FORUMUL SCRIITORILOR AMATORI :: Hope - traces of dreams -

Trimis: 17/07/2010 23:52

A veil of darkness surrounds her. Vile, filthy hands hold on to her arms and legs, neck and hair, pulling her into the abyss in a slow, monotonous rhythm. The nerves in her body burn, sending agonizing pain to her brain and as she's writhing in pain, suffocating in the vast nothingness that holds her, only one thought repeats itself in her mind, over and over.
"I'm going to die."
"I'm going to die."
"I'm going to die."
A sense of hopelessness holds her, destroying her will, destroying her thoughts. She feels like throwing up, her vision begins to blur and she only barely notices a silhouette nearing her. As it gets closer, the hands that held a tight grip, just barely loosened it; with a fluid motion, that person extends a hand to her and as she reaches for it, the shadows disperse.
Released from the darkness, she falls to her knees, again feeling the urge to throw up; however, she is unable to do so, only saliva dripping from her open mouth. As she slowly regains her sense of self, her surroundings become slightly clearer. She finds herself on a field of grass that stretches out as far as the eye can see, blending into the light violet sky. The girl starts examining the sky, as something nags her about it.
"There's no sun here," she says, barely regaining her breath "nothing but grass."
Regaining enough of her composure to stand, she gets on her feet and looks around. Her prior statement stands corrected as she notices a black book, completely alienated from the surroundings, in the grass next to her.
"This thing again?" she says, clenching her fists and narrowing her eyes "What is it with this book, what's so important about it?"
Her hands shaking mildly, she picks up the book with a negru cover. As she holds it in her soft hands, a voice speaks to her, repeating the same words over and over. She hears it as if the person speaking would be behind a wall, or in another room.
"Open it. Open it. Open it. Open it. Open it. Open it. Open it." The girl narrows her eyes and throws the book away. "I do what I wish." had been her last thought before the landscape dissipated and her eyes open wide, finding herself once again in her bed, drenched in sweat, under the blankets.
She felt her body fatigued, shivering in cold sweat and her head hurt. In a sharp motion she got out of bed and reached for her glasses on the night stand. Feeling the mid-December cold through her wet clothes made her shiver even more aggressively. In a slow, almost defiant pace, the girl headed for the bathroom.
Looking at her reflection in the mirror, the girl known as Celeste sighed deeply and massaged her temples. In the last few weeks, she's had recurring dreams that strained her mind. At first they were mild, and she could remember very little, but as time passed they became more and more real; not long ago, she started to be aware of herself, to be able to make decisions and remember everything in detail. Of course, if it were only the second dream, there wouldn't be any problem, but there was the first one, the one in which she's being dragged into the abyss. Having to live through that every time she fell asleep had left its mark and as a result both her mind and body were barely holding on.
In an elegant motion, Celeste let her night robe fall and got under the shower. As hot water hit and ran down her slender body, part of the fatigue disappeared, relaxing her body to some extent.
Having finished her long shower, she left the bathroom and got dressed. The room she rented was a small, ordinary one with a large window facing the back alley. It wasn't a luxurious place, but she kept it clean and tidy. Celeste entered the small kitchen and made herself something to eat; even though it felt like she'd throw up even if she took a bite, the girl was well aware she needed to eat, otherwise her body would surely give in to the strain.
While she showered and ate, the sun rose, however the sky was grey and it was continually snowing, like it had for the past weeks. Her classes started at 9:10 and it took her about thirty minutes to get to the university she attended; trying to cast away what troubled her, Celeste left the apartment she lived in.
As she exited the building, she was greeted by a grey landscape. It had been snowing for a long time and a thick layer of snow covered the world. Taking a deep breath, she felt the cold air fill her lungs; it was a bit painful, but the rush it gave her reassured her in an odd way she couldn't really understand herself. In a slow pace, she started to walk towards the university.
When she went to classes, it was her habit to pass through the park, it was a tranquil place where she felt at peace. Normally it would be packed with kids playing or couples spending time, but in winter it was a desolate place, forgotten by all its visitors. Celeste paused for a moment, as she arrived at her favorite spot, under a birch tree. In the summer days she would sit under this tree all day and read novels; it was a dear place for her and seeing it devoid of life made an analogy in her mind.
"Just like you," she whispered to the tree "for me too, this winter brought only pain."
Motioning with her lips a farewell to the tree, Celeste resumed her walk. As she neared the university, the streets became more and more crowded with students. It wasn't her usual habit to eavesdrop but a certain conversation between two students attracted her attention.
"... going to keep up? Hasn't it been snowing for two weeks straight?"
'What are you complaining about? Try having nightmares every night for two weeks straight.' Celeste thought, but kept it for herself. She wasn't an impulsive person, nor was she interested in the outside world, most of the time she kept to herself and her novels.
"Who cares about the damned snow? Haven't you seen the news last night?"
"What, you mean about that couple suicide on the outskirts of town?"
"You weren't paying attention were you? They said the couple was already dead by the time they were hanged from that tree. The police believes it's the work of some cult, that news totally freaked me out."
'Well, I guess that's my cue to lighten up, some have it worse...' Celeste thought to herself, even though her body and mind were wrecked night by night.
As she entered the warm classroom, her vision became gradually more blurry and somehow managing to find her seat, the girl took off her glasses and wiped them with a cloth she pulled from her pocket.
"It must be annoying, having to do that every time you enter somewhere." a girl said. Celeste recognized her as being Helen, the leader of the literary club she was a member of.
"Oh, good morning Helen. I got used to it, I've been wearing them ever since I started school." Celeste said in a neutral voice.
"Good morning," Helen said in response to Celeste's greeting "I haven't seen you at the club lately. What's wrong, you used to hang out there all the time."
"I'm sorry, but I've had a really tough time lately, I can't seem to get enough sleep and I keep having these bad dreams. It might sound stupid, but it's getting to me, I haven't been able to focus on reading anything lately and I'm falling behind on my studies too."
"You're falling behind on your studies? It really must be bad if the best second year student is slacking off." Helen said slightly amused "Is there anything I can help with?"
"I don't think so, unless you know anything about recurring dreams," Celeste said, intending to end the conversation with that, but Helen looked like she was thinking seriously about it.
"It's not really my area of expertise, but I know someone... well, he's a bit weird, but I guess you need to be weird to know about that kind of stuff." Helen said, in a slightly humorous note.
