Chapter 22
So Long…
“She’s pulling her weapon to her side, loading it full of her goodbyes.”
~Linkin Park~
Finding her was no easy task, and if it wasn’t for Wyatt, Lynn may have never been able to locate Mia. Fortunately, Wyatt did not know about Mia's possession, but he did have the means to pinpoint any spirit energy. It did force a date out of her, but that was a small price to pay.
The monster that had taken possession over her little sister was sitting on one of the swings in the very same park their father would accustom to take them.
‘This twisted bastard is making Mia relive painful memories.’ She thought.
The streets weren’t cluttered—due to obvious reasons—but the remaining residents were starting to emerge from their homes. Just as expected, those who survived were utterly subdued by Darius’s ultimate reverso. That golden wave of light that he emitted helped them brainwash the entire city, eliminating any shred of knowledge of the actual occurrence.
Lynn hesitated for a moment, as she watched the possessed Mia swinging back and forth alone—the confused voices of the denizens ringing in her ears.
“Miss, excuse me miss? You’re a Covenant official; can you please tell me what will happen now; have the terrorists been quelled? What about the missing people; how many lives have been accounted for?” A worried woman had approached Lynn, bombarding her with nothing but questions, much like how Ms. Mallory had done during the field trip.
Her cold deadly stare never once broke away from Mia, as she addressed the woman. “The church on Saint View Avenue is being used as a shelter for those who do not wish to stay in their homes. Any questions about missing people will be answered there.” One determined stomp and she was off, leaving behind her last remark. “Anyone missing is most likely dead.”
It may have been cruel, but it was the truth and it was also what the Covenant would tell the family members of the victims. She was just getting ahead of them.
In haste, Lynn reached for her flask of holy water, but cursed under breath when she realized that there was none left on her ammunitions belt. Covenant officials were always given one for any occasion, and she had already consumed hers on Mia. Never once would she have guessed that the demon was a high enough rank to resist the holy water. At the very least, she still had salt to make holy water, and all she had to do was find the water and bless it.
In an instant, Lynn concentrated a small amount of spirit energy into her hand as she conjured one of her many items that did not require a proper summoning spell.
“Mia, I’m getting that demon out of you now!” Her angry cry followed the golden lasso that she called upon for aid.
The attack was precipitated and efficient as it latched onto Mia’s body, burning her when it came in contact. It made the demon wail and shake Mia’s body in rigorous tremors. Her eyes rolled to the back of her head until they reappeared as dark as coal.
Lynn didn’t care about the onlookers she would draw; her main priority was saving Mia and moving past this hellish day. Dealing with them would be easier than exorcising the demon.
“Arghhh!” The groans and roars of the angered demon continued to shake her sister violently. Its massive strength battled against Lynn’s grip, making her struggle to hold her in place.
“Mia! Fight back, don’t let this piece of trash control you!” Finally, there was one rough pull and Lynn yelped in pain as she fell forwards in a plummet.
Her wounded arm had failed her and the demon took the opportunity to break through the lasso.
“No, I won’t let you hurt my sister!” This time, it was Mia’s actual voice speaking. She was indeed fighting back and it made the being from hell stumble back in frustration. It held its head, while fighting for control.
‘Its grip on her is weakening!’ Lynn thought, scrambling to get to her feet. A sharp pain soared through her wounded arm, making her wobble lightheadedly. Ezekias’s attack had been powerful enough to drain a considerable amount of energy from her, even with all the llyrium she had ingested.
‘I need to focus…’ The demon was starting to gain control again, eliminating any chances she had in defeating it.
A slight shake and then a shiver that played around her spine…
The hairs on the back of her neck went stiff, letting her know of the powerful presence that had approached. It caused the air around them to thicken as a strong spiritual energy engulfed all those present.
“What…is this?” Lynn’s eyes became wide in shock when she saw a ripple in what she assumed to be time itself. The air materialized, twisting and turning till it emitted four beings.
“I’m pretty sure this is the park!” Isabel exclaimed, when she revealed herself as one of the beings.
There was a gurgle-like cough followed by the sound of puking. David held onto Exsavior the best way he could to avoid collapsing altogether. Apparently, nothing could have prepared him for the trip. It almost made Exsavior vomit all over again, but he contained it. This time around, he braced himself to avoid the discomfort.
