Evil - Chapter 30
“What do you mean you don’t wanna go?” I asked in amazement at Margaret’s response.
This is a portal fantasy series with mythological roots and action-adventure tendencies. You can search through all my work on my website.
It's not easy being the Antichrist.
Anjelica’s mother never told her that she was a demon. Now, all she wants is her old life back, but that’s not possible for her. Not after what she’s seen.
Anjelica used to be a popular cheerleader with an awesome life, but that was before an evil cult of demons tried to use her blood to open a portal to Hell and start the Apocalypse.
She was rescued from that fate, barely, and because of the imminent threat to her life, her saviors ripped her from Los Angeles and brought her to a safe house in the middle of nowhere.
They said it was for her own good, but she would rather be dead than stuck in boring, old Bronard, Missouri. She was from the big city, so a sleepy, rural life wasn’t for her.
She longed for excitement.
So, when she met a young witch with a mysterious past who promised to show her everything she knew about opening portals and traveling between distant lands, they bonded immediately
I mean, what’s the worst that could happen, right?
It’s not like they would open an intergalactic gateway to another planet and get thrown into a brand, new world with no way to get back to Earth, right?
Join Anjelica in her own solo adventure and find out what happened to her immediately after the events in Magic.
“Look around, Anjelica,” she replied. “I’m a frigging princess. A princess! Last week I was in hiding in a tiny house, and now I’m frigging Cinderella!” She cocked her head at me then, realizing something she had not put together until that moment. “Wait, how did you get in here? And why are you wearing a jumpsuit?” She looked past me to Corporal Mercer. “And who is that?” Her eyes darted back and forth between us. “What is going on here?”
“We’re here to get you out of here,” Corporal Mercer replied. “You’re not safe, ma’am.”
“You’re—kidnapping me?” Margaret looked wounded, her face scrunched up in terror. “You’re frigging kidnapping me after everything—how could you?”
I held up my hands. “Whoa, we’re not trying to kidnap you. We want you to come with us, so we can keep you safe.”
“Wait,” Margaret said slowly. I watched the wheels churning in her brain. “Anjelica, are you in the rebellion?”
“I’m not—okay, yes, technically, but it’s complicated.”
“How could you be working with them? They’re not the good guys, Anjelica.” She scooted back from me. “My dad says they’re trying to kill my whole family. He told me they were the ones who kidnapped me in the first place.”
“That’s not true,” Corporal Mercer said. “I don’t know who told you that bu—”
I held up my hand. “Please, let me handle this.” I turned to Margaret. “Your father is a bad person. He’s waging wars against the whole world. He’s making things just…so bad. For everyone. He’s not a good—”
“He’s my family,” Margaret said, nearly out of breath. “Do you know that my ‘mother’ never said two nice words to me…and now she’s dead. You’re trying to take away the only family I have left.”
I shook my head. “No, I’m not. I’m trying to get you away from a dangerous situation.”
“Oh yeah, real dangerous.” She threw her arms in the air, gesturing at the luxurious room. “This is real dangerous. The only danger to me here is you. Get out, or I’ll call the guards.” Her hand glowed blue as she held it toward us. “Or worse, I’ll deal with you myself.”
“Please,” I said. “If you stay here, there’s nothing I can do to protect you.”
“I don’t need your protection. I don’t need anyone’s protection.” Her face hardened. “GUARDS!!!”
“Shit!” Corporal Mercer said as Margaret slammed her hand down on a button. I hadn’t seen it on the wall behind her bed. A siren screeched through the air. “We have to go. Now!”
“I’m not going without her!” I yelled, pulling away from Corporal Mercer’s grasp. “I can’t!”
“She’s gonna get us all killed,” she shouted, seizing my hand. “Come with me now! That’s an order!”
“I’m not one of your soldiers!”
“GET OUT OF HERE!” Margaret said. She held her hands out. “Vi dis!”