"Helen, I was joking, really. I don't want to get into that kind of stuff, I'm sure it's nothing and I'm just over thinking it." Celeste says in a bit of a panic. She preferred to stay away from such things related to the paranormal.
"Oh, come on, he's just a student here like us. The same year as you actually, only a different class. Besides, it'll only be a little chat, he's not into the occult or anything, it's just that he read a lot of stuff about it. He's actually a hardcore reader also, however I never did manage to convince him to join our club... Oh, damn it, classes are about to start, I'm off."
Before Celeste could argue with her decision to ask that friend of hers, Helen took off to her own class. Celeste decided to stop by the club to tell Helen she didn't want to see that person. The teacher walked in and the class started, however Celeste couldn't focus her mind on what the teacher was saying and often her thoughts returned to her dreams. As she kept thinking, the thought that maybe that person could help her crept in her mind and she started to doubt whether she wanted Helen to ask that person for help or not.
After classes ended, Celeste took her backpack and left the classroom, intending to go talk to Helen . It took her a while to get to the literary club as there were many students leaving the building. As she arrived, the other members of the club greeted her, however Helen hadn't arrived yet. Celeste decided to buy a drink from the machine in the hallway until Helen arrived; she left her jacket and backpack in the club room and went to buy a drink.
In front of the vending machine was a male student desperately trying to make the vending machine accept his money. As Celeste approached and stood behind him, waiting her turn at the machine, he turned around, noticing her presence.
"I don't think this thing works," he said, after looking at her for a while.
"Let me try," Celeste told him, approaching the vending machine. The machine accepted her money and let out a can of soda.
"Damn it, electronics hate me..." he said, but was interrupted by a loud beep. Pulling out his cell phone, he made a distressed expression "Ugh, I forgot. I have to go, nice talking to you." he said and dashed down the hallway.
"We didn't really talk..." Celeste answered in a soft voice, more to herself than to anyone else and returned to the club room.
After some time, Helen arrived at the club and noticing Celeste she smiled.
"Somehow, I knew I'd find you here today," Helen said, sitting down next to her.
"I came to talk to you about that thing you mentioned earlier. I don't think it's such a good idea," Celeste said, in an insecure voice "I think I can handle it by myself."
"Oh, come on Celeste, it's no big deal. Like I said, you're just going to have a chat, he isn't into the occult or anything, he's a friend of mine, I trust him. He has an affinity for psychoanalysis, so he might interpret the dream for you," Helen paused for a moment and looked up "although I don't think he'll do that unless he's really sure what it means."
Celeste sighed and looked out the window for a moment. It was true she wasn't really sure about meeting that person, but the thought that he might tell her what's happening was a tempting offer. Perhaps at the beginning, when the dreams had just started she would have brushed it off as stupidity, but now her will was weaker. Being drowned in darkness, suffocated, dragged into the abyss night by night had broken her will. As she turned to Helen and gave her answer, in her mind, Celeste was reassuring herself that if it was just a little chat, she had nothing to lose.
"Fine," she said, in a barely heard whisper her lips let out "I'll talk to him. Somehow I know I'm going to regret this though."
"Oh, you worry too much," Helen said cheerfully "it'll be just fine. I've arranged it already, you'll meet up in the Firefly cafe at 19:00. Do you know where that is?"
Celeste sighed and nodded in confirmation. She couldn't shake the feeling Helen was playing her along, what reason did she have to be so persistent in making her meet that guy?
"Helen, I'm hoping that's not the case, but are you trying to hook me up?" Celeste said slightly annoyed, in an uncharacteristic way of speaking. Normally she wouldn't have been so direct, but under the weight of the recent events, her mind was too exhausted for roundabout ways of speaking.
"Huh!? What makes you think that?" Helen asked, looking surprised.
"Well, you've been insisting that I meet him, trying to convince me it's a good thing. I couldn't find any other reason you'd be so persistent." Celeste said, blushing slightly and looking away from Helen who, realizing what Celeste was talking about was trying to suppress a laughing fit.
"I think you'd be the funniest couple this university's ever seen." Helen said barely holding back her laughter.
"What's that supposed to mean?"Celeste asked, her face turning completely red "I may never have had a boyfriend before, but that's no reason to say that."
"You've never had a boyfriend before?" Helen asks shocked "Well, regardless, that isn't why I said it. It's just that, in appearance, he's your plenar opposite. He's really eccentric; sometimes I wonder if it's a good thing or a bad thing."
"The more I know about him, the less I want to meet him. Still, you haven't told me his name, it's weird to always refer to him as 'that guy' isn't it?"
"Oh, I forgot. His name's Caden, I'll give you his cell phone number so you guys can recognize each other. He'll be hard to miss though, try taking a guess before calling to see which one he is."
"Did I mention that the more I hear about him, the less I want to meet him?"
Celeste had stayed in the club room and spoken to Helen until the determined time of meeting arrived. As she left, a bad feeling crept into her mind, making her even more nervous than she was initially. As time passed by it got dark outside and now the street lights were brightly shining, lighting up the snow covered landscape. Celeste looked up to the sky that had turned dark and shivered as it reminded her of her nightmares.
In a slow pace, she started to walk towards the cafe. Fortunately it was a place she passed by every time while walking to class. Celeste never wondered how it was inside as it wasn't her habit to visit cafe's; generally, she spent her time either reading in the library, studying or speaking to Helen, the only one of her acquaintances she could call a friend.
At 18:58 Celeste arrived in front of the cafe. Her first thought was to message Caden, but then remembered the 'challenge' Helen issued her, to try and identify him before messaging him. It sounded like a fun thing to do so she entered Firefly cafe.
It was a warm, welcoming place filled with Christmas decorations. That made her suddenly remember there were only about two weeks left until Christmas. With everything that happened she had forgot all about it; she wasn't a very big fan of Christmas though. The idea of Christmas puzzled her as she couldn't understand what was the link between the birth of Christ and a fat old man bringing gifts. Also, she had always wondered who was the first one that thought 'Oh, it's Christmas, why don't we bring a tree into the house and decorate it?'.
Smiling slightly, Celeste looked for a person out of the ordinary, fitting the Helen's description of Caden. There were mostly couples drinking tea, only a few people still waiting for their dates, which strengthened her belief that Helen had planned to hook her up. Among the single guys one stood out the most and as he noticed her, he happily waved, making Celeste sigh. It was the boy struggling with the vending machine. As she approached the table he was sitting at, he got up from his seat and bowed in front of her, which took Celeste by surprise as no one had done that before.
