Demonic Designs (To Absolve the Fallen) (16 page)

“If I have to deal with one more failure,” Patheus growled, “the next time I look around at your pathetic faces, there will be fewer of you.”

He was staring out into a crowd of very frightened men.
 
No eye dared turn away after the threat, even out of fear.
 
These men had been handpicked for a specific task by some of the most powerful individuals in the United States.
 
Those powerful individuals were all demons, and, at the moment, most of them were subservient to Patheus.
 
His task was paramount, and all resources had been diverted to ensure that his mission was successful.
 

Metatron was not happy with the amount of time this was all taking, and he’d told Patheus to pick up the pace.
 
Therefore, it was Patheus’s job to make sure that all of these morons knew what was at stake.
 
One set of eyes, however, looked on, and Patheus knew it.
 
He could see that she looked through him and onto something grander.
 
He wondered if she was thinking of a possible promotion
 

“I’ve lost a lot to get one child,” Patheus continued, ignoring the blatant disregard for his authority.
 
“So I’ve decided upon another path.”
 
He grinned at Eva.
 
“The boy will be taken care of by other means.
 
It now becomes your directive to distract Jeremiah.
 
You will begin making a mess of things all over.
 
I want you to defile anything that Jeremiah touches.
 
I want his assets ruined.
 
I want his name slandered.
 
I want every one of you working on a way to kill that pest once and for all.
 
Remember this; always remember this: if you fail, your masters will be called in to finish the job, and, at that point, it would be better for you to be dead.”

With that, a beaten and bruised man was thrown onto the floor at Patheus’s feet.
 
“This one is mine.
 
He was a scout for the group in Amarillo who decided to run away when things were looking bad.
 
He made the mistake of coming back here, and let’s just say that I do kill the messenger.”
 

Patheus plunged his hand into the middle of the man’s stomach.
 
A weakened cry and then a moan emerged from deep within the man’s being.
 
Patheus grabbed something and pulled hard.
 
There was a sick, wet sound following a horrible scream as Patheus not-so-gently removed the man’s intestines.
 
The onlookers finally did turn away, and many of them vomited.
 
One fainted.
 
Eventually, they all returned to their position as audience.
 
Eva slowly shook her head.
 
With feet of insides pulled out of this poor soul’s body, he only lay there, mouth agape and eyes full of horror.
 
He was still alive.
 
Patheus had sustained him for a slower death—a trick, incidentally, he’d learned from Jeremiah, forcing the man to soak in all of the pain that he could, until even Patheus’s will could no longer hold him to this plane.

“As for the rest of you,” Patheus continued after a few minutes, wiping the blood off of his hands, “remember what I said.
 
If you fail me, your masters will come to finish the job, and removing the inconvenience of your incompetence will be most important to them.
 
I shouldn’t need to stress that Jeremiah is dangerous, and if directly encountered, he’ll probably kill you.
 
He has already killed two of my demons and a handful of men by himself.
 
He also has accomplices who have proven fairly skilled.
 
I served under him in a battle against the forces of Lucifer.
 
He, as an angel, single-handedly staved off the Morning Star—a feat believed to have only been accomplished by Michael.
 
Do not underestimate him.
 
He’ll kill any of you whom he catches.”

Patheus didn’t catch Eva roll her eyes at the mention of his role under Jeremiah.
 
She’d heard it so many times that she could recite it herself.
 
He droned on with pointless threats, and while he did, she thought.
 

Alex was going to be difficult.
 
How could she even get close as long as Jeremiah was around?
 
Patheus believed that Jeremiah would eventually leave the boy.
 
But when?
 
At some point, Jeremiah would have to release Alex into public.
 
He wouldn’t go through all that effort of finding Alex if the boy didn’t have a very interesting destiny.
 
Eva decided that she would make her move as soon as Jeremiah gave Alex enough slack to start exploring on his own.
 
Even then, whatever she did would have to be calculated and subtle to ensure that she had no interference from Jeremiah, who would undoubtedly kill her.
 
Patheus’s plan was foolhardy, and, if she wasn’t cautious, she would play the fool.
 
If she failed, Patheus would kill her.
 
If she succeeded, Jeremiah would probably find out and kill her.
 
Either way, this situation frightened her, and fear was not something she was accustomed to dealing with.

***

Alex drifted away from the attacker.
 
Though he knew he was still being thrashed, he didn’t care.
 
He couldn’t feel it anymore.
 
His mind retreated somewhere dark, but pleasant.
 
In the darkness, illuminated by hidden light, he saw his father.
 
James Tanner had always been the steady foundation Alex often rested upon.
 
He was the rational one in the family when Alex and his mother were not.
 
In his son’s mind, James was almost a super hero.
 
And his presence here was exactly what Alex needed.

“Dad!”

“Son, you have come a long way.”

