The second coming, p.23
The Second Coming, page 23
At a fancy restaurant, several people rush to the doors, pushing through the tables and guests. The crowd of panicked and confused customers grows quickly as servers hand NWO cards back with receipts. All receipts display the same message in bold red print. Seeing this, the waiters and waitresses start evacuating as well.
Little by little, anxiety spreads throughout the city as people use their NWO cards to fulfill their desires and fetishes and then read the red warnings on their receipts. These people have only one thing on their minds—to get out as soon as possible. The messages are opening their eyes to the fakeness and impermanence of the luxuries all around them.
Lily Graham, talented sports agent, is preoccupied with rest and relaxation in her penthouse suite, one of the perks of her larger-than-life persona inside ETG. She’s under the intoxicating influence of Champagne Armand de Brignac Blanc de Noris, Assemblage Two, while relaxing in a freestanding soaker tub filled with steaming lavender water and sweet almond–scented bubbles overlaid with fragrant and fresh red, pink, and yellow rose petals.
One minute she’s enjoying her me time, utterly oblivious to anything else, and the next minute, someone is frantically ringing her doorbell.
Startled by the intrusion, Lily jumps out of her soothing bubble bath and dashes to the closet to get her bathrobe. Whipping on her robe as she rushes to the door, she angrily mutters to herself, “This better be important.”
She yanks open the door and is surprised to discover Shawn and Mercedes.
In a know-it-all tone, she declares, “It’s about time you came to your senses. Come in and have a seat. I’ll be out in a minute.”
Lily whirls around, stalks to her bedroom, and closes the door behind her. After a moment, she reappears fully dressed, combing her damp hair. Mercedes and Shawn immediately stand as Lily enters the room.
Mercedes rushes at Lily and grabs her by the arm, making Lily drop her comb.
“What are you doing?! Let me go!”
Mercedes firmly holds on and pleads, “Lily, Everything Goes is hell. I mean literally hell. You have to get out. The doors will shut you in forever in less than fifteen minutes. Listen, I’m sorry for bringing you here. I’ve already warned everybody else I introduced to ETG before coming here. You’re the last one of my invites who is still in this rat trap. We have to go now, Lily!”
Lily breaks Mercedes’s firm grip and glances around her lavish penthouse suite in defiance. “Aren’t you the one preaching ‘If this is what you call wrong, I don’t want to be right?’ You are full of crap, and I’m not falling for your tricks. You just want me out so you two can have it all! Get a clue, Myrtle!” Lily replies.
Shawn takes a deep breath and with pure sincerity interjects, “She’s right, Lily. Everyone here will eventually know the truth; for some, it may be too late.”
Lily walks over to a wall and straightens a Picasso painting, giving Shawn and Mercedes the impression that she rejects the news altogether. She addresses them emphatically: “You guys think you’re so smart. Well, I’m smarter. I’m the best WWBA sports agent the world has ever known, and you’re not going to ruin it for me! I don’t care what you say. I’m staying!”
Shawn looks at his smartwatch with widening eyes and says, “Mercedes, we have to go!”
As Shawn hurries for the front door, she responds calmly, “Okay, Shawn, I’m coming.”
Mercedes slowly follows him to the door. Lily trails behind to see them out. Mercedes then turns and politely asks, “Was that porcelain vase imported from Singapore, Lily?”
Lily responds, “No, that’s an original ceramic piece. It’s a Chinese Southern Song dynasty vase imported from Shanghai. It’s considered to be—”
Mercedes sucker punches Lily directly in the face and knocks her out cold. As Mercedes shakes her aching knuckles, Shawn hurries back, not a bit surprised, and says, “I got her! Let’s get out of here!” Shawn hoists the unconscious Lily up over his shoulder, and they rush to the door.
However, when Mercedes opens it, the Antichrist is standing there, blocking their escape. Terrified, Mercedes and Shawn back away from the door. The Antichrist enters casually, his hands clasped behind his back. The door closes with a slam, and the bolt locks automatically.
The Antichrist faces them with a sinister smile and speaks with syrupy charm. “Mr. Shawn Abernathy, happy to make your acquaintance.”
