Courageous: Afterlife Book Four (19 page)

"I had to do something to stop you. Somehow you and Jason kept finding ways of being together and I had to stop you from seeing him. When you came to the school I was certain you would never find each other, but somehow you managed to find him on Earth by going through that mirror, and then you wouldn't let go of him again. I wanted to stop you from visiting him constantly so yes I scared you and the rest of the school by helping Adrian freeze people and then make it look like you were in danger, so they would forbid you to go there."

"And the mirror? The one you gave me as my wedding-gift? That was supposed to keep me from meeting him, right? It was supposed to keep me in the room, filled with too much fear to go out and maybe meet him again."

Mick didn't say anything but his eyes answered my questions without any words needed. Rahmiel approached us. "Where did you get the mirror from, Mick? How did you know how to freeze people like that?"

He exhaled deeply. His face torn in shame. "Azazel taught me," he said.

A gasp went through the room. Someone screamed somewhere else in the castle. There wasn't much time before the Se'irims would find us. I looked at Rahmiel with fear in my eyes. She wasn't going anywhere just yet, not until she had her answers.

"Azazel taught me everything. He was the one who first came to me and taught me how to possess a human and make her strangle Meghan. I wasn't strong enough to kill her myself in the forest and then she fled to the cabin. So I thought I had lost, but suddenly a huge python-snake approached me, climbing down the stem of a big tree. It spoke to me, in hissing sounds. He told me he could help me, he told me what to do and how to do it. I was so eager to get you here, to be able to finally be with you, that I became blind to what I was doing. After killing you I decided to never do anything like that again, but somehow I always ended up in a situation where I needed Azazel's help. Every time since that first time, whenever I was strained in jealousy and anger, he came to help me. He always had a solution and knew what to do. When I was sad and angry seeing you go off to Earth to visit Jason he came to me and taught me how to freeze people in a nightmare. He brought Adrian to me and told me he could help. Together we planned how to scare you. I was constantly afraid that you would lose interest in me and want to be with Jason instead, even when we had gotten married. I was afraid Jason would somehow get his memory back and then I'd lose you for good. So this time I sought Azazel myself. I called for him one night, asked him what to do and he came to me the next day in the forest dressed as a black crow. He gave me the mirror. He told me he could help me get what I wanted."

"And you listened to him?" I asked. "You did what he told you to even though you knew it was wrong?"

Mick nodded. "I was blinded by jealousy. I wanted you so badly and was so afraid of losing you that I never thought about the consequences. I was blinded. I thought if I could only be with you then everything would be better. You know I would do anything for you, do anything to keep you."

Rahmiel sighed deeply. "Now he wants you to return the favor, doesn't he? He is cashing in now for all he has done for you. What have you promised him, Mick? What is his price?"

Mick didn't answer; he shook his head then glanced briefly at the baby.

I screamed. "NO!!!"

C
HAPTER 36

"
Y
OU PROMISED HIM
the baby?" Rahmiel asked with a petrified voice.

Mick still didn't say anything. Tears were rolling down his cheeks. "I didn't know what to do," he finally said. "Azazel came to me one day after the wedding. He had taken the shape of a big black wolf and when I was walking across the yard behind the castle he called to me from the forest. I went in there and met the wolf. I told him I was done with him, that I didn't want any more to do with him, but he told me that I owed him.

" 'You have all you want now, don't you?' he said. 'You married the girl you dreamt about. Now it is time for me to have what I want.'"

Mick shook his head. "I was so scared at that moment. I mean of course I knew deep down inside that he would eventually want something from me. I guess I thought I could somehow avoid it. That I could manage to take my bride and son to Heaven before Azazel demanded something in return. But there he was staring at me with his big eyes of fire in a black wolf twice the size of me. Then he said those awful words. '
I want your firstborn child
.' "

Mick hid his face in his hands and cried. I looked at my baby and held him tighter to my body. I couldn't figure out if I should yell at Mick or cry in fear for my baby. I did both.

