My Demonic Ghost #3: Hunters and Creators (18 page)

Chapter Thirty:

Those dreams of me suffocating weren’t about Lock, they were the memories of Gargoyle holding me under water. I slowed at my own realization. All this time I feared him, I hated him, when Lock… No, Lock was his Banished name, this boy who developed in front of me, that was Evan. I grabbed my shirt where my heart fluttered,
he is Evan, not the demon Lock
.

Evan’s distant shouts rose above the walls, pulling me out of my thoughts. I stopped and turned in circles, trying to track its origin. If what Gargoyle said was true, then there was a part of Evan I didn’t see, but I desperately wanted to. I followed the voices down the hall to where Jordon’s room was. Before I got close enough to the door it was knocked open by Jordon’s body, which stumbled and hit the wall behind him. I froze before taking two quick steps backwards, ducking back around the corner.

“You told her!” Evan charged through, raising his fist to throw another punch. Jordon easily deflected the hit, sidestepping as Evan hit the wall. Raix quickly pounced out of the shadow, snapping the air but Jordon held his hand out to stop the wolf from advancing.

“Why are you so upset?”

Evan started to pace, running his hands through his hair. “You ruined everything!”

“No,” Jordon pointed angrily, “You’re ruining everything. Stop acting like a brat.”

“I didn’t want her to know.”

“Why?” Jordon shouted. Evan turned to run, but Raix jumped at him, shoving him back to the ground. Jordon walked over, then stopped and knelt down to help Evan up. “Why are you running? The Evan I know couldn’t stand the idea of being away from Rachael even for a moment. The Evan I know chose to remain on earth as a Banished instead of taking eternity in peace. You told me that you could not
stay for an eternity there if it meant leaving her behind.” Evan propped himself up on his elbows and let out a loud exhausted sigh. I held my hand to my mouth, trying to cover my breathing. In all the commotion they had not detected my presence, yet. 

“
I wanted to see if she wanted me for me.” He whispered, defeated. “Now that she knows I’m Evan, she’ll never look at me the same. Evan is weak, Evan is just a boy locked in an attic starving to death. Lock is even weaker. He is a monster; the lowest part of me and I hate him. I didn’t want to be either of them, not to her. I wanted to be someone strong, someone worthy enough...”

“So you push her away? This isn’t the answer…” Jordon whispered.

“It’s all I have. If not for her, then what’s my purpose in even being here? If I haven’t already ruined it with my temper and stupidity that is. There’s nothing I can do to bring her back. She’s gone from me, Jordon.”

Jordon huffed, “If you truly believed that then why do you still have a link to her? If you want it to be over then break the chains.”

“Break the chains?” Jordon nodded. I lifted my hand to my throat. He still had me collared. Evan toyed with the idea; he even lifted the chain upwards so it appeared in metallic smoke before dropping his hand. “I can’t…”

Jordon smiled as he stood, “Then there’s still hope.”

***

I found my way back to my room with a small skip.
There’s still hope.
What I hoped
for
, not even I knew, but it was a relief to know I hadn’t burned the bridge between Evan and me. I lost my smile as soon as I saw Gargoyle again, sitting on my bed with his hands folded. He stood up as I walked in and stopped. He wore an apologetic frown.

“I don’t want to talk to you.” I said and turned around to leave, only to have Gargoyle appear in front of me and ease me back.

“You didn’t give me a chance to apologise properly.”

“I don’t think an apology is sufficient enough for attempted murder.”

“That was before I knew who you were.”

“What, you need to know someone to know killing them is wrong?”

Gargoyle let out a soft sigh. “From the depth of my heart I am sorry Rachael. I apologise for the part I played and I take full responsibility. I couldn’t keep going with that type of guilt hanging over my head, you deserved to know the truth and this is it.”

I turned back, “I had nightmares for years about that experience. I blamed it all on Evan, thinking he was the reason why I was always drowning in my sleep.”

Gargoyle lowered his head, “I am sorry. I have done something terrible, but I am not the only one harbouring terrible secrets. I’m just more of a man to own up to them. Don’t be too quick to judge. You must understand everything, the good and the bad. That is all I wanted to say. I’ll leave you alone now.”

He turned to leave and Evan appeared at the door, knocking only once before letting himself in. Gargoyle slowed and straightened to his full height, glaring down at Evan who stopped mid step and swung his attention between us.

