Redemption (Stand-Alone, Spin-Off to Reaper Series), page 23
Javan glanced at Belial in surprise. “Do you now?”
“Secondly,” Eve went on. “You might as well get out of here, because I already emailed the video to every media outlet in the city. Newspapers, TV stations, all of them. You’re done, Javan.”
Eve held her breath as she and Javan stared each other down. Eve hoped that her bluff was enough to get them out of the situation, but Javan’s grin seemed to only widen.
“Really?” he asked, dubiously. “Which email provider did you use?”
Eve felt like her brain suddenly turned off, so complete was the blankness she felt. “What?”
“Which email provider did you send the video with?” Javan repeated. “Surely you know?”
Eve fought against the fog on her brain to think of something, anything, she could say in response, but she had nothing to say. She had no idea what email providers there were. She’d never sent an email in her life. And Javan immediately saw through her like she was made of glass.
“You didn’t send that video anywhere,” Javan said. “It’s still only on that laptop you have hidden by your feet. So why don’t you just give it to me? That way, nothing… unpleasant… will happen to these nice people.”
Mitra didn’t hear the threat, of course, but he read it on Javan’s lips. Mitra grabbed Lexi tighter and held her closer, glaring at Javan with pure hatred.
“You don’t have to hurt them,” Eve said. “They haven’t done anything.”
Javan tilted his head slightly to one side as he regarded Eve. He then glanced over at Mitra and Lexi, putting the facts together. He then slowly turned back to Eve, his grin still flashing brightly.
“Ah,” he said knowingly. “They’re friends of yours. I was wondering how you knew about the laptop. They told you. So you came to take it and - what? Give it the media? I own the media. Post it on the internet? I could have it immediately announced as a hoax, a cruel joke at the expense of the memory of all those who died in the explosion. It was never going to do you any good, Eve. People want to blame you. Just like they want to believe in me. Do you know how many phone calls and emails I’ve gotten in the past few weeks about how I regenerated after the blast? The world is dying for answers. And I’m finally going to give them answers today. And no video of a dead lunatic is going to change that. Now, please… give me the laptop.”
“If it doesn’t matter, then why do you care about it?” Eve asked.
Javan didn’t seem to have an answer to that. His grin finally faltered and he sighed heavily at Eve.
“Look,” he began. “I’ve been extremely polite, here. But don’t think that means I actually need you to willingly do what I say.” Javan then turned to look at Belial and said, “Do you mind?”
Belial immediately grabbed Mitra roughly and yanked him away from Lexi. Lexi cried out in fear and Mitra yelled out loud in protest, reaching for his daughter. Javan moved quickly, though, and grabbed Lexi in a strong armlock, pulling her away from her father, who Belial was holding firmly. Eve reacted just as quickly, reaching down and snatching the gun out of the open drawer. She held it in both hands and aimed it directly at Javan’s head.
Time seemed to stand still for a long while, all eyes on Eve and the gun. Suddenly, however, Belial cracked up laughing, a cruel derisive laugh, akin to that of a high school bully mocking another student. Javan looked pitifully at Eve, as though she had just done something embarrassing.
“And what are you going to do with that?” Javan asked. “You saw me survive an explosion. Do you really think a gun can stop me?”
“It’s worth a shot,” Eve smirked.
“Put it down,” Javan snapped. “You’re making a fool of yourself.”
“Let them go,” Eve said firmly. “This might not kill you, but one shot will get the attention of every cop in the building. See if you can talk your way out of that.”
Javan narrowed his eyes at Eve, still holding Lexi firmly in his arms, but then a small smile began to grow on his lips. Eve didn’t know what he was smiling at, but tried to keep the gun steady as she aimed it at his smug face.
“Have you ever held a gun before, Eve?” he asked suddenly. “They’re heavier than they look. It seems like you’re already having some trouble holding it up.”
Eve gulped as she realized Javan was right. The gun was indeed surprisingly heavy in her hands, her arms already beginning to feel weak from supporting it. Her biceps were beginning to quiver and the gun was shaking in her hands. Javan grinned once more and held Lexi firmly between him and the gun.