"How could you be so stupid?!" I yelled. Then I cried.

Rahmiel approached me.

Mick lifted his head and stared into my eyes. "It was either him or you," he said.

"What?"

"I asked Azazel to please not ask for the baby and then he said that he would settle for Meghan, for you instead. He wants your powers."

"He is after the baby because any child coming from you will have your powers as well," Rahmiel said. "And Mick's."

"But ... But I would have done it. I would have gone. I would have sacrificed myself, Mick. I would give my life up any day for our son."

"That is what I was afraid of," he answered.

"So you made the decision for me?"

Mick nodded while biting his lip.

Turmoil was outside of the door and someone was yelling. Rahmiel looked at me, and then picked me and the baby up. "We must hurry," she said. "They're getting closer."

More yelling and turmoil. "We will fight for you, Meghan," Rahmiel said. "We will fight for you and the baby."

Voices came through behind the door and then a flock of figures streamed through.

"And so will I," said a voice.

I smiled widely. It was Hjalte Havskäg, the old Danish Viking from my self-defense class. He was swinging his swords and wearing a thick leather breastplate. He looked very combative.

"And I," sounded the high pitched voice of Mrs. Higgins.

"And I," said Professor Grangé who had screwed his head back on in honor of the occasion.

"And so will I," said Mrs. Ohayashi and tried to smile through her narrow black eyes.

I was taken aback and surprised by everyone’s sudden appearances.

"What about the other students?" I asked Rahmiel thinking mostly of Abhik.

"They won't touch them. They're only here for him," she said and looked at my baby.

He stared at us both with his blue eyes. I pulled the blanket further up to cover his head. A tear escaped my eye while my stomach churned. The prospect of losing him now that I just gotten him terrified me.  But one thing was certain, I thought as I stared at the crowd surrounding me.

I wasn't going down without a fight.

C
HAPTER 37

T
HERE WAS A
grumbling and groaning right outside of the door now and we realized it was too late to escape. It sounded like a huge animal approaching. I started to shiver. Suddenly hundreds of small shadows were on the walls surrounding us. The groaning turned into roaring as the shadows grew larger and larger. I felt chills running down my back; my heart was pounding in my chest. An eerie feeling struck me and filled me with fear and despair.

Hjalte Havskäg stood in front of me with his sword held high. He too was groaning and growling. Rahmiel had her hands around me. The feeling of hope and love coming from her was fighting with the feeling of despair and emptiness coming from the Se'irims approaching us. They were trying to suck all the joy and life out of me while they slowly came closer and closer. Suddenly some of them attacked. They changed from shadows on the walls to small hairy creatures with pointy teeth and long nails. Two of them attacked Hjalte Havskäg. He swung his sword and cut them in half with a huge roar. More black hairy creatures threw themselves at him from all directions, even coming down from the ceiling, but with his sword he managed to fight them off and send them back where they came from.

More emerged through the walls when Mrs. Higgins stepped up. She had a stick between her hands that she swung and spun in the air, hitting the Se'irims with such a speed they were knocked back. But soon they were back on their feet, attacking again. Professor Grangé soared into the air and started spinning so fast he created a tornado that he spun right into the flock of black creatures and soon they were taken into the air, sucked up and blown out in the top of it.

Mrs. Ohayashi lifted her hands and out from them flew small stars, small balls of fire faster than any weapon could shoot. Millions of small fireballs that looked just like stars were shot against the creatures knocking them out, tearing them to black beads, which were destroyed when Mrs. Ohayashi or someone else stepped on them. There was whining and screaming everywhere, while Raphael and the Angel Guards blew the creatures back with their light shining from their hands, floating like rivers of fire.

Even if we were outnumbered by maybe thousands I was beginning to think that the creatures didn't stand a chance. They didn't seem to be a match at all to us. But they had just begun. Ten of them or maybe even more were now on top of Hjalte Havskäg scratching him with their long nails, shrieking and screaming. He was yelling and fighting, swinging his sword, but not hitting any of them. I watched with horror as they pierced his body with their nails. He roared in pain when they pulled him into beads and parts of him started floating into air. I gasped while Rahmiel held me back, her strong arms around me. I fought to get free. Then she spoke to me in my mind.

