He remembered sleeping a lot after that and then there was light. He had opened his eyes to find himself in a bedroom in a house he did not recognize. He realized that he had been moved to the Coven House, that he had been brought back to life. Then he started crying.
"I didn't want to live," he told Monica. "Not after that, not after what Jethro did to me. But I wasn't given a choice."
"Are you mad that you were brought back to life?"
"Not now, but at the time, I saw it as a great injustice. I couldn't go outside, I couldn't be normal again."
"When did you stop hating it?"
"Being a ghost? When I realized that being normal wasn't all it was cracked up to be. I don't want to talk about this anymore."
Monica squeezed his hand. She knew all about feelings that she wished would go away. She knew how he felt. "I still think it's odd that I had to die to find love."
Moe smiled. "You said that before."
"And I'll say it again. I had to die to find love, I love you, Moe. You are my reason for not living."
Moe chuckled. "Thanks. I love you too, Monica. You are the reason for my afterlife." He kissed her softly. "I loved my ex wife, but I love you more. You make me tremble inside, Monica. That's saying a lot, seeing as none of my organs are living." He stood. "Come on, I want to show you something."
"What is it?"
"It's a secret. I found it the other day when I was exploring, you'll never believe what I found."
"What is it?"
"C'mon, I'll show you. It's in the basement."
"I'm not going there, not after what happened to Karma."
"There's nothing there now that will hurt you, the wall’s been repaired. C'mon." He held out his hand. "You'll like this surprise, I guarantee it."
Unable to think of an excuse, Monica let Moe take her hand and guide her towards the basement steps. . . .
* * * * *
"Are you sure this is safe?"
"Sure I'm sure. The wall has been repaired, there are no bogeymen down there and I'll be with you to protect you," Moe said. He kissed Monica lightly on her nose. "C'mon, silly. It's just a house."
"You shouldn't take this place so lightly," Monica said. "You saw what happened when I talked of possession before, you know what has happened to Karma. This house is ALIVE, Moe. I don't think you get that."
"Oh, I get it alright," he said. "I just choose not to let it fill me with fear."
"I'm not afraid!" she said huffily. She stopped walking.
"It's alright if you're afraid, there's nothing wrong with that, but there is nothing to be afraid of, I promise you."
Monica looked as if she would hesitate and then nodded. "Alright. Lead the way."
He took her arm again and they walked towards the basement, stopping only to unlock the door. The door had been locked with a padlock after Karma's accident. Her tombstone was outside in the back with the others. It had felt right to bury her where she had lost her life. Monica often wondered if she would begin to haunt the Coven House, she could see Karma as a ghost, all Witch-like and light as mist. The thought put a smile to her lips now. She had never met Karma, but felt a kinship with her, as she was also a member of the Coven. All Coven members were sisters.
When the door opened, a rush of cool air came at them. It blew Monica's hair out of her face. "The basement is always cool," Moe said. "It's the same with the greenhouse out back. There are areas in this house where temperatures do not rise or fall."
"I know," Monica said. "I've been exploring this place since I got my freedom. It's bigger than I thought it was. I think it's bigger than anyone can possibly guess. There seems to be a maze of rooms everywhere. . .bedrooms that aren't being used, empty rooms, rooms with tables and chairs that were probably dining halls."
"Incredible, isn't it?"
"It defies explanation," Monica said.
"Just like us," Moe replied. "We're kindred spirits with this house."
"Why doesn't that calm me?" Monica asked.
They descended the stairs one at a time. The temperature got colder the further they went down. Monica kept a chant going in her head so that her fears would not overtake her. All is good, all is good, all is good. She kept the chant up all the way to the bottom of the stairs and for a few seconds more for good measure. She respected the house, but she was also afraid of it. She knew it was alive within its walls, that it was listening to them. She was very conscious of it since it had granted her her freedom.
"I found this when I was exploring the other day," Moe said. "I went back the next day, just to make sure that I wasn't dreaming. But it's still there."
"What is?"
"Just wait and see. There is nothing to be afraid of here. Just trust me on this. You'll love this, I know you will."
Monica looked at the space of wall that had been Karma's downfall, but to her surprise, they walked past it. They were not going inside the house, that was a relief. She had no wish to find out what was inside the house. She stared at the wall for a moment, wishing Poppy and Alicia well. She hoped that she would get to know them better when they returned. Moe led them to the very back of the basement, at the south side of the house. She knew that the cemetery was above them, the bodies buried in the ground. Moe bent down and felt along the wall, as the light didn't reach all the way into the basement’s corners. A single bulb lit the basement and the light created more shadows in an already dark basement. Moe felt up the wall until he found what he was looking for. It was a doorknob. She had noticed it before, as it was tarnished black as night. Now that her eyes had adjusted to the dark, she saw the door. How had they missed it before? How many doors did this house have? Without a word, Moe opened the door. Monica felt her jaw drop.
Light streamed through, grey light, natural light. What Monica saw took her breath away. She was looking at a street, a narrow one made of dirt. On either side, there were buildings, houses. She looked down. There were stairs, five of them, going down, that would bring them to the road. It was a city. She was looking at a city underneath the house.
