Jackson roared and threw himself at Etienne. He saw a raised eyebrow and the hand that thrust out towards him. Then his heart caved as his breath was torn from his lungs and blackness crept up to claim him.
Bayleigh
She wanted to dance. It had been building for a few hours now. Her fingers tingled and her feet felt light on the floor and she had to stifle the urge to giggle. But Ed looked deadly serious every time he turned back from peering through the canvas.
‘He’s getting destroyed.’
‘Don’t watch.’ Bayleigh went to him and turned his head away. ‘You don’t need to see that.’
Ed gave her a look. ‘Are you trying to protect me from seeing violence? I mean, really?’
She flushed but nodded and smiled as he turned from the door of the tent and joined her watching Luke. She recognised the pulsing energy that came off him in waves as he chanted. It did things to her that made her wish she was somewhere private. Added to the lightness she was already experiencing, she struggled to breathe, pressing her sweaty palms against her legs.
She turned away from Ed and Alex, aware of their gazes flitting between Luke and her. Why weren’t they feeling it as well? She bit her lip, grabbed her jeans and held on as the next wave washed over her. She gasped and wobbled and prayed Ed wasn’t still looking at her. This was much worse than any violence. Actually, she wasn’t sure about that. Violence was horrible, something no one should have to go through. Everyone should experience this. Just only when they were alone.
Luke’s voice cut off and the energy ebbed away, like the tide was going out, and she let out a long breath. Her face was hot and she remained facing away until the glow left her cheeks. The urge to dance was strong again. Where was her energy coming from? She should be exhausted.
She had been dead on her feet when they stood around Ed in the secret corridor room. Now she couldn’t imagine ever sleeping again. Was this what people on Ecstasy felt like? If it was, she was regretting her choice to avoid drugs. She could well imagine how people got hooked.
Her forehead felt cooler to her touch so she took a few breaths and turned round. The guys were all staring at her, even Luke, and her face got hot all over again. ‘It’s rude to stare.’
It was their turn to blush and they all found something else to look at. Luke closed the book and Alex pulled him to his feet. The angel gestured and they stepped through the sheet to the woman Jackson had exposed. Her eyes were open and she was blinking. Bayleigh stood above her, trying her best smile.
‘Hi, I’m Bayleigh.’
The woman blinked a few times. ‘Uh, yeah, I’m Rebecca. Where am I?’
‘What’s the last thing you remember?’
The woman went to sit up and Bayleigh jumped to help her, easing her up from the bed. ‘Thanks. I remember meeting with my church group on Tuesday and then…’ She trailed off, frowning. ‘Not a lot after that. Someone was talking to me about God, about me being chosen, which was all very nice, but after that…’ She shook her head. ‘There’s nothing after that?’
Bayleigh nodded. ‘That sounds about right.’ She looked up as Luke stepped forward and held out his hand. The woman shook it and smiled. She was beautiful, beautiful enough to make Bayleigh want to punch her just a little bit. Luke clearly thought the same thing, only without the punching.
He cleared his throat and bent closer. ‘There’s a lot to tell you. What you need to know now is that you’ve been kidnapped and we’re rescuing you. Once everyone’s awake and ready, we’re going to walk out of here, through a tunnel and down a staircase into a cave. Can you do that?’
The woman had gone pale while he was speaking and now she shook her head. ‘Kidnapped? Who kidnapped me? Why?’
‘That’s a very long story, one we don’t have time for right now. Will you trust me when I say we’re here to help?’
‘I don’t know. Why should I trust you?’
Bayleigh butted in. ‘Because if you don’t, we’ll leave you here and the soldiers waiting outside will come and have their way with you and that means exactly what you think it means.’
She started shaking and Bayleigh almost felt bad. Almost. They didn’t have time. ‘Now, if you’ll excuse us, there are another hundred of you to talk to.’
