Into the Light

142

"Hmm, sounds like your demon is ready to eat too," I said, taking her hand again, while we continued on our way to the kitchen. "Yeah, she may just attack if she isn't fed soon," she joked. When we entered the enticing smelling kitchen, my mouth fell open. "Yo Colby!" Sam exclaimed, and started pointing at all of the food on the table. "Do you see this shit, brother? It's an entire damn buffet!" He wasn't wrong. I saw bacon, ham, sausage, fried eggs, boiled eggs, scrambled eggs, omelets, hash browns, pancakes, strawberries, blueberries, yogurt, oatmeal, peaches...and so much more. I didn't think that I had ever seen this much food at an actual buffet. "Wow," Anna breathed out, with her eyes wide, taking it all in. I swear she almost did start drooling. "Right?!" Sam exclaimed, before he stabbed what looked like a pound of flapjacks and moved them to his plate. "You can't possibly eat all of that," I said, watching his dump syrup on them. "But I can damn sure try," he replied, then stuck a huge sticky bite into his mouth. I shook my head and grinned. Kat had her plate piled high with fruit, eggs, pancakes, and turkey bacon. There was even turkey bacon. This was insane. "Why is there so much food?" I asked, glancing at Barbie, who was still at the stove cooking even more food. She caught my eye, smiled, and shrugged. "Why not? I might not have a chance to feed you guys again. I like to cook and Ash only eats my cooking sometimes. He's usually too busy chasing ghosts." She looked over to Ash with a soft smile on her face. "Cute," he responded, returning the smile. "I know," she quipped, then turned back to the stove. Anna and I went to the sink to wash our hands, then took our seats at the table. We piled our plates high with the different varieties of food. I listened in on the conversation around me, while I dug into the bacon, egg, and cheese biscuit that I put together. "So, let me see if I have this straight," Sam was saying to Ash. "We wait for the ghosts to agree to help. Some of them already have. Is this going to...I don't know, hurt them? I know they're already dead, but I know they can still be hurt. I saw Anna hurt." Ash shook his head. "It shouldn't hurt them, no. It will deplete them of their energy so that they will be, um, unconscious, for lack of a better term, for a few days. Now, if Lilith manages to throw something at them, or us for that matter, then yes, it can and probably will hurt them. I don't know if she can destroy a ghost, without taking in its essence though...the ones who are willing will know the risks. Thank you for caring about them, Sam." Sam ducked his head down and got another bite of his food. "Mhm, sure," he mumbled. I saw a grin flit across Ash's face. "What were you asking? The order of things? Right. I guess I should explain that a little better. Okay, first, the Coven will start showing up right before nightfall. They will get the summoning ritual ready. When they are all ready and prepped, Anna and I will call the spirits who wish to help. Once they are informed of their risks and their purpose, you three," he pointed around the table at Sam, Kat, and myself. "Will get into position. Colby, I'll need you to stand off to the side, like you aren't sure that you want to be here, with us. You have to play the part, so I hope your acting skills are up to snuff." I had never understood that saying. "Shit," I mumbled. "I had forgotten about that part. Do I really have to kiss her?" I whined. "It's just so...grody." Anna let out a sound like a donkey shriek and a cough, before she started coughing hard. "Whoa, you okay?" I asked, with my hand poised and ready above her back. I was going to start pounding it, if I thought she was choking. She looked at me, still coughing, and nodded. She picked up her water and took a few sips, in between the coughs. "Oh dude, that was harsh," she replied, hoarsely. "What happened?" I asked. She looked at me again, confusion crossing her face, before she started to laugh. "Oh! You said 'grody!' That's my word!" I rolled my eyes and smiled. I hadn't really even realized that I had said it. "Whatevs," I replied. "I guess the 80's aren't so bad. Some good things came from that decade." I raised my hand and flipped my imaginary hair over my shoulder, then batted my eyes at her. "I mean, it did produce you," I said, before I started to make a kissy face at her. She rolled her eyes and stuck another strawberry in her mouth. "You're such a dork," she giggled. I smiled and went back to eating. If I could make her laugh, at least once, every day for the rest of my life, then I would be happy. "Okay, children, can we get back to the discussion?" Sam spoke up with a smile, reminding me that everyone at the table had all eyes on us. "Oh," I stammered out. "Uh, yea. Sorry." Ash just gave a small grin and shook his head, before he continued speaking. "As I was saying, Colby, you should stand off to the side, like you aren't sure that you want to be fighting with us. When the Darkness makes her appearance, you have to distract her. This will be the most important part of the fight. Yes, you have to kiss her. When we kiss someone, even if we don't want too, we open our souls just a little, to the other person. It's a connection that we form between our energy and the other person's energy. When she opens the door for her soul, if she has even a smidgen left, then the spirits and the rest of us, will be able to hurt her. We can weaken her." Ash was staring into my eyes, like he was trying to see my own soul, instead of talking about the Darkness. "Colby, I need you to listen to this part because it is extremely important. When the first shot is fired at her, and you feel it, you need to move quickly. You need to get as far away from her as possible. If not, you will take the rest of the damage and it could kill you. Understand?" I nodded and swallowed hard.