I’d not seen any sign of the amulets, as the chief had called them, and surmised they’d been on the table.
Ike went to one of the many desks in the workshop and flipped an old book open. “Taylor, it’s time I show you what it is I read the other night.”
I felt guilty; I knew what night that was. “You mean the night I went swimming?”
“Well, yes,” Ike cleared his throat. “But that’s forgiven.”
I smiled at the truth of that statement.
“So I was reading further in The HowlSage Haunting and…” Ike used his finger to scan the page he’d opened to. “Here it is. Listen to this, ‘I realized my mistake a bit too late. The HowlSage wasn’t the real threat; no, it was the man who controlled it. For while demons are evil, it is man who is intelligent, it is man who was born into sin, it is man who has been given free will.’” Ike started flipping through the book some more.
“Wait, is this book fiction?”
“No. It’s been taken as a work of fiction because of what it talks about, but it’s not. In fact, I think it might have important information for us. Listen to this.” Ike found his spot on the page and began to read again. “‘I’d focused so long on the HowlSage that I’d not even noticed the greater threat growing. The day of the full moon had come; I was so caught up in the hunt that I’d not realized it was also October the 31st, nor had I realized Friday the 13th had preceded it. Now it was too late, and it had been awoken.’” Ike stopped reading.
“What had been awoken?” I asked.
Ike’s face was pale. He swallowed hard before speaking. “A BloodSage.”
I knew this was the worst news yet. BloodSages were the template for the modern-day fictional vampire. These demons were far more powerful then HowlSages, and they didn’t just come into existence—they had to be summoned into existence by a human through incantations. They were the foulest of demons; BloodSages were one of the reasons for all the secrecy of the society. So many wars had been started because of man’s insatiable desire for power. Hitler’s S.S. had been set on creating an army of demons, and they’d succeeded so many times. Had the society not been in place to defeat them, the world may be a different place today.
While the person doing the summoning is clearly not on the right path, they are further doomed should they succeed. Man cannot control a demon, it is impossible—demons try to control man. But in the folly of greed, man will be led to believe he can control that which he is creating. This is simply not true.
The BloodSage is rare; many factors have to line up perfectly for them to be brought into existence. I don’t believe my dad had ever even faced one.
“But wait, I thought the book was about HowlSages?” I asked.
“It is,” Ike started. “But in this instance, the demon that was really being summoned was the BloodSage. The HowlSage was simply being used to summon the BloodSage. It so happened that Friday the 13th of a month with 31 days, was October. It’s actually not that big of an anomaly.”
“I get that, but shouldn’t someone have caught this before? Like McGarrett or your dad?”
Ike shook his head. “This book is really old. I don’t even know if either of them have read it. Plus, HowlSages appear any time a full moon falls on the 31st day of a month, which more often than not is in October. What doesn’t happen as often is Friday the 13th preceding the 31st full moon, nor do you have a human with the knowledge to summon a BloodSage. And—” Ike stopped midsentence and his face looked sheepish.
“What were you going to say?” I asked.
“Well, I mean—” he stopped again.
“Go ahead,” I insisted.
“Well most of the time the HowlSage is stopped in its first day, so while there isn’t a lot of research on what happens if a HowlSage lives longer, there isn’t usually an opportunity to learn, let alone a reason,” Ike concluded.
I nodded. I’d failed to banish the HowlSage on its first day, and that only further complicated everything.
“All right, so what you are saying is that a whole lot of crazy coincidences had to be perfectly aligned for this to happen?”
“Sort of, but in the scheme of things, angels and demons aren’t like us—they aren’t mortal like us. These alignments have happened many times before, and will happen many more times.”
It was hard to believe that something this devious, something this meticulously planned could be happening right under our noses.
“Ike, do you know everything that is needed to create a BloodSage?” I asked.
“There’s a summary in the book.” Ike quickly flipped the pages to the end of the book. “Here,” he said, sliding the book in front of me.
“Signs that a human is involved?” I read.
“Check,” Ike said.
I took a pen from the desk and got ready to put a strike through it.
Ike’s hand grabbed mine, “You can’t do that. This book is really old.”
I sighed and put the pen down. “The creation of amulets?” The list below this line was long.
1. Crown
2. Locket
3. Breastplate
4. Heart
5. 2 Bracelets
6. Dagger
7. Scepter
8. 2 Rings
9. Belt
10. 2 Anklets.
“We saw most of these in the chamber. But what is a heart?”
“I don’t know for sure, but I hope it’s not a real heart,” Ike said, his face a light shade of green. “There also wasn’t a breastplate, ring, or scepter.”
“I saw them working on something; maybe they still had a few more to create,” I said, then read further. “The presence of the BloodSage’s steed.”
“That’s the Raptoryx,” Ike explained.
“That’s why Jesse and McGarrett were so worked up about that flying beast.”
Ike nodded.
“OK, there’s a few more things. The body of a former Sage.” I looked at Ike. “Wait, how is that possible? Wouldn’t its body be long deteriorated?”
