by JKMelby74
“And now we come to you. My adult tormentor. The one who has insisted on standing between me and my ultimate destiny, but no more. This time, Jake, you can’t do anything to stop me,” Jackal touched the bloody blade to my wrist. He slid it back and forth against my arm. “There was a time I was jealous of you, Jake. You were held by a power greater than you had ever known but now I’ve found my own.” He then he dug the blade into my arm. He worked it in furiously, soaking it with my essence. Jackal then spun around and rushed to the altar.
He lifted Morgan’s body up and placed her down on the floor carefully. He began to slowly unfold the red blanket and Morgan’s body tumbled out. I had never seen her before. She didn’t look like I expected. She was actually kind of pretty. She had blonde hair and soft features. It was weird seeing the face of the unholy bitch that cursed my entire family right in front of me.
“What’s going to happen? You’re going to open some doorway to Hell and take over the world?”
“There are greater powers than evil and worse things than Hell,” He tilted his head slightly in my direction. “I’ve learned a lot this time around.”
“Don’t do this.” Jackal took his position over Morgan’s body and held the blood soaked dagger close to her pale flesh.
“I shall fuse Morgan’s soul into my own and then I will be as powerful as you. Perhaps even more powerful.” He got down on his knees and stabbed the dagger into Morgan’s arm. The blood on the blade seeped down into Morgan’s body. She began to convulse and shudder. I saw a black liquid begin to ooze out of the cut. Jackal pushed the dagger in deeper and soon the floor was covered with it. It began to seep up onto the walls. Jackal’s three tormentors had been consumed by the dark liquid and were probably long gone. Jackal stopped and Morgan’s body calmed. He stood upright and turned to me. His eyes were black as onyx. He began to grow before my very eyes.
“You don’t know what you’re doing, Jackal. You don’t want what I have! It’s a curse!” He knelt down and placed his hand on the floor and all the black liquid that was crawling along the room was sucked back into him.
“You just don’t realize what you have, Jake,” Jackal bent down and tore the dagger out of Morgan’s arm and as he did, I saw what was left of Morgan’s body whither into dust and disappear. He slowly approached me. “Now,” Jackal began. “I believe I owe you a favor. You never were able to collect on our little deal, were you?” He shot his free hand out and snagged my throat. His hand was cold to the touch and his grip was like a vise. I tried to speak, but his grip was forcing my throat closed. I felt the muscles in my neck begin to burn and tear. The next thing I felt was the cool blade cutting through my stomach. I felt something rising up through my chest, but it got stuck in my lungs. I felt the dagger digging deeper and deeper. My arms began to tingle. My eyesight blurred and I felt something happening in me and I could hear the demon’s voice in my head, but it wasn’t speaking. It was screaming.
A strong jolt ran up my spine and I finally felt my arms break free. I swung around and took Jackal by his throat. His neck crushed in my hands, like an aluminum can. I jumped out of the chair and threw him back. The dagger was still stuck in my stomach so I pulled it out. It bled for a moment, but the wound quickly healed over. I looked over and saw Jackal getting up. I started toward him. My legs felt stiff as I walked. The closer I got, the wider his smile became. I could feel the demon inside of me filling me with power. It was like fire rising up through every pore. I had never felt the demon in such control before. Just as I was about to grab Jackal again, he stepped back.
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” He then snapped his fingers. Two of the punks I dealt with upstairs came rushing in and they were holding Gwen by her arms as she struggled against them. “We found her loitering outside. She seemed so lonely, I couldn’t help but invite her in,” I turned to Gwen. She looked as though she could barely recognize me. The power of the demon in me was rushing through my body. “Give it to me, Jake.” I then realized I was still holding the dagger in my hand.
“You don’t know what you’re doing.” I heard my voice, but there was another voice underneath it. Bigger. Deeper. It echoed under my own words and held a force that I could feel. Jackal didn’t seem as moved.
“You think just because you’re possessed, you know more than anyone about the occult. You believe you’re some standard of experience we all must bow down to. I do know what I’m doing. Now give me back the dagger!” I held still. He then leapt forward and took the dagger by the blade. His fist tightened around it and blood from his hand poured out and splashed down onto the floor. I looked into his eyes. He didn’t even seem to notice. I felt his long, bony fingers wrap around my hand and dig in. My fingers opened and I released the dagger into his waiting hand.
“The fact that you think you want this proves I do know more than you, Jackal. You just absorbed Morgan’s soul. She’s in you right now, like black ink swarming through your veins. Toxic.” Jackal only smirked at me and suddenly I felt his elbow snap across my nose. I fell to my knees. I could feel the warmth of my blood seep down my face. Gwen screamed and ran to me. Jackal grabbed her and held her tightly. He pushed the blade against her cheek.
“I remember you,” Gwen didn’t make a sound. “You’re Tyler’s sister, aren’t you? From that lovely little house we visited.”
“You killed my brother.”
