Authors: Angella Graff
Mark sighed, rubbing his eyes. He crossed the room and came to a stop in front of his companion. Gingerly he pressed a finger to the mark on Jude’s forehead and felt the depression in the skull where bone was reforming. “We need more help.”
Jude looked down at his bare feet and gave the smallest sigh. “Why?”
“Because you’ve ceased to care whether or not they take us, and I can’t fight for the both of us,” Mark said, his voice rising in anger. He took a step back from his friend, his fists balled at his sides. “What happened to you?”
Jude looked up, his brown eyes dark and narrow. It was the first time Mark saw actual emotion on the man’s face, and he was desperate for Jude to continue, even if he was going to fly into a rage. “Everything happened to me,
Makabi
,” he said, using Mark’s old name in a mocking tone. “The world, life, centuries. People take from me, they take these gifts, they drive me mad, and they leave me ranting on a street corner without any clue as to what they’ve done. Life has ceased to care, Mark, so why should I? Why bother?” Jude’s voice lost all inflection at his final words.
Mark’s hands relaxed and he crossed his arms over his chest. “If they take you, if they take us, we won’t be able to stop them.”
“And what will they do, Mark?” Jude asked, toeing on his shoes. “What will they do with us? Heal people? Raise the dead? Start a cult? Bring people back to Yahweh, praise his name and sacrifice lambs? What does it matter?”
Mark shook his head but followed in Jude’s footsteps, pulling out a suitcase to pack their meager belongings. “That’s not their plan, not their real plan, anyway.”
“So what is?”
Mark hesitated as he shoved clothes into the large case without bothering to keep them folded. He tried his best to remember what it was like to be in their presence. In the presence of beings older and more powerful than he was. Beings with an agenda so dark that Mark had never felt so terrified. “I’m not sure,” Mark confessed. He pressed the final pair of jeans into the case and zipped it shut. “But it isn’t anything we want to be a part of.”
“You’re absolutely positive?” Jude asked.
Mark let out a harsh laugh and shook his head. “Of course I’m not positive, you idiot. Just as I’m still not certain, after two-thousand goddamn years, why you and I are still on this planet. I don’t know what they’re planning, but just as I know my gifts will wreak havoc and destruction, I know their plan will, too.”
Jude looked at him, and just as Mark opened his mouth to continue talking, Jude threw back his head and laughed. It started as a chuckle, turning into a full-blown belly laugh as he doubled over, his head shaking, tears pouring down his face.
Mark instantly puffed up with anger, storming over to Jude and wrenching him upright. “I realize that you’re crazy. I’ve known that about you for centuries, but this isn’t funny. It’s not a game, and I’m tired of innocent people getting hurt.”
“Innocence,” Jude spat, wiping tears from the corners of his eyes. He ripped his arm away from Mark and walked to the window. Pressing his head against the glass, he spoke, his words muffled by the panes. “Not a one of them knows real innocence. Three of them called the police when they heard shots, you know. Three. Three out of the several dozen living nearby who heard the shots, and it was because they were afraid that the person was going to come and shoot them next. Not a single person cared whether or not we were hurt. Not even the children.”
Mark frowned. “How the hell do you know that?”
Jude gave a quiet smile but said nothing. With a sigh, he turned, picked up the suitcase and began dragging it down the stairs with a loud thump. “I hope you used a clever enough pseudonym for this place. They’re going to find those bodies when the heat gets to them,” he called from downstairs.
Mark sighed and looked around the room one last time, making sure nothing was left. He slipped the phone into his pocket, grabbed his light jacket and followed his companion back down. Mark closed the door, leaving the key to the flat on the stone wall beside their garden, and the pair got into the waiting taxi.
He gave a silent farewell to Spain as they sped down the road toward the city, toward the airport, and back toward the only place Mark hoped that they could find help.
~*~
Mark pulled into their parking spot in front of their building and threw the car into park. He was frustrated and irritated that Ben had refused to help him immediately, and he still hadn’t heard back from Stella since the call in Spain. Mark wanted to storm upstairs ahead of his companion, but he was too frightened to let Jude out of his sight for long, pausing at the front gate to wait for Jude to make his way over.
They headed into the building, and as they ascended the stairs, Mark felt something. It was a shift in the air, a crackle of electricity. It was one of
them
, Mark realized. Someone was inside his apartment. He looked over at Jude, but his companion didn’t seem to notice anything was amiss.
“Someone is here. One of them,” Mark said.
Jude paused mid-step and gave a slow nod. “I know. It’s no one bad.”
Mark frowned at Jude. “How do you know?”
“How do you
not
know?” Jude retorted. Before Mark could stop him, Jude walked ahead of him and beat Mark to the door.
Panicked, Mark rushed after Jude, terrified when he saw their apartment door was already open, and he burst inside, ready to attack. On the couch sat a familiar brunette, tense, but her face a mask of regret.
“I couldn’t call,” she said instantly as the pair walked into the room.
Mark felt himself grow lightheaded with relief as he saw Stella rise from the couch. “I was about ready to kill you.”
“I know,” she said, and from behind her back she produced a gun. “I was going to use it, too, since it wouldn’t have killed you anyway.” She gave a small laugh and slipped it back into her holster hiding under her jacket.
