My four remaining guides grew increasingly nervous as the island appeared, gibbering away angrily in their language and casting dark glances my way. Although I knew they were tempted to mutiny, the immediate fear of my shooting them outweighed the unknown and kept the boat on course.
And even if I too had doubts as to the sanity of what we were trying to accomplish, here I was, pretending otherwise and urging them onwards.
Two things about our quarry were known. One, he had been on the jungle island ten years earlier and, two, none who set after him - no matter how large or well-armed the party - had ever come back. Now it was my turn; a sister’s birthright that could no longer be denied, an obligation no longer ignored.
"Grab your gear and let’s go!" I ordered, as our boat reached shore. A pat on the pearl-handled gun tucked in my belt encouraged them to hurry.
We plunged into the vegetation, following the route described by the map that had already gotten us through the danger-laced waters surrounding the place. Unfortunately, the thick growth soon proved the chart obsolete. Not knowing what else to do, we headed north, the path of least resistance.
In our third hour of exploration, we came upon a grisly discovery; a gruesome pyramid of human and canine skulls. This had to be what was left of the mercenaries who came here aided by bloodhounds. I felt pity for the animals, but not the men; their greed for what this job paid had brought them to this horrendous end.
As I surveyed the remains, one of the guides lost his nerve and ran into the jungle and towards the boat. His footsteps ended abruptly. Though we searched diligently, there was no trace of the man. He had just disappeared. More terrified than ever, we resumed our march.
Several hours of heat, sweat, and fear later, brought another awful find. In an area the jungle had not fully reclaimed, was a small encampment burned almost beyond recognition. We spread out to again hunt for clues, this search interrupted by a wild shriek. I turned to find a guide thrashing wildly on the ground. Within seconds he passed from life, the sides of his mouth curled into a mocking grin.
"Look!" One of the remaining pair pointed to the dead man's fist where an ivory charm half stuck out. I gasped as I saw the face ... and my mind raced back ten years.
"I didn’t think you would come," my brother said as he strode through the quickly parting crowd. I had obviously been mistaken in thinking he wouldn't make a scene at the funeral of the woman he professed loving more than life itself.
The gathering, filled with business associates and hangers on, fell silent as they watched our sibling confrontation. They were shocked, not by his behavior, but by the fact I didn't back down. It was something none had seen before.
"She was my mother, too."
"One would never have known." Although I was tall for a woman, he towered over me by almost a head. His dark eyes burned into me. "She would have appreciated a visit while she was alive. Damn it, you knew she was dying, how could her own daughter be so uncaring?"
I grimaced at the remark. "I came when I could and wrote or called every week. If you'd ever been in the service and situations I was, you'd realize that was the best I could do!" My entering the armed forces was a sore spot with him. He had wanted me to do better, as though being one of the highest ranking women in the military was a frivolity. "Just because I don't have your money and couldn't keep her in my home, doesn't mean you loved her more than--"
I stopped, something in his demeanor draining my fury. Was I crazy, or did he seem on the verge of crying?
"I'll deal with you after the funeral," he muttered. No more was said until our mother had been laid to rest and the two of us were alone in his limousine.
"It's not right," he whispered, looking into the cold autumn sky. "There's an awful wrong that's gone on for far too long; a wrong that must be stopped."
He paused, but I remained silent. My brother would say only so much, and that in his own manner.
"When dad was dying, I promised I would take care of mom. I promised to protect her and make sure nothing bad ever happened." His voice was low, but clear. "I failed at that task. For the first time in my entire life, I failed at something."
Strange as it sounded, he really never had failed before. Except for this incident, everything he had done had met with incredible success. My brother had gone from poverty to unimaginable wealth, triumphant in the worst possible scenarios. Sometimes, it seemed he had a guardian angel looking over his shoulder; one not only helping, but pushing and prodding him towards an unseen goal.
"There's no other way, the fight must be joined." His face was a mask of determination. "Since nobody else seems to want this confrontation, the task falls to me. I can assure you, sister, that this is an effort I will not fail at!”
He sat breathing heavily, but otherwise motionless. The following stillness lasted miles until, fearing the awesome pressure of his responsibilities had broken him, I had to speak.
