My Demonic Ghost #3: Hunters and Creators (16 page)

I stepped forward, “Don’t you think the question as to why Miira wants the Creator down here in the first place is worth addressing?”

“My only guess would be the Blue Spirit. Without the Blue Spirit, there’s no connection between Miira’s power and the harvested souls. She’s running on empty.” Jordon explained. “She knows it searches for the Spirit so she must’ve sent it down here for that.”

“Nathan had also said the demons were her scapegoat. What does that mean?” I added.

“I don’t know, but one thing we know for sure is the Creator will not leave without the Blue Spirit. Just for argument’s sake, say we do reunite the Creator and the Spirit what’s the worst that could happen?” Chaos asked.

“It returns the Blue spirit to Miira and everything we’ve tried to change is undone.”

“What are you trying to change exactly? What do you want at the end of all this fighting?” Gargoyle turned his head towards Jordon.

Jordon didn’t slow his pacing, “Revolution. Remove the chains from the Banished and the Reapers so we both can enter the afterlife and find peace.”

I drew back, “You want freedom? But that’s not what we’ve been told. It looks like you want power and control.”

“On the contrary, we just want equality. People see demons and automatically think of evil. We look scary, so a lot of people just assume the worst.”

“Well you are demonic spirits.” Gargoyle quickly jumped in, “Granted a small percentage of you are more good than bad, but a lot of your followers are genuine killers and psychopaths.”

Jordon sighed, “We can’t just select which ones we want to save. When we break the curse it removes it from everyone, the genuinely bad included.”

“So, there will be killer ghosts free to do as they please?” I asked.

“They wouldn’t want anything to do with the living; it’s the afterlife they are seeking. We’ve already removed the Blue Spirit from the equation, so the Banished can’t be soaked up and used for Miira. It’s now just a matter of getting her off the throne so we can all have peace.”

“What’s to stop one of the Banished from trying to take the throne for themselves?” Gargoyle argued again, “Once the throne is empty it’s just a matter of time before a new spirit climbs on top. More often than not it’s the ones willing to sacrifice others that get to rule.”

“We already have one corrupted Royal in charge let’s just deal with her first.”

Gargoyle sighed, shaking his head, “This doesn’t feel right.”

Chaos perched on the chair’s armrest, angling his head to speak to Gargoyle, “We were played for fools. What are we but just pawns on the chessboard?”

“We don’t know that.” Gargoyle replied, “How do we know Nathan didn’t act on his own?”

Jordon growled, “Nathan. I don’t like how he’s been pulled into the middle of all of this.”

Gargoyle spoke, “I personally recruited him five years ago. I don’t know what Miira’s plans are with him, but I’m pretty sure she wanted to use him against you. She counted on his hatred to destroy you.”

“My brother didn’t hate me.”

“He definitely blamed you for how his life turned out.”

Jordon scoffed under his breath, “He has a bad habit of doing that. Don’t worry about him; I’ll settle things with the Hunter. You guys brainstorm and work out a solution for the Creator and Rachael.”

“Hey…” Chaos perked up, glancing around the room, “Where’s Damage? She’ll probably know what to do.”

Gargoyle shook his head, “The night of your disappearance she took off. I fear she’s returned to Miira to plea. I couldn’t go after her, when I tried to get back into Heaven a wall blocked me. It must be because I’ve become this.”

“Maybe I should go then.” Chaos suggested, but Gargoyle shook his head.

“Something is wrong, otherwise she would’ve returned by now. Heaven is off limits to us.” The room fell into a hush just as Raix returned. He nudged his giant wolf nose roughly against the Reaper and he lost his footing.

“Whoa, whoa there Raix,” He soothed the agitated canine by gently stroking the back of his neck; but the wolf kept up a constant whine, trying to get us to follow him outside. Not two moments later, there was a rapid tapping on the door. Everyone froze. We all glanced at each other and Chō hid. There was another tap, but this time it seemed a bit more urgent. I started to walk over when Jordon held out his hand to stop me, sniffing the air to catch any lingering scent.

“They’re not spirits.” He looked over, “Just humans.”

Chaos went to the door and pulled it open. It was a police officer standing with his hand resting on his pistol belt, his other limp by his side. His police car was parked just outside, the lights a blinding flash of red and blue. His partner was digging for something in the passenger console, and quickly emerged with a flash light that he brought up in our direction. The older man looked over Chaos’s shoulder and at us inside.

“Good evening, sorry to disturb you so late, but we’re looking for a missing female…” He looked over at me and went rigid. He then immediately snatched his pistol, bringing it up to Chaos’ face. “Carl! She’s in here!” He called over and his partner came running, also reaching for his gun.

