‘Oh crap, what now?’
Alex shrugged. ‘Let him go. If we’re lucky he’ll get himself shot.’
Jackson’s head thrust back through the door. ‘They won’t get me. God will save me.’
Alex jumped and went pale. Then the door thumped into place and they listened as Jackson’s feet thudded away across the pavement. ‘The Father doesn’t give a crap about him.’
‘Of course he doesn’t, he’s barmy.’ She said.
Ed giggled. ‘Barmy.’ He stopped laughing. ‘Yeah, he’s mad alright. And creepy.’
She couldn’t disagree with that. ‘So what now?’
They sat in silence for a moment before Alex let out a long breath. ‘We have to go back in there and get the hostages. That was the plan. The longer we leave David and Krystal with the machine, the more in danger they are.’
Bayleigh nodded and looked at Ed. ‘You stay here, right?’
He shook his head vehemently. ‘Not a chance. What if the soldiers come back?’
‘They won’t kill you. The worst they’ll do is take you captive and bring you back into the cathedral. I’d rather you were safe out here.’
‘No way. It’s not safe out here. It’s not safe anywhere. I’m coming whether you like it or no—’
He was cut off by a sound that could well have been St Paul’s collapsing. Bayleigh shrieked and leapt from the truck. Across the street in front of the Cafe Rouge restaurant, a car had just exploded and pieces of metal rained down onto the concrete. Jackson charged towards them with a huge grin on his face.
‘We need a distraction.’
There was something so entirely crazed about him she almost laughed. Then he yanked open the petrol cap of the nearest truck, pulled a box of matches from his pocket, lit one, tucked it into the box and tossed it into petrol tank. After that, she didn’t think about anything at all.
David
The voice stopped, but the echoes came back to them from the far side of the cavern. He couldn’t take his eyes from the phone as it tumbled down and down. It struck the top of the cathedral and shattered, pieces flying everywhere. His breath caught in his throat, but the noise was tiny, barely more than a soft cracking sound. The soldiers far below would have missed it entirely.
He tried to watch every piece, to see whether any of them went over the edge.
‘Did anything go over the edge?’ He asked. Krystal was biting her lip so hard it bulged beneath her teeth, bloodless and pale. She shook her head and released her lip from its prison, letting out a long breath. ‘Don’t think so.’
They paused for a moment, then she thumped him on the leg. ‘How bloody stupid can you be?’
‘It surprised me, that’s all. Who was it?’
They took their eyes off the tiny pieces of phone and peered around the sides of the dome. The soldiers were still spread around the cavern but there were more now and a couple of men in robes stood on the shelf at the far end. ‘One of them, I’m guessing.’
‘They’ve not got white robes on.’ He said.
‘Nah, dirty grey more like. But they’re wearing robes so that’s close enough for me.’
One of the men stepped closer to the edge and cupped his hands around his mouth. ‘There is no escape from the cavern. There are only two ways in and out. We will find you. So give yourselves up now.’
He stepped back and exchanged a look with his companion. David turned away and stared at the cavern wall. ‘We’re going to die, aren’t we?’
‘Speak for yourself. I have every intention of living a long and happy life.’ She gave him the long-suffering look and he gripped tight to his knees. She was so… contained. So not sixteen. She had nice eyes as well. Her hair was too short for his tastes and she needed to put some weight on, but perhaps in the coming days… He squeezed his eyes shut and groaned.
How could he be thinking of that? How could he think of it in this situation and with a girl who was such a brat. She was sixteen. He was thirty two. God, he didn’t deserve to get out of here. Was this part of the damage Luke had done to him? Had he removed his ability to censor those parts of himself that were responsible for most of his troubles thus far?
He chuckled. It would be a fitting punishment. ‘If we aren’t going to die, how do we get out of here?’
‘Why do we get out? The others’ll be back soon and we leave with them.’
David shook his head. ‘That’s not happening, come on, be honest. What are the chances of them making it out?’
