The rumblings of disaster began on the Internet.
Beel sat at his desk surfing the news sites. Maybe Moloch and
Mamman were right, maybe the cumulative efforts of the last several hundred years were about to pay off.
For weeks, the blogosphere and the social networks were abuzz with the news of the release of a classified document. One that allegedly offered proof that Hezbollah militants had not only gotten their hands on a cache of nuclear weapons, but intended to deploy them against Egypt.
The debate raged over whether or not this document was real, but the damage had been done and the governments of Egypt, Syria, Iran and Lebanon were all on high alert, with Israel scrambling to cover itself as well. All parties concerned were spouting tough, heated rhetoric, which generally sent chills down the spines of anyone who was paying attention.
Less than a week later, North Korea renewed its threats of aggression against the South and attempts at diplomacy by the U.S. secretary of state were deemed an unmitigated disaster. War between the two nations was considered unavoidable.
Add to the mix the downward spiral of the world economy, the riots during the recent G20 summit, violent skirmishes in third world countries, the rise in black market weaponry-including rumors of enriched uranium being smuggled out of Russia-and the general consensus was that the world was about to see a shit storm the likes of which it had never before experienced.
Rather than attempt to find real solutions to these problems, politicians took to the cable airwaves and blamed one another for their failings. Partisan mudslinging had reached a new high. Religious leaders told their followers to begin preparing for the Rapture as the rest of the world sat glued to their TV sets, wondering if they’d be alive for the next episode of Saints and Sinners.
Who would be kicked out of the house? Andrew or Tasha?
Beel smiled appreciatively every time his pet project entered the national conversation. To allow themselves to be distracted at such a critical time by television-well, in Beel’s opinion, they’d get what they deserved.
Perhaps the tipping point was close, and his brothers’ little experiment in Amsterdam would push it over. Or maybe Belial was right about the girl, and the elusive Telum had been found. The ultimate weapon. Beel allowed himself a moment to consider how sweet it would feel to free her.
The hard truth was that nobody really knew what was coming, including-and especially-the world’s heads of state. And what chance did humanity really have with the four of them pulling the strings?
And if this girl really is the Telum, Beel mused, these pathetic little creatures won’t know what hit them on the night of the blood moon.