"Celeste, I'm glad to meet you," he said straightening back up "I'm Caden, we're in the same year."
"How did you know it was me?" Celeste asked, unable to hide her curiosity. It was true they had met before in the university, but there were many students that came here, especially on a Friday evening.
"Well, Helen told me you wear glasses, we already met in the university and you also arrived at exactly seven. That was it I guess." Caden said scratching his head. "Come, sit." he then continued, pulling a chair and inviting her to sit down. Celeste noticed he hadn't sit down before her and concluded that Helen was right, he truly was eccentric.
"Do you... always do this?" Celeste asked shyly; she thought it was a bit vague to say just 'this' but she didn't want to say more than that.
"As much as I can, to my regret, I sometimes forget or I'm too distracted by something." Caden answered, after which he went and brought two cups of hot green tea.
"So, Helen told me you've been having recurring dreams." Caden said, jumping to the subject without any other form of introduction.
"Yes, I was hesitant to talk about it but she was very persistent. Although I guess it's been nagging me, I can't sleep properly lately."
"Yes, Helen's quite unique," Caden said letting out a sigh "when did you start having these dreams?"
"I think it was about two weeks ago, at first I didn't really pay attention, but they've been getting more and more disturbing. Lately, I've even had free will in them, like I was truly living those experiences. I know it sounds stupid, but I'm telling the truth." Celeste says, trying to convince herself more than she was trying to convince Caden. He smiled slightly.
"It doesn't sound stupid, what you experienced is called lucid dreaming, I think they made an experiment with that somewhere and it was proved to be possible, but on a more esoteric note, it's been a practice for a long time, although it's usually 'helped' with the use of drugs."
Celeste was a bit surprised at his calm and surprisingly logical arguments. Was Helen right about him? In an odd way, it made her feel calmer, less worried, now that he had provided a reasonable explanation.
"Of course, that doesn't explain the recurring part of it, as generally in lucid dreaming, the dreamer is in control," he said, making Celeste feel a sharp pain in her chest. It felt so comfortable before, she had forgotten about that. "did you perhaps see something unusual in the last few weeks? Sounds of foot steppes, scratches in the walls, perhaps shadows moving in an odd way? Anything like that?"
Celeste was astounded at his questions, but couldn't stop her mind from remembering. Even though she had always ignored it, unwilling to acknowledge it, all of the things he spoke of had happened. Her hands started trembling and her breathing accelerated; suddenly she was hit by a very bad feeling and wished to leave, but as entranced by his words, ignored those feelings.
"All those things have happened." she said in a shaking voice, taking the cup of warm tea to her mouth, thinking it may calm her down.
"Celeste, I'm not going to lie, this is bad." Caden said, his expression suddenly darkening "I'm going to get to the point. In your dreams, although they may be slightly different each time, there's always one thing similar, a black book." As he spoke those words, Celeste dropped her tea cup, as her hands were truly shaking at that point, however, ignoring the sound of broken porcelain, Caden continued "Whatever you do, don't open that book."
Celeste couldn't speak anymore; shaking from head to toe, she got up from the chair and ran away. Quickly exiting the cafe, she started running through the snow to her apartment. The winter air hurt her lungs, but she was too scared to stop, thinking if she stopped even for a moment, he would catch up to her, even though as she got up he didn't look as though he had any intention of following her.
Her body was tired, her lungs were hurting from the cold air, but she paid no heed and kept running. Step after step. Her mind was filled with frightening thoughts. Why had he known what was happening to her? Was he related somehow to the cult that were responsible for the recent killings? Was she to be their next victim then? But if he was, why did Helen recommend him? It would mean she was in on it too. Her only friend. Did Helen just befriend her to gain her trust? What a cheap comedy. Why did it have to be her? Because no one would miss her? Because there wouldn't be any friends to notice she was absent for a long time? None of those questions had answers in her mind.
She hadn't stopped at all until arriving in her apartment. Her hands shaking uncontrollably, Celeste locked the door behind her and laid on the bad, not bothering to change her clothes. Questions filled her mind, thoughts, panic, but most of all she couldn't understand why it had to be her. She had no idea what to do. Go to the police? Tell them what, she had dreams? There wasn't any solid proof they were targeting her.
As her thoughts wandered through the possibilities, the exhaustion from sprinting without a break for half an hour caught up to her and her consciousness faded.
Pain.
Pain suddenly surged through her whole body, making her convulse and scream as putrid hands clenched her arms, legs, neck, hair, stomach. The hands were mercilessly gripping her, dragging her down with them. Her eyes couldn't see anything in the darkness, she was suffocating and pain surged through her body as if every nerve she had had been stung with a hot needle.
Unable to breathe, she struggled to release herself from their grasp, but the more she struggled, the tighter they held her. Unable to move, unable to breathe, unable to scream for help, she resigned herself and merely waited for the pain to end, for her life to end.
As she had closed her eyes, she was unable to see, but someone approached her. Unlike the other nights, this time the person could be clearly seen, however Celeste had already lost hope for salvation. After a short time, her body was released and she fell to her knees.
Opening her eyes, she noticed the scenery had changed once again. The purple, sunless sky had remained, but this time she found herself in what she believed to be some form of ancient ruins. Clenching her stomach, with a small grimace, she got on her feet. The green grass felt pleasant to her bare feet, in the purple light it looked like a scene from a painting she had seen a long time ago. A painting made by her mother.
Walking through the ruins, wearing a long white dress, Celeste arrived at a beautiful place; it was the scene in the painting her mother made for her eleventh birthday. A painting named 'Where angels rest'.
A single, majestic looking tree stood proudly in the middle of the clearing. In the painting, there were two angels sleeping under it, however in this dream, there was only a book, the same black covered book, completely alienated from its surroundings.
Celeste neared the tree and stood under it, taking the book off the ground. Suddenly, she remembered that Caden had told her not to open it and a thought sprung to mind.
"If the first dream was my damnation, then this one must be my salvation. My mother's painting, this warm feeling... I trust these more than I do you, Caden."
And with those words, Celeste opened the black book, turning to a random page within it. She raised her eyebrows in astonishment to the fact that the book had blank pages. After turning a few, Celeste put the book down wondering if the book was truly blank or was it merely that she couldn't read it. With a gentle breeze, the pages turned themselves towards the end of the book, almost like they were reprimanding her for not knowing where to look. There was a single page with words written. Celeste grabbed the book and started reading the words.

