Chapter Twelve
Revelations
She wrote furiously in her notebook. She wanted to make sure she got it all. IT was a pain in the wrist, but, after discovering that they couldn't leave the shop with the template or Xerox its pages, this was all they could do. Jimmy had asked her if there was some sort of mojo she could do, but she explained to him that this book was mojo protected. If she tried even a simple copying spell, the magics protecting it might put her into a coma.
Jimmy stood leaning against a wall on the other end of the room. He was flipping through one of the books that Layla had brought with her. It was all about the art of magical and mechanical weaponry. She didn't think he really understood Gaelic, so she was pretty sure he was looking at the pictures. He said he was looking for new ideas that might help them out. Not only could to add to Emma's arsenal, but a little something that he could use to protect himself. Every once in a while she would catch him starring at her and he would quickly look back down at the book and clear his throat. She would just smile and bite her lip. She was quite taken by him she had decided. He was smart, handsome, witty, and very caring. She figured she would allow herself to indulge in this.
She looked back down at the large book and continued on writing.
"She is raised from purity. When called, the essence of The Black Goddess will entwine and fuse itself with the soul of the host; never allowing it to crossover."
"Poor bastard." She muttered.
"Her immense hunger can never be satisfied. It burns with in her, a constant need to feed on human life and satisfy her unending thirst. This continuous torture, fuels her lust for cruelty; she acts out her arduous inner pain out on the ones from which she feeds. It is not just their lives she takes, but their souls."
Layla sat up from the book in shock. She had never heard such a thing. No wonder things had been quite in the ether surrounding her senses lately. She placed her left hand to her forehead and closed her eyes. "How?" She continued to transcribe.
"In attempt to fill her dark emptiness, she devours their souls as she drains from them their life's blood. The more souls she takes, the more powerful she becomes. Thus, giving her the name, Inanna, the eater of souls."
"This is not sounding good." She grumbled out loud. Jimmy looked up from his magical weaponry manual and walked over to the perplexed witch across the room.
"What did you find?"
"Give me a moment. Because at this point, I don't think you want to know." She read on.
"Her existence here is only temporary."
"OH thanks to the Goddess!" She exclaimed. As she wrote down the information she saw that there was more and her relief may have been premature.
"However, as her power derives from the souls she ingests, all she needs is a soul of a warrior of the people to have enough strength to hold herself to this plane permanently. Once she has accomplished this, she will begin sharing her dark blood with others. Her and her children will then infest the Earth and with their massive thirst, consume the human race."
"Oh balls." She said exhaustedly. "If Naberius thinks he can control this thing, he's a blooming idiot."
"WHAT!" Jimmy demanded.
"Read for yourself." She rose from her seat and allowed Jimmy to take her place and read the passages she had just transcribed.
"How in the hell are we supposed to stop this! It says here that ordinary means of defeating the undead are useless! It says, 'she will not perish by the light of day. Holy icons and artifacts do not affect her, and no stake can render her to dust.' So what then? Does this mean she is unstoppable and that there's nothing we can do?" He stood up and paced with his arms folded; deep in thought.
Layla turned the great book in her direction and turned the page. She ran her fingers over a black and white rendering of a statue of a woman with her arms outstretched. In one hand was a spear and in another a goblet. It was the effigy of the Inanna. There was a caption under neither it.
"The Black Effigy contains the black blood which calls the essence of the Inanna to the Host."
Layla's eyes followed her finger to the right of the depiction and read the paragraph.
"It is the source of the Inanna's invulnerability. Only by destroying this will she be destroyed."
"Wait! Here it is! We have to find this statue! It's the key. It gives her life, it can take it away! All we need to do is find it and destroy it!" Layla exclaimed. She held her hands together and rung them. Jimmy stopped and walked back to the table to inspect the picture himself.
Layla began swatting the air and muttering. Jimmy looked at her absurdly.
"Then what? We destroy the effigy and she falls down dead? How does this work?"
Layla continued to push some invisible thing away looking more and more frustrated. "I'm not sure! But, it clearly says 'only by destroying this will she be destroyed.' Maybe it means she goes poof, or maybe it means it renders her a normal vampire. Either way, we need to get our hands on this thing and quickly. Oh. Bloody hell! Will you bugger off?"
"Who are you talking to?" Jimmy asked her.
"It's some loon who keeps poking at me wondering if I'm real or not just because I can see them. I'm just going to ignore him if he keeps it up." She brushed her hair out of her face and leaned on the table.