Chaos immediately neutralised the policemen’s memory, and he dropped suddenly to the ground. The second officer panicked upon watching his comrade fall before he opened fire. One of the bullets hit Chaos’s shoulder and pierced the woodwork near his head. He was propelled backwards by the force before he reached out his arm and zapped the second man’s mind, also causing him to fall to the ground. Quickly he slammed the door shut. The gunfire scared me enough that I caused the room to shake.

“Chaos!” I ran to him as he slid down the door, grinding his teeth and inspecting where the bullet penetrated his shoulder. Using some sort of magnetic force, the bullet wiggled free of his body and was spat out onto the floor. The wound quickly healed over.

Chaos looked around confused, “Why are the police looking for you?”

Gargoyle teleported to his side, reaching over to inspect the injury. I stepped back to let him see. “I had given her an alibi! They’re not supposed to worry.”

“Well someone has spilled the beans!” Chaos grumbled.

“Wait… did you kidnap Rachael?” Jordon asked from behind.

“No I’m not kidnapped; I’m in hiding for obvious reasons.” I retorted. “We couldn’t tell anyone because we were scared they would reveal our secret. It was just easier. It must be about that YouTube clip. Can’t we remove it?”

“There are already a thousand copies out there and it’s impossible to erase all their memories.”

“How did they find me?” I mumbled.

“I’ll go ask around, maybe someone has heard something.” Jordon pulled the hood of his cloak over his head, spontaneously disappearing and Raix quickly followed suit.

“He said you were missing…” Gargoyle helped Chaos up before looking back at me. I could only shrug.

“It must’ve been my parents; they haven’t been able to contact me for nearly six days. They are probably worried.”

“Even so, why here? How did they know we were here?”

Not a moment later Jordon appeared reappeared, escorting another Reaper with him. It was a male this time, a handsome tall boy with a tattoo of a giant leaf with vines down the right side of his face and eyes of crystal blue. He looked over at me cautiously before glancing back over to Gargoyle and Chaos. A thick tension quickly filled the room; by the looks of it Reapers and Hunters could not stand being in the same room together. The moment he appeared his pet Goon also stepped out of the shadow, a giant hyena with a cloud of blue smoke forming with each exhale. Raix immediately stalked up to it, at first flashing its teeth warningly at the hyena. It returned the hostile welcome with a sharp bark before they both lunged at the other, biting at each other’s ears.  It only lasted a moment as the wolf knocked the hyena over, prompting it to chase him outside into the darkness. No one seemed fazed by the confrontation, perhaps that’s how they play.

“Rachael this is Elliot, Elliot Rachael.”

I nodded as Elliot walked forward briskly, “We have a problem.” He carried a laptop which he placed on the kitchen bench. We all huddled around it as he clicked the play button. The sound was muted, but I recognised the area immediately. It was back at the Whitehaven high school where the blonde reporter updated viewers on the case. Clear in the corner of the screen I was standing with my arms crossed looking out at the school. I must’ve really been lost in thought because I didn’t move for a long time before I suddenly perked up, glanced over at the reporter before I quickly exited the scene. I felt myself sink into my shoes. Gargoyle looked at me accusingly, but I couldn’t meet his stare.

“I’m sorry…” I whispered. I heard him angrily exhale.

“This is all over the news; they are calling it a freak earthquake and terrorist attack. Whatever lie you told her friends and family, they know it’s not true and they are panicking.” Elliot turned back to face the others. “If you want to keep her hidden you have to move.” 

“But where is safe?” Chaos asked.

“You can come with us; we have a headquarters protected by Reapers, so there’s no way any humans can find you there.” Jordon suggested, ignoring the sharp glare Elliot shot over to him.

“You want to bring Hunters back to the headquarters? Are you crazy?”

“They will be fine.”

“The others will flip out on you and the Banished will scatter. You can’t jeopardise our entire operation because some girl’s parents think she ran away from home. They were angry enough that you even brought Chaos and he was blind folded, tied up and gagged.” I looked at Chaos as he merely shrugged as if it wasn’t out of the norm.

“Don’t start with me Elliot; I still call the shots around here.” Jordon stepped up to Elliot and the two Reapers snarled at each other. “Rachael is still my family, the whole reason she’s in this mess is because of me and I will make sure I fix it.”

“This isn’t your fault…”I started but Jordon shook his head.

