand chips, we include a shipment of 500 I.D. scanners produced from our scanner production in another building. No sense in giving out this kind of technology if no one has scanners to use them."

  "Where are the shipments for America? I don't see any labels marked for them." Andre handled the shipping labels and saw labels for every country but the U.S., Britain, Ireland, Canada, and Israel.

  "Didn't you tell me that you alternate the boxes between each participating country to ensure that each is given an equal allotment?" asked Andre.

  This was part of the Angelica conspiracy against the U.S. and its partners. They were developing different kinds of chips for them. These chips had the capability of infecting a disabling neurological disease for its wearers. Apollyon had seeded Angelica’s mind with this idea without giving her a way to trigger it. It was like one of those promises, “You build it, and they will come.” So, Angelica built it based on this promise that when the time came that Apollyon would provide a way to activate the disease. The promise was to the Anti-Christ victor, and Apollyon already knew who would win—common sense and deep-seated respect for true evil made him bet on Angelica. He could always switch sides if he was wrong but knew he wouldn’t be.

  Herod went quiet and looked to Angelica for help. Andre noticed, being an astute reader of body language. "Uncle, is there something you're not telling me?"

  Angelica stepped in, "Andre, we didn't tell you. We have a separate plant for those countries. We wanted to make sure they received special treatment. After all, the U.S. is the originator of the technology and the largest of our great financial union. Are they not? The rest have always been considered their most favorite allies. Those particular Anglo Saxons stick together, you know? We figured that Israel would feel better on the same agenda as the U.S., not wanting to be treated as the stepchild this time."

  Andre didn't say a word for a moment, and then shrugged, "That sounds reasonable, but why are you two acting so mysterious about it? Angelica, don't keep secrets from me, no matter how small, okay? A marriage made in heaven can't be built on any secrets, even small ones."

  Herod burst out in a suppressed laugh. "A marriage made in heaven! Oh, Angelica you really have a gem here! Oh, my, you really have a pearl!" and continued to try to contain his laughter but couldn't. He finally had to go to the lounge to get a drink of water before he calmed down.

  "Andre, would you like to go see their plant. It's on the other side of our facility only three miles from here."

  "No dear, but can anyone tell me when the European shipments will start? After all, just like you said, the U.S. and Anglo Saxon partners have already received their first shipments. Their first census deadline for most of their Southern states starts tomorrow. I'm sorry that I can't remember all those American Indian names they use for states and cities. I don't believe we have a single European city on schedule for our census, do we?"

  "Yes and no. The U.S. has received more than enough to handle what they need to start. Their census deadlines for the rest of their country will follow every week divided between the Northeast, Midwest, Western, and West Coast states. The European chips are already on their way, and France will go first, starting with Paris in two days. The rest will follow immediately, and everyone will be as the Americans say, 'Even-Steven' within the next two weeks."

  "Wonderful news! What is the drop-dead date for the completion of this?" asked Andre.

  "We've calculated that it will take less than six weeks. Is that good enough? At the end of the six weeks, not a dime will flow, other than through our centralized system," answered Angelica.

  "Angelica, your are a marvel. I'm so glad I assigned you the task of overseeing all this."

  "Let's return to our hotel, Andre. I have some things I'd like you to go over me with," said Angelica winking at him. She didn't say it incorrectly. He knew exactly what she meant.

  "Thank you, Uncle. I've got to go," replied Angelica.

  She and Andre turned and walked briskly towards the parking lot. His limousine pulled up promptly, and they jumped in excitedly, giggling like two school kids. Once in, Angelica didn't wait to get to the hotel. She had them circling Baghdad suburbs for over two hours.

  At one the next morning, Angelica slipped out of bed and left her exhausted Andre in a dead sleep. She needed him to stay out for a while. She moved quietly to the hotel lobby. Outside, one of her Uncle's limousines waited. She got in the backseat and nodded to her Uncle.

  "I take it that Andre is a happy man?" he asked.

  "He ought to be. I didn't ever let him rest. For a human, he's quite the long-distance runner—a marathon love."

  "That's quite a compliment coming from you, Angelica. Driver, take us to the Embassy Hotel. I got what you ordered. This is from Sint's old private laboratory. He always bragged that he killed thousands with this potion. With the curses mixed with it, it will even work on angels if that's what you want."

  "I haven't decided on that part yet. The Count is dead. I'll let you know about Sister Jessica."

  They pulled up to the hotel, and the night clerk bowed ceremoniously towards Herod while immediately recognizing him. Angelica walked past the bellboy and turned to address him, "Is that you, Little Ahaz? I haven't seen you in awhile." She kept walking, not giving him a second notice or waiting for an answer.

  As Angelica got on the elevator, she had a sense that Sister Jessica was not only near, but awake and waiting. This complicated things, but nothing was stopping her. At the penthouse floor, she moved into its lobby in front of a row of expansive suites. The Count's room was number 999. She noticed that Sister Jessica had turned the numbers upside down as a joke.
Angelica chuckled under her breath. As she started to knock, she changed her mind. For the first time since coming to earth to be with Andre, she changed into her true angel form.

