{"id":333,"date":"2017-02-08T03:33:01","date_gmt":"2017-02-08T03:33:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jasonbrezinski.com\/novels\/?p=333"},"modified":"2017-02-08T03:33:01","modified_gmt":"2017-02-08T03:33:01","slug":"fangs-of-the-ss-chapter-31-the-second-death-of-rabbi-judah-maccabbee","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.jasonbrezinski.com\/novels\/fangs-of-the-ss\/fangs-of-the-ss-chapter-31-the-second-death-of-rabbi-judah-maccabbee\/","title":{"rendered":"(Fangs of the SS) CHAPTER 31: The Second Death of Rabbi Judah Maccabbee"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Art
Art by Orestes-Sobek<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cAlways with the chin music, lady. Hey, get a load of this!\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

A generator coughs to life. A switch flips. And with a powerful snap, bright white light pounds down on Bathory and Maccabbee.<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s a merciless light, harsh, revealing, cleansing. <\/span><\/p>\n

The shadows boil away, writhing. Bathory screams, drops to her knees under the pressure of the light. Flesh starts to peel off her back in deep fissures, revealing the gleaming white of her spine. Her fists clench and her claws gouge the stone floor. She raises her head in defiance to glare at Maccabbee and her eyes have gone completely black.<\/span><\/p>\n

Maccabbee soaks in the light. He straightens. It\u2019s not just the light that fills him with confidence. He\u2019s not alone. He has allies. That tough little Russian gunsel is still alive and still fighting. He takes a step forward, and then another. His hands start to glow and flicker.<\/span><\/p>\n

This time it\u2019s Bathory who retreats. She scuttles backwards, not able to get to her feet, and ducks into the shadow cast by a big piece of electrical machinery. Puts her back to it and straightens. Pain and rage convulse her face. Tears of blood spill from her eyes and down her cheeks.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cLeavin\u2019 so soon? Not if I can help it!\u201d At the sound of Mirsky\u2019s voice, Maccabbee looks over and sees him and a guy in a German uniform maneuvering the bright light on a stand. The light\u2019s heavy and it wobbles and there\u2019s a problem with the power cables getting caught on the body of a German soldier. But the two men, working together, quickly get the light to where it removes the shadow. <\/span><\/p>\n

Bathory doesn\u2019t wait for more pain. She sees the source of her pain, her frustration, her rage, and she attacks. She pushes off the machinery and charges Maccabbee, hands outstretched, claws ready to tear.<\/span><\/p>\n

Maccabbee meets her. Hand to hand. Face to face. He is full of the power of the All Highest. Full of righteous vengeance. Full of the punishing fire. He grips her hands, crushing them in his grasp, stopping her from touching him. His Ancient Hebrew has always been rusty, he\u2019s always been a better reader than a talker, but now the words flow from him without hesitation, with perfect pronunciation. There is very little human in his voice, in the echoing syllables. \u201cLook upon the light of the All Mighty, the Lord of Hosts. Look upon it and be destroyed. Be destroyed unto dust, slave of darkness. The world is cleansed of you. I say this, the All Highest.\u201d She \u00a0writhes in his grip and hisses in pain, shadows and flesh shredding off of her under the punishing light.<\/span><\/p>\n

The smell of the laboratory changes. The choking reek of blood, the burning taste of electricity wash away and the sterile smell of the hot desert takes their place.<\/span><\/p>\n

He\u2019s not tall, but she\u2019s smaller. She never stops struggling. She never stops even when her hands begin to burn down to the bone. Her eyes never leave his. Right at the last, her expression changes and Maccabbee has no idea why. Right at the last, the monster known as Bathory smiles.<\/span><\/p>\n

She never loses her faith. She never doubts. She never stops loving her God as the light eats at her flesh. She knows that her death is just one part of a battlefield that stretches throughout all time. She goes into the Darkness with a smile on her face. The light dims, the pain stops, and the welcoming arms of her God enfolds her.<\/span><\/p>\n

The giant Egyptian statue in the corner of the lab, so large that its pointed ears brush the ceiling, the statue breaks apart into a rain of rubble. The head of the statue lands in the vat of blood, crushing it. A grotesque wash of blood pours over the lab floor. The flood reaches the circle of light emanating from the Rabbi\u2019s body and dries and cracks and flakes and blows away.<\/span><\/p>\n

Maccabbee slowly turns to survey the rest of the room. Mirsky shrinks back a little when he sees the Rabbi\u2019s face. His features are hard to make out, because of the light that\u2019s still shining from it. But what he can see is pitiless, the gaze of a harsh judge willing to pronounce punishments both swift and severe. There\u2019s very little left of the young man that Mirsky\u2019s known for just a short time. Fuck, it\u2019s been just over a week, he realizes in irreverent distraction. He fervently hopes that he\u2019s not as in as much danger from the kid as he was from that vampire bitch.<\/span><\/p>\n

