Demon Seer

by Kurtis Eckstein

  “Oh!” He exclaimed, before Miriam quickly shushed him for being too loud. “Sorry. I just can’t believe I’m really growing horns already.”

  She smiled at him tenderly. “Yes, love. I really am looking forward to your new body. You’ll get taller too.”

  “I will?” He asked, his eyes widening slightly in surprise.

  She nodded. “Probably not as tall as my brother. He and Ragnarok are exceptionally tall even among our kind, but it’s still normal to grow larger. I probably would have been much shorter than you as a human.”

  The fact that he and Miriam were basically the same height had never bothered Michael, but he realized he did like the idea of being larger than her.

  She then leaned in and kissed him gently on the forehead, causing him to blush again. “Now eat. The closer you are to being done with your transformation, the closer you are to being safe from Ragnarok.”

  As Michael continued to finish off the second chicken, he listened to Miriam’s internal thoughts. This normally doesn’t happen until after a full day has passed – maybe the internal bleeding has helped accelerate the process…Or possibly the adrenaline rush from dying? She then directed her thoughts to him. You really are special, my love. Your mind opened up almost immediately compared to everyone else, and you’re already growing horns after barely half a day. Not to mention you’re still functioning despite the pain. I’ve never heard of anyone being able to even restrain themselves from screaming constantly, much less hold a conversation and move around.

  Well… Michael thought as he finished the second chicken and Miriam handed him the last one. My sister is psychic, which might be the reason for the mind thing…although that still doesn’t explain why the physical part is happening faster for me. I wonder if me concentrating on it all night really did make a difference.

  “Maybe.” She agreed out loud, as she leaned in closer to him.

  Miriam continued speaking, but Michael suddenly stopped hearing what she was saying. He was abruptly focusing on the chicken he was eating, feeling compelled to imagine what it was like when it was alive.

  The bird tried to fly, but it could only reach so high. An invisible barrier prevented it from soaring through the sky – not from above, but from within. It couldn’t overcome what it inherently was.

  Desperate to fly, it climbed a cliff and leapt off without hesitation. The wind instantly caught its wings – it was free!

  But then, inevitably, gravity had its effect and the ground loomed closer and closer. Desperation consumed it again. It flapped as hard as it could, but to no avail. It was bound by the restrictions placed on it by fate.

  “No!”

  The bird spoke. “I won’t give up! I’ll be more than I am!”

  The bird struggled against everything that held it down, but still drew closer to its inevitable fate below.

  “I won’t give up!” It cried out again, looking up at the sky and beating its wings even harder. Yet even still, it fell closer – now mere feet from the dirt.

  Defeated, it cried out to the sky. “Please! Please accept me!” It begged.

  Then, as if the sky had answered, suddenly its body turned grey and metallic – lifeless.

  It took off from a runway, quickly gaining altitude. It soared through the sky as a contradiction to what it inherently was – lifeless and heavy – defeating the gravity that threatened to pull it down. The plane flew away from the city it had left, only to begin turning around – circling back towards where it had originated. A dark crimson fluid began oozing from the cockpit windows, drenching the aircraft in bloody streaks.

  Someone from within the plane screamed, as the metal body began twisting like a screw. Then, like a rag being wrung out, blood began to rain from the aircraft before it abruptly erupted into a ball of fire, consuming the city below. Millions died instantly, while those on the edge of the city slowly began to bleed to death.

  A woman suddenly lay before him on the ground, reaching her hand up in desperation. “Please,” she whispered, trying to take his hand, but he was too far away. Red tears slowly filled her eyes and brimmed over, sliding down her cheeks. “Please…”

  Her hand dropped and the life inside her vanished. A sweet smell abruptly filled the air, filling his lungs with a familiar scent.

  Michael was suddenly aware that Miriam’s red eyes were barely an inch away from his. She was straddling his lap, holding his face, intently watching him both physically and mentally. It was her warm breath that was filling his lungs, although he wasn’t sure why she was kissing him – not that he was complaining. She was welcome to kiss him whenever she wanted.

  She pulled away and answered his unasked question in a whisper. “You had stopped breathing.” She said concerned.

  “Oh…” He blinked at her, finding himself uncontrollably focused on the pressure of her weight on his lap. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled himself closer to her body. “Sorry…” He felt bad that he was still being such an inconvenience.

  “Don’t be,” she whispered. She understood what he was thinking, so she corrected him. “When you’re fully like me, you won’t need to breathe anymore. So, these visions won’t be a problem.”

  “Oh!” He pulled away to look at her, quickly lowering his voice. “I had forgotten about that.”

  She gently began caressing the side of his face, examining every feature as if she intended to memorize it all over again. He could see what she was thinking – it was the same thing on his mind. The vision – it was different than the previous ones he had seen. This one came with a sensation of where and when. It was happening soon, in a city less than a hundred miles away.

  She was the first to suggest it. “I think we should try to stop it from happening. I don’t want to put you in danger, but if we can’t stop this then we definitely can’t stop Ragnarok from killing you.”

