“You’re a heretic!” Stella spat. “You were booted out of the order because you dabbled in the dark arts. You’re a Chieftain because you purposely cast a spell on yourself.”
“Yup,” said Ruby, with a smile. “A damned good one, too. Your people still trying to figure out how I did it?”
Stella’s face turned beet red and I worried she might have a stroke if she didn’t calm down. There was no way I could have known about the mutual hostility between my two closest allies, and it didn’t matter. My trust had been betrayed by both of them, and I was angry at myself for dropping my guard.
“Enough already,” I said, looking squarely at Stella. “I want to know what the heck Ruby is talking about. I also want to know why a coven of witches sent Walter to keep an eye on me.”
“Your mother,” she muttered quietly. “She was a witch, Marshall.”
“This is going to be good,” Ruby laughed. “Where’s the popcorn?”
“Shut up, Ruby!” I snarled.
Stella slowly walked over to the dinette in the corner. She heaved her bulk onto the chair at the head of the table and looked up at me with a hollow expression.
“Your mother was a witch and your father was a Vanguard,” she said, quietly. “Her hope was to leave the order and marry him, but it’s forbidden to marry outside our kind. When she became pregnant—”
“What happened?” I demanded.
“When she became pregnant with you, your father fell victim to Black Malaise.”
“That’s a handy revisionist history, Weinberg,” Ruby interjected. “Why don’t you call it what it is?”
“What’s Black Malaise?” I asked, as I sat down next to Stella.
“You’re a good man,” she said, as she took my hand. “You don’t want to know any more about this.”
“Tell me!”
She slumped in her chair and stared blankly at the place mat in front of her. “It’s a death curse,” she said, quietly. “Your father was put to death because he jeopardized the sanctity of the coven.”
“What? By who?”
“Nobody knows,” she said, her voice almost a whisper. “The truth was never to be revealed to you.”
“Well, it’s all out in the open now,” Ruby snapped. “You’re leaving out the part about how the covens tried to pin the murder on me because I used dark magic to gain my powers. That was a G-D convenient way of covering your collective asses, wasn’t it?”
I was devastated.
A tidal wave of nausea invaded my stomach as I glowered at Stella. I’d trusted her because I knew nothing of witchcraft or the unseen world. Stella had falsely represented herself to me and I felt like an idiot for blindly following her lead. My instincts told me to escape, to flee, to get as far away from Stella and Ruby and the conspiracy that led me to them in the first place.
But I couldn’t.
I needed them.
Greenfield faced an unspeakable evil, and fate had chosen me to stop it.
I turned to Ruby, who had a smug look of satisfaction on her face. “My father was killed by a death curse?”
“Yep,” she exhaled. “Black Malaise is the most powerful spell in all of witchcraft. The victim begins hallucinating as the fabric of reality peels away. Their emotions become self-destructive as they obsess over whether they are losing their minds. Slowly, the victim falls into an unmitigated despair and he eventually takes their own life.”
“Oh my God,” I whispered. “My father was a Vanguard, and I inherited his powers.”
Ruby nodded. “Orson Conrad was a powerful Vanguard. He saved my bacon on more than one occasion. I warned him against consorting with your mother, but he loved her with an intensity that blinded him to the plot against his life.”
“Now I understand why my mother was inconsolable in the years before her death,” I whispered.
“I’m so very sorry, Marshall,” Stella sobbed. “You were never to learn about what happened.”
“Who killed my father?” I asked.
“That’s a good question,” said Ruby. “It’s one of the reasons The Guild assigned me to you.”
“Why does the future of Stella’s order depend on me?” I asked quietly. “You both know that I haven’t scratched the surface of my powers.”
Ruby grabbed my face and looked me straight in the eye. “Your powers are off the G-D scale, Conrad. You’re a Vanguard, but you’re also a mystic. Storch came to live with you so we could keep an eye on your powers. They didn’t know which set of abilities would manifest first, and the Guild was unaware that your mother had a baby—that’s why you fell off our radar. Word got out about a rogue meta-human in Greenfield and the Guild put one and one together.”