A quake shot from her arms and threw me backward against the door. I moaned, trying to gather myself. There was a flash of pink light and a puff of purple smoke, and when the dust cleared, Kimberly stood in front of me, as glorious and amazing as the first time I saw her. There was no joy in her eyes when she saw me.
“You really stepped into it this time,” she grumbled.
“Who are you?” Mercer said, pulling out her gun.
“Kimberly!” I said. “You’re a sight for sore eyes.”
“I wish I could say the same for you,” she said. “Take my hand.”
I grabbed her hand, and she took hold of Margaret’s foot with her free hand. Then, Kimberly turned to Mercer. “If you want to live, I suggest you come here right now.”
“Not until you tell me who you are.”
Footsteps echoed down the halls from what had to be a whole squad of guards converging on our room. “You have ten seconds before that door slams open, and I won’t be here when it does.”
“Come on, Mercer,” I pleaded. “This mission is a bust, but we can still save you.”
“Get off me!” Margaret said, swiping her arms helplessly at us.
“NOW!” Kimberly screamed.
Mercer looked over to the door and then back to Kimberly, stored her gun, and leaped forward into my outstretched hand. The moment she did, the door flew open.
“Show me where I’m going!” Kimberly shouted. I closed my eyes and imagined the main floor of the rebellion base. As I did, an explosion rang out, and I felt a cold wetness wash over me as we vanished into the ether.
We saved Margaret. Wait—have I been shot?
***
I rematerialized in the rebellion base to the sounds of shouting as dozens of people reacted to seeing the four of us appear out of nowhere in a puff of purple smoke. Chairs swished out, and feet clamored toward us, but I could only concentrate on the damp wetness oozing from me. My legs gave out from under me, and I fell to the ground.
Mercer’s voice rang out. “Get a medic!”
“Ow…” I whispered as I fell into unconsciousness.
***
My eyes fluttered open and focused on the stucco ceiling. The overhead fluorescent light washed out everything and made me blink uncomfortably. The next thing that came into focus was my ears and the sound of a heart monitor beeping…but not just one; there was a second one on the other side of me.
Margaret was in a bed next to mine, sleeping soundly. We had made it. I tried to push myself up, but my stomach burned in pain. When I pressed my hand against it, I felt the IV needle digging into the back of my left hand.
“Don’t move so fast,” I heard from the other side of me and turned to see Sindra. “You lost a lot of blood. You’re going to be lightheaded for a while.”
“Where—where is Kimberly?”
“She’s in the brig,” Sindra said, almost embarrassed.
“What?” I shouted, but the exertion of energy zapped what little strength I had left, and I fell back onto the bed. “She saved us.”
“I know. I think we all know that, but you have to understand. She just…appeared in front of us. We’ve never seen that kind of technology before. It freaked us out, and Commander Bivnol thought it was the best move until we figured everything out.”
I couldn’t help but laugh. “That’s funny. A cell can’t hold Kimberly if she wants to leave.”
“Well, we just checked on her, and she’s still in there, so whatever we’re doing must be working.”
I listlessly shook my head from one side to the other. “She’s only here because she wants to be.”
Sindra brushed the hair out of my face. “We can talk about it later, but right now, you need to sleep.”
“Maybe you’re—”
And then I was out, falling into the inky blackness of my dreams. I was in a pool of black tar, and every time I tried to take a stroke to swim to safety, I was held back in its sticky ooze.
“Ah,” a sound came from the edge of the liquid. A hooded figure stood over me. “You finally decided to join me.” He barked at the abyss. “Get her.”
Two hands shot out of the darkness, and I recognized them from previous dreams. They flew like they were shot out of cannons and grabbed my shoulders, lifting me out of the inky darkness with great effort. Once I was free, they carried me to the feet of the hooded figure, who held up his wrists. The disembodied hands snapped into place at the end of his arms.
“There,” the being said in a deep, haunting whisper. “Isn’t that better?”
