The Damascus Chronicles (34 page)

“What a place! I wish we had this back home,” said Michael.

“Remember what we are here for,” said Yoshiro firmly.

“Do you see Mohachi anywhere?” asked Darius.

“No,” said Michael looking around the club, trying to spot him.

“There he is, in the back.” Marianna pointed him out.

“I see him; let’s play it slick and follow him,” said Darius.

“Who’s he with?” asked Serena.

Darius caught his eyes on a ninja. “It’s Jubel,” said Darius.

“Let’s take this guy now,” said Michael getting ready and sliding out his katana.

“No!” said Serena, locking his arm down and shaking her head in disapproval. “Not here, Michael,” she said.

The crew moved to the end of the club while Mohachi and Jubel got up from making the exchange and left the room. The crew tried to follow them when a human guard stopped Michael at the door. “Where you going?” spouted the guard, putting his hand on Michael’s chest. Michael just gave an evil smile, and with his eyes glaring white and his fangs showing, he threw the guy across the room into a stack of boxes. Michael then opened the doors and continued to follow Jubel and Mohachi. Suddenly Darius could hear a voice speaking to him in his head as he saw a strange green mist billow before him. “Become a Dark God Darius, forget the cause, be one of us,” whispered the mist. No one else saw this but him. He remembered his own words from when he spoke to Julius at the manor, “
We should be accepted for what we are, as vampires, not to bend to the laws and ways of humanity.”

“No I can’t,” said Darius to himself in his mind. The phantom mist left him, but this idea grew stronger in Darius.

The vampire crew moved in pursuit of Jubel through an underground dwelling, the remains of an old Japanese mansion.

Jubel presented the pendant and the book to Alazar Desbode.

“How did you find both?”

“Where there is will, there is always a way, my friend. Now where is my money?” demanded Jubel.

“Thirty million in thousand dollar bills as promised,” said Alazar Desbode as he opened a briefcase to show Jubel the money.

As the exchange was being made, Michael and Darius broke through the doorway, “Alazar Desbode! Let’s dance, mother fucker!” yelled Michael.

“I thought you got rid of them!” said Alazar Desbode.

“What!” cried Jubel.

“Kill them!” commanded Alazar Desbode.

The crew whiplashed into the room and Alazar Desbode pulled out a high-powered assault weapon, spraying bullets; Darius and Michael fired back. Serena flipped, and Marianna took bullets through the chest as blood oozed from their bodies.

“Anna!” yelled Darius. Knocking over torn furniture to shield themselves, the vampires and oni’s fired back with their guns as bullets flew, hitting the walls as they blew through Jubel. Alazar Desbode hid behind a rusted antique safe, returning fire and dodging bullets. Yoshiro and Jubel whirled around the room fighting, slamming each other against the walls and flying in short bursts.

“Sorry brother,” cried out Yoshiro, slamming Jubel to the ground.

“No brother, die!” yelled Jubel as he flipped Yoshiro over on the floor pinning him down and getting ready to snap his neck like a toothpick. Michael shot Jubel in the chest. Suki used her Oni powers to revive Serena, Marianna, and Yoshiro; their wounds closed up and were healed.

Alazar Desbode put on the pendant while skimming through the blood-inked pages of the book. He started summoning a spell. “Suca liah ittah marakai, rise, the god spirit Death of the nether world and become living flesh!” he chanted.

Suki dragged Marianna and Serena to the side. Green and red liquid flames erupted in the room and hot winds blew as the god formed from the fire. Jubel’s chest pushed out the bullets that had not gone through as he lunged at Darius, picking him up and throwing him across the room. Michael shot a small katana out from his side, pinning Alazar Desbode to the wall.

”AAAH!!” screamed Alazar Desbode, dropping the book, but the portal continued to open.

“Grab the book!” yelled Suki. Darius grabbed the book and threw a knife into Alazar Desbode’s chest. Blood poured out. “I have no soul, I can’t die,” laughed Alazar Desbode, pulling out the blade from his lungs as green blood poured out and the wound closed.

