Sinners of Magic (6 page)

‘
Hey, watch
it!’ laughed Alfie, good-naturedly. ‘I don’t want a bath just yet.’
Matt chuckled to himself whilst they both larked about, happy to be
outside on such a pleasant day. The wind had died away and the sun
was shining down on their naked heads, the water refusing to
entertain a ripple, just what you would want to create a perfect
afternoon. They made their way to the centre of the lake and
noticed they were alone.

‘
I’m
surprised it’s so dead out here on such a lovely day,’ said Alfie,
scanning the horizon for bodies.

‘
Yeah, I know
what you mean, it’s usually busy down here this time of year and we
could have made the most of it if we’d thought to bring our fishing
tackle,’ said Matt, staring down at a passing trout.

‘
You’re
right, it would have been great fun to do a spot of fishing,
especially with us finding this boat,’ answered Alfie with a cheeky
grin. ‘I wonder what kind of fish are down there? Bet there’s
salmon and I heard my dad say there’s carp here too.’ He stopped
and thought seriously for a moment. ‘I wonder if there are any
piranhas.’

Matt let out a genuine yelp of
laughter. ‘You’re such an idiot at times,’ he said, shaking his
head in disbelief. ‘You know, you don’t half come out with some
right tripe at times,’ he added, placing the oar back in the boat
and settling himself down.

‘
No I don’t!’
retorted Alfie, feeling a stab of resentment. ‘Don’t say things
like that to me, you’re supposed to be my mate.’

‘I can’t help it,’ Matt teased.
‘You should hear yourself.’ He searched for an example. ‘Like the
time you believed you get newborn babies from Tesco!’ He let out
another peel of laughter. ‘That was so funny.’

‘
That’s not
fair,’ said Alfie, thinking of a way to defend himself. ‘That was
my older brother’s fault, that’s what he told me, and I was only
five at the time.’

Matt was starting to enjoy
himself. ‘Okay then, what about that time you went to the toilet,
and an hour later your mum videoed you fast asleep on the loo with
your trousers round your ankles and showed it to half the
street.’

Alfie’s head jerked back at the
reminder, humiliation burning his plump cheeks. He could feel the
heat from his face creep all the way down to the pit of his belly.
He opened his mouth in protest.

‘
Oh yeah, I
forgot you’re so bloody perfect,’ he hissed with such venom that
Matt was quite startled. ‘Who’s the one in double figures who can’t
even swim then, smart arse?’ A wicked glint appeared in Alfie’s
right eye; something dark surfaced from inside him and he decided
it was time Matt drank from the cup of humiliation for a
change.

*

Crystal managed to cover some
considerable distance in a relatively short time, but her body
screamed out from the physical exertion. Her legs hurt, her chest
was tight and her long hair clung in a damp cluster across her
face. Beads of sweat were visible on her pale skin, but she wiped
them away with the back of her hand as though they were nothing
more than a group of annoying gnats. She was determined to make it
to the boat, but she still had a fair distance to cover before she
would be close enough to enable the boys to hear her calling them
back to safety.

It took her by surprise when
she found herself falling and, trying to save herself, she thrust
her hands out to break her fall. Crashing hard upon the stones and
baked soil, she realised she had been taken down by an obstinate
root and had landed badly. Wincing in pain, she thought perhaps she
had sprained her ankle. She bit her lip, forcing herself back onto
her feet. Crystal felt hot pain shoot up her leg and immediately
sat back down. Grappling the soil, she forced herself up with the
help of a thick branch she spotted close by. The pressure of her
foot touching the ground caused her to wince in pain again, but
with each passing moment the throbbing appeared to ease. She wasn’t
far from them now; she knew she couldn’t give up. Struggling to
calm her beating heart and fill her lungs with much-needed oxygen,
the terrible scene she had seen only the day before in her mind
began to unfold before her very eyes.

Back on the boat, Alfie had
started to rock it from side to side and it was clear anxiety was
mounting by the look on Matt’s face, but this only fuelled Alfie’s
desire to scare him all the more. Matt shifted his gaze and peered
below the surface of the lake. He thought the water had an eeriness
about it, as though strange shapes were moving through its dark
tangles of weeds, and he gave an involuntary shudder when he
realised he couldn’t see the bottom.