“Off the scale?” I asked in astonishment. “I fall out of the sky for crying out loud!”
“Just as you haven’t completely tapped into your Vanguard credentials, Marshall, you haven’t even scratched the surface of magic,” said Ruby. “A Vanguard who is also a Sorcerer... Well, let’s just say it’s a deadly combination.”
“We need you to defeat Grim Geoffrey,” Stella whispered. “It wasn’t supposed to happen like this. I planned to teach you everything I know, but the spiral rocks began appearing and he’s preparing to unleash an army on the near world. The only thing that can stop an incursion of this magnitude is someone who is, as Ruby said, ‘off the scale.’“
My mother never spoke of my father, but I knew he’d been a presence in her life because she wore her sadness like a comfortable sweater. I never bothered to ask about my father for fear of upsetting her. She once told me I would be called on when the time was right. It never occurred to me until that moment, precisely what she meant.
“I hate to be the bearer of bad news,” I said, as I quickly snapped out of it. “Unless either of you have a crash course in witchcraft or a Vanguard boot camp, we’re screwed.”
Ruby squinted her eyes as she scanned the backroom of The Curiosity Nook while Stella continued to stare at the place mat.
“Where is it, Weinberg?” she asked. “Marshall knows the truth, so you might as well spill the beans.”
Without looking, Stella raised her right arm and pointed to an unfinished cabinet on the wall above the percolator. “It’s there,” she whispered. “Spirits protect our collective souls if you let it out and Marshall can’t contain it.”
“One way to find out,” Ruby said through her teeth as she walked over to the cabinet and prepared to open the unpainted pine door. “It’s time to see what you’re made of, Conrad.”
Chapter 23
“Ohhh shiiit!” I wailed, as I careened through the air, smashing into the cinder block wall near the rear entrance. A warm trickle of blood ran down the back of my neck and between my shoulders as I struggled to my feet. Once I opened my eyes, the backroom of Stella’s store exploded into a crimson light, bathing the floor with an eerie glow. A putrid breeze that smelled like rotting garbage was blowing out of the pine cabinet, filling the entire room with its horrid stench. I leaped to my feet when something cold and damp brushed against my face and made a dry chuckling sound that echoed throughout the backroom of the store.
I squinted to see what Ruby had unleashed when something crashed into my midsection, sucking the wind from my lungs. I gulped for air as my body lifted off the cement floor and raised to the ceiling. Completely immobilized, I searched the room only to see Ruby suspended in mid-air by the same force that was holding me in place. Stella was trapped against the wall adjacent to the dinette.
“What the hell is that, Stella?” I shouted. “I can’t see anything!”
“I-It’s a Grave Demon, Marshall,” she cried, “It’s toying with us!”
“Where is it?” I shouted.
“Here,” it said, in a whisper filled with menace. “You can’t see me, but I can see you.”
“Show yourself!” I demanded.
“Why should I?” it asked, as if amused by my question. “Surely you know the magic word, human.” The
invisible force holding me against the ceiling squeezed on my ribs, causing a sickening crunching sound. “Say the magic word.”
“I don’t know any magic words!” I screamed in pain, as I struggled to catch my breath.
“This creature is beyond magic!” Ruby shouted. “Grave Demons generate strength when someone is about to die!”
“Your deaths, old hag!” the disembodied voice hissed. “I might start with the Vanguard, he looks so helpless.”
She was right—this was about power. In less than ten seconds, whatever Stella had been hiding in the pine cabinet had quickly contained three people with supernatural abilities, and its sights were clearly set on me.
A black mist began pouring out of the pine cabinet and collected in a floating pool that bubbled away as it hovered a few feet above the shop floor. It swirled counter clockwise as a host of contorted faces writhed in agony, appearing and disappearing amid the murky vapor.
“What do you want?” I shouted, as I struggled to free myself.
“Souls!” it whispered, this time loud enough for everyone to hear. “Your souls—all souls!”
