Born of Darkness

by Rita Vetere

  "Come to me. I have been pacing like a caged animal, counting the seconds, starving for you."

  She felt her anger smolder inside her, and allowed her deadly wrath to build. In a low voice, and not meeting his eyes, she said, “I know who you are. I know what you did to my mother, and my aunt. I know everything. And I want no part of you."

  The words were barely out of her mouth when his fist connected with her face. She dropped, unconscious before she hit the floor.

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  Chapter 17

  Ahriman looked upon Jasmine's unconscious form with black malice. She had closed her mind to him, and he had known immediately she'd been trying to hide something. The girl had spirit, but he would soon break it. He searched for something to tie her up with, and finding nothing, hurried to the outbuilding in back of the house. There he found rope. Once he returned inside, he turned Jasmine on her stomach and bound her arms and legs behind her, connecting the hands and feet. He had hit her harder than he intended, but her breathing appeared normal. She'd not been seriously damaged. He picked up the pendant from the floor and lifted her head to place it once again around her neck. She belonged to him. She would submit.

  How had she learned about her mother? Someone must have supplied her with the information, which meant he had an enemy. His instinct told him the man who appeared to be protecting her on the night he had first appeared to her was somehow involved. The thought filled him with malevolence. He hoped such was not the case, for his sake.

  While Jasmine remained unconscious on the floor, he tore around the house, intent on putting his suspicion to rest. After searching Jasmine's bedroom and examining the contents of her closet and dressers, he moved to the other rooms upstairs and inspected them thoroughly, but found nothing. He searched the downstairs closet and kitchen and came up empty-handed. Returning to the living room, he rummaged through the drawers of the old desk in the corner, examining the papers housed within. Beneath a stack of correspondence, he spotted a small book. He picked it up, slowly flipping through the handwritten pages. A tiny frown creased his brow. He read on, becoming more and more incensed, until finally his anger transformed into blinding rage.

  By the time he got to the blank pages at the back of the little book, the flames of his fury threatened to consume him. The last written page was bookmarked with a business card. He scanned it, memorizing the address, and then replaced it in the small book, returning it to its hiding place. Less than an hour had gone by since he had incarnated. Approximately seven hours remained to him before he disembodied, he gauged. It would be time enough to deal with the situation. After checking Jasmine's restraints, he left the house. Once he concluded his business with the man, he would return to deal with Jasmine in a way that would leave no doubt as to what would happen were she to misplace her loyalty again.

  * * * *

  Jasmine sprang awake, alarmed by the shrill voice crying out in her head. She was lying in the middle of the living room on her stomach, looking across the floor, unable to move. She'd been hogtied from behind. Her head exploded in pain. She struggled to remember what had happened, but the strident voice gave her no chance to think.

  Rise. You must free yourself. There is no time.

  She tried to quell the insistent voice, which caused the throbbing at her temples to increase, but the voice only intensified.

  You may yet be able to save him, but you must act quickly. Now.

  Remembrance seeped into her consciousness. The pendant hung once again from her neck, resting on the floor beside her. Ahriman. She concentrated, and found she was able to single out his energy. He was no longer in the house. But he was still earthbound. And not far away. The pain from her head wound made her want to sink back into unconsciousness, but the relentless voice prevented it.

  You must help him, while it is still within your power to do so.

  "Who are you? What do you want from me!” she cried in frustration, close to tears at the knowledge that her mother's killer would soon return for her. She had to find a way to free herself.

  His death will be on your hands. You must make haste.

  The words spoken by the voice halted her racing thoughts. “Whose death? Who am I supposed to help?” She considered how crazy she sounded, having a conversation with a voice in her head.

  The healer. The physician. Ahriman will destroy him. It may already be too late.

  Tom. The voice was warning her Tom was in danger? Icy dread coursed through her, cutting through her pain. She had hidden her thoughts from Ahriman, he had not known what she had uncovered. Unless ... The thought sent shock waves running through her.