“Well, not for my sake or yours but for your pals over there. This better be the place. I doubt they can take any more time jumps,” Locke said nonchalantly as he scanned the area.
His eyes immediately fell on Mia and Lynn, and then the frightened people that had gathered around the park to observe. Instantly, he assessed the situation and made his move without hesitation.
Approaching the spectators, there was a gleam in his bronze eyes as he smirked at the frightened audience.
“Honestly, why bother looking if you’re so scared?” he asked playfully, his feet ceasing to make contact with the ground.
The gesture made the viewers scream in fear at the floating trickster, but this only caused him to laugh at them. One twirl and he was now facing them upside down in mid-air, his silvery hair dangling before them in a mockery.
“Come now, and play with the Fool. The Jester kids you not for the Madman never fakes. Maoris Arcanis, Ill Matto.”
The ancient words left his tongue like a riddle from a book of fables, and they intoxicated every sense of the humans present. It created the illusion he wished for them to see, allowing the immortals to move around freely and undetected.
“What did you do?” David asked, now fully composed.
“Simple, I made them see a group of overweight cheerleaders practicing for tryouts. One thing led to another and a fight broke out because apparently, the ‘F’ word was dropped,” Locke whispered with a grin that could have rivaled even the Cheshire cat.
“You mean Fu—”
“No, I mean fat. They’re overweight cheerleaders David; c’mon the joke isn’t funny if I have to explain it.” David chuckled at Locke’s comment, immediately understanding the humor.
“Hey! Now’s not the time to be doing this!” It was Exsavior’s voice and the severity of his tone made them both turn to him. Mia’s angered onyx eyes tinged with scarlet, stared back at them with nothing but amusement—an evil joviality that sent shivers through their bodies.
“Exorcizamus te, omnis immundus spiritus, omnis satanica potestas, omnis incursio infernalis adversarii, omnis legio, omnis congregatio et secta diabólica.”
A sudden expression befell the demon that went as Samhain, his eyes began to bleed black, and a screech was born from his borrowed lungs. It cowered away from Isabel’s thundering form, as she powered forwards in an attempt to exorcise it.
Lynn immediately took wind of her idea, and joined in to aid her, but not before speaking to the rest, “We need to subdue her! You guys hold her down, Isabel and I will perform the exorcism!” She yelled above the wails of the booming demon.
“Go, I must stay here and watch the illusion. If I were to falter, the humans will see everything.” Locke stated firmly in his upside-down flying posture.
Exsavior and David nodded and moved with haste towards Mia, who was thrashing inhumanly. Her body tried to cripple and bend, but was prevented from doing so when Exsavior and David pinned her down, using their own inhuman strength.
“Exsavior, lover, you are one sexy young man. I can’t wait to fuck the brains out of you with my hot burning body.” It tried to say, but groaned after the remark. The phrase had only made David cringe in repulsion and Exsavior remained expressionless.
“You won’t survive for long, demon,” he said defiantly.
“Oh come on, let me go now and we can screw each other all night. It will be so much—”
“I cast you out, unclean spirit, along with every satanic power of the enemy, every spectre from hell, and all your fell companions; in the name of our Lord. Be gone and stay far from this creature of God. For it is He who commands you, He who flung you headlong from the heights of heaven into the depths of hell. It is He who commands you!”
Lynn’s powerful voice intoned with Isabel’s incantations drowned out anymore words the demon had to say, and with one last ominous cry, Mia arched her back and screamed hard. Her mouth opened wide and spewed out the blackness of the demons essence.
However, the smoke remained amongst them as it materialized into a young tall man with black hair and historic clothing—they resembled a fashion of the late eighteen hundreds.
“Mia, Mia? Are you ok? Mia?” Exsavior held Mia firmly in his arms, while kneeling down to let her body rest.
She was sweating profusely and panting hard, but she still managed to speak. “Please…have mercy…” She tried as she grasped his hand for comfort.
Exsavior did not understand the comment, but was unable to decipher it when his attention was brought back to his friends.
“Ashes to ashes,
Sower of discord,
Take his soul and banish this evil!”
Isabel chanted a different spell this time, as she lifted her hand in Samhain’s direction, allowing a magic similar to her Active Power to flow towards him.
