Chapter 18 Charlie
Suriel and I stare at each other.
His apathetic tone makes a comeback. “I need to add more runes outside. Humans will be as much a problem as the damned. Stay here and read. No more radio.”
“You’re afraid I’m going to eat you, aren’t you?” I ask, trying to lighten the mood. “You know, with all my restrained lust and since you didn’t let me finish last time I-”
“Not in that way,” he whispers. His gaze dips to my lips and I almost squirm under the look.
Barely restrained lust looks really fucking good on my angel, good enough to forget about his violent streak. Then I remember his constant timeline reminders, the count-down to something.
Maybe it’s my death.
Angel or not, he’s clearly capable of murder, I don’t want to find out what happens when the clock stops.
Plus, I’m starting to think that the evil in the world is drawn to Suriel. Nothing bad happened until he was wheeled into my morgue. Before him, everything was normal. Without him, maybe I can find a chance of survival that’s real, that’s lasting.
But, since I’m strangely guilty about leaving, I write a note for him.
Sorry, Angel. I plan to outlive the apocalypse.
If doves can do it, so can I.
Get laid, it’ll help with your anger management.
Charlie
Then I grab an oversized coat, tie my sweatpants tighter around my waist, and test my ankle, which suddenly feels perfectly fine. He healed me. He protected me. He set me free. Now, I’m taking my free will and using it, even if some part of me feels hollow.
With the door open, I hesitate. I stare at it and think of being in Suriel’s arms. I think of him defending me when I don’t deserve it. I think of dancing with him and that was definitely not part of any grand design.
Should I be running at all or -
“Charlie!” I blink when I hear my name and step further out of the door. “Charlie, hurry!”
Brian?
“My girls … You …”
I can’t make out what he’s saying, but he sounds so upset. Brian doesn’t need anything from anyone. He’s a capable police officer … an alive, familiar police officer who sounds like he’s begging for help.
I slip through the front door in oversized boots and make to the woods as quietly as I can.
I need to get to him, but it sounds like he’s running away.
He says something about a ‘monster’ about ‘trouble’ and I follow the half-there comments as I charge through the woods after him, only realizing there’s snow crunching under each step once I’m under dense tree cover.
The snow keeps coming down, dusting me and the forest, so everything looks the same. I can see my breath, even if the leaves are stiff and frozen in place. My brow furrows once, I stop behind a thick tree to catch my breath and listen for more of Brian’s voice.
“Charlie! Hurry! I need you!” he yells.
I take one step forward, not sure exactly where Brian is yelling from. Just like, I’m not sure why he’s rushing ahead and not coming back for me. He’s the one with the stress-training.
“CHARLIE!” Suriel yells, something raw in his voice.“Charlie, come back. Please.”
A long baying howl that almost sounds like a scream (if a scream can be wrapped in laughter) echoes just like Suriel’s voice. I shiver and glance behind me.
“Charlie, hurry!” Brian yells. “They’re coming!”
The ‘monster’ bays again, snarling, then another yowl answers. It sounds like some kind of remix of someone yelling ‘help’ in different tones, all overlapping, making me shiver more than the snow.
My eyes open and I realize the snow is starting to stick. I can see my breath, snow collects on my lashes as it comes down harder, faster. My nose burns and I think I can actually feel my lips chapping as my fingers throb.
Keep moving. Moving means warmth.
I continue to coach myself, seeing the lights in the distance, and sprint in that direction.
Sure, there might be crazy people, but that’s better than angelic rage or possession, right?
If shit hits the fan, I can climb trees even with frozen hands. Plus, I’d be in the open with plenty of opportunities.
If God wants to prove he exists, he’ll have plenty of chances.
I zigzag through trees anyway, shocked that my feet are both holding steady.
It’s a small kind of miracle.
A dove swoops in front of me and makes a sound I’ve never heard one make before. Like it’s squawking out a ‘no,’ but I duck and keep going until I’m where the pond or lake should be. I stop, brace myself on my knees and pant heavily.
In the low light, I notice campers around a bonfire. I think they’re cooking an animal, but it’s hard to tell. They stand up and I notice one looks like he has a chunk missing from his left side. Two aren’t wearing any clothing at all. One has a bandage wrapped around his head, covering an eye.
“Brian?” I ask, raising my voice.
They stalk closer, definitely not Brian.
I shy back a step just as a massive beast appears.
It looks like a dog and a bear had a baby, but that baby was born in Chernobyl.
Black flesh clings to purple and rotting tissue that flexes and moves like wet muscle.
And the teeth. God, there are so many teeth.
The man tries to fight the beast. But what can he do against claws that look almost human, tipped with nails that seem to ignite fire across his skin? I skitter back another step as some kind of fucked up person appears at the tree line.
