by T. G. Ayer
Gina stiffened for a moment, then threw her head back and laughed. The sound rang around the room, an eerie, spine chilling echo that confirmed a demon was in our presence. Whether or not it merely possessed the girl, or was using her flesh as a vehicle, I couldn't tell.
“How can you call me evil, Father?” She pouted. “I never did anything to you. I just made you think that it happened.”
“What?” Santiani was stunned and tried to pushed away her hand. “Why? How?”
“She pursed her lips and sighed. “You and your family were perfect. So much love and devotion. Do you know how powerful love and devotion is to me? And then . . . there is grief. That heart-breaking devastation of having a loved one ripped from you . . . so much power in that. So much sustained power in consistent every day grief. And you . . . you were so perfect. You really loved your wife.” She sook her head, and smiled. “Such power. You just kept giving me power.”
“Why tell me now?” He looked confused.
She moved back and settled on the mattress. “Because I had to show you the truth. But a lady never reveals all her secrets.” She tried to be coy but her expression said she was tiring of the discussion.
“I said you’re evil, and now I’m certain of it.”
He sat up and tried to push her off but the air around him shimmered. Shadows swirled like dark smoke, twisting around his upper body, darkening as it tightened. The smoky tendrils solidified into black satin ribbons, winding around Santiani’s arms. He was trapped. Gina placed a red-painted fingertip against his chest and pushed him until he lay flat on the bed.
“I’ve been waiting. But don’t worry. After this, I won’t need you anymore.” The smile she gave told me in no uncertain terms that she wasn’t going to leave him alive.
Imade more sense now, how she operated. She looked for loving, devoted families and used that emotion against them, living off the power their emotions generated. Sounded like a smart plan, except for all the dead bodies she was leaving in her wake.
“What are you talking about?” he asked, shaking his head.
She sighed. “I need the last of your grief, every last speck that you have left. It’s time.”
“Time for what?” He struggled, throwing himself against the ropelike bindings. He flung a desperate look at me. He needed support in some way so I materialized for a brief moment, gave him an encouraging nod, then put my finger to my lips. I faded away quickly, fearful Gina would have seen him staring at the very same spot she’d stared at on entering the room.
But Gina was focused only on Santiani. She shifted, climbed up onto the bed and swung a leg over his hips. He cried out, horror and revulsion twisting his features into something unrecognizable.
She bent closer, her lips beside his ear. “I’m done playing games with you, Father.”
Santiani growled. “You are not my daughter. Get off me.”
Gina stiffened, sitting up straighter as she studied his face. I took a few steps closer, preparing myself for making my move. I slipped the taser from me pocket, holding it ready.
“How can you say such a thing? I’m your daughter.”
He shook his head. “You're not Gina. If you are Gina, then you're possessed.”
“Possessed?”
“Yes, Gina. Something is controlling you. Making you say and do terrible things.”
Gina laughs, the sound high-pitched and tinkling, filled with light-hearted mirth. Her smile was wide, almost enchanting.
And then it changed, her skin rippling and changing. It was only a brief moment of change but even from her profile I could tell her face had shifted, revealing her true form to Santiani.
So she was the demon. I wasn’t sure if I was relieved or saddened. Santiani’s face paled, the machines at his side beeping a little faster, recording his terrified state.
“It’s time. I don’t have any choice so don’t make this difficult, okay.”
I wanted to look away. Natasha hadn’t mentioned any details on the demon’s process of drawing energy from the father. But from what it looked like was about to happen, I had a pretty good idea.
He shook his head, turning from side to side even as the demon chuckled and lowered her body to his.
“I’m sorry. Only one of us leaves this room alive. It’s either me or you and I’d much prefer it be me.” She curved her fingers, smiled as her red nails grew longer and sharper, ready to gouge.
As she reached for his throat, I materialized and shoved her off the bed and onto the floor where she landed right in the middle of the protective circle.
She shrieked, instinctively spinning around and reverting to Gina’s form. As soon as she touched the ground, the invisible circle began to glow an iridescent silver and gold. Gina grunted and moved to step out of the circle but it held, a dome of glowing silver smoke keeping her safely within.
The door cracked open and Drake entered, locking it behind him.
The demon slammed against the protective bubble again and this time the magic shuddered, a tiny tear appearing in it. I didn’t waste any more time. I grabbed the taser from my bag, held it out, and pressed the switch, watching as the twin spikes flew at the demon, and impaled themselves into her neck.
The demon convulsed as pure energy flooded into her body. I wasn’t sure how Natasha’s magic worked, but whatever it was it succeeded in slowing the demon-Gina down.
Enough for us to get her out of the hospital room before she caused unexplainable destruction.
Natasha had said I was to take the demon to the white water on her property. It had contained the dark magic, suppressing its power within its depths.
As the energy dissipated, I reached for both the demon and Drake at the same time. I jumped from the hospital room to the pond, ignoring the sudden vertigo that washed over me.
Chapter 36
I transported Drake and the demon to Natasha’s white water pond.
The moment we materialized, the demon screamed, taking on Gina’s form for a few moments. Long enough to impale me with a glare. Energy flowed off her body sending branches and stones flying at me.
