My Demonic Ghost #3: Hunters and Creators (12 page)

I found Gargoyle first. His shouting had goose bumps crawling over my skin. I ran into the violent frenzy and Chō managed to disperse the demons like popping balloons. Gargoyle crumbled to the ground, badly bruised and groaning. He looked up as I crashed down to his side, cupping his head into my palms.

“No… Rachael…. You have to... you have to go.” He struggled.

“I’m not leaving you here!”

“Please.”

“No! No, Chō can fight! We can help.” The remainder of Chō’s power pulsated through me like a headache. I swallowed hard. I can do this.

“No! You must understand. Chō is a ticking time bomb… Don’t fight, just run… It’s too dangerous. Don’t let them … get Chō, don’t let them get… you!”

He pushed me away forcibly and I stumbled back. A new spark of energy fired through him and Gargoyle jumped to his feet, summoning up magic and lashing out at the Goons that scampered by his feet. He was impressive; he was dodging and rebutting the ongoing attacks that rushed at him from every angle. His internal beauty glowed like a lone star in a vast dead space. 

“Hunter Gargoyle?” A voice called from the melee, the smoke parting as a lone Reaper rode forward on the back of a giant wolf. Gargoyle paused; the Goons stopped advancing, as the silver eyed Reaper approached us, his wolf pet’s muzzle snarling with smoke. The Reaper eased off the canine and straightened his clothing.

“You’ve gone too far. Give her back to us. If you do, we’ll let you and your Hunter friends go in one piece.”

“Classic Reaper ignorance, how fast you forget your place in the world! Do you think you can bully us with those demon pets? Have you forgotten how we can still crush you into nothing?! There’s no way I’m handing her over to you.” Gargoyle stepped backwards and protectively stood in front of me, creating a barrier with his body.

“You can’t beat me, Gargoyle, don’t be an idiot!” The Reaper warned with a mocking laugh, “This will not end well for you.” His wolf growled menacingly, begging for blood.

“I’ll remind you why we’re still on top.” Gargoyle charged at him. The Reaper kicked into a run, the two powerful beings clashing in the middle where a heavy shockwave rippled away from them, knocking the others back. Flashes of white and gold ripped the air. A sound like firecrackers, coloured sparks whipped around them. They fought like two lions slashing at each other’s throats. It was Gargoyle who came out on top, raising his fist preparing to hammer it down.

“You’ll pay for your crimes!” He shouted just as a sonic boom torpedoed into him, and catapulted him through the air. He landed with a heavy thump and skidded to a stop. The masked man that crashed into him was completely covered in shadow. He stalked around Gargoyle’s body, snickering under his breath. Two others rushed to his flanks, also masked in shadows; except for their eyes which burned gold and blue through the smoke.
They’re Banished Spirits.

Gargoyle groaned, clutching his torso where the masked man had landed his hit.  “That’s not playing fair, Lock.” The spirit he called Lock grunted in disgust, his eyes a sharp blaze of green amongst a shadowy face.

“I do not go by that name anymore Hunter! It’s not fun being the one in the dirt, now is it?” His voice growled from the depths of his throat.

Gargoyle struggled up as Lock ran at him, white sparking against the dark, but the Banished was too fast, too powerful. With every swing, Gargoyle was deflected and attacked like a child lost in the dark. Gargoyle had fashioned himself a sword out of the pure light, but the Banished used his agility and hunger to snap the blade in half, wrenching it from his grasp so it shattered into shards. They danced around each other with fluid agility, but Gargoyle was hurt making him slow, Lock landed every hit and I found myself wincing. With a final, powerful strike, the Banished was able to knock Gargoyle to his knees. He coughed into his hand, Lock finally ceased his almost unforgiving attacks.

“You may look older, but you are still the same boy, Lock.” Gargoyle grimaced, fighting to stand. Lock shoved his boot into Gargoyle’s chest, knocking him back to the ground.

“Don’t do anything foolish!” The Wolf Reaper barked, but the Banished snarled cruelly.   

“For too long I’ve ran from him, I won’t run anymore. Tonight we finish this!” He raised his fist, a dark knife appearing in his fist and I leapt to my feet.