“Lock…” Gargoyle addressed, causing Evan’s knuckles to curl into a fist.

“Gargoyle.” I shushed him before approaching Evan, “Evan, I’m glad you’re here. Gargoyle, weren’t you just leaving?”

Gargoyle crossed his arms, “No.”

“Be a good little hybrid and get out…” Evan growled deeply. Gargoyle’s eyes tightened before he reluctantly left the room. Evan’s glare followed him out before he swung his attention back to me. His face didn’t relax.  Now that I knew who he really was, I could connect the dots; I could see the gentle curve of his cheeks just like in his mother’s face. I could see the warmth in his eyes beyond the banished sharp green. His hair had grown messy and kept at a deep black that not even light could reflect off.

              “Listen about before, I shouldn’t have yelled at you.” He admitted. “I do have a tendency of doing and saying stupid things, and I will try to control myself better, but I shouldn’t have yelled at you. If the old Rachael is there or not, it doesn’t matter now. I thought that over the years I had grown more as a man. I wanted to meet you as a completely different person, to be someone who would never make you feel sad or scared. I kept my distance to train myself to become something better. Obviously something which I am not. The moment things didn’t go the way I planned, I lashed out; I became that kid again.” He growled, frustrated.

“No one is perfect, Evan,” I whispered.

“I have to be perfect. How else am I ever going to be good enough?”

I stepped forward and lifted my hand to touch his arm, forgetting that his body was mere smoke. “Good enough? Good enough for what? You have an innate kindness that you keep trying to hide; once I was able to look beyond this wall of armour you’ve built around yourself, that’s not to say I won’t be able to do it again.”

“Well you’re wrong.” He suddenly straightened his back and glared arrogantly. “I was obsessed with proving myself to be something great, but I only set myself up to fail. The sooner I accept that the sooner I can get on with my real purpose.” He reached out to my throat and crushed the collar. The cold nipped at my skin as the weight lifted off me.

“What are you doing?” I clutched at my throat.

“Giving us both freedom.”

“Don’t…” He turned abruptly and made his way out, “Evan don’t just walk away.”

“This is better… for the both of us.” He then disappeared into smoke. 

Chapter Thirty-One:

I fell upon my bed, exhausted. Chō sat next to me, playing with my hair. I had been alone for hours. I had just lain there, looking up at the ceiling, anchored to the mattress by these confusing emotions. I craned my head backwards to where Chō crouched on the bed behind me, picking through my hair. His blazing eyes dampened with moisture, his eyebrows were pinched and his lips contorted in a frown. I lifted my hand and gently stroked his cheek. Without needing words, Chō nudged his face into my palm and released a quivering breath. It was like I was watching myself in a strange mirror. He really understood me. In return, Chō gently caressed my cheek in mimic behaviour. He then shifted so we were lying next to each other, our heads meeting in the middle as our legs pointed away. His white hair seemed to glow softly, as I brushed it out of his eyes. The scales on his face bloomed with colour.

“Don’t cry, Chō” I whispered. Chō smiled at me gently, his eyes shone with genuine joy. He extended his hand and pointed it at his heart, emitting a series of purrs. I coughed out a laugh; he was just so adorable. I softly inhaled a long breath through my nose, “Everyone keeps warning me that you are some sort of dangerous creature, but you’re the only one who has yet to hurt me.”

Chō leant closer, his eyes holding mine with his hypnotic gaze. The colours became muted and swirled together like a brush through wet paint. I wasn’t scared at all, even though the world was morphing into clouds of grey. 
Where are you taking me Chō?

Away.
Chō’s voice answered sweetly. I felt my eyes flutter shut. My head rolled to the side. My mouth opened as my entire face relaxed.
I will protect. Always, Blue spirit.

I jerked my head upwards, breaking the link between us. Chō blinked back, confused. “Did you just call me Blue Spirit?”

A loud bang rattled the walls, rocked my body and caused Chō to switch into his butterfly form. I sat up abruptly and looked around. Bang, another hit as the walls rattled again and a chorus of voices ran past my door. I got up and checked the corridor, watching the ashy remains of a couple of Banished flee upstairs. A group of Reapers flickered into sight for just a moment, but not long enough for me to grab their attention.

