Chapter 12

'Here, drink this.' Amy said, handing Christina a cup of tea. They were back in the kitchen trying to collect themselves after their encounter with Joe.

'Thanks Amy.' Christina took the cup in her hands and held on to it. She had cleaned the blood from her nose and her eyes had faded to their normal colour. She had even taken the amulet off.

'Do you feel better?' Dani asked.

'Yeah, much.' Christina smiled.

'What did it feel like? When you were fighting him?' Lauren asked.

'It was like I was in a dream.' Christina admitted. 'I knew the pain was there, and it should have been hurting me, but it wasn't. I was numb to it all. I know only demons have red eyes, but it just felt really powerful.'

'Well it scared the crap out of us.' Amy said. 'He was a really strong demon Chris, and you just exploded him.'

'No, it wasn't me.' She said. 'At least, not all me. Something in the amulet was making my powers different.'

'So if we think the amulet is demonic in origin, I think I have an idea.' Lisa said.

'You do?' Katherine wondered. 'What is it?'

'You know my Junior at the funeral home, Roger?' She said. 'He might be, kind of a demon.'

'Kind of a demon!' Christina said, shocked. 'Lisa!'

'He's a good demon.' Lisa defended.

'Is there such a thing?' Dani wondered.

'Anyway, he might be able to tell us about the amulet. He said his dad tells him all of these stories about other demons.' Lisa said.

'Do we have any other options?' Katherine asked the group.

'No, I guess not.' Lauren confirmed.

'I'll get him to come over.' Lisa said. She stood from her chair and took her phone into the living room to make the call. Christina set her cup down and put her head in her hands.

'Chris.' Amy sat next to her. 'It's okay to feel things. I can tell you're trying to keep them down but you don't need to.'

'Yes I do.' Christina said, not lifting her head.

'Why?' Dani asked.

'Because if I let it out, I'm afraid it might not stop. I'm afraid it'll destroy me.' Christina admitted. 'I'm going to lay down for a bit, let me know when Lisa's demon gets here.' She said as she left the room. Lisa passed her at the door but Christina didn't acknowledge her.

'Is she okay?' Lisa asked, sitting back in her seat.

'I honestly have no idea.' Amy said. 'She's intentionally blocking me.'

'Wait, we can do that?' Lauren asked.

'If you practice hard enough, yeah.' Amy told her.

'I've never seen her like this guys.' Katherine said.

'Why is she so afraid of her feelings?' Dani asked.

'You know Chris, always the tough exterior.' Lisa said. 'From what I remember, mum was like that too.'

'She'll bottle it all up inside.' Amy said.

'How can we help?' Lauren asked.

'Just be there when she wants to talk.' Amy shrugged. 'All we can do is be there.'

'On another note, Roger is coming over after we close in a few hours.' Lisa told them.

'Great, maybe he can give us some answers.' Katherine tried to be optimistic.

A knock on the door made Katherine lift her head out of the book she was reading. Just as she was about to open the door, Lisa beat her too it. Katherine watched as a tall, skinny guy walked through the door. He couldn't have been older than seventeen. 'Hey Roger, thanks for coming.' Lisa said, ushering him through the doorway.

'No problem, you said it was urgent.' He looked around nervously as Katherine approached.

'This is Kath.' Lisa introduced them and he gave a shy wave. 'I'll get the rest of the girls and we'll meet you in the kitchen.' Lisa said.

'Come on.' Katherine said, leading him into the kitchen. 'Can I get you a drink?'

'A water would be great, thank you.' He smiled.

'How do you like working at a funeral home?' Katherine asked as she put a glass of water in front of him.

'It's alright, keeps me out of trouble. And Lisa's a great boss.'

'I'm sure she is.' Katherine smiled as the rest of the girls started entering the kitchen. Roger smiled at all of them in turn as they took their seats.

'So Lise, what's up?' He asked nervously. 'I thought you wanted to talk about work?'

'Not quite.' Lisa admitted. 'My sisters know you're a demon.' His eyes widened and he shot up from his seat.

'Oh my God, please don't vanquish me.' He begged.

'Sit down, no one is going to vanquish you.' Lisa said.

'Depends what kind of demon he is.' Christina said quietly, not taking her tired eyes from him.

'I'm no trouble, I promise.' He said, sounding even younger than he looked.

'We know that Roger, Christina's just a bit cranky.' Dani said.

'We need some information.' Lisa said. 'And we think you might be able to help.'

'Oh, okay. What information?' He asked.

'Can you tell us what this is?' Christina said. She took the amulet from her pocket and put it on the table in front of him. He stared at it for a moment before looking around at all of them.

'Where did you find it?' He asked.

'Stole it from another demon.' Amy admitted.

'Do you recognise it?' Lauren asked.

'I mean, I've heard of it, been told stories and seen pictures, but I thought it was a myth.' He said honestly.