“A long time ago, the bodies were preserved by the followers, often stolen, or dug up after they’d been disposed.”
“Like a mummy?”
“Exactly.”
“Well, at least we don’t have one of those nearby.”
“As far as we know,” Ike corrected. “But I very much doubt that the person who is doing all of this would be if they didn’t have all the pieces they needed to make it happen.”
“So, what else is missing?” I asked.
“The breastplate, whatever the heart is, the scepter, the rings, and we have the belt. We also don’t know of the mummy.”
“We had better protect the belt.”
“They can make another one if they want to, but yes, it might slow them down.”
“What do the dates have to do with anything?” I asked.
“You know how we celebrate Easter as the day Christ rose from the dead?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, in the demonic world, Halloween is a day for rising, a day for spirits to be released. Friday the 13th is considered a day of evil as well. That’s where the superstitions come from,” Ike explained.
“I remember McGarrett talking about that in my training,” I admitted.
“And, in accordance with the summoning for a BloodSage, one must begin to prepare the potions on the 13th of Friday for delivery on the month’s 31st day and full moon.”
“That’s a lot of things that have to work out.”
“Hence why we don’t face BloodSages that often. They are very difficult to summon, not to mention how the summoning procedures aren’t exactly common knowledge.”
“And what is the HowlSage’s role?”
“If you read further in the book, the HowlSage is acting as a servant to the human. It’s used to collect the things needed for the rituals, to protect the one who will do the summoning. Once it is done with its service, it will bring forth its demon legion and start bi
ting people, spreading hate and weakening their resilience against evil. This makes the smaller demons’ jobs easier.” Ike put his hand to his chin. “However, in this instance, I would assume the HowlSage will continue to serve the BloodSage; after all, a BloodSage is a top tier demon, or a Supremus.”
“It sounds like we need to search the mines.” I yawned.
“Or figure out who is behind all of this,” Ike suggested. “You did see someone handing the locket to the HowlSage.”
“Yes, but we looked for the house. I couldn’t find it,” I explained. “If I could just kill the HowlSage.”
“Yeah, that would certainly affect their ability to create the BloodSage, but it wouldn’t stop them.”
“What of the gray mist?” I asked.
“That’s something I haven’t been able to determine for sure; it wasn’t mentioned in the book.”
“Hmmm,” I closed my eyes for a moment and yawned. “I think maybe we’d better get some rest. School tomorrow and hunting.”
“You mean today,” Ike corrected.
I nodded. “I think I’m going to take the belt with me to my room.”
“I wouldn’t, it’s better protected in here.”
“I disagree. Besides, let someone try to steal it from me, then I’ll be able to face them. Think of it as a trap.”
Ike shook his head, “I don’t like it, but you’re in charge.”
In charge? Was I really? I mean, McGarrett was out, Jesse was out, Mr. Swigart was still trapped. It was true I was the oldest one from our group still active.
“Why don’t you camp out in my room? We can protect it together,” I offered.
Ike smiled. “I’ll grab my sleeping bag!”
When I awoke, the belt was still by my side. I’d slept solid and hadn’t even dreamed as far as I could remember. Ike had already woken and left, but his sleeping bag still lay over near the fireplace.
Shower.
Breakfast.
School.
All flew by a little less quickly than I would have liked.
But what mattered was Ike and I had made it home. The news was that the tunnel excavation was going again, but they were still a day or more away from reaching Mr. and Mrs. Swigart. Jesse’s parents would arrive sometime this evening. The train had been delayed and then rerouted when a freight train overturned on some tracks, blocking their direct route toward town.
We of course suspected the HowlSage. It was clear that the creature and its master didn’t want Ike and I to have any help. Regardless, Ike and I knew what we needed to do.
Stop the BloodSage from rising.
Ike fitted me out with my gear and I was off for the mines. Our goal was to first find that chamber and to take all of the amulets that had been created. This would require a lot of searching, but it had to be done. If I ran into the HowlSage, I would face it and hopefully slay it. If I ran into the gray mist, I would use the canister to block it.
There were only eleven days after tonight, and two of them were Sundays.
Unfortunately, the search didn’t go well. The skies were clear, the tunnel was clear, the town slept in silence except for the operation of freeing the trapped people in the tunnel.
Another failure to get and destroy the HowlSage.
Chapter Nineteen
October 20th—Friday
I woke up early and went to sit by Jesse and McGarrett. The Gathering still held vigil at The Pink Hippo with Mrs. Riley. Their condition hadn’t improved, but neither did they seem any worse.
Ike apparently had visited several times throughout the night, asking odd questions of whomever was on watch. But I knew by odd questions, they were likely scientific in nature. If the boy genius could figure out how to awaken them or heal them, he would. And knowing what we were up against, I was in full support of that.
Ike and I got to school and went our separate ways for class. Just before I rounded the corner for homeroom, a hand reached out of a janitor closet and yanked me inside. The door slammed shut and the closet was dark, but there was a flowery smell before me.
