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  “And you fell for it, hook, line, and sinker. Suckeeeeer!”

  They began laughing and hitting at each other like two kids.

  Chapter 3

  FOR days afterward Dante’s dream haunted him so much he was almost afraid to go to sleep at night, afraid it would come back. He spent hours looking at his scarred wrists and trying to remember more about the man with the horns who made his home in the dark. But there was another man. A man he met the first night. A man who kept his face hidden in the darkness of a hoodie. He remembered seeing his cat eyes, and hearing the words that rang in his ears.

  Don’t you understand? Isn’t it coming clear yet? This is the night of your birth, Dante. You were born in a lab deep in the earth. Your creator is Satan…

  Dante’s eyes widened at the memory.

  Satan!

  With the name came memories of an open chest, a beating heart, arteries everywhere. Veins, tissue, and then little flashes of neurons transmitting electrochemical signals into his brain. It was fathomless, like a universe unto itself. And then his eyes—oh, God, the moment he began to see, he saw talons that worked to form his flesh. And then the cells began to unite to form bones, teeth, liver, the inner layer of the stomach, and then the skin. He remembered vials of something being poured into his heart that began to work to send it out into different parts of his flesh, and then to his brain.

  Lust, anger, intent to kill, desire to kill, need to kill.

  And then when all the vials were empty, two metal bands were wrapped around his arms, and the Jacob’s Ladder sputtered on. The jolt was so strong it caused him to jerk and twist until finally he got all the electricity he could sustain, and the jolts thankfully stopped. That’s when he suddenly felt a strength fill him up. He felt he could topple a mountain, move an ocean, or fly to the ends of time. The memory sent Dante whirling, so caught up in his thoughts he didn’t hear Fate come in.

  “So what’s going on?”

  Dante looked over at Fate with a frightened look, a look that must have told Fate something had happened.

  “What’s wrong? What’s happened?”

  Without saying anything, Dante reached over and grabbed Fate’s hand, and compared it to his. “It looks just like mine.”

  “Of course it does. What the hell is this?”

  Dante looked up at Fate with unbelief, and said, “Fate…I’m…I’m a…a…thing, a machine, a project, a…”

  “What?” Fate yelped. “What is this all about?”

  “A little of my memory came back. Something I haven’t told you about.”

  “Okay, let’s hear it.”

  “The night right after I found myself in the alleyway, a lot of things happened. I was running, and somehow I got into a part of town that was less populated, and I saw someone. A man who seemed to know all about me.”

  “Yeah. So?”

  “He told me some things that must have triggered the dream I had.”

  “Okay, so what was it?”

  “He said I’d been created in a lab, deep in the earth, and my creator was…” He looked at Fate, not wanting to tell him, but knowing he had to.

  Fate was looking at him with eyes of unbelief. “Who? Tell me, Dante.”

  “Satan. He called him…Satan,” Dante whispered.

  “And you believed him?”

  “No, not then. Then it didn’t seem to matter, but now, when I think back, and…” He looked at Fate. “Fate, I’m different. I know you don’t want to admit it, but it’s true.”

  “Are we going to go through this again?”

  “But, Fate, you need to listen to me. I’m not like you. I’ve got things about me that…that are not normal.”

  “Dante…”

  “Please, Fate. Don’t stop me now. Let me finish. I can do things that other men can’t. Things that…All right, remember that night I told you I was being forced? I picked up that guy like he was nothing but a toy and threw him into the air. He was almost flying.”

  “So?”

  “Can you do that?”

  “Of course not.”

  “Why, Fate?”

  “Because, it takes a lot of strength. A human being just can’t do…”

  “No, a human being can’t…but I can. I didn’t think anything of it at the time. The things I did just came naturally to me. Since then I’ve learned that other men’s strength is limited. Mine doesn’t seem to be. Fate, I can do things that normal, ordinary human beings just can’t do.”

