Two Steps From Hell

Chapter 11: The Vile and the Villainous

Two weeks later.

"Still no word yet on the Detective?" An old man asked. He was in a moving, gold-coloured limousine, facing two familiar faces. 

"No, sir," Merci, who was also referred to as the purple assassin, quickly replied with a gentle tone of voice. "With no reported sightings of him or the pastor since of late, our leads have gone cold," she continued.

"Goddammit!" The old man snarled, slamming down his feeble fist.

"We will try again this evening," Merci urgently followed-up; speaking for herself and her sister, the yellow assassin, who for the most part sat quietly beside her.

"Merci, it troubles me that he's out there somewhere with the one thing that can destroy me and my company. A company I built from the ground up with nothing more than three hundred dollars in my pocket...company that up until this day have no rivals. I won't have it. Do you hear me? I'm now sixty-nine and I didn't have five heart transplants, three liver resections and a hip replacement to fret over this ghetto oaf. Try, harder!" 

"We will," Merci swore, but this time the old man was not satisfied that her sister had not spoken for herself. So he stared at her with his cloudy blue eyes, waiting in annoyance for her response. 

Notwithstanding Victor's grievance, the yellow assassin, who was for the moment unbothered by his evil glare, stared endlessly outside at a sky train gliding on its rail between the over one hundred storey high skyscrapers that were cramped in the Downtown skyline. As the limousine moved forward, she began to think of the night when she had her katana blade at Antonio's throat; when he told her, "You don't have to do this. There is still time to save your soul." His remarks bothered her greatly inside. She was trying to figure out why she hesitated; why she didn't just slit his throat and end his life. I had done it countless times before, she contemplated, now the very thought of taking another person's life repulses me.

"Jade!" Merci irritatingly called out, getting her attention. "Finally," she added as Jade turned around with a clueless look. "I was just telling Mr Gable; no, reassuring him that we will do everything in the power he has so graciously given us to find the Detective." 

Noticing that his old eyes were narrowed on her, she soon realized what her sister was doing. "You have our word, Sir," Jade quickly then answered, saying exactly what her sister had hoped she would say.

"Excellent," he delighted after with a wrinkled grin, putting the sisters' worrying minds at rest. 

This old man was indeed their boss and the mysterious caller who had ordered for Judas assassination. In doing so he indirectly gave Essen and his friends their newfound purpose in life. He was none other than Victor Gable, the world's first and only trillionaire. Yet being the richest man that had ever existed came at a very steep price. He was very sickly, having a degenerative disease unknown to science, even in 2030. 

Earlier he said that he was sixty-nine in age, but in person he looked to be in his eighties, approaching his nineties. Not putting it nicely, he had aged in dog years. His skin was excessively wrinkled all over. The amount of hair on his head could be numbered with ease and the bags under his eyes were the size of tea bags. People blessed him with their pity and kindness, but little did they know of his extra curriculum activities done in the dark.

"Sir, we're here," said Merci just before the car slowed down to a stop at the entrance of a dome-shaped building which stood at five-storey high. It was completely made out of a transparent bluish-green glass fitted within hexagonal, silver-coloured metal frames. The design of the building remarkably resembled the patterns often seen inside a beehive. 

Looking through the car glass, Victor noticed that an excited crowd of journalists and spectators had gathered around the car. "Great, now I have to deal with these incompetent fools. Merci, Jade...be a dear and clear a path for me. I don't want any of these scoundrels touching me."

"We're on it," Merci replied, opening the door for herself and Jade to get out. 

Their high heels then stepped on a glorious red carpet that had been spread out on the walkway leading up to the building. They both wore an identical fitted striped purple jacket and pants that almost appeared black at first glance, but was a darker shade of purple. Inside they wore a white shirt with a dark purple tie, matching leather gloves and heels. Their jet black, bone-straight hair surpassed their shoulders and came to an end just above their bustline. Their close resemblance was striking, however, the beauty mark at the corner of Merci's right eye stood out the most and allowed for some differentiation. 

When the need called for it, these two women were Victor's loyal assassins. But at this hour of the day, they were his infamous bodyguards. Therefore as his bodyguards, they began to push the crowd away from the car door and to the side of the red carpet. When they saw that the red carpet was clear enough, they began to scan the surroundings like a hawk, looking for any signs of threat.

While they did this, a male reporter was ahead of them doing a recording in front of a camera, reporting on other important guests that were seen walking up the red carpet. "...Here come the world's top financial players and international delegates from over two hundred nations, who are reportedly meeting to discuss ways to best tackle the current world crisis..." The reporter revealed, ending his coverage short after seeing Merci opening Victor's door. At this point, every cameraman and camerawoman then got their cameras ready. 

