“I am sorry to hear that.” I said.
“I’m not! I’d kill him again and again if given the same chance!” she scowled. Flames poured from her heart nearly burning my hand. The woman was not stable, I needed to be getting on my way.
“I wish you health and healing.” I said.
“No one has ever shown me that much kindness before.”
“Come again,” I said.
“You wished me health. What is it that you want from me?”
“Nothing,” I said.
“Aren’t you going to torture me?”
“No, I'm just looking for my friend. I found an abandoned village a while back. I learned that the village leader was moving his people to this valley. I'm just trying to find them.” I said.
The woman hesitated for a moment. “There was a group that passed through here not long ago. They tussled with the hunters. Some of them escaped while others were captured. The woman being thrown into the fire is one of the unfortunate ones.”
“Which way did they go?” The woman did not respond but pointed the way. Skin hung from her wrists. Small portions of bone shone through. They were blackened and decayed. I nodded, turned, and ran.
I ran as far as I could before stopping to rest. My body was exhausted. I felt physical pains of hunger but fortunately was not required to eat. The spirit body needs no nourishment, only time to recover. I walked along, sticking close to the worn paths but far enough away to remain hidden from hunters. Fatigue was eminent. The weight of being lost in hell and the constant battle to keep panic at bay was beating me down. My leg felt like it had caught fire as if one of the vile serpents had bitten me. I reached down to scratch when the charm fell to the ground. It was red hot. The bottom end pointed forward. Maybe it was a sign of Allison's love calling to me. In hell you'll believe just about anything to keep hope alive.
I stumbled over some rocks and noticed that the path went down into a smaller valley. From atop the cliff I could see a rugged looking shack with an eerie red glow behind it. Maybe there were more people like the women I meet living there. Maybe the devil lived there. Confliction ran through my mind as I worked my way towards the shack. There was only one way to find out.
Chapter 12
The smell leaking from the shack was more putrid they anything I had yet encountered. The shack suffered from centuries of neglect. The wood was rotted and warped. Shutters hung loosely off of the windows. No light came from inside, only blackness. I walked around back and found an unlocked cellar door. The door swung easily open and revealed stairs that lead into an abyss. The stairs rattled, but shook less than my courage as I descended them.
The atmosphere became darker and colder with each step downward. I descended three flights of stairs until I took a step into nothingness, screaming as I fell hard into eternal darkness. I don’t know how long I fell before hitting solid ground. My body bounced but I wasn't hurt, just shaken. I sat up to look around when evil shot through me. The vibration was different from the terror I felt above, this was far worse. I choked even though my spirit body did not require air. I dragged myself over to a wall and pulled my body to a ledge. I peered into more darkness, this time I could see bottom. Horror gripped me. Four dark hooded figures stood gathered in a circle. They appeared to be discussing something important, and oddly enough, meditating.
Low soft chanting rose from the bottom. I searched the room for a way out. There was nothing. No way up. No way down. No way left. No way right. I was enclosed on a ledge with no apparent escape. I dug my fingernails into my leg in an attempt to break the negative thoughts ramming my brain. I crawled to look over the ledge, afraid of what I might see. Doom embraced me. I looked down into the very face of the figure that once stood in my bedroom. It appeared stronger. It’s evil intensified. Hatred illuminated from it’s deep red eyes. We both stood frozen for a moment, until it unleashed a fierce growl, signaling the start of the hunt. They're coming for you! Run!
Walls surrounded me on all sides, trapping me in violence and fear. I ran in a circle around the ledge, the dark figures closing in. Jump. I placed my hands on the wall and flung my body over the ledge. My fingers unclenched and felt the frozen grip of evil as it grabbed my wrist and held me dangling over the ledge. My wrist snapped and popped sending extended screams of agony echoing against the dingy walls. The dark figure’s grip was tight and secure, the pain excruciating. “Let me go!” I screamed as it bore into my broken wrist, squeezing harder each time it pulled me closer to the ledge. My stomach constricted to vomit but nothing came out. The dark figure picked up my body like it was weightless and threw me against the brick wall of the cellar, plunging me into merciful oblivion.