“Then the angel I had seen standing on the sea and on the land raised his right hand to heaven. And he swore by Him who lives forever and ever, who created the heavens and all that is in them, the earth and all that is in it, and the sea and all that is in it, and said, "There will be no more delay! But in the days when the seventh angel is about to sound his trumpet, the mystery of God will be accomplished, just as He announced to His servants the prophets."
She recognized the book as being the Bible and as she finished reading the words within it, a warm breeze blew through her hair and she felt a gentle embrace, but as she turned around the presence disappeared; in its place only a sharp pain on the left part of her lower abdomen remained. Before she could examine the spot that hurt, her surroundings dissolved.
Waking up from yet another dream, Celeste noticed that she had slept for only a half hour. Somehow, it felt like a much longer time passed, unfortunately, this meant she had to go to sleep one again, which also meant facing those nightmares once again.
"Why me?" she said in a soft, whispered voice "I liked my carefree life until now, why does it all have to come crushing down?" she continued, taking a deep breath.
"Ack," her body twisted slightly from the pain she felt on her lower abdomen. Her eyes widened and her breath started to accelerate. "T-That's... i-impossible!" Of course it was, how could a wound she had received while in a dream persist in reality?
Wanting to confirm it, Celeste moved her hand to touch the spot, however her hand refused to move. Likewise, her whole body was frozen in place, not responding to any of her commands.
Only her eyes were free and as she moved them, Celeste noticed two red dots forming on the ceiling, slowly growing in size. On the walls, the shadows were moving in a chaotic rhythm, twisting and turning. Slowly they grew denser and denser, slowly moving towards the dots on the ceiling that meanwhile had taken the shape of blood red eyes.
Fear rushed through her brain as an otherworldly force manifested itself in front of her eyes. The shadows were starting to take shape and the better they were defined as a distinct existence, the more of Celeste's life was drained away.
Her breathing that just a minute ago was accelerated out of fear, now was ragged as she was barely getting enough air to keep herself conscious. Fear filled her mind, however her body was no longer hers to command and refused to respond normally.
Barely keeping her eyes open, barely breathing, Celeste witnessed the manifestation of a shadow demon. In an elegant, fluent motion, the shadow that had taken a human's outer shape landed on the floor next to her.
It spoke no words, nor did it need to, Celeste felt from the beginning this unholy entity had one purpose only and that was to kill her. Different thoughts passed through her mind as her consciousness started to fade away. She remembered her parents, her childhood, her teenage years spent reading books in the library or in the woods. She remembered her first day at the University, how the only one that spoke to her was Helen. She remembered how they used to talk about totally unimportant things, she remembered how Helen would always smile and cheer her up. Most of all she remembered the feeling of happiness she had and a deep regret filled her mind. She regretted how all those times would never come back.
Then she remembered the face of a boy she had only met. He was such an eccentric person, but still, he tried to tell her not to open that book. He wasn't very good at it though; thinking of his face, she saw a worried expression in him, mostly in his eyes.
"So that's what it was." she thought, barely keeping her consciousness "I wonder why I didn't see that."
Before everything went dim, Celeste apologized in her mind to him, feeling that maybe her ignorance would be forgiven if she did that.
Thump.
A sound.
Thump.
There it is again.
Thump.
She heard a sound, like from across a great distance.
THUMP!
This one had been the loudest and after a brief pause, light filled her vision. After that she heard a voice but couldn't understand what it said. Moments later her body was freed, but she still could not move, having just moments ago been an inch away from death.
Celeste opened her eyes but couldn't quite see anything as her eyes weren't adjusted to light just yet. A hand placed itself on her forehead and another on her abdomen. Suddenly, a soothing warmth enveloped her and she felt the strength slowly return to her body.
She felt her glasses being put on and the previously foggy vision of hers cleared up. The first thing she saw was a boy smiling down to her.
"Hello, nice to see you again Celeste." he said, with his usual carefree smile.

Ch. 1

I lean against the wall, looking out the window, sipping from a cup of warm mint tea. It's been my habit to drink tea watching the sun rise since my first year as a student; however in the past two weeks I haven't seen it even once.
After getting dressed, I walked out of my room, taking my backpack from under the desk with me. The usually rowdy house is silent as the usual freeloaders are away. After eating a quick breakfast, I left the house and headed towards the bus station.
The silence in the bus station was deafening, however the aggressive ringtone of my cell phone solved that problem. As it started to ring, the people around me were startled, a woman next to me even put her hand to her heart. What an exaggerated gesture, as if I didn't know it startled everyone and needed her to remind me. I guess that's how snobs look like. Leaving the song to play a while, I finally answer my cell phone.
"Yeah, what do you want?"
"... Good morning to you too." the voice on the other end said, sounding annoyed.
"Cram it clown, what's the deal with calling at this hour?" I ask him, getting on the bus and sitting on a seat near the window.
"Well, I was thinking of letting you know I've found the information you asked me for, but you've been kind of a wiseass lately, so I'm thinking of letting you wait a few more days. Besides, who are you to talk about 'this hour'? I bet if you didn't have classes you'd sleep all day."
"Yes, you're the perfect example as to how I'd be if I didn't attend a university. Anyway, let's cut the crap, how did it go?" I ask him, turning the discussion to a serious tone. To the people around me it probably seems like I'm arguing with someone over the phone, but to us it's just our usual rant. I've been friends with Allen for as long as I can remember and making fun of each other, trying to catch the other one off guard was our favorite game in high school. After that it kind of stuck.
"Apparently, the thing after her is a shadow demon. The good part is that I found a spell to bind it, the bad part is that it requires some form of blood sacrifice. Needless to say, we can't cast something like that."
"Needless to say, we wouldn't do it even if we could. Can't you just..." I pause for a moment. I can't say words like 'banish', 'spell' and 'demon' on the bus with all these people listening in on my conversation. "Can't you just send it back? Nothing in that book of yours on it?"
"Well, I don't think anyone ever tried to summon one of these. Or rather, everyone learned from the mistake of the first that tried. These shadow demons are hell's 'assassins', even if you bind one to kill for you, it'll eventually nail you too. These kind of demons follow their target until it dies; the good thing is that they're ranked as lower class demons, so you might banish it with evil warding prayer.
"Noted, anything else I should know? You tend to disregard important details from time to time."
"Oh, yeah, I advise sanctifying the walls, otherwise you'll just banish it from the building; if you sanctify the walls it won't have anywhere to go, but return from where it came. It's kind of a workaround, but since blood magic is off limits to us, it'll have to do."
