My Demonic Ghost #3: Hunters and Creators (24 page)

“I intend to release all the Banished.” Chaos exhaled, “Believe it or not, we’re running out of demonic soldiers. It’s a blood bath out there, I can’t even comprehend what’s going through Miira’s head, but it’s bad. Our soldiers are barely left standing.”

“What do you mean? What’s happening?”

“She’s recruiting, her numbers are sky rocketing with new Hunters and we’re becoming severely outnumbered.”

“Rachael…” Mum cleared her throat. “What’s going on?”

“Oh right, sorry mum; this is Chaos. He’s a friend, someone we can trust, I promise. Chaos, this is my mother, Dianne.”

He nodded again, his smile delicate against his smooth face. “Sup! Not to be rude, but you guys better get moving. I have Jordon waiting for you outside. Don’t worry about Evan; he’ll be safe once I shut down the main system operating all the rooms. We’ll catch up.”

I nodded franticly before latching my arm around my mother’s waist “Come mum, let’s get out of here.”  When mum resisted, I pulled her around to face me, “I know this is confusing, but you have to trust me okay? I’ll get you home.”

“We both are going home.” She almost pleaded, but I shook my head. Panicked, she snared my arms. “I can’t lose you too.”

“This is the only way… You have to trust me.”

She shook her head again, not wanting to hear it, “Why you? Why do they have to take you too?”

I swallowed down my remorse. “It will be okay. I’ll come back. I promise.”

Chapter Forty-Three:

The underground institute was a maze of corridors and security gates but, thanks to Chaos and the help of Reapers, we finally got to the exit and out into the open. The entire base was situated in a low-key town that appeared to be abandoned due to radiation poisoning. That may have worried me if I wasn’t already dying. The moment sunlight hit my gloomy skin; Raix pounced out from the shadows with Jordon. He looked exhausted, his cloak torn and his face marred with gashes and dark circles under his eyes. Even Raix walked with a limp.

“Rachael!” He picked me up into a hug, “I’m so glad to see you’re alright. If you need me to, I can send Raix in there for some pay-back.” 

I chuckled lightly, I was just too exhausted to properly laugh, “Best that you don’t. They’ve worked out a way to trap spirits.”

“They can trap spirits now? Is that why Evan never reported back… Where is he?”

“He’s still inside, but he’s okay, Chaos is with him.” Jordon glanced over my shoulder and finally noticed my mother loitering nervously behind. She was silent in her confusion; so many strange things were happening that she withdrew into herself.

Jordon’s face softened, “Aunty Dianne?” He then shook his head, “To see old family in a time like this… What is she doing here?”

“They were worried…”

“Rachael? Who are you talking to?” Mum clasped her hands together anxiously. I looked over at Jordon as he gently sighed.

“I don’t know if I should reveal to her who I really am. Once you can see Reapers you will always be able to see Reapers. It takes a lot of power to remove that type of curse…”

I gently nodded before turning to her, “He’s also a friend mum, please don’t worry.”

At that moment, a fleet of ashy missiles came torpedoing out of the tunnels behind me. They were so blindingly fast that all I felt was the air whipping past my ears before they disappeared above. Chaos must be releasing them. I checked over my shoulder for Chaos and Evan only to have more Banished fly at me. We quickly got out of the way.

Jordon then asked warily, “Where’s your father?”  

I licked my lips nervously before shaking my head. “He err…. He got really sick. They couldn’t revive him.”

Jordon let out an exhausted sigh. “I’m so sorry; I didn’t know things were that serious...” He looked over at me with the type of concern you carry when someone was dying. He was a Reaper after all; I shouldn’t have been surprised that he could see the difference in me now. “Rachael, what did they do to you in there? Your life span is nearly gone; I can smell death all over you. Has Evan-?”

I quickly shook my head no, “It’s not Evan. Turns out its Chō. Evan said he wished the Blue spirit would reverse all the damage done to me and my family. That’s why my dad was walking around and why my memories were blocked. But every time Chō taps into my emotions he takes away apart of the Blue Spirits magic…”

Jordon growled lowly, “Is that why it was so protective? Evan didn’t tell me… this is my entire fault. I should’ve done something earlier. We’re taking you to the Blue Spirit; we’re getting Chō off you right now before the damage can’t be undone.”

“First we’re getting my mother to safety.” I insisted.

“Rachael, you don’t really have the time to spare.” He protested, but I firmly crossed my arms.

“Please Jordon… I don’t want her to get hurt.”

He sighed defeated before nodding. “Okay, let’s hurry.”

