Divine Vices (37 page)

The
church walls resonated with a slow, beating clap. Our hearts dropped as we
turned to the entrance. Ian and I started backing away, hearing a voice echoing
from inside.

“Oh,
let’s not be shy, my star-crossed lovers. Please, allow me to introduce
myself,” called out the stranger from inside the darkness. It was clearly a
man, but certainly not Jack.

We
took another step back as the figure emerged from the shadows. The shimmer of a
gold badge stamped on his chest glistered in the light before any of his
features came into focus.

“I
don’t believe it,” I muttered, looking at what was now clearly a policeman’s
uniform.

“You
know him?” whispered Ian as the man strode out into the open.

“Rookie
Officer Steven Talbot.”

“Oh,
forget formality. The name’s Garrick,” the officer confirmed. With a blink of
the eyes, black orbs filled his sockets.

“How
are you here? This is sacred ground!” declared Ian dreadfully.

“What,
these old ruins? Hardly. It’s a mere echo of its once Holy existence,” said
Garrick, running his hand along the stone siding of the steeple’s front
archway. “But enough about trivial details. There’s far many more important
things to get to, like why both of you aren’t overly surprised by my peculiar
state of being. How much has he told you?”

“Enough,”
I sneered, knowing all too well that he was implying about Jack.

“So,
you’ve chosen this one’s side then?” remarked Garrick, pointing at Ian. “Shame,
now we’ve got to take care of this the hard way. I already told them this
wouldn’t work, but nooooo. They insisted on the dramatics. Corrupting the
innocent, damning one of His own, yada yada yada. See how well that’s worked
out, right?”

Out
of the darkness behind the officer lunged a stealth force. It was Jack. He was
mere inches away from silently driving his hunting knife into Talbot’s back
when Garrick swooped effortlessly out of the way, grabbing Jack from behind as
he rushed past. Hurtling him backward, Garrick slammed Jack into the
cobblestone, pinning a steel toed boot against his throat.

“Look
who decided to grace us with his presence,” chuckled Garrick. “About time you
showed up.”

Jack
quickly countered the move by slicing a hand into Garrick’s kneecap. The hit
was adequate enough to get him to let his foot up off of Jack.

“What
are you doing here? This is my territory,” declared Jack under a cough as he
regained his breath, stumbling over to Ian and me sorely.

“No,
it’s not,” Garrick corrected.

“I
haven’t received word yet that says otherwise, so my position stands,” said
Jack.

“For
now, until
word
gets out. Everyone knows you exposed your true nature to
her. That arrogant little display at the high school last night had your name
plastered all over it. You can lie to them all you want. Won’t change the fact
that they’ll see everything for themselves.”

Jack
instantly snatched another knife out from behind his back and hurled it at him
with frightening precision, but Garrick caught it between his hands just inches
from his face and threw it back. Jack was prepared this time and deflected it,
charging at him full force. Garrick took the impact around the torso but
managed to get his arms above Jack’s hold. Driving his elbows down onto Jack’s
upper back, Garrick’s impact proved to crumple Jack into the ground.

“Best
remember where you stand, boy. The only reason you have this ranking is because
of your particular set of skills. Seduction. That’s it. I can still whip your
ass till Sunday, and you’d be smart to not forget that,” sneered Garrick,
brushing himself off as Jack limply climbed up from the ground. “That’s the
thing with you incubuses. You only fine-tune your sharpest tools, while you let
the rest of your qualities slacken. You can’t fight worth shit, not against a
true warrior.”

“You
still haven’t answered my question,” Jack spat out. “Why are you here?”

“Isn’t
it obvious?”

“Word
has to pass through the system when you’re relocated to a new position. Why
didn’t anyone hear of you coming?”

“Oh,
I didn’t come on orders,” snickered Garrick.

“Then
how did you know where to find her? Only those signed to each specific case
know where the target’s located.”

“I
came through a portal, generously provided by a bunch of moronic adolescents,”
he chuckled. “Word from the wise, girlie, don’t miss with Ouija boards. They
draw us out like magnets.”

“I
didn’t use it,” I declared.

“But
you were there when it was in use, and, honey, your presence was truly divine.
You’re like catnip to our kind.”

“Your
little message was cute,” I sneered. “‘Death comes to you.’ Though the Latin
threw me off at first.”

“Don’t
look at me, sweetie. I had nothing to do with the reading. I just hitched a
ride to this plane from the hellfire down below, though I’m not surprised that
Death is coming for you given the state of your recently deceased relatives.”

“Hellfire,
eh? So you were sentenced to the pit?” asked Jack.

“For
a short while. What can I say? I’m a bit too exuberant for my own good
sometimes.”

“Was
that you, with the Ouija piece?” I queried.

He
chuckled as he nodded. “Now that was fun.”

“What
about the vanishing driver, on Beaumont Street?”

“Nope,
afraid not.”

“The
person outside my window, before Benson and you came?”

“Again,
no.”

“But
you covered it up nevertheless,” I remarked. “You were the one who surveyed the
yard. You saw the footprints out there.”

Garrick
simply smiled.

“The
scratches on my back, was that you?”

Everyone
looked at me bewilderedly, including Garrick.

“What’s
this now?”

“I
had a dream I was attacked. Then I woke up in the woods with the same severe
injury I sustained in the dream, but the marks vanished completely only after
an hour or so of being awake.”

“Well,
well, well. Seems she lives up to her name after all. Cassandra, the
disregarded prophet. Good to see her powers coming into effect,” remarked
Garrick.

“Jack?”
I asked, seeing his jaw tense.

“That
was an omen, and the remnants were still playing tricks to your conscious
mind,” he said at last, stiffly. “What happened in the dream?”

