CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
About twenty minutes before the eclipse Matt had decided that it would be best that they take up position within their circles around the village surrounding the altar and spire in the center. Of course it was likely that Nigel would know that they were there no matter how well they were hidden, but with any luck he would have difficulties figuring out just who and how many of them were present.
Sure enough, about ten minutes before the eclipse, Nigel appeared. At first he appeared alone, as if he didn’t expect that he was surrounded and he made an inspection of the altar and the spire. Once he finished he knelt at the foot of the altar and began a low murmured chant though only the tone could be heard while the actual words remained indistinct.
The chant went on for a few minutes then abruptly stopped. “Is that you out there love?” he questioned out of the blue. “I can feel your breaking heart.”
Matt looked over at Isis, who was crouched down on her knees and hunched over behind a ruined, stone wall. She had started a prayer of her own, though he couldn’t quite make out her words either.
“There’s no point in hiding from me. I know that you’re here love,” he said as he stood and started for her but stopped after a few feet and a wide smile filled his face as he reached out to the air ahead of him. “I knew you would be here for me love,” he said.
Matt was confused. For all intents and purposes it appeared, at least as far as Nigel was concerned, that Isis was in front of him and they were carrying on a normal conversation when in reality she was nowhere near him. She did, however, continue with her murmuring and Matt had to wonder if she was somehow speaking with Nigel; fooling him into believing that she was beside him.
“You cannot stop the storm that is about to come,” Nigel said with a hearty laugh and headed back to the altar. “It’s been coming for more than a hundred years. The timing could have been better, but it is here and you and your friends…” he said as he glanced around the village, “…are powerless to stop it.”
Nigel turned back to the altar and started his chanting once again, and Matt couldn’t stop himself from looking up above them where the moon hung silently. It was easy to miss, but he kept his gaze ahead and then he saw it. There was a telltale crescent just at the edge of the silvery orb. It was unmistakable. The moon was creeping into the Earth’s shadow.
Matt looked down at his watch and started the countdown. “So it begins.” He looked back up at the altar and at Nigel, who had entered a trancelike state of his own. “God, Jorden,” he said and shook his head with worry, “where are you?”
Saph ran back into the mausoleum where Jorden and Tony both sat on the outside of the crystal barrier they’d set up and fixed into place with epoxy in order to keep it from shifting and releasing the demon once it was captured. Only two more crystals needed to be placed but that couldn’t happen until the demon was within the circle of crystals. Then, the last two crystals would be fixed into place in order to complete the enchanted cage and the demon would be sealed inside…at least that was the plan.
“It’s started,” Saph said as she stepped inside the mausoleum. “The eclipse has begun.”
“Now all we can do is wait,” Jorden said.
“And what is it you think we’ve been doing?” Tony questioned.
Jorden couldn’t help herself and she snickered. “Am I keeping you from something?” she asked.
Tony smiled at her but it was weak and like her brief laughter it faded. “What do you think is happening in the village?”
Jorden’s heart grew heavy. “I wish I knew,” she said distantly. “But I hope that they’re all right.”
“I’m sure that they’re fine,” Saph said. “It’s us I’m worried about.”
Jorden echoed her sentiments in her mind but didn’t speak her ill felling out loud. Tony was right, the waiting was going to kill them long before the demon did and not knowing what was going on in the village made it that much more difficult. She worried for Matt…she prayed for him…she prayed for all of them.
As far as Nigel was concerned, Isis stood beside him and watched as a glow rose up from beneath the spire at the head of the altar, all the while Nigel kept murmuring. It would have been easier if Jorden were here to run interference just as she had the last time they got inside the demon’s head. Isis didn’t like what she saw, but she stayed…not for herself, but for Nigel. She couldn’t leave him; not here and not alone.
“I am glad that you have stayed here with me,” Nigel said. “I know that the others think that something is wrong, but they don’t matter love. All that matters is us, and with you at my side I can do anything.”
“I love you Nigel,” she said out of the blue.
Nigel’s murmuring stopped and he looked at her. For a moment she could see the real Nigel in his bright blue eyes. Her emotion was raw and her words honest and he knew it. It was a moment that rocked Isis to her core and seeing him, even for just the briefest of moments, bolstered her actions and beliefs. For the first time in the last couple of days she truly believed that she would get him back. And that made her stronger.
Jonas quickly skirted around the altar, careful to stay hidden behind the ruins and within the circle of protection, and settled beside Matt. “What’s going on?” he asked almost breathlessly. He then heard Isis’s murmuring and looked over at her. “What’s she doing?”
“I think she’s talking to him,” Matt said.
Jonas snorted incredulously. “You really think that he can hear her from all the way over there?”
Matt kept his gaze forward and kept his body ready to grab Nigel the moment he was free of the demon’s grasp…if he was freed. “I don’t expect you to understand or believe me, I can barely track it myself, but I think that she’s inside his head,” he said briefly. “I’ve seen her do it before, and from the way it’s been progressing, at least from where I’ve been sitting, it appears as though they are standing side by side on another plane having a conversation.”
