Kori fell to her knees rubbing her temples fervently. The pain escalated to the point of her almost blacking out.
Ethan wasted little time to drop to her side in a panicked state. “Kori, what’s wrong?”
She barely heard the words he had spoken. Instead, Kori sat on her knees writhing in agony. She screamed catching the attention of nearby neighbors.
“Is she alright?” one of them asked.
“I-I don’t know,” Ethan stammered as he cradled Kori in his arms.
She continued to scream as the memories from last night broke through the walls of fiction and infiltrated her world of reality. Breathless she dropped her arms and the pain subsided.
“It wasn’t a dream,” she whispered.
“What?” Ethan said.
“It was all real,” Kori retorted. “I know you must think I’m losing my mind, but everything that happened in my dream happened for real.”
Ethan took a moment to study Kori’s frantic features and became lost in her confused eyes. At the exact moment, all he wanted to do was comfort her. The happy-go-lucky girl he knew stood before him a shaken mess with a multitude of emotions she couldn’t quite understand. Ethan hadn’t seen her like this since the day of her father’s accident.
He sighed, “ok let’s go get some answers.”
They got to their feet taking note of the small crowd that had hoarded around them; however, Hayden and Brianna were nowhere to be seen.
Chapter-Twenty-Three
With his handgun at the ready, Dominic hurled himself at the classroom door. It came off the hinges, swaying inward at a crooked angle as he burst through. Apart from Betty Welch sitting behind her desk, the entire classroom was deserted. She was calmly combing through a stack of papers. Dominic made his way towards the front of the desk.
“Was that really necessary Mr. Ashwood?” Miss Welch asked without looking away from her mound of documents. “Damaging the school’s property can lead to expulsion.”
Instantly he was bewildered by her appearance. “Is this your demon or human form?” Dominic asked.
“Aren’t you quite the smartass?” Welch retorted.
Dominic shrugged finding it hard to look away from the teacher. “But seriously are you Jell-O covered in human skin?”
Betty groaned which only fueled Dominic’s desire to torment her more.
“You also sound like you smoke cartons of cigarettes for breakfast,” Dominic laughed uncontrollably.
“Oh, I’m really going to enjoy feasting on your still-beating heart.”
Dominic took aim at the teacher. “Try me.”
“Before we do this, answer one question for me.”
Dominic removed his finger from the trigger. “Sure, why not? I guess I can do you this one solid before I kill you.”
Betty smiled widely. “Who was Anastasia Ramsey to you?”
The inquiry caught him off guard and he lowered his weapon, which gave Betty all the time she needed to react. The elderly teacher jumped to her feet flipping her chair backward in the processes. She kicked the large desk with enough force it hurled in the direction of Dominic sending piles of papers and other desktop supplies scattering about the room. Before the desk could collide into him, Dominic launched himself onto the surface of the flying bureau. Then wasting little time, he leapt off and landed knees first on the floor. Leering over his shoulder he watched the desk crash into several students’ desks. He got to his feet ready to take aim at the teacher.
Her mouth opened wide as if her jaws were unhinged and her neck inflated like a frog releasing a deep croaking rumble.
Seconds later she spewed green mucus all over Dominic.
He let out a yell of disgust...which swiftly twisted into howls of pain.
What the hell is this stuff?
It’s burning my skin.
He dropped his weapon and the pistol vanished in a puff of black smoke. Betty doubled over cackling.
He fought through the pain looking at his hands. They resembled an aged avocado he could only imagine what his face must have looked like. He ran his hands through his coarse hair wondering if any of the goo had managed to scald his locks. To his relief, his hair was okay.
“I’m not like Reinhard or Johann,” she said after snapping her jaw back into place.
“Good,” he retorted trying to rid his hoodie of the mucus. “Johann went down without much of a fight.”
This news seemed to shake Betty. “Johann is dead?”
