Armageddon Bound

by Tim Marquitz

  He knew the jig was up.

  Behind his gun-toting goons, Baalth pulled his dripping hand from Glorius’s chest and looked up at Asmoday. A subtle grin played across his lips. A second later, I saw his eyes roll back and a wave of pleasure washed across his face. He dropped to his knees in the throes of a soul transfer so fierce none of the rest of us could ever hope to fathom its depth. If I’d had the energy to cry, I’d have let loose like a bawling baby. Despite all the suffering and sacrifices we’d endured to stop Asmoday from gathering enough power to bring about Armageddon, I never once imagined Baalth would arrive at the last minute and steal victory out from underneath all of our noses. In but a few seconds, he had altered the status quo of existence. And all in his favor, go figure. Uncertain of what it all meant in the grand scheme of things, Baalth a far cry from the kind of demon Asmoday was, I could only wait and see where things went. It’s not like I could stop him. In the end, I guess it didn’t matter all that much anymore. No matter what happened, I was still bent over the barrel like all the rest of the grunts. I was out of this fight. Resigned to being a helpless voyeur, I turned my focus back to Baalth as the transfer neared its end. Baalth rose to his feet, his tanned face flush with excitement. I didn’t even need to extend my senses to feel the power that emanated from him. It wafted Page 288

  off in thick waves. I could feel it almost like a physical presence. I watched his eyes glisten as he glanced around the room, perhaps seeing it in a way none of the rest could. He exuded a confidence I’d never seen in anyone, save for Lucifer. In one fell swoop, Baalth had realized his dreams. There was no doubt he’d become the new Satan. Only now, there was no God to rein him in. We were in for a wild ride.

  Baalth smiled at me with surprising warmth before turning to confront Asmoday, his face cold. He stepped past his flunkies and moved to within feet of his once fellow lieutenant.

  “I have to hand it to you, Asmoday, this was quite a scheme.” He gestured to the room with his hand still stained in Glorius’s blood. “Did you truly think you’d get away with it?”

  Asmoday shivered. His confidence had broken rank and fled. His head drooped to his chest, eyes locked on the floor. “I had to try,” he replied, his voice shaky.

  Baalth nodded. “I suppose you did. I can’t fault you for playing to your nature, now can I?”

  Asmoday raised his eyes, a glimmer of hope shining in them. “I am what I have been made to be. Forgive me?”

  Baalth raised his chin, his eyes narrowing as he looked Asmoday over. “In time, perhaps.” He managed to sound magnanimous despite the hint of Page 289

  condescension in his voice. “Though I imagine, in doing so I would be showing you far more kindness than you would have shown me had you succeeded with your plan.”

  Asmoday swallowed loud. He hung his head in a show of staged humility. He knew his fate rested in appeasing Baalth. “I am your humble servant. Do with me as you will.”

  “Brownnoser,” I muttered, my jibe coming out between clenched teeth.

  Asmoday kept his cool and ignored me, though Baalth broke out in an amused smile.

  “I’ll spare you for now, old friend, but you’ve much to atone for.”

  Asmoday loosed a sigh of relief and dropped to his knees, kissing Baalth’s hand. Baalth shooed him off, taking a step back.

  “I’ll deal with you later. Begone from my sight.”

  With a wave of his hand, Asmoday was engulfed in a billowing cloud of darkness. It whirled up around him, drifted up through the roof, disappearing a moment later. Asmoday was gone with it. Wiping his moist hand on his suit, Baalth turned to stare at McConnell. After a few silent moments, he waved his hand once more and The Gray disappeared in a similar manner.

  Done with the wizard, Baalth walked over to me. Poe and Marcus followed on his heels. The mentalist’s Page 290

  face was a mask of neutrality, but Marcus couldn’t help but grin at my predicament, chuckling as he stared down at me. He had to be loving this.

  “I have to thank you, Frank. None of this would be possible without you.” Baalth knelt down beside me. I tried to feel honored.

  “Make the check out to the emergency room.”

