Immediately, I knew why. “No.”
Augie was frozen. “What the hell is that?”
Its tilted head spun around to us.
The jogger’s eyes were black. It was no longer an empty vessel. It was cursed.
After all we had been through, I wasn’t sure we could make it through this.
The Cursed Vessel spoke, its voice sounding like its larynx was forced through a cheese grater. “Solomon Ivyyy.”
Augie was shaking. The poor kid was terrified.
I knew why the creature rose. I recognized a summoning when I saw one.
I didn’t know exactly what was summoned. I had no idea what Poe brought through the vessel. But I did know two things:
It wasn’t from this universe.
And it wanted to eat me.
Chapter 24
The Cursed Vessel
We stood on the lawn of a house going down in a blaze of glory. The Cursed Vessel stood in front of us, barely ten yards away with only one objective: to kill me.
“What is that thing?” Augie asked. “I thought he drained that guy.”
“He did. But he whispered an incantation. And called something forth. The body is possessed.”
“Possessed by what?”
“Let’s find out.” I put three bullets in the creature’s chest. The force of impact pushed the beast several paces back. But it didn’t fall.
Its black eyes looked at me and smiled a wicked grin. “Solomon Ivyyy.”
Augie took a few steps back. “Why does it keep saying your name?”
“Poe marked me for death. That’s the only intent of the beast.”
The holes in the creature’s chest didn’t give way to blood. Black ooze dribbled from its wounds. The holes seemed to deepen, contort, and twist. Sharp teeth wriggled within the torn flesh and grew from the wound. Layers of overlapping shark-like teeth filled all three wounds.
The bullet holes in his chest were now replaced with inhuman mouths snapping like rabid dogs. Whatever he called forth to inhabit the vessel, it was definitely not from this universe.
Augie backed up to the truck. “What the hell?”
“Take the knife,” I said, handing him my blade. “Go to the back of the truck. Grab the machete.”
He ran to the back of the camper. The dark beast moved slowly. I fired at its face. It jerked back. When it turned to me, its face was gone, replaced by a chasm of darkness. A black void.
Inside the black pit were stars.
It looked like outer space. Its face was a portal, a dark abyss, leading to another dimension. On the outer rims of its empty face, layers of jagged teeth pushed through.
I ran to the back of the truck. Augie handed me the machete.
“Keep it,” I said. “It’s not enough.”
“You said get the machete.”
“That was before I knew what it was.” That was a lie. I still didn’t know what it was. But I could tell the signs.
“What is it?”
“A demon.”
That was a gross understatement. Demons are from Hell. This creature was much worse. But if I told Augie it was a dark cosmic entity from the edge of the universe and wanted to release an army of unholy beasts to devour every human soul on the planet, he’d just pass out again.
I jumped in the back of the truck, opened the large drawer, and pulled out a spear gun. It was already loaded.
Before I could get out, the creature reached for Augie. But Augie held the machete.
I’ve had that machete for almost a decade. I couldn’t count how many monsters I’ve killed with it. How many heads I’ve lopped off and demons I’ve chopped up.
Let’s just say it had a history.
Channeling the power of the machete, Augie knew exactly what to do. He jumped back and sliced the machete down, severing the creature’s arm. He kicked the beast in the chest, his foot landing between the three round snapping jaws. The force pushed Augie back as he rolled to a fighting stance.
It was an impressive move. I wondered if it looked that good when I did it.
But the beast was still standing.
I ran to the edge of the truck, grabbed the metal bar above the door, and rammed my heels into the beast, knocking it off its feet. I grabbed the spear gun and jumped out.
The beast writhed in agony. Not due to the pain of the severed limb, but because something else was coming through the stump.
The creature howled a terrifying cry that echoed through the neighborhood. The flesh on its stump peeled back. A black tentacle poured through the dead tissue.
The tentacle grabbed Augie and spun him through the air, smashing him against the side of the camper. I unloaded my clip into the tentacle. Black blood exploded everywhere as the limb recoiled back into the beast.
Augie was on the ground, holding the machete with a death grip. “What the fuck, man? It grew a tentacle! What the fuck?”
“Calm down.”
“Dude, what the fuck?”
“With each wound, the creature from the other side escapes a little more into our world.”
“Other side? Other side of what?”
“The universe.”
“Fucking Christ!”
“Watch your mouth, kid. We need him on our side right now.”
“How do we kill it?”
The beast’s wounded tentacle split into three. Jagged teeth shot from the folds of it’s quivering flesh. It was oddly similar to the thing I killed at the cabin. That couldn’t be coincidence.
There had to be a connection.
We were lucky this thing was slow, unable to move quickly through our atmosphere. Or we’d already be dead.
“Step back, August.” I pulled the trigger and drove the spear through its heart. A mouth developed in the wound. A black tongue slithered up the line.
I jumped in the the back of the camper and jammed the gun through the overhead bar so it stuck. I tried to shake it free. It wouldn’t budge.
I jumped out.
Augie followed. “What are you doing?”
“It can’t come through if every cell is on fire at once,” I said.
I jumped in the driver’s seat, turned the key, and backed over the beast, pulling away from Poe’s van.