Beaten, broken, shattered. These were the thoughts that engraved themselves into my being when I regained consciousness in a dungeon holding cell. My arms and legs screamed white hot with pain. My shoulder, which took the brunt of the force, was completely numb. The courage to look at my wrist could not be found, but the searing pain told me of its fate. I laid in silence, fading in and out of awareness. I didn’t know how much time had passed. It could have been days, it could be minutes. I didn’t care. I didn’t cry. I just rolled over.
A heap lay motionless in the corner. As my eyes strained, that heap became a person, that person became Allison. It took every ounce of will and determination to drag my broken body to her. I don’t know where it came from. She lay beaten and tortured.
“Allison. It's Will."
Allison moaned and rolled over, our eyes meeting in a place of sorrow. Her face was bloodied and scratched. Her body naked. A pool of blood had formed on the floor between her legs and was slowly drying. My heart ached worse than my mangled body. I laid beside her. Her breath warmed my face. I reached my hand out and placed it in hers. Her soft touch ignited my heart, fading the pain into the background. She was the first to speak.
“Will, you’re not supposed to be here.”
“Neither are you Allison. I came to get you out.” A shameful grin of failure spread across one side of my mouth. She knew I was no knight in shining armor, but didn’t say so. She smiled sweetly, reminding me of that first day in school where I didn’t feel alone.
“You don’t know how good it is to see your face, Will,” Allison whispered as a tear fell from her eye. She didn’t need a knight in shining armor, she needed me. I wanted to be strong. I wanted to tell her she was safe, that I would bring her home, but it was a lie. I told her anyway.
“It’s ok Will. You don’t have to pretend.”
“I’m so sorry Allison. I thought, I wanted to believe. I was going to save you, they told me I could. They told me I was special.”
“You are special. You found me in this forsaken place didn’t you?”
“No,” I said. “You don’t understand, I’m supposed to be a Resurrectionist. I'm supposed to be a hero.”
Allison stopped me cold. “There is no escape. There is no hope. I am so sorry for what I have done. I deserve this.”
“No one deserves this Allison. What happened with Corey, it was a mistake but it can be forgiven."
“That’s impossible,” she said. “I am damned here for eternity. That's what the monsters keep telling me.”
“No Allison! You can't think like that. Don't believe them. They're deceivers, liars.”
My cries fell on deaf ears. Allison was defeated. I rolled over onto my back, grimacing with pain until the iron door to the cell swung open and evil walked in. It’s putrid ugliness was unbearable to look at. A stench of sulfur and dying decay oozed from it’s body, making my stomach churn with acid. It’s head resembled that of a pig and it had three legs that looked like a spider’s. It’s torso was covered in matted black fur. It wore a necklace made of bone that rattled as it let out a shrill screech, unveiling bat like wings that stretched from one wall of the cell to the other. Evil walked directly towards Allison. She was dragged out of the cell kicking and screaming. I tried to stop the abomination but I could not
grab it. I didn’t have the strength. I dragged myself to the iron door when the dark figure who shattered my wrist entered.
"Why are you haunting me!" I cried. It’s features were now visible, there weren’t any. The figure was not as ugly as the beast, but it was no Cinderella. The being stopped and stared at me with the same intense red glowing eyes. It slowly raised its hand and pointed a bony skeleton finger at me. “You want me! Come and get me!” I shouted, channeling my anger at failing to save Allison, daring him to torture me.
The being spoke in a low and narrow voice. “I don’t want to hurt one hair on your head.” He paused for a response but I gave him nothing. He waited patiently, never removing his eerie stare. A minute or two passed until I gave into the pressure and broke the silence.
“What then. What do you want from me?”
“I want to help you save your beloved.”