Krystal grabbed his hand. ‘They’re coming back down here and getting us out, you understand?’
‘It’s a lovely thought and I’m not saying I don’t like it. But we can’t rely on it, that’s all.’
Her hand shook in his and he blinked. Maybe she was just a sixteen year old girl after all. He groaned. That meant he was supposed to be in charge, and be the responsible one. The thought would have been funny if he wasn’t so broken. Instead it was just tragic.
‘Look, sorry, they probably are coming back. But that guy up there is going to make them search every nook and cranny of this place and they’re going to find us are you a virgin so we need to find a way out.’
She dropped his hand and shuffled away around the dome.
‘What?’ He said.
‘What did you just ask me?’
‘I didn’t ask you anything. I’m just saying we need to figure out an al—’
‘Yeah, I heard that. I mean in the middle, you asked me something.’
He shook his head. What was she talking about? She was staring at him like she stared at Jackson. The sympathy was gone. ‘What’s wrong?’
Her forehead creased and she shook her head. ‘Nothing, just, stay there alright, not too close?’
‘Sure, fine, whatever.’ Her hair wasn’t that bad actually. It suited her face. She had pretty little lips that looked like they might taste nice. ‘We need to get out of here.’
‘Yeah, yeah we really do.’ She replied.
She half stood, then seemed to realise where she was and sat. She was still shaking. What was wrong with her? He frowned and peered around the dome again. Half of the cavern was blocked from view but he could see the robed men making their way down the steps. When they reached the bottom, the search would be on again. The soldiers were congregating in the middle of the cavern.
‘We have to go now. We’ve got a minute, come on.’ Without waiting for an answer, he turned onto his front and slid until his feet stuck out over the edge. His eyes were fixed on his hands as he clung on. Krystal watched him, but didn’t come any closer.
‘Any help?’
She crept forward then hesitated, keeping back for a while longer, before finally reaching out and taking his hand. He slid further until his waist reached the edge and he bent, legs kicking in the air.
‘Why are we doing this?’
He stopped, staring at her. ‘What do you mean?’
‘Why are we getting down. We’re here because it’s safe. They aren’t going to find us, why are we going down?’
‘Because they will find us. They’ll search everywhere in here.’
‘But they just searched.’ She pulled her hand back and he flailed in the air. His stomach lurched and he clawed at the stone until he found purchase. ‘Help, I’m going to fall.’
‘No you’re not. Man up and climb back up. We aren’t going down there.’
‘We have to.’
‘We bloody don’t. I’m not going anywhere with you. You’re mad.’
‘I saved your life.’
‘Yeah, but why? What are you going to do to me now? You go down there and get killed, I’m staying here.’
David pressed his face against the stone. His arms ached and his muscles felt stretched, like he’d been doing chin ups for hours.
He was going to fall.
He tried to get back up but too much of his weight was over the edge and he succeeded only in making his shoulders squeal in pain. Or maybe that was him.
‘Use your legs. Get them onto the windowsill.’
He snarled at her but dragged his legs in from where they kicked and flailed about. He got his toes onto the windowsill and put his weight on it. The relief was amazing. He panted as he stood for a moment, trying not think of the long fall beneath him.
He lowered himself further, gut dragging over the stone, and got his other foot onto the windowsill. He gripped the edge of the roof as tight as he could and shoved his legs through the window. When they were as far in as possible, he made a clumsy attempt to push himself further then let go of the roof. For a brief moment he was in mid air and falling.
David bit his tongue and tasted the blood as his back struck the window sill. He teetered, gravity deciding which part of him had the advantage. It chose his legs and he slid through the window, t-shirt riding up as the stone took all the skin off his back. He landed in a heap inside the tiny walkway and sobbed, checking he hadn’t wet himself on the way in.
Content that his trousers were dry and his tongue still attached, he turned onto all fours and knelt face down, taking deep breaths. He couldn’t stay here for long. The soldiers would be back any second and he had to be out of sight before they arrived.