  “Well, hell, man, we’re all different. I’m sure I can do some things that you…”

  “Fate, you’re not listening. If I’m a human being just like you, where does my strength come from? I saw myself being created, and all this stuff being programmed into me. I saw the friggin’ equations all laid out for me on that chalkboard!”

  “And what did it say?”

  “You wouldn’t understand. To you it would be like a different language. Fate, when I find myself threatened I act on instinct, and something happens.”

  “Well, hell, man, we all do that. It’s the survival instinct. What about people who when they see someone in trouble, a family member, maybe, they’re suddenly able to lift an automobile? It’s called adrenaline, Dante. We’ve all got it.”

  “Can you lift a building? Ingest fire?” He looked at Fate closely. “Can you fly?”

  “Oh, my God. You can do those things?”

  “That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you. I mean, I haven’t done everything, but I know I can.”

  Fate looked at him suspiciously. “I know what you’re doing. You’re getting me back for last night when we were foolin’ around, and I called you a sucker, right?”

  “No, Fate. I’m serious.”

  “I don’t buy it.” Fate grabbed Dante’s arm. He looked at it, rubbed him, squeezed his flesh, and then his gaze moved up to his face. “Hell, man, we made love. You didn’t feel any different to me.”

  “But I am different, believe me.”

  “Yeah?” Fate said, a touch of rebellion in his eyes. “Prove it.”

  Dante hesitated for a moment, and then said, “So what do you want me to do?”

  “Let me see,” Fate said, looking around, and then saw the bookshelf. This gave him an idea. If he was from Hell, this would prove it. Without thinking anymore about it, he reached out, grabbed a book, and held it out to Dante. “Touch it.”

  When Dante saw the book something instantaneous happened inside him, and he began backing away while shaking his head.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “I don’t know…something…all I know is I c-can’t touch it. Get it away!”

  Fate put it back on the bookshelf. “What’s going on with you? What was all that? It’s just a book. Why can’t you touch it?”

  “I swear to you, Fate, I don’t know. All I know is, there’s some kind of vibe coming from that book that I can’t explain.”

  Fate reached out to his bookshelf and grabbed another book. “Okay, take this one.”

  Dante looked down at it, and stared for a moment. When he didn’t get the same vibe coming from it, he reached for it, and began flipping through it. Finally, he looked up at Fate. “Okay, so now what?”

  “That one doesn’t seem to bother you.”

  “No, it doesn’t.” He looked up at Fate. “What’s going on?”

  “It was a test, Dante. Just a simple test.”

  “Okay, so did I pass…or what?”

  “The test was more for me than you.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Never mind. Just believe me when I say I had my reasons.”

  “You don’t believe a fuckin’ word I’ve been tellin’ you, do you?”

  “I have to be sure, Dante. That’s what the test was for. Now I need to ask you a question.”

  “Sure. What is it?”

  “What do you know about God?”

  “What…who?”
<
br />   “God, Dante, God!”

  “I…I don’t…”

  “He’s the creator of this world, dumbass. The world you’re living in. He’s also Satan’s enemy. Look, Dante, all things have opposites, and since we know that Satan, the Prince of Darkness, Lucifer, Beelzebub, created you, and he is the ultimate evil, then there must be an ultimate good.” He looked at Dante. “Doesn’t that make sense?”

  “You’re saying that Satan…the Satan that created me…has an opposite.”

  “Exactly. If there was no opposite, no enemy, no adversary you wouldn’t have been necessary. After all, what would you be fighting?”

  “I hadn’t thought about it, but I guess you’re right.” He turned back to Fate. “You know, since I’ve been here there have been times that I’ve felt things. Things deep down inside. Things like anger…” He splayed his hands, and then fisted them. “It’s almost like I want to kill someone. I hear all these voices in my head. Screams, tormented screams. I hear bombs bursting, see bodies torn limb from limb.” He turned to Fate. “Oh, my God…the vials. That must be where all these urges come from. I remember seeing some on a shelf.”

