2 The Judas Kiss (14 page)

             
“So what made you interested?” Ben asked.

             
“Necessity,” Andrew said simply.  “This isn’t the first time our little friends have attempted something stupid.  A lot of my kind had moved on, gone back through the god portals to wherever we came from and, as you humans call it, evolved.  A higher state of consciousness or being.  Frankly I was in love with the elements, and I saw no hurry to leave.  It wasn’t until all of the gods began losing power that the portals began shutting down.  I never realized it was us that kept them going, kept them open, allowing the newborn gods through to live out their existence until they were ready to move on.”

             
As crazy as it sounded to Ben, it made sense on a logical level.  “So you’re stuck here?”

             
Andrew gave a short shrug.  “I don’t think so.  Not yet, anyway.  Eventually, if we don’t cross back over before all of the portals shut down, we will be.  I think at some point we will simply fade into nothing, become the elements.  I don’t actually know.  Funny, isn’t it?  The humans worship gods, and expect them to know what happens beyond death, but we know no more than you.”

             
Ben took a long drink of his water and wiped his mouth on the back of his hand.  He stared at Andrew, processing what he was saying.  He still didn’t quite believe him, and smiled at the irony of what Andrew had mentioned earlier, about being faced with the impossible and yet still unable to believe what was right in front of him.  He glanced down at his phone and saw it was about time to leave.

             
“We should head out.  There’s going to be a small window of time where Greg will be in his office after the patients leave.  If we wait any longer, he may head off home and we’ll lose our chance.  Mark and my sister broke in once, already, so there’s probably going to be higher security around his office.”

             
Andrew nodded and waited while Ben paid the food tab.  They headed back out to the car, Ben sliding behind the wheel, and within minutes they were back on the road.  The office wasn’t far from the restaurant, and as Ben pulled into the hospital parking lot, he was struck with the memories of when he’d first come here.

             
Mark had been with them, in his disguise of a blind priest, Abby madly in love with him, defending every psychotic thing that came out of his mouth.  Ben’s mind was still reeling from his brush with cancer, and asking him to process an immortal gospel writer and the Biblical bad-guy Judas had just been too much for the over-worked detective.

             
Now, however, Ben had been through so much that he was simply tired.  His mind had been stretched beyond its capacity for actual understanding, and now, when a kid riding a skateboard walked up to him and claimed to be an immortal god who needed his help, he simply accepted it and moved on. 

             
The parking lot was rapidly emptying of cars, nurses going home after their shifts, the final patients and hospital visitors walking out to their cars, faces somber.  This hospital wasn’t the happiest place to be.  It was a behavioral health hospital that specialized in neurological problems, and from what Ben had seen, a lot of the cases were hopeless.

             
That much could be seen from the visitors heading back out to their cars, faces drawn, eyes down.  They walked stooped, defeated, and Ben knew exactly what that felt like.  The pair got out of the car and tried not to make eye contact with anyone as they walked in the front doors.

             
There was no one at the security desk and Ben wondered if Andrew had something to do with that as they approached the elevator.  Ben jabbed the button and a moment later, the doors opened.  Ben hit Greg’s floor and as the elevator made its slow trek up, he looked over at his companion.

             
“So do you have a plan?  And you never did tell me who you were going to contact.”

             
Andrew looked up at the checkered lights on the elevator roof and gave a little sigh.  “I plan to order Greg to open the portal so I can have a chat with someone who might have some information on Mark and Judas’ whereabouts.”

             
“And this friend is?” Ben pressed.

             
“Truthfully?” Andrew asked.  “Truthfully I don’t want to tell you because you’re not going to believe me, and the human notoriety of this god is rather… intense.”

             
Ben frowned, confused by Andrew’s hesitation.  Even Greg, who seemed to spill information like a fountain at times, kept a lot of the details from Ben.  Andrew was the first to openly discuss the nature of his being, his plans, and his name right from the start.  “So what if I know him?”

             
“Your acceptance in this situation is fragile at the very least,” Andrew said.  The elevator gave a sharp ding, and the electronic voice announced the floor.  The pair walked out and stood in front of an empty nurse’s station.  “If I give you a name like ‘Zeus’, you’re going to become defensive.”

             
Ben sighed and looked over at the empty desks.  “Are you doing this?” he asked, gesturing to the empty chairs.

             
“I thought it might be easier if the watchful eyes were sent on a brief task.  Nothing dangerous.  They just all needed a cup of coffee and bathroom break.  I didn’t want to be delayed in getting to Greg’s office.”  Andrew’s voice was matter-of-fact, and he led the way down the familiar hall, Ben close at his heels.

             
Through the windows on either side of the large wooden door, Ben could see light in the front of the office.  He stepped ahead of Andrew and tried the handle, but it was locked.  With a sigh, Andrew nodded and Ben felt the lock shift under his hand.

             
“Go on,” Andrew pressed.

             
Still unused to these nonchalant displays of power, Ben shook off his nerves and pressed forward, stepping into the warm office.  He shut the door behind him softly, and motioned Andrew to follow him to the back office where light shone under the closed door, letting them know that Greg was still in.

             
As they approached, Ben smelled a sudden waft of cigar smoke and realized that they were about to meet Asclepius instead of the human version of the neurology doctor.  He turned to Andrew whose expression and raised eyebrow told Ben that he was already aware of the god’s presence.

