The Dark Trinity (Book 1): Shuffle (38 page)

In one effortless motion, Sunshine wrapped her other large
talon around Evelyn’s waist and pulled. In a loud, wet, crunch, Evelyn’s body
ripped from her head. Before Nathan could register what his eyes saw, her
lifeless body sailed through the air, landing in a bloody heap before him.

“NOOOOOOO!”

From between Sunshine’s knotted fingers, Evelyn peered out at
Nathan with terrified eyes. Her spinal column remained intact and hung from her
severed head like an aberrant kite tail, swaying bloody trails in the air.
Evelyn was undead. Her brain remained intact and was aware of what was
happening to her. Nathan stood and watched the horrific scene; his fiancé’s
anguish burned into his mind.

A deafening roar sounded to Nathan’s left. Boomer sailed
through the air towards Sunshine. His powerful jaws closed around her
outstretched arm, ripping it off above the elbow. The little girl screamed as
black smoke poured out of the bloody stump. The severed arm still clutched
Evelyn’s head in a death grip and Boomer held tightly to the arm in his mouth.

As soon as he hit the ground, Boomer turned and bounded
through the falling lines of wolves and zombies. His quills puffed out like a
blow fish, mincing any zombie that got too close. He reached his master and
gently laid the arm and head onto the ground. Nathan pried the fingers open,
releasing Evelyn from the death-grip. He picked her up and looked into her eyes,
which darted around to and fro.

“I’m so sorry…” he said, as black blood-tears streamed down
his face.

Sunshine retreated into the sea of bodies of the Horde. At
the same moment, Bataviah yelled above the chaos. She was now in human form.

“Retreat to the bunker!” she cried.

Nathan turned in time to see Bataviah slip through a small
hole in the debris and down to the subterranean tunnel that was the entrance to
the bunker. The opening wasn’t big enough for the wolves to enter in their
current form. They’d have to change back to human to escape.

A strong hand grabbed Nathan’s arm. It was Maalik, back in
human form.

“Go now!” he commanded.

Nathan didn’t hesitate. He cradled Evelyn’s head in one arm,
scooped Theresa up in the other, and ducked down into the tunnel.

“Boomer, come!” he called back.

The dog sniffed at the hole. Realizing that he couldn’t enter
in his current state, the dog returned to his cute, little, furry form. He
followed his master into the tunnel.

“Hold the fuck on! Wait for me!” Ronnie cried as he pummeled
zombies with his giant black dildo.

Breaking through the last of the undead, Ronnie jumped over
the few wolves that continued to fight and disappeared through the opening.
Maalik followed, leaving the rest of his brethren behind to hold off the Horde
while they escaped.

Inside the large tunnel, Bataviah, Maalik, Ronnie, Nathan,
and Boomer ran as fast as they could down the steep incline of the passage
which ran underneath the main trolley line. Maalik carried Theresa over his
shoulder as they sprinted. Fluorescent lights staggered along the walls on
either side cast an eerie light. Two hundred yards ahead, the tunnel leveled out
and turned towards the right.

Behind them, the last of the wolf army outside sounded their
last cry of battle as the Horde finally overtook them. The hell spawn began to
filter into the tunnel.

“Run faster! Don’t stop!” Maalik commanded. “We need to blow
the tunnel!”

The group quickly approached the bend. One by one they
rounded the turn and continued towards an immense steel door which resembled a
giant bank vault. He could see that the door had begun to close. The front of
the vault had a strange symbol emblazoned on it that Nathan didn’t recognize.
The zombies continued to give chase and were making their way down the tunnel
towards them. Maalik made the turn around the bend; as he passed the corner, he
hit a large red button on the wall. Instantly, the C4 charges that lined the
tunnel began to explode in succession.

The vault was almost closed. The group made it through and
waited as Maalik sprinted towards the shrinking opening. He jumped through at
the last possible moment, just as the fiery explosion reached the vault. The
wolf general tucked and rolled as flames licked at his heels. Finally, the immense
vault thundered closed.

