Read Online Centurion: Mark's Gospel as a Thriller by Ryan Casey Waller - Free Book Online
Authors: Ryan Casey Waller
Ads: Link
for?"
Maria presses her body so close to mine that I feel her heart thumping in her chest. She whispers, "They aren't lights. They're eyes."
he tunnel walls resemble a country night's sky; there are thousands of brilliantly shining stars. But they're not exploding balls of hydrogen; they're eyes, and not the kind you want watching over you from the heavens. These eyes have the cold, sharp glow of demons, and they can only mean one thing—the Evil One has seen you; he knows you exist, and he will come for you.
I run my hand across Maria's knee and fantasize about caressing her thigh. "I don't believe in these creatures." I say. "Or at least I didn't. I thought they were a figment created for children. A monster under the bed to scare little ones into minding their parents."
Maria sighs. "It turns out the creatures under the bed are real."
"How did you get mixed up in this? I can't imagine you living down here. You're nothing like those people."
"You didn't know me then. I thank God for that."
"Yes, but..." I start to ask her about Legion, but a lump gathers in my throat where my question belongs. The answer, no matter what it is, will devastate me. If she's still married to that man, I'll die. But she can't be, right? Alejandro is simply...not human. Not anymore.
But they
were
married. She said the words. Maria loved him once, and perhaps she still does. I can't bear the thought of it. I've never felt such radical jealousy. All I know is I want Maria, and I want her to myself.
"I'm not married to him anymore," she says, as if reading my hot thoughts. "Alejandro was a good man, a very good man. But he
—we
—got involved in a way of life we never should have. The fall from grace is easier to come by than one thinks." Maria cries softly as she speaks, the memories like sharp barbs in her brain, injecting each word with pain.
"You don't have to talk about it. It's all behind you."
"No," she says thickly. "I want to tell you. I'd rather it be me than one of the others in the park. I know how they like to talk."
"I don't understand."
Maria speaks slowly, deliberately; she seems sad but not ashamed. "The way Alejandro is now is how I used to be."
It's an incomprehensible idea, the notion that precious and petite Maria could ever resemble anything close to the nightmare that is Legion. "Not possible," I say. "You couldn't possibly—"
"But I was," she says. "Not as powerful, no, but I was cruel, angry, and.
dark.
We both entangled our souls in the dark arts, and I...we...
I
lost control. It's as stupidly simple and pathetic as that. We needed a refuge," she says matter-of-factly.
"Badly.
Alejandro was always a gentle spirit, but his work ethic was never that of a respectable man. He was lazy, and we were drifters. A few months here and a few more there...wherever. Alejandro did manual labor, and I sang in cafés." A trace of a smile flashes across her face. "I had a lovely voice, and it was fine for a time. We preferred transiency to a conventional life. We adored the freedom. But the Kingdom's invasion of the South changed everything. Because of his size, Alejandro was drafted into the Kingdom's foreign army. A month later his orders came in. He would be sent across the sea, and we'd never see each other again. That's when we opened ourselves to...other possibilities."
The train lurches hard as the incline of our ascent grows steeper. We're traveling much faster than I'd expected on this old line. I take another look through the doorway and discover the eyes of the demons have disappeared, their muted effervescence replaced with nothing but darkness. I'm growing tired of the dark but prefer it to the spying eyes of those wretched creatures hiding beneath its cover.
"Those in the underground," Maria says, "granted us asylum from the Kingdom. But we soon discovered their hospitality came at a high price. Before we knew it, we'd lost control of our lives."
"So you were both...what? Possessed?"
"Seven times—for
Maria presses her body so close to mine that I feel her heart thumping in her chest. She whispers, "They aren't lights. They're eyes."
he tunnel walls resemble a country night's sky; there are thousands of brilliantly shining stars. But they're not exploding balls of hydrogen; they're eyes, and not the kind you want watching over you from the heavens. These eyes have the cold, sharp glow of demons, and they can only mean one thing—the Evil One has seen you; he knows you exist, and he will come for you.
I run my hand across Maria's knee and fantasize about caressing her thigh. "I don't believe in these creatures." I say. "Or at least I didn't. I thought they were a figment created for children. A monster under the bed to scare little ones into minding their parents."
Maria sighs. "It turns out the creatures under the bed are real."
"How did you get mixed up in this? I can't imagine you living down here. You're nothing like those people."
"You didn't know me then. I thank God for that."
"Yes, but..." I start to ask her about Legion, but a lump gathers in my throat where my question belongs. The answer, no matter what it is, will devastate me. If she's still married to that man, I'll die. But she can't be, right? Alejandro is simply...not human. Not anymore.
But they
were
married. She said the words. Maria loved him once, and perhaps she still does. I can't bear the thought of it. I've never felt such radical jealousy. All I know is I want Maria, and I want her to myself.
"I'm not married to him anymore," she says, as if reading my hot thoughts. "Alejandro was a good man, a very good man. But he
—we
—got involved in a way of life we never should have. The fall from grace is easier to come by than one thinks." Maria cries softly as she speaks, the memories like sharp barbs in her brain, injecting each word with pain.
"You don't have to talk about it. It's all behind you."
"No," she says thickly. "I want to tell you. I'd rather it be me than one of the others in the park. I know how they like to talk."
"I don't understand."
Maria speaks slowly, deliberately; she seems sad but not ashamed. "The way Alejandro is now is how I used to be."
It's an incomprehensible idea, the notion that precious and petite Maria could ever resemble anything close to the nightmare that is Legion. "Not possible," I say. "You couldn't possibly—"
"But I was," she says. "Not as powerful, no, but I was cruel, angry, and.
dark.
We both entangled our souls in the dark arts, and I...we...
I
lost control. It's as stupidly simple and pathetic as that. We needed a refuge," she says matter-of-factly.
"Badly.
Alejandro was always a gentle spirit, but his work ethic was never that of a respectable man. He was lazy, and we were drifters. A few months here and a few more there...wherever. Alejandro did manual labor, and I sang in cafés." A trace of a smile flashes across her face. "I had a lovely voice, and it was fine for a time. We preferred transiency to a conventional life. We adored the freedom. But the Kingdom's invasion of the South changed everything. Because of his size, Alejandro was drafted into the Kingdom's foreign army. A month later his orders came in. He would be sent across the sea, and we'd never see each other again. That's when we opened ourselves to...other possibilities."
The train lurches hard as the incline of our ascent grows steeper. We're traveling much faster than I'd expected on this old line. I take another look through the doorway and discover the eyes of the demons have disappeared, their muted effervescence replaced with nothing but darkness. I'm growing tired of the dark but prefer it to the spying eyes of those wretched creatures hiding beneath its cover.
"Those in the underground," Maria says, "granted us asylum from the Kingdom. But we soon discovered their hospitality came at a high price. Before we knew it, we'd lost control of our lives."
"So you were both...what? Possessed?"
"Seven times—for
Similar Books