A light clicked on. It was Melanie. She looked, well, horrible. Her face was pale, and there were shadows under her eyes. It was like she hadn’t slept for days.
“Are you OK?” I asked. Had our separation been that traumatic for her?
The warning bell rang in the hall.
She shook her head.
“What’s wrong?”
She shook her head again. Then I felt a cold draft behind me. An icy cold hand suddenly slid over my mouth. I felt an arm around my neck tightening, but when I moved to use my hands to fight off the attack, I couldn’t, for they’d been bound.
I looked at Melanie’s sad eyes. In her hand was the end of the rope.
My eyes began to close as my head filled with static. My legs lost feeling and they started to buckle.
Chapter Twenty
October 25th—Wednesday
I woke to icy water splashing onto my body. Everything was black around me and the air was frigid.
There was a laugh overhead. “Finally awake? It’s about time, you’ve been asleep for four days,” the voice said.
Four days? I was lying down on something hard, possibly the floor. Pure blackness surrounded me.
“Did you hear me?” the voice called again.
I didn’t speak.
My body jolted backward as another deluge of freezing water poured over my body.
“You should answer me if you wish for the water to stop.”
I swallowed and spoke. “I’m here.”
“Of course you are. You can’t go anywhere,” the voice said in a sarcastic tone. “I asked if you were awake.”
“Of course I am, I’m talking to you,” I said, returning the voice’s sarcasm.
Another splattering of cold water.
“Mind who you are speaking with!” the voice bellowed.
“Who might that be?”
“One more powerful than you.”
“Is that so? You have a name?”
“You may call me Albert.”
My body was shivering uncontrollably now.
A beam of light landed on me, its source a flashlight in the hands of the voice. “You look rather cold down there.”
I wouldn’t give Albert the satisfaction of admitting it. The light revealed beams all around me, I was in a cage, much like the one I’d rescued Ike from.
“You may change into these.”
A bundle of cloth dropped down before me and I made no attempt to reach for it. I kept my arms across my chest as I shivered.
“Fine, have it your way, but you are likely to get hypothermia and there is no one here to help you.”
The light disappeared and I heard footsteps patter away from me. I was alone. The voice was right about hypothermia. I retrieved the parcel of clothes and opened it. I couldn’t see what it was, but it felt like a robe to me. It would have to do. I stripped off the wet clothes and put on the long cloak. It had a hood and was long enough to graze the tops of my feet.
I hung my own clothes as best I could from the bars. Hopefully the draft might dry them so that I might change back before the voice reappeared. Wearing the robe gave me a creepy feeling, like I was becoming one of them.
Hours had passed with no sign of the voice. I’d listened for a long time, but heard nothing.
I felt my way around my cell. Like Ike’s cage, mine was suspended in the air. I could get it to rock back and forth, the rope creaking on a hinge high above. Ike’s had been destroyed, so this must be a new one, which meant I was likely in a different part of the mines. I’d kicked the bars, but they didn’t break. I climbed to the top and yanked on, pushed at, hung from the small hatch built into the top of the cage. Nothing worked. I was stuck.
Worse, I was alone. And I felt it.
Who would come for me? My dad was gone, McGarrett and Jesse were hurt, Mr. Swigart was a scientist, Uncle Matt couldn’t hunt anymore. The job was too dangerous for anyone e
lse. It could be days before a hunter from somewhere else in the world could make it back. A sinking feeling in my heart brought me to sit down. I was an orphan, fatherless, motherless, abandoned. I had no one, except maybe Ike. But he couldn’t make me feel loved.
And Melanie…she may have looked sad when she betrayed me, but that didn’t make the knife in my back easier to pull out.
The sound of footsteps got my attention. Someone was coming. I could hear the voice, but it was talking to someone.
“Set her down here, I’ll watch her. Now raise the cage,” The voice said.
I heard an odd wheezing and then my cell jerked up. The rope groaned as it lifted the weight of the wooden cage.
“Stop, right there,” the voice ordered.
Something growled. Was it the HowlSage?
“Now open the door and drop her in.”
My cage shook violently as something jumped onto the top. I heard the door at the top squeak open, and a muffled scream. Then something landed on the floor beside me with a painful-sounding thump. The door slammed shut and the cage shook again as the HowlSage bounded off of it.
I reached forward. I knew it was a girl, but who was she? I cautiously felt for an arm or leg. The first thing I found was her hair.
The cage started to lower again—we were being sent back down the shaft.
I moved my hand down her eyes, her nose, her mouth—it was bound. She’d been gagged.
“This might hurt,” I whispered to her.
I felt her nod, then I yanked the tape from her mouth. She sputtered and spit something out of her mouth. A piece of cloth.
“Tay—Taylor, is that you?” the girl asked, her voice raspy and dry.
“Yes, who are you?”
“It’s Melanie,” she said.
I backed away. “What happened?”
For a moment she didn’t speak. When she did, her voice was solemn. “I was taken, as you were.”
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