Beyond the door, the entrance tunnel collapsed onto the
burning bodies of the Horde. Hundreds of tons of concrete and metal sealed the
entrance. The group sat solemnly at the base of the vault door. Nathan wept as
he caressed Evelyn’s forehead. She looked back at Nathan with a heartbreaking
look. Maalik and Bataviah watched their zombie friend grieve for his love.
Ronnie stood in sad disbelief. Boomer gave a quiet whimper as he gently licked
Evelyn’s face. Theresa sobbed to herself.

Moments passed. Finally, Maalik stood.

“Come with me,” he said. “There is someone who wishes to
speak with you.”

CHAPTER 44 
  THE RABBIT
HOLE

The group was now inside the bunker’s outer perimeter. Before
them, another tunnel stretched ahead. The passage was bigger than the entrance
tunnel they had just blown up. A wide roadway, about equal to a four-lane road,
ran down the middle of the tunnel, flanked on either side by wide walkways.
Dozens of wolves stood at attention in human form at periodic intervals along
the walkways. They were clad in the same black attire as Maalik and Bataviah.
Nathan could feel their eyes on them as they made their way down the tunnel.

The silence weighed heavy as minutes passed. They reached
another gargantuan vault, much like the one before it. This one was of a
gunmetal-gray material and had ornate carvings on its facade. Intricate reliefs
depicted humans and wolves around the outer edge of the large circular door. In
the center, strange rune-like symbols encircled a large wolf head. Above the
wolf relief, a larger symbol, the same one that appeared on the door to the
bunker, gilded in silver. A loud mechanical click echoed and the vault began to
open.

They walked through the sixteen foot opening into an immense
room. Large, ornate columns, made with the same intricate reliefs and gunmetal
material as the vault, reached towards the vaulted Gothic arches above. Below
them, the black asphalt of the road gave way to a white illuminated Plexiglas
floor. Nathan estimated the room to be about a hundred yards long, and about
fifty yards across. He also noted the strange conglomeration of old-world
architecture and modern minimalism.

Maalik stopped in the center of the room.

“Ronnie,” he said in a soft voice. “Bataviah will show you to
your room. There you can get yourself cleaned up. She will ensure you get some
proper nourishment and that you are comfortable.”

Ronnie stood in a daze. Always the joker, he was rarely ever
at a loss for words, but seeing his friend’s fiancé get de-boned like a fish
made him realize that the world was not a joke. Bataviah gently touched his arm
and began to lead him to a doorway at the one side of the room. Dropping the
large, black, blood-covered dildo onto the pristine white floor, Ronnie
followed her.

Turning to Theresa, Maalik waved his hand. Two women dressed
in long, charcoal gray robes approached. In the same soft, comforting voice, he
spoke.

“Theresa, these women will take care of you. You are safe.
There is nothing here that will hurt you.”

The two attendants, both possessing kind faces, assisted the
shell-shocked woman to a doorway at their left. They ushered her through the
passageway and out of sight. Nathan watched her go. Blood dripped from Evelyn
as she lay cradled in his arms. Blood tears streaked her face as she looked up
at him with tormented eyes.

“As for you, my friend,” Maalik said, turning towards Nathan,
“Follow me.”

He led Nathan to another door, opposite the one that Ronnie
disappeared through. Boomer followed close to his master. They entered another
long hallway; this one was much smaller and narrower than the others. The same
white, illuminated floor extended before them. The walls were also white and
bare, giving Nathan the feeling that they had entered a clean-room environment.
Blood dripped from Evelyn’s spinal column onto the immaculate floor.

They entered through a non-descript door into a large empty
room. Nathan looked around and was unable to discern any walls. The illuminated
floor seem to stretch forever in all directions. Blackness surrounded them. As
they continued to walk, the door behind them clicked shut, leaving a black void
where the hallway had been. The wolf-general walked several more paces into the
vast expanse. Boomer continued to stick close, walking alongside his master and
fallen lady.

