Chapter Forty-Two

He walked around the house all that morning in a daze of sorts. Maybe too much sleep could have that effect on a person. Or, perhaps, his sixth sense was screaming something alarming that he couldn’t quite figure out.

But, by mid-afternoon, that daze lifted when he heard his wife yelling his name from the back bedroom. Samantha’s bedroom.

He dropped his juice glass into the kitchen sink and ran through the house. His foot slipped on the rug in front of the door and he fell onto his knee. “Damn,” he groaned and massaged his knee as he righted himself again.

By the time Krieger opened the bedroom door, he found that Heather had placed a wet washcloth over Samantha’s forehead and had placed a towel over her legs.

Heather looked up and shrugged. “Her water’s broken,” she said.

“Hospital, we need to get her to the hospital.” He had never been in this situation before. He and Heather had always agreed upon having no children, so he never had the chance to think about how he would react when a woman in his house goes into labor.

“It hurts,” Samantha cried out as she shook her sweat encrusted head.

“I know, but it’ll be over very soon. I promise,” whispered Heather while holding Samantha’s hand and her husband ran from the room to get their car ready.

* * *

He watched the front door open and quickly jumped into a nearby tree to watch from above. What confused Orion was that he saw Vince emerge first waving a white handkerchief, followed by his friends.

“We need your help,” called Vince as he waved the cloth. He really didn’t expect Orion to believe a word of what he was saying.

Karl shook his head. “Hey, Monkey-Boy! If you really want the Forbidden Realms, then you have to listen to what Vince says. We need your help, if you want it so badly.”

Chris was knocked off balance in the next second as Orion flew past her and came up to Karl and wrapped his hand around Karl’s throat. He turned and looked at Vince. “What does this mean, Vincent? What help could I offer?”

Vince dropped the cloth and walked up to Orion and looked into his hood. They stood less than an inch from the other. “I don’t like you and you don’t like me. Do we agree on that?”

Orion released his hold on Karl’s throat and nodded. “Don’t take it too personally, Vincent. It’s not just you; it's humanity itself, and what’s become of it. That’s what I don’t like.”

Vince had no plans on standing here discussing Orion politics. He turned his head and looked at the castle. “See it?” Orion nodded. “I was told that the gate to Eden is somewhere under it, far under it. We don’t have the tools to bring the castle down.” He looked back at Orion. “That’s where you come in.”

Love what you're reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.

“All my life,” whispered Orion just loud enough so Vince could hear. “I’ve wanted to do this. She destroyed my life, now I want to end everything that was left to memory,” he said and then turned his body.

From behind the castle, sitting on a stone bench in the garden, Sisters Helen and Agnes watched the awesome powers of Orion at work as they saw that the tower was knocked down first. It shook the ground below their feet.

Stone by stone, the castle crumbled leaving nothing but small stones and pebbles. Orion was having the time of his life as he watched, with pure satisfaction, the fall of the House of Grendel. He wondered if his mother would be proud of the powers he had inherited from God.

Probably not. The last thing he remembered of his mother was just before making the final switch with Allen Corgan. He was fighting his mother using whatever powers they had. Hers was electricity, his was telekinesis.

But now, everything belonging to his mother is finally destroyed. Nothing could have survived this devastation, not even the smallest painting of her.

Once the castle was down, he lifted his hands into the air and the rubble lifted from the ground with them. He pushed everything off to the side and laid it gently down, and before everyone’s eyes lay a darkened opening no wider than several feet.

Vince and Orion paused for a moment and then walked over to the hole and looked down into it. From what they could see, it was a straight drop down into darkness.

They looked up at one another and Vince grinned. “This isn’t going to be easy, Pal,” he said behind sarcasm.

“Ease is only in your mind, Vincent. Will has a power all its own, you only need to learn how to control It instead of It controlling you.”

Vince had to admit, he was shocked that Orion was trying to give him advice. He wasn’t sure how to take it. Is there, perhaps, one small ounce of good in this beast?

“I wouldn’t think too hard about me, Boy. I am beyond your comprehension,” replied Orion reading Vince’s thoughts.

They stared at each other a while longer and then Orion stood up and gestured the hole with his hand. “Well, are you going?”

Vince looked over at Chris and Karl and read the terror in their eyes. He straightened his back and addressed them. “You don’t have to go with me, if you don’t want to.”

They walked over to him. “It’s not over until he’s dead,” replied Chris as she looked at Orion with hatred. “Whatever I can do, I’m here.”

Karl nodded in agreement. “I think I’m going to be sick, but I’m with you guys til the end.”

Vince smiled and walked several feet away from Orion and the hole and gestured to his friends, who followed him. “He told me something a minute ago,” he said and lowered his voice. “Will has a power and we need to learn to control that power. I think this is going to go smoother than we had anticipated. We need to have control over our will by the time we get to the gate.”

“Easy for you to say,” said Chris. “I’m scared shitless here. I’m not sure if I’m going to get control over my bladder let alone my will power.”

Vince and Karl chuckled. Leave it to Chris to come up with the right things to say at the wrong times. Vince glanced over and saw the Sisters sitting in the garden, watching everything that was happening and he bowed to them ever so gently.

Sister Helen raised a hand in a small wave and then they stood up and walked the opposite direction until they were out of view.

Vince sighed, feeling everything lift from his chest. “I think we should get this over with.”

Before they started walking back to the hole, “I think we need to keep something in mind down there,” Vince said and they looked at him. “Whatever happens, everything may change once he gets into the Forbidden Realms. Even our own mind set might change. Hell, we might not even remain there once he gets in, he could alter Time, I’m sure.”

“I don’t care what happens,” replied Karl. “All I know is the present and what will happen. I don’t think he’ll have the power to stop my dreams. I’ll know what’s real and what isn’t, and I might even remember that there’s some girl who’s going to change everything back to normal once again.”