“This isn’t real,” I said. “None of this is real. It’s a nightmare. Any moment I’ll wake up.”
“Oh, my dear, just because it’s a nightmare doesn’t make it any less real.” The figure snapped his bony fingers, and the muck binding me vanished. I could move again.
I pushed myself up. “Who are you?”
“A friend of your mother’s,” the figure said. “She asked me to check in on you when you left without a trace. I lost track of you for a while, but luckily time and space are of little consequence to me.”
“My mother?”
The figure snapped its fingers again and sat down at the table and chairs that appeared. It pulled back its cloak to reveal fleshless eye sockets where orange orbs of light glowed.
“Please sit. Just because this is a nightmare doesn’t mean we can’t be civil to each other.”
I wasn’t about to insult a glowing-eyed skeleton, so I did what I was asked and took a seat. “Are you my father?”
The skeleton chuckled a whispered laugh. “No, child. I have not sired children in a long time, and I can assure you even in the gravest circumstances, your mother would not be so bold as to conjure your father.”
“Then who are you?”
“Before your mother worshipped the Devil, she worshipped me. I have had many names, but perhaps the one I like best is Araphel, the divine darkness.”
“Are you a god, then?”
“I find labels crass, but yes, if that helps your human brain, then I am a god.”
“The god of darkness?”
“A god of darkness. My mother, Nyx, is the source of all darkness. I, as her offspring, work in and with the shadows, shepherding the dead to their final rest, which I have done since the exile of my brother eons ago.”
I took all this in. Wait, shepherding who?
“I’m not dead, am I?”
“No, you are not dead, but your…injuries…awakened you to me and brought me here.”
Relief rushed over me. I took a deep breath then looked around. “Can you tell me where I am then? Is this another dimension?”
“Nothing like that. You are simply on another planet created by the gods. Gods have ways of transporting between worlds, and it seems you found a way to slip into them, which…has serious consequences.”
“I didn’t do it on purpose!”
“Of course you didn’t, my dear. I would never imply as such. We seem to be in a position to help each other, as it were. I am loathe to help humanity, as you can imagine, which puts me in a predicament you are uniquely qualified to ameliorate.”
I frowned, not sure I followed. “What do you want?”
“There is a strong energy on this planet you currently inhabit, a dark, malevolent force that aims to take the power of the gods for themselves. They are smart enough to hide their face from me, but I can tell they are close. I want you to find the person who is trying to steal our power and stop them. If you do this, I will return you home to your planet across the cosmos.”
I thought for a few moments. “Well, I’m new here, but I think it might be the king of this country who’s messing around with things…and we’re already trying to stop him.”
“Oh goodie. This should be easy for you, then.” Araphel scratched his chin. “You should know your mother loves you enough to offer her soul for your return to her.”
“No!” I cried out. “You can’t take it.”
“Why should I not take something offered willingly and out of love?”
“It’s wrong. She doesn’t know what she’s doing.”
“Trust me, your mother has always known what she is doing, and everything she has done is for your benefit, even this.” Araphel held up his hand. “However, if you right this wrong for the gods, I will forgive her debt, but you must go see her and tell her what happened to you. She is very worried.”
“Is that your price for helping me return to my planet?”
Araphel stood. “No, just an observation.”
“If I help you, then I want you to help my friends return as well. Margaret and Kimberly.”
“If they wish to leave, I will help them as well. You have my word.” All the heat left the room as Araphel took a breath, and when he released it, the monitor beeped loudly in my ear once more. “Be warned. You will have to use every ounce of your ability to defeat this foe—do not deny your demonic heritage.”
Before I could answer, my eyes shot open, and the fluorescent overhead lights stung them. I took a gasp of air and thanked the gods I was still alive.
“Oh good,” Madam Fantasmo said, rising from the chair at my bedside. “You’re up. You need to see this.”
This is a portal fantasy series with mythological roots and action-adventure tendencies. You can search through all my work on my website.