Stepping out with a silver handle cane, Victor slowly walked onto the red carpet all dressed out in a grey suit. 

"Mr Gable! Mr Gable..!" The reporters went into a frenzy. 

He greeted them with a mere smile. Then he continued his slow pace up the carpet with his bodyguards following close behind to ensure that the reporters didn't harass him too much. Notwithstanding his bodyguards, the male reporter that was not too long ago ahead of them on the carpet, out of nowhere pushed out his microphone into Victor's face and introduced himself by saying, "Truth Tucker here from Kapitol News. Is it true, Mr Gable, that the world is running out of food and the government is hiding it from us?" 

"No comment," Victor replied while trying to get away from him. 

But Tucker persisted, continuing to follow Victor's mouth with the microphone. "Will there be a shortage of food soon?!" 

Swiftly like a lioness protecting her cub, Merci then grabbed a hold of Tuckers' hand with the microphone in it and twisted it around to the point of almost breaking his wrist. "You heard the man. No comment!" And she pushed him down on the carpet. The other hungry journalists saw Tucker's humiliation and dared not to do what he had just done.

Some time had passed after this and all the guests were seated in their respective seats in the very spacious doom-shaped building, which turned out to be just a humongous conference room. The seats were all arranged in several arching rows that all semi-circled around a podium that stood on a raised platform at the centre of the room. Behind the podium were flags from every participating nation, hoisted onto a pole. Further behind that was a digitally projected poster entitled, 'Transforming Our World: the 2060 Agenda for Sustainable Development.'

A woman then took centre stage on the podium and spoke eloquently into a microphone, saying, "Entrepreneur, philanthropist, humanitarian; please welcome to the podium, Victor Gable." 

The blond hostess announcement then triggered the audience to put their hands together for him as he was escorted to the podium. Merci and Jade stood at the side of the conference room with their eyes locked on Victor. The conference room then got quiet when he pulled out his speech cards and put on his eyeglasses. 

"We are meeting at a time of immense challenges. Millions of Americans continue to live in poverty and are denied a life of dignity. There are rising inequalities within and among countries. Gender inequality and unemployment remain a key challenge among countries. Global health threats, more frequent and intense natural disasters fueled by climate change. Spiralling racial conflicts, violent extremism, and other humanitarian crises that force people out of their homes, out of their countries..."

"You need to be more attentive when Victor speaks," Merci said to Jade in their native tongue, Mandarin, while Victor continued with his speech in the background. "He's our employer and as Dai Lee, we have a duty to fulfil. We must treat him with respect and honour; carrying out his every command without murmur or complain. Your constant trip to wonderland is becoming a serious violation of that. I need to know that it won't happen again."

"It won't happen again," Jade replied, only telling her what she wanted to hear.

"It better not, because next time I won't step in to save your sorry a*s. You'll be on a boat back to Hong Kong before you know it or worst."

Victor's voice then came back into focus when the two grudgefully stopped talking. "...The world cannot continue like this my friends, not if we want to keep calling this planet our home. Ladies and gentlemen, what we do in the next thirty years will determine the fate of our planet's future and that is where the 2060 agenda for sustainable development comes in. It is a plan of action for people, for planet and for prosperity. Because nothing more says..." 

All after a sudden his voice tapered off after seeing two drops of blood splashing onto one of his speech cards. He touched under his nose and realized that there was blood on his fingertips. He then looked at the audience and the audience looked back at him, wondering why he was holding his nose. Merci and Jade watched nervously. Then when everyone least expected it, he collapsed on the podium. Though right before he lost total consciousness, he saw Merci along with others running to his aid. He also heard the hostess from a distance yelling, "Someone call an ambulance!" After that everything went black.

Victor later woke up on an operating bed, receiving intravenous medications and blood. Being the wealthy man he was, he wasn't carried to a hospital. Instead, they brought the hospital to him at his very luxurious penthouse located on the two hundredth floors of a modern skyscraper that fitted perfectly in the downtown skyline of Beacon City. The room was equipped with all the necessary instruments and equipment appropriate for a hospital setting. There was only one doctor present and he was over him writing down certain details onto a clipboard. 

"What's the problem this time, doctor?" Victor said with a weak voice.

"Mr Gable, I'm sorry to say, but it's your kidneys. They've become severely necrotic."

"Oh, not them too. They were the only good organs I had left. The only ones that are mine." 

"Nonsense, Mr Gable. You still have your brain," the Indian doctor humoured, pressing a button on the bed for it to fold up into a chair so that Victor could sit upright. "As it relates to your kidneys though, we can get you a brand new set in the hour."

Victor became sad in his face when he heard this. Suddenly the door was opened. 