I threw it into drive, ran over the demon again, and sped toward the blaze, dragging it behind me. I drove into the middle of the burning frat house. My foot to the floor, I couldn’t afford to slow down.
A beam from the second floor collapsed on top of the truck.
I kept going.
I powered through the flames and debris, hoping my gas tank wouldn’t catch fire. I floored it through the kitchen. The wall shattered. My tires were melting. The kitchen island disintegrated as my engine plowed through it and out the back wall. The spear gun caught and was yanked from the back of the truck as I skidded to a stop on the back lawn, leaving the beast in the house of flames. The engine growled, still hungry for more.
This was why I had a ‘69 Chevy.
I jumped out and looked back. The demon was on all fours, its tentacles flailing in the fire. Its body was in flames. The evil inside burned until it couldn’t move. It wailed one last cry before falling on its back, a pile of burnt flesh.
Like a dying spider, its limbs curled up into its chest.
The beast was dead.
The truck was on fire in several places.
I pulled my passenger seat forward, grabbed a fire extinguisher, and sprayed the flames. The beam from the second floor must have fell off in the house. The tires were partially melted, but salvageable. I’d have to take back roads to the next tire place to replace them.
When Augie came running around the corner, the flames on the truck were out. The wind blew smoke and embers from the black stains on the paint.
He was huffing and puffing when he stopped to rest. I had to get this kid in shape. Too many parties, not enough killing.
He looked at the house and watched the curled-up bundle of demon flesh melt i
nto goo. “Is it dead?”
“It better be,” I said. “That was my last spear gun.”
“Sorry about what happened in there,” he said. “I threw the knife and lost my power.”
“I told you to hold on to it.”
“The butterfly knife helped, but it wasn’t as effective as the demon blade.”
“It was only a backup,” I said. “I generally don’t use it in a fight.” I shoved the fire extinguisher in the truck and pushed the seat back.
“What do you use it for?” he asked, jumping in the passenger seat. He had to shut the door several times before it closed.
I got in and slammed my door. “Torture.”
The clouds dissipated. The sun came out. I pulled across the lawn to the street. Blake was still unconscious, lying on the road in front of me.
“Speaking of torture,” I said, getting out of the truck.
Augie tapped his knee up and down. “What are you doing?”
“Getting insurance.” I opened the back of the camper and pulled forward the cage I had stored in back. I lifted the punk off the ground the tossed him in.
I shut the door and locked the padlock. The cage was charmed. So was the lock. He wouldn’t be able to teleport out.
I jumped back in the driver’s seat.
Augie looked through the small rear window at the unconscious Blake. “Are you sure that’s a good idea? Keeping him back there?”
“He’s not going anywhere.”
“Yeah, that’s the problem.”
The sound of sirens emerged in the distance.
Poe called the police.
Probably hoping I’d get caught if I wasn’t already dead. His version of a backup plan to his backup plan.
I underestimated him. He was a smart son of a bitch. I understood why so many good hunters died at his hand.
As we barely escaped with our lives in a damaged ‘69 Chevy, we needed to lay low for a while and regroup.
I needed to interrogate Blake.
Time was running out. I didn’t have the luxury of doing this on my own. Poe was too formidable and too connected for me to tackle on my own. I was out of time. To save Grace’s soul, I needed to admit the one thing I hated to admit:
I couldn’t do this alone.
Chapter 25
Sole Survivor
“Ouch,” Augie said as Serena dabbed disinfectant to the wound on his chest. “Be careful.”
“Stop being a wuss,” she said. She pulled her chair closer and dabbed it some more. “This is bad.”
Augie winced. “That guy burned me with his touch,” he said. “I didn’t think they could do that.”
“They can’t,” I said. “He wasn’t Forever.”
After replacing my melted tires, I picked up Landon on the way back to Zac’s. I was glad he didn’t try to run. I had neither the time nor the patience to track him down. After we grabbed Landon, we ended up at Zac’s place.
The studio was spacious. Large enough for all of us. Somehow, I always ended up falling back to Zac’s if I needed somewhere to stay. It was a good location in Chicago. In an industrial park. Away from people but close enough to town. And even though Zac lived here and infested it with bags of Doritos, Mountain Dew, and nerd magazines, the place was technically mine since I owned the building.
Getting involved in real estate was one of the first things I did as a hunter. Always think ahead. I rarely do it anymore unless I find a place that would be perfect for something down the line.
With this property, Zac had run of the whole building. And the place was always a mess. Cleaning was against Zac’s religion. He was a bit of an odd duck, but he came in handy. A talented young man. He had a brain that would make Einstein jealous. Even more useful was his obsession with Forevers.
A little too obsessed to be honest. They were his addiction. One I was trying to break him from. But being that my whole world was based around them, I probably wasn’t the best teacher.
We sat at the corner table tending to the trauma.
Serena tried to cover Augie’s wound. “Stop flinching,” she said. “I need to get the bandage on.” I sat at the far end with my tattoo gun, drawing a symbol on my left peck muscle, a Babylonian sigil.
“Okay,” Augie said. “I’ll bite. What the heck are you doing? You miss your tatts that much?”