As Shawn gently lays Lily on a nearby couch, Mercedes’s fright turns to anger. She snaps at the Antichrist, “Let us go, asshole! We don’t belong here!”
The Antichrist laughs mockingly. “Please, no need to shout, my dear. No one thinks they belong, but no matter. It’s here they will remain, for eternity. Luther is on the way right now to close all the doors you opened, and as you know, many will be locked in forever.”
Mercedes is bewildered to see Shawn adopting a fighting stance. “Shawn, what are you doing?! Are you seriously going to fight the Antichrist?!”
“I was a Golden Gloves boxing champ in high school. I’m not going out without a fight. Now stand back!” Shawn responds with full confidence.
The Antichrist continues smiling and says, “I know now why your God selected you as one of his chosen ones. You’re a fearless man. Not many are like you. But join me, Shawn. I will make you one of my chief officers. I could use someone like you. What do you say?”
After a moment of silence, Shawn replies, “Not a chance in hell. Let us be on our way or suffer the consequences.”
The Antichrist looks at Shawn with fury and barks out, “You are brave, Shawn, but very stupid. You think you have the advantage?”
The Antichrist extends two fingers toward him and raises them slowly, deliberately, and then flicks his hand. As he does so, Shawn levitates and slams against the nearest wall, knocking over lamps, furniture, and other items in his path.
Mercedes rushes over to help Shawn up. “Are you okay, Shawn?”
Shawn grimaces in pain but shrugs it off. “Yeah, I’m just getting started.” Standing, he braces himself and screams at the Antichrist, “I’m not afraid of you!” He charges toward the Antichrist and collides with a glass bookcase that unexpectedly slides into his path. The glass shatters as it tumbles on top of him. The Antichrist lets loose a horrific crooked snarl and disappears.
Mercedes once again runs over to help a now bloodied Shawn crawl out from underneath the glass shards and rubble. “Shawn, we have to give up! He will kill you!”
Shawn, despite being in severe pain, mumbles back, “Yeah, in the words of Mike Tyson, ‘Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.’ Mercedes, we’re both already dead if we don’t get out of here.”
The Antichrist reappears, directing a piercing glare at them both. “It’s no use, Mercedes. He will never give in. Come, join me.”
Mercedes slowly smiles, walks over, and stands next to the Antichrist, much to Shawn’s disbelief.
Shawn passionately pleads, “Don’t trust him! Do you know what you’re doing?!”
There’s a brief moment of awkward intimacy between the Antichrist and Mercedes as he gingerly takes her hand and kisses it. He then addresses Shawn. “Meet my newly crowned princess, Shawn. All she had to do was bring you to me.”
Mercedes smirks a bit regretfully and adds, “Welcome home, Shawn.”
A stunned Shawn manages to stand. He stares at Mercedes, teary eyed in total disbelief. A split second later, anger surges, but then disappointment overwhelms him.
“You planned all of this? It was all an act? How could you, Mercedes? I don’t understand how you could do this to Sylvia and Alyson, forget about me! Why did you send those men to kill me and then not just let me die on the street?” Shawn demands.
The Antichrist slowly paces back and forth, glaring at Shawn, and replies, “I know it was you who wrote that screenplay. It caused me irrevocable harm. I didn’t think you’d dare to complete it. But after the holy spirit’s first visit to you, I sent Mercedes to warm up you and Melody, as a safeguard. I knew you would never deny her the chance to rescue her friends from Everything Goes. Your timing is impeccable; however, you must pay the ultimate price as a result of your transgressions, for the rest of your life and thereafter. You see, I always win in the end, Shawn. Don’t you ever forget that.”
Shawn breaks down in defeat upon hearing how thoroughly he was tricked and betrayed.
The Antichrist continues, “You think I would allow some snot-nosed kid to manipulate my highly sophisticated computer systems? Surely you are smarter than that. I made it easy for you to gain access, just so you could join us here for this glorious and eventful celebration.”
Now the Antichrist circles Shawn and rants, “Sure, we lost some souls today; however, I would happily release two or three times as many to imprison you alone for what you’ve done.”
