My Demonic Ghost: Banished Spirits (21 page)

Chapter Twenty-Four:

I had spent half the day stewing in my own nightmares.  Lock’s upturned eyes were etched into the back of my eyelids. Behind every blink I witnessed it over and over again; his body tossed like a rag doll, the poison leaking under his skin, and the presence of Vanity sitting behind every mirror, ready to pull me back. I shivered and tightened my knees to my chest; sleep was a luxury I was not allowed yet.

I had returned to the gym still soaked in my own tears and sweat. I couldn’t remember much of what I did or said, but I was so frazzled by the echoing wails of the spirits left behind with Vanity that I fell onto Lock’s chest, exhausted. In the morning I awakened curled up next to him. My hand was bandaged with some cloth which had been ripped from my shirt.

I glanced down at Lock’s peaceful face. His condition was only getting worse. Nails had stayed with him through the night, but the other Banished spirits hadn’t made any further appearances. Not even Betrayal or Sabotage snuck in for a quick check-up.

“Rachael, you’re finally awake!” Nail said from high in the rafters, as her ghostly silhouette sprinkled into form, “You gave us all such a fright, what on earth were you thinking?”

“What do you mean?”

“Where else would you get the mirror shard with such distinct blood, hmm? Let alone that mark around your ankle. Mother must’ve scratched you…” Her eyes, red and roaring with a fire that didn’t match her face, motioned down to my feet. I scarcely remember getting swiped, but that was buried beneath the other hits and scratches. I peered down and quickly inspected the graze. A pinkish scrape woven like a twisted, spiked fern was marked into my skin.

“I see…”

“Lock may look quiet and motionless to you, but telepathically he was throwing a massive tantrum. Mind you, I must wash his mouth out when he wakes up. You’ll understand that I had no choice but to tell her...”

“Her?”

“Betrayal. My, my, my, she was not happy when hearing about your little adventure.” I squirmed on the spot, the bubbling of nerves flooding my mouth. “Let’s just say you won’t be having much alone time anymore.”

As if on cue, a swirl of ash swept into the room, materializing next to me. I held my breath, ready for the demonic snarl on Betrayal’s furious face to come bounding toward me but was pleasantly surprised to watch Howl step up instead. Right now I feared any confrontation with the seemingly mad Betrayal.

“Looks like you and I will be getting to know each other a WHOLE lot more.”

“You’re not serious are you?” I winced.

“It’s not that bad Rachael, you’ll hardly even know he’s there.” Nails tried to soothe, but I shook my head vigorously in dispute.

“I’m not a child, I don’t want this.”

“Nonsense, it’s for yours and Lock’s safety. Dean told us about your close encounter with the Hunters who tracked you down; we just want to make sure everything is okay.”

Alongside Howl waited Jake, his mood seemingly more relaxed than the last time I saw him. His ginger hair was flat and his eyes droopy from lack of sleep. Not surprisingly, he had lost weight, too. I didn’t bother to argue; maybe the company wouldn’t be that bad after all.

Around 2:00 Jake swapped shifts with Rope and his Host, where again they switched at 4:00 with Sabotage and Dean. We went roaming around the city for a while, window shopping to help pass the time. Sabotage didn’t bother to make an appearance, which I didn’t mind. It had reached 6.00 before Dean took his leave, expecting the next Spirit and Host to be waiting for me at the bus station.

“I’m sorry that you had to waste your day,” I hugged Dean goodbye as he shook his head.

“Nah, don’t worry about it, I’ll catch ya later tonight at the gym. I need to check in with my roommates.” And with that, he climbed onto the bus and was gone.

I returned home to collect a few things, walking in just in time to catch the ringing of the home phone. Some of my neighbours even poked their heads out, which made me guess that the phone had been ringing for quite some time. I leapt over the couch and snatched the receiver hastily. Michael’s voice boomed through the ear piece, loud, urgent, and out of breath. I could hear the quiver in his voice, he sounded panicked and distracted.

“Rachael?!”

“Michael? What’s wrong? You don’t sound so good.”