Maalik stopped. The seamless floor opened up before them;
various pieces made from the same gunmetal material as before rose up from
below. The parts slid and moved with mechanical precision and an organic
motion. In a few moments, the movement stopped and there in front of them was
what appeared to be a sarcophagus. The outside sported similar carvings as the
ones on the enormous columns, but he noticed that there were no human
depictions among the wolf sculptures. More of the strange runic script
intermingled among the wolf effigies.

A low, powerful voice filled the chamber from the darkness
beyond.

[“Place the girl inside…”]
it commanded.

Nathan looked to Maalik, who simply nodded towards the
otherworldly coffin. Taking a step towards the crypt, Nathan raised Evelyn’s
remains over the side and eased her down. It was lined with a soft pliable
material like silicone that glowed white like the floor. He leaned down and
kissed her on the forehead.

“I love you, so much,” he whispered.

As he removed his hands from inside the tomb, the sarcophagus
began to move as before. Pieces slid and turned until a large cover sealed
Evelyn inside. Slowly, the entire tomb lowered down into the floor, as the
white tiles slid back into place. If he hadn’t seen it happen, Nathan would
never have thought a large metallic tomb had stood there.

[“Do not worry for her,”]
the loud disembodied voice
stated.

“What are you going to do with her?” Nathan pleaded.

He was only answered with silence. Maalik placed a comforting
hand on Nathan’s shoulder.

“She is safe,” he said. “The answers which you seek are here.
You are about to meet the leader of our kind.”

“I thought you were their leader,” Nathan said.

A smile crossed Maalik’s face. “I am but a humble servant of
our Father.”

And with those words, Maalik bowed and turned, disappearing
into the nothingness from which they came.

Nathan and Boomer stood in the empty chamber. The furry dog
cocked his head and gave a little whimper, then began to wag his tail
vigorously. A loud thud sounded off the floor. Then another. The noise echoed
through the expanse. Nathan looked around but couldn’t see what was causing
such a noise.

“Hello?” he asked with a quiver in his voice.

Another thud.

[“Hello Nathan,”]
the voice said.
[“I am pleased
that you were able to find your way to me.”]

Boomer became more excited. His tail waved so furiously, he
began to do his little happy dance that he often did when he saw Nathan or
Evelyn return home.

“Who are you?” Nathan asked.

Another thud. Then another. Nathan finally saw movement
ahead. A colossal wolf, far larger than any he had seen thus far, emerged from
the shadows. It stood approximately thirteen feet high on all fours. Its quills
shimmered in a smoky-gray color. Pale white eyes looked down at him like two
full moons. He was taken aback by the sheer size of the ancient creature. The
long canine snout held rows of sharp teeth, some of which were over a foot in
length. He had no doubt that the creature could swallow him whole if it wanted
to.

[“My name, is Sanvi, Lord of the Lunae.”]

Nathan stared in awe at the wolf-lord before him. At that
moment, he knew what Theresa was going through. After everything that he went
through the past two days, it was still difficult to comprehend the facts.

“I’m sorry,” Nathan started. “But this is all a lot to
process. Two days ago, zombies and werewolves were nothing more than myth. Now
both my fiancé and I walk among the dead, she’s reduced to a blinking head, and
I’m standing here conversing with a giant werewolf. I can’t wait to see what’s
next. Let me guess...Magic? Witches? Bigfoot?”

The wolf-lord gave a snort.
[“Please, Nathan, don’t be
absurd.
There’s no such thing as magic.”]

Sanvi sauntered in a slow circle around Nathan as he
continued.

[“The child that has caused all this
turmoil, the
one that has pursued you, is no child. That body is nothing more than a husk. A
shell, to hold her spirit. She is a woman. The first woman. Her name is Lilith.
Some of your religious mythos refer to her as the Mother of Demons. She was
Adam’s original wife, long before the creation of Eve. When she refused to bend
to Adam’s wishes, our Father punished her by exiling her from Paradise. He
cursed her to birth and devour a thousand of her children every day. These devoured
children of hers became the Lilitu. They are the demons your bible mentions
throughout its pages. They are the evil side of humanity’s moral coin. Lilith
has found a way to return to Paradise and I’m afraid that she may finally get
what she has wanted all these millennia.”]

