28 - Ryet
He doesn’t even wave
Let it shine , let it shine, let it shine…
My eyes open and I realize I’ve got Josep by the ankle. I don’t know where I am, I don’t know what I’m doing, and I don’t want anything to do with this fight.
You have to, Ryet . You have to fight for us until I can get there !
“Syrsee?” Suddenly, I’m in the mist again, but it’s all gold now, and I am standing in between two full-length mirrors and no matter where I look, it’s an illusion of infinity. Me, in a mirror, inside a mirror, inside a mirror for all eternity.
This is the definition of Darkness.
You have to fight, Ryet. Because I’m busy! I’ll be there soon, but I can’t come until I finish!
“Syrsee! Where are you?”
But the mist fades and then I’m back in the cave, staring up at the Darkness himself.
He snarls at me, raising one arm up above his head like he’s about to attack. His claws are long and sharp and I am certain, without a doubt, that if he touches me, it’s over.
I probably won’t die, but there are worse things than death.
He swipes and I roll, getting to my feet like I’m committed to this fight. Like I’m going to do what Syrsee asked of me because I know I’ll be saved in the end.
Josep missed me, but he’s in far, far better shape than I am and when he raises his hand to try again, I force myself to stay still. If I move, I will collapse so I wait for it.
His attack is thwarted by a rumbling under the ground and we both go tilting sideways as the rock floor of the cave splits open and Paul comes up from the stony earth, his eyes red, his skin blue-black, and his wings slowly opening like he’s a god.
I stare at him, stunned, trying to make sense of what is happening. But I’m slow, and dizzy, and confused.
But Josep isn’t. Barely a fraction of a second passes before he is flying at Paul in a full-on attack.
The two gods of Darkness clash in mid-air. Levitating, not flying, because while this cave is big, it’s not big enough to contain the full wingspan of two demons.
They part, breathing heavy, and circle each other. Josep tips his head up, looking at the ceiling, and this is when I notice that there’s a black cloud of sorts flying around above him. It looks like sand, not smoke, and it’s long like a snake. It twirls in the air, flipping and turning. And for a moment I think that Paul brought this with him, because it looks like it’s attacking Josep.
But it’s not.
It’s not attacking Paul, either, it’s just… I don’t know. I don’t know what it’s doing.
Paul swipes a claw across Josep’s face and Josep responds by slamming Paul against the side of the cave so hard, a sickening gasp comes roaring out from his chest. I’m so stunned by the realization that Paul is losing , I can’t move.
I can’t even think.
This is when the earth rumbles again, but this time scions come up from the abyss Paul created. Scions I recognize as the ones who wanted me to feed them the last time we met.
They rush Josep, but he swats them away like they’re flies.
They get up, rush him again, and Josep starts tearing off their limbs.
It’s a distraction, I realize. A way for Paul to recover.
But when I look over there, he’s not moving. He’s still slumped against the wall, retching, blood seeping out of his mouth. He catches the blood in his open palms, greedily drinking it back down.
“What are you doing?” I yell. “Get up! Get up !”
Paul looks me straight in the eyes and laughs. “It’s up to you now, Ryet. I poured it all into you.”
“Me? I can’t do anything! Get up! Get the fuck up!”
Suddenly Josep has me by the neck. He squeezes it so hard, I immediately start choking. Using every last bit of energy, I look around, hoping that Paul has recovered.
But he’s still slumped on the ground, his head lolling back against the cave wall, smiling.
I crash against some rocks on the other side of the cave, and Josep stares down at me for a moment, trying to see if I’m still a threat. When I don’t try and get up, he smiles at me. But nothing like the one I just saw on Paul.
It’s evil.
“I am the Darkness,” he says. “And you are my son now.” He bares his teeth at me. “I’m going to take you into the endless infinity and torture you until the end of time. You will watch as I drink your blood lover dry and I will keep him forever, just like I will keep you, locked up in eternal emptiness. And while the two of you are suffering in the pits of Hell of my making, I will be drinking your little Black witch until she is old and smells of death and decay.”
Then he turns and flies across the cave to Paul. He grabs him by the hair, lifts him up, and then sinks his teeth into his neck and drinks.
Paul’s head lolls to the side, but his eyes are open and he’s staring up at the ceiling, laughing.
I look up and see that sand serpent again, twisting and winding above Josep’s head.
It’s not trying to attack him, I realize. It’s… part of him.