“What the hell is going on?” I looked at Chō who had hidden himself in my hair. I followed the noise up the stairs and into the main hall, only to be greeted by a swarm of Reapers rushing ahead of me, who kicked off into the air and sent their Goons out to fight. I stumbled to a stop and quickly took cover, barely avoiding a wild missile of dark magic spiralling towards me. The frenzy of colours was disorienting, and the spontaneous teleporting between Hunters, Banished and Reapers had the entire room sprinkled in light and dark dust. I quickly determined that Hunters had managed to break in, sending everyone into defensive lockdown. Through the chaos, I managed to spot Evan fighting off to one side. He dropped to the ground, spun his leg out, and struck the Hunter in the knee causing him to tip backwards. Once down, Evan created a black magic lasso around the Hunter’s throat and he pulled hard enough to drag the Hunter across the ground.

Another Hunter saw his comrade struggling and grabbed Evan from behind, lifting him off his feet before mercilessly throwing him to the floor. Evan rolled and the Hunter jumped on him, delivering a series of punches that knocked Evan’s face right and left.  I jumped up and ran at them, but a hand suddenly snared my wrist. I was yanked back and both my feet left the ground. I landed on my spine, managing to knock the breath out of me. It was another Reaper, obviously one that wasn’t on our side, and he raised a fist and delivered a blow.

I pulled my hands up to block the punch and Chō jumped onto the Reaper’s back, effortlessly throwing him to the other end of the room.  Reaper’s lizard Goon charged Chō, its size gigantic enough to crush him underneath one padded foot, yet Chō managed to knock the creature off. As fast as he appeared, Chō morphed back into his butterfly body.

“Evan!” I called, rolling over and got back to my feet. I grew fatigued, but I shook it off and kept running. Another arm grabbed me, and without looking to see who grabbed me, I swung around and punched him with all my might; hard enough that the Reaper lost his grip and was knocked unconscious. I was horrified when I realised that this Reaper was Elliot.

“Ell-Elliot?” I tried to run to him, but Teresa swooped to my side, pulling me off course.

“What are you doing here?” She hissed.

“I think I just knocked out Elliot!”

“Get out before you blow everything up!” A series of bullet sized shards were fired at us, Teresa quickly pulled me to her so she took the full brunt of the attack. Hook, her Vulture, swooped onto the attacking Hunter, slashing with its claws, when the bird suddenly fell.

“No!” Teresa ran forward as Hook became entwined with a long leash. Whatever properties the leash held, it managed to drain Hook’s power enough that the giant bird was incapable of flight. It limped along the ground, squawking in pain. Teresa clutched at her chest, feeling every shock that flowed through the leash and into her Goon. I passed Teresa, who crumpled to the ground before reaching Hook. I grabbed at the leather only to have it sharply zap my fingertips. I yelped and pulled back.

“Chō” I called, before reaching to the collar again; this time able to tear it apart and unravel Hook from its bonds.  My body swayed as exhaustion hit me again; I almost lost my balance when a pair of arms caught me. More angered than grateful, Teresa pulled me back.

“Stop calling on the Creator!” She ordered.

“I think you meant to say, thank you.”

Jordon ran up to us, accompanied by two others covering his flank. He urged us to move closer to the wall, concealing us from the battle above. “You can’t be here, Rachael!” He shouted, “Go back to your room!”

A tickle moved up my arm, maybe my heart was pumping too hard and my nerves were too frazzled, but the gentle touch caused me to whip around and tear the floor up. With a chunk of the floor now floating in the air, all the Reapers quickly backed away from me. I noticed the platform, took a step back, and accidently hurled it across the room, bowling over some Goons.

“I didn’t … Did I do that? I didn’t mean to?” I began to panic.

“Just get her out of here!” Jordon tried to hurry me out, but I was at my wit’s end. With his touch, I curled my hands into fists and threw a concussive wave at him, throwing him to the ground. My fatigue was growing, but instead of sapping the unusual energy, I was unleashing powerful uncontrolled concussive blasts. I moved without thinking. My body acted on its own, as if the communication between my brain and my body had been severed. Above all else, I could feel something burning me, searing into my neck and I couldn’t slap it off.

Gargoyle hastily pulled me to him. He cupped my cheeks with both palms, physically holding my face and burned his eyes into mine. He used such focus that I felt like I was going to melt into the floor. His voice filled me and I felt my own conscious break apart.
Rachael. It’s time that we leave
.

“I think we should leave.” I muttered dully.