Abomination

by Sean Stone

  “I’ve lost too many friends,” said Richie. The memory of Victor dying at the hands of his enemies brought a tear to his eye and he didn’t bother to hide it from Roman. He no longer cared what people saw.

  “How touching,” Roman mocked. “I’m not letting him go.” Roman’s lips spread in a smile. “You’ve just made me want to kill him even more. Will you cry when he dies? I’d like that.”

  Richie grabbed the metal from the ground and threw it. Roman looked up in shock but before he could react the metal sliced through his neck. For a second nothing happened. The look of confusion on Roman’s face was almost cartoonish. Then his knees buckled, his shoulders slumped and as his body fell his head rolled off his neck and went tumbling down the road.

  “Jesus!” Jacob screamed as he and Richie met in the middle of the road. “You could’ve killed me.”

  “I’ve got a good aim,” Richie said.

  “Thankfully you’ve got good speed too,” Jacob said. “I still don’t see how we can survive this, though.” He gestured at the carnage around them. Despite the soldiers who’d fled, the soldiers were still winning and their chances of turning things around were non-existent.

  “Perhaps I could help,” a deep voice said. Both vampires turned and saw Michael Aramaya standing casually as if there wasn’t a battle raging around him. Unlike Ramsay he didn’t look harmed by Nick’s spell at all.

  “I don’t want your help,” Richie snapped, glaring at Michael.

  “Richie, I’m sorry for my part in what happened. But don’t be a fool. I can help and I’m going to.”

  “It’s a nice sentiment, buddy, but we’d need an army to win this,” Jacob said.

  “Well, it’s a good thing I’ve got one,” Michael replied. He raised his hand and then the vampires appeared. They stepped out of the darkness as is they’d been invisible a moment before. Each of them had the crook and flail symbol of the Cult on their breast.

  “The Cult of Osiris,” Richie said, looking at the fresh vampires.

  “It’s about time we did some good, don’t you think?” said Michael.

  Twenty minutes later the battle was over. The vampires had won.

  Chapter 39

  Arthur stood with Clara, Dean and Kegan in the lobby of Winters Research. They watched Apophis fire magic into the building, each spell he threw weakened the defences more. Nothing they could do would keep him out. There was no point running, he would catch them. The only option was to fight and that hadn’t exactly gone well last time. Prophecy or not, they were going to die. The rest of the Coven stepped out of the lift and came to stand with them in the lobby.

  “Is there any point in fighting?” Laurie asked as she watched the jinni attack the building from outside.

  “We don’t have a choice,” said Clara. They were out of options. Out of time.

  “Maybe fighting is useless,” Dean said sullenly. “Maybe a lot of things. Who cares?” He smashed his hand through the glass which encased the emergency fire axe. He drew the axe out carefully, weighing it in his hands. Arthur didn’t bother telling him that the axe would not help. Whatever made him feel better.

  “You’re right,” said Arthur. “We fight as one and we die as one.”

  Just then the entire front of the lobby smashed inwards in a million shards of glass. Arthur and Clara both threw up shields and the glass turned to sand as it collided with their magic. Silence fell over the lobby, followed by the sound of feet crunching on glass. Apophis had entered the lobby.

  “Give me my siblings,” he said simply.

  “For the last time, we haven’t got them!” shouted Kegan in desperate fury.

  Apophis considered this for a moment. “It doesn’t matter. I’m going to kill you anyway.”

  Arthur didn’t hesitate. He launched the first spell which Apophis deflected. The jinni wasn’t fast enough to deflect Clara’s. With her new ancient powers she was a lot stronger. Her attack knocked Apophis off his feet. He slammed to the floor making the entire lobby rattle. Clara tried to press the attack, but Apophis conjured a shield around himself. He pulled himself to his feet slowly, staring wondrously at Clara as he rose. His glamour was cracked, revealing the dark granite-like flesh beneath his face.

  “Well done,” Apophis congratulated. “It is a shame you won’t get the chance to do it again, though.” His shield dropped at the same time as he cast a beam of magic at Clara. Clara had been expecting it and so had Arthur. They both sent beams of their own. The three beams collided in the centre of the lobby. Clara’s icy blue, Arthur’s radiant yellow and Apophis’ dark red like blood. Sparks flew off the collision site, lighting small fires around the lobby. Clara would’ve enjoyed the show had it not been a life and death situation. With a scream of annoyance Apophis’ beam shot forward consuming the other two. Clara and Arthur were thrown back. Clara crashed into the front desk. She heard Dean and Kegan screaming like primal warriors. She looked up and saw them charging toward Apophis.

