My Demonic Ghost Book two (The Reapers 2)

by Jacinta Maree

  “I-I-I did it.” He babbled.

  “Did what?”

  “I… I…”

  “Tell them!!” I shouted at him.

  “I murdered Jordon Hastings!” Silence. Blissful, stunned silence blanketed the crowd as his trembling words spread across the entire park.

  On cue the Reapers made their move and like dominos screams were sprouting up all over the stadium. I didn’t turn my gaze off of Luke as he writhed in his own filth as the other Reapers all started to make direct contact with the spectators in the stands. Just the slightest touch of human skin revealed everyone everything about our disguises. Thunder rolled over our heads as more and more people started to see us as we truly were. They could see the Goons that walked with us as if hell had risen onto the earth. Putting on a show the Goons flashed their fangs and puffed out their roars. People were screaming and trying to bolt from their seats. The sun illuminated my face as I tilted my head up towards the clouds, able to feel the panicked churn of the Hunters watching devastated from above.

  Not yet satisfied till I had Luke on his knees begging me to spare him, I scoop him up by the collar and held him up above the ground. His eyes were bulged open terrified. I looked into them, burning my image into his memory; making sure every time he closed his eyes to blink my face was burnt into his eyelids when I heard a voice scream out my name.

  “Jordon! Stop it!” I glanced over my shoulder as Anita lingered by the edge of the field. She had her hand over her mouth. The way she looked at me made me feel like a villain in a horror movie.

  All the glory of seeking my revenge on Luke shattered as I dropped him. She was shaking her head, horrified, and I know now she’ll never think kindly of me again. In a split second I had destroyed the memory of Jordon and replaced it with a demon Reaper. With a monster. What am I doing?

  “Leave now!” I ordered and obediently she turned and ran. I looked down at Luke by my feet and felt disgusted; this was not what I wanted. “Get out!” I grumbled through my clenched teeth, watching as Luke scrambled to his feet and bolted from the field.

  Flurries of white lights were pouring into the fields by the hundreds. Hunters were lining along the perimeter, closing off the gates and sealing people in to prevent them from escaping and spreading the word. They had even managed to cut the power, shutting down the big screen t.v and frying all of their mobile phones. They were trapped like birds in concrete cages. It was a madness no one could control. Reapers started battling the Hunters in a chaotic clash, their Goons grouping up and taking down the Hunters who didn’t have a chance without the vials. I glanced out upon the war I had started, as Teresa and her vulture clashed fists with a female Hunter before both sides started hammering magic at the other. Without fear Hunters had no control on us.

  Raix barked at me impatiently. He had caught scent of a Hunter’s teleportation rip close by. Knowing exactly where they Hunters were reporting too I ran into the rip and followed the jump into the halls of the Royal’s castle. As I landed the Hunter spun on his heel, surprised that he was followed.

  He was just a young Hunter that I felt like a giant compared to him. Bravely, or foolishly, he still attempted to take me down by force by throwing two punches in my direction. I didn’t have time to mess around with a kid, so I delivered a quick undercut to his ribcage and another to his chin. Pouncing on him Raix pinned the Hunter to the ground so I didn’t have to worry about him. He peeled his lips back, flashing his set of teeth beneath his darkened coat. The Hunter held his hands to his face in surrender but Raix refused to back down. He was barking at him and snapping his jaw mere inches from the Hunter’s nose. I could hear the electricity bouncing off from their faces.

  “Raix calm!” I commanded as Raix stopped his aggressive growling. “You follow us or report us to any one; Raix will personally tear you apart.” I threatened him and he rattled his head yes.

  I took the mask out from my cloak pocket and two of the vials. Taking a deep breath, I tossed the mask to Raix who caught it like a frisbee. With ease he tore his teeth through the wood as a dog would tear through a soft toy, splintering it into sections and thrashing it from side to side.

