The Spirit Door to Centralia creaked open. Apprehensively, I tugged on the sleeves of my black Nysmic frock and took a big deep breath. My insides fluttered in both dread and anticipation. I wished Rosario could've taught me how to draught but we needed time to heal and rest our bodies. And believe me, Vincent did not miss any chance to tell me off how reckless I was to sustain such injuries.
"Shall we?" he said, gesturing for me to take his arm as though we were doing a 1960's stroll under the moonlight instead of hunting wraiths.
With an involuntary smirk, I looped my arm around his, doing a little curtsy.
"My pleasure."
Then we both jumped into the door, fell into dark deep space for six seconds and suddenly did a high-dive into something hard and bumpy. The blackness was immediately replaced by gray and green like someone had just switched the backdrop. I clutched on Vincent while I gasp for breath and blinked the blur from my eyes. Once I got over the dizziness and established my transfer link to Vincent so I would not attract wraiths, I opened my eyes to see that we were in the middle of the road.
The moon was waning into a thin line and the absence of stars in the deep midnight sky told me that winter was near. Meaning, I might have to leave this world... and Vincent soon.
My eyesight immediately adjusted to the absence of light-one of the perks of being a familiar. There were huge cracks on the pavement, that I had to watch my every step so as not to get my boots caught.
Not too far away from us was a big smoldering sinkhole in the roadside with slabs of overturned concrete lining the edge of the pit. Soon, I could see the souls lining up to it. They were human in form, with pale translucent bodies and faces that disappeared and reformed as they moved.
Randomly interspersed with the crowd of souls were a few blotches of iridescent pulsing lights. It reminded me of those shimmering lights I saw as a soul when I died-the ones I used to find a Spirit Door and crossover.
What are those? I asked Vincent through the communication link by way of the Diviner's link.
"Strays. What else?" he whispered distractedly.
No. That! I pointed to the lights but he just answered me with a what-are-you-talking-about look. Immediately, I dropped the matter and focused on the mission. "So basically, what do we do?"
"Kick wraith butt and be awesome," he replied grinning. For some reason, I had the impression that he was imitating Amyr's cool disposition. "We'll scout all the main Spirit Gates in here while Vlad and the other guys cover the northern part. Don't worry. Legions of Wraiths hardly ever come by at these parts. If needed, we can open doors for those souls."
Vigilantly, we half-jogged half-sprinted sticking to the road as much as possible. Sinkholes were much easier to spot here than off the road. Underbrush grew everywhere. Houses and buildings looked dilapidated, decaying after all those years of neglect. Shutters and doors were either gone or hanging lopsidedly from the hinges, creaking eerily with the wind. Occasionally, a small animal would scurry away from us, rustling the bushes. Other than that, the night was as silent as a graveyard. I thought people were just exaggerating when they called Centralia a ghost town. Well, they weren't.
Vincent led the way to a rundown house in the middle of an abandoned neighborhood. Before vaulting over the once white-washed wooden fences, I took a glance back at the empty street. At the side of my eye, I thought I caught a movement. Something that was clearly not an animal. With the hairs at the back of my neck standing up, I looked again but saw nothing.
"Something wrong?" Vincent asked.
"I thought I saw..." I shook my head. "Nothing."
I followed Vincent into the house's yard. Dried leaves, elbow-high grass and thorny bushes had overrun the lawn. This particular two-tiered house might have been white or beige once. But now, I couldn't really tell its difference from all the other houses-gray and stark and sad.
We reached the backyard and I was stunned with what I saw. In front of us was a smoking sinkhole nearly as large as the huge gaping pit in front of the Sinclair mansion-a Spirit Gate. The air over the hole shimmered with the heat and energy as though it was some kind of gateway to hell. Hundreds of Strays were nudging each other to reach the Gate but it was as though something was preventing them from going in. As far as I could see, there was no hindrance.
A couple of wraiths hovered from above. I started to flick my wrist to summon my Cataclyst but Vincent stopped me and shook his head. The wraiths skirted the edges of the Gate as though testing if it was safe. When nothing happened, they drifted closer to the Strays who dispersed in panic. Soon, the lines were already a chaotic jumble of confused souls.
Cursing under his breath, Vincent snatched my hand and pulled me down closer to him. We crouched, using the undergrowth to hide ourselves.