Dominic gave up on cleaning his shirt. “Yeah duh,” he answered dispassionately. He held out his right hand and summoned Jezebel. “Don’t worry you’ll be joining him soon.”
Betty chuckled with her arms stretched out wide as if she were expecting a hug. “I guess I shouldn’t hold back then.”
Her body began to tremble aggressively, and her eyes rolled to the back of her skull. Foaming at the mouth she cocked her head back and opened her jaw wide. An abysmal deep-toned wail emerged from her throat and a multitude of large claw-like hands reached out and clutched the sides pulling through the creature within. First, a toad-like head emerged, then, its slimy ember colored centipede-like body rose out of the opened mouth until it stood at its full height, towering over Dominic. As for the body of its host, it began to molt, resembling a snake shedding its skin, leaving behind a twelve-foot demon with a head of a toad, an obese centipede-like body and a horde of spindly arms and claw-like hands.
“How do you fancy me now?” the demon bellowed in a distorted tone.
“I now see why you bathe in perfume,” Dominic said taking several steps back while fanning the area around his nose.
Betty roared as her lardaceous body released an oily discharge, sending waves of unpleasant odors into the air.
“You do realize that you’re twice the size you were before, right?” Dominic said with a smug smile. “Not to mention we’re in a confined space, so it might be next to impossible for you to land a strike on me.”
“Don’t underestimate me, boy,” Betty screeched as she began to dry heave like before. She leaned her head back allowing her neck to inflate. Betty then thrust her skull forward releasing green vomit infused with albino football-sized larvae.
“You’re freaking disgusting,” Dominic shouted watching the larvae squirm about the floor before quickly making a beeline towards him. He only had a moment to blink in surprise as one of the larvae tried to attach itself to his leg. He cried out punting the grub, however, as soon as his foot connected with the larvae it exploded like a bomb, filling the room with thick white smoke. Though the blast from the explosion wasn’t fatal it had enough force to hurl him along with nearby desks to the back of the classroom, smashing into more desks that belong to multiple students. He pulled himself from the pile of the small tables he crashed into as the smoke dimmed. The remaining three larvae were scampering towards Dominic making eerie clicking sounds as they neared him. He took aim at the abnormal sized insects.
He screamed in frustration, firing his pistol. The first missile struck the leading larvae causing it to explode on impact. One of the others, to his astonishment, leaped at him. He reacted swiftly firing at the airborne creature. Missing his first two shots, the third struck its target. While in midair, the larvae exploded inches away from Dominic. The strength of the detonation sent him careening into an overturned desk.
He got to his feet as the last larvae launched and latched onto his chest.
Oh crap
Within seconds it exploded.
Enraged, Dominic hopped to his feet. Through the thin smoke he could hear Betty cackling maniacally. Gun in hand he opened fire. The ammo struck the Demon in multiple regions of her body resulting in effects, he wasn’t expecting.
The bullets had disintegrated upon contact leaving behind small pockets of green fog.
“What the hell?” he screamed.
Betty glared at Dominic daring him to make the next move. He allowed the pistol to evaporate in a puff of black smoke.
“I guess I have to kill you with my bare hands,” he whispered.
“What was that?” Betty shouted as she arched her head backward.
“I said I’m going to kill you, you stupid, disgusting, whore!”
Betty started to dry heave.
Dominic began to move, “don’t you dare!”
He clasped his fist tighter charging it like a souped-up battery. His brisk walk quickly turned into a full-on sprint. Betty bellowed as she launched her head forward. However, before she could spit, Dominic sprang into the air and drew back his supercharged fist. He thrust it forward slamming his knuckles into the middle of her anthropomorphic face. Dominic glared at Betty with a deep stare of piercing demise. The demon screamed a high-pitched squeal as the energy from Dominic coursed into her skull. Her head trembled and swelled like a balloon, while her body buckled. Then in an explosion of green slushy liquid and blood, her head was gone, and all that remained was the body of an obese millipede. The detonation had enough potency to send out a sound wave that blew out every single window within the room, the back wall revealing the outside world along with blasting desks, computers, shelves, papers and other classroom equipment in all directions along with Dominic.
