Infernal Father of Mine

by John Corwin

  "Does that really make it snow in Sheboygan?" Elyssa asked.

  He didn't answer, instead unrolling the scroll and placing it on a table in front of her. "Long ago, I made it my sole mission to possess all foreseeances related to the Cataclyst."

  "That's what Lornicus called Justin," she said. "A catalyst for a possible cataclysm."

  "Indeed he is, despite all my attempts to blunt his effectiveness until I was ready."

  Elyssa didn't like the sound of that. "Ready for what?"

  "Foreseeance four-three-one-one supposedly came to pass when Justin and Ivy decided to protect each other, rather than fight," he said. "But there was more to the foreseeance than the scraps which I was unable to keep from circulation."

  "So you're the one behind the cover-up."

  "I am certainly one, but not the only one." He folded his arms. "Information about the future is sheer power, Miss Borathen."

  "Doesn't take a genius to figure that out." It struck her that his trademark genteel southern accent was absent. She glanced at the ancient parchment on the table. "Am I supposed to read this?"

  "Yes."

  "Why are you showing this to me now?"

  He remained silent for a moment. "Because my attempts to alter or resist the future have done little to delay the inevitable. Foreseeances are not set in stone. I have changed the path of others who were to play important roles in the battles to come. Mr. Slade has thus far overcome everything I and the others have thrown in his way."

  A chill crept up her back. "You killed people?"

  A nod. "I have done a great many things I regret, but I will not be stopped from my goal." He motioned toward the scroll. "Read it."

  Elyssa looked at Ivy to be sure she was okay. The young girl was watching a thick snowstorm roiling within the globe. Ivy glanced at Elyssa and gave her a sly wink. She obviously wasn't as entranced as she appeared. Sneaky girl. Elyssa was starting to like Justin's sister more and more all the time.

  "Fine, I'll read it." She looked at the scroll. It was written in what looked like Latin, but someone had scrawled an English translation beneath it.

  The first decision determines who will be the Cataclyst. Once it is determined, the chosen must journey into the shadow of Eden. There will the final choice be revealed. The chosen must be wary, for there are more choices than three. Destruction, rebirth, stagnation—any alone will be the end of all.

  Elyssa gasped and looked up. "I thought the choice had been made. I thought Ivy and Justin canceled each other out by not fighting."

  "Mr. Slade is the Cataclyst." Jeremiah rolled up the parchment. "The final choice will soon present itself, and we have to hope he chooses the right path."

  "The right decision probably depends on perspective," Elyssa said. "We all know whose side you're on."

  "Things are not quite as clear cut as you think, Miss Borathen."

  "What is the shadow of Eden?"

  He placed the scroll on the shelf and turned back to her. "It is where Mr. Slade is right this very moment."

  His statement didn't make any sense. "Eden was a mythical garden, a paradise. Are you telling me it exists?"

  "You're thinking of a Biblical term for a real place." Jeremiah pointed toward a globe. "That is Earth. Earth is divided into many realms. Eden is the term for the mortal realm."

  Elyssa blinked several times. "I've never heard that."

  "I do not have time for history lessons, so I'll cut to the chase, young lady." Jeremiah took off his spectacles and locked eyes. "The shadow of Eden is the Gloom. Mr. Slade is there."

  "The Gloom?" Elyssa felt her forehead pinch. "I don't understand. How—"

  "The Exorcists banished him there. Daelissa hopes to use him for her own purposes."

  "They did what?" Ivy asked, eyes wide with concern. "Why?"

  "It doesn't matter why they did, only that they did," Jeremiah replied in a calm voice. "This is destiny carving a course through the present. Anything you do right now will only interfere or kill you. I suggest you sit back and let him follow the path to its conclusion."

  "How did they send him there?" Elyssa asked. It took all her willpower not to grab the man by his fancy suit jacket and jerk him around.

  "They have an arch within the church which enables them to enter the Gloom at will." Jeremiah motioned her toward the door. "You asked for my help; I have given it."

  "How do you know where he is?" Elyssa asked.

  Old man Conroy gave her a steely look. "Because Daelissa told me."