It’s the Darkness. Not a little bit of Darkness, either, like what we get out of the blood, but an actual incarnation of it.
Time stops for me here. Because I am thinking . I’m thinking about that snake thing, and Josep, and how he’s the Darkness.
But if that thing above his head is the actual Darkness, the incarnation of Darkness, then… it’s not inside Josep right now.
It’s trying to get back in .
Paul is making terrible noises across the cave, but I tune him out and slowly get to my feet.
It’s trying to get back in .
I limp my way across the cave, past moaning and dying scions who have been scattered across the ground, and stand right behind Josep, looking up at the monster.
All you have to do is shine, Ryet .
Find your shine .
I open my mouth as wide as it can go, just like Josep did right before Paul attacked him, and this thing—this evil, horrible, revolting thing—accepts my invitation and the next thing I know, it’s sliding down my throat.
I explode.
I explode with bright, red light and it seeps out of the hundreds of wounds on my body like blood-colored sunshine exploding through clouds.
This red light illuminates the whole cave and I levitate and begin to spin in mid-air as the shine pours out of my body.
Let it shine, let it shine, let it shine.
Everything really does slow down now because all kinds of things are happening at once.
Josep lets go of Paul, Paul slumps to the ground, laughing, Syrsee appears as a purple mist, her eyes wide and mouth open, aghast. And then… Josep begins to retch.
He bends over, looking at me, as I levitate above him.
“No!” he bellows, his deep voice making the whole cave rumble. And then he and I both look at Paul at the same time. Him because this had to have been planned, and that plan came from the vampire Paul.
And me because I know without even checking that Paul is dead.
Really, really dead.
His eyes are black pits, but they are utterly and completely empty.
Dead? But how? How could he be dead? Ten seconds ago Josep was bragging that he was going to sentence us both to empty darkness.
How could he be dead ?
Josep falls to his knees, then face first on the ground.
And it hits me.
There is only one way to kill a vampire.
Josep didn’t kill Paul.
Paul killed himself and he took Josep with him on the way out.
Everything stops now.
I crash to the ground, all the light gone, and in its place is nothing but Darkness.
“Oh, shit, Ryet! Oh, fucking shit! What did you do?” And that’s the last thing I hear—Syrsee freaking out before everything fades to purple.
To no one’s surprise I find myself in a wintery forest. Paul is sitting on a log in the middle of a clearing, wearing fur, and holding a baby.
“Nice coat,” I say.
He smiles at me. “Yeah. Wolf pelts, not some stupid sheep.”
I don’t even know what to say to that. “OK.”
“Well.” He sighs. “This is it.”
“This is… what?”
“The end.”
I sigh too, then walk over and take a seat next to him. I look down at the baby, then recoil. “Holy fuck. Is that what I looked like when I was born?”
Paul laughs. “No. Of course not. I don’t make ugly things.”
“Then what are you doin’ with it? Because that’s…” I shake my head. “Gross.”
“Come on now, Ryet. It’s a face only a mother could love.” He looks at me. “Or a father.”
I grimace. “Oh, fuck. That’s my baby?”
“Well, he’s part mine too. I was there.”
“And Josep.”
“Yeah.” Paul exhales. Like this was an unavoidable necessity. “But he’s mostly yours. He’s inside Syrsee right now. He can’t be born, you know that, right?”
I nod, pressing my lips together. “Yeah, well, I don’t know what to tell you. I’m not gonna kill Syrsee, no matter how evil that thing is.”
“No, of course not. She already has a plan for it. That’s not why I’m here. It’s you we need to talk about.”
“Me? You’re the one who died. Hey, hold on. If you’re here in the mist, then you’re not dead!”
“Oh, no. I’m dead. I’m not here and neither are you. You’ve been taken over, Ryet. You don’t actually exist anymore.”
“Fun.”
“Don’t worry. Syrsee’s resourceful and has a lot of magic at the moment. She’ll come up with something. So that’s why I’m here. You’re going to live, Ryet. And, unfortunately, you’re…”
I bow my head, so tired. “I’m what?”
“Well, I was going to say the Antichrist, but it’s such a specific title. You’re…”
I look up again. “Evil?”
“Yes.” He points at me. “That’s a given. But it’s more than that. You’re in charge , Ryet. The Earth is your dominion now.”
“What’s that mean?”
“You… rule the whole planet. Which is why I’m here.”
“Hold on, back up.”
