Page 165 of Savior
There’s a small card sitting on top of whatever this box contains.
“Revelation 18:2 – A. M. E. N.” is scrawled in that same red ink as the letter D. I pick up the card to see what’s beneath it.
It’s a zip-lock bag full of ice. No wonder it’s so cold. I carefully lift it out of the box, and notice a watery red liquid staining some of the cubes, pooling at the bottom of the bag.
“What is this?” I wonder aloud to myself, gently moving the ice-cubes within the bag in an attempt to see what’s being kept cold inside, without actually dumping it out. The more I separate the ice, the darker the red gets… and the more fibrous…
A sinking feeling begins to take hold in the pit of my stomach.
I can feel my heart beating faster as I stare, unable to look away.
Morbid curiosity drives me to keep fingering the ice, separating the cubes through the plastic…
Until I’m staring into a bloody, hazel eye…
Vanna’s got her arms wrapped around my neck before I even step inside the door. I hold her tightly, walking her backwards, allowing Viking to enter behind me.
“Are you alright? What happened? You scared the shit out of me!” I stroke her hair, attempting to soothe her. She’s trembling, sobbing against me. I can hear Viking’s heavy boots stomping around, looking for the source of whatever’s got her so upset. All I was able to make out through her screaming sobs on the phone, was that someone left something on the porch.
“I put it in the kitchen sink… Felt kinda weird about putting it in your freezer...” Axel says, standing with Cherry in the living room where they must have been waiting with Vanna.
I had whomever was nearest, rush to the house when Vanna called me. Cherry and Axel, along with two prospects, got here before I did. Though Viking and I did make it in record timing.
“What the fuck?” Viking grunts.
I turn to see what he’s talking about. He’s holding up a zip-lock of pink ice-water, and quickly puts it back down before I can tell what else is in it.
“Well… All that weird eye for an eye, Bible mumbo jumbo Legion was spewing, makes a lot more sense now.” He says.
“Oh, fuck.” I mutter as his words click, remembering what Jason told me about the prick that threatened Vanna. I bring my hands to Vanna’s face, holding her to make her look at me. “Baby… I’m so sorry…” I don’t know what else to say to her. What can I say?
“Whose eye is that? Why would somebody do this?” Vanna whimpers on a shaky breath, her teary eyes looking up at me.
I never got around to telling her about Gina’s boyfriend. Jason said he didn’t bother having Vanna questioned about his attack, either. She’s got no idea the prick was even hospitalized. No idea it’s his eyeball sitting in an ice-water baggy in our fuckin’ kitchen sink.
“Doll… Why don’t you go lay down in the bedroom? Cherry can keep you company while we handle this.” Though I know she’s upset, she still frowns at me. “Baby, I don’t have any answers to your questions at this very moment. Please.” I gesture toward the hallway behind her, insisting now.
Cherry walks up and wraps her arm around Vanna, encouraging her to go with her. Vanna reluctantly cooperates, and I turn back to Viking and Axel standing in the kitchen.
“This motherfucker is going to wreck my marriage before I even manage to get her down the fucking aisle!”
Viking and Axel only stare back at me for a moment, before Axel speaks first. “It came in a box with another bible quote… I looked it up.”
I step forward as Axel picks up the card in a zip-loc bag and hands it to me. “Revelation. Eighteen-two.” I mutter. “What’s the message?”
He clears his throat, then reads from his cellphone. “Babylon is fallen… That great city has fallen… She has become a home for demons.”
“I guess our city is Babylon.” Viking says. “And Legion’s still making moves to take over.”
“Fuck that and fuck him.”
“It’s signed weird, too.” Axel says, nodding at the card in my hand. “Look how Amen is written. The letters intentionally spaced out. It’s not so much Amen, as it is the letters, A M E N.”
I glance down at it. Revelation 18:2 – A. M. E. N. It’s definitely meant to stand out. What fucking mind game is this now?
“What are we gonna do with the eyeball?” Axel asks. “Should we call the cops?”
“No.”