  “No!” she screamed.

  Apophis dealt Kegan a blow with the back of his hand and the young wolf hurtled across the lobby. Dean swung the axe. Apophis caught his wrist and held him off. With his free hand he gripped Dean’s throat and lifted him up off the floor. Dean stared maliciously at the jinni, his face turning crimson.

  “So much fury. But not for me,” said Apophis. “The warlock. Oh no, she killed you father. How tragic.”

  “Let him go! Please,” Clara asked. She didn’t demand it, she pleaded.

  Apophis turned slowly to look at her and on his face was the closest thing to a smile that he could manage. “You love him? Here in my hands I hold the string that controls you.”

  “Just let him go. I’ll find your siblings. I’ll bring them to you. I’ll do anything. Just let him go,” Clara begged.

  “Don’t…” Dean managed to say.

  “Anything? For his life? I wonder how much he is really worth,” said Apophis. “I’ll let him live… if you kill your father.”

  Nobody had been expecting him to say that and nobody had an adequate response. Everyone stared dumfounded at Apophis.

  “You’re sick,” Clara said at last.

  “Kill him. Or I kill you all.”

  “You really think she’d kill me?” Arthur said with derision.

  “Your race has no moral code. You kill each other for money. How can anyone be so base?” Apophis said. “My kind. We have real values.”

  “Is that why you killed your own?” Arthur said. “Kayla told us all about how you murdered half your siblings.”

  “You don’t know what you’re talking about,” Apophis snarled. His eyes were starting to heat up.

  “You want to talk values. What do you value, because it certainly isn’t family or you wouldn’t have killed you siblings. All those pairs you made single for eternity.”

  “I wanted them to feel like me!” he screamed, throwing Dean aside in his fury. “I was alone! They shunned me! They locked me away! Treated me like I was dirt!”

  “From what I’ve seen they weren’t wrong,” Clara said.

  “Shut up!” he roared. His glamour fell away completely, revealing the demonic visage beneath. The magma beneath his flesh roared with a fiery glow.

  “Now, now, little brother. Don’t throw one of your legendary tantrums.” The voice seemed to come from nowhere at first, then a woman appeared to Apophis’s right. She was tall, thin with gaunt features and long curly hair. She was dressed in simple dark clothing and a heavy purple crystal hung around her neck. Apophis’ eyes widened and for a mere second he looked scared.

  “Lilith,” he said, turning to his sister. “Who let you out?”

  “The same person who let us all out,” Lilith replied. Four more jinn appeared around Apophis. The others were all men.

  One was humungous in size and shape and had stubby horns on his forehead. “Shaitan,” said Apophis.

  “This has been a long time coming,” the burly jinni replied, staring at his brother m
aliciously.

  The next was shorter than Shaitan and a lot thinner. His hair was tangled mess of darkness. He had a green crystal around his neck. “Family reunion!” he shouted jovially.

  “Azazel, you look as weak as ever,” said Apophis.

  “We’ll see who’s weak at the end of this night,” said the next. He was barely more than a slither of a man. Long dank hair covered most of his face. Around his neck was a dark grey crystal.

  “Golama.” Apophis took a step back from this sibling.

  “You’re right to be afraid,” the final jinni said. He appeared behind Apophis who turned quickly. This one was fat and grimy looking. His crystal was blue.

  “Afraid! Of you Bisnar? Of any of you? Nothing you can do can harm me.”

  “That was not the impression I got,” said Kristen as she appeared in the doorway. The remaining warlocks of her order stood around. Clara saw Dean’s grip on his axe tighten at the sight of her. “They told me everything there is to know about you and them and all the jinn history.” She strode forwards confidently until she was standing toe to toe with Apophis. Clara did not miss the looks of hatred on the jinn siblings’ faces as she passed them.

  “And what did you learn?” Apophis asked. He wasn’t bothered in the least.