Matt could see the strain on Jonas’s face as he forced himself to keep from laughing. “You can’t be serious.”
“Why not?”
“Because it’s bullshit,” Jonas whispered bluntly.
“If it’s such bullshit then why are you still here?” Matt asked. “You could have headed down to the dock at any given time…in fact I encouraged you to do so. Why are you still here if you don’t believe?”
The problem was that Jonas did believe, or so Matt thought, he was just having a hard time admitting it and Matt sympathized. If anyone had ever told him a story like this he’d probably write them off as in need of some hardcore medications, but seeing was believing, and in the last couple of weeks he’d seen a lot. And aside from Nigel’s possession and the danger they were all in, his biggest regrets were that nearly every scrap of evidence they collected was gone, along with the majority of their equipment, and that he’d put his friends, people he thought of as family, in danger. And now it was up to two very precious members of that family to save them all.
The ground suddenly and violently shook, sending both Matt and Jonas from their perches to ground and on their backs.
“What the hell was that?” Jonas asked in the loudest whisper he could muster.
Matt looked up to the sky and found the moon completely hidden in shadow and the deepest color of red he’d ever seen. “It’s time.”
From beneath the spire a maw opened up – a precipice rivaling anything Matt had ever seen in the Grand Canyon – however instead of seeing the Colorado river and dusty lands below, all Matt saw were the flames of hell reaching out for them from a river of fire. Matt staggered back when he felt the heat of the flames thrash out towards him, carrying with them the stench of seared and rotting flesh and sulfur.
When he looked up at Nigel he could see his friend standing at the foot of the altar with his hand outstretched in offering. “All who wait come forth!” he called to the empty sky above.
The sky did not stay e
mpty for long. Orbs similar to those in the crematorium started to appear; just a few at first but it wasn’t long before the sky was filled with the small, wandering balls of light.
“Oh my God,” Matt gasped as he stood.
Jonas rose to his feet beside him and both of their heads turned upward against a growing storm. “What now?”
Matt shook his head and looked back down to Isis, who was still seated behind the ruined wall of an old dwelling; her eyes closed and her lips murmuring. “It’s in her hands now.”
Isis remained on the plane with Nigel and watched as the spirits gathered above them. She knew now was the time to act; if she waited any longer it would be too late for all of the souls on the island including Nigel’s, hers and the rest of the team’s.
Slowly she turned her back on Nigel to look back into the distance. She stepped away from him and the fiery altar and could see a spot of light on the horizon. Immediately she knew what it was and she stepped closer. When it was close enough to touch she turned her back on it and looked back to the fiery distance where she knew Nigel stood with his herd of lost souls; ready to guide them straight into hell.
“Lost souls!” she called out. “You must not follow the demon before you! It deceives you! It will lead you to damnation! Follow me to the light!”
The ground beneath Matt’s feet shook with great intensity, so much so that he was almost knocked on his butt again.
“What in the hell is going on?” Jonas questioned loudly so as to be heard over the triple threat around them; the winds from increasing storm, the growling and howls from the maw and the groaning from the earth in the center of the village and at the foot of the altar.
Matt looked over at Isis, who had risen to her feet and now stood at the edge of the village. She faced Nigel with her arms raised and open as if in receiving, just like Nigel’s had been at the altar. She too called out to the orbs that hovered above the altar like a low rain cloud preparing to open up and pour into the gaping maw.
“The light is here!” Isis called to the orbs. “Come to the light!”
“NOOOOO-” growled from Nigel. It was a guttural, unearthly growl that cracked the air the way the tremors from the maw at the altar cracked the earth around them.
“She’s calling the orbs!” Jesse called as he ran to Matt and Jonas with Syd and Ana behind him. “She’s trying to save them!”
“Shouldn’t she be trying to save Nigel?” Jonas questioned.
“That’s what she’s trying to do. She’s trying to draw the demon out of Nigel’s body!” Matt shouted.
The wind grew even stronger around them and the shaking grew. Around them it sounded as if the Earth was coming to an end. Cracks and crashes surrounded them yet Isis stood as still and set as when everything had begun.
“How?” Jonas questioned.
“What?” Matt asked as the wind howled and whipped around them.
“How is she going to save him? How will she draw the demon out?” Ana questioned over the groaning earth and unearthly screeches from the maw.
Matt shook his head. “I don’t know! But something tells me that we won’t want to be in between them when it happens!” he said and started running from the altar and away from the growing precipice that threatened to engulf them all.
“Child! What are you doing?” Isobel demanded…in English.
“I’m saving them all!” Isis responded. “And you’re not going to stop me…Ankou!”
The old woman did not appear shocked or insulted, or surprised in any fashion. “You are a smart girl,” the old woman said. “How did you know who I was?”
“You know too much!” she said, keeping her focus on the orbs. “Release Nigel and I’ll stop! I’ll let them go!”
The old woman snorted a laugh so deep and evil that, in spite of her best efforts to control herself and her emotions, sent a chill up Isis spine and her heart caught in her throat, yet her resolve remained strong.