“I don’t have time to back up. Syrsee is very busy trying to work her new magic on you, and in a few moments, she’ll succeed and I’ll be gone forever.”
“Wait, what? No. I can find you in the dreamwalk.”
“I’m afraid not. You see, in order to kill Josep, I drank the Black blood. I wanted him to drink me afterward so that he would die. Of course, that’s not enough because the Darkness was inside him. But that was rectified with Echo. Poor girl. But anyway, it all worked out. He gave the Darkness to her to make his own Dark Baby and then he cut it out of her inside that cave?—”
“Oh, that was the black sand thing?”
Paul nods.
“Fuck. I ate it.”
“Yes. You did.” Then he smiles. “The part I need to explain is… well.” He looks sad for a moment. “Well, obviously, I could’ve drunk the Black blood at any point in time and ended my existence here on Earth. But I didn’t because I was on a mission. And if I gave up before I succeeded, then I would be damned to Hell.”
“How are you not damned to Hell? I mean, come on. If anyone deserves Hell, it’s you.”
“True. But it’s not my vibe, Ryet. You understand, right?”
“Uhhh, no. I have no clue what you’re talking about.”
“See…” He falters here, trying to find the right words. “That black sand thing you ate, it’s the Darkness. And so, now, well, you’re the Darkness.”
I point to myself.
Paul nods. “Yep. You. And, honestly, it’s not a great gig. I mean, I do enjoy the title. I like that. Ruler of the whole Earth is so much better than King of the American Vampires. And I also enjoy the part where I might’ve saved humanity—question mark? But the waiting, Ryet. It’s been so boring . I knew once World War II was over that it was coming soon. Which is why I made you. I would’ve failed my mission, utterly, if I had let Josep become the Antichrist. Luckily, I figured out the whole feeder thing and you worked out. And even though it has taken forever to arrive here on the edge of Tribulation, here we are, nonetheless. As exciting as that all is, it’s just not enough to give away my shot, ya know? Which is why I didn’t want the job.”
“Wait a minute. Hold on. Are you telling me this was your mission?” I point to myself. “You are supposed to be the Darkness and rule the world?”
“That’s exactly what I’m saying.”
“And instead of being… oh, I dunno, a fucking man about it, you turned me into the Darkness so you could… what? Escape ?”
“That brain of yours always did catch on eventually.”
“I cannot fucking believe you. Ya know what? I actually can. This is such a Paul the Vampire thing to do, I don’t even know what to say about it. You sacrificed me to save yourself.”
“In my defense, I have an appointment with my Maker. I have questions, OK? And that fucker’s gonna answer them. Otherwise, I’d stay and we could rule together. You and I would be in love, and Syrsee would feed us, and it would be like… the best time ever. But I need my answers, Ryet. Because I didn’t sign up for this any more than you did.”
“You used me. Just when I was starting to like you.”
“I did leave you a gift though.”
I scoff. “What gift?”
“Syrsee, of course.” He smiles. And, as always, I am enamored by his beauty. “I made her for you so you could be with the one you really love.”
“That’s not even true. You literally just said you made her so I would live and take your place as the harbinger of evil.”
“It’s the same thing. She’s the Whore of Babylon so the two of you can be immortal together. It’s practically fate. And don’t worry too much about the whole Antichrist thing, it’s just a title, Ryet. You two kids will make it work, I’m sure of it.”
I’m slack-jawed as I run all those words through my head over and over again. Finally, I say, “I’m actually the Antichrist? You turned me into the Antichrist so you can have a Q&A with God?”
Paul grins here, like he couldn’t be happier about how this turned out. “The good news is, you can make it yours. Rule any way you want. Of course, the prophecy is now in motion, there’s the nasty Tribulations and all that other shit, and you lose in the end. Don’t forget that part. But you’re resourceful. It’s gonna be amazing. And the even better news is, it ends. It’s only seven years. We’ll see each other again. Probably. My chances of getting past those pearly gates are slim to none, but if I do get in, Ryet, I will most definitely put in a good word for you.”
Then he leans into my space and for a moment, I think he’s gonna kiss me or something. But he doesn’t. He hands off the monster baby. I take it out of instinct, but I’m instantly sorry. “What the hell am I supposed to do with this thing?”
Paul stands up and adjusts his wolf-pelt coat. “Syrsee has worked it out. See her for details.”
And then… he just… fades away.
He doesn’t even wave.