Chapter Five

Isaac materialised in an empty room. To the untrained eye it resembled an empty tomb but one slab in the floor was clear, providing a mirror to the earth.

The hand opened and he was dropped into an unceremonious heap on the floor and looked at me with cold eyes.

"This is the world between worlds. Neither life nor death. It is where those with the darkest intents can reside without bowing to any."

"Will you at least tell me who you are?" He grumbled as he struggled to sit on his haunches, deciding against standing even though the floor was freezing. "Surely you have honour enough to do that?"

"I am Am-Heh, Ish...mortal," he seemed to stumble for a moment before gathering himself. "That is all you need know at this time."

He wandered across to the clear tile in the floor. From the invisible vantage point Am-Heh could watch the world below him. And the chaos that ensured. He turned and clapped his hands, the sound loud and sharp in the emptiness. Slowly heavy wood and golden furniture began to form.

Isaac watched in awed silence as a few chairs, perfectly polished, a table and a large book case, full of ancient tomes and papers in archaic language appeared before him.

The walls and floor transformed to costly marble, streaked in grey and white and intricate pillars arched upwards to the high ceiling to imitate the palaces of the ancient world. Two hefty doors concealed other rooms, assumingly as impressive as what was laid out in view.

A place that the wealthy could only covet and where angels would fall. A place that suited the beast that had brought him there.

Along with it a dark mist slowly rose about him, the mask vanishing to reveal a human form that was only slightly less fear inducing than the former even if his clothing remained the same.

Intense eyes gazed from a pale but well chiselled face, dark red hair, as rich as blood, spilled down to rest below his shoulders.

Symbols of snakes wound about his arms to meet a far more elaborate image on his back, stark against the sun kissed skin.

Isaac could not help but move his eyes up his body eyes tracing over the god's form. He had always appreciated such figures from working with the images of Venus and Adonis and other depictions of desire. The eyes remained the same though; cold and full of swirling power.

"Why do you want me here?"

"You remind me of someone," Am Heh replied in a more ponderous tone. "One of the reasons you are here. And before you think that Atum can reseal me, he cannot," he continued, wandering to the bookcase and running a clawed finger over the shelf before plucking one of the tomes down "the vessel is broken and it cannot be replaced."

He opened the book, wafting away the cloud of dust that the fragile paper emitted, wrinkling his nose. Apparently even Gods disliked dust.

"That is the flaw of such binding."

At least he thought that was the case, it always had been in the past. In truth he was not sure of that. For all he knew Atum's power might have grown even if his influence of humanity has dissipated. He would work with his assumption though; it didn't do any good to surmise too much.

You remind me of someone. Isaac's eyes widened at that remark, wondering how he could possibly remind the god of anyone. He shuddered to think what the implications of that were; whatever the god had done to whoever he resembled.

Yet inside memories throbbed in turmoil, trying to make sense of the puzzle. Isaac could not deny the God had a draw, compelling him to move closer, to be nearer to a beast that could tear him limb from limb. It was only a spot of common sense that stopped him.

He watched cautiously in fearful awe as Am Heh moved about, reading over one of the ancient tomes. His gaze lingered a bit longer than it should as he leaned to study the book before swiftly averting his eyes. This really was not the time to be comparing to the imagery he was so used to. However, it was a far better view than the last ones in our exhibits of overweight corpulent Sultans of the Middle Eastern world.

He wrapped my arms around myself subconsciously and shifted, speaking in hushed tones that sounded loud enough in the silence.

"I don't expect an answer but what are you going to do with me? What are you going to do to us all?"

He winced at the tremor in his words, feeling foolish. Like the overly confident hero of a lacklustre horror film that had flopped at the box office.

Am Heh looked placidly up for a moment before turning back to the scenery, speaking as he did so, buying time while he thought over the answer to the question. A small crease in his brow was indicative that he was not about to reveal the full truth, his poise reminded Isaac of the brittle trees when they were coated in frost, unable to bend even should they wish.

Despite his prowess there was a complexity to this being that tore at his heart and made my head pound even more violently.

"Life is precious only when you have something to lose," he muttered frankly, ice dripping from every syllable "I don't have anything and nor does any human I have ever come across. You are born to slave, born to die. I simply hasten the latter."

The dark eyes turned, looking at him intently for a moment, his tone seemed different, more philosophical and studious as he continued.

"I am not entirely blind to the sins of humanity. Whilst I have no knowledge of the passage of time, I sensed every heinous act your kind committed. You did not need me as the destroyer of millions for truly you do that yourself. I see no use in humanity; you worship the good like hypocrites and condemn those you simply act as you do. I am simply doing you all a favour."

Certainly, Isaac and a handful of others would have seen the strange point the God was making. Atum himself would and had seen it in the past. But the one-sided view never got anyone anywhere. It had been the greatest flaw in his creation, Isaac didn't believe he was blind to goodness but he just refused to see it. Sensing only chaos and agony.

Slowly he turned, a hazy form of a couch appearing in the corner, rich red leather it was only the finest like every other object here.

"As for you," he looked over, summoning the old tome from the table. "Others will want to preserve you and so will the Gods, defunct as they are now for another. All too predictable, you are simply here as a shield."

He refrained from using the word 'bait.'