“I admit, I did deliver the final blow, but lest we forget, it was Jake’s actions that led us all to that moment,” Gwen began to calm. She was listening to him. “He lied to Tyler and because of that lie, they traveled to your home and I was forced to...Well, you were there.” My arms were shaking and my legs felt like gelatin. I tried as best I could to stand, but a sharp pain began to buzz in the front of my brain. I looked up and Jackal was pressed up against Gwen, nose to nose. I could hear his voice humming words to her. I didn’t know what he was saying but the tears began to pour down Gwen’s face. Finally, he let her go and she fell to the floor. He then looked over to me. The pain grew more powerful.
“What did you do?” Jackal smiled down at me. He walked over and took a hunk of my hair in his hand and pulled me up.
“I just jogged Gwen’s memory. I reminded her that it was you who cost Tyler his life. How your lies contributed directly to his death and how she was robbed of her one and only brother, all because of you,” Another surge of pain tore through me. I crumpled to the floor. My breath was short and my lungs felt like they were on fire. “It seems she’s still holding quite a bit of anger towards you.”
“What did you do to her?”
“I just kind of hot-wired her brain. All the resentment and anger she feels toward you over her brother’s death will translate into physical pain for you, and since you still feel guilt over Tyler’s death as well, there’s nothing you can do to stop it. Outside of killing her, that is.”
“You killed my brother.” Gwen’s voice sounded hollow and lifeless. I felt a shock of pain rip through me. I fell back to the floor, shaking. I looked up. Gwen looked like she was hypnotized. Jackal slinked behind her with a smug smile across his face.
“Looks to me like she isn’t as forgiving as she led you to believe.”
“It’s all your fault!” I looked up and she was walking toward me, her eyes pained and red. The pain was coming at me in waves. Just as one shock began to subside, another would roll in. I thought I heard Jackal and his men run out of the basement, but I could barely hear anything over the noise of anger and rage echoing in my mind. I hit my back against the wall and pushed myself upright. I looked up at Gwen. It looked as though it was all hitting her at once. It was raw and unbridled. She was one, giant raw nerve shouting out at me as she had wanted to do for so long. I felt warm blood escaping my ears. Her mouth was moving but I couldn’t hear. I crumpled up and just as I felt my brain was going to explode, a calm silence came. For a moment I waited and then I looked up. Gwen was on her knees, crying. My strength began to come back to me and
the pain was easing away. I reached for her, but her head shook quickly.
“No!” She said sharply. “Get him.” She pointed toward where Jackal had escaped. I nodded and bolted out of the room.
I could hear Jackal’s footsteps just ahead of me. I ran through a maze of corridors, following the sound of his sick laughter. As I turned a corner, I saw him just ahead of me. Jackal turned to me and with a ferocious look on his face, he ran at me. I met him with my fist. I felt his chin break under my hand. He fell back but was up quickly. He struck out at me with the dagger. I charged at him and we tumbled to the ground. We slammed against one of the walls and the whole room shuddered. I kept slamming my fist onto his chest harder and harder. His fingers clawed at me. I grabbed one of his hands and snapped it like a twig. He howled in pain and I was able to pull the dagger from his other hand.
“It will not be yours!” The walls began to shake. Gwen came running in from the basement. Suddenly, there was an explosion. The wall behind us blew apart in a ball of fire. I looked over at Jackal. He was concentrating hard. A drop of blood was running down from his nose. It seemed the more he thought, the more violent the explosion.
I grabbed Gwen and together we leapt out of a nearby window. We tumbled across the dead lawn and ran as far as we could from the main house. It began to crackle and flame and soon it was completely engulfed in fire. I saw a figure walking through the raging fires. It was Jackal. Singed and crazed. Laughing like a lunatic.
He pointed to the ground and it began to rumble. Hands began to pop out from under the dirt. Things that were once human were crawling out from under decades of overgrowth. Most of them appeared to be children. Little child zombies tumbling out of the shallow graves that were dug for them when some panicked orphanage employee freaked out and snuffed one of them. They were jumping up at us. We fought them back as best we could as we made our way back to the car. It seemed for every one we knocked away two more would come at us. Gwen was screaming. That was all I could really hear. I picked her up and held her tight against me and as fast as I could, I ran for the main gate. Bony hands swiped at me and cut through my pants. I finally managed to get to the gate. I leapt up and twisted around in mid-air and hit the gate with my back. The chain holding it closed broke and I fell flat on the ground. I struggled for my breath as Gwen pulled free from me. I sat up and saw all the zombie children approaching.
“Get in the car!” I jumped up and both Gwen and I locked ourselves in the car. The screeching noise of the monsters scratching at the car outside was almost too much. They began to crawl up onto the hood of the car and started pounding on the windshield.
“Start it! Start it!” Gwen shouted. I quickly stabbed the keys into the ignition and the car came to life. I forced it forward and ran down a small group of zombie kids. I managed to get the car back on the road and we sped back toward town.
“Okay. How do we stop this?” Gwen was still panicking.
“We have to destroy this thing!” I pulled out the dagger. “If we destroy the dagger, we cut off Morgan’s power in Jackal.” One of the zombies was still hanging on and hit the windshield causing it to splinter slightly. I spun the wheel around and tossed it off.
“You know this for a fact?”
“No, but it’s worth a shot.”
“Fine. How do we destroy it then, genius?”