  I met his cool gaze. “You’ll have to forgive me for not groveling at your feet like your pal, Asmoday, but I’m really not feeling up to it.”

  He smiled at me and winked. “I’ll let it go, this time.”

  I rolled my eyes. “There’s only room down here for one smart-ass and I was here first.” I pulled myself up straighter so I could look him in the eyes with a semblance of confidence. “How’d you find us?”

  He gestured toward the entrance. “It seems we have a friend in common, you and me.”

  I followed his gaze and my heart sank. Veronica stood at the doorway, Abraham by her side. The joy at seeing Abraham alive did nothing to temper the heartbreak I felt at learning just how much my ex-wife had betrayed me. I turned back to Baalth, unable to look at her.

  “She tracked you to the Ninth where you disappeared. It didn’t take much to figure out where you’d gotten off to from there.” He shrugged. There was an unexpected compassion in his expression. “Sorry, Page 291

  Frank. Never trust a succubus.”

  My eyes drifted around the devastated room, everywhere but at Baalth. I didn’t want to look at his face for fear he’d see just how hurt I was. “So what now?”

  “For the most part, life goes on,” he answered with no trace of deception.

  “No big bang, no end of the world?”

  Baalth shook his head. “That doesn’t serve my purpose, at this time. Maybe one day, but not now.”

  He got to his feet, dusting his suit pants off. “Before he disappeared, your uncle left you something knowing you’d manage to find your way back down here one day.”

  I tried my best not to look surprised Baalth had known about mine and Lucifer’s secret meetings. “I—

  I—”

  He waved off my sputtering response. “You’ll find it hidden beneath the altar.” He motioned to the back of the room and made a face when he noticed the state of the sanctum, his focus having been elsewhere.

  “It’s buried somewhere under that mess.” He called for Veronica to release Abraham. “I’ll see you soon.”

  His goons in tow, he headed for the exit, nodding to Abraham as they passed. At the archway where Veronica stood waiting, he called back to me. “Don’t forget, Frank, you still owe me a favor.” With that, he left, Poe and Marcus at his heels.

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  Veronica lingered for a moment and our eyes met. Even as angry as I was, I couldn’t bring myself to look away. Though I probably imagined it, I thought I saw a trace of regret flicker across her face. She looked at me and raised her hand in a tentative wave, a half-assed attempt at a smile creeping to her lips. Unable to bear it, I turned away. I heard her footsteps a second later, scuffling off into the distance as Abraham arrived at my side. Hurt, I focused my attention on him.

  “How you doing, Abe?”

  He dropped down beside me, looking me over.

  “I’d have to say a slight bit better than you.” He glanced around the room. “Katon, Scarlett?”

  I shook my head, my eyes beginning to tear up.

  “They didn’t make it. I’m sorry.” I hung my head as Abraham placed a comforting hand on my shoulder, holding back his own tears.

  “Don’t be so quick to count us out, Trigg,” a quiet voice spoke from nearby.

  We both popped our heads up and looked to the wreckage. There, about twenty feet away, Katon lifted his scorched head from out of the detritus and looked at us with mild amusement. “It takes more than a little fire to put me in my casket for good.” He climbed to his feet and though he spoke with confidence, his movement didn’t reflect the same. He limped unsteadily over to us. His dark skin was ash black in places while rosy pink in others where the flames had gouged deep and new Page 293

  flesh was forming, his vampiric regene
ration already kicking in. Though motley in appearance, with only a few strips of cloth keeping him from being naked, he looked as though he’d pull through okay.

  “Have you seen Scarlett?”

  He nodded. “She’s back that way a bit.” He thumbed over his shoulder. “I checked on her as I circled around to get to you. She’s unconscious and hurt pretty bad, but she’ll make it if we get her help soon.”

  Relief flooded my face. Abraham sighed, as obviously relieved as I was. His fears of our deaths allayed, he stood up, taking charge. “You have enough energy left to trigger the gate?”

  I shrugged. “I’ll find it.”