For several moments he lied motionless, buried underneath a pile of debris debating if he should move.
Didn’t think she was going to be this tough.
Chapter-Twenty-Four
“I thought you erased their memories?” Hayden snapped tersely.
Together, he and Brianna had come to a halt in the middle of the courtyard of Winter Springs High School.
“And I did exactly that,” Brianna protested.
“Then how come Kori remembers everything?”
Brianna shrugged. “I never said I was a pro at it.”
“We should have told Alexander.”
“Then we all would have been in trouble,” Brianna warned.
“Why? It’s all Dominic’s fault.” As if his anger triggered it, the earth beneath them trembled and an explosion echoed nearby.
Hayden and Brianna broke eye contact, diving for cover as shards of glass and other gravelly wreckage showered all around them.
As the fragments stopped raining; they got to their feet and took off towards the deconstructed wall.
“Why is there a massive hole in the middle of our school?” she asked in utter disbelief.
Hayden was the first to make his way into the smoke-filled classroom. In silence, he roamed blindly around the area trying not to trip over any debris. He coughed after inhaling some of the smoke.
“What could have caused this?” Brianna said in between coughs.
Hayden peered over his shoulder and watched her step over a pile of rubble.
The sound of electricity crackling from above triggered her to glance up at the damaged light fixtures and she ducked instinctively with every bright blue spark they produced.
Once the smoke had cleared Brianna gasped at the wreckage before her as her feet shuffled through scattered loose papers, books, and other classroom stationery supplies. She stopped at one of the many overturned desks and flipped it upright.
“Whose classroom is this?”
Hayden didn’t offer an answer.
“Do you think Dominic is responsible for this?”
Hayden remained silent.
Brianna glanced in his direction and saw him kneeling next to a massive mass in the center of the room.
Peeved he was ignoring her she stormed towards Hayden. “What are you staring...” she trailed off and immediately gasped.
In front of them was a headless corpse of an enormous millipede.
“I think this was my second period teacher,” Hayden said without taking his eyes off the carcass.
“When did high schools start hiring demons?” Brianna said to no one in particular.
Hayden shrugged. “And why is Dominic targeting them.”
Footfalls from behind them triggered the two siblings to glance over their shoulders.
Kori followed by Ethan entered the classroom through its newly acquired opening. They crisscrossed around the space in awe. But their amazement was quickly replaced with terror once they joined Hayden and Brianna at the center.
Silence ruled the air as the teens stared at the massive corpse. Then Brianna shot Hayden a glance. And in that glance, thousands of words passed between sister and brother. Hayden let out a long sigh, but before he could speak-Dominic burst through a pile of student’s desks.
Kori instantly shrieked at the sight of him.
Dominic extended his arms, stretching widely while releasing a yawn. “What’s your deal?” he asked fitting Kori with a vacant stare.
“She’s probably freaked out by your appearance.” Brianna retorted. “Part of your face and hands look like slimy raisins.”
Glaring at his hands, Dominic swore under his breath.
“Why did you do this?” Hayden asked impatiently.
Brianna saw he was clenching his fist. “Stay calm.”
Dominic didn’t answer and got to his feet. “Step aside bruh.”
Hayden didn’t oblige. “Answer me!”
No reply.
Fist trembling, Hayden seized Dominic by his shirt collar. “Stop being a dick.”
Without a warning Dominic delivered a backhand slap to Hayden. The smack propelled his brother across the room.
Brianna without missing a beat rushed to Hayden’s aid. “What the hell is wrong with you?” she screamed.
Dominic tilted his head giving Hayden and Brianna a sideways glare. “Go home and stay out of my way.”
Hayden got to his feet massaging the lower half of his jaw.
“You’re piss poor attitude is putting our chances of having a normal life in jeopardy,” he snapped.