‘
Don’t even
think about it!’ shouted Matt, attempting to read Alfie’s mind, and
when Alfie turned to look at him, he realised Matt was genuinely
frightened.

‘
I mean it,
pack it in!’ Matt cried, when he was almost jolted out of his seat.
‘You know damn well I can’t swim.’

‘
You’re not
so tough now,’ Alfie sneered in delight. ‘You don’t like it when
someone else is in control for a change, do you?’

Matt’s green eyes rounded in
shock and Alfie’s smile turned into a ghastly grin. He gave the
boat yet another sharp tug and this time it almost capsized. Matt
clung to the sides, yelling obscenities in fear. He found he
couldn’t move a muscle and his knuckles had turned white as he used
all of his strength to ensure he didn’t fall into the lake.

‘
I’m going to
wring your bloody neck when we get back on dry land,’ Matt
screeched whilst his face turned red with fury.

‘
You’re in no
position to threaten me,’ laughed Alfie, clearly enjoying himself.
‘I’m in control for once and we’ll go back when I’m good and
ready!’

‘
Please,
enough’s enough,’ Matt pleaded, noticing the look of madness in
Alfie’s wild eyes. ‘Come on, let’s get back to shore and forget all
about this.’

‘
Not on your
life,’ Alfie spat, lifting his chin in defiance. ‘Because today’s
the day I teach you a very valuable lesson.’

Abbadon looked on from the
safety of the shore and relished the thought of what he was about
to do. He calmly made the fisherman put down his rod. His eyes were
burning as red as scorching coal embers inside the man’s head and
the torturous pain the demon was inflicting tasted savoury and
sweet. Releasing himself, the demon began to shake free from his
human cover.

The possessed man shook and
squealed from the internal pain like a slaughterhouse pig, but the
demon only chuckled with infinite pleasure. Invisible claws ripped
at the man’s flesh and tore through his entire body, bringing death
to him in an instant. The demon, intent on escaping the confines of
his mortal shell, poured from his hiding place like the plague,
vaporising into a black mist which choked the air like coal dust.
The empty carcass fell to the floor, the lifeless body discarded,
his soul already devoured.

Abbadon licked his evil lips,
wanting to taste fresh, young souls, and applauded himself when he
spotted the two boys messing about on the lake, victims rich with
life.

He quickly made his way over
the water, floating through the air only inches from the surface.
Dark clouds filled the once blue sky, swirling and thick, and sat
in abundance above the lake amidst the rumbles of thunder.

Crystal felt the malevolent
presence before she saw it and with all of her might she screamed
her warning one last time. On hearing her cry Abbadon formed a
ghostly body. Then he extended his arm and opened his long, bony
fingers, seizing her words in the palm of his skeletal hand. A dark
sound escaped his blackened lips as he crumbled her words to dust
before allowing the ash to fall into the water like scattered
cinders. Crystal could only watch in horror when Abbadon flew with
purpose towards Matt and Alfie. He hovered over them like some
prancing Halloween effigy and both boys flinched when he shot to
Matt’s side. Then, with one quick flourish of his hand, he knocked
Matt straight into the water.

Matt was under the surface
before he knew what hit him. Shock clasped Alfie like strong hands
around his throat. He hadn’t actually intended for his friend to
fall in and had never expected any intervention by some black,
deadly ghost. He sat frozen to the spot as though rigor mortis had
somehow invaded his trembling body; his senses told him his best
friend was fighting for his life, but he was unable to move.

Matt surfaced only once and
whilst he struggled for breath, the water covered his head once
more and he disappeared under its cold surface. He fought to make
it back. Thrashing his arms and legs, he tried to reach the boat,
confused as to why Alfie wasn’t trying to save him. His sodden
clothes dragged him under the murky water and he was unable to
re-emerge. His lungs screamed out for oxygen as he tried to breathe
underwater, his nose and mouth could no longer suck in air and his
lungs contracted in pain. His eyes grew wide with terror, watching
his world slip away and he floated down to where a watery grave lay
waiting.