I grinned. “They’re not decorative. They’re functional. For protection.”
“Protection from what?” he asked.
“They ward me against spells, voodoo, curses, unwelcomed possessions. That kind of thing.”
“They protect you from magic? How many tattoos did you have?”
I sighed. “Forty.”
Landon watched as I painted the markings on my body. “I dated a girl once who had tattoos all over her body.”
“The Ink Witch?” I asked.
“Yeah,” he said. “I didn’t know absorbing people into her body was what formed the tattoos. Didn’t make her any less hot, but still. I’m glad I didn’t become a piece of bad artwork on that smokin’ body.”
I wiped the blood from my fresh tattoo. “You would’ve been if I hadn’t taken her head off.”
“Yeah, a little warning next time, please,” he said.
“There was no time,” I said. “She was straddling you.”
“Which is why a warning would have been nice.” He closed his eyes and smiled, like he was reminiscing. “Ah, it was like being ridden by a cowgirl. Only thing missing were the spurs.”
Serena shook her head and scoffed. “That’s not an image I want in my head, Harry.”
Augie glanced at my new tattoos. “So your tattoos act as protection spells?”
Serena turned to him. “Ivy’s body is one big protection spell,” Serena said. “He’s warded to the hilt. It takes all the fun out of it.”
“Without these wards,” I said, “Serena would be the first to enthrall me with a spell. I’d end up being her obedient little puppy dog.”
“Not true. I would totally not do that,” she said. Turning to Augie, she whispered, “So true. I would totally do that.”
I finished the tattoo, said a blessing, and moved on to the next. Right inner bicep. “If Poe knows magic, which it appears he does, I need to make sure I can’t be touched.”
Augie stared at me. “You think Poe knows magic?”
“He can summon demons with a whisper,” I said. “What do you think?”
“Is he some kind of warlock?” Augie asked. “If there is such a thing.”
“There is, but they’re rare,” I said. “I’ve never known Forevers to use magic.”
He used guns, magic, and had a legion of followers. He wasn’t typical in the least. I welcomed the days when it was just one of them and one of me. What was the world coming to?
Augie said, “I still have a hard time believing monsters and magic are real.” He stretched his back. “But why don’t more of them use magic?”
“Forevers aren’t attuned to our natural world,” I said. “Call it out of sync. Call it a different frequency. Whatever the cause, whatever they’re made of, their biology interacts differently with our universal laws.”
Serena stepped in. “Which is why I can’t use magic on them. Most spells don’t work on them like normal people. Or it backfires completely. It’s unpredictable.”
Augie stretched out his shoulder as Serena finished the bandage. “But Poe can use magic? Like he did with that demon?”
“Apparently,” I said. “With an ease and speed I’ve never seen.”
“It’s that hard to do?” he asked.
Serena put the rest of the emergency kit back in the tackle box. “Using magic is like a muscle,” she said. “You can’t bench press 300 lbs. without building those muscles up first. It takes time. And practice. Magic isn’t just about saying the words. You have to build the muscles up in order for the magic to work.”
Augie nodded in agreement. “I read up on that. In Ivy’s book Unnatural Laws: The
Hidden Workings of Mother Nature.”
Serena raised an eyebrow. “Looks like you have a fan, Solomon. Or a stalker.”
Augie turned to me. “If Quinn wasn’t Forever, what was he?”
“They’re called Fiends,” I said.
He shook his head and gave a dopey look. “What’s a Fiend?”
I did a quick glance out the window overlooking the main road. This building was nearly abandoned and off the beaten path. And wasn’t near any major highways or busy roads. These roads were quiet. “If a Forever is powerful enough, they can bring back the dead.”
“Like resurrection?” he asked. “Quinn is a zombie?”
I carved the next insignia under my heart. With my knife. “When a person is resurrected, their soul is ripped from the afterlife and brought back into a body it was never meant to return to. There are consequences.”
Augie pointed to the wound on his chest. “Like being able to burn things with your hand?”
“His cells are unstable,” I said. “His touch is like hot ice. It’s not actually cold at all.”
“It felt pretty damn cold when he was burning through my chest!”
“It’s not a matter of temperature,” I said. “His touch kills living cells. The death of those cells are interpreted by your mind as cold. Like when a cold blanket feels wet when it isn’t. Your mind misinterprets it. A Fiend’s touch isn’t really cold.” I finished carving the symbol on my ribcage, said a prayer under my breath, and followed up with a liquid agent that stopped the bleeding. I dabbed it with paper towel to sop up the blood.
A lot of paper towel.
“Whatever, dude,” he said. “It was fucking cold.” He glared at me as I carved into my chest. “What the heck are you doing to yourself?”
I smiled. “This symbol can only be cast in blood. Protects me from black magic.”
Augie’s eyes barreled into me. “Your body looked like crispy bacon back there. I mean, you were on fire. How are you still alive?”
“Just too stubborn to die,” I said. “And I had a backup plan.”
“What backup plan includes coming back after you’re burned alive in a house fire?”
“I’ve been doing this awhile, son,” I said. “You pick up a few tricks.”
Memoirs of a Monster Killer: Killing Forever Book 1 Page 14