***

I really had no idea where I was. I wasn’t even sure if I was in the right state anymore. I tried to block out my time inside the institute, yet it still felt like eyes were still crawling over my skin. I felt weighed down by my exhaustion and my mind was brittle. I wanted nothing more than to crawl into my own bed back home.  It was still hard to accept the fact my father was gone. I had mourned him once years ago, so in a way I was grateful I got to spend more time with him. The rest of my family must be getting their memories back too; I wondered how they were dealing with the pain and confusion. We reached an unfamiliar town not too far from our position. Jordon had to take a vehicle and drive it to us. Being humans, mum and I couldn’t teleport with the others into the spirit world, meaning any travelling we wanted to do had to be done the old fashioned way. Mum had not let go of my hand since we got into the car.

I hadn’t seen Elliot or Teresa, or really any of my Reaper friends, since my return. Only Jordon. He told me that they had no choice but to retaliate after the fight at their base. Most Reapers had moved up onto the surface, openly challenging the Hunters and attempting to break down the wall they had built surrounding Heaven. Unfortunately, the Reapers were being soundly defeated as Hunters kept the fight on earth, drowning them beneath waves after waves of angels. Miira knew that the battle must be kept away from her gates at any cost.

“How up to date are you on this war business?” Jordon asked.

“Chaos mentioned something briefly; he said the Hunters are amassing a large army.”

“That’s an understatement,” Jordon snorted as he pulled into a car spot outside a motel. It wasn’t anything fancy, just the first place we saw with a vacancy sign. He added sarcastically, “Where do you think she’s getting her recruits? We can’t penetrate the walls, there are just too many now. In any case, you and your mother can stay here while I get the Blue Spirit.”

It was just an ordinary motel, simple red brick structure with very simplistic interior design. Brown walls, brown carpet and, hopefully, bed sheets that have recently been washed. However, judging from the state of their toilets, fresh sheets would be on the last of their priority list. I sat down with my mum on the bed and clasped her hands tightly with mine.

“Please, wait here mum okay?”

She pulled me back again. She really wasn’t going to make this easy for me, was she? “Rachael, you really don’t have to do this. I may not know what exactly,” She motioned outwards, “all this means, but I know you don’t have to do anything you don’t want to.”

“I know mum. I’ll explain everything later.” I kissed her forehead before standing up. Jordon was outside on the balcony, so I met up with him. “My mum isn’t coping so well.”

“When Chaos gets here he can help. He can erase her mind, or at least ease her concern.”

“What’s taking them so long?” I looked out over the balcony, hinting to Evan and Chaos. The view was of the main streets with a furniture store on the corner and a tyre yard next to it.

“I’m not sure, but regardless we have to get you to the Blue Spirit.”

I nodded eagerly, “Okay. Where is she?”

“She’s in a place where she can’t be accidentally discovered, she’s in one of the realms of the seven sins. Five years ago, Miira destroyed a creature known as Mother. Since then, no Reapers or Hunters can get into the Realm of the Seven Temptations. That’s where we’ve been hiding her.”

“Wait… I remember that. Miira crashed her from the heavens?”

Jordon nodded, “Mother was destroyed and with her so were the gates to the Sins. All the Banished and everyone trapped inside those realms are trapped forever. All the Reapers sent in there for punishment are now lost too.”

“What about the others?” I asked as Jordon lowered his head.

“We…er…” There was a loud bang as the earth shuddered. I grabbed onto the railing before frantically looking around. 

“What on earth was that?”

“No! Not here too…” Jordon pushed off the railing and bolted downstairs and into the open car lot below. He stopped for a moment, looking upwards while he turned around, looking for something. Raix was snarling and pacing by his feet before bellowed a series of frantic barks. Jordon then swung his head towards Raix before disappearing into the shade.

“Where are you going?” I shouted out after him, but he vanished before I could finish speaking. There was another rumble and the concreted slabs started to split, and all the windows rattled in their frames. I turned to check on mum when Jordon reappeared not two seconds later.

“Jordon? Jordon!” I hailed, running down the steps to greet him. Before I could reach the bottom, twenty other Reapers accompanied by sixteen Banished rushed out of the concrete. I stumbled backwards as the dark wave erupted and immediately dispersed into the town.

Jordon lingered for just a moment to shout over his shoulder. “Go inside Rachael!” The earth shuddered again before there was a massive crash and an eruption of dust bursting into the skies. I nodded and scrambled back up the stairs before locking both mum and me inside.

“What’s going on?” Mum was by the window, peeking through the blinds, while I slid the chain into the lock.

