Killer's Quest: A Dark Crossroads Urban Fantasy, page 14
Lynch came closer and reached out for Cain's chest where the mark was burned into his flesh. He lightly traced a finger across the symbol.
"Once we removed your clothing and saw this symbol, that told us everything we needed to know," he continued. "And I have to confess to being a bit starstruck. That probably sounds strange, doesn't it? You were in my office, you saw the photos. I've hobnobbed with senators, presidents, celebrity preachers, talk show hosts, movie stars...the list goes on and on. Several conservatives exploring presidential runs have already started clamoring for my endorsement.
"But in all that time, I've never met a man of such...biblical proportions. I might be famous. But you, Cain? You're infamous. The world's first murderer."
"It sure is somethin', ain't it?" remarked Cain. "How about you take off these restraints so I can give you an autograph?"
Lynch snickered. "No, I don't think we'll be doing that. But I am curious just what you're doing meddling in my affairs."
"Some friends of mine are missing and I know you're the reason why."
Lynch feigned shock. "I have no idea what you're talking about."
"How about we don't insult each other's intelligence here?"
"'Friends' implies that these beings are anything other than demonic spawn. They're not people, they're nothing more than instruments of Hell and we must do what we can to scrub them from the Earth," said Lynch.
"Who appointed you judge, jury, and executioner?" asked Cain.
Lynch scoffed. "That's quite the statement coming from you." He slid his hands into his pockets and began circling the gurney as he spoke. "I'm not your typical TV preacher, Cain. My knowledge doesn't just come from the Bible alone. I'm well-versed in the lore of the occult world. I've read the forbidden texts and secret histories of the world. I tell you all this because I want you to know that I'm well aware of who you are and what you've done in your very long life."
"Just another self-righteous holy man who thinks he's got God on his side," said Cain. "Think I haven't seen your kind a million-plus times before?"
"Oh, I'm a far different breed from the others. I understand that what most of the church engages with is half-truths and deception."
"And yet you engage in the same?" asked Cain.
"Of course not. The major denominations are too scared to go to the same lengths as me. They talk about demonic activity in an almost allegorical sense as opposed to the very literal phenomenon it is. And I know because I saw it with my own eyes when I was just a child. I saw it tear my family apart."
"So what, something supernatural killed your parents and so you decided genocide was the appropriate response?" asked Cain.
"Genocide again implies that these...things are people. And I find that to be a grave insult." Lynch stopped his pacing near Cain's head. "Cursed one, you're in no position to judge me. I know that the skeletons in your closet are too numerous to count. Any lives that might have been lost in my crusade are but a drop compared to the oceans of blood you've spilled."
"What's the purpose of all this talk? You think you're going to what, shame me?" Cain stared directly into Lynch's eyes. "Just look at me, Lynch--I don't do shame. I've made my choices and I've lived with the consequences of those actions. You want to kill me for what I've done? Show me exactly what knife will actually work and I'll happily twist it myself. You want to lock me in a cell for eternity? Go right ahead, I've already been in the worst prisons the universe has ever created."
"What's the purpose of all this talk? You think you're going to what, shame me?" Cain stared directly into Lynch's eyes. "Just look at me, Lynch--I don't do shame. I've made my choices and I've lived with the consequences of those actions. You want to kill me for what I've done? Show me exactly what knife will actually work and I'll happily twist it myself. You want to lock me in a cell for eternity? Go right ahead, I've already been in the worst prisons the universe has ever created. Any possible punishment you can think to inflict on me would be well-deserved, I know that. But you keep it to me, leave these others out of it."
Lynch sighed and moved away from Cain. "If only it were that simple. I will give you credit for one thing. You might be a cursed, evil killer, but recently you at least had the good sense to keep to yourself. I can't say the same for your supposed friends. They're trying to infiltrate human society, corrupt our young, and turn them away from the path to Heaven. And I just can't allow that to happen. Not without a fight."
"You hate the supernatural so much, yet you've got no problem using our tools in your crusade," said Cain. "I know you did something to that kid. No way a human could do what he did. And Mercer? I saw his eyes, I know he's got that touch of hellfire inside."
"After World War II, the US government recruited Nazi scientists because they understood that they needed every possible tool to thwart the godless communists. This is a war for survival, my friend. And that war must be fought by any means necessary."
Lynch put his hand on Mercer's shoulder. "Brother Mercer here may have been corrupted by Hell, but he was once one of us before he died. A true crusader. The fact that he wasn't granted entrance to Heaven is proof that corruption extends to the highest levels. And now he uses the powers granted him by Hell to fight for our righteous cause."
"I know this world needs cleansing. And once the work is done, I'll freely offer myself to the knife," said Mercer.
"What a noble soul." Cain rolled his eyes.
"Mock us all you like, it makes no difference. You see, you're going to be the main attraction in our next sermon." Lynch held up his hands as if simulating a marquee. "Proof of the supernatural! We're going to show the world the face of the first murderer and have them watch in abject horror and suspense as you're executed on our livestream."
