Evil - Chapter 31
Madam Fantasmo helped me into a wheelchair and rolled me past Margaret, who glared at me. Her hands were bound in leather straps.
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.
Above the restraints, she wore a thin scarf tied around each wrist.
“What are you doing to her?” I asked. “Why is she chained up like a prisoner?”
“She tried to escape, twice,” Madam Fantasmo said. “She’s a danger to herself right now, and until you can talk some sense into her, we think it best for her to be restrained.”
“So, you lock Kimberly in a cage, and Margaret is chained to her bed. I’m starting to think you might not be the good guys after all. How are you any different than King Ulthar?”
“Here’s why,” she said as she pushed me into the main command center.
On the screens high above, and on every monitor around the bullpen, was an image of King Ulthar atop his throne. In front of him knelt six blindfolded men and women. I recognized their faces and clothing. It was the two teams from the extraction. Two of them wore their bakery disguises, while the other four were in black camo. All of them shivered in fear, sweat dripping down their faces, as Jackboots pointed automatic rifles at their heads.
King Ulthar’s smirking image jittered on the screen. When Director Frente saw me, she nodded at Jasper. “Play it.”
Jasper pressed his keyboard, and the message played.
“My loyal subjects,” the king started, his voice full of the kind of pathos I wasn’t sure he was capable of naturally. “Earlier today, a gang of rebellion thugs broke into my castle and kidnapped my beloved daughter right from under my nose.” He choked back fake tears. “She is not well, still recovering from her injuries, and yet, with no regard for her safety, they stole her in broad daylight.” He took a deep, growling breath. “This will not stand. I have always said that any aggression against any of my subjects is an aggression against me, and likewise, an aggression against me is an aggression against the entire kingdom, against each of you.
“Therefore, as penance for the actions of these brazen few, these six captured conspirators will be executed at high noon tomorrow on live television, across every channel. I compel every citizen to watch, to see what happens when you attack any one of us and that any hostility to the crown is intolerable.”
He slammed his fist on the edge of his throne, then took another breath. “However, I am not without my familial instincts. I offer these criminals one chance to rectify their insurrection against us. An exchange. These six for one girl, my little girl.” His lip quivered just a bit, and then his face hardened. “If you choose to keep my child from me, then the blood of these men and women is on your hands. Let it not be said I am not a merciful ruler.”
The video cut out, and Director Frente turned to me. “This message went out on every station two hours ago, and since then, our men have been trying desperately to come up with a plan to recover our people. As of yet, we don’t have any viable strategies.”
“What do you want from me?” I looked at the director with a hard face. “You’ve already got everything I care about in the world—no, pretty much the whole universe—trapped down here.”
The director stepped forward. “Margaret is a great asset, but only if she cooperates. Otherwise, she is not worth six of our men. So, you have four hours to convince her to join us willingly, or we’re going to feed her back to the wolves.”
I wanted to fight, to lash out, to do what Araphel said and embrace my demonic instincts, but Director Frente held all the cards. Not only did she have Margaret, but she also had Madam Fantasmo, Sindra, and Volkim. And there was Kimberly locked in a cell. I wasn’t in a very good negotiating position.
“If you send her back there, she’ll be in danger. You’ll be condemning her to—”
“I know!” the Director said. “Your job is to convince her. My job is to do what’s best for the rebellion. I’m not going to let six of my best men die to save one loyalist toady.”
I spun my chair around and started to wheel away. “I need to talk to Kimberly before I go back to Margaret. If you’ve so much as touched one hair on her head, I swear to god I’m done with you all.”
***
The brig was cold and dark. The walls were black and absorbed any light the soft bulbs gave off. When Madam Fantasmo closed the door, all sounds from the outside were drowned out by an oppressive silence. There were only three cells inside the room, and the two on the ends were empty.
Kimberly looked calm and serene. They had stripped her of the knives and pixie dust that had been her iconic look, and her hair was matted down to the top of her head.
When she saw me, she stood up from her cot and walked over to the bars of the cell.
“Thank the gods,” Kimberly said. “I’m so glad you’re okay.” She looked down at my wheelchair. “You’re okay, right?”
I nodded. “That’s what they tell me. I’m still weak, but I can walk. The chair is just a precaution, I think.” I wheeled toward her and placed my hand on hers, where it clutched the bars. “How are you doing?”