“I think it’s an earthquake.” The walls rattled continuously, the lights flickering chaotically, and the lamp on the mantel piece toppled over. “We’ll be safer in here.”

There was a newspaper at the front door, uncurled from its string. On the cover was an image of a massive bushfire overtaking the entire country side. I sprawled it open across the bed, noticing all the different natural disasters that had been wreaking havoc upon our world. Page after page detailed events such as bushfires, hurricanes, tornados, tsunamis, floods, earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. The death toll was skyrocketing; nearly every single country faced some sort of disaster that wiped out towns and destroyed cities. While I had been couped up in an institution the world had been set on fire. I quickly went to the television to find every single channel was covering the disasters. People were fleeing the cities, leaving broken homes and clinging to their loved ones for dear life. They waved banners and picket signs with saying ‘The End is here’ and ‘The Apocalypse is now’. Groups were on their knees praying, crying, and begging for a saviour.

“If God can hear us, please save us.”

“It’s the reckoning…”

“We’re doomed!”

“Hell has risen to the earth!”

“Pray with me! Pray for us all!”

“It’s the demons!”

“Save us! Save us!”

I quickly turned the television off; I couldn’t stand to listen anymore. I almost wished I was back in my little white cell.  Every couple of minutes, the walls trembled while screams and sirens keened outside our door. There was no way the Banished and Reapers would do this, they’re not interested in our world.
Where do you think she’s getting her recruits?

“Oh no!” My jaw went slack, “It’s Miira.”

“Get under the table Rachael, the roof could collapse…” Mum uttered, and she pulled chairs away from the table. But, regardless where we went, we still weren’t safe. There was nowhere safe left for us, for anyone.

“She won’t stop…” I mumbled as another tremor hit our motel, the floor heaving beneath our feet, throwing us mercilessly against the walls. Screams echoed as thick as the dusts clouds that soaked up the air. Tingles moved beneath my skin, my heart raced, and my hands trembled.  What creature can possibly cause this much destruction over this much area. “There’s a Creator here.”

I ran to the door and kicked it open and stepped outside; only to see a river of black smoke billowing from the buildings next door. Offices and houses alike buckled under wild fire, which had appeared seemingly out of nowhere. Darkness engulfed the sky while flames scorched the streets; people were running and screaming while the earth cracked open beneath them. I couldn’t just sit here. I just couldn’t.

Chapter Forty-Four:

I had my hand to my heart. Exhaustion swept through me.
Would I make it out this time? Does my life matter more than the countless number of lives already being taken?
Time around me slowed. The waves of screaming softened to mere echoes and I started to question my purpose.
No one can live forever; my trying to stop the inevitable is just selfish. If I could do something to save others it’ll be my privilege to help.

I couldn’t bring myself to look back at my mother, almost like I expected her to be able to read my mind. She would plead with me not to go. She would beg, and I couldn’t bear to turn to her and say goodbye. So, I left without looking back. I didn’t stop when she called out after me. I didn’t stop when fire enveloped the parked cars, causing them to explode. I ran. Freely, blindingly into the open space littered with destruction. My heart pumped harder. Colours appeared sharper, I felt stronger and power coursed through me. I was going to save them. I was going to stop Miira, even if it meant I would die by Chō’s hands.

“Rachael!” Evan’s voice called out. I turned my head to where he waited. He stood in the heart of the flames, eyebrows twisted in confusion, his head shaking in shock. “What are you…?” My lower lip started to tremble, amongst the chaos, Evan’s face and voice was as clear as if we stood in an empty room. Even someone as fast as Evan felt slow.

Don’t, Rachael,
His voice moved through me.
Come back…

Every heartbeat felt heavy. I felt myself slow down.
I’m so sorry, but I have to go...

Rachael-?
I turned my head away and kept running. As realization kicked in, he chased after me, desperation contorting his face. He burst into ash which streaked towards. I only ran faster; and before he could snap chains to my neck, before he could pull me back, I let Chō take me. I dropped into darkness, lost from the world above. Chō was there, his calm face peering up through the thin fog that surrounded us. He walked over, tilting his head.

“Chō, I need you to do something for me”
my internal voice echoed,
“Help them. Stop the Creator; you must stop them before they kill everyone.”

Chō smiled and nodded his head, his teal eyes flashed with power,
“We will stop them… together my blue spirit.”

