With Judas disposed of, I made my way back to the crowd and by the time I got there, they already had Jesus up between two other people. Here is something that will anger most people, Jesus wasn’t crucified on a traditional cross, it was more like a stake. His hands were above his head, a spike through his palms, with blood running down his arms. He was beaten, his flesh was gouged out in spots, his legs were swollen. Then his feet had been placed on top of each other, like his hands and a spike driven through them as well. He wore a crown of thorns on his head. The thorns must have been stuck in his head, because his head was bleeding in spots. There was a sign above his head, written in three languages that roughly translated to, “Jesus the King of Jews.”
He was talking, but the crowd was loud, and I couldn’t understand him from where I was at. I tried to listen, but he was so weak, it was all mumbles. It was upon that sight, with tears in his eyes, mumbling, bleeding, that I wept for someone else, the first time in a long time. I realized then that I cared more about him than what I thought, and he didn’t deserve the treatment he got.
He was on the stake for almost six hours before he passed. Multiple times in those hours I asked Jehovah why? I never got an answer as usual. Then the Roman soldiers started talking and one of them took his spear and speared Jesus in the side, just above his kidney. Whatever blood that was left in his body, came spewing out. I put my head down and shook it, then felt an arm on my shoulder, when I looked over, there stood Lucifer. He had been weeping as well.
“It’s horrible, but its all part of Jehovah’s plan,” he said.
“Are you that desperate to get back to Paradise that you think this is ok?”
Lucifer just looked at me with a baffled look on his face. I moved away from him, he tried talking to me, but I could take no more of what I was seeing and what he was saying.
I went and dug up my old clothes and bow and arrows and then fled. I used my speed and went until the temperature changed. I came to a place where the ocean meet the land and I could see land in the distance. I took a few steps back, ran and leapt. I landed on the banks of the new land. I ran some more and came to more ocean and saw another piece of land. I ran and jumped again and this time I stopped when I landed.
The night was upon me and I watched from a cliff, overlooking the ocean as the moon danced with the waves. I didn’t know where I was at the time, it is now known as Ireland. It was empty, not a soul in sight in any direction I looked. I sat on the cliff, thinking, trying to wipe the horrors I’ve witnessed from my head.
I was in deep thought when I heard a voice, in my head that I’ve been wanting to hear in a long time, “Hello brother!” I looked up and there stood Mylicious. He was speaking a different language that had to register in my head. It was an odd language that I now know as the Eskimo language.
“Well, you are alive,” I said and even though I was excited to see him, I didn’t show it, “Where have you been?”
“Somewhere very cold, somewhere I call home,”
“That must be nice, I can’t seem to call anywhere home, anywhere I’ve considered it, trouble follows. I’ve been here not even a whole day and yet, here you are.”
“That’s no way to be brother.”
“It’s the only way to be brother. I haven’t heard from you since Gomorrah, why bother me now?”
“I’m worried about you, I never got explain myself,” he said, and I could feel the hurt in his voice.
“Sit then, explain yourself, not that it will change anything,” I said.
“I hope it changes the hate you have in your heart for me,” he sat down, and it was then I noticed how long his hair had gotten, he had it pulled back in ponytail and braided. My hair had grown back a lot since being burned off, but it wasn’t as long as his, I was somewhat jealous.
“The night you were forced upon,” he swallowed hard, “they came to me. They wanted me help in some way, they didn’t say, but I said no and I tried to stop them, Lilith threw silver chains on me. She shackled me while Derium just stood there, he didn’t seem himself, he appeared to be under her control. I wanted to help you, but I couldn’t get free,” he said and started to cry.
“I don’t care, Derium could have gotten away from her, he didn’t, he chose to let you get shackled and chose to idly stand by and watch what happened to me.”
“It might be wrong of me to ask, but have you seen or heard from Derium?”
“Not since I removed his head and buried it,” I said.
“You did what?”
“I removed his head and buried it, I was going to kill him, but Lucifer made me promise not to. So, I removed his head and buried it. I kept his body in the mountains,” I said with a smile on my face.
“What mountains, I wish to find my brother, I wish you would ask him for forgiveness,”
“Forgiveness? What he did was unforgivable, but if you’re wanting to know what mountains, they’re over there,” I pointed in direction of the Carpathian Mountains, “somewhere. When you find the travelers in wagon huts you will find the mountains. I hope you get stuck up there with his body and never find his head.”
“Don’t be angry with me,” Mylicious said, at first it was good to hear his voice but the more he talked the more it got on my nerves, “Do you remember where you buried his head,”
“Find the body and his head is a night’s travel away.”
“Which direction?”
“Chose a direction, I’m not making it that simple, I’ve already told you more than I should have. If all you’re going to do is inquire about Derium go back to being gone,” I said and turned my attention back to the moon and the ocean.
“My dear brother how time has hardened you.”
“If you knew what I’ve been through since we saw each other last, you’d understand.”
“I have all the time in the world, lets talk brother, lets catch up.”
