Chapter 12
/
The first thing he noticed when he slowly came awake was the very familiar sensation of pain. His body had been burnt and ruined, although he couldn't remember exactly what happened. One moment he was ready to kill the farmer who dared to try and come after him once again, the next...some kind of strange black weapons were hurled in his direction, coming so fast he had had no time to evade them. These weapons...they were modern, human things of vast technology...they jolted him with electricity as if he had been struck in a thunderstorm when flying. It had happened once before, and he could remember that too.
The memories...they never left his mind. He could roar out, curse his very existence, try and fill his mind with other things...it never worked. Even the thrill of killing the humans and wanting their screams to try and drown out his painful memories had been for years failing. In fact, when had it ever truly drowned out anything?
He was still here. This miserable, wretched existence was still here, and tormenting him as always.
Now he could smell that bitch Patricia Jenner. His eyes still functioned, he was in a cage...a giant one made of steel or perhaps even titanium. There were other humans around, staring at him through narrowed eyes with folded arms, watching and waiting like sentinels of doom.
This was familiar.
His tormentors from so long ago came back to his mind. He remembered their vile words of hate and disgust, their crude but agonizing tortures of knives, chains, and foreign substances.
Then the most painful memory of all.
His mother...on that wall...chained and gasping through foamed blood in her mouth, the leader of the tormentors plucking her eye out while she screamed.
They ripped open her abdomen, twisted her organs to make her scream even more. How did they know they could do these things?
Did someone tell them what they were?
Was it father?
She had spoken to him, told him to be strong. Begged him not to become like his great grandfather who had gone utterly insane once he had tasted human flesh...even if by accident.
Human flesh. It was a sweet, tender drug. So addictive and all-consuming.
Even now, as he lie in pain and boiling with hate towards his new tormentors...he knew it was wrong.
He had known it for over two thousand years. It was the very cause of the destruction of his race.
/
Ami? Ami! You must awaken.
Ami fought hard to get to the top of her consciousness. Her eyes fluttered open, and now her ears were registering the painful shrieks of Solarus who acted as if he were being tortured. That thought caused her to get up off the couch she had been sleeping on for hours in a near comatose state and shakily get to her feet. Despite all of that rest she felt absolutely horrible, even worse than before.
Ami knew she was very sick, and weak. She was malnourished and probably severly dehydrated as well. Sleeping like this had been a bad idea...it could have taken hold of her and never let her go...into a coma and likely even death. But there had been no resisting in her utter exhaustion.
Barabas I'm not well. Can't you help me? Do something?
My abilities are limited, young Ami. You must get up and get food for Solarus. He is not in good condition himself. The hunger now is tenfold. You have slept for nearly twelve hours, and he has been awake for the past three, crying louder as time has gone on. Please help him, before it is too late.
Wait, he can't die can he? He's a heradus.
He can die, he is only an infant. Being a heradus matters not in this young stage of life. He does not have the full powers of an adult. Quickly Ami.
She took a few steps and wanted to cry at the pain in her feet. They were sore and blistered, and she was still filthy, covered in dust from the long trek up the road. Her hair was matted, her eyes were puffy and red with irritation, and her body ached all over as if she had the flu.
How can I do this, Barabas? She fell back onto the couch. I can't go climbing around this mountain, I'll probably collapse and die.
The ghostly priest came nearer, providing welcome chill in the hot and stuffy cabin. He looked at Ami gravely, and the expression was a little more than intimidating.
I will help you Ami...but when I do so, I shall not be able to appear again for a very long time. You will be on your own. This is what you will do. Go and find food for Solarus...the river nearby is plump with fish, there are plenty to go around. Take some of the hunting weapons here in the cabin. There are some of those devices you call guns here, in the cellar, and also canned goods. You will have a good amount of supplies here. But when you have done this, you must come back and try and awaken Alonus. It must be done as quickly as you can...Goliathus as I have said before is already captured and soon his suffering will be great.