  The Hunter remained on his back but pressed up against the walls, stunned into silence. As the mask shattered Raix withdraw back behind me. The walls started to shake violently, the floor beneath my feet were rattling like an earthquake splitting the world into halves. An eruption of smoke exploded up from the broken pieces, carrying with it the loud, ferocious roar that had my bones trembling. I quickly took a few more steps backwards as the smoke twisted and morphed into the ugly mutation of Wrath’s huge silhouette. She stretched her neck forward, roaring with a powerful voice that scattered the plaster surrounding her. Blinded fury had her hammering her fists into the halls as they buckled and shattered to dust and rocks.

  It wasn’t long till her eyes swooped onto the young Hunter sprawled on his back by her feet. Quickly I emptied Elliot’s vial into my palm and threw the smoke into Wrath’s face just as she lurched forward. The scent repelled her as Wrath’s nostrils flared and its eyes dilated. Intrigued the sin turned back towards me, trying to catch more of the scent as I emptied Teresa’s vial and also tossed it upwards. By this stage a small army of Hunters had already arrived at the scene, stumbling over each other in surprise at the appearance of the sin Wrath in their hallways. There clearly weren’t enough Hunters here to fend off the aggressive demon, most of them already fled down onto the earth to control the Reaper Rebellion at the oval pitch.

  Wrath tore through the pack of Hunters like a bowling ball knocking down unstable pins as they crumbled beneath her. She knew exactly where to go, sniffing out the rest of Teresa’s and Elliot’s soul stored in the lanterns. She took a short cut, running through the walls and recreating a massive hole through the maze. The spirit headed straight into the Throne room; destroyed the doors by ramming her shoulder through and bolted in without restraint. Ensuring Wrath was heading in the right direction; I followed from afar and tried to steal a peak from around the corner. Caught off guard Miira bolted up from her throne just in time to catch Wrath smash through her marble pillars and make her way up onto the ceiling. I glanced upwards to find a large chandelier hosting thousands of lanterns dangling above the throne’s head.

  They were all of different colours and shapes and sizes. Wrath clung to the stone roof and was tearing them down within seconds like a chimpanzee on steroids. Determined to catch the scents of Teresa’s and Elliot’s souls from the batch, every time a new lantern broke it only fuelled Wrath’s determination even more to destroy the entire collection. Miira acted too slowly; she summoned her two Creators into action but by the time they sprung to her aid Wrath had destroyed most the lanterns from their stands. The Creators, despite being so small were able to scale the walls and tear Wrath down without struggle.

  I couldn’t linger any longer to watch as I spun on my heel and raced back through the halls.

  “Lead the way Raix!” Raix bounded ahead of me. It was so much easily with Raix leading the way, within no time the halls started filling with smoke as we got closer and closer. But strangely, this wasn’t the same room as last time, meaning they had moved the Blue Spirit into a different room expecting the Reaper to return. As we rounded the corner both Raix and I came to a skidding halt. Damage and Chaos stood in in front of the double doors with their arms crossed and disgruntle frowns on their faces. Gargoyle obviously had dobbed on me.

  “You just don’t know when to quit do you?” Damage reached into her belt for her blade.

  “Move now and no one has to get hurt.” I ordered.

  “It’s a little too late for that,” Chaos had throwing knives equipped to his pouched as he held his jacket back to flash them to me. I glanced at Raix just as he glanced up at me, the both of us exchanging agreeing looks.

  “I have no intention of fighting you now, not yet,” I threw the last mask into the centre just as Raix kicked into a run. Again he leapt upwards a
nd snapped his jaws into the wood with such power he snapped it in half in one bite. The smoke erupted from the broken pieces before expanding over the hall filling it up completely. Damage and Chaos protected their eyes from the mysterious gas; I on the other hand, was sprinting through the smoke cover towards them. I pulled my hood over my head, running past in between their bodies just as Raix pounced into Damage’s shoulders. She hit the ground with a heavy thump as Chaos fluttered between chasing me and fighting Raix off. The moment I hit the door concealing the Blue Spirit a force as powerful as an exploding cannon threw me across the hall. The Creator pounced upwards at our intrusion and stood protectively in front of the Blue Spirit. As the smoke started to scatter away Raix leapt off Damage and took refuge against the wall.

