Destiny's Wrath (Destiny Series - Book 3) by Straight, Nancy (read full novel .txt) 📗

Jimmy looked deep inside his soul and tried to find remorse for what he had done this afternoon. It wasn’t there. He wasn’t mentally ill: he should be remorseful. He had just killed three people who had been kind to him. Noah had treated him well, even offering to help him with his “mission,” without fully understanding what it was. Jimmy hadn’t let anyone in on his plan until today.

No regret, “I must really be a monster just like Samael says I am,” he thought to himself. Samael – Jimmy thought he had hit the lottery the day when Samael was put into his body. He had ridden to a remote farm house several hours away, on the promise that he could have an ancient demon with indomitable powers stay with him for a time. He could learn from this demon. Samael had been a disappointment, until just recently. The first four months that Jimmy had shared his body with Samael had been nothing but an onslaught of badgering about balance in the universe, about good versus evil, and how the two needed to co-exist. Something finally changed two months ago.

It had been the middle of the night when Jimmy awoke from a dream. It didn’t seem all that exceptional; Jimmy wouldn’t have given it an errant thought, but the dream did something to Samael. There was almost an audible click in their collective cognizance. The dream was of a young woman. She was hiding in bushes in the rain; she attempted to shoot a teenager. The teenager turned into a bear and then into a bird, escaping into the darkness. When Jimmy asked about the dream, Samael went into a tirade. That night was a turning point. Samael never again spoke to Jimmy about balance; instead, their conversations were centered on dark topics. Jimmy was bombarded with vile images, unable to tell which were planted in his mind for Samael’s enjoyment, and which ones were memories that Samael wanted to share.

Samael and Jimmy hatched several plans, each more elaborate than the next. Each time the plan was ready, it was Jimmy who couldn’t go through with it. Bombing the school the day that report cards came out was the latest. Jimmy didn’t consider it juvenile; he thought it was brilliant. His mother wouldn’t care that he was failing all subjects if he were one of the few who survived a school blast. The alternative was fresh in his mind: his mother had warned him if he dropped out of school, he was on his own - she would cut him off. Jimmy reasoned that Noah and Jessie probably would have been killed by the bomb anyway, that this had been a more merciful death.

Jimmy looked down at his hands, which were stained a bright crimson; he had blood all over his shirt and pants. Jimmy walked to the front door and locked it, then walked to the back door and locked it as well. He went to Noah’s bedroom, found a pair of jeans and a shirt that would fit him, walked to the linen closet for a towel, then took a shower.

As he stepped into the shower, it struck him that by now regret should have set in, but all he felt was hollow, like he was somehow disconnected from his own actions. He knew what he had done was wrong, but he reasoned that it had to be done, so he didn’t care. As the hot water washed the blood from him, he had an epiphany: maybe instead of trying to make a bomb, it would be easier just to buy one from someone who knew how to make them. But how much would that cost and where would he find the money in two days?

Jimmy got dressed, sat at the computer, and started doing internet searches. He found several websites that had step-by-step instructions – one even had a phone number to call for help. He began to dial the phone when there was a knock at the door. Jimmy peeked through the curtain and saw his other friend Miles standing there. He couldn’t understand what Miles would be doing here at 7 p.m. – he normally worked on school nights until 8. Jimmy started to get up, but sat back down trying to reason that there was no reason for Miles to suspect anything. He couldn’t possibly know that Jimmy was even in the house. Jimmy could hear Miles trying to turn the door handle. It was uncharacteristic for Miss Abbey’s house to be locked, even at night. He watched with wide eyes as Miles reached under a potted plant on the front porch and pulled out a key to the front door. The security system for the house was never armed and everyone knew where Miss Abbey kept the spare key. She wanted the kids that needed a place to be able to come to hers whenever they needed to.

Jimmy let out a deep breath, “Crap, I guess I don’t have a choice now.”

Miles stepped through the door and saw Jimmy sitting at the computer. “Didn’t you hear me knocking?”

Jimmy shook his head. Miles stepped into the room, “Where’s Noah?”

“He’s in his room finishing up his homework,” Jimmy said absently.

Miles sat down beside Jimmy, looking at the instructions on the screen. “You better watch out; you’re going to get Miss Abbey in trouble. The FBI tracks all the people who go to those sites. She’ll get a visit from ‘Johnny-Law’ in a couple days, and she won’t let you back in the house.” Jimmy just shrugged but made no move to close the instruction page he had been studying.

Jimmy noticed Miles was looking in all directions. The house was eerily quiet. Miles had been to Miss Abbey’s house enough times to know that it was usually filled with noise. Miles spent a lot of time here, so he knew there should have been