  “That you’ve always been a whiney little bitch,” she replied. Apophis sneered at her, but didn’t respond to her insult. “Also, that you bound yourself to them and are drawing all of your immense power from them. Which led me to realise that only they have enough power to kill you.”

  “They can’t kill me,” said Apophis lazily.

  “They can. I just need to set them free which I can do by saying the words I wish—”

  Apophis whipped the back of his hand across her face hard enough to send her flying across the room. She hit the floor and slid along it until she hit the wall. When she looked back one side of her face was bright red and blood was drizzling from eye.

  “Do you really think that anything you can come up with can harm me!” he screamed furiously. “This pathetic little scheme is nothing! Nothing! How dare you stand in my face and insult me! Set them free if you wish! It will make no difference! They were free before Kayla’s curse and they never managed to kill me then did they?”

  “Jinn code…” Kristen said weakly, still rubbing her face.

  “Jinn code!” Apophis mocked. “It only extends so far. They tried to kill me countless times.”

  “But they said…”

  “They lied. We’re jinn, we do that. They just wanted you to set them free. And yes, had you done it, they would’ve tried to kill me. But they would have failed.”

  “They couldn’t lie. I’m the mistress of the bottles.”

  “Did you explicitly tell them not to lie?” Apophis asked.

  “Set us free, Kristen. Put it to the test,” said Lilith.

  “I for one would love to put my little brother in his place,” said Shaitan.

  “Yes. Go on. We’ll give you a real show but my siblings will be defeated at the end of it. And then I’ll kill all of you,” said Apophis. “I am bound to them. As long as that bind exists I cannot be killed by anything or anyone. And the bond can only be broken by me.”

  The disgruntled looks on the faces of the jinn siblings told Clara that Apophis was not lying.

  “Well, there is another way to break it,” Kristen said, climbing to her feet. “I control all of your siblings. All I have to do is say I wish—”

  “Aren’t you listening?” Apophis snapped. “You can’t wish for the bond to break. It won’t work. Stupid girl.”

  Kristen laughed. “I wasn’t going to wish for that.”

  “What?” Apophis said, confused.

  “Oh, jinn boys and girls,” Kristen said. Their crystals lit up when she addressed them and they all turned expectantly. “I wish you would kill each other.”

  “No,” said feebly.

  The siblings all looked anguished but none of them could resist the command. They turned to each other slowly, their eyes glowing with power as they readied their spells.

  “No,” Apophis said again, shaking his head. He stepped forward to intervene but Clara attacked him first. She sent a fork of silvery-blue lightning at him. Then the room descended into anarchy. Clara and Arthur sent attack after attack at Apophis but he was no longer interested in them, he was focused on trying to keep his siblings from killing each other. The warlocks darted about the room, attacking any jinni they could get to. The Coven remained with Clara and Arthur, circling Apophis, sending attacks at the invulnerable jinni.

  “ENOUGH!” Bellowed Apophis. The sent a blast of magic out of himself so strong that everyone in the room was sent crashing to the ground. The lobby fell silent. Clara lifted her head. Apophis stood alone in the centre of the room. Then Bisnar rose. Azazel rose too and despite the torn look of anguish on his face he threw an attack at Bisnar.

  “No!” screamed Apophis. He sent a red beam of power at Azazel’s attack which was decimated before it reached Bisnar. Apophis’ beam carried on right up to Azazel who was too slow to deflect it. “No!” Apophis screamed again as Azazel exploded in a cloud of green smoke.

  Apophis groaned as his eyes glowed green. Clara smiled as Apophis shrunk a good couple of inches in height and mass. Killing the siblings was the key. She wasn’t the only one to think it.

  “Kill the siblings!” screamed Kristen and the fighting resumed.

  Clara left the warlocks and the jinn to kill the siblings. She had eyes only for Apophis. She and Arthur once again led the Coven in the attack.

  “Stop this now,” Apophis said in a far less commanding voice. “And I’ll let you keep your lives.” Although weakened he was still able to fight them all off.

  “No way!” yelled Laurie. She moved too close to him and he grabbed her, one massive dark hand covered her face. With a primal scream of fury he smashed her head into the wall and crushed it to mush. He didn’t get the time to celebrate. There was another cry and Apophis’ eyes shone blue. Once again he diminished in size. Now he looked no larger than a tall human.

