“Will you dance with me?” he asked and I took his hand as a confirmed answer.
There was a stage set up near the back of the carnival; a young female singer controlled the crowd with her pleasing voice. She had big red curls and bounced on her toes, dancing to her own lyrics as if she were one of the cheering fans. The place was packed to the very margins of the overlooking forest, picnic rugs of all colours splashed across the green grass ; clothing and hair twirled, jumped, and bounced like criss-crossing paths of running paint.
We found a small section near the back corner all to ourselves. I took Evan’s hands and we swung each other around as fast as our legs could handle. Everything except his laughing face was spun into an unidentifiable blur. I had to let go first, as I tipped over myself, rolling onto my side. Evan danced on, as if drunk, his arms reaching out to grab a hold of invisible handles before he too tipped over, landing on top of me.
I laughed to the point where my ribs ached and laughed even harder when I couldn’t stop.
“This is so much fun!!” I shouted into the air. The night’s stars sparkled and winked at me, and I winked back at them, giggling wildly.
“I can’t remember the carnival ever being this much fun!” Evan said his eyes, too, focused on the onlooking sky. The music was still loud, the guitars moved through the crowd like ripples of waves heading for land. A peaceful calm rolled over us.
“Thank you Rachael,” Evan whispered in a voice that could melt butter.
“For what?”
“For being perfect.”
The heat in my face curled my lips into a bashful smile. I glanced over at him to find Evan already watching me, a smile just as bashful as my own on his lips and a colour of pink floss burning in his eyes.
I laughed at the sight of it, “The lanterns are making your eyes look pink.”
Evan cocked an eyebrow as we both in unison glanced up. There weren’t any pink lanterns above us, only yellow. I glanced back to double check in case my sugar high was making me delusional. But it was true; his eyes were as pink as blossom petals. He looked almost like Betrayal whose bright pink hues danced at the sight of Evan.
He rubbed at his eyes roughly. The once emerald green colour had been completely engulfed by the pool of soft pink, a colour that burned brighter and brighter with every second that passed. My smile dropped.
“What’s that about? Why... why are they pink?” I asked.
Evan fidgeted with such uneasiness that he looked guilty. He looked away embarrassed and rubbed roughly at his eyes again, trying to bury the colour back into his head.
“I...I don’t know.” He sounded scared which caused me to bolt upright.
“I’m sure I’m just seeing things. I could be mistaken,” I said, but even I couldn’t believe my own lie. His eyes glowed with a vibrant pink, a colour better suited on a flare gun or glow stick. He would surely attract a lot of attention if any one were to see.
Evan stopped shielding his face for a couple of moments, just long enough for me to watch his eyes expand and his lips to drop, moving in a whisper, “Rachael… look.”
I wearily glanced over my shoulder. In the tree’s thick shadows there was no mistaking the type of sinister force lurking between the branches. The distinct gurgling gave her away almost immediately. First to appear were thin scaled claws, and then the seven bony shoulders that carried the seeping face of Mother. She crawled across the trees with her fingertips, the large serpent tail crushing the dried brittle leaves underneath her.
I froze, as did Evan, as she advanced. Her hesitation was short. Once she sniffed out my scent, her head lowered, moving in close enough to my face that the loose black goo fell onto my cheek.
It felt hot, which surprised me.
“W-why is she here?” The party and melodious chaos of the Whitehaven carnival danced in mute silence behind me. Mother’s stench was powerful and her body was enormous, even her shadow felt like a leaded jacket being wrapped around my head.
“Rach, let’s just run. She won’t follow us into the crowd of people,” Evan said but Mother’s arms snatched my shoulders, as if anticipating our escape. Without any effort, she dragged my kicking body into the woods, the snapping branches whistled past me and my struggle gone unheard by anyone.