  Chapter 12

  I stood frozen in the face of a creature even bigger than the tragon from Arcane University.

  "Go!" David shouted, shoving me to the right while the towering monster plowed through buildings.

  I stumbled to the side as Timothy's maniacal shouts reminded me we had a much smaller but no less lethal problem right behind us. We ran down the sidewalk. Cars leapt from the ground as the giant monster continued its rampage through town. I looked behind and saw the raptor burst from the exit and leap over a car. It landed in the street and streaked after us. Godzilla's third cousin twice removed rumbled down the street behind Gloria, trashing buildings and cars as if they were toys.

  "He's mine!" Timothy shrieked repeatedly over the roar and rumble of the rampaging beast.

  "Through there," David yelled, pointing toward a tight alley between a neighboring apartment complex and another parking garage.

  We dodged into the narrow space. David leapt. I ran right into the tin garbage can he'd jumped over and smacked into the sidewalk. The shotgun clattered from my grasp. I heard a hiss and spun onto my back in time to see the raptor reach the alley. It hissed and lunged. I scrambled backward too late. Sharp teeth snapped together inches from my face. The raptor wriggled but its body was too large to fit into the alley.

  "Get him, Gloria!" Timothy shouted.

  The raptor's head swung forward, teeth clacking together as it tried vainly to reach me. I stuck out my tongue. "Guess Gloria needs to go on a crash diet, Timmy."

  The vampire made a sound somewhere between a shout and the squeal a kid makes when throwing a temper tantrum. The building shuddered. Bricks rained down from overhead. One smacked into the concrete to my left while another caught Gloria Richardson right on her pointy noggin. It didn't even draw blood.

  "Move," David said, his hand gripping me under the armpit and pulling me to my feet.

  I stuck out my tongue at Timothy, grabbed the shotgun off the ground, and raced after my father. The building shuddered. Bricks crumbled. The wall caved in as we passed it. I looked back and saw the structure imploding.

  "Run faster," I shouted above the din.

  Brick and mortar dust choked the air, filled my mouth. We burst from the end of the alley and into a large grassy park. I didn't stop running until we were clear of all buildings. My eyes searched for Timothy. David pulled out his pistol and gripped it with both hands. I held the shotgun stock to my shoulder, aiming it like I'd seen in the movies.

  The monster changed course and plowed through two more buildings before reaching into one and pulling out a female. I heard her screams, though. "Gee, let me guess," I said. "Some guy is gonna show up and save her."

  The monster ate her.

  I heard crazed laughter from nearby and assumed it was Timothy. Instead, I saw a short dumpy man dancing with glee near the foot of the lizard monster, shouting something about how women shouldn't ignore him.

  "There are some creepy people in this world," David said.

  "Let's worry about the vampire and not the misogynistic beast master," I said, surveying the area. Clouds of dust enveloped the apartment complex and the street nearby. I waited for the raptor to burst from concealment at any moment. "We're never getting to the Grotto at this rate."

  "I'm more worried about evading a raptor when the fog closes back in." David trained the pistol sights on the dust and backed away a few feet. "At least now we can see him coming."

  A vermillion unicorn tr
otted past with a woman riding on its back. I shook my head and looked north. "I say we make more time while the coast is clear. Maybe a brick hit Timothy on the head."

  David snorted. "If only we could be so lucky."

  A twisting funnel of gray reached into the sky on the nearby horizon. Veins of lightning flashed within the maelstrom, but I didn't hear any accompanying thunder. I wondered if someone was dreaming about being Zeus. The lightning storm lay in the same general direction we had to go, so I used it as a landmark and motioned my father to follow.

  Keeping a careful eye as we went, we made our way down the road without seeing any sign of Timothy. The vortex of cloud and lightning grew larger and larger. We climbed a rise that gave us a good view of the road ahead.

  "Look at that," David said, pointing out several more of the strange tornadoes. "I don't think those are dreams."