“You want to help me? Why would a demon want to help me?”
“Please Will, don’t think of me as a demon. The word is so harsh. Think of me as a fellow spiritual seeker.”
“Spiritual, you are far from that.”
“That hurts Will. I pray, meditate, just as you. I just choose to use my spiritual energy in, well, rather alternative ways.”
“What do you mean alternative?” I asked.
“Unlike those idiots, I don’t waste my power serving others!” The dark figure rushed me and stuck it’s blank face into mine before slowly backing away. “The sooner you realize it the sooner you will awaken to your true power. I possess wisdom and knowledge you cannot possibly fathom. Did you know there are over a million things unique to you? That only you can do. I'm moved by you Will. You are willing to enter this realm to save your beloved. That is powerful. I think courage like that should be rewarded. Don’t you?”
I shook my head. “I don’t want any reward from you!”
"We've been after you for a very, very long time. We've been with you since before you were born, molding you. We shaped your mental illness, pulling on your brain so you could one day take your place amongst us as an honored advisor. When your father lost his job and sold the house to move the family to Millersville, you can bet we had a hand it that. We need you. We need a pilot, someone to steer the ship. You're the key that's going to send them home. We felt so honored when you accepted our invitation."
"What invitation?"
"Pyrokinesis is a powerful tool. It worked on your charm. I can teach you."
"I'll pass."
"The scout, behind the rock next to your hiding place during worship. She pointed the way. How do you think you found your beloved so easily? We guided you here."
"That old woman watching the human sacrifice. She works for you."
"First off, you'll show some respect for our worship ceremony. Second, yes, we control her."
"William, we both know that Allison doesn't belong here. She's innocent. Yet, she finds herself bound here by her own actions and self-deprecation.”
“You can thank her father for that.” I said.
“Yes William, I agree. A tyrant of a man. He’s the one that belongs in this cell. He’s the one that belongs on my rack. Not her.” A blood curdling scream come from beyond the cell wall. It was Allison. I winced in pain.
“Then let her go!” I yelled.
“It’s not fair is it Will. Trust me. It’s pains me more to hear her screams that it does you.”
“Liar!” I yelled back. “You freaks get off on this.”
“Why do you think God allows this evil to persist?" The dark figure calmly replied. "I admit that I do get a certain pleasure and enjoyment from my work. I have been honing my craft for years. You wouldn’t understand how important it is to me. But, I too carry out God’s work. You just can’t appreciate it.”
“You’re sick if you believe you are doing God’s work. Just like Mr. Channing believes he is carrying out God’s will.”
The dark figure let out a sadistic laugh. “You don’t get it. Damnation is it’s own cure.”
I stood puzzled. “Are you the one that was with us the night of the Ouija board? Are you part of Sunny's Legion?”
The dark figure tilted it’s hooded head back. I saw no face, only a vapor. “William, I was with you long before that. You know my work intimately, your illness, the very thoughts that have plagued you, that’s my work. You felt cursed by your afflictions. That's good because you're angry. Angry at God, just like us."
Screams of torture filled the room. I swore I heard the sound of a blade tearing Allison's skin. “Take me. Take me instead of her!"
“No deal,” said the dark figure. “Besides, it wouldn’t work. See that silver cord floating behind you.” I hadn’t noticed it before, a thin almost invisible silvery cord floated behind me and entered the middle of my back. “That cord is the link between your soul and your physical body on earth. The fact that it has not been severed tells me you're still alive. I must hand it to you. You traveled a long way from home. You must be working with some powerful magicians.” The being paused and looked at the ground before raising it’s face and staring into mine. “I don’t like powerful magicians!” He growled and shook his skeleton hands in the air. “Another reason why I won’t make a deal with you.”
“Please,” I begged. “Let her go. At least leave her alone.”
“'Fraid not young man. No can do.” The dark figure squealed with delight.