Nathan eyed Sanvi as he paced around him. “What does she
want?” he asked.

Sanvi paused and then took two steps towards Nathan.
[“Everything,”]
he answered.

“So, God is real then? You’re talking about Adam and Eve and
Paradise as though it’s all real,” Nathan observed.

Sanvi continued with his slow, circular pace around the
confused young Lilitu.

[“God is real, in a manner of
speaking, but he does
not exist in the sense that humans believe. He is not omnipotent and He is
certainly not infallible.”]

Nathan contemplated for a moment. “What’s going to happen to
Eve?”

[“She will be whole again, but it will take
time.
Our healers are tending to her as we speak. Right now, we have a great deal to
discuss; like the reason you are the subject of Lilith's desire. Come with me.”]

The Lord of the Lunae broke from his walk-circle and started
towards one of the unseen walls. Nathan followed, his mind awash with thoughts
of Evelyn and of what challenges their new hellish existence holds for them.
They faded into the darkness as they traveled deeper into the Lunae stronghold.

****************

Sam held his breath. The roar of the battle outside the
trailer had ceased. The humans huddled around the green chem-stick in the back
corner of their refuge. Alison sat in catatonic silence. Pete sat next to her.
Carlos gave an uneasy look at Chatty, who in turn looked at Daniel, who looked
at Sam, who continued to stare beyond their cardboard fort at the trailer door.

Daniel broke the silence. “Is it over?” he whispered.

“I don’t know,” Sam replied, never taking his eyes off the
door.

“Do you think we won?” Daniel prodded.

“It seems doubtful,” Carlos replied. “It’s been several
minutes since the fighting quieted down. If we won, I would imagine that Nate
or Eve would have come for us by now.”

“There’s only one way to know for sure,” Chatty whispered.

The large man inched a couple of the boxes aside and tip-toed
his way to the trailer door. Behind him, the others readied their weapons.
Taking a deep breath, Suresh pushed against the door. It budged, but stopped as
the bent rebar clanked against the metal door.

Outside the trailer, the Horde stood around their injured
queen. The snow continued to dump from the sky and had already begun to cover
the cold corpses of the dead. All Sunshine’s minions stood motionless as the
child-queen lay on the bloodied ground. Black smoke listlessly oozed out of the
torn stump where her arm used to be. Further back amongst her children, a
former paramedic stood near an overturned semi-truck. His red eyes turned in
the direction of the loud metal clank that came from the back of the trailer
door.

Lilith opened her eyes. One of her children had found
something. Turning to her mind’s eye, she looked through the consciousness of
her spawn. She could see the overturned trailer that was nearby. Inside, she
saw several faint heat signatures. There were humans inside, no doubt the same
ones Nathan had traveled with. A satisfied smile appeared on her face as she
giggled out loud.

“This is going to be fun,” she hissed.

She projected her command to the tens of thousands of Lilitu
that surrounded her. They moved in unison, like a grotesque school of predatory
fish. The Horde surrounded the semi-trailer and lifted it up. Lilith glided
over on black wisps of smoke and settled on top of the human’s new prison. The
undead army plodded and crawled northward, towards the Pleasure Palace. She had
liked it there, high on the cliff above a bastion of human sin. It seemed a
fitting place to call home.

The humans began to cry louder and louder from within the
trailer as the reality of the situation sank in. It was now clear they were now
in the hands of their enemy. Cries soon became wails, as the hopelessness of
their fates became apparent.

“Save your screams,” Lilith spat. “You will need them.”

She released the most hideous laughter from the
eleven-year-old body. The wind ferried the chilling cackle throughout the
valley as the Horde faded into the black-gray haze of the Arctic squall.

To Be
Continued…