Brom - The Child Thief

“STOP RIGHT THERE!” Officer Mac cried, his voice high and shrill. Julio realized with horror that Mac had his gun out and was pointing it at the monsters. “Don’t nobody fucking move!”

“Cool it, Mac,” Julio whispered. “Would you please just cool it!”

A tall man in a black cape stepped forward. “Who are you?” he asked, looking Julio up and down. “Are you the Lord’s men?”

“Just a sec, buddy,” Julio said. “I’ll ask the questions.”

Another monster stepped up. “They’re some sort of constables. Perhaps guards.”

“A constable?” the caped man asked. “Where is your lord? We need to see the king.”

The rest of the monsters had filed through the turnstile and were quietly surrounding the two officers. Julio found himself backing up, trying to keep them in front of him. He set his hand on the butt of his revolver and clicked off the safety.

“ THAT’S FAR ENOUGH! ” Officer Mac squealed. The gun was trembling in his hand.

Julio put in a quick call for backup and prayed Mac wouldn’t do anything stupid in the meantime. Julio held up a hand diplomatically. “If I can just get you to—”

BLAM! Officer Mac shot one of the monsters.

The bullet punched a hole in the monster’s stomach. It looked at the bullet hole and furrowed its brows, then stuck a finger in the wound and brought it back out covered in black blood. Its eyes flared and it grabbed Mac by the wrist.

The gun fired five more sharp reports. Some of the monsters stepped back, but the one that had hold of Mac, the one who now had six bullets in its gullet, groaned and fell over.

In a blink, one of the monsters drew a short sword and shoved the blade, to the hilt, right in Officer Mac’s eye. The blade punched out the back of Mac’s head, sending his hat flying off his comb-over.

Julio made a play for his gun, managed to get it clear of his holster, but that was as far as he got. Hard hands seized him and he felt something long and cold sink into his stomach over and over until everything went black.

THE CAPTAIN STOODover the two dead men. Killing them hadn’t been a very smart thing to do. Those men had been constables or guards, and he was sure that killing them wouldn’t sit well with whatever powers lorded over this kingdom.

The Captain waited for the others to move on, then bent down and retrieved the weapon from the guard. It was obviously a pistol, but of a sort he’d never seen—so small, and with no powder or fuses. Such a weapon could come in handy. He stuck it in his belt and caught up with the men.

What is this place? the Captain wondered. He caught sight of two filthy men sleeping next to a rifled garbage can. Not Heaven, he thought. This is now, that’s all. What the world has turned into while we were gone . He studied the spiraling pillars of poured masonry, ran his hand along the gleaming metal and glass. And it is both ugly and beautiful.

The Captain suspected there’d be more guards coming soon. Will they kill us? he wondered. Or worse, send us to their dungeons to rot? Have I merely traded one hellhole for another? Now was the time to free Daniel and get out of here—escape these madmen before they got them both killed.

The men had stopped, bunched up around the bottom of a long flight of silver stairs. The stairs led to the next level. The Captain’s eyes grew wide. The stairs were moving!

“Just jump on,” Sid, the gangly midshipman, grumbled, and gave Robertson a bump.

Robertson shoved Sid backward and growled, “You just jump on.”

Ox pushed them both. The two men tumbled onto the escalator and were slowly drawn up the moving stairs, soliciting a cheer from the rest of the men, who then began to push and shove one another to be next.

By the time the Captain had gotten on, he saw that many of the men were actually riding back down on the other side, grinning like children as they gripped the black handrail. Halfway down, Sid turned around and tried to walk back up the moving stairs only to bump into Robertson, causing both men to tumble down the steps and spill out onto the shiny floor.

“Enough,” the Reverend cried.

The men frowned. But they rushed back on, laughing like loons as they jostled to be the first to the top.

They continued down a short corridor and found themselves in an immense chamber of glass and masonry. Light was everywhere. The very ceiling glowed.

People in strange garments were rushing through the chamber from all directions, mostly pouring down from the upper levels, all intent on one thing: exiting the building. When the Reverend and his men moved into their midst, the people didn’t know which way to go, and in the ensuing chaos his men became separated into smaller and smaller groups.

There were two sets of glass doors ahead, leading out onto different sides of the building. In the wave of confusion, about half of the men headed out what appeared to be the front of the structure, while the rest followed the Reverend out the side. The Captain followed the Reverend, sticking as close to Danny as he could.

They pushed through the great glass doors and came out into the night lit with a million dazzling lights. Immense buildings of glass and steel towered above them, seeming to disappear into the very heavens. Several broad roads, not of stone but of some foreign dark masonry, lay before them. The Captain stopped. What manner of sorcery is this? Dozens of yellow carriages with blinding lamps rolled by at incredible speeds, and…there were no horses attached. No, not sorcery. I know sorcery , he thought. This is something else. There’s an explanation.

The lights, the noise, the smells, the strange people, their dress, their oddness, all threatened to overwhelm him. He found himself wanting to look everywhere at once and at the same time wishing to close his eyes and not open them again. Hold steady , he commanded himself. Now is not the time to lose one’s mind. He locked eyes on the boy. My duty is to the boy. All this other—the whats and hows. It can wait.

The Captain heard a strange, wailing noise, like hundreds of screaming demons, far away at first, but coming closer.

The men looked dazed, some stumbled forward in wonderment, while others were overwhelmed, choosing to keep their backs against the building, refusing to venture any farther.

“ THERE! ” the Reverend yelled triumphantly. “God’s house.”

The Captain followed the Reverend’s gesture and was amazed to find that there, indeed, was God’s house. A church with a towering white steeple sat just down the avenue. Atop the steeple, a gleaming cross was lit up by piercing beams of white light. The cross stood out against the looming towers like a divine beacon. Below the cross, a statue of some angelic saint looked down upon them with sad, forgiving eyes. Her arms were open, as though welcoming them home.

The Reverend pointed at the Lady and Danny. “Bring the demons,” the Reverend cried. “Time we finish God’s work.” He raised his hands, clutching spastically at the sky as his eye flared with righteousness. “Lord, we come home to you.”

“ GET DOWN,” NICK hissed. “They’re coming.”

Nick and Cricket ducked behind a parked van and watched as a large group of Flesh-eaters began filtering across the parking lot, staring about with their mouths agape.

Nick heard sirens heading their way. He tried to guess what would happen when the police arrived, what they would do with the Lady, Tanngnost, Peter, the Flesh-eaters, any of them. This isn’t going to end well for someone , Nick thought. Crap, and if they catch me? He knew what that would mean: they’d take him home to his mother, deliver him right into the hands of Marko. Wouldn’t that just be some shit, after everything I’ve been through. I gotta get out of here .