Demonic Designs (To Absolve the Fallen) (3 page)

“And what is that?” she returned with amusement, throwing her long legs up onto his ottoman.
 
“That he is still alive?
 
No.
 
I watched him die; I was there.
 
I saw the body destroyed.
 
And, if he were alive, he would certainly come after me before doing much else.”

“That’s assuming he thinks you’re still alive.
 
In any event, I have it on good authority that he is alive and needs to be dealt with.
 
You underestimated him, Eva.
 
I fought alongside him against Lucifer.
 
We were surrounded and lost more than half of our numbers before Michael arrived.”
 
Patheus looked away to a time far gone.
 
“It was the only time angels had ever died.”

“I’ve heard this story thousands of times, Patheus.”

She looked at him with the coldest blue eyes.
 
Those, mixed with her smooth auburn hair, and a skin-tight, black leather dress that accentuated her perfect body made her a sight almost worth dying for.
 
There had been more than one time in the fifty years she had worked for him that he had wanted to indulge in some very human desires.
 

But his wisdom and will had prevailed.
 
She
was
deadly, manipulative, and sometimes completely insane.
 
Of course, in a time when they had no substantial bodies, she had not been a she; the concept of gender or sex was as foreign as death.
 
Indeed, Patheus could remember “her” angelic form altering the weather to create an ice age which would wipe out millions of species.
 
Even then, she was heartless and destructive.
 

All of that seemed so long ago.
 
And focusing on the past revealed uncomfortable gaps.
 
It was growing harder to draw on memories that far removed from the present.
 
Now, all Patheus could find himself focusing on was the way that dress made her look and how much he’d like to get her out of it.
 
He forced those thoughts away, gritting his teeth.
 
She was watching him, and she was smiling.

“Stay out of my head, or I will rip yours off your shoulders,” he warned through bared teeth.

She puffed up her lips and dropped her eyes.
 
“I just thought we could try something new.
 
Why relive old glories when you could make new conquests?”

He scowled.
 
“You have grown far too accustomed to that body, Eva.
 
Don’t forget what you are.”

“I know what
we
are,” she hissed.
 
“I’m quite aware of what we
were
before, but I have been here for thousands of years.
 
This body is the only thing left to me.
 
Even in using my name, you perpetuate our plight.
 
Face it, Patheus, compared to what we once were, we’re almost mortal.
 
Jeremiah was no different.
 
He died, and I was there.
 
End of story.”

The phone rang.
 
Patheus picked it up and commanded the person on the other end to speak.
 
In less than a minute, he replaced the receiver and looked back to Eva briefly.

He walked to the door of his closet, opened it, and threw on an overcoat he took from within.
 
“It seems that the Master has chosen not to share with you what he’s shared with me, but it doesn’t really matter.
 
The boy is on the loose.
 
Malek has taken a squad of men into Kingstone to try to
coax
him to join us, but you know how hotheaded Malek can be.
 
We shall hope that he does not make a foolish decision.
 
The repercussions could be quite severe.
 

“I’m off to meet with another one of our ‘dead’ adversary’s acquaintances.
 
This one is not so well protected.
 
If I am not persuasive enough, I’ll eliminate him.
 
When Metatron calls you for a report, you may tell him
that
.”

Then, Patheus disappeared.

***

“Okay, then,” Alex said, deciding to test another approach, “what does participation consist of?”

“I have been told that you are important in a war against some very powerful, evil forces.”

“You’re a demon.
 
Doesn’t that make you evil?”

Jeremiah smiled.
 
“I have my moments.
 
Do you think you could do anything to stop me?”

“My parents have money,” Alex declared.
 
“They’ll pay to get me back.”

“I have no need for their money,” Jeremiah retorted, lighting another cigarette.

“What is it going to take to get out of here?”

“Well,” Jeremiah returned, “I suppose you could just walk out the door, but I wouldn’t recommend it.
 
In the time I’ve spent in this town, I have felt the presence of others.”

“You mean...other demons?”

“Maybe.
 
Or maybe other humans who have been influenced by demons.”

“No more bullshit,” Alex screamed at him.
 
“You tell me why I’m here, or I’m leaving no matter what might be out there.”

“Okay.
 
Fine.
 
There’s no need to yell.”
 
Jeremiah waved both of his hands in a semicircle pattern, producing a pacifying effect.
 

“I don’t care,” Alex said, calming down a little.
 
“You’ve kidnapped me.
 
I’m sure my parents are worried, and if you had wanted to do anything, you would have done it by now.”

“There are, in fact, other demons out there.
 
I felt one of them two days ago.
 
They’re close, Alex.
 
There is some force that wishes to stop what I’m doing, and I can assure you that it isn’t God.”