Ami looked up and stared into his blue eyes, always shining like glass. Without you how am I going to try and call her?
The bulla. I will leave it here.
She blinked. You can do that? What does it do?
Just use it, young Ami. It has my energy. It will be enough. Sometimes, even Alonus wore this, simply because she liked it. She even said at times it made her feel closer to me.
The priest stepped forward, and Ami took his outstretched hand. This time they didn't go anywhere...but she felt her mind and senses being drowned out by an incredibly bright light. It went on for several minutes, and then finally the world came back into view again.
Barabas was gone. Solarus was still crying.
Incredibly, Ami felt fine. The bulla was mysteriously around her neck. Her eyes widened as she saw she had no cuts or bruises, and her energy had returned. Whatever Barabas had done it was beyond her comprehension. All she knew was that she had to act, and act now.
Quickly she picked up Solarus, who didn't stop crying but opened his eyes to look at her in such desperation that Ami found herself suddenly sobbing and squeezing him close to her chest.
I'm such a horrible mother, Sollie! Forgive me...
Mumma! Hungee, hungee!
He screamed the words in her mind, over and over again. Ami ran around the cabin, looking for the hunting supplies Barabas had spoken of. She found a fishing net, pole and lures, and then went into the basement where she indeed found a rifle and bullets. Then coming back upstairs she tore one of her well-worn sweaters and fashioned into a sort of makeshift sling to carry Solarus in. When she was sure it was good and secure and he wasn't going to fall out, she headed outside and went straight for the river.
/
Patricia Jenner slowly paced around the perimeter of her giant, electrified cage gazing daggers at the monster within. He was awake now, she could see that, but there was no way he could get out, she had done everything in her power to be absolutely certain this cage was inescapable. The Creeper hadn't moved much yet, his eyes were simply riveted on her. She gave him a cocky, malicious grin as if rubbing in her victory over him...or perhaps mocking his very same expression that he loved to use on his victims.
He chuffed at her with bared teeth, and did not break his gaze.
Even now, that damn lingering fear would not fully break. Just looking at him was enough to churn and twist her gut with a great sense of unease. Still, he wasn't going to get any satisfaction out of it.
"I think for certain that I'm going to slowly pluck your eyes out, just like you did to my brother. How do you think that will feel?" She asked in a low, stern voice. He finally broke his gaze and turned towards Michael and the other captors.
There was silence for a very long time. He finally turned back towards Trisha.
"Do what you will." His eerie, raspy voice, deep and otherworldly, sent absolute shivers down her spine. Instantly, she turned and walked away, not wanting to look at him any longer.
"You gentleman can start any time you like," she said, turning towards her trusted group. "I need a cold shower and a shot of something strong."
Michael watched her walk away, eyebrow raised. For certain he was sure Trisha would want to see this, but he realized the emotions burned into her very soul were still too much to bear.
That bastard. He hoped what they were going to do to him would be pain like he had never known before.
/
When Ami got to the river she saw that Barabas has been correct. These huge, plump fish looked like salmon and there were plenty of them. Ami looked at her fishing pole and decided she didn't even need them. A net should do fine. Hovering the large net over the water she crouched down and moved slowly, trying not to scare them off. Like a heron she tried to remain motionless, ready to strike at any moment. She went for it, swooped the net down...and missed. They shot off like bullets through the water.
She tried again, and again. Still nothing.
"Dammit! Don't worry Solarus, you're going to have fish if it's the last thing I do." Ami tried not to let the frustration get the better of her. Solarus was watching her actions with rapt attention although he still sniffled and hiccuped now and then.
Hungee. Fishie? Eat fishie?
Ami crouched again, this time waiting longer before swiping. She almost caught one, but it wriggled and writhed so fiercely that it jumped out and darted away even as she tried snatching at it with her hand. After another half and hour of failure, she had had it. There wasn't time to use the slow, old-fashioned method of a fishing rod.