I looked at him and could see sincerity in his eyes. He really wanted to talk to me. So we did, I told of what I did to Lilith, which he described at “brutal” and talked of my good times with Noemi. Then told him of my previous encounters, which then he told me, he was warned as well not to get involved. Mylicious talked of escaping to one of the coldest places he’d ever visited. He got there by ship and the ship took off and left him stranded. There were other furry animals that lived there, and he had to stay in wolf form to keep from freezing. He dug out a large place under the ice. He thought at first, he wasn’t ever going to get out of the place, but he found a small boat along the shore and traveled to a place that was green and had an abundance of food, but there were people also. He would take what he needed and return to his home. After many years of living there, he had so many torches it was bright as daylight in there. He had so much food that was frozen he quit hunting and just started eating what he had. He then told me, he heard me call out to him one day and after much deliberation, he wanted to find me. The way he acted though, he acted like there was more to tell but he didn’t want to at the time.
I felt more at ease with him after we talked, my hurt had lifted from my heart. He couldn’t have helped he was chained up and I believed him, finally, that he couldn’t get free and that he wanted to help me. Mylicious took a canteen from his side and took a big swig from it, cringed, puckered and smacked his lips together.
“What that hell is that?” I asked.
“I made this myself, I call it the wolf’s cry.”
“Why is called that?” I asked.
“Try some brother,” he said with a smirk on his face.
I took the canteen, the hair on it was smooth and felt like velvet under my fingertips. I took a gulp of the mystery liquid and it tasted like liquid fire. I spat it out immediately and coughed a coarse cough. It sounded like I was attempting to howl. Mylicious started laughing uncontrollably and slapped my back, which caused me, almost to fall off the ledge of the cliff.
“That’s why it’s called the wolf’s cry,” he chuckled and took the
canteen from me.
It took a minute or two for the burn to get out of my throat, but Mylicious drank it, only making a face here and there. He loved the drink, but I think he loved it because he made it. I, on the other hand, did not like the drink at all, why would someone want to drink fire?
The moon went down, and the sun started to peak, “Isn’t it beautiful brother?” I asked Mylicious, but I only got a snore in response. I looked and over and he was passed out drunk.
I got up and moved my brother away from the ledge. I patted his chest and left the place I would grow to fall in love with. I walked though, enjoying the scenes, the mountains, the many cliffs, the hills and hollers. It was and still is a majestic place.
I didn’t get too far away before I heard something coming up behind me. I stopped and turned around, with my arrow knocked and ready to fire. I saw my brother in wolfen form, running towards me, with something in his mouth. I put my arrow down, then put it back in my quiver. Mylicious stopped, dropped what was in his mouth. He then changed in front of me. Even though I’ve seen it before, it was still amazing to watch. Hearing his bones snap, was still bothersome to my ears. I did still find it amazing how everything fell back in place, the skin especially. In a way I was jealous, he could transform into massive wolf and me, well I did nothing.
He was naked before me, within a matter of minutes. He walked up and unraveled the item that was in his mouth. It ended up being his clothes, he got dressed and then looked at me.
“After changing so many times and then having to walk home naked, you learn a few things,” he laughed, “You’re not leaving me that fast, where are you off too anyways?”
“I was going back to find Pontius Pilate and kill him?”
“Why get involved in it anymore? What’s done is done, you have a life to live, live it.”
“I lived the life I wanted to live. I watched that life die on top of mountain,” I said.
“You live forever brother, don’t limit yourself. Live as many lives as you can, I have,” he said and stroked his beard.
“How do you do it?”
“Love is forever brother, you love one person and they die, love another until they die, I’ve done it three times over now. I did travel to where I’m staying now to be alone, but I did find love again.”
“I’m not to worried about love, my brother, I’m worried about acceptance and Noemi accepted me. I have to hide who I am now again.”
“Quit hiding, be you!”
“Easy for you to say, you and Derium can hide who you are, I cannot!”
“Then you haven’t accepted yourself.”
“Will you please shut up with this nonsense you speak of,” I said getting annoyed with him.
“So be it brother, but I see you heading down a path of destruction that you can’t come back from.”
“Then I shall go down that path with my head held high.”
There was a moment of silence between us, then Mylicous spoke, “Come back with me, see my place, I’m not asking you to stay, but visit. I still want to know where Derium’s head is at, maybe you can journey with me there afterwards. I have a family I want you to meet and a pack of wolves that I’ve made as well.” I had a feeling this is what he wanted to tell me earlier but didn’t.
“You can reproduce as well?” I asked growing even more jealous, not that I had tried any at the time and I wasn’t even sure I couldn’t.
“I live just like mortals do, there aren’t very many where I’m at, but I learned that long before I moved to the land of the cold. Your problem is you think you’re different and you act different. You need to know you’re different and act like you’re not. Please come back with me, then decide of you want to find Derium’s head with me. We’ve lost out on so much time, lets get some of that back,” he was sincere in words and I could see by the look in his sad eyes that meant it.
