The Darkest Gateway

by Jeri Westerson

  Howard backed against the wall of my shop, trying all sorts of spells and enchantments on the demon, but nothing worked. Erasmus stalked right up to him, opened his now enormous mouth, and covered Howard’s entire face.

  I couldn’t look away. Even with the stifled screams coming from Howard and the terror of his stiffened body. The air around them shimmered. Erasmus fed—his awful, terrifying feast—and Howard slowly fell lax, as if all his energy was seeping out of him. It wasn’t like what the succubus had done to that bicyclist up at Falcon’s Point. It was something different, something perhaps more horrific. Howard looked much the same, but there was no life left in him. His eyes…his eyes were like a dead fish; blank, open, nothing. When Erasmus released him, he fell back against my shop and slithered to the ground, a husk.

  Erasmus closed his eyes and breathed deeply. “I’ve been hungry for 300 years.” He belched and thumped his chest. “Pardon me. I’ve never had parson before.”

  He had planned to do that to me as he had done to every Chosen Host who had ever lived.

  When he looked at me, he realized that same thing and had the grace to look ashamed. He also had the sense to give me space.

  Everyone who had been frozen came back to life. Doc could speak again.

  One of the teens began to scream, and it was Jolene who calmed her down.

  “Oh goddess,” Doc whispered, standing over the stiff body of what had been Reverend Howard Cleveland. “How could we have not known?”

  “I was close to him,” said Ruth, shaken. “And I never knew.”

  “We all thought it was you,” I said, teeth chattering from cold and from the horrors I had been a witness to. One too many, I thought.

  “I may have been an old sour puss,” she said, “but I was never evil.” Gently, she put her arm around me and I turned in to her. I couldn’t seem to stand up anymore and I couldn’t speak. Instead, I sobbed. She embraced me and let me cry. It had all been too much. Far, far too much.

  Ed looked down at his gun and slipped it back in its holster.

  “Let’s go inside,” said Doc. “Kylie needs to warm herself by the fire.”

  * * *

  We all gathered in my shop. I was bundled in a quilt next to the fire on a wooden chair. The fire helped, but my core was cold. It would be a long time till I could forget all the sights I’d seen. Especially Erasmus. That’s what he would have done to me. If he hadn’t fallen in love with me, that’s what I would have been; a gray, shriveled husk. How was it possible to face him again?

  Jolene looked around to everyone. “It’s done, isn’t it? It’s all done. No more book, no more Baphomet…and no more Reverend Howard.”

  “Don’t say his name,” I said. I was still angry and horrified. I didn’t know which was worse. After all, I had given Erasmus permission…

  Shabiri seemed to be clinging to Ed, always touching him in some way, either hanging on him, or a hand clutching his sleeve. Maybe she was just beginning to realize what she had and how easily it could have been lost.

  I lifted my eyes and searched in the shadows for Erasmus, but he was staying away.

  Doc was sitting deep into one of my wingbacks, squeezing his lower lip in thought. Finally, he raised his head. “We have one more important thing to do. We’ve got to make a decision about these villages. Are we going to let the memory of what transpired linger…or are we going to do our best to eradicate all memories of the last month?”

  Jeff paced. “I don’t know that it’s up to us to make that decision. Seems a little…I don’t know. God-like?”

  Seraphina had a smudge of soot on her cheek. It didn’t look right on her normally flawless appearance. “It’s not god-like, Jeff. It’s maybe the kindest thing we can do.”

  “I think we gotta do it,” said Jolene. “There’s too many unpredictable emotions out there now.”

  “But how do we explain it?” asked Nick. “The deaths, the destruction?”

  “We can always come up with something,” said Ed.

  “What about…” Nick licked his lips, darting a glance at me. “What about Reverend Howard? How will we explain his disappearance?”

  Ed shuffled, looking at his feet. “He said he embezzled the church’s books. We’ll let it be known that he likely skipped town. I don’t think we need to include him among the dead.”

  “But…” I looked from Ed to George. “What will you do with the…the…?”

  “Don’t worry, Kylie. We’ll take care of it.”