"You think that'll prove anything?" asked Cain. "Everyone will just dismiss it as movie magic."
"Oh sure, there will be many who try to deny the truth. That's always the case," said Lynch. "But I think far more will believe the evidence of their own eyes. And of course, we'll have plenty in attendance who will spread the word to those they know. It'll be a rallying call for others to join our cause against the forces of the supernatural."
"Like a virus."
Lynch frowned. "Obviously not my preferred term, but you're not wrong."
"You still haven't told me where my friends are," said Cain.
"You're right, I didn't." Lynch turned to Mercer. "Come along, Brother. We have a lot of preparations to make and Cain has another broken neck to recover from."
"What do you mean another--"
Cain's question was answered before he could even finish asking it. With a wave of his hand, Mercer telekinetically snapped Cain's neck once more and let the darkness claim him again.
25
Maya had entered the main hall of Purefire's church with the other attendees. Everyone else was here to watch Robert Lynch's service live and in person as opposed to streaming. But Maya was here to learn more about Lynch's organization.
There seemed little doubt that at the very least people affiliated with Purefire were behind both Kel and Dex's disappearances. Lynch himself was potentially involved, too. Right now, she was going about this solo. Dex had been her sole support since she started working in the field and she was skeptical about how much she could do without him by her side.
Once she filed into the main hall with the rest of the attendees, Maya immediately took note of the exits. She wanted to be able to sneak out as soon as it started so she would have more freedom to move about the complex.
The lights in the hall came down and the chattering of the crowd dimmed to silence. Bright, multi-colored lasers started flashing over the stage. Upbeat Christian rock music set the tone and a male voice boomed through the speakers, announcing the arrival of Reverend Robert Lynch.
There was a bust of smoke as the spotlight fell on the stage. As the smoke cleared, Lynch stood on stage. His bright smile flashed to the crowd and he waved to the onlookers who cheered his name. Lynch hopped off the stage and moved through some of the first few rows of seats, shaking hands and giving hugs.
He knew how to work a crowd, Maya had to give him that. And she was going to use that to her advantage. While all eyes were fixed on the stage, she pushed back through the crowd towards one of the doors labeled EXIT. A tall, broad-shouldered man in a suit and sunglasses stood guard at the door.
"Can I help you?" he asked.
"I need to use the ladies' room."
He pointed to a sign right next to the door. It had the symbols for restrooms and an arrow pointed toward the right.
"Thanks."
Maya followed the sign, starting to worry that she might not be able to sneak out as easily as she thought. The signs led her around the back circumference of the hall. Whenever she came to an exit door, a guard stood at attention. Lynch apparently didn't like people coming and going from the hall during his sermons and that was going to make things more complicated.
She finally found the bathrooms and went into the women's. Maya's eyes immediately went to the ceiling. There was a large air duct positioned over one of the three stalls. Maya went into the stall and climbed onto the toilet seat, looked at the duct cover, and gave a resigned sigh.
"Well, if Judd Nelson could do it..."
The duct cover was just out of reach of her fingers. Even standing on her toes, the tips of her fingers didn't even brush the vent. As she tried to reach higher, she slipped and grabbed the tops of the stalls to brace herself, preventing a fall.
Maya heard the sound of a door opening.
Shit!
She dropped back into the stall and waited. It was two women and they were chatting as they entered the bathroom. Maya mostly ignored the specifics of their idle small talk and she heard them both enter the stalls. And then one of them said something that startled her.
"Oh gross, someone didn't flush!"
"Ew, just flush it! I don't wanna hear about it!"
"Ugh, it smells so bad..."
"We don't need the commentary."
Maya had to agree with the friend. Just flush it, do your business, and get out, she thought.
She heard the sound of the flush, but it was interrupted before it was completed with a gurgle followed by water running.
"It's clogged!"
Fuck me...
She heard the woman exit the stall and slam the door behind her. Two footsteps and Maya noticed feet under the door of her stall. The door rattled and then there was a pause and a knock.
"Someone's in here," said Maya.
"Are you almost done? This toilet is clogged."
Maya froze and then she had an idea. She imitated throwing up, making the most disgusting retching noise her throat could manage.
"Yuck! What's wrong with you?"
"Sorry, sorry...I'm not feeling too good," Maya replied before making another retching sound.
There was an annoyed grunt from the woman.
"It's okay, Katie, I'm finished," her friend said.
"Thank god!"
Maya heard the sound of the third stall door opening and breathed in relief. She waited until the flush and then Katie's voice came back again.
"Okay, let's go. We're missing it!"
The sound of footsteps receding and then the bathroom door opening. Maya was about to climb back onto the toilet when she heard footsteps approaching.
Oh, come on!
There was another knock on her stall door, but this time it was slower and not as frenetic as Katie's had been.
"Hey, are you okay in there?" It was her friend.
Maya faked another retch. "I'll be fine."
"I just wanted to apologize for my friend. You see, we drove all the way here from Sacramento and we got a flat along the way and she's just in a bad mood and--"
Maya faked another retch to try and get her to leave.