  Abraham smiled as warmly as I’d ever seen him. After a brief moment, he turned to Katon. “Gather Scarlett. We can take stock of things once we’ve returned to DRAC.” He bent down and slipped beneath my shoulder, wrestling me to my feet. He impressed me. Wounded as I was, I was dead weight, but he managed to get me up and support me without hurting himself. I smiled at him. I guess there was still some life left in the old guy after all. Once Katon returned with Scarlett, hanging limp over the shoulder of his battered arm, we started toward the gate. Dragged along, I peered back behind us, saddened by the destruction of my uncle’s sanctum. Page 294

  “What about—”

  Abraham cut me off. “It’s not going anywhere, Frank.” He said it with such certainty I couldn’t help but let it go. “I’ll send Katon back once I’ve got you two safely back at headquarters.”

  I was too tired to argue. I let him pull me along, my eyes fluttering with exhaustion over the slow haul. With all my adrenaline burnt off, I was crashing fast. At the gate, I could barely keep my eyes open. How I managed to trigger the portal is beyond me, but the next thing I knew I was being dumped into an uncomfortable bed in the emergency room at DRAC. Abraham stayed at my side until unconsciousness welled up to claim me. Dosed with painkillers, I drifted off on a cloud of flickering darkness.

  Under the influence of the PK cocktail, I remember dreaming of my uncle. He stood upon a grassy hill as the sun rose majestically behind him. The beautiful reds and oranges shimmered above his head like a fiery halo. He smiled at me, its warmth brighter than the sun, before he turned and walked away to disappear from sight behind the rise. I’d never seen him happier.

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  The Aftermath

  A couple of weeks after Asmoday’s bid to bring about Armageddon had gone south, things were just starting to get back to normal. Well, as normal as they could in a world full of wizards, demons, and angels. The media had latched onto the destruction caused by Asmoday’s fiends and McConnell’s attempt on my life, but with the timely intervention of DRAC’s Public Relations branch, a squad of aggressive mentalists, what had been front page news turned into fodder for the tabloids. Dismissed by all but the most dedicated of conspiracy theorists, the near end of the world went pretty much unreported.

  I’d moved into DRAC headquarters for the time being as I waited for my house to be rebuilt. Thanks to the rampage of Asmoday’s pets, I wasn’t alone. The place was seriously overcrowded. Many of the DRAC families whose homes were also destroyed had been squeezed in wherever they’d fit, spread out across all of the locations. Though there were a handful of headquarters, they really weren’t built to accommodate that many people. I’d taken to sleeping on the couch in Abraham’s office. While roomy and surprisingly comfortable, the old geezer was an early riser and I’d always been more of a get up at noon kinda guy. He was Page 296

  cramping what little style I had.

  This morning, he strolled in at about six a.m., whistling happily, Rachelle bouncing along at his side. Knowing my sleep was at an end, I muttered a few unkind words under my breath and sat up to see what had gotten the old boy so worked up.

  “Viagra prescription come in, Abe?”

  He chuckled as Rachelle blushed while she went about flicking on the lights and powering up the computer.

  “Something better has happened, Frank, something much better.” He dropped down into his chair, a contented smile plastered on his face. Rachelle sat beside him, quite closely I might add, an air of happiness about her. Abraham looked pleased with himself as well, but neither said anything.

  “So, are you gonna tell me what’s got you two pissing rainbows, or what?”

  “It’d be easier to show you.” He gestured to the office door.

  Right then, as if on cue, it swung open. I glanced over and my jaw dropped as Rahim walked into the room, Katon at his elbow. Well, more like he limped slowly while leaning heavily on a cane, but you could call that walking. Either way, he was up and about, something none of us ever thought we’d see again. After we’d returned to DRAC and Scarlett and I had been dropped off, Katon returned to Lucifer’s Page 297

  sanctum. He’d dug through the mess around the altar and found what Baalth had said my uncle left for me. It was a letter as well as a small package. Katon brought them both to me.