  "Not unless someone is dreaming about the end of the world." I noticed some of the storms were larger than others. A monstrous tornado to the south had completely engulfed downtown Atlanta. A smaller whirlwind sprung up in the part of town we'd just come from. I noticed shapes within the clouds and peered at it before realizing what those shapes were. "The storm is full of minders."

  "Definitely not dreams."

  With great effort, I switched to incubus sight and immediately shielded my eyes from the light. "Those aren't clouds." I peeked between my fingers at the brilliant light storms scattered across the landscape. "It's aether. Lots and lots of it."

  "Magical energy?" David said. "I thought it ran through ley lines in the ground."

  "It does. I've never seen this much in the air." I looked down at the street and saw tiny ley lines like capillaries running through it. They faded to darkness over several seconds before pulsing bright white and repeating the cycle. I drew in aether like Shelton had taught me, and felt it gathering in my well—the reservoir where Arcanes held aether for casting spells.

  Try as I might, I couldn't muster even a simple spell with all the magical energy I'd absorbed.

  Why were the ley lines fading in and out? I'd never seen them do that before. A cold shock hit me in the chest. "What if they're draining aether from the earth?"

  "And sending it where?" David looked skyward. "To aliens?"

  I switched back to normal sight. "How come I can use my incubus senses, but I can't use my supernatural strength or speed?"

  "That's a very good question," my father said. "It's a struggle just to use minor abilities. It's as if this place puts a bottleneck between us and our powers."

  "That would explain why it's like sucking through a bent straw." I regarded the light storms, chewing my inner lip as I thought. I remembered the first time I'd used my incubus sight to look through the fog and sense minders. I remembered how bright the fog had been. Gray fog. "Holy crap."

  "What?"

  "The fog isn't fog. It's neutral aether."

  David put a hand on his chin and seemed to mull it over for a moment. "So the Gloom is full of aether."

  "It's invisible in the real world," I explained. "But here it's so thick you can't even see through it."

  "The minders feed off dreams," he said. "What if the minders are creating aether from dreams?"

  "Whoa." I let my brain process the thought. "You think dreams are the source of magic?"

  "Maybe not the source but, quite possibly, one of many sources."

  "Then why does the aether fog exist when people are awake and not dreaming?"

  He shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe we're just jumping to crazy conclusions."

  I turned my view back north. "We need to get moving."

  David surveyed the area around us for a moment. "I'm trying to use my senses to find Timothy, but there are so many minders, it's impossible to single him out."

  "Hopefully he gave up the chase."

  He met my eyes. "I highly doubt that."

  We headed northward. Within what I estimated was an hour, we reached the outskirts of Buckhead. The aether storm in the area had grown to such epic proportions, it claimed a huge chunk of the residential areas. Thankfully, the road leading through the business sector looked clear.

  "I wonder what'll happen if we wander inside that," I said.

  "Let's not find out."

  We stopped at the top of an overpass and took another look at our surroundings. The scene looked like something out of an apocalyptic movie with magical tornadoes all across the landscape. Unlike real tornadoes, however, they didn't seem to cause physical damage. All the same, I didn't want to chance walking into one. For all I knew, the concentration of aether might short-circuit my brain.

  While we walked, I saw dreamscapes popping up with greater frequency. Many of them lasted much longer than the ones we'd seen earlier. As a result we ended up waiting in safe areas for the Gloom to morph back to normal. I tried to use the free time to consider what the minders were doing with the aether, but it was hard to concentrate with the insanity going on around us.

  I lost count of the number of women I saw frolicking with unicorns or riding on the backs of glittering vampires. For every one of them, there seemed to be a dozen men dreaming about saving women from danger. Zombies seemed to be the most popular theme.

  "I don't know how much more of this I can take," I said after dodging a bipedal shark chasing a young boy down the street.

  "Almost there," David said. He looked as tired as he sounded. It was as if the journey had drained all the smartass out of him.

  My feet ached. My back hurt. It felt like I had blisters in places I never knew existed. Even though I hadn't possessed my supernatural abilities for that long, I'd obviously forgotten what it felt like to be a nom—a normal human. Despite all my aches and woes, hope glimmered in my heart as I saw Phipps Plaza just down the road. Beneath it lay the Grotto.

