CHAPTER 28 - "KNOX TO THE RESCUE"

Ronald Knox wished that he was anywhere else but this place. The Von Strauss Manor felt so in depth with an evil influence that the shiver down his spine was now starting to make his entire body quiver. He was a Reaper, a being who dealt with death on a daily bases, but the power he felt here was beyond death itself, and he wondered if he should call for reinforcements.

He shook his head. That would make him a coward, despite it being in line with policy if a Reaper felt threatened by a greater power, there was greater strength in numbers. But then all that praise and boasting over the last couple of months when he captured the massive monster Ironstadt would fall to the wayside. And besides, this was his mission, albeit being forced upon him by William. He could handle it…

Damn you, Thann Von Strauss, why did you have to be the first to escape the Processing Centre?

But he had no answer to that. His only insights in the human was his life before his death. At the time of his death, he was twenty-five years old, but he already had a wide-variety of gaming dens he owned and operated, taken from the former owner of illegal underground gambling ring Mathu Kelvin added to him own.

As a kid, Thann Von Strauss was an intelligent boy who aced all his school subjects, but along the way, his arrogance and perhaps his father's influence got the better of him and he never went to college or university to further his education. Instead, he followed the path of his father and became an envoy for the Illuminati, whom Thann had been a part of in his younger years via his father for many years, introduced to some of the wealthiest and influential people in England and throughout the world.

Morally corrupt and at a young age, he began to involve himself in more of the Illuminati, and soon, without him even knowing it, engulfed himself within their world of immorally ambiguous people, eventually bringing his little brother into the fold. And they both engaged in ceremonial sexual acts that the Illuminati thought would peak an interest of a demon. The Illuminati thought they knew all there was to know about their world and wanted to know the secrets of the ages, so Thann accepted the ideal of a blood sacrifice, killing his sister to summon a demon while having sex with her.

It didn't work. And that was also the moment where his little brother Spencer Von Strauss became repulsed by everything the Illuminati was, as well as the immortality of his own family. Spencer then wished to expose the Illuminati, but Thann was sent by their father to stop him. And through an association by a mutual acquaintance, Thann and a demon set to break Spencer by giving the boy his most heart-felt desire, knowing Spencer was indeed gay. But this is when the end came for Thann, when in the end, it turned out Thann's hidden desires mirrored that of his brother, and forced Spencer to service him sexually. Thann didn't know at the time that the demon had already turned Spencer and…

Thann bled to death in the secret room that he had brought Spencer to be tortured. Spencer, as some people would say, snapped, and killed his brother by biting off a vital organ. When Knox had gone to the room to retrieve Thann's soul, this organ was sitting next to Thann's bloodied body in a pool of blood. Knox had seen worse things, but it nevertheless disgusted him.

But then why was Thann back here? Was it as simple as Thann wanting to go home? Most spirits wanted to return back to the place where they felt most comfortable in life. This meant Thann would be just as stubborn in death as he was in life would refuse to leave?

I can be stubborn to.

But the evil Knox felt now was suffocating and he had not feel this evil from Thann when he retrieved his soul, although he did feel a dark evil residue within the room he found Thann, so he knew this evil was not coming from him, albeit familiar, and the same evil, in fact. The evil from the demon? Was the demon that seduced Spencer in the Von Strauss Manor? And Thann wanted to confront it?

Knox had a thought. Could Thann's attempt to repent his evils in life, the moment he broke down and begged Knox to restore him to the living, have draw him here to save his brother from this demon? Was Spencer here too? Could this have been the reason Thann escaped the Processing Centre?

No spirit had ever done it before, so security had been very relaxed…

Elusive indeed, Knox thought. Someone was just being lazy and now I have to correct things. But why do people have to be heroes? What does he think he can do? He's dead! He has no physical form.

Knox rolled his eyes. But Thann was in danger from this demon, every demon devoured souls. If he was to bring Thann back to the Processing Centre, he'd have to enter this place and save Thann.

I'm not a hero; I am a Reaper doing his job. But why me?

He walked to the front door of the manor, but didn't need to physically touch it to open it. It creaked open, and he stood there looking into the main vestibule, a very dark vestibule. The only light cast was moonlight in the sky, but at this angle, it wasn't very much. And not only was it dark, it was very cold. Someone had turned the heat off? Demons liked heat. Their place of origin was a forever pit of fire.

But this was insignificant. Perhaps the cold he felt was not necessarily temperature based as it was his own mind playing tricks on him. Fear had a habit of making things out to be much more than what they were and he was already very apprehensive with the cold evil that resided inside his place.