“No! No you can’t!” My voice hit the ceilings and silence overtook the hall. Lock paused, whipping his eyes over his shoulder to where I stood.
It’s him..
. Fear choked me.
The green-eyed monster! It’s really him!
He looked back at me, a collage of emotions lost on his face. He was tall, built behind the cloak of darkness and his eyes a scarring mint that pierced my mind. I feared I would dream of him even in death. The questions of
why me? Why pick on me?
They all vanished into the abyss beyond these walls. My mind snapped shut and I fell silent.

He watched me as if I had been the human he had ever seen. His sharp focus was making me sick. Even the Reaper stood in stunned silence.

Gargoyle seized his moment and tackled Lock to the ground, “Run!”

I didn’t hesitate. I bolted the moment those paralysing eyes slipped free of mine.  I ran as fast as my pathetic legs could carry me. I felt my shoulders hitting the walls, rebounding off the bricks and trying to fling myself further away. I was lost within moments, the school corridors morphing into a maze of illusions and mirrors. All the while, I could hear the snarling Goons following me. I dared a glance over my shoulder, but they were mere shadows on the walls. One of them was a cackling hyena, its croaky high laugh echoing down the halls as it nipped at my ankles. I hit a corner only to have the wolf appear in my path, its shoulders hunched and its teeth bared. I skidded and stumbled over it.

The wolf did not lunge at me. He was held back by something, some sort of fear. Silver smoke poured out of his eyes, nostrils and mouth with each of his pants. When Chō appeared, the wolf pinned its ears back and snarled, flashing me its rows of teeth before vanishing. Chō hissed back at it. The hyena Goon was nearly on top of me, but Chō managed to repel it, the Creator quickly speared tackled the demon and I took off again down the hall. Heat flashed through my body so fast I was sweating just trying to keep up with the rapid temperature changes. I had to keep moving, I had to get away from here as fast as I could before Chō really dried me up and spat me out.

I kept running even when I felt a rip in my calf muscles; the spasm hit me like a snake bite that shot pain throughout my body. I was getting tired really fast and I slowed regardless of the adrenaline pumping through me. Sweat coated my skin. Exhaustion clenched my chest. I stumbled and fell into a wall, barely able to breathe. Something suddenly jumped out at me from around the corner, reaching out to grab my shoulders. I screamed and thrust the blade into its chest. At the contact, a hot hiss sprouted from the puncture point. He jumped away and pulled the knife out hastily. I stumbled back, watching as green eyes fluttered uncontrollably, quickly losing their focus. The smoke faded away from his face, revealing the true identity of the green-eyed monster. He was… He was merely a boy, not much older than I was. He had a nest of deep black hair, a sharp face with defined cheekbones, a tall lean body and meadow green eyes filled with pain.

His face became laced with black veins spreading quickly underneath his skin. A whirlwind of ash spiralled towards him, sucking in the warmth so only the crisp cold remained. Dark smoke lashed out like ropes trying to lasso anything it could. Something must’ve snapped within his mind and he lost control. Chains materialized out of smoke bound my neck and wrists, pulling me down into the spiralling darkness that was swallowing him. In a split second, the darkness sucked me into a vortex until something else started to build over the black.

It formed in hazy sections. A brown wooden floor, piles of boxes, and a stream of soft sunlight spilled in from a high window. There was music. No, not just music, it was
that
song. I was sitting in the attic back at the Whitehaven place. I could almost reach out and touch the CD player as if it was real. Suddenly the image was vacuumed up and snapped shut. I fell backwards as the restraints were torn off me. Chō slapped the chains away, hissing at Lock as he scrambled desperately in a pit of shadows forming by his feet. They were dragging him into the ground and the Banished was powerless against the shadow’s greedy claws. He fought it with every breath he could take, until it eventually swallowed him whole.

His image blinked once, and then he was gone. I didn’t dare to breath for a moment. I sat there watching the ground, waiting for him to spring up; but he didn’t. I exhaled, relieved, until a force equal to a speeding car slammed into me. It shot out of the concrete, picked me up and slammed me against the walls. A cuff bound itself to my neck in a steel grip. I hit my head hard against the wall and darkness washed over me.

