Bolton pressed his foot hard onto the gas pedal, trying to keep up with the truck in front of them. He looked at Karissa.
“Hey,” he started, “you need to be ready for anything, you understand?”
She looked at him. Beads of sweat were racing down the side of his face despite the freezing air.
“I’m ready,” she responded.
Bolton was unconvinced, but he put his eyes back on the road. “Karissa. I mean, you need to be ready for anything.” He put emphasis on the final word.
She understood that they were running straight into a trap. She understood that she might be heading to her death. She understood that there was a possibility her husband, her Lewy, was already dead.
She noticed something about herself though. She’d spent this entire time afraid. Worried. Uncertain. But now, the thought of everything just pissed her off. She felt strong. Alive. Free.
Karissa Nelson was going to stand up and fight for her husband.
Keep going north, she thought to herself.
She looked in the back seat and saw the guns sitting in the duffel bag they had brought.
“I’m ready,” she said coldly.
Her voice sent chills down Bolton’s spine. But were the chills he felt from Karissa’s words? Or something else?
*
When Lewis was brought back to Blackgate the night before, he was thrown into a cell. It was fairly small and had a bucket in the corner, as well as a bale of hay. He was frozen to the bone, but a few of the village women had brought in large pails of hot steaming water. They gave him a disgusting look before they left.
Lewis looked up to see Calvin entering the cell, waiving his hand to the same two Angels who always followed him around. They stopped immediately outside of the small room.
Lewis was shaking on the floor. “Leave me ALONE!” he screamed.
Calvin sat on the hay bale and let out a sigh. “You see,” he began, “I simply cannot do that. Artemis’ wish—”
“Fuck Artemis!” Lewis screamed. He attempted to stand up, but it was immediately followed by a backhand slap from Calvin, knocking Lewis to the floor.
“Listen to me, you ignorant, small child! You are nothing! Artemis is EVERYTHING! If you were not so important to him, I would peel every inch of your pathetic flesh from your bones and feed the rest of you to the SWINE!” Calvin screamed.
Then he cleared his throat.
“I’m sorry,” he continued, “I believe it is time to share who our king truly is. I will explain further.”
Lewis, frozen in fear, had blood streaming from his nose. He had no choice but to listen to Calvin.
“Our king was brought into this world in a village not far from where we are now. It was a village of liars and cheaters. They would steal each other’s belongings; they would rape each other’s wives. As a boy our king had a cleft lip and a nub for a hand. This was partially due to his parents being siblings. In fact, the whole village was family, but if a child was deformed, they would be executed, as they offered no use to the village. However, the young king’s father, Uther, spared the boy. He told his son that he was going to be a king one day despite his deformities. Still, the king grew up tormented and teased. Everyone said he could not become a warrior, considering his deformities.”
Calvin cleared his throat, then continued.
“A few years passed, and the boy was a man. He was in line to be the next king of the village, and he vowed to bring justice and prosperity to all the townspeople. Some of his ‘family’ didn’t agree; they thought him weak, so they betrayed him. They burned the boy’s house down, killing both of his parents. He survived, however, and the rest of the family took it upon themselves to throw the—as they called him—‘demon born’ off a cliff, the very cliff you almost fell off of tonight. When he hit the bottom, he was dying. Slowly, painfully, alone. Then, out of nowhere, a god dressed in gold appeared and said that the boy could live as long as he did one thing.”
Calvin paused, almost as if he were waiting for Lewis to answer. But he didn’t, so the man continued.
“Give up his soul. So, the boy did, and he vowed to avenge his parents. It is a night we remember here as Uthersday. The day the boy became our true King Artemis, the day he began his conquest to clear the world of those who are unworthy. The boy grew a hand, and his cleft lip disappeared, leaving only but a scar. So began Artemis’ great conquest to cleanse this world—his world—of those who do not belong.”
Calvin licked his lips then continued.
“During the midst of his conquest, however, Artemis felt weak; he was growing older. His alchemists were able to find a way to keep him alive forever. The secret to immortality no matter what happens. They gave him a drink made from flowers and obsidian they gathered from the volcano Grimsvotn. It stopped his heart, and he died. However, his soul still belonged to the God he gave it to, so after a few moments he returned to this world. He felt stronger. More powerful, as though his body had been molded from the obsidian and ash of the volcano. He then decided that he was going to conquer England. He used runes and dark magic, and he was unstoppable—until his power became too strong for some, and his own men decided to turn on him. His own followers killed Artemis’ body and burned it while he was asleep.”
“My god,” Lewis finally said. But Calvin continued.
“Fortunately, he had many followers who believed in his way. They were able to use the dark magic and runes to make contact with Artemis’ soul. It sat in the lands between the living and the dead where he remains to this day. He told his followers what to do next: cleanse the world of any and all those who do not belong here. Those that share the same qualities of the people that betrayed him. We lived in the shadows until the moment was right. Artemis needs a body to return to. A strong body, as well as a strong mind, but it must also be weak enough that he can take full control. This is your destiny, Lewis. You are feeling him guide you. You are the chosen one. Our Angels are guided by only him, and they chose not to cleanse your soul that night. You are meant for Artemis. He is to take over your soul and body so that he may live again on this earth and officially rule as he was once supposed to.”