Then the light blinks out. Everything gets a lot darker. Mirsky frantically rubs his eyes, trying to remove the floating blotches. When he can finally see clearly, the first thing that he spots is Maccabbee laying in a heap, right by the pile of ashes that used to be Bathory. Shit shit shit, muttering under his breath, Mirsky races to towards the figure. The German\u2019s right beside him. Behind the two men, unattended, the arc light on its stand wobbles and sways and falls over. A crash and even less light.<\/span><\/p>\n

Mirsky kneels beside the Rabbi and turns him over. A relieved breath bursts from his chest when Maccabbee opens his eyes and grins weakly at him.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cDamn, I\u2019ve seen some ugly nurses, Benny, but you\u2019re enough to make a man give up living.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOh, already with the lip, huh, Rabbi? Not enough you gotta go take down that monster all by yourself, but now you gotta make with the remarks?\u201d Mirsky makes his tone light, but his relief has turned to serious worry. Maccabbee looks really bad. Gray. Shaking. He\u2019d swear that the man\u2019s lost maybe 20 pounds in the last half hour, since he saw him last outside this fucking castle.<\/span><\/p>\n

Maccabbee weakly pats Mirsky\u2019s hand. \u201cNot alone. Not alone at all. Couldn\u2019t have done it without you. You coming in with that light at the last minute. That was a genius move, Benny. Saved my ass like you wouldn\u2019t believe.\u201d Mirsky\u2019s face sours like he\u2019s just been congratulated on being the first place winner in a shit sandwich contest.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAlways glad to help, but I can\u2019t take all the credit for that one.\u201d Mirsky nods to the German beside him. \u201cIt was mainly his idea. He and his boys were captured by Bathory, me and the golems let them out seein\u2019 as we had some enemies in common.\u201d MIrsky\u2019s voice softens. \u201cAnd the golems. Binah and Geburah, they were\u2026 Without them, we wouldn\u2019t have made it half as far. Tipareth and Malkuth?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Maccabbee shakes his head, tears starting to pool in his eyes. \u201cWhat Tipareth did, what they all did, they all sacrificed themselves. Sacrificed themselves for me. To me.\u201d He grabs Mirsky\u2019s arm. Mirsky hides how worried he is that the grip is so weak, how the hand is almost skeletal, skin tight around bone. \u201cI was dead, Benny! She killed me and they brought me back to life!\u201d His voice trails off into an exhausted whisper. \u201cThey and the All Highest.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Mirsky makes his voice strong and reassuring. \u201cThey were good soldiers, Rabbi. The best! They did what all good soldiers do, they made sure the mission succeeded. And it did! Bathory\u2019s dead, so let\u2019s get you out of here and back to base. There\u2019s a truck out there in the courtyard that\u2019ll do just fine to get us back. C\u2019mon, get up and let\u2019s haul ass.\u201d He goes to lift Maccabbee to his feet, gently as he can.<\/span><\/p>\n

Maccabbee shakes his head and pushes Mirsky\u2019s hands away. \u201cAfraid that\u2019s not gonna happen, Benny. I\u2019m all used up.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe hell you are!\u201d There\u2019s an edge of panic in Mirsky\u2019s voice. He doesn\u2019t like how selfish he\u2019s feeling right now, but he can\u2019t help it. The Rabbi deserves better but it\u2019s Leah\u2026 \u201cWe\u2019re gonna get back to the base and you\u2019re gonna get better!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI see that I was wrong. You\u2019re not a nurse, Benny, you\u2019re my mother.\u201d His smile is weak and his chuckle is just rapid whisper of breath that barely moves his rib cage. \u201cBut I think it\u2019s going to take more that your <\/span>matzoh<\/span><\/i> soup to get me up. I am all used up in the service of the Lord, Benny. He gives with one hand and takes away with the other. And that\u2019s His right. I\u2019m just a weapon in His hand.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBut you done good! The vampires, they\u2019re all dead! And now you\u2019re just gonna die? <\/span>He\u2019s<\/span><\/i> gonna let you die? So fuckin\u2019 much for <\/span>righteous<\/span><\/i>!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBenny, Benny, Benny. That\u2019s what being the Chosen People means. We are chosen to do His tasks, chosen to worship Him. He is the Lord, Our God. He set me to a task, gave me aid to finish the task. That aid was a blessing that I didn\u2019t deserve, didn\u2019t expect.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSome blessing. Burned you out like a match.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYes, some blessing. Burned <\/span>her <\/span><\/i>out like a match, too.\u201d He smiles and Mirsky can see where his teeth have started fall out. \u201cThat\u2019s what matters, you said it yourself. We killed her. She and all of her monsters, all of her plans, they\u2019re all dead. And it took some sacrifice. And I\u2019m part of that sacrifice.\u201d He takes Mirsky\u2019s hand. It\u2019s like being touched by twigs in leather. \u201cI know that you were hoping for my help to find your sister. I\u2019m sorry that I won\u2019t be able to meet her. I was looking forward to seeing what Benny Mirsky\u2019s kid sister is like.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYou would have liked her, Rabbi. She\u2019s the good Mirsky.\u201d The words and the comforting pat on the Rabbi\u2019s shoulder are automatic. His brain, that planning, odds calculating machine that he\u2019s never been able to turn off, his brain is already moving on and figuring out his next moves. In a way, he\u2019s not surprised that it\u2019s turned out this way. No one\u2019s ever helped him before. There was no way that he\u2019d get a bunch of golems and a <\/span>tzaddik <\/span><\/i>rabbi to help him rescue Leah. \u201cI\u2019m just glad I got to help you. You\u2019re a stand up guy, Rabbi.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Maccabbee lays his head back onto the floor and closes his eyes. His last words are whispered but echo nonetheless through the wrecked laboratory. \u201cGo with God, Benjamin Mirsky. May He watch over you and keep you safe.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

