Faith of the Divine Inferno - Leslie Thompson (best short novels of all time TXT) 📗

in which I had learned that there were fates far worse than death. I remembered years of peace and decades of despair until all of it was mixed into a gray wash of emotion that left me numb.
Howard frowned concern at me. “Are you well?”
“I’m fine.” I glowered at him to show how much I hated what I was going through. There is a reason why I had discarded most of this stuff. I had no use for it once the people associated with them were gone and it was time for me to move on. If I had clung to these events they would have driven me mad. I could not bear the idea of the monster I would become if that occurred. Now the Children were flaunting these memories before me, and I wanted to burn the place down so that I never had to look at any of it again.
“Please, come in. There is something you must see,” Howard called. I sighed heavily and crossed the threshold, feeling the ghosts of my past crawl across my skin. Howard led me past the artifacts of my sins and virtues to another room near the back. It was small compared to the one devoted to me, but still large enough to hold computer equipment and science experiments. There were objects on display here too, but most of them were religious in nature, and some of them were newer than the things they had collected from me.
I moved to a glass case that held a series of small metal objects and colored stones. Most of the metal pieces were engraved with runes and pictograms representing a variety of plants. The larger bits were thin medallions emblazoned with a strange swirling emblem with straight lines and small circles cutting through the middle and tiny crosses drawn suspended from the bottom. The colored stones gleamed like precious gems pulled raw from the earth, and had star constellations cut along their surfaces. I recognized these relics from the time of the Inquisition, when the Inquisitors traveled far and wide to root out witches and exorcise demons. Such things were used as evidence against the so-called guilty before they burned them at the stake. These particular objects were supposed to come from the demon Stolas, a Prince of Hell who passed on forbidden knowledge of Astronomy, plants, and precious stones.
I touched the case with my fingers and I felt something oily and foul crawl across my hands and along my arms. I jumped back with a gasp and rubbed furiously at my skin to get the disgusting sensation off of me. I had never felt anything like it before. It made the relics feel like they were real, as if they had were impregnated with the demon’s power by its own hand.
“Be careful with those,” Howard warned, stepping beside me to stare down at the awful display. “We have been collecting witches’ talismans for occult museums and collectors in order to improve the Children’s treasury. Most of what we find is rubbish, and sold to whoever will have them. These particular items possess some kind of evil power that corrupts the susceptible, and destroys those who are firm in their purity. The Children have lost many good members while acquiring these objects.” Howard said the last part with a solemn, respectful tone, as if the members in question had been fallen heroes. I let him have his moment of silence.
“If they are so dangerous, why don’t you destroy them?” I asked.
“Everything we have tried has failed. Even fire and acid does nothing to deplete their power. As a last resort, we have surrounded them with holy items and placed them inside this case, where they can be closely guarded.”
“I don’t see any guards.” I hadn’t seen anyone but Howard since I was dumped onto the sofa to bleed for a while.
“The Vatican was kind enough to loan us specialists to train some of our members to deal with the items during power spikes and strange events while we search for some way to destroy them. They are around, even if you do not see them.” Howard kept his hands clasped behind his back as he stepped away from the display case and faced me. “There is more than this small collection in other safe houses. We have to keep them separated so that they do not take on a life of their own.”
“So you’re getting out of the stalking business then,” I said bluntly. Was this what the fuss was about? Howard wanted to tell me to my face that the Children of Orpheus had finally found a worthy purpose and now they were dumping me? If that was the case, they didn’t owe me an explanation. They certainly didn’t need to shoot me to get me to hear them out. I would not have given a single crap if one day I had turned around and saw no one following me. Hell, it would have made my century.
“In a manner of speaking.” Howard chuckled as if I had said something witty. “We would like to invite you to join us in a common goal.” He sighed and turned completely away from the display case, drawing me along with a gentle touch to my arm. “It is our wish that you use your considerable knowledge and skills to help us contain the rise of ancient creatures and help forge the new world that is already growing wildly out of control. Our interactions with you have put us in a unique position to guide the future that is fast upon us, and so we feel obligated to make certain that it goes as peacefully as possible.”