“If you think you can shoot me without hitting your friend, go ahead,” Javan said casually. “But I do wonder how you would cope with the knowledge that you put a bullet through her head.”
“Eve?” Lexi asked in a small voice.
“It’s okay, Lexi,” Eve insisted, though she was beginning to wonder if that was true. “It’s all gonna be okay.”
“Yes,” Javan said with finality. “It will. All you have to do is hand over the gun, give me the laptop, and then come back home with me.”
“I’d rather die than go back there with you,” Eve snarled.
“That’s not a bad idea,” Belial leered from behind Mitra.
“No!” Javan snapped. “No harm comes to Eve, that was our arrangement.”
“Ah, yes,” Belial said, as though he was just remembering, though begrudgingly. “Of course.”
“You mean no harm other than being a lab experiment for the rest of my life?” Eve demanded, trying to keep the gun from shaking in her grip.
“It would not have been forever,” Javan said sadly. “You don’t understand at all. I’m fixing our mistake! My mistake of bringing greed and cruelty and murder to the world, and your mistake of making me able to do so. I came to realize a very long time ago that the intelligence you gave me was the first of many steps towards humanities corruption. Of greed. I was the first of many who saw what they wanted and simply took it, without caring about those who got in the way. By changing humanity, we can undo our errors!”
“You mean like how you changed me?” Eve demanded, her eyes narrowed in fury. “How you changed me from an Angel to a mortal?”
“I can give you back your wings, Eve.”
This abrupt statement alone was almost enough to make Eve drop the gun in surprise. Her narrowed eyes widened as she heard what Javan said, but didn’t dare believe.
“You can?”
Javan nodded. “Absolutely. Every drug has an anti-drug, what you were injected with is no different. If you come back to the labs with me, I can make you whole again. I can make you an Angel again. If you would only agree to help me. Immortality for mankind is only the first step. I need you for so much more. Agree to help, swear to join me, and I can restore you to what you once were.”
Eve clenched her jaw and tightened her grip on the gun, fixing Javan with a cold glare.
“I’d sooner die today a mortal, than live forever as a monster,” Eve said icily.
“Eve, if you would only see reason,” Javan begged. “What I do, I do for the good of humanity! All of mankind will rise anew, born again, like the phoenix!”
“Yeah, except the phoenix had to go up in flames, first, right?” Eve said.
“Sometimes the death of the old is the only way to make room for the new,” Javan said flatly. “Now, please… Put the gun down. Or Belial will take it from you.”
“If he comes anywhere near me, I’m putting a bullet between his eyes,” Eve snapped.
Javan sighed. “I was afraid you’d say that. But I doubt you will. Belial?”
Grinning a horrible, cruel, grin back at Javan, Belial seemed to tighten his grip on Mitra, who winced from the pain. Suddenly, as Eve and Lexi watched, frozen in horror, Belial began to force himself inside of Mitra’s body. He seemed to simply begin merging with him, Belial’s body stepping slowly inside of Mitra’s, slowly, as though walking against a powerful wind. In only an instant, Belial’s arms had vanished inside of Mitra and so had one leg.
Whatever Belial was doing, it clearly caused Mitra an intense and horrible pain. From the moment Belial had begun to merge with him, Mitra threw back his head and roared in agony at the ceiling.
“Dad!” Lexi cried in panic, struggling in vain to break free of Javan’s powerful hands. “Dad! Dad!”
“Stop it!” Eve shouted. “Stop it! What are you doing!?”
If anyone outside the office could hear the screaming, and there was no way they could not, no one was trying to get in to see what the problem was. The two fake officers Belial had placed on guard outside the door were clearly preventing people from trying to get in. No matter how much louder Mitra’s screams seemed to grow.
In a few moments, however, Belial vanished completely inside of Mitra’s body, having pushed his way in through Mitra’s back. Now, Mitra fell silent and seemed to stand limp and lifeless on his feet, his head hanging down, his eyes closed tight.
“Dad?” Lexi asked. “Dad, are you okay?”
Mitra slowly looked up at his daughter, but there was something strange about him. Something off. As soon as Eve realized something was wrong, she realized what it was. It was his eyes. They were no longer brown. They were blue. Bright, shining, blue, like two LED lights.
