by K J Bell
Mandy swiftly turned her head when I caught her eye. “Why did you bring them here?” I asked Brent, staring at Mandy.
“Reese and I pieced together that Mandy was an Anchor. In order to retract the Adherent from her we had to share some things with the others. All of us left the house together to look for you and Logan. They refused to stay behind. When you spoke to me I had to find you. Taking the girls home was too far in the other direction. As we got closer to the loft, both Reese and I figured out what was happening,” Brent explained.
My eyes left Mandy, returning to Brent. “You should have told them to stay outside, or let them take the car to go back home,” I said worriedly, knowing Kace would harm them.
“Believe me…Reese and I tried but they kept arguing with us which I didn’t have time for. Brooke refused to leave Reese and Layken was freaking out about you and Logan,” Brent argued.
I looked for Layken, smiling when I saw her wrapped in Logan’s arms. The back of her long blonde hair flowing just above her waist was familiar to me now. Layken was the woman I saw in my vision as the mother of Logan’s future children. My heart sang joyfully.
Suddenly, the room began to shake thunderously, casting a dark cloud on my moment of sunshine. We all stood at attention, staring at the man causing it. Kace brought the room back to a standstill. Instinctively, the group of us huddled together.
“Fool,” Kace said to Brent. “You brought humans with you.”
“Let them go, Kace,” I said fearfully, chewing on my bottom lip.
“Quiet, Claire,” Kace scolded, looking over at the group in a way that had me wishing they had never come.
“No,” I shouted stepping forward. I had to be brave. “They have nothing to do with this and you know it.”
“They do now. Thanks to your boyfriend. He brought them here. You know I can’t let them leave now. They know too much, Claire,” Kace threatened.
“Kace, please, can’t you see how scared they are?” I pleaded.
“Yes, it’s the same look your parents had. They couldn’t stop me either,” Kace said triumphantly.
A dull ache wrapped around my chest, squeezing the air from my lungs, slowly ripping my heart in two as I registered his words. Kace killed my parents. He took the two people who meant the most to me. I shivered, watching him stand before me with his superior grin. I began to cry again, differently though, because they were angry tears.
Kace’s words rang in my ears that humans were weak. I refused to believe that so I held off the tears, using my anger to stand tall rather than cry. He was not going to use my pain against me.
“My parents died in a car accident.” I spat back at him. I was told my parents were killed when a semi-truck lost control slamming into the back of them.
“They did, but only after I paid them a little visit. They refused to tell me where you were. Your father cut a truck driver off and the driver was filled with road rage. You combine his wrath with his lack of sleep and the Adherent I sent anchored to him within minutes,” Kace confessed proudly, using his fingers to stroke his chin.
“You bastard,” I shouted, begging my body not to lunge at him. I was shaking, adrenaline surging through me and I couldn’t hear anything over the sound of my own blood boiling in my ears.
He laughed. “I’ve been called worse,” he said, his black ink-stained eyes lacking remorse.
I steadied my resolve and held in my fury. I approached him confidently grasping for strength. “My parents had completed their purpose, hiding me away from you. They have moved on, to a higher purpose. The way I see it, refusing your higher purpose makes you the one who is weak. Or are you afraid?”
Challenging him felt good.
I felt Brent to my right and Reese to my left. This was it. If we were to stop him it would be right now. I stepped forward and as I did a vision slapped me hard.
The vision was from the past showing me a much younger Kace. Judging from his appearance it was from the nineteenth century. Kace was holding a baby in his arms. Tears ran down Kace’s cheeks. He was clutching the child and rocking, shouting to someone in the room that stood off to the side of my vision. The next thing I saw was Kace and a woman wrapped in a loving embrace. The woman was beautiful. Long flowing brown hair framed her delicate face. She had creamy skin, almost doll like. The softest of pink blushed her cheeks. I saw her again wrapped in the arms of another man, who looked similar to Kace. Next, Kace and the man who looked like him were arguing and the woman lay on a bed holding a newborn. She was shouting to Kace and the other man that the baby belonged to Kace. The other man stormed out.