Chapter Seventeen:

When I woke, pain pulsated against my temples. I groaned, turned over very slowly and eased myself up into a sit. Cold poured through my body where the cuff encircled my throat. I touched my neck, searching for the cuff, but I couldn’t touch it. I looked around. No one was there, not even Chō. My eyes blinked against something bright,
was that… daylight?
I must’ve been knocked out and a pounding headache began to build. I rolled over just as Gargoyle groaned and picked himself up. He was close to me, sprawled out on the ground. I immediately rolled over to him, checking to see if he was okay. He was badly injured, bad enough that he couldn’t even sit up properly.

“Gargoyle? Gargoyle are you okay?”

“No…” He groaned, hooking his fingers into my clothes to haul himself up. He was trembling badly. “I can’t … walk. I need… your help.” I nodded, looped my arm around him, and hoisted him onto my shoulders. Thankfully, I was uninjured; thanks to Chō, not a single demon was able to hurt me.

“They got… him… they got… Chaos.” Heartbreak weakened Gargoyle’s voice.

“Is he…?” I started and Gargoyle shook his head.

“I don’t know... when they captured him… he was still okay…” We started to walk down the halls towards the courtyard when Gargoyle pulled me back, “Wait.” He indicated back towards the corner when he pointed out a smoking cluster of ash pressed into the point. “Is that…?” The creature groaned, rolling onto his back so his face was uncovered.

“Urg…” The Banished Lock exhaled in a frail whisper. He was critically injured from the stab wound in his chest. The knife sat unsheathed on the tile floor near him, its blade glistening with black blood. I gently placed Gargoyle next to the wall before I walked over and scooped up the knife. Its handle felt strong underneath my grip as I flexed my fingers. I went back to the Banished, looked down at his withering body and clenched my jaw in fear. His eyes squinted up against the strain, revealing just a dash of green, “Don’t…don’t….”

“Why should I spare you?” I growled. Lock’s eyes suddenly widened. Words failed to form, and for the first time, confusion hit his face. The black veins still plagued his skin, but they were ever so slowly sinking beneath his white complexion. 

“R-Rachael…?” He choked on my name. I shivered; I shouldn’t be surprised that he knew me, but just hearing him say my name made me feel sick.

“Don’t Rachael…” Gargoyle called, “We need him…” I glanced back at Lock, just in time to watch him sink into the darkness and vanish. 

Chapter Eighteen:

We eventually made it back to the cottage. Our pace slowed because Gargoyle depended on me to carry most of his weight. When we finally arrived, Damage paced and twirled a dagger in her fingers, her hair a sweaty frizz. As soon as she saw us, she dragged Gargoyle into a fierce hug.

“I was so worried. Let me heal you.” She stepped aside and kissed her palm, but Gargoyle held his hand up to stop her.

“I’m okay; I’m healing on my own. Damage, the Reapers…they got-”

“Chaos. I know, I watched it happen,” She turned away sharply and brought her palm to her mouth, physically holding back her despair. “I couldn’t do anything. They were just… everywhere.”

“It’s not your fault.”

“Yes it is! Gargoyle, I was there and they took him right out of my hands.” She cried out. I stumbled in exhausted and sat on the edge on the desk on my own. Gargoyle and Damage faced each other beside the couch, Gargoyle kept his hands on Damage’s shoulders to console his upset sister. Even crying she seemed to radiate beauty.

“How are we going to save him? They are going to torture him till he snaps!” She whimpered.

“No they won’t, because we have something that they want.”

Damage scrunched her face in both disapproval and pain, “I love Chaos, but we can’t give them the Creator.”