"And what about this business about her needing the soul of the warrior of the people to stay here? What does that mean?" Jimmy threw his arms up in the air.
"Warrior of the People is another name for Slayer. She needs the soul of a Slayer to be strong enough to anchor herself to her host, and stay in this realm. A Slayer's soul is the most potent; the only one strong enough to sustain her."
"You mean, she needs Emma."
"That's precisely what she means." Came the voice from their left. "So, why am I here?" Layla and Jimmy turned their heads to see who the voice belonged to. There she stood; elegant and statuesque. Her short black hair was cut in a blunt bob and it shined as the light reflected off of it. Her eyes were lined with black in an almost Egyptian way making them look larger and her lashes more pronounced. Her full pouty lips were turned up in a wicked smile allowing her prominent eye teeth to show. She wore a red satin corset that pressed her breasts up high almost to her collar bone. Her black velvet frock coat hid her porcelain shoulders but remained unbuttoned to reveal her navel. Her right hand rested casually one her leather clad hip. The leather pants were so tight they left little to the imagination. Her pointed toe, high heeled, black leather boots clacked against the stone floor as she made her way down the stairs towards the pair. A man appeared through the door of the shop. He was well dressed in a grey suit and leather shoes. He took a long drag from his self rolled cigarette and flicked the ashes into the air.
"Uh there's no smoking in here, sorry. Guess you'll have to go outside!" Jimmy laughed uneasily.
"Scusarme il mio amico." He subsequently flicked his cigarette to the floor and crushed it under his fine leather dress shoes.
Layla stood close to Jimmy and spoke to him telepathically. "It's her."
She pushed Jimmy behind her and out stretched her arms at her sides. "Na'aki Makikio Amen Nukti Ra!" A yellow light began to grow from her hands creating an arch. She clapped her hands above her head and then pushed them before her with all he strength as if she were pushing a lead weight. With that, the arched light became a huge ball that flashed before them and created a wall between them and the intruders. Layla held her hands, palms facing outwards, to hold up her mystical shield.
"Wow." Jimmy said quietly in amazement.
"Oh please." Said Nica as she rolled her eyes and finished down the last step. She closed the distance between her and the glimmering golden wall. The threw her arms up in sarcastic fear and made an Oooo face. She cracked her fingers and waved her hands in front of the wall.
"Wax on, Wax off!" She dropped her hands to her sides, tilted her head and smiled shyly. Suddenly, her face changed dramatically to anger and swung right fist through the transparent wall. The shop shook as the shield crackled and ripped apart then disappeared.
The force of the blow shot Layla, who had been holding up the shield, sliding on her back across the floor. Jimmy ran to her side and helped her up. When she was back on her feet and had dusted herself off, she held her right hand up by her right ear in a claw.
"Totlah Kum!" As she finished the incantation, blue ball of flame ignited in her hand and she instantly hurled it at the raven haired she-devil.
But, in surprise to them both, Nica caught the ball and held it in her hand as she studied it.
"Nice. Not bad at all sweetie. But, unfortunately for you, futile." She held it up with her palm flat and blew at it, making it vanish as if it were never there.
Layla was dumbstruck and decided not to squander anymore energy on this. She reached out for Jimmy's hand, clasped it and they took several steps back. A sharp click broke the silence. It was the man in the front of the shop; he had lit another self rolled cigarette. He took a deep drag and blew the out in a soft grey cloud covering his etched features.
"Sorry, nasty habit I know. But, what are you going to do, eh?" The man walked closer to Nica and continued smoking his cigarette.
"So, you know who I am, and what I am looking for, so once again what am I doing here?" Nica demanded.
"Uh, is this a trick question are we supposed to answer or just be awestruck by you commanding presence?" Jimmy quipped.
Nica laughed and then licked her teeth. "You're cute." She breathed deep into her nostrils and closed her eyes. "If you are a witch and you are a man, why do I smell a Slayer? Don't get me wrong, I'm still going to eat you, and you witch, your soul will really be a boost. But, it's the Slayer I need. And I can smell that soul as if it were saturating this place. So tell me, why have I followed my nose here, if the Slayer is not?"
"You can smell souls? What's that like?" Layla asked honestly.