"I'll work it out somehow." I say, intending on cutting the conversation short "You'll be here by nightfall, right?"
"I'll be in town in about a few hours but I'll need some sleep, I've been lacking lately."
"Fine, if there's anything you need to know I'll tell you when I get home." And saying so, I cut off the call.
Looking out the window, a sense of powerlessness hits me. It's not like I have a choice, but will I be able to do this? Like being taken by a wave, I simply move forward, but is this the best choice?
For now my willpower holds, but what will happen when even that will fail? I guess being able to joke around with Allen and Helen is keeping not only their morale up but mine too. Still, even between jokes, I'm sure they can feel it too. We're losing.
Narrowing my eyes, I once again strengthen my will. Not for the sake of a noble cause, but for the happiness of those I care about, we can't lose. These thoughts have been repeating themselves in my mind for the last few days and since then I've started coming up with a plan. I have no offensive capability whatsoever; I can't fight demons, vampires, witches or whatever the heck they send against us. My only possible contribution is keeping their morale high and coming up with a plan.
Getting off the bus, I head for the university. I have a bad feeling, a feeling that at the end of the road I'll have to make a sacrifice. That feeling scares me; I don't want to give up anything.
In a slow pace, I enter the classroom. Having arrived 10 minutes early, there were still just a few classmates inside, but they greeted me cheerfully and I responded in the same manner. I couldn't change my social behavior, even if my feelings were the exact opposite; I had to maintain the facade.
Suddenly, I cough, as my collar had been grabbed by someone from behind me.
"Halt mortal." the person I recognized as being Helen said.
"Can I help you?" I ask in annoyance. Now, Helen is a beautiful girl, but we tend to get into conflicts from time to time. She's elegant and very intelligent, lusted after by most of the guys around; some of them even stalk her, which I find pathetic. Still, I never saw her with a guy before, making me the only male she frequently associates with. To be honest I got a few death threats about it.
"Yes, you can," she said smiling mischievously "I would like an update."
"An update? Now?" I ask slumping my shoulders "What is it with you people starting work this early?"
Helen pulled me away to a corner where nobody would hear us and started talking, turning to a serious tone, her previous playful smile having utterly disappeared.
"Listen, this isn't a joke. There were two human sacrifices done last night. They're growing bolder and right now, there's no way we can stop them."
"Human sacrifices." I repeat her words "Witchcraft? But it's pretty advanced, what the heck are they trying to summon?" I say, then pause for a moment "I think I'll ask Allen about it, there's another matter I need to discuss with him as well. See if you can get Celeste to meet me, in the meantime I'll gather some information; let's meet at 12 in front of the university, I'll give you an update then." I said and left for my classroom without waiting for a reply from Helen.
The whole time during classes I could not take my mind off Helen's words. If human sacrifices were already been made, we don't have much more time. I bite my lower lip; they're going to catch us off-guard.
Classes passed quickly as my mind kept wandering off to find solutions and as lunchtime came, my mind had yet to think of anything worthwhile. I had a vague idea of what to do, but there were too many things that could go wrong.
I wasn't feeling hungry but my throat was dry, so I went to get a drink from a vending machine near the club rooms. I've done this every time I needed a drink since Helen told me about Celeste. I'm curious about her, although I'm not sure I could tell if I did see her, but even so I went there every day.
Damn it, what's wrong with this machine, didn't it work yesterday? After I try to make it work a few minutes, I hear someone stopping behind me waiting. I turn around to say something but...
Is this...?
My heart skips a beat as I look at her. Celeste.
"I don't think this thing works." I say regaining my composure. The look in her eyes betrayed her loneliness, but that couldn't have been it. No, for a moment, just a fraction of a second, my heart belonged to her. Of course, I heard about love at first sight, but what's up with it disappearing as soon as I blinked once?
"Let me try." she said, putting a bill in the machine. It ate the bill and spit out a can of lemon soda. That somehow pissed me off.
"Damn it, electronics hate me..."
As soon as I finish saying that I hear a beep and check my cell phone.
The text says "Hello Caden. I know you forgot about meeting me. Be here in 1 minute or there will be consequences." Somehow, that sounded scary. Readying an excuse, I say goodbye to Celeste and run to find Helen before she thinks of an extremely painful punishment.
"Did... I make it... ?" I ask, completely out of breath.
"No, but I'll forgive you this time," she said, looking away "now tell me, what did Allen say?"
Damn! I forgot about talking to him, she's annoyed enough already, I think any more and she'll seriously harm me. I need to stall.
"First, tell me, did you manage to get me a date with Celeste?" Now, using the word 'date' was a low blow, I know she's stingy about anything regarding relationships. I learned that through Allen's mistake.
"What do you mean date?! This is serious, stop fooling around" she says, obviously ticked off. I know it's serious Helen, I'm probably the one that knows best how serious this is. "Besides," she continues "since when are you into nerdy girls?"
Huh?! Did I hear that right?
"That's no way to talk about your friends. Besides, what's with the reaction, did you get it or not?"
"Yes," she says, finally cooling off "she's been having recurring dreams, so I told her you knew about that kind of stuff. She didn't quite agree to it, but I'll convince her. Where do you want to meet her?"
"Let's disregard that înfățișare for a moment, I'd like to talk about the fact that I don't know anything about recurring dreams." I say, emphasizing the last part.
"Well read about it, it was the only way to get her to go, now where are you guys going to meet?". I sigh and resign myself; it's not like I have a choice now, I'll just have to research something about it. In the worst case I'll just make stuff up; however I'll need one more trick to use as a pawn in this game.
"I like Firefly, they have good tea. Seven should be fine, I have some stuff to do before I meet her and it's better if happens at night." I say, taking a deep breath. "Listen, I know I told you I'd give you an update, but everything's such a haze in my mind; can you please wait until after this scene with Celeste unfolds?"
Helen let out a deep sigh, but smiled if even just barely.
"Yeah, it's ok. I've gotten used to it, I can see you saying 'I won't give a verdict until I'm absolutely sure of the outcome' or something equally absurd. I'd tell you we don't expect you to be perfect, but I'd be just wasting my breath, right? You need to trust us more, we only have each other now."
With those words, Helen left me standing out in the snow, feeling perhaps even worse than before. I took my cell phone out and dialed Allen's number. Before I start any form of a plan, there are some things I need to know.
"Listen, I just got home and I want to sleep, stop bothering me!" I heard Allen's pissed off voice from the other end.