The Antichrist saunters to the bar, fixes a drink, and turns back to Shawn as he takes a sip. “Those men dressed in black who stabbed you? They work for Clarence Monet, and aren’t a part of our organization—not our true soldiers. Clarence sold his soul to us many years ago, and I felt it was time to collect when he betrayed us by letting you complete your story. Before his unfortunate brake failure, I discovered he had contracted those men to take your life before I got to you. He knew the last days were quickly approaching. He thought that if you died, you would end up in the other place, and then we’d lose—something I couldn’t allow. That is why I had Mercedes follow you from that point, to keep you alive. And now here we are, one big, happy family.”
The Antichrist hurls his drink into Shawn’s face. Shawn wipes away the liquid with his coat sleeve, looking devastated.
Mercedes abruptly plows face-first into the floor when she’s hit in the back of the head with a chair, which flies apart from the force. Lily stands behind her, enraged, clutching the wooden legs in her hands.
Her rage rapidly reaches the boiling point as she screams, “Bitch! How does it feel?!” She turns to Shawn, drops the chair legs, then gestures the Catholic sign of the cross with her right hand. “I’m sorry, Shawn!”
The Antichrist spins to face Lily. In a deep, devilish voice, he growls, “You have to excuse my manners. I picked up these bad habits from a Hollywood movie I saw. Watch your step, Lily.”
Instantly, an earthquake strikes, and the floor collapses beneath Lily.
Hanging precariously from the floor’s edge, crying in agony, legs dangling, she grasps loose boards desperately and screams for help; she struggles but fails to pull herself to safety. A flood of people screech, cry, and claw to get out, mixed with a host of howling demons hundreds of feet below her.
Shawn shouts, “Let her go! She’s done nothing! It’s me you want!”
The Antichrist pivots to face him. “Hmm, still acting as if you’re a hero ’til the very end. I’m impressed. It’s so sad you weren’t able to write the true ending in your story, Shawn.”
Shawn replies nonchalantly, “It has already been written. The true ending was written in the book of Revelation many centuries ago. I’m just one of many messengers called upon to reveal the truth, and no matter how my ending deviates from these actual events, the finale for you and your daddy remains the same.”
Shawn holds a steely glower on the Antichrist as, much to Shawn’s surprise, a strange light beams from under his own jacket collar. He reaches into his jacket and pulls out the sacred bronze water jug. The blinding light intensifies as Shawn places it at his feet.
The Antichrist’s eyes flash terror, and he partially doubles over, his hands shielding his eyes. A ghost-like mist rises from the jug and fills the room to the faint sound of prayers. The mist surrounds the Antichrist, and he begins to scream and growl. Parts of the ceiling collapse while the penthouse shudders as if being shaken apart by a magnitude ten earthquake. The front door unlocks and creaks open slowly.
The holy spirit of Rachel Turner floats in through the cloudy mist surrounding the Antichrist and speaks to Shawn.
“Hurry out, Shawn, before he’s freed.” She vanishes back into the cloudy mist.
Shawn immediately makes for Lily. “Hold on, Lily! Don’t look down! I’m coming!”
But Lily does look down, and faints straightaway when she sees the horrifying scene below. In this fraction of a second as her grip slackens, Shawn dives at her, grabs her wrist, and hauls her back up to safety. He picks up the jug and hefts Lily’s limp body over his shoulder.
He pauses to look at Mercedes, who is just now showing signs of consciousness. “Let’s go!” he shouts. “You saved my life once before, so now I’m returning the favor. I told the world about your personal life without authorization, and you aided the attempt to imprison me in hell for eternity. It’s a wash. Thank me later.”
Now fully conscious, Mercedes goggles up at Shawn with deep guilt written all over her face.
“In light of what’s happened, I can’t promise what your future holds, but at least you’ll have a chance to plead your case when the opportunity presents itself.”
Mercedes, crying in anguish, clambers to her feet and rushes ahead of Shawn as the penthouse collapses behind them.
CHAPTER 14
The Tribunal of Penance
Samuel stands in the ETG lobby, repeatedly checking his watch as throngs of frightened people rush out. A few of them are in costumes; there’s someone in a 1920s nurse uniform, a Roman gladiator, various Marvel superheroes—Spider-Man, Black Panther, Hulk, Iron Man, and Captain America—and one in an Easter bunny outfit. Samuel nods at him, and the bunny man nods back. Then Samuel turns to Eric.