“It is, if it wasn’t for me you would never have become Evan’s host. I chose to sacrifice your life to save his, and I promise I will fix it.” I gulped and stepped back.
My life was sacrificed? What on earth happened that I can’t remember? Do I even want to remember?

“Where are your headquarters?” Gargoyle asked and Elliot whipped his face around.

“Chaos I can allow, but you are most definitely not welcome.”

Gargoyle clenched his jaw and lifted his chin a little higher to appear taller than Elliot. “You have something you want to say to me?”

“You smug bastard, you’re the one that destroyed Melissa!” He stormed up to Gargoyle, but Jordon held his hand against his chest, forcibly holding him back.

“Let it go Elliot.”

“I was just doing my job.” Gargoyle argued.

“No, you purposely hunted her down and ensured that she was destroyed. You targeted her and now, because of your petty feud, she is gone forever.” 
Melissa?
The name sparked something inside my memory. It lasted for a brief moment, merely flashed across my mind before it sunk back into nothingness.

“I said that’s enough!” Jordon pushed Elliot and rattled him by his collar, forcing him to drop his glare. “It’s in the past now, there’s nothing we can do to get her back so getting mad or even with Gargoyle is just a waste of time. Go back to the others first, let them know that we are coming. They can leave if they feel uncomfortable, but they will not stop us from entering.” Elliot pushed Jordon off himself before whistling. The hyena Goon bounced back into the room, bringing its familiar crackling laugh that caused my entire body to tremble.

“Fine, I sure hope you know what you’re doing. This isn’t over!” He picked up his computer before he disappeared. 

Jordon exhaled and lowered his head into his palms, massaging his temples. “Okay, let’s get going before more cops start turning up.”

Chapter Twenty-Seven:

Jordon drove us down Ocean’s Highway that followed the seaside. It would’ve been a beautiful scenic drive except for the tension in the car. Both Hunters refused to leave me alone and Jordon was the only one who knew how to drive. It was awkwardly quiet, so much so I was scared to breathe too loudly. I sat in the back with Gargoyle, but he refused to look at me. He was undoubtedly still mad. Chaos was in the front passenger seat looking out the window. Jordon kept checking up on me in the rear view mirror; a few times I caught his eyes meet mine before turning back to the road. I didn’t ask where we were going or how they got the car, but by the choice of floor decoration I presumed this car belonged to a man that enjoyed take away food.

It was such a long drive that I fell asleep and woke up twice. We had to stop to let me stretch my legs, get something to eat, and go to the bathroom, before we were back on the road again. As morning crept into view Gargoyle shifted over so he could see through the front window. We were on the outskirts of an unfamiliar town. There was a bit of forest life meddling in with the houses; but not to the extent as Whitehaven. We drove up a steep hill and I could tell that the car was struggling by its loud, revving engine. I shifted again in my spot, feeling restless and uncomfortable. Even Chō seemed to be fidgety and as he murmured incoherent words into my ear. He was quite large for a butterfly, his folded wings big enough that they brushed against my earlobe.

“We’re nearly there.” Chaos assured while Gargoyle snorted arrogantly.

“A prison? An interesting choice of camp considering you’re trying to get yourselves out of a cage.”

“It’s a constant supply for the Banished and we only use the souls of men already condemned. Thought you would approve, Gargoyle. We could have easily chosen a hospital or school yard.” Gargoyle growled, as Jordon quickly laughed, “I’m kidding.”

He turned the car down towards a long, narrow driveway, the trees on either side purposely cut down to keep the plane open and bare. At the end of the stretch were large concrete walls with barbed wire coiled on top.  As we crept up to the heavily armoured doors, Jordon typed something into one of the keypads stationed on the side. It beeped and opened the doors, leaving us enough room to fit the car through. I had personally never been to a prison before, so I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect. There were the typical barred windows and large open basketball courts that were used for exercise and dwindling down their free time. I bolted upright when I noticed the yard was littered with convicts. I don’t know why but I expected it to be abandoned.

“Wait, you actually live in a prison?” I looked around shocked, “And it’s full of real criminals?” Jordon pulled the car over and parked it. We all got out and Jordon walked over and opened the door for me, noticing how I pulled at my hair nervously.

“Don’t worry, they won’t disturb you as long as you stick with us. In fact,” He shrugged out of his cloak and passed it over to me (I felt incredibly small in the bulk of the material, but as soon as it touched my shoulders and fell into place around my frame the weight lifted off of me) “Wear this. They won’t look twice your way, a nice little Reaper trick. We blend in.”

“But, don’t you need this?”