"Strange. Wraiths don't normally wander this close to a Gate," he whispered, his eyes frantically scrutinizing the area. "If they go this close, they normally get pulled in."
We waited for a couple minutes, watching in horror as the wraiths harassed and sucked what little energy they could wring out from the Strays. The souls weren't harmed gravely. For all I care, they were already dead. But the torment and agony in their pale lifeless faces gave me the urge to jump out of our hiding spot and save them. While that happened, I saw something flit in the darkness of the backyard, like a cape or a cloak. I couldn't be sure.
In a split second, Vincent shot out from our hiding place and draughted to the road, clearly in pursuit of something.
"Vincent!" I shouted, only to be answered by a nagging silence.
He was gone.
Soon I could hear the earsplitting shrieks of the wraiths as they hovered over me. The transfer link was still there but it was slowly fading. Vincent had left me. Fantastic.
"Two versus one? Too easy," I muttered ironically as I flicked my wrist. In a heartbeat, I was able to summon my Cataclyst. When I looked up at the pitch black sky, ten or more wraiths were already heading to my direction. I bit my lip and braced myself mumbling, "I have got to shut up more."
Breathing hard, I grabbed the first wraith I could put my Cataclyst on, smashed it on the ground and pitched it down into the dark bottomless pit. The wraiths approached me with caution, hovering as their tattered cloak-like bodies floated like really ugly black jelly-fish.
Three of the wraiths drifted above my head and dove straight at me. Soon, the other creatures would realize that the Spirit Gate no longer presented any threat to them and that would be the end of me. I had to act and fast.
I rocked back and forth on the balls of my feet and jumped up, catching on the eaves of the roof. Feverishly, I hauled myself up the ridges, the tiles slipping out of their places as I desperately raced to the top. While watching out for the wraiths, I took a three hundred sixty degree sweep of the area. The place was as dead as a desert. No Vincent. The thought of being alone brought my heart to a hustle but I tried to clear my thoughts and... Thoughts! Of course he could hear me.
Vincent! Where are you?! I demanded in panic through the Diviner's link.
No answer. I tried calling again but this time, all I could make out were a series of images flashing inside my head. I realized I was getting a little of what Vincent was seeing. Everything turned into a whorl of gray and black I could barely make out anything. He was draughting.
Through his eyes, I could see someone ahead, running with a speed that matched Vincent's. It looked like a young boy, with a wiry built, clad in a black tux under a long hooded cloak. I couldn't really be sure since his face was covered in bandages so that only a pair of silvery-gray eyes shone uncannily in the dark when he glanced back on Vincent.
I'll be back. Vincent's gentle voice echoed inside my head. I would never have thought his mind was this peaceful, just hearing his voice made me want to close my eyes and listen.
I've got just one order. Stay alive.
Then the communication link was cut off. So was the Transference link. I tried to call him. What happened? Was he hurt? Panic started to rise within me.
Just then, a wraith swooped down on me, its horrendous smell wafting to my nose as I grabbed it around the neck with my Cataclyst. The creature opened its haphazardly stitched mouth, letting out a blood-curdling screech as it clawed on my face. I tightened my grip on its neck and smashed the creature against an attic window. It stopped thrashing. Broken glass riveted on its back while a few gave me a gash on my chin.
The rest of the wraiths howled menacingly at me. They didn't seem to like it when their friends were being used as window openers. Four of the creatures lunged at me altogether. I only had time to hurl the dead wraith in my hand to one of them before I bounded from the roof. Screaming and flailing my hands, I bypassed the yard and landed on the street, hardly avoiding the fences which ripped the seam of my skirt.
"Ugh, holy-" I cursed furiously. If ever I made it out alive, I would definitely hear from Mei about that.
Glancing over my shoulder as I made a run for it, I saw the wraith I just hit lurch itself up again. I made a quick head count. Six of them were in pursuit of me. The other remaining three just lingered higher, perhaps waiting until I tire and become an easier target.
I tried to think. If they attacked all at once, I wouldn't last a minute with just my Cataclyst. I did not know if it was possible to summon my scythe while maintaining a Cataclyst but I just had to try.
Taking harsh breaths, I touched the mark on my neck and channeled my Bind. I willed it to take a concrete form in my right hand. For a while, nothing happened. The wraiths were closing in. I tried to concentrate harder.