“You can’t have them!” Stella bellowed in pain. “Return to your realm. I command you!”
“Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!” It cackled wildly. “The fat sow traps me in a box made from enchanted wood and now wishes for me to leave. I’ve changed my mind, I will start with you!”
Slowly the boiling black mist floated toward Stella, who was still wedged against the wall beside the dinette. The myriad of contorted faces shifted into expressions of anger and hatred as she struggled to free herself.
“Imperio Impedimenta, Imperio Impedimenta!” she chanted, as the mist inched toward her feet.
“Your pathetic incantation is no match for me,” the disembodied voice taunted. “It took the power of your entire coven to trap me, and they are nowhere to be seen. You’re alone, sow!”
“Hey, asshole,” Ruby snarled. “You’re tangling with more than one witch, and I know your name, you sonofabitch!”
The black mist stopped inches from Stella’s feet and began swirling in a clockwise direction. The angry faces that had been bubbling away suddenly took on a variety of puzzled expressions as they turned their attention toward Ruby.
“Sallos! Leave this place now!” she commanded.
So that’s what Stella and Ruby were up to. They were distracting the demon so my powers could charge on the evil surrounding the creature. I clenched my fists, straining against the invisible force holding me against the ceiling and pushed outward. I glanced at Ruby, who winked as a sly smile formed on her wrinkled face.
“I am Sallos and Semyazza, old hag,” it laughed, as the black mist that had been floating above the floor drew inward and began to take a physical form. “I am Thammuz, I am Orobas, I am Iblis!”
The putrid stench quickly dissipated and immediately the temperature in the back room of Stella’s store dropped like a stone. The sweat on my body began to freeze as frost formed on the various shelving units and spread out across the floor. I continued to press against the force holding me in place as I watched the demon’s transformation continue.
“You’re full of shit, Sallos,” Ruby taunted. “I know Thammuz personally, and he’s going to be pissed that you’re impersonating him.”
“Silence, hag!” the demon screeched, as it stood up and towered over Ruby.
I stared in astonishment at the creature.
It wore a hood and was dressed in a tattered black robe that was torn near the bottom, revealing two emaciated legs with red skin covered in festering boils. It had three toes on each foot with long black claws that easily dug into the cement floor. Two massive claws stretched out from the ripped sleeves of the trench coat toward Ruby’s throat.
This was my chance.
“Sallos!” I shouted, from above. “I want to see your ugly face!”
The demon spun around and looked up at the ceiling. Its face was a mass of puffy red boils that burst, dripping puss down its sharp cheekbones. Two yellow eyes flashed a menacing gaze toward me, and it grinned wildly, revealing a set of razor sharp teeth as white as freshly fallen snow.
I remembered the Latin I’d learned from Mr. Graves back in fifth grade. Stella was still chanting the same Latin incantation and it became clear to me that she’d been sending me a cue to join in.
“Subsisto!” I shouted, in as close to a commanding voice as I could muster.
“Eh?”
The demon looked down at its feet to see the frost that had covered the walls and floor had now frozen its feet in blocks of ice that branched out in all directions.
“Subsisto legatio!” My voice flew out of my mouth like an explosive blast, shattering the invisible force that had been holding me against the ceiling. I glided to the floor and stood in front of the demon. Stella and Ruby dropped to their knees and tried to catch their breath.
“You’ll die where you stand, Vanguard!” the demon roared as it raised two massive fists above my head.
“Ab aeterno!” I growled, as I grabbed the demon’s fists and squeezed. “There are no souls for you to collect today, asshole!”
The creature shrieked, as the room filled with the loud crunching sound of its bones being crushed. I leaned backward, pulling the demon toward me, and then pivoted on my heels, throwing the creature toward the same cinder block wall I’d crashed into moments earlier.
Stunned but not defeated, the demon threw back its shoulders as its robe fell to the floor in a heap.
“Your powers cannot defend against the netherworld,” it hissed, as a long black tongue emerged from between the razor sharp teeth and licked the puss off its face. “I’ll have your soul as a snack.”