  Oh God. I dropped my face in my hands. Now Ed was not only going to be faking documents, but dumping a body. Down some old mine shaft or something. And that was my fault, too.

  I wiped my face. I was going to have to learn how to deal with this, or there wasn’t going to be much left of me.

  We sat is silence for a time, until one of the auxiliary Wiccans, Emma, spoke. “I don’t want to forget. I like Wicca. I like the magic, even if it won’t be quite the same. But…” She sniffed, remarkably holding it together. “My mom, and a lot of her friends…I’m pretty sure they don’t want to remember. Some people in town…they saw some really bad things.”

  Doc appraised her for a long moment. “Then how about this. Those that don’t want to forget can stay in this shop. And those that want to, can stay where they are, outside it, at home.”

  Everyone seemed to nod and softly agree. Some of the teen Wiccans got up and quietly left. I sure didn’t blame them. I thought about it myself. But upon looking around, I was glad to see the Wiccans and the Ordo standing fast. Ruth did too, as well as Ed and George. Many more left.

  “Then it’s just us,” I said. “What do you propose, Doc?”

  “Well, your grandpa did a helluva forget-me spell. But I think it had help from the ley lines crossing at his place. Shabiri…”

  She looked up. She had a finger hooked with Ed’s.

  “If you take us to the place where the ley lines cross in Hansen Mills, I think it will be powerful enough to work for this whole dang area.”

  “Yes,” she said. “I should think so. I’ll help.”

  My, my. How times had changed.

  The Wiccans set about preparing a big charm pouch. It took a surprisingly short time to create and when it was done, Seraphina asked, “Who’s going to take it there?”

  “I will,” said Doc. “They’ll forget there ever were demons and creatures in these villages. They’ll forget there ever was a Booke of the Hidden.” He gazed at me for a long moment, almost asking me if I wanted to forget too. And I did. I did want to forget. But then…how could I? And what about Erasmus?

  “They won’t remember the destruction,” Doc went on, eyes sweeping past me, “only that we had a devastating forest fire. And they’ll only remember the dead as getting in the way of it. Will that suffice?” He looked toward Ed.

  Ed and George silently conferred and nodded their heads. I knew they had a lot of details to fake in many coroner’s reports.

  “All right, then. Shabiri, if you will?” He didn’t mention Erasmus’ conspicuous absence.

  One more auxiliary Wiccan—Jessica Marie—started sobbing, and hurried out the door, running home.

  “Is everyone sure, now?” Doc looked around one last time. Only four auxiliary Wiccans had remained, some of the few that had joined us that first day. “Then let’s go, Shabiri.”

  She took Doc by the arm and they vanished.

  I got up and went to the window, clutching the quilt around me. If Erasmus wasn’t here, would he forget? I worried for only a second. He was probably here, only invisible.

  I wondered if we’d know the moment it happened. Would the landscape look different? Would the animals forget? We all waited in tense silence and then were startled when the two returned with a pop.

  “Well, that is a most interesting way to travel,” said Doc, pleased again with demon transport. “It’s all done.”

  “How do we know it worked?” I asked.

  “Well, let’s find out.” He got
out his phone, punched in someone’s number, and put it on speaker.

  “Moody Bog Hardware,” said the voice of Barry Johnson.

  “Hi, Barry, this is Doc Boone. How are things going over there?”

  “Well, with this forest fire we’ve been busy beavers, I can tell you. You must be up to your ears in injuries.”

  “We’re doing okay. Everything else all right?”

  “It’s fair. It was a quiet Halloween, wasn’t it?”

  “The quietest I can remember. But then again, what with the fires, I know folks didn’t let kids go out this year.”

  “Yeah, that was a shame. Maybe they can put on a post-Halloween shindig for the kids up at the church hall…oh. But that got damaged by the fire, too. Well, maybe the school, then.”

  “May-be. You take care, Barry.”

  “You, too, Doc.”

  He clicked it off and glanced at us. “Well, that seems to have done it.”

  We all sighed in relief.