In panic I tried to wiggle free. I kicked and thrashed my shoulders, my pitiful fingers tried to pry the deadlock grip she had around my chest. All seven arms created what felt like a human sized cave with walls of rotting fish. I would have chosen to die of suffocation instead of having to inhale another whiff of that stink. The warm liquefied hair that continuously ran down her face got entangled in my own golden hair. It felt like hot shampoo and I closed my eyes as the liquid seeped through my hairline and down the bridge of my nose. She slowed after a few moments, and dumped me from her grip.
The forest was silent. I was too far away to call for help. It was times like these I wished I never broke my phone.
“What do you want? What is it this time?” I could feel the exhaustion piling on top of my already heavy chest. Mother stood over me, breathing heavily, just watching.
“Rachael? … Rachael?” Evan’s voice called from the distance. The snapping and breaking of twigs could be heard from the direction of his voice.
“Evan? I’m over here. Be careful, Mother is acting really hostile.”
Mother purred and tucked all seven arms behind her back. Everything around me started to move in skipped jolts, like thumbing through photographs. The crunching of Evan’s advancing footsteps and the loud exhales that squeezed out of my chest felt out of rhythm. A faintly visible aura sizzled off from Mother’s skin, like heat fizzling off a hot concrete road. She revealed all seven masks and held them high above her shoulders.
I knew what was going to happen next, but just for tonight, I wished I was wrong.
Five of the seven arms were dropped back behind her and the last two were lowered to the same level as her cheeks. I couldn’t tell which one was which, both looked so angry. I hoped with all selfish hopes that Evan would make it in time, I couldn’t find the courage to go back into the Realms alone again. But if he didn’t get to me, if this was Mother’s plan to drag me away so I could challenge the sins by myself, I would still do it.
Her right arm snapped into place over her face, the mask melting into the sloppy hair just as a pair of arms grabbed my shoulders from behind. The moon vanished and the sky crashed into pieces, the stars falling to my feet, as Mother stepped back into darkness.
I closed my eyes and wished to vanish.
Chapter Thirty-One:
Moving laughter forced my aching eyes to open. I faced two identical red velvet curtains, the drapes pulled back by silvery diamond rope, with a long hallway stretched behind it. I glanced around before moving forward, my summery sandals clicking against the white marble floor. The hallway was just big enough to fit me, my hands reaching out to touch the railing that ran alongside it. I was alone, but I wasn’t scared.
At the end of the hall was another red curtain, this one unhooked from its rope and pulled to a close so that heavy folds collected on the floor. It took both of my arms to pull the heavy material back. As I moved into the next room the space opened up to reveal a grand, magnificent fountain with a stone woman posed in the centre. Her head was tilted to the sky as silver water sprouted out from the vase she held against her neck. She had a smile of pure bliss, her stone hair flowing down her curved back and into the ongoing flow of her silk dress. Her eyes were closed as one hand held the tipped jug, while the other was held with an open palm offered up to hundreds of butterflies fluttering above. The white water sparkled as if it were made of jewels; its shimmering surface reflected the waves of colour from the butterflies above like a perfect mirror.
The wind was warm as it whistled past like gentle humming birds. The land around the fountain expanded as far as the eye could see; a meadow of gentle red grass with patches of flowers, the petals in full bloom, as they reached up tow
ard the sun. The fountain could easily hold fifty people, all of whom I could picture kicking up the water and dancing in its soft touch.
But in scale to the acres of grass surrounding it, the fountain looked small and I felt even smaller.
I took a careful step forward, standing the edge of the fountain. Considering this was a Sin Realm, I felt very relaxed and at ease. Not at all like the other ones.
As I glanced back at the statue in the centre of the fountain, I noticed her upturned head was now looking down at me. I flinched back and took my hands off the fountain’s edge. Her eyes were now open to reveal a stone grey screen and her smile had become even wider. In a world of ghosts and demons, a moving statue wasn’t that peculiar.
“Hello?” I called to her, “Can you hear me?” The statue remained unresponsive. “Have you seen my friend? I’ve lost him.”