“Eventually I want it back; it’s the only way I can shift between the two worlds. Before you start panicking, you’re not going to slip into the world of the dead, it’ll just cover you so others won’t notice you.”

“Okay, thank you.”

Once inside, Jordon lead us through the security gate, the Reapers cleverly having placed some of their own as watchmen. Their backs tightened at our approach, quickly sniffing the two Hunters trailing behind. Jordon merely nodded and they returned the polite bow. After walking through a colony of tunnels, we finally reached a barred and locked door deep in the west wing. Jordon looked back at us a little uncertainly.

“The door is permanently shut, the only way for Rachael to get through is to transport into the spirit world.”

“You can’t make her do that.” Gargoyle growled, “There’s no guarantee she’ll even make it through onto the other side. Can’t we just smash the door down?”

“The blue spirit has put a binding spell on it, there’s absolutely no way you can penetrate this room by force or magic.” He then turned to me, “it’ll be okay. It’s very simple, just pull the hood over your head and go through. Don’t stop moving, okay? We have set up a barrier in there to prevent outside Reapers and Hunters from just walking inside. I have to wait here, but Raix will go with you.”

“Your wolf?”

“Yeah, he’ll look after you. Chaos, you can lead Gargoyle in. Theresa and Elliot will be waiting once you get to the other side. Give them my cloak so they can return it to me.”

He nodded at Chaos and Gargoyle, who still appeared reluctant to leave me behind, before they shattered into dust. They disappeared into the wooden door. I carefully lifted the hood up and over my head. As it fitted on me, a strange breeze blanketed my body, almost like I was covered in breakable tissue paper. Jordon signalled for Raix to appear and the giant wolf rose up from the floorboards. He sniffed around me and I became tense; he wasn’t friendly looking at all.

“Jump on.”

“Y-You want me to ride the giant demon dog?” I stuttered. Jordon laughed at my unease.

“It’ll be quicker and safer; I’ll tell him to go slow, so you won’t tumble off.” He reached out his hand blindly before motioning for me to get onto the wolf. Raix lowered his head and sunk his shoulders, making it easier for me to clamber onto his broad back. His coat was hot to touch, like cooling embers from a dying flame. I could feel every exhale - its beastly body panted heavily, and the smoke and light that emanated from his skeletal body glowed.  

“Hold on tight and keep a hand on your hood at all times, you don’t want it flipping back and removing the shield.”

“Shield?” I jerked my head back. Jordon urged Raix forward with a slap to his rear. I fell onto the wolf’s body, quickly winding one arm around his neck and with the other I pinched onto the hood’s hem. Raix took off with a powerful lurch, tipping me backwards and causing my stomach to drop.

Like a hand pushing down on us, a shadow engulfed us and darkened everything out.  Behind the door, a strange static cosmos interwoven like a gigantic web, was revealed. I craned my neck up as we ran into the centre of the mess. Raix’s body was strong, and without falter he charged towards the centre point. The grey smoke was pungent; every inhale had my eyes watering and my skin prickling uncomfortably. Even Raix seemed to sneeze with irritation. The closer we got to the pinpoint the thicker the smoke seemed to collect. Soon enough, it wasn’t just weightless air; but now a type of cellular force teaming together to both blind and slow Raix down. He struggled to step through the mass as it formed an unbreakable band around his chest, pushing back stronger than he was pushing forward.

Raix barked and fired a silver bolt at it, the crack of electricity multiplying inside the dome. It did very little to help. Suddenly a force cupped me around my midriff and around my throat, prying me off Raix’s body, despite my struggle to keep my grip. In a simple shove, I was thrown off and Raix was able to run forward without struggle. But the shove was so forceful that my hand let go of the hood, allowing the fabric to slip to my nape of my neck. In an instant, the irritation that had tickled my nose suddenly turned to acid; the world around me was sinking into darkness and I could barely keep myself upright. Before I fainted, I snatched at the hood again, quickly covering myself beneath the cloth. The sensation dulled back to normal and I let out a relieved breath. Raix turned and bounded back towards me, whining as he circled my position before trying to pick me up with his snout.

I climbed back on awkwardly; the wolf was the size of a horse and I had never been one for horseback riding. Again he turned back to the web, but we encountered the same problem. There was some sort of barrier keeping me from getting any closer. Raix started to pant and tried to force his way through by quickening his speed and lowering his stance, but it just wasn’t working. It was like we were on a treadmill; we were running but not going anywhere. I could feel the pressure building around my midriff again, preparing to catapult me off. Just as it tightened and tried to lift me again I shouted, “No! Let go of me!”

