The Grasp of Nighttide

by Sadaf Zulfikar

  Alice savored the last sip and put the cup down giving complete concentration to the subject at hand. “Yes.”

  “Good. After months of watching it was discovered that there was a meeting. The place where the Grasp gathers is known as Mortegrath, taken from a Latin word ‘morte’ meaning death. It was a world they brought into existence. They used their dark powers to bring that crossing point where life joins with death. To use it as a meeting room with a portal that connects to our world.

  That was hard to figure that out because at that time only one portal connected to Mortegrath, which was very well hidden. However the witches kept watch as about five hundred of them got to Germany. Travelling took time in those days. Flocking of Grasp took a process of several months before the actual meeting.” Etsy noticeably rubbed the side of her cup until vapors started coming out from it once more.

  “From what my grandparents told to me, on the night of the meeting, the covens charged into Mortegrath to wipe out the Grasp. The very air had changed. The spirits knew, and the children began screaming. The adult Grasp were instantly alert, but it was too late. There were too many witches opposed to them, and they were caught off guard by the ferocity of the fiery magic being used. The battle raged for hours. Grasp using tricks of their own- but eventually tried to retreat. They were cut down one by one, not a single survivor on the field."

  “What happened then?” Alice asked. Etsy had entered a zone all great storytellers know, a captive audience and an entrancing story.

  “After the battle, the witches discovered a cabin at the Grasp encampment that housed frightened children, and one woman who had been tasked to watch over the little ones while the rest of the adults went to meet their deaths. The carnage of the battle had been severe and there were those who wished to simply wipe out any who had been tainted by the Grasp, but Anise, the most powerful witch among them, had mercy. Although the children were part of Grasp, the witches decided to let them live and allow them to be spread to new homes amongst the various covens that had come together to fight their parents. The final adult member of Grasp was to stand a sort of trial before being executed. She was to represent all of the evils that her entire organization had committed." As she mentioned these action of the past her voice grew angry, and yellow sparks flew from her wizened and wrinkled fingers.

  “How is Grasp still out there if they all died hundreds of years ago?” Alice asked. Etsy's history rang true deep in her soul, and she needed to hear more. Every aspect of the enemy had to be known.

  “No child, that is not all. As the witches celebrated their victory and mourned their own losses, Anise went missing. They did not search far; outside of the cabin where the children were held, they found an arm. Soon after they discovered the horribly mutilated body of Anise, her body ripped almost in half. The final surviving Grasp member had vanished, and taken all of the children with her. The witches were utterly shocked that a lone adult Grasp could defeat Anise, one of the most powerful witches ever known. They had let the mysterious woman live long enough for a trial because they had assumed she was a lower ranking member, powerful enough to be a nanny, but not enough to join in the battle. Anise's corpse proved them wrong. It made them wonder about the Grasp’s power and if the only way they won is because their numbers were far greater." A sense of dread and foreboding crept over Alice at this point in the story. “The witches did try to trace her and the children, but she disappeared from their radar so to speak. There was not a single clue they could use to track her; they didn’t even know her name. It did not take many years before the influence of Grasp was felt again, those were still the days where war was common, and soldiers could be easily influenced by their evil magic. Lives were cheap, and Grasp regained much of their original strength. Never again would the Grasp be as open as they had been before." She continued. “Meanwhile witches tried to search for them but as years passed the covens divided over the idea to be on Grasp’s trail. I hate to even think of it but they started to gain worldly pleasure and just considered dealing with local issues. There is only one coven which is still dedicated to the Grasp, ours. Trying to help and save children as well as tracking Grasp members. We are doing as much as we can but I’m afraid three kids of our coven are willing to carry out our mission further, excluding my own daughter who thinks involving in witchcraft is the one thing she does not have on her life’s list,” she laughed not expressing her true sadness. “Well never mind. Do you have any questions?”

  How will I not? Alice thought. It was just history you told me. Nothing explains why kids were possessed.

  “Why kids?”

  "With time, human minds and society grew more advanced. Peace became the norm, and investigations into missing or killed people drew more attention. These were not the ideal circumstances for the Grasp; they relied on easy prey and little attention being given to their activities to keep themselves hidden. Demons couldn’t camouflage easily anymore and the Grasp was leaving careless clues. A few of them were caught and executed, not by us witches, but by the normal humans. In the 19th Century, the plague which was spreading through the world was able to erase a good number of Grasp while it lasted. It left them defeated; their foothold was no longer as strong as it once was.

  Of course, it was getting harder to possess a human as demons take time to adjust to them and the host dies fairly quickly. There was no other way for them, as without any kills their existence could be wiped out. Then it was decided that the demon must possess a child and then grow into the body as the child ages.” Upon mentioning the last sentence, Etsy stopped.

  “Wh-what?” Alice blurted. “Child possession?”

  The old witch nodded weakly, her eyes suddenly grew teary as if she had remembered a tragic incident upon mentioning child possession. “You don’t know much Alice, but Grasp are a cruel bunch of people. God knows how they came exist in this world.” Etsy sighed loudly. Alice could sense that Etsy was furious judging from wild sparks of magic coming out from her fingers.