“Where are they?” Samuel asks, disturbed. It is close to midnight.
“I’ll keep a lookout for them,” Eric answers apprehensively. “We all need to get out of here before midnight, though.”
“Yeah, but we’re not leaving them behind,” Samuel answers and gets back to monitoring the people rushing out. The crowd increases minute by minute, but they still haven’t seen Shawn or Mercedes. He looks at his watch again; it reads 11:57 pm.
They’re not going to make it, Samuel thinks. He starts praying under his breath. All of a sudden, Luther and the female attendant from earlier bolt from door number three.
“Stop them! Shut the doors!” Luther shouts at his attendant.
The attendant runs toward the counter, but Samuel extends his foot forward and trips her. She falls and is trampled in a matter of seconds by the stampede of escapees.
“Run! Go now!” Samuel hears Shawn’s voice at the back of the mob, and finally he spots Shawn struggling to get through with Lily over his shoulder and Mercedes running just ahead of them.
Samuel signals across the lobby to Lathan and Ronnie for them to evacuate, and they head for the door.
Shawn struggles to get Lily out, and Samuel immediately joins to help take some of the weight off. As Samuel manages to usher them out the front door, he catches Luther’s eye, and they glare at each other for a split second.
Lathan pulls up in his black van. Ronnie opens the sliding door for Shawn, who places Lily inside just as she begins to stir. Shawn grabs two gas cans and hurries back into the ETG lobby. Samuel chases after him to finish the job.
The lobby is in complete chaos with hundreds of people still trying to get out, and Samuel sees Luther struggling to get past the overwhelming masses at the entrance.
Suddenly, a loud explosion comes from behind the three doors, followed by a low growl. For a moment, everyone freezes and stares at the doors in horror. The doors turn pitch black and the mist disappears. In a flash, black, octopus-like tentacles appear from all three doors, waving wildly and grasping. A woman’s scream breaks everyone’s trance as the tentacles start grabbing whoever they can catch and pulling them back inside the dark openings. Howling and screaming louder than ever, people run frantically in every direction.
Luther stands frozen, seemingly frightened by the chaos.
“Run, Luther! You still have a chance!” Samuel shouts.
Shawn taps Samuel on the shoulder, tugs him from behind, and gestures to run. Before Samuel follows, he rushes over to help the ETG attendant to her feet. She struggles to stand; then, limping to the front door, she manages to get out. Samuel sees Luther one last time as he dodges tentacles, but eventually one wraps firmly around Luther’s neck and pulls him through one of the doors. Samuel escapes the lobby, never looking back.
Shawn nervously backs out of the building. The clock inside shows 11:59 pm and fifteen seconds. The tentacles start receding into the doors as midnight approaches.
Shawn sees the opportunity to finish what he started, so he darts forward and flings gas all over the lobby floor, emptying out both gas cans. He drops the last can, lights a match, and tosses it. Flames rip across the lobby.
In horror, Shawn catches a glimpse of Eric crouched behind the attendant’s counter, frozen in fear.
“Eric!” Shawn shouts. “Come on!”
The flames rise and make it impossible for Shawn to reach him. The last remaining tentacles clutch at stragglers dodging flames in the near-empty lobby.
“Eric! Eric!” Samuel shouts again. “Jump! You can do it!”
Eric hears Shawn, and stares through the flames as he gains his composure and stands.
“Now, Eric! Jump!”
The clock ticks through the final ten seconds before the doors close for good.
Eric takes two steps back and then sprints forward with all his might. Drawing near the flames, he leaps gracefully, ballet style, over the blaze while two tentacles lunge at him close behind.
Eric lands safely out of danger, much to Shawn’s complete relief and amazement.
The clock strikes midnight, and the remaining tentacles recede as the three doors slowly slide shut.
Eric and Shawn stand watching as people fight to get out of the closing doors, tentacles pulling at them from behind. One man’s bloody fingers cling to the edge of the doorway, but as the towering iron doors scrape shut, his fingers get pinched and stuck in the jamb.