“Demonica said the dagger can only be destroyed surrounded by where all life began. Any idea what that means?” Another bony brat landed on the hood of the car from above. It punched a skeletal fist through the windshield.
“Water!”
“What?”
“Water. Right? I mean, they say that’s where all life began isn’t it? Microbes and single celled organisms. We all grew from that. Evolution. I remember that from eighth grade biology.” Her logic was easy to follow and I was at a loss to disagree with her.
“Makes enough sense to me.”
“Do you have any water in here?” I always tried to keep at least one bottle of water in the car at all times. Just in case. I dug under the driver’s seat but only found fast food wrappers and old wadded up parking tickets.
“Under your seat!” Gwen checked under her seat and found a small bottle of water. It was only half full.
“Give me the dagger.” I handed it over to her and she laid it out onto the dashboard. I looked in the rearview mirror and saw an army of skeletal children chasing after us and they were getting closer. Gwen then opened up the bottle and dumped the contents onto the dagger. We sat watching for something.
“It’s not working. Why isn’t it working?”
“I don’t know.” I looked back at the monsters following us. They were getting closer. I shifted the car and peeled backward and plowed into them. A lot of bones came popping up from under the car, but many more were climbing back up onto the car. The little monsters were holding on with a death grip. I shifted back into drive and shot down toward the town. We shook most of them free by the time we made it to the main road.
“Okay, where are we going?”
“Water. We need water.” My thoughts were rushed. I slid into a small gas station at the end of the road. It looked as though it hadn’t been open for years, but out of desperation, I figured it was worth a shot. I jumped out of the car and tried the door to the mini-mart. It was locked but a few good pulls broke the door off. I ran in and saw that whenever it had closed, no one had bothered to clean it out. The stench was unbearable. There were ancient hot dogs on display near the counter, but they looked more like pickles and the floor was sticky with fluids that had oozed out of the pipes from the freezers. There was nothing usable.
I walked out and as I started back to the car, I could see the kid zombies begin to appear up the road. I leapt into the driver’s seat and charged up the car.
“They’re coming!” I noticed a sign off the road that indicated the local rock quarry was just a couple miles away. I pressed down on the pedal and peeled out.
“Hold on.” I looked in the rearview mirror and I could see black smoke rising up from the fire that was eating the orphanage. It was collecting in the sky and growing like a puddle of blood.
I finally came up on a small dirt road just off the highway and turned. It took us up the side of a large hill and before long; I could see the gate leading to the quarry ahead of us. I pushed down on the pedal and broke through the gate. I drove as fast as I could and stopped suddenly when I felt we were safe.
“What are we doing here?” I snagged the dagger and got out of the car. I looked around and I saw an old service elevator a few yards off.
“We have to drown it! In the water!”
“I repeat, what are we doing here?” I was already half way to the elevator. Gwen followed behind me and as she came to the edge, she saw what I saw. The elevator descended to the bottom of the hill where there was a sizable creek. Deep enough, I thought, to properly drown the dagger. I hit the call button for the elevator and it was quiet. The sound of small, skeletal feet running along dirt began to grow louder.
“Let me check something!” Gwen then bolted for the small shack that sat a few feet away. It was the only structure in sight, so it was a reasonable guess that whatever controlled the elevator, was inside. She pushed the door open and rummaged around. I turned and saw the zombie kids getting closer. Their bloodcurdling screams were growing louder. Suddenly, the elevator came to life and the car below was coming up. Gwen rushed back out to me.
“How’d you do that?”
“I’m good with machines.”
The elevator arrived and the door opened. It was a rickety thing, but we got in anyway. I mashed the button to go down and it slowly, and loudly, began its descent. The screeching of its rusty gears and worn cables almost drowned out the chattering of the monsters above us. Soon, they were jumping down onto the elevator, swiping at us and clawing to get our flesh. Suddenly, the cable carrying the elevator snapped and we fell the rest of the way.
The doors flew open as it
hit the ground and we both tumbled out. We ran for the creek. It looked to be at a good level. Deep enough for what was required. I had the dagger and I was just a few feet from it when I felt pressure hit my back. It was Jackal. His eyes were crazed as he clamped down on my arms with one hand and slashed at my face with the other. His fingernails were like Samurai swords. He began laughing with every blow. The sky was completely black and small droplets of red were hammering down on us.
“Jake!” I looked over. Gwen was just yards away. I threw the dagger over to her and grabbed onto Jackal. Gwen picked the dagger up and raced to the creek. Jackal broke free of my grip and he was almost on top of Gwen when she tripped. She fell forward, letting go of the dagger and sending it flying through the air. It landed with a loud plunk into the water. Jackal stopped and let out an unnatural shriek. He began scratching at his skin like a maniac.
“It burns! Oh god! Get it out! Get it out!” He cried as he clawed at his own flesh. Blood trickled from his skin and the black liquid I had seen him suck up, spilled out and seeped away someplace.. He writhed around in agony as the water in the creek began to bubble like a hot tub. The dark clouds above began to part, revealing a clear, starry night, and Jackal finally fell to the ground and slowly returned to normal. The zombie creatures that had been chasing us fell to the ground in dusty heaps.