  Her dark wings shot out and wrapped her tall body with their black feathers. She felt the freedom of her natural form and breathed deeply while feeling her own dark star eyes pulsating within her head. She watched as dark nails appeared with talon sharpness, and she stretched enjoying the additional height of her normal angel form. She put the bottle of dark liquid in her belted waist and pulled a long sword from a sheath on her back. It rang loudly as the metal against metal gave her away. Without a moment to lose, she kicked the door in and rolled artfully through the door while taking on a defensive posture. Sister Jessica didn't move but watched her from the back of the door while also being in her natural angel form.

  "I knew you couldn't resist coming for him after our visit. You're scared of me, aren't you? You're scared that I'll win. I knew you couldn't resist doing it this way. You'll never have the patience like me to wait it out. You've killed all his competitors and anyone that came against him. I didn't. I did it the old fashion way with money and at the polls. You'll never be as good as I've been."

  Sister Jessica drew her sword and lunged for Angelica. Angelica lifted herself off the floor and levitated over her head, then viciously swung her sword that barely missed Jessica’s head. Sister Jessica lunged again and plunged her sword into Angelica's lower abdomen while Angelica shrieked and rolled back onto the floor.

  Sister Jessica didn't attack as expected but seemed to be toying with her like a cat with a mouse. Angelica held her sword in one hand and placed her other hand over her wound to instantly heal.

  "Your plan might work if I’m in charge, not you. Your Uncle Herod told me about the American alliance's plant. When I win, I will be given the trigger from Apollyon, not you: to the victor go the spoils.”

  They faced each other with swords poised while carrying on a conversation about end times that revealed more than just jealousy and rage but a certainty about their tasks that made the Anti-Christ the ultimate trophy.

  Angelica responded, "I know what to do. I've got the guts to do it. You won't win. The Count won't win. That silly Nephilim won't win. I know what she wants to do. I saw it in her eyes. She's going to try to take back the money. She thinks that she can win by being more murderous than me. That's why I'll win. It will take a murderer to do this, not a negotiator or a politician. That's all you are. You're a stupid witch who thinks the old ways are gone; when in reality, they will be the only ways that win. I'll kill more Christians in the next six months than she's ever seen in her lifetime. Our concentration camps won't reeducate them. I'll have the Nazi ways and methods resurrected 10,000 fold. Every church building and every biblical reference to God will be burned from Europe. Nothing will be left but us. In six months, the United States and its alliances will be so disabled by those chips that they'll not even be able to fight their way out of a paper bag. They'll be out of the picture, leaving only Andre and me."

  Angelica reached into her belt and pulled out Sint's bottle. She turned her back on Sister Jessica and deliberately gave her an advantage, but it was worth the gamble. While she quickly poured some of the dark liquid on her sword tip, Sister Jessica seized the moment. She raced for Angelica and ran her sword through her back exiting her stomach, but Angelica continued to doctor the sword midst her pain. She placed the bottle back under her belt while faking her anguish. It hurt, but not that bad.

  Sister Jessica pulled the sword out to take advantage of the moment and knew she wouldn't be able to heal that fast from such a terrible wound. Angelica turned towards her while withdrawing just enough to get her own sword well positioned. She let Sister Jessica get the advantage again and purposely left herself open. Sister Jessica charged again and ran her sword through Angelica's chest. When Sister Jessica drew close enough, Angelica awkwardly swung her sword in a shallow semicircle that barely cut Sister Jessica’s face, lips, and chin. She almost couldn’t do it for the pain, but knew that it was enough, even though more of a deep scratch.

  Sister Jessica thought to herself, "Why didn't she try to cut my head off? She could have at least tried. She would have. She knew that Angelica must now be in terrible pain." She got her answer soon enough. Angelica pushed Sister Jessica away from her with a swift kick to her chest, then jumped up from her supposed agony while still pushing intestines back into herself and healing as fast as possible.

  "You're just not savage enough to do this, Sister. You'll have to excuse me while I go kill your husband. You're not going anywhere. In fact, if you watch yourself in the mirror, you'll see your flesh melting from your body. It's a gift from Sint Hades; remember him, Apollyon's great assassin? You're dead, eternally, little girl, forever, this time."

  Sister Jessica shrieked as she felt her skin disappearing from her body. She felt the old curses of Sint's poison eating away at her and felt the terrible pain of it sucking the life from her. It was as if a bottle of sulfuric acid had been poured on her. But, this acid was full of the enchantments of the dark places, the only combination of evils that could kill an angel. She ran for the mirror, placed her hands flat on it, and watched the flesh melt from her fingers and causing her to slide to the floor in a mess. Angelica turned to see the Count walking sleepily from his bedroom after having awakened from his deep drug sleep.

  "What in the heck is going on? Oh, no, what are you? What is this?"

  Angelica savored the moment. She pushed some more on her stomach wound and rubbed her chest, healing both now. She danced in a circle in front of him singing, "The wicked witch is dead! The wicked witch is dead! Now, so are you!"

  She jumped on him and knocked him to the floor. Sitting on top of him with her knees pressing on his armpits, she quickly got out the remaining potion and grabbed his face. Pushing his chin down forcibly, she poured the poison into his mouth and pushed his jaws closed, not wanting it spit back at her. He twisted under her weight and felt his insides melting in terrible pain. Angelica felt less of him under her than before. She stood up as he joined Sister Jessica in another mess on the floor.

      