  She had to escape these ropes. Her head pounded badly, making it difficult to think. The voice in her head didn't help things either, screaming urgent warnings at her, telling her to ‘make haste'.

  From her position on the floor she could see the clock on the mantle. Eight-thirty. She'd been out for over four hours.

  She ignored the pain at her temples. “Be quiet,” she said to the voice, “I have to concentrate.” The voice complied with her request and fell silent. Jasmine focused on a small section of the wall next to the fireplace and breathed deeply. She allowed no fear or panic to enter her mind, and permitted her body to completely relax. Minutes passed. She stared at the wall, unmoving, and mentally executed the steps she would take before she moved even a finger.

  Ten minutes later, she was ready to begin. She flipped onto her side, and arched her back. Little by little, she worked her bound wrists downward until they were at her buttocks, close to her feet. Next, she tucked her knees as far into her chest as she could, and tried to slip her tied hands over her feet to bring them in front of her, but did not succeed. She waited a few moments and tried again, with the same result. She breathed and relaxed her body before attempting the maneuver once more. When she felt ready, she arched her back deeply, brought her hands down and drew her knees into her chest in one movement. This time, her hands slid over her feet. Now the ropes were in front of her and she was able to sit with her knees bent. Working as quickly as she could, she untied the ropes at her feet with her bound hands. Moments later, she was on her feet and running to the kitchen, where she used a knife to cut the ropes at her wrists.

  She tore the pendant from around her neck and flung it away from her. Then she raced back to the living room to retrieve what she had hidden in the desk drawer.

  When she finally held Tom's business card in her trembling hand, she noticed a brown smudge on it that had not been there before. Panic gripped her when she understood Ahriman had discovered her mother's book and had seen Tom's card. Fresh fear sluiced through her veins. She had to warn Tom. It might already be too late.

  She picked up the phone to call the home number listed on Tom's card. After the fourth ring, his answering machine came on. Shit!

  The clock on mantle told her it was just after nine. She called the number twice more, and got his machine again.

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  Chapter 18

  Ahriman's lip curled in a smug smile of anticipation as, when darkness fell, he heard the front door open. Just over four hours ago, Ahriman had entered the house of the man, Tom, breaking in through a basement window. Since then, he'd been sitting in the man's bed chamber at the top of the stairs, awaiting his arrival home. He'd almost given up, and was about to return to deal with Jasmine when he heard the man's entry downstairs. The sound of clinking glass and running water reached him from below.

  Ahriman whispered an incantation sotto voce, one that would summon forth the trapped spirits of the physical plane who were loyal to him. They were many in number. Ahriman had cultivated a large following over the centuries and many spirits were beholden to him for past favors. He could easily summon forth hundreds of them at any given moment, and he did so now.

  The dark souls arrived, one by one, anxious to learn what amusement Ahriman had conjured up for them this time, and doing their best to rema
in patient until the last of the stragglers arrived. When the room overflowed with them, the spirits listened attentively as Ahriman put forth his command, their hushed voices becoming raucous as they learned his intention.

  A moment later, footsteps sounded on the staircase as the man ascended. When he reached the doorway of the darkened bedroom, he froze.

  Ahriman's smile widened as he watched the man start, his face a mask of wide-eyed terror when he spotted Ahriman.

  "Hello, Tom."

  The spirits snickered, and the man looked wildly about the room in search of the source of the voices.

  "I should have killed you the other night for your interference,” Ahriman said, “but I mistook you for someone less stupid, one who would know better than to repeat such a grave mistake. Now I am left with no choice."

  To the man's credit, Ahriman noticed he did not flinch.

  "Get out of here,” Tom said in a low voice. “Go back to whatever dark hole you crawled out of and leave us alone. Leave her alone."

  Ahriman sensed the terror masked by Tom's unwavering voice. He could smell it on him, like a wild animal snatching the scent of fear on hidden prey. Suppressing his rage at the man's insolence and speaking in a low voice, he asked, “Do you have any inkling as to what you are dealing with? What I'm capable of?"

