Torment (19 page)

“Thank you, Robert. Yes the town has a very eerie feel about it this morning. This is usually a busy little community, but today the streets are empty, and the shops are still burning. Schools are destroyed, and there isn’t a soul to be seen. I’m here with Jonathan Tanner who was the first person to discover the strange disappearance of the residents and the destruction of the town”

“Jonathan, can you tell me what happened when you first arrived yesterday morning?”

“I drove here to surprise my aunty who I hadn't seen for over three years. She lived on the outskirts of the town. At first I was driving through the woods and everything seemed OK, I could smell something burning but I just thought it was someone burning wood. When I got to the start of the town I couldn’t believe my eyes. All the buildings were either on fire, burned to a cinder or they had collapsed. Automobiles were over turned; people’s belongings were all over the street. Kids’ bikes were bent and twisted out of shape and in the middle of the road…”

“What did you do next?”

“I drove very slowly to where my aunt lived. Her house was burned to a cinder, and so were her neighbors’ houses. I ran around looking for people, but there wasn’t a soul in sight. It was as though I was standing in the middle of a war zone, but without the people. I searched everywhere for people, but the church, the shops, parks, police station, everything, was destroyed. That’s when I knew I had to get to another town and tell them what I knew.”

“Thank you, Jonathan…”

I sat down on the sofa with Eligos in silence and turned the TV up. What the hell was going on? How could a town be destroyed over night? I carried on listening to the reporter:

“Police and the FBI are at a loss, along with the townsfolk’s relatives. It seems this small town of around 1000 people has been wiped out overnight. I also have Detective James Valero from San Francisco here with me. Detective, what can you tell us up to now?”

“I really don't know what to tell you. I’ve never seen anything like it. We have forensic teams searching through the debris but as of yet they haven’t found anything. Firemen and police officers have been searching through the rubble and the surrounding woodland, but they haven’t found any bodies. It’s as though everyone who lived here has just disappeared…”

“What's going on?” I said out loud. “How can so many people go missing?”

“I’ve been thinking the same thing since I first heard the story,” Jake told me.

“Come on, darling, you’re the one who knows all about wars. Help us out here,” I said, turning to Eligos.

“They’re recruiting,” he explained, standing up and walking towards the window. “Their confidence is growing. They started by taking a few families and now they attack a small town.”

“Recruiting for what? What are they going to do next?” Tyler asked, walking into the room with Lucian and Danny.

“We heard about it earlier this morning and thought we best come over,” Lucian said, sitting next to me.

“They’re recruiting for the war. They’re taking people, killing them so their bodies can be possessed. If they have managed to do this, I dread to think what they will do next,” Eligos continued.

“Do you think they will attack more towns?” Danny asked him.

“Yes I do. If I was starting a war, that’s what I would do.”

“What about the police though; surely they will catch on.”

“That demons are kidnapping people? I hardly think so.”

“He’s right,” I added, “People won’t have a clue what's happening. They’ll probably blame the government. Possibly accuse them of weapons testing or something.”

“I agree,” Eligos said. “Similar things have happened before.”

“Like what?” Tyler asked.

“Like things I don't want to discuss, thank you.”

“All those poor people!” Lily whispered. “What about the children? What would have happened to them? They’re not big enough to fight,” she asked, looking at Eligos.

“They will have been killed” he told her.

“Why though? Why not just leave them there? They haven’t done anyone any harm.”

“Because that’s how they are,” Tyler said nastily while looking at Eligos. “Demons, they’re nothing but heartless, torturing, sick, twisted and demented bastards.”

“HEY!” I shouted, standing up. “I’m not any of those things and I’m a demon. Neither is Eligos.”

“Really?” he said, walking so he was standing around a foot or so away from Eligos. “He said it himself: if he was starting the war he would do it.”

“Tyler, I’m going to say this
once
, shut your mouth and get out of my face,” Eligos warned, glaring at him.

“No, come on,
demon
, tell them all what else you would do, given half the chance?”

