Eve of Redemption (56 page)

Burke felt a sense of release as the words spilled from his lips. The selfishness in his heart melted, and he knew he truly loved this girl that had once been his daughter. “Kill me if you must,” he said. “But I die for you, not because of you.” Burke’s gaze never left the flaming orbs of his daughter’s eyes. Was it hesitation he saw there? The pressure in the room lessened, as did the flashing bolts of power through her body. Her head tilted, as though she were examining some new discovery.

“I love you, too.”

Burke spun his head toward the familiar voice. The little girl stood alone to one side, still wearing nothing but the dirty potato sack. She had never looked so young and innocent. “Red, what are you doing?”

The girl did not so much as glance at him. She held her tiny hand out to the dark spirit of Eve. “You are loved more than you know.” The little girl smiled, and the sun seemed to rise in the darkness of the cavern.

Then the darkness exploded in Eve’s rage.

FURY RAGED AS Eve gazed at the awful being that masqueraded as a human child. How dare it show its face? How dare it present its worthless carcass in the moment of her victory? Didn’t the enemy know its weak-willed subjects had no power here? To come into her world and speak of something as horrendous as love was beyond insane. She heard laughter from Agibus, but it sounded forced, uncertain. The Bene Ha’ Elohim, however, were as furious as she. Their raw emotion fed her like a connection to the sun. Power beyond her control exploded, lashing out in all directions. She heard a yelp from Agibus and felt his presence vanish. No matter, she had little need of the likes of him. After all, he had created her for just this task.

Eve’s scream rent the heavens as the full force of her dark will slammed into the child-being. The spirit world trembled at her fury, but the walls of the veil held. She would destroy this God-loving intruder, then spill the blood that would rend the veil.

Eve stood tall and magnificent amid the storm. Even the vast minds of the Bene Ha’ Elohim cringed from her. As her power flowed hot, she channeled the cold rage of the souls that had given themselves that she might live. Amid the rage, she felt something else. Life. Yes, this was what it really meant to be alive—to hate, to rage, to have no other purpose than to serve oneself. That was life. And Eve was alive right now.

“Are you about finished?”

“RED? WHAT ARE you doing?” Burke could barely hear his own voice in the storm of Eve’s rage. The little girl’s impertinent question appeared to catch Eve off-guard. No sooner had the girl spoken than the fury of the attack began to abate, then die all together until Eve stood before them, blazing eyes studying first Red then Burke. Without warning, Eve strode forward and backhanded the little girl with enough force to topple a redwood. Red flew backward, striking the wall with crushing force.

Burke scrambled to his feet, all pain and weariness forgotten. “Leave her alone,” he yelled as he took a step toward the thing that had once been his daughter.

Eve turned toward him and smiled, sharp, wolf-like teeth barred. “Or what, little man? What could you ever do to me?”

Good question,
Burke thought. “Sara, listen to me. I’m your father. I’ve come to take you home.”

“Sara no longer exists, idiot. She’s as dead as the rest of your family. You failed her just as all the men of your line have failed.”

Burke felt his resolve melt.

“Don’t listen to her.” Red stood a few paces away. Something about her looked wrong, like Eve’s blow had done damage hidden just below the surface.

Burke turned back to Eve. “I don’t believe you. Sara is still in there, somewhere, and I love her. Do you hear me, Sara? I love you more than life itself.”

Eve laughed. “You’re about to get the chance to make good on that, human. Your life is precisely what I demand.”

“You’ll have to take mine first.” Red stepped in front of Burke, her tiny body doing little to shield him.

“Gladly,” Eve almost purred.

Burke was growing impatient. This was his fight. Win or lose, he was ready to get on with it. “Get out of the way, Red.”

The little girl looked up at him, one eyebrow raised. “Oh? You think you can do this yourself?”

“This is my fight. You even said so.”

“I said only your love for your daughter could stop this madness. I never said you would do it alone. That’s your own human ego.”

Burke’s retort was cut short by the now-familiar pressure building in the cavern. Eve stood motionless, hands held at arm’s length before her. Between her palms, blue bursts of light spun, creating an ever-growing circle. The light surrounded a sphere of pure darkness that drew his gaze hypnotically. The ball pulled at Red. First her long auburn curls rose from her tiny shoulders. Then her hair and burlap dress began tugging toward the silent, unmoving Eve. Only the spiraling ball of blue light moved, continuing to grow.

Burke reached out to take hold of the little girl, but before he could grasp her, she slipped out of his reach, pulled toward the blackness. “Red!”

“Love her, John Burke. Love her with all you’ve got. Love her with the love of God.” Then the girl he had known as Red stretched and blurred before disappearing into the vast darkness that was Eve.

T
he girl hovered in muffled darkness. She thought of herself as hovering because she had no sense of anything around her. Every now and then something almost like feeling would invade her space, but she shrugged it off. She knew she was a girl, that she was human, though why she would be anything other than human she had no idea. Past and future meant nothing to her, nor did the present. She simply was.

Another impression cast over her mind. Anger? She thought it might have been, but why would she be angry? The idea that the anger might not be her own flitted across her awareness before fading into the void in which everything else disappeared. Again she drifted.

Gradually something changed, if change was possible in this place. She had no frame of reference for the change. None of her senses, if she still possessed them, registered anything amiss. She considered turning and looking behind her, but the thought passed into the void.

The sense of change grew stronger, and with it something else. Hope? She waited for this, like all things, to pass into the void. Instead of fading, the feeling grew, and with it came something else. A dot appeared in the darkness, tiny and infinitely far away. As she watched, the dot grew into a light, shining in the darkness of the void. As the light grew brighter, the hope swelled within her. The light moved closer and closer, neither wavering nor flickering, until it began to take on a human shape. To her surprise, it took the form of a small, curly-haired girl wearing a potato sack for a dress.

“Hello, Sara,” the little girl said. “It’s nice to finally meet you.”

“NO!”

Burke’s heart tore as he reached out for the little girl, but she was gone, another casualty of this evil world. Righteous fury flooded him as his hands clenched into tight fists. He looked upon the smug face of Eve and wanted nothing more than to pummel it, to crush the very life from her.

Eve smiled, a grotesque image on her dark, demonic features. “You grieve for her?” She did not wait for him to answer. “Human weakness. You are all pathetic.”

Burke struggled to call the power that had saved him before, but he felt only weariness. His body was so battered it was a wonder he was still standing. Didn’t God care? Wasn’t this moment what this whole nightmare had been about, victory over Eve? His anger grew, and blood pounded in his veins. He tossed his head back in frustration.

“Where are you?” he yelled as loud as his hoarse voice would allow.

“Your god can’t help you.” Eve’s voice fell to a harsh whisper. In two long strides, she crossed the distance between them and wrapped one hand around his neck. “Your god doesn’t even exist.” She squeezed and lifted him from the ground. Burke felt his feet kick out at the air. He didn’t have the strength to do much else. Flashes of colored light dotted his vision as Eve’s monstrous grip cut off not only his breath but blood flow to his brain.

Love her with the love of God.

Red’s final words brought a strangled sob to Burke’s nearly crushed throat. At that moment, something inside him gave way. All the anger, pain, and despair of the last four years faded.

Love her like God loves you.

He had denied it for so long. Fought any mention of God or religion, and especially of that kind of love, but right now, in this place, Burke’s heart swelled with love until it broke. He forced his bulging eyes to look into hers. “I love you.”

The fingers clenched tighter, and Burke felt himself slipping away.