My Demonic Ghost #3: Hunters and Creators

by Maree, Jacinta

  Excitement over the impending battle sent tingles through the pack of demons. Howls of rage lifted us upwards with unimaginable power. Like a tornado sweeps people off their feet, the power of the spirits behind me joined with mine, explosively thrusting me skyward. Gusts of wind spiralled around us as bodies scattered into ash, Goons leapt into the shadows while we ascended the dark stairs into the night. Hunters landed on the ground, swords drawn, standing beside the Reapers that aided them; as the dark tidal wave of our arrival crashed down on top of them.

  Chapter Forty-Eight:

  I still couldn’t control Mother’s body well. I found myself slipping into dark holes and stumbling out where I didn’t mean to be. In the end, it was simply easier for me to travel on my stomach, my tail propelling me forward while I used my arms to steer. I couldn’t work out how to bring the Sins out from their shells, so I opted to fight with my own bare fists for now.

  I reached at the bottom of a 9-story building and sprang upwards on my tail, clinging to the window frame. I scaled the building, using my arms like a spider and my tail whipping behind me. My seven limbs worked like the cogs in a pocket watch and I climbed much faster than I ever expected. When I reached the roof, the dance of white and dark smoke littered the space like the fall out after an explosion. I lurched forward and three more Hunters appeared to assist me. They all came to an abrupt halt, not expecting me to spring out from the shadows. I slapped one way, catapulting him off the roof, the other I ensnared by the collar and slammed him against the ground, and the third Hunter ran away. The Banished that I had helped looked up at me panting hard, before nodding in his thanks.

  I kept moving, following the white sparks and the shrills of battle. Each Hunter fled upon my approach, and my tail whipped the ones that couldn’t get away fast enough. I knocked down a Masked Reaper and its giant Goon pet jumped at me, grabbing my shoulder in its large jaw. Pain splintered through my body from the bite and I lassoed my tail around its midriff; easily hauling the beast off my shoulder and slamming it continuously against the concrete. The streets were littered with chaos of war, the living watched from apartment windows in absolute horror.

  The moment I took my eyes off the Goon its Reaper hauled a long blade from his belt and ran at me, sword raised over his head, ready to drive it through my abdomen. At the last second, as a Banished torpedoed into the Reaper in a feral frenzy, its body moving fog as he managed to crush the Reaper into the road. The evil Reaper disappeared instantly, melting the Goon in my tail with it. I turned back to the Banished and his green eyes burned into mine.

  “What did you do to her?” Evan wiped his wrist across his mouth, his eyes darkened to an enraged and unforgiving green. I flinched backwards. He marched up to me, hands fisted and his face scrunched into a maddening scowl. “Where’s Rachael?”

  I took off as fast as I could. I ripped open the shadows and pulled myself through, reappearing at the end of the street in between two buildings. In front of me more Hunters and Banished brawled, so I dragged myself towards them; easily flinging the Hunters against the walls. A group of them jumped up to bombard me, but I easily slapped them away, my body spinning on its arms and using my tail as a whip. A blurred darkness went straight at my face as white heat scorched along my chest. I shoved the darkness off only to realise it was Evan again who had followed me. Mother’s presence behind my eyelids screeched in anger and I quickly retreated through the shadows, trying to create as much distance between Evan and myself as possible. Mother wasn’t as forgiving or understanding as I was, and fearfully I felt her temper surge and control grew thin with Evan’s interference.

  I really needed a minute to concentrate, but Evan wasn’t giving me a moment’s peace. Every jump I made he followed relentlessly. Even if there were Hunters nearby, he immediately attacked me, asking the same thing repeatedly, “Where is she? Where is she?” He really gave me no choice. I jumped once more and spun around, waiting for the moment attacked me so I could whip him with my tail, striking as hard and launching him as far away as I could, sending him tumbling across the road. Once I knocked him down, I hid in the shadows again, dragging myself blindingly through the darkness, before appearing in an empty shopping mall. There were windows directly above my head allowing the blue moonlight to wash downwards, but otherwise the mall was an eerie ink black.