"Incredible, isn't it?" Moe whispered beside her.
"Unbelievable is more like it," she replied.
"I couldn't believe it myself, the first time I saw it," Moe said. "But it's a city, a small one, but a city it is. There are buildings, ruins, roadways. There is even a library."
"How did it get here?"
"I haven't explored too deeply, but best I can figure, it was buried. The house, the ground above us, was built on top of this place. I think there was an earthquake that might have made it drop below ground."
"But a whole city? There has to be more of an explanation."
"Want to go find one?"
"You mean, go in?"
"Yeah, why not? Where's your sense of adventure? Besides, if the door closes, or won't open when we come back, we can always float through the floor. We're ghosts remember? There's not much that can hold us."
"That is true."
"So what are you afraid of?"
"Lots of stuff," she joked. But she took his hand in hers and they walked down the five small steps together. The door closed softly behind them.
Chapter Thirty Six
The City Under the House
The City under the Coven House was eerily quiet. Monica stood where she was for a moment, the safety of the door still behind her. She felt as if they were invading the house’s privacy. She didn't mention this to Moe; he would just think she was being silly. The streets under her feet were dirt, with cobblestone streets intersecting. They had been built a long time ago. None of the buildings around them were modern; there were no glass skyscrapers here. Instead, what surrounded them were high, wooden buildings, small shacks and buildings made of concrete and stone.
"This is too weird," she said.
"I know what you mean; it's almost as if it's been waiting for us."
"You don't think it has, do you?"
"No, this city has been here for a long time. I think
it's just been waiting for someone to find it."
"I just still can't believe it's here."
"Neither can I, but what else can we do but explore?"
They walked a few steps, their shoes echoing against the empty buildings. Monica felt as if she were in another world; in a sense, she was. She tightened her grip on Moe's hand. He squeezed back and smiled at her.
"Don't be nervous."
"Easier said than done," she said.
The buildings on either side of them were all empty. No life stirred in their walls. They seemed to be guarding the streets, their menacing concrete shapes crumbling and falling apart. They made Monica shiver. They went further down the dirt path, taking care to go slowly. They didn't want to miss anything. The city was bigger than either of them had previously thought. Like the house itself, the city seemed to go on forever. The roads were dirt on the main street, but all the alley ways and crossroads had cobblestone streets. The air was warm and fragrant with the smell of dirt. After about half an hour of walking, they came to the centre of the city. The town square was made out of grass, the only vegetation they had seen since their arrival. It had been allowed to grow wild, its blades reaching up almost as tall as Moe. In the centre of the grass was a large building, obviously town hall.
"Do you think we should go inside?" Monica asked.
"Why not? It looks as abandoned as the other buildings."
"Do you think there may be a map inside?"
"There's only one way to find out," Moe replied.
They went into the grass, wading through its lengths and pushing it out of their way. Where they walked, they left a path of broken blades. The centre of the town square was only several meters from the border of the town square, so that it took them no time at all to get to its centre. Monica had grass in her hair and Moe had a few strands sticking out of his teeth, but apart from that, they were no worse for wear. The same could not be said for the building in the town square; the town hall had seen better days. Its concrete walls were crumbling on the outside and the windows had been smashed. Glass was littered on the window panes like diamonds.
They approached the door of the building, climbing up its small flight of stairs slowly, carefully. The stairs were solid, so they had sure footing up to the top. The building was made of grey concrete, but there was an ornate wooden door at the town hall’s front with a large tarnished iron knocker at its centre.
"Do you think we should knock?" Moe asked.
"It's worth a shot."
Moe knocked and heard no reply, he pushed the door open with a creak and it revealed a foyer made out of marble and glass. Monica stared at it in wonder. "This is gorgeous!" she whispered, touching some of the tiles. There was weak light coming in through a skylight above their heads. "Do you think all the buildings are this lovely on the inside?"
"Hard to tell, seeing as this is the first one we've been in. But this looks to be a special building."
They went into the foyer and closed the main door behind them. There was another door in front of the, this door just as ornate as the first. Moe pushed it open and it opened up into a large room. The room was a wonder to behold. There were maps covering every wall of the cavernous room, but they were of places that neither Moe nor Monica recognized. It took them a moment to figure out that they were looking at maps of the city. The maps were drawn by hand and then pasted on the walls so that whatever you were looking at in the maps was what was on the other side of the walls surrounding them. The room was round, with no straight edges, so that they were completely surrounded by the maps. There were more skylights in the roof of the room and stairs leading up to another floor. Moe was about to suggest that they go upstairs, to see what was there, when they heard a noise coming from the stairwell. The stairs were creaking and they watched, their hearts pounding in their chests, as a pair of legs began to descend the stairs. They belonged to an old woman, who smiled at them when she reached the bottom. "Good day," she said. "It has been so long since I have had visitors. Pray, what are your names?"
Monica and Moe stared at her, open-mouthed.