  “Vials? What vials? What are you talking about?”

  “Vials with ingredients listed on them. A snakes’s venom, the sting of a killer bee, and cries. My God, the cries of torment. It goes on and on. These vials were emptied into me. He literally filled me up with horrible things I know nothing about. Like you said, I’m new. I’ve never seen anything like that. Never been in a war. Why would I want to kill a man I don’t even know?” He looked at Fate. “Like that creep said…you know, the one I…I burned him up.”

  “Oh, my God,” Fate said.

  “It’s like he said, that’s the night I was born, the night my so-called creator dumped me down here, on the Earth. But why?”

  “Why?” Fate cried out. “Don’t tell me you don’t know. If these feelings are coming to you now, someone so young, so new to the Earth, imagine what you’ll be like when you grow to full maturity. You’ll be a killing machine. You’ve got the strength, the smarts, and with all the hate you have inside you, you’ll kill everything in sight.”

  “But hell, I’m just one man.”

  “Don’t worry about that. By the time you grow up and develop into a killing machine he’ll have an army amassed. Listen, Dante, it hasn’t been that long since we met. Hell, Dante, you’re a fuckin’ baby, an infant. Finding your way in the world. That’s why you were homeless. Each and every day since then has been a learning process for you. You know what that means?”

  “I don’t know what you’re thinking, Fate.”

  “I’m saying that like any infant, you need care. Someone to guide you.”

  “I don’t…”

  “Remember the guy you said you met that night right after you found yourself in the alley? You said he wanted to take care of you, teach you the ways of the world. Well, maybe I’m all off here, but I think Satan knew you would need someone like him. Someone to watch over you, teach you all about evil. You know, get you started out right, but you killed him. I’ll bet Satan wasn’t counting on that.”

  “He wanted to…well…”

  “I know. So, there you were, running around in a world you didn’t understand. New feelings, new images in your head, and like a child you needed someone to teach you. Up to now you’ve been stumbling around trying to find your way, trying to learn how to get along in a world that you know nothing about. Sure, you’re smart, but no matter how smart and how intelligent a child is, he still needs guidance. He needs to learn. And in time, if he’s raised right, he can make a wonderful contribution to mankind.”

  “You talk a lot.”

  “One more thing. Remember the book you couldn’t touch? Or you thought you couldn’t.”

  “Yeah. Why is that?”

  “You’re feeling these vibes because you’re from Hell, damn it. You were created by Satan. You’re a fuckin’ enemy of God.”

  “An enemy of God? Who the hell is this God you keep talking about?”

  “He’s the Man who wrote the book.”

  “You mean the book…the vibes…”

  “Yeah.”

  “Where is it?”

  “I put it back.”

  “Get it.”

  “Are you sure? Remember how you felt when…”

  “The book. Get it,” Dante insisted with gritted teeth.

  Fate turned and slowly dragged the book from off his bookshelf, and held it out to Dante. “What are you going to do?”

  “I’m…I’m going to…” Dante began, sweat creeping down his brow, “…touch it.”

  “Are you sure you should?”

  “I…I have…I have to know. O-On the table. P-Put it there.”

  Fate could see how Dante was suffering. “You don’t have to touch it to know, Dante. You get a feeling from the book without touching it. Why put yourself through this?”

  “I have to, Fate,” Dante said, his words more determined. “Don’t you see? I…I have to know what I am, w-where I belong, and who my en…my enemies are.”

  “Take my word for it, Dante, you don’t want God for an enemy. You certainly don’t want Him mad at you. He’s the one who defeated Satan, you know.”

  Dante looked down at the book as if it were a poisonous snake. After a few seconds, he took a deep breath, and then slowly reached out, his hand getting closer and closer.

  Suddenly Dante closed his eyes, prepared for a burning pain, and then slapped his hand down—but nothing.

  He slowly lifted his hand and looked at it, and then looked over at Fate. “What happened? Why…” When Dante saw the look on Fate’s face, he said, “You knew what would happen, didn’t you?”