“Charlie, I’m so glad we’ve found you. You were trapped with a monster, you know?” he asks in Brian’s voice, as a sickly shiver works down my spine. His voice changes, to something that feels like acid coating my ears. “We won’t let you get lost again.”
I tremble and shake my head as impending doom spreads through my body.
“You’re meant for us,” the not-man says as he steps closer.
I don’t even want to call him human. He has human eyes, but they’re bulging out of his skull.
They look inflated and are dripping with some kind of black sludge.
Two mandibles rip the human mouth open at the corners so it has some awful smile, but the skin looks like it’s rotting away.
The mandibles occasionally pull off a piece to devour it, leaving a festering sore.
“CHARLIE!” Suriel’s booming yell, shaking the trees and drawing the attention of the bear-dog thing as well as the fucked up not-human.
I back up further as the two beasts slink back into the cover of the forest. Away is the only option because clearly Suriel’s presence is a threat. A massive one, one that makes the world constantly worse for me to drive me back into his arms.
So, I try to put more distance between us. I refuse to stop, even when another bird swoops down like it’s trying to turn me back. If God’s plan is pushing me towards death, then maybe God and the Devil switched places and it’s time for us to change who we’re praying to.
“Charlie, don’t move!” Suriel yells.
I turn back when I hear the warning in his voice. Not the kind of warning that comes before a punishment, either. It sounds like there’s a monster behind me and he’s sure I’ll trigger an attack if I get too close.
“Get down on your hands and knees,” he says gently, throwing a glance at the two living campers that are watching, weapons in hand, making no move to come closer. Then he steps towards me, no coat, just a tank-top and jeans. “Crawl towards me carefully and quickly.”
“No! Being near you means being hunted, being threatened, dying!” I yell. “I deserve to live! I’ve given my ounce of blood and pound of flesh multiple times over. Even Anubis would say my heart is worthy.”
“We can talk about that when you’re back here, where it’s safe,” he says, his voice calm, his eyes frantic.
He keeps glancing around for something. When our eyes lock, he offers me his hand.
“I’ve killed for you. I’ve protected you from others and yourself.
I need your help to take care of you now. ”
“You’ve killed for me. You’ve shown me exactly how intense you’re willing to be to keep me alive, but it’s not because of me. It’s because of some fucked up order you think God gave you,” I yell back.
Suriel starts to crouch down. “We can debate theology and my sanity later, when you’re-”
“When I’m compliant? When I’m good, when I prove myself?” I scoff bitterly. “I already have. I know what it got me. So, no matter how hot you are, or how holy you believe you are, fuck you. And if your God is real … fuck him too. Fuck everything you believe in because it’s all fictional bullshit!”
He stands taller. “Excuse me?”
“Fuck. Your. God,” I say, stomping my foot each time until something cracks under me.
“Yeessss,” something hisses.
“GET DOWN!” Suriel yells.
I drop just as one of the bear-dog beasts jumps over me.
It’s definitely more dog than bear in face shape, but it’s ignoring me and running right to Suriel.
After Suriel reaches for his ear, there’s a massive sword in his hand.
He looks at it with confusion, then wraps his rosary around it as the dog approaches.
“What is that?!” I demand, glancing around for any escape and only seeing more shadows twisting in the snow as it comes down harder.
Suriel yells something I don’t hear, drawing the beast closer before slashing with his sword. The beast screams, sounding like PLEAASSE wrapped in sadistic pleasure. “Don’t let them touch you, bite you, or claw you.”
I’m about to tell him that I don’t have a problem with that when something prickly and wrong touches my shoulder.
I flip over and find the same insectoid thing from earlier right there.
The area above his temple bulges, then bursts as an antenna thrusts through his skin, splattering the snow and my chest in hot, festering, black blood.
I kick at it, try to push myself up, then hear a crack under me.
“Stay down!” Suriel yells before he hisses. “Crawl away. You’re lighter than the demons and hellhounds. You’re on the ice!”
“WHAT THE FUCK?!” I scream.
“Scream for me. Curse for me. I’ll devour your fear and deliver you,” the insect man moans as clicking echoes and papery, cockroach-like wings rustle around him. “So weak, so afraid.”
I bring my heel down on the ice in front of him and he trembles, then chuckles. “Let us in, lost lamb. Let me stroke you, let me free you.”
“FUCK YOU! FUCK THIS WHOLE GODDAMN RELIGION!” I scream before stomping the ground hard. The second the insect takes a step forward, he plunges through the ice and into the water, splashing me with what feels like needles that lance through my skin. I shiver.
If this is a bad game of Sims, then God just sent Suriel on a doomed mission. We’re all going down with the sinking ship. But there’s no way I’m going down without taking God, the Devil, and every angel I can down with me.