Attrition of the Gods: Book 1 of the Mystery Thriller series Gods Toys. (20 page)

In other words Reuben has used the book to near bankrupt the world. If I’m correct he has gleefully torn down the pillars that held the financial world aloft. The banks, the insurance companies, large corporations all toppled like dominoes. He will use the collapse of these institutions as an opportunity to obtain them at knock-down prices, the market will steady in one or two years before he collapses them once again, only this time all his newly acquired companies will topple too, causing the end of first world prosperity and the beginning of a class system reminiscent of ancient times. Eventually Reuben will appear as a saviour and the world will bend its knee. That is his game plan: the people of the Western world fear nothing more than losing their luxuries, now even the once communist of the east have the same fears.”

“So, we are too late?” Leo felt guilty at his relief that he could finally go home to his wife and await the consequences of the world falling under the influence of a psychotic evil dictator. “At least we tried”, will be his defence when reckoning is asked.

“No! Of course not!” exclaimed Simeon. “We must act to reduce the impact, I suspect Reuben is struggling to deceiver the Yiddish dialect or he would have recalled far more resources. Since I noticed the warning signs of this financial crisis I have channelled my own resources. Hopefully, with a monetary and fiscal stimulus I can avert his planned second crash, and halt the world’s economy from spiralling into chaos. I can only soften the blow and slow his rise but this will buy time to prepare the human champion.”

“Damn, here we go,” thought Leo. Then, out loud, “Who is this human champion? Please tell me it’s not me.”

“No,” Simeon chuckled, “but you will meet him – you will know him by the beautiful woman on his arm. I will mentor you and then you shall mentor him.”

Leo drank his espresso. He knew he was not going home to his wife. He doubted he would ever go home again

From that day on Leo would meet Simeon at four or five times a month as he was told everything he needed to know about the contest and how it was played. They would meet in strange locations, sometimes in steam rooms at the back of a Masonic establishment, sometimes in bars or cafés.

“Why here? Why Venice?” asked Leo one day, curious that they were in the town where he was born.

“When the game began we nominated neutral zones, sanctuaries where no wars or epidemics could be purposely inflicted. Venice is one such zone and I hope that Reuben is not too far gone as to break that rule.”

Once or twice they met in an upmarket brothel. Simeon may not have been of this world but from what Leo had witnessed he certainly enjoyed its pleasures.

“How are you able to take human form?” Leo asked after listening to Simeon talk of all the exploits he and other Djinn had been party to over the centuries.

“It is called anatomical assimilation. The arrival of the Djinn that you witnessed, with Solomon and the crater, that took more energy than would run this planet for a millennium, a complex process beyond man’s comprehension but let’s just say quantum physics would be like basic arithmetic in comparison.

“However, once we had taken human form things became much simpler. First we synthesised an organic chemical called Vril that runs through our bodies. It works as a carrier that transfers our life force into others by a simple process similar to a blood transfusion. The Vril then travels through the person‘s bloodstream into a tiny gland you call the pineal gland and our consciousness takes over the vehicle that you know as a body.”

“What happens to the person? Their personality? Their soul?” Leo said with a hint of accusation.

“We don’t take the life, they are still alive in there.” Simeon pointed to his head. “But instead of the driver, they are now a back seat passenger, witnessing things they would only dream of in a normal life. But we’re only talking one person here – hundreds, no, thousands of humans die in your world every day. And we have given as well as taken.”

“Really?” said Leo, unconvinced.

“Look, Vril transfers our intellect but also extrasensory capabilities: telekinesis, telepathy, astral projection. Each Jinni has the ability to access these plus Vril makes us immune to disease and boosts all our body’s natural healing processes. As we have sired many children, our Vril has made its way into the majority of human descendants and with that came a leap in your intellect and physical health. Perhaps there is the possibility of humans also achieving the other ability’s. As of yet few humans have evolved sufficiently to access them but I believe there are some examples: Houdini, Karl Marx and Darwin would be the most famous recent to show such characteristics traits, however you could go all the way back to Buddha.”