When there was only darkness, light pulled me upward. I was back in my body, running through the streets, arms pumping by my sides, but I wasn’t in control. Rocks were rent from the earth tossing me high in the air, the wind carried me in an upwards spiral. I rose higher and higher, until the town was just a red blaze. I could see the Reapers and Banished desperate attempts at fighting the Hunters below. There were so many of them now. The Hunters outnumbered the Reapers ten to one. I watched Raix attack the Goons that were trying to steal the peoples’ souls, how he wrestled with the creatures as they in turn ripped and tore at him. After he managed to wrench the soul from the Goon’s mouth, I watched while he returned it to its body bringing the human back to life. But the Hunters were not my concern right now. I scanned the vast plains, able to hear the screams from towns far away, all of them under attack. The Creator moved quickly, spending mere moments in each town before racing ahead. I latched onto its scent and torpedoed to its position. It had just landed on a large building where an innocuous black crow perched on an antenna. It squawked and the windows below shattered, raining glass shards from the rooftops. Upon my approach, the crow Creator stepped down from the antenna and morphed into a small child. It appeared to be a girl painted in black feathers.

She looked at me quizzically, able to sense Chō’s presence inside my body. She had long black hair, which swung wild and free as it plunged down her back. She was uneasy about us. Then she started to purr and click, speaking to Chō. Chō replied with a more fierce bark that caused the Crow creator to stiffen. She clenched her knuckles, shaking her head in refusal.

Chō kept barking at her, hissing at her, forcing her to stumble backwards. She looked over the edge of the building, down at the destruction she had caused and the lives she had taken. Then she hunched her back and hissed, accepting Chō’s challenge. They leapt at each other and I retreated back into my mind, darkness pinning me under the weight of Chō’s presence. My mind roiled; the world started to spin as power within my body was vacuumed out. I just remember flashes of moments. Lightning cracking through the air, splintering the skies with whips of white. Chō was stronger as he fed from my emotions, easily overtaking the Crow’s feeble advances. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t afraid. In all honesty, I was terrified, I felt every scratch and every bruise; and my heart throbbed faster, out of control. I didn’t want to die, but I didn’t mind dying if it meant something great could be gained from it. I wanted to know that I helped the world become a better place. It must have been a fantastic fight, but I couldn’t see or remember much of it. All the colours of the rainbow painted the skies as rain poured down from above, washing away the lingering stench of destruction.

Moments later, my disoriented sense of time - before the Crow fled - became clear. Chō chased it into the sky, sending it back into the realm of the spirits. Then suddenly Chō wasn’t with me anymore.  I fell into death like wire unravels on a fishing reel. This was it. My chest was emptied of breath as Chō spat me out. My body dropped from the skies and I couldn’t think. I wasn’t scared. I only remember seeing something blue whip around my head and a chilly hand wrapped around my body.

As I fell, I lost consciousness. My body a limp corpse plummeting downwards. A distant voice kept trying to pull me up from the darkness behind my lids. My eyes fluttered open for a brief second. It was Evan. Well, my projection of Evan. He was falling with me, mere inches from my face; his face foggy and transparent. The wind played gently with his hair and his eyes softened, a smile caressed his handsome face as he looked back at me.
Come back to me…
He whispered without moving his lips. I wanted to reach out, but the strength in my body was gone. I wanted to say yes or simply nod, but I could barely keep my eyes open. His face blurred until he was nothing but a pair of green eyes shining through the fog.

My hallucination of him then vanished, and the real Evan appeared, ash falling away from his body and the wind slapping against him harshly. He kept at the same speed as my descent, his face stretched in his yelling. He wasn’t smiling while he tried to catch me, but his ghostly arms couldn’t hold onto my body for long. He disappeared again, returning with Hook, Teresa’s vulture. Sparing me the pain of hitting the ground, the Goon took me out of my body. Hollowed green pressed down on me before I burst into grains of sand. 

Life didn’t so much flash before my eyes as it did slowly unfurl from the darkness. There was a lot of noise, like a room full of people all trying to get my attention at once. Except it was my own voice that was yelling and whispering and crying and laughing. My stream of consciousness dragged me along the abyss, colours shifted into foreign shapes and sounds as I felt myself break apart. I didn’t have a body anymore, my mind reeled backwards; panicked at my inability to find my hands or feet. Perhaps a coping mechanism caused me to create imaginary limbs when really I was just a cloud of weightless fog. I didn’t remember everything about my life, just distinct key moments. Fighting with my parents over some stupid curfew, the Whitehaven carnival, and James’s cologne on our first date.  Chō walking up to me in his slow motion strut. Gargoyle’s gentle smile as we sat on the roof talking about death. The Seven Sins and Mother’s continuous clicking, her warm black hair brushing against my face. Raix biting my ankle and then hugging Evan when he pulled me into his embrace, spinning us slowly in a circle. I had no time to reflect, I merely blinked my eyes and the images were gone.