“I’m fine. Catching up on my meditation. I’m about ten years behind at this point.”
“I’m so glad to see you, Kimberly,” I said, tears welling in my eyes. “I thought you were dead—or back on Earth, our Earth.”
“No,” she replied. “I wish.”
“What happened when you—how did you—where did you end up?”
“I flashed into the back room of that same coffee shop you did, but you got all the attention. I knew things wouldn’t be good if I went out there, especially since I had no idea where we were, so I—I ran out the back—gods help me, I did.” Now she was crying, too. “I was such a chicken.”
“No,” I said. “You saved us. You saved me.”
She shook her head. “You never would have been in that position if it wasn’t for me. After the coffee shop, I lost you. I didn’t lose Margaret, though, so I turned my attention to keeping her safe. I went to see her in the hospital—let’s just say that didn’t go well. She doesn’t want to go home.”
“Worse. She thinks this is home.”
“Well, in a way, it is, isn’t it?” Kimberly said. “I mean, she is of royal blood, right?”
I laughed. “Oh, you are going to love this. The king isn’t from here, either. I don’t know if he’s from our Earth, but he’s definitely not from this planet. He’s a traveler, like us.”
“Well, I’ll be,” she said. “So, she doesn’t belong here any more than the rest of us.”
“Nope,” I replied. “I don’t think she’ll believe me, though.”
“She definitely won’t. I already snuck in to see her. They can’t keep me in here, and they can’t keep Margaret, either. I tried to talk sense into her, and when I couldn’t, I bound her so she couldn’t use her magic.”
“Is that what the scarves around her arms are?”
Kimberly nodded. “Never leave home without them. You have to understand, Anjelica. Back home, she’s a nothing. Here, she’s a princess. Who would want to leave?”
“Back home, I’m a nothing, and here I’m some sort of savior type human, and I want to go home so bad. Some of us would do anything to be nothing burgers.”
Kimberly smiled. “That’s why you’re one of the good ones. One of the only people I’ve met who are worth dying for.”
I squeezed her hand. “There’s a good person inside Margaret. I’ve seen it, but she’s being corrupted by money and power, just like her father.” I stopped for a moment. “They want to give her back to him in exchange for the men they captured. They say if I can’t convince her to come willingly, they’re going to give her back.”
Kimberly smiled. “I actually have an idea if you can’t convince her. But I have faith in you.”
“Thanks, at least one of us does.”
***
Madam Fantasmo wheeled me back to my room. “Would you mind waiting outside?” I asked.
“Of course,” she said. “If you need me, holler.”
“I will.”
I wheeled myself into the room. Margaret was sitting up in her bed, and she sneered at me when I made my way over.
“Wheelchairs suck,” I said, hopping back into bed.
“That’s not funny,” she snapped.
“I’m not the enemy here,” I said, sitting up on my elbow, facing her. “I’m trying to look out for you.”
“Yeah, by kidnapping me.” She glared at me. “You’re just like the others. You think because I’m some poor little girl in a wheelchair, I need you to make my decisions for me. Well, I’m sick of it.”
“That’s not what I think,” I said. “And I’m not trying to help you because I pity you. I’m helping you because you’re my friend. King Ulthar is a bad man. He’s destroying the whole world, and he’s using the fact that he’s a traveler to—”
“What did you say?”
“He’s not from this planet.” I shrugged. “Just like us, and he’s manipulating the people to think he’s a god because of it. They worship people like us, or at least some of them do.”
“So, you want me to go from being a princess, living in a castle, who’s worshipped like a god, to what? Some nobody from Missouri whose mom is dead, and who people look at with pity, who’ll be lucky to be on disability for the rest of her life? Listen to yourself. I’m sorry to say that’s not even an option.”
“Come on, Margaret. That’s not you.”
“How do you know? You barely know me. We only hung out twice. One of those times ended with me in the hospital, and the other with me almost being captured by a bunch of scary agents. You don’t know anything about me, so quit imprinting your version of reality on me.”
“There’s nothing I can say to make you believe me, is there?”
Her eyes narrowed. “I hate you. Don’t you get that yet? Now, leave me alone. I never want to see you again.”
This is a portal fantasy series with mythological roots and action-adventure tendencies. You can search through all my work on my website.