"Enough with this..." She got up, grabbed the rifle, checked it over and made sure it was loaded. Then she took aim at the fish nearest the surface and started blasting them out of the water, one by one.
/
Jackie had remained in the back with his dad, watching from a distance with both hands in his jacket pockets. He had watched Trisha walk away, had seen everything, had even heard that freakish creature speak.
'Do what you will'. What had he meant by that? He had nothing but utter hatred on his face towards them, of that Jackie was certain. He felt it through every bone in his body.
Why did this whole thing bother him?
It shouldn't...he should be feeling contempt and rage, and wanting that satisfaction of watching this hellish nightmare suffer for killing his little brother. But every time he saw the men poking at him with their electrified prods and laughing in twisted glee when he backed up into the bars and got shocked even worse and the monster howled out, he didn't feel like laughing. There wasn't any sense of satisfaction in this, and it disturbed him.
Something wasn't right about it, but he couldn't understand why he felt this way. He wiped forming tears from his eyes, frustrated with himself. Even when he had watched his father stab that creature all those years ago...he hadn't felt satisfied.
What in the hell is wrong with me?
"Jackie, look at that! Son of a bitch ain't enjoyin' it, is he? I hope that's not all they're going to do. That bastard needs to suffer a whole hell of a lot more if I have any say in it."
His father's words registered but Jackie couldn't get any words of response past his lips. In fact what Jackie had always felt about his father since Billy's death was worry.
Worry that the old man would be so all-consumed by his want for revenge that it would take over his life and destroy his sanity.
And it had.
/
The little fishing expedition had finally been a success. There was a good pile of at least eight of the giants, most of them already torn with a huge hole in their bodies thanks to the rifle. Ami however didn't bother to scale or gut the fish for Solarus, she merely used a hunting knife to tear them apart further and feed him pieces much like a mother eagle feeding her chicks. Solarus seemed a bit undecided about this first taste of fish, but it lasted only moments. He grew very eager, insisting on more and more, until he was actually taking the pieces from her and shoving them into his own mouth faster than she could cut them.
After five of them, he finally seemed sated and promptly fell back asleep. Ami took the remaining fish back to the cabin, where she would cook one up for herself and save the rest for later.
When they returned to the cabin, Ami looked around for a way to turn on the electrify and found the electrical board in the basement. A smile crept over her face when she flipped the switch and got the lights working...and the blessed fans going. She opened up windows to help circulate the stuffy air and finally it was much more comfortable in the lodge.
Now there was some serious work to do. Ami checked over little Sollie one last time, who was still sleeping soundly, his belly round and full.
Thank God. He'll be all right now...
Ami gathered a bunch of pillows from the couches to form a soft, cushioned spot for her sit on the floor. She fingered the bulla around her neck and then closed her eyes, and using the sound of the whirring ceiling fans to maintain her concentration.
Alonus. All she had to do was picture Alonus, right? She went back to her memories from the stories Barabas had told her. She pictured the giant and beautiful cathedral with its stain-glass windows and endless ceilings. She thought of Alonus, jet-black with blonde hair and fierce golden eyes, and tried to imagine going into the cellar of the cathedral, where her son had buried her.
I have to find you Alonus. I have to wake you up.
Suddenly Ami felt an incredibly unpleasant feeling, much like nausea, and realized it was very similar to the one the priest had caused her when he had taken her in spirit to his home. It thankfully passed quickly, but now Ami realized the scenes before her were far more clear and realistic...not just images in her mind. It felt like her eyes were glued shut and yet she was still seeing the spread of the church before her. Slowly she found the trap door leading to the basement and slowly crept downwards. The smell of dank and must was uncanny, the air was chilly and she clutched her arms, rubbing them in a strange attempt to warm herself.
Am I actually here, or not? This is so bizarre.
Ami saw that the vast basement was vast and mostly bare. She saw a door to her right. The very "study" Barabas had spoken of.
Where he had found his son and daughter together.
She stood for a few moments, staring at the door, and then quickly turned away, putting that thought out of her mind.