“TYLER!” I yelled.

“Shut up, Keira!”

That pushed Eligos’s patience and temper to the limit and he snapped. He punched Tyler and sent him flying over the coffee table and on to the floor. He was out cold, blood running from his nose. Lily and Lucian ran over to help him and to try and bring him round.

“The next time he gets in my face like that I’ll do a lot more than just punch him,” Eligos shouted before he walked out of the room.

I ran out after him. He walked into the garden and sat on the swing.

“Calm down!” I said.

“He’s a pathetic child and I don't know how you all put up with him. I’d have killed him by now.”

“He only does it because you have Keira,” Danny added, joining us. He stood in front of Eligos. “I’ve known Tyler all his life and I was always closer to him than Jake and Lucian were. I’ve never seen him like this before; he’s completely changed. He hates you, not because of what you are or who you are, but because of whose heart you own .He wants Keira and he wants her to want him.”

“Tough shit!” I said. “If he likes me that much he should want me to be happy.”

“If he doesn’t back off and behave himself, he’ll end up with more than a bruised face,” Eligos said, standing up. “I need to get out of here for a while.”

“Where do you want to go?” I asked him.

“I’m going home for a while.”

“OK,” I said, standing up too.

“On my own, Keira,” he told me as he started to disappear. “If you need me, shout.”

A second later he was gone.

I sat back down on the swing and Danny sat next to me.

“Will he be OK?” he asked me.

“Yeah, he probably just needs to calm down.”

“You’re not impressed, are you?”

“Not in the slightest. I’m getting really fed up now. All I want is to be happy and for people to be happy for me. If the shoe was on the other foot I would be happy for them.”

“I know you would. Maybe that punch will teach him a lesson.”

“I doubt it,” I sighed, rolling my eyes. “You know part of me just wants to run away.”

“What, from everyone?”

“No, not everyone, just him, but this is just how it’s going to be and I’m going to have to get used to the horribleness.”

I told Danny I would talk to him later and made my way upstairs to the gym room. I spent an hour attacking the punching bag. I’ve never punched or kicked something so much in my life. I punched it so hard my hands swelled up. Nobody came in to see me. I think they all knew I was annoyed. All I wanted was for everyone to get along: surely that wasn’t too much to ask? It had taken me months to get Eligos to let his guard down, and to let me in; now I had him, I didn’t want anything to ruin it. I loved him so much, and now I knew he loved me, I just wanted us to be happy together. What would Tyler do or say next? Surely Danny must be right. He’d pushed him enough now and he’d have the bruise to prove that. Would he really want to go down that road again? He knows he wouldn’t stand a chance against Eligos, none of us would.

Once I’d finished in the gym, I got in the shower and got dressed before making myself some lunch. Lily came into the kitchen after me and shut the door behind her.

“Are you OK?” she asked me.

“Yes.”

“I heard you in the gym; you were swearing your head off in there.”

“I was annoyed at what had happened and I needed a release.”

“When is Eligos coming back?” she asked.

“I don't know, why?”

“I just wondered. I don't blame him for knocking Tyler out. I wouldn’t want Jake letting someone tell me to shut up like that either.”

“That isn’t why he hit him; he’s sick of Tyler being funny with him. I’ll tell you something else too, it’s a good thing Eligos held back; otherwise he could have killed Tyler. He’s pure demon, don't forget. He is incredibly strong, he has to be careful when he’s messing around with me or even holding my hand; the life in me means I still feel pain easily…Why can’t Tyler just stop being a jerk?”

“Because he is Tyler. How long has Eligos been gone?” she asked.

“Nearly two hours, but to him it will be nearly eight.”

“He must be really annoyed.”

“Can you blame him, really?” I said, making myself coffee.

“I’ll have coffee, too, please,” she said, passing me a mug. “You both need to ignore Tyler; once he sees he isn’t getting a reaction he will stop.”

“Eligos didn’t rise to him at all at first and he still carried on.”

“Yeah, good point.”