It seemed a lot more demons were starting to come out of the woodwork lately since Sebastian Michaelis emerged, making a covenant with Ciel Phantomhive. And this in turn, created more problems for Reapers, adding more work for them to retrieve the souls of the dead from demon's attacking and killing them. Sebastian Michaelis appeared to be one of the more civil ones. Sebastian Michaelis's intentions were his own, but this other demon seemed affluent in his malicious tendencies, albeit quiet for now, Knox suspected a huge storm was about to erupt that will cost so many lives, causing even more work for Reapers.

Reaper policy dictated no interference in the lives of humans that could change the course of their lives.

Grell Sutcliffe, another Reaper, failed to heed to this rule, and collaborating with a human, set to change the course of English society by murdering undesired people - namely prostitutes. He was playing butler to Ciel Phantomhive's aunt at the time and teamed with her to systematically kill women whom Madame Red felt were abusing the gift of life in soliciting their bodies to men for purchase, because of an accident that prevented her from having children, losing her unborn child and husband. But Sebastian and Ciel eventually stopped her and Grell was punished for his participation by William T. Spears, the Head of Reaper Affairs.

Only recently during the Fallen Reaper Affair with the Phantomhive's, as most were calling it these days months prior, did Knox himself get involved in a human affair, fighting with Sebastian and Ciel and Lukas Phantomhive against a trio of supernatural beings. He was deducted two demerit points, but managed to get them back. Grell, on the other hand, was still on thin ice.

But that was the past and he had a job to do.

Voices were coming from the Dining Hall, loud voices - or it could just be the acoustics, the way the sound was being carried - and he ventured towards them.

The door to the hall was partially askew, so he looked with one eye through the crack. He saw Thann talking with others, and when he looked further and up he saw a blood-rust, gigantic form.

Oh great! Another sadistic, ego-maniac with a grotesque-looking monster? Just my luck! Why me?

He saw Spencer Von Strauss was also in the room with a demonic covenant on his forehead and for whatever reason, he had his pants down exposing his pelvic region. Woah, no genny's. The demon much've made you into a eunuch. Too bad, kid.

He didn't recognize the others. One of them was an older, whitish-hair man and a young, blonde boy. Near them was a younger man dressed entirely in black, assumingly the demon who was the ring leader to this crazy circus of freaks. And this is where the feeling of evil was coming from - from him. The demon radiated of it like the sun, but at least this guy didn't look like a human lightning rod like Mathu Kelvin.

But there a valuable saying: Always watch out for the quiet ones, for they are the most dangerous.

"Stop this madness!" Thann shouted out, his voice resounding through the room.

"Madness?" the black-clad demon said. "You're one to rebuke. Whoring and raping countless women during your Illuminati ceremonies and liking it, adding to that, killing your sister, all for the sake of failed attempts at summon a demon to your beckon call. You humans and your antiquated thinking. This isn't the middle-ages, or ancient times, we demons can not be drawn by your pathetic lure of fresh blood and human sacrifice any longer. If we want blood, if we want a soul - we just take it now." He gestured to the others standing at the far end of the room - the older man and the young boy. And then Spencer.

"Oedipus was sane compared to what you and the Illuminati thought you could do, believing you could control a demon when summoned. Lightning never strikes twice in the same place, Thann Von Strauss. Sebastian Michaelis was drawn to Ciel Phantomhive because of his dark soul after everything that had done to him - his parents murdered, his brother removed, his innocence taken. The Inner Circle lured him to them with sacrificial lambs of children and fresh blood. But he out-smarted them. As I out-smarted you."

"The Illuminati were wrong and I freely admit my sickness - my madness. And I know I will pay for it in the afterlife, but this…this thing is an monstrosity - it can not exist!"

The demon chuckled. "This is your brother's doing, Thann. Epimetheus is the manifestation of all his hate and malice he has towards you, your father, and the Illuminati. Look how beautifully abominable Spencer has created him out of your father's friends McDermott and Thibeau."

"Had," Spencer said, pulling up his pants. "I am no longer angry." He smiled at Thann.

Thann nodded, and Spencer acknowledged it with a nod of his own.

But Thann frowned. "My brother hates me no matter what has been said here today, I know this to be true. My life is spent and I will never be able to redeem the trust I have lost with him. What I did to him throughout the years can never be erased and I will pay for it. And it is because of my actions in life that he is here now with you, that he has created this thing from all the inner hate he feels, especially towards me."

"Thann, I forgive you! And I am sorry I…did that to you…"

"I appreciate your words, brother, but they do not change things. I deserved it. I abused you as a brother and as a human being. I will certainly burn in Hell for my transgressions. However, Decco, if one must serve you for all eternity, then return what you took from my brother and let him go, and I will stand in his place willingly. No argument."