Another smaller door came into view, half-open and decayed with incredible age. The winding, narrow staircase she knew led down into the hidden chambers. Unbidden thoughts came into her mind of the tortures the two heradus endured. Nameless men with knives, swords, and any other sharp objects they could find.
Screams...blood-curdling, unearthly screams...
Ami shook her head fiercely, choking back a sob and trying to clear her mind. Alonus' torture made her sad enough, even though they'd never met, but Goliathus...these thoughts of his suffering only made her feel worse.
Oh...god...help me. I do love him. I love him and I don't understand why...or how...that I could.
Where is he?
The distant, echoey words were so faint that Ami almost didn't notice them...but she had definitely heard someone. A female- sounding voice.
Quickly Ami searched around, covering the entire basement, but she saw nothing.
Where are you?
...hello?
There it was again, that strange disembodied voice. Alonus' energy was all around this place. She had to be somewhere, but where did Goliathus bury her?
He'd want to hide her so no humans would find her. So that would mean...
Ami ran to the nearest wall, feeling around the crevices and cracks of the bricks. She must be behind the stones. It had to be. Where else could Goliathus ensure she would not be discovered?
Her hands worked as fast as possible, checking everywhere. It would take some time, but she'd cover the entire basement if she had to. Even the floor.
/
After what seemed like an eternity Ami sat haphazardly on the cold stone floor, having found nothing. She had checked every brick and not one seemed to be loose. If Goliathus had hidden her down here, he had done an incredibly good job.
What do I do now, Barabas? Ami clutched the bulla, and tried to think of where else she might be.
Alonus! Tell me where you are!
She cried the words out loudly in her mind.
Altar...
Altar? Is that what she heard?
Oh how could I be so stupid? Of course the altar! Barabas was wrong she's not down here, she's right where her favorite spot was!
Ami scrambled to her feet quickly and raced up the stairs. When she got to the top and came out through the trap door the cathedral was eerily lit by many, many torches. The outside was pitch black...nothing could be seen past the windows.
Who lit these?
Ami walked quickly over to the altar, trying not to look at any of the corpses hanging above her. It seemed as plain and ordinary as ever, but Ami suspected that Alonus wasn't in the walls somewhere around here.
She'd be underneath it.
Using all of her strength Ami tried to push it over, but it didn't so much as budge an inch.
She tried again and again, but still it would not move.
I need some kind of lever...something to help me lift it...
Ami began to race around the cathedral looking for something, when her eyes fell upon the giant scaffolding. She found many pieces of wood beneath it, and searched for one that seemed long and strong enough to do the job.
After a long while she found one that looked perfect and quickly headed back to the altar, trying with all her might to lift it just slightly so she could get one edge underneath the stubborn stone. Finally, it gave way, just enough for Ami to jam the edge under and then with all her willpower, she pressed down hard.
/
"Do it again". Michael reached in with the prod, and jolted the creature back into another corner. He growled and snarled, trying to get away but there was no use. Despite all of the room in the Atrium, there were men posted everywhere, so that no matter where he went, they could reach him with the prods.
"Ha ha. He's much like a frightened rabbit isn't he? Bolting into every corner but only getting ferreted out again." Trisha had her own prod, which she used as often as she got the chance, but suddenly she threw it down onto a nearby table.
"All right but enough with the child's games. Let's get the real party going."
Michael nodded and signaled to another one of the men who quickly came down from his post and went to a console. He punched a code in and a green light lit on the screen.
"Electricity is set to top voltage. He touches one of those bars now and it will burn him to a crisp."
"Good," Trisha said smugly. After her shower and a few shots of alcohol she'd felt a lot better, and got her bearings back. That little emotional episode from before wouldn't happen again. She wanted to be sure to see every minute of this monster's suffering.
This will never bring you back, but it's at least revenge. I hope you're proud of me Darry.
She grinned in satisfaction, but it didn't last. She had the sudden and unbearable sense, in that next moment, that he wasn't.