  "Don't flatter yourself,” came the man's reply. “I know what you are. A common murderer, nothing more. You killed Lilli. And now you're after Jasmine."

  "Lilli was an ungrateful fool who deserved to die."

  Tom's eyes blazed.

  "Ah. You were in love with her—and now you think you can protect Jasmine. I have plans for Jasmine. Plans with which you have interfered."

  "Stay away from her."

  "Who do you think will stop me ... you?"

  The spirits murmured and tittered.

  Tom scanned the room again but did not move. “I told you to get out of my house."

  "Such bravado. I'm impressed.” Ahriman's arm shot out to restrain the spirits from attacking, silencing their outraged voices.

  "You have a lot to say.” Ahriman's voice became deadly. “And you've interfered in something you should not have. Do you know what happens to those who engage in idle chatter, Tom?"

  The man fell silent. Ahriman waited until the smell of panic emanating from the mortal became overpowering. Satisfied, he motioned the spirits forward.

  The sound of screeching souls filled the room as they blasted forward in a frenzy, muffling the man's screams of terror as they carried out the instructions issued moments earlier by Ahriman.

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  Chapter 19

  Jasmine hung up the phone after calling Tom's office and getting an after-hour recording. Tom's home was not far from hers. She'd get there faster by walking than waiting for a cab to arrive. She had to find him and warn him.

  As she hurried out the door into the gloaming, Jasmine did her best to dispel the fear pulsing through her. She had good reason to be afraid. There was no telling what she'd find when she got to Tom's house. And what would Ahriman do to her, she wondered, for her part in what he would surely perceive as a serious transgression? Jasmine did her best not to focus on that question. She only knew she could not allow harm to come to the gentle man who had loved her mother, and who had risked his own safety to warn her. The evil being had already killed her mother and Aunt Dora, and who knew how many others before them. If she did nothing to keep Tom from falling prey to him, she would never be able to live with herself.

  Less than ten minutes later, she arrived, out of breath, at Tom's doorstep. The front door stood slightly ajar. Jasmine remained on the stoop, her heart thudding madly as she listened. She did not detect Ahriman's presence in the house, which did nothing to relieve her anxiety. He had either been here and gone, or had yet to arrive. Either way, it boded ill. Terror gripped her hard, but she steeled herself, took a deep breath and pushed the door open.

  She stepped into the dark vestibule and listened, but was met with silence.

  "Hello? Is anyone here?” she asked, her voice barely a whisper.

  Only silent darkness answered.

  "Tom?"

  She took a tentative step from the hallway into the room on her left, fumbling around in the dark for a light switch. When she found it, the overhead light revealed only a cozy sitting area.

  Her heart continued to pound relentlessly as she moved into the adjoining dining room, but again she detected nothing unusual. Moving on, she entered the kitchen, and switched on another light. Once again, she saw no signs of a disturbance.

  Returning to the main hall via the kitchen, she walked to the staircase leading to the second floor. Darkness shrouded the top of the stairway, and she flicked another switch that lit the upstairs hall.

  The silence as she ascended amplified her misgivings, causing her rapidly beating heart to pound loudly in her ears. Fear sat heavily in her stomach.

  On the second floor landing, she noticed a large bathroom straight ahead and three other rooms to her left running along the upstairs hall. The door of the room closest to her was shut, the remaining two wide open. Sensing the closed door led to Tom's bedroom, she moved toward it, grasped the doorknob and slowly turned it. The door swung open. From the light spilling in from the hallway, she could see the room was unoccupied. She entered, moving quickly and giving a cursory glance around, noticing nothing out of the ordinary. She endured a heart-stopping moment when she yanked the closet door open, but was greeted only by two rows of neatly arranged shirts and suits, and a shoe rack.

  Returning to the centre of the room next to the bed, she was about to leave to explore the remaining two bedrooms when a drop of something wet struck the top of her head. She touched her fingers to it. When she brought her hand to her face, she blinked in surprise at the deep crimson smear on her fingertips. Another drop fell on her upraised hand, thick and ruby-red, leaving no doubt as to what it could be. Only then did she notice the large stain on the oriental carpet beneath her feet. Her heart in her mouth, she turned her gaze upward. And found Tom.