"You're talking absolute nonsense." Maybe hard facts and logic would snap him from this funk. "The shock of mom's death ..."
The weariness of his sigh stopped me. Apparently, I was missing something.
"Think of all that's wrong with the world." His voice filled with barely checked emotion. "War, death, hunger, the list of human ills is endless. And every day the situation gets worse, with no end in sight. But why is that so? Why must we endure these miserable conditions over and over again?"
I had no answer. How could I, or anyone, explain all that was wrong with the world?
"Every religion prays to a god of some sort; a power that supposedly created mankind and which looks over us in a caring, beneficent way." He punctuated the words with a snort. "But we've been had! This isn't a force for good! It's a beast who teases us with promises of peace, but instead permits, no encourages, suffering then has the audacity to allow that agony to endure generation after generation!"
As he rambled on, I sadly understood what was happening. Unsettled by our mother's death, using distorted and disturbing reasoning, he had come up with a scapegoat for mankind's troubles: He was angry at God, the one and only force that had beaten him. But could he be so deranged as to think--
A terrified voice cast the past back where it belonged and I found myself staring at the charm that had killed a man; a charm fashioned in the likeness of my brother.
"What do we do now?" the scared voice of a guide repeated.
"What we have to." I spoke with strength not really possessed. "We press on."
With myself at the point and the guides a step back on either side, we continued. Each noise frightened us some, each silence frightened us more. I glanced at my watch then cursed. Time had passed more quickly than I realized and night would soon fall. It was a darkness I doubted we’d see morning rise from.
I motioned us to halt and the guides quickly went about setting up tents. As they did, I left to attend a need somewhat more basic than shelter. Having been on many survival missions, I was neither embarrassed nor at a loss for what had to be done. I went out a bit into the woods ... then drew my gun as a figure detached from the shadows.
"I warned him not to let you come," the shape, face shrouded in darkness, said. His voice was familiar, but from where? "Your guides will pay for your folly."
Despite my fear of this apparition, my training gave me the nerve to continue. "They already have."
"If there once was a purpose in this, there no longer is." The words had a telltale ring to them. "It's only self-serving, an unaffordable luxury at this juncture."
Even before an errant ray of the setting sun flashed over him, I knew his identity and my heart beat quicker still. "You worked for my brother," I said as he retreated from the light, "but you're supposed to have--"
"...killed myself?" He laughed, stopping as the sun shifted and forced him further into shadows. I followed, noticing how he looked no older than he had a decade ago. "No, I was but an advance man in the battle."
"Battle?" The word struck a chord within me, and once again I was thrown into a past but dimly remembered ...***
A swarm of people walked past as I waited outside his office. They glanced at me with disdain, obviously not thinking much of full military dress no matter how high the rank. That bothered me, but I wouldn’t show it.
Soon, I was ushered into my brother's huge office. It was my first time there and I was taken back by the dark, sinister decor. The place was filled with statues, books, and paintings, the likes of which I had never encountered though my travels had taken me all over the globe. There were representations of beheadings, crucifixions, impalings, and other macabre events. I picked one up and looked it over, revulsion filling me as I did.
"Know your enemy." My brother's voice startled me as he entered from some hidden passageway.
"Are you referring to me?" I asked as we sat across from each other at his desk.
He laughed heartily at that. "Never; no matter what our problems. I was speaking about the people who just left: My so-called best friends and closest colleagues who would betray me in two seconds if they weren't so afraid of me."
"Isn’t there anyone you can trust."
"You." His dancing eyes pinned me down. "There was another, but he's gone now."
I knew of whom he spoke. Two weeks earlier his number one assistant, the man who ran the largest of his companies and whose loyalty was beyond reproach, had committed suicide. The gossip was that this assistant had spent his last years studying every conceivable religion, no matter how bizarre. My brother too was rumored to dabble in the occult, a supposition proven true by the strange office decor.
"You want me to work for you?" I asked, thinking that why he had used powerful connections to have me whisked here from a top-secret assignment. "I'm flattered, but--"
He stopped me with an upturned hand and another sly smile. "Are you kidding? This business would eat you alive."
I was sure it wouldn’t, but this wasn’t the time to argue. "Then why am I here?"