“You dare to stop me. Do you know not who I am?”
“Who are you?” I asked. “Not that I give a shit.” I crouched low, protecting my face.
The demon laughed, clearly not having heard my comment. “I am Yarrsh. I have powers like nothing you’ve ever seen. You weaklings believe you can defeat me?” She laughed, cackling so loudly that I just wanted to stab her in the eye to shut her up.
Weaklings indeed.
“We can try.”
“It have been four centuries and nobody has yet succeeded.” Before I could respond, Yarsh, the unbelievably powerful four hundred year old demon struck me with the full force of her magic. The attack was so sudden that I was unprepared, and wasn't able to deflect the blow.
The impact lifted me off the ground and straight into the trunk of an ancient oak tree. My back cracked against the wood and the blow shuddered through my bones. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Natasha come running.
She sent a blast of magic straight at Yarrsh-the-demon, who screamed when the blow hit her full force and threw her to the ground. She landed inches from the water, rolled over easily and jumped back to her feet.
Yarrsh was far more powerful than we’d anticipated
Natasha seemed to be taking it in her stride. She ran forward sending more blasts of magic at the demon and the two fought a battle between black and white magic while I struggled to get back onto my feet. I stood at the edge of the magic or unable to do much other than watch.
I felt a little bit superfluous in this fight.
I never had a reason to use magic, or to fight with it. I usually appeared, retrieved and left as fast as I could. Sometimes I used my weapons, and then I’d leave even fast.
As I got to my feet my hand instantly went to my bag, my biggest fear being that the potion had been destroyed. Thankfully we’d carefully placed it inside a protective pouch in prep
aration for just such acrobatics.
By now Yarrsh had lost all pretense of being Gina the human girl. She fought Natasha in her full demonic form, her skin blood red, crimson hair streaming behind her. The blood red nails swiped straight across Natasha's abdomen and my heart changed as I heard the white witch scream in pain. As powerful as Natasha was, white magic wasn't built to withstand black.
Natasha fell to the ground her hand held tightly to her stomach, the front of her white dress growing red with blood. Drake ran towards her performing the actions of savior for a second time in so many days.
I couldn't pay too much attention to them because I knew time was of the essence. I stumbled closer and raised my hand, my fingers loosely holding the fragile bottle of liquid magic. Yarrsh barely paid attention to me as she crowed over having defeated the white witch. Maybe it was a good thing that she wasn’t coherent in her demon form.
Only when I got two feet away from her did she cease her cackling and turn her attention to me.
She grinned and lifted her hands, screaming into the air, the sound ripping into my eardrums.
Clouds gathered overhead, and the icy wind gusted around us, trapping us within a tornado. Leaves and branches spun around us, and I had to squint against the rushing air.
Drake hunkered low, protecting Natasha from the wind. If I had time, I would have been amused, knowing from personal experience that nature had little effect on a white witch. And in fact, it fueled her power, giving her energy from the depths of the earth.
Yarrsh studied me, then turned away, assuming I was no threat.
Little did she know.
She advanced on Natasha, lifting her hands and sending waves of energy at the couple. The power of her magic shifted soil and dirt, rippling the surface of the ground and flattening Drake's skin against his bones.
I raised my hand and threw the bottled directly at the back of Yarrsh’s neck. She’d definitely chosen the wrong designer. I focused on the bottle as it flew through the air and hit her at the top of her spinal column. The glass shattered into millions of pieces and the orange liquid burst into magical flame, skimming the surface of her skin and weaving its way beneath her clothing. Sparks flew and flames flickered along her entire body, burning her clothes to fragments of dust.
The demon screeched, the sound like knives in my brain. I covered my ears and sank low watching the tornado spin faster around us, listening to the screams of the dying demon.
Her skin, now blackened, began to crumble away, revealing the inside of her body, red flesh melted, seeping through the black gashes and I watched in horror, unable to turn away.
Yarrsh lifted her blackened arms and opened her mouth. Maybe she meant to say something to us, to curse us for killing her. But no words escaped. Only a pained keening, like the sound of a distant eagle, amplified a million times.
And then she exploded, sending shredded pieces of charred red skin and shattered bits of white bone flying in all directions. The tornado ceased, and everything dropped to the ground instantly. I ducked, evading a flying hand by mere inches.
The wind had stopped and Drake and Natasha were getting to their feet slowly.
I rose too, using a tree trunk to support me.
It felt a little anticlimactic. Yarrsh the four-hundred-year-old demon was gone, but we hadn’t found Gia, and now Gina was dead too. I felt a deep sadness for Carlo Santiani, targeted by this malicious demon for no reason other than having a loving family.
I leaned against the tree, resting my head against the solid bark.
It was over.
But not for me. I was going back to the Santiani mansion to check the place out one more time. Because something Yarrsh had said to Santiani had been bugging me. I couldn’t put a finger on it until now.
She’d said she needed a constant energy to draw from. Which meant she needed a living life force. And since she’d been about to kill off the father, then that would leave at least one other family member from which to draw power. Until she found her next family.
