The Angel of the Abyss

by Hank Schwaeble

  She took a long drag on the cigarette, blew twin dragon puffs out her nose. “One day a priest gave a mass at Hollydale. The patients were filed into a secure room, a giant cell really, with armed guards. During communion, one of the patients begged the priest to take his confession. Being a true man of God, the priest agreed. Of course, the sanctity of the confessional required this be done in private. So the priest convinced the guards to allow him to be alone with the man in a nearby room, assuring them the man was no threat. The guards agreed, took him to a quiet place, and left him, told him they'd return in fifteen minutes.”

  “I'll be shocked if this little anecdote doesn't end well.”

  “Oh, it does.” She flicked the end of her cigarette, dumping ash onto the table. “As soon as the guards left, the patient pulled out a small pocket knife he'd found and kept hidden for just such an occasion. Without saying a word, he cut the priest's throat, severing his larynx, and he removed his keys. Then he used the keys to unlock and leave the room, and returned to where the mass had been. He unlocked that room and let all those patients out. Insane patients, murderers, rapists among them. Lunatics, all.”

  “Does one of them still roam the grounds with a hook for a hand or something?”

  “They stormed through the hospital,” she continued, ignoring him. “A couple dozen of them. Doctors and nurses lost all control. More patients were set loose. It was total chaos. Bedlam, if you will.”

  “I see what you did there. Nice. What I don't see is why you're telling me this urban legend.”

  “Legend, you call it? Maybe. But people lived on these grounds, houses with families. And if the legend is true, a couple of them were dragged into this building. One a teenage girl, the other a young boy. It's said they were mutilated. Dismembered. One of the patients was found scooping blood from the girl’s open torso and slurping it out of his hands. That's why they shut the place down. This was pre-Internet, and enough money was paid to keep things quiet. It's also why the closure happened so suddenly, why everything was left behind. Even body parts in freezers.”

  “That's a hell of a story. I hope you have a hell of a reason for dragging me all the way out here to hear it. We could have had this conversation on the phone.”

  Her lips tugged into a smile. “Interesting choice of words. Yes, there is a reason. Places like this retain energy. It creates the proper ambience.”

  “Proper for what?”

  “For a talk,” said another voice. Deep, sonorous. “About a matter of deep concern.”

  Hatcher turned to see a man step forward out of the shadows. Forty-something, thinning hair. He looked familiar, but something seemed different. He stood erect, projecting confidence, almost swagger. His skin was smooth, almost lustrous. He seemed bigger than he actually was. A presence. His eyes gleamed as they caught the tiniest edge of light, glistening like something hard and smooth.

  Hatcher squinted, pushing his gaze into the man. “Micah?”

  The man watched him, his features inscrutable, his body so quiet it seemed to amplify that presence. “No,” he said.

  “We have a proposition for you,” Deborah said, speaking up. “One you definitely want to hear.”

  “Something's been taken from me. This deceptively charming young lady here tells me you're just the man to help me get it back. I hope for both our sakes that is true.”

  Hatcher studied the man, his features, tossed a look at Deborah, then back. “Vivian's not in Hell, if she ever was. You have nothing to offer me, whoever you are. Besides, I made a promise. I'm done.”

  “Oh, that's most assuredly untrue. But, regardless, this is not about what I have to offer. This is about what will result if you refuse, an outcome I can guarantee is one you do not want.”

  “If you're going to say this is something about redeeming my soul, somehow I don't think getting involved in this stuff has improved my standing one bit. Certainly not when it comes to that. I think I'll take my chances.”

  “No, not that. You don't grasp the magnitude of what's at stake. The balance between this plane and its darkest foil, this potentiality and another, has been tipped. We are talking about a balance that has held for millennia. This concerns you whether you want it to or not. Barriers have been smashed, unimaginable eventualities set in motion.”

  “Sort of like a mental patient acquiring the keys to the asylum,” Deborah said.

  “I think I'll sit this one out.”

  “No,” the man said. “No, you won't. You will help me correct what you have served to topple. That boy you saved. You have no idea what he's capable of.”

  Hatcher glanced at Deborah. The boy? “He's just a kid.”

  “Do you think rescuing him, risking everything to do so, was your own idea? Did you not wonder why you suddenly abandoned your goal of saving the one you set out for, only to become focused on the child? I'm sure it seemed like your idea. But it was not.”

  The question had crossed his mind, but he wasn't about to admit that. “You're saying it was the boy's?”

  “Tell me, when you passed through the mansion of your torments, sampling an infinitesimal taste of what lay in store, did you understand the celebration? Do you know why they were rejoicing?”