  With just a scurry of feet a darken shadow rushed from the clearing smoke. The sin took to the walls in a blurred dash, immediately bouncing on the closest thing within its reach. I struggled to a stand; the impact from the hit had easily knocked the wind from my chest as I heard Chaos and Damage shouting in confusion.

  “Get it off me! Get it off me!”

  “How did it-? Chaos!?” Damage was slashing her sword into the elongated legs of the Sin but it continued picking into Chaos and spinning its web unfazed. Easily with two massive whacks, Damage was thrown to the ground and knocked unconscious as Chaos was blinded by a bandage of web across his eyes.

  I passed by Damage’s unconscious body before slipping by Greed as she worked on Chaos. I turned around in front of the double doors baiting the giant spider with taunts and arm waving. Surprisingly it worked to win over its attention as Greed scampered off of Chaos and towards me. I didn’t get far as it loomed over the top. I instinctively pressed myself onto the floor, just avoiding its’ snapping fangs. I was caged underneath its lanky body as it stepped over and around me, trying to pierce its legs down into my back to stop me from squirming.

  I got too close to the Creator again that it automatically rocketed me out from underneath Greed and flung me across the hall to secure some distance. The second hit really blinded me this time. The Butterfly creator backed up against the wall with its spine arched like a threatened cat. A few attempts at snatching the Creator quickly proved useless, until of course the spider set its eyes onto the Blue Spirit beside it. Without putting up a fight, Greed spun a web with professional precision, snaring the Blue spirit into a tightly bound cage of silver and wire. Confused about what was going on, the creator kept a distance and just watched; it’s instinct to fight the Sin dampened by its fascination with it.

  Deliberately and quietly I scooted away from sight, “Okay, okay… now it’s time.”

  I chanted Mother’s summoning and as the last word dropped from my lips Mother sprung upwards from the marble floor in a giant blur. The serpent unfolded from the ground before swooping onto the scattered mask like the starving leaping onto scraps of food. With just her touch alone Mother was able to plastered all the pieces back together. Once completed she headed towards Greed and inhaled the Sin back into the mask. Living up to its name, Greed refused to let its new prize get left behind and took the Blue Spirit with it.

  This is it… I watched Greed hug the cacoon web to her torso before they both scattered into smoke. My mouth was dry in anticipation; would the blue Spirit be okay? Was she immune to Greed’s corruption? Really flustered about losing its companion, the Creator started pacing with great unease unable to follow the spirit into the realm. Mother on the other hand wasted no time in turning around and making her way to the Throne room where Wrath was forcibly waiting for her. Not wanting to get pinned at the scene of the crime, I quickly evaporated with Raix back onto the playing field.

  As soon as I returned the world felt tipped upside down. Exhausted I fell upon my knees, feeling the heat of the battle ribbon around my head and body. Raix curled underneath me and placed his paw on my lap and pressed his forehead against mine. Teresa came running with a limp, alongside her trotted Elliot and First.

  “Did you do it? Did it work?” They had to forcibly haul me up and shake me back into consciousness. My vision was fading fast, exhaustion taking its toll of my body. Regardless, I didn’t need to say anything as news travelled down to the Hunters only moments later. They all hesitated in their attacks, now looking upon the Reapers with a sense of fear for them. I had released the tiger from its den and the Hunters knew that this was a losing battle. By the way the Hunters fell onto their back foot and started to flee told the other Reapers loud and clear that the lanterns had been smashed. That they were no longer under the Hunter’s thumb. Like a ripple effect, the cheer of celebration swept across the fields amongst the Reapers. My face as numb but I could feel my lips smiling. Teresa was cupping her mouth and crying, burying her head into Elliot’s shoulder.

  Elliot only nodded in congratulations to me, biting back his own laughter. I was picked up off the ground as we retreated from the battle without fear of being caged by Mother. The rest of the Hunters that remained took care of the spectators that had been touched by the Reaper’s curse. There were too many of them to kill, which meant the Hunters had to resort to wiping their memories clean instead. It was a longer process, but easier to cover up than trying to kill off over 100 people and not make it look suspicious.

  Everyone looked exhausted as we returned back to the Dome, but even so they were all jumping and cheering and clapping me on the back. “Freedom! Freedom!” They were shouting.

