by Joshua Chou
Ethan looked forward. The only sign of life was a homeless man sitting against the wall. He was fast asleep. Iris pointed up.
Hector’s Wraith hadn’t noticed them. But they saw it in its unholy nature.
A new eight-eyed head grew where Hector’s face used to be. Four twisted arachnid legs stuck out from its torso. Wisps of black mist still clung to its body. Hector’s Wraith had its sights trained on the unknowing homeless man below it.
Ethan almost felt sick looking at it. His fingers wrapped around the grip of his blade. He was ready to summon Gabriel now.
Iris pointed at the monster. “Now!”
The Wraith finally noticed the AXEL team. It growled. Nora and Liam drew their guns and fired.
A line of lead flew at the monster. Fire and thunder filled the air. The homeless man noticed too, and ducked his head for cover. But that was not enough.
Hector’s Wraith shrugged off the damage and scaled the brick wall. It climbed over and escaped to a rooftop of a nearby building.
“Back to the car,” Iris commanded. “Move!”
So they did. The car was still running, and Iris floored the gas pedal to get moving. Her engine roared with new life as it shifted into second gear. They rushed down the bus lane once more in hot pursuit of the Wraith.
Ethan glanced out his window. The monster was still above them and running. Every building in this part of Manhattan was smaller, so they could see it from the road.
Iris raced to match their target’s trajectory. She rolled down Ethan’s window.
He knew what to do. Ethan snapped his fingers. A flash of blue light came from his hand and chest. A new figure emerged from the blaze. This was Gabriel, and he was armed with medieval armor and sword.
Ethan thrust his hand. Gabriel mimicked him and fired a volley of ice projectiles at Hector’s Wraith. Some met their mark, while others bounced off the brick walls.
Hector’s Wraith snarled as some ice pelted its side. It slowed down from the combined impact of the volley. But it was also outrunning their vehicle.
“He’s moving out of range!” Ethan called out.
He commanded Gabriel to fire more. So his ice spirit did. Someone tugged against the back of Ethan’s shirt. It was Nora.
“Watch out!” she said.
Iris swerved the car right. They barely missed a parked car straying too far into the bus lane. Iris’ car tried to re-orient its trajectory, but the vehicle’s momentum was too much. The car began to lose treading on the asphalt.
She slammed the brakes. Their car was coming up and about to hit a concrete roadblock. Impact was inevitable. Iris cursed louder than she would have preferred.
“Brace for impact!” she called.
Everyone else held onto their seats. Ethan leaned his body against the seat in front of him to minimize the shock. Glass shattered. Steel met stone as the sound of a car hit a roadblock head-on. Something else broke too.
Ethan found his head buried deeper into the driver’s seat cushions that he would have preferred. A few new aches made their way into his neck and back. He peeled his face out of the leather cushions and looked about.
“Everyone okay?” asked Iris.
Her raven hair was almost undone from the sheer shock of impact. The smell of burnt rubber and adrenaline was thick in the air. She and Ethan checked with the other members of their team.
Nora was alright. Just as shaken as her leader, but uninjured. Liam was a completely different story. His forehead was buried in a new crack in the windshield. A spider web of broken lines spread out where his skull nearly dented the tempered glass.
“Define okay,” Liam grumbled.
“Not that,” Nora replied.
The smell of burning rubber was replaced with something fouler. “Does anyone smell smoke?” Ethan asked.
Black puffs began to vaporize out of the hood of Iris’ car. Everyone quickly vacated. Iris lifted the hood to let out an even bigger waft of black smoke to emerge.
Without a moment’s delay, Ethan used Gabriel to freeze over the burning engine block. The car was not on fire anymore. But it was out of commission.
“Just great,” said Iris.
Nora looked to the rooftops above. “Where’s Hector’s Wraith?” she asked.
Ethan checked as well. “It’s gone now,” he remarked.
Iris cursed in Latin. “This should have been an easy job. What happened?”