Chapter Thirty Seven
Predictions
Roz's condition had been growing worse. During the day, she was incomprehensible. The demon growing in her stomach was consuming all of her, every sap of strength. At night, she muttered in her sleep, dream-drenched predictions that sounded like gibberish. Chip continued to sleep outside her cell. The 31st of October was getting closer, it was less than two weeks away and the others were growing wary. They were not sure what Poppy would have to face, and what would happen to Roz. Her due date was Halloween. Cecelia and Naomi had stayed up late one night, researching demon pregnancy in the Coven House’s large library, towards the back of the house. They had found little to no information, except that demon babies matured rather quickly and pregnancy only lasted around the same amount of time as human pregnancies, thus demons were able to fool humans on occasion and pass demons off as humans. Since Roz became pregnant on Valentine's Day, she would be due very soon. Chip held out hope that the pregnancy would not kill his wife, though the outcome surely would be that. There were no known human survivors of demon birth. His wife, Roz, would most certainly die. He had begun to prepare himself for that eventuality. He knew he would still be devastated when she died, but Chip had begun to prepare himself for her death.
The house was quiet around him. Night had fallen. Everyone had moved into the Coven House so that they could be close to Roz. Cecelia had taken the master bedroom on the house’s second floor. David and Orlando had claimed a bedroom on the third floor. Naomi had made herself at home in a corner bedroom in one of the house’s gables. Lucia seemed especially glad to be able to move out of her home; she had moved in quickly and taken the bedroom down the hall from Naomi. It led Chip to believe that something was troubling her; something was going on at home for her.
The arrangement worked well. This way, everyone could be there for each other when needed. Monica and Moe had disappeared a day or so earlier and had not been heard from since. Lucia had gone in search of them. She had a particular fascination with ghosts and had yet to meet Monica. With everyone in the house, there was a real sense of community, a real sense of family that he had never known before. David had even brought his cat, Mave, along. She roamed the hallways as if she owned the house. Only David's parents, Honey and Jose, declined to join the group in the house. Honey had almost died the last time they had lived in the house’s walls, after Jethro's mother Anna had tried to take over her body. She had no desire to have anything like that happen again and, besides, she could not, would not, put the twins in such a dangerous situation.
Chip stirred and tried to get comfortable on the old cot he was sleeping on. Well, sleeping was what he was supposed to be doing, but he had not slept for over a week. Ever since he had moved up here to be close to Roz, he had not slept; instead he had lain in a doze, listening in case she called out to him. Chip thought he heard a noise now and went to investigate. He got off his cot, wearing only his boxers and a plain t-shirt. He went to the door and opened the eye panel, so that he could see into the room. Roz, still tied to the bed, was thrashing and whimpering in her sleep. He called out to her softly. "Roz? Roz, sweetheart, wake up."Roz whipped her head around at the sound of his voice. Her eyes were open, but only the whites showed. Her eyes glowed like lights in the darkness of her room. Chip knew that she was dreaming.
"Something will arise," she said.
Chip knew the drill by now. He pressed the button that was to the right of the door. It was actually a portable doorbell that Orlando had hooked up earlier that week, after Chip's running to get them took too long. The bell would ring a bell downstairs in the main hallway, so that everyone could hear it. The person on duty would then run up to see what the matter was.
"What's that Honey?" Chip said.
"Something will arise. That which is already destroying the other world seeks to gain more power, she will destroy the world,
she will destroy the sky, and she will maim those we love!" Roz strained against the bonds holding her to the bed.
"It's okay, baby," Chip whispered. "I'm here, it’s okay." It was anything but okay, however, and he knew it. Roz, however, did not.
"She seeks to enter the house, to enter the world, to make it her own! Already her hate eats away at it, making holes in what was once whole. Already her thirst for power sucks the other world dry!"
Cecelia came running in at the last line. Chip guessed she was the one on duty tonight. "What was that?" she said "Who is sucking the other world dry?"
"The one that hunts the Shifter!" Roz screamed. "She seeks her now and something will arise, an army is coming to form. The Shifter will have to battle, so as not to lose the stars, the sky, and the path she calls home. Already, the hate she has for the other world kills it; she hates the power she cannot have, so she destroys it, maims it. Her teeth puncture the bubble. Mistress will rise again."
"I don't understand what you mean," Cecelia said. That was putting it mildly, Chip thought. "Who is the Mistress?"
"She is the kin of a fallen sister, one who lies in the ground. She will be the downfall of everyone if she is not stopped, the sky will stop shining and we will die, should she get her talons in the Shifter. The Shifter is our only hope."
With that, Roz fell still. Soon, she was asleep again. Chip, who had been holding on to the sides of the eye panel, let go. He flexed his hands and shook his head; he had remained spellbound by Roz's speech. She had never before spoken in such a way, never before had she had so clear a prediction. Chip looked at Cecelia. She too looked shaken. She blinked and then seemed to come back to reality. She looked at Chip and smiled weakly. "I don't know about you, but I could go for a stiff drink after that," she said.
* * * * *
Cecelia mixed herself a strong drink while she filled everyone else in. Lucia, David, Orlando, Chip and Naomi all sat around the large kitchen table while Cecelia told them what Roz had said. She watched their faces as she relayed what happened. No one showed any signs of shock. She supposed they had all been through so much at this point, another prophecy had become common place.
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