Mark closed the door and locked it as Jude walked through the room without so much as an introduction. The back bedroom door slammed, and Mark let out a sigh. “I’m sorry.”
“He’s been through a lot,” Stella said as she sat back down. “I figure it’s going to take him time to recover.”
“It’s different this time,” Mark said as he took a seat in the chair next to her. He paused a moment and then asked, “Does Ben know you’re here?”
Stella shook her head slowly, her eyes going half-lidded. “I wanted to call, but I didn’t want to bother him today of all days.”
Mark swallowed thickly and cleared his throat. “Yeah. Today was rough.”
“I was there, briefly, until I realized the priest was…” she trailed off. “Well I’m not sure who or what he was, frankly, but it wasn’t one of us. One of the Greeks.”
“Ben was pretty shaken up,” Mark confessed, confused by what she meant by ‘one of the Greeks’ but he didn’t want to press her further on that topic. In all honesty, Mark was ready to believe that anything was possible, and whatever the priest was, he’d given Ben important information that could possibly help. However, if Stella hadn’t spoken to Ben, she wouldn’t be any help to Mark.
Stella sat back, crossing one leg over her other and folded her arms across her chest. “Why are you back? I figured this place is probably the least safe place for you to be.”
“I would have thought so, too, but we were attacked,” Mark said, “twice, and Jude…” Mark trailed off again, looking back down the hall after his companion. “He won’t defend himself. He seems to think that fighting them is pointless.”
“No,” Stella said, sounding almost panicked. “You have to fight; you cannot let them take either one of you.”
“That’s why I’m back,” Mark said with a desperate shrug. “He won’t help himself, and I don’t think you could possibly understand the absolute hell it is to have to be with him every waking moment. I need help.” Mark let out a shaking, almost hysterical laugh and shook his head. “I’d probably go mad if I could.”
Stella stared at him for a long time before her eyes widened, finally understanding why Mark was there. “You want
Ben’s
help?”
Mark gave a half-shrug. “Yes, I do.”
“Why him, of all people?” she asked.
“Because they seem to fear him,” Mark said. “There was a sort of reverence about him, and even though Asclepius said it was because they couldn’t touch him, I think it’s something else. I think it’s the reason why Nike wanted Abby, above all people. She could have taken anyone in that hospital. She could have taken anyone, someone no one would miss; someone no one would go looking for. Instead she took the one person who led us straight to Jude. It’s something more than just his refusal to believe.”
Stella’s face was a mask of indifference as she listened to Mark. “So why do you think Ben can help you?”
Mark gave a short laugh. “Oh Stella, I can even see it in you. You know what it is about him that your kind fears and wants so desperately. I don’t expect you to tell me, but I can tell I’m right. The best place for me to be is here. With Ben.”
Stella sat back and sighed. “You’re right. I do know, and I’m not going to tell you. I’m being followed, Mark. I’m not sure if it’s because of Nike, or because of,” she paused and looked around, “something else. Whatever it is, I’m forced to stay in this body less and less, and I’m not sure when I can see Ben again.” She looked absolutely devastated when she said so, and Mark felt for her.
“I’m just not sure how to get through to him,” Mark eventually continued. “He’s broken now that Abby’s gone. If those things really wanted to get to him, to destroy him, they accomplished their mission. Abby was the one thing that mattered to Ben, and I’m not sure we’re going to be able to get him back.”
Stella’s eyes watered and Mark could see the strength it took for her to keep it together. “I know,” she said, her voice thick and rough. She cleared her throat and gave her head a little shake. “I know, but you’re right, and you have to try. If they get you, if Nike finds a host and manages to get you and Jude, we’re all lost.”
“Do you know what they’re planning?” Mark asked, desperate for answers. “Anything at all? Any scrap of information could save everyone.”
Stella looked pained as she said, “No. If I did, I swear I would tell you.”
Mark believed her, and let out a disappointed sigh. “I realize why you can’t have your ear to the ground, but if you catch wind of anything, anything at all-”
“You know I will come to you first thing,” she vowed. “I’m glad you’re okay, and keeping in town is probably the best option. Nike is likely gathering her forces and forming a plan B.”
“I think after what happened in Europe, she’s on to plan C, or possibly D,” Mark said miserably. “She’s been quiet for the month we’ve been here, and it’s making me even more uneasy.”
“Have you called Greg?” Stella asked. “It’s possible he’s heard something.”
“Greg doesn’t want any part of this, and Asclepius is following suit,” Mark said. “I’m not going to ask him to put himself at risk.”
Stella checked her watch and then stood. “Look, I have to go. I only have a little time left, but I wanted to make sure you two were okay.”
Mark stood up to walk her to the door, and was surprised by the sudden hug she gave him. “We’re fine for now,” he assured her, patting her back awkwardly. “I’ll keep in touch.”
“Might be better if you don’t,” she said and reached for the door handle. “Listen, Greg has something we call a God Portal.”
“We saw it,” Mark said with a nod.
“I’m not sure what he explained to you about it, but it might be helpful in contacting someone who might have information about Nike’s plans. You might want to just give him a call and ask if knows or has heard anything. Like you said, just the smallest information might help.”