He wriggled along the passage to the stairs and scrambled down them, then around the inside of the dome to the next set of stairs. They looked even steeper from up here and he swallowed as he started down. He reached the bottom without falling and stood on the last step until his legs stopped shaking. It took longer than he anticipated but the cathedral remained silent and he finally got moving again.
He’d had a thought on the way down and had maybe a few seconds to find out if his suspicions were correct. As he dashed across St Paul’s, he tried and failed to stop thinking about the girl he’d left on the roof. He should have stayed. They could have talked some more. There wasn’t much room but maybe they could have kissed even.
He slapped himself. The retort bounced off the ceiling and came back, mocking him. What was he becoming? It wasn’t him thinking those thoughts, it was the other him, the person Luke had created when he’d sent him away. But it came so subtly now and without warning and he had a hard time knowing the difference.
Was there any difference? Was he kidding himself that there was some part of him that wasn’t normal? He didn’t feel any different when that part of him came out. It felt just like him. He slapped himself again. He could feel that. That was real. The thoughts he had of Krystal, the ones he shouldn’t have, didn’t feel like that. They felt… foreign. He felt the same, but the thoughts themselves came from elsewhere.
That was the truth. That had to be the truth. He chewed on his lip, swallowing the blood that still ran from his tongue. He’d left her up there alone with the machine while he ran away. But they would find her. Hopefully they’d think she was too young to be hiding anything, too naive to be so sneaky. She wasn’t naive though. She was a young woman, with a woman’s parts and a woman’s needs.
He turned back to the steps and only stopped when he heard the shouts of the soldiers at the entrance to the cathedral. He was losing it. He had to hide. He raced for the wall, praying to anyone who wasn’t hell bent on screwing him over, that his idea was right.
He reached the wall and gingerly touched it. His hand went right through and his face split into a huge grin. He was right. This was an exact replica of the real St Paul’s, including the secret passageway. He stepped through and his head collided with something that knocked him over.
He landed on his arse and rubbed his head furiously, trying not to shout abuse to anyone within earshot. The soldiers’ shouts grew louder and, on hands and knees, he scrambled back into the wall. He went through this time and straight into darkness.
He knelt for a moment, getting his breath back and rubbing his head a bit more. The darkness wasn’t absolute. Light came from somewhere and lit the walls a dim red. The carvings were present and writhing in the firelight. He stayed on his hands and knees as he crept forwards.
He put his hand down, only the floor wasn’t there, and he nearly tumbled arse over tit straight down the stairs. He caught himself just in time and lay flat on the cold stone, staring at what lay below. The stairs were rough and uneven and ran into what looked like a nightclub crossed with a gangster’s lair.
The lighting came from hidden spots, red for the most part, but interspersed with pools of white light. The floor and walls were stone, but the furniture was luxurious and huge, massive cream sofas and armchairs. In the far corner was a kitchen covered in bottles of booze and takeaway wrappers. He couldn’t see what lay beneath the stairs, but the music was coming from there. It was hip hop and, in David’s opinion, sat at the bad end of the spectrum.
In the sofa furthest from the stairs sat a demon. It could only be a demon, what with it being covered in red hair, bearing horns and a face even a mother couldn’t love. David hoped it was Az. The thought of two things like that running around made his stomach clench. The demon was on the phone, the tiny mobile dwarfed by the massive claw that pressed it to his ear.
‘Yeah, I know. But it’s early days, there’s no rush. Come on, we’ve been waiting three hundred years, let’s not get antsy now, huh?’
He waited a bit, rocking his head back and forth in a way David recognised all too well. He realised with a dawning sense of disbelief that the demon was talking to his girlfriend.
‘Yeah, I know. Miss you too. Okay. Keep it up there, don’t let them relax. Remember, they have to be ready.’
More waiting. ‘Yeah, yeah, alright. See you.’