Once he\u2019s dead, the dissolution goes fast. His body crumbles into ash and dust, leaving only the scraps of his uniforms and his boots to mark his existence. His dog tags glint in the flickering electrical light. Mirsky gingerly picks them out of the man\u2019s remnants. The tags go into a breast pocket that\u2019s securely buttoned.<\/span><\/p>\n

The polite cough behind Mirsky doesn\u2019t make him flinch or jump. His voice is weary. \u201cYeah, I know. We gotta get out of here.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Wetzel keeps his voice polite and non-committal. \u201cMy condolences for your loss. He was a brave man and he saved our lives. Probably saved many more who would have died had the Nosferatu lived.\u201d A big piece of electrical equipment gives up the ghost; sparks and smoke start to pour from it. The noise makes Wetzel jump. Get your shit together! They\u2019re all dead, the monsters, or we would have been attacked long ago. The displays of magic and monstrosity have left him more shaken than he realized.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0It doesn\u2019t look like the Jew priest is coming back, so it\u2019s time to get out of here, get back to HQ and report. He has no idea how his report will be received. Bathory and all of her monsters are dead. They\u2019d clearly gone insane and needed killing. But he\u2019s lost his entire unit. A line from an American novel he read back in university rolls through his mind. <\/span>And only I remain to tell you.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

He turns away from the Russian who\u2019s still kneeling besides the remains of his priest. His shoulders slump as he sees Krober\u2019s corpse, torn apart in a huge puddle of blood. Damn it. All of them. All these brave men. He walks towards Krober\u2019s body and bends down to pick something up.<\/span><\/p>\n

There\u2019s a heavy explosion and the entire castle shakes. Dust comes from the ceiling. A piece of the catwalk peels away from the wall and falls with a deafening clang to the floor. Wetzel doesn\u2019t jump at the noise, just looks around, consideringly, as he\u2019s crouched by Krober\u2019s body, trying to stay out of the blood.<\/span><\/p>\n

Mirsky\u2019s on his feet. \u201cAnd that\u2019s our fuckin\u2019 cue to haul ass. The first of many, if we didn\u2019t fuck up.\u201d Another blast, this one followed by the hollow roar of a rock slide. He checks his watch. \u201cRight of schedule. C\u2019mon. We gotta get out of here before the whole place comes down.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Wetzel coughs in the dust, the smell of blood heavy in his mouth. He rises and starts to turn to the Russian. The pistol is a comforting and familiar weight in his hand.<\/span><\/p>\n

Mirsky shoots him in the head. \u201cAnd that\u2019s you done, you Nazi fuck.\u201d He spits on the corpse.<\/span><\/p>\n

As Mirsky drives the German jeep down the road away from the castle, the sun is just setting. There\u2019s another explosion and the tallest tower starts to collapse, taking Bathory\u2019s red banner down with it. Through the dust and smoke of the burning structure, the sun is a red disc, an unblinking eye looking down. Mirsky tromps the gas pedal to the floor and grinds the jeep into a higher gear. He straightens it out as it fishtails around a curve. Damn thing steers like a cow and the suspension\u2019s completely fucked. He doesn\u2019t care. He hits a straight part of the dirt road and gets a little more speed out of the vehicle. \u201cHang on, baby sister. I\u2019m comin\u2019 for ya.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cAlways with the chin music, lady. Hey, get a load of this!\u201d A generator coughs to life. A switch flips. And with a powerful snap, bright white light pounds down on Bathory and Maccabbee. It\u2019s a merciless light, harsh, revealing, cleansing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[12],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.jasonbrezinski.com\/novels\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/333"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.jasonbrezinski.com\/novels\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.jasonbrezinski.com\/novels\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.jasonbrezinski.com\/novels\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.jasonbrezinski.com\/novels\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=333"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.jasonbrezinski.com\/novels\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/333\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":335,"href":"http:\/\/www.jasonbrezinski.com\/novels\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/333\/revisions\/335"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.jasonbrezinski.com\/novels\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=333"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.jasonbrezinski.com\/novels\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=333"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.jasonbrezinski.com\/novels\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=333"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}