The wave hit the demon directly, making it smirk.
He responded with a single twitch of his wrist, causing an invisible force to pummel Isabel into the air then to the ground.
She coughed and spewed blood in pain while holding her abdomen.
“Shit, Isabel!” David screamed and leapt towards the fallen witch. He managed to get her standing, but he knew that she was in no condition to fight.
“That low level vanquishing spell will never work on a demon like me,” he cooed, and then cocked his head in Mia’s direction.
“I won’t give you up so easily my sweet, precious, angel…” The compliments slithered out his devilish lips with a hesitancy that unnerved everyone present.
Exsavior growled at his words in anger, his pupils almost turning red in utter defiance towards Samhain. It dared the demon and it bit the bait when a black smoke enveloped Samhain’s form.
He reappeared on Mia’s left side, allowing his clawed finger to caress her cheek. Exsavior roared ferociously, but before he could morph, Samhain’s palm smacked him in the forehead. It sent him flying roughly away from Mia under the same power that Isabel had been pummeled with. Exsavior grunted, but managed to break his fall right in front of Lynn. He withstood the attack a lot better than Isabel had done so, due to his sturdier body.
Exsavior was starting to take a feral stance once again for he let his arms reach the ground.
“Stop! The only way we can defeat him is with holy water!” Lynn called out to Exsavior, urging him to contain his transformation.
“She’s right. Otherwise, it would take a lot of energy to defeat a fully manifested demon. They’re practically invisible in that form.” Locke said factually, as he watched from above. He was still upside-down, which indicated his current control over the illusion.
“Ok, then how do you propose we get holy water?” Exsavior asked as he never broke his stare from Samhain.
He toyed with Mia’s hair, as she held his arm firmly, possibly believing it to still be Exsavior’s. At least it was what he told himself to avoid shifting into the wolf an attempting to rip Samhain’s arms off.
“Keep him busy, all I need to do is find a way to get him wet and then purify the water.”
Exsavior smirked triumphantly at her words, quickly coming to the best solution. “Good, then follow my lead and just be ready to purify that water.”
“What? How are you—?”
“David, we can’t let this bastard just hurt our girls in front of us as if we’re nothing, now can we?” Exsavior taunted, and David nodded in anger and turned his stare at Samhain.
The demon shrugged scornfully towards David, feigning innocence, and David felt nothing but rage when he processed the gesture. In addition, having an injured Isabel next to him was feeding Exsavior’s taunt.
Isabel’s panting had eased up slightly, enough for her to talk straight. “David, don’t, he’s too strong.” But much like Exsavior had anticipated, David did not listen, as he charged at Samhain in a blind rage.
He did not shift, but rather attempted to pummel Samhain with his fists. It made the demon back away from Mia in amusement.
‘Ok, here goes nothing. Remember what Father taught you; find your center, your core, the essence of it all, the star that regulates your being, and let it pour.’
Exsavior concentrated hard; his eyes firmly shut and his hands clenched into two tight fists.
“Hey, wolf? What’s going on?” Lynn’s curious voice was nothing but a small echo in his mind. The reason for her worry was the air; it was becoming dense and cold, creating shards of ice over her skin.
‘Tap into your soul, into Mother Earth’s very being, and let the Undines guide you. Listen to the moon’s howl, and roar!’
Exsavior played out his last thought, rapidly opening his eyes and roaring like a feral wolf at war. His human mouth had almost turned into a muzzle that caused the air’s compression, turning it icy cold.
All around them, there was a mist that clung to their bodies, which quickly turned humid under their body temperatures. Unfortunately for Samhain, his extremely heated body, which had been scorched by the flames of hell, made the air soak him completely.
David stepped back in confusion at what was happening, and Samhain scowled in anger towards Exsavior.
“I will not lose!” his powerful cry boomed through the air.
“Tsk tsk, looks like you’re through demon,” Locke mocked from above making Samhain charge at Exsavior and Lynn in fury.
“Good job wolf, now it’s my turn.” Lynn moved Exsavior out of the way, and blew a powder from her palm into the demon’s face. Samhain roared in agony when the dust covered his body and eyes.