“Normal life,” Dominic said coldly. “The idea of that ended the day we took our first breath.”
The revulsion in his voice made Brianna wince.
“I’m not going to allow you to put everything Brianna and I worked for at risk,” Hayden challenged.
Dominic sighed. “Bruh you can’t stop the inevitable,” he gave Brianna an unapologetic shrug and then presented Hayden with a broad smile. “But maybe if you go berserk you might have a chance.”
Brianna gasped. “Hayden you can’t.”
“Let him do it,” Dominic teased. “He needs to be angry about something for once in his life.”
“The both of you shut the hell up,” Hayden snapped. “I’m not going to lose control.”
Dominic booed. “That’s too bad.”
He pulled his Carcerem orbis free and knelt next to the deceased demon. Like the previous night, he chanted in a foreign language while hovering the jewelry over his victim’s body. The ebony orb shifted to a deep red as a torrent of dark gray light streamed from the crumbling bulk and into the sphere.
It shone scarlet until its mechanical clatter ceased along with the luminosity.
Dominic sighed. “I’m going to retrieve a powerful weapon that will give me more than enough strength to kill gods.”
“Why?” Hayden demanded.
“So, I can kill Cicero Giovanni of course,” Dominic’s words flowed from his lips like a calm wind before a massive storm.
“There is no way you can kill a demon as powerful as Giovanni,” Hayden said matter-of-factly.
“You do have a point, my brother,” Dominic said glaring at the orb resting in his palm. “But once I retrieve the Libitinari no one will be able to stand in my way.” His conceited smile loosened into a scowl. “Giovanni deserves to die...He and his five lieutenants slaughtered our family.” He pointed an accusing finger at Hayden, “and like the coward you are...you just ran.”
Hayden huffed. “We were kids. A horde of demons stormed our home, murdered everyone and set it ablaze.” He shook his head in defense. “I was terrified.”
As Dominic and Hayden argued, Ethan’s eyes found a digital clock lying on the floor. He stared at it,
trying to ignore the nervousness threatening to erupt.
It was a losing battle.
He fluctuated from foot to foot as if he hadn’t peed in days and leaned over to Kori.
“Maybe we should go,” he whispered.
“No-way we’re leaving,” she hissed.
Ethan groaned, it was useless to argue with her, he denied his instinct to flee.
“No-one even knows what Giovanni looks like,” Brianna protested.
Dominic’s scowl became a menacing grin. “I do,” he said, his voice low and calculating. “I’ll never forget his old decrepit face.” He clutched the jewel tightly, “Portam Aperto Carcere.”
“W-Why did he say that?” Ethan said nervously.
He didn’t have to wait long for an answer.
Seconds after the verse sailed from Dominic’s lips, the orb began to glow dark purple, releasing strong waves of wind, along with a flow of dark red energy and mist that flowed like running water and released neon green sparks of lightning in slow short bursts. During its illumination, the phenomenon quickly spread from one corner to the next and thickened in the process. The complete occurrence seemed to only be confined within the class, not spreading any further than its walls. The violent wind along with a mixture of mist and energy danced around the party of five, levitating them several inches from the floor.
“What’s happening?” Ethan screamed looking about the teaching space. He and the others weren’t the only ones suspended in the air. All the equipment that wasn’t bolted to the floor or walls, along with random debris and other matter were now in midair, as if the entire room had zero gravity. The green lightning emitting from the mist began to intensify, becoming brighter and more frequent.
“We’re being pulled into the prison world,” Hayden shouted over the howling wind.
“The what?” Kori demanded frantically. The strange lightning began to sting her.
Hayden opened his mouth to explain but a scream from Ethan caught his attention. Everyone apart from Dominic glared in Ethan’s direction.
“What’s happening to me?” Ethan sobbed as he gawked hysterically at his hands. From his feet up, he began to break apart into black vapors.
LAMENT OF PURGATORY (ASHWOOD CHRONICLES #1) Page 10