Bind! I shouted in my head as I searched for it.
When I found the faint flickering glow inside me, I reached out to it and harnessed the energy until it pulsed violently in my right hand. A spine-tingling frost engulfed a good two yards where I stood. The wraiths hesitated for a while but before they could recover and launch an attack, a long black staff had already formed in my hand, as cold as ice and as black as the night.
Two of the wraiths dove to my spot. I ducked low to avoid the first wraith, tackled the second to the ground and thrust my staff right through its head. Before I could yank my staff from the seemingly lifeless wraith, the first one swooped down and hit me hard on the head. I slammed on the ground, feeling more wraiths looming over me. Gritting my teeth, I hauled myself up and lowered my stance to keep from staggering.
I saw four wraiths veering to my direction. Cursing, I rolled on the ground, caught one wraith with my Cataclyst and flung it screeching to its ugly friends. I crouched low and started running really fast, it almost felt like flying. My Cataclyst raked angrily against the road as I did, sending sparks flying around. Gaining momentum, I kicked off the ground and spun my staff in midair, hitting three of the wraiths. Nothing fatal but it was a start. I landed on all fours and saw two of the wraith drop to the ground like dizzy mosquitoes.
That was my chance. While the remaining creatures swooped over me, I ran like hell toward the felled wraiths, keeping my body inclined and letting my hands flail behind me. I felt faster running that way. When I reached one of them, I bashed its skull with my Cataclyst while using my staff to prod the rest of the screeching wraiths away from me.
As I headed to my next target which fell somewhere in the grassy yard, I was knocked over and sent rolling through the rebellious bushes, plowing through the lawn and into the narrow pathway to the backyard. My vision blurred but I struggled to get up, shaking the bits of dried leaves that clung on me. The number of scratches didn't bother me much anymore for they seemed to heal almost instantly as the air was suddenly filled with thick energy, the smell of sweet flowers and fresh grass which reminded me of Nirvana. The sensation was alluring, the force beckoning me to come closer. I realized that it was coming from the Spirit Gate behind the house. It was healing my wounds and calling to me.
As if in a trance, I felt the strong urge to come closer. The feeling felt wonderful as though I would not have to worry about anything anymore. As though nothing bad could happen. I needed to go there. I needed to see what was inside. It must be lovely. It must be paradise.
Thump!
A wraith smashed against me. That was all I needed to go back to reality. Fighting the Gate's calls and the pain in my chest, I wedged my knee against the wraith's malformed chest and kicked it away from me. I blinked the spots that hopped around my eyes and started to get up when I realized that I was completely surrounded with my back against the wall. When I looked at my left hand, my Cataclyst was gone. It must have faltered when I was hit.
Seven wraiths to one. I didn't have time or the energy to summon my Cataclyst back so I stuck with my stick. It might've been a little funny if I wasn't two inches away from dying.
Warily, the wraiths drifted lower to me. I lashed my staff to their direction. Four of them recoiled while the other three screeched terrifyingly like a possessed mutant pig-trio. A shudder ran down my spine. The sounds they made were messing with my head and for a moment, I caught myself wanting to screech back to them. Something in me wanted to. Something that gnawed on me from the inside, wanting to claw its way out.
My head pounded I could barely open my eyes. The screeching got louder as the other four joined the others and I found myself answering them with my own bloodcurdling shrieks. I shook my head, eyes widening in horror.
Why weren't they attacking?
A violent jolt made me drop to my knees. It was as if my head was just hit by an invisible wrecking ball. I couldn't move. I felt like throwing up and for a while, the world magnified and whirled around me. Everything turned blood red. Another wraith-like scream tore through my throat as my body twitched involuntarily with an unbearable pain. It felt like I was being torn in half.
Was it the Bind? No. If I was bound, I would've heard a voice nagging at me about how I had been a bad familiar. This was different. Less painful but more terrifying. Then I remembered what Amyr told me a few days ago.
"You might turn into one of them, yes." And by them he meant the wraiths. Why now?!
Inside me, I could feel an entity. Shrieking with hate and thrashing wildly to get out. My hands convulsed and moved on its own as if someone else was controlling it.
Aramis! Can you hear me? Vincent's comforting tone reverberated in my mind. Answer me. Aramis... Please say something...
My eyes started to tear up. It looked like I could not even follow the only order he gave me.