"Listen twerp, I need some info; first of all, I have no clue how to sanctify walls. I need the prayer and an estimate of how much time it would take. Second, I need to know the symptoms of being targeted by a shadow demon."
"Damn it, all this effort for one girl? If she isn't hot you're getting your ass kicked. I'll leave you a document with all you need on the table, I'd estimate it wouldn't take longer than 30 minutes to sanctify all walls. Also, I thought I'd let you know I'm hanging up!"
Sometimes he seriously pisses me off. Now I only have one more thing to do. I just hope this works, I'd rather not freestyle it. I dial Helen and find out where Celeste lives; now all the pieces are on the battlefield, the only thing remaining to do is to make the first move.
I arrive at the cafe about ten minutes earlier than the promised time. What's with all these couples around? I realize it's a Friday evening, but still it's making me feel uneasy. I need to be careful how I talk to Celeste, this is probably the most important step, if I screw this one I'm going freestyle.
Shortly after, a beautiful girl with glasses arrived. I'm not sure why, but as she neared me, her figure seemed so majestic that I needed to do something I had not done in a while. In a fluid motion I bow before her. This was my own whim, not a calculation, not any form of deceit.
After exchanging a few words I went to bring our drinks and enchanted her cup of tea with a portion of my energy.
I spoke with Celeste, told her the truth and she stormed out.
Man, was she really that scared? Perhaps I overdid it, she even left her jacket and bag here and just ran away. Of course I have to pay. Figures.
Still, I feel a bit guilty as I leave the cafe. Walking down with a girl's jacket in hand and bag on my shoulder, I wonder if I look weird. My heart aches for having scared her, for having used her, but I ignore it and keep walking in a slow pace. Each step I take is on a footprint left in the snow; I like to believe the footprints belong to her. Is my mind looking to share her pain? I wish I could, but for the sake of keeping her life, she'll have to endure even more pain.
"Celeste" I whisper as I get in front of the building she lives in.
I walk up the stairs and reach her apartment. The room behind the door is silent, which means she's still dreaming. I chant a prayer and sanctify the space under the door; even though I had already sanctified every other wall, this space needed to be natural until the demon entered after her.
The only thing I had left to do now was wait for the right clipă to save the queen and check mate. Allen's report said this demon kills his targets really fast so my timing is essential.
"Your bag is so girlish Celeste," I whisper to her image in my mind "I'm sorry for this."
In the deathly silence, I start hearing movements beyond the door. Taking that as my cue, I bind Celeste's body and slow down her body functions. After I finish, with a guilty heart I start to bash the door.
THUMP!
I finally break the door down and turn on the lights. Celeste's body lies drained on her bed, but I disregard it and start chanting the prayer of warding. As I do that, the demon turns to me, leaving his target.
Thump. My body hits one of the walls and I feel my throat being slowly crushed by the shadowy hand of the demon. I discontinue the chanting as words refuse to form, but instead take a piece of paper I had sanctified beforehand and put it on the demon's hand that gripped me. It immediately stuck to its hand and the demon retracted it, allowing me to finish my chanting.
Giving me one last look with its blood red eyes, the shadow demon disperses, returning to hell.
Well, that could have gone better, but at least we're alive. My throat isn't very happy, but I cough a few times and it returns to its normal functions.
Celeste's body was still motionless so I approached her and placed one hand on her forehead and another on her lower abdomen; having made a temporary energetic bond with her, I was able to regenerate the life force she had lost before by transferring enough to make us both have the same amount of energy.
Suddenly my vision darkens, but I clench my fists to keep myself from falling. I can't believe just how close to death she was; I'm really an idiot, risking her life like that. Without a second thought, I pour some more energy into her. It might be a cheap way of retribution, but it seemed to ache less if I did that, even though I would probably have trouble standing now.
"Hello, nice to see you again Celeste." I say after putting her glasses on. Those glasses truly suited her.
She got up, looking like she needed to throw up.
"Caden? This wasn't just a nightmare as usual was it?"
"Sometimes, I wish it were," I say slumping my shoulders "can you walk?"
"I don't think so, I haven't felt this bad in my entire life. What just happened? I feel like I just took part in a horror movie."
I'm surprised at her strength of character, I don't think I would have even been able to talk if something like that happened to me.
"We need to leave, you probably didn't hear it but it was quite a commotion. I know you have many questions but we can't talk until we reach a safe place. If you can't walk... I'll... carry you."
Her eyes widened and she shook her head. I know I'm the one that offered but I'm happy she refused, I can barely keep myself standing; I'm sure I would have dropped her, then of course I would have had to commit suicide.
"I brought your jacket and your bag with me, you won't need anything else for now, so if you can walk put your shoes on and let's go."
Some of her neighbors heard the commotion and were outside their homes trying to find the source. As Celeste was done we both left the apartment, barely moving, leaving the battlefield behind. This time I made it, but there was no way I'll do anything like that again; there were way too many miscalculations this time.
As we were walking to the bus station, a deathly silence followed us. I'm sure Celeste has an astronomic amount of questions, but just like I've asked of her, she's staying silent. She's having a difficult time walking; even though I let her have a higher amount of life than I kept for myself, she was an inch away from death earlier, I'm surprised she's still standing.
This girl. Her willpower is probably greater than mine. I notice a taxi and wave for it to stop. This isn't my usual habit, but the faster we get home, the better. Celeste remained expressionless and merely got on the back seat, speaking no words.
I tell the driver the address and relax in my seat next to the girl I had both condemned and saved. I know she won't forgive me if I tell her the truth, but I won't deceive her. As I'm caught in my own thoughts, I feel her head shyly leaning on my shoulder.
Even in my weakened state, blood rushes to my face and my heart beats faster. I'm not very good with girls, that's why I usually keep myself a friend rather than a lover, but this time it feels somehow different. Rather than needing a lover, Celeste seems to need a thread of hope; she's weak, she's scared and the only one she can lean on is me, the one that put her through all of this. Just how am I going to tell her that?
I put one hand around her and hold her. I think for the first time now, since I've started fighting them, I truly wish to destroy each and every demon there is. While I saw this as just a sick game of chess before, now I truly think of this as a war. I don't want her to go through anything like this ever again; this girl that lived enjoying her peaceful life never should have been involved in any of this.
As we finally reached my house, I gave the driver some money and got out; Helen saw that we arrived and rushed out of the house to meet us. Allen followed shortly after her but merely stood in the doorway.