  There was no way he’d be able to track me now, so I took time to catch my breath and properly think. That was when I heard distinctive yelling, the sound of stampeding feet and the crashing of fists knocking together overhead. I hoisted myself up and dragged myself up the wall with my arms till I reached the windows, which I smashed to give myself enough space to wiggle through.

  Sure enough, Chaos and Gargoyle were tag teaming. They took on four Reapers and two other Hunters. Beside them was Teresa, but she was badly wounded and tending to the gash that ran up her arm, while her Goon loomed protectively over her. I felt small against their numbers. I managed to snatch the attacking snake Goon by its tail and haul it towards me before it lunged for Gargoyle. The serpent turned to strike at me, but I lifted three of my fists and drove punches into its head, knocking it unconscious. It was incredibly useful having multiple arms and a strong tail to whip people with.

  Gargoyle and Chaos both looked over in relief just as something hit me from behind. I turned around to find Evan panting heavily on the other side of the rooftop. WHAT? No way! How on earth does he keep finding me? He kept firing fist sized bullets, throwing disc after disc of dark matter. I panicked when I couldn’t deflect them all. Mother’s presence surged forward, her rage outweighing my panic.

  For a split second, I lost control and Mother ran at him, arms held above her head and tail slamming against the ground. Evan didn’t falter, his glare only grew more fierce as he prepared to fire another round into her face. Before she could land her punch, I took control over my body again, just missing Evan’s head as he landed a blow into my stomach. The pain wasn’t as bad as I had expected, but it was enough to cause me to wobble. A moment later, Gargoyle tackled Evan to the ground and out of my reach.

  “What are you doing? She’s on our side!”

  With my back turned, the opposing Goons leapt at me, pulling on my arms so my bones trembled in their sockets as they were pulled in different angles, stretching me out. Blinded with pain as I thrashed, trying desperately to tear them off me. It was like being attacked by a flock of black crows, they just kept swooping at me, so that I didn’t have the slightest chance to turn my head in order to see where they came from. I took blow after blow. When I managed to knock one off, two more latched on. The Goons were also bombarding me and I could feel Mother’s panic start rise uncontrollably. Between them and Evan, I felt completely overwhelmed.

  Something snapped and Mother took control. Suddenly I was moving faster, hitting harder, feeling so much more powerful and angry that I ended up killing all the Goons that were attacking me instead of just wounding them. I wasn’t in control anymore. I couldn’t think. I just punched vigorously. I ended up smashing one Goon as I coiled my tail around him and squeezed without restraint.

  “Evan! STOP IT!” Evan jumped at me again. I swung my arm outwards, trying to bat the last Goon off when I hit him instead. My entire body clenched when my knuckle landed against his face. The strike was heavy and I heard his body crunch when he hit the brick wall. For a moment he just lay there motionlessly, and my entire world stopped. No… no what have I done? What have I done? I held my breath until he suddenly coughed and rolled over onto his stomach. He pushed himself back up into a standing wobbly, and propped himself up against the wall, cupping his swollen cheek. I admit it, I was impressed. He definitely could take a hit.

  For a moment he was silent, and Gargoyle and Chaos rushed to his side. Teresa looked up from where she rested, shaking her head gently.

  “Evan? What are you doing?” Gargoyle helped Evan to rise, but he quickly pushed him aside.

  He growled between winces, “It… took… Ra
chael!”

  Gargoyle looked over at me briefly, “What are you talking about?”

  “I saw it! Rachael… was up in the third realm… then IT took her!” He jutted his finger in my direction.

  “That’s impossible!” Teresa argued.

  “I saw it happen!” Evan barked as he limped over, “Where did you take her? Is she in one of the realms? Huh? Answer me!” He shouted as Gargoyle pulled him back.

  “Rachael is in the third Realm, she’s safe now…”

  “Didn’t you just hear what I said?”

  Teresa growled and rolled her eyes, “Don’t listen to him, Mother didn’t take Rachael-”

  “How do you know? You weren’t there!” Evan snapped.

  “Because…”

  “Because why?”

  “Because Mother is Rachael!” Her voice spiralled upwards. Evan and Gargoyle fell deadly still, as if they were frozen to the ground. They both looked at me, trying to see some sort of similarity between the old me and what I had become. Chaos lowered his head as if he couldn’t stand to look.