/
The wood lever was starting to crack and splinter from the force, but Ami refused to give up. She cried up and pushed down as hard as she could muster, and finally the blasted altar tumbled over.
For a moment she stood in shock, in disbelief that she had done it. There were stones underneath the altar, the same as on the rest of the cathedral floor, but these looked broken and crumbled. Ami knelt down and began plucking stones away, one by one, until she reached dirt and started taking clumps away with her bare hands.
It might take forever, but she didn't care. She knew the female heradus was here, and she felt more determined than ever to reach her. This mission was so important, and Ami knew it. Even though nothing made sense around her, of how she was here, whether or not this was real or some odd mental plane still held together by the priest, what did it matter?
Alonus was the only one who could help Goliathus. He was for certain enduring more pain and agony in this moment then Ami wanted to think about.
She kept digging, pulling away more and more clumps of dirt.
Her nails then scraped against something that felt like wood. Quickly brushing away more dirt Ami realized it was actually a crudely made coffin.
I can't believe it...I found her...
With even more frantic, growing persistence Ami pried at the wood, trying to break the planks, which seemed to easily give as they were damp and rotted. She dug at more dirt and broke off more splinters of wood for what seemed like endless hours.
Somehow, though all of this, her energy remained. The bulla...it was like some kind of incredible, supernatural force in itself.
Two thousand years worth of the priest's energy. It is possible?
Suddenly Ami's fingers touched something leathery and she impulsively jumped back. After a few minutes of staring she slowly crept forward and saw some kind of black, withered thing poking through the dirt. After more careful inspection she realized what it was.
/
"Dad, I think we should leave. Trisha's got it covered. I just want to go home."
"What?" Jack Taggart Sr. turned to his son, drumming his fingers on his leg as they sat, watching. "It's just starting. What do you mean go home, boy?"
"I...I dunno. I just don't want anything to do with this anymore." He shrugged, not looking him in the eye.
"Look Jackie I know you're tired. We've been through hell and back, and more than once. But this is what we've been waiting for, isn't it? This is the reward. We're not going home until we see this through." He gave a slight nod, certain of his words, giving a kind of finality that only made Jackie sigh and stare down at the floor.
His father looked at him, concerned. Jackie had always been the quiet type but he hadn't been himself lately. He seemed sullen and far away.
"I know, you're still missing Billy. I do, too. He was such a great kid. Pain in the ass sometimes, but you two were closer than you let on." He grinned and elbowed him. "I know that through all the name calling you two were like peas in a pod. Heck, when your mother, God rest her soul, got pregnant again at first I wasn't so sure we could manage another kid. But Ella, she was a tough woman and I loved that about her. She was amazing Jackie and I'd wish you gotten a chance to know her longer. But before she died she gave me Billy, and I was the happiest father alive in those days."
Jackie slowly averted his brown eyes back to his father, now glassy. But the frown remained plastered on his face. "Yeah dad...I know all that. You told me before."
"I need to make sure you're seeing the big picture here, Jackie." His father's voice began to falter, something so very rare for this tough-as-nails farmer. "That...thing...over there...took my baby boy. Killed 'em. After that I know something inside of me died, right then and there. I knew I'd never be the same. I also knew I had to go after it to protect you Jackie, not just get revenge for Billy. I wanted to be sure that monster was never going to take away some father's son again. You understand that, don't you?"
Jackie nodded, but his heart only sank further. "I understand, trust me...I do." He wanted to say more, but the words died in his throat. He knew full well his father would never understand one thing...the way Jackie was really feeling.
How he just wanted this all to stop...how no matter what he tried to do to think otherwise, the thought lingered that the Creeper was more than meets the eye.
/
The cathedral was eerily silent, the only sound being the crackling of the torches as they seemed to endlessly burn on. Ami sat near the open coffin, a big mound of dirt to her one side and pieces of old wood scattered on her other. She had spent many long minutes just gazing with wide eyes at the sight before her.