"Are you alright?" Helen asks. I opened my mouth to answer but I noticed she was talking to Celeste, who merely nodded and let herself be taken away into the house by Helen. I followed them quietly.
"So, did you save the princess, Mario?" I show Allen the finger as I was much too exhausted for his crap.
We all gathered in the living room and Helen brought some tea for Celeste to warm herself up. Somehow I'm feeling left out.
"Celeste, you should drink that and go to sleep, you look like you're barely holding on."
"No!" Celeste shouted. It was the first thing she said since she arrived. "There's no way I'm going to sleep, there's no way I'm doing anything until you explain what's going on! This isn't right! What the heck's happening? Why me?"
Well, I was surprised she didn't do this earlier. In two large steps I get in front of her and put my hands on her shoulders.
"Celeste!" I shout. The girl stops and looks at me shocked.
"I never intended to have you go to sleep until you know everything. I told you back then, didn't I? We'll reach a safe place and I'll answer all of your questions." I spoke in the calmest voice I could manage; for a ocazie I had forgotten how weak my body was but as I made those sudden movements, my head started spinning.
"Caden! What do you mean everything? Look at her, she's barely standing. You know who's fault that is? It's yours!" Helen's words hurt.
"Helen, don't say that." Celeste said, having calmed down "He healed me and got rid of that ... thing." Remembering what happened to her was probably painful as she shuddered.
"Oh, so that's why you're so weakened after having fought just a lesser demon. I thought it was weird, you usually do better than that." Allen finally decided to join in on the conversation and says a stupid thing.
"You... healed her?" Helen said "I-I'm sorry. I'm sorry I said those things."
"Wait," Celeste said "that's why you're so weak? Because you healed me? I thought it was because you fought that thing..."
"Don't feel guilty Celeste, after I tell you everything that happened you're going to change your opinion." Damn you Allen, you always screw things up.
Celeste's looking at me with curious eyes, compelling me to tell her everything I had hidden until now. What will be your reaction when you find out that the one that made you go through all those things is actually the same one that saved you?
"I'm not sure where I should start; let me ask you this: Do you believe in God?"
Celeste gave me an odd expression, I can't really put my finger on it; surprised, perhaps?
"I... never gave it much thought. While my mother was alive she took me to church now and then but I haven't implicated myself actively in religion."
"Well, then it might come as a surprise, but everything is real. You've recently met with a shadow demon; they are fast and accurate assassins. Allen, can you give her a brief explanation on demons, you're the expert on the matter."
Allen, who until now stood fairly away leaning on a wall, made a few steps and without giving me a reply, started the explanation.
"What went after you, Celeste, was a lesser demon. Those are the lowest rank in their hierarchy and it's what incompetent demonologists summon."
Celeste looks dazed, I think it might be too much for her in a single night, but she needs to know; as a bearer of the stigmata, she can't run away.
"This particular type of lesser demon however, was summoned by an advanced practitioner of the occult to assassinate you. This is especially risky for him because the shadow demons, being the brainless assassins they are, tend to go on a rampage after finishing their job; usually starting with the one that brought them into this world. They kill by causing fără întârziere acceleration of your heart beats until your heart fails..."
"Wait a minute, that can't be right," Celeste said "my heart didn't beat faster, it slowed down drastically, my body couldn't move and all of the strength in my body went away."
Well, I guess the moment of my confession finally arrived.
"Part of that was my doing, I slowed down your metabolism so it would take more time for your heart to reach its limit."
Celeste's eyes widened and she looked betrayed; her fingers were digging in the couch she was sitting on. I know how she must feel, I was the one that saved her and she could blame all her pain and suffering on that demon. Now she probably feels confused as the once clear good and evil started to blend in onto each other.
"You did what?" Helen furiously asked me.
"Listen, if there would have been an grozav possibility where I just rescue her and no one gets hurt, I would have taken it, but as I'm sure you're already aware, there isn't. Celeste, I'm sorry I did that to you, but I didn't have a choice in the matter. The alternative was to risk you having a heart failure and then after the battle try and resuscitate you; not knowing how long the battle was going to take, it was the only viable solution."
Celeste's lips remained sealed; she didn't look at me as I spoke and after I was done, she merely gave a slight nod that she understood my reason. Helen didn't look at me either, nor did she speak; the room was silent after my defense, like everyone understood but no one could forgive me.
I'm drained, my body can barely sustain itself and I'm sure Celeste feels even worse, having been touched by demonic energy.
"Allen, can you continue? Make it as short as possible, just cover the stuff we normally go against." I say and lean against a wall, massaging my eyes.
"Fine. Demons can't manifest themselves in this world without some form of help, thus our enemies are the ones that invite demons around our nice neighborhood. Those are, from the weakest, worshippers, possessed, vampires, witches or warlocks and demonologists. Worshippers are normal humans that, as their very creative label suggests, worship demons. Once they actually attract the attention of one, they become possessed and their physical attributes increase, but they lose their free will."
Celeste had left her feelings aside for a moment and was listening closely to Allen's explanation. I guess it was a good move to leave the explanation to him.
"Now vampires are divided into two groups. The ones that inherited the vampiric power from being bitten; these are the traditional vampires you heard tales about, they have no free will either, being bound to their master.
The other type of vampires are the ones that are chosen by demons. These appear only rarely as they need to give all of their blood to a demon in order to become one, they are very strong and not one of us can stand against them. Fortunately, from what I know, there is only one of these alive right now and he's way past his expiration date.
The first type of vampires can regain their free will if their master dies; like Aleera, our creepy little friend."
Damn it, I was almost happy I let him do the talking. I would have rather liked if Celeste met Aleera first and then tell her about it.
"A... a vampire?" Celeste asked shocked. I'm not really surprised, although I'm glad she has such a tame personality. When Helen found all this out... well, I'd rather not remember that.
"It's fine Celeste, Aleera was turned into a vampire when her uncle did a blood sacrifice and massacred his family. She hates them just as much as we do and she's also very loyal to our cause."
"She's loyal to you, not to the cause." Allen said smirking. "Your cute little blood sucking pet."
"Knock it off jerk, this isn't the time. Yes, she's loyal to me because I freed her and killed her uncle, but I believe in her." I say and turn to Celeste "Don't worry about it, she doesn't need to suck blood. That part is actually only needed by the second type, the contractors; they need blood to maintain their contract. The more such a vampire lives, the more blood he needs, so most such vampires make minions to get blood for them."