Since she’d been using Gina’s body, she was also using Gina’s life force.
Gina may still be alive.
Chapter 37
Both Drake and Natasha agreed with me that I had to check the mansion out one more time. Drake agreed to come with me, while Natasha insisted on remaining at home in order to repair all her wards. The dark magic of Yarrsh, the demon witch, had shattered them all to pieces.
Drake insisted on driving me. The man was persistent and therefore frustrating and annoying.
Marshall didn’t answer our summons at the front gate, and Drake forced me to to asked a very concerned, and a very drained, Santiani for his entry code. He gave it without question when I assured him that Gina was no longer possessed.
I tried not to think about the lie as we drove up the drive and stopped in front of the house. Again, the butler didn't answer our knock and I had to use Santiani’s code. The house was silent and my gut told me that it wasn’t going to be good.
I stopped Drake just as he placed a foot on the bottom riser of the staircase. “Wait. Let me check it out first.”
“What are you expecting? An army of demons?”
“You never know. You're the one all up in my grill about being careful, so let’s be careful.”
Drake made a face but the fact that he gave up without a fight confirmed his gut was saying the same as mine. Something was wrong.
We checked the ground floor, clearing one room after the other and found a very dead Marshall sitting hunched over at the kitchen counter. The old main had been eating breakfast from the looks of the ham and cheese croissant and coffee in front of him. There was no need to call the ambulance, not from the copious amounts of blood spraying the walls and pooling on the tiles around him. And especially not from the fact that his head had been separated from his body, and now lay three feet away, resting against the open patio doors.
Drake and I shared a concerned glance, then headed for the entry hall.
He cleared his throat. “Maybe try projecting again.”
I raised an eyebrow, but did as he said.
Nobody was more surprised than I was, when the thread lead me upstairs with unexpected strength.
I crooked a finger at Drake and ran up the stairs. The mansion was empty except for the deceased Marshall and whatever was emitting the soulthreads that belonged to Gina Santiani.
I followed the feedback which led straight to Gina’s bedroom. Drake and I came to a barrelling halt at the sight of the strange gap in the far wall of the room.
“A safe room?” murmured Drake.
“Looks like the demon was taking full advantage of the luxuries of the Santiani’s mansion.”
“No kidding.” He walked toward it and pushed it open.
Inside, the luxurious space was lit by fluorescent lamps. Wood-paneled walls, plush carpet, expensive light fittings, and even wall art. Strange.
Fully stocked shelves lined the walls and a toilet had been installed at the back of the room. A small sink sat beside the door next to a shelf filled with dishes, cutlery. A deep freezer sat along the wall, humming with electricity.
“A person could last in this room for weeks.”
“A bit extreme.”
Drake went to the freezer, popping the lid open. I wasn't sure what he’d expected to find but the growl of horror he let out was definitely not something I’d anticipated.
“What is it?” I asked, rushing forward and pushing his hand away. He’d tried to stop me from peering inside but he was too late.
Wrapped within a layer of plastic, her face was white, covered in frost. Lips and eyes blue, the tiny mole at the side of her left eye telling me I’d finally found my missing girl.
Or at least I’d found parts of her.
She’d been dismembered, each individual section of her wrapped in small manageable pieces. Except for a stack of bones leaning up against the corner of the freezer. Cut marks on the bones told me they’d been
cleaned of flesh, the sight sending shivers down my spine.
Prions disease.
The demon had fed parts of Gia to her father. I had no doubt she’d done the very same thing with Deborah Santiani.
She’d probably been doing it with all her victims, but because prions took so long to kill, she may have taken things into her own hands in order to keep her thirteen month timetable. That Santiani had shown symptoms early had been bad luck for the demon.
My throat closed as I exchanged a shocked look with Drake.
I wasn’t sure what to say. Instead, I closed the lid and backed away, turning my back on one horror only to be faced with another.
Drake said something but I didn’t respond, only because of the roaring in my ears as I stared at the center of the floor.
Gina Santiani lay on the marble tiles.
The only reason I knew she was alive was the feedback that emanated from her. Other than that, her grey skin, emaciated body, sunken eyes and meagre scraps of hair screamed corpse.
I ran to her side, kneeling beside her to listen to her heart. Drake dropped to his knees opposite me, lifting Gina’s to feel for a pulse. We both shook our heads.
“We need to get her to the hospital,” I said.
Drake nodded. “She’s still alive, but she’s so drained.” He lifted her wrist to show me.
Gina’s wrist was ruined, a deep gash bled slowly and I understood now.
“She was living on her blood.”
Drake sighed. “She needs a blood transfusion and IV like yesterday.”
I snorted. “Make that last week.” I studied the girl. “She’s been here a long time. Look at her hair. For that kind of fallout to happen she’d have to have been here for months.”
Drake grunted then lifted Gina up in his arms. “No point in waiting for the ambulance. Do your thing.”
Okay then.
I projected first before taking Drake and Gina to the emergency room, looking for a safe spot to enter. A large laundry closet down the hall from the emergency desk provided sufficient privacy for our paranormal arrival.