Torment (13 page)

“Hi,” they said, turning to face us.

“Oh my God!” Lily said, getting all excited when she saw us holding hands. “Are you two together now?”

“Yes we are!” Eligos told her as he put his arm around my shoulders.

“About bloody time,” Jake said, smiling. “You make a good couple.”

“Thank you,” I said. “Listen, you two, we need to talk to you all later, and Eligos has something he wants to show you.”

“What is it?” Lily asked “Can’t you show us now.”

“What do you think?” Eligos asked me.

“It’s up to you, darlin’.”

“Pleeaaassee” Lily said, smiling sweetly.

“It’s nothing good or nice,” Eligos told her.

“I don't care, come on.”

“Do you remember when I told you he said “what you see isn’t what you get?”?” I asked her.

“Yes I do.”

“Well, this is what he meant.”

I turned to look at Eligos just as his face turned natural. Bless him, he looked really worried.

“Wow!” Lily said, walking closer to him. “Does it hurt?”

“No,” Eligos told her, smiling a little.

“How did you get that?” Jake asked.

He told them about the fight with the demon Lord.

“Do you hide it from everyone?” Lily asked him.

“No, I’ve never hidden it before.”

“Well, stop hiding it now; it doesn’t change who you are,” Jake told him. “You’re a good guy – what’s it matter if you have a scar or not?”

“You know, even if you’d have come here like this originally, Keira would have still fallen for you,” Lily told him.

“It doesn’t bother you then?” Eligos asked her.

“Not at all, but I bet you thought it would, didn’t you?”

“Yeah, a little.”

“Are you going to show the others?”

“Yeah, I’m sick of casting spells on myself; it would be nice to be able to walk around natural again.”

“Well, be warned. Tyler will probably make some stupid or mean remark,” Jake told him. “Just ignore him; he’ll just be jealous that you have Keira and he doesn’t. Oh and I bet Danny will think it’s cool.”

“Probably!” Lily agreed.

“I don't give a shit what Tyler thinks,” Eligos told them both.

“Can you see properly?” Lily asked him, looking at his left eye.

“Yeah, I’m not blind in it.”

We heard the front door open and Tyler, Lucian and Danny walked in.

“Hey, guys,” Danny said, walking over to us.

Eligos tightened his grip on me and I wrapped my arm around his waist.

“What’s going on here?” Danny asked, standing in front of us. “Wow!” he said when he looked at Eligos. “What happened to you?”

“What’s happened to who?” Tyler asked as him and Lucian came over too.

“Wow!” they gasped.

“OK, OK!” I snapped. “Enough staring.”

“Sorry, mate,” Danny said. “What happened?”

Once again Eligos told them the story. Danny and Lucian looked intrigued but I couldn’t work out what Tyler was thinking. He seemed to smirk every now and again, then eventually went and sat down.

“Jesus, you’re lucky you didn’t lose your eye completely,” Lucian said.

“I can’t wait to see what happens if you ever find that Lord,” Danny smirked. “I want to book ringside seats now, please. Whatever the cost, I’ll pay it.”

Eligos started laughing but promised him, if he could, he would let him watch. I think he was also relieved that nobody seemed to be bothered by it at all.

“So,
mate
, is that why you’re single then?” Tyler asked, smirking at him. “I mean, it’s not very attractive, is it?”

“For your information,
pal
,” Eligos replied sarcastically. “I’ve never been interested in anyone, well until now. And this may come as a shock to you, but, even though I’m scarred, she loves me. Don't you, Keira?” he said, turning to look at me.

“Yes I do,” I smiled. “More than anything.”

I turned to look at Tyler; he had a look of sheer horror on his face.

“So, Tyler, the next time you insult him, I’m going to be insulted too. If I were you I would be very careful what I said from now on,” I told him.

“What, are you two together?” Danny asked.

“Yes!” We both smiled.

“Congratulations! I knew it would happen one day.”

“You better look after her,” Lucian told him.

“I will, don't worry about that.”