Pausing the vision in my mind, I took a deep breath wanting it to end but it continued.
Kace clutched the now lifeless child. “Why? Why?” he wailed. I saw the woman on the floor at his feet, blood puddled around her head. The other man from earlier stood over her, laughing sinisterly. Kace was still clutching his dead child while tears stained his cheeks. Kace shouted at the man, continuing to ask him why. “You betrayed me,” the man said as he squeezed the trigger again, landing a single bullet between Kace’s eyes.
Three apparitions left the bodies, Kace, the woman, and the baby. A face I recognized stood in front of them, Omni. Kace begged Omni to spare his family, to save their lives. Kace told Omni he had been the one to sin. The vision stopped and I felt wetness on my cheeks from spilt tears.
Kace spoke softly.
“The woman and the man from your vision were married and the man was my brother,” Kace said, hanging his head regretfully. “Her name was Cecilia and my brother treated her horribly. I fell in love with her. I knew it was wrong but I bedded her anyway. Cecilia was with child. When the child was born, my brother knew it wasn’t his. He threw her out in the cold. I took her in and cared for her the way she deserved and I loved my son more than I ever loved anything in my life,” Kace explained.
My vision returned and I watched as a dark figure came to Kace offering him a trade. The menace in the tone of the dark figure was unmistakable. Red eyes glowed with fire behind them, as Satan came into view offering him a trade. Through smoke, Satan stood before Kace as a shadow with fiery eyes offering Kace the one thing he wanted more than anything else – redemption he thought had been denied him by the spirit world. His family would be returned to the physical world if Kace would spend eternity serving Satan. The vision changed again and Cecilia was alive. She was at a kitchen table, writing, and the child, now a few years older, burst into the room and hugged her. She held him close and kissed him softly. The visions ended and I felt a sense of pity for this man in front of me.
“I couldn’t let the woman I loved or my child pay for what I had done. I was the one to sin, stealing my brother’s wife,” Kace said, suddenly looking like a man who suffered for years. I held out my hand to him, but he refused it. “My brother took everything from me and I begged the Agents to give it all back, but they denied me. I had no choice. My family had to live. I made the deal.”
“There’s always a choice Kace, but being indebted to Satan was the wrong choice,” I said.
Kace grinned incredulously. “Satan? Really, Claire, isn’t that a tad bit dramatic? Are we talking horns and a tail even? You have quite the imagination.”
Was I wrong? The vision was only a shadow of darkness. “Is that not who you surrendered your soul to, Kace?” I asked.
He shook his head. “My soul, Claire? You do indeed have quite the imagination. I made an agreement. There is no Satan, Claire, just a shadow. The Shadow holds all of the evil in the world, enveloping the weak. I agreed to ensure his presence in the world, Claire,” Kace explained.
“It’s wrong,” I said firmly. “If you and your family’s time had come, then that was how it was meant to be.”
“You’re so innocent, Claire. Think about it. Could you let him die if you had an opportunity to save him?” Kace asked, nodding his head at Brent beside me.
I wanted to say yes, because that was the right answer but
I glanced up at Brent knowing that I would be lying. Kace read my expression clearly.
“No, I didn’t think so,” he said, touching my cheek with the very tip of his finger, wiping away a tear. I saw the steam out of the corner of my eye before I felt the searing burn in my skin. I wanted to scream it hurt so bad but looking into Kace’s eyes, I saw the gesture was sincere. He was tormented with the choice he had made and his expression suggested he wanted saving.
Brent inhaled sharply, shoving Kace back.
“Keep your hands off of her,” Brent ordered, sliding in front of me. Kace’s sadistic laugh bounced off the walls echoing around us.
