Apotheosis of the Immortal (42 page)

“I guess I will start with the
masjid
. Hopefully they’ll find me.” As soon as the words were out of his mouth, he realized he actually didn’t have much of a plan.

“Here.” Khalid stood up and handed him the piece of paper he had just been scribbling on. “That is directions back to the
masjid
and to my home from there.”

Elijah accepted the scrap of paper and thanked him, then said his goodbyes and took off up the stairs. He could still hear Emira’s muffled sobs as he slid the fireplace shut behind him.

Chapter 84

Using the directions
Khalid had provided, Elijah was easily able to follow the path that had brought them in. As he passed the pond, he gave fleeting thought to the red sports car resting forever at the bottom. Within seconds he was at the road, and then the
masjid
.

The night air was cool as he walked around the building; he could almost see his breath. The lights were off inside and the parking lot was deserted. This wasn’t where he needed to be.

The other address and directions Khalid had given him were easy to follow, and it didn’t take him long to find his way to Khalid’s front lawn. When he checked around the house he could tell someone had been there not long ago, but there was no sign of anyone now.

Inside, the house was a wreck. They had turned the place upside down looking for their prize. The drawers were all turned over; everything was scattered on the floor. Walls were busted in, couches torn apart. It looked as if wild animals had been locked in there for weeks.

Maybe that’s all his brother was anymore, an animal. He had spent hundreds of years believing just that, but now he had reason to hope he might have been wrong. But where was Solomon? Elijah had one more idea.

He left the house and ran along the road, back to the first thing he had seen when he entered this small town. Walking into the gas station, the saw the same fat man sitting behind the counter, still punching away on his cash register with both hands. Elijah got in line behind a young man who seemed to be dressed up for a special occasion of some sort. He reeked of far too much cologne, but it was better than the stench of stale cigarette smoke that filled the small building.

“You’re back.” The fat little cash register puncher stated as Elijah stepped up to the counter.

“Yes. As a matter of fact, I need to ask for more directions.” Elijah spoke politely.

“Well, I can’t just give out directions if you don’t buy anything; didn’t you read the sign?” The man motioned to the front of the counter. “Hah!” he chortled as Elijah followed his finger. “I’m just joshin’ ya. What is it you need, buddy?” The man asked between belly laughs.

Elijah was still smiling, trying his best to be patient and friendly.

“You are funny,” he said, still managing to maintain a grin. “I was just wondering if there are any nearby churches.”

“Yeah, well, there’s lots of churches. What kind are you lookin’ for? I thought you were a Muslim, anyway.” The man looked confused and bored. He was eager for lengthy conversation, but Elijah didn’t have time.

“Is there a big church, one with stained glass windows or any elaborate religious décor?” he asked.

“Yes there is, but it’s a catholic church; I don’t think you want to go there. They don’t like Muslims much; they don’t even like me, and I ain’t nothin’.” The man’s slow speech and tendency to blather on and on was really nipping at Elijah’s nerves.

“Thanks for the warning. Now, just tell me where it is.” Elijah snapped, trying hard to hold in his frustration.

“Well, it ain’t far. It’s on the main highway, just a couple miles east.”

“Thanks.” Elijah could hear the man mumbling on, but he was out the door before he could hear enough to make any sense of it, if there was any sense to be made. It wasn’t long before he could see the steeple and the stained glass in the distance. His chest was welling with hope. It all seemed to make sense now, at least the part about Solomon.

Solomon was still his brother; a brother he loved dearly. He had simply been forced to do some horrible things for the sake of Malaki. If Elijah could just talk to him alone, they could figure something out together. Solomon had always been a reasonable person; he just needed to know there was another way to save Mali. Elijah didn’t know what that other way was, but was confidant there must be one, and he believed they could figure it out together.

He stopped just a few blocks from the church and stared up at the glass. This was the moment of truth. If Solomon was inside, Elijah would finally know for sure if he was still the brother he remembered or the monster he had been in Elijah’s mind for so long.