'So, where does it come from? What's it meant to do?' Lisa asked.

'The myth goes that it was forged in the pits of hell by Lucifer himself. Forged from the power of all the demons under his command to destroy anything in the light.'

'But...' Katherine prompted.

'But that's not true, the one account of it I've seen on paper says that it was made by good and evil, and the wearer determines the colour.' He picked it up. 'My dad said a really powerful demon was wearing it for a long time which is why it's only ever been red or orange. It's really cool.' He smiled and then looked up to Christina. 'You've been wearing it.' He said.

'Yeah, for a little bit.' She confirmed.

'How did you know that?' Katherine asked.

'It's in her eyes, her body, can't you see it?' He looked to Lisa who shook her head. 'You can't wear it any more.' He said seriously.

'Why not?' She asked.

'It's already making you feel darker isn't it, more depressed?' Christina shifted uncomfortably. 'That's because of the energy stored in it. It's so evil right now that it will consume any wearer, take them over to the dark side.'

'But you said it was made by good and evil?' Amy reminded him. 'So in theory, it could become good again.'

'In theory yeah, but you'd have to wear it constantly for who knows how long to make this thing good again.'

'What's the problem with that?' Christina asked.

'The problem is, you'd have to be strong enough to resist the evil already inside it.' He said.

'I used my powers with the amulet on and it turned my eyes red.' Christina told him.

'That's the evil trying to get out of the amulet and inside you.' He said. 'Trying to take you over.'

'But she didn't let it.' Dani pointed out.

'No, not that time, not completely. But what happens next time, and the time after that? The longer you wear it, the longer it'll have to break you down. It's like an internal battle, and only the strongest can win. The will power it would take not to give in to this thing would be incredible. I can feel it now.' He said, putting it on the table and pushing it away. 'Why do you even need to wear it?'

'There's a demon we need to defeat.' Lisa told him. 'Our mother told us this amulet was they key to do it, so one of us has to wear it.'

'What demon?' Roger asked.

'Belial. Have you heard of him?' Amy asked.

'He was a bit before my time, but yeah, I've heard of him.' Roger rubbed his neck. 'The guy was bad news.'

'Yeah we know that.' Lauren said. 'He's the reason our mother died.'

'I'm sorry.' Roger said. 'I remember my dad telling me stories about how Belial was trying to bring the darkness above ground, rule over everything up here from his place in the underworld.'

'How close did he get?' Katherine asked.

'Really close, according to dad. He just needed one more power, but I don't know what one it was.' They all looked to each other. 'But something tells me you do?'

'Mine.' Christina said. 'He wants my power.'

'And that's why you're wearing the amulet.' Roger said.

'It's already boosted my power to defeat a demon.' Christina told him.

'Yeah, and turned your eyes red and gave you a nosebleed' Dani reminded her.

'It gave you a nosebleed?' Roger asked, an odd look on his face.

'Yeah, is that important?' Christina asked.

'Maybe, I've always been told that people just gave in to the evil or went insane, I've never heard reports of the amulet physically hurting the wearer.'

'What do you think it means?' Lisa asked.

'I think it means she's resisting it, fighting back.' Roger smiled.

'That's good then.' Lauren said.

'It's only my theory. My dad said to me once that everyone whose tried to turn the amulet good again have gone either completely evil or completely mad.'

'Great.' Christina said, taking it back from him. She took a deep breath and put the amulet back around her neck.

'Chris, did you hear anything he just said?' Dani wondered.

'I have to wear it Dan, it's the only chance we have of defeating Belial.' Christina reminded them.

'Roger, is there any way we can help her, if we see the darkness coming through?' Amy asked.

'Don't leave her alone with it too much, keep doing good things, just genuinely love her and remind her to love you back.' Roger shrugged. 'That's all I've got.'

'Thanks Roger, you big sap.' Lisa knocked his shoulder. 'And take the day off tomorrow.'

'Thanks boss.' He said, standing up. 'And I wont tell anyone about this, or Belial, you guys can count on me.' He smiled. 'See you around.'

'Bye Roger.' They said somewhat simultaneously. Lisa came back into the kitchen after seeing him to the door.

'See, I told you he'd be helpful.' Lisa grinned.

'Now all we have to do is keep Chris going off the deep end.' Dani said.

'Thank you Danielle.' Christina smiled.

'Just talk to us, okay, about anything you're feeling.' Amy said. 'Like right now, you're scared and it's okay to be.'

'Damn straight I'm scared.' Christina let out a shake breath. 'And if anything happens, if I turn evil or whatever...'

'You wont.' Lauren said firmly.

'If I do,' Christina continued. 'I need to make sure you'll stop me before I do any damage. I don't want to hurt anyone.'

'We won't let that happen Chris.' Katherine promised her.

'Thanks.' Christina whispered.