Lewis froze. This was it. He didn’t want to believe this story, considering how far-fetched it seemed, but everything that was said to happen was happening, wasn’t it? The fact that he wasn’t in control of himself sometimes. The fact that he saw the vision of a Viking king. The fact that he was here when he didn’t want to be. The fact that he left his lovely wife. It was true.
“What about my wife? And Bolton?” Lewis asked, his eyes glued to the floor.
“You will see them tomorrow, actually,” Calvin said with a smile.
“Wait, what?” Lewis looked up with fire in his eyes.
“I told you they were coming, dear boy. And I do believe they are on a plane right now and will be here by morning.” Calvin stood up.
Lewis shot up after him, but he was instantly backhanded to the face again. Calvin then left the cell. They locked the door and left Lewis to scream and shout himself into exhaustion.
*
Karissa and Bolton looked at the entrance to Blackgate with wide eyes. They were stopped at the front gate as they watched the truck they were following drive through to the inside of the village. Before they even attempted to make their next move, a tall bald man in a black robe walked between them and the gates. Karissa’s eyes were glued to the man as she asked Bolton what to do.
He replied, “Be cool. Whatever they do, follow along with it.”
Sure enough, the man looked off to his side, and two Angels walked out from behind the sides of the gate toward the truck. Karissa’s hands began to shake, as the Angels were horrifying to look at, even with their tall black pointy hoods on.
The Angels opened the truck doors from both sides and waited for Karissa and Bolton to get out. Bolton realized the bag of guns would be lost. His only weapon was the handgun he had on him. As they got out of the truck, the Angels immediately put black sacks over their heads, not allowing anybody to look at them.
Neither Karissa nor Bolton made a sound as the Angels patted them down. Their large boney hands felt everywhere on the two companions until the one with Bolton found his gun. He let out a quick groan. Bolton was listening intently to see if he could hear the sound of the gun being thrown, but he heard nothing. He thought to himself, He must’ve kept it. Good.
The Angels began to guide them through the gates. They could not see or hear anything besides the sound of their feet crunching the snow. The ominous silence was devastating. Especially to Karissa, who was trying her hardest to keep it together. She was on the verge of snapping. Not out of fear, but anger. She wanted to burn the whole place down and walk out of there in Lewis’ arms.
The walk seemed very long. Both of the captives were lost in their own thoughts. Bolton was thinking about his wife and kids. He had a family to look after. He realized how stupid this was, how much of an idiot he was for doing this to his family.
Why the hell am I here? Is this the right move? The right thing to do? he thought to himself.
Then he thought about how this cult had roots in everything. Without his and Lewis’ findings, the cult would’ve kept moving forward. Kept killing. Kept cleansing. And Bolton didn’t know who he could trust. He felt it was his responsibility.
Suddenly, Karissa and Bolton were stopped and pushed to their knees. The sacks were quickly pulled from their heads, and they both adjusted their eyes to the bright shine of the snow that had fallen the night before.
Once their eyes focused, they noticed in front of them a bald man with a red robe that featured a black spiral on his chest. Behind him were two very tall men, obviously Angels, with their black pointed hoods over their grotesque faces.
“Hello,” the bald man said with a very large smile. “You must be Andrew.” After examining Bolton for a while, he looked over to Karissa. “And you must be Karissa Nelson.”
He got extremely close to both of them, then he continued.
“It is very nice to meet the both of you. I am Calvin. I am the father of this here organization. You must have plenty of questions! Who we are, why we’re here, what our purpose—”
Karissa cut him off. “Where is my husband?” she said coldly, staring straight into Calvin’s soul.
“Ah, yes,” Calvin said, tilting his head slightly toward her. Before he answered, he lowered himself into a squat so he was eye level with Karissa. He was so close to her face, she could taste his breath. “Lewis has been awfully naughty since his arrival. You’d have been proud of him. Alas, we are not. In fact, we are extremely angry with him, but when everything begins to come to fruition like it is, there are bound to be complications.”
Calvin shot up and looked at the crowd of people behind them. Karissa and Bolton had no idea they were there because they had been so quiet.
“Today is the day, my children! Today we celebrate the changing of this world! Back to the old king. Back to Artemis! We shall prepare! The Cleansing is nigh!”
The crowd made a simultaneous gasping sound, followed by a thump to their chest. Calvin turned around and walked through the doors of the black church. He waved his hand, and the Angels picked Karissa and Bolton up and dragged them into the church behind him.
Inside, there were thousands of lit red candles. Red banners with black spirals filled the room. Calvin stood there, intimidating.
“First up, the detective,” he said softly.