  He knew she was right. He had felt helpless in the vision, but he knew they could do something about it in reality. Miriam could fly after all. So, he fully agreed with her that they should try. However, he decided to play the devil’s advocate briefly.

  “Wouldn’t it be bad if you exposed yourself though?”

  She smiled at him. “I can still make myself look human, love. We just need to make sure we destroy any cameras.”

  Right. He thought to himself. He knew planes at least had cameras near the cockpit, so the pilot could see who was at the door. However, there was also the problem with cell phones.

  “Can I use your computer?” Miriam asked suddenly.

  Confused, he nodded. “Of course.” You don’t have to ask. What’s mine is yours now.

  She smirked at him before jumping off his lap and opening his laptop on the desk. He found himself wishing he had teased her first, immediately missing her sitting on him. However, as she began typing away he was unexpectedly surprised that his computer hadn’t been confiscated by the military.

  Actually, now that he was looking around, it didn’t appear they had taken anything when they had searched the house. Something about it seemed unsettling to him. Would Miriam have noticed if they had planted bugs?

  Michael continued to glance around but didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. Everything seemed relatively untouched. Miriam heard his thoughts.

  Your sister checked too. Neither of us noticed anything unusual in the house.

  He nodded, focusing back on her. What are you looking up?

  The blood in your dream coming from the front… She began. It made me wonder if the pilots will be dead when we get there. We could just leave now, but if they are dead already, then I can’t learn how to fly the plane from their minds.

  You’re going to land the plane?! He asked, shocked.

  She glanced at him then. If you want to save those people, then someone has to do it. Obviously, I’m not going to if at least one of the pilots is fine.

  B-But you’ve never flown a plane before…right?

  She smirked at him again. Nope. But I
’ll be just as good as the pilot, if I can peer into his mind.

  Wow. Michael leaned back against the wall. That’s convenient.

  Miriam didn’t respond for a few seconds, concentrating on what she was looking at, before continuing. You know…I didn’t even know your language until a few days ago. I learned it in an instant after peering into someone’s mind.

  His eyes widened in shock. Oh…I didn’t realize that… He was then quiet for a few minutes, trying to imagine what that would be like – to be able to learn anything instantly from others, including an entire language.

  Who was it? He wondered absentmindedly. He wasn’t sure why he had asked – he knew it was probably the woman she had killed, but the question popped into his mind anyway.

  Actually, no. Miriam corrected him. I wanted to learn more about you too, so it was your friend Riley whose mind I invaded. I did it while she was asleep – gently of course, so she wouldn’t wake up. He just stared at her stunned again, so she continued. That’s why I had some fun with her at lunchtime that first day. I knew she could handle it…and I was intentionally trying to appear unfriendly, so I mimicked what she perceived as a threatening girl. She is sort of my rival after all.

  Michael was surprised she would consider Riley as her competition. But then he remembered that his friend had been his potential love-interest only a few days ago. Although, as close as he was to her, she didn’t have a chance at competing against Miriam – at least not in his eyes.

  But I didn’t know that at the time. Miriam reminded him. I can’t read your mind, so I had no idea how you really felt. And part of me wanted her to win, since I knew I couldn’t be with you, even though I planned on meeting you anyway. So, I was both happy and annoyed that you might have someone else.

  Michael reached out with his mind to gently touch her consciousness. I’m sorry. I can see now how much worse your struggle has been. I’ve only been dealing with wanting you for a few days. But you’ve wanted me for so much longer, while believing there was no way for you to have me.

  Unsurprisingly, Miriam didn’t disagree with him. There was no point in denying it, because they could both see how much grief she had suffered in the last eighteen years. Instead, she silently acknowledged him and went back to focusing on the computer screen.

  Then, after a few more minutes, she sighed and stood up. “Ready?”

  “Oh, umm, yeah.” He was about to stand when she scooped him up in her arms again and helped him out the window. “You’re going to let me help, right?” He complained, as he landed on the ground below. “You can’t do everything for me when you’re trying to land a plane.”

  Miriam sighed again as she followed him out and scooped him back up, rapidly ascending into the air. The ground was already thousands of feet below them before she answered. I guess if your body is trying to grow horns already, then you should be physically strong enough to handle any danger posed by humans…

  Good. Michael thought triumphantly. Then you can focus on flying the plane, and I’ll try to deal with anything else that comes up.

  He then thought about the explosion in the vision. Do you think there’s a bomb on it? How would someone even smuggle a bomb on a plane? How would they get it past security?

  I don’t know. She admitted, regarding all his questions. We’ll just have to see what’s going on when we get there.

  Chapter 18: Hijacked

  Despite the distance, the flight to the plane was actually very fast, partially because Miriam could fly faster now that he wasn’t as fragile. Before long, they were flying right above it – they knew it was the right one, because it matched the relative ‘where’ from the vision.

  It was eerie to Michael, seeing it in person, because it confirmed that he really had seen something that was about to happen. He had really seen the future – or at least, hopefully, the possible future.

  They both knew instantly there was a bomb on board, because they could both feel the radiation leaking from the aircraft – it was a nuclear bomb. Michael still couldn’t imagine how someone had managed to get one on the plane.