“This is urgent. Come meet me at the corner of Wilt’s Street and Bourke, at the tram spot. I need to show you something.”

“What is it?” 

Beep! Beep! Beep!
I moved without a second to waste. I left my belongings scattered throughout the house, my keys sat open and exposed on the kitchen table alongside my mobile and wallet. The door was unlocked and still swinging to a shut as I bolted down the hallway.
What’s wrong? What could be wrong? Elevator…
The elevator dropped down to my floor, I dashed inside just as the doors opened. Bashing the ‘door close’ button, I jabbed repeatedly at the one for the ground floor, every nerve tingling inside me like bites of fire ants.
What is it? What could have happened? An attack? Is someone hurt?

I squeezed through the elevator opening, bursting through the door and out onto the streets.
Left right, right left….
I was disorientated for a moment, blinded by my urgency and the sun, but I had no time to be dazzled. I turned, anywhere -
left
- and sprinted down the street. 

My arms pumped by my side as I begged my legs to stay upright. The tram stop emerged above the heads of people as I elbowed my way past them, crumbling to a stop at the tram railings.

Ahead of me, Michael was waiting, cloaked in a cream trench coat with sweat pouring from his swollen face. I leaned forward to call out to him, but a flicker of red hair caused me to fall back. I did a double-take to make sure I wasn’t mistaken, but their neon hair wasn’t something to forget. The three of them, each sitting underneath a cap, a hood, or an umbrella, circled Michael’s post. I watched them, hesitant about stepping forward, as I could feel the walls of a trap start to close in on me. 
Michael… had he called them here? Or doesn’t he know he’s being watched?
I waited cautiously and with distrust;
he said he needed to show me something. Did he set me up?

Gargoyle moved in, lightly touching Michael’s shoulder, as the other two Hunters swept themselves into the body of the crowd. So
Michael did know they were here…
My heart pounded heavily at his betrayal. Gargoyle spoke only for a moment and through the red bangs of his fringe I caught his golden eyes lock onto me. The itch to run fired through my fingertips but I didn’t waver, it was as if he wanted me here to see this.

Through his whispers, Michael stood erect, his eyes wide and his face drawn. At the softest push of Gargoyle’s hands, Michael fell into the line of oncoming cars, catching underneath the mouth of a tram. There was a second of silence as the splatter of blood painted the road. Watching this, it felt as though a wire rope was being held against my throat, choking me. The blood pounded through my ears as strangers screamed, panicked by the sight. I couldn’t move as people rushed to Michael’s side, yelling into phones and clasping their hearts and mouths. His body wasn’t visible as the mob danced around in disorientation.

Among the swarm, I was the only one who noticed the two ghostly figures standing in the centre, unnerved. Both Rip, and now a spirit, Michael, stood in an ash filled cloud watching the commotion around them. It was Rip who reacted first, but even so, he had no time to attach to a new Host. The shadows were moving quickly, already engulfed across Rip’s face before he even had the chance to shoot a look over his shoulder. Two sparkling blondes stood like fences around them, controlling the monstrous Goons who towered behind their masters.

The fight was quick. With no Host, Rip had no power and was instantly snatched up by one of the Goons who dived down through the concrete road. The other blonde snapped his fingers and pushed his Goon to gobble up Michael as he too was driven down, screaming the entire time. It felt like I was watching a scene out of a horror movie, both Rip and Michael were standing there one moment and swallowed by monsters in the next. But what scared me most was that I knew exactly where they were going.

The crowd kept screaming of Michael’s suicide, as if not a single one of them had seen Gargoyle standing with him and the push that drove Michael in front of the tram.  Gargoyle’s red hair melted out from the crowd as he walked casually through the chaotic swarm, nearly floating above the mess. I fled into the closest alley and, in a second, Gargoyle stood as close as my shadow.

I spun around to face him, not leaving my back exposed in case he had murder planned for me, too.

“Why?” The words shrieked out of me in panic. “Why? Why did you kill him?”

“To get to the Banished, of course.”

