Eryx - A Phoenix Rising Short Story: The Gatekeepers Series



  Eryx

  Stacey Thompson

  Stevie Trinty

 

  Copyright @ Stacey Thompson, Stevie Trinity 2016

  Published by Fire Spirit Publishing

  www.firespiritpublishing.com

  Germany

  April 1945

  “We're not going to get out of this one, John,” the man yelled down the ditch. Bullets and yelling were echoing through the darkness. John was holding his own, firing into the Germans. Taking as many with them as he could. He was a private in the British army so no one was going to save him.

  “John, we have to move,” his friend yelled at him, pulling his arm to get John's attention. He turned to him and shook his head.

  “The German's can't take this bunker. If they do, they'll have a foot hold we may not be able to reverse.” John shook off his friends hand.

  “I'm sorry, man, but I'm not staying here. They do horrible things to prisoners. Experiments and torture.” John's friend pulled away, leaving the one private against at least thirty Germans. He fired his gun at each one, taking several down before he felt the cold steel of a gun barrel on the back of his head.

  “Drop the gun, son,” the man talked with a heavy German accent. John did what he was told, but instead of going quietly, he swung at the soldier behind him. It was only a second before the man hit him in the head with his own gun and everything went dark.

  ***

  John could hear little things. Screaming. A drill grinding into what he thought had to be wood. He could smell the faint copper and metallic tinge of blood. When he opened his eyes, he realized he was in the pit of hell. He saw rows of beds some will puddles of blood under them. The arm of one person hung over the side of his bed, still dripping. He tried to pull away from the two men dragging him through the rooms, but they held strong to him. One spoke in German and the other laughed, giving John a hard yank.

  They pulled him through a door into a dark room, throwing him into a hard wood chair sitting in front of an old wood table. The light was very faint, but he thought he could see stains of blood in the wood. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath before the door behind him slammed closed.

  “You know what they do here, don't you?” A voice floated through the room. John squinted, trying to find who owned. “Answer the question.”

  “They cut people up. What you think I'm scared?” He forced the sentence, but if he was going to die here, he'd die with dignity.

  The voice laughed and finally a form came forward from the darkness. The first thing John noticed was the man's eye. They were green pits with no expression to them. Something felt different about this man and he didn't have the same German accent the others had.

  “You are special, John.” He pulled a chair up to the table and sat, the man's dark hair fell into his face. “We've been looking for someone like you.”

  “I'm just a soldier. A dead one, now.” John ran his hand through his hair.

  “You don't have to be.” The man put his hands on the table. “All you have to do is one little thing for me. Then you will be more powerful than anyone in England or Germany.”

  “What are you talking about?” John sat back in the chair and watched this man he didn't know. What if he was telling the truth? Maybe John could live.

  “You can end this war, John.” The man smiled. “All you have to do is kill one person.”

  “Who? Hitler himself?” John started laughing. “That would be the only way to end this war.”

  “Exactly,” the man smiled.

  “Are you serious? You want me to kill the leader of the German army.” John couldn't help but laugh again. “Right.”

  “I can give you his location. All you need to do is get out of here,” the man leaned in closer to John. He put his hand on John's forehead. John felt like his head was splitting in two. He saw a city, Berlin and a bunker in the heart of it. Inside was the target this man wanted him to kill, but how would he get there? Then the image faded and John felt his pain ease slightly. When he opened his eyes the man was no longer there.

  John heard the door open behind him and barely had time to recover from his pain before an older man dressed in a German uniform sat in the chair across from him.

  “Do you know why you are here?” The man spoke in a thick accent. John shook his head.

  “This is a medical facility. We like to see what makes people tick. There are some that say there are humans with some kind of abilities in this area.” The German smiled. “I have not seen this yet, but I'm having fun experimenting.” He laughed. John locked eyes with him and it was almost like someone speaking in his head. It was the German's voice, but he clearly wasn't talking. John could hear him laughing and see the experiments he already performed. Removing body parts and pushing people to their own limits, looking for that one person who was different. Now that person was sitting in front of him.

  John pushed inside the man's head, hard. The German jerked back and his eyes went blank. John had him now. You will let me go. I'm not what you want. I'm poisoned. John pushed the thoughts into his head. In only a second, the German looked at the soldiers behind him.