Eve stared in horror as she watched the possessed Mitra move around, stretching as though he hadn’t moved in many hours.
“Dad?” Lexi asked again, somewhat quieter, more hesitant. “Are… Are you okay?”
“That’s not your father anymore,” Eve whispered hoarsely.
Mitra grinned widely, his blue eyes shining brighter. “Yes. We are legion!”
He then began to laugh hysterically, cackling loudly, like a mental patient who had refused to take his medication. Mitra then turned to Eve, his eyes locking onto hers as he sneered cruelly.
“Hi, Eve,” Belial said with Mitra’s mouth. “How about one more kiss? For old time’s sake.”
“Just get the gun,” Javan snapped, clearly having grown impatient with the games.
“Okay, okay, relax,” Belial leered. Seeing Mitra’s face twist in such a cruel and sadistic way made Eve’s stomach churn. Lexi was clearly having difficulty with what she was seeing, as her eyes were wider than Eve had ever seen them, her mouth agape as she watched her father walk across the room towards Eve, aware that it was no longer her father.
“Gimme the gun,” Belial said, holding out Mitra’s hand.
“Get back,” Eve snapped, pointing the gun at him.
“Eve!” Lexi shouted in fear.
“It’s okay,” Javan said, holding Lexi closer in a menacing embrace, his arms unsettlingly close to her throat as he held her from behind. “Eve won’t shoot him. It might be Belial inside your father, controlling him, but the body is still your father. He is still alive in there, just unable to control his own actions. If Eve shoots Belial while he still possesses your father, then she will only kill Mr Singh. Belial will be just fine. Isn’t that right, Belial?”
Belial grinned nastily down at Eve, his blue eyes burning brighter. “Maybe Eve would like to try anyway? Who knows? Maybe she’ll get lucky and take me down with the flesh-bag.”
“How about it, Eve?” Javan asked. “Want to test your luck?”
“Eve, no, don’t!” Lexi cried.
Eve knew she could never kill Mitra, though. She was already slowly lowering the gun, a look of defeat upon her face. She reached out and placed the gun in Mitra’s outstretched hand, refusing to look at Belial’s eyes, which glowed at her from inside Mitra’s head.
“Smart girl,” Javan smiled. “Now, the laptop?”
“It’s here,” Eve said in defeat. She bent down, disappearing behind the desk for a moment, then reappeared with the laptop in her arms. She set it down on the desk in front of her. “Take it. Just let them go.”
“Oh, I don’t know about that,” Javan sighed. “They’ve seen a great deal that they shouldn’t have. And maybe once you see the consequences of running away from me, maybe you won’t do it again. Belial, shoot the girl.”
Javan roughly shoved Lexi away from himself and towards the center of the room.
“NO!” Eve cried as Belial aimed the gun at Lexi’s head.
“Dad?” Lexi asked meekly, looking into what had once been her father’s loving eyes.
“STOP!” Eve screamed.
Suddenly, the gun in Mitra’s hand began to shake. It quivered violently, as though being pulled away by a powerful magnet. Mitra’s face twisted into an angry scowl as Belial glared at the gun.
“What’s happening?” Javan snapped. “Shoot her.”
“You don’t have to do that!” Eve shouted. “I’ll go with you! I won’t try and escape, just take me, leave them alone!”
“Do it!” Javan said, louder, ignoring Eve.
“Dad?” Lexi said again, tears rolling down her cheeks. “Please.”
At Lexi’s words, the hand holding the gun began to vibrate even stronger. As they all watched, Mitra’s arm began to bend. It bent at the elbow, turning the gun away from Lexi. As everyone watched in silence, and Mitra’s face was still twisted in fury as Belial fought to aim the gun back at Lexi, Mitra turned the gun and lifted it higher, until the barrel was pressed firmly against his own temple.
“Belial!” Javan snapped. “Gain control!”
“He’s… fighting me,” Belial grunted, the hand with the gun still shaking violently, his face twitching with the effort of trying to push it away from his head.
“You’re a Demon, STOP HIM!” Javan roared.