“Fine, I won’t guarantee I will take you to Derium’s head, but I will come back with you and see your family and pack.”
“It’s about three-day trip on the water and two on land,” he said.
“On the water?” I asked not really wanting to do that.
“Yes! It wasn’t easy getting here, you’ll see,” he said, “I’m half-a-day’s travel over that way,” he said and pointed past the direction of where I was setting.
With my bow and arrow and what little fur I had left, I followed Mylicious along the cliff line. He walked briskly and I wished I knew where we were going, because I would run there. I thought about how much he had changed, he had long hair and a beard, he didn’t look a day older face wise though. He had grown a little bit, but I was still more muscular than him.
With each step I took, my bow would bounce off my butt cheek and my arrows would rattle, after a couple of hours it got annoying. I’ve walked thousand of miles and have had that happen and it never bothered me before. I think I had the fact he still wanted to get Derium’s head hurt my feelings and I was finding everything annoying at the time.
The sun was high before got to another cliff, there was a steep trail that led down the side of it. The smell of the ocean filled my nose, I heard birds squawking and saw them flying around, their shadows blocking out the sun here and there. I could feel blades of grass poke my feet at times, then started to pick up more of a sand like dirt under them.
I followed Mylicious down the side of the cliff. There was a time we had to press our backs against the wall and had no more than the heels of our feet to keep us from falling. The waves were crashing down below us and as we got closer, a mist would hit us in the face and make the rocky trail slippery. He acted like it wasn’t a big deal if he fell, granted he was an immortal like me, but I still didn’t like the feeling of dying and avoided it at all cost.
We finally came to a small shoreline and a long, roughly made, boat. I looked out into ocean and could not see land as far as I could see. I didn’t like the feeling I was getting but Mylicious made it there, he could make it back, I had hoped.
I didn’t like the looks of the boat, the boat was splintered on the side, there looked to be water on the bottom of the boat, algae along the side. There were two oars that looked like they had been broken and were held together with metal supports and twine. There were three half logs, notched out in the middle, one in front, one in the middle and one in back, I assumed they were for support and sitting. The more I looked at the boat, the more I was having second thoughts.
“You get in first and sit in the back, I’ll be in middle, do you know how to guide a boat?” he asked.
“No, I’ve never needed to,” I responded.
“You’ve been wasting your life brother killing off vampires, instead of living,” he chuckled.
He pushed the boat in the water a little bit, then pointed at me to get in. I got in and immediately felt my weight shift when I reached the part of the boat that was in the water. I got close to falling in. Mylicious just laughed and told me to be careful. I turned around and sat down and he spoke.
“Now I will paddle on this side and you paddle on that side, keep in stride with me,” he said, tossing a rope in the boat and then pushed the boat further into the ocean.
He turned around quickly and grabbed an oar, I copied him. He stuck his oar in on one side and I put mine on the other. I watched him as he paddled, keeping the oar in the water a total five seconds, pushing, then pulling it out and repeating. I followed his motions and soon the boat was moving at an exceptional speed.
“Hell, we might make it there by tomorrow with this speed,” he yelled out.
We paddled late into the day before Mylicious said he needed a break, I wasn’t tired though, but stopped anyways. We just kind of coasted for a little bit. There was a warm, gentle breeze. I was admiring the beauty and trying not to be fearful of the massive amount of water, when something erupted to the right of the boat. A massive group of tails shot out of the water, towering ten feet high above the water, then came crashing back down, splashing water in
side the boat.
Mylicious laughed, “I hope I never get tired of seeing that.”
“What are those?” I asked, I was terrified, I didn’t see how he was enjoying it.
“Whales my brother, trust me though, the least of our worries out here. There are things out here that will eat us, I’ve seen it before.”
I started to paddle harder than before, on both sides of the boat, so Mylicious didn’t have to. It was clear into the night when I actually started to get sore, for the first time in my life, I started to feel exhaustion. I was soon done paddling the boat, I took a deep breath and looked at Mylicious who was sound asleep.
I nudged him with the oar and woke him up, “Where are we headed, I can keep going for a little bit longer, but I can’t see anymore.”
“You see that bright, red flashing star?” he asked and pointed. I followed his finger and saw where he was pointing, “You keep that, and the front of the boat, in line. I’ve rested, so I can paddle for a little bit.”
He picked up his oar and started to paddle, while I stopped, the burning sensation in my arms and chest were intense, but within twenty-minutes it all went away, and my strength was back. I started to help paddle again. We picked up speed again and paddled like that until the sun came up. Now, I didn’t care too much for the ocean, but watching the sunrise while you’re in the middle of it, was really amazing and beautiful to see. There was land on both sides of us, a snow-covered land to the right and smaller, snow covered islands to the left of us.
“I need to rest again, brother. Have you not slept?” he asked suddenly.
“I never have, never needed too. I died once, even then I was just floating in darkness above here, somewhere between Paradise and here” I said.
The Godsend Backfire: The Beginning Page 15