“...You
attacked me, and again, you said ‘death comes to you,’ in Latin.”

“The
night before last,” said Jack, switching his attention to Garrick's beaten face.
“Was that you?”

“At
her house?” he chuckled. "You know, two and against one really isn't
fair."

“Yeah,
but the trench coat, and everything...?” I mumbled. "I told you about what
the guy was wearing outside my house that night..."

"Ding,
ding, ding!" Garrick chimed playfully, imitating a game show host .
"What do we have for our winner?"

"But
who was it outside before?" I asked. "Another demon?"

Garrick
started snickering all over again, exchanging glances between Jack and me. “I’m
sorry, but what on earth has he told you?”

“Nothing,
apparently,” I confirmed, looking over at Jack.

He
continued to laugh, directing his attention fully to Jack. “Oooohh, you’ve yet
to tell her of her impending doom, eh? Understandable in your position, but
I’ve got to ask, what
have
you been doing here? The job was simple.
Protect and seduce. That was it. Yet, here I am, ready to implement harm. Yet,
here she is, with him no less.” Garrick studied Ian with amusement. “I mean,
really? How badly did you mess things up with her? No offense, but just look at
this kid.”

“Wow,”
muttered Ian. “I can’t catch a break anywhere.”

“Soon
as they see these two together, the jig will be up. They’ll know you failed.
And just imagine what’s gonna happen to her then. Boy, can I not wait,” said
Garrick chillingly.

Jack
stepped directly in front of Ian and me, blocking Garrick’s way to us.

“Oh,
how cute.” Garrick stared intensely into Jack’s eyes, and suddenly, Jack
dropped wearily to his knees and clutched the sides of his head. “When will you
ever learn? I’m still ten times stronger than you on your best day, and quite
frankly, you’ve lost all your edge. I’d doubt your ability to win a match
against a puppy right about now. You’ve gone soft. Wouldn’t have anything to do
with her, hmm?”

Ian
grabbed me and pulled me back to the trail where we came from, but we only got
halfway down the path when an invisible grip yanked the two of us backward
through the willow branches. We fell onto the cobblestone just beside Jack.

“Let’s
make things easy for all of us here,” said Garrick, kicking Ian as he eyed me.
“How about I take this poor kid for a test run? A good strangling will suffice.
While he slowly recovers, you and I could have quite the time together.”

“Good
luck with that,” spat Jack amusingly.

Garrick
booted Ian over and studied him closely, letting out a subtle chuckle. “Aha, I
get it now. Purebred selection. What an unknowing force it is. Drags them
together every time, and they’re still so stupid to call it ‘love.’ I may not
be able to climb up in that head of his, but there’s nothing stopping me from
enjoying myself as is.”

Garrick
pulled out Talbot’s service pistol, yanking Ian back to his feet. Jack and I
both scrambled up as well, but Garrick didn’t seem too particular about who
else may catch a bullet in the midst of his amusement.

“Killing
one of your kind is gonna be quite the pleasure,” he said, aiming the barrel
right between Ian’s eyes. “But don’t worry. You’re better off going like this.
There’s plenty of worse ways out there. Trust me.”

Just
as he cocked the trigger, Talbot let out a weak gasp. His jaw clenched, and his
eyes trailed down at what looked like the tip to a small metal drill point
protruded from the middle of his chest. Garrick crumpled over and coughed
painfully, blood expelling from his mouth. As he doubled over, we saw a long,
dark wooden shaft and black fletching to an arrow pierced through his back!

“What
the hell...” I muttered, half of the lights overhead bursting in an instant.

The
three of us fell back as we looked out into the darkness, trying to see where
and who that surprise came from.

“We
need to go, now!” demanded Jack, but in that instant a bitter draft washed over
me as we started to run back to the opening.

“What
is that?” I asked, watching my words form fog in the cold.

Ian
and Jack turned to me as I crashed to a halt. “What?”

I
stood silent, taking in everything surrounding me. The fountain trickled over
the dead of night. Then it hit me. My vision in the hallway. I looked across
the courtyard to see another mass of willow branches lurking over an entrance.

“They’re
right there,” I whispered, my gazing fixed on the spot.

“You
see them?” asked Ian, ever so quietly.

“No,
I just know.”

Sure
enough, the branches parted and a black gloved hand poked through. Then the all
too familiar hooded figure from twice before emerged with a massive, filigree
blade wielded in their hand and a quiver and bow slung over their shoulder.
Garrick moaned desperately, rolling to his side to see the figure heading
determinedly towards him.

“Please....
no!!” he screamed, trying to gain traction as he struggled to pedal away over
the cobblestone.

Without
hesitation, the figure approached and plunged his sword into Garrick and his
black orbed eyes returned to normal, but were now void of all life.

Jack
grabbed both Ian and me, and we charged blindly down the path. Throwing
ourselves over the Private Property barrier, the three of us raced into the
shopping square. The fabric of my gown made it next to impossible to climb up
the stone stairways quickly, but I didn’t lack the adrenaline to overcome the
hindrance.

“Who
is that?!” I demanded.

“You
want to know who was responsible for what happened to your mom and sister, and
all those girls?” said Jack, panting heavily.

“Yeah!”

“Well,
you were just looking at him.”

“What?!”

“Who
is he?!” asked Ian.

“An
angel of death!”

“Come
again?!” I bellowed.

“We
really don’t have time for this!” declared Jack. “You see that blade he’s
carrying there? It’s called a Daman Saxon. If you’re killed by one of those,
you’re not gonna find yourself in Heaven, but neither in Hell. You die by the
hand of that, your soul dies as well. You fail to exist all together.”