Suki slid across the bloody floor, pulling out her dagger and slitting open his chest. As his organs spilled out on the bloody floor, Alazar Desbode fell to his knees, choking on his own blood, struggling to reach to the god spirit who was forming. Suki ripped the pendant from Alazar Desbode’s neck, grabbed the book and slit his throat as blood spread on the floor into green slimy pools that bubbled and churned like burning acid. Jubel disappeared into smoke. Then the vampires and oni’s left the scene.

Alazar Desbode held his hands out to the darkness, wriggling and looking into the eyes of the spirit as it stared at him. Then the room faded into darkness and screams echoed in the background. The chambers began to rumble as the earth shook violently, “We have to get out of here!” yelled Serena.

“How! This place is going to come down,” yelled Darius. The group all spotted a hatchway at the same time. They ran through the underground halls of decay, cobwebs and old Japanese lanterns. Suddenly, they noticed Jubel at the end of the hall. He smiled at them and then pulled a secret lever on a wall sconce, sealing them in the hall. The ground stopped shaking and a strange gas released from holes in the wall that no one had noticed before. The red mist caused Michael and the others to become delusional. They saw each other as enemies and began to attack each other.

The angel Gabriel appeared again to help them; he sent a flash of bright holy light that made the red mist disappear. The angel vanished and the hall grew silent as the group came to their senses and worked together to find a way out.

“How do we get out of here, I can’t see a damn thing,” said Marianna as she tried to find a light. Michael hit his lighter trying to find anything to help them escape. He leaned back against a dragon statue head that unlocked the gate.

“It’s open!” cried Yoshiro as they saw the gate go up. Running through it they found themselves in a large, circular, room. The room was pitch black, but something was wrong. Michael and others heard the sounds of slithering and hisses all around the room, and the floor seemed like it was moving. “What’s that noise?” said Michael.

“I hear it too,” said Marianna.

Torches lit up one by one, revealing an arena of death and carnage. Rotten slimy corpses had been mangled and chewed to bits by something overwhelmingly evil. The ground was drenched in blood, snake venom, and bones, and the place reeked like shit in a backed-up sewer.

“What the fuck is going on!” said Michael, keeping his guard up.

“I don’t know but I think we’re going to find out!” yelled Darius.

“Look!” screamed Serena as a large, spiked gate open. They could hear chains clanking along with the sounds of something inhuman scream like the hordes of hell. A monstrous, drooling and disgusting worm came out with glaring red eyes; it was a giant centipede, a mutated beast with eight giant human limbs and three humanoid heads with monstrously oversized tusks and fangs.

“Kadee!” shouted Suki.

“What the hell is that!” shouted Serena.

“A giant monster that eats people.”

“Fuck, how are we going to kill this thing?” shouted Michael. The creature came out of its dwelling, roaring and screaming and ready to devour them.

“Shit!” shouted Yoshiro.

“I’m thinking, I’m thinking!” shouted Suki.

“Well you better think fast!” shouted Darius. The creature lunged at them and they dodged its attack while avoiding the snakes on the ground. Suki noticed chains on the walls that decorated the arena. Signaling to the others, they understood and jumped to the walls, ripping off the chains and swinging them around the beast as it screamed with hate. They tried to tie the beast down as Darius and Michael leaped on top of the creature, trying to hold it like they were breaking a wild animal to ride. The beast threw them off to the ground, as the others held tight on the chains.

“Let’s kill this fucker now!” yelled Michael. Darius shot out its eyes, blinding it with his bow, while Michael and Suki hacked at the beast, but they were unable to kill it. Serena pulled out a grenade she had in her jacket as the creature broke their hold.

“Eat this!” yelled Serena, pulling the pin and slugging it into the monster’s mouth just as it was about to devour Darius. The blast blew up the creature and the snakes – gobs of blood and guts splattered all over everyone, the force of the explosion throwing them against the wall. When the smoke cleared all that was left was dead flesh and gore.