  His crumpled body was fastened to the ceiling with spikes driven through his arms and legs. The unnatural angles of his limbs told her every bone in his body had been broken before he'd been killed. As she continued staring at the shocking spectacle, she imagined the suffering he must have endured before he died. His dead face was frozen in a grimace of pain. Blood dripped from his gaping mouth. It took a moment for understanding to dawn, and then it did. His tongue had been cut out.

  Something terrible began to gather in her as she surveyed Ahriman's handiwork. She turned away from the gruesome sight, but made no effort to stem the fury inside her. She permitted her emotions free rein, allowing the rage to flow through her, no longer concerned by the strange forces that had reacted to her anger in the past. She doubted she would be able to cause any real damage to a being like Ahriman, but it felt right to try. It felt good to try. She waited for her anger to crest, until it felt white-hot, before releasing her pent-up rage, focusing her thoughts on Ahriman as she unleashed it.

  The force of the angry energy as it flew out of her sent her reeling, and she stumbled to her knees. The moment it left her, she felt drained and exhausted.

  In the aftermath, as she tried to gather her energy, a thought flew across her mind that almost went unnoticed. Then it swung back, hitting her like a tidal wave. She let out a cry of dismay as it occurred to her that she had made a fatal mistake. The pendant. She had left it back at the house. Ahriman, having dealt with Tom, must now be on his way back to it. There was nothing to stop him from taking it. And if he did that, she would never be able to find a way to destroy his means of entry to her world.

  I'm so sorry, Tom. She tore out of the house, telling herself that her gentle protector would have understood, and forgiven her for leaving him in such a terrible condition.

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  Chapter 20

  Ahriman cursed as
he streaked back toward Jasmine's house, once again a spirit. Something, some force, had rocked him like an explosion, causing his disembodiment to begin sooner than he'd expected. He travelled quickly through the dark night, speeding back to Jasmine. And the pendant.

  When he entered the house to find her gone and the ropes with which he'd tied her lying on the ground, he suffered a moment's panic. How had she managed to escape? Then he remembered the strange projectile of white hot energy that had barreled through him on his way back to the house. Was it possible? Had she managed to do that? He stilled himself, his inner ear trained on tracking her. After a moment he singled out her energy. She was not far, and headed back this way. He attempted to get a bead on her thoughts, but ran up against a brick wall. She was guarding her mind fiercely.

  Then he spied the pendant on the floor, and understood. The conniving little bitch had not only turned against him, she was coming back for the pendant, in hopes of destroying it.

  He needed to return to the dark realm, for it was only by passing from there through the portal into the mortal world that he could reincarnate. But first he had to ensure his portal remained safe. He had no intention of becoming trapped as a weak spirit in the human plane, nor locked inside the dark realm, unable to return to earth as flesh and blood. He would deal with Jasmine's betrayal when he next emerged.

  As a spirit, he possessed the ability to move material objects, but it required great effort on his part and, even then, he was not able to transport them any great distance. He needed to move the pendant to safety, and quickly. He could sense Jasmine's rapid approach. He had only one option, and he acted.

  Not long after, exhausted by his undertaking, but satisfied that his precious portal would be safe, he streaked back through it to the other side, where he would plan a proper revenge for his traitorous queen.

  * * * *

  Jasmine stood outside her front door, her breath ragged from running, trying to determine if Ahriman waited inside for her. She focused her internal sense, but did not detect his presence at all. Nothing. He was no longer earthbound. Praying Ahriman had not made off with the pendant, she burst through the door. When she didn't spot the pendant right away, she got down on her hands and knees and searched every square inch of the kitchen floor where she'd tossed it, but came up empty-handed. Frantically, she searched the rest of the main level, and then the rest of the house, but the pendant was nowhere to be found. Ahriman had removed it, as she'd feared. It was gone.