“Not gonna happen,” I snarled, as I threw myself toward the creature in a flash of crimson light. My left shoulder connected squarely with the demon’s abdomen and it crashed once again into the cinder block wall.
“Immobulus!” I shouted, and immediately the demon’s hands and feet became encased in ice. It screamed with rage as I looked back at Stella.
“Throw me that crystal, Stella!” I ordered.
“What for?”
“Just give it to me—Now!”
Stella tossed the crystal toward me and I snatched it out of the air without looking. I walked up to the demon that was now trapped in a solid block of ice, and stood one inch from its disgusting face.
“Y-you’re a mystic!” it cried out. “This cannot be.”
“I’m that and a helluva lot more, you zit-faced piece of shit,” I spat. “See this crystal? I am going to exorcise your sorry ass!”
“N-No!” it pleaded. “I know the one you seek. I can lead you to him, show you how to defeat him.”
“You mean like how you defeated me?” I thrust the green crystal in its face. “Do I look like an idiot to you? Because I’m pretty sure that agents of the darkness are less than trustworthy.”
“Marshall, wait!” Stella shouted. “Don’t destroy it.”
I glanced over at Ruby, who nodded in agreement. “She’s right, Conrad.”
“You see? You see?” it pleaded. “Listen to your friends!”
Stella walked over to me and put a reassuring hand on my shoulder. “If you don’t destroy it, Marshall, you can put a lien on its essence.”
“Use the crystal,” said Ruby. “You can imprison the demon inside and draw on its knowledge and power—like a battery.”
“Why not destroy him?” I flashed a threatening stare at the demon. “Ruby said it contains a lot of energy—probably enough to dissolve a stinking piece of crap like him.”
“It’s Sentient Quartz,” said Stella.
“What the hell is that?”
“A supernatural sponge,” said Ruby. “It absorbs whatever you command, and from the looks of Sallos here, I bet he’d be more than happy to spend eternity inside that rock, rather than have his essence destroyed.”
I looked at the demon who nodded in reluctant agreement.
“Possibly,” it hissed. “I know how you can exorcise him, and I know the location of his host.”
“Sounds like a bargain, then. Get your stinking ass in there,” I ordered.
Immediately, the block of ice dissolved into a pool of water at my feet as the demon’s body transformed once more into a black mist. I thrust the crystal into the center of the mist,which it immediately consumed.
“A pet rock,” I laughed, as I held the crystal in front of my eyes. “You all right in there, Sallos?”
“Yes,” the rock said with a reluctant whisper. “Asshole.”
I turned toward Stella and Ruby, who kept a healthy distance from each other.
“Ruby was right,” said Stella, exhausted.
“About what?”
“Your powers are off the scale.”
Chapter 24
“Congratulations, Conrad,” said Ruby, as she sat down beside Stella at the small dinette. “You’re the proud owner of a talisman. A pretty useful one, too.”
I stared at the green crystal containing the essence of the grave demon and tried to make sense of what had just transpired in the back room of The Curiosity Nook.
“This has been a disturbing afternoon,” I muttered, as I glanced at Stella. She knew my comment was aimed squarely at her.
“I don’t know who killed your father,” Stella said quitely, as she fiddled with her teacup. “I know you’re angry with me because I wasn’t honest with you from the start.”
“Thanks for stating the obvious,” I said. “It’s bad enough we’re facing a creature that by all accounts is among the most feared beings in the unseen world. Now I learn that I’ve inherited an entirely new set of abilities I know less than nothing about. Cripes, I don’t even know how to be a Vanguard.”
“Taking down a grave demon is no small task,” said Ruby, as she reached into her purse and pulled out the small pewter flask. “Seems to me that you rose to the occasion.”
“I don’t like secrets,” I said quietly.
Stella glared at me. “Coming from you, that’s laughable. You’re the person who’s made it a priority to shut himself away from the world.”
Marshall Conrad: A Superhero Tale Page 14