             
Ben gave a short nod and without knocking, walked right in.  Asclepius sat behind Greg’s desk, his feet up, a cigar pinched between his left thumb and forefinger, and a glass of scotch in the other hand.  He looked up, his eyebrows raised in mild surprise, and he grinned at the pair.

             
“Well I guess I owe Gregy five bucks,” he said as Ben and Andrew walked in.  “He seemed pretty paranoid that you were going to show up.  And with a friend, too.  How thoughtful.”

             
Ben stepped aside and Andrew walked forward.  “I need the portal.”

             
“Oh no, my friend,” Asclepius said, rising from the chair.  “Go find another one.  I don’t need any nosy deities in my business.  This one is for personal use only.”

             
“I need to speak with someone who is currently on the other side, and yours is the only one in the country strong enough to reach it,” Andrew said.  His voice had taken on a deep, resonating quality that sent shivers up Ben’s spine, and made the hair on his arms and back of his neck raise up.  “Open it.”

             
Asclepius held his ground, crossing his arms tightly over his chest.  “No can do, my friend.”

             
Andrew crossed the room in three swift strides, placing the tips of his fingers on the top of Greg’s desk.  “Do you know who I am?”

             
That gave Asclepius immediate pause and he swallowed, his eyes searching Andrew’s face.  “You don’t understand,” he said quietly, “if I open up this portal, it’ll open up the window and if they find me, they’re going to kill Greg.”

             
“There’s not enough pity to stop me from using the portal,” Andrew said.  “I empathize with your plight, but there is a greater threat beyond your existence in this realm, and I need information now.”

             
Andrew turned from the desk, his eyes scanning the room until they came to rest on the bookshelf.  Asclepius moved, as though to stop Andrew, but the kid looked back and Asclepius was flung forcefully back into the chair.  He struggled, but was unable to move as Andrew walked to the bookshelf, felt around for the latch, and pressed it.

             
There was a noise, a lot like a wine cork popping, that sounded through the room and the shelf lurched forward.  Effortlessly, Andrew pushed the bookshelf aside and beyond opened up the room where Ben had seen Asclepius cross over into Greg’s body.

             
“I’m not sure how long this will take,” Andrew said, glancing over at Ben who hadn’t moved from his spot by the door.  “Be patient and for your sake, stay out, and watch him.”

             
Andrew stepped inside, leaving the bookshelf cracked open slightly.  Ben looked over at the wanton god sulking in the chair, still seemingly unable to move, and eventually Ben crossed the room to a chair and sat.

             
“Sorry about this,” Ben said with a sigh.  “I tried to keep you out of it.”

             
“I know,” Asclepius said miserably.  His arms were free enough to tip the glass of scotch to his lips, and he gave a small sigh.  “I had a feeling this was coming.  The moment Greg got himself mixed up with you and your little friends I knew it was only a matter of time.”

             
“I’ll do what I can to keep Greg safe,” Ben promised.  “I can get some surveillance on the office.”

             
“You honestly think that mortal authority figures could help if my brethren decided to take their vengeance on Greg?” Asclepius asked with a snort.

             
Ben rolled his eyes, but he knew the god was right, and he gave a helpless shrug.  “We can only hope they’re too caught up with Mark and Judas to bother with you.”

             
“For now,” the god replied.  “The moment they get what they need from him, they’ll be coming here.”

             
“Why do you think that?” Ben asked with a frown.

             
“Because your little Norse friend there was right.  We’ve got the only portal in the country with enough strength to touch the other side, and whatever Nike’s after, it isn’t in this realm.”

Chapter Eight

              Mark’s hand trembled as he hovered the pen over the first short stack of papers.  He ached all over, his skin itching as it healed from the violent burns, and he squinted at the top of the desk in the dim light.  He hadn’t put pen to paper in so long he nearly forgot what it felt like to write, to feel the scratching of ink under his hand.

             
There was a shuffling noise and Mark turned his head to see a rather tall, thin man shoving Jude haphazardly on top of the cot he had occupied earlier.  Jude was still trembling, but not nearly as bad, and the blood on his face had dried and caked.

             
“How long is he going to be out?” Mark demanded, looking over at Nike standing by the wall, arms crossed, a bored expression pasted across her thin face.

             
“He’s drugged,” she said with a wave of her hand.  “He’ll wake up when I say he can wake up.”

             
Mark looked down at his hand holding the pen and let out a slow, nearly silent breath.  He had a plan, but he wasn’t sure it was much of a good one.  He was still injured, making him weaker than normal, and even at full strength, Nike was far stronger than him.

             
However, she needed to sleep, or run the risk of Abby’s human body giving out on her quicker than normal.  Mark had no idea how long Nike had been occupying the body, but he knew from Greg that Nike could possess Abby for a couple weeks at maximum, before the human form expired. 

             
He had windows of opportunity to execute an escape plan, but right now the windows were a moving target.  Without information, Mark was paralyzed and bound to do Nike’s will.  Still, there were no humans around at the moment, so if Mark could make his escape with the papers before a normal human had a chance to lay their eyes on Mark’s work, disaster could be averted.

             
Mark also knew that at some point Ben would come looking for him.  Ben wasn’t his biggest fan, but with Stella on his side, Ben was sure to have heard about the explosion and hopefully had help.  At least Greg had a contact on the other side, Mark knew, and that could provide some possible information as to their whereabouts.

             
The only thing Mark could do now was delay.  Write as slowly as possible; tell his tale, because he couldn’t stand the sight of Jude being tortured again.  Mark took a deep breath, glanced once more at Nike, then at Jude and whispered, “For you, my old friend.”