She stared daggers at him. Ethan couldn’t bear to look her in the eye. Iris turned her gaze to the general direction of Hector’s Wraith’s last location.
“Hopefully, the other patrols find it,” she said. Iris then looked at Liam. “Oh my God.”
Liam was still nursing his head wound. He was teetering on his ankles. Thankfully he didn’t get a concussion, but he looked very close to having something equally bad.
“Anyone else feeling dizzy?” he asked.
Iris looked to her car once more. “Let’s move the car first. There’s a mechanic shop not far from here. We can use it.”
Ethan continued to avoid eye contact with Iris as he made his way to the back of the car. Nora and Liam took point by preparing to push as well. Iris got in the driver’s seat and set the gear to neutral.
By now the sun was almost about to set. This mechanic shop Iris mentioned should not be closed, but Ethan’s team needed to get there sooner than later.
Ethan thrust his back into pushing the car. His legs strained against the weight as the vehicle began to move. Liam, despite his injury, was trying his best by pushing. Nora did the same, though it took the effort of all three to get the car to move at all.
“Not what I had in mind tonight,” Ethan remarked.
Nora took another step forward while pushing the car. “I guess it could be worse,” she replied through gritted teeth.
Someone chuckled. It was Liam. “Yeah,” Liam said while slightly aloof. “Kinda glad we crashed too.”
“Why?”
“I’m out of ammo,” said Liam.
***
By now nightfall was five minutes away.
Ethan didn’t want to consider how late they were. It was already dangerously late to save Hector at this point. But they could do little to pursue him now.
Iris’ car rolled into the mechanic’s shop a few minutes prior. The whole team waited as Iris handled the logistical business. She explained that it was AXEL business, and that the mechanic would be paid in full for a rushed job to repair their car.
They didn’t ask about the frosted engine, or how it was on fire earlier. Two auto mechanics got to work with making repairs. From the looks of it, the engine block could be saved. But they needed time to add parts in.
Iris let them get to work immediately while tending to Liam’s wounds. She drew out a first-aid kit from the trunk. He held an icepack to his head while Iris prepared new bandages. They left Ethan and Nora alone.
Ethan sat on the curb. He didn’t mind that the weather was getting colder. He hadn’t gotten the chance to change out of his gym shorts or t-shirt, and he knew how ridiculous he must have looked sitting on the curb.
But Ethan needed to keep that to himself. The others were watching. He was already in hot water for failing to exorcise someone.
Someone took a seat next to him. It was Nora.
“About earlier-“
“It sucked,” Ethan interrupted.
“I was going to ask about you,” said Nora. “How are you holding up?”
“Shouldn’t you be asking Liam that?”
He stuck a thumb behind him. Liam was still nursing his head with the icepack.
“He’s okay,” said Nora. “What about you?”
“I’m fine.”
He took a sudden interest in the ground. Ethan hoped that he would have some alone time. Getting patronized was the last thing he wanted to happen to him.
But Nora was not leaving that easily.
“Don’t take this the wrong way,” she said. “But are you alri
ght?”
“I don’t want to talk about it.”
Nora folded her arms. “Something’s bothering you. It’s your business, but I have to know. We had a job and you provoked him to run-”
“I provoked him?” Ethan snarled.
“I’m sorry to say that. But just listen to me-”
Ethan rose to full height. “Clearly this was all my fault,” he said. “Doesn’t matter if I pull my weight. If anything goes wrong, it’s my fault. Was that what you were gonna say?”
Nora looked to Ethan, but she began to freeze up with fear. “Ethan?”
“No!” he retorted. Ethan pointed to the darkening cityscape before them. “It’s still out there and we had a chance to put it down! But apparently it’s my fault we failed.”
“Look, just calm down-”
He walked to the mechanic garage. Ethan spotted a familiar door and stormed towards it. Iris and Liam hadn’t noticed him yet.
“Where are you going?” asked Nora.
“Bathroom,” Ethan replied.
Before anyone else could say a word to him, Ethan opened the door and hid inside the tiled room.
