Tim Marquitz - Echoes of the Past

I hopped up and waved for Karra to go with me as I left the bedroom. In the kitchen, I pulled the tome from the fridge and tossed it onto the counter. The overloud sounds of grunting and bad dialogue drifted from the living room, bringing a smile to my face. Karra came up alongside me to examine the book. I knew Lucifer probably didn’t want me showing it to anyone, seeing how he wanted it hidden in the God-proof room, but I didn’t want to keep it from Karra.

“Lucifer’s messenger gave this to me.” I opened the book and flipped through a few of its pages, showing her the flowing script that filled them. “It’s the same language that I saw on the case, and it’s somewhat close to the symbols Hasstor had imprinted across his skin. That gives me a pretty good idea that what was in the case came from out there.” I waved my hand toward the ceiling.

“Angels?”

I shook my head. “Aliens, more like.”

Karra stared at me a moment before returning her attention to the book. She flipped through the pages with wide eyes, her breathing shallow-not that I was looking at her chest, or anything.

“Can I see the case?” she asked.

I didn’t see why not. “Sure, I’m going there anyway. Hasstor didn’t tell me shit about the book or why he was giving it to me. He just said Lucifer wanted me to hide it. Maybe we can find something out.”

Her smile coming back to light up her face, Karra hugged me, and then ran off to the bedroom to get dressed. I watched her until she disappeared from sight, and then looked back at Chatterbox. His ugly mug wiped the leer from my face, but I had to admit it was good to have him home.

“Nice seeing you, CB.”

He chittered and gave me a toothy grin. “ Ppoooorrrrrrnn.” He spared me about a half-second of his time before turning back to the TV.

It’s good to see a man of dedication. “Watch the house, and play nice with our stinky guests while we’re gone. We’ll be back in a while.”

Hi ho, hi ho, it’s off to Hell I go.

Through the portal that led to my uncle’s quarters, Karra and I were in Hell just a short while after we were dressed. She was excited to go, the tome and case intriguing her and driving her into a frenzy of curious energy. While I was interested, too, it was more of a how will this save my ass? kind of adventure. Unless the book was the Kama Sutra of the Otherverse, and I didn’t think it was-there weren’t any pictures-it was like lugging around an old textbook. Sure, that kind of thing was useful when you needed to pass a test, but it sat in the closet collecting dust, otherwise.

“Why are you so riled up?” I asked.

She grinned as we wound our way through Lucifer’s chambers. “The idea of something beyond our existence fascinates me. It’s what drew me to necromancy-among other things.” Karra’s smile flickered for an instant, likely remembering her quest to reanimate her father, Longinus-the Anti-Christ-and the cause of his death: my uncle, whose chambers we were now roaming. A second later the smile was back. “I’d love to see what else God deigned to create.”

“Preferably dead and under a microscope.” The very last thing I wanted was an army of Hasstor-like beings invading Earth and giving her a firsthand glimpse of alien life. I shivered as I recalled Hasstor’s squirmy appendage. It gave the term violation a whole new meaning.

As we passed the corridor that led to the God-proof room, I waved Karra on ahead. “I need to stash this somewhere, and it’s probably safest if you don’t know where it is. I can pull it out later for a closer look.”

“You’re still talking about the book, right?”

“Mostly.”

She laughed and shooed me off. “I’ll be down the hall.”

Once she was, I made my way to the only room in existence-as far as I knew-that no one, to include God, could see or send their senses into from the outside. A gift to Lucifer from God himself, it was the supernatural equivalent to a super powered safe room. Once inside, I found a good spot to hide the tome and made my way back to Karra. She stood at the entrance to the room where Asmoday had been murdered. I had the dread fiends open the place back up afterward, seeing no point in keeping it sealed since it wasn’t being used as a prison cell.

“You feel better now that you’ve done your manly duty and protected me from the mean old book?”

“As a matter of fact, yes, and please stop impugning what little bit of my manhood I have left.”

She laughed and followed me inside as I pretended to pout. She was only joking, seeing how she was the more powerful of us, but she was right on the truth. I was trying to protect her. Lucifer hadn’t passed on anything about the book or what its significance was. Who knew what it was meant for or who would be scrambling to get their hands on it? I sure didn’t, but it didn’t take a genius to realize he wouldn’t have me stashing it in the God-proof room if he wanted it to be found. That was a pretty good indication someone would have cause to look for it. There was no way I wanted Karra in the middle of any more of Lucifer’s bullshit.

She glanced around the room and raised her hands after peeking into the side chamber. “Where’s it at?”

I went over to the bed and patted the mattress.

“Really? Do you think I’m that easy?”

“A guy can only hope.” I grinned and tossed the bed aside, revealing the hole that had been dug beneath it. “Follow me.” I hopped down inside, and Karra dropped beside me a moment later.

As we made our way through the tunnel, which led to the case chamber, I could hear Karra snorting behind me. “If this is your idea of a good time, I’m going to have to reassess our relationship, buddy.”

The stench of dread fiends was in the air. The room before the chamber was filled with thousands of them, all awaiting orders. It made for a horrific cloud of funk, but you couldn’t find a better guard dog to protect your valuables. They didn’t chew up your furniture or shit on the rug…unless you’re into that kind of stuff.

“Once we’re through the next chamber, the stink will taper off.” I heard her laugh and mumble something under her breath. I could only assume it was a joke about men and their penchant for fun smells.

Inside the massive fiend room, I waved the creatures aside and they parted like a brown and stinky Red Sea. Moses would be so jealous. Once they were out of the way, I headed for the room that contained the case. As soon as we walked inside, flares sprung to life along the walls, illuminating the room with magical light. Karra gasped. Fortunately I’d been right about the smell dying down.

The walls had been carved into the shape of a pentagram, sharp corners jutting inward and then back out, giving the chamber a very claustrophobic feeling. It made you want to get to the middle quickly to avoid being impaled on the walls.

In the center sat the case, shards of warded glass still on the ground. I hadn’t instructed the fiends to clean that up, because there was no telling what kind of latent magic might still be embedded into the glass. It was better to leave it alone rather than risk unleashing something.

The hole in the wall, where the case’s guest had tunneled its way out, was something more mundane. The fiends had filled that, and I’d posted a couple dozen of them on the other side, just in case the thing wanted to come back. It worried me the dread fiends hadn’t ripped the guy-for lack of a better word-apart when he killed Asmoday. I hoped he’d just avoided the creatures somehow and didn’t have the means to make them obey him. It had been a surprise to learn they would listen to me, so there was no telling who else they took orders from. I wasn’t completely happy with the illusion of safety, but it’d have to do.