Chapter Seventeen

Proposition

Once everyone had gotten their heads around things, Eligos and I walked into the living room. I turned the TV on before sitting on the sofa and cuddling up to him. I decided to watch the news channels to see if it mentioned anything about the missing families. It was the main topic of discussion. Thirteen families had now been reported missing, and up to now only one family had been different to the others. The anchor man said:

“The Winters’ are the only family up to now to leave a member behind, their nine-year-old son, Matthew. His mother Jill, father Simon and sixteen-year-old sister Joanna have all disappeared. A neighbour called the police when young Matthew told her he couldn’t find his family and that they had been missing for three days. Investigators say there was no sign of a struggle at their home in Pelham, New Hampshire, or any sign of a robbery. This is now the thirteenth family to go missing in just over a week, police are asking anyone with any information to come forward to try and help solve these mysterious disappearances.”

“Whatever it is that’s doing this is upping its game,” Eligos said to me.

“No one’s going to be safe soon.”

“We need to get these guys here sorted out. They need to learn to fight properly and they need more power.”

“I know, I think we should call them all in.”

“Whenever you’re ready,” he said, kissing my forehead.

I walked into the kitchen and told everyone we needed to talk to them properly. They all saw by the serious look on my face that this was going to be something to do with what was going on. So they followed me back into the living room and sat down in silence.

“Alright, guys, I’ve just watched the news and now there’s
thirteen
missing families!” I told them.

“What!!!” Lily and Lucian gasped.

“It’s getting worse, and whoever is doing this is moving quickly,” Eligos told them. “Who knows how many more will be missing come tomorrow!”

“We know some of the families have had power, but not all of them,” I explained.

“Why take people without power though? It doesn’t make sense,” Tyler said.

“There are more people in the world without power than with. If there are a lot of demons who want this war to happen; all they need is a body for their spirit followers to possess.”

“See this is where I go dizzy,” Danny said. “Eligos, you’re a demon; Keira, you’re part demon, you’re both human in appearance and have a physical form. So why do other demons have to possess bodies?”

“Demons don't, spirits do,” Eligos told him.

“Why though?”

“When people die and go to Hell, it’s their spirits that go there. In Hell most of them have a physical form – you can see them, touch them, talk to them – but when they travel to another realm, the people or creatures there can’t see them. However, for some spirits it’s different; sometimes it’s part of their punishment. If, for example, a murderer goes to Hell, the court may sentence him to one hundred years in the Pits, but, if he was a mass murderer or he was particularly cruel in the way he killed people, once he had done his time in the Pits, he would have his physical form taken away; that way, no one in Hell would be able to interact with them. All that is left is a wondering soul. I can’t think of anything worse than being alive and not being physical,” he said, looking at his own hand, “not being able to touch anything, move anything, nobody can look at you, you can’t talk…I can’t imagine what that would be like.”

“Well, then, they shouldn’t have committed the crime,” Lily said. “Is that done to people often?”

“Only to serious sinners,” he told her. “But there are a lot of them, and don't forget this punishment has been around since the dawn of time, so, over the years, well, you can imagine how many there are now.”

“So they may be possessing these people?” Jake asked Eligos.

“I would think so. Some of them would do anything just to have a physical form again.”

“Would the people still be alive but be controlled by the spirit?” Lucian asked.

“That rarely happens,” Eligos told him. “Normally, the people are already dead. I think these people are being taken, killed and possessed.”

“Oh my God!” Lily said sadly.

“How can this be allowed to happen? How can Heaven stand by and watch this?” Tyler asked, almost shouting.

“It’s Hell’s problem, and we are the ones who have to sort it out. We have a certain amount of time to stop this or…” Eligos said, trailing off.

“Or what?” I asked.

“War.”

“But war is going on everywhere.”

“No, I mean war like you couldn’t even being to imagine, Heaven versus Hell. The last time that happened, it nearly brought about the Apocalypse.”

“Why, if it’s between Heaven and Hell?” Lily asked him.

“No member of Heaven can travel to Hell, and vice versa…well, not unless it’s Lucifer or God. But that's never happened before either; it’s against the rules. So the war is fought on Earth, or in whatever realm the problems originated from.”

“That’s not fair; it’s not people’s fault, or the creatures from the other realms.”