A dim light, dimmer than the one he was in earlier today, lit up this place. Graffiti in marker and spray paint tainted the drywall and bathroom stalls.
This was a filthy place. But at least he was alone. This place was also almost as unpleasant as he was feeling right now. Ethan leaned his back against the doors and closed his eyes.
“You two aren’t getting along?” asked a voice from the dark.
“I don’t want to talk about it,” Ethan replied.
He didn’t need to open his eyes to know Gabriel re-appeared beside him. The ice spirit was in his boyish form again. Now they were definitely alone: Gabriel would never speak on his own if he knew he or Ethan would be seen.
Something tugged against his heart’s strings. Ethan felt the rush of anger leave his body to leave a void of regret. He just rejected Nora in anger. That never happened before.
Who knew how badly Ethan offended her? Iris must have overheard some of that. What would she say when he left? Ethan knew he couldn’t stay in a car shop’s bathroom forever. They were waiting for him outside.
“I think you were in the right,” said Gabriel. “If that means anything to you.”
Ethan walked over to the bathroom sink. He turned on the faucet. Once the knob creaked open, Ethan proceeded to wash his face with generous heaps of water.
Meanwhile, Gabriel eyeballed a paper towel dispenser. He passed his fingers through the hanging piece. The towel moved a little through his ghostly appendages.
“Why did you call me out?” asked Ethan.
“I’d like to help with your dilemma,” Gabriel replied. “I suggest an alternate approach to defeating Hector’s Wraith.”
The AXEL intern pinched the bridge of his nose. “Whatever, let’s hear it.”
“The Wraith is weak, not yet whole. It was just born today. And it will run from danger.”
Gabriel approached Ethan. The latter avoided eye contact with the ice spirit beside him.
“But he may try to fight you alone,” the mysterious boy continued. “Face him before your friends catch up, or else he’ll run away.”
“How do you know he hasn’t skipped town yet?”
Gabriel smiled mischievously. “Perhaps he’s still here and feeding on more people. Why take the chance?”
A new chill filled the air. Fog condensed against the bathroom mirror in front of Ethan. Gabriel took his small finger and began to draw on the mirror’s surface. His sketch became a crude map of the streets outside.
Ethan recognized a few intersections. The largest “road” was just outside the car shop. If he went along that and turned left, he would approach a parking lot. Gabriel marked that lot as the last location of Hector’s Wraith.
“This is where the Wraith is hiding,” said Gabriel. “Hope this helps.”
With that last note, the ice spirit vanished. Ethan looked to the map once more. He snatched a paper towel behind him to wipe the chilled moisture off his face.
“That’ll do,” Ethan muttered to himself.
Chapter 6 –The True Self
Nightfall was here. If Nora’s hunch was right, Hector’s Wraith was in full control of the body.
She studied enough during the Wraith unit in Arcane Biology class. It was a course necessary for entering in the AXEL program. The course was thorough about the makings of a Wraith, though entry into the class was barred by a high requirement.
Nora remembered feeling disgusted when attending it at age ten. That feeling subsided as she was later taught how to combat the creatures of the night. What better way to educate a potential recruit like her than through education?
A lot of good that education did today, but that was beside the point. If Nora remembered correctly, a Wraith takes approximately twelve hours to take over its host’s body.
“Where’s Ethan?” asked Liam.
Nora turned around. The upperclassman walked over with an icepack still pressed against his head. She pointed to the bathroom doors.
“How long do those guys need?” asked Nora.
“Probably another ten minutes,” Liam replied. “The mechanics need to check a few things in the engine before we can get back on the road.”
“Do you think we’ll be too late?”
Liam nodded his head. He immediately regretted it with the piercing pain that came from his head injury.
“Hector entered the first stage of Wraith possession early in the morning,” Nora noted. “And more than eight hours have passed since then.”
Liam held up three fingers. “So the third stage, consumption, is taking him over now,” he said. “By then, exorcising him will kill him.”