Alex looked as though he was getting impatient again.
 
“But why me?”

“You’re very charismatic, or will be.
 
I am in need of a face and a voice to lead a campaign which will be the only power strong enough to defend your world.”

“Oh.
 
So you want me to save the world?
 
Well, that sounds easy enough...and completely believable,” Alex added sarcastically.
 
“This sounds like a bad TV show.”

The demon rolled his eyes.
 
“Why would I lie to you?
 
It would be easier to make you do something than lie to get you to do it of your own volition.”

“You can’t
make
me do anything.
 
And I’m not scared of you.”

“Really?”

Alex blacked out, and when he came to, he was standing shirtless.
 
There was a knife to his throat.
 
He almost screamed, except he realized that his own hand was holding the knife.

Jeremiah was on the other end of the room, grinning like a madman.
 
“I thought about having you cut off enough skin that it would leave an impressive scar, sufficient evidence for the rest of your life that I am always in control.
 
Alas, it wouldn’t have accomplished much.
 
To accentuate my point...”
 
He motioned to Alex’s stomach.

Alex looked down, and there was a thin slice in his skin, running from one side of his abdomen to the other.
 
Small trickles of blood ran out of his stomach along the cut.
 
It wasn’t much, but it was enough to cause Alex concern.
 
The sight of his own blood and the creator of the cut being gripped firmly by his own hand, still covered in Alex’s blood, caused him to feel nauseated again.

“What happened?” he muttered.

“I took control of your mind, and, after I got my jollies,” said Jeremiah, holding up a camera, “I had you take a knife and cut yourself ever-so-gently along your stomach.
 
Then, I commanded you to hold that same knife to your throat.
 
Now, I should have proven that I can make you do whatever I want, and further, you should be
very
scared of me.”

“How long was I out?” Alex inquired, not taking his eyes off the camera.

Jeremiah’s gaze also drifted over to the camera.
 
“Oh, it’s digital.
 
Nice, huh?
 
You were only unconscious for a few minutes.”

“What did you do?”

“Do you mean to ask what I did or what
you
did?”

“I’m not sure I want to know now,” Alex muttered as his stomach was churning.
 

He felt very much like he was going to lose anything that might be in his stomach, which reminded him that he was getting kind of hungry.

“Put your shirt on.
 
Now that I feel like I have your undivided attention, I’ll tell you a story.
 
I just have to figure out where to start...”

“Why not start at the beginning?” Alex asked snidely as he picked his shirt up off the ground and pulled it over his head.

“Okay, we’ll start at the beginning—at least, as far back as you need to go.
 
In the beginning, there was nothing.
 
Well, there was nothing except for one consciousness.
 
From that consciousness sprang others.
 
Those others had jobs to perform.
 
They were to be the hands of God.
 

“Because your world is obsessed with God being a man alongside all of the angels, I’ll use the word ‘Him’ to sate your appetite for male dominance.
 
But, realistically, none of us had any first-hand experience of gender until we got here.
 
There is no male and female in Heaven.
 
Actually, there’s little individuality at all.
 
All we knew was the mission we were to embark upon.
 
We were commanded to create life—God’s cosmic science experiment, as it were.
 
His goal was to bring into existence little versions of Himself.
 
They would have the power to create, destroy, choose for themselves, and constantly want more of all three.

“First, He commanded that we create stars to warm the universe.
 
That was Lucifer’s job, and he reveled in it.
 
He and his legions swept across the universe, massing gas in different areas and igniting many of the same heavenly bodies you could see if you walked outside right now.
 

“Then, came those who would form the planets to best start and maintain life.
 
That was Michael’s domain.
 
He designed a plan for life to grow and adapt as necessary.
 
He and his angels crafted a beautiful system that your scientists have come to term
genetics
.

“Next, God ordered Michael to use his craft to find a species capable of creation on par with angels, possessing the freedom to make their own choices.
 
It was an enormous directive, but Michael started small, creating the first single-celled organisms.
 
He gave them a piece of his own essence, and life outside of God and the host began.

“Michael’s plan required these organisms to multiply and grow, so this essence he gave the organisms also drove them to become better, to use whatever means necessary to continue living.
 
This ‘evolution,’ as you might call it, was a brilliant answer to a difficult question.
 
We would create life that would perfect itself—little maintenance required.

“It worked, or I should say works, like a set of fluctuating guidelines.
 
The goal was basic, primal: existence.
 
In order for a species to exist on an ever-changing planet, it also had to change.
 
This much will happen before the first mutation; then the new species would begin a path.
 
That went on for several billion years, producing all manners of interesting and beautiful creatures on many worlds.
 
Suddenly, to everyone’s surprise, God determined that the latest species was the one.
 
I don’t think I need to tell you which species that was.”