Don't Meghan. Be still. You have to protect the baby.

I looked down at the incredible creature in my arms. He was so tiny, yet didn't seem affected at all by what was going on. He was staring at me, grabbing my finger and squeezing it.

Raphael grabbed Hjalte Havskäg's beads and managed to put him back together while Mrs. Ohayashi protected them from attacks shooting her small balls of fire. A flock of Se'irims tried to get to us from behind, but the Angel Guard blocked their way and then he kicked them causing them to fly into air. They shrieked and screamed as they hit the walls and ground. I stared at the scene. We were completely surrounded; thousands maybe even tens of thousands of hairy black creatures surrounding us as far as I could see. They kept streaming through the walls, floors and ceilings filling up the entire room. I stared at Mick and Jason standing on each side of me looking as afraid as I felt inside.

Suddenly I heard a small still voice in my head.

Where is the baby, Meghan? Give me the baby.

I knew that voice. I had heard it before. At night in my chambers, whispering that I should watch my back, in the funnel of the tornado whispering the same thing. And in the dark forest when I had faced him for the first time, when he asked me to bow down to him and I had refused. Now it was laughing. I gasped and scanned the room to see if I could spot him anywhere. I clutched my baby in my arms thinking desperately about how I was supposed to get out of this? Was there even a way out for me?

C
HAPTER 38

I
'M ONLY COMING
to get what is rightfully mine
, the voice continued to whisper. I felt fear rise inside of me, an anxiety so big it caused my entire body to shiver. I felt Jason's hands on my shoulders and looked at him. He was frightened but I could tell he tried so hard to be strong for me. I tried to smile when suddenly the entire room felt incredibly hot. It was like there was a fire and it seemed that the heat caused the Se'irims to grow and their groaning became louder. Instead of attacking they all drew backwards while the floor suddenly opened up. Slowly the bricks melted by the heat from the fire that was now licking the floors from the giant hole. The fire was turning, spinning fast, and we all backed up. Then the Se'irims all jumped into the hole where they melted together. From being many small creatures they now grew into a huge black hairy mass that kept spinning and turning and growing in front of us. The Angels made their lights shine brighter in order to force the darkness to disappear. I stared into the big black mass and saw a face within it. It was a face I had known. It was Portia. She was laughing and smiling. Then it changed again into Jason's stepdad, then Adrian and then finally Mick. I looked at the real Mick and saw the anxiety in his eyes. He tried to pull backwards, but the black mass had surrounded us and made sure we didn't get away. It was constantly moving, spinning around us, on top of us, beneath us. It oozed through our bodies while whispering and filling us with hopelessness and despair. The Angels and teachers were trying to fight it with swords and weapons, but in vain.

Mick's face spoke to me. "Just give him to me," it said.

I shook my head. "Never."

"Tsk, tsk, Meghan. You know better than that, don't you? You know I always get my way in the end. Somehow, some way."

"I don't care. I'm not giving him to you."

With a roar the mass grew larger and stared down at us. His eyes were huge and filled with fire. It didn't look like Mick anymore, more like an animal of some sort. "You can't fight me, little girl. If you don't give him to me, I'll have to take someone else."

The face hissed, and then gnashed his teeth at us. Rahmiel sent me calming thoughts.
Remain at peace at all times. If you let yourself get stirred up inside you won't be able to fight him.

The mass now changed again. This time it was the face of my father looking back at me. I felt a pinch in my stomach. I knew he hadn't been well, I knew he had been drinking and depressed for a long time. Had Azazel gotten to him? Was he the one keeping him in this state of anguish?

"Meghan," my father called out. He seemed so confused and filled with despair. He was in a dark room. I felt his confusion, sensed his misery. It broke my heart. I stepped forward. "Leave my father alone!" I yelled. I was crying now. "Just leave him alone!"