He walked the last two blocks slowly, remembering some of the best times he’d had with his big brother. He hoped that man was inside, and he hoped they wouldn’t have to kill each other.

Elijah walked up the steps to the big double doors at the front of the church. He took a deep breath and pulled on the enormous, elaborately carved handles.

Chapter 85

As the doors
swung open, a gust of wind raced across Elijah’s face, carrying the scent of burning wicks and melting wax. The smell immediately drew Elijah’s attention, and he looked to his right. There were a number of candles still burning; pools of hot wax surrounded some, as if they had been burning for some time now. The main altar was opposite the entrance, directly in front of him. As he turned his head towards the front, he saw what he was looking for.

“Come and sit with me, Brother.” Solomon spoke before Elijah had taken even a step.

“You knew I would come?” Elijah asked. He was surprised. He had been one step behind his brother for so many years, it was a bit unsettling to find him waiting this time. Elijah walked forward, towards the answers he so desperately sought.

“I knew, after what I told you, your hope and curiosity would outweigh your hate.” Solomon was sitting on a pew in the front row on the right side of the main altar. He had been staring up at a vivid and gruesome portrayal of a crucified Christ since Elijah walked in; he hadn’t once looked back.

“Is it true? Is Malaki still alive?” Elijah asked.

“Yes, Brother, it’s true.” Solomon’s tone was somber and melancholy.

Elijah didn’t understand. “Then we will find a way to save him; we’ll kill Father if we have to.” Elijah’s voice was full of enthusiasm as he tried to convince and inspire his older brother.

“You don’t understand, Brother.” Solomon’s voice turned harsh. Elijah could see his frustration. “Father is the only way; he is the only one who knows where Malaki is. To kill Father would be to kill Malaki.” Solomon’s voice was filled with certainty; he seemed convinced and defeated as he hung his head.

“Just come with me, Solomon; we will find a way. I am no longer angry with you. I see now you have only been trying to protect our little brother. There is honor in what you have done.” Elijah knelt beside his brother; his eyes were alight with hope.

“You still don’t understand, little Brother. Until tonight, I had been able to lie to myself, make myself believe I was doing the right thing. After all, I was trying to save my brother, just like you said. That is how I have excused all of the horrors I have committed.” Solomon’s voice was cracking as he turned to face Elijah.

“When I saw the fury in your eyes and the disgust in your face this night, as you looked at me for the first time in almost a millennium, I realized the monster I had become. I couldn’t hide from it anymore.

“You have always been strong Elijah,” Solomon sighed, “and your judgment has always been true. That is the real reason Father killed you and hid Malaki away; he knew I was weak. He knew he could use Malaki to control me, that I could easily deceive myself into believing I was doing what was right.” Solomon once again hung his head in shame and defeat as he stared at the faded purple velvet carpet beneath them.

“I have killed thousands of innocent people, Elijah, and I now know, after seeing the way you looked at me tonight, that even if I manage to save Malaki, the look on his face will be the same as yours, once he sees what I’ve become. Malaki would despise me for saving him, saving him only to live free in this cage of vampirism, to be a monster like me. That is what he is; it must be, if he is truly alive. He will have to kill to survive, just as I have.” Solomon stood up and looked around, as if he were searching for something—anything—to bring him a sense of peace.

“I don’t even know why I come here anymore. There is no solace, no peace left for me… not anywhere.” Solomon looked at his brother.

Elijah looked on, now feeling only pity for the man he once loved and hated.

“I’m sorry, Elijah; I have been on this path for too long. You showed me the monster I have become, but it doesn’t matter; I will be whatever I need to be to save Malaki. I pray you will help me, that I won’t have to kill one brother to save the other. Please, put aside your hate for our father, choke it down, and let us get this done, for Malaki.” Solomon knelt beside Elijah and took his hand. “We are family, Elijah. What is more important than that? Would you really put these people you hardly know before family?” Solomon’s gaze was an accusation.