“But why was he taken too? He was punished like a Banished soul! I don’t understand, he never broke the one sinful rule so why-”

“It had to be done.”

“But he was a good man.”

“It’s not about him being a good man or not, there’s a greater purpose we keep going. This is why humans can never fully understand. You always ask, ‘why is there suffering in the world,’ ‘why can’t things be good and happy’? People turn to our Miira during times of devastation, when they need help or guidance, and so Miira is at her greatest when something bad is happening. To have such great power we need to have suffering and fear. Otherwise, with harmony and peace everywhere, there wouldn’t be a need for a God in the first place. The living would forget and Miira’s power would vanish… We can’t have that now, can we?”

“You can’t be serious,” I trembled, still backing away. This Miira would cause destruction so people would beg for help, and the more they fear and beg, the more powerful Miira would become.  “I don’t believe it. It’s wrong, there’s no way…”

“What a loud girl,” a spicy woman’s voice bickered. The other two Hunters casually strolled in from behind; the woman tossing her long sunset hair over her shoulder while the boy tilted his neck, baring his teeth in a boisterous grin.  Gargoyle smirked and leaned up against the bricks on the wall.

“She’s a little scared at the moment; you’ll have to forgive her.”

“Wh-wh-what’s going on?” I called over the backdrop of racket still coming from the tram stop.

“Ah, where are my manners? I didn’t get a chance to introduce you to my friends.” Gargoyle kicked off from the building and motioned to the other Hunters, “This lovely lady is Damage and the young lad over there is Chaos.” I cringed mentally,
Damage and Chaos;
their names alone made me worry
.
All three of them slipped off their covers so they could get a better look at my face, Damage walking out from underneath an umbrella as Chaos pulled back his hood. Just as Lock had said, Hunters can’t be exposed into the sunlight either, for the light bouncing off their porcelain skin reveals to all humans what they really are.

“Yo!” Chaos winked. He was easily the younger of the two.

“What do you want with me?” 

“You’ve been causing quite a ruckus,” Damage said.

“Yeah, I’ve heard you’ve built up your own army of Banished souls or something,” Chaos smirked.

Chaos had mixed coloured eyes; one was golden amber while the other was painted mint green. He looked stunning, innocent and approachable; the next door neighbour boy who’ll cause you to pour your love into material things in hopes that he’ll finally acknowledge you. Whereas the woman; she wasn’t so sweet, more like the type one would idolize from the side lines. The kind with endless ambition, modelled as being perfect, beautiful, smart, and caring but also very independent and strong. One wouldn’t bother her with compliments but instead follow her with silent praises as she strides past.  Gargoyle was more like the prince type. A girl would crave him to the point of stalking. He’d have the largest fan clubs known to man, his pens stolen and worshiped in fan-based shrines.

All of them so perfect and angelic it was frightening to stand in their presence. But they were Hunters, and their job is to hunt down the Banished spirits, collecting them as fuel for Miira. And here they stand, not even a metre away from me, a person who is currently attached to and in love with a Banished boy. A person who would become Banished, too.

“You’ve got it all wrong, I’m not building up an army. That’s just absurd,” I tried to argue but my own voice wavered nervously with guilt.

“Yeah right.” Damage held one hand up to my face while rubbing at her temple with the other, “I thought this day would never come, when a Host willingly helps a Banished. How foolish!”

“It’s a little kinky, don’t ya think?” Chaos mocked.

“Ha ha ha. That’s rude, Chaos!” Gargoyle laughed, leaning his elbow onto the younger boy whose shoulder dipped with the weight.

“She’s covered in their stench; about four different spirits it smells like!” Damage curled her lips at me, her nose flaring with disgust. I squirmed but there was nowhere for me to go.

“Now, now Rachael, you really shouldn’t be scared,” Gargoyle said but I pulled back regardless, my heart was fluttering its tiny wings against my chest, making me feel ill. “It’s not your fault and no one is blaming you. You’re just confused; these spirits are tricky and can easily fool a person’s mind. It’s a technique they’ve mastered to control their Hosts.”