"Because the battle has started and I need you. I need someone on the outside; someone who can do what I soon won’t be able to."
An ominous chill sprinted through me. "What are you planning?"
"An end to the suffering, an end to the pain. I know who the enemy is, and I intend to deal with Him once and for all. We've spoken of this before, but I'm no longer ill prepared. This is the battle I was born to fight and win.”
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. He was still pursuing that insane notion caused by our mother's death all those months ago.
"That talk we had at the funeral," I stammered, "you intend to fight God? That's crazy!"
"Yes, it is." He spoke calmly although storms brewed in his eyes. "But crazier still to leave things the way they are without even trying to change them. Can’t you see that?"
"No, I can't. What you're considering is beyond lunacy."
He shrugged. "No matter; the dice have already been rolled." My brother got up and motioned me over to a vibrant painting of a lush, tropical jungle. "Here, sequestered away from any base of power He might have, is where I’ll make a stand."
His words receded into the background while I gazed at the painting. As though actually in that scene, I began to sweat. My throat went dry.
"Others will follow, but they won’t find me," his far-off voice continued. "Eventually, those who assume my power on Earth will have no choice but to call on you to accomplish their task. Don't be alarmed, no harm will come your way.
And, dear sister, when you do find me the battle will be won."
With a huge effort, I managed to tear away from the picture and back to reality. Even so, it was another few moments before I could process his words and come up with a response. As at the funeral, my immediate hope was to change his mind with reason. Though our ambitions had never allowed us to become close, I cared very much for my brother and didn't want to see him lost on a fool's quest.
“What makes you think anyone will come after you?" I asked, gathering my wits about me. "You yourself said your associates would stab you in the back at the first opportunity."
He winked at me. "Of course they would, but I've structured my will so they have to demonstrably try and find me. I’ve even provided a list of people qualified to do so. You’re on that list, although they won’t want to call you. Nevertheless, the time will come when there will be no other choice.”
My mind raced ahead, quickly trying to figure where he was going with this. I had a feeling a lot rested on what occurred in the next few minutes. "Why would you want them to find you if you're trying to stay secluded?"
"I don't, but it's the sole way of having you come to me and only after the time frame I need."
Although he spoke clearly, I once again began having trouble understanding.
"Why bother with them at all?" I managed to ask. "Couldn't you just ask me to find you?"
"No!" he boomed, then immediately calmed, annoyed with himself for the outburst. "Since my company owns the island and has booby trapped the water surrounding it, you'll need their full cooperation to survive the journey. There's another reason; the result of which you should be experiencing even as we speak. For your sanity, I must spare you the memory of everything involved with this."
The grogginess was now upon me with a vengeance. I shook my head hoping to clear it, but that didn't help. What was happening? "I still don't understand."
"You will." He pointed to the jungle scene. My eyes locked onto the picture, sending everything else into oblivion. "And very, very soon-- "***
"Come quick!" a guide boomed. I was back on the island. My visitor had disappeared into a jungle that grew darker by the moment. Hurriedly, I raced to find the guides huddled in front of their tent.
"We saw something move out there," one said, his words little more than a whisper. "It was a demon!"
"That's ridiculous," I answered. Yet what had I just seen? "There's no such--"
"There it is!" the guide to my left alerted me. An arrow zipped by my head to embed itself in his neck. He fell to the ground making gurgling noises.
"Down!" I took my own advice and, a moment later, heard a rush of footsteps and a piercing scream. Seconds later, I summoned my courage and looked up to find what I already knew.
I was alone.
As if on cue, a distant drum began to beat. Having no other choice, I headed for it. The closer I got to the sound, the louder and faster it came. I was being guided. The gun in my hand that had previously reassured me now served to reinforce my helplessness against this invisible foe.
Strangely, each halting step brought an increased awareness, as though layers of fog were peeling from my consciousness. How could I have been so blind to the truth? Was it that I just didn't want to accept who was responsible for all this death and violence? Or was it something else?
'Know your enemy' my brother had said. That was good advice, although I would have come anyway.
Suddenly the drumming ended, and I found myself in a clearing. I took a deep breath, but the air caught in my throat as a cloaked figure materialized in front of me. Under a sky turned deep turquoise, I finally faced him.