  Hatcher remembered the scene, the fire, the masks, the immolation. “Some sort of Cult of Raum?”

  “No,” the man said, his orotund voice filling Hatcher's ears, dulcet, almost effortless in its projection. Like he was standing at Hatcher's side, whispering into each of them, one word at a time. “Not Raum.”

  “What are you saying? That the boy, Gabriel, is not really a child?”

  “Oh, no, he most certainly is. Only, we're talking about a child that is father to something that will end everything you know, change everything on this plane – and not just this plane – forever. A child with the potential to usher in a new reality unimaginable to someone like you. One barely imaginable to someone like me. And once he does that, retaking the throne will be impossible. You are going to help me see that doesn't happen.”

  “Throne? You can't seriously mean...”

  The man tilted his head ever so slightly, his stone solid features showing a trace of curiosity, but little else. “Do I really need to introduce myself?”

  Deborah leaned forward, parting her lips enough to allow a phantom of smoke to creep out. “In case you're actually wondering,” she said. “I'll give you a hint.”

  She took another hit from her cigarette, dropped it to the floor and ground it beneath her pump. “He's a man of wealth and taste.”

  Thanks for reading The Angel of the Abyss.

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  Mayday Hills Lunatic Asylum

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  Sydney, Australia

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  “Cinematic and evocative, Into the Mist is a tension-packed expedition into primordial terror.

  Murray’s writing had me feeling the damp of the forest, seeing the mist curling through the fern fronds, and sensing the danger lurking there.

  Ancient myths, military men and scientists placed in remote, primordial locations – it had all the right ingredients for me, and it didn’t disappoint for a moment.

  Lee Murray is an author to watch.”

  – Greig Beck, best-selling author of the Arcadian series

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  Desperate to bring his charges out alive, Taine draws on ancient tribal wisdom. Will it be enough to stop the nightmare? And when the mist clears, will anyone be left?

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  When a killer crosses the veil to seek revenge on Rowley for killing him, gibbering horrors cross into reality with him, rending life and sanity to slake their insatiable thirsts. The line between reality and madness slips, catching Matt and his family between.

  PRAISE FOR THE MATT ROWLEY SERIES:

  Jade Sky is a an ass-kicking action-fantasy that takes no prisoners. Lightning fast, brutal and way too much fun. Highly recommended!”

  --Jonathan Maberry, New York Times Bestselling author of Code Zero and Fall of Night

  Jade Sky is one of those all too rare reading experiences that just consumes you... Freivald made a future so rich in detail and so full of life and energy that I couldn’t help but lose myself in it. This is a book full of wild invention and even wilder action, yet grounded by a genuinely sympathetic love for the people who live there. Freivald has truly reached a new high water mark here, which is pretty scary considering that he was already so damn good.”

  --Joe McKinney, Bram Stoker Award®-winning author of Plague of the Undead

  “Buckle up and insert your mouthguard because Jade Sky is a fast ride and Patrick Freivald knows how to write with his fists. Smart, witty, and packed with action and suspense, this is a perfect summertime read. I’m looking forward to reading more Freivald. This guy’s good.”

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  Fathomless by Greig Beck

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  Carcharodon Megalodon – the largest and most fearsome predator to have ever existed on our planet. Rumors of its existence in our modern oceans have persisted for centuries. Now, in a new adventure, the rumors explode into brutal and terrifying reality in FATHOMLESS, by GREIG BECK.

  Baranof Island, Gulf of Alaska, 1952

  Jim Granger is searching for a place of legend. Known as ‘Bad Water’ by the island’s elders, it’s reputed to be home to many dangerous creatures. Through a seam in a cliff face, Jim finds what he seeks. He also finds, too late, that the water demon he was warned about is horrifyingly real.

  Today, Cate Granger is following in her grandfather’s footsteps. Along with a team of scientists and crew, she accidentally releases a creature from Earth’s primordial past into today’s oceans. The giant Megalodon shark follows its instinct and a genetic memory of a home that once existed millions of years ago along the Californian coast. Nothing is safe on or below the water as the monster stakes its claim on the world’s oceans.

  Now Cate and her team must do battle with a creature that has no rival, knows no fear, and regards humans as nothing more than prey.

  In FATHOMLESS, the greatest predator the world has ever known is coming home in 2016.

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  —Michael R Collings Book Blog.

  “… FATHOMLESS has all the markings of a thoroughbred. Borrowing from Michael Crichton, Clive Cussler and, in this particular book, the JAWS man himself Peter Benchley – FATHOMLESS is an engaging and intelligent novel that promises thrills and adventure and delivers.”

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