Gargoyle exhaled slowly, steading his breaths. “Rachael come here for a moment…”

I slowly slid off the desk and approached them. Damage peered over, her golden eyes awash with tears that sat trapped in her long lashes. Gargoyle reached over and clasped his hand around something invisible by my neck. With a careless tug, smoky chains appeared shimmering in his grip. He tugged hard enough that the Banished Lock stumbled out of my shadow and sprawled across the floor. He was still writhing in pain. I yelped in surprise. So, I hadn’t imagined it.
The demon was hiding in my shadow.
I turned around trying to find the hidden trap door he must have used.
Damage’s slacked muscles suddenly flexed with rage. Gargoyle held his hands out to stop her from stomping on the downed spirit. I quickly shuffled out of her way in case he failed to restrain her.

“You brought him back here?” Her voice rung in disbelief.

“We can trade him.”

“He’s the worst one! We can’t give him back, he must be destroyed. What are you thinking? Letting him attach to Rachael out of all people! And with Chō so close?”

“He’s weak! We can control him so he won’t corrupt her. Listen, I don’t want him attached to Rachael any more than you do. But they have Chaos.” Lock groaned again and rolled over onto his side, his eyes squinted shut.

“But Gargoyle!”

“Please, Damage; they will not have mercy on him otherwise…”

Damage looked deep into Gargoyle’s gaze and her lower lip trembled, “Okay, okay fine! The moment he’s useless to us I will personally haul him into the inferno.” She whipped her fiery glare at me, “If I get even the tiniest inclination that you’re helping them.”

“What?” I stumbled back, “I wanted to destroy him, too. I’m on your side.”

“You better not betray us,” She warned and Gargoyle growled at her.

“Hey, she hasn’t done anything wrong.”

“I’m not going to betray you Damage” I reassured honestly.

“We’ll see…” She hissed and disappeared out the window in an impatient huff.

“Damage? Damage, don’t go!” Gargoyle chased after her, but stopped upon reaching the door’s threshold. He turned back, gripping his hair in frustration. I, on the other hand couldn’t tear my eyes off of the demon slumped on his side in the middle of the lounge. Even the lights seemed to struggle to glow in his presence, the air was colder and shadows collected by his form as if he were a magnet.

“This is bad.” Gargoyle started to pace, his mind confused by the many problems they all faced.

“What should we do?” I mumbled.

“There are a thousand things we have to do. I have to get Chaos back from the Reapers. I have to stop the demons from rising to the surface and return Chō to the spirit realm before it starts to destroy this world. I have a war to stop. This is just too unbelievable that Miira would do this. That she allowed them to ambush us.” Gargoyle turned towards the door and started to rush out when I called out to him desperately.

“No, no please don’t leave me here with him.”

“I can’t stay. Don’t you understand what’s going to happen?” He retorted, frustrated.

But, I’m scared Gargoyle!
The thought of being utterly defenceless while in the presence of this demon overwhelmed me. Gargoyle hesitated by the doorframe, turning a hopeless gaze back in my direction. I shook my head as the tears swelled, “I’m sorry, but I’m scared.”

“I’m sorry… I won’t be long. I promise he won’t hurt you. Just to be safe, you better stay away from the town.” Gargoyle disappeared into the wilderness outside and I leaned back against the table. In Gargoyle’s absence, the room got darker, the light bulb above Lock’s body flickered in its struggle before burning out.

I glanced up as more lights blinked off slowly, one by one. I returned my gaze to Lock, who appeared to be asleep in the middle of the carpet. My mouth was painfully dry and my nerves overtook my body. I was too scared to move, knowing there was a chain that leashed him to me. I was fearful it would jostle him awake if I stepped to the side, it was a sickening thought that a Banished had a hold on me at all times. That there was no way for me to outrun him or try to slip away undetected. Soon all the blubs went out and the only source of light came from the kitchen. It overspilled into the lounge, not reaching much beyond the kitchen entryway. Was it even possible? It was like the shadows were purposely pushing the light back, as if they had created some sort of wall where light couldn’t penetrate.

I watched him sleep, studying his face with fierce attention. He didn’t look as frightening with his eyes closed, his lower lip stiff and his brows furrowed in pain. He kept his hand on his chest where the wound still bled. The cut must have been very deep; and now that I was looking into the face of a boy, I felt guilt twist at me. I started to doubt myself.
Was this really the same demon from my nightmares?
The person from last night who blanketed himself in twisting shadows was not the same boy who lay here now, exposed and broken on the carpet.   Similar to that Hunter, I started to get the sense of familiarity.  I couldn’t figure out why I recognised him.

