A Story of Man’S and God’S

By Alfredo Tercero Estrada

This contains a few stories about introspection on the humanity and our vision of concept such as life, death as well as the concept God. Follow our protagonists as they fall prey to their whims and inner demons while trying to justify the unjustifiable to drag the reader down into the same madness that weigh them down. For only the insane dont know they are crazy, and understanding the words of a madman cannot be a good thing for the sane. Or maybe their sanity was from the start nothing more than a beautiful lie that they keep repeating to themselves to hide their own madness.

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: May 8, 2018
• ISBN: 9781532037788

Alfredo Tercero Estrada

In all of the gifts that have been offered to me since I am born the one that really stand up is a book of fable that enticed me to start writhing. I have taken writhing as a way to exorcist those story that this book implanted in me.

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A STORY OF MAN’S AND GOD’S

ALFREDO TERCERO ESTRADA

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A STORY OF MAN’S AND GOD’S

Copyright © 2018 Alfredo Tercero Estrada.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, names, incidents, organizations, and dialogue in this novel are either the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

ISBN: 978-1-5320-3779-5 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5320-3778-8 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2017918507

iUniverse rev. date: 04/20/2017

Contents

Succubus

Nemesis

Babel

The Epic of Gilgamesh

Succubus

D OZENS OF COP CARS ARE arriving. More are on their way. Some of the officers look at the skyscraper with awe and admiration, while others look at it with contempt or jealousy. Many more emotions and reactions come from the sight of this monster, which has been at the heart of this cursed city for so long that few remember a time before it. The building has been remodeled and reshaped at the whim of its owners, and some say the beast never fully ended its growth. Many architects and builders spend their time working on it to appease the caprice of its master, who has a grasp on the whole city. The monster has grown so much in the spirit of the people that most call it the Tower of Babel. It is already great yet gaining in size and influence by the day. Almost all use it to orient themselves from time to time; it would be a perfect point to start if one were to create a map of the city.

The legend of the tower centres only partly on the might of the building. The one inside is the real source of the gossip. Some speak of him as a mystic, and others say he is a recluse. He is a saint for some, while others say he is the devil himself, walking on the earth in a shape either horrific or magnificent, depending on whom you ask. Some say that as a modern-day Faust, he sold his soul to the devil in exchange for wealth and glory beyond human understanding.

Today, in the belly of the beast, death has come to visit some poor souls. Their only sin is meeting a man in love, or what some would call love. I wouldn’t have been able to say what my feelings were for her, but I probably would have settled on calling it love—maybe maddening love. It’s an easier explanation for my actions than anything else. I’ve killed many—more than I thought would be necessary to reach her, and so far, I’ve only reached him, which is not the goal of my quest. Still, this man might be the key. If anyone is, it’s him.

I silently open the door, expecting to see a man cowering underneath the desk and begging to be saved. I look at the room to make sure she isn’t here. Of course she’s not. How could the heavens smile on me after I turned into a demon? Instead, I see only a man looking at me. His hands are closed together on his chin, hiding a slight smirk. His eyes lock on me. Behind the man, a wall of windows lets the bright light of the day in as clearly as if we were outside. The walls are made of dark-brown wood, and a few paintings hang on them. In one corner of the office, near a window, I can see what I assume is a minibar near a sink and a counter, giving the room a feeling reminiscent of a small loft. A desk sits in the middle. The other side is a cabinet full of drawers, which I assume are full of important documents. I look at the unfazed eyes of the master of this place and shoot over his head. The stress or the excitement has taken its toll on me, because I miss the shot, and what was supposed to be a warning shot hits the light above the man. Not displeased by the shot, I start to smile, but something strange happens. The man does not react. I first suspect the man has been frozen by fear, which would please me, as it would make the next part easier, but somehow, I can’t convince myself that is the case.

I still feel the man’s heavy gaze on me as the man invites me to enter. The stress of the situation mounts as I feel the eyes of the one in front of me, whose face I can’t see, judging me—eyes that are now nothing more than faint reflections of light. They are judging me for all the crimes I’ve just committed. I bite my lip till it bleeds to calm myself down, but the gaze doesn’t stop. Suddenly, it’s as if the whole world is looking at me, and a moment of self-consciousness forces me to the back of the room to close the curtains, as if to stop the staring. I then run back to the door and close it. The little rays of light that can escape from behind the windows’ curtains are enough for me to see the man’s shape but nothing more.

Suddenly, from the darkness, a voice tells me the light switch is near the door. While always keeping eye contact with the man in the dark, I find the switch, and a thought crosses my mind: What if he wasn’t judging but Sizing me? It’s a stupid idea, and I chase it away. Impossible. My stress, guilt and anger all reach a new high as the light reappears, and I fall into uncontrollable laughter.

I start to laugh as I look at the gun in my hand, the gravity of my situation slowly but surely grasping me. I feel that if I hadn’t laughed, I would have ended up crying or screaming. Something just had to come out.

Money, a promising career and even a lovely wife. I had it all. And that’s where it all ended. All I could hope for. All everybody can hope for. All of it and more. Still, it wasn’t enough. I wanted her. I wanted her so much that I ended up needing her. Heh. I guess that’s just how we humans are wired.

Don’t! he says as the light of the bulb I grazed earlier flickers, barely revealing his mouth and a glimmer that looks like a flame in his eyes.

The sudden change of tone and his smile changing into a serious frown shock me and, I am ashamed to say, scare me. He looks more annoyed than angry from what I can tell, which is interesting considering he should be, if anything, afraid.

Don’t pretend it’s human nature. It’s you and only you who did this. It’s not humanity who killed that man downstairs. It’s not humanity who threw away every hope you might have had for a successful life, and it’s not humanity who holds me at gunpoint. That’s you. All of it is you. Don’t try to make me pity you now by pretending you are the victim of humanity. You are you, and you did what you did.

I look at him and nod silently. For a second, I feel like a child being reprimanded by his parents for breaking a vase. For an instant, the gun disappears, and there is only me and him. I can’t say what it is, but he has some kind of primordial charisma, if I had to put a name to it. I’ve heard about him, as everyone has. I know the rumours and the gossip. To be fair, I always thought it was just ass kissing, but now I can see that there is something unusual. His frown turns back into a smile as he continues, almost as if he didn’t just snap at me an instant prior.

Well, as long as we’re clear about that.

For some reason, I am reassured by him forgiving me. I can’t explain why. Maybe I just search for his approval. Yeah, that must be it. But why?

Let’s go back to why you are here.

What? Oh yes. All that I did. It was