I stepped back up to the railing and this time, hoisted myself up onto the edge. Now that I was closer, I could see a school of exotic fish playing through the fountain’s water. I watched the statue closely, and then poked my index finger into the stream. The fish scurried away, afraid of me. The water was warm too.
I took my finger out and kicked off my shoes and holding onto the end of my dress so I wouldn’t get them wet, I slipped my feet into the pool. Step by step I cautiously approached her, watching the statue as her head me followed across the water.
I reached the woman and very lightly pressed my hand against her stone dress. The rock shivered with life and I could have sworn I felt a heartbeat under the solid surface.
“Are you Lust?” I asked, and after a moment of consideration the Statue lowered her head.
The water started to bubble around my calves. Everything started to get slower, and colder, and darker. The butterflies started to die as their tiny bodies spiralled down on top of the water, floated like leaves across the surface. The fish stopped moving and turned themselves over so they were belly up.
As I looked around, the blushed pink sky was flooded by flocks of black crows that took to the air, circling above the fountain like a black cloud. There were uncomfortable long, deep moans which shivered up from underneath the grassy plains. Human limbs started to claw their way out from the dirt.
My back hit the fountain as she started shrieking and screaming. The stone woman was cradling herself, screaming as if her skin was being pricked by a thousand thorns. She dropped her vase into the pitch black pool. The fish and butterflies faded to ash.
I kicked into a sprint, trying to get away from the hysterical statue. The water was icy cold and stung my skin as if insects were trying to eat through to my bones. I flipped over the edge and the crows squawked and swooped over the top of me. The ground trembled as more human arms sprouted up like plants.
I raced back towards the red curtain but it was concealed behind bricks. I turned and pressed my back right up to the stone, kicking at the arms as they tried to haul themselves up from the ground by pulling me under.
“Evan?” I dug my heel into the fingers of an emerging hand that started to dig right underneath me. “Evan where are you?”
The sexual moans of the ghouls grumbled from underneath the disturbed earth as I edged around the limbs and jumped back onto the slim railing circling the fountain, separated from uprising arms by the black cold water.
“Evan... Where are you?” I started to sob uncontrollably. I balanced across the railing and kept trying to outrun the arms as they searched for me. The fingers tugged at my dress. I tried to slap them away, until finally, the arms had fistfuls of my clothes and their spongy fingers ringed around my ankles and calves. In a rough pull, they tipped me over and I fell off the railing, falling into more gruesome waiting arms that clung to me as if I were their last meal.
I screamed and kicked against the restraints but their arms didn’t hesitate. They smelled like urine. We sank into the earth as I watched the open space became distant and small. A cave of dark rocks closed in around me, the black soil collapsed on top and the pink sky was wiped out.
The arms around me fell apart and I was suspended in the air, gravity throwing me down into what seemed to be a bottomless pit. The still vacant space continued downward until I crashed landed on top of a soft, bouncy lump. My eyes flew open and I sat upright, touching along the pink and black lace cushions that had saved me.
I was inside a large hall of marble pillars and tiny hot flames. Black steel cages mantled on top of pedestals sat along the edge of the walls. Inside each cage was a woman, each of whom had both her wrists bound by hand cuffs to the cage; their hair was matted with sweat and blood. They draped themselves across the bars in a state of exhaustion.
I slipped off the cushions and walked on through the gallery of caged women, my bare feet barely making a sound against the marble floor. As I passed one cage, the lethargic young girl pushed herself up and started moving and grinding against the steel. She held a long, thin arm out and beckoned to me to go to her. Her ankles were strapped in high heels and she wore torn and seductive clothes that barely covered her starving body.
As she started to react, the rest of the caged women kicked into life, dancing around in the tiny space they had. Their eyes were hollow black holes with freshly scarred skin, as if birds had pecked them out.
I kept my distance from them and crossed my arms over my chest.