“Have you been sniffing glue?” I snapped. “Following me around and taking notes does not make you experts, and it doesn’t prepare you to deal with anything.” Of course I had to admit that there were other supernatural creatures out there, Bres had made certain that I knew that. But one rogue faerie does not equal a new world order. Even if every creepy crawly hinted of in myth and legend was about to rise up and swallow the world whole, it didn’t mean that the Children of Orpheus was equipped to do anything but make the situation worse.
Howard sniffed at me with disdain. “We are far more prepared to meet this change than any other group is capable of. With you in our ranks, we could save a good many lives.”
“What makes you think I give a damn about mortal lives?” I snapped. “All of you die before you can finish anything properly, and then the next generation just screws it all up trying to finish it.”
“All the same, it is a worthy cause. With your assistance, our work would see smooth completion without the usual trouble between generation gaps.” It took all of Howard’s considerable dignity and strength to keep from scowling at me.
“I think you’re interested in something other than saving lives,” I mused, giving the old man the full weight of my best suspicious stare.
“What other interest would the Children of Orpheus have in taking an open part in these events?” Howard replied with an innocent expression.
“The same thing that all people have wanted ever since mankind stood up and realized that they had thumbs,” I snorted. “You want power. You’re hiding your motives behind charity, which is a shitty thing to do. Better to come right out and declare yourselves and avoid the scandal and assassination attempts a few years down the road.”
“Perhaps I am telling you the truth of our motives, and you are merely skeptical in your years.” he replied calmly.
“I doubt it. What makes you think that the inhumans want to live with mortals now instead of taking over a thousand years ago when they had a better chance?”
“Who knows? Perhaps they saw no point in fighting with us. A thousand years ago, there was more than enough room to keep the human world and the metaphysical world far apart. But in the last few hundred years, humanity has become more sophisticated and our population has exploded as a result. We ate up the habitats that faeries, dragons, and the like relied on to keep apart from us, driving them further underground and into the shadows. Now the climate changes we caused are driving them closer to extinction. If they want to survive, they have to come out from the realm of legend and folklore, and carve out a place alongside humanity.”
“So what do you expect me to do about it?” Thinking of Bres, I decided that Howard was making a good point. However, I much preferred to do as I have always done and go with the flow. I have a rather fatalistic view of the human race and the world in general, and I firmly believe that what will be, will be. There is very little that I can do about the grand scheme of things, so I sit back and wait to see how things play out.
“I have given it a great deal of thought, and I have decided that your best role in the emerging new world is an ambassador of sorts. Your unique condition guarantees that you will emerge from all encounters, and the power that you hold will be sufficiently intimidating to the various races should they prove uncooperative.”
“You have decided.” I said in a dull, disgusted tone. Who did this guy think he is? I haven’t willingly taken orders from a man I wasn’t married to in centuries, and I haven’t conceded that much since the Women’s Liberation movement began in the early twentieth century America. “I’m not going to do that. Find someone else to run your errands, Howard. I’m going to go home.”
“What would you do then?” he asked. “Simply continue to live? Those days are at an end. The Children of Orpheus are no longer the only group who are aware of your existence, and the others will not be content to leave you to your own devices as we have done.”
“Name one creature that can make me do anything.” I rounded on the old man, daring him to find the words to put me in my place.
“Stolas can do it.” Son of a bitch! The old bastard came up with a name. Not that it would do him any good. Demons do not exist on the material plane. If they did, the greedy monsters would have taken over the world by now.
“I don’t think so,” I scoffed. It was time to go. I started for the door and the stairs beyond, leaving the old man glaring at my back. To his credit, Howard didn’t touch me or try to stop me. He stood with quiet dignity and anger sparking in his eyes.
“You cannot walk away from this.” His voice was almost sad as he spoke. “I wish we could leave you be as we have always done, but those days are gone. You will have to join the Children, or you will find yourself enslaved by things that even you cannot out live.”
“If there were such things, they would have found me by now,” I growled. Howard had told me what