  “What?” Gargoyle scrunched his face up.

  Teresa sighed, motioning out towards the fighting “We don’t have time for this!”

  “It’s true…” Chaos confirmed, “Jordon told us not to tell, though.” He shot Teresa a disapproving frown. She puffed out her chest in reply.

  “This is idiotic, why are we having this conversation now? Evan had to know the truth!”

  “Rachael…?” Evan pushed himself forward as he limped his way towards me. I lowered my head before very gently nodding. His eyes were shiny and dilated in shock. I didn’t want to look at him. In all honesty, I was scared of what he would think of me…I was scared he would be repulsed. I dared a second’s glance to find his face was tight in horror and disgust. I fell silent, I didn’t know what to say.

  “Watch out!” Gargoyle yelped as a large missile of white magic hit the rooftop, no doubt aimed at me. I was able to leap out of the way when blinding white ball exploded on impact, flinging everything loose over the wall railings and plummeting the three-story drop. I clung to the walls, able to shield myself from the blast, but Evan and Chaos were caught in the rubble. Panicked, I slithered back over to where they were sprawled out. Evan was unconscious and limp. Gargoyle quickly rushed over, scooping Chaos up.

  “Chaos? CHAOS!” He shrieked as he placed his hand underneath Chaos’ neck, propping him up. White smoke was subtlety escaping Chaos’ pores, as if he was slowly breaking apart. Gargoyle gently rested his palm against Chaos’ temple then closed his eyes in concentration, “Heal, damn it! HEAL!”

  Pain of heartache pulsated from Gargoyle’s chest, especially when he realised his hands could no longer heal like they could when he was a Hunter. Evan was similar, except for the white smoke; ash oozed out of his pores and filling the space above us. I reached out to run my finger along Evan’s cheek, only to find my human hands were moulded into greyish leather with long, sharpened nails. I retracted my hand back instantly for fear I would cut him. Above our heads, Hunters continued their assault, raining and ever increasing number of missiles that struck the ground within inches of our bodies.

  Chapter Forty-Nine:

  Anger curled its tight fists inside my chest. Mother’s presence became sharper as she pressed to the surface, her strength and conscious overpowering my own. She glanced down at her arms to find a mask appearing in the shifting smoke. Without fear, she stormed up closer to the building’s edge, and drew herself up to her full height, despite their shots. She lifted one mask to her face, then inhaled a long gasp and forced her breath out into the woods. Instead of inhaling the spirit into the realm, she dragged the Sin from its cage and placed it next to me. Smoke spiralled into form; as the shape solidified, I could see that the Sin was even larger than Mother.

  Lust arched her back then looked over her shoulder questionably at me. I almost froze. The demon temptation Lust stood within arm’s length, her strange internal silver glow reflecting in the darkness. Memories of our previous encounter came to mind, reminding me how she set her ghoulish slaves on me and how I had to defend myself with a whip. I was momentarily frightened of her, her stench and presence reeking of corruption and twisted desires, but she seemed disinterested in the outside world. I supposed Lust was one of those demons who were more interested in their own surroundings. She turned her attention towards me, awaiting orders. Then Mother picked up another mask and followed the same procedure. This time Gluttony rolled out and the giant creature screamed out a glass shattering howl. A small band of her gremlin followers helped carry their queen.

  I looked at them just as shocked as they looked back at me, obviously unaccustomed to being dragged outside their domain. I can’t believe it’s actually them! If Mother wasn’t sitting in my body keeping my spine straight, I may have just fainted. What do I do now? Do I just tell them what I want and they’ll do it?

  I turned towards them and tried my best to control my trembling nerves. Stop the Hunters! I commanded in clicks.

  “You dragged me out to this dump to stop Hunters? I’m not doing anything that you say!” Lust snarled while Gluttony stomped her hooves, but I lashed my tail against the ground. They fell silent, confirming my dominance over them.

  Do it or I’ll take every spirit you have.