“I exorcise thee; creature of the damned, by Him Who hath created thee and gathered thee together into one place so that the dry land appeared that thou uncover all the deceits of the Enemy and that thou cast out from thee all the impurities and uncleanness of the Spirits of the World of Phantasm…”
There it was what he had been longing for.
The end…
“No, how…could you just let it end…” Mia spoke in a whisper as she tried to sit up. Her body was weakened considerably, and Sam, the real boy who was standing by her side only visible to her, just watched her silently.
“It’s what I wanted, Mia. This…” Sam paused, as the demon wailed in pain, the salt and water tearing away at its existence. During one of the screams, Samhain turned to stare at them in anger.
“This is far from over! I will have you my darling angel. You will never forget me, for I will always be there etched in the far corners of your mind, taunting you and waiting. Waiting for the day you…” A snap and a fracture, his eyes widened in pain, and then the ominous words came to a full stop when his body gave out. It turned to nothing but ash, as Lynn finished the blessing. His eyes forever fixated on Mia, remained that way till the very end.
“So they may harm me not, through the virtue of God Almighty Who liveth and reigneth unto the Ages of the Ages. Amen…”
“So long, Mia, sorry that you had to meet me…” The words pierced her roughly, and before she knew it, her tear stricken eyes shifted to find Sam, but saw no one.
He had finally passed on.
It was then that Mia gave out in exhaustion as she cried herself into unconsciousness.
They had won, it was their victory and Exsavior heaved a sigh of relief as Lynn ran quickly to Mia’s side. Isabel smiled to herself in joy while watching David with nothing but care in her eyes.
A small moment of satisfaction had been granted to them, until Locke broke their bliss.
He landed roughly on the ground and stared at his bracelet in utter dismay, the illusion crumbling to nothing. Something had finally happened with the piece of jewelry. His skin color left him, and the fear that adorned his expression was enough to scare any one of them.
There was one word that escaped his lips before he vanished, “Margery…”
And it sent a powerful dread to course through Exsavior when he heard it.
~~~~********~~~~~~~~********~~~~~~~~********~~~~~~~~********~~~~~~~~********~~~~~~~~******
The shining rays of light that pierced through the window made her flinch slightly. Her eyes were still lagging from the sleep, but she forced herself to stay awake. It was finally over.
Or was it really?
Olivia did not have a clue as to what had happened, or if her Master succeeded in freeing his comrades.
‘Maybe he died…’ She played with that idea, but immediately cursed herself. No matter how hard she tried, Olivia could not bring herself to forsake Ezekias. The fact was she loved him; he had saved her from a prejudiced world, where no one accepted her, and gave meaning to her life.
Why would she hate him for that?
Shutting the curtains, her gaze returned to the object that brought on the thoughts of said man. It was a rectangular wooden encasement, an object of antiquity with a mundane aspect, and it stood crookedly on one corner atop of the living room sofa. Upon first sight, one would only see it as junk, but further speculation contradicted the notion. The frame had sigils etched into the wooden material, and it was that which Olivia found uncanny. As a master symbolist, the witch felt intrigued at not being able to decipher them.
‘Master Ezekias will most likely want to know about this,’ Olivia thought.
“So, are you still mad?” A familiar voice broke her thoughts, and when she lifted her stare from the object, she saw Melisse in her casual clothes—short sweats and a comfortable yellow top. It was obvious that she was planning to go for a jog or maybe inspect her neighborhood.
Olivia wanted to say yes, but the truth was—after chatting for so long with the girl—there was no way she could feel angry. They had bonded.
“Well let’s see, you approached me only because you knew I had vast knowledge on architecture in hopes that maybe I could decipher that thing for you. Do you think I’d be ok with that?”
Melisse smiled sheepishly. “Well to be fair, your boyfriend punched me in the face after I saved you guys, so call it even?” Her light tone surprised Olivia. She expected her to apologize again, so the comment eased her.
Feigning a sigh of frustration, Olivia sat down next to the object and spoke, “I guess we can call it even.”
Melisse laughed and joined her. “Hey, have you seen my brother?” In a change of topic, Olivia recalled the jumpy awkward child. When she encountered him for the first time, he had almost screamed in fear. Olivia did not know what it meant, but something was definitely not right with that boy.
“He left moments ago for school,” she answered, but it only made Melisse frown.