“I’m sorry I hurt you.
 
I didn’t mean to leave.
 
They took me away and told me that I would die if I didn’t go with them.
 
I’m so scared.”

James approached and put his hand on Alex’s shoulder.
 
“I know,” he comforted Alex with a soothing voice, “but you are safe here.”

Alex knew that this was not James Tanner, though he wanted to believe so badly.
 
“Where are we?”

“We are in a place that I designed for you.
 
You may seek me here, and I will come.
 
Son, I don’t expect you to do this alone, and that is why I have given you Jeremiah, Liz, and Matt—along with many others.
 
They’ll help you in the difficult times to come.
 
Yours will be the most painful path.
 
You will be the one who has to make choices for the rest.
 
You’ll have to live with those decisions.
 
I wish there were a way that I could make this easy for you, but pain is a necessary part of human existence.
 
Without it, humans do not grow.

“Jeremiah thinks I feel nothing when my children suffer, but that isn’t true.
 
If anyone could fathom how I feel when my creations suffer, they would wonder why I allow such things.
 
But that’s free will.
 
The consequences of your actions will always lay heavily on your mind.
 
Can you sift through them to find the truth that transcends pain?
 
Yes, you can.
 
I am that truth, Alex, and I will be there for you.”

“You left Jesus to die,” Alex retorted, fully recognizing to whom he was speaking.

“No,” James Tanner replied solemnly, “I let him make his own decision, and he did so perfectly.
 
There will come a time when I no longer tell you what it is that you need to do.
 
In that time, you will know, and the only thing left will be for you to do what you think is best.
 
That’s always the final test.
 
When you think that I can’t see you, or you think that I won’t judge you, when you know that your choice can result in the loss of all,
that
is when your decision is the most important.
 
If Jesus had asked me, I would have pulled him off that cross.
 
But even when he thought I wasn’t looking, he ignored temptation, fear, and doubt.
 
He knew that his path was just.
 
He knew that it was what I wanted, but he also knew that he could walk away.
 
The same is true for you.
 
If you want to walk away, just do so.”

“Then, I suppose you will be disappointed in me,” Alex said, feeling much like he was talking to his father.

“It isn’t possible.”

Not meaning to sound cynical, but doing remarkably well anyway, Alex responded, “I thought all things were possible.”

“Except for those things that I choose to make impossible.
 
I have a very personal connection with you, and regardless of what you may believe, it isn’t of my doing.
 
You chose to have this relationship.
 
Again, this is all a matter of your choice.
 
I could never be disappointed in you for doing exactly what it is I want you to do.
 
Just because I know where the path will end, doesn’t mean that I’m directing you there.
 
Don’t take my lack of intervention as a sign of not caring.
 
Rather, regard it as wisdom that you don’t see yet.”

“What do I do when I don’t know?”

The man stroked his fingers through Alex’s hair just like his father would—to comfort his only child.
 
“Don’t try to know.
 
Just believe.”

Alex could hear his name being called from a distance.
 

“They’re looking for you,” his father noted.
 
“You need to return.
 
We’ll speak again soon.”

Alex felt himself being pulled through time and space back to his body.
 
When he reentered, he was totally exhausted.
 
Through blurred vision, Alex could make out Jeremiah and Matt in the front seats peering at him expectantly.
 
Out of the corner of his eye, he thought he saw Liz awake and also studying him.

***

A muffled voice came from the backseat, “Jeremiah, I don’t think your savior is doing so good.”

Jeremiah spun his head around.
 
Elizabeth was awake, and she was waving her hand in front of Alex’s face.
 
His eyes were wide open; his mouth was partially agape, and his hands were clenched onto the seat.
 
His face had gone completely pallid, and every once in a while, he would let out a weak whimper.
 
He looked to be staring straight at the back of Matt’s head.
 
Matt turned around too.

“What’s he doing?” Matt asked, getting concerned.

Jeremiah followed Alex’s eyes straight to Matt.
 
“It would seem,” he replied venomously, “that your demons have possessed him, too.”

Matt turned to look at Jeremiah, glad to take his eyes away from Alex, whose gaze was a little unnerving.
 
An uncomfortable realization crept into Matt’s mind, one regarding an intrusion on the most personal level.
 

A glint of horror flashed in his eyes.
 
“What do you mean?”

Jeremiah pulled the car off the road and turned off the engine.
 
“That means that he has been inside your head.”

Alex screamed.

Jeremiah sighed.
 
“And apparently he doesn’t like what he sees.”

“The fuck you say....
 
What is he doing inside my head?!”

“Possibly dying,” Jeremiah roared.
 
“If you don’t mind, please stay out of this.”
 
Jeremiah reached back toward Alex and cupped the boy’s head in his hands.

“You need to tell him to stay out of my head.
 
If he goes into it again, I’ll beat the shit out of him--”