”Yuck! Slimy crap!” Suki threw off the bloody debris that covered her body.

“Everyone okay?” asked Darius.

“Fine here,” said Michael wiping off bits of guts from his coat and pants.

“Serena, Marianna, Yoshiro,” asked Suki turning to the others.

“We’re good,” they all said.

“Weird. It’s a good thing your human friends didn’t come with us,” said Suki.

“Well that was fun! What’s next?” asked Darius.

“We’re going to find a way out of here, that’s what,” said Serena.

Suki picked up the book off the ground with the pendant and followed the others to find a way out, when suddenly the doors unlocked and the gates flew open. The group passed through and saw Alazar Desbode levitating in front of them. His face looked deformed and hideous, and tentacles and horns grew out of his head. His eyes glistened green with fire and his face looked like an alien’s, gray and reptilian. “Die!” he screamed as he emitted a gas from the gills in his new body. The gas made the group confused and sick; in the nick of time, Gabriel came again and looked at the devil. Alazar Desbode screamed and disappeared and everyone was all right.

The group escaped through a hatch that led to the street. As they emerged, the thumping sounds of a helicopter came from a rooftop above them. Running to the rooftop and up the fire escape they could hear the craft taking off. “Damn it! He’s getting away!” yelled Darius.

“It’s okay, I know where he’s heading. Come on!” said Yoshiro.

“Umm, Yoshiro, excuse me but we have no ‘copter to follow!” snapped Michael.

“Oh ye of little faith,” replied Yoshiro as he removed a small whistle from his pocket.

“What’s that?” asked Mariana.

“Our ride,” said Yoshiro as he blew into the whistle. The stillness was interrupted by a flash of light in the sky as a great white flying beast descended from the heavens, rushing down at them. “No way!” Suki yelled.

“Way!” Yoshiro answered.

“Koga! Come forth! You are needed!” commanded the monk. The great luck dragon landed on the ground for them to board.

“Climb on, he’s harmless,” said Yoshiro.

“I will never doubt storybooks again,” swore Darius.

They all climbed on and set off in pursuit of the chopper. “Hang on!” yelled Yoshiro as they raced to catch up.

Jubel looked back at his opponents. “Damn them! Get us out of here!” he yelled at the pilot. Taking out a machine gun, he fired away. Koga dodged the shots and fought back with his fiery breath, scorching the craft and sending it to crash into the mountain, where it exploded on impact.

“That’s the end of him,” said Darius.

“No one could have lived through that,” said Michael.

“I doubt that. Let’s land and take a look around near the crash anyway,” said Yoshiro. Koga set down near the forest brush of the mountain hillside.

“Wait here, old friend,” said Yoshiro as he gently petted the great dragon. Koga nodded and allowed his passengers to dismount. Michael then caught a scent. It smelled like charred flesh and smoke, and it was on the move. Michael knelt down and sniffed the ground. “It’s him! Come on!” he yelled as he took off running after Jubel, who was already running up ahead into a cavern.

The others quickly followed Michael into the cavern.

Back in Tokyo at his skyscraper compound, Reynard Desbode patiently waited to receive word on the deaths of his enemies. Looking at the sacred scrolls, he was studying the incantations to join the Shirakai to awaken the Dark God.

“Where is that fool, he should have been back by now,” Reynard Desbode said to himself, intrigued with the scrolls. Suddenly Alazar Desbode burst through the door, falling to the ground.

“Father!” screamed Alazar Desbode.

“My son!” Reynard Desbode screamed, at his son’s disfigurement.

“They escaped, it was Gabriel!” wailed Alazar Desbode.

“The warriors of light and Christ are helping them,” snarled Reynard Desbode as he smashed the scrolls off his desk. “What about the book and the pendant?”

“They have it.”

“Blundering idiot.”