The old woman façade fell away from the demon and his ugly face was finally revealed to her. Its slick, fleshy skin pulsed under the heat that surrounded it – its dark eyes glinted with a reflection of the hellish fires that licked out from beneath it. Yellowed fangs took the place of teeth and a black snout protruded from where its nose had once been in its human form. Black smudges appeared over its heavily muscled torso and hooves replaced its feet. In all it stood about nine feet tall, not including the tail that protruded from behind and it stood naked ahead of her.
She did not back down and she continued to hold the souls and guide them to the light behind her.
“And you would let all of these souls spend an eternity in hell to save just one man?” it questioned then blew out a deep and evil chuckle. “I do not think so.”
“I don’t give a damn what you think,” she sniped. “Give him back to me!” she demanded with such force her own voice growled and shook the ground around them.
“And if I don’t?” the demon arrogantly questioned.
“Then his is the only soul you will claim,” she spat angrily and turned back to the sky. “Follow me! The light is your only salvation! Follow Ankou and you walk into damnation!”
“NOOOOOO-” the entity growled and howled desperately. “I will give you the man!” it acquiesced.
Nigel fell to the ground behind the demon and she could see him get dragged off into the distance but by who was a mystery. She had to trust that it was Matt and the others.
“Now give my back my souls!” it demanded in a tone so threatening an iron bar would have bent to its will.
Isis closed her eyes and reached out to Nigel. She couldn’t find him.
“Release his soul damn it!” she barked with such intensity the ground around them shook again.
The demon’s black eyes raged with fire and he growled loud and long once again.
“I don’t give a damn about your demonic temper tantrum! Let him go or I take them with me!” She looked up at the orbs. “They’re almost in the light!”
Again the demon growled and roared. “It is done! Release the souls now!” he growled.
Again Isis reached out to Nigel and found him. She could feel his gasp as he searched for clean air and could feel his heart and soul. Now, she urged and hoped that the message was received.
When Isis felt that Nigel was safe she looked back at the demon with dark eyes of her own.
“Give them to me now,” the demon growled.
Isis looked up at the orbs and smiled as they started to vanish into the light; first one by one and then in growing clusters.
“Give them to me now!” the demon demanded with such desperation and anger the force of just his mental energy pushed her back.
“There are times when we don’t play by the rules either!” she growled when she remembered what Jorden had said when she’d made contact with the demon. “You go to hell!”
The demon knew it had been deceived and it reached out to Isis, however she managed to break the mental link before it managed to touch her.
She looked around and found herself alone in the village but knew in her heart that she wouldn’t be alone for long and she started to run. She only hoped that the protection of the sage and sweet grass she held in a small pouch around her neck was enough to keep her safe.
The ground beneath her feet shook violently, sending her to her knees on more than one occasion but each time she quickly stood and continued her run along the coastline. The dock was in sight, but then so was Isobel as she blocked the path.
Isis continued to run though knew if she didn’t veer off course she would run straight into the demon’s façade and she couldn’t risk the contact, so she did the only thing she could; she dived off the edge and into the choppy waters that viciously lashed against the rocks of the shore twenty feet below.
When Jorden received the mental message from Isis she was in awe that the contact was actually made. So much so she almost forgot that now she was on her own and that a raging, angry demon wa
s headed her way. “It’s done,” Jorden said as she looked at Tony and Saph. “It’s on its way,” she warned then looked at Tony. “There’s nothing more you can do here. Head down to the dock now.”
Tony took his cue and hurried out of the mausoleum, though in spite of Jorden’s warnings and threats, Saph stayed behind with her. Jorden would never admit it but she was grateful…without a second person there to place the crystals without Ankou seeing or suspecting would have been difficult. The advantage was theirs now, as long as their nerves held out.
“Just make sure you stay back in the shadows. The demon may be able to sense your presence. Along those same lines do your best to remain calm. Make sure you breathe deeply and focus. The moment you let your mind start to wander you set yourself up for an attack.”
“A-all right,” she stammered then looked around.
The mausoleum wasn’t very large and was rather sparse. Both Jorden’s and Saph’s options were few, especially if they wanted to stay close to their placement positions, but Saph did manage to find a corner with a large urn to hide behind. She would still have to run or even dive to get the crystal into position and Jorden hoped that the kid was up to it. If the girl froze they were both dead and damned.
They waited for a few minutes in silence and it was tough not to start up a conversation. What was worse was the fact that the silence gave Jorden too much time to think and she was horrible at taking her own advice. She couldn’t help but think of Matt and whether he had gotten out of the village and out of the demon’s path, not to mention whether or not Nigel was alive and completely free of the demon’s control.
“How long do you think-”
Saph wasn’t able to complete the thought let alone the question before the mausoleum door blew open and darkness filled the entrance while coldness filled the air around them.
For a moment the angry vortex of air swirled about the mausoleum then abruptly stopped and a form took shape in front of Jorden.
The Haunting of Isola Forte di Lorenzo Page 34