"You have already offered yourself to me and I have refused. Your brother is mine."

"Then allow me to be with my brother. I will stand at his and your side for all eternity."

Knox had heard all he needed and he couldn't allow that. He walked through the wall. "Ah, no. I don't think so," he said. "Thann, you escaped from the spirit processing centre and I'm here to take you back."

"Who the hell are you?" Decco said.

"Knox, Ronald Knox." Knox smiled, and went to stand next to Thann, who looked more solid. The demon must have hardened his spirit's essence to see Thann's body better instead of a translucent form.

Thann turned to him. "Reaper, what are you doing here?" he said.

"To bring you back. You're an oddity. You're the first spirit to ever to escape the PO. Since I originally brought you in, my superior said I was the one that needed to retrieve you. I've already worked a 72 hour shift and I'm a little cranky, so you're coming with me now."

"You're a Reaper?" Decco asked, looking Knox up and down.

"Who is this guy?" Knox said to Thann.

"His name is Decco, a very powerful demon, and a bastard of one, too."

Decco's brow rose. "For a ghost, you've got balls." He smirked sarcastically. "In fact, that's all you've got."

"Regardless of who he is, you're coming with me, Thann. Someone else can handle this," Knox said. "But I will have to report this activity to my superior."

Thann appeared he was about to retort when Decco folded his arms across his chest and said, "And what would your Reaper brethren response be?"

"I get the feeling this guy knows more about you Reapers than he's letting on," Thann said. "And he knows another demon he resides in the human world, Ciel Phantomhive's butler Sebastian Michaelis."

Knox nodded. "Yeah, I know him. Elegant guy. Powerful and strong, too. Sebastian Michaelis took out three Fallen Reapers all by himself." Well, two. Mathu Kelvin killed his wife when he absorbed her, but the monster Ironstadt was made up of twin brothers, Sasha and Samuel. That FR's spirit was so massive that it had to be separated into two bodies, so it was mostly true.

"Three Fallen Reapers?" Decco said. "Who?"

"That's classified, but I bet Sebastian Michaelis would be clever enough to take you out." Knox smirked.

"Indeed." Decco gave a sarcastic disbelieving, thin-mouthed, narrowed-eyed expression. "But Sebastian is no threat to me. In fact, I was about to go 'visit' him and settle a long-standing score."

Knox sighed, shrugged his shoulders. "Can't you two just duke it out in a boxing ring and the winner gets a lollipop and the title of victor or something? A less violent solution to your problem where everyone goes home and we all avoid a massive amount destruction where we Reapers would have to clean up the mess?" Okay, not even he thought that was funny. "Thann, let's go."

"Not without my brother," Thann said.

Decco unfolded his arms. "I think a demonstration is in order and you Reaper will be Epimetheus's first target."

Knox rolled his eyes, then gave Epimetheus a look, seeing the large covenant branded into the monster's chest, his controlling mechanism. "Aw, crap! Why do I always get the tough jobs?"

With Mathu Kelvin's connection to Sebastian Michaelis broken, William T. Spears watched the events in the Phantomhive family cemetery unfold in the Looking Glass Receptacle in real time. The ghost known as Renfrew Phantomhive had fooled the Fallen Reaper, faking his death, and was now standing between him and the others like a shield.

It would be easy enough to look into the future and find out what happened to Sebastian Michaelis's - or Damascus's - wife and children, and if indeed Kassandra Symthe survived their birthing. Having twin demon boys could have been deadly. But a new element emerged in the dream sequence, the discovery of a Fallen Reaper back in the year 1667 who had taken the host of a human, possessing him, much like the Fallen Reapers did with Mathu Kelvin, his gypsy wife and the twin serial killer brothers Sasha and Samuel Ironstadt. And he wondered - what if more FR had done this? If so, then even the Reaper X team would not be able to locate them all if the FR's masked their power levels within the bodies of their human hosts.

He would have to note this in a report.

On a separate note, as the situation had slowed down, he split the screen and looked to where Ronald Knox was. The Reaper should not have taken this long to track down Thann Von Strauss's spirit that fled from the Processing Centre, and reported back by now. If Knox was having trouble finding him, he would want the Reaper to re-take the RTC, the Reaper Tracking Course, a Level 1 Reaper course.

But as he looked into the Looking Glass he saw a disturbing scene unfolding: A large hideous, abhorrent, blood-colored looking monster was attacking Knox, being controlled by an insidious demon.