"Oh jeez, are you sure you're okay? Should I get some help?"
"No...just leave me be. Thanks for the kind words, I'll be fine."
"Oh...okay, sure."
Footsteps receded again and finally, the sound of the door closing. Maya craned her neck and looked up at the duct. There was one way to get in, though she was worried about the potential fallout. Maya closed her eyes and cupped her hands over each other as if she were holding a ball. She started to breathe slowly, focusing her energy into her hands. Slowly, she started moving her hands, as if she were molding a lump of clay. Waves of energy started to appear between her palms.
Energy projection was something of an advanced skill for magic users. Maya wasn't very adept at it, but she figured she could muster something for this occasion. All she needed was a ball just big enough to break through that vent.
She visualized her intent in her mind, saw the ball bursting through the vent and then dissipating after impact. When Maya opened her eyes, she looked up at the vent and thrust her arms toward it. The ball raced from her palms and struck the vent, breaking it open. It was a pretty loud bang and she paused for a few moments to see if it had alerted anyone else.
There was nothing. Maya climbed onto the toilet again and looked up at the vent. She slowly crouched down, carefully maintaining her balance on the toilet seat. Then she sprung up, her hands reaching for the vent and grabbing onto the edges.
Maya dangled there for a few moments and then she strained to pull herself up. And here I thought those pull-up challenges in school were a waste of time...
It was a strain on her arm muscles, but she eventually managed to get through and into the duct. Maya lay in there for a few moments to catch her breath. Once she was ready, she started crawling through.
The duct was a tight fit, even for her relatively small frame. She tried to imagine Cain moving through these vents and had to stop herself from chuckling at the visual. She would pass over vents as she crawled, noting how at first she was over the main hall. Eventually, she crossed into the lobby area as the sound of the sermon faded.
Maya didn't want to just drop down into the hall, too much chance of accidental discovery. She followed the main duct until she came to another junction and then turned. This led to another bathroom and from here, she could easily remove the vent herself.
Her fingers grasped it just as it came loose from the mount so it wouldn't fall to the floor. With the vent held between one arm, Maya struggled to pull her legs forward and slide them out to join her arm. Soon, she was dangling from the vent with one hand holding onto the edge. She looked down and saw the stall was empty, and she let go.
Maya landed in the small space between the toilet and the stall door. She left the vent on the toilet seat and then went to the bathroom exit. Slowly, she pushed the door open and examined both sides. The hall was empty, so she exited and held onto the door before it silently closed.
Now she was in and the question was where to go next. At the end of the hall was a door labeled "STAFF ONLY." She quickly crossed the hall and walked through the door.
She didn't want to stay out in the open like this for too long, so the first room she saw, she decided to test out. Maya slowly opened the door and once confirming the coast was clear, she walked in, then closed and locked the door behind her.
It was a small office, probably belonging to one of Purefire's administrative staff. There were binders on bookshelves against the wall. Maya went to examine the shelves and saw that they held financial information from when the company began five years ago.
She took the most recent one off the shelf and started paging through the documents. Maya wasn't an accountant so she didn't quite understand what they were saying, but they did list quite high sums of money from donations. Some of them were very high-dollar amounts.
Maya put it back on the shelf and went around to the desk with a computer. She hit a button on the keyboard and the monitor came to life, but she was quickly hit with a password prompt. Maya thought about trying to guess the password but felt it would be a waste of time. Instead, she just instinctively hit the enter key.
Surprisingly, the password prompt vanished and the desktop appeared on the monitor. Maya scoffed. "You can't be serious..." she whispered to herself. She looked at the framed family photo on the desk and saw an older couple surrounded by adult children and grandchildren. There was another photo of the older woman by herself and Maya assumed the employee whose office this belonged to was the grandpa in the picture.
"Freaking boomers..." she muttered as she sat at the desk and helped herself to the computer's contents.
Maya checked the email and found several messages about acquisitions. At first, she thought they might be talking about corporate matters, but as she started reading through them, the hairs on the back of her neck stood up.
The Reverend requested a total of twenty-five acquisitions. So far, we've only managed a net of twenty-four creatures. Since we're pressed for time, I think we'll have to stick with that.
"What is this all about...?" Maya muttered to herself. She continued reading.
We have ten guests in total, including the Reverend himself. Most will be arranging their transportation, but we need to discuss how we'll be transporting the assets. Many of them are already in the warehouse waiting for transport, but we still have two creatures on-site. I need you to arrange for transport by tomorrow night at the very latest.
Two creatures on-site. Maya figured that must be referring to Dex and potentially also Kel. The email was dated this morning, which meant they were still here. Now she just had to locate them before it was too late.
Maya quickly searched the drawers for any sort of removable storage. If there were a USB drive, she could download the contents of the computer and bring it back to the Black Lodge. But there was nothing she could find and it would take too much time to try to remove the entire hard drive from the desktop. She thought about trying to upload it somewhere on the internet, but that was taking a risk of them being able to track the transfer.