“Please!” I begged harder. I'll do anything.” As soon as the words left my tongue he lunged towards me, cramming his entire bony hand into my chest. A tremendous pain accompanied by freezing cold filled my entire body. I fell to my knees.
“Stand up!” the dark figure commanded. His powerful will forced me to my feet. “I've given you this one-time gift because you have allowed me to enter. Trust me when I say it's a one-time gift. I'm usually not in a giving mood.”
“What gift?” I asked. The dark figure reached out and touched my forehead. I fell unconscious.
Chapter 13
“Will, William! Oh thank God!” A muffled voice sounded in my ear. I moaned and rolled to my side. “Thank God we got you back. After we lost communication we feared the worst. Your body was slowly dying. We did everything we could to keep you alive. Thank God you made it back!”
Justin reached out and grabbed my hand. “No! My wrist!” I screamed, but there was no pain. It was gone. There was no pain anywhere. “My wrist, my body, I was mangled.”
“Try not to move Will, just rest.” Justin assured me. “Pain is a product of the mind. You only thought you were in pain when in reality you couldn’t have felt pain in your comatose state.”
“Thought I was in pain? Justin, let me tell you that what I experienced was most certainly real. The pain I felt, believe me, it was real!”
“I don't doubt your experience. What we perceive or believe we perceive is very real. Have you ever heard of the Phantom Limb Syndrome? Just because we don’t have a body doesn’t mean we don’t feel it.” Justin said.
The room was fuzzy as I laid and stared at the ceiling. "Those flowers." I pointed to a desk that once contained a lush green plant who was now showing signs of dehydration. "You need to water them."
Justin looked over at the plant and then smiled at me. "It's good to have you back, Will."
“I couldn’t save her.” Bitter tears fell in front of everyone. “I failed.” My throat tightened with those two difficult words.
“It’s ok. Will, you did all you could. You did more than anyone could.” Monika rubbed my back and consoled me, as I lost the battle to control my tears. The floodgate of emotion over her death had finally begun to release. Laying in that bed of despair, I sobbed for hours. Monika stayed with me every second. I wouldn’t have had the strength to feel that pain without her. We didn’t speak, she just let me cry. She was a saint.
Later that evening she made me a dinner of dry toast and water. It was the best dinner I had ever tasted. My strength returned to a minimal level. I was gla
d to be free from that experience but felt tremendous guilt for leaving Allison.
“It’s not your fault. There was nothing you could have done. Don’t put the guilt on your shoulders. It’s too much.” Monika reassured me over and over again.
“I just want to say thank you, Monika. Thank you for being with me.” Monika smiled as she dropped me off at home. Memories and visions of Allison being tortured in the cold and lonely place hammered my soul with every waking second. The thought of her father boiled rage beneath my skin each moment he entered my mind.
The ride home was blurry. I stumbled out of the car, my energy drained. Images of rotting teeth flooded my brain just before my mind was about to go blank. Are you kidding me? I crawled to the bathroom to brush my teeth, but don’t remember crawling back. The lights went out as soon as my head hit the pillow.
Light started to peek through my window shades. Exhaustion permeated each cell in my body. I had always been a runner, a runner from my deepest emotions. It was catching up to me. My demons were winning. School was impossible. How could anyone focus with so much angst, so much guilt and fear, so much panic on their minds. A psychotic break was bearing down on me. I had to get out. I skipped Biology and went to my spot. I needed to breathe. I'd been coming here since seventh grade. It was my escape when I felt anxious and needed to quiet my panicked brain. The noise from the school generator provided a soothing hum. The two brick walls it hid behind provided solace.
"What the hell." I could see a white smoky vapor rising up from behind the generator. Probably some Outsider smoking between classes. I should rat them out.
"Dr. Z, what are you doing back here?" The white smoky haze vanished.
"Meditating. I like to come back here between sessions. It's peaceful."
"Um, yeah, I like it too. Well, I'll let you be." I turned to leave.
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