  "They survive only because of the drastic rules that they put into place for themselves." Etsy went on. "Killings only take place at night, and at least one Grasp member must shadow the possessed child in order to control them and keep them hidden. Of course, that is for the children with successful possessions, most died within minutes of a demon entering them." The old woman seemed to stare into the past and aged several years in the few minutes that she had been talking. "Such painful days for those poor children." She murmured to herself.

  "How do they do that?"

  "I have no idea of how they go about possessing the children; we typically only came across the... results." Again, her far away voice told Alice everything she needed to know about what kind of results those were. "I do not know how they choose which children will become the host for a demon and training, but there does seem to be some correlation between children who witness death before being chosen."

  "Did I see death? Is that why they chose me?" Alice asked.

  "Yes, child, you did. Of course, you have no memory of this now, but Veronica told me that you had seen a girl die when you were quite young. Your mother didn’t want to lose you, Rave." Etsy explained, “There was a girl living where you stay in Castle Pines years ago, she too was possessed. She died though.”

  “It was Lily!” Alice blurted out as she recalled the little girl who wanted her to jump.

  “Lily? Yes, her name was… Lily Creg. She had a peculiar demon thrust inside her making her lead people to jump to their deaths. However I was trying to help her. Though still I had no way to free her from the misery she was in, I had convinced her mom to let her talk to me. But sadly she jumped off the window of her room the very night. I didn’t realize her intention until it was too late for me to save her. But in that case, there aren’t any kids we were able to save as long as you.” She looked right into Alice’s eyes. “Yes you.”

  Etsy tried to pull something out from her purse, but it fell out of her bony hands. The
sound of metal clanking on the floor startled Alice. Both heads turned towards the direction of the sound, their eyes fixed at the tiny metal object. Etsy bent down and grabbed it, and then handed it to Alice. It was a cross. The old witch passed the cross to Alice with a cold expression.

  “Go on. Touch it.” Etsy commanded.

  Unsure, Alice reached out for the cross. As the tip of her finger touched on the cross, Alice quickly closed her eyes, expecting it to burn through her skin. However, she was wrong. The metal felt surprisingly cool, like ice. The sudden sensation caused her to pull away.

  “How is that even possible?” She exclaimed.

  “Can’t murderers, thieves, psychos enter the church or hold the cross?” Etsy snapped and waited till Alice nodded. “You can too. It is only when the demon emerges that the cross will burn you.”

  The comparison Etsy made between Alice and murderers and psychos scared her. "So, uh what if uh…you hold the cross to contain me?” Alice replied.

  “Oh, honey. Of course I tried that.” Etsy said nonchalantly. “Your skin started peeling off, and the excruciating screams…. So, I stopped.”

  Alice suddenly remembered her mom’s letter. “Wait… mom said I should keep away from priests and churches.” She said.

  “When a demon possesses a person, it fuses with the body. It can be removed, but it is extremely difficult and most of the time results in the death of the person. Think of an exorcism as a sort of high-risk surgery. Veronica consulted a priest one night, against my wishes I might add, but when he told her of the chances of you dying, she backed out. Unfortunately for him, he told her that she no longer had a say in the matter, the demon inside of you was too dangerous to be allowed to roam free. He would give her one more night with you, and then he would be back with more priests in the morning. That was his mistake of course, and he was quite foolish for giving a desperate mother no choice." For a moment Alice thought that Etsy was trying to say that Veronica had murdered a priest. After a moment however, she realized there was a simpler explanation, especially with herself at the scene.

  "She stopped protecting me, didn't she? She let me kill him?" The thought made her sick.

  "It was something she regretted daily and constantly sought forgiveness for. Your mother did what she had to keep you alive. She executed her job as a mother rather well if you ask me.”

  If it wasn’t for those bloody Grasp. Alice thought to herself. Without the Grasp, everything would have just turned out fine. She wouldn’t have landed herself up in this mess. Grasp had snatched her happiness. Grasp killed her parents. Grasp had destroyed her life.

  “Where are the Grasp now?” Alice growled in anger.

  “No one knows their exact location, dear. They would not exist for long if we did. I did perform magic and sensed a lady off and on for several years when you were possessed, and I tried to catch her when I arrived in Colorado. I had a hunch she’d be nearby. She seemed very old when I sensed her." Etsy seemed bothered suddenly. “I was onto her and I wanted to catch her and finish her once and for all. All that was remaining was to track her location. I was going to perform that spell but that was the night the demon returned- last week, and she immediately disappeared from me. By now she’s probably changed her appearance; she might be a young hippie. All of them would be young hippies.” Etsy scoffed.

  A young hippie, Alice wondered. A familiar face jolted into her mind. Though she wasn’t great at remembering faces, this one had got her attention. The girl she saw at the roadside last night. She had all features of Mrs. Diane Paul!

  “I know who it is.” Alice raised her hand like a school kid.