“It’s better than letting him be a Wraith forever,” Nora replied. “I hope he didn’t get that far.”
She knew what had to be done now, but she was more concerned with her team’s condition. Nora kept one eye on the bathroom Ethan hid himself in. Those doors hadn’t opened in a while since she looked.
“Is he upset?” Liam asked.
Nora nodded.
“Lemme try talking to Ethan,” said Liam. “I know how to calm him down.”
He turned heel and approached the bathroom. Liam entered the door and disappeared behind it. Nora looked at the time on her phone. Another ten minutes would pass, and then they would go back to hunting down Hector’s Wraith.
The rugged upperclassman quickly emerged with a frenzied look on his face. He even forgot to nurse his head with the icepack in his panic.
“He’s not there,” said Liam.
Nora sharply turned around. Her eyes were wide open. “What?”
It was then that Iris stepped out of the garage. She held the keys to her car tightly in her hand. Nora looked between her and Liam.
In that instant, Iris’s face soured significantly. She deduced what had happened while none of them were looking. Their leader also threw down the keys in the hard concrete.
“God damn it!” she shrieked.
***
This was the parking lot. Ethan arrived much earlier than the rest of his team.
He drew out his phone to look at the map. By now the original drawing was gone. The fog evaporated as the bathroom’s air went back to its regular temperature. Only the photo caught on Ethan’s phone was left.
If Iris’ detection skills were still up to par, she would find Hector’s Wraith eventually. But if Ethan dealt with it now, he would definitely finish the job.
I’m going to get it, Ethan reminded himself. Because I have to be the one who makes it right.
He ascended the stairs. Ethan kept an ear open as he listened for any sign of life. If Gabriel was correct, the Wraith was here somewhere. He just had to find it.
Somewhere on the third floor, something was breathing heavily. It was labored and in pain. That must have been the Wraith. Ethan was sure he landed a few hits on the brute befor
e it escaped earlier.
“They’re all watching you,” a sickly voice said. Its voice was distorted to be wrapped in two tones. “But you’re a hack. A fraud.”
The Wraith was actually talking to someone. It wasn’t uncommon, but it was a sign that Hector was still alive. Who else would the Wraith be speaking with?
Ethan held up his sword. His fingers wrapped around the sheath tightly. He would need this weapon very soon.
He ascended to the third floor of the parking lot. Before him was a nearly empty space with one occupant: Hector.
Hector was surrounded by black mist. He was on his knees and in great pain. Hector wrapped his hands around his ears to try drowning out the demon in his head. But the monster had control now.
“Shut up!” Hector cried. “Shut up!”
“You’re getting carried,” the Wraith hissed. Its voice came from the mist. “And soon you’ll just be another has-been with no one to help him. Just like your father.”
Ethan broke into a brisk run. He had little time. The talisman was ruffling in his pocket. If he could reach Hector in time, he could exorcise him. But he needed to move fast.
As he approached Hector, the other athlete finally noticed Ethan. He gave a look of desperation and confusion.
“Ethan! Help me!”
But the black mist grew thicker. Hector’s face contorted as his body felt a massive chill freeze every muscle and nerve. The Wraith’s host curled into a ball.
Ethan recognized this stage. It was the final stage of Wraith possession. He tried to run faster, but it was too late.
Hector’s Wraith took full control. The mist wrapped around Hector and enveloped him in a cocoon. A ghastly chorus of muscle and bone breaking and reforming came from the mass of dark haze.
Ethan stopped in his tracks. His eyes were not deceiving him. The rage he had contained so far was reaching its breaking point. He drew his sword.
Hector’s screaming stopped. The cocoon of black mist dissipated. What remained was the monstrous creature that possessed Hector.
“All alone, kid?” the Wraith asked. Its voice was Hector’s laced with the demon that possessed him. “Where are your friends?”
Ethan stared down the Wraith. Deep down, he had a feeling that Gabriel knew this would happen. It was inevitable. But he had to do what he could here and now.