  “There’ll be more coordinating to do,” said Ed. “It’s got to look like a forest fire. All the fire fighters around here should have had their memories adjusted as well. That will make it easier.” He swung his Smokey Bear hat up to his head. “Come on, George.”

  George walked up to Nick, kissed him, and fixed his own Smokey Bear hat. “I’ll see you later, Nicky.”

  “Go get ‘em, deputy,” said Nick with a weary smile.

  They left, and soon the others were gathering their things. “Well, Kylie,” said Doc. “It’s been one crazy adventure.”

  “Yeah,” was all I could manage.

  “Listen, young lady, if there is ever a time you need to talk, you know I’m available. Night or day. You understand?”

  I nodded. I suppose he was the best person to play psychiatrist. “I’ll be okay.”

  “You’ve done more than any human being has ever done, has ever had to do. And we’re grateful and we won’t forget it. Don’t think for one moment that it wasn’t important and didn’t make a difference.”

  “I know. I just feel…a little guilty, too.”

  “I think that’s quite natural to a moral person. And as I said, you can talk that out with me any time you’d like. I’d, uh, like it if the coven could still meet here, unless you think it’s best we don’t. We’d understand perfectly if you’d rather we didn’t.”

  “Oh, no. I think I’d really like you all to be here. I think of it as your home as much as mine these days. You all are the closest thing to family I’ve got.”

  Doc reddened. The others seemed embarrassed too, but in a good way. “Well, that’s fine,” said Doc. “Doug, you and yours are welcome to join our coven.”

  Doug glanced at his own posse. “Thanks. I think we’d like that. If it’s okay with Kylie.”

  “There’s no way I’d refuse any of you. You don’t know how grateful I am for all your help. Really.”

  Doug patted my shoulder and so did Bob as he passed by. Charise was ducking away, not looking at me, until she stopped, turned, and suddenly hugged me. “I’m sorry,” she whispered to my ear and then just as quickly scurried out.

  Everyone waved their good-byes. My shop was emptying and soon there was no one there but me. It was quiet in the shop for the first time in a long while. The crackling of the fire seemed loud and so did the silence.

  I turned and there was the book on the table. I hugged the quilt. “What am I going to do with you?”

  “You can burn it now,” said a dark voice from the shadows.

  “Were you there all this time?” I didn’t look in his direction, but instead touched the brass lock on the cover of the book.

  “Yes.” He emerged from the shadows. “I was afraid…you wouldn’t love me anymore, seeing what I really was.”

  My heart broke a little at the pain in his voice. “You idiot demon. Of course I still love you.” I dropped the quilt on the chair and approached him. He looked miserable. “It does kind of scare me when…when your mouth…” I took a finger and without touching him, drew a line from his mouth to his ear. “When your mouth gets really wide with all those extra teeth. Is that how you really look…or is this?”

  “Both. Both are a part of me. I cannot change that.”

  “Can you show me, then. I want to see it. Up close.”

  He had the look of someone caught in a trap. He clearly didn’t want to do it now. “Are you certain?”

  “Show me.” If I couldn’t love this or at least understand it in some way, how could I claim to love him?

  He stepped back from me. His eyes, always intense, narrowed, and suddenly his face morphed in that sickening way and his mouth widened and widened with all those teeth. God, it was terrifying. I stared, trying to look at it as if studying it like a scientist, with impartiality. But of course, I had seen what he could do with it.

  I couldn’t help but turn away.

  “Kylie,” he said softly.

  When I turned back, I knew he was probably normal again…and he was. I swallowed. “That’s quite a trick.”

  “It isn’t a trick. I am what I am. A demon of the Netherworld, capable of transforming. Capable of…death.”

  I looked at him, really looked. Yes, he was handsome this way, but in his eyes was such pain. I think he’d finally figured out who he was after all these centuries, finally discovered how trapped he was by what he was, and maybe he wasn’t happy about it. He was a man without a country. Or worse. Without a future.

  I stepped closer again. “I didn’t know I was capable of death, and yet I was.”