“You said you only take children… that they have to be offered to you by their parents? I find that hard to believe. It must be done under duress. I mean what sort of parent gives away the life of a son and what gives them the right?”

Simeon’s voice was calm. “You have too high an opinion of your fellow man. Over the years people have traded the lives of their children for wealth, power, love, even revenge. After all, if you have five children and all are starving would you not give up one to save the rest? Of course once we were established it was even easier. Almost every powerful family or dynasty that has risen over the last three millennia has done so through a deal with one of us and they will also most likely be direct descendants, all can trace their genes back to one of us.

“You have heard the myths of the genie of the lamp, no doubt, who grants three wishes? Well, all myths have some truth. We cannot explain to these parents the full extent of what we need of their child, only that we will not kill them and that they will be part of something very special. To be honest though, most never ask.” Simeon pauses to gauge Leo’s reaction to this information. “I can see from your expression that you are concerned about this process but let me assure you we are not able to force our Vril onto any human without the birth parent giving up the child. It is one of the rules even Reuben cannot break.”

“So, do I carry some Djinn DNA?” Leo asked bitterly. “Am I a descendant of one of you Djinn? Are we related?”

“The Jewish people come from Isaac so, yes, it is likely that you carry some of his Vril. Indeed, Jews tend to be of a very high pedigree.”

“Pedigree? You mean like a dog?”

“Not at all. We deeply value our descendants. The stronger our bloodline, the more powerful we become. Each child that we spawn will carry our genetic marker and will be connected to us through neurotransmitters within their pineal gland. The same will be true of their children and that child’s children and so on. Now, if the bloodline is corrupted by that of another Jinni, which is often the case, then it weakens our control so we thrive on what we call pedigree species.

“Remember, Djinn do not wield much power ourselves, we merely nurture and mentor others. As I said before, almost everyone throughout history who has ever been in a position of high authority was put there by one of us and would be as strong a blood relative as possible. For instance, the royal families of Europe are mostly direct descendants of either me or Reuben. They have kept it in the family, so to speak, so they will always predominantly carry our genes.

“And through the ignorance of religion you humans have kept mainly to yourselves: Isaac’s Jews as I said stick to their own, as do Benjamin’s Muslims, Hindus and all the other believers too, thus keeping the bloodline strong and enabling the controlling Jinni – or father if you like – to progress well in the contest. Daniel had controlled his bloodline through skin colour and instigated many issues of prejudice to keep it that way.”

“You invented racism?” Leo started to understand that the Djinn had not only controlled the direction of the world but even influenced people’s feelings to their own ends. “Why though?”

“Why what?”

“Why are you here, playing this game and fucking with our lives?”

For the first time since Leo met Simeon he saw a flicker of real emotion. It could be regret or perhaps embarrassment.

“I could say research or even experimentation… the Arc Hon claim it will help mankind’s progress and evolution but I believe the real reason was simple, we envy you, that’s all I can say. I am not trying to excuse what has happened but you have to keep in mind although we are vastly more advanced and evolved than you we craved the simple things you had. I know this comparison is likely to invoke confusion but even though humans are viewed by Djinn the same way you would the view animals in a zoo, deep down we desire the physical form we once had, even your mortality is coveted by us which lead us to resent you, even despise you.”

There was genuine feeling in his voice when he added, “However, some of us realised we were wrong and as people advanced and became capable of creating magnificent works of art, music and so much more, we grew to see you humans for what you are: a race not unlike ours who deserve to be treated with respect and not just as pawns in a giant game played for the amusement of the Djinn.

“As I told you before I was the first of the thirteen to attempt to halt the game. I believed we should fix the wrongs we had done and then leave you to your own fate. The Assembly of Djinn rejected this idea so I suggested a radical addition, to allow a human competitor to enter the game. The idea was apparently so abhorrent that Reuben and Levi petitioned to have me removed and the Council agreed. I was disqualified and sentenced to return to the non-physical plane.”