  He’d also managed to find Scarlett’s sword, which he returned to her through a flurry of grateful kisses. She was beyond ecstatic. Her trusty demon slayer, Everto Trucido back in her hands, she took off in a flash to put it to use. She’d missed it so much. Inside the package were two small vials of my uncle’s blood. I think I cried when I saw them. In his letter, Lucifer wrote he’d figured I’d need more of it one day, given my penchant for getting into trouble, so he thought he’d provide a backup for the vials he’d already given me. And though I’d rejected the mantle of AntiChrist, he knew one day I’d return to where I belonged. Hell.

  I guess, in a way, he was right.

  After Scarlett and I had ingested a few drops, we were as good as new. Rahim was another story though. Human, I had no idea if the blood would cure him or kill him. I left that choice up to him. A fighter to the core, he took a chance.

  At first, we’d thought it had failed. Nothing had changed. The outlook remained bleak. But a week later, the doctors saw sudden improvement overnight. Out of nowhere, his shattered spine had begun to heal. Piece by piece it was reconstructing itself while the Page 298

  nerves sparked back to life with a vengeance. Despite the agonizing process, his body ravaged with pain, Rahim never once voiced a complaint. Through all the suffering, his smile never left his face. Now, only two weeks after he’d been crippled, he came into Abraham’s office under his own power. The smile was still there.

  I pulled myself off the couch and went over to him, giving him a gentle hug. “Good to see you up and about. You had us worried there for a bit.”

  He hugged me back fiercely. “I was worried myself.” He broke the embrace and patted me gently on the cheek, his eyes bright. “Thank you.” He limped his way to a chair near Abraham and Rachelle and dropped into it with caution.

  Katon and I sat in the chairs in front of the desk, giving each other tired looks; he was ready to go to bed, I was ready to go back.

  Down to business, Abraham ignored our grumbling as he read through a stack of files, his face serious. After going through a couple, he paused on one, his eyes narrowing. He took a deep breath and passed the folder to the wizard. No rest for the weary, apparently.

  Rahim cracked it open and looked inside. After a moment, the ever-present smile dropped from his lips. He looked up at us, loosing a quiet sigh, his face grave.

  “It seems we have a problem.”

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  I groaned, slumping down in my chair.

  “When don’t we?”

  About the Author:

  Tim Marquitz

  Raised in far West Texas, Tim Marquitz has always been drawn to the perverse and terrifying. The words of Clive Barker, Stephen King, Jim Butcher, and Anne McCaffrey are what inspired Tim to write. Like his inspirations, he feels the need to fi nd his own road, preferably a dark alley littered with the weird and unexpected, the violent and tragic, all tempered with the occasional laugh. Care to come along? Myspace: www.myspace.com/mercylessfate Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/profi le.php
?id=10000 0003603833&ref=profi le

  Twitter: www.twitter.com/marquitz

  Web Page: www.tmarquitz.com

  Also from Damnation Books:

  Blanket of White

  by Amy Grech

  Horror short story col ection

  ISBN: 978-1-61572-018-7 ebook

  ISBN: 978-1-61572-017-0 print

  Blanket of White _True love knows no bounds. Crosshairs A young boy learns the perils of hunting fare game fi rsthand.

  Prevention _Murderous twins help their dear mother into and out of trouble.

  Perishables _A nuclear fal out survivor fi nds sustenance in an unlikely place. Plus two brand new stories by Amy Grech.

  Half-devil and miles from anything resembling heroic, perpetual underdog Frank “Triggaltheron”

  Trigg is the last man standing against Armageddon. As the favorite nephew of the Devil, Frank has led a troubled life, but he’d always had his uncle’s influence to fall back on. Now, with God and Lucifer coming to terms and leaving existence to fend for itself, his once exalted status of Anti-Christ-to-be does little to endear him to the hordes of angels and demons running amok in the Godless world.

  With help from the members of DRAC, an organization of wizards, psychics, telepaths, and low-end supernatural beings, Frank must thwart the pro-Armageddon forces and rescue an angel in whose life rests the fate of humanity.

  Better luck next time, humanity.

  Damnation Books, LLC

  P.O. Box 3931

  Santa Rosa, CA 95402