"Ahem, I was supposed to explain." Allen said and in response I waved my hand for him to continue "As I was saying, there are witches and warlocks after vampires. These are the ones that have made a contract by making a human sacrifice to demons. They have access to various spells, hexes, curses and other such unpleasant things. They can also make mindless minions, otherwise known as zombies; those are weak and useless but can rapidly overwhelm you if you're not careful.
Having sanctified objects on you or silver can repel the weaker spells. Against the stronger ones you need prayers of evil warding. Basically, in your day to day life an enchanted silver cross is sufficient and if you consecrate your home with a prayer of warding you're safe from non-battle spells."
"This is taking longer than I thought..." I say looking at the ceiling. "Celeste, did you get all that?"
"Yes," she says weakly "I've encountered many stories about the things you're telling me about. I like reading books so I've read about some of these."
"Now, the last and most dangerous of them, demonologists. These are particularly strong because they don't need any sacrifice for their spells, however to be a demonologist you need to have talent for magic, so the strong ones are quite rare. There, I made it short, you can take it from here, I'm going to make myself a cup of tea."
Well, I guess here is where I come in.
"Alright, now that you're aware of what is constantly trying to kill us, we can finally get to the reason we're being targeted. I'll be blunt with this, we're all marked for death by all of hell. The reason is our stigmatas; we all have them and it symbolizes that we have an angelic counterpart. The shape is different for each of us and takes the form of our inner self. You should have one too, this is mine..."
Saying so I open one of the buttons on my shirt and retract it a bit to show my stigmata.
"My stigmata is on my back," Helen says smiling to Celeste. "I'll show it to you another time if you wish."
"Yeah, and after that you can tell us too, nobody knows how it looks like." Allen says, walking into the room with a cup of tea. After placing it on the table, he retracts his right glove "This is mine, not a very safe place to have it, mind you."
Celeste massages her right arm; I assume that's where her stigmata is.
"It's fine, you don't need to show us." I say, trying to relieve her of some of the stress.
"Now that we're done with the frequently asked questions, do you have anything to ask?" Allen says, in an uncharacteristic act of implication.
Celeste answers, but looks into my eyes.
"What aren't you telling me?"
My eyes widen for a moment, but I smile.
"Many things," I say smiling wider, thoroughly amused "but if you were wondering if I'm hiding anything from you, I'm not. I will answer any question you have truthfully if I know the answer."
"But you won't tell me yourself everything."
"No, there are too many things to say, I'd have to keep you up all night. Aside from that, I don't know what it is you wish to know."
"Fine. What are you trying to do, why do you need me to take part in it and what will happen if I refuse?"
Wow, that's unexpected. Helen was aggressive when I explained everything, Celeste however is simply cold and calculated. I'd have expected her to be weak, crying and yelling. Well, she was at first. Maybe her mind couldn't take it all and she emotionally detached herself from the situation?
"This might sound weird, but we're trying to stop hell from blending into the human world. It already started two weeks ago, maybe you noticed the way it hasn't stopped snowing for two weeks straight. Now, regarding why we need you for this, that's easy; we're losing. There aren't nearly enough of us and even with our abilities, we're vastly outnumbered."
"You're right, it does sound stupid."
Well, I said weird, not stupid, but whatever.
"So, what happens if I refuse?"
"You're free to walk out. You can return to your everyday life, those dreams are over, they won't bother you again."
Celeste raises an eyebrow. I think her personality took a 180 turn when I wasn't looking, she's as cold as ice. I need to get her on the team, this personality is perfect for what we need.
"I assume there's a catch, if it were that easy you'd try to hide it from me, highlight another part to make me believe my best choice is to stay with you."
Damn it, I forgot she's the top student in my year; still, she's reading too much into things.
"Well, I told you everything we're up against for that reason. You bear the stigmata; as a bearer of the stigmata you cannot run away forever. Even if you don't want to fight, you'll be constantly targeted by demons. I will not impose my will upon you, if you believe you can fend off their attacks by yourself, then you are free to leave and we will never mention this incident again."
"Heh, typical. You say I'm free to choose but I don't really have a choice but to join you as long as I want to live." Celeste pauses for a moment "but how am I supposed to help? There's no way I could fight something like the demon that attacked me. You said you need my help, but I'll just be a bother." she says and curls up, lying on the couch.
Her strength of character from before wore off and she resigned herself to helping us; after taking a deep breath, her eyes closed and she instantly fell asleep. I walked to her and raised her slender body in my arms. I was just as tired as she was, but seeing her so defenseless, I couldn't just let her sleep there on the couch. Luckily she's not heavy.
"W-What are you doing?!" Helen asks. I'm aware she's shocked by this, but I truly mean for nothing else but to make sure this girl, that went through so much, sleeps in a warm bed.
"I'm taking her to an empty room. Why, were you intending to let her sleep on the couch when we have 3 empty rooms?"
"No, you're right, it was just so sudden, I didn't really think about it."
"Good, now come help me put her to bed."
We took Celeste into an empty room and Helen put some clean sheets on the bed for our beautiful guest. After I put her to bed and covered her, I took her glasses off and placed then on the night-stand.
After that we returned in the living room where Allen was waiting for us patiently, drinking his tea.
"Ok, now that we're done with the initiation ceremony, can we start talking about our situation?" he asks us as we sit at the table.
"Two ceremonial murders. We're two weeks into the merging and we still have no idea who the enemy is. I'm going to need Aleera's update too; Allen, lower the barrier"
He looks at me for a moment, but then gets up, walks to a wall and places his hand on it chanting something.
"If we're swarmed by ninjas, you're taking the blame."
I take out my phone, dial Aleera's number and ask her to come over for a while to exchange information.
"She said she's going to drop by soon."
Thud. Thump. Knock.
Aleera enters the room smiling.
"Greetings mortals."
"Did you just drop on the roof?" Allen asks her.
"Ah, Allen, I thought I heard incompetence."
"No, relax, it was just the sound of you dropping on our roof."
"You want to take it outside twerp?"
"Can you guys knock it off, I want to get this meeting over with so I can get some rest."
"Tch, fine" Aleera says and sits next to me "start talking."
"Well, there have been some ceremonial murders recently. We're trying to figure out what the purpose for those murders is and hopefully pinpoint our enemy. At the moment we're just assuming it's a demonologist. What's the word over on the dark side of the veil?"
"Well, most witches and warlocks have no idea something is going on, much less what it is. Vampires are clueless as always