  Reluctantly Lust nodded, drawing her lower lip into her mouth as she smiled cruelly. Gluttony didn’t so much speak to me rather than snort in my direction. Almost immediately, she ran her tongue along the ground, shovelling lumps of bricks into her mouth. After a few mouthfuls, she hoisted herself up and made her way towards the battle. Once she started moving Gluttony was surprisingly fast. Within moments, the Sins deflected the oncoming slaughter of Hunters. They repelled them without falter, Lust enticing them with flirtatious aromas and Gluttony chomped her way through the packs. I summoned Sloth not two seconds later and sent her out into the city to help the others.

  The giant hybrid sheep woman glanced out across the buildings where most of the fighting was taking place. She smiled gently; perhaps she could identify the city with her forest home.

  “You want Sloth to go there?” I nodded briskly as Sloth sighed. “Time to play, baa-haa!” Within a whisper, she disappeared in a rolling fog, flocking to the battlefield where Hunters collapsed into depression and exhaustion within seconds of being in her presence.

  They worked fast, but the attacks weren’t just happening here, Reapers all over the globe faced this disaster and the Sins were their greatest hope. I breathed out Greed and Envy two seconds after. Similarly, the Sins seemed to shudder in discomfort, the uncontrolled environment enough to cause Envy to cling to the shadows. I sent them out across the cities, telling them to assist in stopping the Hunters. The Sins wouldn’t be able to tell apart which Reapers were on our side so I just gave them a simple target. Hunters. I elected not to involve Wrath.

  “Whoa…” Teresa murmured, rolling her eyes up to where the Sins took over the city. “I don’t know how you did that, but I have a new found respect for you Rachael…” I turned back towards the others to find Chaos had woken up, his fast healing ability brought him back to consciousness. Gargoyle exhaled heavily with relief as he hugged Chaos to his chest.

  “Argh… not so tight…” Chaos wrestled weakly, peeking up with one eye squeezed shut he added, “I didn’t realise you had such feelings for me.”

  Gargoyle snorted back sarcastically, “Just didn’t want you lying down on the job.” They both subtly looked over towards me, mixed emotions wringing their expression.

  “I don’t believe it…How did this happen?” Gargoyle whispered, not moving from his crouched position next to Chaos. Chaos didn’t say anything. Hook helped Teresa hobble over with a wing around her waist. Then she knelt down next to Evan.

  “He’s not waking up. I’ll get Jordon…” She whispered before fading into the darkness. I lingered further away, guilt writhing inside me, and waited for Jordon to arrive with Elliot by
his side. Jordon went straight to his brother while Elliot stayed behind to communicate with me.

  “Thank you.” His delicate smile and gentle nod was enough to denote his gratitude, then he joined Jordon and sat down next to Evan.

  “Evan? Evan, can you hear me? I think he’s knocked his head.” Jordon muttered.

  “Maybe this will work…” Elliot dug a small a small vial out of his pocket, and upon noticing Gargoyle’s concern he added, “Don’t worry. This is one of the left over vials they used to control us. It’s a fresh soul; this should give him some strength.”

  He opened the vial and waved it under Evan’s nose. In a sudden jolt, Evan’s eyes snapped open and he sprang up and took a deep breath. The sudden movement caused him to wince and roll over, coughing into his fist. Everyone seemed to relax a little bit more; even Gargoyle seemed relieved.

  Jordon checked Evan’s pupils before sighing heavily, “He’s okay, but fighting here won’t do us any good. The Sins help, but we need to stop them at the source. Miira sent down her Creators to earth so she won’t have much protection. It’s high time we brought this fight to the doors of Heaven.” He looked over at me, “Only a small number of us should go, we want to catch them by surprise. Chaos, Gargoyle, you can join Ra- I mean Mother and I. The rest of you stay down here.”

  Quickly catching his breath Evan demanded, “I’m… coming…too”

  “No, you’re not. You can barely stand. You need to lay low, you took a nasty hit.”

  “I’m… joining you!” He repeated more sternly, but Jordon ignored him.

  “You can’t just ‘go into Heaven’.” Gargoyle scoffed, “They’ve created blind spots to prevent Reapers and Banished from entering. You’ll never get there.”