She walked through another of the sheets, ignoring the woman’s wide-eyed gaze. On this side, the woman was struggling to remove her gas mask, eyes already panicked. Bayleigh helped her off with the mask and went through a similar explanation to the one she’d given Rebecca. This one was called Zoe and was a little more trusting. By the time they reached the next woman she was ready to go and help others.
Luke found her after the first ten. ‘I’ve just texted Jackson. I hope he can handle things out there.’
Bayleigh shrugged. ‘He wanted the job. This is taking too long.’
‘The more we get sorted, the more can help. Not much longer now.’
He was right. More and more of the women was jumping up to help one another and soon they had a crowd gathered back at the entrance. Bayleigh headed there after she reached the far side of the tent and found herself standing among a crowd of beautiful women, all dressed in white cotton tops and grey jogging trousers. None of them had shoes. And they were all far prettier than she was.
There was more blond hair here than Bayleigh thought she’d seen her entire life. It was more than a bit scary, like being at a Barbie convention. But the women were, so far, extremely nice and playing along.
Bayleigh glanced out the front of the tent and drew a quick breath. Alex stood beside her and wasn’t, she was pleased to see, as fixated on the women as Ed. He shook his head.
Jackson was face down on the stone, not moving. Etienne stood above him, wry smile on his face, looking for all the world like he’d just enjoyed a nice glass of wine instead of knocking another man unconscious. She stared at Etienne for a while. He was vaguely familiar, but she couldn’t decide whether that was because he just had one of those faces.
Luke appeared at her arm, glanced through the gap, and swore quietly under his breath. The three of them turned round and chuckled as they saw Ed. He stood before the crowd, drawing hundreds of affectionate glances without a clue what to do with them. Were all the women collected from church groups? The thought made Bayleigh’s blood run cold.
She had little experience of religion of any kind. Mum and dad had been more than enough to divest her of any notions of a higher being. If there was a God, her opinion had always been that he was a complete bastard and certainly not worth spending any time over. On top of that, the few devout Christians she had met had always been nice in a way that made her feel inadequate. She didn’t believe and was therefore a sinner.
All the women had the same smile of condescending niceness that made her skin crawl. She shuddered. It was like having a hundred Jacksons, only without the scary violent streak. Unless they had that too and just weren’t showing it. Maybe the spell had left a residue and once it wore off they’d all become raving lunatics.
‘What now?’ She asked Luke. In response he raised his hands to cut off the quiet chatter. He spoke with a quiet intensity that cut through the tent and would no doubt be heard outside as well.
‘We’re going to leave now. The people outside will tell we are evil and shouldn’t be trusted. They will tell you they are the soldiers of God. That’s true, that’s the name of their order. What they won’t tell you is that you’ve been kidnapped by them and kept unconscious for four days until it was safe for you to awaken. They won’t tell you that their plans, once you were awake, are to impregnate you with children as soon as possible. They won’t tell you that you have no choice over this, or the person doing the impregnating.’
He stopped and she held her breath, waiting for the arguments and questions, but the tent was silent. In fact, it was silent everywhere. She looked back through the door of the tent and jumped away, heart slamming against her chest. Etienne was about a foot away and the next moment he pushed th
rough the flaps and into the tent.
His face lost all of its arrogance and his mouth dropped open at the sight of the women crammed into the space. Luke rushed to stand before him and muttered. ‘We’re walking out of here with them, right now. Disagree, or get in our way, and your machine is useless. No more protection from the zombies, no more anything.’
‘But we need them, he said—’
‘I know exactly what he said. But there’s plenty about Seph you don’t know. You might want to do your homework before you follow anything else he says. Trust me, Etienne, he is no more God’s voice on Earth than I am. Actually, right now, I’m closer to it than he is.’
‘But he’s an angel.’
‘So am I.’
There was something in the way Luke said it that made Bayleigh blink and, for a moment, she saw his wings, spreading wide around a face that was far more beautiful than the flower seller’s. Etienne gasped, backing away with his hands up. All of his arrogance and surety were gone.
