Der Schädelring: Thriller (German Edition)

the sky.
    Hartley called after her, or it may have been Walter. She heard Dr. Forrest's footsteps in the dead leaves, chasing.
    "Jooolia?" Hartley yelled, his voice barely audible above the gale.
    They had killed her father. Hartley had killed her father. And though her father may have been spiritually weak, seduced by the attraction that corrupt moral freedom offered, he had rescued Julia when the Brotherhood sought to carve her up. No one was beyond redemption.
    "Satan calls me," Julia said, continuing up the path, feeling her way between the laurels. She hoped her shambling gait was appropriately zombie-like.
    She came to the spot where Snead had fallen. His gun was invisible in the darkness. She stumbled, swooned, and dropped to her knees, running her hands over the ground while pretending to regain balance.
    "You need us in order to get to the Master," Dr. Forrest said from a few feet behind Julia. "You can’t do it alone. Come before the High Priest. Let us help you belong."
    Julia's fingers brushed over the gun and closed on the grip. Snead had been tackled in the act of firing, so the safety was off. She didn't know much about guns, but she knew how to point. And, if necessary, pull the trigger.
    Dr. Forrest caught up to her and embraced her, the woman's bare skin feverishly hot. Julia allowed herself to be led back down the trail. She could scarcely make out Walter and Hartley, who were two gray silhouettes against the shadow of the world, Walter still on his knees.
    Dr. Forrest nudged Julia toward Hartley. The High Priest turned the knife so that it caught some of the scant light.
    "Why use the knife?" Julia said. "Does the Master not love bullets?"
    Dr. Forrest touched Julia's shoulder. "Sister?"
    "Or is a bullet too quick? Does Satan like to hear the little children scream while you cut them up? Or is it you who gets his jollies out of other people's pain and suffering?"
    "You whore ," Hartley said.
    "Finish it," Dr. Forrest said, though Julia couldn't tell whether the woman was addressing Hartley or Satan.
    Hartley swung his pistol toward Julia. "You can't fool the Master. He's the original liar. And he's got a place for you in hell."
    Walter chose that moment to attack, lunging into Hartley's knees. Hartley swung the pistol toward Walter's head, the metal cracking against the hard bone of Walter's skull. Walter slumped, moaning, while Hartley fought to regain balance.
    Julia pulled Snead's pistol from behind her back. "Tell Satan I said 'hello.'"
    Hartley's mouth fell open in surprise. A surge of electricity flowed through Julia and she could have sworn the wind whispered, “Do it.” She pulled the trigger three times.
    Dr. Forrest screamed, and for an impossible moment, Hartley still stood, gazing at the wounds in his chest. He looked at Julia, and then at the pistol in his own hand. He smiled. She was so paralyzed with fear that she couldn't pull the trigger again, as if Hartley had stolen her energy in order to keep himself upright. As if he were drawing up the life of the trees, dirt, and rocks.
    The blood of the world.
    For the briefest of moments, the goat’s face appeared over Hartley’s and the capricious lips— surely an illusion? —parted in a smirk of victorious surrender.
    The wind rose, the music of the woods screaming to a crescendo, the devil’s orchestra drawing its bows—
    Stop it, Julia .
    No music, only Dr. Forrest’s wail and Hartley swaying.
    Then, with a gurgle in his throat, he collapsed.
    As Hartley hit the ground, the clouds tugged themselves apart and a sliver of sunset bathed the mountain. Somewhere over or beneath the mountain, thunder rumbled, as if the Master were laughing. Or perhaps God had broken his lifelong silence and finally spoke to her. Any message was lost in translation.
    Julia stooped and gathered Hartley's automatic and helped Walter to his feet.
    "You okay?" she asked.
    He rubbed his head, steadying himself against her as he stared down at Hartley. "Doing better than him, anyway.”
    Dr. Forrest knelt by her tainted leader and wept, her arms over her flaccid breasts. "You were one of us," she blubbered to Julia.
    "No," Julia said. "I was never anybody's ." She put her arm around Walter, helping support him.
    Dr. Forrest looked up. The wind died and the soft fading light caught the tears on the woman's cheeks. "He owns you."
    "I choose who I belong to," Julia said. She kicked Dr. Forrest's robe toward the pathetic, trembling woman. "You'd better put