Aveline and the Fifth Horseman of the Apocalypse

Part 13 - James Dean

Getting back to Khartoum proved something of an anti-climax following my disastrous meeting with Ghree. Four days and nights of rough tracks and clouds of dust as we bumped our way slowly across the Sudan and I was impatient to get back to the quest. I'd had nothing better to do then think over what I could have done better and what I would do next time I met her. Knowing now that I can enter a Horseman's conscience without their being able to enter mine was my best weapon and defense, assuming I could use it to my advantage and - maybe - bend their will to mine. But was that what I was meant to do?

This was the thing that I'd been turning over and over in my mind during the journey back from Mahla, and I wondered at the cause. On the one hand, I could see my father's influence, the demonic side of me, that thrilled at the thought of forcing the Horsemen to my will, of taking control of another being. On the other hand, the angelic side, that which my mother gave me, bade me to ask politely for their help. I recognise I've been giving myself over more to the good natured aspect of my personality since I set out to do the Devil's bidding. I've never wanted to hurt anyone, and the thought of doing unnecessary violence normally repulses me. But my dark side is just waiting for it's turn to come out and play. Oh sure, it popped it's head up in Queens when Grant got me drunk and into a fight with those Hells Angels, but that was just a mere shadow of what I suspected lay deep within me. Since meeting Ghree, I've felt it rising up every time I think over what I could have done instead, and the thoughts that come into my mind are incoherent, dark and disturbing. If I chose to set it free, what might be the result?

I can't decide if I'm annoyed more by my ineffectiveness against Ghree, or the little part of me which smiles at the thought of giving free rein to the darkness inside.

Then there's the other annoyance - Grant Coalbright. I'd called the demon a couple of days out of Khartoum to ask him to help get Dr Huntley set-up with the tools to get his teeth into some research for me. As I'd suspected, Ogunwe had been no real help. My request for super-fast broadband, a bitchin' computer interface to allow unrestricted access anywhere across the internet - including government systems - and the means to do all this without being traced was met with a blank look and a shrug of the shoulders from Ogunwe, who clearly wasn't down with the kids when it came to technology. Of course, Grant had been all over it. Well, after he'd gone off on one about telling a 'meatbag' about the whole thing. He clearly didn't think I needed research doing in any case, telling me I could just ask and he'd tell me what I wanted to know.

Truth was, I didn't trust him, and I wanted my own independent source of information. Even Ogunwe, who basically told me the same thing as Grant, didn't fill me with enthusiasm. I'd asked him about how Charles Hathershaw could bring about the apocalypse to fill the time as we crossed a particularly empty stretch of desert the day before reaching Khartoum. His answer wasn't particularly convincing, being hesitant, unsure and contradictory. And when I asked Grant the same question on the phone that night, he became evasive and uncharacteristically unsure of himself, quickly changing the subject to some point of logistics over Huntley's requirements.

At least I knew what Huntley's first priority was - to get some clarity on how the apocalypse would be brought about by Charles, and how I would recognise it. I figured it would be something of an advantage to recognise the signs of things going biblically wrong. Not for the first time did I wonder how the Devil had thought an atheist - albeit one born of a demon and an angel - would know what on earth they were doing in this situation.

As we passed through Khartoum's busy streets towards the airport, I filled Dr Huntley in on the details for his role as the world's first Apocalypse Prevention Investigator. Once more, the traffic parted on our approach, my ability to change the behaviour of people around me now much easier than before, and I was able to carry on a conversation without being distracted by what was going on around me.