“It’s rude to stare…” Lock’s voice crackled like embers spitting out of a bed of fire. His whispered words were a loud against the unyielding silence.

I stiffened and pressed myself further away from him. His eyes were open, a green blaze that pierced the dim light and crawled all over me. It didn’t look like just his irises were green; it was like the colour was washed over the white bits too. He
was
the same demon. I recognised the feeling of suffocation and chilling fear. His eyes struggled to stay open, so he watched me through the rim of his lashes, squinting through the pain that anchored him to the ground. For a long time he just lay there, staring at me - as still as the carpet he rested upon. He looked up at me, his hair messily swept out of his face as if he had just as a shower.

“I can’t believe you stabbed me.” He spoke again, calmly.

I spun away from him as if he was rabid. I didn’t know what to say; of course I defended myself. “You gave me no choice.” I grumbled.

He smiled, his demon eyes seeming to brighten. Without breaking his stare he continued, “Do you know who I am?”

“Yes, they call you Lock” He raised his brows questioningly, almost as if he was waiting for the words to connect inside my head. My lack of reaction caused him to exhale, annoyed.

“I don’t go by that name. Tsk!” Wincing sharply, he added, “I can’t get up…” He pointed at his chest weakly, “The blade is poisoned. Guess I know now how the Sins felt. Can you help me?” He was incredibly weak. He could barely lift his chin up to talk properly.

I shook my head with a stern frown, “It’ll be wiser if you remain exactly where you are and away from me.”

“Rach… You don’t have to pretend now. We’re alone,” He rolled his eyes like I was being irrational.

“Don’t say my name; we may be alone, but don’t forget I’m the one who took you down.” He smiled gently and chuckled; his eyes roaming my face, like he was trying to speak to an uncomprehending child. He groaned and his chest convulsed.

He glanced down and warily prodded around the wound, “I figured you’ll stab me in the heart sooner or later.”

For a demon, he appeared to be quite gentle. “You’re… not what I was expecting.” I tilted my head to study him, “You don’t look any different from an ordinary boy.”

“Except for the glowing eyes and my devilish charm right?” 

“You’re definitely as arrogant as a teenage boy.”

His face relaxed as he sighed, twisting his lips into a dimpled sloppy smile, “I really missed you.”

I pulled my face back, “You miss tormenting me, you mean?”

“I kept my distance the best I could. Unless you’re talking about that James guy? You can do better
than
him. I was doing you a favour.” He scoffed back hotly, sneering every time he uttered James’s name.

“That has nothing to do with you! You know what; I’m done talking.” I turned my back and marched down the hall to my room.  After I shut the door behind me I turned to find Lock was on my bed, bending over to keep his hand securely on his stomach.

“You can’t run from me….” In his palm, he jostled the silvery shackles that linked him to my neck, “I can heal a lot faster if you just let me attach the others.”

I tried to snatch the collar, but I was merely grasping smoke, “I’m not your toy that you can just chain up.” I growled, as Lock laughed unkindly. His lips curled like something rotten curdled inside him. “Get out.” I snapped with more authority.

“You’re sounding more and more like your dad.” He was speaking to me with a snide laugh, belittling my confidence breath by breath.

My dad? No, don’t listen to it. It’s trying to manipulate you!
  “You’re not some great demon; you’re just some boy.”

“I’m not just a boy
.
You must remember me, even if it’s just a little bit?” He said. I did remember, I remembered nightmares.

“I don’t remember anything.” I replied instead. I would not allow him the satisfaction of scaring me. Lunging abruptly, he charged at me through a swell of ash and knocked me against the door, pinning my shoulders down with his arms. The door slammed shut against its frame and shuddered with his weight and pressure. His minty eyes scolded me, his nose mere inches from mine, and heat started to rise from my neck. His deathly glare pierced mine with an unkind smirk, like my words were thorns I had shoved through his heart.

He then hissed chillingly calm, “I don’t believe you,” before disappearing.