‘You cannot do this.’
‘We’re doing exactly this. The world will be reborn, but not through force, not how you’re doing it.’
He put his hand on Etienne’s arm and pushed him to one side. ‘We’re leaving now.’
Bayleigh let Luke lead the way, the women streaming along behind him. She watched Etienne throughout it all and saw his face lose its little-boy lost expression and become a mask of rage. He didn’t step in the way, nor did he say anything more. As the last of the hostages came past him, she followed on, exchanging one final look. She shuddered at the murder she saw in his eyes.
Alex knelt beside Jackson and she joined him. His huge skull was pale and covered in sweat. She didn’t want to touch him but between them they rolled him over. She pulled one of his eyelids up and jumped as the eye within turned to look at her. He mumbled something and grabbed her wrist with one sweaty hand.
‘Where is he?’
‘Who?’
‘Etienne. Where is he?’
‘He’s behind us. We’re leaving—’
‘Not till I’ve—’
‘What? Not till you’ve what? Got your arse kicked a bit more? Let it go.’ She lowered her voice. ‘He’s more pissed than you can imagine. Start something now and he’ll kill you.’
‘And how will you do God’s work then?’ Alex finished for her. Jackson looked from her to him and snarled. They helped him to his feet, both needing every bit of weight they had to pull him up. Finally he stood, swaying to and fro with his massive hands gripping their arms. She shuddered and pulled herself free.
Luke was already in the secret corridor and the hostages followed closely. Ed was borne along in the flow, more than happy to be surrounded by beautiful women. Bayleigh managed a wry smile and shrugged. She hadn’t loved being the only woman in the group, but she thought she might miss it, just a little. Alex led a still-unsteady Jackson to the wall and through. She paused for a moment, glancing around the cathedral, then slipped into the darkness.
The soldiers closed around her as she entered the corridor. They came straight in after and she kept looking back over her shoulder, seeing the gas masks following. Why hadn’t they taken their gas masks off? There was something eerie about them, something inhuman. It made it easier to hate them, and that was good, because she knew when they did take them off she’d see only normal people.
Only they weren’t normal. The guy right behind her, shoving the gun in her face every time she turned, was willing to force himself upon the women in front of her. That wasn’t normal. That was Jackson-level screwed-up-ness. She looked forward, focusing on Alex’s back. He wouldn’t do that. She could tell from the way he looked when they talked about it that he found it as abhorrent as she did.
The thought gave her courage as they shuffled along in the gloom.
The light from the cavern soon appeared, and the hostages formed a queue as, one by one, they made their way down the steps.
After what felt like forever, she stepped out onto the shelf and stared down. The cavern was filled with blonde women, spreading out into the torch-lit space. To one side stood twenty five or so soldiers, guns slung over their shoulders, gazing at the hostages. A couple had their gas masks around their necks, faces displaying undisguised admiration. Bayleigh sneered and then shrugged. She couldn’t blame them, not really.
At least none of them were getting rowdy. These guys had been promised the women and now they were walking out on them. But not one looked ready to attack. Some of the soldiers had come from the tunnel behind and stood with her on the shelf. She turned to the one who had been following her. ‘Do you really want to work with Etienne?’
The guy opened his eyes wide and mumbled something. Then he pulled his gas mask down and spoke more clearly. ‘He is the leader. He is the voice through which God speaks to us—’
‘Hang on. You know the guy who’s down there?’ She pointed at Luke and the man nodded. ‘You know who he is, right? You understand he’s an angel. Not some human who thinks he’s better than everyone else. An actual angel.’
The man stared at the floor, fingers opening and closing around his gun. ‘I don’t know that, not for certain.’
‘Well, any time you change you mind and want to live with sane people, you’re welcome.’
The soldier blushed and shook his head. ‘I live to serve God.’
‘Yeah, right, whate—’
‘Leaving so soon?’ The voice boomed across the cavern and Bayleigh ducked. ‘I thought you’d hang around for a while. Your friend certainly wants you to.’