"Like Pine Sole." As soon as Nica answered she closed her eyes and began smelling the air again. Jimmy took the opportunity to feel around behind him and grab a large stake from the table. He hurled the stake, but as soon as it had left his finger tips, Nica was there and had caught it millimeters from its launch point and grasped Jimmy's hand. Jimmy almost wet himself. They couldn't believe how fast she had closed the distance between them. She took the stake in her other hand and slammed it into Jimmy's left shoulder. He howled in pain as the blood ran down his back left side. Layla jumped in shock at seeing Jimmy hurt so badly.
Nica continued to grasp his right hand in her left. She studied him perplexed for a moment, and then it became blaringly clear.
Layla held her right hand down low at her side and twiddled her fingers and she mumbled low to herself. Nica swung her head in her direction sharply and spat.
"Don't even try it witchy. You know it won't work. It'll just irritate me. And I really don't want you to ruin this moment for me. Because, I know why I came here. I know why I smell a Slayer's soul. This is something that has never happened before, do you know that?" She smiled wildly at the clarity. She brought her face closer to his and studied him closely. His face was pure white and sweat glistened on his forehead and cheeks. She pressed into his face and kissed his right cheek leaving a bright red lip print.
"There has never been, in the entire line of Slayers, a twin of a Slayer! You have the soul of Slayer! Isn't that funny?" She chuckled in delight. "But, you don't have the cool super powers cause you're a man!" She laughed heartily. "That's just a hoot! I bet that just eats you up inside, don't it? Just nips that little pecker of yours right off! I bet it does. Watching her day in and day out, so much stronger and more powerful than you. She's the one who stalks and kills while you do what? Do stay home and cook and clean?" She laughed more right in his face.
"Nah, I make cool shit!" And with that he brought his left arm up, painfully, and slapped her neck with his stainless steel watch delivering a pill sized explosive into her jugular. Before she could scratch it exploded releasing Jimmy from her grip and knocking him and Layla into the books shelves behind them.
When the smoke settled, Leo staggered and coughed his way through the debris to get to Nica. Before he could reach her she jumped up out of no where holding her neck and flailing around. Her clothes on her entire right side were charred and torn.
"Mother Fucker! That little bastard! I am going to torture him extra painfully for that! This is going to itch for at least a week! And look at my clothes! This is shit is expensive! So you know how hard it is to find good shit down here in the sticks! They don't sell this at Wal-Mart! AHHHHH!" She howled deafeningly; it shook the shop and more books fell from the shelves and broke glass from doors and various décor. Leo sniffed out Jimmy's blood and silently signaled Nica in the direction he was in. They stalked ten feet forward to a toppled shelf and a pile of books. Nica reached down with her right hand lifted Jimmy up by his foot allowing his head to graze the floor. She grabbed his opposite shoulder with her left hand and tilted him upwards. He was unconscious, so she grabbed the stake still sticking in his shoulder and twisted. He cried out and shot awake.
"You listen to me you little shit, I don't care what you've cooked up, all you're going to do is piss me off and trust me, and you don't want that. You're coming with me and come sunset tomorrow, your essence is mine! But, so you won't be lonely, I'm going to leave a calling card for sister dear. Why have one Slayer soul, when you can have the matching set!" She flicked him in between the eyes and he immediately was knocked back unconscious. She looked back at Leo and grinned. She dropped Jimmy and pulled Leo to her. "Leave her a message that you know she will get, have fun handsome. But, we need to go so make it quick." They kissed intensely and she retrieved the sleeping. Bleeding Jimmy and sashayed from the building.
Leo bent down and shifted the books that covered Layla. She was also comatose. He placed his freshly lit cigarette between his teeth so he could use both hand to rip her shirt apart exposing a white satin bra and an elegantly sculpted tummy. He took his smoke back out of his teeth and held it in his fingers. "Like a blank canvas." He mused. He leaned down and kissed it gently, and gently rolled his face over it feeling its softness and its firmness. He licked it lustfully as he brought his head back up. He searched around and found a broken piece of glass under a broken wall sconce. "Now, this is going to hurt." He put the pointed end of the shard to her stomach and started carving.
Layla awoke with a scream. Leo forced her head back down with his other hand on her forehead. She cried pitifully and screamed more and more as he continued on.
"Now, now, you don't have to do that just for me. There, all finished. And I must say, my penmanship is tops! Now, you just relax, I'm not going to kill you yet. We need your new friend to get this message. So try now to move too much or you'll bleed to death."
Layla's eyes rolled back and sobbed deeply.
