Evil - Chapter 43
Director Frente stared at me blankly as I relayed to her my experience with Araphel and what I learned from the undead soul of Doctor Jortensur.
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.
Director Frente stared at me blankly as I relayed to her my experience with Araphel and what I learned from the undead soul of Doctor Jortensur. When I was done, she let out a long sigh, and then she placed her fingers on the bridge of her nose like I had seen her do in frustration so many times before.
“So, let me get this straight. You expect me to build our entire plan on a fevered dream you had after taking sleeping pills?”
“That’s right.”
“This…is…absolutely insane.”
“More insane than me being a demon, or Kimberly being a pixie?” I asked.
“Oh, very much yes. So much more insane than any of that, which is saying something. Your dreams could literally mean anything. I had a dream last night that I ate a giant fart sandwich. Dreams are nonsense.”
“One, that’s gross, and two, my dreams have always meant something, especially lately. Araphel tells me things, he tells me things that come true. He’s the reason I was able to stop Prince Yimnit. I believe in him.”
“I believed in a lot of crazy things when I was younger. I can’t ask my people to fight and die for some weird dream.”
I stood up from my seat and leaned across her desk. “What’s your grand plan then? What are you willing to bet your life on and the lives of your people?”
“We’re going to give Margaret to King Ulthar and use that as a diversion to sneak under the castle using the maps that Prince Yimnit provided us. When we get to the device, we’ll blow it into the Great Abyss.”
“Fine,” I said. “Then let me go with the team. If I’m wrong, you can blow the whole thing to kingdom come. If I’m right, though…”
She shook her head. “I’m sorry.” She bit her lip, reluctant to tell me something. “They demanded something else besides Margaret.” She looked at me, and the guilt in her eyes told me the truth before she said it. “They demanded you, and we agreed.”
“Excuse me?” I shouted, flailing my arms in the air. “How many times do I have to be a sacrificial pawn to you?”
“One more time,” she said, her voice brimming with false determination. “If we don’t succeed tonight, then nothing else will matter.”
I slumped back into my chair. “You’re sending us to our deaths.”
“We’ll figure something out. Nobody is going to die tonight.”
I chuckled. “Well, I sure hope the king does, or else I have quite a debt to pay.” I opened the door to her office, then stopped on my way out. “Oh, right. I forgot you don’t believe in that type of thing. You only believe in the things that are convenient to you.”
***
After everything I had done for the rebellion, how close we had gotten to victory, Director Frente still thought of me as nothing more than a child with wild fantasies. If she didn’t trust me, then I would come up with my own plan, one that got me close enough to the king to slaughter him and rid the world of his evil.
As I barreled through the halls of the base, I heard light footsteps behind me and turned to see Sindra walking toward me. When I turned to her, she stopped, confused, and just a little bit off-put.
“What?” I said.
“It’s just that—well, I was going to run up behind you and turn you around in dramatic fashion before wrapping you in a big hug. You kind of ruined that, didn’t you?”
“Oh.” I was taken aback by her eagerness, and it made me smile. “I mean, I can turn around and run away again...”
“No, no. The moment is ruined.” She sighed. “Madam Fantasmo told me they’re using you as bait again. That sucks.”
“It really does. It sucks. I’m not surprised, but it sucks.”
“This whole place is on edge,” she said. “Everyone thinks we’re doomed. The advance teams are preparing like they’re going to their deaths.” She looked me deep in the eyes. “Do you think what we’re doing is hopeless?”
“Yeah, I do. I think we’re all probably going to die.” I grabbed her hands and squeezed them tight. “This whole thing is crazy. We’re talking about storming a castle with directions provided by our sworn enemy. There’s zero chance this isn’t a trap.”
Her eyes dropped to the ground. “So…it really is as hopeless as they say.”
“Hey,” I said with a soft smile. “I’ve been in hopeless situations before, and one thing I know is that when all hope is lost, that’s when you have to hope the hardest.”
Sindra chuckled, tears falling down her face. “That’s stupid.”
“This is all stupid, Sindra. Life is stupid. Look at us. We’re fighting over nothing. This land, it’s not mine, and it’s not yours. When we’re long gone, the Earth will still be rotating, and yet here we are, fighting over who has the right to pretend to control it for a time. And me? I’m fighting to leave this planet and return to my own.”
“I don’t want you to go,” she blurted out.
I took a deep breath. “I’m going to kill the king tonight, Sindra. I don’t know how, but I’m going to stop this, and when it’s over, we’ll look over the ashes together and decide how to move forward.”
“What if you don’t come back?”
“Listen to me very carefully.” I placed my hands on her shoulders. “I’m an actual, real-life, frigging demon. I’m coming back.”
I had no idea if it was true, and Sindra’s quivering lip told me she didn’t either, but I had to believe enough for the both of us, for all of us. I pulled her close to me and squeezed her tight as the tears came.
“I’m going to come home.”
It was the first time I had called this planet home.
I kind of liked it.
***
Any path to success involved Kimberly. I searched for her a long time before I found her in the shooting range. She wasn’t firing a gun. Instead, she flung throwing knives, embedding them in the wall on the other end of the gallery. Since nobody else was there, she had no problem walking downrange to pluck the daggers out of the wall.
“I was wondering if you would find me before you left,” she said, holding up a target with three holes ripped in its center mass. “I’m pretty good, it turns out.”
“What dumb thing does Director Frente have you doing tonight?” I asked.
She shook her head. “She hasn’t said anything to me for a while. Not since she told me you were going to be offered to the king, and I threatened to cut her throat open on the spot.”
“I’m glad you didn’t.”
“Are you? So, you’re okay with them using you like a pawn over and over again?”
“Well, no. I don’t much like that either, but—I don’t know, man. This is all so screwed, and if it’s how I can be most helpful, then whatever.”
“Did Araphel help you find a way to destroy the machine?”
I nodded. “He did. The director laughed at me when I told her about it, though. She clearly only believes in magic when it’s convenient for her.”
“I assume you have a plan—to avoid dying, I mean.”
“Kind of. Remember when you asked me to imagine where I wanted you to travel, and then we disappeared there—well, here?”
“I do. I was with you.”
“Well, you haven’t been to the castle, but Prince Yimnit has. I figure we can force him to let you see into his mind to get a sense of where you can hide. You can hang out there until the time is right and then come save me. From there, we can kill the king together.”
She didn’t have to think long before she agreed. “I like it. Are you intending to tell Director Frente any of this?”
“The fewer people who know, the better. I’m not even telling Margaret.” I swallowed as much fear as I could, stuffing it deep down into my gut. “I’m putting all my faith in you, Kimberly. My life is literally in your hands. If you can’t save me, the king will kill me.”
“I won’t let that happen,” Kimberly said. “I have been through too much shit saving you to watch you die now.”
I chuckled. “Yeah, I guess I have been a pretty big pain in the ass, huh?”
“The literal biggest of my whole life.” She patted me on the shoulder. “Now, let’s go save the world.”
This is a portal fantasy series with mythological roots and action-adventure tendencies. You can search through all my work on my website.