“The family I have left has betrayed me and left me for dead more than once. Solomon, I know Father, and I know he can’t be trusted, not to release Malaki, and definitely not with something that could make him even more powerful than he already is. We have to stop him.” Elijah spoke with conviction.

“I can’t allow you to kill Father, not yet,” Solomon swallowed as he paused. “He has assured me many times that if anything should happen to him, Malaki would also find his way to the underworld. I know you don’t want that to happen to our little brother. If you help me to free Malaki, then I will help you kill Father.” Solomon rubbed his brother’s hand between his own and looked him in the eye.

“Join me.” Solomon dropped Elijah’s hand and stood up. “Join me.” He held out an open hand, as though hoping Elijah would take it. “Join me, Brother.” Solomon begged.

Elijah looked up at the man who had once been his beloved big brother; he could see his desperation.

“Let us do this together, for the sake of our little brother.” He reached his hand further toward Elijah.

“Please, just come with me and we will take Father together; we will force him to tell us where he is keeping Malaki,” Elijah pleaded.

Solomon dropped his hand as he hung his chin once more and stared at the ground. “You are not listening, Brother!” he shouted. When he looked up, Elijah could see whispers of blue shoot through Solomon’s eyes. “I’m sorry, Brother; sometimes it’s hard for me to hide my frustration.” Solomon smiled. “There is no other way.” His tone grew dire; the expression on his face was grim, but Elijah could see the weariness behind his emotion and determination. “I have waited hundreds of years for this opportunity; I’m not going to risk it on some ill-conceived scheme. Please come with me, and let’s save our brother.” Solomon once again extended his hand.

Elijah didn’t know what to do. He would risk the world to save his brother, but not on his father’s word. Elijah knew his father needed Malaki to control Solomon, and there was no way he would give that up willingly.

“Father is not going to give you Malaki,” Elijah said, standing up. “Can’t you see that?”

“After he gets what he wants, he will have no more need of me. If Malaki is alive, he will give him to me.” Solomon held out his hand towards Elijah once again.

“I can’t help you, Brother. We can’t let Father get what he wants, who knows what he might do with it?” Elijah watched as Solomon dropped his hand to his side.

“I am not the man I once was,” Solomon replied, “but I love you, Brother, and I wish you luck. However, I warn you, I will do whatever it takes to get our little brother back, and I’m terribly disappointed you are not willing to do the same. If you place yourself between me and the chance to find Malaki, I will do what I have to do.”

“I know you, Brother, and I know you are only doing what you think is right,” Solomon continued. “I will not hold it against you if you have it in you to kill me and Father. You will only be doing what I cannot, releasing both of your brothers from the purgatories in which we live. If you see an end to this, Brother, please remember me as I was, and if I have to cut you down, know I will mourn you for as long as I live.”

Solomon reached over and pulled Elijah into a warm embrace. The oddly familiar feeling of his brother’s strong arms around his chest brought to the surface of Elijah’s mind memories that he had buried deep. He was overwhelmed, like a child who was once again in his big brother’s loving arms. A tear fell onto his cheek from Solomon’s eye; it moved Elijah to tears. He had never seen his big brother cry, not even as a child; he had been their fierce guardian, their protector. Elijah wondered if, over the course of centuries, this was the first time his brother had been brought to tears.

“You would have me kill you, Brother? And Malaki?” Elijah asked as tears streamed down his face.

“If you do, don’t weigh yourself down with guilt, for you will have freed us. Death is a peace we should have known long ago, if I had only been strong enough to accept it.”

Elijah heard the weariness in Solomon’s voice. When he finished speaking, Solomon kissed his brother on the forehead and was gone.

Elijah raced to the door, but saw nothing, no hint of where his brother had gone. He was overcome with grief. Things hadn’t turned out at all as he had hoped. It had been much easier to imagine killing his brother when he hated him.

Now all of Elijah’s hate was focused, burning in one direction—towards his father. It burned with a renewed passion, stronger and hotter than ever as he raced back towards the cabin. He was eager to see Emira and have this passion dulled, at least for now. For the time being there was nothing he could do about his father, but he would find him soon enough.