She gasped as a figure rose up from the floor of the cavern on huge red wings shot through with veins that pulsed in time with their beating. The hostages screamed and Bayleigh only just stopped herself from joining them. She nudged the soldier next to her.
‘See that? That’s who you guys are working for. He look much like God to you?’
David
David froze, feeling the rough stone beneath his hands and the warmth flooding through it from the room below. The demon stared straight at him and any thoughts he had of running scampered away with what remained of his courage.
‘Come on, come on down, show yourself.’
The voice compelled him, though whether through supernatural means or sheer terror, he couldn’t say. He scrambled down into the lounge-cum-gangster lair.
‘Please, take a seat, get comfy.’
‘I, um, I. Who are you?’
‘My name is Az. And you are David. How’ve you been feeling lately?’
‘Alright, I guess.’
‘No impure thoughts about a certain young lady?’
David flushed and examined his hands. He was about to mutter that she wasn’t that young when the demon burst out laughing. ‘You’ll have to forgive me for that. I just like screwing with you.’
David’s head jerked up and he stared at the demon. ‘That was you?’
‘Come on, have you ever asked someone whether they were a virgin? Is that really your style?’
David flushed again. He wouldn’t mention that he didn’t even remember saying it. The demon lounged back in the seat, folding his massive hands behind his head. David glared at him, then remembered who he was and looked down. Beads of sweat trickled down his neck.
‘Are you going to kill me?’
‘You don’t sound too broken up about that.’
‘I’m… I don’t think I am. I should be but I’m…’ He stared at his hands, overwhelmed with the urge to spill his guts. Why the hell did he want to do that to a demon? Heh, ‘why the hell’. That was kinda funny. Was the demon messing with him again?
‘Are you making me want to talk to you?’
Az put his head to one side and smiled. ‘I’m just an approachable guy, what can I say?’
David smiled back. Az wasn’t at all what a demon was supposed to be like. He had the horns and the red fur and even teeth sharp enough and big enough to make David squirm, but he wasn’t evil. At least, he didn’
t seem to be. Perhaps that was the point.
‘I’m broken. I’m just… he broke me.’
He looked at Az and the demon blurred as tears filled his eyes. He scrubbed them away and snorted. ‘And I’m pathetic. I can’t hold a thought for longer than five seconds, I can’t remember half of my life. He did this, he…’
His hands ached and he stretched them out, breaking them free of the fists into which they were clenched. Az nodded, face wearing something that looked vaguely conciliatory but could easily have been humour. ‘That sucks. I can help with that.’
‘How? How can you help me? My mind’s a mess and everyone thinks I’m mad, which they should because I am. So how can you help?’
‘I can change your mind.’
His words fell into a silence that seemed to swallow David whole. He went with it, his senses dulling as the world closed in around him. He stood before the demon, his gaze fixed on the jet-black eyes that burrowed deep into him.
‘I can change you so you’re no longer mad. You will be the sanest person on the planet, though that ain’t the greatest boast right now. Would you like that?’
He didn’t know. He didn’t know anything anymore except his longing to hurt and kill Luke. Beyond that, nothing mattered. He nodded, though he wasn’t sure what he was agreeing to. Az stood, placed a hand on his shoulder, and pushed him gently down into the sofa.
‘Relax, take the weight off. Think about it for a while. There’s no rush.’
There was a rush, though. His friends were doing something upstairs. He couldn’t remember what now. It was important. It had something to do with the hostages. Now if he could just remember who the hostages were. He scowled and his mouth pulled this way and that. He prodded it with his fingers, feeling the skin, feeling how it stretched and went taut.
He giggled and prodded his head. His hair was very different to his skin. He was fluffy. He giggled again. Az was staring at him with the strangest look on his face. Then he nodded as though he’d reached some mysterious conclusion. David stopped giggling.
Thirteen Roses Book Three: Beyond: A Paranormal Zombie Saga Page 18