  “But you—”

  “No, Erasmus. Now is the time for truth. I never thought I was capable of killing. But I killed. Wherever it is those creatures go and in whatever state, I killed them. And not only because I had to. After a while, it was because…I wanted to. I wanted them gone. I wanted my friends safe. Now, I wasn’t born that way, the way you were, but I learned by necessity. That doesn’t make me better than you.”

  He looked like a kicked puppy. I wanted to make it all better for him.

  “You can’t change. Of course you can’t. And I guess I don’t want you to. I get that this is you. And I get that this is me now. If I can get used to myself, then I sure as hell can get used to your two natures. Because…all in all, I love you. Nothing’s going to change that either.”

  “You do?”

  “Yes.” I grabbed him and slipped my arms around him, holding him close. His arms quickly encircled me desperately, engulfing me with smokiness and warmth. It was good to feel him again. And I was looking right at his amulet. The gem eyes glowed red.

  Gently I withdrew and walked to the fireplace, hugging my arms and keeping myself warm. “So now you’re really free. Free from the book. Free from the Powers That Be. You never have to go into that stasis thing again.”

  He rested his hands behind his back and rocked on his heels thoughtfully. “Yes. It is rather mind-boggling.”

  “I expect you’ll want to travel, see things, go places you could never go before. You’re not tied to any one place. You can even go to other worlds with no one telling you what to do or giving you a deadline. I won’t hold you back.”

  “But…” He blinked at me, puzzled. “Why would I ever leave you? Oh. I see. My presence can only serve as a reminder of your horrific experiences. Even as you say you…you love me…perhaps it’s best I leave so that you can heal.”

  I turned to him. “Why are you such an idiot?”

  “Why do you insist on insulting me? I am trying to do the right thing and I’m not sure what that is!”

  “So am I! I’m trying to tell you that you aren’t even tied to me. So if you wanted to go…needed to go…I’d understand.”

  “But I am held here. By you. I don’t want to go anywhere without you.”

  I shook my head, wiping away my tears. Two natures or not, I could never doubt his love for me. “That was the nicest thing anyone’s ever said to me,” I said quietly. “Okay then. Come here.”
/>
  “Why?” he said petulantly, folding his arms in front of his chest and clamping them there. “So you can continue to insult me?”

  “For the rest of my life.”

  “You—what?”

  “Erasmus.” I crept closer to him, taking baby steps so I wouldn’t frighten him off. In many ways, he was very much like a child. When I reached him, I laid a gentle hand on his tightly wound arms until they loosened. “You stood by me, even when it was against your very nature. You protected me. You loved me. You tried to sacrifice yourself for me. I’m not going to give you up now.”

  “Oh. But I thought—”

  “Like I said. Come here.”

  The book was in the way, between us. He looked down at it before kneeling to pick it up. “What shall we do with this?”

  I shrugged but couldn’t avoid flicking a glance at the fire. He nodded, gave the book one more once-over, and tossed it into the flames. It sat there on the firewood in the grate for a second or two and then it began to smolder. I thought it might light up into different colors and smoke, but it had no power left. It was an empty shell.

  The leather and parchment soon became engulfed and we both watched it flame, pieces of it curling away, until it was a bright fire, casting light far into the room.

  When he turned, he only had eyes for me. He moved in carefully, taking me in his arms with tentative gentleness, as if still asking permission. But when I melted into him, he must have finally figured it out. He kissed me, moving his head to kiss me deeper, taste me. He drew away only a little to speak softly to my lips, kissing me in between his words. “You and I…” kiss “…will be together for a long time.” Another kiss.

  I lifted my face so his lips could kiss my eyebrows, my lids. “Well…as long as a human life, anyway.” I was interrupted with more kisses to my mouth. His hands moved over me and I pressed myself against him. “I hope that old ladies can turn you on,” I said dreamily, feeling his lips, even a little of his teeth at my temple. “I will be one someday, you know. Wrinkled and gray-haired like Doc.”

  He nuzzled my lips, then pressed a gentle kiss to the side of my mouth. “Oh, not for a very long time.” He pushed a strand of hair out of my face, and gave me that tender look that melted me inside, before he moved on to my neck, sucking on the flesh there and causing tingles over my body.