Page 19 of Iblis' Affliction
Talha checked his watch, then eyed Ejder. “Any news from Salik?”
“He is stuck in a traffic jam.” Black eyes, serious and smart, peered at him with a question. The stubborn line of his chapped lips emphasized the heavy jaw that bulged with tension. At twenty-two, Ejder looked older, except for his eyes that always shimmered with child-like curiosity.
Without a word, Talha pointed his chin at the mosque, checked his gun, then strode toward the main entrance.
Worn, colorless carpets, that had once gracefully covered the floor throughout the building, now rotted from the high humidity. Some windows were boarded up, but the light still made its way through others that glinted with the remains of stained glass; it failed to fully illuminate the tall vaults of the ceiling. Ringing silence, like the one that numbed the air before a severe storm, added to the desolate atmosphere.
With no obvious reason, every hair on Talha’s arms raised to attention. The same discomfort emitted from his people. Ejder’s voice, coming from behind his shoulder, murmured, “I don’t like it.”
A teenage boy, no older than fifteen, dressed in black camouflage, appeared from behind a white square column and came up to Talha. His whiskey-colored eyes too serious on his child face. “Asani Bey[13]awaits you.”
Suppressing the need to throw another glance at Ejder, Talha followed his lead, walking toward the old altar that was cloaked in shadows.
“It’s nice to finally meet you, Reis.” An adenoidal voice boomed in the space, shattering the heavy silence. Twisting in the air, it split into echoes of different intensity and assaulted him from every direction. Through the screen of swirling dust and crisscrossing sunbeams, Talha picked up a silhouette of a man sitting in a tall, massive chair that substituted for the altar. “Thank you for coming. It’s an honor.”
The man didn’t get up, didn’t offer Talha his hand. His face drowned in shadows, leaving only knotty fingers covered with heavy gold rings visible. They calmly rested on the black metal of an Uzi—a close-range submachine gun that worked best against a crowd.
Talha’s cheek twitched in an unborn cringe. His mind blanked.
“Get back!” he yelled to his men. Shielding Ejder with his shoulder, he pushed him toward the exit, but the massive doors slammed closed. Grabbing his gun, he aimed at the sitting man.
The events made little sense to him. Even with the Uzi, Behçet was alone. They still had a chance. Talha’s people already had him in their sights. The messenger boy was unarmed, but even if he had a gun too, he would have to target their heads because all of his people wore bullet-proof vests. However, Behçet didn’t look like he intended to start a shootout. With unhurried and slow movements, he put the gun on the floor, got up, and cracked his neck.
“You are so stupid, Talha.” His rusty, bass brimmed with arrogance as he stepped behind the chair and tugged the chain that hung from above. A low screeching of stone sliding against stone sounded as the man added, “You will die here. Lights!”
THUD.Something hit the ground to his left; the same sound reached him from his right in the next heartbeat. He twisted his neck, seeking the danger. Plastic shields, painted in the same texture as the inner walls of the mosque, fell from above. Crashing against the floor, they revealed several men standing behind low parapets by every unclosed window fifteen feet above the ground. They fixed night vision goggles over their eyes and released small strings connected to black fabric blinds. Falling, they choked the light, and impenetrable darkness swallowed everything, hitting Talha with a dagger of fear.
FRRRRRRRRAK. BANG. BANG. BANG.
The crossfire drummed in his ears. Coming from every direction, it shattered the darkness as a rain of bullets sliced the air. Someone screamed, then again. Footfalls scattered about the vast space, multiplied by echoes, they messed with his senses. Disoriented and lost, he pushed Ejder backward, where he remembered the location of the nearest column. He couldn’t tell if there were windows above the entrance, but he was sure the sound of the falling shields hadn’t come from behind. Ejder, hitting the column first, tumbled, but the next moment his hand grasped Talha’s shirt and pulled him back. Safe behind the square tapered column, Talha leaned against the cool stone and closed his eyes, listening.
Gunfire, screams, death rattles, and the loud clanging of bullets hitting stone inhabited the air. Twisted and distorted, the sounds entwined in a cacophony accentuated by the strong echo. No matter how hard he tried, he wasn’t able to say from which direction the gunfire and dying screams came until everything quieted down.
Sooner or later, we will run out of bullets, and they will put us down one by one, like fucking dogs.The helplessness kicked him in the gut. Without thinking, he stuck his hand out from behind the column and fired, aiming somewhere up and right where, if he remembered correctly, the nearest window was located. The instant return fire forced him to recoil, but the darkness thinned a fraction. Guided by a glowing dot, created by a bullet passing through the blinds, he sneaked another look, sending more bullets the same direction. Needles of light cut through the darkness. They weren’t enough to illuminate the building, but his vision, adapting to the dark, made out his surroundings.
A rustle from the left preceded crossfire, informing him that at least two of his people had found a cover. Another gun joined them from the back, then one more from his right.
Ejder moved. ABANGrang out above Talha’s ear, and a heavyTHUD, coming from the depth of the mosque, suggested that his brother had hit a target. Peeking out, Talha inched the gun sight a fraction away from the riddled window, then shot. The darkness shattered and a hail of bullets bombarded the other side of the column. Shards of stone bit his face and shoulder, forcing him back. Ejder groaned, shuddered, and started to sink.
“No, no, no. Fuck!” Talha pleaded, fisting Ejder’s shirt collar, he hauled him upright. His chest pressed against his brother’s, supporting his weight as his hands groped Ejder’s body. “Where?”
“My shoulder. I’m okay…” Ejder hissed, sucking in air.
Through the loud peals of weapons, Talha heard another body hitting the floor, and the fire pressure from his right weakened. His eyes, adapting further, picked up two shadows hiding behind the column on his left. From the distance, he wasn’t able to make out their faces, but he felt their gazes upon himself.
Talha reloaded his gun then made a ‘cover me’ sign. Gunfire deluged the air and he inched right, squinting. Two human silhouettes, on either side of a window, bled through the gloom. Concentrating on the return fire, they didn’t look at his direction. Aiming, he pulled the trigger. One man staggered and dropped his gun, grabbing his throat. He reached the ground the same moment as a barrage of lead hit the column.
Swallowing the dust, Talha leaned forward and pressed his forearms against the cold stone at either side of Ejder’s head, shielding him from shards.
How fucking stupid…He winced; his shirt warming with blood that wasn’t his. He growled as helplessness and a need to crush something clenched his fists.I should have never brought Ejder with me. He should have stayed in Mardin.
“It will be okay,” he whispered to Ejder. “Hold on. I will fix it, I promise. I’m sorry for letting you down.”
Guilt gnawed at his heart, erasing his survival instincts. Pressing one palm against Ejder’s chest, he shoved his upper body from behind the column and pulled the trigger. The gun misfired.
BANG!Fire and ice scalded the right side of his head, blanking his vision. His ears rang. Trying to retain his balance, he sidestepped, hand flapping in the air, searching for anything to hold onto. Someone grabbed his arm and hauled him back. Confused, he shook his head. The bright spots in front of his eyes morphed into rainbow bubbles. Something trickled down his face, flooding his right eye. He lifted his hand, wanting to touch it, but swayed left.
His skull split into a hundred pieces, and a million little invisible legs pitter-pattered over his naked brain. But as soon as Ejder’s hands seized his head, the world glued together. “Abi?”