I stepped around Brent pushing him back. “No Brent, it’s okay, he wasn’t trying to hurt me,” I explained.
Brent turned to me, placing his palm over my scorched cheek, his touch instantly cooled my skin – in fact it was freezing in contrast to my cheek – healing the burn until the pain subsided and the gash was gone.
He leaned into my neck and whispered. “We can’t trust him, Claire.”
“I know. Just let him speak, please,” I whispered back. I saw a desire for Kace to explain what he had done and why. We needed to hear him out because that knowledge could only help us.
“The first person I ever haunted was my brother. I had him hearing voices by the time I was done with him. I wanted him to die but I knew being locked away in that mental hospital would be a far greater punishment,” Kace explained, his eyes dark and without penance.
“Why do it Kace? What purpose does it serve?”
He looked at me and for an instant I thought I saw a dim light behind his dark stare.
“The Shadow needed help. He agreed to save Cecilia and my son’s life if I agreed to help him. The Shadow can control humans or apparitions by closing and locking their seal. The Shadow can’t enter the physical world but I can, and the apparitions that follow me are able to as well. We haunt humans that are weak, preying on them until they give into The Shadow’s darkness. When they submit to The Shadow, their seal closes and The Shadow can control them, making them perform many evils.”
I held my hands to my chest, holding in my fear. “I don’t understand. I thought a human seal was matched to another human seal so we could have eternal love.” I watched Brent for an explanation as much as Kace.
Kace followed my gaze, glancing briefly at Brent before he continued. “Love is just one of the things the seal represents. Humans are sealed as a guarantee of salvation. The seal holds all of their wrongs and sins until the day of redemption. When that seal is locked the human will never get their day of reckoning, becoming enslaved in The Shadow. The more unredeemed souls The Shadow collects the stronger his power grows.”
“Are there more like you?” I asked.
“No. There are other apparitions in the physical world but they serve The Shadow through me. I serve The Shadow directly. When I made my agreement with The Shadow to save my family, I did so willing, therefore I was rewarded with powerful abilities. The others are humans that passed on but were unable to accept their death, refusing their higher purpose, stuck in apparition form. The Lost Ones, they’re called. Agents locked them away. I set them free, giving them to The Shadow who released them to the physical world as a virtual hell on earth. They have helped me haunt humans, preying on the weakest, those with little self-control until the human becomes a part of The Shadow, executing his will. Murder, rape, theft, all of the darkness in the world is controlled by The Shadow.
The very thought of what Kace was saying terrified me. If it was true, then this shadow of evil literally walked among us in the bodies of humans and apparitions who had no will to fight.
“Humans are stronger than you think,” I said, trying to persuade myself to believe it.
Kace half grinned before explaining why he thought I was wrong. “There was a time when I wanted to believe that, Claire. All humans have a shadow. You can’t see it, but it’s there. It’s a small cloak of darkness where humans hide all of their misdeeds. The Shadow’s presence in the physical world is only growing stronger. Think about what you see on the news every day. People killing each other, even small children are murdered and sometimes at the hands of their own parents. Humans no longer consider one another. They are selfish, greedy, and most of them are for sale to the highest bidder. Hate is alive and well in the weak. There are a lot of dark souls and The Shadow will control them all someday, ending your world.”
“No, No. I refuse to believe that. People are inherently good, Kace. They just need to be reminded,” I insisted.
“Claire. You’re blind to the darkness and forgiving without thought. You see, you were chosen as The Locket because you don’t have a shadow. You’re a rare gift to the human world. That is why I have to kill you, like I did The Locket before you,” he snarled.
Before me? What was he saying? Omni never mentioned another Locket.
“There was another Locket long ago,” Kace explained. “The other Locket was a boy and together with his followers of spirit hunters, he tried to trap me and send me back to The Realm. He was much too eager. I found him and his group easily. When I did, I locked all of their seals, destroying them, denying them their judgment day and sent them to the pits of hell to serve The Shadow.”