  “No!” I held my hand up above the noise, “We are not free yet. As long as Miira sits on the Throne we cannot be with our families, today is a great victory for all Reapers but it is just the beginning. We will no longer live in fear of having our Goons destroy us. We now stand as equals to them. We have an army worthy of fear. We have freedom from Hunters, now it’s time we have freedom from the Royals as well.”

  In a motivating chant all the Reapers thrust their fists into the air and howled, “Reap No More! Reap No More!”

  “They will come looking for us; they will be patrolling the spirit world in the hundreds. Stay in groups of two or three at all times and be on the lookout. Our numbers will grow, without the lanterns Reapers now have no fear.”

  The time to wait commenced. The Reapers that rebelled were given new names, the Corrupted they called us. Without our vials the Hunters dared not approach. The following Reapers were ordered to not take any more Banished to Mother, but of course, not all Reapers were happy displeasing the Royal and her army of Hunters.

  We moved back to the old club, but only to pack up our things and move again. Elliot and Teresa had already taken most of our possessions out, leaving me to take care of some of the smaller bags. They had rocked up a few days earlier than I had; Elliot still limped and cradled his stomach but otherwise didn’t complain. It was late when I got back to the hideout where unexpectedly Betrayal was waiting for me. She had surprised me by lingering outside of her host, basking underneath the front door light. She was against the doorframe and as I approached she titled her head for me to come in.

  Inside was empty of any warmth, even though a pack of Reapers had lived there for a week our presence was as cold as still air. It was dark enough that I couldn’t see the pool tables or how the bar stools were stacked upside down on the tables.

  All I could see was her eye, a pink flicker and the white smudge of her skin radiate amongst the shadows. She touched her forehead signally me and I tipped my hood on. Under the mask of invisibility I disappeared from Betrayal’s sight. She inhaled as if not expecting it, before exhaling biting into her smile.

  Soundlessly she approached where I stood blanketed by shadows. She lifted her hand and touched my nose and cheeks tenderly with the tip of her fingers. I’ll never forget how cold she was. “Come back for us.”

  Barely above a whisper Betrayal moved into me and placed her lips against my own. I inhaled with my surprise, but did not step back. She kissed me delicately, and then she kissed me with soft pull drawing my lips into her mouth. Every
breath that trembled out of my chest was tight.

  “I promise to protect you.” I spoke as she pulled away.

  “Protect yourself first. Reaper Jordon, you are bound for greatness. At all costs, I will make sure that your brother will return to you.” She had her forehead to mine and I could almost feel myself sink into her soul.

  “I want to you return to me as well.”

  Lightly she ran her fingers through my hair, pursed her lips as if she was going to speak but then only smiled. In the quiet stillness of the empty club my heart was racing with the thunder of galloping steeds.

  “I will.” She then vanished.

  Chapter Twenty-Six:

  It was no secret that war was brewing. To the people that lived life nothing had changed but within the realms of the spirits everyone was unsettled. We walked like we had targets painted to our backs and kept ourselves hidden. Night by night we recruited more and day by day so did the Hunters. To strengthen their ranks the Hunters were taking the fresh souls from the Drop Off and dressing them up like soldiers. All the while Miira kept her watch over us and I could sense the Blue Spirit guarded unknowingly by Greed in the realm below. In teams of two we had been searching Greed’s caves for her, but it was like finding a black flea on a dark coated dog. We had to work without making the Hunters suspicious so we took shifts and kept the numbers low.

  Betrayal had left to follow Evan, to ensure that he was safe and kept away from the Hunters. I had made sure not to go looking for them, in case the Hunters picked up on my trail. As a means to communicate, we had been sending text messages to each other alerting the other about everyone’s movements. Teresa and Elliot had visited closer to the west coast, seeking out Reapers for join our course. It was on a terrible storm night when I was moving to our new hide out that I got a message from Kyle to come immediately. He was waiting under the giant clock inside Westland shopping mall, the time now reaching 10.30 so the building should be empty. Promptly I made my way to the clock just as the minute hand ticked over to 10:31.