  Clara conjured her silvery-blue beam and focused it at him. He brought up his red one which was now a more faded colour. The beams met in the middle and both struggled against the other. Arthur added his beam to Clara’s and the other Coven members followed suit.

  “End this. End this now and I’ll leave this town and never return,” Apophis offered.

  “Never,” Clara said coldly.

  A spell cast by one of the other jinn suddenly caused the entire floor to explode sending everyone off their feet and robbing Clara and the Coven of their advantage. With the sorcerers down Apophis took the opportunity to get away from them. He searched through the bedlam until he found Kristen. She was firing curses at Lilith who was busy fighting off Shaitan. Apophis grabbed Kristen, lifted her off her feet and slammed into the nearby wall. He put both hands around her neck and squeezed.

  “Undo your wish or die,” he threatened. She shook her head. “I’ll kill your friends.”

  “I… haven’t got any,” she gasped.

  Shaitan died at Lilith’s hands and Apophis staggered back, his eyes glowing red. He felt so much power fleeing him as his oldest brother succumbed to death. Then Kristen sent him sprawling across the lobby. Another scream marked Lilith’s death. Golama was the last one standing. The remaining warlocks, of which there were only four left alive, circled him.

  “What,” Golama said, his voice raspy. “I’m on your side. I want him dead too. He can now be killed if I lend my power to you. Free me and I will help you kill him. Try to kill me and more of you will fall.”

  “I could command you not to fight us,” Kristen said, smirking.

  “Oh just free him and let’s be done with this,” Julian snapped, tired of Kristen’s nonsense.

  “Fine. I wish you were free,” she said begrudgingly.

  The crystal around Golama’s neck shone with dark light and then the chain holding
it broke. The crystal smashed on the broken floor and Golama vanished in a cloud of grey smoke. A moment later he was back in his gangly form. His eyes were pure black as he turned to his brother with a menacing grin on his face.

  “Brother, please,” begged Apophis. He rose to his feet. He was no longer impressive at all. He stood no higher than five feet tall. The magma beneath his flesh was gone, not a trace remained. His eyes were now faded and colourless. He looked like a granite crafted in the shape of a tiny little man.

  “You’re looking more like yourself, brother,” Golama said.

  Clara stepped forward, a smile licking at her lips. Apophis looked up at her hatefully. “I think this is my part of the prophecy,” she said. Her hand was already glowing blue.

  “This isn’t fair!” He screamed petulantly. “I was never like the rest of them! I was born alone! With nothing!”

  “And now you’re going to die alone. With nothing,” said Clara.

  Clara blasted him with the full force of her magic. Everybody in the room who had magic aided her. Sorcerer, warlock and jinni. Her beam glowed with so much power that she could barely look at it. The jinni’s scream echoed around the building. It might even have travelled over the entire town. Apophis filled with silvery-blue light, it seeped through his whole pathetic form. His eyes glowed with blue pain. Then he exploded. The impact knocked everyone off their feet. The Coven, the Thirteen and Golama fell. A shower of dark rocks cascaded down. Had Adam been alive he would have wanted to put them in the museum. Clara wanted to drop them on the bottom of the ocean.

  “By the hand of Winters,” Arthur said quietly. He wrapped and arm around Clara’s shoulders and pulled her in tight. “Good job, sweetie.”

  Kristen rose to her feet and stepped over to charred spot where Apophis had been standing. “Consider yourself avenged, Nick,” she whispered. Then she froze and went rigid. Golama stepped forward, his arm extended at her.

  “I did not appreciate being used as a slave,” he hissed. “How best to punish you?”

  Nobody was prepared for what came next. Dean shot up, tore across the lobby screaming savagely. He smashed his axe into Kristen’s neck. The blade was buried deep in her neck. She cried and fell down as Golama stepped back in shock. Blood gushed from the wound. In that moment no amount of magic could help her because she was too stunned to react. Dean yanked the axe fee of her and raised it for another hit. Kristen’s hand went to her neck. She stared hatefully at Dean and Clara knew that she was about to teleport. That couldn’t be allowed. Clara ran forward at the same time as the other warlocks did. Clara reached Dean and Kristen first and surrounded them with a protective shield. The warlocks stopped on the other side, staring in with frustration. Nobody looked more frustrated than Kristen who was trapped inside the bubble with a vengeful axeman.