Alonus lie in her coffin, neatly arranged with arms crossed over her chest. Her body was perfectly preserved, like a mummy, and so well that some of her gold hair still remained and her lips were shriveled back from a full set of sharp teeth. Ami felt profound sadness, looking at her in such a state, but also an incredible sense of awe that she had found her and was seeing her with her own eyes for the first time.
But this. This was just a corpse. How could she possibly still be alive?
You spoke to me. You told me you were here. How?
There was no answer. Ami decided the first thing she needed to do was remove her from the coffin. She fought back feelings of revulsion and used both arms to carefully reach underneath and attempt to lift it.
He remains were as light as a feather, and in fact some of the bones crumbled to dust as they were shifted.
You've got to be kidding me, right? Barabas? There's no way in hell she can come back...two thousand year old mummies don't come back to life.
Now with Alonus spread out on the floor, Ami could see more of her features, from a delicate jawline to narrow shoulders and a long, serpentine figure.
Wow. She was so small and elegant for a heradus...I mean compared to Goliathus anyway...he must be at least twice her size.
Ami brushed away some of the wisps of remaining hair from her black face and sighed deeply.
How? How am I going to do this?
There was a strange smell in the air. Was it the odor of the shriveled, leathery skin? There was a breeze now and it was icy cold.
Barabas is that you?
No response. Ami looked around and felt uneasy. The place was a little more than creepy with its numerous torches and bodies hanging all around her.
Who are you, child?
Ami stood up quickly and did a full turn, but there was no one. The voice sounded closer now. Her eyes riveted onto the mummy.
A...Alonus?
I am. Who are you?
Okay this was weird. The mummy hadn't moved, in fact the whole place was still and eerie. But that voice, there was no mistaking it. She had heard it in the basement, and now here.
Alonus was here, in some form or another. Was she a spirit herself?
I-I'm Ami. And I'm here to try and bring you back. I found you Alonus...I found you, but-
Ami?
Yes, that's my name.
Who sent you?
Barabas did. He's amazing,he's been dead for over two thousand years but somehow he's come back and he gave me his bulla so that I could-
Barabas? How is that so?
I'm not sure, other than he told me Goliathus ate his heart, and somehow that might have-
There was a shrill, anguished cry in her mind and Ami fell down to her knees, clutching her head. It went on for several long minutes.
Then the mummy moved.
/
Back at the hunting lodge, Ami's body lie on the floor on her side, saliva drooling from her mouth as she seemed to be in a deep, comatose state. Solarus had woken up, crawling around the lodge, and using his little nose to sniff around. He came by his mother and pushed on her arm with his little clawed hands.
Mumma? No sleep. Mumma make fishie.
She didn't move, and in fact it seemed as if she were hardly breathing at all.
Mumma? Solarus nudged her and pushed her some more, but still she didn't respond.
Hungee. Want fishie. Finally seeming to give up on waking her, Solarus crawled around towards the kitchen, steady and determined. He looked about, still snuffling at the air and eying the refrigerator. It was pretty high up, but the remembered the strange things on his back could get him up higher where he wanted to be.
Flapping his little wings he clumsily but successfully managed to get to the top of the counter. He used both little hands to push open the refrigerator door but fell from the counter in the process and was now dangling from the door handle as it swung all the way open.
No move! Stay.
The remaining fish lie on a shelf, wrapped in tin foil. Solarus' smell was quite keen even at this age, and he could tell it was in there.
He reached out with one hand and with amazing strength held on with the other. Finally he used a flap of his wings and managed to get to the shelf, where he clawed at the tin foil, ripping it open. He tugged at the fish with both hands and feet, managing to use his tiny claws to tear off pieces and chewed happily.
Fishie!
Meanwhile the refrigerator door continued its swing back in the other direction, and promptly closed shut.
/
End Chapter 12
Wow Solarus can't stay out of trouble, can he? In the next chapter we will have much more of Alonus. Stay "tuned". I hope you enjoyed!