The fire burning in Kace’s eyes was his only warning that he would destroy me, too. Naively, I thought there had to be another ending to our story and wondered if the other Locket had thought the same. I needed to prolong things a while longer, knowing that once this fight began there would be no turning back.
In every storied battle of good versus evil, good always prevailed, right? Kace knew otherwise. He had lived it time and again, relishing in evil’s victory over mankind. He’s confident this will end no differently than it had with The Locket before me. Would I and my group of human friends bow to our own weaknesses, eventually submitting ourselves solely to The Shadow? I would not give up without a fight and I would not be weak.
My friends stood behind me, silent. As I listened closely, I heard heavy breathing and sobbing, mostly from Mandy, who I barely made out hiding in the corner of the room. Fear was radiating from her, filling the air, feeding Kace with ammunition. Surprisingly, the rest of my friends were calm and in control of their emotions.
The door swung open, slamming into the wall behind it. Riley and Brody came striding through the door screaming Layken’s name. This is bad. Why are they here?
“Oh goody, more humans. This just keeps getting better and better,” Kace snarled, motioning the two of them to come, which they foolishly complied. “Come on, join your friends.”
I looked over at Brent and asked what they were doing here.
“I called them,” Layken answered. “I thought we were coming to get you from Logan’s. He’s such a jerk when he’s drinking. Since he had a gun, I told them where we were and that if they didn’t hear from us in half an hour, to come looking,” she explained. I couldn’t really blame her for considering her own safety.
“What is going on here?” Brody asked, standing protectively in front of Riley.
“You’re going to die,” Kace taunted, letting out an evil half laugh, half roar as he held up his hand. I watched as a blue ball grew slowly around his palm.
The light started to leave his hand in thin strings of iridescent light that reminded me of the Couriers. He pointed the strings towards Brody and they picked up speed as they raced towards him.
Layken darted in front of Brody, holding her hand out. The rays of light encircled her palm. I screamed out her name, expecting her to plummet to the ground before me, but I watched as the light traveled back towards Kace. The hum of the movement grew noisier as the streams met in the middle, forming a ball of brilliant electricity. Both Kace and Layken held firm. How is she doing that? The hum intensified, getting louder and louder as the ball grew larger. It was now the size of a basketball and Layken struggled to hold it back.
Brooke joined Layken at her side causing Reese to scre
am her name. Brooke ignored Reese’s protest, holding her hand out, sending her own electric threads towards Kace. How is that even possible? Riley and Brody fell in line sending their own current toward Kace.
I can’t believe it. My friends are Chasers, like me.
My head felt light as a vision came to me. I glanced at Kace who watched knowingly. The group of us stood in a huge clearing with a lake behind us in the distance. We had formed a row and Kace stood opposite us. The vision stopped. Kace saw it too. I watched as agitation crawled up his face. Brent and Reese joined the others holding off Kace’s electric charge.
Kace transferred his stare to Mandy who was still huddled in the far corner, holding her knees and sobbing. She was not present in my vision nor had she joined the others and it was obvious as to why. She was human, not a Chaser like the rest of my friends. Mandy was not a necessity for Kace to finish his game.
Kace figured out she was human. It was probably his plan all along. Baiting us, he used his attack on Brody to draw out the rest of the ghost hunters and see what he was up against. He would kill Mandy because he didn’t need her. He couldn’t let her go with everything she had seen.
I propelled myself in Mandy’s direction, hoping to save her, but I was too late. The thin streams of electricity passed in front of me so close the energy vibrated against my skin. The lighted strings penetrated Mandy’s chest and I watched horrified as her body shook violently, the electric seizure was ending her life. I had been too late to stop it. I dropped to my knees overcome with grief and crawled over to her.
Mandy looked up at me with large emerald eyes and I held her hand to console her.
“Sorry,” she whispered, before her head fell to the side. Kace had killed her.