“So how come you are still here?”
“I renewed.”

“Renewed?”

“It is easy enough to hide from other Djinn, as you can imagine. What with us changing at least once every generation, tracking me down was not easy. But there are other entities involved, you may have heard me mention the Watchers?” Leo nodded. “Well, they are the adjudicators, they are not Djinn nor are they human. They are in fact Arc Hon and they are the ones responsible for upholding the rules. So when it was decided that I should be removed for ‘going native’ as they called it, and I simply refused to leave, going underground, it was the Watchers who were tasked in tracking me down.

“The Arc Hon can identify Djinn by using an aura defining device, which can give them our general location, and then they send the hounds in, so to speak. I was on the run for years but they would always find me and I would have to flee over and over again. Eventually I realised the only way to escape from them long term was through a process called assumption, which removed my aura and brought me to the base existence of a human.”

“And how does this assumption work exactly?” asked Leo warily.

“By assimilating with a developing foetus.”

Leo looked visually sick.

Simeon nodded. “It is totally against the rules but I was already disqualified.”

“That’s all right then,” mocked Leo, trying to work out if it was better to take over the body of someone who has lived for thirteen years or someone not even born yet. Simeon sighed.

“So I was reborn as a human and remembered nothing of who I was, I was what we call renewed.”

“Yet here you are,” said Leo, trying to hold in his feelings of disgust.

“The memories weren’t lost, just locked away,” said Simeon.

“And what mother would give up her unborn baby?” Leo asked.

“Susanne,” Simeon said with reverence. “She was an astonishing woman, an artist and my lover. I confided in her about everything and together we hatched the plan – she only had one condition, I could not father the child. So I had to involve another of my brethren, Pierre-Cecile Puvis de Chavannes, to get Susanne pregnant.” Simeon paused, looking at Leo as if he should recognise the name.

Leo was too busy reeling in shock: Jeremy Kyle would have a field day.

“So Susanne gave birth to me and brought me up as her normal human child. I left behind many writings to help remind myself of everything that I had previously known. Quite a complex situation, as you can imagine, but it did the trick and the Arc Hon lost my aura.”

Leo was tempted to ask if mother and son had reignited their love affair but decided against it. Instead he shook his head. “And you want me to relate all of this information to a complete stranger who I will know because of the beautiful woman on his arm? He’s going to think me a complete lunatic!”

“It doesn’t matter what he thinks of you, it only matters that he listens.”

Leo sighed. “What exactly are the rules of this game?”

Simeon took a breath and ploughed on. “There are many but I will explain the main ones and how we have bent them to suit our situations.

“Rule one is Djinn are not permitted to kill one another. However, they may cause the death of another by influencing events around the said Jinni’s physical incarnation. If his human form is killed, the Jinni will be removed from the game and return to their former state back in our dimension. This has sometimes led to millions being slaughtered in the pursuit of removing an opponent. Also, killing the people around each Jinni reduces the power of their bloodline. I am sorry to say that genocide is not against the rules.”

“Like Reuben did against my people during the Holocaust?” Leo said coldly.

“Technically against Isaac’s people.”

Leo pushed up his spectacles and rubbed the bridge of his nose. Enough was enough. How could he even think about helping this man who had been complicit in the sort of violations he had just described? Tomorrow he would go home to Regina and be dammed with Simeon and the fucking Djinn.

“I must retire, I am tired,” he said politely, rising to his feet.

He never did go home to Regina, of course. How could he when there really were these entities using mankind for their amusement? Simeon seemed to have had a change of heart, like a Djinn version of an animal rights activist, considering they see humans in the same light as animals. But what was the reason for Simeon’s change of heart and how could Leo trust a man who, by his own admission, was part of this cartel of non-humans, responsible for mass murders, infanticide, genocide and who knows what other atrocities?