  Granted, he wasn’t very familiar with bombs, nuclear or otherwise, but he imagined this type must be very large.

  Miriam was searching the mind of a flight attendant inside to assess the situation. It’s a terrorist attack. She explained once she was done. They’ve hijacked the plane. Both pilots have been shot, although I think… She paused as she tried to strain to sense them with her mind. I think they might still be alive, but just barely.

  So, what do we do? He wondered.

  She already had a plan. There are three terrorists. One is in the cockpit, while two are in the cabin with the passengers – one at the front and one at the back. We can open the door from the outside – there are no locks on it since obviously no one would normally be able to open it while it was moving. However, I can’t just open it or else anyone not buckled up might get sucked out. I’ll have to open it slowly to let it depressurize. People might pass out, but it will re-pressurize as soon as the door is closed again.

  Michael chimed in then, not wanting to be left out. Okay, and then once we are inside you can take care of the guy in the front and break into the cockpit. I’ll take care of the guy at the back.

  Are you sure? She seemed concerned again.

  He nodded. You need to learn how to fly the plane before the pilots die. But then, what should be do about the bomb?

  I’m not sure. She admitted. We’ll figure that out once we are on board. She then waited for a second to make sure he was mentally ready, eyeing him carefully as she continued. Alright, let’s do this then.

  She quickly dropped down the side of the plane in the air, hovering next to the door. She was flying sideways with unmoving wings, her black hair blowing wildly. Michael readjusted himself and wrapped his legs around her waist, so that her arms would be free, clinging to her like a monkey.

  From his vantage point, he saw a little girl watching them with wide eyes out her window. He knew Miriam was already projecting her illusion, but seeing anyone outside the plane at this height would still be alarming. He tried to motion with his hand for her to put on a mask, as Miriam grabbed the handle and pulled the door open slightly.

  A gush of air immediately threatened to force the door all the way open – no human would have been strong enough to prevent it from doing so. However, Miriam wasn’t human, so it remained where she held it. Within thirty seconds, the plane had depressurized enough for her to safely open it all the way, before they stepped inside and closed the door behind them.

  Panic was thick in the air.

  Michael was surprised that he could smell it, as if it had its own tangible odor. Miriam quickly disappeared from his side to attack an unseen enemy around the corner. She then was at the door to the cockpit, forcing it open with inhuman strength.

  I saved the one in the back for you, love. She said as she dashed inside. He could hear someone’s body drop to the ground inside the cockpit before he could even react.

  Moving to action, Michael quickly dodged around the corner to see that the unconscious man on the floor, dressed in normal clothes, had his arms tied behind his back. Miriam had ripped off one of the seatbelts and secured it around the man’s elbows tightly.

  Looking at the floor, Michael was shocked to see a small gun was next to the man, indicating that the bomb wasn’t the only illegal thing they had smuggled on the plane. He realized this type of attack could have only been accomplished if they had procured a lot of help from the inside the airline company. Otherwise, he didn’t see how it was possible.

  As Michael looked up, he saw all the panicked faces with yellow masks looking back at him. There was just one other person standing in the aisle, about halfway down – a man holding a knife-like shank made from glass.

  However, the man was too preoccupied with breathing in one of the masks attached to ceiling to have noticed that his comrade was tied up on the floor. There was a woman in the seat next
to him who appeared to be unconscious, likely since the terrorist had taken her only source of oxygen for himself.

  Without time to spare, Michael quickly began bolting down the aisle, much faster than he anticipated, and he body-slammed the guy before the man barely had time to raise his weapon.

  As Michael heard a few of his enemy’s ribs crack from the impact, the guy’s body went flying down the aisle, landing almost at the back of plane. When he didn’t budge, Michael quickly grabbed the mask he had been holding and slipped it over the woman’s face.

  The cabin was already re-pressurizing, but he figured any extra oxygen would help her recover. He was surprised when he realized the thin air hadn’t made him light-headed at this height. He knew he still needed to breathe, but it seemed his body was already adjusting to a lack of oxygen.

  He also realized that Miriam had flown much lower before he had been bitten, which is why it hadn’t been a problem then.

  As he began walking down the aisle to tie up his enemy, he saw a teenage girl about his age pull out her phone and hold it up towards him.

  Great, just what we need.

  He quickly snatched it from her and then held it up, crushing it in his fingers. Surprisingly, rather than complain, the girl sunk back in her seat in fear. She had a sticker on her shirt, with the name Madison written on it, likely forgotten from some youth event she had attended earlier that morning.

  Turning away from her, he then spoke to everyone else, while letting the pieces of metal and plastic fall to the floor. “There is a bomb on this plane! Your phones might detonate it, so unless you all want to die, I suggest you turn them off NOW!” He then looked around to make sure no one else had a phone out, before continuing towards the terrorist he had knocked unconscious.

  There was a vacant seat near the back, where he assumed one of the terrorists must have been sitting. So, like Miriam had done, he ripped off the seatbelt and rolled the guy on his stomach to tie him up.