"Vicky, is this a bad time?" A spunky, brown-haired man said loudly after rudely walking in on them. 

"I'm sorry, but this is a sterilized room. You can't be in here."

"It's okay, doctor. Let him come in," Victor defended.  

"Mr Gable, it's imperative that we prep you for surgery this instance," the good doctor cautiously advised.

"Leave us," Victor then told the doctor despite his warning.

So the doctor with a frown look on his face walked out and partially closed the door unaware.

"What do you want, Carlos?" 

"Is that any way to greet a friend?"

"We are not friends."

"You're breaking my heart, Vicky. You know I almost shed a tear for you when I heard about your little incident at the World Conference. But then I realized it was just my allergies acting up."

"Why are you here, Carlos?"

"That was quite a speech you gave. Although you might have laid it a little too thick in some areas. We were very pleased. It was compelling enough to convey the message we wanted them to hear. Now when they shall say peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon the world, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape."

"Quoting scriptures are we?" 

"I use it to my advantage," Carlos boasted, walking up to Victor's bedside, quaintly flexing and picking his manicured fingernails. "You don't look too good, Victor," he commented, scornfully looking at the dry, scaly skin Victor had on his hands and face.

"What does it look like to you? I'm dying, Carlos. How much longer must I wait? You swore that I would be healed of all my calamities once I joined your little club and did everything you've asked of me. I've sent out my assassins and they've killed everyone on the list."

"Not everyone. Your obligation to the list is not over. You have two other names on it to cross off."

"What other names?"

"The Detective's and Priest's. They are still alive."  

"Whose fault is that? My assassins could have finished the job two weeks ago if you hadn't forced me to pull them back. You said that The Family had it under control...that The Father would take care of them." 

"We underestimated the Detective, that's all I can tell you."

"Well, that is your problem, Carlos. Not mines. I need that healing your so-called Father promised me. I need it now."

"The Father chooses who he will bless. Until then I suggest that you find your bastard son or someone else you can trust to complete the task at hand, which you're obviously incapable of doing." 

"Do not patronize me, Carlos. Without me, CERN would be bankrupt. The Family needs me. I'm the one who should be calling the shots, not you or this 'Father' of yours: whom I'm yet to lay eyes upon. Maybe he doesn't have the power you all claim he has. Maybe he is just a man."

"How dare you?" Carlos said, gripping his fists in anger.

"Know this, Carlos. If I die this day, The Family and CERN will not get another dollar much less a red cent from me or my company," Victor proclaimed without a smile on his face. 

Carlos realizing he had stepped over a boundary, internally reassessed his position and quickly dialled down his approach towards Victor. He unclenched his fists.

Victor then noticed his sudden change in temperament. "That's right errand boy, know who ye serve this day. I have all the money. Now tell me, how do I get in contact with The Father?"

"We do not contact him. He finds us," Carlos replied in a slightly grudgeful manner.

"Well, I hope he's listening now because until I see some demonstration of his powers, all deals are off!" Victor spoke out loud with authority. 

Suddenly a black smoke filled the room and out of it appeared the leader of their cult, the man they so proudly referred to as The Father. Yet he's known by a different name too. He was that same man with dreadlocks that attacked Essen at his home prior to his daughter's appearance; whom she later revealed to be the demon, Deimos. 

Immediately, Victor ECG machine spiked as utter terror gripped his countenance. Carlos felt the same way too, but he smiled a little at the corner of his mouth, knowing that Victor had provoked him to wrath and surely this would mean his end. But Deimos thought otherwise. Lifting his hand, Deimos sent a portion of the unnatural smoke that was constantly proliferating off his pitch-black cloak, into Victor's nostrils and mouth. Almost immediately a little colour and life returned to his skin. 

After he had finished doing this, Deimos then spoke with the echoing voice of two persons talking at the same time, saying, "Rise, Victor. You have been chosen to be our most valued disciple." 

He proudly watched thereafter as Victor started to climb down off the bed and onto his own two feet, which stood strong on the floor. It had been ages since Victor stood on his own feet without the support of a walking cane. 

"What kind of magic is this? I've never felt so alive!" He wondered excitedly.

"It's power...real power that can be yours if you want it," the demon tempted with a tiny amount of black smoke swirling in the middle of his hand.

"I want it!" Victor immediately demanded with the veins standing up in his neck. 

The demon smiled when he said this, but Carlos' face twisted in jealousy and hatred when he heard it. 

Further behind Carlos was an unseen pair of eyes witnessing everything that had just taken place. It was Jade. She was peeping through the c***k of the door. Her eyes then widened to full capacity when she saw the demon sending more black smoke into Victor's nostrils and mouth.