“I hope he didn’t see any of those, what did you call them, Aber—Aberhants!” Her voice sounded excited, as if she had just excelled at a difficult task.
Olivia smiled but cast her gaze to the ground. Melisse was a nice girl and she knew about her Wiccan side, but there was much more to her story than just that. It caused Olivia grief, every time she would ease up and laugh with Melisse, it only served to remind her of reality.
“Yea, the Aberhants…In any case, I’m sure the Covenant zealots purged his memory of them.” She spoke hastily, trying to avoid the subject of the monsters.
“Right, that golden light, if it wasn’t for your spell, we both would have forgotten.” Melisse nudged Olivia in a small congratulatory gesture, which only served to embarrass her further.
“It was nothing.” She paused, when her eyes fell on the object again. “So, how did you come across such a weird item?”
This time, it was Melisse’s expression that had died. “It’s a long complicated story.” There’s was hesitancy in her voice, and when she appeared to have silenced, she began her tale.
“Seventeen years ago, a meteor fell on the other side of the hemisphere. A small town named Arkaim, received the most damage. I was a reporter at the time, living in Saint-Germain, and of course, my ambition drove me to the sight before anyone else got there. It was a long almost ten-hour journey.” The pause that fell over Melisse reflected just how vivid the memories were in her head.
“What did you see?” Olivia asked in genuine curiosity.
“Everyone was too busy with the city, and no one remembered the meteorite that fell a few miles away from it. Naturally, I went to take a look. What I found…” Her eyes glimmered in recollection. “It was a coffin made of pure light—the most beautiful thing I have ever seen, and from it, I heard a voice. There was a person inside.” In one instant, Melisse’s eyes became soft and her smile tender. “His voice was deep and soft at the same time, like he sang the words every time he spoke. It was so unreal.” She was staring out into the window, but it was not the outside that she was seeing, Olivia could only assume it was that day.
“So, is this object linked to that coffin?” Olivia hesitated before bringing her back to reality; Melisse nodded in response.
“Yea, I hid the coffin so that no one would find it. The man inside had no recollection of who or what he was, and after sometime, I realized that the object must have been some sort of key, but…” Another pause, it almost made Olivia swallow a lump that had formed in her throat.
“I could not touch both objects at the same time. It must have been because of my succubus bloodline. So, one thing led to another, and the Covenant eventually found the coffin. I had no choice but to flee with the key.” Melisse was now in tears as her hands gripped her pants for comfort. “I left him there—alone, scared and with no knowledge of anything.”
Olivia did not know how to react, but somewhere in her head, she remembered what Conan would do in such a situation. Slowly, as if in fear, Olivia put one hand on hers and squeezed it tight.
“You loved that man didn’t you?” It was a whisper of a question.
Melisse nodded. “I did, but after all of that, I pushed further and found Terry.” She chuckled slightly, while wiping her tears. “The thing is, Terry was born in Arkaim and his mother died from the meteor. Somehow, I know that the coffin is related to Terry’s abilities.”
Surprise overcame Olivia now as she moved back to look at her face directly. “You mean, your little brother was in that city? How did you bring him here?”
“The Covenant must have known something about that coffin, because after I put him in medical care, they did a thorough search in the infancy area. To this day, I can’t seem to connect the two.” The statement made both girls pensive. “The only reason I still have Terry is because I fled to Oakhurst. The farthest region I could think of. There I put him for adoption, and claimed him as a legal guardian once I was old enough.”
“So this box is the key many answers.” Olivia grazed its old surface with her hand, trying to incite anything, but failing miserably.
“Terry can see Immortals; he doesn’t know what I am, because I don’t feed on men anymore, so my powers have considerably weakened. However, I won’t be able to keep this charade forever. I need to get answers and help him with whatever I can. It’s the only way I can redeem myself for leaving that man.” Melisse’s eyes were fierce, as she pleaded with her.
Olivia felt her heart drop; there were so many implications in aiding this girl. Nevertheless, she was not just a girl anymore to her—she was her friend.
“I will help with whatever I can.” She smiled and Melisse hugged her with enthusiasm. Olivia felt weird, but returned the gesture, a tiny smile adorning her lips.
It had been quite some time since she last had a friend outside of Ezekias’s circle.
‘One thing is certain now, Master must not know of this girl.’