Epimetheus was a fast and flexible monster for his size and he attacked Ronald with the same ferocity as a mongoose would a snake. In the wild, those two species of animal were notorious rivals and vicious towards the other, almost to the point of death.

But Ronald was smaller and just as quick.

After a succession of punches, that Ronald easily dodged and avoided, the Dining Hall began to look like something pummeled by cannon-ball fire.

Everyone had taken cover, or had run out of the way of Epimetheus when he started his attack. Knox believed not even Decco anticipated just how vicious Epitmethus would be in his strikes. The monster was pretty accurate, utilizing the brain power of two humans. Large monster, stupid monster? Not like Ironstadt. If it wasn't for Knox's swiftness, he bet he would be spattered on some wall as an afterthought blood stain.

Cool air of outside blew into the manor threw the holes Epimetheus had made and moonlight basked the scuffed and scratched wooden-slated floor of the Dining Hall. The monster was about to attack again, when Decco held up a hand and Epimetheus stopped. "If this goes on any further, the manor - my lair - will be destroyed," he said.

"You have a lair? What are you like three years old?" Knox mocked. "Kids have forts, too."

Decco didn't take lightly to the mockery. "You're like a little farm mouse running from a field cat."

"I'm not a fan of rodents," Knox said, "but I do like cheese."

"And a wisecracking mouse, at that."

"It easies the tension of the job," Knox replied straightly. "And it seems to me that a lot of you megalomaniacs are popping up everywhere lately. I'm only a Reaper, I don't get paid enough to fight monsters like this. C'mon Thann, time to go!"

"Not without my brother!" Thann retorted strongly. "Spencer comes with us, or we don't go!"

Time for some tough love. "He's not your brother anymore, he belongs to this demon now. He's a eunuch. He made his choice and now he has to deal with the consequences. Leave him!"

"No!" Thann rebuked loudly. "Spencer is my brother, and I love him! I will not leave him in the hands of this lunatic!"

Thann looked at Spencer and saw his eyes began to glisten with tears. "I love you, too, Thann!"

"You're a ghost, Thann. You're dead! You and he can never be together anyhow. However, I can tell you, whenever this demon gets tired of your brother, you and he will eventually meet each other in Hell for your transgressions. There's no getting around that. I can't get anymore involved in this. It's against Reaper policy to get involved in human affairs."

Decco laughed heartedly. "Priceless. Utterly priceless. Go, Reaper. Take him. One of the pleasures of being a demon is watching others suffer. And believe me, Thann Von Strauss, your brother will be serving under me for a very long time."

Thann growled angrily. But then he smirked. "There's a flaw in your logic, Reaper," Thann said to Knox. "There are no humans here. There's only converted demons, so your policy doesn't apply here."

Decco smiled. "Very clever, Thann Von Strauss. Perhaps I was mistaken in not accepting your offer."

Ronald sighed. "Oh, for Reaper's sake - technicalities. Thann, you don't understand. I can't - "

"Then I'll never go back with you, Reaper. As simple as that!"

Ronald had never allowed his emotions to get the better of him, but right now he was tried, he was cranky, and everyone was trying his patience. And if he was ever to finish his mission, he had to bring Thann back to be processed or William would discipline him, and none of this was not his fault!

He gritted his teeth and folded his brow, his greenish-yellow eyes glowed with an intensity bordering on a ravenous hate, and for the first time that he could remember he had thoughts of murder, killing the whole lot of them. He always considered himself a happy-go-lucky guy, but right now he was utterly pissed off.

"Fine," he said bitterly annoyed. "Let's get this over with. I'm off the clock and I hate working for free! I wanted to rest up before I went to a party after my long shift. Looks like that won't happen. You've messed with the wrong Reaper, demon!" And with a snap of the forefinger and thumb of his right hand, he summoned his Deathscythe, a large mechanized machine that some said looked more like it would mow down grass than act like a Reaper's tool. But inside its housing were four sets of sharp, multi-layered, rotating blades that could rip through steel.

He gripped the curved handle with one hand and pulled the side cord with the other, and revved it up. It made a loud mechanical buzzing sound as he prepared it, increasing its level incrementally to its highest level. He planned to get down and dirty immediately and rip this monster apart! He easy tired of playing nice guy.

"What the hell is that thing!" Decco said over the noise.

"The instrument of your destruction," Knox said maddeningly.

"You greatly underestimate me, Reaper."

Decco twitched two fingers and Knox's Deathscythe was snatched from his grip and reversed with the housing pointed up and directly towards Knox's face, the rotating blades buzzing their jaw-shredding sound, deafening out all other sounds.

Knox's eyes widened with fear and trepidation. "Oh, crap!"

To be continued…