  “No use now, dear. The demon is loose inside of you. It is probably still her responsibility to watch after you, but she will be keeping a much lower profile now." Etsy snorted.

  “Ron told me that the demon killed sixteen people in the past, before the same started in Colorado. Sixteen people in fifteen years and now every day!” Alice protested, her voice rising.

  “You would have killed thousands if not for me and Veronica. I doubt you would’ve survived if not for us. Children who have this problem develop mental problems; even kill themselves out of guilt. We did whatever we could. The first few years you were on my sleeping spell, but eventually your sleep got shallower until one day it didn’t work at all. I made charms, potions. Veronica tried depression pills to numb you, but everything became useless after a while. Veronica even had to chain you to the bed, but it was no use at one point. The demon was much too strong for us to contain any longer."

  “You mean the Grasp didn’t do anything to stop you?”

  “They wouldn’t. It isn’t the way they work. And it also meant the demon was growing each day inside you. They were, and still are, counting on the demon to gain control over you, and in a way we were still helping them by taking care of you.” She said plainly.

  Alice swore her jaw dropped upon hearing that. “What!?”

  “Don't worry, girl. I am pretty sure that you can get over it before that happens. You just need focus and determination. That very day you tried to kill yourself, you were using the demon to kill you. You were controlling it, don't you get that? You can try controlling it again, you know. And once you suppress it for good, it will never gain control over your mind and body again.”

  Alice scowled. “I don’t even remember controlling it,” she confessed.

  “From what I heard about that night, your emotions had got the better of you. I have wondered if that had anything to do with your ability to control the demon. But coincidently that night you lost your memory. The doctors didn’t see any great impact that would let you forget everything. What I think is that it was the Grasp behind it. So that you’d forget everything and the demon would be safe until it can gain total control over you. I’d told Veronica this and she had another theory that it might be for the better, because the accidents had stopped. I wasn’t too sure and so we went with her plan. Cunning people the Grasp are. Get back to Lance and maybe you both can try your way out.”

  “It would be easier if you help me regain my memory.” Alice hesitated. “With… umm... magic”

  “Believe me. If I could, I would. It’s all up to you now.” Etsy looked on stern.

  “Make a stitch in time. That is all I can say. It is the only way you can mark your way above the demon. Do not let it control you, understand my dear?” Etsy said and checked her watch. “Now, you must hurry if you want to catch your flight."

  CHAPTER 33

  “Hey…” Ravi Kumar came up.

  “Call him Derek,” Janice spat out the last word like he wasn’t supposed to be called that. Then she turned to her husband, Ravi, who was surprised by her loud interruption. “After all, we are at the Great Jacob Lawson’s home.”

  “Mom, cut it out,” Derek whispered. “Dad’s upset.”

  “Your mom never learnt what to say at what time,” Jacob started with his part.

  “That might be you mister.”

  Derek threw up his hands and stepped back. Ravi had to literally pull them away before commotion rose above the grievance of Steph’s death. Derek marched across the hall.

  “Stephanie’s body was in such bad shape that I’m sure it had to be scooped up,” a lady was whispering to another at the corner. “Poor girl. I heard they couldn’t find a hand.”

  Derek glanced in their direction. An Asian and a blonde, dressed in black satin dresses. The dresses looked identical besides the sleeves. While Veronica’s death had only been briefed, Stephanie’s death had made huge news. It was on every news channel, the terror of the accident. It was categorised under the mysterious demonic deaths as the previous days but it got engraved in people’s minds. Not because she was the daughter of Jacob Lawson’s late wife, but because this was by far the worst accident anyone had seen in ages. It would be kind if none could find her shattered body, let alone dogs. Now people were talking, describing of how bits of her were strewn all over the street.

&
nbsp; “Well,” The Asian responded in a whisper. “I think they couldn’t find both hands.”

  With his parents breaking up the argument they were over, Derek decided it was best to just leave the ladies be and Steph’s funeral service go smoothly.

  “Want to bet? Fifty dollars.”

  That was all Derek could take. He pushed the blonde to the wall.

  “That’s what you are here for huh?” He shouted in her face. “Betting on how my sister was found.”

  Franny appeared at his side. “Derek,” she ordered, “let go.”

  “I bet whether I can destroy your face in one punch,” Derek continued. “One million dollars.”

  “I’m sorry,” the woman almost cried.

  “Your mom just left and now you... All are looking please let go.” Franny pleaded.

  Derek heaved and stepped aside pointing to both the women. “Never gossip and bet on dead people again. Now get out!”

  Shaken, the lady went out, and the Asian followed. They had to be dad’s friends from business but they weren’t stopped, Derek thought they weren’t very important to him. Even otherwise Derek knew if he told Jacob the whole thing, Jacob would kick them out himself.

  “They were betting on Steph,” Derek said incredulously to Franny. He ran his fingers through his hair. “Steph.”

  “Come on sit down, dear,” Franny lead him away in the kitchen. “You look awful. Rest up, I’ll check on your dad.”

  Jane was sitting across from him, completely numb, while her twins were firing questions at her. One of them walked up to Derek.