“Earth and the other realms are ruled equally by Heaven and Hell; they can do what they please with them,” he told them all. “It’s not something I agree with, but that’s just the way it is.”

“How many times have there been wars like that on Earth?” I asked Eligos.

“Only twice, but they were bad enough.”

“Were you around for them?”

“For one of them, yeah, and I don't ever want to see it happen again.”

“Have there been wars like that in the other realms?” Lily asked him.

“Yeah, quite a few, and before someone asks,” Eligos said, looking at them all in turn, “I have been involved in five of them.”

“Involved?”

“I mean I fought in them. They lasted a long time. There were a lot of casualties, from Heaven, Hell and innocents from the realms,” he said, shaking his head. “It should never happen, but sadly…” he trailed off.

“How long do you get to stop it? To avoid the wars, I mean,” Jake asked him.

“It depends on what’s happening; I think we have a year left now to end it completely. That means killing the souls of the demons and spirits involved, not just returning them to Hell.”

None of them spoke – what could you say to that really? Even I was silent; the last thing I wanted was innocent people to die for something they hadn't done, asked for, and in most cases didn’t know was possible. This couldn’t be allowed to happen, they had to be found and they had to be stopped.

“Just out of interest, who won the last two wars on Earth?” Tyler asked Eligos.

“One each.”

“How can we fight them, we’re not strong enough,” Jake said.

“You’re not strong enough, what about me?” Lily asked, panicked.

“You could be,” I told them. Again all of them went quiet. “When I was in Hell, Lilith told me you wouldn’t be strong enough to keep yourselves alive. The power you have in you, although it’s handy and you can attack with it, is only weak, and obviously Lily has no power at all…Do you remember when I said we have a proposition for you, when we walked out of the church.”

“Yeah,” they all said.

“Well…Lilith introduced me to a lady in Hell, who happens to be a goddess of sorcery. Her name is Unsere. She has agreed to increase the power you all have in you so you will be strong enough to fight the demons that are coming.”

“Would we be as strong as you and Eligos?” Tyler asked.

“No, but you would be stronger than you are now,” I told him.

“Also, I can get you the weapons that can kill demons’ souls,” Eligos told them, “and teach you how to use them properly.”

“OK, I’m in!” Danny said.

“Hey, hey hang on a minute,” Lily said, standing up. “What about me?”

“Are you sure you want to fight in this?” I asked her.

“Your damn right I do. I lost my best friend, and I nearly lost the man I love and all my other friends. I want to fight the bastards that are responsible.”

“In which case I think Hecate will be more than happy to help out,” Eligos informed me.

“Who’s that?” she asked.

“A personal friend. She is known as the Queen of Witches,” Eligos said. “She will give you the power you will need.”

“What’s the catch?” Tyler said. “This isn’t being done out of the goodness of their hearts.”

“You’re right, there is a catch,” Eligos told them all. “If you accept these powers you
have
to fight; you have to help take down every demon that’s involved in all this. If you don't, and you just take the powers and run…Well, let’s just all think back to those souls without a physical form.”

“You mean we’ll go to Hell and be punished forever?” Jake asked.

“That’s exactly what I mean. No other human being will have ever been given the amount of power that you will be given, well, except for Keira.”

“And you are really going to teach us to fight?” Jake said looking at Eligos.

“I will, and Keira will show you all how to use the new power. Especially Lily.”

“I’m in!” Danny said seriously.

“So am I!” Jake said.

“Me too!” Lily said, looking at me.

“I’m with you all to the end,” Lucian told us.

“Just tell us what we need to do,” Tyler said.

Chapter Eighteen

New Power

Eligos left us and returned to Hell, leaving me with the guys and Lily.

“Where did he go?” Lily asked.

“To get Unsere and Hecate,” I told her.

“What, you mean they’re coming here?” Jake asked, shocked.

“Yes they are, oh, and keep your eyes in your heads guys. I’ve met Unsere, and she is beautiful. She’s small, with long dark-blonde hair, she’s slim and she’s got big pale-blue eyes, so be warned. I can’t comment on Hecate, I’ve never met her.”