"Hey, you should feel flattered! If you were just anyone I wouldn't care if you bled to death. But you, you are exquisite! You are beautiful, and your body is so supple and fresh. And I haven't had Indian in quite a while. You can imagine how difficult it would be finding any here in the middle of nowhere. And I think you will have just the right amount of spice to tickle the senses! Am I right? I can wait for such a dish as you. Now you just stay put mia caro. I will see you soon." He leaned close and kissed her quivering lips. He then rose and walked away, shutting the front door carefully as he left.
Layla cried out and sobbed profoundly. The blood from her stomach poured down her sides and onto her hands to when she lifted her hand to place it on her face, she pulled it back in disgust when she realized she now had her blood all over her face.
"I'm sorry Jimmy! I'm sorry!" She cried. "Where the hell are you? What kind of Goddess are you? You leave me when I need you! You're never around when you are really needed!" She screamed.
"If you keep that up you will bleed to death Layla." It was Aslyn, late as usual. She stood over her in all her glory, glowing and blue.
She knelt down next to Layla and placed a hand on her forehead.
"I tried to warn you. But, you never listen. I told you not to interfere with that book and you did anyway. And now, humanity is going to be wiped out because, you have a soft spot for tall white boys."
Layla looked up at her patron deity in horror. "Are you saying I should have helped them; that I should have let them suffer from that knowledge growing in their brains and then die?"
"You read for yourself in that book! The Inanna has a limited amount of time on this Earth if she doesn't take hostage the souls of a Slayer! If those two would have died, she wouldn't have had time to seek out another! And, now, now she has one twin and that's all she really needs, but we know that Emma will go and try to rescue her brother, so then that devil will have two! And do you know what that means Layla? She will start to populate the Earth with her own pedigree of vampire. Never satiated, and unstoppable. And there you have it! The balance of reality is permanently tipped!"
Layla sniffled. "And you cease to exist. That's what this all really about isn't it? You. It's all about you. You're afraid of death. You don't care about what happens to anyone else really, or who gets hurt or killed in the process. You only care about you."
"And what is wrong with self preservation?"
"Nothing, as long as you don't purposefully cause the death of innocent people in the course of action!" Layla schooled. She glared at Aslyn. What once she revered, she now reviled.
"You are so simple and weak minded. You could never understand the mind of a Goddess."
"Oh I understand perfectly. The years have twisted you Aslyn. You are a Goddess gone mad! You've completely lost site of those you were breathed into existence to protect and care for!" Layla spit in the glowing entity's face. Aslyn became infuriated and her aura quickly changed to red.
"You little fool! You think you know so much! You think you have the importance enough to insult me! You are VERMIN! All of you! I have spent eternity keeping you primates in check! Still, you never learn! You always throw the universe right back out of whack! Your right, I am tired. I am tired of babysitting such loathsome unworthy, bumbling, unappreciative creatures. What exactly is a child like you going to do about it?"
Layla bit her lip and smiled. "Pray." She then hardened her face and began her prayer, all the while Aslyn screamed in protest. "Oh, great Ra, giver of light, your child has fallen from your sight. She has turned her back on your great will. Take this fallen one from us, I plead with you still!" Layla repeated her prayer over and over. Aslyn stood and looked up. Layla prayed louder.
"You have no idea what you have done! They should have died! You know I am right! What is it your place to judge me? I AM THE JUDGE! I am The Judge!"
Layla continued the prayer and closed her eyes. She reached to her chest and clutched a tiny gold amulet of an Egyptian hieroglyph depicting the sun god Ra.
Aslyn tried to fade out and away from Layla's pleading, but to no avail. Her face began to fill with fear as the room filled with white light. Layla opened her eyes to see light streaming from a portal that had opened just below the ceiling. She slowly trailed off as she watched Aslyn cower in fear. Her body began to stretch upward as she tried to hold herself to her spot. Her efforts were unsuccessful as she was suck up entirely into the portal. As soon as Aslyn was gone, the portal closed and everything went quit and dark.
Layla let her head fall back against the pile of books she lay on. And sobbed on. She felt betrayed by the one thing she had closest to family in this world. She had been betrayed by her Goddess! She felt sick. She had placed them all in danger just for arriving in Walnut Grove.
"I should have stayed in Cleveland." She moaned. She stopped and thought for a moment. "No, it's not that bad of a situation." When she tried to sit up, she painfully remember that she had been sliced open along her abdomen. She cried from the pain and from the agony of being used as a pawn and deceived. And she cried for Jimmy. She had lost him just as she had found him. Her heart was broken before she could even give it away. She wept for him. She had let him down. And if didn't kill her here and now, she was sure that Emma would.