At the back of the room was a large black throne with stale gold wings unfolding from either side. On the throne was poised a young, slim woman, her legs were crossed and draped over the arm of the chair. She watched in silence with a stillness that reminded me of the statue in the fountain.
Her eyes were completely covered by hot, twisting locks of silver hair that moved down her naked body, twisting over her chest and thighs to cover her private areas.
“Hello there beautiful,” she whispered, moving a gentle arm down her stomach, “Irresistible aren’t they?”
The dancing girls moaned on command, in both pain and pleasure.
I kept my eyes away from the cages and focused them down. Don’t look into her eyes or she’ll put me in a cage like the rest of them. The girls sounded sick and drugged, barely able to pronounce “come to me” in understandable English.
“There’s a boy here-” I started and the woman purred over my voice.
“Ah sweetie, there’s always a boy, isn’t there?”
The demon floated out of her seat and started to cross the room, her arms grooming through the wavering hair that trailed behind her like a train of a wedding dress. She touched along my shoulders and coiled a strand of my hair around her finger; her tall, slim beautiful body hidden behind a bright glow that radiated from inside of her.
She was more human than any of the other spirits had been. At every touch, her fingers caused me to shiver, her skin was grey as stone but it glowed with a light that blinded me. She held both palms against my chin and pulled my head up. I struggled to keep my eyes on my feet.
I caught her eye and a shock of electricity stunned my nerves into numbness. The silvery web of hair flailed away from her face and the demon leaned down so far down that we bumped noses. The powder pink in her eyes was as still as water sitting upon an undisturbed lake. There was a bubbling sensation moving up through my chest, I could feel my stomach start to become unsettled and nervous. But as I watched her, I noticed a change in her facial expression. No, it wasn’t her facial expression that was different, it was her actual face.
She started to morph into James Rendell’s face, a boy back in high school that I had a huge crush on for the past two years. Her eyes tightened into a copy of his as her jaw line became more defined.
James’ face smiled and winked, and I felt the blush explode under my cheeks. I gulped in embarrassment when James started to lean in closer with a parted mouth, as if he was trying to kiss me. In a snap decision, I put my hands up and pushed her face out of focus. The girls in the cages chuckled.
Lust took a step back and let my face go, moving back to h
er throne where men waited on their hands and knees, wrapped in chains and collars. “That’s fine, little girl. I know who you’re really after.” She twisted into her seat and kicked her legs up again so they dangled over the arm rest. The men on the floor cowered at her presence before kneeling up to lick her feet.
She waved her fingers into the far right corner of the room and Evan emerged from the shadows. He walked straight up to Lust, picked up her hand and kissed it.
“Cute... isn’t he?” She mocked, “He would be a fantastic piece to add to my collection.”
She combed her fingers through his hair as white smoke sizzled from her touch.
“Evan?” I called and took two steps forwards, “Evan can you hear me? It’s me, Rachael.”
Lust threw her head back in laughter.
She took his face and softly nudged it sideways, exposing the soft fresh skin along his neck. His brown hair was sticky with sweat and his eyes glazed over.
That’s when I realized something; Evan hadn’t turned back into his Banished form. And the only way to get him to transform, is for me to get scared. And I mean I need to be petrified!
With no plan in mind, I ran towards the cages where whips and long needles were held up by nails all along the walls. I took a whip, turned, and faced Lust. She seemed unfrightened as she watched me dance around, her hands still wrapped around Evan.
I held the whip above my head and stood with my legs apart, balancing myself.
“I’ll fight you for him.”
“Why fight when you can love?” she laughed.
“This is a challenge, Lust.” The leather whip was still held high above my head but my arms were shaking uncontrollably. Come on Evan... Change!
Lust considered it for a moment and smirked, “I don’t want this boy’s soul... he does not belong to me.” She motioned to his eyes, “He is marked with Envy’s green eyes. But you my dear, you are still fresh.” I gulped as the girls in the cages beckoned me to them in soft, weak whispers.
My Demonic Ghost: Banished Spirits Page 25