  “We must let him go. He's poisoned. He'll make us all sick if he stays.” The German blankly looked at the guards. “What are you waiting for?”

  The guards pulled John from his seat and pushed him back through the facility until he was finally through the large metal doors and face down on the torched grass. He heard one of the guards snicker and say something he couldn't understand, but stayed where he was until the doors closed behind him.

  John pulled himself to his feet and looked around, trying to get his bearings. He wasn't far from Berlin. The trick would be avoiding the German's long enough to get where he needed to go.

  John started walking only stopping to take cover from the enemy or to sleep some until he was standing on the edge of Berlin. It was full of Germans and any one of them would wonder what he was doing there in his British uniform.

  John snuck to the edge of the city and made his way into one of the homes. It was quiet and no one seemed to be there. He rummaged through the drawers and closets until he found a pair of khaki pants and a dark button up shirt. He fixed his dark curly hair the best he could and stepped from the house. He wanted to get this done with. If the man he'd met earlier was right, he would never be in this position again and he could save so many lives. This war could be over. People wouldn't have to die.

  John put his hands in his pockets and made his way along the roads, stopping every so often to make sure no one was following him. Finally, he came to the bunker. It was surrounded by German soldiers protecting their leader.

  John leaned against a nearby building and pushed into the nearest soldier's head. The soldier stopped and stared blankly where John was. He smiled and held the soldier as he made his way past. Once he was safely into the bunker, he let the soldier go back to his duty. The soldier shook his head like he was confused, one of the side effects.

  John quietly made his way past the guards within the bunker, taking over the ones who might actually see him long enough to find his target.

  Hitler wasn't what everyone made him out to be. He was shorter than John expected and he looked almost nervous watching the news. He was losing.

  “Tell General Brandt to push the experiments harder,” Hitler yelled at a nearby soldier. “We must see progress. I must win this war.”

  “The General is working as fast as he can,” the soldier countered.

  “Not fast enough.” Hitler shook his head. “I'm going t
o my study. Make sure no one bothers me.”

  John watched from the hallway as his target made his way through a secondary hallway just off the one he was standing in.

  He followed him down a set of stairs into a basement type area. Now was the time. John closed the door behind him. As he did, Hitler turned and looked at him.

  “Who are you?” he spat with a heavy accent.

  “I just wanted you to know, you're right.” John took a few steps towards his target.

  “Right about what?”

  “Us.” John smiled and read his thoughts. “You think a few simple occult items will give you power to rule the world?” His target smiled.

  “Not without the right people to yield them.” He ventured a step towards John. “Tell me, boy, what would you do with unending power?”

  “When I kill you, I get to find out.” John smiled as he spoke.

  “You can't kill me. There are a number of guards here and all will destroy you to help their fuhrer.” He laughed. John pushed into his target's head. He moved Hitler’s hand to his gun. He pulled his gun from his side and put it in his mouth.

  “Under different circumstances we might have worked something out, but I have already made my deal.” John smirked and pushed his target until the gun went off. Hitler's body fell to the floor. John took a deep breath and finally saw the items his target was hiding. Things designed to save the world and were being kept by a man who wanted to destroy it.

  “Excellent John.” John recognized the voice as the man who'd sent him on this mission. He turned and got a better look at him in the light. He was tall with dark hair and wearing leisure clothing.

  “What about the guys upstairs?” John asked glancing at the closed door.

  “I took care of them and the wife as well,” the man smiled and took in the dead body on the other end of the bunker. “We won't have to worry about what to do with the body. The German's will think it was a suicide.” He smiled.

  “Now what you promised me,” John said aggressively.

  “Patience,” the man said. “First, I should introduce myself.” He smiled. “My name is Kalerian.”

  John thought the name fit. Kalerian was out of place here and carried a sense of power with him. Not something John was used to.

  “I will give you England, but it will take time and a lot of work. Are you willing to do more of this?” Kalerian asked, walking around John.

  “Yes, whatever it takes to never be under someone's boot again,” John answered.

  “Good. I think the first order of business is a name change. You look more like an Eryx than a John.” Kalerian smiled.

  “Eryx,” John whispered to himself. He liked the sound of that.