There was something forced in those words and anyone would be forgiven for reading into them rather than taking it literally. This was an enigma as well as a nightmare and Isaac wanted both to solve it and awaken also.

He clapped his hands again, a dark mist wrapping itself about him. When it cleared his clothing had altered. Instead of the cotton cloth draped about his waist it had been replaced by fitted leather pants, accentuating his perfect figure. An open black shirt concealed his tattooed arms but little more.

Anything done up would feel constricting no doubt.

He walked purposefully over to the clear floor slab, looking down at the streets where bloody water ran in rivers, pushing cars and anything not fixed aside as it flowed turbulently.

"Now the blood congeals and clogs, from it emerges toads and frogs..."

Still on his knees Isaac moved closer to the slab to peer down. He grimaced as he witnessed the carnage below and could only imagine what the news was reporting. Would they assume this was some sort of terrorist attack, or would anyone realize plagues of Biblical proportions were happening right in front of them?

Even with his agnostic views he prayed to any deity that listened that Mr Montford had managed to regain himself enough to escape; otherwise, he would surely drown in the area they had been in.

"Let me guess," Isaac gave a sarcastic roll of his eyes. "Gnats and lice next?"

Am Heh gave a smirk, flippantly dismissing the words with a flick of his wrist. "And have them think it is the doing of the God of the moment?" He looked over scathingly "I don't think so. Gnats and flies are irritants but nothing more. Scarabs are far more predatory and will cause far more unease."

He was not about to carbon copy another Gods idea. That would be shameful to his ego and to his own creativity. Besides, that one had a merciful streak and rarely got involved with the free will of the people. 

"You poor fools think you can explain everything," he leant against his desk again, his eyes briefly looking at the amulet "but you have no clue of what happens beyond your sight. There are many Gods, demi Gods, all active in one way or another, one cannot watch over everything. The arguments and battles to govern are quite astounding; call it a divine form of Parliament or the Senate if you want."

He sighed, trying to ease the tension and irritation in his body. Being questioned was not something he desired, something obvious as his eyes darkened once again.

"Goodness exists. But it pales in comparison. The Gods created man in their image after all, but in my view that was a mistake, only one hu..."

He froze, turning abruptly to spoke the words that were about to leave him and Isaac felt the tension clamp his body, inwardly willing him to speak more but he didn't, and wasn't about to.

Below the waters churned turbulently as the drains burst, unable to cope with the fluid, forcing up foul debris and corpses of drowned rats that lay below.

As promised frogs and toads teemed down, croaking frantically and adding to the screams and chaos. People tried to wade to higher porches, smashing windows to gain entry to stores, combining their own blood with that which washed about them.

Soon they would turn on each other, anything to save their own lives and to hell with anyone else. The depictions of Dante's inferno coming to life before their very eyes.

Isaac took a breath, closing his eyes briefly to bolster himself before lifting his head to try and meet the others eyes.

"What can I do, illustrious one," He asked boldly, attempting to stroke what was probably an already bloated ego. "To help you? And if I do, I am begging you not to rend the world useless. You have said there is goodness and those who are good don't deserve this."

Am Heh didn't reply for some time, so long Isaac wasn't sure he'd even heard him. His gaze was suddenly far away, lost in caves of memories only he had access to.

He was about to repeat the question when he moved, so swiftly he nearly knocked him off balance as he passed, moving back to study the old books.

"If your mind opened then you would know but until that time, if it ever comes, you will simply have to keep wondering

and obeying. I shall not allow the others to interfere and cause me to err once more. Atum will sense a disturbance and he will act upon it."

The amulet glowed brightly again and caught his attention. A frown appeared but he said nothing, muttering something under his breath.

Isaac closed his hand about the warm gem. He had a sense that the amulet had been the only thing that had kept him alive down below but when Am Heh had gazed upon him then something else was.

What it was he had no idea and that alone was terrifying. It felt like walking on the ice that formed over the depths of a lake, creaking beneath the feet and never knowing when it might break and plunge one to a freezing death.

'Go with it,' he thought, rocking himself back and forth. 'I started this and somehow there will be a way I can stop it.'

All he could do for now was play the puppet, allow his strings to be manipulated as much as he could bear and continue to learn. This was a Pandora's Box waiting to be opened, he could feel it in his heart and despite his deep unease of unlocking it he knew it had to be done. This time hope needed to be released too.

The harrowed shrieks from below confirmed his prediction that humans had begun to turn on each other and he shuddered when he looked down instinctively, regretting doing so immediately. They were acting like animals, worse than animals, caring about no one except themselves.

A woman grabbed another who cradled her baby, balanced precariously on the roof of a four by four, tearing flesh from her arm as she wrenched her down to take her place of short-lived safety. She held her beneath the swelling waters, the bubbles subsiding as life ebbed away. His breath hitched in a sob as the body of the child was washed away.

Behind, Am Heh whispered something in an ancient tongue as the shadows of long, serpentine creatures began to appear beneath the wash, wriggling in the maelstrom. They were too swift to get a decent look at when they rose up, seizing the weak or the dead.

"This is just the start, the underworld will rise further forth," he hissed, eyes glowing in pleasure at the carnage "and those who slighted me will pay the dues owed."