“You know, there are still things you don't know about me, and if things carry on the way they are at the moment. I may just show you one thing,” I said, passing her the mug of coffee.

“Like what?”

“It doesn’t matter.”

“Keira, tell me,” she said, sitting at the breakfast bar.

“I’ll put it like this, when I said that, once I die again, I’ll be able to go to Hell forever, I don't actually have to wait to be killed…I could find out how to get the life taken away again.”

“Why would you do that?”

“To be with Eligos, with my mother, where I belong.”

“But we wouldn’t see you again.” she said sadly.

“You would. You could call out to me any time like I do with Eligos, or you could always summon me. Don’t forget, once I get my seal, you can summon me whenever you like. I can come and go as I please. I’m not the king or queen, so I’m not limited to how much time I can spend on Earth.”

“Keira, you can be with Eligos here.”

“Not all the time. He’s only here so much now because of what’s going on. Once it’s finished, I can’t expect him to stay on Earth. He’ll want to spend time at home. I don't want to lose him, Lily, so I will want to spend time there with him too, without being on a bloody time limit.”

“How long can you spend there?”

“No longer than twelve Earth hours, not while there is life in this body. God, I wish I’d never been given life again. I wish I could have just stayed a demon through and through.”

“Why did you take it?”

“So as not to raise any more questions than necessary. When you die and the life leaves you, the demon in you takes over and your body changes. I mean I know I’m pale, but you go really pale; just look at Eligos. You never get any blemishes, spots, freckles or anything. Also my body temperature decreases, I’m not freezing cold, but I’m always cool, never hot. I can feel the heat but, unless I was in the sun, my skin would stay cool. I wouldn’t have a heartbeat and I would be incredibly strong. How would I have been able to get on with my life here and go unnoticed if I was like that? I know Eligos does, but he’s had practice; he can control his strength. I would be new to it all so it would be really hard. Plus Lilith knew if I stayed as I was when I was dead, I wouldn’t have been here as much. That means all of you could get hurt and she needs you to fight, not die.”

“How would you die then unless something actually killed you?”

“I don't know,” I lied. “That’s something she never told me, just in case I used it I suppose.”

“But surely if it was what you truly wanted, she would understand.”

“She would, but it would have to be for a reason that she agreed with.”

“You are considering asking her how to do it, aren’t you?”

“I
will
ask her if anything else happens.”

“Well, then I hope to God nothing else does happen. I don't want you to leave us,” she said sadly.

I walked up to her and hugged her for a moment.

“No matter what, if ever you needed me, all you would have to do is call my name, and I would come back to see you, any time, any day, anywhere.”

“I know.”

“Come on; let’s see if there’s been an update on the disappearances.”

We walked into the living room. All the guys were watching some reality TV show. Tyler’s face was starting to bruise already; he looked over at me for a moment, and then turned away again without saying a word.

“Put the news on. I want to see if they’ve found anything yet,” I told them.

Danny changed the channel and moved up on the sofa so I could sit down.

“The police believe they have found a connection to another incident that shook the nation only a couple of months ago. I’m joined once again by Detective James Valero. Detective, what’s the update?”

“We can’t be certain but we are thinking this incident may be related to the missing body’s case that happened a couple of months ago. Forensics have found traces of sulphur on some of the wrecked automobiles and on some parts of buildings that are still intact.”

“Have the police got any leads yet on the missing bodies incident?”

“No, the case is still on-going, but hopefully we may be able to find more clues here and then be able to the link the two incidents properly. If that happens we should be able to find the person or persons responsible and justice will be served.”

“Yeah, right, how exactly are you going to deal with a demon army?” Danny asked. “I’d love to see their faces if they saw just a few of the things we’ve seen.”

“This is even more serious than we thought,” I told them. “Think about it, bodies disappearing, a whole town wiped out overnight; it won’t be long before you start getting religious groups saying the Apocalypse is coming. Can you imagine if this happens again, if another town disappears, it could cause riots, war…More innocent people will die.”