  “I wasn’t real sure, but…well, yes, I knew.”

  “Then why didn’t you tell me?”

  “I couldn’t, Dante. You had to find out on your own.”

  “So what does it mean?”

  “You tell me.”

  Dante looked back down at the book, and could almost see in his mind’s eye a battle going on. It was the war in Heaven. The one that defeated Satan. He saw a man surrounded by children. A man with love in His eyes. He had powerful hands. A man talking about a place called Heaven. A man talking about a thing called love, and then Dante spoke. “I might say it’s all a bunch of words, a lie, a fairytale, a pie-in-the-sky story about a man with a dream. A dream about a faraway place, a Utopia, an ideal and perfect place that only exists in the imagination. Just a story for old people, weak people, and children, to give them hope.” He looked up at Fate. “Would I be right?”

  “What do you think?”

  “No, I don’t think so.”

  “So what’s the answer? If you’re a creation of Satan, why were you able to touch it?”

  “You seem to know all the answers. So you tell me.”

  “You’re right. It is a book of hope, but it’s not just for old people and children. Dante, what gives this book its power is faith, not some cosmic force coming down from Heaven. Sure, the weak believe in it, but some of the strongest people in the world believe in this book as well. Dante, to God, you’re only a few days old. Hell, man, God considers you a baby, still in your infancy. I believe that the voice you heard in your dream the other night was God. He knew you were not ready to make a commitment, but Satan didn’t care. Who knows? You may ultimately choose to follow Satan, but to make an educated choice you need to know about both of them. You’re not knowledgeable enough at this point to make a commitment one way or the other. That’s why God stopped you, and that’s why this book can’t hurt you now. Believe me, once you finally make a commitment, you’ll be held accountable for everything you do, but first you’ve got to grow up, and that means going out into that world and seeing the heartbreak that evil creates. And then, if you still choose to do the work of Satan, when you put your hand on that book it’ll burn like hell.”

  “You me
an I have a choice?”

  “Of course you do. God gives everyone a choice.”

  “Sure, those He creates. I am not one of His creations.”

  “Aren’t you? Who knows whose creation you really are? Satan’s or God’s.”

  “We both know that I’m Satan’s creation. It was his hands that…”

  “You don’t believe that God, in His wisdom, could have directed Satan to create you? I’m not saying it did happen that way, I’m only saying it’s a possibility. Hell, Dante, I’ve seen men out in the world that act more like Satan’s creation than you do.”

  “Now you’re not making sense.”

  “Look, I’m not what you’d call a real religious man, but thanks to my mother, God rest her soul, I learned a few things in Sunday school. This book,” he said, taking it out of Dante’s hands, and flipping through it, “says that Jesus came to Earth for the Jews. They were the chosen people of God, and yet when a Gentile came to Him, He accepted him, and that began the Christian religion worldwide. What that particular lesson teaches us is that all men…red, yellow, black and white…even Hell’s creations…are welcome in God’s Kingdom.”

  “And me, being a creation of evil, is equal to a Gentile among Jews.”

  Fate snickered. “Something like that.”

  “All right, I’ll read it,” Dante said as he opened the book, “but only to prove you wrong.”

  Fate shrugged. “One reason is as good as another.”

  * * * *

  Days Later…

  “Will you put that friggin’ book down? Every-fuckin’-where you go you’ve got that book. You look like a damned preacher, Dante. Could you give it a rest for God’s sake?”

  When Dante looked up, Fate noticed something different in his eyes.

  “Sorry,” Dante said softly, closing the book.

  “Look, I’m sorry for shouting at you, Dante, but having your nose in that book all the time kind of cramps my style, you know?”

  Dante looked at Fate. “You mean sexually?”

  “Of course.”

  “So you can’t make love unless you feel it’s bad, or evil, or…”

  “Hell,” Fate muttered.

  “I’ve been wondering why you haven’t approached me.”