Mitra suddenly gasped as he took back control, though for how long was impossible to say. The hand holding the gun was vibrating so hard it was amazing that he still held the gun at all. Mitra then looked directly at Lexi, with his own brown eyes, his face twitching as Belial fought to regain control.
Then, with his free hand, Mitra signed three words to his daughter, a loving and sad smile on his face.
“I love you.”
And then he pulled the trigger.
“NO!” Eve and Lexi both cried at once.
Mitra’s body dropped to the floor, but Belial was rocketed out as though he had been hit by a concussion wave. He flew out of Mitra’s body and slammed into the wall with such force the plaster cracked. Belial landed on his feet, but was clearly dazed, as he staggered for a moment before leaning back against the wall to gain his composure.
“DAD! DAD! NO, DAD!” Lexi was screaming, over and over again as she fell to her knees beside her father’s body, grabbing at his shoulders and shaking him. “DAD, NO! NO!”
“I said shoot the girl, you fool,” Javan snapped at Belial.
“It was him who did it!” Belial snapped back. “He fought against me. His will was too strong. He took back his body and killed himself so I couldn’t make him kill the girl.”
Belial stood up straight and glared at Lexi as she wept on the floor.
“I guess I’ll just have to do it with my own hands,” Belial sneered, grinning as he took a step towards Lexi.
“No,” Javan said, stopping Belial in his tracks. “We’ve made ourselves clear. Eve? Shall we go? Or do you need another lesson?”
Eve stared in horror down at Mitra’s body, watching Lexi grasp at her father’s shirt, crying uncontrollably into his chest.
“Eve!” Javan said louder, making her jump.
“Yes,” she whispered. “I’ll come with you. Just… just leave Lexi alone.”
“I promise, I won’t lay a hand on her,” Javan said.
Eve nodded slowly, still staring down at Lexi. Eve felt her heart break for Lexi. She had only tried to help Eve, a complete stranger, and it had cost her her father’s life. Eve swore she wouldn’t let any other harm come to Lexi. She didn’t deserve this. She didn’t deserve any of it.
Belial grabbed the laptop off the desk and gestured for Eve to walk ahead of him, grinning as he did so. As Eve walked to the door with Belial and Javan, they all stopped when they heard movement behind them and the loud click of a gun being cocked.
“Don’t move, you bastards!” Lexi yelled, tears still pouring down her face. She had grabbed the gun out of her father’s hand and leaped to her feet, aiming the gun at Belial. “You killed my dad! I’ll kill you! I’ll kill you!”
“Your father made his own choice,” Belial sneered. “You or him. He chose himself. Count yourself lucky.”
“Are we really going through this again?” Javan sighed.
“I know how to use a gun, you dick,” Lexi snapped. “My dad… my dad taught me.”
“You can’t hurt us, girl,” Javan said impatiently.
“Let Eve go!” Lexi demanded, ignoring him. “She’s not going anywhere with you.”
“Lexi, please,” Eve begged. “Put the gun down.”
Lexi shook her head insistently. “No! They can’t get away with this! They can’t take you back! I don’t know what they are, but they can’t do this to people!”
“Lexi, they’ll kill you,” Eve whispered desperately. “Please. Forget about me. Get out of the city. I can’t be the reason you die. Not you, too. Your father… that’s my fault. I never should have stayed with you. I should have kept moving. I’m… I’m so sorry, Lexi.”
Tears began to burn in Eve’s eyes as she felt a tight grip constricting her throat. She tried to blink away the tears, but they came anyway, running over her cheeks freely.
“Forget about me, Lexi,” Eve insisted. “Let them take me. Then get the Hell out of here. Stay alive. Please.”
Lexi stared at Eve for a long while, clearly not wanting to lower the gun that was still aimed at Belial’s head. However, at the serious expression in Eve’s eyes, Lexi finally lowered the gun and dropped it on the floor.
“Thank you,” Eve whispered. “Now, get out of this place as soon as you can. Get far away. Forget about me. I… I’m sorry.”
Eve quickly threw her arms around Lexi and gave her a brief hug, but once Lexi was close, Eve whispered in her ear as quietly as she could, praying that Belial and Javan would not hear her.
“Look under the desk,” Eve whispered in a breath. Then she pulled away from Lexi and turned to leave.