With evil intent, Abbadon dived
into the freezing water, feeling nothing but excitement under its
cold surface. The girl temporarily forgotten, he swam in circles
around Matt’s body; faster and faster he spun, disorientating him
in seconds. Matt was unable to cope, his brain couldn’t decipher
the sluggish messages it was receiving, and his mind fled to the
safety of unconsciousness, allowing his legs to finally still. The
sweeping grasses hidden below reached out for his feet and slipped
their slimy leaves around his ankles, tightening their hold,
obeying the Destroyer.

‘
Your time on
earth is almost over,’ they whispered sadly.

Abbadon was thrilled. He could
almost taste the boy’s life force as the weeds dragged him further
towards the darkness.

Back on the surface, Crystal’s
heart was thumping so hard in her chest that she thought she was
about to have a heart attack. She knew if she didn’t use the light,
the burning power she held inside herself, Matt was as good as
dead. Determination and fear were growing deep within her, causing
a strange tingling sensation to wash over her entire body.

Closing her eyes, she focused
her mind on Matt. Then, she touched the stone in the centre of the
amulet and a golden aura formed around her body. She glanced down
at her hands, feeling the glow penetrate her skin and caught sight
of a bright light in-between her fingers.

Clasping the amulet in both
hands Crystal once again closed her eyes. Her lips parted and words
that she had never heard before slipped easily from her mouth. The
language she spoke was not one she recognised, but it flowed from
her tongue like a dam bursting its banks.

Her mind saw only a ball of
light; the bright golden rays sent tendrils of energy through her
body. Her nerve endings became filled with heat, her veins full of
fire. Her mind pulled at the fiery strands as though they were
cotton threads dangling tantalisingly towards her, touching her,
teasing her, enabling her to pull more and more energy from them.
Her rich voice was rising, becoming more forceful, and she
stretched out her arms towards the lake as though she was summoning
something to come to her.

The stillness of the water
broke before her closed eyelids and waves started swelling against
the water's edge. Then something rippled and uncoiled a few feet
away from the boat. It was at least twenty feet long and
silver-grey in colour. It dived under the water, swirling its
slippery body with ease, and made its way to the motionless body
tied down by a multitude of weeds. It watched Abbadon take hold of
his victim, ready to suck out the last breath that kept the boy in
the world of mortals.

Without warning, the creature
attacked Abbadon and, taken by surprise, the demon let go of its
prize. The creature swam with purpose, wrapping its enormous thick
trunk around Matt, much like a python, obscuring the victim from
view. Abbadon was furious, believing the creature wanted his trophy
for itself. Attacking the serpent, Death howled like a banshee,
clawing at the creature, fighting for his rightful possession. The
creature screamed when vicious talons ripped at its bare flesh.
Recovering from the shock, the serpent made its way to the shore
and, forcing itself towards the alien world of mortals, it sprang
from the water. Using all of its strength, the magnificent creature
unravelled its colossal body from the lifeless boy it was trying so
desperately to protect.

With a flick of its long,
finned tail, the serpent catapulted Abbadon’s victim through the
air and towards the shore. Matt landed with a loud thump only
inches away from Crystal’s feet. He lay there on the ground like a
dead fish that had been plucked from the water by an unsuspecting
fisherman.

Crystal opened her eyes at the
sound of the thud and immediately ran to Matt’s side; dropping to
her knees she felt for a pulse. Fear numbed her brain when she
realised there wasn’t one to find.

‘
No!’ she
shrieked, pushing him over onto his back. His arms dropped like
heavy weights by his side and she didn’t know what to do; his face
was so white, his body so still. She was filled with terror. Her
head lashed back as she tried to remember how to give the kiss of
life. Bending his head and neck back to open his airway, she tried
to breathe life into his dead body. Particles of her breath still
carried the magic from the chant within it and the ghostly
molecules drifted into his lifeless shell.

Crystal faltered when she
watched his skin turn grey, not knowing if it was all too little,
too late. She pumped his stomach and then pressed against his
ribcage, clamping her strong hands around his chest, beside herself
with worry. Aware of losing him, she kept her rhythm going before
pouring air into his lungs again and again.