"Hello, brother." Even though it had been ten years since last we met, and his subsequent disappearance, I made no move to embrace him. There was an aura about him now, one of such horrendous power, it took all my strength not to flee. "It’s been awhile."
"Not really." He smiled sadly, a hint of teeth flashing. "We've been in touch many times before, though not on a physical level."
I didn't understand, but I was sure I soon would. "Now what?" I asked.
His words surprised me. "A decade ago, I thought I would have all the answers at this point, but now I'm not sure." He sighed, miserably. "I still wanted you here because I needed to talk--"
"Talk?" I roared, anger momentarily overwhelming my fear. "OK, let's talk. Why did you kill all those men who came to find you? What obscene things have you been doing since I last saw you? Answer those two questions, dear brother, then I've got a thousand more."
"I'm sure you have." His voice took on such a sinister air that my fury left as quickly as it arrived. "If you would have let me finish, I was about to say I needed to talk to you in a place where you would remember. As previously stated, we've seen each other many times in the last decade."
I sighed. "Are you ever going to tell me the truth?"
"The whole truth, no." He then rattled off a list of top-secret missions, both planned and executed by me and accomplished in his absence. Each one was more dangerous than the next, and all had the same outcome: Death and destruction.
"I see your exile did nothing to prevent you from spying on me," I said, smarting that he knew so much about my affairs and I so little of his.
"Spying?" He barked a bitter laugh. "I didn't spy on you, I caused you to go on all those missions! I caused you to think of them!" Before I could react, he reached forward and laid a hand on my forehead. It burned to the touch, but that pain was as nothing compared to the memories it brought.
And in that rush of images I knew! God help me, and God forgive me, but it was too late for prayer. I then realized my fate had been stamped at birth as surely as had his.
"Bastard!" Tears streamed from eyes that had never known them before. "You evil bastard!"
"Yes, and not only for what I made you do, but for telling you about it. Unfortunately, that can’t be helped anymore: It's my job now." As his voice rose a wind whipped up and, like giant bat wings, his cloak flapped behind him. I held myself tight to both keep warm and as protection from the vileness he exuded. "And every day, every minute, despite how hard I try not to, I get better and better at it! Better and stronger, and truly capable of winning this eternal war!"
The wind ended abruptly and absolute silence enveloped us; one not even permitting the constant background noise of animals and birds. After what seemed an eternity, it was broken by footsteps.
"We must go," his assistant said. "The final battle needs its general."
"I need one more minute alone." The jungle cacophony resumed as the assistant bowed and disappeared. "My apologies, but I must go."
Go? "Wait!" I cried, now knowing I was as damned as he. "This battle--"
"'Know your enemy' I used to say, how I wish I had fully understood that myself," he interrupted. "How utterly naive I was to think there was a God who would let this continue if He had the power to stop it. In my haste to place blame, I forgot there was another player in the mix. A player I somehow managed to catch unawares.
"Now I am he, with strength and knowledge his position should never possess!" He paused a moment, then continued. "As you heard, a final battle is about to be fought. There's one foe left, you see, and, like it or not, I'm going to beat Him."
My brother vanished into the shadows, but not before I saw something which made me turn and run; although there really was no place to hide.
Through the jungle I raced, somehow managing to make it to the boat that had brought me to this cursed island. Though one person normally couldn't run the vessel, my panic enabled me to start it and put out to sea. I urged the craft to full speed and it responded, roaring across an ocean glowing eerily under the still turquoise sky.
Although I could put miles between that blasphemous place and myself, I couldn't put the memory of what had happened behind me that easily. Despite my yearning to dismiss it as imagination, hallucination or hoax, I knew it was neither of those. The last I saw of my brother convinced me of that, and I could only hope with every fiber of my being that he was wrong and would not win that last battle. For if he did--
No! Don't even think it!
Under that hideous and unthinkable implication, my mind lost the campaign to stay conscious. I fell back to the deck exhausted by all I had gone through, and scared to death of what was to come. As my senses left me, the last vision I had was of my brother as he turned to confront the enemy that might have been his savior ...
And of the forked tail that poked from out the back of his cloak.
The End
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