Something snapped and Raix bolted forward, the force shield parted, so we were able to reach the centre and teleport through to the other side. We crashed through and I fell off the wolf with a loud thump. Raix was panting hard and snorting trying to cough up the grey smoke.

“Oh, she made it!” Chaos bounded towards me as I rolled over, cradling my stomach. Inside, the room was set up like a bomb shelter where bunkers and shelves of weapons were layered all across the walls. But it also had stained glassed windows like you see in churches positioned in the front. Mockery I would presume? It was so gloomy that the colours seemed to fall flat like they were covered in grime.

“What took you so long?” Chaos helped me to stand.

“I couldn’t get through. Something kept blocking me.”

“We forgot you were carrying Chō.” Gargoyle was next to him, sitting on one of the benches that faced towards us. He wasn’t cradling his chest anymore, suggesting the poison was now finally out of his system. “I would have a guess that’s why it wouldn’t let you enter.” I glanced around, but Chō wasn’t anywhere to be seen.

“Chō isn’t with me.”

“Chō is always with you. Whether you can see him or not is a completely different question.”

“Chō must’ve blasted a hole in the shell then.” Chaos mumbled as Elliot approached us from behind. He was still displeased by their arrangement, but at least he smiled at me.

“May I take your cloak?” He opened his hands and I shrugged it off and handed it over. The Reapers and Banished pressed themselves away on the other side of the room. A mixture of anger and fear twisted their faces.

“We’re not very welcome.” I whispered.

Chaos shrugged, “We’re Hunters and you’re carrying a Creator. I’d be more suspicious if they were pleased to see us.” A lone female Reaper approached us from the other side, carrying a bottle of water that she handed over to me. I recognised her from earlier at my house, she was the one disguised as Mrs. Patcher.

“It’s nice to finally be able to speak to you.” She grinned. Gargoyle and Chaos took their leave, turning away to talk privately.

“You were Mrs. Patcher?” I queried.

“I was assigned Rachael watch for the past year. Nearly died of boredom too, well if I wasn’t already dead that is.” She laughed.

“Rachael watch?”

“Just precautionary. Evan’s idea. Considering he couldn’t stay with you, they instead assigned Reapers; we took turns ensuring nothing came lurking about that shouldn’t be there.”

“So, it was you in the park that saved me from the drunken man?”

“Actually, that was my Goon. We have a strict no touching the living policy. I’m Teresa, one of Jordon’s friends.”

“Hi, and thank you for saving me.” I shook her hand and took the water off her with thanks, downing it quickly.

“We’ve heard about Nathan becoming a Hunter, and there’s Evan and now you too. Your family really likes to get into trouble. I knew I should’ve stayed away from Jordon when I first saw him. He’s been nothing but a pain in my neck. Damn idiot attacked my Goon the first time we saw each other.” She motioned towards the Vulture behind her, which was too busy scoping the room. I smiled awkwardly; it reminded me of a pterodactyl. It’s hard to look at them and not feel uneasy.

“No kidding.”

She took a seat and I followed, “You should’ve seen his face! I’d never seen someone so terrified as Jordon was when he first met Raix. Back then, Raix had a much more explosive temper; there was no way he could be in a room with all of these Goons.”

“I noticed the wolf is a bit feisty.”

“They are territorial creatures. Bite first and ask questions later. Not my Hook though, she’s always been obedient. First, which is Elliot’s hyena, is more on the shy side, but Raix has always demanded alpha dog spot.” She stroked the creature’s neck.

“So, do you control them?” I asked with a subtle wave in the vulture’s direction.

“I think they control us mostly. We’re the head and they’re the muscle. If they want it bad enough, there’s really nothing we can do. It’s more a matter of pulling on the leash and hoping they’ll comply. Does a lone man really have control over a lion, even with a whip? Once you have an understanding with your Goon, that they’re your partner and not your pet, they are more likely to listen. We fear them as much as we respect them. Hunters used to use Goons as a means to punish us. Not too long ago, the very beings that we hunt and live with were forced to rip us to shreds if we ever disobeyed a Hunter’s command. Humph, folks seem to have it in their head that when we say ‘sit’ Goons just blindly obey.” She scoffed. The vulture opened its beak and let out a strange, hollowed squawk. Teresa glanced over her shoulder in time to watch Elliot and Jordon return with Goons in tow.

“Teresa” Jordon greeted her with a nod as she stood up. She went up to Elliot and stood close enough that their shoulders brushed. Elliot gently ran his hand along her arm, whispering something into her ear prompting Teresa to smile grimly.

“How are you holding up?” Jordon asked me.