Walking In the Midst of Fire

Gareth distinctly remembered how he had felt when he’d seen the man again: how he had wanted to follow Prosper, how he had felt as though he might rip out of his skin, revealing somebody completely different than he currently was—somebody forged from the fires of pure hate. But he had held back, knowing that it wouldn’t have been wise for any of them to interfere with Prosper’s business.

Soon after, Gareth and his brothers and sisters were summoned to Prosper’s dwelling. The others were excited; attention from Prosper, whether good or bad, was something to look forward to.

They didn’t know who this man was—what this man was. But Gareth did. And since he’d seen this man, his temper had grown, and he’d spent more time torturing the island rats before eventually killing them.

He had changed with the sight of this man, and he wondered if his brothers and sisters would be affected as well.

Wedged deep into the corner of his room, awash in the stink of himself, Gareth relived the experience.

Those who kept watch over them, the walking dead men, had herded them all into a line, marching them single file into the broken-down concrete building that served as Prosper’s home. The others giggled and shared nervous glances. They thought that something big was going to happen, something important, and in hindsight, maybe they were right.

Gareth was the oldest, and the others looked to him as they marched toward their destination, their furtive gazes desperate for answers. But he revealed nothing, for they had to see for themselves.

Their own hate had to show them—tell them.

They entered Prosper’s dwelling. It was so much nicer than the squalor in which they lived. As they lined up in the front room, Gareth could hear Prosper and his guest talking in the next room, the man demanding to know why he had been brought to such a forsaken place.

Gareth remembered what Prosper had said.

“Just you wait and see.”

The wind outside Gareth’s room howled, and he could hear the incessant patter of rain against the building. It was like the hate inside him, raging against the confines that kept it locked away.

Gareth didn’t want to remember anymore, but the memory was crystal clear in his mind, and would be, he was certain, for what remained of his life.

A door at the far end of Prosper’s front room opened with a sharp click, followed by the whine of hinges rusted by the heavy, moisture-filled air of the island. Prosper led the guest into the room with a guiding hand, although he seemed careful not to touch him.

Gareth could not look away from the man, as if his stare would tell the man who he was. . . .

Who they all were.

Then an odd sensation filled the stale, damp air of Prosper’s quarters. Gareth managed to tear his gaze from the powerful figure that stood before them, and looked toward his brothers and sisters.

Their hate . . . their hate was coming alive as his had.

They knew this man as well—this powerfully built, finely clothed figure that looked at them with dripping contempt.

Their hate knew him, as Gareth’s did.

And the air around them began to crackle with a power both awful, and awesome.

What soon followed was why Gareth was here, alone in his room. Even in the darkness he could see the blood on his clothing. He lifted his trembling hands and stared at the dried gore of his brutal act. His hands remembered what they had done, and shared with him the memory.

For the briefest of times, the hate had been replaced by something else. Hope? Was it hope? Gareth wasn’t sure, but the hate was quickly back again as he learned what the man wanted of them.

What he wanted to make them.

Gareth would not stand for it.

The ripping and tearing, the screams of pain and anger, and hate so much greater than it had ever been before. The hate had changed him. . . .

The hate and the blood had transformed him, and given him the special talent to change the others.

And he would do just that, if he was to survive what was to come.

If he was to survive his punishment.

Gareth was suddenly distracted by the sound of someone approaching his room. He figured it was time. Perhaps he would finally leave this life, but he was all right with that.

For he would leave satisfied, covered in the blood of the one who had abandoned him, one of those who had cast him and his siblings aside as if they were filth.

Covered in the blood of his father.

The door opened with a creak and a figure silently entered the room. Gareth had seen this man before. This was the man that Prosper feared, the one who came from time to time to check up on Prosper.

The man casually looked at him before turning around, finding the chair, and sitting down across from him.

He said nothing, staring at Gareth, who gazed back, not sure what he should be doing.

Finally Gareth could stand it no longer.

“Who—,” he began, his voice sounding dry and old, perhaps changed by his act.

“Simeon,” the man said. “My name is Simeon.”

He crossed his legs, and looked at Gareth even more intently, tilting his head to one side. He played with a ring on his finger.

“And your name is Gareth.”

Gareth nodded slowly.

“You have created quite a problem for me, Gareth,” Simeon said, turning the ring round and round.

“So, how are we going to make things right?”

* * *

Remy and Francis appeared in the foyer of Aszrus’ Newport home. They were in the midst of conversation.

“If there are any clues to the whereabouts of this charnel house, they’ll probably be in here somewhere,” Remy said as he folded his wings, already on the move toward the study.

“Are you sure about me being here?” Francis asked, attempting to keep up.

Remy was just about to tell his friend that he was certain everything would be fine when a blast of divine fire flashed by his face, striking Francis and sending him hurtling backward, engulfed in the flames of Heaven.

Spinning toward the source, Remy released his wings again, hurling himself at this latest seemingly endless array of adversaries. He was shocked to see that it was Montagin.

The angel had shed his fussy, human form and appeared as Remy remembered him during the Great War, adorned in shining armor and mail of silver, his wings a black-flecked white, a burning sword in his hand.

“Montagin!” Remy raged, pulling back to flutter before the angel. “What do you think . . . ?”

“How dare you bring him here!” Montagin screamed. “Do you not know who he serves, Seraphim?” He flapped his powerful wings, swaying from side to side. “Have you brought him here to kill us as well?”

Is that slurring? Remy wondered, instantly convinced that it was. The angel, Montagin, was drunk.

Great.

“That’s about enough of that,” Remy warned, advancing toward the inebriated creature of Heaven.

Montagin flew backward, slamming into the wall and a table that held an expensive-looking pitcher and chamber pot. The table crashed to the floor, the pot and pitcher shattering upon impact.

“Perhaps you’ve allied yourself with him,” Montagin considered. He started to raise his sword. “Perhaps you’ve weighed your options and believe that siding with the Morningstar would be more beneficial to your pathetic human existence upon this forsaken mud ball that you—”

Remy lunged at the angel and grabbed hold of his wrist.

“You dare!” Montagin raged, attempting to pull his hand free.

“You’ve got some fucking nerve,” Remy said, bending the angel’s wrist in such a way that he could easily