  I heard a distant rumbling and looked up in time to see a flying saucer crash into a skyscraper, sending debris and glass billowing out in a dark cloud. Thankfully, it was far enough away to leave us unaffected. Gathering up my remaining willpower, I jogged down the road toward the mall. The parking lot was nearly empty, which made sense given it was nighttime in the real world. We walked down several ramps into the parking garage, and made our way to the far back where an illusionary wall hid the entrance down into the Grotto, except the illusion wasn't there, just an opening leading down the winding driveway.

  I guess the illusion doesn't exist in the Gloom.

  We exchanged looks, shrugged, and headed down the ramp.

  Aside from the hollow echo of our footsteps, the place was quiet as a tomb and pitch black.

  After several tries, I managed to flick on my night vision and gave thanks when it worked, revealing the descending corridor in a bluish tinge. We reached the vast cavern at the bottom. My night vision only granted vision about thirty or so yards out, so we headed toward the center where the arch should be. An Obsidian arch towered over us. Though it was black, something seemed off about it.

  "Do you notice anything different about the arch?" I asked.

  David looked it up and down. "There is something different about it, but I can't put my finger on it." He pointed in the direction of the doors leading into the Grotto pocket dimension. "I want to see something else."

  We traipsed across the cavern. The ticket booth was there. The stable sat in its usual place. Cars even populated the parking lot, including a zebra-striped Ducati motorcycle with orange tires. The doors to the Grotto came into view. David walked over and opened them. Beyond, a niche ended in a rock wall.

  "Very interesting," he said. "The pocket dimensions don't work here even if the landscape mirrors the mortal realm."

  "The illusionary wall hiding the Grotto entrance wasn't in place either. Maybe the spells in the mortal realm aren't active here." I ran a finger down the wall to verify it wasn't an illusion, and sighed when I found cold stone. "What now? Do we just wait for Gloom fracture—or would that be reality fracture?—and hope we can get through?"
>
  "It won't be quite that simple," David said. "When the Gloom opens in the mortal realm, it causes a vacuum to form. Without preternatural strength, it'll be very hard to push our way through it and into the real world."

  "I could hardly fight the gale it created, even with super strength." I could chalk most of that up to not having a good handhold. Even so, we'd have to fight past the vacuum to establish a grip in the real world. Since I couldn't use magic or manifest into demon form, I really didn't see what we could do on the off-chance a Gloom rift formed.

  "If a fracture forms," David said, "we'll need to signal people on the other side that we need help."

  "Ah hah," I said, holding up a finger. "There's a sporting goods store across the road. Maybe we could grab some flare guns. Heck, maybe they have crossbows or something we could use to shoot a rope into the real world and anchor it on the arch."

  "Great idea, Justin." He slapped me on the back.

  I looked at his hand. "I'm going to have your handprint embedded on my back if you keep doing that."

  He gave me an apologetic look. "Well, I suppose we should head over there now before the fog rolls back in."

  "Yep."

  We went back up the winding ramp, left the mall, and headed across the road for the three-story sporting goods store. We kept our guns at the ready, vigilant for any sign of Timothy, but he had either given up the chase or been squashed by bricks. Chuck's Sporting Goods was part of a complex of other stores, so we had to go through a parking deck to find the front entrance. I groaned when I saw it. A sliding metal barrier covered the glass doors behind it.

  I knelt to examine the bottom of the obstruction. There weren't any latches I could see, but an electronic key lock set into the doorframe appeared to be the only way to raise the door.

  "Crap!" I shouted. "How are we supposed to get inside now?"

  David tested the metal door with a foot. "It's too thick to blast through with guns."

  "Maybe we can pry it up," I suggested, looking at the bottom seam.

  "Where will we find a crowbar?" he asked.

  I stood in silence as I contemplated the problem. Finding a crowbar probably wouldn't be an issue, but it meant exposing ourselves to dangerous dreamscapes. I imagined most of the stores in the area were locked down as tightly as this one. I glanced across the parking deck and saw similar metal plating covering the entrance to another store.