He clicked the phone shut and put it on the table. The demon let out a long sigh and put his head back against the sofa. He lifted his monstrous feet onto the coffee table and spread his arms to either side. After a minute, David began to shuffle back. He could hide in the tunnel and wait for the soldiers to go away. He’d be fine, it would be—
‘Oh, please don’t go away. Come and say hi.’
Luke
He hurtled down the passage, gripped tight in Seph’s fist. He took the opportunity to slam his fist into the bastard’s face a couple of times and was rewarded with a spurt of blood from his nose.
‘Cut it out. I want to talk to you.’ Seph said.
They slammed into the end of the corridor and Luke found himself astride his friend’s chest. This was an excellent chance to not cut it out. He laid in, fists flying. His strength was only mildly diminished by his humanity and Seph’s face became rapidly covered in blood. The angel took it for a moment before surging to his feet, his sheer weight and size overpowering Luke and slamming him to the corridor floor.
‘That’s enough. Goodness, I come to speak and this is how you reward me?’
‘You sent me here. This is your doing, you and Az, so don’t try and talk to me like we’re friends. You’re bastards, both of you and I have nothing to say to—’
‘Oh, give it up, please. This isn’t our doing. Well, actually, I suppose it is.’ He paused, head cocked to one side. ‘Anyway, stop being so self-righteous. It’s not like you haven’t messed with a few people in your time. Half the people the Father lumped you with are pretty screwed over from what I’ve seen.’
Luke ground his teeth together and glared at his friend. ‘What do you mean, this is your doing?’
‘Ah, you caught that. Maybe we should go somewhere else to talk. We are attracting attention here.’
Luke glanced over his shoulder. Etienne and the soldiers were still pressed face down to the floor, but some were beginning to peek, eyes lifted from the stone.
‘Why do you care if they watch?’
‘Well, there’s the matter of me being God’s messenger. Seeing my face get pummelled doesn’t do much for my status. Added to that, we have the issue that I speak to them only in Biblical English and blow me if that isn’t a drag. Come on.’
He grabbed Luke’s arm and faded from view. Seconds later Luke stood alone in
the passageway, turning to watch Etienne and the soldiers rise to their feet. Then they dropped again. Seph had reappeared behind him, shaking his head. ‘He actually did it, didn’t he? Goodness me, what’s it like to be human?’
Luke spat on the floor in front of him and snarled. ‘This is your fault.’
‘Yes, I gathered that. Well, we’ll have to travel by more earthly means, but that’s okay.’
They left the secret passageway, Seph drawing his wings in tight to his body to fit through the wall. They stepped into the chapel at the head of the church and stomped past the rows of pews to the end. Seph muttered and the wall before them shimmered and vanished.
‘Always have a way out that no one else knows about. Come on, hurry up or they will.’
Seph led him into what felt like a shallow depression in the wall. The air shimmered and they were trapped inside a narrow room, just wide enough for Seph’s wings. He nudged the wall with his foot and it swung open, revealing a far larger room on the other side.
Luke stepped in, mouth dropping as he realised where they were. The stars glittered as he looked out over the Flights.
‘How?’
‘That portal took me well over a century. You wouldn’t believe how tricky it is to get everything to line up. There’s about twenty spells all happening at the same time, all in sympathy. But you get one of them wrong and the whole damned thing falls apart. I tell you, I must have cast it a hundred times before it stuck.’
‘Is this how you get from here to Earth?’
‘Oh no, this is far too clumsy. I’ve been developing a few skills I thought might be necessary.’
Luke turned away from the view and stared at his old friend. ‘Seph, how long have you been doing this, coming to Earth?’
The angel grinned and tapped his nose. ‘Some secrets are mine alone. Suffice it to say your return from Hell was something of a catalyst.’
‘So you and Az have been planning this since Hell closed?’
Thirteen Roses Book Three: Beyond: A Paranormal Zombie Saga Page 15
